About Claxton enterprise. (Claxton, Ga.) 1989-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2025)
Know Your Neighbors EVANS COUNTY PEOPLE William Smith -See Page 11 SGHA Homeschool Students Inducted into National Beta Club - See Page 3 BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT Hendrix Fence Co. -See Page 12 ?U1m SendiTM wmsaimmmmmmmmmmammimmmmsii&suJl \ FENCE CO. f For aff yourfencing needs1 www. claxtonenterprise. com Vol. 113 A Leader in the Growth and Progress of Claxton and Evans County Wednesday, January 1, 2025 $1.00 Per Copy Happy New Year 2024: A year that brought flooding, storms, misery The year that left roads impassable, some residents stranded, crops destroyed, and many hoping for the restoration of electrical power. 2024, that was the year that was... road) (CLOSED) mill Kif /It 11 j in By Mickey Peace Enterprise Publisher Droughts are often the subject discussion among local residents. After all, the largest segment of our economy - agriculture - is still the backbone of rural parts of Georgia and, in particular, Evans County. While most farmers have the ir rigation equipment needed to re plenish water-starved fields, there remains only hope and prayers to make it through heavy downpours that sometimes flood fields and streams, leaving crops to drown in their rows or attract disease and destructive insects. Today, as it was once stated by the late stand-up comedian ‘Brot- ner Dave Gardner’, “... a lot of people talk about the weather ... but nobody does anything about it.” And that’s how it was through much of 2024. Residents spoke of the weather frequently during the past year, but this time it wasn’t about drought. In spite of the talk, nobody could do anything about flooding events that followed major storms in August and late September. Mother Nature still has the upper hand. The past year will be long-re membered as the year that wit nessed historic flooding brought by Tropical Storm Debby. On Wednesday, August 7, the Canoochee River breached 18.11 ft. on the north side of Claxton at the Canoochee River. The river, swollen from three days of rainfall, broke a 99-year See 2024 page 2 Keynote speaker, native of Hagan, to address MLK banquet on Jan. 11 Storm’s aftermath left some roads and bridges out of use for weeks. Back-to-back storms in August and September, followed by flooding rains in November, took their toll on res idents and governmental agencies. County officials sworn in Monday By Mickey Peace Enterprise Publisher Evans County officials were sworn to office during a ceremony held Monday morning in the courtroom at the Courthouse. Among the officials taking the oath of of fice were the first ever mem bers of the Evans Board of Elections. The three members of the Board of Elections were ap pointed to serve during the Dec. 10 meeting of the Board of Commissioners. Sharon Massey will serve a four-year term on the new board, as will Carolyn Green. Patricia Milton was ap pointed to a two-year term. The members will be in charge of conducting elec tions and handling voter reg istrations in the county. Evans County’s move to an election board came follow ing a request from Probate Judge Darin McCoy early last year. An appointed board follows the approval of state legislation requiring all of Georgia’s counties to have in place a board to conduct elec tions as of Jan. 1. Until the change, Evans County elections had been managed by the probate See BOARD page 3 The keynote speaker for the MLK Memorial Banquet is well-known in the Evans County Community. Jimmy L. Brown, a native of Hagan, will speak at the Evans County Community Center on Saturday, January 11,2025. Sponsored by the Evans County Afro-American Soci ety, will begin at 6 p.m. The speaker is the son of the late Purely Brown, Donnie Brown, Waldo Brown, and Maeretha Brown. Jimmy was educated in the public school system of Evans County, where he at tended Evans County High School. Active in school or ganizations and sports, Brown was a member of the football team that captured the State Championship in 1967. He was an honor graduate of the graduating class of 1969 from ECHS, and upon graduation, Brown attended Savannah State College, now Savannah State University, where he majored in ac counting. In 1971, Brown joined the Jimmy L. Brown MLK Banquet Speaker United States Navy, sta tioned at Command NTC San Diego, California. He also served aboard the USS Eugene A. Greene DDII and was abroad on the USS Shreveport LPD-12A War ship, transporting troops' equipment for warfare mis sions. He received a medical re tirement from the US Navy and an Emergency Medical Technical Ambulance Certi fication from the Georgia Department of Human Re sources. Brown is a faithful mem ber of the Historic Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, where he serves as a musician for the church choir. He is an avid chess player and uses his knowl edge of chess as a mentor for students in the Evans County Community Center Camp STARS after-school pro gram. Jimmy L. Brown is the fa ther of one daughter, Nicole Brown, the Senior Vice-Pres ident FIN PRO at Marsh USA Inc. in Charlotte, North Carolina. The keynote speaker humbly refers to himself as “Just a Country Boy from Hagan, Georgia.” Tickets for the annual ban quet are $35 per seat, and a table for six can be reserved for $135. Donations to help offset cost of the MLK events are welcome. Make check to ‘2025 MLK Observance and mail to Harold Jones, 3847 US Hwy 280 West, Claxton, GA 30417. “Working Together for Positive Change” is the local theme for this year’s MLK observance. At the council meeting, at the polls, at the debate, at the concert, at the game, at the festival, at the polls... t (Hlaxttfn Jinttxipvxm P.O. Box 218 • Claxton, Ga. 30417 • 912-739-2132 • www.claxtonenterprise.com © 2024 The Claxton Enterprise, Inc. 7 93573 78757 6 Subscribe Today! All subscribers receive FREE access to our online archives dating back to 1915! Subscribe online at www.claxtonenterprise.com or give us a call at 912-739-2132. In state rate - $30. Out-of-state - $38. Don’t wait... Get yours today! INDEX: Opinions: Pages 6, 7 Obituaries: Page 8 Marketplace: Page 9 Public Notices: Page 10 Business Spot: Page 12 INSERTS: • Food Fresh • Food World • Publix Note: This paper was placed in the mail to you on Wednesday morning. If it arrives late, please contact your local post office.
