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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 3. 2008 - PAGE 3A
EJCHS Builder Wins
Award For School Roof
Bowen & Watson Inc. was
awarded the Architectural
Metal Systems Excellence
in Design Award in the
category of “Roof of the
Year" for the East Jackson
County Comprehensive
High School. For the
Kings Bridge Middle
School, Bowen & Watson
was also awarded first
runner-up in the same
category.
The AMS Excellence in
Design Award honors build
ers and roofers for their
exhibition of innovation and
distinction in design.
Both projects were
designed by Southern A&E,
an architectural firm located
in Austell.
— Interest Stead
Cont. from Page 1A
to a local potter interested
in the possibility of an “arts
market" in Commerce, for
which Craver is propos
ing a list of partners. On a
related matter, Craver said
he talked to the owner of
an art gallery in Dahlonega
who has expressed interest
in opening another gallery
in the area.
Not all the news was
good. Craver told the DDA
board that a person who
had expressed interest in
opening a sports bar on
State Street had a change of
mind. Not only will the per
son not open the business
in Commerce, but he has
also decided not to open
one period.
“I think cost was the prob
lem," said Craver.
In a related matter,
Claudine Smith of the DDA’s
— BOETo Act
Cont. from Page 1A
has been pared down to
about $1.5 million, but
won’t know the final figure
until the project’s general
contractor, Charles Black
Construction, verifies that
with the affected bidders.
“We haven’t lost any size. It
will still seat 700 and we will
play games there," McCoy
assured. “This thing grew
from just a practice gym to
where we are hosting games.
We’ve got locker rooms,
increased concessions for
football — it’ll be something
r In Downtown
Economic Restructuring
Committee reported that she
contacted Angela Bozeman
of Commerce High School
to enlist the help of art stu
dents in preparing a “busi
ness mix map" of the down
town. The map, showing the
uses of buildings, would be
used by the committee as
it seeks to attract new busi
nesses.
Smith also said her com
mittee plans four “small
business seminars" in con
junction with the Commerce
Area Business Association.
The first will be
Wednesday, Sept. 10, when
Guillaume Slama, an entre
preneur from Washington
(Georgia) will speak. He
owns a restaurant, renovat
ed the Fitzpatrick Hotel and
operates Lafayette Manor
Bed and Breakfast, all in
Washington.
On Gym Bid
we can be proud of."
But it won’t be bricked,
although that could happen
sometime in the future.
The board is working on
getting its soil and sedi
mentation permit from
the city, after which it can
begin demolition, which will
include the restrooms/con-
cession stand at the west
end of the football field.
McCoy said temporary
bathrooms and concession
stands will be made avail
able while the new gym is
built.
— Churches Hope To Help Out
Cont. from Page 1A
Allen, pastor.
“We would send some
one to the site to assess the
need, then we would match
the volunteers with the need
and set up a time for the
work to be done," he said.
Member Mike Buffington
is coordinating the effort.
New Salem United
Methodist Church, work
ing through Warren Chapel
United Methodist Church, is
doing much the same thing,
reports Tommy Rainey.
He put together a “chain
saw crew" for the weekend
to work on clearing of yards
and removal of debris.
For homeowners, Rainey
says the church hopes to
provide funds for lumber
and repairs. For renters, he
said, the group will contact
the landlords and try to get
a one-month waiver on rent
payment.
“We’ve got to set down
and put people down on
paper and see what cate
gory people fall under," he
said.
Rainey said that this week
end he hopes to have crews
that can fix porches, roof,
vinyl siding, “any kind of
damage from the storm, I
can fix it."
For information or to
get assistance, call Warren
Chapel UMC at 706-335-
5290 or Barbara Pattman at
706-870-4195.
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Community Calendar
To place events on the Community Calendar, call 706-387-5406 or e-mail mark@mainstreetnews.com
Thursday, Sept. 4
Kiwanis Club meets: Noon, Com
merce Civic Center.
School board meets: 7:00 p.m.,
Commerce Middle School media
center. The work session prepares
the Commerce Board of Education
for its regular meeting the following
Monday.
Saturday, Sept. 6
Farmers' market: 7 a.m. to 11
a.m., South Elm Street, Commerce
(across from Spencer Park). Lo
cally grown fresh produce will be
offered. The market is open the first
and third Saturday of each month.
Monday, Sept. 8
Commerce Council meets: 6:30
p.m., Commerce Room, Commerce
Civic Center.
School board meets: 7:00 p.m.,
Commerce High School media cen
ter. The Commerce Board of Educa
tion operates the city's independent
school system.
Tuesday, Sept. 9
TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC
Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off
Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss
group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to
5:50.
Lions Club meets: 7:00 p.m.,
Ryan's Steakhouse, Banks Crossing.
Thursday, Sept. 11
Kiwanis Club meets: Noon, Com
merce Civic Center.
Cold Sassy Quilters: 1:00 p.m.,
Commerce Public Library.
Monday, Sept. 15
Hospital authority meets: 1:30
p.m., conference room, BJC
Hospital. The BJC Medical Center
Authority manages BJC Hospital
and Nursing Home.
Library board meets: 5:00 p.m.,
Commerce Public Library. The
Commerce Library Board oversees
the city library.
Tuesday, Sept. 16
TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC
Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off
Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss
group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to
5:50.
Thursday, Sept. 18
Kiwanis Club meets: Noon, Com
merce Civic Center.
Pilot Club meets: 7:00 p.m., First
United Methodist Church of Com
merce. The Pilot Club of Commerce
meets on the third Thursday of each
month.
Saturday, Sept. 20
Farmers' market: 7 a.m. to 11
a.m., South Elm Street, Commerce
(across from Spencer Park). Lo
cally grown fresh produce will be
offered. The market is open the
first and third Saturday of each
month.
Art In The Park: 10-6, Hurri
cane Shoals Park, Hwy. 82 Spur,
Maysville. Arts, crafts, games,
music and more, sponsored by the
Tumbling Waters Society. Admis
sion is free.
Sunday, Sept. 21
Art In The Pane 12:30-5 p.m.,
Hurricane Shoals Park, Hwy. 82
Spur, Maysville. Arts, crafts, games,
music ana more, sponsored by the
Tumbling Waters Society. Admis
sion is free.
Monday, Sept. 22
City planning meeting: 7:00
p.m., Peach Room, Commerce
Civic Center. The Commerce Plan
ning Commission makes recom
mendations to the city council
on zoning requests and land use
matters.
Tuesday, Sept. 23
TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC
Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off
Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss
group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to
5:50.
Lions Club meets: 7:00 p.m.,
Ryan's Steakhouse, Banks Crossing.
Thursday, Sept. 25
Cold Sassy Quilters: 6:00 p.m.,
Commerce Public Library.
Friday, Sept. 26
Kiwanis Sporting Clays tourna
ment: 9:00 a.m., Brush Creek
Sporting Club, Colbert. In lieu of
reqular Kiwanis Club meetinq that
week.
Tuesday, Sept. 30
TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC
Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off
Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss
group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to
5:50.
Wednesday, Oct. 1
Chamber breakfast: 7:30 a.m.,
Jefferson Civic Center. Open to all
members of the Jackson County
Area Chamber of Commerce.
Members $5, guests $10.
Thursday, Oct. 2
Kiwanis Club meets: Noon, Com
merce Civic Center.
— Cleanup, Repairs Continue In Tornado's Aftermath
Cont. from Page 1A
other would have meant
heavy property damage if
not loss of life.
The storm, first sighted
near Arcade, toppled trees
and branches in yards on
Jefferson Road, skipped over
Hwy. 98 and North Broad
Street, plowing through the
tops of trees down Forest
Avenue, across Veterans
Memorial Park and dipping
down between Pine Street
and West Cordes Place. It
continued northeast across
Cole Court and Cedar Drive
and into Ashworth Mobile
Home Park before pulling
back into the clouds. In its
wake it left two demolished
buildings (a mobile home
and a city utility building),
scores of damaged residenc
es and hundreds of downed
trees — but no significant
injuries and no fatalities.
The Cleanup
Trees in Ashworth Mobile
Home Park, located off old
U.S. 441, were decimated,
but most of the big pine,
poplar and oak trees top
pled by the storm did little
or no damage to the trail
ers.
Carolina Cable was
already restoring service
Wednesday morning, and
15 volunteers from Disaster
Relief Georgia from as far
away as Augusta wielded
chainsaws to clear roads
and yards in the mobile
home park.
The state director of the
7,000-member organization
resides in Commerce. Stuart
Lang lives on Smallwood
Drive. He was on the scene
by 5:00 Tuesday afternoon.
“It just happened to hit
our hometown," he com
mented .
Commerce Public Works
Director Rick Lewis had a
crew at Ashworth Mobile
Home Park too. He pointed
out that Jackson County
provided three dump trucks
and a front-end loader to
that effort.
“They really stepped up,"
said Lewis of county crews.
Hardy felt the same way.
“Jackson County has been
here full force," the mayor
said. “All of the fire depart
ments have been here.
The county manager was
here last night, along with
Steve Nichols and the EMS
folks. They’ve really pitched
in. We have two or three
crews from the correctional
institute with chain saws,
backhoes and front-end
loaders. All of the police
departments from the sur
rounding areas were here to
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help set up roadblocks and
control traffic. I can’t say
enough."
Those people were still on
the scene Friday.
Commerce firemen nailed
blue tarpaulins on a dozen
residences Tuesday night to
cover holes caused by wind
or falling trees. They were
back out Wednesday morn
ing and worked until every
hole was covered.
Paula Sears of the Jackson
County tax assessor’s office
assessed the damage on
Cole Court as a JCCI crew
cleared trees and limbs.
The American Red
Cross set up a shelter at
the First Baptist Church of
Commerce, where church
personnel provided food
Tuesday night. Church
members transported resi
dents from the affected
area to the church and deliv
ered meals out to the scene.
The Commerce School
System prepared break
fasts on behalf of the Red
Cross Wednesday. The First
United Methodist Church
prepared food for fire, EMS
and utility workers, and Mt.
Calvary Baptist Church
served as a shelter for dis
placed residents.
Two churches, First Baptist
of Commerce and New
Salem United Methodist,
have offered themselves
as clearinghouses for pro
viding volunteer labor for
repairs and cleanup (see
separate story) for those
with damage but no insur
ance.
A representative of
the Georgia Insurance
Commissioner’s office
arrived Friday to put up
posters offering help resolv
ing insurance-related mat
ters.
The storm largely spared
the city’s electrical system.
McKown said none of the
city’s primary lines were
affected, and only a few
service lines were knocked
down. Most of the affected
area is served by Georgia
Power, which had damage
to a major transmission line
as well as countless second
ary lines.
The city’s downtown res
taurants saw a spike in busi
ness Tuesday night, partly
because Banks Crossing
was without power.
Stonewalls was so busy it
ran out of food and closed
at about 7:00. Little Italy
and Vaughn’s Wing Slingers
were packed, observed
Hasco Craver, executive
director of the Downtown
Development Authority.
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