Christopher Purvis

Know and obey all buoys and markers.

Know Before You Go

6 Boating Safety Tips to Stay Safe on the Water

BY CHRISTOPHER PURVIS

May is National Boating Safety Month, and there’s no better time to start preparing yourself and your vessels for the summer season. Before heading out on the water, make sure to inspect your boat and ensure all required safety equipment is on board.

About 70% of boaters involved in accidents never have taken a safe-boating course, and 85% of boating accident fatalities nationwide are due to sudden, unexpected capsizing or falls overboard.

Wearing a life jacket is critical to surviving a boating accident. Nine out of 10 drowning victims are not wearing a life jacket. This device can make the difference between life and death for anyone experiencing an emergency on the water.

Put on your life jacket before leaving the dock, and keep it on. Be sure it is fitted properly, in good condition and securely fastened. Children, ages 13 and younger, are required by law to wear a life jacket while on board a moving boat. Remember: Life jackets worn ... nobody mourns!

Education and awareness are the best weapons in preventing boating accidents. Let’s make this season a safe one for you, your family and friends. Here are six boating safety tips to help you boat safely and responsibly. 1. Take a boat safety course. The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 22 offers hands-on classroom boating safety courses. View the schedule at https:// bit.ly/3uix0cd, or email Public Education Officer Greg Fonzeno at flotilla22pe@gmail.com. 2. Know the laws. Did you know Georgia boating laws require you to adhere to the 100-foot rule? The 100-foot rule prohibits people from operating all vessels, including personal watercraft, at a speed greater than idle speed within 100 feet of any vessel that is moored, anchored or adrift, outside normal traffic channels, or within 100 feet of any dock, wharf, pier, piling, bridge structure, person in the water or shoreline adjacent to a full-time or part-time residence, public park, public beach, public swimming area, marina, restaurant or other public use area. 3. Don’t drink and operate a boat. Half of all boating fatalities involve alcohol. Four hours in a boat on the water, being exposed to noise, vibration, sun, glare, wind and other motion, produces boater’s hypnosis (fatigue). It slows reaction time as much as if you were legally drunk. Adding alcohol intensifies the effect (www. boatus.org/alcohol-and-boating/effects). One hundred percent of accidents and fatalities from boating under the influence are preventable. Think before you drink. 4. Get connected! Always use an engine cutoff switch (ECOS) on a powerboat or personal watercraft. The ECOS usually is a red coiled lanyard that attaches to the operator, or a wireless key fob or wristband. It stops the boat’s engine if the operator, or even a passenger, falls overboard. 5. Know before you go. Always check weather reports before heading out on the water. 6. Be aware of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. CO is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas, which essentially is undetectable by humans. It is produced when an engine that uses a carbon-based fuel, like gasoline, is running. It can make you sick in seconds, and high concentrations of CO can kill. Symptoms are similar to and often confused with seasickness or alcohol intoxication. Avoid closed-off, poorly ventilated areas of a boat when its engine is running, and never ride or hang on a swim platform, where gasses accumulate. Most of all, install and maintain a marine-grade CO detector.

For more questions concerning boating or water safety, please contact the Allatoona Lake Operations Project Management Office at 678-721-6700.

Christopher Purvis is lead ranger at Lake Allatoona over Partnerships, Volunteers and Project Security. He has been a ranger on Allatoona Lake since 2005.

Woodstock Resident Ready to Take Fight for Families to The State Level

PHOTOS BY RED BARYL PORTRAITS

Lynne Saunders, a 26-year resident of Cherokee County, has dedicated her life to helping others. Most know of her work at Encompass Ministries, also known as Papa’s Pantry, in which she has helped thousands of families regain stability and get off government assistance.

With a sense of urgency “for a time such as this,” Lynne is taking her mission to serve to the next level, by running for the Georgia House of Representatives, District 20. The district covers Towne Lake, north through most of BridgeMill, between I-575, Lake Allatoona and Bells Ferry Road.

Forever changed after returning from a 1998 mission trip to India, Lynne founded Papa’s Pantry. In India, children begged in the street, surrounded by extreme poverty with no help or solutions.

While on the interstate heading home from the airport, several things caught her attention. Shabby buildings, marked with graffiti and broken windows, were in the shadow of billboards advertising Rolex watches and Gap jeans. A steeple was in the distance.

That’s when Lynne made the observation and began to wonder: with so many resources in this country, why aren’t they working? Why does poverty exist here, in a country full of churches, nonprofits, social services and government assistance programs? Lynne felt God encouraging her to pursue a “cupboard thing.” She said yes, and everything fell into place. The name, Papa’s Pantry, came in a dream, reminding her of when she was a young mom with a baby, running from an abusive husband. During that time, she needed help and applied for food stamps before she was able to land a job in her new city. A church deacon, known as Papa, brought Lynne groceries when she became sick and was out of work for a few weeks.

Embarrassed, yet thankful, Lynne explained that if her not-yet exhusband found her, she would have to pick up and leave immediately, probably without time to say goodbye. She hoped he wouldn’t think badly of her for disappearing. He assured her not to worry. “You’ll do this for somebody else one day.”

How prophetic his words came to be.

In 1982, Lynne married Bill Saunders, Papa’s son; the two celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in January. They have three grown daughters and six grandchildren.

In the ministry’s early years, she balanced a full-time job with nonprofit work. Lynne spent evenings and

weekends taking groceries to families in need. As she was welcomed into homes, the impact of seeing the empty refrigerators and cupboards led her to dig deeper, to understand the causes of the food insecurity she witnessed.

At the core was a general lack of understanding how to create and follow a budget, especially when a job loss occurred. That’s when she decided to leave her corporate position and open Papa’s Pantry full time. There were only a few food pantries in the county at the time, but none had the stabilization programs (employment services, household money management and goal setting) that Lynne created and implemented.

When drug addiction began to hit new highs in the community many years ago, Lynne expanded training to include life skills for men and women in residential addiction recovery programs. Before the pandemic, the ministry hosted weekly support meetings for families with loved ones struggling with addiction. In 2019, Lynne co-founded The ROCC in Canton (a recovery community organization) that offers additional recovery support services. Looking for poverty prevention solutions, Lynne partnered with several at-risk youth programs to make a long-lasting positive impact on future generations. Her most recent efforts involve finding responsible homeless solutions for Cherokee County. Encompass Ministries recently launched a new Homeless Task Force, and is developing a homeless prevention training curriculum.

A Message From Lynne

For nearly 24 years, I have served on the frontlines, helping families in crisis get through devastating life events. Their backgrounds have varied, but their desperation looks the same. We ensured they had good, quality food to eat, and gave everyone the opportunity for a brighter future through stability programs. The goal always has been to get families on their feet, equipped with the tools to stay stable and get off government assistance.

“Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man to Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime.” - an old Italian proverb.

I am ready to take this same spirit and fight to the floor of the Georgia House of Representatives, as YOUR representative. As I have proven over the years, I’m a tireless worker. I will continue my efforts to protect and secure strong families and prosperous futures for our kids and grandkids, here and across Georgia.

My values are conservative. I believe in hard work and the American dream, and will fight to preserve our freedoms. There is a real movement in our country attempting to destroy families. As your representative, I will never back down from fighting for what’s right. I would be honored to have your vote.

Lynne’s Platform

As a constitutional conservative, Lynne will fight for: • Voter Integrity. Without honest elections, all our freedoms are at risk. • Less government overreach and lower taxes.

• Freedom. Our First and Second Amendments are jeopardized. • Preserving Life. Every life is God-given and needs to be protected. • Protecting Families. Strong families make for a secure community, state and country. • Education. Restore American values and patriotism in our classrooms. • Small Businesses. Encourage growth without more regulations. • Full Employment. Eliminate incentives to stay out of the workforce.