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OPINION
Angela Gary
Plenty of laughs during yard sale
Cleaning your house from top to bottom, pulling out all of the
stuff (junk) that you don't want any more and the clothes you
are tired of (that don't fit any more) and piling them in the
corner.
Rochelle Beckstine
The fate of the last to be picked
My mother and father dubbed me "Grace" at an early
age and made me a strong believer in self-fulfilling prophecy.
SPORTS
Directions to Area Schools
Leopards put on pads for 2001
The Banks County Leopards strapped on the blue helmets and began
practicing in pads Monday on the practice field behind the school.
Neighborhood News...
JACKSON COUNTY
Haverty's to locate distribution center in Braselton
Haverty's Furniture Companies Inc. has announced plans to locate
a $25 million regional distribution center in Braselton next
to Mayfield Dairy. The business is expected to bring more than
300 jobs to the county.
Bear Creek Dedication Moved To Next Spring
Scratch the plans to dedicate the Bear Creek Regional Reservoir
this fall. Because of concerns over when the project would actually
be done, the possibility of bad fall weather and the inability
to get an access road paved, the Upper Oconee Basin Water Authority
voted Wednesday to postpone its dedication until the spring.
News from
MADISON COUNTY
A day in the life of a Madison County deputy
The mention of a ride-along with a cop often evokes thoughts
of high-speed chases and high-dollar drug busts.
Crew shoots for Dec. 25 completion of prison
The company in charge of construction of the new Madison County
jail off Hwy. 98 hopes to complete the project by Christmas.
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Homer, Georgia
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Homer Baptist Church children
The children of Homer Baptist chose "Shake the Devil
Off" as the song they wanted to sing at the Banks County
Sunday School Celebration. See more photographs in this week's
Jackson Herald.
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124th Sunday School
celebration held
Gray clouds provided a welcome relief and cooler temperatures
than the usual 90 degrees on the last Saturday of July for the
several hundred people gathered in Homer's Veteran's Park for
the 124th Sunday School Celebration.
Under the old oaks, joy and love were shared as church members
of different faiths united to sing praise in the longest-standing
Christian Sunday School event in the world. Some voices were
shy and some were boisterous; but all sang words that proclaim
their devotion to their faith.
The celebration is a time for reminiscing about celebrations
past, catching up on news of old friends and the gathering of
generations of families. Anelia and Alex Chambers set up a display
of photos from past celebrations and most took the opportunity
to look for themselves, friends and family. Going back through
time, they remembered buggy rides, long walks and stiff, starched
"Sunday-go-to-church" clothes. One man recalled "that
old 1960 Chevy Dad used to drive." A woman in the crowd,
said: "I remember that hat Mom wore" as she pointed
to a face in a photograph.
The record of the celebrations is kept by Jonnie Emmett Dalton,
83 years old. She says she goes through all the papers and does
her best to keep up with all the notices. She then passes the
list on to Sherry Ward, who prints up the list and places the
names on a special display.
It is also a time to show cooking skills and lay out what seems
to be an endless spread of different, delicious specialties.
Under a tent, fresh homemade ice cream -- vanilla, peach, chocolate
- awaited those who left room enough for some.
This year, Van Earl Chambers, chairman of the Sunday School Celebration
committee, was pleased to see so many young people there and
wanting to sing. Rev. McClendon echoed the sentiment, "Isn't
it just wonderful to see so many young people here?"
School council members
attend training last week on objectives, guidelines
Members of the newly formed school councils attending a training
session last week at Banks County High School found out what
their role will be.
Banks County assistant school superintendent Linda Holloman guided
the group through a training course provided by the Georgia School
Council Institute that outlines their objectives, responsibilities
and guidelines. The councils are mandated by the Education Reform
Act passed last year by Georgia legislators.
The councils must work within a strict framework of legal obligations,
she said. They must know and follow parliamentary procedure,
the Open Meetings Act and the Open Records Act. Each member was
provided with documentation to review.
Each of the councils of the five schools in Banks County consists
of the school principal, two teachers, two parents and two business
partners. Members are required to meet once a month and discuss
ways to make the school program efficient and productive. The
end result is to "improve student achievement and other
aspects of the school and communicate with the community."
"And by communicating with the community, we mean two-way
communication," she said. "We hope the council will
talk to the parents and the community, as well as the parents
and community talk with the school councils."
The council has a list of objectives that include sharing ideas
for school improvement, solving difficult educational problems,
providing support for teachers and administrators and assisting
the school board, she said.
Their responsibilities include providing advice and recommendations
to the school principals, the board of education and preparing
a school profile for distribution to the BOE and the community,
she added.
Holloman explained the Education Reform Act was devised out of
economics. Business leaders say they have had to go out of the
state to find employees who will fit available positions, she
said. Some 35,000 jobs in Georgia are filled from out of state.
"Only six out of 10 high school students actually graduate,"
she said. "Of those, three go on to college and only one
receives a degree. We need to see what we can do to help students
stay in school, graduate and go on to college. If a business
says the students need more technical training, we can look into
why our students are lacking those skills and how to improve
on them."
The business partners on the councils can "provide a reality
check to be sure our students are getting what they need, "
she said.
In the first meeting of the councils, they will adopt by-laws,
elect officers and set meeting dates. The school principal will
act as chairperson.
Members of the Banks County Primary School council are: Donna
Reed, principal, chairman; Linda Hawks, first grade teacher;
Heather Nicholson, kindergarten teacher; Tracie Ruark, parent;
and Tondra Boswell, business partner.
The BCPS council will meet at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 30.
Members of the Banks County Elementary School council are: Travis
Moon, principal, chairman; Debbie Wilbanks, teacher; Shannon
Gassaway, teacher; Rhonda Thomas, parent; Lisa Massey, parent;
Cecil Worley, business partner; and Sherry Lewis, business partner.
The group will meet at noon on Tuesday, Aug. 21.
The Banks County Upper Elementary School council includes: Janice
Allen, principal, chairman; Donna Martin, teacher; Lisa Enslen,
parent; Bob Christian, business partner; and Kim Ledford, business
partner.
The council will meet at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 9.
The Banks County Middle School council consists of: Gloria Gabriel,
principal, chairman; Kelly Walls, teacher; Samantha Smith, teacher;
Scott Griffin, parent; Pun Song Wolf, parent; Sammy Reese, business
partner; and Shirley Wilkinson, business partner.
The group will meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 21.
The Banks County High School council includes: Jan B. Bertrang,
principal, chairman; Susan Oliver, teacher; Lesa Duncan, teacher;
Bethany R. Burns, parent; Tim F. Wilbanks, parent; Gina Hagan,
business partner; and Powell Trusler Jr., business partner.
The group will meet at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 23.
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Girls cut hair
for cancer patients
Three Banks County girls gave up their long locks and donated
them to the American Cancer Society to make into wigs for children
with cancer.
Katie, Porsche and Mercedes Parson saw a show on TV about children
with cancer who had lost their hair. The children on the program,
who lost their hair to the treatment of cancer, were talking
about how they really miss their hair and wished there were more
human hair wigs around. The synthetics just didn't do the trick
for them. So, the girls thought it would be a good idea to cut
their hair and give it to the cancer society so children could
have real human hair - hair that could be worked with and changed
into other styles.
Katie, 15, said it wasn't easy finding out how to donate hair.
Karen, their mother, acknowledged the difficulty and said several
phone calls had to be made to find a hair dresser that knew how
to cut hair the way the manufacturer of the wigs needed it.
The American Cancer Society found a salon called "Flair
for Hair" where a hairdresser wanted to help. Appointments
were made and a trip to the salon in Athens was made. The hairdresser
cut the hair in a special way, layering it in lengths and placing
just-so-many strands in a plastic bag.
At first Porsche, 8, said she wasn't sure about doing it. Her
hair was very long, below her waistline.
"Kids would make fun of me at school because, my hair was
so long," she said. "So, it was OK."
Parson said it was more of a necessity with Mercedes, 5.
"The teachers at school asked me to cut her hair,"
she said. "She was using her long ponytail to hit boys."
Mercedes grinned and nodded "yes" she had.
Katie and Porsche each gave 15 inches of hair. Mercedes donated
18 inches.
"They said Mercedes' hair was enough to make three wigs,"
said Parson.
All the girls are happy with their new shorter hairstyles and
that they could help other children, they say.
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