Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2B
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2008
Outdoors With Skipper
Animals can teach us important lessons
I t was this past Saturday as
my daughter, her husband
and my grandson and I
were working with the horses in
the barn.
Little Carson, soon to be four,
has his own wheelbarrow and
likes to imitate his parents. We
even have pictures of him clean
ing out the stall and putting the
refuse into his little wheel bar
row. He’s helping clear out the
horse manure, being that’s what
I will soon put on my garden for
the spring.
Well, my daughter and I were
in the rear of the barn, and
one of the young horses, Doc,
had his eyes and ears pointed
towards the back fields. We were
wondering what he was inter
ested in.
Looking in that direction we
couldn’t see anything. At least
we couldn’t to begin with. Then
I picked it out, it was a deer.
Standing directly facing us, at
some 100 yards away, it blended
in so well with the surroundings
that it was almost impossible to
The
Great
Outdoors
By Skipper Smith
706-677-1520
detect.
Standing motionless added to
the difficulty. I finally picked up
the darkness of the ears. Pointing
it out to the others took a while
before they could see it also.
Then it twitched its white tale,
and that was a dead give-a-way.
Soon it took off running, with
its white tail wagging, as Carson
now enjoyed seeing it.
I have learned when out hunt
ing, or just in the woods, that
other animals can be a great help
to us. By observing the birds,
and other animals reactions, we
can be alerted to things about to
happen.
You can watch a deer turn its
head in one direction, or look
behind it, and you can about be
certain something else is around.
Perhaps a buck or a turkey is
coming your way. It could even
be a stray dog.
The cry of crows usually lets
us know an owl or hawk is near
by. It’s amazing what we can
learn if we just take the time, to
be quiet, be still, and listen to
what is going on around us in
the woods. The behavior of ani
mals can teach a lot, if we will
but take time to observe them.
Well, I am already looking for
ward to spring-daffodils bloom
ing, trout creeks stocked with
fish, turkey hunting, and garden
ing time. Just a few more weeks
and my favorite time of year will
be upon us.
If you have an outdoors story
to share, please let me know.
Skipper Smith is an outdoors
columnist for The Banks County
News. His column appears
weekly. Let him know about your
hunting or fishing adventure at
706-677-1520.
Rec. Department hosting baseball, softball registration
The Banks County Parks and Recreation Department
will host baseball and softball registration beginning
Monday and continuing through Friday, Feb. 15.
Registration fee for both sports is $40. Age control is
May 1 for baseball and Jan. 1 for softball.
For additonal information, contact the recreation
department office on Thompson Street in Homer at
706-677-4407.
Information is also available at www.bankscounty.
recware.com.
WEEKLYPLANNER Upcoming prep sporting events (Wednesday, Jan. 30, through Tuesday, Feb. 5.)
Banks County High School, Banks County Middle School
Wed.
Thurs.
Fri.
Sat.
Mon.
Tues.
.Basketball @
BCMS, Leopards
Invitational
•Basketball @ BCMS,
Leopards Invitational
•Basketball @ East
Jackson, 7 p.m.
•Basketball @ BCMS,
Leopards Invitational
•Wrestling @ Titan
Cup, Blessed Trinity
High School
•Basketball @ BCMS,
Leopards Invitational
•Basketball @ Fannin
County, 6 p.m.
www.mainstreetnews.com
Banks County news and sports
Middle School Basketball
BCMS boys fall in overtime contest to Lakeview
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
In a game with plenty on the
line, the Banks County Middle
School boys basketball team bat
tled Lakeview to overtime last week
before falling 43-36.
Jacob Blalock finished with 14
points for the Leopards, including
three 3-pointers and Kyle Smith fin
ished with 11 points but it was not
quite enough for BCMS.
Coach John Bertrang’s team
jumped out to a 12-5 lead in the
first quarter behind the efforts of
Blalock and Clayton Martin. BCMS
continued to hold a 22-13 advantage
at halftime as Blalock added four
more points in the second quarter as
did Smith.
However, Lakeview began to climb
back in the game late in the first half
after 10 Leopard turnovers.
In the third quarter, Lakeview
continued to hold the momentum
outscoring BCMS 13-7. The lead
changed hands several times in the
fourth quarter with the two squads
going into overtime where Lakeview
would outscore the Leopards 13-7.
The win allowed Lakeview to
claim the No. 1 seed for this week’s
Leopard Invitational hosted by
BCMS (see story on page 1B).
The game also was somewhat
costly for BCMS as Smith broke
his ankle at the start of the overtime
quarter.
“This was almost like the first
‘I believe the boys will pull
together and make Banks
County proud.’
— Coach John Bertrang
game with Lakeview where we took
the first half lead and they won the
second half,” Bertrang said. “You
just can’t foul them because they
made their free throws. This makes
four of my players to go down this
year and the boys still came out and
competed hard. It will be a tough
test going into the tournament, but
I believe the boys will pull together
and make Banks County proud.”
Martin finished with seven points
while Blake Griffith added four.
BCMS girls wrap up No. 1 seed with recent wins
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Banks County Middle School
girls basketball team put the finish
ing touches on a successful regular
season last week with a 35-15 win
against Lakeview.
The victory gave coach Steven
Shedd’s squad a 10-2 record and the
No. 1 seed for this week’s Leopard
Invitational.
“This was a great way for us to
finish the regular season and it gave
us momentum going into the tourna
ment,” Shedd said. “We were able to
finish with five straight victories.”
Katlin Parks led the win with nine
points while Deasha Beasley scored
eight and Sara O’Kelley finished
with seven. Madison Franklin added
six points while Jordan Rogers
scored four and Madison Porter fin
ished with two.
“We did not play our best game of
the season, but I was able to tell the
girls afterwards that it was a positive
victory because we were able to get
a 20-point victory without playing
our best game,” Shedd said.
The coach said his team had some
breakdowns on defense and was
not very fluid on offense. However,
BCMS had its full court press work
ing and was able to generate points
off of turnovers.
Prior to the win against Lakeview,
the BCMS girls defeated Lumpkin
County 37-17.
Parks once again led BCMS with
nine points while Beasley finished
with seven and Ashley Morris scored
six.
Taylor Kennedy added five points
in the win.
“This was a great win for us,”
Shedd said. “We dominated the game
from the very beginning. Ashley
scored four points in the first two
possessions on offense which started
the game out with a great tempo.”
The BCMS coach said his team’s
man-to-man defense continues to be
a strength and has created numerous
turnover points.
“Our defense is intense and aggres
sive,” Shedd said. “Teams have only
been averaging 20 points or less
against us since the Christmas break
and that has been a huge asset. I
also feel that another asset since
Chrismas has been that we are much
deeper off the bench right now.”
Shedd has the ability to freely sub
stitute players in and out of games,
without losing anything offensively
or defensively.
“Plus, we are not the type of team
that has only one person scoring all
of the points,” the coach said. “We
have an even distribution of scor
ers and I credit that to our offen
sive aggressiveness and the type of
offense we run.”
PE classes for home schooled students offered
The Banks County Parks and
Recreation Department is offering
physical education classes for home-
school students. The class will be
taught by a professional educator
with a college degree in early child
hood education and several years of
classroom experience.
Students who enroll will follow
a physical education curriculum
developed to teach skills such as
space awareness, locomotor move
ments, throwing, striking and basic
sports skills. Classes will be divided
into ages 5-8 years and 9-13 years.
Enrollment fee is $20 per month
per child. Payment is due by the fifth
of each month. Classes will contin-
ue through May 2008. Registration
may be completed at the front desk
of the main office of the parks
and recreation department office on
Thompson Street.
For additional information,
contact the recreation office at
706-677-4407 or Janet Cassiday at
706-652-3680 or jbcass@alltel.net.
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LIVING ASSISTANCE SERVICES
770-886-7900
V.
I PUBLIC NOTICE
The Fiscal Year 2007 Audit for Banks County
has been completed and is available for public
inspection in the Commissioners Office in the
Courthouse during regular office hours.
fowler's Income Tax Service
Need your refund fast?
We can get it back fast for you.
Get your refund in as little as 12 hours
Call Alicia at 706-677-4137
Or visit our web site at
http://www.fowlersincometax.com
We treat every return like our own with
promptness, accuracy, and confidentiality.
Most refunds take from 12 hours to 48 hours.