Newspaper Page Text
November 9, 2022
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Reporter
Page D7
> Monroe County Reporter Timeline 1972-2022
Continued from 8C
3rd Congressional District replace
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall
with Republican Austin Scott.
Nov. 1 2 • Gov. Sonny Perdue
and other state leaders join to cut
the ribbon at Tift College as the
campus is re-opened as the new
headquarters for the Department
of Corrections.
Dec. 1 1 • Monroe County dedi
cates its 1 896 courthouse after
doing more than $1 million in
renovations that restored the town
centerpiece to its original look.
2011
April • Tornadoes that earlier in
the day destroyed large swaths of
Tuscaloosa, Ala. find their way to
Monroe County, destroying homes
and trees in a wide path across the
county’s northern end from High
Falls to Blount. Miraculously, no one
is seriously injured.
August • A survey of the Mon-
roe-Bibb county line that would
have established it south of where
it is currently recognized is rejected
by secretary of state Brian Kemp,
giving the county nothing to show
for more than $1 million in legal
fees.
November • John Howard becomes
the first black to be elected mayor
of Forsyth, though the victory is
somewhat marred by allegations
of absentee voter fraud. Losing
incumbent mayor Tye Howard files
a legal challenge but later with
draws after the state begins its own
investigation.
• Mary Persons football coach
Rodney Walker gets his 300th
career win, making MP one of the
only schools in the state to have
two coaches who’ve reached the
milestone, as Walker joins the leg
endary Dan Pitts in that category.
2012
• MP football coach Rodney Walker
surprises many by announcing his
retirement, saying his wife let him
do what he wanted for 43 years
and how it's time to do what she
wants to do.
• Forsyth’s Boy Scout 51 (formerly
Troop 1), the first troop in the South,
caps of its centennial year with a
100 Years of Scouting in a special
edition of the Reporter.
March
• Hundreds of Monroe County
residents watch helplessly as Grits
Cafe, a 1 2-year anchor of the
Forsyth courthouse square, burns
to the ground. The heroic efforts
of firefighters and a strong fire
wall save the Rose Theater and
most of the Monroe County Bank
building next door. The blaze is
blamed on spontaneous combustion
inside grease towels that had been
stacked in a bucket while still warm
from a clothes dryer.
• Mary Persons defensive coordi
nator Brian Nelson is named the
new head coach for the Bulldogs.
He would lead MP to a surpris
ing 8-2 record in his first regular
season.
• Civil rights leader the Rev. Joseph
Lowery tells a rally for President
Obama at St. James Baptist
Church in Forsyth that the election
season is so ugly he thinks white
people are going to hell. After the
Reporter s story gets nationwide at
tention, he calls a press conference
and says he was joking.
• November • Mike Bilderback is
elected county commission chair
man, ousting James Vaughn.
2013
January • First Baptist Church of
Forsyth celebrates its 1 75th anni
Grits Cafe opens 1 0 months after
devastating fire.
February • Georgia elections
board sends cases against 2 1
Forsyth voters to the attorney gen
eral’s office for more action.
March • Lifelong Forsyth resident
Georgia Supreme Court Justice
Harold Clarke, 85, passes.
Forsyth council members Desi
Hansford and James Calloway
are charged by the FBI with taking
bribes.
April • Kitty Robinson of Culloden is
running Boston Marathon when it is
disrupted by a bomb.
August • Monroe County grand jury
opts not to pursue criminal charges
against at least three Forsyth
residents alleged to have voted
multiple times in the 201 1 election.
September • Three off-duty Monroe
County deputies (Brad Freeman,
Michael Hull, Chad Beck) are
honored for saving a man from a
burning vehicle in Henry County.
October • Monroe County school
board picks the design for a $7.5
million fine arts center that will be
33,200 sq.ft. And will seat 1,250.
November • There will be three
new faces on Forsyth City Council
as Greg Goolsby, Jimmy Jones,
Julius Stroud III win as well as
incumbents Eric Wilson and Mike
Dodd.
December • Chick Willis, 78, one
of Monroe County s best know
musicians, dies.
• Monroe Academy grad Brittney
Cole marries Brian Kelley of Flori-
da-Georgia Line.
2014
January • New home permits are
up for the first time in seven years,
with 64 in 201 3.
May • School board eyes condem
nation of 1 2 acres belonging to
developer Otis Ingram.
• Monroe County Bank, the last
locally-owned bank, is merging with
United Bank, based in Zebulon.
August • Forsyth sells its cable
system to Public Service Communi
cations for $1.2 million.
September • Monroe County gives
a hero’s farewell to Sheriff’s deputy
Michael Norris, killed in the line of
duty. Deputy Jeff Wilson is wound
ed.
December • Forsyth s popular long
time bar, CT s Lounge, is closing.
2015
• The Board of Education asks
Monroe County Sheriffs Office to
investigate sexually explicit messag
es allegedly involving superinten
dent Anthony Pack s phone.
• Freshway Market begins $1
million renovations that will include
a new Dunkin Donuts.
• Mary Persons football captures its
first region title in 1 8 years.
• Board of Education appoints Dr.
Mike Hickman superintendent.
2016
March 2 • Long-time Culloden
mayor Steve Elder dies.
June 1 • Greg Tapley beats incum
bent Mike Bilderback to become
the new chairman of the Monroe
County commissioners. Meanwhile
Jonathan Adams ousts incumbent
Richard Milam to be the new DA.
Sept. 1 4 • Eddie Harris is named
the new Forsyth police chief.
November • Donald Trump carries
Monroe County with 69 percent as
he’s elected president.
December • Long-time Monroe
County commissioner Jim Ham dies
in an auto accident on Hwy. 41 at
the age of 55.
2017
January • Monroe County Schools
celebrate the opening of their new
$9 million Fine Arts Center.
March • Monroe County BOE
chairman Dr. J. Ray Grant dies
suddenly.
May • Eddie Rowland is elected
Monroe County commissioner to
replace Jim Ham, outpolling Chris
Ham.
June • An Upson County jury find
Chris Calmer guilty of the murder
of Monroe County deputy Michael
Norris, but refuses to give him the
death penalty.
September • Priscilla Doster outpo-
IIs Steve Coleman to be elected to
the Board of Education seat vacat
ed by the death of her brother, J.
Ray Grant.
• Monroe County rallies to help
evacuees from Hurricane Irma in
Florida who flood up 1-75 into the
community.
October • A social media rabble
rouser in Forsyth is sentenced to 3
years in prison for stealing trailers.
December • Former Monroe Coun
ty Reporter editor Wendell Ramage,
who later taught English at Monroe
Academy, dies after a long bout
with cancer.
• Former Monroe County commis
sioner Joe Proctor dies at the age
of 86.
2018
Aug. 1 • Monroe County Schools
closed the Hubbard Middle School
campus and moved approximately
285 sixth graders to the Banks Ste
phens Middle School campus after
mold made it unsafe to use part of
the Hubbard Middle campus. When
the system s maintenance crew
went to clean the Hubbard Middle
building after the
July 4th break, they discovered that
mildew and water damage was
widespread due to heavy summer
rains.
Nov. 30 • The previously undefeat
ed Mary Persons Bulldogs football
team s historic run came to an end
in the quarterfina Is of the AAAA
state playoffs when visiting Marist
came from behind in the fourth
quarter to down MP 1 0-7 It was
one of the most disappointing
defeats ever at Dan Pitts Stadium.
MP s offense, which entered the
contest averaging 49 points per
game, was limited to just a single
touchdown in wet, windy
conditions.
Dec. 5 • Monroe County elected its
first non- Bittick as sheriff in near
ly six decades as Brad Freeman
edged Lawson Bittick by a 4,01 6
(56 percent) to 3,101 (44 percent)
margin. Freeman, who has worked
at the Monroe County Sheriff’s
Office for more than 30 years,
defeated Bittick, the son of former
sheriff John Cary Bittick, in a run-off
election.
2019
• For the first time in more than
a decade, Monroe County has
multiple major subdivisions under
construction. Edgar Hughston of
Hughston Homes told Forsyth City
Council he plans to re-start work on
the long dormant Juliette Com
mons subdivision off Juliette Road
while Matt Gilbert of Three Oaks
Construction plans to begin building
homes in the new Bolingbroke
Manor subdivisio off Hwy. 41 soon.
March 1 3 • Mary Persons junior
Ethan Payne punches his golden
ticket to Hollywood after receiving
rave reviews from the celebrity
judges of ABC s popular reality TV
show "American Idol. After gaining
the judges approval, Payne, who
suff ers from cystic fi brosis, played a
song on his guitar alongside country
music star Luke Bryan, who he first
met at a concert in Dallas in 201 6.
2020
April • F orsyth city council orders all
restaurants to cease dine-in services
effective immediately at its second
emergency meeting, as part of an
emergency declaration recommend
ed by the Georgia Municipal Asso
ciation. Council voted unanimously
with little d iscussion after resisting
to do so just two days
prior at an earlier meeting. The
vote came after a fourth COVID
case was reported in Monroe
County.
April 8 • A High Falls man became
the first Monroe Countian to die
from COVID this past weekend.
Sidney Jones, 77, succumbed to
the virus after a two-day battle at
Navicent Health.
June 1 7 • As BLM protests pop
up around the country following
George Floyd's death, a crowd of
about a hundred people gathered
for a rally in downtown Forsyth
Saturday morning protesting the
Reporter and calling for editor/pub
lisher Will Davis to step down from
his position. A half-dozen people
spoke at the rally, including Monroe
County School superintendent Mike
Hickman.
Dec. 9 • Forsyth will be 1,037
acres larger in 202 1. Mayor Eric
Wilson led a move to reverse the
council s decision three weeks ago
not to annex the undeveloped
land belonging to H&H properties
between the Georgia Public Safety
Training Center and Johnstonville
Road. A majority of council fol
lowed Wilson s lead and voted 4-2
in favor of annexing the property.
2021
• The Reporter learns that Forsyth s
most upscale restaurant for the
past 22 years will soon have its first
new owner in its history. Macon
restauranteur Richie Jones buy
Grits Cafe from founder Wayne
Wetendorf in mid-April.
• Legendary Mary Persons football
coach Dan Pitts is laid to rest next
to his late wife at Forsyth City
Cemetery, within shouting distance
of the practice field where he
shaped and molded generations
of Monroe County boys into men.
Pitts died at home early April 20 at
the age of 88. Pitts had retired in
1 997 after coaching the Bulldogs
for 39 years, from 1 959 to 1 997,
compiling a record of 346-109-4.
Pitts led the Bulldogs to 1 5 region
titles and their only state champion
ship in 1 980.
• Details of 700 Forsyth busi nesses
that got forgivable loans totaling
$24 million under the Paycheck
Protection Program (PPP) last year
during the COVID shutdown are
raising questions about whether
all the money went to legitimate
businesses. While most recipients
appear to be actual Forsyth busi
nesses that needed payroll help
during the nationwide shutdown,
others seem suspect. For instance,
20 of those 700 businesses are
apparently run by former state
inmates who used 300 Patrol
Road, the Tift College home of the
Department of Corrections, as their
home address. And one $20,000
loan went to a Union Hill Drive taxi
business that doesn’t appear to
exist.
• In a sudden reversal, the Monroe
County school board rescinds its
mask mandate on Aug. 1 1 just
24 hours after imposing it after it
sparked a community wide back
lash.
2022
• Monroe County set an all-time
record by adding 344 new homes
in 202 1. The Monroe County
Building Department released its
year-end numbers last week and
they show construction of sin
gle-family homes was up a whop
ping 56 percent during the year.
In 2020 the county had added
221 homes, which had been a 25
percent increase from 201 9.
Jan. 1 1 • Two members of Georgia’s
1 980 National Championship team
who have Monroe County roots
are celebrating the school s return
to glory this week.
“It’s been a long, long time coming,"
Steve Chafin of Forsyth said of the
Bulldogs’ 33-1 8 win over Alabama.
It was fun to watch."
March • Peters Dairy Partnership
must be missing their daily supply of
fresh milk from the 1 20 dairy cows
that were shipped to a slaughter
house in Augusta last month ending
a 4-generation business tradition of
the Peters family in Monroe County.
April • The Reporter has learned
that Monroe County sold a 103-
acre tract in 202 1 that includes a
dormant water treatment plant at
the former Plant Camellia on the
Ocmulgee River for a fraction of
what it paid for it 1 3 years ago. The
county sold the 103-acre riverfront
tract last July for $1 03,750 to Ca
milla Partners of Bolingbroke. The
partners are Ronald Woodford and
Greg Jarrell, the latter of which
owns the adjacent Plant Camellia
and silt fence maker Gro Green.
The county later apologizes for not
handling the matter correctly.
May • The Forsyth Walmart hopes
to reopen its entire store on Friday,
May 6 after removing $2 million
worth of merchandise lost to smoke
and chemicals following last week’s
suspected arson. A quick-thinking
Walmart manager and an off-duty
fireman used 1 5 fire extinguishers
to stop last Wednesday s blaze
before it did more damage. Police
say Jasmine Miley, 3 1, of Forsyth,
a masked mother of four with a
record of legal troubles, set the fire
in the back corner of the store, in
the hardware section.
• Voters gave a new conservative
majority control of the Monroe
County Board of Education on
Tuesday. I hope to make some very
magnificent changes in the future,”
said Greg Head upon his re-elec
tion to the school board. "Thank you
to the voters.
June • Monroe County Chris
tians celebrated the monumental
Supreme Court decision overturning
Roe v. Wade and allowing states to
regulate abortion in a prayer ser
vice on Sunday on the courthouse
square.
“I’m just thankful," said Movene
Futch, a founding board member of
the Pregnancy Center of Monroe
County, which organized the event.
July 27 • While Georgia Power s
plan to shutter almost all of its
coal units won state approval last
Thursday, it looks like Plant Scherer’s
remaining two units will stay open
for the foreseeable future, good
news for Monroe County taxpayers.
MEAG and Oglethorpe Power,
which together own 90 percent of
Units 1 and 2 at Plant Scherer, told
the Reporter this week they have
no plans to join Georgia Power and
Florida power companies in closing
their units at the plant. "That sounds
like great news to me, said Monroe
County chief tax assessor Bobby
Gerhardt. "I think it’s fantastic. Any
thing to support the tax base helps
everyone. I was fearing the worst.”
August • Forsyth city manager
Janice Hall relieved police chief
Eddie Harris of his position, two
days after he blamed her for prob
lems in his department, according
to Mayor Eric Wilson. Hall said
Maj. Alexander Daniels is now the
interim chief. Harris, who was at the
Georgia police chiefs conference
in Savannah last week, talked with
Hall by phone on Friday. Hall told
the Reporter that she and Harris
mutually agreed he would submit his
resignation.
versary.