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PAGE 2A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 12, 2009
Band... cont’d from 1A
the matter of funding.
“There's a lot of kids who
right now just don’t have the
money to make a trip like
that,” said Golding, noting
the tough economic times.
“But the community stepped
up in such a big way that we
were able to cover the kids'
transportation, their lodging
and the food for those with a
real financial need.”
All band members made
the trip, with the bus pulling
out of Danielsville at 6:30
a.m. last Thursday. The band
stopped at Golding’s old high
school, Orange High School
in Hillsboro, N.C., for a two-
hour rehearsal on the way.
Golding said his outfit per
formed well at the champi
onships. But he looks back
to the halftime show of
the Apalachee game as the
band’s best performance of
the year.
“The entire Apalachee
band was standing on the
sideline,” said Golding. “So
this whole band is standing
right on top of them and they
really stepped it up.”
Golding said the band has
a swagger that it didn’t have
last year.
“The cool thing for me to
watch was just the level of
confidence,” said Golding.
“The one thing I love about
these kids is you can put
them anywhere and they’ll
throw down, no matter who’s
in front of them.”
Of course, developing that
swagger hasn't come easily.
Golding calculates the
hours of practice, which
stretch back over summer
band camp, the numerous
after-school rehearsals.
When it comes to music,
repetition is so necessary.
And the band spent over 150
hours this year getting its
six-and-a-half minute rou
tine right. It’s an exhaus
tive process, requiring focus,
commitment, cohesion with
a group.
Golding saw improvement
last year, noting that the out
fit earned the school’s first
“Superior” concert rating in
10 years. He said he was
ready to push them further
in 2009.
“I just thought the group
had grown so much that
maybe they were ready to
kind of step it up a notch and
take it to the next level,” said
Golding.
So the director planned
a more difficult show for
2009 — “Pathways,” a three-
movement routine focusing
on “control, tension, break
away.”
So, could the young group
pull it off? Could they under
stand the harder aspects of
the new routine, the nuance
of intended dissonance in the
first movement?
“It really appeared that
they were going to make
it happen at rehearsal, but
something happened at the
beginning of this season,”
said Golding. “It just wasn't
clicking. I just wracked my
brain. Did I bite off more
than we could chew?”
But the band kept practic
ing. And finally, early kinks
were worked out.
“I don’t know the exact
day,” he said. “I know that it
was about three and a half to
four weeks ago, where, for
whatever reason, the show
just clicked. There was a
mental barrier, a wall there,
that once they got past, they
were really able to take off
... This show, I really feel
like we peaked at the end.”
The director, an accom
plished French horn player
and arranger, said he’s excit
ed about the rest of the band
season, pointing out that the
jazz band is “cranking back
up next week.” He said the
Christmas concert will be
held in mid December, fol
lowed by the concert band
performance in March.
Golding notes that brighter
days are ahead for the band
program in Madison County,
adding that the middle school
program is in good hands
with MCMS director Phillip
Smith.
“It's definitely moving in
the right direction,” he said.
Mayors ... cont’d from 1A
he said.
“That way if we have an emergency
come up or something, we’re not burrow
ing money to try to fix it,” he said.
Croya said he maintains a good relation
ship with both the council and city mainte
nance crew and looks forward to both sides
working together.
“That's something the council and main
tenance crew said, the past 12 years they
weren’t able to work with everybody and
all be on the same page,” Croya said. “So I
think we've got a good start.”
Croya, who won the mayoral post by
a 92-46 margin, said he's ready to get
started.
“There’s a lot of people out there that
didn’t like the fact that I won,” he said.
“But there's more that do like the fact that
I won. You can't please everybody, but
we’re going to get in there and do what we
think is right and try to rebuild this city.”
People of
Comer ‘sent
a clear message’
Comer’s mayoral election garnered
the most political interest in the county
last week, with 193 votes. Political new
comer David McMickle garnered 123 of
them to take the mayoral seat from Billy
Burroughs.
McMickle said he’s encouraged by the
voter turnout, which he notes was almost
30 percent.
“The people of Comer have sent a clear
message that they are ready for some
change,” McMickle said in an email to The
Madison County Journal. “I will continue
to listen to what the people of Comer want
for their city and that will guide me in lead
ing and managing this wonderful city.”
McMickle added that there's “nothing
wrong with change, as long as it is in the
right direction.”
McMickle said he’d “be remiss” if he
didn’t acknowledge the highlights of
Burroughs’ tenure.
“The downtown project and the next
phase, the travel museum, are something
that the citizens of Comer will benefit from
for years to come,” McMickle said. “The
improvements to the city’s infrastructure
and water quality are directly attributed to
Billy's leadership and hard work.”
Now, McMickle will work to acquaint
himself better with his constituency by
inviting all Comer residents to a “Meet
Your Mayor” forum in January 2010.
“This will allow the people of Comer to
meet their mayor and voice any concerns
that they may have,” he said.
Peck replacing
a legacy in Colbert
Chris Peck will move down just a few
seats at the Colbert Council table in January,
but the view from the mayor’s chair might
seem a bit weird.
After all, John Waggoner has held that seat
since 1969.
“It's going to be exceptionally weird,”
Peck said. “I don’t even know how to
describe how different it’s going to be.”
Peck acknowledges both nervousness and
excitement in taking over but he’ll at least
benefit from Waggoner's four decades of
municipal knowledge with the longtime
mayor staying on as an administrative assis
tant.
“I’m going to work with him to try to get
his knowledge transferred over to me ...
He's got a lot of stuff just locked up in his
head,” Peck said. “When you’ve been there
for 40 years, he's kind of just grown into
the job.”
As for his own tenure, Peck said he has
to learn more about budgets but hopes to
install more sidewalks in Colbert, perhaps
renovate the Colbert depot to serve as a
welcome center and possibly find a new city
hall location.
But first things first.
“For the first several months, it's going
to be a lot of sitting back and figuring out
where we are financially,” he said. “I know
we're in really good shape as far as being in
the black.”
As for his future, does Peck foresee a
40-year run in him to match that of his
predecessor?
“Let’s see. I’d be 88,” Peck said, with a
laugh. “I don't see me going 40 years, I’m
not going to put a limit on it, but 40 is a long
time.”
Republicans to
meet Nov. 19
Madison County Republicans
will meet Thursday Nov. 19, at
6:30 p.m. at the Boutier Winery.
All Madison County registered
voters are welcome to attend. The
guest speakers will be candi
dates for District 47 State Senate.
Currently three of the four candi
dates have confirmed attending.
CASH
CALL AND COMPARE
PER GRAM
706-369-0000
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GREG REEVES
Fine Jewelry
613 Hawthorne Ave. • Athens
NOW HEAR THIS!
143 McAlpin, Winterville
3/2 brick home. Needs work. “As Is”
Will sell, trade, rent or finance.
Call 706-795-5025
NOTICE
The City of Danielsville Governing Authority does hereby announce that a Public Hearing will be held on November 30, 2009 at
6:30 p.m. for review of the 2009 Millage Rate. The millage rate will be set at a meeting to be held at the Danielsville City Hall on
December 7th, 2009 at 7:00 p.m and pursuant to the requirements of O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-32 does hereby publish the following
presentation of the current year's tax digest and levy, along with the history of the tax digest and levy for the past five years.
The City of Danielsville Governing Authority does hereby announce that a Public Hearing will be held on November 30, 2009 at
6:30 p.m. and on December 7, 2009 at 6:30 p.m., for review of the 2010 Budget. The 2010 Budget will be set at a meeting to be
held at the Danielsville City Hall on December 7th, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.. Copies of the 2010 Budget will be available to view at
Danielsville City Hall, during regular business hours, Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. beginning on November 16, 2009.
DANIELSVILLE 2009 TAX DIGEST AND 5 YEAR HISTORY OF LEVY
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Real & Personal
12.085,363
16,445.132
16,216.175
17.295.476
16,642,669
17,289.195
Motor Vehicles
1.277.670
1.194.440
1,103,200
1.022.430
1.050.080
972.740
Mobile Homes
121,476
53,325
39,145
40,952
61,177
23.278
Timber -100%
Heavy Duty Equipment
Gross Digest
13,484,509
17.692,897
17.358.520
18.358.858
17,753,926
18,285,213
Less M& O Exemptions
Net M & O Digest
13.484.509
17,692,897
17,358.520
18,358,858
17,753.926
18,285.213
Gross M&O Millage
10.210
10.080
11.100
12.010
11.660
11.290
Less Rollbacks
7.360
7.230
8.250
9.160
8.810
8.440
Net M&O Millage
2.850
2.850
2.850
2.850
2.850
2.850
Total City Taxes Levied
$38,431
$50,425
$49,472
$52,323
$50,599
$52,113
Net Taxes $ Increase
$3,488
$11,994
-$953
$2,851
-$1.724
$1,514
Net Taxes % Increase
9.98%
31.21%
-1.89%
5.76%
-3.30%
2.99%
Madison Co. grad recognized
as top Commerce teacher
Madison County High
School alum Stephanie
(Tyner) Ring was named
Commerce City Schools'
Teacher of the Year at
Monday night's Commerce
school board meeting.
Ring teaches at Commerce
Middle School.
"In my 30 years (in educa
tion), she's as good as I've
been around," CMS princi
pal Chuck Bell said.
Ring, a 2000 Madison
County High School gradu
ate, first received the middle
school Teacher of the Year
award before accepting the
system-wide honor moments
later at the meeting.
Ring is only in her fourth
year at CMS, but is already
producing results that merit
attention, according to Bell.
Her students from
Stephanie Ring
2007-2009 were among
the highest achievers in the
state on the science portion
of the Criterion Referenced
Competency Test (CRCT). In
fact, her sixth grade students
ranked no. 1 last year in the
state in science system-to-
system comparisons.
"You can't beat that,” Bell
said.
cont’d from 1A
it’s just going to continue get worse,” said David Patton of the
Madison County Sheriff’s Office, who helps coordinate the
event. “There’s going to be more people needing a lending hand,
a helping hand. That’s what we’re there for is to help others.”
Riders pay $20 to participate in the event coordinated by
Madison County’s entire emergency services team (law enforce
ment, the fire departments, EMS and 911 rescue). The proceeds
then go toward buying the gifts. The toys stay in-county.
“This is something we’ve done to take care of the local fami
lies,” he said.
That’s because some toy drives haven’t always done that.
Patton said the schools ran into a tough situation a few years ago
with the Toys for Tots program.
“They sort of got burned on that,” Patton said. “They’d come
in and load up these trailers full of toys that all these schools
and everybody else had donated and they’d take it to Atlanta and
wouldn’t come back here.”
To insure that the toys go to the Madison Countians who need
them. Toy Ride works with Madison County’s ACTION, Inc.
— which also coordinates the county food bank — to distribute
the gifts.
“Because they already have an established relationship with
those in need ... They know where the true need is,” Patton
said.
The ride — the length of the course depends on the weather
— is fully escorted and winds along different state and local
routes.
“It covers the county with some scenic back roads along with
some of the big roads as well,” Patton said.
Patton said that holding a motorcycle ride in November, when
weather can obviously play a role, is a gamble. But the goal this
year is still to draw 100 bikers. And Patton said the motorcycle
community is a reliable bunch.
“That’s one thing about the motorcycle, the biker family,”
he said. “It’s a group of good people. They come out to help
out. They’re always there for a good cause. You can count on
them.”
In addition to the bike ride, the event includes a DJ, a 50-50
drawing and lots of door prizes.
Patton said Toy Ride will also offer “pretty cool” T-shirts to
those who participate.
Registration begins at 10:30 a.m. and kickstands go up at
12:30 p.m.
“So come early and get a ride shirt and make history with
us,” he said.
Annual
allmark Holiday
Open House
Saturday, Nov. 14th
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Your Hallmark &
Specialty Gift Store
1668 South Broad Street
Downtown Commerce
(706) 335-2920
Pick up your favorite
Hallmark Keepsake Ornament.
Stock up on Holiday Gift
Wrap and Boxed
Christmas Cards.
Join Us As We Start
Our Christmas
Celebration!
Refreshments & Gifts