About The Madison County journal. (Hull, Ga.) 1989-current | View Entire Issue (July 2, 2025)
JULY 2, 2025 Madison County Journal Merged with The Corner News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006 • U MadisonJournalTODAY.com Merged with Vol. 42 No. 26* Publication No. 1074-987* Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 * A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. *12 Pages, 1 Section Plus Supplements $1.00 MOAS Bark & Wine event raises over $25K for shelter By Caleb Rollins caleb@mainstreetnews.com The Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter’s 10th An nual Bark and Wine event, held on May 31 at the His toric Smithonia Farm in Colbert, raised over $25,000 for the shelter, MOAS lead ers recently announced. Bark and Wine is the shelter’s biggest fundrais ing event of the year, thanks in part to the many local businesses that sponsor the event. “Thank you to everyone who made our 10th Annual Bark and Wine such a suc cess,” MOAS leaders said. SHELTER CLEAN-UP DAY MOAS will be hosting a Shelter Clean-up Day on Saturday, July 12, for those interested in helping the shelter stay clean for the summer. The clean-up event will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and refreshments will be provided. “This is a great way to help make a big impact with out making a big time commitment,” MOAS lead ers said. “Your help for just two hours will really make all of the difference for our animals, our shelter visi tors and our over-burdened staff.” MOAS is located at 1888 Colbert-Danielsville Rd., Danielsville. For more information, visit moaspets.com or call the shelter at 706-795-2868. CAT ADOPTION SPECIAL From now until July 6, MOAS is having a “Cat Adoption Special,” in which guests can adopt a cat for $50, rather than the usual $75. Guests can also adopt two cats for $75 during the special. Adoption hours are See MOAS, page 3A Rec. dept, to bring on concessionaire for spring 2026 season BOC approves proposal for concession services provider, a first for the rec. dept. Lee honored by GFB for winning State Grand Champion Market Doe Goat Award By Caleb Rollins caleb@mainstreetnews.com The Madison County Board of Commission ers approved a proposal on Monday night from the Madison County Rec reation Department for a concessionaire to take over concession services at the department’s facilities, starting next year. Concession on the Move, a local business operated by Shatoya Mattox, will be gin overseeing concession stand services during the Spring 2026 season. Mattox plans to use the spring season as a “trial run”, operating two to three concession stands each night, including Sammy Haggard Park’s upper and lower concession stands, along with the Brewer Phil lips Sports Complex con cession stand. If the trial run goes well, Mattox also plans to poten tially open the Diamond Hill Softball Complex con cession stand, and even run all four stands on the same night if needed. UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT Previously, the rec. dept, had overseen concessions operations itself, but, due to staffing issues, was not always able to provide full services during sport sea sons. A group of concerned cit izens who spoke at a BOC meeting last November criticized the rec. dept, for See BOC, page 3A Madison County FFA member Olivia Lee was re cently honored by Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) during a dinner hosted on June 13 at its Macon headquarters for the 11 students who won grand champion awards at the 2024 State 4-H and FFA Market Goat and Lamb Show and the 2025 Georgia Junior National Livestock Show. Lee showed the female goat selected as the 2025 Georgia Junior National Breeding Doe Goat Grand Champion at the 2025 Geor gia Junior National Live stock Show held in Perry on Feb. 21. As the grand cham pion, Lee received a $1,000 scholarship and belt buckle sponsored by GFB. Lee has shown goats for eight years and also showed sheep this year. She is the daughter of Byron and Eliz abeth Lee of Comer. Dr. Joshua Whitworth is Oliv ia’s FFA advisor. The grand champions GEORGIA GEORGIA! GEORGIA FARM GEORGIA RGIA GEORGIA FARM BUREAU FARM BUREAU Photo Courtesy of Georgia Farm Bureau Georgia Farm Bureau President Tom McCall, right, presents Madison County FFA member Olivia Lee with her $1,000 scholarship and grand champion belt buckle for exhibiting the 2025 Georgia Junior National Breeding Doe Goat Grand Champion as Georgia Commission er of Agriculture Tyler Harper offers congratulations. Lee was honored along with other state grand champions during the Evening of Champions din ¬ ner hosted by GFB on June 13 in Macon. See Farm Bureau, page 3A MART provides resources for families, children in Madison County Deakin explains MART's services & initiatives at BOC meeting By Caleb Rollins caleb@mainstreetnews.com Sherry Deakin, the Mad ison Area Resource Team (MART) Family Connec tion coordinator, spoke at the Madison County Board of Commissioners meeting on June 30 to raise aware ness about what MART is, its purpose, and how it serves the people of Madi son County. The Georgia Family Con nection network was creat ed by former Georgia Gov ernor Zell Miller in 1991 after he read that Georgia was ranked 48th among the 50 states in children’s well being by the national Kids Count Data Center. As of 2025, the Kids Count Data Center ranks Georgia 39th in the nation for children’s wellbeing, and every county in the state now has a Family Con nection collaborative, with Madison County’s being MART. MART also began in 1991 when a group of con cerned citizens represent ing residents, agencies and businesses began to collab orate in an effort to improve services for Madison Coun ty residents. MART estab lished its name in 1994, and formed a partnership with the statewide Georgia Fami ly Connection in 2000. “Our goal is to work on creating better outcomes for children, families and the community as a whole,” said Deakin. See MART, page 3A Index News — 1A, 3A, 5A, 7A Opinions — 4A Crime — 6A Socials — 2A, 5A Churches — 10A Obituaries — 8A-9A Classifieds — 7A Legals — 11A Stars, stripes and safe bites MAILING LABEL USDA provides food safety tips for Fourth of July barbecues 4879 14144 As summer grilling sea son heats up, the U.S. De partment of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has reminded Americans to declare independence from foodborne illness this holi day season. “Summer barbecues are a favorite tradition, but they also present unique food safety challenges when cooking outdoors and away from the safety of a kitch en,” said FSIS Administra tor Dr. Denise Eblen. “Safe food handling is the best ingredient for a successful cookout.” Here are some recom mendations: Handle Frozen Food Properly: • Before the barbecue, American flag Honey Pond Garden Club readies Comer for car show thaw frozen beef, poultry or fish safely in the refrigera tor, cold water or a micro- wave oven. When thawing with cold water and a mi crowave, cook immediately afterwards. • Although frozen prod ucts may appear to be pre- cooked or browned, treat them as raw food and cook thoroughly. • Products labeled as “Cook and Serve,” “Ready- to-Cook” and “Oven Ready” must be cooked to the appropriate internal temperature. Marinate Safely: • Always marinate food in the refrigerator, never at room temperature. Bacteria multiply rapidly in warm environments. • Use a food-safe contain er or resealable plastic bag for marinating. •Never reuse marinade that has been in contact with raw meat or poultry unless you boil it first to de stroy harmful bacteria. Cook Carefully: • Do not partially cook food ahead of time and fin ish later; cook it thoroughly the first time. • Remember that color See Food safety, page 3A 44 Submitted photo The Honey Pond Garden Club weeded and maintained the downtown planting beds and the pollinator garden on Wednesday, June 25, for the public attending the City of Comer’s car show on Saturday, July 5, down by the railroad tracks at 185 North Avenue, Comer. The event will feature music by Crusin’ to the Oldies, vendors and a bouncy house from 3 to 6 p.m., followed by fireworks at 9:15 p.m. Volun teers included HPGC President Franki Horrocks, Ange- lia Darling, Jack and Janet Carlson, Bruce Gandy and Pat Handcock.
