Newspaper Page Text
Page 6B
November 16, 2022
LS3«&,
Reporter
Forsyth Main St. coordinator leaves amid holiday planning
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
The new Forsyth Main
Street coordinator has left
her position after just a few
months on the job.
Main Street/DDA held its
regular monthly meeting
on Monday, Nov. 14. All
members of the board were
present by the end of the
meeting, but the Main Street
coordinator, who normally
provides the agenda, a direc
tors report and information
throughout the meeting was
not present.
Board chair Kerri Swear
ingen said the coordinator,
Rebecca Headley, left the
position the preceding week
and board members need
to plan to provide extra help
with the remaining 2022
events for which Forsyth
Main Street is responsible,
including the Christmas
Tree Lighting, Shop Small
Saturday and the New Years
Eve event.
Forsyth economic devel
opment director Cody Ellis
will be interim Main Street
coordinator, Swearingen
said there are no plans to ad
vertise for a new Main Street
coordinator until January.
Headley, who lives in
Barnesville, became Forsyth
Main Street coordinator on
July 22, stepping into the
role just in time for the last
concert of the 2022 Concert
on the Square series, a pop
ular project of Forsyth Main
Street. She oversaw the visit
of the Braves’ World Series
trophy to Forsyth in August
and recently worked with
Forsyths annual scarecrow
contest and Trick or Treat on
the Square. She also worked
with Forsyths Farmers Mar
ket and Main Street’s facade
grant program.
The same board of direc
tors serves DDA and Main
Street, and meetings are held
jointly, although the two en
tities are separated to fulfill
guidelines for Main Street,
which is a national organiza
tion. For example, separate
bank accounts and financial
statements are maintained.
Swearingen said the only
expense in the Main Street
account in October was the
purchase of candy for Trick
or Treat, with a balance
remaining of $5,469.54. She
said there was no activity
on the DDA account in
September or October, other
than the addition of 39 cents
interest and that the balance
is $76,297.09.
The board approved
three facade grants for Joel
Vinson’s building at 5 N. Lee
Street and 7 N. Lee Street
on the square. Vinson was
able to apply for three grants
because the building has
three different facades. The
Main Street facade grant is a
matching grant up to $1,000;
the building owner or tenant
is reimbursed up to $1,000
for what is spent on improv
ing the exterior look of the
downtown building. The
board discussed Vmsoris
applications at its Oct. 10
meeting but tabled action
until receipts for the work
were submitted.
At the October meeting
the Main Street/DDA board
set the annual Tree Lighting
for Saturday, Nov. 26 from
6-8 p.m. and voted to spon
sor having Santa available
to visit with children during
that time. The date is the
Saturday after Thanksgiving,
which is designated as “Shop
Small Saturday’ a follow-up
to “Black Friday” after
Thanksgiving. The emphasis
of Shop Small Saturday is to
shop at locally-owned retail
stores.
Swearingen said Head-
ley had been unsuccessful
in finding a new artificial
Christmas tree for Forsyth.
Swearingen said the tree
needs to be 20-feet tall and
there is a shortage of artifi
cial trees. She said the next
option is to try to find a live
tree for the Tree Lighting.
She said the Forsyth electri
cal department will set up
the tree and decorate it with
lights and other decorations.
She asked Ellis, board mem
bers and city manager Janice
Hall to try to find a live tree
locally. Hall said if Forsyth
can’t find a tree she will ask
the county if the city can
light the tree on the corner
of the courthouse lawn.
Swearingen said Santa usu
ally sits on the courthouse
lawn for about an hour after
the tree lighting. If weather
is bad, Main Street will find
an indoor alternative.
She said Santa will give
out candy canes, and Main
Street will find a good back
drop for him. She said Main
Street could do shopping
bags for Shop Small Satur
day and should contact local
merchants about special
promotions offered for the
day. She said Main Street
should find someone to
create a Facebook event to
promote the specials and the
Tree Lighting.
Hall said the city has new
garland to decorate the light
poles, and Ellis said the city
has ordered new banners
to decorate the streets. Hall
said she will see that city
council is asked to approve
all street closings needed for
the events.
Swearingen said Main
Street/DDA needs to secure
a band for New Year’s Eve
and needs to begin coordi
nating with local merchants
and creating a presence on
social media to promote it.
Swearingen said she and
other volunteers will be
gathering the fall deco
rations from around the
courthouse and square in
the next few days. She said
Main Street/DDA will also
work with Forsyth Mon
roe County Chamber of
Commerce to promote and
execute the Hometown Hol
idays parade on Thursday,
Dec. 1. Hall said it is difficult
for merchants around the
parade route to be open
or have specials on parade
night.
OPEN HOUSE
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We have some big announcements
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excited ... lots of goodies to snack on!
JDn the.
and the occasional tar and feathers
m Georgia journalist
Two decades of faith, funnies
from a small-tov
y Makes \
f a Great
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State Representative, Peach Farmer
AVAILABLE AT:
FORSYTH: The Reporter, U-Save-lt Pharmacy, Castleberry Drug, & Ocmulgee Outfitters
SMARR: Rumble Road BP • BOLINGBROKE: Southern Charm, Henry’s, & Country Station General Store - Exxon
AVAILABLE AT THE REPORTER • GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT
Pictured are Rotarian Jim Wilcox, left, and Greg Elrod,
owner of Sportsmic.
Rotary Club
learns about
SportsMic.coms
growth
Greg Elrod of Forsyth,
owner of SportsMic.com,
spoke to Forsyth Monroe
County Rotary Club on
Nov. 3 about his “for profit”
business. He believes
businesses need to make a
profit in order to purchase
the latest and greatest
equipment.
SportsMic.com is a
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company that specializes
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events virtually. SportsMic.
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Houston County Schools,
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pionship team.
The functionality of this
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The Mary Persons chan
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one turkey or ham
turkey stuffing
brown gravy
cranberry sauce
dinner rolls
green bean casserole
sweet potato casserole
mashed potatoes
pumpkin or pecan pie
gallon of tea or
lemonade
ALA-CARTE
TURKEY OR HAM
$65 $42
SIDES
GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
SWEET POTATO EASSEROLE
MASHED POTATOES
MACNCHEESE
one turKey & nam
turkey stuffing
(2)brown gravy
(2)cranberry sauce
dinner rolls
green bean casserole
sweet potato casserole
mashed potatoes
collards or mac n cheese
(2)pumpkin or pecan pies
(2)gallons of tea or lemonade
(2)turkey stuffing
(2)brown gravy
(2)cranberry sauce
dinner rolls
(2)green bean casserole
(2)sweet potato casserole
(2)mashed potatoes
(2) collards or mac n cheese
(3) pumpkin or pecan pies
3 gallons of tea or lemonade
FIXINGS
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