the paper december 27 edition

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INSIDE The PaperP.O. Box 430Hoschton, GA 30548

ECRWSSCURRENT RESIDENT

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PAIDPERMIT NO. 13

GAINESVILLE, GA

Thursday, December 27, 2012

See HIGHWAY, 2A

2nd West Jackson fire station site ID’dBY KATIE [email protected]

The West Jackson Fire Department is in the process of purchasing a piece of land that will one day be the site of second fire station.

The land parcel, located at 1875 Ednaville Road, is on the northern side of Interstate 85, which would make covering incidents on that side of I-85 easier and faster. The loca-tion will allow responders to eliminate going through several intersections and areas of high traffic.

“You have always said you needed a sta-tion on the other side of the interstate, and now we’ll at least have the property for that station,” said Fire Chief Ben Stephens, in ad-dressing members of the West Jackson Fire Board at a called meeting held Dec. 18.

The cost of the property is $57,000, down from $158,000 which was the asking price of

the parcel when the fire department looked at it in 2008-2009.

“The school board just bought some prop-erty, or is in the process of, and it’s kind of the same reasoning. I don’t think we’ll ever get anything this cheap again,” said Fire Board chairman Tim Sweat.

“I couldn’t pick a better location for where our second station needs to be, with the exception of two doors down closer to the intersection,” said Stephens.

“It’s a really good access area for going anywhere,” said Stephens, on the proximity of that location to important roads such as New Liberty Church Road and Thompson Mill Road.

The cost of purchasing the land would be covered completely by the sale of one

of West Jackson’s fire trucks to Lincoln County.

“We can take this money and just roll it right over into the station – just out of that one truck, which is I think a heck of deal,” said Sweat.

“I think it makes perfect sense. I mean it’s a couple hundred thousand dollars dif-ference than what they were asking for it, and ISO has already told us – been telling us for years – that we need another station across the interstate,” said board member Harry Bryant.

“The people in that subdivision [Mulberry Park], their ISO is a 10 right now, and it could be a 4,” said Stephens.

The closing date for purchasing the prop-erty is set for Jan. 15, 2013.

Katie Justice The PaperThe addition of a future second station on the Ednaville Road will enhance safety.

Sale of � re truck to � nance $57,000 purchase

New Year’s Day program and swearing-in set for TuesdayFrom staff reports

In keeping with a tradition which is more than eight de-cades old, the Jackson County New Year’s Day program will be held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013.

Judge W.W. Dickson presided at the first New Year’s Day program in 1927.

The 86th annual program will be held in the auditorium of the Jackson County Administration Building, and will be followed at 10 a.m. by the swearing-in ceremonies for newly-elected county officials. Sherry Moore, who will assume her responsibilities as Jackson County’s new probate judge, will preside over the swearing-in ceremony.

At the 9 a.m. commemoration, Tax Commissioner Don Elrod will introduce Academy Baptist Church Pastor Eric Shelton as the featured speaker.

Chief Magistrate Bill Chandler will introduce county offi-cials and guests.

Teen Pact is hosting the New Year’s Day program and will provide coffee and donuts.

The Jackson County Administration Building is located at 67 Athens St., in Jefferson.

Volume 7, Number 8

Business 3A Church 6BEntertainment 5BFeatures 3BForum 6A

Obituaries 4APastor’s Pen 4APuzzles 5BSchools 5ASports 1-2B

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Smiles at Rotary party for kids. 3B

BY LISA [email protected]

The 119-acre parcel, bordered by Thompson Mill Road and Old Winder Highway, was once home to acres of horse farms nestled against the wetlands, Mulberry Creek and streams that wound through its pastures and hard-wood groves. As development ap-proached, one by one the larger of the farms began to sell to be replaced by upscale residences and a thriving neighborhoods’ need for restaurants, grocery and convenience stores.

Several hundred acres away, the Panoz family established a destination point in Chateau Elan with its vineyards, winery

and high end hotel and spa, with residential development to fol-low. Across Thompson Mill’s winding road, the more recent active adult community, Dea-ton Creek, developed with aging baby boomers as its focus.

With South Hall’s continued growth in population came the residents’ need for health and medical services. Northeast Georgia Health System recog-nized this growth area and plan-ning began, 10 years ago, toward the culmination of its initial 100-bed facility expected to open spring 2015.

The land parcel, upon which the hospital complex will sit, was

B R A S E L T O N H O S P I T A L

Designing with a conscience

For The PaperAn artist rendering of what the Northeast Georgia Medical Center Braselton might look like.

New hospital to feature latest in design trends

BY LISA [email protected]

The Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce’s South Hall Business Coalition hosted a North-east Georgia Medical Center Braselton up-date Dec. 18.

Anthony Williamson, vice president of service lines and greater Braselton devel-opment, gave an overview of the hospital’s construction timeline, environmental and

Officials present update new campus

Lisa Laskey The PaperNGHS’ Anthony Williams describes the his-tory and progress of the system’s newest hospital.

See UPDATE, page 2A See DESIGN, page 2A

Highway 211 widening likely going nowhere, at least for nowBY JEFF GILLRegional staff

A couple of Braselton area road projects, including the widening of Ga. 211, which serves as a major South Hall artery, appear stuck in neu-tral, barring some infusion of cash from some source.

“We’re going to continue looking to see if we can find finding to do both projects,” Braselton Town Manager Jennifer Dees said. “We’re talking about projects that are in the $10 million range. That’s just not something (the town) is ever going to be able to fund. It’s not in the realm of possibility for us.”

The widening of Ga. 211 from the Gwinnett-Hall County line to Interstate 85 and construction of Brasel-ton Parkway Extension, a road connecting Ga. 211 to Jesse Cronic Road, were both voted down July 31 in the transportation sales tax

referendum.Prior to that, Halvorsen

Holdings, a Florida-based developer with 200 acres of land behind the Publix-an-chored shopping center off Ga. 211, paid for engineer-ing work “to get our projects to the point where he had cost estimates, drawings and things like that,” Dees said.

“When there was still hope that the two road projects we had on there might make it, (Halvorsen) had a whole lot of interest (from potential tenants) with the expanded roads,” she said.

Hall County had on its project list for the sales tax — also rejected by voters — a plan to widen Ga. 211 from Ga. 53/Winder Highway to the Gwinnett County line.

“We were really on the sidelines hoping for the same result that a lot of folks were with that referendum,”

CMYK

2A The Paper | Thursday, December 27, 2012 LOCAL

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169 Towne Center Parkway, Hoschton, GA 30548 P.O. Box 430, Hoschton, GA 30548

Editor:LeAnne Akin

Advertising:Debbie Purvis

Sports Editor:Latrice Williams

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Publisher:Dennis L. Stockton

economic impact to the area.

NGHS’s second hospital has been in the planning for more than a decade and is considered the first new net hospital in the state in over 20 years, explained Wiliams.

A “net” hospital is one that is newly established and not a rebuilding or re-furbishing of an existing facility.

According to Sukai Cook, senior project leader of the department of operational excellence, an extensive survey was taken of resi-dents who would feel the impact from a new hospital in their area.

Chad Bolton, director of planning, said that he re-ceived numerous personal calls in support of the proj-ect as well as over 1,000 letters saying the same. The only caveat noted was residents’ request that the 119-acre complex retain a park-like integrity.

The hospital is intended to support the system’s 14 county service area and is expected to deliver many of the same general acute ser-vices as that of the Gaines-ville hospital including cardiology, oncology and neuroscience.

There has been a strong focus on work flow during the design planning phase, said Dr. Sam Johnson, chief medical officer and vice president of medical af-fairs.

“This will be a very ap-pealing hospital for phy-sicians,” he said. There will also be a strong focus on connectivity between physician practices, in and outpatient services. Corpo-rate-related services are ex-pected to be retained solely at the Gainesville hospital to avoid duplication.

AmenitiesWilliamson noted more

expansive patient rooms in the 100-bed facility, than that of Gainesville and with beds expected to expand to 350 to 400 ultimately. The patient or “bed” tower was

to be four floors and roughly 100,000 square feet but has been expanded to five sto-ries and 125,000 square feet, Williamson said, “to give us a little more capacity for ex-pansion in the future.”

The towers will house roughly 24 beds on each story, plus or minus with four in the emergency room department. “The rooms are a little larger,” said Wil-liamson. “The (building) codes have changed a little bit. They now require more room around the beds.” More medical treatment is now done in the rooms themselves and rooms need additional space for staff and equipment. “There is also a nice family area,” he said.

The existing entrance to the hospital and medical complex along Thompson Mill Road will have a traf-fic light installed.

A second entrance, off Ga. 211 will be undergoing a substantial elevation of grade to bring it level with the roadway there.

As of Dec. 20, the entire site had been scraped and basin creation was under-way. company Simpson Grading fo Gainesville was awarded the contract for site work.

The Braselton hospital, medical complex is ex-pected to retain a marriage to the local environment, said planners, and is de-signed to be a retreat for patients and families.

An existing wetlands and creeks are to be protected and construction is follow-ing environmentally-con-scious development pro-cesses.

Economic impact“Something that is very

important, to us, is local participation,” Williamson said.

Four prospective vendor level tiers have been identi-fied in the following order: Hall County; the system’s 14-county service area; metro Atlanta and the state as a whole.

“As of right now,” he said, “72 percent of the money spent has been in tier one (Hall County). That number is most likely to go down, in

all transparency, just be-cause of the sheer nature of the work.

“Everything is being RFP’d,” Williamson contin-ued. “The important thing here is that we’ve got a strat-egy and we understand how important this is to the local community. We’re leading this all the way through.”

At the height of construc-tion, there will be 250 or so workers at the site plus or minus, said Williamson. “When we open the hos-pital, we’re anticipating roughly 300 jobs. It’s a little hard for us to predict right now. We’re still putting that together.”

Williamson said that as the hospital matures, em-ployee numbers should increase to around 500 translating into roughly $70 million in employee com-pensation. “More medical offices, more pharmacies, support services and all the businesses that come in to support them — restaurant, retail,” Williamson said.

TimelineThe new medical center’s

design development phase was completed the week prior to Christmas.

According to William-son, there will be no more changes to design after this phase due to expense and potential for project delays.

The building’s foundation is expected to pour in Feb-ruary 2013 and steel frame-work is slated for erection June 2013.

“We’re about three weeks ahead of schedule right now,” Williamson said.

The hospital’s attached medical complex is ex-pected to open in late 2014 with the hospital projected to open spring 2015.

one of the few remaining undeveloped sites near the junction of Thompson Mill Road and Old Winder Highway. Farm owners had long since sold their acreage and moved on. Some residents expressed concerns that its natural beauty would be lost in development.

This concern was not lost on Northeast Georgia Medical Center Braselton planners who extensively surveyed area residents and registered their perspective. To ensure environmental integrity and create an inno-vative, sustainable medical complex, NGHS selected Hammel, Green and Abrahamson (HGA) as architect and the landscape plan-ner and architect firm of HGOR. Each firm is known for its attention to marrying structure sustainably to environment.

“The retreat-like character of Braselton and its immediate surroundings,” said HGA Associate Vice President Mark Debrauske, “is one of the largest draws, differentiators.” Of the expansive, undeveloped parcel, HGOR principal Steve Sanchez said, “When we were first introduced to the site it was a green-field…a natural environment with limited development.” HGA planners took inventory of the plant and animal population. “There are some sensitive areas on the site,” he said, that includes a lower wetland, Mulberry Creek and additional streams. “We’re still going to stick with the native plant pallet,” he said, so as the new vegetation reseeds in sub-sequent years, it will not degrade the existing environmental system as well as provide an additional food source, he said.

Lean processesNGHS selected its new hospital’s planners

and developers with an eye toward sustain-ability of both the land upon which it rests as well as in the care that it provides to its patients.

Upon the decision to use a Lean process model — eliminating road blocks between departments, and in the case of the hospital, with adept delivery and the patient as focus — the health care system brought in a facili-tator to help select its hospital development and design team.

NGHS worked with healthcare design expert Craig Zimring, PhD. who is an envi-ronmental psychologist and professor of architecture at Georgia Tech. Dr. Zimring’s

research has focused on the relationships between the physical environment of health-care facilities and human satisfaction, per-formance and behavior.

“We’re really trying to get some of the phy-sicians who are local to the area involved in the process,” said Anthony Williamson, vice president of service lines and greater Brasel-ton development.

Architectural firm HGA fulfilled the hospi-tal system’s determined needs and has been recognized for more than 300 national, state and regional design awards. The firm was one of nine finalists in a Kaiser Permanente international competition that sought design concepts for a small, eco-conscious, patient and family-friendly hospital using the best in emerging technology to coordinate and de-liver care.

LEED designTo integrate internal culture and work flow

with the aesthetics of a retreat-like complex, NGHS brought on board landscape architects and planning firm HGOR to extend the Lean concept to the physical site as well.

In a LEED designed environment, points are awarded across five major categories that include site sustainability, water effi-ciency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality plus additional points for innovation in design among others. Based upon points earned, by completing specific design requirements, a building can qualify at the certified, silver, gold or platinum level. The Braselton hospital will be constructed to meet the gold standard. According to Williamson, the gold level will allow the highest degree of quality while bal-ancing the system’s return on investment.

Using lean processes and gold standard LEED design is highly commendable, ac-cording to NGHS President and CEO Carol Burrell. “We’re doing it in a way that we’re being told by experts and the professionals that very few health systems have,” Burrell said.

One sustainability-focused decision made for the new hospital is the creation of a geo-thermal field that will heat and cool the com-plex. “This is one of the green features of the project,” said Williamson. A geothermal field contains a system of drilled wells, using the earth for cooling and heat. “This is a little more expensive on the front end,” William-son said. “But we did an ROI on this and it actually pays for itself in about six years.”

UPDATEContinued from 1A

DESIGNContinued from 1A

BRIEFLYJefferson planning board recommends denial for apartment community

The Jefferson-Talmo Planning Commission unanimously voted Dec. 18 to recommend denial of the two rezones and two variances requested for a proposal apartment community on Damon Gause Parkway in Jeffer-son.

The Jefferson City Council is to consider the planning commission recommendations at the Jan. 14, 2013, meeting.

Taurus Investments, the company which would develop Creek Trail, would make an investment of an es-timated $350,000 would be made in water, sewer and road access infra-structure, according to Attorney Ab Hayes, who spoke on behalf of the Bu-chanans. He said the 353 units would be targeted for single professionals or young couples attracted to the area by employment opportunities.

John C. Buchanan is seeking a

rezone from R-2 to MFR for the pro-posed apartment community. Rezon-ing of an adjacent parcel is requested from R-2 to C-2 for proposed com-mercial use.

One variance would allow the den-sity to be increased from a maximum of eight dwelling units per acre to 15 dwelling units per acre and the other would lower the undisturbed natural buffer from 50 feet to 25 feet.

Braselton approves alcohol licenses for restaurants

The Braselton Town Council re-cently unanimously approved two alcoholic beverage licenses for res-taurants.

The application of Henry Matos for wine, malt beverage and distilled beverage consumption, including Sunday sales at Big Daddy’s Grill, located at 5783 Old Winder Highway, was approved.

Wen Chuan Lock’s request for wine and malt beverage consump-tion, including Sunday sales for Rice, located at 7380 Spout Springs Road, Suite 430, was also approved.

said Tom Vincent, president of Halvorsen, which also developed the Pub-lix shopping center on Spout Springs Road in Braselton and Stone-bridge Village shop-ping center in Flowery Branch.

The Ga. 211 widening “is still a viable project ... but we don’t have a timetable for construct-ing that until our devel-opment project would go forward,” he said.

Vincent holds hope that day will come, once the economy starts to rebound. The Brasel-ton area in Hall County, particularly around Friendship and Spout Springs roads, has seen steady development, even through the reces-sion.

“There’s a lot of projected growth out that way,”

Vincent said. “As things start to evolve or pick up over the next year or whatever, hopefully that will help stimulate a lot of the developments that were planned or just getting under way.”

The widening of Ga. 347/Friendship Road in South Hall is expected by many to provide an economic boost.

The Georgia De-partment of Trans-portation project calls for widening Ga. 347 from Interstate 985 to Ga. 211. It features six-lane segments, in-cluding one between Ga. 211 and Spout Springs Road that will front Northeast Geor-gia Medical Center Braselton.

Work is under way on the new 100-bed hospital, which is ex-pected to open in April 2015. The hospital is on Northeast Georgia Health System’s River Place campus, which has one medical office

building in place and another one planned.

HIGHWAYContinued from 1A

85

211

347

53Spout Springs Road

BraseltonProposed road widening

R. KEITH HATCHELL | The Times

area of detail

The Ga. 211 widening project from Interstate 85 in Barrow County into Hall County appears to have hit a bump in the road. The widening was originally shot down along with all the projects proposed under the transportation sales tax voted on July 31. Now leaders still want the project done but can’t find funding.

Project in limbo

N2 miles

CMYK

The Paper | Thursday, December 27, 2012 3Abusiness

The Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards banquet, presented by Buhler Qual-ity Yarns Corporation, on Jan. 24, 2013, will be the Chamber’s 40th anniversary celebration.

This year’s banquet will celebrate the Chamber’s 40 years of accomplishments and honor some in the com-munity who have made sig-nificant contributions to the Chamber and top Jackson County.

Nominations are now be-ing accepted for the recogni-tions to be presented at the banquet including Citizen of the Year. Visit www.jackson-countyga.org

s s sThe Jackson County Area

Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon-cutting cer-emony for Anytime Fitness, located at 6055 Highway 124, Suite 114, in Hoschton, at 10 a.m. on Jan. 10, 2013.

by KATie [email protected]

Looking for a new hobby? How about beading? Bead-joux, a bead store owned by Monica Goff, now makes its home in the Hometown Walk Shopping Center on Highway 53 in Braselton.

““I like the area, I think it’s beautiful, and it’s close to the interstate which is conve-nient,” said Goff.

Beadjoux offers a range of unique beads and stones along with hundreds of dif-ferent classes. From one-of-a-kind vintage stones to handmade lampwork beads by Braselton’s own Kimberly Branch, the selection of Be-adjoux isn’t limited to tradi-tional seed beads.

There is also an ever-grow-ing inventory of handmade jewelry for sale made by Be-adjoux class instructors.

More than six nationally published bead artists regu-larly host classes, which are listed on the stores website at www.beadjoux.com. Stu-dents pay a fee ranging from $25 to $45 and purchase their supplies in store. Classes av-erage about three hours in length and, by the end, stu-dents have piece of their own beaded jewelry to take home or wear out the store.

“I don’t think there’s an-other shop with this many bead artists,” said instructor Jimmie Boatright.

Also, Boatright offers participants the opportunity to “Pick a Project” every Thursday. Students can view Boatright’s work on the store website and choose an item

they wish to make.To register for classes, call

the store at 706-658-0007 or email [email protected]

If classes aren’t for you, Beadjoux also sells bead kits which include instructions and supplies to for individu-als to complete on their own time. The kits start at $25.

Additionally, beginning in 2013, the store will offer time for individuals to come in and spend their free time beading and socializing.

Beadjoux is open from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, from 10 a.m. -7 p.m. on Saturday and from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday.

Katie Justice The PaperBead artists are available to share their creative inspiration at Beadjoux in Braselton.

Beadjoux supplies beads and jeweled inspiration

ChAmber news

A&E’s ‘Be the Boss’ will spotlight Jazzercise Dec. 30

The Jazzercise, Inc. international fitness franchise business will be spotlighted on the new original real life series “Be the Boss,” on A&E Network Dec. 30 at 11 p.m.

From the Emmy-Award winning cre-ators of “Undercover Boss,” this competi-tion-based series will feature two Jazzercise franchisees vying for the opportunity to own a Jazzercise Fitness Center – similar to the Jazzercise Gainesville Fitness Center on Dawsonville Highway and Jazzercise Braselton Fitness Center on Spouts Springs Road in Flowery Branch owned by Colleen Manji – or, in essence, become their own boss.

In the Jazzercise episode, two Jazzercise instructors are summoned to corporate headquarters by Jazzercise Founder and CEO Judi Sheppard Missett, where they dis-cover they are eligible for a rare career op-portunity. Through the course of the week, both Jazzercise instructors are put through rigorous job-related challenges to deter-mine who should earn the coveted position. What these instructors don’t realize is that an even greater prize is at stake – the keys

to their very own center.In honor of the company’s appearance

on “Be the Boss,” Jazzercise locations nationwide, including Jazzercise Center in Gainesville and Jazzercise Center in Flowery Branch), will be participating in contests on Jazzercise, Inc.’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Those who follow the Jazzer-cise episode on Twitter or “Like” Jazzercise on Facebook and answer trivia questions based on the show correctly are eligible for three free months of Jazzercise at any participating location or a $300 Jazzercise Apparel gift card.

“The Jazzercise Gainesville Center and Jazzercise Braselton Center in Flowery Branch are proud to be part of the world’s leading dance fitness program, which ranked as No. 3 home based franchise, No. 3 low cost franchise and No. 13 overall on the 2012 Entrepreneur Magazine Franchise 500,” said Manji.

For a current class schedule and infor-mation, contact the Colleen Manji at 678-357-1690 or [email protected] or at www.jazzercise.com.

The Georgia Department of Labor an-nounced last week that Georgia’s season-ally adjusted unemployment rate declined to 8.5 percent in November, down two-tenths of a percentage point from 8.7 per-cent in October. The rate was 9.5 percent in November a year ago.

“This is the lowest state unemployment rate in nearly four years, since it was 8.5 percent in January 2009,” said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “Once again, the rate dropped because of continued job

growth and fewer new layoffs.” The number of jobs increased to

3,984,000, up by 9,600, or two-tenths of a percentage point, from 3,974,400 in Octo-ber. The monthly growth came mostly in trade, transportation and warehousing, educational services, information services, local government, financial services and manufacturing, up 600.

Construction was down as was leisure and hospitality, professional and business services and other services.

State jobless rate drops

CMYK

4A The Paper | Thursday, December 27, 2012 local

Hazel Mccrary BucknerDied Dec. 20, 2012

Mrs. Hazel McCrary Buck-ner, 93, of Talmo, died Thurs-day Dec. 20, 2012.

Born in Warner, Okla., she was a daughter of the late Walter and Mamie Woodall McCrary. She was an office manager of Mosler Safe Company for many years before retiring. She lived in Savannah for many years where she was a member of Montgomery Presbyterian Church, serving as church elder/ deacon. She moved to Talmo to be closer to her family. She attended Pond Fork Baptist Church until her health declined.

Mrs. Buckner was also preceded in death by her husband, Louis Reddick Buckner; brothers, Teasie McCrary and Knotchie Mc-Crary; and a sister, Anna Evans.

Funeral services were held Friday Dec. 21, 2012, in the Evans Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Scott Lance officiating. Interment was on Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012, in Hillcrest Abby East in Sa-vannah. Those honored as pallbearers were Brandon Lance, Erik Lance, Tra-vis Lynn, Wesley Buckner, Mitchell Buckner, Keith Lance and Johnny Holland.

Survivors include her sons, Tom (Lisa) Buckner of Talmo and Louis Walter Buckner of Savannah; grand-children, Rachael Buckner, Amanda Lundgren, Wesley Buckner, Mitchell Buck-ner, Brandon Lance, Erik Lance and Amber Lynn; and great-grandchildren, Bailey Lance, Brayden Lance, Trey Pace, Kirsten Lynn and Ty-ler Ferguson.

Evans Funeral Home, Jef-ferson

The Paper, Dec. 27, 2012

Mallice Elizabeth Young chathamDied Dec. 23, 2012

Mrs. Mallice Elizabeth Young Chatham, 88, of Nich-olson, died Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012.

Born in Turner County, she was a daughter of the late Roy B. Young Sr. and the late Lennis Rice Young. A home-maker, she was of the Baptist faith. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Fred Harrison Chatham; and brothers, Roy B. Young Jr., and Charlie Young.

Survivors include her daughter, Martha Faye Con-ner of Nicholson; sons, Billy (Elaine) Chatham of Buford, Robert L. Chatham of Gray-son and Walter Ray (La-Verne) Chatham of Monroe; six grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and seven great-great-grandchildren.

Graveside services were held Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, in Peachtree Memorial Park in Duluth.



Mitchell Ronnie DixonDied Dec. 18, 2012

Mitchell Ronnie Dixon, 62, of Auburn, died Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012.

Arrangements will be an-nounced by Lawson Funeral Home, 35 First St., Hoschton, GA 30548, 706-654-0966, www.lawsonfuneralhome.org.


Tammy Marie lower Fowler

Died Dec. 22, 2012Tammy Marie Lower

Fowler, 41, of Doraville, died Friday, Dec. 22, 2012.

Born in Cumming, she was a daughter of Dalton Lower of Palm Harbor, Fla., and Alma Schell of Jefferson. Mrs. Fowler was a home-maker.

Funeral services were held Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, in the chapel of Evans Funeral Home.

Survivors, in addition to her parents, include her husband, Steve Fowler of Doraville; sons, Scott Miles of Auburn, N.Y., and Trever Reiff of Jefferson; sister, Mi-chelle Vanderbeek of Jeffer-son; and a number of other relatives.



William David JenkinsDied Dec. 18, 2012

William David Jenkins, 70, of Oxford, died Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012.

Arrangements will be an-nounced by Lawson Funeral Home, 35 First St., Hoschton, GA 30548, 706-654-0966, www.lawsonfuneralhome.org.


Frances Dowell KelleyDied Dec. 20, 2012

Mrs. Frances Dowell Kel-ley, 88 of Jefferson, died Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012.

Born in Crossplains, Tenn., she was a daughter of the late Thomas and Ruby Carver Dowell. Mrs. Kelley was a re-tired teacher’s assistant with the Jackson County School System and a member of the Galilee Christian Church. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Ed-ward Odell Kelley.

Survivors include her sons, Tommy Kelley of Cataula and Jeff Kelley of Jefferson; daughters, Sharon Qualls of Suwanee and Karen Icen-hour of Dallas; brother, Rob-ert Drake of Ridgetop, Tenn.; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Funeral services were held Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012, at the Galilee Christian Church with Minister Tom Plank officiating. Burial was in the Galilee Christian Church Cemetery.



Rowena Michael lackeyDied Dec. 20, 2012

Rowena Michael Lackey, 95, of Winder, went to be with the Lord on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, after an extended illness.

Born in Sims Town in south Barrow County, she was the fifth of 10 children born to Clifford and Rosa Sims Michael. She was a

lifelong resident of Barrow County and was a member of Hebron Christian Church. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Charlie M. Lackey Sr.; and son, Nick Lackey.

Survivors include her sons, Charlie M. (BJ) Lackey Jr., of Winder and Rex Lackey of Statham; daughter, Victoria L. (Myron) Garrett of Winder; daughter-in-law, Charisse Lackey of Winder; grandchil-dren, Dean (Valerie) Gar-rett of Winder, Heath (Teri) Garrett of Newnan, Jarrod (Bari) Lackey of Marietta, Patrick (Lisa) Lackey of Bu-ford and Zeb Lackey of Sta-tham; great-grandchildren, Hannah Garrett, Courtney Garrett, Abram Garrett, Re-bekah Garrett, Alex Garrett, Grace Garrett and Adrianna Lackey; and several nieces and nephews.

Graveside services were held Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012, in Barrow Memorial Gar-dens with Pastor Doyle Sims officiating.

Smith Funeral Home, Winder


Harry Mccord McDonald Jr.

Died Dec. 19, 2012Harry McCord McDon-

ald Jr., 55, of Winder, died Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012

A 1975 graduate of Winder-Barrow High School, he was a graduate of the Art Institute of Atlanta. An avid photogra-pher, he was former owner of Stell Photo and was em-ployed by the Classic Center of Atlanta. He was preceded in death by his father, Harry McCord McDonald Sr.

Survivors include his mother, Marcelle C. McDon-ald of Winder; daughter, Ka-tie McDonald of Jefferson; brother, Dana McDonald of Jefferson; and sister and brother-in-law, Gail and Jon Greeson of winder.

A memorial service was held Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, in Smith Memory Chapel with the Rev. Terry Tippens officiating. Memorials may be made to the Loran Smith Center for Cancer Support, 1199 Prince Ave., Athens, GA 30606.



Martha June Potts Rankin

Died Dec. 19, 2012Ms. Martha June Potts

Rankin, 96, of Jefferson, died

Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012.Born in the Brockton com-

munity of Jackson County, she was a daughter of the late Luther Potts and the late Bonnie Brock Potts. She was a homemaker and was out-standing for volunteer ser-vice for the Jehovah’s Wit-ness for more than 55 years. She was also preceded in death by her husband of 72 years, Mr. Summie Gregory Rankin.

Survivors include her son and daughter-in-law, Robert Gregory and Mary Coleman Rankin of Jefferson; niece, Joy (Al) Espalin of Orlando, Fla.; nephew, Joe (Bonnie) Farrell of California; and a host of friends throughout the community.

Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012, in the chapel of Evans Funeral Home with Mr. Martin Harbeck of-ficiating. The visitation will be held at the funeral home from noon until the service on Saturday, Dec. 29. A pri-vate family burial will be held at Woodbine Cemetery in Jefferson.

Please omit flowers and make memorials to the Flow-ery Branch Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses Build-ing Fund, c/o Mark Singleton P.O. Box 156, Braselton, GA 30517.



Peggy SchoenbornDied Dec. 22, 2012

Ms. Peggy Schoenborn, 79, of Winder, died Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012.

A Jackson County native, she was the daughter of the late Levi and Winnie Maloch Smith. She was a member of Gospel Light Baptist Church, where she was active in the Bus Ministry for 25 years. Ms. Schoenborn was a 1951 graduate of Braselton High School, and was a 1977 grad-uate of the North Georgia Police Academy, later serv-ing seven years with the Bar-row County Sheriff’s Depart-ment. She retired in 1994 as a customer service represen-tative with Flavorich Dair-ies. Most recently, she was a caregiver for the elderly.

Survivors include her daughter, Cathy Cronic But-ler of Winder; son, Tommy Schoenborn of Auburn; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, in the chapel

of Carter Funeral Home with the Rev. Rodney Queen and Pastor Dave Stroup offi-ciating. Interment will be in White Plains Baptist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 4-9 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 27, at the funeral home.

Carter Funeral Home, Winder


Jerry allen SosbeeDied Dec. 23, 2012

Jerry Allen Sosbee, 68, of Statham, died Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012.

He attended Mars Hill Bap-tist church and was preceded in death by his parents, Ray-mond Earl Sosbee Sr., and Etta Mahle Sosbee; broth-ers, Raymond Earl “Monk” Sosbee, Bobby Sosbee and Bill “Pap” Sosbee; and sister, Linda Gail Phelps.

Survivors include his wife, Sandra Jean Burton Sosbee; son and daughter-in-law, Barry and Robin Sosbee of Statham; daughter and son-in-law, Angie and Matthew Gora of Suwanee; sister, Sara “Sally” Peters of Hampshire, Ill.; grandchildren, Hunter and Stafford McCurry, Walker Sosbee and Savan-nah and Shayna Gora.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, in the chapel of Smith Funeral Home with the Rev. Leon Pass and Brother Steve Bingham officiating. Interment will follow in Bar-row Memorial Gardens.



annie Fleming SwaffordDied Dec. 18, 2012

Mrs. Annie Fleming Swaf-ford, 80, of Bogart, died Tues-day, Dec. 18, 2012.

A native of Jackson County, she was a daughter of the late Willie and Willie Mae Fincher Hardigree. She was preceded by her first husband, Gene Fleming, who died March 19, 2001. Mrs. Swafford was a retired seam-stress with Barrow Manufac-turing Company of Statham and was a member of New Pentecost United Methodist Church.

Funeral services were held Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, in the chapel of Carter Funeral Home with the Rev. Earl Shaw officiating. Interment was in Evergreen Memorial Park in Athens.

Survivors are her husband, Randolph Swafford; daugh-ter and son-in-law, Shirley

and Earl Carter of Statham; granddaughters, Rebecca Carter and Melissa Carter, both of Statham; sisters, Laura Finch of Grovetown and Louise Fincher of Winder; and brothers, Har-old Hardigree of Winder, Herbert Hardigree of Jones-boro and Rammie Hardigree of Monroe.

Memorials may be made to The Alzheimer’s Founda-tion of America, 322 Eighth Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10001.

Carter Funeral Home, Winder


cynthia Denise Thompson

Died Dec. 20, 2012Cynthia Denise Thompson,

48, of Winder, died Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012.

She was a 1981 gradu-ate of Winder-Barrow High School and was employed by the State of Georgia Depart-ment of Juvenile Justice. She was employed by the Barrow County Detention Center for more than 20 years. She was preceded in death by her fa-ther, James O’Neal Overton.

Survivors include her mother, Peggy Overton of winder; son, Jonathan Thompson of Winder; daugh-ter and son-in-aw, Jenny Ma-rie and Greg Corradino of Pinehurst, Texas; sister and brother-in-law, Renea and Dr. Thomas Britt of Easley, S.C.; granddaughter, Ga-breilla Rose Carradino; and nieces, Alaina Casey and Ni-kala Farmer.

Memorial services were held Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012, in Smith Memory Chapel with Dr. John Talley officiat-ing.



Rilla WhitleyDied Dec. 19, 2012

Mrs. Rilla Whitley, 96, of Winder, died Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012.

Born in Barrow County, she was a daughter of the late Lee and Wyonna Wiley Bai-ley. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Roy Whitley.

Survivors include her daughter, Reba Maxey of winder; grandson, Todd Mor-gan; and great-grandchild, Karla Morgan.

No services are planned at this time.



OBITUARIES

Something strange has happened. Christmas has changed. I re-member Christ-mas being a magical time of vacation, family, traditions and of course presents. That is the gen-eral consensus when you are eight. Fast forward several de-cades and Christmas is different. As I talk with adults about Christ-mas now, I get a different story.

Many adults deal with Christ-mas like they do dirty diapers – put off dealing with it as long as possible, and when you can’t stand it anymore, you bite the bul-let and rush through the process as quickly as possible, holding your breathe. The reasons for the “Christmas Blues” are many.

I see many couples under such financial pressure at this time of

the year. They are working extra hours, picking up extra jobs and constantly wor-rying how they are going to buy all that their kids want for Christmas. I talk with people regularly who are reminded of what has been lost in a year – a loved one or friend who has passed or a relation-ship that has been lost. For others, it is a simple

as adding more work - hanging lights & trees, shopping, Christmas cards, extra parties - to an already crowded schedule. I had one friend tell me on Dec. 17 “I’m just ready for it to be over.” Maybe you can relate.

Instead of relegating ourselves to diaper duty, I believe we can position ourselves for a great Christmas season. It really is all about see Christmas through other people’s eyes.

The first challenge is to see Christmas through the eyes of a

child. Yes, I understand they ask for iPods and Xbox and other high-dollar items, but underneath that consumerism, there is a heart that wants to be engaged in the pag-eantry and wonder of the season. Here is how to stoke those flames in them and you.

Anticipation. Kids are full of it leading up to Christmas. They wake up every morning think-ing about Christmas day and lay in bed every night thinking of it. Build that up for them. Our kids race downstairs every morning in December just to flip open another door counting from Dec. 1 to the 24th counting down the days. To build anticipation in them, ask them what they think they will get for presents. Ask them what they think about Santa. Include them in the shopping and wrapping of pres-ents. Have them try egg nog. Bake Christmas cookies. The more you engage you child and hear their heart about Christmas, you’ll find it is just not about the presents, but

the experience.Traditions. Kids love them. It

creates memories and a feeling of nostalgia and security. Have fun with it. Every year we load up the kids in pajamas and with a cup of hot chocolate and drive around our community looking at Christmas lights. They look forward to it every year. We also read the Christmas story from the Bible with them, from portions of Matthew chapters 1 & 2 and Luke chapters 1 & 2. It is an incredible time of spiritual renewal and discovery, until someone asks, “What’s a virgin?” I tell them to ask their mother!

Slow down and engage the children around you. Try to see Christmas through their eyes. It will do you a world of good.

The next challenge is to see Christmas through the eyes of the needy. That’s right, the needy. This season our church provided Christmas gifts for dozens of kids and meals for a dozen families. It is incredibly humbling to know that you have helped a family. It is also great perspective to realize how much you take for granted.

When our family & church fam-ily went to help at a soup kitchen recently, we all were blown away. One project they had us do was wrap presents for needy families, but instead of wrapping bikes, games or barbies, we were wrapping cans of corn and beans. I had a hard time imagining be-ing thankful for canned foods at Christmas, but it was sobering to realize that there are families that would be. See Christmas through their eyes makes us so much more content, and appreciative of the little things.

The final challenge is to see Christmas though the eyes of your Heavenly Father. God started this whole Christmas thing, so maybe he has the best perspective for us. When we do that, we realize that there is only one gift that ultimately matters. The gift that God gave us – his Son, Jesus. Jesus came for you and me – to be born as a baby, but to die and rise again as the Savior. Don’t miss this sim-ple truth. So read the Christmas story. Attend a church this Sunday

Beating the Christmas blues

Rod ZwenkeThe PasToR’s Pen

see ZWENKE, 7a

CMYK

The Paper | Thursday, December 27, 2012 5Aschools

Jackson Electric Mem-bership Corporation (EMC) will send four exceptional student delegates on an all-expense paid leadership trip to Washington, D.C., June 13-20 for the 2013 Washing-ton Youth Tour (WYT).

Candidates must be a high school sophomore or junior at least sixteen years of age at the time of the trip, with demonstrated leadership, academic excellence and interested in learning about leadership, civic service, American history and U.S. government. Nominees will be chosen by their high school guidance counsel-ors/teachers or are home-schooled students living in a Jackson EMC member’s household who are inter-ested in the program.

The four winners of this award will earn the pres-tigious title of a WYT dele-gate and an all-expense paid leadership trip to Washing-ton, D.C., joining more than 100 of Georgia’s brightest students and roughly 1,500 students sponsored by elec-tric membership coopera-tives across the country.

“Beyond the educational value of the trip and the back stage pass to countless historical and inspirational sites, students are given the opportunity to grow and develop their lead-ership potential,” quotes Randall Pugh, president and CEO.

Only one semi-finalist will be selected to rep-resent their high school. Applicants must submit their application packet to their counselor or guid-ance office immediately. Deadlines vary by school.

All of the details, an ap-plication and FAQ’s are available from high school counselors or on the coop-erative’s website at www.jacksonemc.com/youth-tour or www.facebook.com/JacksonEMC.

ABOUT STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS

Jackson Electric Mem-bership Corporation (EMC) is currently accepting ap-plications from full- or part-time students for three scholarship programs. All scholarship recipients must be a customer of Jackson EMC or the son or daughter of a customer and must also be a resident of the home served by Jackson EMC.

Winners will be chosen by an external scholarship committee, which will care-fully review each applica-tion to select the most quali-fied candidates, based on academic ability, extracur-ricular activities, involve-ment, personal sketch and letters of recommendation.

Jackson EMC offers two separate types of awards through the A.T. Sharpton (ATS) Scholarship program, named in honor of a late chairman of the Jackson EMC Board of Directors. Three $1,000 scholarships from each of the two ATS categories will be awarded.

The ATS Restricted Scholarship Award is avail-able exclusively to students attending or planning to at-tend Gainesville State Col-lege.

The A.T. Sharpton Unre-stricted Scholarship Award is available to graduating high school seniors, under-graduates and/or gradu-ates who are attending or planning to attend any ac-credited two-or four-year college, university or tech-nical college in the nation.

Also available is the Wal-ter Harrison Scholarship (WHS), administered by Georgia EMC and named for a leader in the state and national electric coopera-tive movements. Several of these $1,000 scholarships are awarded statewide to undergraduate students enrolled in or accepted by a Georgia college, university or technical college. ATS applicants may also apply for the WHS as long as the requirements are met.

Students interested in applying for any or all of these scholarships should contact their area high-school guidance counselors or complete the application online at www.jacksonemc.com/scholarships or at www.ngcf.org. The dead-line for applications is Jan. 24, 2013.

Visit the websites for de-tails or contact Callie Flack at [email protected].

By KATIE [email protected]

Dr. Jackie Ellett, a Ho-schton resident and Gwin-nett County School System employee, has been teach-ing for 26 years. During that time, she’s earned a number of honors and awards, but she’s earned one of her most prestigious just this year.

In 1990 Ellett was named Georgia Elementary Art Educator of the Year. Nine years later, she was named the Georgia Art Educators Association Educator of the Year. In 2011 she was the Georgia Art Educator of the Year. However, it wasn’t un-til this year that she earned the title of Art Educator of the Year from outside her own state.

Ellett was named the 2012 Southeast Art Educator of the Year by the National Art Education Association. She is currently the art teacher at Duncan Creek Elementary.

“I was really shocked ac-tually. It’s a huge honor be-cause there are thousands of wonderful teachers out there and to be chosen to repre-sent our profession is an ex-tremely enormous honor,” said Ellett.

Ellett, who earned her undergraduate, masters, specialists and doctorate degrees in art education all from the University of Geor-gia, never wanted to be a teacher growing up.

“I didn’t want to be a teacher. I come from a fam-ily of educators, my uncle, my aunt, even cousins, and I knew what a tough job it was, and that when you leave at the end of the day, you’re re-ally not leaving,” said Ellett. “Your school work, it follows you home, and ends up fol-lowing you in every part of your life. And I really didn’t want that, I wanted more privacy to my life and more time for me.”

However, Ellett, who went to school to work in scientific and medical illustrations, found that she would end up teaching anyway.

“Every time I tried avoid-ing it, I’d end up volunteer-ing for this, that or the other, and I found that what I was

doing the whole time in un-dergraduate school that I was a teacher. That’s what I am,” said Ellett. “I went into teaching because it ended up being a natural for me.”

Ellett began the art educa-tion program at three Gwin-

nett County elementary schools. She has also taught at Brenau University, Mercer University and North Geor-gia College, and currently teaches at Piedmont College in addition to Duncan Creek Elementary.

Katie Justice The PaperDr. Ellett demonstrates how to complete a winter themed assignment for Mary Lawrence’s kindergarten class.

Katie Justice The PaperWhile the assignment consisted of simply drawing snow-men, Dr. Ellett encouraged her students to include ele-ments such as a setting and shadows to improve their art-work.

Hoschton’s Jackie Ellett is named Southeast Art Educator of the Year

Jackson EMC offering scholarships, leadership trip to nation’s capitol

PublisherDennis L. Stockton

General ManagerNorman Baggs

EditorLeAnne Akin

FORUMThursday, December 27, 2012

6A

There’s a woman I’m looking for. Perhaps you know where she is. If you do, please help me find her again.

It’s been several years since our paths crossed but the moment our eyes met, I was captivated. Her eyes told me she had a story to tell me, a life of adventure and a misadventure or two.

I’m drawn toward sto-ries, but then you know that. My friends and fami-lies choose gifts for me, say-ing, “It has a story so she’ll love it.” It is always the story that is more valuable to me than the present.

That’s why I have to find this woman. I have to know her story. I cannot escape from the loud whisper of her eyes. It haunts me, even taunts me by relent-lessly reminding me, “You have to know. You won’t be disappointed.”

One evening — oh I guess it’s been five or six years now — I was asked to dine with a friend at Sea Island’s Lodge on the coast of Geor-gia. It is a magical place of soft lights and a fountain that sits majestically be-hind live oaks draped heav-ily with long ropes of moss.

It was my first time to visit there.

We left the car for the valet, and as we entered the two-story high lobby built of rock and dark wood, I saw her. She stopped me in my tracks. I was glued in place, almost swimmy-headed, as Mama liked to say, by the sheer magnetic pull of her allure, her telling eyes and the triumphs and tribula-tions she was eager to tell me.

My friend, Edward, ap-proached. “Darlin’,” he drawled lyrically. “Is some-thing wrong?”

For a second or two, I was speechless, hard as that is to believe. I could only shake my head. Finally, I forced myself to call forth words. I was mesmerized. Or perhaps hypnotized.

“It’s that woman,” I whispered, pointing toward the enormous, life-sized

portrait of a handsome woman somewhere in her 30s, I suppose, clothed in a diaphanous white dress. The style led me to believe that the portrait had been painted in the early part of the 20th century, perhaps in the 1920s or ’30s.

He glanced up. “Oh, I know. She’s lovely, isn’t she? Come. We mustn’t be late.”

I couldn’t move. I tried to decipher what she was telling me because her eyes screamed, “No! You can’t leave yet. There’s so much I have to tell you.”

Finally, Edward tugged and pulled me away but later that night as he waited for the car, I hung behind in the lobby. Timidly, I ap-proached.

“What’s your story?” I whispered. “You must tell me.”

From then on, for the next few years, I jumped at every invitation to the Lodge, even finagling some, just to see her. With every opportunity, I would sit down on the settee fac-ing the portrait and, in childlike wonder, stare. I suppose I thought that sooner or louder, she would

speak. But never she did.I asked employees, “Who

is she? Where did this paint-ing come from?” But no one could answer.

I was desperate to know. Then, one day a couple of years ago, I went racing into the lobby to see my friend and she was gone. Vanished. Disappeared. Like the vapor that life is.

I stopped suddenly, crest-fallen. Tears filled my eyes. The beautiful, mahogany paneled wood was bare. Empty of her grace and beauty. It still is.

“Where, where is the portrait that was there?” I asked frantically to a Lodge employee as he crossed the lobby.

He smiled. “I don’t know. They took it down a month or so ago.” I’ve asked everywhere and no one knows.

If you know where she is, please tell her that I’m looking for her. She’ll un-derstand. She knows she has so much to tell me.

Ronda Rich is the author of “There’s A Better Day A-Co-min’.” Sign up for her news-letter at www.rondarich.com. Her column appears weekly.

Television, especially the 24-hour news channels, has an insatiable appetite for the talking head. The idea is simple: Get someone to appear before a camera and weigh in on the news of the day.

However, there are times when the so-called experts should keep their mouths shut. My case-in-point: the horrible tragedy in New-town, Conn.

Within hours, it seemed that everyone who had an opinion on gun control or mental health issues was giving their 2 cents on what we should or shouldn’t have done. It started almost immediately and hasn’t stopped.

I have heard it said that there are no words in the languages of the world to de-scribe a parent who has lost a child. The timeline of life tells us that children should bury their parents, not the other way around.

Quite frankly, I don’t care if you are for guns or against guns; this is not the time to speak. How painful it must be for one of the 20 parents to hear someone say that things might have turned out differently if one thing or another had taken place.

How does the family of the school principal, who threw herself at the gunman and was killed, react when they hear people say, “If she only had a gun ...” That would be like going to the funeral of a cancer victim and saying, “If she had only chosen a different doctor ...”

The other part of this that makes me angry is that so many politicians are taking advantage of the situation, not because they really care about the people of New-town, but because they are trying to advance their own careers.

My friend, Lonice Bar-rett, is married to a retired kindergarten teacher. He can’t speak about this trag-edy without his eyes welling up in tears. “I will never

look at a group of little chil-dren the same way,” he told me.

First and foremost, we should let these people grieve. These parents are teaching the world by their example of courage and faith. Let them bury their little ones without the con-tinual cries of “What if ...”

Then, it is Christmas. Con-gress and state legislatures are not meeting this week and the debate over any pol-icy changes will be lengthy. Let these dear people at-tempt to put together some kind of observance of the holidays with their remain-ing family.

These 20 children and the faculty members of the school were beautiful people. The stories I have read about the children and their interests have touched my soul. The pictures of their incredibly cute little faces at first will make you smile, then, you just want to cry when you realize that this little life has tragically ended.

When I think back on my elementary school days, I can easily remember my beloved teachers and prin-cipals. I remember learning to spell “principal.” You could always remember that the principal was your “pal.”

These dear teachers, ad-ministrators and their prin-cipal were also loved, just as they loved those children. A community is hurting and America is watching. It won’t happen, but we should stand silently and let them bury their dead in peace.

Harris Blackwood is a Gaines-ville resident whose columns appear weekly.

Steve Kelley Creators Syndicate

Mystery woman has a story to tell

Keeping the Supreme Court busy in 2013

Silence often serves us best amid tragedy

Ronda Rich

As a licensed newspaper columnist, I am contractu-ally obligated to write an end-of-the-year, beginning-of-the-year column.

You’re supposed to re-count the events of the pre-vious year in some whimsi-cal context, or make quirky resolutions/predictions for the coming year.

After Georgia was edged by Alabama in the SEC Championship game, I have decided to forget everything that happened previously in 2012, so it’s on to the latter.

Most folks make New Year’s resolutions in an at-tempt to better themselves or improve humanity. While that type of effort is indeed admirable, I am no pie-in-the-sky Pollyanna (umm, pie). I know my limi-tations, and they are many, and then some. Thus, I lower the bar and shoot for attainable standards, resolutions I can reach with

very little effort and abso-lutely no pain.

With that in mind, in the year of 2013, I resolve to:

Do things that require very little effort and abso-lutely no pain.

Petition the Supreme Court to issue an edict that all clothing manufactured in the United States must be stain-resistant and wrinkle-free (if there is any clothing still manufactured in the United States).

Blame every problem I have on Obamacare.

Cease trying to subtract.Not chase my kids

around the house with scis-sors any more.

Try that new “Smoke-

Yourself-Thin” diet I’ve been hearing about.

Teach a dog to talk.Act like I’m stupid all the

time so that when I do or say stupid things, people won’t be surprised (I’ve re-solved to do this for years, and am always able to ac-complish it).

Develop a fat-free taco.Petition the Supreme

Court to outlaw automated phone systems.

Share every thought that pops in my head on politics or religion on Facebook.

Continue to avoid televi-sion programs or movies that involve vampires, zombies or puppets. Also, avoid vampires, zombies or puppets in real life. So much for going to Walmart in 2014.

Expand my culinary horizons and eat differ-ent kinds of foods, rather than the same foods that I always eat, like maybe trying the new Enchilada

Supreme Flavored Doritos.Never lose my remote

control again.Create and develop a

reality television show focused on rednecks. We need more of that on TV.

Hide all my stuff if my wife starts talking about having another yard sale.

Petition the Supreme Court to overturn that law about tampering with mat-tress tags.

Not beat up any more mimes.

Eat as much as I can pos-sibly cram in my big, fat mouth.

Not be redundant.Eat as much as I can pos-

sibly cram in my big, fat mouth.

And lastly, spread love, hope, goodwill, no commu-nicable diseases and love with my every encounter.

Happy eating in 2013!

Len Robbins is editor and publisher of The Clinch County News in Homerville.

Len Robbins

Congress shall make no law respecting establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The First Amendment

Harris Blackwood

Letters policySend letters to [email protected]; fax, 706-658-0177; or P.O. Box 430, Hoschton, GA

30548. Please include name, hometown and phone number. Letters should be limited to 300 words on one topic and may be edited.

P.O. Box 430Hoschton, GA 30548

www.clickthepaper.com

U.S. Rep Rob Woodall, 1725 Longworth House O� ce Building, Washington, DC 20515, 202-225-4272, fax 202-225-4696; 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville, GA 30045, 770-232-3005, fax 770-232-2909; woodall.house.gov.Sen. Saxby Chambliss, 416 Russell Senate O� ce Building, Washington, DC 20510, 202-224-3521; 100 Galleria Parkway, Suite 1340, Atlanta, GA 30339, 770-763-9090, fax, 770-226-8633; chambliss.senate.govSen. Johnny Isakson, 120 Russell Senate O� ce Building, Washington, DC 20510, 202-224-3643, fax, 202-228-0724; One Overton Park, 3625 Cumberland Blvd., Suite 970, Atlanta, GA 30339, 770-661-0999, fax, 770-661-0768; isakson.senate.govDistrict 45 Sen. Renee Unterman, P.O. Box 508, Buford, 30518, 770-945-

1887; [email protected] 47 Sen. Frank Ginn, P.O. Box 1136, Danielsville, 30633; 706- 680-4466; [email protected] 49 Sen. Butch Miller, 2420 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, 30504, 678-989-5301; [email protected] 25 Rep. Emory Dunahoo Jr., 4720 Walnut Lane, Gainesville, 30507, 770-534-0314; [email protected] 26 Rep. Carl Rogers, P.O. Box 639, Gainesville, 30503, 770-532-9484; [email protected] 31 Rep. Tommy Benton, 177 Martin St., Je� erson, 30549, 706-367-5891; [email protected] 98 Rep. Josh Clark, P.O. Box 303, Buford, 3051; [email protected] 105 Rep. Donna Sheldon, 404-656-5025, 404-657-8278; [email protected]

LEGISLATURE CONTACTS

CMYK

The Paper | Thursday, December 27, 2012 7Alocal

or Christmas Eve. Start talking to God again.

If Christmas has become more about all the other things, we need to see it through God’s eyes. I can imagine God saying to us, “Slow down. Enjoy me. Enjoy what you have. Enjoy those who love you. Don’t worry. Don’t sweat trying to find the perfect gift. I’ve already given it. If you are hurting, come to me. I will be your peace.”

To help us see Christmas through God’s eyes, let me leave you with two passages from the prophet Isaiah, written 600 years in anticipation of the coming of Jesus:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will

give birth to a son, and will call him Imman-uel, which means “God is with us.”

– Isaiah 7:14

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Coun-selor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

– Isaiah 9:6

May you have a truly Merry Christmas season.

Rod Zwemke is pastor of Crossroads Church of Jackson County. You can con-tact him at 706-658-0243 or by e-mail at [email protected]. Visit www.crossroadsjacksoncounty.com.

ZWENKE Continued from 4A

Jackson County Baptist Church, Jef-ferson will be having a ground breaking service on its land at 79 Memorial Drive in Jefferson during a 2 p.m. ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 30.

The church, pastored by Jack Lawson, was constituted on July 11, 2010 and will be breaking ground for its building, and the

community is invited.The church is following God’s mandate to

“Build the Family of Faith.” The first worship service was held on

Mother’s Day on May 9, 2010 at the Jef-ferson Commuinty Clubhouse and the first service and dedication of the future site of the church was held Feb. 20, 2011.

Church to break ground

By Kellie ScottGuest columnist

Many of you whom I have met in recent months know that I am a cancer survivor and it’s part of the reason that I work for American Cancer Society Relay For Life. You may not, however, know my story. In a season filled with good cheer and holiday spirit, I have one more reason to celebrate. I celebrate life. As the American Cancer Society celebrates its 100th birthday in 2013, I, along with many others, will celebrate another birthday, too.

In September of 2002, I was busy being a wife, an Awana teacher, a member of the choir and a mother to a 7-year-old softball player and 7-month-old son. I had a place appear suddenly on my leg that we all thought was just a mole. While I waited for my dermatologist appointment in October, my well-meaning friends suggested a vast assortment of over-the-counter remedies. I was never really concerned. Cancer wasn’t something I even considered.

I went to my dermatologist in October and he seemed equally unconcerned. He took what he could from the area, stitched it up and sent me on my way. I’d return in two weeks to have the stitches removed. He’d send the sample off to be biopsied, just to be safe. There was nothing to be worried about.

I returned in November to have my stitches removed, oblivious to anything other than the holiday spirit. It’s my favorite time of year, you see. People are enjoying themselves, hustling and bustling. Families are celebrating. Life is good. I always put my tree up first and my friends and children tease me. I don’t mind, I love this time of year. I waited in the room for my doctor; happily thinking about how this would be my son’s first Christmas. In a moment, that all changed. The doctor came in, his first

words forever embedded in my memory, “I’m so sorry, Kellie. It’s cancer.” The nurse hugged me. Stunned, I walked to my car. How will I tell my husband? My kids? I sat in my car and cried.

I spent the holidays in a daze. I searched the Internet for answers. As I waited for my surgery at Emory in January, I prayed that the cancer had not metastasized. If caught early, I can be OK. It has to be OK. I have a 7-year-old and a 7-month-old who need me. Who will take care of them? Who will teach my classes at church and who will take care of my husband? How will he do this alone? All these questions tore at me as we waited and hoped.

In mid-January of 2003, my husband and I went to Emory. I spent six hours in surgery as they removed the tumor that had grown inward into my leg. They had to do a skin graft to cover the area that was removed. I went home on crutches. It would be several months before I could walk without sup-port. They also took a sentinel node biopsy, to determine if the cancer had spread. We waited nearly two weeks to find out what would be next, and we hoped and prayed there was nothing more.

On Jan. 21, 2003, three short weeks shy of my son’s first birthday, I got the call. All I heard of the entire conversation was, “We got it in time.” I was going to be OK. I was go-ing to have more Christmas’ and more birth-days. I would be here to celebrate not only mine, but my children’s birthdays as well. It doesn’t get any better than that.

We are in the midst of celebrating a sea-son of giving, of hope and of new beginnings. Let’s celebrate our survivors, remember those who lost their battles, and please, come join us as we fight back in 2013. Help us create a world with more birthdays.

Kellie Scott is community Manager for Relay For life. She can be reached at [email protected]

Kellie Scott works toward more birthday celebrations

For the Paper

Kellie Scott, pic-tured with her daughter Morgan and son Logan, welcomes more in the community to form Relay For Life teams. Visit cancer.org for in-formation about getting involved.

CMYK

8A The Paper | Thursday, December 27, 2012

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LOCAL BASKETBALLSee who is in action this week

The Jefferson High School swim team will return to action on Jan. 4, 2013, at Greater Atlanta Christian. The Mill Creek High School swim team will compete in one of its biggest meets of the year. The Broncos of Brookwood High School and the Hawks will clash at the West Gwinnett Aquatic Center on Jan. 5, 2013, at 7:15 p.m. The boys’ team continues to stun in the 200 and 400 free relay and holds a first place ranking in that category among Gwinnett County Swimmers. The Hawks will return to West Gwinnett for another showdown against Collins Hill High School on Jan 11, 2013, at 7:15 p.m.

See who is in action this weekLOCAL SWIMMING LOCAL WRESTLING

Local teams gear up for Area DualsJackson County Comprehensive High School will suit up for

Area Duals on Jan. 4-5, 2013, at Oconee County High School. Times have not been announced yet. Jefferson High School will compete in The Clash which will be held in Rochester, Minn. The Dragons will return home to host Area Duals on Jan. 4-5. Times have not yet been announced. Mill Creek High School will host Grayson High School on Jan. 2, 2013, at 5 p.m. The Hawks will return to the mat for Area Duals on Jan. 5, 2013, at 9 a.m. at Duluth High School. The Hawks have achieved ten wins on the year.

The Jackson County Comprehensive High School girls team will play in the Gaineville Tournament on Dec. 27 against Cambridge High School. The boys will take on Washington-Wilkes High School on Dec. 28 at WWHS at 2 p.m. Jefferson High School will compete in the Walnut Grove Christmas Tournament; the girls will play Greater Atlanta Christian at 9 a.m. on Dec. 27 and the boys will follow at 11 a.m. against Athens Christian. The Lady Hawks of Mill Creek High School will play in the Peach State Invitational on Dec. 27. and the boys will play Valdosta High School on Dec. 27 at 8 p.m. in the McDonald’s Classic at Tift County High School.

Trio of Hawks fulfi ll their future

BY LATRICE [email protected]

The phrase, “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too” doesn’t apply to the Lady Hawks of the Mill Creek High School softball team. The team, which has been part of a historic win-ning tradition, finished the year ranked fifth in the state.

Now, a trio of Hawks - Lau-ren Bennett, Taylor Rogers and Brittany Abbott-- will continue their careers on the diamond at the colle-giate level.

Lauren Bennett, who played short stop for Mill Creek, has signed with the Owls of Kennesaw State Uni-versity. It was important for Bennett to make her dream

of playing collegiate softball a reality.

“Ever since I was little, I watched col-lege softball on TV and always wanted to be them. It was not only a dream but a goal of mine to make it to the next level,” said Bennett.

Scott Whitlock, who was the head coach of the Owls last year, will not return under the helm next season. Despite Whitlock’s departure, Bennett said she never re-considered playing at Kennesaw and is confident in the Owls’ new leader, Wes Holly Jr.

“Coach Whitlock has been an amaz-ing person to me and I feel like I’ve

known him for a while but sadly he won’t be able to be my coach,” said Bennett. “I never once reconsidered it because I had faith in him that he would leave the team in great hands.”

“I actually have met him [Holly] and talked to him a lot because he was the assis-tant coach for Coach Whit-lock and he was always out watching me and my other teammates play. He was al-ways by Coach Whitlock’s side even in the recruiting process,” Bennett said.

There were a number of factors that played a role in Bennett’s decision to play at KSU and the competitive level of play will give Ben-nett the experience like no other.

“Kennesaw is a beautiful school and the location is great, but the atmosphere of the entire college just felt right to me. Everyone around is great and friendly and the team and coaches are amazing,” Bennett said. “I am looking forward to the intense competition of col-lege softball and the amount of emotion put into the game at this level.”

The 2012 Southern Con-ference Champions will have another great addi-tionto help them achieve a two-peat. Outfielder Taylor Rogers will join the Eagles and noted their finish from a year ago played a role in her decision to play there.

“The recruiting process for me was very quick. I made a late decision on whether or not I was going to be playing softball at the college level, which caused my recruiting to be a little behind everyone else,” said Rogers. “I literally set up visits to two schools the day after state and from there, I made my decision to attend GSU next year. The campus is absolutely gorgeous and a very fun environment.”

“The fact that the Eagles were SoCon champions did play a small roll in my deci-sion. It made me realize how good of a team the Eagles are despite what a lot of people may think. I am looking for-ward to being on a winning team,” said Rogers.

Two years ago, Rogers contemplated whether or not she wanted to continue her softball career. Yet, she decided the return to the game and coming out of retirement paid off as she

will be competing at a Divi-sion 1-AA university. Rogers hopped on the recruiting trail a little later than most but her skills on the diamond earned her the attention of an elite softball program.

“In my heart, I have al-ways wanted to play at the next level. Although I went through a major slump two years ago and took a sum-mer off from softball, that break from softball made me realize I want to continue playing softball at the next level,” Rogers said.

The Hawks softball pro-gram hasn’t been around for a decade yet they’ve boasted countless wins, have a state championship under their belt and have made an ap-pearance in the state tourna-ment the last five out of six seasons. Rogers will take her winning ways to the Eagles and noted her career with the Hawks will lend a hand as she begins another four years with her new team.

“Playing for Mill Creek has prepared me for the next level because with my coaches’ help, I real-ized that I am capable of so much more than I [ever thought]. Coach [Roger] Par-ham taught me that if I work hard, anything is possible,” Rogers said.

“I am looking forward to traveling and playing lots of teams that I have only dreamed of playing against and really I am excited to play for Coach [Annie] Smith,” said Rogers. “She is a great woman and I can’t wait to be a part of her team.”

See HAWKS 2B


Georgia High School Football Daily has quarter-back Bryant Shirreffs of Jef-ferson High School ranked eighth in their Player of the Year Watch.

Shirreffs helped the Drag-ons achieve the 2AA state title after defeating Calhoun High School on Dec. 15 in the Georgia Dome.

Jefferson went 14-1 on the

year and Shirreffs may have run out of room on his stat sheet as he finished the sea-son with 2,369 passing yards and a whopping 1,372 yards on the ground.

Shirreffs threw for 18 touchdowns and rushed for 20 of his own. The fiery and intelligent QB has shown many (including Calhoun High School) that he has all the adequate skills neces-sary to lead his team. His ability to scramble in the

pocket and achieve yards after the hit has made Shirreffs an exciting athlete to watch.

Deshaun Watson of Gainesville, Alvin Kamara of Norcross, Travis Custis of Lovejoy, Taylor Lamb of Calhoun and Vonn Bell of Ridgeland High School round out the top five.

“I think he deserves it more than anybody. he works hard and he’s a team player,” said linebacker

Kody McDonald. Shirreffs certainly has the

vote of his teammate and its safe to say the rest of Dragon Nation.

Shirreffs has many plays to stick on his highlight reel but one of his most complete games was against Greater Atlanta Christian where he went 11 of 14 in pass at-tempts, threw for 145 yards, rushed for 134 and made two trips to the end zone.

Shirre� s listed as POY nominee

Doug Chellew The PaperTop left: Quarterback Bryant Shirre� s shows his ac-robatic side with a leap into the end zone against Cal-houn High School in the state title game. Bottom left: Shirre� s, along with other Dragons were honored at the Je� erson football banquet. Above: Shirre� s attemps to secure the football as a defender from Calhoun tries to strip it away.


You never know when TJ Christopher is going to soar through the lanes but, when it doubt, it’s best to move out of the way.

The guard for the Mill Creek High School boys’ basketball team knows how to light up the stands as his emphatic one-hand jams have been a favor-ite among viewers.

“Whenever we get a dunk, it gets the momentum [going]. Even we get an and-one [from a] three, it’s such a momentum starter,” said Christopher.

The Hawks are currently 8-3 on the year but Christopher is not jumping for joy over their eight wins.

“[Our] goal was [to go] un-defeated. Last year when I was on the team, we went 12-0 before we had a loss. We had a dumb loss. I was expecting more,” said Christopher.

Peachtree Ridge High School came into the Hawks territory with some anger left over from its loss to Collins Hill High School. Mill Creek may have been the host but it felt like they were playing in the Lions’ den.

“We lost by 30 and we should have never lost by 30. We have lost to them ever since this program has started. Every-body hates losing to them,” said Christopher. “We [kept] turning the ball over. Nobody was awake. We were just going with flow.”

One of the Hawks’ eight wins came over Collins Hill. In the

final seconds, the Hawks had to decide who was going to be the hero of the game. The Hawks may not have expected the game to come to the wire over a team that went 7-16 last season.

“Last year, we would have taken that win and would not have thought much of it but this year, they were 4-0 in the region [before we played them] and they beat Peachtree Ridge. That was [a sign] that we could beat anybody,” Christo-pher said.

“I was OK with Trevon [Shaw] taking the last shot. That is the No. 1 guy I would give the ball [to] in the final seconds because he just has the confidence to make that shot,” said Christopher.

Christopher is realizing that he has no choice but to play to the best of his ability.

“All the seniors left and it was my turn. I am starting to talk more, be more of a leader and hustle a lot more. Last year I was really lazy on the court,” said Christopher.

As for the future, Christo-pher says he has hopes of play-ing college basketball. If things work out the way he wants, he may have a chance to compete against his current teammate Elijah Bryant.

“I might walk onto a team [or] wait until the end of the season to see who is trying to [recruit me],” said Christo-pher. When asked if he had a team in mind, he smiled and said, “Georgia Southern Uni-versity.”

Latrice Williams The PaperLauren Bennett will take her talents to Kennesaw State Univer-sity to play for the Owls.

Latrice Williams The PaperTaylor Rodgers will head to States-boro to play for the Eagles of Geor-gia Southern University.

Christopher iseager to see MillCreek take over

Latrice Williams The PaperBrittany Abbott, who played out� elder for Mill Creek may have two roles with Emmaunel College but is willing to play what-ever she has to with her new team.

2B The Paper | Thursday, December 27, 2012 sports

hawksContinued from 1B

Outfielder Brittany Abbott will head to Emmanuel Col-lege in Franklin Springs. Ab-bott may have two roles with the Lions, which will make her a dual threat on the dia-mond. The Lions finished the 2011-2012 season at 27-31.

“I will play [outfielder sometimes] next year as I did in high school. However, I will be playing some infield too, which will most likely be

second base. I have played both positions through high school ball and travel ball but I’ve never been able to decide which one I like best; I just go wherever the team needs me [the] most,” Abbott said.

Emmanuel is a small pri-vate institution founded on Christian values and Abbott says she is especially privi-leged to play collegiate soft-ball while learning at a uni-versity that puts God first.

“To play softball at the

college level is a blessing but getting to play for a Christian college is definitely an addi-tional perk,” said Abbott.

“I just love the Christian atmosphere and I love be-ing in it. The atmosphere is definitely important to me but I will truly be getting the best of both worlds by [at-tending] and [playing] at this college.”

Thousands of high school athletes are looking for a place to call a home after they graduate – a place

where they continue to ex-cel in their respective sport. While most will have to put their cleats to rest, Abbott says she is thankful to have another four-year stint in softball.

“It’s so exciting to be able to keep my softball career rolling as I head into college! What makes it exciting is the fact that most people stop once they are at the high school level but for me, it’s not over yet. I still remem-ber when my father asked

me what my goal for soft-ball was, and my goal was to make it to the collegiate level,” Abbott said.

“Softball is my passion and has been since I was a young-ster. It’s just really cool to see how far I’ve come! I just can’t wait to have even more fun and make memories with my new team next year!” said Abbott.

Abbott has her softball career all figured out but is still mapping out her profes-sional career.

“It has taken me quite some time to figure out my major but as of right now I would like to major in Early Childhood Education. I have a little brother who is seven years old and I just love them at that age,” said Abbott.

“As a backup plan, I have considered Secondary Math Education because I have always been good at math throughout all my previous years of school and it has always been a good option,” said Abbott.

By LAtrICE [email protected]

The Panthers are coming off a high where they left ev-erything on the mat before taking a first-place finish in the John Smith Mountaineer Tournament.

Although JCCHS was miss-ing one person from each weight class, they proved they can defy the odds.

“We only had nine wres-tlers so that was a good deal. We’d given up a lot of weight classes,” s a i d D a i v o n Ledford. “ W h e n it was football-s e a s o n , we were not do-ing that well but now that [the guys from the football t e a m h a v e j o i n e d us] we s t a r t e d p ick ing it back up. So far we are doing a good job. H o p e -fully this year, we will make it to state.”

Ledford has a couple of first-place finishes of his own, which isn’t bad for a guy who picked up the sport just four years ago.

“Some of my brothers did

it in middle school. When I was in basketball, I kind of wanted to do wrestling,” Ledford said.

Ledford’s siblings didn’t him show the ropes but he got his expertise from some-one who knows the sport very well.

“All my training came from [Head] Coach [Jason] Powers,” Ledford said.

Competing in more than one sport means having plenty of choices when col-lege recruiters come knock-

ing at the door. Although he’d rather be on the grid-iron next fall, Ledford noted he will entertain offers for college wrestling.

“I’d rather play football but some coaches have been talking to me about wres-

tling,” Ledford said.Football allows players to

watch their competitors on film before they clash yet wrestling poses a challenge where many walk into the situation blindfolded and Ledford says that makes the taste of victory a little bit sweeter.

“We really don’t know who we are going to go [up] against. I get really nervous because I’m wondering what this guy is going to do, what his shots are like and

what he is going to do from top to bottom. I just get a game plan set in my head,” said Ledford.

“The greatest feeling is beating someone in wres-tling,” said Ledford.

JCCHS wrestler shares personal and team goals

Jefferson continues tocelebrate 2AA state title

Doug Chellew The PaperBottom left: Kicker Chandler Schlutow completed 62 out of 73 point after attempts and drilled all four field goals with a long one from 44 yards out. top right: Linebacker Kody McDonald finished second among total tackles on the year with 173, along with four sacks, 14 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one pass breakup. Wesley Simonton led the way on defense with 189 tackles this year. Bottom right: Head Coach T. McFerrin speaks before Jefferson fans at the banquet. McFerrin now has two state championships under his belt.


They may not be a region rival but the Winder-Bar-row High School Bulldoggs are close enough to Jackson County Comprehensive High School to make the competi-tion feel like a conference showdown.

Plenty of bodies in the visitors’ section usually presents a hostile envi-ronment and takes away the home field advantage from the host, and the Bulldoggs certainly had a crowd to root them on. But the Lady Panthers came out as the victor in a game that wasn’t much of a bat-tle from the start.

Katie Phillips put two on her stat sheet to open the night and the Panthers added two from the char-ity stripe to start its offensive drive for the girls’ team.

The JCCHS defense pro-hibited the Bulldoggs from gaining any sort of momen-tum. With many of Winder-Barrow’s shots off the mark, Jackson County was able to jump out to a 13-5 lead with less than a minute to play in the first quarter.

The Panthers’ ability to get shots off the glass turned into a headache for Winder-Barrow. The Bulldoggs were held to just 10 points in the first half.

“I thought [they] did a great job of defending. [We] are just a hair away from get-ting more passes and steals.

We got to the foul line great tonight,” said Head Coach John Hawley.

W-BHS went through a famine in terms of points; their access to the basket was denied throughout most of the night due to turnovers and poor shooting. Their mis-fortune continued as the Bull-

doggs scored just 12 points in the rest of the match.

Victoria Fontana finished the night with 12 points and five rebounds, which was a big contribution in Jackson County’s 44-22 win.

It was a slow night on the boys’ side as the Panthers and Bulldoggs struggled from nearly every area on the court.

Identifying their shoot-ing woes wasn’t easy but it seemed as though they were shooting the ball into a closed net.

Shots were not falling for both teams but Winder-Bar-row managed to take a win

over Jackson County.It took the boys a while to

get their groove going but Xavier Harper finally ended the silence in the crowd with a 3-pointer.

Mo Wade added two to the board and later, a little raz-zle-dazzle that ended with an outstanding drive to the hole.

His efforts allowed JCCHS to take a 1-point lead.

Each squad continued to see the same results; shots were fired but the target was missed.

The Bulldoggs drew first blood coming out of the half and JCCHS stayed close behind but began to slip away through the fourth quarter as the Bull-dogs boasted an 8-point advantage.

The Bulldoggs run to-wards the end of the game allowed them to stay in

front for the rest of the night. The Lady Panthers will

return to action on Dec. 27-29 in the Gainesville Tourna-ment. The girl’s will take on Cambridge High School on Dec. 27.

The Bears will be looking for its first win of the year against the Panthers. CHS is out of the 7A-AAAAA region.

The boys will have a much lighter schedule as they take on Washington-Wilkes High School at WWHS. Showtime is set for 2 p.m. on Dec. 28. The Tigers lost by three to Jackson County earlier this season.

Panthers and Bulldoggs each go home with a winThe Lady Panthers silence the Bulldoggs while the boys’ fall in the final minutes to W-BHS


When you win a state championship, (no matter what sport) you deserve to celebrate as long as you want. Two days after winning the 2AA State Championship against Calhoun High School, the Jefferson High School football coaching staff handed out awards at its banquet, which was held at JHS. After falling to Commerce High School in their first game of the sea-son, the Dragons rode a 13-game winning streak all the way to the Georgia Dome. Now, the Dragons have another trophy to add to its case and have brought much joy to Jefferson.

Doug Chellew The PaperDaivon Ledford competes against Commerce High School at home in the Pan-ther Invitational, which was held Nov. 30 through Dec.1.

FEATURESCMYK


3B

See ROTARY, 6B

The children from Elite Academy in Ho-schton were dressed in their holiday finest as they performed in their annual

Jingle Jam program presented Nov. 29.

The program began with a beautiful duet sung by Dawn Dewitt, the owner of Elite Academy, and her daughter, Delainey.

It was an excellent way to kick off the 2012 Jingle Jam.

Each age group of children — infants, toddlers, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds and

Pre-K students — danced and

sang on stage at Northeast Church, where the event

was held. Approximately 100 to 150 parents, family members, friends

and loved ones watched the children perform clas-sic Christmas songs such as “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Feliz Navidad”

and “Baby’s First Christmas.”

The infants sat in individual boxes that

were wrapped in holiday paper while volunteers blew bubbles to catch their gazes. “Baby’s First Christmas” played over the speakers as the audience let out continuous “awwwws.” The older children sang along and danced to

their respectivesongs. Parents were impressed

to see how hard their little ones worked while at school. They prac-ticed every day and were excited to have a good time with their teachers and friends on stage.

Immediately following the performance, families attended a casual dessert, coffee and hot chocolate reception. There were cookies, muffins and snacks as well as drinks from Starbucks.

It was a great time for social-izing — teachers and parents had the opportunity to spend time together and get to know one an-other better than before.

The children, families and Elite Academy employees had a blast at the 2012 Jingle Jam and look

forward to next year.For more information about

Elite Academy, visit www.elite-academyga.com or call 706-658-2343.

Elite Academy was also a drop-

off location for Toys for Tots.Farah Bohannon is a freelance

writer living in Winder. She loves to utilize her skills to write inspir-ing stories. Reach her at [email protected]

Addressing the violence

Elite Academy kids celebrate holidays at Jingle Jam

Farah BohannonColumnist

Katie Justice The PaperSanta Claus welcomed children to share their Christmas wish list with him and photos were made for families to take home. Faces were painted and balloon � g-ures were crafted. Below, the children watched and reacted to magician Stephen Spanks of Never Grow Up Children’s Entertainment. See more scenes captured by Katie Justice and Debbie Purvis at ClickThePaper.comRotary Club

spreads holiday smiles to familiesBY KATIE [email protected]

On Dec. 18 just before 7 p.m., Braselton Mayor Bill Orr an-nounced that a special guest was expected to arrive at the West Jackson Primary School cafeteria.

According to Orr, Santa Claus had heard of a special gather-ing at the school and was going to make an appearance.

Despite school having ended

for winter break earlier that day, nearly 90 children were milling around the room. The children and their families were guests at a Christmas party hosted by the Rotary Club of Braselton.

More than 30 areas families in need were given the oppor-tunity to experience the magic of Christmas including a visit with Santa, gifts and a holiday celebration.

LeAnne Akin The PaperJimmy Bailey of Jefferson Motor Company recently presented a check for $1,000 to An-nette Bates, executive director of Piedmont Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and CASA board chairman Tom Murphy. The funds were raised in part through a promo-tion of the new 2013 Ford Fusion.

Je� erson Motors supports CASABY LEANNE [email protected]

Jefferson Motor Company participated in “Go Further with Ford Night” and sold a few cars from the free fund-raising event which ben-efitted Piedmont Court Ap-pointed Special Advocates (CASA).

Held Nov. 15, the promo-tion was an opportunity to engage consumers in the fi-nal “Random Acts of Fusion” adventure and offer a chance to see the all-new 2013 Ford Fusion in person.

Go Further with Ford

Night was the fun finale to Random Acts of Fusion, the unique transmedia program hosted by Ryan Seacrest that has generated more than 12 million consumer engage-ments with the Ford Fusion by playing out a story arc through multimedia plat-forms.

“We all want to be part of something bigger, and Go Further with Ford Night was our way of offering consum-ers the chance to give back to our community, have a lot of fun, enjoy the final random

See CASA, 6B

Not long ago I sat and watched a couple of young boys as they played video games. While the younger boy raced cars, the older boy played a military com-mando game. The object of the race was obvious: finish first. The object of the com-mando game was obvious, too: kill all the people you could kill before they killed you.

These games have been around for many years now. They have only be-come more realistic, more graphic, and more acces-sible to children. Despite warning labels on these violent games, thousands of underage children play them.

Many people see no more harm than from the make-believe cowboy games of my generation. Almost every kid I knew had a set of toy pistols with holsters and often a cowboy hat to match. We had our battles out in the yard with our friends. One of us played the bad guy and the other one played the good guy. If there was no friend to play that role, most boys could create an imaginary enemy and have a heck of a gun battle.

Unfortunately, in those days, television had poi-soned our minds and made the Indian into the bad guy. Much like the movies, the Indian never fared too well in our make-believe battles.

Americans finally grew beyond our “cowboy and In-dian” culture. Or have we? I’m afraid it’s just morphed into something more so-phisticated. Many have replaced the American Indian with the Muslim and our weapons of choice are much more powerful than a couple of six shooters.

Now instead of children using their imaginations,

Sandy Hook tragedy shows attention must be focused on teaching kindness

Dr. Michael Helms Guest columnist

See SANDY HOOK, 6B

CMYK

4B The Paper | Thursday, December 27, 2012 FEATURES

By MERRiTT MElAncon University of Georgia

PRIDE, Parents Reducing Injuries and Driver Error, is one of five programs se-lected for inclusion in a new national publication high-lighting innovative programs that are effective in reducing teen driver crashes.

PRIDE is being featured in, “Curbing Teen Driver Crashes: An In-Depth Look at State Novice Driver Ini-tiatives,” published by the Governors Highway Safety Association, which includes a detailed look at what states are doing to address teen driver safety in several ar-eas, including helping par-ents understand, support and enforce graduated driver’s license laws; helping teens understand and address driving risks; strengthening driver education and train-ing; helping police officials understand and enforce graduated driver’s license laws; and strengthening graduated driver’s license laws.

PRIDE was developed in 2003 by the Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute, a grant-funded program in the University of Georgia College of Family and Con-sumer Sciences, in coopera-tion with the Georgia Gov-ernor’s Office of Highway Safety, driver education pro-fessionals, law enforcement officials, parent-teacher as-sociations and students.

The program is a no-charge, two-hour course that addresses the driving attitudes, knowledge and be-havior of parents and teens, according to Frankie Jones, who is director of the Geor-gia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute.

Unlike most programs, parents and children par-ticipating in the PRIDE program go through two separate courses. After the first 15 minutes, parents and teens divide into groups be-fore coming together again for the final segment. The result is more candid dis-cussion in the two separate groups as well as when they rejoin, Jones said.

“Much of the discussion in

the parents’ group centers on Georgia’s graduated driver’s license laws and how parents can influence their teens to become safer drivers,” she said. “But we also ask them to rate their own driving. And we ask the teens to rate their parents’ driving. When the two groups come back to-gether, the parents and teens share their views about this, which generates a lively and significant discussion.”

In their discussion, the teens primarily focus on identifying what is most important to them, using a series of exercises to nar-row the list to their top three, which generally end up including family, life and friends. At the end of the ses-sion, teens are asked to take the “Driving Force Oath,” which includes a pledge to always wear safety belts, to always obey driving laws and to practice safe driving.

“The pre- and post-test re-sults show that both the par-ents and teens significantly increase their knowledge of the graduated driver’s li-cense laws and their intent to drive safely,” Jones said. “We also survey the parents at sixty-day and one-year intervals. Respondents to these surveys indicate that there has been a very low in-cidence of crashes or viola-tions involving their teens.”

PRIDE reaches about 1,200 families a year. In most cases the parents and teens are attending voluntarily. However, Jones noted, juve-nile court judges do some-times mandate that teens and their parents participate if the teen has committed a traffic offense.

“We’ve found that the parents whose teens were required to come are more likely to stay at the conclu-sion of the program to talk with the instructor and other parents,” Jones said. “We’re also finding that as judges receive information about PRIDE through continu-ing education conferences, more of them are offering PRIDE participation as an alternative to sentencing.”

Two of the reasons PRIDE has been successful in help-ing parents and teens are its

reliance on proven parent-ing education strategies and the high standards set for the program’s volunteer instruc-tors, which include police officers, emergency medi-cal service providers, fire fighters and driving school instructors.

These volunteers must complete nine hours of training, which includes seven hours learning about PRIDE; the Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute and Georgia’s Teenage; and Adult Responsibility Act. Instructor training also in-cludes practice in presenting the programs followed by a final exam and two hours of observation. To remain cer-tified, instructors must teach at least four PRIDE classes per year and either attend a three-hour training or com-plete an online course.

For information on PRIDE courses, contact Dana Landy at 800-342-9819 or 678-413-4281 or by email at [email protected].

The University of Geor-gia Traffic Injury Preven-tion Institute was awarded a $650,000 grant from the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to con-tinue its statewide education programs in the areas of child passenger safety, par-ent-teen driving safety and senior driver education.

Through this year’s grant, GTIPI will offer its four main training and commu-nity education initiatives: the National Child Passen-ger Safety Technician Cer-tification Program, Georgia Teens Ride with PRIDE (Parents Reducing Injuries and Driver Error), CarFit for senior drivers and the Online Safety Store.

UGA teen driver safety program, PRIDE, gets national recognition

For The Paper

The Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute (GTIPI) will be partnering with the Winder Police Department and Lanier Tech-nical College to offer a free, two-hour driving course for both parents and teens starting at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 24 at Lanier Technical College, located on East Athens Street in Winder.

The course, Parents Reducing Injuries and Driver Error (PRIDE), helps parents and guardians prepare their teens to drive.

“PRIDE is an excellent orientation to the driver education process and teen driving laws. It’s designed to help young people be-come better decision makers, especially as new drivers,” said Frankie Jones, GTIPI’s director. “It will help parents and their new teen drivers learn what they need to do dur-ing those 40 hours of driving time. Our ulti-mate goal is to reduce risk-taking behavior and youth related car crashes.”

GTIPI is funded by a grant from the Gov-ernor’s Office of Highway Safety and will be partnering with School Resource Officer Missy Towe and HEAT Officer Chris Wigner, both of the Winder Police Department.

Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traf-

fic (HEAT) is another grant funded program from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety designed to reduce traffic related injuries and improve driving behaviors.

The Georgia Teens Ride with PRIDE classes will complement local driver edu-cation programs and will help parents and guardians become more aware of their own driving behaviors. This course will also teach parents and guardians how to help their teens become safe drivers, help parents and teens learn what they need to do during supervised practice driving time and alter attitudes and driving behaviors of novice teen drivers. A teen and at least one parent or guardian must register to attend this class.

Registration forms can be downloaded from the City of Winder website at www.cityofwinder.com under the police depart-ment’s “PRIDE program” link or can be picked up in person at the police department located at 94 N. Broad St., in Winder.

Lanier Technical College’s Winder cam-pus has agreed to allow Winder Police and GTIPI to host this event on their campus so more people can attend. Enrollment is lim-ited so get your registration forms in soon to the Winder Police Department before classes fill up.

Winder Police, Lanier Tech partner to offer Jan. 24 driving course

FOR PARENTS AND TEENS Orthodontist collects 150 pounds of candyJEFFERSON – The

second annual Halloween Candy Give Back was a huge success.

For the second year in a row, the Newell Ortho-dontics Team encouraged patients and community members to donate their excess Halloween candy as a way to provide candy for Holiday Care Packages to be sent to American troops serving overseas through a partnership with Operation Gratitude, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, volunteer-based or-ganization.

This year, the event was a huge success with more than 150 pounds of candy donated.

In exchange for donat-ing their excess candy, ev-eryone who participated in the Halloween Candy Give Back was entered into a drawing for one of three gift cards, and the first 100 to donate their candy also received a free chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A Commerce.

In addition to collecting candy, Newell Orthodon-tics also encouraged partic-ipants to write letters to the troops to be included with the Holiday Care Pack-ages.

“Our orthodontic team

would like to thank every-one for their support of our annual event,” says Dr. Bill Newell. “ We are thrilled that we were able to col-lect 150 pounds of candy this year, and more impor-tantly, that we are able to give back to our troops. We hope to continue this tradi-

tion of giving back every year.”

Dr. Bill Newell is a board-certified orthodontist and Preferred Provider of In-visalign and Damon braces. Call Newell Orthodontics at 706-387-0122 or visit online at www.newellorthodon-tics.com.

For The PaperNewell Orthodontics team member, Linda Phillips, with the 150 pounds of candy collected after Halloween to be sent to troops through Operation Gratitude.

Operation Gratitude delivering to troops

Soldiers remain deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan so Virginia Pearson and the volunteers of Operation Sandbox – Geor-gia remain committed to supporting the troops.

Operation Sandbox continues to receive donations which are collected at the Cov-ington Armory where volunteers assemble boxes which are mailed to men and women of the military, including Georgia Army National Guard soldiers, who reach out to the nonprofit to help get a little connection to home.

“So many people seem to think that we

don’t need to continue to support our sol-diers, but they need to reach the emails and notes we receive from the soldiers who are so thankful for the boxes they receive,” said Pearson. “It upsets me to think that our soldiers are forgotten.”

The Paper is a collection location for Operation Sandbox. Donations are then transported to Covington. Visit www.oper-ationsandboxga.com to find out the types of items most requested by troops and to learn more about Operation Sandbox.

Tax deductible donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 1003, Oxford, GA 30054.

Support Operation Sandbox

The Paper | Thursday, December 27, 2012 5B

CMYK

Dear Margo: I am a 30-year-old woman who re-cently relocated to a larger city for no good reason other than my desire for a change. I met my roommate on Craig-slist. He rode a bus 300 miles to drive my moving van and pull my car, because I didn’t think I could drive it.

Because I had only met him one time, but I am not ignorant of the male thought process, I knew immediately that he liked me. I was not initially attracted to him, but homesickness and oppor-tunity seemed to coalesce, and we ended up sleeping together.

Foot rubs, handholding hikes, beachfront strolls and dinner dates seem to have been figments of my imagi-nation, because a complete transformation has occurred. He’s gone from the sweet, thoughtful, attentive guy who would text me throughout the day to a chauvinistic male stereotype who will barely clean up his dishes and can’t wait to tell me which of my new friends he finds attrac-tive.

My friends warned me

not to move in with a hetero-sexual male. Now the ques-tion is: Should I move? I don’t have a lease, but this housing situation was a true find in a very trendy/spendy city.

The inconvenience of moving alone has kept me here, but it is silly to think we can remain roommates. He was not even a good lover, but now he acts like I am af-ter him! He was after me and got me and then lost interest. Yes, I am bitter. This was the first guy I had clicked with in several years. But now I think I was just in a new city and lonely.

In any event, my ego is bruised. I believe in the Bud-dhist tenet that destruction of the ego leads to enlighten-ment, but I go back and forth between ego-angst and ac-ceptance. And then he texts

me to say how cute my friend is. Should I stay, or should I go? — Bea

Dear Bea: Go. Or if you can manage it, tell him to go — though you say you are not on the lease, so I would guess you have no leverage. The Buddhists may be right that destruction of the ego leads to enlightenment, but I’ll bet the rest of that precept is: “Take your damaged ego and your newly enlightened self to a separate dwelling.” For your self-respect, you should sever this connection. Only a masochist would stay. — Margo, decisively

Dear Margo: The letter about getting “gifts” in one’s name to a charity was the most interesting letter ever. I would suggest to anyone who is displeased with the organi-zation that benefits to ask the donor how they would feel if a donation was sent in their name to an organization they abhor.

I totally disagree that this is like any other gift and that people don’t get to choose the gift. Thoughtful gifts of this kind are donations to causes

that would be welcome. Un-less it’s a group situation (e.g., at Christmas, where a fami-ly’s card goes to everybody announcing “a gift has been made in your name”), I find it is passive-aggressive.

People who are friends know the other’s beliefs. If someone doesn’t get agree-ment on this, they should return the favor and give to their own favorite LGBT group or Planned Parent-hood in the other person’s name. — Charitable Giver

Dear Char: Sounds good to me. Though even if one chooses a supposed one-size-fits-all politically neutral charity, there could still be unhappiness. I know people who, for various reasons, don’t care for United Way or the Red Cross.

Personally, I think the do-nation route is a lazy person’s way of gift-giving. — Margo, satisfyingly

Dear Margo: How young is too young to be a bad person? I never would have thought it could happen in my family, but my granddaughter, 12, is miserable, angry, morbid

and, as I’ve recently discov-ered, seemingly incapable of being a positive human being.

Last month, my son died in a car accident. He had been drinking, but I believe the greater culprit was a slippery road after a heavy rain. I am devastated, but this girl has yet to even shed a tear!

She was always an odd child: quiet, aloof, refusing to associate with family unless forced to. The girl’s father just died, and she doesn’t seem bothered.

To make matters worse, she seems bizarrely fixated on other people’s grief while not experiencing any of her own. She asks whether we’ve cried, how much we’ve cried, why we’ve cried. She even asked that I cry for her!

My husband says I’m being unreasonable, but I really can’t stand seeing this girl anymore. How can I be around a girl who could be so callous about the death of her own father? At this point, I just want to cut her out of my family’s life. But I do wish to see my grandson, my son’s other child. I’ve

wondered whether therapy or medication could fix my granddaughter’s problems, but I suspect she may be beyond help. — Grandma Gives Up

Dear Grand: The death aside, this child sounds unhappy and perhaps dis-turbed. As for the loss of her father, her grieving behavior sounds unusual but not un-feeling. She sounds in no way oblivious and may have sup-pressed her grief by displac-ing it onto others. The fact that she’s discussing death makes me think the subject is on her radar screen. She may be in emotional, albeit not cognitive, denial. Instead of wishing not to deal with her, I would pay extra attention to her and try to get a dialogue going. You say nothing of the child’s mother, but a therapist would be helpful. -- Margo, probingly

Dear Margo is written by Margo Howard, Ann Landers’ daughter. All letters must be sent via the online form at www.creators.com/dearmargo. Due to a high volume of e-mail, not all letters will be answered.

Might be time to look for alternative housing or roommates

WORKING IT OUT

JANRIC CLASSIC SUDOKU SOLUTION

Dear Margo

ENTERTAINMENT

CMYK

6B The Paper | Thursday, December 27, 2012 features

An estimated $18,000 raised by the Rotary Club at its Nov. 9 reverse raffle was used provide Christmas for area families in need.

The money was used to purchase items on each child’s Christmas list. Items included clothes such as win-ter coats and shoes and toys.

The families, chosen in conjunction with Family Con-nection, were then invited to Christmas party. The party, hosted by the Rotary Club, gave the families a chance to enjoy holiday festivities. Pizza from Corelone’s, cook-ies provided by Subway in Braselton and beverages sup-plied by Publix was enjoyed.

As the kids enjoyed a magic show and got a chance to sit and have their photos made with Santa, parents were assisted in loading bags of wrapped gifts into their ve-hicles to go under the tree on

Christmas morning. Fami-lies were able to take home portraits with Santa.

Some families were also given food collected by the students of Braselton Chris-tian Academy, an effort co-ordinated by Rotarian and academy director Penney Smith.

For mom Stacy King, the best part is the caring and the giving.

“You’ve got people giv-ing that can afford to give to people less fortunate than them,” said King.

However, the undeniable favorite part of the evening for the kids was the face painting. Nearly every child sported a reindeer or Santa painted face with a few ex-ceptions having a Christmas tree or angel. The face paint-ing line remained one of the longest until the end of the evening.

“I like watching the kids get to do what they like to do, that’s my favorite part,” said Michelle Buffington.

ROTARY Continued from 3B

CASA Continued from 3B

The Tree House settling into new ‘homey’ facility By LeaNNe [email protected]

The Tree House, the children’s advocacy center serving Barrow, Jackson and Banks counties, has relo-cated to its new home at 173 Highland Drive in Winder.

Thanks to the Luther and Susie Harrison Foundation which funded renovation of the former youth shelter, The Tree House is debt-free.

“We are so thankful to this foundation, established by the late R. Harold Harri-son to honor his parents, for supporting us once again in fulfilling out mission,” said director Becky Lee. “Not having a mortgage will allow us to focus a greater portion of each dollar given by our supporters for helping chil-dren and families.”

The Tree House exists to reduce the impact and occur-rence of child abuse through counseling, educating, sup-porting and nurturing strug-gling families.

According to Lee, The Tree House provided 6,378 services this year including serving 329 children. A total of 320 forensic interviews were conducted and crisis counseling services were provided to those children. Family support services and supervised visitations were also included in the work of The Tree House.

The Tree House is a United Way agency and, during 2011, Jackson County had 337 indi-viduals served by The Tree House and 457 Barrow Coun-tians were served.

Because of much of a day in the life of a worker at The Tree House is spent deal-

ing with the ugliest side of society, Lee said supporters mean so much since they “remind us of the goodness in people and that there’s al-ways hope.”

Lee credits general con-tractor Bill Brantley of South Fork Homes and his crew for renovating the structure “into a beautiful, functional facility for children to come and begin the healing pro-cess.”

The community has as-sisted in adopting rooms that needed to be filled with furniture and other items to make families feel at home. A plaque will be place out-side each room acknowledg-ing those who adopted the room.

“We still have a few items on our wish list,” said Lee. Needed are items for two plat therapy rooms, window blinds, a conference room table and 20 chairs, eight 6-foot tables, 40 padded fold-ing chairs and a 26-inch two-drawer black filing cabinet.

Monetary donations can help The Tree House better serve children and families.

A gift of $10, for example, will pay for play therapy supplies for a child while a $50 donation will finance a therapy session for a victim of child abuse. A $100 do-nation will fund five home visits with hands-on parent education and $400 pays for a forensic evaluation.

Donations can be directed to The Tree House, P.O. Box 949, Winder, GA 30680.

For more information about how you can support The Tree House, visit www.thetreehouseinc.org or call 770-868-1900.

act – which will test their judging skills to win a unique VIP American Idol ex-perience – and meet the all-new Ford Fusion in person,” said Jimmy Bailey of Jefferson Motor Company.

“We far exceeded the number we expected,” said Bailey, who noted the black Fusion which was on display at-tracted a lot of attention. The buyer was eager to get it home.

Bailey said Jefferson Motor Com-pany has helped CASA before. “CASA is one of our charities on our radar screen,” and this was an opportunity to help a nonprofit which helps children from Banks and Barrow counties as well as Jackson County.”

For each person who attended Go Further with Ford Night on Nov. 15, Jefferson Motor Company commit-

ted to donate $10 to Piedmont CASA, and Bailey recently presented a check for $1,000 to Annette Bates, executive director of Piedmont CASA and CASA board chairman Tom Murphy.

Those visiting the dealership had a chance to compete to win a special VIP experience with American Idol. A computer with a webcam was set up to allow consumers to view a special mes-sage from Seacrest and test their judg-ing skills on camera, in true American Idol style. A potential idol “singer” performed and the “judge” shared comments which were then judged. American Idol premieres in January 2013 on FOX.

Entries were sent back to Ford’s program headquarters, where a team of experts evaluated and selected one winner to receive an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Hollywood and a unique VIP experience with American Idol.

A Court Appointed Special Advocate

is a trained volunteer who is appointed by a judge to serve as an advocate for an abused or neglected child during ju-venile court deprivation proceedings. The CASA volunteer makes a recom-mendation to a judge in regards to the child’s future after gathering informa-tion about the child’s situation. The vol-unteer is present through all the court proceedings.

Piedmont CASA has a new volunteer class beginning at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, and continuing each Tues-day night for seven weeks. CASA vol-unteers advocate for children in foster care in Barrow County.

“Our children need our voice to make sure their voice is heard,” said Bates. “Give an abused or neglected child a voice. Yours. Become a CASA volunteer.

For more information about becom-ing a CASA, call 770-867-7414, then press 3 for Karin.

they can see the violence and direct it with their hands and their eyes. They can select their weapons. They can see their enemy fall, bleed, and blow up. But is it any different from what I did as a child in my world of imagination? It’s just make-believe, isn’t it? Even a child knows the differ-ence between a game and the reality of actually killing people with a real weapon, right?

After the shootings in Newtown recently, I have wondered if parents who allow their children and teenag-ers to play these violent games have felt any different about the violence they allow into their homes with these games. Since the average age of a gamer is around 30, I wonder if adults playing these games have felt any dif-ferent.

I realize there’s a great deal of dif-ference between shooting children and teachers and shooting an enemy on which we can project all kinds of negative feelings in order to justify killing. However, before someone says, “It’s just a game,” or “if it’s about war it’s different,” perhaps he or she should take a moment to hear some of the stories of those who have returned from war that endured the kind of fighting portrayed on these videos, those who have fought and survived, those who have killed to protect our freedoms. These people do not return the same. The violence and the killing changed them.

While they fought for us, they have to fight the rest of their lives to push back the memories of the violence.

We have gotten to a point in our society where violence is not only packaged and sold; it is celebrated as welcomed entertainment. Many parents cannot see that it can be one factor among many that can influence their children in the wrong direction. I’m not suggesting that playing video games makes children into killers. I am saying that it’s time that we turn down the violence. Common sense ought to tell us that the more violent

tributaries that we allow to flow into a child’s mind, the more likely it is that a child will see violence as the way to solve our problems.

“According to the American Psy-chological Association, violent video games can increase children’s aggres-sion. Dr. Phil McGraw explains, ‘The number one negative effect is they tend to inappropriately resolve anxi-ety by externalizing it. So when kids have anxiety, which they do, instead of soothing themselves, calming them-selves, talking about it, expressing it to someone, or even expressing it emo-tionally by crying, they tend to exter-nalize it. They can attack something, they can kick a wall, they can be mean to a dog or a pet.’ Additionally, there’s an increased frequency of violent re-sponses from children who play these kinds of video games.” http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/297

Right now there is a lot of self-re-flection taking place across the coun-try. While many are focusing on the gun control debate, perhaps it’s time for all parents to rethink how much violence they allow their children to be exposed to through video games, television, movies, and domestic is-sues.

How do we as a society become less obsessed with violence? How do we replace this obsession with an obses-sion to help others, even when there is great cost to us personally?

Proverbs 13:2 says, “From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things, but the unfaithful have a craving for violence.”

It is this craving for violence that we want to stem. We want to replace it with a craving for that which is benefi-cial to everyone. That craving needs to start early.

How do we take technology and use it to teach our children to do some-thing loving and kind instead of doing something violent and destructive?

Surely, someone out there smarter than I am can find a way.

Dr. Michael Helms is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Jefferson. Reach him at [email protected]

SANDY HOOK Continued from 3B

Quilt-making class offered by HHAC

The Hoschton Heritage Arts Center will offer “Cre-ate your own Heirloom Quilt” starting from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013.

The class will begin with the basic skills required to construct a quilt top making a four patch block which will become a 4x9 patch. Hand and machine methods of piecing the top and regular hand quilting will be taught by Susan Rice of Nicholson. She is the quilt instructor at the Nicholson Library and has been an avid quilt maker for many years.

The fee for the class is $75. Material costs will depend on the size quilt you want to make. Supplies will be avail-able from the instructor but participants may furnish their own.

Anyone interested can sign up online at www.hoschton-heritageartscouncil.com. If you do not have internet ac-cess, contact Susan Rice at 770-262-9630 or Robbie Bet-tis at 770-540-1099.

A group called “Quilt with Friends” will begin in January as well. This will be a great time for quilters to come together, quilts and enjoy the camaraderie.

Susan Rice will be the in-structor of the “Create your own Heirloom Quilt” class.

CHURCH NEWSarbor Pointe Church invites

you to West Jackson Middle School every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Beginning Jan. 6, the worship messages will be titled “Red Letter Reset” and will explore themes such as anger, lust, greed and criticism based on Jesus’ direct words and teachings in Matthew 5-7. Nursery is provided each Sunday, as are special programs for children and youth. Visit arborpointe.org, contact Rev. Brad Greene at [email protected] or call 770-272-6778.

s s s A southern gospel singing

will be held at 6 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2013, at New Beginning Baptist Church featuring “The Gobers.” Everyone is welcome.

The church is located at 4403 Winder Highway in Flowery Branch (across from Ingles). For more information, call 770-597-7742

s s sA New Year singing,

featuring The Center Union Baptist Church Band and The Mitchells, will be held Dec. 30 at Center union Baptist Church on Ednaville Road in Braselton starting at 6 p.m.

s s s

White Plains Baptist Church will host a New Year’s Eve singing from 7-9 p.m. on Dec. 31. Guest singers will be the Chestatee River Quartet and Gary Day.

The church is located at 3650 Highway 124 W., in Jefferson, between Hoschton and Jefferson. Everyone is invited.

cmyk

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3BR/3BA finished bsmt, lakefront,

great location $1,250 770-539-4400

3bd, 1.5 ba cityhome. Lawn care,

water incl. $800 706-499-8186

3/2 Price Rd. Gar, fenced bk yrd $750. No pet 770-536-0015

$0 Application Fee3BR/2BA HOMES

From $629moAll appliances incld

NO RENT until Feb. 1, 2013

SUN HOMES888-246-2803

countrysidelakelanier.com

EHO WAC

435-Houses forRent Unfurnished

Oakwood- Pine Forest. 2BR/1BA $660 www.callapartments.c

om. 770-287-1456

OAKWOOD- 2BR/1.5BA. $595mo. 678-315-7051

770-833-9437

Oakwood- 2/2. $675. All Electric.

www.callapartments.com. 770-287-1456

425-DuplexesFor Rent

VISIT US ATGAINESVILLEGA

APARTMENTS.COMSee our New Web Site for your New

Home Or Apartment.LIKE US ON FACE-BOOK LANDMARK

PROPERTIESOr call about our $599

Move In Special678-779-2687

Oakwood- Cedar Springs. 1-2BR. $540 & up. 770-287-1456

www.callapartments.com

Oakwood- 2/1.5,yrd, safe, C/H/A $605-

$645. 678-357-5044

Reduced RateFree Rent Starting at $85/wk. N. & S. Hall

& Gainesville. 770-534-7596

1&2br, quiet, energy efficient, Sardis Rd.

678-776-6432

410-ApartmentsUnfurnished

400

Homes &Rentals

YORKSHIRE TERR.AKC. Pups. Males, $400 & Females,

$500. 6wks old. 1st shots, ready now! 706-654-6654

YORKIE - CKC male, 1 year old.

$250.706-809-9096

SHIH-TZU Puppy, full blooded, blk & wht, female, $150. Ready

by Christmas. 770-845-1549

FREE to good home, 16wk old femal Pup.

Small mix breed. 678-316-1114

DACHSHUNDS Minature, CKC, red, S/H, shots/wormed, 6wks, 2F, 2M. $300. also Adult Female-CKC, red, S/H. $100.Adult Female L/H.

Chocolate $200. 706-864-7660 or

706-429-7402

CHORKIE, (Chihua-hua/Yorkie), $175.

Up-to -date on shots. 678-836-3605

CHIHUAHUA- puppy CKC registered.

Long haired, female; very tiny. 7 wks old,

1st shots & worming. $250. 678-897-7332

770-900-5115

380-Pets &Supplies

CONN ORGAN, w/ complete instrumen-

tal background components, like new cond., $450.

770-532-1424

370-MusicalInstruments

POOL TABLE, $150; 6’ x 14’ DUAL AXLE

TRAILER, $450; Stainless Steed

REFRIGERATOR,$200. 770-718-8874

POKER TABLE, like new w/ 8 padded chairs, plus chips, $1700. Cash only.

770-532-7134

Pathfinder ScooterBrand-new, never used. 14 miles on odometer. 2 new

helmets. Only $900. 770-543-9891 or 770-543-9894

365-Misc.For Sale

New Electric Water Heater. 50gal. $180;Harley Davidson Leather Jacket-New. Size 44 reg.

$75; James Darnell Print- Screech Owl

#964/1000. $75770-534-3708

INFANT ACTIVITY WALKER,

Safety 1st, blue & orange, $15; VIDEO ROCKER CHAIR, Maroon colored,

velour, $15; REI Piggyback Baby

BACKPACK CARRIER, $65;

770-561-5308

DRE BEATS(knock-offs). New in

Box. $75 each. 678-897-1835

Boston AccousticsSound Bar- barely

used. $130; Janome Sewing Machine#8077- barely used. $225; Queen Sofa

Bed $50. 770-532-0045

365-Misc.For Sale

THOMAS KINKADE,lithograph prints,

FRAMED, drastically reduced. Large

selection to choose from. Starting at $250. Comes w/

appraisal & certificate of authenticity. 770-534-0942

355-HouseholdItems

Remington AR-15$850. Bowtech Ex-

treme VFT bow $300. 770-540-9327

M-1 Garand Rifle. U.S. Springfield

Armory. Spingfield, MA. Ser#2231345

Mfg Nov, 1943. Hinged butt plate. Stamped trigger guard, Gov car-

touches, Dept of De-fense stamp, Brite Bore. T/E-1, M/W2 Exc. Cond. Good

Stock, Sling. Letter of Authenticity. Call Phil,

706-778-0206

350-Guns

Grandfather ClockMust Sell! Howard

Miller. Chiming. 610F983 (Made in USA). New! Reg:

$2,982 Sell: $1,200. Will delv & set-up at N/C. 706-344-7283

345-Furniture

Side by Side Plotsin Memorial Park

Cemetery. Negotia-ble. 256-734-0378

326-CemeteryLots For Sale

WASHER & DRYER, Kenmore, Exc cond$250. 770-983-1507

310-Appliances

Antique Slot Ma-chine & Old 1899

Carpets.Nickel, 1942, cherry, ex. condition, works

well. From downtown Las Vegas. Before

Bugsy S. Price $1950; appraised at $5,000. 12 antique carpets $250 ea.

Great Christmas Gifts 678-516-4833

305-Antiques &Collectibles

300Stuff

Local Truck DriversClass A-CDL. Some Wknd work required. Hourly pay w/ over-time, some benefits. Doraville company.

Need clean MVR and 3+ years experience.

770-409-8994

Exp’d CLASS A CDL DRIVER

Needed678-997-3386

285-TruckDrivers

DRIVERS NEEDEDfor local petroleum distributor working

Gainesville, Atlanta & N. Georgia market.

Must have good driv-ing record & Class A CDL w/Hazmat and tanker. Good pay/

benefits. New truck. Must have exp and carded in Doraville.

Call Barry Sanders at 478-954-5236

CLASS A CDLDrivers needed.

Must have clean MVR, 2 yrs. exp.

Must comply with all DOT reg. Apply @ 4880 Leland Dr. Cumming, GA

or Call 770-887-6117

Drivers- Start OTR, advance to SE

dedicated! •Regular runs to Iowa•Salary pay (up to $1,190/per week)

•Full benefitsCall 1-800-851-8651kbtransportation.com

285-TruckDrivers

SERVICE TECHNICIAN

Service/Start up Technicians.

Experience required. Competitive pay,

benefits andSigning Bonus.

CONDITIONED AIR SYSTEMS2410 Hilton Way, Gainesville, GA

30501Fax: 770-535-8096770-536-7509

DIRECTOR OF IT

Osborne Wood Products, Inc., a decorative wood component com-pany since 1979,

is seeking a Director of IT.

To view complete job description and all current openings

please access our corporate website at www.osbornewood.

com/jobapp.cfm.E-mail resume to: resume@osborne

wood.com

279-Technical

Gainesville State College accepting

applications for Manager Of Web Communications

Position will oversee the day-to-day and strategic manage-ment of content for the university’s ex-ternal website and intranet (portal for faculty, staff and

students).Bachelor’s degree in computer science,

administration, man-agement or field

related to position requirements. Mini-mum 5-10 yrs expe-rience in web devel-opment to include at least 3yrs in a man-agement role, pref-erably in a higher education setting.

For full job descrip-tion, qualifications

and application pro-cedure visit our

website www.gsc.edu

& link Staff Positions.

Application deadline is Jan. 7, 2013.

An AA/EEO Institution

supervisory exp.•Full Time- RN- splits hours with Cumming and Dahlonega Cen-ters

•Full and Part Time Psychiatrists needed for Hall and the Greater Hall County area

*A clean driving re-cord is a must for counselor positions!

For more details and to apply online visit

www.avitapartners.org/career.php EOE

270-Professional

Avita Community Partners, Northeast Georgia’s premier

Behavioral Health/Substance

Abuse and Develop-mental Disabilities services organiza-

tion, is recruiting for the following posi-tions in the Greater

Gainesville area.

•Full Time- Licensed Counselor - Cum-ming (Social Service Provider) - Must hold a LPC, LCSW, or LMFT

•Full Time Revenue/Reimburse-ment Manager (Medical Billing Man-ager)- Flowery Branch

•Full Time - Team Lead Counselors - Cumming, Dahlonega and Blairsville. Must hold a LPC, LCSW or LMFT with 3 yrs in field exp. and 1yr of

270-Professional

ASSEMBLY OPERATORS

NeededSouthern Switches Corporation is cur-

rently taking applica-tions for assembly

operator positions. If interested, please

submit an application between the hours of 6:30am & 4:30pm atSouthern Switches

Corp715 Happy Hollow RdDahlonega, GA 30533

265-Production

P/T MATURE HELP needed for busy

Veterinary Hospital. Must like dogs/cats. Customer serv. exp & Saturdays req’d.

Apply at 1363 Thompson Bridge

Rd, Gainesville 30501

P/T ExperiencedVETERINARY TECHNICIAN

Saturdays required. Apply at: 1363

Thompson Bridge Rd, Gainesville,GA 30501

255-Part TimeHelp Wanted

Piedmont Automotive

Products, inc.in Clarkesville, GA

has a Fulltime opening for an

SMT OPERATOR. General Responsi-

bilities include: Set-up of various SMT

equipment such as Dek screen printer, MV2C Chipshooter, Universal GSM and Heller Reflow Oven.Assist SMT Techni-

cians in trouble-shooting and effi-ciency improve-

ments. Inspect of circuit boards.

Qualifications: Experi-ence working on and

operating surface mount equipment,

ESD procedures and practices, plated

through-hole experi-ence

Apply in person at Piedmont Automo-tive Products, Inc., 1058 Rocky Branch Rd., Clarkesville, GA 30523, Mon - Thurs

6:30am-5pm

Anytime Fitness of Braselton Now Hiring Personal TrainersGym exp and certifi-cation or certification in progress neces-sary. Resume to: davidewingdt@ya-

hoo.com or call 678-982-2149

245-Misc.Help Wanted

candidates may sub-mit resumes via fax to 770-535-7445 Attn: Employment

E-mail to:HR@longstreet

clinic.com or complete an appli-

cation at 725 Jesse Jewell Pkwy., Suite 270, Gainesville, GA 30501. For additional

info about the Longstreet Clinic.,

P.C., please visit our website: www.long

streetclinic.com

240-Medical

The Longstreet Clinic, P.C. is seeking

qualified candidates for the following

positions:

Front Office Check in/Check out

(Monday-Friday)OB/GYN

Gainesville

LPNGeneral Surgery

Gainesville

Medical Lab Technician

(PRN; primarily weekend hours)

Central LaboratoryGainesville

Practice Manage-ment Systems Coordinator

(M-F, IDX experience required. Coding

and/or CPC certifica-tion preferred)Gainesville

CytotechnologistCT (ASCP)

(Part-time; 24 hours per week)InterLab

Gainesville

Registered Vascular Tech

Vascular SurgeryGainesville

Licensed Practical Nurse

(P/T; Pre-and Post op exp. Recovery exp.

IV exp)Vascular Surgery

Gainesville

Clinical Assistant(Part time or PRN; C-arm exp pref’d)


Check in/Registration

(Minimum 1 yr exp. Span/Eng a plus)


LPN(Minimum 1 yr exp.

Span/Eng a plus)BariatricsGainesville

Clinical Coordinator

(LPN preferred. Leadership &

supervisory skills)Family Medicine

Oakwood

Registered Mammographer(Position is PRN)Imaging Dept

Gainesville

Physician Asst/ Nurse Practitioner(Surgical assist exp

required)General Surgery

Gainesville

Clinical Assistant(LPN or CMA)

OB/GYNGainesville

LPN or CMA(Rotating

wkends/holidays)PediatricsGainesville

LPN or CMA(Prev OB or GYN exp)

OB/GYNGainesville

Medical Asst.(1 day per week Mon;

8:30am-5pm)Oncology

Gainesville

LPN or CMAFamily Medicine

Oakwood

All positions are full time unless noted.

Full-time employees may be eligible for

paid days off, health insurance and a gen-

erous retirement plan. Salary com-

mensurate with ex-perience. Previous

medical office expe-rience preferred.

Spanish/English skills desirable. Interested

240-Medical

Landscape Maint.FOREMAN

2yrs exp. Clean MVR. Call 770.534.0041 Fax 770.534.1344

233-Maintenance

GTO 2000, Inc.,a National leading logistics Company

located in Gainesville, GA is seeking experi-

enced and entry- level candidates for Sales & Dispatch

PositionsAvailable positions require energetic, self-motivated and computer literate persons with the ability to work in a

group setting. Good oral and written

communication skills a must. Please

e-mail your cover letter and resume to:

[email protected]

230-GeneralSales Agents

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SPANISH

IMMERSION TEACHER

to develop & deliver instruction classes in Spanish to 1st, 2nd & 5th graders; Adapt

teaching methods & instructional materi-

als to meet students’ varying needs & in-terests; Assess stu-dents’ progress in

reading Spanish us-ing techno. & as-

sessment tools; En-force all administra-tion policies & rules governing students; Maintain accurate & complete student re-

cords; Assign & grade class work &

homework; Plan field trips; Plan & lead

conferences & meet-ings with parents.

Req: Bachelor’s de-gree in Education or closely related field; Must have demon-

strated ability to per-form stated duties gained thru acad

coursework/previous work exp. Must have valid teacher certifi-

cation by the state of GA w/endorsement in Early Childhood

Educ. Must be fluent in spoken & written Spanish language. Competitive salary. Send resume to:

David Moody, Hall County School Dis-

trict, World Lan-guage Academy, 711 Green St, Gainesville, GA 30501; Attn: Job

MGI

227-Education

200Jobs

ATTENTION CLASSIFIEDCUSTOMERS

The Times Classified Department asks

that you verify and proof your classified ad(s) the first day that it is scheduled

to print.If any corrections need to be made, please contact our

department, Monday through Friday, before 3pm.

The Times will not be held responsible for any issues that may arise after the first day of publication.

[email protected]

770-535-1199

170-Notices

$1200 RewardLost- Brown Female Poodle (7lbs). Wear-ing pink shirt. Gwin-nett/Hall on 11/19/12.

Please Help! 770-633-1994

160-Lost &Found

100

Announcements

POP’S FIREWOOD Proprietor: Dylan

Robertson. Pick-up or Delivery. Best Prices

In Town!!! 678-997-8737770-540-5372

SEASONED HARDWOOD1/2 Cord $75;

Face Cord $140.Free Delivery. 706-693-0099

FIREWOOD- Seasoned Oak. Cut &

Split. Free Delivery. 678-630-2775678-549-6901leave message

043-Firewood

Oakwood Daycare McEver Rd.

Now enrolling Babies- 120; One & Up - 110.

770-536-4671

KID’S WORLD Christian Childcare

Jesse Jewell/985 Now Enrolling 6wks

& up. $100/wk. 770-297-1500

028-Child Care

000

Services

Are you musicallyinclined?

From saxophones to baby grands,find your next instrumentin today’s

Classifieds.

CMYK

8B The Paper | Thursday, December 27, 2012

the paper december 27 edition

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