Newspaper Page Text
April 26, 2023
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.
April 29
Friends of the Barnes-
ville-Lamar County
Library book sale &
raffle
Friends of the Barnes-
ville-Lamar County Library
will have a semi-annua
book sale to benefit the
ibrary on Saturday, April
29 from 9 a.m.-12 noon at
the library, 401 Thom-
aston Street, Barnesville.
Shoppers may fill a milk
box with books for $5, or
books may be purchased
individually. Tickets for the
Spring Basket Raffle are
available at the library
and will be sold at the
book sale; tickets are $5
or five for $20. The basket
is loaded with items from
local merchants and gift
cards.
May 1
M.C. Historical Soci
ety hears of Forsyth
Bicentennial plans
Monroe County Histori
cal Society will meet on
Monday, May 1 at 7 p.m.
at the Conley Building,
104 E. Adams Street.
Gilda Stanbery, chair of
the Forsyth Bicentennial
Committee, will present
a program discussing
Forsyth's observation of its
bicentennial this year. She
will follow up her pre
sentation with a game
involving Forsyth trivia.
May 5
Friends of the Barnes-
ville-Lamar County
Library 'Meet the
Authors’ event
On Sunday, May 7 from
2 to 5 p.m. Friends of the
Barnesville-Lamar Coun
ty will host a “Meet the
Authors" event in the library
conference room at 401
Thomaston St. There are
five authors on the agenda:
Paul Sinor, Demont Pope,
Emily Meadows, Crista
Selsor Stubbs & Scott Selsor,
and Krista Harper & Kristie
Watts. There will be light fin
ger foods. All are welcome.
Forsyth Farmers
Market opens for the
season
Forsyth Farmers Mar
ket will open at a new
location, 94 E. Adams
Street (Old Mill Market)
on Friday, May 5. It will
be open every Friday
from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. through
October. Vendor regis
tration is available at City
Hall, 23 E. Main Street or
online at www.mainstreet.
cityofforsyth.net.
May 5 & 6
Save A Pet Shelter
Yard Sale
Save A Pet Shelter, 430
Maynard Church Road,
Forsyth will have a yard
sale on Friday, May 5,
rain or shine, from 9 a.m.-2
p.m. and Saturday, May 6
from 9 a.m. until ? There
will be furniture, household
items and more. For more
information, contact Pat C.
At 478-994-5223.
May 9
Friends of High Falls
State Park host Corn-
hole Social
On Tuesday, May 9, at 6
p.m. the Friends of High
Falls State Park will host
a Cornhole Social in the
swimming/putt-putt parking
lot. You are invited to join
us for a fun evening, rain
or shine, with refreshments,
games, and to learn what
we're doing to help High
Falls State Park. Please let
us know you're coming at
Ipreed57@gmail.com
May 12-14 & 19-21
The Backlot Players
present Five Tellers
Dancing in the Rain’
The last show of the
2022-23 Backlot Players
season will be “Five Tellers
Dancing in the Rain.” Show
dates are Fridays & Sat
urdays, May 12, 13, 19, 20
at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays,
May 1 4 & 21 at 2:30 p.m.
See CALENDAR Page 2B
Community
Around Monroe County ► ► Forsyth • Juliette • High Falls • Bolingbroke • Culloden • Smarr
Special Olympics: a day filled with winners
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Monroe County celebrat
ed its first Special Olym
pics Games since 2018 on
Thursday, April 20 with
students, staff, parents,
volunteers and other com
munity members coming
out like the event had never
missed a beat. Sunshine
and mild temperatures
beamed down on the Mary
Persons track to meet
smiles, goodwill and good
efforts. There were 130 Spe
cial Olympians registered
for the competition.
Athletes arrived between
9 and 9:30 a.m. from
Monroe County’s three
elementary schools, middle
school and high school and
from Robs Place, a local
center for special needs
students who have com
pleted high school. Open
ing ceremonies included
a parade around the track
with banners lead by the
Mary Persons JROTC color
guard.
Superintendent Dr. Mike
Hickman welcomed the
athletes, parents, staff
and volunteers, and Rev.
Alvin Moore, a 2011 Mary
Persons graduate, gave
the invocation. The 2023
Special Olympic Games
were dedicated to Gerald
Walton.
After opening remarks,
the lighting of the Olym
pic torch and the Athletes’
Prayer, Hickman declared,
“Let the Games begin.”
Rosemary Boone, a Mary
Persons teacher, chaired
the Monroe County Special
Olympics committee
that worked to make the
competition happen. There
were many familiar faces
of those who have volun
teered at Monroe County
Special Olympics over the
years, including several
who have retired since the
last Special Olympics five
years ago. There were also
many first-time volunteers,
including Mary Persons
students.
Athletes competed in
track events including
wheelchair races, 10 &
25-meter walks, a 50-me-
ter rim, a 100-meter rim/
walk and a 100-meter run.
Athletes coved the whole
track for the 400-meter
run and headed to the
field for the running long
jump, standing long jump,
softball throw and tennis
ball throw.
Waiting to hand out 1st,
2nd and 3rd place ribbons
were Cassandra Ogle-
tree and Kelly Jungberg.
Athletes proudly received
those ribbons on the three
tiered podium built by
D.J. Hurm’s construction
class. Appropriate music
for winners sounded as
the athletes stood on the
podium by Walter Dean as
Jesse Driggers announced
the names.
Dean and Driggers have
come from Macon to add
their touch to the Monroe
County Special Olympics
for many years and also do
nate their time and talents
to other Special Olympic
events in Area 7. Driggers
even put on hold picking
up the new dog that he and
his wife are adding to their
family until he completed
his duties at the Monroe
County Special Olympics.
The Forsyth Dairy Queen
donated lunch for the
athletes and staff, and after
lunch, the Special Olym
pians had an hour to enjoy
four giant inflatables before
returning to their schools.
Above, athletes and staff enjoy the opening parade. Left, long
time volunteers return to help because they say they have
almost as much fun as the students. Below, an athlete seems to
take flight as he competes in the running long jump.
The popcorn machine sent
the aroma of fresh popcorn
onto the field to entice
participants to enjoy it, too.
All of the athletes and staff
wore new bright green Spe
cial Olympics T-shirts.
The special touches to
the day were made possi
ble by sponsors, including
DK Designs, CoTique,
BD Logo-Vector, Caldwell
Veterinary Hospital, Dick’s
Sporting Goods, Father
Goose’s International Toys,
Floyd’s Collision, Grant’s
Tire & Auto, Jonah’s on
Johnston, Rob’s Place, J&K
Services Mobile Truck &
Equipment Service, Head
H & AC, Mayo Hill Law,
Middle Ga. Realty, Old Mill
Market Company, R& R
Property & Management,
RFCU, Skywalker Estates,
West Mane Salon, Walthall
Oil Company and Zaxby’s.
Soom-to-be Mary Persons 2023 graduates pose for a group photo after walking the halls of Hubbard Elementary where their public education journey began.
MP seniors take walks at first alma maters
Current 2nd graders reach out for high fives with those
who were 2nd graders at Hubbard Elem. a decade ago.
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Mary Persons Class of2023 is
ready to take a walk across the field
on May 26 to receive long antici
pated diplomas. On April 17 the
soon-to-be graduates took a walk
down memory lane, returning to
their Monroe County Elementary
Schools to stroll down the halls
that many of them had not visited
for seven years.
Approximately 97 of the grad
uates returned to Hubbard Ele
mentary School, where students,
teachers and other staff members
eagerly welcomed them. There
were also some parents and grand
parents who took the opportunity
to relive some early educational
memories with their seniors (first
days of school each year?) and
practice shedding a few tears be
fore graduation day.
A few retired and other for
mer teachers and staff members
took the opportunity to return
to Hubbard to cheer on the now
adult Hubbard Tigers and share a
few hugs with former students and
colleagues.
It was a special day for senior
Jordan McCord, whose
mother, Dr. MeQuanta
McCord, is now principal
of Hubbard Elementa
ry. His father, Rodney
McCord, also came to
support Jordan and his
classmates as they took
the walk to look back
before turning their
attention to looking
forward.
Another special mem
ber of the Class of2023
who jour
neyed back
to Hubbard
Elementary
was Bran
don Alford,
whose
mother,
Sarah Al
ford, is now
principal of
the Monroe
County
Achieve
ment Center.
She was
on hand to
cheer for Brandon and his class
mates.
Hubbard students lined their
halls to offer high fives to the
graduates and imagine themselves
in caps and gowns in a few years.
Hubbard media center specialist
Erin Carr filmed the parade of
senior as they walked through the
arch of gold and black balloons in
the library where they had once
chosen their books for accelerated
reader tests.
Other Mary Persons seniors
visited T.G. Scott Elementary and
K.B. Sutton Elementary Schools
where they reminisced about their
first five or six years (depending on
whether they were in the pre-kin
dergarten class) of public educa
tion.
Mary Persons graduation is
scheduled for Friday night, May
26. The Reporter will include a
special section picturing all the
2023 graduates, including Monroe
County residents graduating from
private schools and home school,
in its May 24 edition.
The sign I am Wonderful was created to en
courage elementary students but was certainly
appropriated for the visiting seniors