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VOL. 105, NO. 45, MAY 27, 2009 LEGAL ORGAN OF JENKINS COUNTY MILLEN, GEORGIA • 75 CENTS Local couple restore! historic Milieu home The Edenfield-Holland Home as it appears today. (Photo contributed) By Art Johnson Thousands of individuals across the country are celebrat ing National Preservation Month this May. "This Place Matters!” is the theme of the month-long celebration sponsored by the Na tional Trust for Historic Preserva tion. A “Place that Matters” in Millen is the Edenfield- Holland Home. During Preservation Month 2009 Millen salutes the efforts of Beth and Rodney Collins who have purchased and are restoring this historic house. The Edenfield-Holland home site on Gray Street was originally a grant from King George of En gland to Robert Gray who sold it to John M. Edenfield. The lot was covered by a cotton patch at the time of the purchase by Mr. Edenfield. Mr. Edenfield built the house, and it was shown on the map of the “Town of Millen in 1881.” It was the second house to be built in Millen after the in corporating of the village. Col. Josiah Holland purchased the property from a loan company. “The Edenfield-Holland House” might be more accurately identified as the John M. Edenfield home since Mr. Edenfield was the builder and a very talented one. Among his buildings that still remain in Millen are Millen Baptist Church, the Lane building and the homes of Mi - , and Mrs. Annon Forehand, Ms. Bill Landrum and Ms. Delores Thompson. His last known remaining building on Cotton Avenue is the Edenfield Building, built around 1900 and located in the center of the block between Masonic Street and the end of Cotton Avenue. It was a major gift to his community. Up stairs was the Opera House, where one of the earliest movies was shown, “Birth of a Nation.” This was the center of social life in the area and the site of school graduation services and many cultural activities. Shops and of fice spaces filled the ground floor. John M. Edenfield really built some of Millen’s best examples of attractive and functional, as well as high quality buildings. Miss Minnie Holland inherited the house from her father. Ailene Hatcher purchased the house when Miss Minnie died; she ran an antique shop there for many years and later leased it to Ed Wil son for the same puipose. When Ms. Hatcher died, Beth and Rodney Collins purchased the house from her estate. The Collins’ are preserving as many of the original elements as possible. The tin roof on the porches is the original tin that was placed during the construction of the home. Restoration work has primarily been on the exterior, consisting of painting and repair. Since the National Trust for Historic Preservation created Preservation Week in 1971 to spotlight grassroots preservation efforts in America, it has grown into an annual celebration ob served by small towns and big cit ies with events ranging from ar chitectural and historic tours and award ceremonies, to fundraising events, educational programs and heritage travel opportunities. Due to its overwhelming popularity, in 2005, the National Trust for His toric Preservation extended the celebration to the entire month of May and declared it Preservation Month to provide an even longer opportunity to celebrate the di verse and unique heritage of our country’s cities and states and en able more Americans to become involved in the growing preser vation movement. BOE hears graduation test results By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor The 2009 scores of students at Jenkins County High School (JCHS) on the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) were comparable to state and RESA results. Jenkins County School Superintendent Melissa Williams reported on the tests during the Monday, May 18, meeting of the Jenkins County Board of Education (BOE). Eighty-six percent of the first- time test takers, 11 th graders, at JCHS passed the English/language arts portion of the test. This com pares to a 90 percent passing rate for the state and 88 percent for the RESA district. On the math por tion of the test, 93 percent of JCHS students passed; 94 percent of the students passed statewide; and 92 percent passed in RESA; JCHS students excelled on the science part of the test with a 95 percent pass rate. This compares to 88 percent for the state and 85 percent for RESA. In social stud ies, JCHS students scored a 78 percent passing rate as compared to 89 percent for the state and 84 percent for RESA. JCHS principal Dr. Joey Kirkland reported that remarkable improvement had been made in the scores of black students tak ing the GHSGT. “We have made gains on the GHSGT in all areas and subgroups. We are especially proud that we made significant gains in our black subgroup both in Math and language arts this year,” he commented to The Millen News. In other matters, students’ achievements were recognized by the BOE as follows: Math-a-ma- nia participants - Darien Bragg and Dawson Fields; and Stock Market Slingerz - Will Collier, Robert Newsome and Ben Dickey. Other actions taken by the BOE included the following: • Approved the renewal of con tract with the Jenkins County Ex tension Service for the 4-H pro gram; • Approved CTAE Perkins pro gram Improvement Plan; • Approved use of school bus for Summer Lunch program; • Approved the employment of Ashley Burch as agriculture teacher at JCHS; • Approved the employment of Lisa Jones as family and consumer science teachers at JCHS; • Approved coaching supple ments for the 2009-2010 school year in the amount of $74,950; and • Approved Summer Lunch pro gram salary schedule as presented. To see photos of those recognized during the BOE meeting, - See page 3 Health officials put the final touches on plans for a mock Anthrax exercise. From left, are Preston Harpe, Medical Reserve Corps coordinator, East Central Health District; Emmitt Walker, Public Relations Information coordinator, East Central Health District; Pam Drake, RN, Jenkins County nurse manager, Jenkins County Health Department; and Jonathan Adriano, Deputy Director of Emergency Preparedness, East Central Health District. (Staff photo by Deborah Bennett) For Anthrax Exercise Health Department needs volunteers Health officials are asking for the public’s help. The pub lic is needed to turn out on Saturday, May 30, to play the role of victims of Anthrax as part of an exercise conducted by the Jenkins County Health Department. The exercise will begin at 10 a.m. and end when enough victims have been processed to meet state established goals. The exercise will test the ability of Jenkins County to respond to a bio-terrorist’s distribution of Anthrax spores in the community. Emergency response agencies in Jenkins County will participate, and planning has been going on for several weeks. Officials are stressing that there is no danger involved in the mock exercise. Volunteers are being asked to just drive through the dispensing site at the Jenkins County High School, entering from Barney Avenue, and receive mock medicines after filling our a very brief form. The exercise is designed to simulate a real-world emergency situation. The public is encouraged to bring their families, if de sired, and help make this test successful. Local clubs, churches and other civic organizations are also encouraged to participate. “Come out and have fun with us as we prove our readi ness to meet a challenge such as this to our community,” said Pam Drake, Jenkins County nurse manager, Jenkins County Health Department. JCHS seniors graduate May 29 Jenkins County High School’s (JCHS) 2009 Commencement Exercise will be held 7 p.m. Friday, May 29, in the Jenkins County Schools’ gymnatorium on North Avenue. The 2009 honor graduates will present the program. In an effort to provide each graduate’s family equal access to observe this milestone ceremony and to ensure the sanctity of the event, admission tickets will be required to enter the gymnatorium. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and will close promptly at 7 p.m. Balloons will not be allowed in the gym area before or dur ing the ceremony. Food and drink will not be allowed in the gym. Anyone arriving after the doors close at 7 p.m. will not be seated. Public cooperation is being enlisted. Gas authority honors R.M. ‘Bubba’ Small, City of Millen The Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia (MGAG) honored R.M. “Bubba” Small of Millen with the 2008 Billy Hersey Sr. Award at its recent annual meet ing. The award is presented an nually to a veteran gas system operator known by his peers to exhibit excellent leadership, be of upstanding character and demonstrate true commitment to the natural gas industry, as well as to his community. Mr. Small is the Utility Superinten dent for the City of Millen. The City of Millen’s Utilities Department was also recog nized for marketing excellence. This award is presented annu ally to municipally-owned natu ral gas systems served by the MGAG for unique marketing initiatives. The city was recog nized for its work with Reeves Construction’s asphalt plant, resulting in increased natural gas sales for the city. The City of Millen devised a unique variable rate structure for natural gas service that com peted favorably to the asphalt plant’s alternate fuel pricing. The plant was primarily using No. 5 waste oil before the city designed the competitive and attractive natural gas pricing. In addition, the city had to balance the plant’s fluctuating need for fuel based on production cycles, which added to the challenges the city faced in proving a unique solution. Since August 2008, when the plan went into effect, the city has seen a marked increase in natural gas sales to the plant. MGAG’s Vice President of Member Services, Chris Strippelhoff, presented both awards to Mr. Small, who ac cepted on behalf of the City of Millen. “This year’s recipient (of the Bill Hershey award) is an indus try veteran, employee and friend to us all, having faithfully served his community with ex cellence for 36 years; he is be yond a doubt deserving of this award,” he said. Mr. Small began working as a helper with the Utilities De partment with his father at the age of nine, digging ditches and painting both water meters and fire hydrants. He would follow his father’s footsteps in making Utilities Superintendent his life long career. In fact, now his son, Mikel Small is following in his footsteps in the City of Waynesboro and is continuing the family tradition. “For 36 years, he has been responsible for the city’s water, wastewater and natural gas sys tems. He has earned the respect of his fellow employees and other professionals in the field,” Mr. Strippelhoff said. Mr. Small is a graduate of South Georgia Technical Col lege in Americus. He has also earned certifications in water and wastewater from the State of Georgia, as well as numer ous other certificates and awards throughout his career. Lamar Faircloth, city man ager for the City of Millen, said, “Bubba Small is well respected in this community and is known especially for his integrity. He grew up here in Millen and has provided wonderful leadership and true commitment to this community. If anyone ever tells him he is working too hard, he just simply says, ‘That’s my job.’” Mr. Small’s wife Gloria and son Mikel were in attendance at the annual meeting to see him accept the awards. MGAG is the largest non profit natural gas joint-action agency in the United States, serving 76 members in Georgia, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Ten nessee and Florida that meet the gas needs of approximately 243,000 customers. The City of Millen and R.M. “Bubba” Small, city utilities superintendent were each recently recognized by the Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia (MGAG). Mr. Small received the 2008 Bill Hersey award and the city was recognized for its unique marketing initiatives. Shown during the program are, from left, Scott Tolleson, MGAG; Mr. Small; and Chris Strippelhoff, MGAG vice-president of MGAG member services. (Photo contributed)