Newspaper Page Text
October 19, 2022
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 Glidewell at news@
mymcr.net by 8 a.m. on
Monday.
Oct. 15-Nov. 13
30 for 30 Walk-a-Weigh
Monroe County Extension
invites everyone to participate
in 30 for 30 Walk-a-Weigh:
Walk 30 minutes per day for
30 straight days from Oct. 15-
Nov. 1 3. Find encouragement
from daily social media posts
created by Cooperative Exten
sion professionals across the
country and weekly Facebook
Live Walk-a-Weigh classes
from Monroe County Extension
agent Amanda Horner. 478-
994-701 4 or Amanda.Horner®
uga.edu
Oct. 19
32nd Annual Birth
day Celebration for
90-100-year-olds
The family of the late Rubye
J. Watts invites everyone 90
years old and up to be guests
at the 32nd Annual Birthday
Celebration. It will be in person
at the Monroe County Senior
Center Rubye J. Watts Building,
515 Highway 83 South, Forsyth
on Wednesday, Oct. 19 from
10 a.m.-1 2 noon. Anyone who
knows of 90-100 year old
residents of Monroe County
who should receive a special
invitation to the event, please
contact Juronia Evans, Senior
Center Director, at 478-994-
1701. Other seniors and friends
are also welcome.
Oct. 20
Law Enforcement Rally
with Herschel Walker
The public is invited to a Law
Enforcement Rally at Sanford
Law Offices, 4468 Forsyth
Road, Macon on Thursday,
Oct. 20 at 9:15 a.m. Herschel
Walker will be attending, along
with Chairwoman McDaniel
and Senators Rick Scott, Roger
Marshall and Steve Daines.
River Place hosts Trunk or
Treat
River Place Assisted Living,
3492 Johnstonville Road,
Forsyth invites the community,
especially children, to its Trunk
or Treat on Thursday, Oct. 20
from 5-7 p.m. There will be lots
of costumes, chalk drawings in
the parking lot, 10-15 deco
rated trunks, hotdogs, fresh
popcorn and lots of fun.
M. C. Farm Bureau An
nual Meeting
Monroe County Farm Bu
reau Annual Meeting will be
Thursday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. at
the Mary Persons High School
cafeteria in Forsyth.
Oct. 21
Fall Festival & Chili Cook-off
K. B. Sutton Elementary will
have a Fall Festival and Chili
Cook-off on Friday, Oct. 21
from 6-8 p.m. Admission is $5/
person for ages 4 and up. It in
cludes inflatables, one token for
chili voting, tattoos and games.
There will also be concessions,
face painting, a dunking booth,
cake walk and hay ride. The
festival is open to the public.
Boys & Girls Club Thriller
5K Run
Boys & Girls Clubs of Centra
Georgia (BGCCG) will host
a 5K run on Friday, Oct. 21 at
6:30 p.m. beginning at Luther
Williams Field, Macon in Caro
lyn Crayton (Central City) Park.
Awards will be given to the
best M/F costumes, judged by
a panel of Club Kids pre-race.
Several community leaders are
running the 5K as ambas
sadors. Online registration is
available. $20 for all entries
received by Sept. 30, $25 for
entries received Oct. 1-20,
$30 on race day with limited
t-shirt availability. Thriller Run
5K is still open to sponsor
ships, as well as volunteers. For
information, contact special
events coordinator DeMarcus
Beckham at dbeckham®bgccg.
org.
Oct. 21, 28
Forsyth Farmers
Market every Friday
Forsyth Farmers Market is open
for its 2022 season on Fridays
from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. It will be
at 9 North Jackson Street (the
lot behind Persons Banking
Company) each Friday through
October. Vendors offer locally
See CALENDAR
Page 3C
MCES firefighter Boone added to Memorial Wall
By Richard Dumas
Late Monroe County
Emergency Services
(MCES) firefighter Harold
Boone was honored on
Friday, Oct. 14 as one of 16
new additions to the Geor
gia Public Safety Training
Centers (GPSTC) Public
Safety Memorial Wall.
Boone, a firefighter/
emergency medical re
sponder (EMR) for MCES
from 2016-20, died on
Nov. 2,2020 at the age of
49 following complications
from COVID-19. Boone
was a fixture at MCES
Headquarters Station One
during his four-year ten
ure, renowned for his skills
at servicing fire trucks,
cooking and mentorship of
young firefighters. Boone
spent 25 years with the
Macon-Bibb Fire Depart
ment before retiring and
joining MCES. Led by
friend and fellow fire
fighter Dr. Margie Bryant,
MCES holds an annual
virtual 5K road race in
Boones memory, and
the next race is slated for
Saturday, Nov. 12. Pro
ceeds are directed toward
a college scholarship fund
for Boones granddaughter
Nyjhae Boone-Whitehead.
On Friday, GPSTC
held its 25th an
nual Georgia Fallen
Firefighter Memorial
Ceremony to rec
ognize firefighters/
EMTs who lost their
lives while on active
duty. Boones fam
ily, including wife
Sharon and mother
Hattie, accepted a
plaque and a medal
to memorialize
Boone. At the con
clusion of a nearly
hour-long ceremony,
Boones name was
etched onto the GPSTC
Public Safety Memo
rial Wall, which has stood
since 1997.
Gary Clark, President of
the Georgia State Fire
fighters Association, gave
the opening remarks at
Fridays ceremony, saying
that firefighting is not just
a job, it’s “a calling upon
ones life.”
Clark told family mem
bers and friends of the
16 fallen firefighters: “We
want to give thanks to you
for sharing their lives with
us.
Cherokee County Fire
Chief Eddie Robinson,
who gave the memorial
address, said a name on
the GPSTC Public Safety
Memorial Wall not only
signifies a fallen hero, but
“a family that is grieving
and a community that has
suffered a great loss.”
Speaking to the many
firefighters in the room,
Robinson said the greatest
tribute they can give their
fallen brothers and sisters
is to get right back to work
and answer the next
call they receive.
Robinson said of
firefighters: “Were
willing to make that
ultimate sacrifice
when it’s time to do
the right thing.”
Sharon Boone,
Boone’s wife of 32
years, said about a
dozen family mem
bers and friends
were in attendance
on Friday in ad
dition to about 20
representatives of
MCES.
Sharon Boone said of the
ceremony to recognize her
late husband’s service: “It
really means a lot.”
Boone’s mother Hattie
said she misses her son
and still thinks about him
daily.
Hattie Boone said rhe
torically: “He left us, but
we just don’t ever know in
life, do we?”
MCES Battalion Chief
Clay Walton said he’s
been to the GPSTC Public
Safety Memorial Wall cer
emony before but never to
memorialize a friend from
his own department.
“When you come here
for the first time and you
see this and you’ve never
experienced a line-of-duty
death in your department,
it’s a wake-up call,” Walton
said. “It’s what could possi
bly happen. And when you
witness it and you see it
after dealing with the loss
of a friend, a co-worker,
somebody in your own
agency, it’s devastating. Be
cause all of the memories
rush back of the fun times,
the sad times and every
thing you experienced
together.”
Walton said he always
admired the way Boone
listened and gave advice to
others.
“Harold was everyone’s
See BROOME . Page 3 B
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S6C
Library Story Time is a good time to learn fire safety
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Oct. 9-15 was Fire Prevention
Week and Monroe County Fire
Department’s Captain Christina
Bramlett brought the message
of fire safety to young Monroe
Countians and their caregivers
at Monroe County Library on
Wednesday, Oct. 12. Bramlett
read stories about fire safety to the
children and Firefighter Chris An
drews brought a City of Forsyth
fire truck to the library for them to
see up close.
Reading “No Dragon for Tea,”
about a dragon who sneezes and
starts a house fire while enjoy
ing a tea time snack at a friend’s
house, Bramlett emphasized what
children should do if a fire begins
fire, they should get low to the
ground and crawl to get out of
the house since the best quality
air in a house fire is close to the
ground. During a fire is not the
time to stand up tall.
Bramlett encouraged parents
to plan for the emergency of a
fire and go over the plan with
the children. It is best to prac
tice with children what to do in
a fire, including how to crawl
out of windows and down lad
ders. She said it will seem like
a game to children as they ask
to "Do it again," but it can be a
lifesaver if the need for a quick
exit without panic ever arises.
She showed a rescue pack that
will hold up to 75 pounds and
includes nylon cord to lower it
up to 150 feet that she encour-
Above, Capt. Christina Bramlett reads stories to children and emphasizes
their messages about what to do in case of a fire.
Firefighter Chris Andrews, near truck, gives a close-up look at a fire
truck and its equipment.
to burn in their home—Look for
the fastest way out and stay out.
She told them that when there is
aged parents to keep near upper
level windows; she said it could
also be used to rescue pets.
“You have less than three min
utes to get out from when the fire
started,” said Bramlett. “That’s
from when the fire started, not
from when you see it.”
She had smoke alarms avail
able for parents and told them
that the smell of smoke wouldn’t
wake them up, but the sound of an
alarm will. She said there should
be alarms in each sleeping and
living area and definitely on each
level of a dwelling.
Andrews said four firefighters
will travel to a fire in the truck he
showed the children, and there
has to be room for them to put on
gear on the way to the fire. The
truck holds a lot of equipment,
including a rapid intervention
team bag to bring in air, ropes for
rescues, chain saws and a special
saw used to cut a hole in the roof
to let smoke out.
He said to be a firefighter one
has to be able to do math at 2 a.m.
to calculate correct water pressure
to fight a fire. He said firefight
ers have to be able to lift weights,
carry heavy loads and have a
desire to look after people.
“Being a firefighter is super fun,”
he said.
Bramlett finished the time at
the library by reading “Molly By
Golly’ the story of one of Amer
ica’s first female firefighters, and
giving each child a gift bag with
fire prevention activities, informa
tion and ‘swag.’
.
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