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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2008 THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS PACE 5A Social VOS’ '•i < h 'r 'WHii r SCOUTS COLLECT FOOD FOR FAMILY CONNECTION Members of Banks County Cub Scouts Pack 106 collected food to donate to Banks County Family Connection for the holidays. Shown on Monday night, Dec. 15, presenting the food to Family Connection are: (first row, L to R) Domi nic Zoeckler, Cody Dodge, Jacob Henderson, John Puckett, Austin Anderson and Mark Bonds; (second row, L-R) Chris Bonds, Ashton McDonald, Dakota Reems and Jacob Sanders; (third row, L-R) Michael Gallagher, Robbie Dick ens and Trey Brown; and (fourth row, L-R) Perry McDonald, Scout leader, and Robin Trotter, Banks County Family Connection director. Photo by Sharon Hogan Poinsettias bring holiday decorations to life Poinsettias embody the holiday spirit and help cre ate the most festive displays. The challenge is deciding how many poinsettias to buy - what color, leaf shape, plant size and form. There are so many. These holiday classics offer tradition al red, strong white, creamy white, light pink, solid pink, bright orange-red, deep purple- red and various marbled or speckled flowers. Despite per sistent rumors to the contrary, poinsettias are nonpoisonous and safe around children and pets. Buying the best plants is easy if you follow these tips: •Look for fully colored and expanded bracts (the colored portions of the plant - the actual flowers are the yellow centers). Avoid plants with too much green around the bract edges. This is a sign that the plant was shipped before it was mature enough. •Choose plants with dense, rich green leaves all along the stem. Poinsettias should be well-branched and propor tioned with the container, about two and a half times the height of the pot. •Check the leaves for possible “hitch hikers.” One com mon pest on poinset tias is the silverleaf whitefly. These tiny flies live on the un derside of the leaves, sucking the juices. This is the giveaway: when the insects ex crete the plant's juic es, they drop a “honeydew” on the leaves below. So, don’t buy plants with sticky leaves and black dots on the undersides. •Examine the roots. White and light tan roots that have grown to the sides of the pot are signs of a healthy plant. Brown roots, or few roots, may be a sign of disease. •Don’t buy plants with weak stems, few bracts, or any signs of wilting, breaking or droop ing. •Once they’re home, place poinsettias wherever your decoration plan calls for them. They’ll last about three weeks in fairly dark places. Don’t put them near cold drafts or excessive heat or near appli ances, fireplaces or ventilating ducts. •Water poinset tias only when the soil feels dry to the touch. Don’t let them wilt, though, or the leaves could drop. Overwatering is a common cause for poinsettias dy ing. Always remove a plant from any decorative container before watering, and let the water drain completely. •Don’t fertilize them dur ing the blooming season. This will cause them to lose some of their quality. If you would like to learn how to care for your poinset tias and continue enjoying them after the holidays, read next week’s article. I will ex plain in that article how to care for them throughout the year and bring them back into their bright colors next year. Bob Waldorf is the Banks County extension agent. Welborn, Shockley to wed Jan. 10 MR. SHOCKLEY AND MISS WELBORN Kenneth Welborn, Demor- est, announces the engage ment and forthcoming mar riage of his daughter, Cory Lisa Welborn, to Jonathan Phillip Shockley, son of Phillip and Angela Shock- ley, Lula. The bride-elect is also the daughter of the late Juanita Welborn. Miss Welborn is the granddaughter of Danny and Bobbie Barton, Corne lia, and the late Jim Smith, and Bill and Mary Lindsey, Troy, Ala. She attended Habersham Central High School, Mt. Airy, and North Georgia Technical College, Clarkes- ville. She is employed in the billing department of Mans field Oil, Gainesville. The future groom is the grandson of Homer and Ruby Shockley, Lula. Mr. Shockley is a 1999 graduate of East Hall High School and is employed as a truck driver at Fieldale Farms Corp., Toccoa. The wedding is planned for 3 p.m. Jan. 10, 2009, at Fairfield Baptist Church, Demorest. All family and friends are invited to attend. Adult learning center plans announced The Banks County Adult Learning Center will be closed to students December 22 - Janu ary 4. “Even though this is the be ginning of a new calendar year, we are only halfway through our year at the center,” director Sharon Clark said. “Since the fiscal year began in July 2008, we have served 98 citizens of Banks County, and nine of these have earned their GED. The nine people who have earned their GEDs so far this year are to be commended for taking a big step toward a better future. We congratulate these nine GED recipients and look forward to awarding many more GEDs in the remaining six months of fis cal year 2009.” Clark also encourages those who are unemployed to take time to further their education. “We all are feeling the effects of the economic recession, and in hard times like these, a com mon response is to stay home, save money, and implement the strategy of just holding out until things get better,” she said. “If you have been laid off and are having trouble finding work, why not use this down-time to increase your employability once hiring starts back?” “According to the U.S. Census, people who have a high school diploma or GED earn an average of $10,000 more per year than those who do not. The Banks County Adult Learning Center is here to help you get that GED, so that you can increase your chance of getting a job, move up in the job you already have, or enroll in specialized training to keep your job skills up with current job market demands. We also offer programs to help people develop the reading, lan guage, math, and reasoning skills necessary for success in college, as well as in the workplace.” Beginning in January, 2009, the Banks County Adult Learn ing Center will be an official Work Ready testing and training site. The Work Ready program assesses an individual’s practical skill levels in math, language, reading, and locating informa tion and produces a certificate to prove the individual’s skill lev els. The Work Ready program is also linked to an extensive data base of job descriptions and the required skill levels for each of the jobs listed. “So, if you are applying for a specific job, you can look that job up in the database, note its re quired skill levels, and complete the Work Ready assessments to determine your individual skill levels,” Clark said. “After you complete the assessments, you will be issued an actual certifi cate showing your skill level. If your skill levels match the re quired levels for the job you are seeking, you will have a certifi cate to assure your prospective employer that you can do the job. If your individual skill levels are assessed to be below the require ments for the job you are seek ing, the Work Ready program is linked to Key Train, which offers gap-training to help you get your skill level up to the job’s required levels.” For more information about Georgia’s Work Ready program, go to www.gaworkready.org or, call the Banks County Adult Learning Center at 706-677- 4302, after Monday, January 5, for more information. Registration/Orientation for Winter Quarter will be held on the following dates: •Tuesday, January 6, 2 - 5 p.m. •Thursday, January 8, 2 - 5 p.m. •Tuesday, January 13, 5 - 8 p.m. •Thursday, January 15, 2 - 5 p.m. Griffins win in hay contest Two Banks County Farm Bureau members placed in the 2008 Georgia Farm Bureau Quality Hay Contest. William Griffin recently won second place and Westly Grif fin won fifth place. The awards were presented during the 70 th annual Georgia Farm Bureau Convention on Dec. 8 William Griffin won a mois ture meter donated by Bleckley County Farm Bureau member Whipple Simpson. Westly re ceived a gift basket from Geor gia Farm Bureau’s Commodi ties Department. All hay samples entered in the contest were analyzed for nutritional content using the Relative Forage Quality test ing method at the University of Georgia. Georgia Farm Bureau sponsors the annual contest to encourage superior hay pro duction in the state. Founded in 1937, the Geor gia Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest general farm organization. The organiza tion has 158 county offices. Its volunteer members actively participate in local, district and state activities that promote agriculture awareness to their non-farming neighbors. GFB also has 20 commodity advi sory committees that give the organization input on issues pertinent to the major com modities grown in Georgia. The Banks County News HOLIDAY AD DEADLINE Classified and Display Ads 12 Noon, Friday, Dec. 26 for the Jan. 1 publication Main Street • P. 0. Box 920 Homer, Ga. 30547 (706) 677-3491 or (706) 367-5233 / 4 Jacob loves our new & improved Women & Children Services (at least that's what we think this face means) For mother and child, Athens Regional offers so much. From Pediatric Services and Great Expectations classes to our technologically advanced Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and beautiful, new 32-room Mother-Baby Unit, we've anticipated your every need. We also have the area's newest Labor & Delivery department with a luxurious thirteen-bed Labor, Delivery and Recovery Unit managed by the most experienced nurses around. Call for a tour, we think you'll like it as much as Jacob. v CAM- www.armc.org