Newspaper Page Text
MONROE COUNTY
Community
Calendar
Calendar items run free
of charge as a community
service each week as space
allows. Mail items for the
Community Calendar to Diane
Clidewell at newMmymcr.net
by 8 a.m. on Monday.
Aug. 17
Braves World Series
Trophy visits Forsyth
On Wednesday, Aug. 17
from 4-7 p.m. the 2021
Braves World Series Trophy
will visit Forsyth City Hall, 28
East Main Street for photo
ops with fans. Mary Persons
Baseball team will be selling
concessions that add to the
ballpark experience. Follow
the Forsyth Main Street
Facebook page for ways
to enter your name into a
drawing for awesome prizes.
Storybook Masquerade
Story Time
In celebration of Monroe
County Library's Centennia
there will be a Storybook
Masquerade Story Time
at 1 1 a.m. on Wednesday,
Aug. 17 at Monroe County
Library, 62 W. Main Street,
Forsyth
Aug. 23
First Baptist of High
Falls has Red Cross
Blood Drive
First Baptist Church of High
Falls, 4408 High Falls Road,
will have a Red Cross Blood
Drive from 2 - 7 pm in the
Fellowship Hall.
Genealogy Lock-in
In recognition of the Monroe
County Library Centen
nial the library will host a
genealogy lock-in after hours
for research beginning at 6
p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 23.
Registration is required.
Aug. 25
M.C. Democratic Com
mittee hosts candidates
Butler & Benton
The Monroe County Demo
cratic Committee will host
US District 8 candidate Rev.
Darius Butler and State Sen
ate District 1 8 Candidate
Chris Benton on Thursday,
Aug. 25 at 6:30 p.m. at
St. Luke AME Church, 1 43
James St., Forsyth
Aug. 26
Boys & Girls Club fun
draiser Clay Shoot at
Meadows Gun Club
The Annual Clay Shoot
fundraiser for the Boys
& Girls Clubs of Central
Georgia and the Better
Business bureau Education
Foundation will be Friday,
Aug. 26 at Meadows Gun
Club in Monroe County from
9 a.m.-l p.m. Participants will
rotate trough 15 sporting
clay stations in the event
presented by Dick's Sporting
Goods. Breakfast & lunch
are provided, and there will
be a silent raffle. Teams are
still being accepted; email
dbeckhiam@bgccg.org or
jblankenship@centralgeorgia.
bbb.org for more information.
Aug. 27
Friends of M.C. Library
Community Yard Sale
There will be a Monroe
County Library Centennial
Community Yard Sale to
benefit Friends of the M.C.
Library on Saturday, Aug. 27
from 9 a.m.-l p.m. Vendors
must pre-register.
Aug. 31
Monroe County Library
Centennial Celebration
Monroe County Library, 62
W. Main Street, Forsyth will
hold its Centennial Celebra
tion & Dedication Ceremony
at 10 a.m. on Wednesday,
Aug. 31.
Sept. 10
Juliette Roadway
Clean-up
The Juliette River Club will
have a Juliette Roadway
clean-up day on Sept. 10,
at 8 a.m. Meet at the
Juliette Fire station. All are
welcome to help.
Sept. 17
Open Market to benefit
St. James Food Distribu
tion
There will be an Open
Market on Saturday, Sept.
See CALENDAR
Page 4B
iEeporter
August 17, 2022
Community ib
Around Monroe County ► ► Forsyth • Juliette • High Falls • Bolingbroke • Culloden • Smarr
Monroe Co. Extension welcomes new ag agent...
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Monroe County welcomed Cliff
Collins to the University of Geor
gia Monroe County Extension
office on July 1 as its new Agricul
tural & Environmental Sciences
agent. He fills a position that has
been vacant since January when
Caitlin Jackson, who was Monroe
County’s administrative agent for
the last five years, left to become
executive director of the Ameri
can Dorper Sheep Society.
Collins said he comes to Monroe
County eager to begin a career as
an extension agent. Although it is
a bit of a career change for him, he
brings a wealth of related experi
ence to the position. He grew
up on a timber and cattle farm
in Appling (near Augusta) and
received his associate degree in
agriculture from ABAC in Tifton,
then transferred to University of
Georgia to complete his Bachelor
degree, working on the UGA farm
in Tifton in the process.
Collins was the agriculture
teacher at Heard County High
School for the 2018-19 and
2019-20 school years and during
that time earned his Masters in
agriculture and environmental
education. He moved to a charter
school in Augusta where he taught
for the next two year.
Collins said he had
long considered a
career in extension
as well as in agricul
ture education and
decided to make
the change. He said
Monroe County fit
what he was look
ing for in the county
where he wanted
to work and live,
including giving him
the opportunity to
work with timber
and cattle farmers.
Collins said he will
still be teaching ag
riculture, just not in
a classroom and not
exclusively to high
school students.
Collins said that
Extension statis
tics show that the
questions agriculture agents now
answer come 90 percent from
homeowners and only 10 percent
from farmers, reflecting changing
demographics. He said he is ready
to help homeowners with ques
tions about landscaping, insects,
gardening and water, whatever
brings them to his office seeking
assistance, from backyard poultry
to fruit trees. He said Extension
provides soil and water tests, iden
tifies insects and diseases and tests
hay and feed.
Collins has a particular interest
in honeybees and looks forward
to sharing that interest with others
in Monroe County. He has been a
beekeeper for four years and has
19 hives. They are presently on his
parents’ farm in Appling but he
plans to move them to Monroe
County at the end of winter. Col
lins said the biggest challenge in
raising bees is dealing with mites.
Collins bought a house in
Monroe County, not wanting a
long commute like he endured at
his last job. But he bought a house
that has cost a lot in sweat equity.
Living in a camper, he began
gutting the house in June, doing
all the work himself except sheet
rocking. He said the sheet rock
crew did the whole house in four
days whereas it would have take
him at least a month. He still has
a lot to do in his “free” time and
won’t be ready to move in until
he has sanded the original wood
floors. Collins said he plans to be
in Monroe County for a number
of years.
With experience as an FFA
advisor, he hopes to see the 4-H
livestock showing program con
tinue to grow in Monroe County.
He said the new Monroe County
Schools Agricultural facility is
“awesome.” He would like to see
students able to show a variety of
livestock to diversify their experi
ences and to appeal to different
youth.
“Agriculture encompasses so
many things,” he said. “I used to
challenge my students to name a
career that didn’t involve agricul
ture in some way’
Contact Collins at Cliff.collins@
uga.edu, 478-994-7014 or 484
Highway 83 S, Forsyth (near the
William Hubbard Community
Complex).
...and a new family & consumer sciences agent
Amanda Harner & husband, Matt
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Amanda Harner is
excited about begin
ning a new career in a
new place. She accepted
the position of Monroe
County Extension fam
ily & consumer sciences
agent and officially joined
the office on Aug. 1. The
position, formerly held
by Nicole Walters, has
been vacant for several
months, and there are
a lot of opportunities
waiting for Harner as she
takes on her new role.
A family & consumer
sciences agent works to
answer questions and
educate the community
about food, nutrition and
health; housing; financial
well-being; and healthy
personal habits and rela
tionships. Years ago exten
sion agents taught canning
and sewing and gave tips
on decorating, but as life
has changed, their jobs
have become more encom
passing. Local agents can’t
know everything about all
topics, but they are experts
on some and know how to
find resources on others.
Harner comes to Mon
roe County Extension with
a background of experi
ence in many areas and an
eagerness to learn more
and to share her knowl
edge. She and her hus
band, Matt, have moved
to Middle Georgia from
the Charlotte, N.C. area,
where Harner grew up.
Both have lived in Geor
gia before, and as Harner
began researching counties
in Georgia with positions
open for family & con
sumer sciences agents, she
found that Monroe Coun
ty fit what she was looking
for. She said the University
of Georgia district supervi
sor and
the in
terview
process
sold
her on
Monroe
County.
Harner
re
viewed
the
Monroe
County
health
assess
ments
and saw
areas
where
she feels
she can
ben
efit the
county.
Harner grew up in the
small town of Matthews,
N.C. and watched it shift
from rural to more urban.
She earned her bachelor’s
degree at Toccoa Falls
College in Georgia in cross
cultural studies, with a
minor in behavioral sci
ence. She began working
in retail while she was in
college and also became
committed to the Greater
Europe Mission, a non
profit Christian organiza
tion that works in Europe.
After raising the support
to do so, Harner worked in
Italy for three years, with
youth and church plant
ing in the area north of
Rome. She taught English
and Bible studies and was
primarily involved with a
network of three churches.
Returning to the United
States she continued to
work with Greater Europe
Mission for another three
years coordinating intern
ships and other programs
and spreading informa
tion about the opportuni
ties along the east coast,
including at universities.
Harner said she wore a lot
of hats and learned a lot.
After she married in
2014, she looked for
something that required
less travel, working in
retail again and then as a
financial representative.
She learned a lot about in
surance and financial plan
ning. Her father suffered
a traumatic brain injury
during this period and as
she spent time helping her
mother, she began think
ing of what career would
be suited to her skills,
interests and personality.
She also worked as office
manager for a family
friend who renovated,
constructed and invested
in properties, which gave
her some insight into com
plicated housing issues.
Harner earned her
Masters as a dietician with
a focus in public health
from Appalachian State.
She has a goal of earning
her doctorate and hopes to
find areas where she can
do useful health-related
research as she does so.
As she and her husband
bought the home where
they will move in the next
week, they learned about
one of the on-going issues
in Monroe County—the
disputed Monroe-Bibb
County line runs through
their property. She said
whatever is eventually de
cided the property will be
at least partly in Monroe
County.
Meanwhile Harner will
be busy meeting the com
munity, building relation
ships and assessing what
types of classes and pro
grams will be of interest in
Monroe County.
Contact Harner at
Amanda.Harner@uga.
edu, 478-994-7014 or 484
Highway 83 S, Forsyth
(near the William Hub
bard Community Com
plex).
County, cities negotiate how to split local sales tax
By Diane Glidewell
news'-mymcr.net
Every 10 years, within two years
after a census, counties and their
cities re-negotiate how they will
divide the revenue they get from
the 1-cent Local Option Sales
Tax that is charged on everything
bought in the county. This is the
1-cent that is added for every
dollar along with the 1-cent for
Education SPLOST, 1-cent for
SPLOST, 1-cent for transporta
tion (that was added in July) and
4-cents charged by the state on
almost all purchases except food
and pharmaceuticals.
The main factor in dividing
the sales tax is population, but
there are actually eight factors
considered, including the services
provided for citizens by the county
and municipal governments.
For the last 10 years, Forsyth has
received 22.5 percent of the sales
tax, with about 75 percent going
to Monroe County and about 2
percent going to Culloden. The
amount that goes to Culloden
is small, but because its popula
tion and budget are small the tax
is a significant percentage of its
revenue.
Although the population
proportions between the city and
county didn’t change significantly
in the 2010 census, Forsyth said
that it should receive a bigger cut
of the sales tax for the next 10
years because citizens of Forsyth
pay county and city taxes and,
therefore, are taxed twice. Forsyth
representatives argued that the
majority of the businesses that
charge sales tax are in the city.
In response, county representa
tives say that city residents receive
county services, many of which
the city doesn’t provide.
The state puts pressure on coun
ties and cities to work things out.
There is no appeal or state resolu
tion team. If the cities and county
can’t agree on a distribution by
the end of December, the tax is
repealed and the governments
lose the funds entirely, which for
See Negotiations • Page 4B