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MAY 11, 2023
Madison County Journal
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
MadisonJoumaITODAY.com
Vol. 40 No. 14 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 16 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
$1.00
EVENTS
Taste of
Madison
Co. set for
May 13
The annual Taste of
Madison County will be
held Saturday, May 13 from
10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at J.
Cliff Yarbrough Memorial
Park in downtown Comer.
Admission is $5 at the
gate and children under
12 get in free — cash or
check preferred. Proceeds
benefit the Madison County
Chamber of Commerce
(madisoncountyga.org).
“Enjoy samples from five
food and beverage vendors
of your choosing with the
ability to purchase lunch
and non-perishable prod
ucts,” organizers said.
Parking is available at
Comer Baptist Church
and throughout downtown
Comer.
“Bring a chair and blan
ket and enjoy live music
from The Country River
Band," said organizers.
Portable restrooms are
available.
Local eats and treats
include Chunky Brothers
BBQ, Cosmic Candies, Iron
Pin Ranch, JB Catering,
Kona Ice, KT Fish Joint,
Leggacy Farms, Madison
County Cattleman’s
Association, Soldier of
the Sea Distillery, Taco
Mountain, The Kitchen
Crew LLC, The Naked
Farmer and Wing House
Grill.
Local makers
include Alyssa Filkins
Photography, Bold Springs
Blooms, Comer Lions
Club, Grace Layne Hat
Co., Honey Pond Garden
Club, Let’s Get Crafty,
Maddie’s Keychains, NTH,
Proverbs 31 Farmstead,
Pryo-Amy-A, Sarah
Stitches, Sawdust and
Honey, Scented by Sarah,
Simply Made and Ten8
Woodworking.
The event will be held
rain or shine.
Index:
News — 1-3A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime — 6A
Church — 7 A
Social — 7-8A
Features — 1B
Sports — 2B
Obituaries — 3-4B
Classifieds — 5B
Legals — 6-8B
Contact:
Phone: 706-367-5233
Web: MadisonJournal
TODAY.com
News submissions:
zach@
mainstreetnews.com
EDUCATION
PUBLIC SAFETY
Supplies supplied
All Madison County students will
get ‘back-to-schooV kits for 2023-24
By Zach Mitcham
zach@ mainstreetnews.com
The school year is wind
ing down, and it won't be
long before the next one
is ramping up. That means
school supplies will be on
parents’ minds.
Well, Madison County
moms and dads can relax
a little in that regard. The
county school board has
to utilize federal funds this
summer to supply every
Madison County student
with a “back-to-school kit’’
to start the year.
“That will include
things that parents would
be expected to buy their
students at the beginning
of the school year,” said
assistant superintendent
Amanda Wommack. “I
don’t know if it will be
(distributed) at open house
or the first day of school,
but every kid will have a
kit.”
The money to cover the
expense comes from the
"Elementary and Second
ary School Emergency
Relief Fund,” (ESSER), a
federal program adminis
tered by the Department
of Education in response
to the COVID-19 pandem
ic. The program provides
emergency financial assis
tance to public school dis
tricts across the country.
“We wanted to use that
(ESSER) to offset some of
the costs that the parents
are feeling,” said Wom
mack.
DISTRICT
BEHAVIORAL
SPECIALIST
The county school board
held two meetings Tues
day, a budget hearing in
the morning, and a regu
lar business meeting in the
evening.
At the budget hearing,
the group discussed behav
ioral issues that teachers
often face in the classroom
and how disruptive that can
be to other students.
Madison County school
leaders want to give teach
ers more guidance on how
to deal with such problems.
So the county school board
is discussion the potential
creation of a district-wide
behavioral specialist.
The group took no action
on the matter but agreed
to have Superintendent
Michael Williams provide
them with costs for such a
position.
“This individual would
have specific training on
dealing with behavioral
strategies for teachers,”
said Williams.
Board member Dan
Lampe said he didn’t know
how much impact a behav-
See ‘BOE’ on 3A
COUNTY SEAT
Water projects moving forward in D’ville
By Alison Smith
Water projects are coasting forward in
Danielsville.
The City Council approved several pro
posals Monday to assist the system in better
serving its citizens.
Property owner Jerry McEachin, who
recently purchased land off Hwy. 29 to
construct a wedding venue, has requested
the city extend its water line to the property
near the city limit. The current water line
is poorly designed, needs multiple repairs,
and will be replaced from approximately the
Golden Pantry to the end of the line near the
South Fork of the Broad River.
The council approved a bid of $6,800
from Marc Perry to make the repairs and
add a fire hydrant on the line. According
to Mayor Michael Wideman, McEachin
has pledged to pay a portion of the cost to
upgrade the water line. In addition, Perry
has told the mayor he will aim to complete
the construction without water outage to the
property owners.
The council also gave approval to upgrade
its valve system where it connects with the
county supply on Hwy. 98. The new system
will allow the city to electronically utilize
the county water supply as a backup in high
demand or emergency basis. The current
system is manual. The cost to the city for the
See ‘Danielsville’ on 3A
Georgia’s “Paramedic of the Year,” Jen Carter of
Madison County, is pictured with Chad Black and
Kim Littleton of the Georgia EMS Association.
Quality care
Jen Carter named
‘Paramedic of the Year’
By Zach Mitcham
zach@ mainstreetnews.com
Paramedics can face some really tough days and
nights working the ambulance.
There are wrecks, patients facing cardiac catastro
phes, families in crisis on a daily basis. It’s a mental
and physical challenge to race to the scene of emer
gencies and provide whatever help is needed.
Many people can’t take that sort of stress. But some
truly thrive in that environment.
Madison County’s Jen Carter is one such person.
She’s been named Georgia’s “Paramedic of the Year”
by the Georgia EMS Association for proving herself
as an exceptional caregiver to her patients and support
er of fellow EMS workers.
Carter remains humble about the recognition.
“I don’t do this for the accolades,” she said. “I don’t
I never do this kind of thing. It is greatly appreciated.
I’m very honored to have received it, but it’s very hard
for me to accept it knowing that I just do everything
that everybody else would do. I’m not any better or
any greater than any other of the medics that I work
with.”
But Madison County EMS director Bobby Smith
said Carter is absolutely worthy of special recognition.
“She is very deserving of this award,” said Smith.
“She is hardworking, dedicated and has been holding
multiple roles such as a paramedic supervisor, training
officer, assistant EMA director. We truly appreciate
the sacrifice that she has made for our citizens and the
service.”
Carter, a Nebraska native, spent her early work life
as a researcher at the University of Georgia before
turning to medicine. She focused on parasitology and
the immune response to parasite infections called
schistosomiasis, a disease caused by parasitic worms.
During this time she was “going back and forth to
Africa” to study the disease.
“We were actually studying the immunology of
people who were resistant to reinfection,” she said.
“We also worked with malaria and tapeworms and a
bunch of other things as well, but the focus was on
See ‘Carter’ on 2A
BUSINESS
Home Grown Market keeps it local
Emily and Russ Nix Eire pictured in front of Home Grown Market,
a business they opened in Colbert to give local residents a one-
stop shop for all things local.
By Zach Mitcham
zach @ mainstreetnews .com
Anyone who walks from the
spacious front porch into the
1920s home at 42 N 4 th Street
in Colbert will be greeted with
plenty of goods featuring the
MADICO Made and Georgia
Grown labels.
Keeping it local — that’s the
theme of Home Grown Market in
Colbert.
Owners Russ and Emily Nix
recently established the market to
give local residents a place to sup
port Madison County and Georgia
artisans, farmers and small busi
nesses.
“I knew this community would
love something like this,” said
Emily Nix, who grew up in the
county. “Our community thrives
on supporting each other.”
When the Nixes began their
journey to establish a local market
in Madison County, they reached
out to other businesses with the
hope that they would consider
opening locations in Madison
County. However, they received
the same response each time - the
area wouldn’t work for them.
Undeterred, the couple decided to
take matters into their own hands
and create a space for local prod
ucts themselves.
Home Grown Market currently
boasts 96% of its products as
made in Georgia, with 16 vendors
from Madison County.
While the primary focus is on
food and supporting agritourism
in the county, the market also ded
icates space to local art, including
metalwork, woodworking and
paintings.
“We really want to support agri
tourism, where our county excels,”
Nix said. “But the other part is we
do believe in local art and so we
do have some of that in here.”
The market has played a crucial
role in connecting local businesses
with each other, fostering partner
ships and collaborations.
“We want to be able to help
people sell their products and put
them in connection with other
people,” Nix said.
The market has already facili
tated connections between local
See ‘Home Grown’ on 2A
