Newspaper Page Text
VOL. 117 NO. 16 Millen, Ga. 30442 LEGAL ORGAN OF JENKINS COUNTY SINCE 1903 Wednesday, October 18, 2023 « 750
Commissioners consider funding request of JCDA
DEBORAH BENNETT
Millen News Editor
The Jenkins County Commissioners
addressed a request for an increase in
funding from the Jenkins County De
velopment Authority (JCDA) during
the group’s Oct. 10th meeting.
County Administrator Grady Saxon
reported that the JCDA had requested
an annual supplement increase from
$80,000 to $120,000. The need for
the extra funding was reported to be
for cost of clearing land for a pos
sible new industry for the Hwy. 25
industrial park.
It was noted that twelve years ago,
the county had increased its supple
ment to the JCDA from $60,000 to
$120,000, and had later cut it back to
$80,000. After some discussion, the
matter was tabled.
During public participation, Tom
and Sandra Morris addressed the
group with road concerns.
Mrs. Morris stated that she felt that
Gip Road was unsafe for travel and
affected a lot of traffic on connecting
roads. She explained that the county’s
grading and scraping of the road had
gotten it down to the clay mantle with
deep ditches in which vehicles often
became stuck.
“We have pulled a lot of folks out
of the ditches when it rains,” she said.
Mrs. Morris said the road condi
tions also affected delivery trucks
such as FedEx and UPS, and noted
that years ago the road had been level
all the way across.
“Now, it’s eight inches lower than
our property,” she said. SEE
Mrs. Morris requested qqq
that the county have a road ^
engineer look at the situation
ilnjLC4&inJ
Georgia Grey “Gia”, 23 months old, poses in her Halloween costume. She is the
daughter of Major and Mrs. Justin and Tara McBride, currently stationed at Fort Sill,
Oklahoma. Her grandparents are Lonnie and Vickie Bradley of Nevils, James Wilkes
of Statesboro, Jerry McBride of Sylvania and Buford and Melodye Williams of Millen.
Great-grandparents are Melvin and Annelle Dickey of Millen.
Homeowners to get
extra tax exemption
DEBORAH BENNETT
Millen News Editor
Homeowners across the state of
Georgia will see some relief with their
property taxes this year, thanks to the
Homeowners Tax Relief Grant. The
one time grant was proposed by Gov.
Brian Kemp to refund $950 million
in property taxes back to homestead
owners in the Amended Fiscal Year
2023 budget. This proposal became
law when Governor Kemp signed HB
18 on March 13,2023.
With $950 mil
lion appropriated SEE
to the Department HOMEOWNERS
of Revenue in the o
Jerry Jenkins riding his golf cart on Oak Hill Church Road to pick up trash
along the roadway.
Jerry Jenkins “talks trash”
DEBORAH BENNETT
Millen News Editor
Nothing sets Jerry Jenkins’ blood
to boiling like talking about trash -
the kind lying on and along Oak Hill
Church Road where he resides.
Riding his golf cart, Jenkins is a
familiar figure to those passing by
as he patrols an area of the road that
is approximately IV2 miles long,
picking up litter thrown from vehicles
or blown from the back of pick-up
trucks. And, it is a never-ending job,
he says.
“I have been picking up trash all of
my life. Some people probably think
that I am crazy, and I might be. But,
I can’t stand it,” Jenkins
said. SEE
Raised by “Rabitschs”, JENKINS,
Jenkins says his desire to q
J.B. Gay & Sons named 2023 Centennial Farm
DEBORAH BENNETT
Millen News Editor
As the sun dawns each morning
over the J.B. Gay & Son farm located
in the Thrift community of Jenkins
County, farm operations are getting
underway. John B. Gay oversees
operating hundreds of acres with one
part-time worker.
The Gay farm has a long history in
the farming community and was re
cently selected as the 2023 Centennial
Farm. To be eligible for the award, the
designee must be a working farm that
has been in the same family for over
100 years. The Gay farm certainly
meets that requirement with its origin
having been traced back to the 1800s.
“Because the land that we are
on transitioned from being consid
ered Bulloch County, then Emanuel
County and, finally, Jenkins County,
records are difficult to track back
beyond the Emanuel County deeds of
the late 1800s,” said John B.
The earliest deeds reveal that John
B’s great-great-great-grandfather, Ab-
solem Gay, owned the farm in 1869,
and through the years it has passed
down to Matthew Martin Gay, John
Baft Gay Sr., Emma Gay, John Baft
Gay Jr., Carroll Emerson Gay Sr. and,
finally, John B.
John Batt Gay, Jr. and Carroll Em
erson Gay Sr. partnered to incorporate
the farm under the name of J.B. Gay
& Son, Inc. on Nov. 6,1963.
‘I guess you could say I have been
farming since I was old enough to
push play tractors around in my par
ents’ yard,” said John B. “I have never
even thought of doing anything but
farming, and never even had another
job anywhere but here on our farm.”
As the ownership of the farm
changed through the years, the opera
tions also changed.
“Years ago they raised corn, to
bacco, peanuts, and hogs. My daddy,
Carroll Emerson Gay Sr., was born
in 1930, and was always active in the
farm growing up. When he graduated
from high school, he became fulltime
on the farm,” John B. recalls.
“I followed my daddy and grand-
daddy around every chance I had.
And, my first real responsibility on the
farm came at an early age with feed
ing the calves at our dairy g^
and helping my granddaddy
with his hogs,” John B. said.
When a cheese plant 8
The John B. Gay family is shown at the Georgia National Fair where the J.B.
Gay & Son, Inc. farm was presented a Georgia Centennial Farm Certificate of
Honor signed by the Governor during a special recognition program. From
left, are Branham Gay, Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper, John B. Gay,
Jean Gay, and Tiller Gay.
