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PAGE 2A — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 24, 2020
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office presented a check this week of $1,000 in
funds donated for Madison County children to the Madison County Food Bank.
Pictured (L-R) are Torie Lester, Angel Fisher, Sheriff Michael Moore, food bank
director Bobbie Rooker and Leann McMullan.
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Angel Fisher and Sheriff Michael Moore load toys into the back of a vehicle
Saturday.
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Ten Madison County kids were recently treated to a shopping spree with a cop
at Walmart. Photo courtesy of Larry Cox
Kids ..cont’d from 1A
were loaded into vehicle after vehicle
Saturday morning.
Madison County Sheriff Michael Moore
praised Angel Fisher and Torie Lester for
organizing the effort.
“Those two really organized it really
well,” he said. “They did a lot of shop
ping. And had a lot of people go shop
ping. They said they were going to make
it happen and they did.”
The sheriff’s office also held a
“Christmas with a Cop” day at Walmart
recently, with money raised at the sheriff’s
office. Ten kids were able to purchase at
BOC ..cont’d from 1A
least $350 in items at Walmart for them
selves and family members, with Walmart
knocking off 20 percent of the cost.
The fundraising also included a $1,000
donation to the Madison County Food
Bank.
Local churches, businesses and ele
mentary schools helped in the Christmas
efforts.
“Out of the four years I’ve been here,
this is the best we’ve had,” said Moore
regarding donations to help needy kids.
“We had a lot of people, a lot of business
es step up.”
missioners past and present,’’ he
said.
Allen also said it’s important
for people not focus on differ
ences but on how they can work
together for the betterment of the
county, adding that it’s important
to find something in service to
others, not just the self.
“Over the past four years,
we’ve seen a lot, from a zero
reserve when we started to a pan
demic we’re going through now,”
said Allen. “But we are Madison
and we will always be able to
overcome if we work together.”
Strickland said he’s learned a
lot while at the BOC table.
“I’ve enjoyed it and I’ve
learned a lot from it,” he said. “I’ll
miss working with all of y’all...
We have good camaraderie here.
We work well together as a
board. Everybody has respected
each other. It’s been really nice.”
He said he thinks Chandler will
do a great job as the new District
2 commissioner.
“I’ve known Terry Chandler
all my life and he’s a hardwork
ing, deep-thinking, level-headed
man,” said Strickland.
In other business, Madison
County Chamber of Commerce
Director Anna Strickland noted
that the Chamber has added 96
members this year. She also
talked to commissioners Mon
day about sprucing up the coun
ty-owned area around the historic
old courthouse with some land
scaping work.
She said it could be more uti
lized than it currently is, serving
of Commerce
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173 Steven B. Tanger Blvd.
706-335-7458
La Hacienda Braselton
5391 Highway 53
706-654-0070
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Happy 60 ,h
Anniversary
RALPH &
SHIRLEY
December 29
With love from
Your Family!
as a place for social gatherings
and outdoor events and markets.
Commissioners took no votes
on the matter but voiced support
for the proposal, with commis
sioner Derek Doster saying that
he wants to make sure nothing
is done to the property that could
detract from its potential use by
the filming industry.
In a separate matter, the board
heard from Scarborough that the
Department of Transportation
has deeded five acres of land at
See “Monday” on 3A
Headmaster’s
Corner
by
Steve Cummings
WAS HE THE
Not many people dispute the
fact that Jesus was a Jewish
historical figure who lived over
2000 years ago. The contro
versy over Jesus is whether He
was who He claimed to be - the
Messiah, the Savior of sinners.
Some claim He was a great
teacher, or even a prophet, but
not the Messiah. But if he was
not the Messiah, then His
claim that He was the Sav
ior of sinners was a lie. How
could Jesus be a “great teach
er" if He lied about who He
was?
If He was not a liar, then He
is who He claimed to be. He
was and is the Messiah, and
we joyfully celebrate His birth
again this Christmas!
ATHENS
CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
“Affordable Quality Education Since 1970”
K3-12TH CALL (706) 549-7586
www.athenschristianschooI.org
MESSIAH?
Animal shelter temporarily
closed due to COVID-19
The Madison-Oglethorpe Animal Shelter
(MOAS) has announced that it will be closed to
the public until Saturday, Jan. 2 after two shel
ter employees testing positive for COVID-19.
“On Sunday, Dec. 20, tire shelter made the
difficult decision to close to tire public when
two of our employees tested positive for the
virus,” Shelter Director Andrew Kitchens said.
“These employees are following all quarantine
guidelines set forth by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) and are recover
ing from the safety of their homes.”
Additionally, Kitchens added, a few cats
surrendered to tire shelter recently started dis
playing symptoms of panaleukopenia, a high
communicable cat-specific disease.
“This disease was confirmed by diagnostic
testing and promptly reported to the Georgia
Department of Agriculture, whose represen
tative inspected the shelter’s safety protocols
and stated that we have taken every appropriate
step to prevent the disease from spreading,”
Kitchens said. "It is very unfortunate for our
shelter to be hit by two unrelated illnesses at
the same time, but we are proud to have been
able to respond quickly and appropriately to
reduce tire likelihood of transmission for both
illnesses.”
To protect the staff, community and the ani
mals, all animal intake services as well as tire
low-cost spay/neuter surgery center have been
closed until after the beginning of tire new year.
“MOAS serves our community by assuming
the responsibility and care of the homeless pet
population in both Madison and Oglethorpe
counties,” Kitchens stated. “We consistently
place the health and well-being of our animals,
staff, and community as our highest priorities.”
However, MOAS officials have come up
with a way to continue to seek homes for the
pets in their care, including a special incentive
for tire adoption of large dogs during this hol
iday season.
“During this time, we are offering virtual
shelter ‘meet and greets,”’ Kitchens announced.
“And as an added bonus we are waiving adop
tion fees for all of our large dogs (50 pounds or
more) in our care, both in foster homes and for
those being housed at the shelter.”
To learn more about this new opportunity,
email tire shelter at info@moaspets.com or call
706-795-2868.
Early voting continues
Early voting is being held for the two Jan.
5 U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia.
Republican incumbent David Perdue faces
Democrat Jon Ossoff. and Republican Kelly
Loeffler, who was appointed by Gov. Brian
Kemp to fill the unfinished term of Johnny
Isakson, faces Democrat Raphael Wamock.
Voting continues from Dec. 28 through
Dec. 31 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the county
elections office at 94 Spring Lake Drive,
Daniels ville.
A secure drop box is located at the county
office for absentee ballots and any other
election material.
Madison Co. continues to
have high COVID-19 case rate
Madison County continues to have a high
case rate for COVID-19.
There have been 259 new cases over the
past two weeks, with the total Madison
County case rate since the pandemic began
at 1,417 as of Dec. 22, with a rate of 858
cases per 100,000 people, one of the highest
rates in the state.
There have been 15 confirmed COVID-19
deaths in Madison County and 88 hospital
izations. Statewide, there have been 518,902
COVID-19 cases, with 9,503 deaths.
There were 27 Madison County stu
dents and 15 school employees positive for
COVID-19 on Wednesday, Dec. 16, along
with 484 students and 29 employees under
quarantine for exposure to the vims. The
Madison County School System updates
COVID-19 numbers every Wednesday at
www.madison.kl2.ga.us
Transfer station announces holiday schedule
The Madison County Transfer Station Christmas
will be closed on the following days: • Friday, Jan. 1, 2021 — New Year’s
•Thursday and Friday, Dec. 24-25 — Day
MERRY
May your holiday he happy
and your yearfillled with joy!
Thanks for hanging out with us this year.
We really appreciate your support.
DWAYNE
ROBERTS
& SONS LLC
DBA Air Service HVAC
706-788-2011
Colbert, Ga.
Dwayne and Donna
Roberts