About The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 2012)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012 THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS PACE 3A BANKS CHAMBER AND CVB MERGE The Banks County Board of Commissioners, Development Authority, Chamber of Commerce Board and Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) Board came together to celebrate the merger of the chamber and the CVB. Those shown are: (front row, L-R)) chamber board members Todd Hubbard, Greg Hunter, Chris Erwin, Chuck Ansley, Jerry Boling, Paul Patel and Lisa McClure; chamber/CVB president Bonnie Johnson; CVB board members Alicia Andrews, Kim Ledford, Mary Greenway, Ron Patel and Linda Lester and chamber/CVB executive director Sherry Ward; (back row, L-R) commissioners Sammy Reece, Danny Maxwell and Ernest Rogers, BOC chairman Milton Dalton, commissioner Charles Turk; development au thority members Bill Griffin, Jack Banks, Jonathan Bennett and Hank Parker, and development authority chairman Scott Ledford. Photo by Sharon Hogan Political Story of the Year Chamber, Convention and Visitors Bureau merge BY SHARON HOGAN The chamber of commerce and conven tion and visitors bureau have been com bined as a unified organization in 2011, bringing the efforts under one leadership. This has been named the Political Story of the Year. “This is a huge, huge day for us,” Devel opment Authority chairman Scott Ledford said after the action was taken. “We will all be working from the same playbook.” Ledford reported that the board of com missioners, development authority, cham ber board and CVB board worked together to make this merger possible. “You are going to see a yield from your investment,” Ledford said. Bonnie Johnson serves as president of the unified organization and Sherry Ward serves as executive director. Ledford said that the chamber and CVB organizations have realized many achieve ments, but “together we feel that they can do so much more for our community and especially for our business community.” BOC chairman Milton Dalton shares Ledford’s optimism for the unified cham ber/CVB. “The commissioners are all in agree ment that a unified chamber/CVB is best for Banks County at this time,” he said. “I think this is the best way to move our coun ty forward in planning for the future.” Education Story of the Year Banks education sales tax passes in 585-198 vote BY ANGELA GARY Banks County voters over whelmingly voted in the spring in favor of renewing the edu cation local option sales tax (ELOST). The referendum passed in a 585-198 vote with 75 percent of the voters casting a ballot in favor of the one-cent sales tax. The ELOST is expected to generate a maximum of $19 million over a five-year period. The impact of this on the local education system leads to the ELOST passing being named BY ANGELA GARY Thefts and burglaries topped the crime pages during 2011 but the most bold crimes of all were two incidents involving people being robbed at gun point in area parking lots. A woman was parked at a retail store just after mid night on July 4 when she was robbed by a man who said he had a gun. This has been named the Crime Story of the Year for 2011. The victim said she was in her car with her two children waiting for her husband, who was in the store, when a man tapped on her window, accord ing to Banks County Sheriff as the Education Story of the Year. “We really appreciate the support from our community for our children,” superinten dent Chris Erwin said after the spring election. “We feel like this will really make a differ ence in the lives of our chil dren.” ELOST is an option for a lo cal school system to call for a referendum approving a one- percent sales tax for school construction and/or to retire bond debt. The county currendy has a seven percent sales tax in place. The referendum will continue the current tax. Among the plans for the money are additions to the high school to address overcrowd ing, technology updates and transportation purchases, as well as constructing an addition to the agriculture facility and administrative offices and ac quiring future school sites, and begin construction of a new el ementary school. All proposed projects should be completed Crime Story of the Year Charles Chapman. She said she opened the window and the man, descried as a slender white man with sandy blond hair, demanded her purse and said he had a gun. She gave him her purse and he left in a beige or gold colored four- door vehicle, driving toward Jackson County. In the second incident, around 5:45 p.m. on, Dec. 29, a deputy with the Banks County Sheriff's Office responded to the T/A Truck Stop, Highway 441, Commerce, to the report of a robbery that occurred in the parking lot. A 46-year-old male truck driver stated that he was sitting Relay for Life kickoff set Jan. 12 The kickoff for the Banks County Relay for Life will be held on Thursday, Jan. 12, at the senior citizens center. Food will be served at 6:30 p.m. and the program will begin at 7 p.m. The Relay will be held June 8 in downtown Homer on the square. Team meetings will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the senior citizens center on: Jan. 13, Feb. 9, March 8, April 12 and June 5. For more information, visit www.relayforlife.org/banksga. in the cab of his tractor-trailer when a white male knocked on the cab and told him that someone had hit his trailer in the back. The victim stated he exited his cab and went to the rear of his trailer and was approached by three other white males. “The complainant stated they asked him if he had any money and he said yes,” Sher iff Charles Chapman said. “The complainant then stated that the males said to him, ‘I bet you don’t have any mon ey,’ and then the complain ant pulled his wallet out to show them he did have money and he stated that the males Lula reschedules January meeting Lula City Council’s regu lar January meeting has been rescheduled to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 17, due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holi day. by fall 2018. The current high school facility is at capacity. High school additions and a new K-5 building are needed to meet the projected growth. In order to provide permanent, adequate classrooms and facilities, ad ditional buildings are required. These decisions were based on the local facilities plan con ducted by the facilities section of the Georgia Department of Education and supported by the local school system’s strategic plan. grabbed his money out of the wallet and ran off.” The complainant told the deputy that the males ran across the road and then left in a van with an out-of-state license plate on it. Sports Story of the Year Leopards are subregion champs; host state playoff It was a memorable year for high school football in Banks County in 2011 with the Leop ards winning the subregion championship and hosting a state playoff game. The success of the Leopards on the football field has been se lected as the Sports Story of the Year for 2011. The Leopards finished 7-4 overall in 2011 and 4-1 in region play. Sports reporter Randy Crump compiled this look back at the season: •Social Circle High School proved to be a worthy opponent for the Leopards with the game going to BCHS 13-7. On of fense, Dean Ewing scored two touchdowns and ran 114 yards on 14 carries for the Leopards in the win. •Riverside Military was prob ably the easiest game for the Leopards as they posted a 41-0 victory. The Leopards gained 356 total yards on offense while the defense held Riverside to 31 yards of total offense. Tyler Hub bard rushed for 149 yards on 8 carries against Riverside. The team was 2-0 and hopes were running high for a great sea son with the new coaching staff headed up by Philip Jones. •The third game of the season was on the road at East Jackson High School. The Leopards and the Eagles have a fierce rivalry and everyone knew this game was going to be tough for the Leopards. The Eagles found ways to stop Ewing and held him to 56 yards on the ground in the game. Hubbard managed 87 yards rushing but the Leopards couldn’t get it in the endzone. Tanner Thompson scored on a short run and the Leopards lost the game 35-7 on the road. •The team regrouped and hit the road once again, this time to Athens Christian to face an other tough opponent. BCHS came from behind and made a two-point conversion with 2:42 on the clock to pull ahead of Athens Christian by one point. The Leopard defense had fought a hard game and defensive line man Rayshawn Hunter turned the game around with a fumble recovery for a 42 yard touch down just a few plays back, but the Eagles found a hole in the Leopard defense and made a one yard score with 16 seconds on the clock. Later in the season, the Leopards would get this one back as the Eagles were forced to forfeit the region games due to ineligibility of an Athens Chris tian player. •Union County proved to be a great contest for the Leopards. Ewing rushed for 70 yards on 19 carries with contributions from Tyler Hubbard, Marquaze Mad dox and Brenton Ruark. Ruark also received 32 yards in the air from Hubbard on two catches. A blocked punt turned into a safety by Marquaze Maddox put the two points on the board that the Leopards won by. Leopards continue to win 16-14 in Union County. •BCHS brought the next game home against Dawson County. Another close game ending with a 19-14 score for the Leopards. •Homecoming week got the team in gear as the Rabun Coun ty Wildcats came to town look ing for a victory. But the rush at tack of the Leopards proved too much for the Wildcats as BCHS put 40 points up on the board to RCHS’ 28 points. •The Leopards went on the road to Fannin County. The Leopards continue to roll 42-21 over the Rebels. This win sealed the sub region title for the Leop ards as they sit at the top of re gion 8A-AA. The only game left on the regular schedule was at East Hall. •The Leopards traveled to East Hall on a rainy Friday night. Tyler Hubbard broke open a 56- yard touchdown run to get things started for the Leopards. Ermain Corona kicked a 22-yard field goal in the first quarter. East Hall mounted a comeback and over took the Leopards in the second quarter. But a pair of touchdown scores in the fourth quarter sealed the fate of the Leopards losing to East Hall 34-17. •The Leopards beaten and bruised picked themselves up to prepare for the biggest game of the season, the region champion ship. North Oconee beat Elbert County and was on their way to Homer to play the Leopards. A powerhouse team with a great air and ground attack that the Leopards would have to play a near perfect game to tumble. The game started quick and the North Oconee Titans scored on a 64- yard touchdown run. The Titans never looked back and continued to score as the Leopards watched them march down the field. The Leopards became 8 A-AA runner up with a 41-0 loss to the Titans. •But all was not lost, as the Leopards would host the first round of the state playoffs against Adairsville High School. The Tigers brought a good ground game to Leopard Stadium. The Leopards fought hard and put up 156 total yards of offense against the Tigers but that wasn’t enough to win and the game ended 21-3. United Country Does It Again! Holly Abee (right) with United Country - Community Partners Realty & Auction recently helped Kathy Hill purchase a home. For professional service and superior marketing give Holly a call today 678-963-5390. United. ountry Community Partners Realty & Auction 678.963.5390 www.communitypartnersrealtyandauction.coni 30 S. Broad Street Winder, GA 30680 FOR ONLY $5 PER MONTH, YOU CAN LIST YOUR GROUP'S MEETINGS! Let your members know when your group is meeting! Call (706) 367-5233 to advertise your meeting time, place and date In... • The Jackson Herald • The Commerce News • The Braselton News • The Banks County News • The Madison County Journal DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS & AUXILIARY Joe Brown Conally, Chapter 2 meets 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. 1001 Winterville Rd. • Athens, GA Watter Butler, Commander Pd.5/12 ATHENS AMERICAN # LEGION Post 20 Meets each 4th Tues., 6:30 p.m. Coy Gibson, Post Commander Home (706) 742-7975 pecogib@windstream.net pj 07/12 UNITY LODGE F&A.M. No. 36, Jefferson, GA 1st Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m. Tom Hays *678-316-7492 Borders St. behind Tabo’s 260 St. Catherine Laboure Catholic Mission Mass Schedule: Fri. 9 a.m., Sat. 4:00 p.m., Sun. 11:00 a.m., Thurs. 12:10 p.m. First Friday Adoration 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Website: www.stcatherinelabourega.org 706-367-7220 ™ 12,2 JEFFERSON ^AMERICAN LEGION Albert Gordon Post 56 Each 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. Harvie Lance, Commander Phone (706) 654-1274 3io THE MADISON COUNTY RETIRED EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION meets September - June on the second Tuesday of the month at 11 a.m. at the Ila Restaurant in Ila. There is no local meeting in July and August. Troyce Ann Pawlowski, President 706-548-7996 Pd.6/12 ROCKWELL LODGE F&A.M. No. 191, Hoschton, GA 2nd Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. • Dinner at 6:30 p.m. www.rockwelllodge191.com Two blocks behind Larry’s Garage West Broad at Hall Street 13827 HUMANE SOCIETY OF JACKSON CO. 2011 Meeting date: November 8 at 7 p.m. November meeting to be held at Braselton-Stover House on Hwy. 53 in Braselton, Ga. Program: TBA Light refreshments served. No Charge. 706-367-1111 •www.hsjc.com BANKS COUNTY Iff AMERICAN LEGION Post 215 Meets each 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m. In Homer, GA at the American Legion Building on Historic Highway 441 Pd.07/12 Pilot Club of Jefferson Meets 3rd Tuesday of each month, 6:30pm Jefferson City Club House 706-367-9313 or 706-693-4715 76 4 JEFFERSON ROTARY CLUB Meets Tuesdays lefferson City Clubhouse 12:30 p.m.* (706) 367-0718 Ron King, President ° 547 JEFFERSON LIONS CLUB Meets 2nd & 4th Monday Jefferson City Clubhouse 6:30 p.m. *(706) 367-9349 Jimmy Mock, President 5+2 ^ BANKS COUNTY f | AMERICAN LEGION W AUXILIARY-Post 215 Meets each 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m. In the American Legion Building at 1350 Historic Homer Hwy., Homer, GA Pd.2/12 JACKSON COUNTY pi 12,12 REPUBLICAN PARTY Meets 2nd Sat. of each month Doors open at 7:30 a.m. Meeting starts promptly at 8:00 a.m. Jefferson Clubhouse, 302 Longview Drive, Jefferson ~ Everyone welcome! www.JacksonGOP.org BANKS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. meets first Monday each month 7:00 p.m. in the Banks Co. Historial Courthouse at 105 U.S. Hwy. 441 North in Homer pj, 07/12 19562 JEFFERSON AREA BUSINESS ASSOCIATION www.jaba-ga.org Meets 3rd Thurs. • 11:45 a.m. Community Bank & Trust Bldg. 71 Memorial Drive
