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Progress
A publication of
ARTS & COMMUNITY | Sunday, march 25, 2012
Making it work Arts Council works to keep funds flowing BY BRANDEE A. THOMAS
bthomas@gainesvilletimes.com
colorful A
county
Gainesville watercolor group adds to area’s rich arts Watercolor artists Jo Tarabula, left, and Robert Krainson have formed a new art group in the area, the Gainesville Watercolor Society. SCOTT ROGERS The Times
By Tasha Biggers For The Times
For Gainesville watercolorist Jo Tarabula, teaching art to others has to come with a degree of ingenuity. “Just because you explain something, and they can’t understand it, doesn’t mean they can’t understand it,” she said. “It means you must think of a better way to explain it, and that’s the whole idea of teaching.” Tarabula, 88, and Gillsville portraitist Robert Krainson both plan to use their skills to head the Gainesville Watercolor Society, a newly formed group that had its
Gainesville Watercolor Society If you would like to join, contact Robert Krainson at 786-208-4320 or email cranberrys2@hotmail.com.
inaugural meeting March 18. The society will give beginning or established artists an opportunity to learn watercolor painting skills with monthly meetings, classes and intensive workshops. It will donate a portion of its profits to Our Neighbor Inc., a Gainesville nonprofit that ■ Please see color, 3
Revenue streams may be not be flowing as freely as before, but the Arts Council isn’t letting that stop its show. “Government funding has been cut dramatically over the last few years, but that has always been a very minor part of our revenue,” said Gladys Wyant, council executive director. “We depend largely on the general public for support through memberships, sponsorships and ticket sales.” The group also generates revenue from renting its Gainesville facilities — the Smithgall Arts Center on Spring Street and the Arts Council Performing Arts Complex on Green Street. “We like to utilize our assets to help the community,” Wyant said. “It’s a win-win. Not only do they get to enjoy a historic and beautiful setting, but the rental income also helps support our programs and budget.” Even with those multiple sources of green, the council is still seeing red ink. “Our funds are down. With the downturn in the economy, I don’t think we’re alone in this,” Wyant said. “This is the first time we have had a deficit in my 28 years of service, but it’s not something we can’t overcome. During our strategic planning, we outlined an emergency plan to ensure during those rainy days, we didn’t have to close. “We feel very fortunate to be in this position because so many arts organizations have had to close their doors.” To help keep themselves afloat, the group is considering breaking new ground. “We may be looking at developing a fundraiser for the first time,” Wyant said. “Although most nonprofits have fundraisers, we normally try to raise our operational funds through other means. Some people use concerts to raise funds, but that doesn’t necessarily work for us because concerts are a regular part of what we do.” Based on precedent, a concert wouldn’t boost the council’s coffers anyway. “The general public probably doesn’t realize this, but most of our concerts don’t pay for themselves through ticket sales,” Wyant said. “We depend a lot on the generosity of our sponsors.” ■ Please see ARTS, 3
‘This is the first time we have had a deficit in my 28 years of service, but it’s not something we can’t overcome. During our strategic planning, we outlined an emergency plan to ensure during those rainy days, we didn’t have to close.’ Gladys Wyant The Arts Council executive director
Better living
H SCOTT ROGERS | The Times
all County has a lot to offer, whether you are looking for a place to get fit and stay fit, or a resource for environmental education and sustainable living. The Oakwood YMCA is enjoying its first year in its new home with lots of classes and opportunity for wellness. See page 3 for details. On page 4, the Cedar Hill Enrichment Center is helping more people grow their own food and learn ways to make more out of less. At left, The YMCA’s newest facility in Hall County is in Oakwood on Railroad Street at City Park and offers playgrounds, a gym and wellness center and swimming pool.
INSIDE: Find area volunteer opportunities and support groups, 4-5
CMYK
Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
The arts in our community
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Performing arts
Hall County has several visual and performing arts organizations. Some are in conjunction with Brenau University in Gainesville and Gainesville State College in Oakwood. Others are standalone organizations that aim to further the arts in the area. Here is a look at some of the arts organizations and the services they provide.
Visual Arts
Quinlan Visual Arts Center The Quinlan Visual Arts Center exhibits local and national artists, along with providing a venue for highquality art for purchase. The center also hosts summer art camps, ongoing adult education classes and special events. Address: 514 Green St. NE, Gainesville Contact: 770-536-2575 or www.quinlanartscenter.org
Upcoming exhibitions What: Youth Art Month: Sponsored by Gainesvillle Kiwanis Club When: Through April 14
The Gainesville Ballet Company
What: Artists Bruce Bobick, Betty Beasley, Ron Pircio, Sandra Landergott and Oneyka Ibe When: April 19-June 7
“Reduced” by artist Ericka Walker.
What: Summer Art Camp for children When: June 4-July 27
For The Times
North Georgia College & State University What: Bob Owens Art Gallery in the Hoag Student Center Address: 82 College Circle, Dahlonega Cost: Free More info: 706-867-2746
What: Folk Art Exhibition featuring various artists, R.A. Miller Retrospective When: June 14-Aug. 11
What: Dancing at Dusk outdoor performance When: May 4 Where: Brenau University amphitheater
What: Drawing the Line: The 2012 Hal B. Rhodes III Student Exhibition When: April 18-July 30, reception 5 p.m. April 19
What: Gainesville School of Ballet Recitals When: 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. May 13 Where: Pearce Auditorium, Brenau University, 500 Washington St., Gainesville More info: 770-532-4241 or www.gainesvilleballet.org
Brenau Galleries: Sellars Gallery, Presidential Gallery and Leo Castelli Art Gallery
Address: 500 Washington St. SE, Gainesville Contact: 770-534-6263
“Lost in Thought,” an oil painting by Patrick McGannon. For The Times
Roy C. Moore Art Gallery at Gainesville State College The Roy C. Moore Art Gallery features exhibits from faculty and students as well as special exhibitions. The gallery space is adjacent to the Hosch Theater in the school’s Continuing Education building.
Gainesville ProMusica The goal of Gainesville ProMusica is to bring affordable classical music to the masses, including providing free music for kids in local schools. Each season includes three concerts with a communitydriven theme. Contact: 770-535-7342 or promusicaconcertseries.com
Address: 3820 Mundy Mill Road, Oakwood
Upcoming exhibitions What: “The 2012 Brenau Collaborative,” the undergraduate juried exhibition and portfolio exhibit When: April 14-May 6; reception 5:30-8 p.m. April 16
Upcoming exhibitions
Bassist Robert Dickson performs as part of a ProMusica Concert Series at Riverside Military Academy.
What: Graduating art student exhibition When: Tuesday-April 28
Theater
The Arts Council
Georgia Mountain Players This “family” of actors has been providing fun, familyfriendly entertainment at the Georgia Mountains Center for years. Productions range from comedies to slapstick musicals, with a menagerie of characters, from a dancing vampire to a sweet little old lady.
Upcoming performance What: “The Kitchen Witches” When: 7:30 p.m. April 12-14 and 19-20; 2:30 p.m. April 15 and 21 Where: Georgia Mountains Center, 301 S. Main St., Gainesville Contact: 770-536-4677 or www.georgiamountainplayers.org
Gainesville Theatre Alliance The Gainesville Theatre Alliance, a collaboration between drama departments at Gainesville State College and Brenau University, showcases theater to the public while helping students develop theater skills.
FILE | The Times
Upcoming performance
For 35 years, the Gainesville Ballet Company has brought dance to Northeast Georgia through theatrical dance performances as well as its relationship with the Gainesville School of Ballet. Two productions highlight Gainesville Ballet’s season, including a Christmas production of “The Nutcracker” and a springtime performance of a classic children’s tale.
Upcoming events
Upcoming exhibitions
These galleries, on the campus of Brenau University, exhibit visual artwork from artists around the nation and the world, as well as art from current Brenau students. The Sellars and Presidential galleries are in the Simmons Visual Arts Center, just a few doors down from Pearce Auditorium’s entrance on Washington Street in Gainesville, while the Leo Castelli gallery is located in the Burd Center for the Performing Arts on Academy Street.
SARA GUEVARA | The Times
Gainesville Ballet recently performed “The Nutcracker.”
The Gainesville Theatre Alliance recently performed “Hairspray” and will next perform “The Importance of Being Earnest.”
What: “The Importance of Being Earnest” When: 7:30 p.m., April 10-14 and 17-21; 2:30 p.m. matinees on April 15 and 21, free stage tour 6 p.m. March 27 Where: The Ed Cabell Theatre, Gainesville State College, 3820 Mundy Mill Road, Oakwood How much: $16-$18 adults, $14-$16 seniors 65 and older and $10-$12 for students/children Contact: 678-717-3624 or www.gainesvilletheatrealliance.org
Fifth Row Center This South Hall-based community theater provides an opportunity for any member of the community to get involved in drama, no matter their level of experience.
Upcoming performance What: “Steel Magnolias” When: May 17-20 Where: Historic Downtown Train Depot, Flowery Branch Contact: 678-357-7359, www.fifthrowcenter.com
Many arts organizations in Hall and surrounding counties get a boost from The Arts Council. But this organization also holds its own concert series, including the Evenings of Intimate Jazz series, summer movies on the lawn and a songwriter series. The Arts Council also administers Arts in Schools, a program available to any school in the Gainesville and Hall County school systems that helps teachers implement a lesson plan that reinforces academic requirements with a creative twist.
SARA GUEVARA The Times
Lanier Chamber Singers Now in its 20th year, this vocal ensemble performs a cappella literature from the Renaissance and 20th century periods. Its members draw from a variety of professional backgrounds, and the group recently performed at the American Choral Directors Association’s annual convention. More info: www.lanierchambersingers.org
Upcoming performances
Voices of North Georgia
When: 7:30 p.m. April 12 What: The Arts Council & Gainesville State College | Independent Film Series: “You Don’t Know What I Got” Filmmaker Q&A Reception Where: Gainesville State College: Academic Building IV, Room 3110 (Mathis Drive) Tickets: $7 adults, $5 students and seniors
The members of Voices of North Georgia are dedicated to presenting both secular and sacred music to the Gainesville area. This community chorus not only offers an outlet for anyone who loves choral music, it also provides a forum for members to gather for fellowship.
What: The Arts Council | Evenings of Intimate Jazz Series: Del Baroni Trio with Jennifer Hanson When: 8 p.m. April 20 Where: Arts Council Smithgall Arts Center, 331 Spring St. SW, Gainesville Tickets: $30 When: 8 p.m. May 19 What: The Arts Council | Evenings of Intimate Jazz Series: Larry Barker Quartet Wjere: Arts Council Smithgall Arts Center, 331 Spring St. SW, Gainesville Tickets: $30 What: The Arts Council | Arts Council Pearce Series: The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra When: 8 p.m. July 20 Where: Arts Council Smithgall Arts Center Lawn, 331 Spring St. SW, Gainesville Tickets: $35 adult; $32 senior; $28 student Contact: 770-534-2787 or theartscouncil. net The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will perform July 20 as part of The Arts Council Pearce Series. For The Times
Upcoming performances What: “Classic Voices” When: 7:30 p.m. April 27-28 Where: St. Paul United Methodist Church, 404 Washington St., Gainesville. Contact: www.voicesofnorthgeorgia.com
CMYK Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
gainesvilletimes com
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Getting on the road to wellness Oakwood Family YMCA aims to help Hall County stay active
Left: Wellness coordinator Angie Vimont, left, gives advice about proper technique to DiAnn Kiel as she works out at the Oakwood Family YMCA on Railroad Street. The YMCA program in Oakwood has only been in operation in the current location for less than a year, but it offers a variety of programs for all ages.
From staff reports For anyone looking to better their health, there’s no better place than Hall. The county has numerous ways to get in shape and get outdoors. One of the newest facilities in Hall County is the Oakwood Family YMCA, an extension of the J.A. Walters Family YMCA in Gainesville. The Oakwood wellness center at City Park, Railroad Street, with offices at 3828 Main St., has only been in operation in the current location for less than a year, but it offers a variety of programs for all ages. The YMCA has turned one of two buildings now used for community functions into an equipment-filled fitness center, and the other building is used for exercise programs such as yoga and Zumba. “The YMCA is expanding the programs and services that offers in Oakwood,” said Ivan Altuzar, executive director of the Oakwood branch. “We will continue operating the community pool, which will open on May 19 with a special celebration for the YMCA annual Healthy Kids Day.” Adults can take advantage of several cardio classes designed to get the blood pumping and the body moving as well as workouts for strength training and resistance. To keep the mind balanced as well as the body, members can take part in yogalates, a mix of yoga and pilates. Altuzar says Tai Chi and an outdoor Zumba class have also been added for spring. There is even a volleyball tournament in the works. Programs for active seniors include guides for low-impact workouts, and the center offers trainers for those who feel more comfortable in a one-on-one setting. Also, nutrition classes can help with meal planning and maintaining a healthy diet. And of course, there are plenty of activities for children. The Wellness 101 program is designed to teach children 11 and older how to use the gym equipment, and the outdoor playground encourages activity in younger children. There are even swim lessons for both kids and their parents. “We will be offering swim lessons all summer long, as well as water aerobics, and hosting pool parties and events throughout the summer,” Altuzar said. Various camps are also offered during spring break and summer. The next camp will be April 2-6 and registration ends March 30. An 11-day camp has also been planned for the summer. Altuzar says there are plans for City Park
SARA GUEVARA The Times
SCOTT ROGERS | The Times
Registered dietician Sheenagh King, right, meets with Angie Vimont, wellness director for the J.A. Walters Family YMCA and Oakwood Family YMCA, at the Oakwood campus before a Monday evening class “Get Your Plate in Shape” taught by King.
Those supporting groups have helped the group offer mainstays like the Pearce Series featuring groups like the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Evenings of Intimate Jazz Series with performers like Lynne Arriale and the Wycliffe Jordan Trio. In order to continue offering the high-caliber performances that have become their calling card, the arts group may need a few more friends to help them get by. “Going forward, we need additional support from the community. People can do that by making donations to the Arts Council or even joining. We have a lot of different levels of membership ranging from $50 to $10,000,” Wyant said. “The arts have an intrinsic value and economic impact on the community. ... If we weren’t here, I think the community would sorely miss what we provide.” Even though they’ve established a loyal
SCOTT ROGERS The Times
Oakwood YMCA Where: City Park, 4101 Railroad St., with offices at 3828 Main St. When: 7 a.m. to noon; 3-8 p.m. MondayFriday; 7 a.m. to noon Saturday Contact: 678-997-2878, branch office; 678-622-3908, wellness center or www. gamountainsymca.org/oakwood
J.A. Walters Family YMCA Where: 2455 Howard Road, Gainesville When: 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. MondayThursday; 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday; 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday; 1-7 p.m.Sunday Contact: 770-297-9622
events as well. “We will be hosting movie nights and a block party to celebrate Independence Day,” said Altuzar. The Oakwood branch’s next goal is to offer child care for parents while they are exercising. The program would be housed in a second city-owned building on Main Street, next to the after-school offices. Information about all the newest programs will be available on the YMCA website staring April 1. Those who Facebook can also get daily updates at www.facebook.com/Oakwood FamilyYMCA. There is also a mobile app for smartphone users.
ARTS: More friends, more programs ■ Continued from 1
Below: A Zumba class works out at the new Oakwood YMCA located on Railroad Street at City Park.
following, the group continues striving to reach untapped audiences. The Arts Council recently introduced a family-friendly event, Movies on the Green, where visitors all ages are invited to bring their picnics and blankets to enjoy a outdoor movie screening. The group has also partnered with Gainesville State College for an independent filmmakers series. “We’re trying to find out what the community wants,” Wyant said. “Like with any business, we have to keep up with changing trends, while at the same time not giving up those things that people have come to know us by. “One of the challenges that we have is getting the word out ahead of time so that people can prepare. Whereas theater productions have a two-week run, we only have a one-night performance. The buzz often builds the day after it’s over, so we’re trying to encourage people to check our website regularly to keep up with all that we have planned.”
COLOR: All skill levels are welcome ■ Continued from 1
Other arts groups
focuses on fostering independence for those with physical disabilities. “It doesn’t matter who you are or what your abilities are with watercolor,” Krainson said. “We are from beginners to advanced watercolorists, and we’re looking for those who have minimal watercolor experience as well as (those with disabilities.)” Both Tarabula and Krainson have volunteered in Our Neighbor’s art programs. Krainson, who graduated in 1969 with an art degree from Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, has been painting ever since, though his career took a different path for a while. “I took a little time off to raise a family,” he said. “For 30 years I was an electrician, but now I’m back in it and wanting to teach others how to do watercolor.” Tarabula began painting at age 18. She has taught art in public schools and in workshops all over the world, including many classes she held at her Florida home before moving to Gainesville in 2006. “I have been a commercial artist, and then I went back to college and got my teaching credentials, art education, el-
The Georgia Art League Meeting times: Noon third Thursday each month Where: Quinlan Arts Center, 514 Green St. NE, Gainesville. Membership: $15 yearly dues; must also be a current member of the Quinlan Contact: 770-536-2575, www.quinlanartscenter.org.
Quinlan Photography League Meeting time: 7 p.m. April 16 Where: Quinlan Arts Center, 514 Green St. NE, Gainesville Membership: $5 Contact: 770-536-2575, www.quinlanartscenter.org.
ementary education, special education,” she said. “But when I moved here in 2006, I said I was going to be a hermit, because I’m 88. But then I met Randy Owens, so I’ve been helping them (at Our Neighbor).” In addition to the Gainesville Watercolor Society, Tarabula, who has been featured in instructional videos produced by well-known painter Bob Ross, said she envisions an arts center open to everyone near the Gainesville square in the building where the society plans to meet. “What I want to do is to have a place for people to come to talk about art, to get help with their art and to paint and to draw,” she said.
One of the society’s first big events will be a watercolor workshop taught by Tony Couch, set for July 16-20 at the Gainesville Civic Center. Tarabula said she has tentative plans to teach a workshop herself at some point, also to benefit Our Neighbor. The group is currently working to attain nonprofit status and will not require dues, but Krainson said donations are welcome. Artists with an established portfolio may bring photos of their work to the group’s second meeting, which will be held from 2:30-4:30 p.m. April 15 at a building near the downtown Gainesville square. Beginners don’t need to bring anything, Krainson said.
Other community centers: Gainesville-Hall County Senior Life Center
p.m. Sunday Where: 4491 JM Turk Road, Flowery Branch Contact: 770-965-7140, www. hallcountyrec.org
Where: 434 Prior St. NE, Gainesville Contact: 770-503-3331
East Hall Community Center
Mulberry Creek Community Center Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; 1 p.m. to 5
Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. MondayThursday; 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday Where: 3911 P Davison Road, Gainesville Contact: 678-450-1540, www. hallcountyrec.org
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Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
We’re all a little richer
Cedar Hill Enrichment Center’s mission: ‘All about caring for the Earth’ BY BRANDEE A. THOMAS
bthomas@gainesvilletimes.com For years, the Cedar Hill Enrichment Center has been focused on helping others transform themselves. Now the center is turning that focus on its own mission. Instead of primarily being a “center for women’s spirituality,” Cedar Hill is evolving into a center for sustainable living. Although the center’s 17-acre campus on Dawsonville Highway in Gainesville is still available for corporate and private retreats, the group is interested in making a larger impact on society. “Looking at the times we live in, we wanted to raise awareness about the critical issues we are facing,” said Kat Stratton, Cedar Hill director. “Our vision is to be a hands-on learning center focused on empowering people to face these issues and to live in a resilient way that serves
the entire community.” Cedar Hill was established in 1995 by June Racicot and Kathyrn Cliatt, nuns with the Adrian Dominican Sisters. The sisterhood is an international congregation of more than 700 women who have committed themselves to “preaching the word of God, the formation of a community centered on faith, and ministry to further the values of the gospel.” The center was just one of nine nonprofits the sisters started; they also helped to launch the United Way of Forsyth County. Their goals were to provide help and services to a then-rural area with a high level of poverty. One of the primary issues the center is now focused on is food security, a phrase defined by the World Health Organization to describe “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.” To tackle this issue, Cedar Hill
brandee a. thomas | The Times
Forsyth Master Gardener Dennis Whittle leads a demonstration during the Summer Master Gardener Program for Educators last June at the Cedar Hill Enrichment Center. The center focuses on teaching the community how to live in harmony with the environment while encouraging sustainability.
has begun holding a variety of gardening workshops to teach participants how to grow their own food in a sustainable and environmentally safe way. Home gardens not only help families provide a steady source of food, they also decrease dependency on grocery stores. That leads to decreased dependency on foreign sources of fossil fuels to power delivery trucks, the center’s staff say.
The center’s transformation is partially fueled by the group embracing principles of permaculture, an all encompassing system designed to create sustainability in every aspect of life. “It’s a whole different way of living,” Stratton said. “It’s a system of principles and ethics that’s all about caring for the Earth and caring for people.” A key component of permac-
ulture is the idea of “fair share,” which includes making sure that surplus is distributed fairly and that sellers receive a fair price in the market setting. “We’re still in a state of introduction,” Stratton said. “We’re going to have an open house on April 14 to show the community who we are, what we’re going to do and to invite them to be a part of it. ■ Please see CEDAR, 5
Volunteer opportunities Looking for a way to help out in your community? Here are some ideas of places to start; please contact these agencies for additional information. Affinis Hospice. Volunteers needed to help around the facility, sit with hospice patients to relieve family members, shop, clean, do yard work or run errands for patients. Training is provided by Affinis. No experience needed. Flexible scheduling. Contact Volunteer Coordinator Lisa Crane at 770-877-9757 or email lcrane@ affinishospice.org for more information. American Cancer Society. Drivers to transport cancer patients to and from treatment centers. Contact 770-297-1176. American Red Cross. Disaster relief teams needed to train the community in preparedness services such as CPR, first aid, baby-sitting and life guarding; to welcome and register blood donors and serve refreshments and to assist in administrative services such as fundraising, public relations, translating, interpreting and office support. Contact Barbara Barber at 770-219-0343. American Red Cross. Blood services needs registration and canteen volunteers at the donor center and at mobile blood drives in Hall County. Contact Volunteer Manager Kathy Dalton at DaltonK@usa.redcross.org or at 706-546-0681 ext 221. Angel Flight Southeast. Need pilots to provide free air transportation to medical facilities for citizens who are financially distressed or otherwise unable to travel on public transportation. Contact Scarlett Auten at 770-904-0904. Autumn Breeze Assisted Living. Help residents stay active with activities such as bingo, indoor horseshoes and music. Contact Ellen Bates, activities director, at 770-297-1100. Boys and Girls Clubs. Help with general supervision of children, tutoring, art and physical education programs. Need coaches and referees. Help needed after 2 p.m. Monday-Friday. Contact 770-5328102. BPI-Safe Rides. Volunteer to drive an impaired driver home. In need of licensed drivers 25 and older to volunteer for upcoming holidays. Contact 770-965-2870 or www.bpi-saferides.org. CASA. Court Appointed Special Advocates are needed to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children. Volunteers are trained, screened and supervised. Contact Lisa McCarthy at 770-531-1964 or casaofhall@bellsouth.net. Catholic Social Services Inc. Bilingual volunteers needed to assist in serving lowincome Latino population. Needs include translation and interpretation for clients in the community, office assistance and computer class instruction. Contact 770534-3337. C.C. Cloud Youth Center — Veterans and Community Outreach Foundation. Assist children in afterschool program with homework, arts and recreational activities. Provide computer lab instruction for children and adults. Work in community garden, office and kitchen. Weekend coaches and mentors needed for young adult basketball league. Flexible schedule. Contact 770-531-0046 or vcof@bellsouth. net. Center Point Mentor Program. Mentor Hall County and Gainesville students. Time requirements include a two-hour training session and a commitment to meet with your student one hour a week (this includes travel time) for the duration of the school year. Trainings are offered at noon and 6 p.m. throughout the year. Contact Staci Tunkel, mentor coordinator, at 770-5351050, or mentor@centerpointgainesville. com. Challenged Child and Friends. Work in classrooms with children 6 weeks old to 6 years old at Northeast Georgia’s Early Intervention Center. Contact Robyn Shoaf at 770-535-8372, ext. 120 or robyn@ challengedchild.org. Compassionate Hospice. Help people an their families cope with a terminal illness. Flexible scheduling. Also looking for organizations to sponsor or participate in a charity event each year. Contact Steven Vanlerberghe at 678-717-0969. Court Visitor Program. Monitor the care,
condition and assets of dependent adults, work with families at problem solving and report to the court. Volunteers will be screened, trained and supervised. Contact Denise, Hall County Probate Court, at 770533-7830. Crossroads Hospice. Hold a hand, listen, sing, run errands for a family or help in the hospice office. Free ongoing training. Flexible hours. Contact Ella at 770-2709898 or hospicevolunteer@bellsouth.net. Disability Resource Center. Help people with disabilities remain independent through peer support, advocacy and helping with independent living skills. Also, volunteers needed to build ramps and make other home modifications. Contact Bob McGarry at 770-534-6656. Disabled American Veterans Transportation Network. Drive veterans between Gainesville and the VA hospital in Decatur in the organization’s van. Contact Gene Boccumini at 770-869-7062. Dogwood Forest Assisted Living. Volunteers needed for Bingo on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 1:30 p.m.; crafts, music, exercise, games in the evenings, pet therapy and church services on Sunday afternoons or during the week. 3315 Thompson Bridge Road, Gainesville. Contact Kathy at 770-531-7800 or kpittman@trinitylifestylesmanagement. com. Embracing Hospice. Visit with patients in homes, read to patients, write letters, provide transportation, run errands, prepare meals, provide hair care and light housekeeping. Contact 678-570-7363 or mandisha.thomas@americanhospice.com. Feed My Sheep The Grace of Christ Ministries. Help serve free lunches ever other Saturday. Contact Eric Johnson at 678-622-1458. First Steps. Volunteers needed to help support, educate and give referrals to parents in early months of parenting. Contact Angela Ricks at 770-219-7959. Gainesville Action Ministries. Answer phones, schedule appointments, greet clients, help with building maintenance and entertain children while parents are being counseled. Will train volunteers to work with clients if desired. Bilingual volunteers needed. Contact Steve Napier at 770-5310144. Gainesville-Hall County Alliance for Literacy. Tutor in basic literacy class serving adults up to a fourth-grade reading level. Contact Dorothy Shinafelt at 770-531-4337. Gainesville Care Center. Assemble favor bags given out at high school health class presentations. Supplies provided. Call GCC during business hours, 9 am to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday at 770-5351413 or www.gainesvillecarepartners.org. Gateway House. Work with children who have witnessed or experienced domestic violence. Contact Shelby Kinsey at 770539-9080. Georgia Mountain Food Bank. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Contact Kay Blackstock or Randi Dyer at 770-967-0075 or sign up online for volunteer opportunities. Good News Clinics. Need Spanishspeaking interpreters, medical assistants, dental assistants and hygienists, nurses, physicians, nurse practitioners and volunteers to assist with administrative duties for the hours of 9 a.m.-noon or 1-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Contact Jean Peeples at 770-503-1369 or jpeeples@ goodnewsclinics.org. The Guest House Adult Care Center. Talk with clients, help with activities and crafts. Contact Sandy Pearson, 770-535-1487. Habitat for Hall County. Assist in pickups and store inventory at the Habitat ReStore. Contact Dee Ann, 770-718-1070. Also need volunteers for builds. Contact 678450-5998. Hall County Animal Shelter. Volunteers needed to walk and play with animals, assist at Rabies Clinics and off-site mini adoption events. Contact Gwen Trimmer at 678-450-1587 or 770-531-6831. Happy Tails Pet Therapy Inc. Need volunteers 18 and older and their dogs, cats or rabbits to brighten patients’ days at
local health care facilities. Orientations held periodically. Contact 770-740-8211. Hospice of Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Sit with terminally ill patients in their homes, run errands and provide relief for family members in Banks, Barrow, Dawson, Forsyth, Franklin, northern Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Jackson, Lumpkin, Stephens, Union and White counties. Also need help with clerical work in hospice office. Free office support volunteer training is available from 12:30-4:30 p.m. second Tuesdays at the hospice office. Contact Carol Jewell, Hospice of NGMC volunteer coordinator, at 770-533-8888 or 888-5723900. Humane Society of Northeast Georgia. Play with and walk shelter adoption pets, assist with adoptions taking place at Gainesville PetSmart on Saturdays and help with special events. Options no matter how much or how little time available. Contact Kelley Uber at 770-532-6617. Interactive Neighborhood for Kids. Supervise exhibits, lead story time or teach arts and crafts activities on a one-time or ongoing basis. Contact 770-536-1900. Judicial citizen review panel. Review the circumstances of children in Hall County who are in the custody of the State Department of Family and Children Services and work to ensure they are being properly cared for and are given the opportunity to be placed in a permanent home. Two-day training period required along with one morning a month thereafter. Contact Brenda Boring at 770-531-6928 or bboring@hallcounty.org. Junior Achievement of Georgia: Northeast District. Present lessons to students in grades kindergarten-12th that inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. Using hands-on experiences, JA brings the real world to students, opening their minds to their full potential by bridging the business and education communities. Materials and training provided. Serving 14 counties in Northeast Georgia. Contact Lee D. Highsmith at 770-297-1222 or lhighsmith@ georgia.ja.org. Keep Hall Beautiful. Assist with administrative duties, make phone calls, do outside presentations or litter pickups. Contact Cindy Reed at 770-531-1102 or hallbeautiful@windstream.net. Lanierland Civitan Club. Help people with developmental disabilities and work on various area projects. Meet 12:30 p.m. first and third Tuesdays, Turnstile Deli, 109 Green St., Gainesville. Contact Ed Standera at 770-532-3622. Legacy Link. Help Medicare recipients getting prescription drugs and other services. Need clerical help and outside speakers. Training provided. Contact 770538-2650. LifeLink of Georgia. Assist with educational programs pertaining to organ and tissue donation and transplantation in North Georgia and other areas of the state. Contact 800-544-6667. Make-A-Wish Foundation of Georgia and Alabama. Create, design and implement wishes in North Georgia. Contact Shandy Arwood at sarwood@ga-al.wish.org or 888517-9474, ext. 14. Meals on Wheels. Deliver meals within the city of Gainesville. Routes take approximately one hour; training provided. Contact Milon Christman at 770-503-3330. Mended Hearts of Northeast Georgia. Visit with heart patients and their families at Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Volunteer in Ronnie Green waiting room or attend meetings at 6 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month. Must be former heart procedure patients or spouses. Training provided. Contact Peggy Vardeman at 770-532-2326. Mentor Me North Georgia. Volunteer for one-on-one and group setting programs with at-risk youth. Contact Amber at 678341-8028 or amber@mentormenorthga. org. For more information, www. mentormenorthga.org Northeast Georgia History Center. Provide assistance with day-to-day tasks — greet
visitors, answer telephones, prepare mailings, help with special events, guide tours, serve on standing committees. Contact 770-297-5900 or www.negahc. org. Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Assist with non-medical duties and provide comfort and support to patients, family members and visitors. Call 770-219-1830 to request an application and schedule a time for a brief interview. Odyssey Healthcare Athens. Gainesville area volunteers are needed to provide support and companionship for patients and families. Free training required; no minimum time commitment. Additionally, we are seeking administrative support in our office. Training is provided. Contact Gail Manter at 770-533-4445 or 706-4105340 or gmanter@odsyhealth.com. Pacific Intercultural Exchange. Host families for foreign teens are needed for the new school year. There are also travel/ study program opportunities available for American high school students as well as possibilities for community volunteers to assist and work with area host families, students and schools. Contact 866-5461402 for more information. The Phoenix Society of Gainesville. Raise funds to support local service organizations. Meetings held at 7 p.m. third Thursdays of every month at the Gainesville Civic Center. Contact Deanna Fawcett at 770-532-4641 or DDFawcett@aol.com. Prevent Child Abuse. Help in the nursery from 6 to 8 p.m. Mondays. Contact Dottie Turner at 770-287-3071 or 770-536-1443. Rape Response. Respond to hotline phone calls. Training and support is provided, and on-call volunteers can maintain their own schedule while using a cell phone to respond. Contact Heather Weaver at 770503-7273 or heather@raperesponse.com. Regency Hospice. Provide assistance and care to patients and family members. Contact Elizabeth McFarland at 888-6031303. RSVP: Retired & Senior Volunteer Program. Looking for volunteers 55 and older to help at the following sites in Hall County: Center Point, mentors for public school children; Keep Hall Beautiful, event volunteers; Hall County Senior Life Center, computer teachers and scrap booking teachers; Meals on Wheels, delivery drivers and phone reassurance volunteers; and Hall County Emergency Management, CERT and Web site volunteers. Contact Terry Shuler, RSVP director (Legacy Link Inc.), at 770-538-2650. Safe Kids Gainesville/Hall County. Help with educational programs about car seat safety, helmet safety, fire safety, poison prevention and more. Contact Kim Martin at 770-533-8095 or kimberly.martin@nghs. com. Sautee Nacoochee Community Association. Meet and greet visitors at the History Museum of Sautee Nacoochee and the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia. Contact Sam Schultz at 770-380-7414 or Chris Brooks at 706-878-3300. United Hospice. Provide companionship, family support and respite for caregivers in homes and nursing facilities. Training provided. Contact Sandy Hatfield, Hospice Volunteer Coordinator, at 800-844-9641. Veterans Community Outreach. Help with after-school program, computer lab and homework assistance. Contact 770-5310046. Vietnam Veterans of America. Help create a network for the local families of soldiers who will be overseas next Christmas and plan a party for next Christmas. Contact Ron Kelner at 770-534-2509 or Dave Dellinger at 770-718-7676. Widowed persons volunteer aides. 5:15 p.m. fourth Tuesdays, Community Service Center. Contact 770-536-0072. Willowwood Nursing Center. Adopt a grandparent, spend free time with residents. Contact Tina Gipson at 770-9672070, ext. 20.
CMYK Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
gainesvilletimes com
Sunday, March 25, 2012
CEDAR: Programs help find balance ■ Continued from 4
Photos by Brandee A. Thomas | The Times
“Looking at the times we live in, we wanted to raise awareness about the critical issues we are facing,” said Cedar Hill director Kat Stratton, above. The center is located on sprawling acres of fruit trees, herb gardens and rain gardens and utilizes as much solar power as possible. The mission of the nonprofit, founded in 1995, is to be a hands-on learning center focused on empowering people to face these issues and to live in a resilient way
“We want to help people understand exactly what we mean when we say ‘permaculture.’” During the open house, attendees will also be able to observe various demonstrations that showcase some of the center’s workshop topics. “There are going to be demonstrations on everything from beekeeping to vermaculture,” Stratton said. The center holds programs throughout the year, all designed with a do-it-yourself vibe. Not only has Cedar Hill offered a variety of gardening workshops, the center also hosts classes to teach people what to do with the things they grow. There have been informative workshops designed to teach participants how to do things like create their own soaps, essential oils and herbal tea blends. “We’ve also done a number of re-skilling classes like canning and processing your own food,” Stratton said. “These are skills that used to be well known, but have become less popular over the years as people became accustomed to going to the stores to buy what they need.” According to Stratton, the center’s new focus isn’t that far removed from the original peace and balance provided by retreats on the center’s campus at 5735 Dawsonville Highway. “The poverty rate in Georgia is increasing, which tells us there are probably a lot of people out there experiencing depression and a sense of helplessness,” Stratton said. “By helping people search for different ways of doing things, we can help them bring that balance back into their lives. “We want to offer practical ways for people in the community to take care of themselves.”
Cedar Hill Enrichment Center 5735 Dawsonville Highway, Gainesville 770-887-0051 www.discovercedarhill.org.
Upcoming events Open house: Learn more about what Cedar Hill Enrichment Center has to offer. Live demonstrations and a book sale. When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 14 Cost: Free Bog garden workshop: Through the hands-on building of a bog at Cedar Hill, participants will learn how to turn a lowlying, slow draining area into a beautiful bog garden. They will also receive a resource list of native plants to use. When: 9:30 a.m.-noon April 21 When: $25 in advance Garden planning: Learn the basics of soil quality, the importance of soil testing and useful alternatives for chemical-free gardening. When: 9:30-11:30 a.m. April 28 Cost: $20 before April 20
Other centers Elachee Nature Science Center When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday Where: 2125 Elachee Drive, Gainesville Cost: Adults $5; children 2-12 $3; Members free More info: elachee@elachee.org, 770-535-1976
Support groups Need someone who understands? Here are some of the many groups offering their support in our community:
Addictions
Al-Anon. Noon and 8 p.m. Tuesdays and 8 p.m. Fridays, 781 Green St., Gainesville. Contact Monica at 404-553-4916. Al-Anon. 9 a.m. Saturdays, Unitarian Universalist Church. 439 S. Park St., Dahlonega. Contact 706-867-6869. Al-Anon Serenity Seekers. 4 p.m. Mondays, Lanier Village Estates, intersection of Thompson Bridge Road and Price Road. Contact 678-450-3000. Al-Ateen/Nar-Ateen. 8 p.m. Tuesdays, 781 Green St., Gainesville. Contact 770-5343777. Alcoholics Anonymous. 2 and 8 p.m. Sundays; noon, 5:30 and 8 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays; noon, 8 p.m. and midnight Fridays; 7:30 a.m., noon, 8 p.m. and midnight Saturdays. 781 Green St., Gainesville. For closed meetings schedule, contact 770-534-3777. Alcoholics Anonymous. 8 p.m. Mondays and Saturdays, Laurelwood, 200 Wisteria Drive, Gainesville. Contact 770-531-3800. Alcoholics Anonymous. 8 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, St. Luke Church, Gainesville. 770-983-3057. Alcoholics Anonymous — Chestatee group. Meetings every day at noon and 6:30 p.m., 9 a.m Sundays. Intersection of Warhill Road and Dawsonville Highway. For information contact 770-983-3057. Adult Children of Alcoholics and/or other dysfunctional families. 7 p.m. Mondays, St. Luke Church, 113 Washington St. NW, Gainesville. Contact 404-432-5512. Celebrate Recovery. Christian-based recovery group; gender specific; child care is provided. 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Lakewood Baptist Church, 2235 Thompson Bridge Road, Gainesville. Contact 770-532-6307. Celebrate Recovery. Christ-centered recovery group; gender specific; child care is provided. 7-9 p.m. Fridays, 6:30 p.m. Coffee-house, Lifepoint Church, 1537 Pine Valley Road, Gainesville. Contact 770-5342888 or www.lifepointgainesville.com. Celebrate Recovery. Christian-based recovery group; gender specific; child care is provided. 5:30 p.m. Mondays, Blackshear Place Baptist Church, 3428 Atlanta Highway, Flowery Branch. Contact 770-534-7058. Celebrate Recovery. 6-10 p.m. Thursdays, Chestnut Mountain Church, 4903 Chestnut Mountain Circle, Flowery Branch. Meal at 6 p.m. followed by large group and small group fellowship time. Child care is provided. Contact 770-967-3197. Emotions Anonymous. 6:45 p.m. Tuesdays and 4 p.m. Sundays at Laurelwood Hospital, 200 Wisteria Drive, Gainesville. Contact 770-531-3800. Alcoholics Anonymous, Gainesville Classic Group. 5:30 p.m. daily, 8 p.m. MondayFriday, St. Luke Church, 113 Washington St., Gainesville. Contact 770-540-8710. Nar-Anon. 8 p.m. Sundays, 781 Green St., Gainesville. Contact 770-534-3777. Narcotics Anonymous. 6:30 and 8 p.m. Sundays, Mondays; 8 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays. 781 Green St., Gainesville. Contact 770-534-3777. Narcotics Anonymous. 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays; Laurelwood, 200 Wisteria Drive, Gainesville. Contact 770531-3800. Narcotics Anonymous, Addicts in the Attic. 8 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays, 1137 W. Ridge Road, Gainesville. Contact 770-2877249. Reformers Unanimous. 7 p.m. Fridays, Bible Baptist Church, 145 Clarks Bridge Road, Gainesville. Contact 770-503-4784 or 770-534-2456. Serenity House of Buford Inc. Alcoholic recovery programs. 12:15 p.m. MondaysSaturdays, 6:30 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays, 6 p.m. Sundays, 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m. MondaysThursdays and Sundays and 9:30 p.m. Thursdays. 4295 Ga. 20, Suite 1D, Buford. Contact 770-932-9064. Veterans and Community Outreach Program. 7/12-step program. 6 p.m. Tuesdays, Veterans Community C.C. Cloud Center, 996 Athens Highway, Suite E, Gainesville. Contact 770-531-0046.
Diet, weight
Overeaters Anonymous. 6:30 p.m. Fridays, Laurelwood, 200 Wisteria Drive,
Gainesville. Contact 770-531-3800. Public information lectures on weight loss surgery. 9-10:30 a.m. first Saturdays, Gainesville Civic Center, Sidney Lanier Room; 6:30-8 p.m. third Wednesdays, Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s Lanier Park campus, Blue Ridge Room, Gainesville. Both sessions presented by ObesitySolutions. Contact 770-534-0110. Weight Watchers. 5:45 p.m. Mondays; 5:15 p.m. Tuesdays; 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Wednesdays; 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Thursdays; 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Fridays; 8 and 9:30 a.m. Saturdays,975 Dawsonville Hwy Suite 14, Gainesville. Contact 800-651-6000 or www.weightwatchers.com.
Grief
Bereaved Parents of the USA, Northeast Georgia chapter. 7 p.m. third Thursdays. Open to those who have lost a child, grandchild or siblings. Contact Bill Patterson for locations at 770-402-5294 or moreinfo@negabpusa.com. Educational bereavement support group. Led by Tom Fish at Premier Hospice of Georgia. Noon-2 p.m. Tuesdays, Gainesville and Hall County Community Service Center, 430 Prior St., Suite 200, Gainesville. Contact 770-533-4422 or 800533-4422. Good G.R.I.E.F. Giving Resources Individually and Enjoying Friends, for widows and widowers. Contact Billy Hendrix at 678-617-2760. Grief support group. Noon fourth Tuesdays, Gainesville Community Center, 430 Prior St., Gainesville. Contact 770533-4422. Grief support group. 4 p.m. each Tuesday, Oct.19 through Nov. 23. Hospice of Northeast Georgia Medical Center, 2150 Limestone Parkway, Suite 222, Gainesville. Free. Registration required. Contact Jennifer.Sorrells@nghs.com. Helping Other Parents Endure, prenatal loss support group. 7 p.m. fourth Thursdays, Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Contact 770-531-3881, ext. 2035. Pet Loss Support Group. Aiken-Harrison Conference Room, Adoption Center, Humane Society of Hall County, 845 W. Ridge Road, Gainesville. Contact 770-5326617. Post Abortion Support & Treatment (PAST Class) for women. Next class 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, at Gainesville Care Center. Contact 770-535-1413 www. gainesvillecarepartners.org. Widowed persons volunteer aides. 5:15 p.m. fourth Tuesdays, Community Service Center. Contact 770-536-0072.
Relationships
Adolescent young men’s sexual recovery support group. Access Christian Counseling, 101 Pilgrim Village Drive, Cumming. Contact Jeffrey Stull at 770888-7754. Caregivers’ support group. 4-5:30 p.m. Second Thursday of each month. The Guest House, 320 Tower Heights Road, Gainesville. Contact 770-535-1487. Divorcecare ministry class. 7 p.m. Tuesdays, Fountain of Faith Worship Center, 6028 Spout Springs Road, Flowery Branch. Contact 770-572-6152. The Gainesville District Office of the United Methodist Children’s Home. Provides free parenting, educational counseling, financial aid, foster care services, diapers/ wipes and other donated items to families who are in need. 604 Washington St., Suite A-6, Gainesville. Contact 770-531-3063 or www.umchildrenshome.org. Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and Relatives Raising Nieces and Nephews. 1011:30 a.m. fourth Mondays, Habersham County Senior Center. Contact Julia Jessee at 770-538-2650. Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and Relatives Raising Nieces and Nephews. 10-11:30 a.m. fourth Wednesdays, The Legacy Shoppe, Lakeshore Mall, 150 Pearl Nix Parkway, Gainesville. Contact Julia Jessee at 770-538-2650 or Jenise Proctor at 770-503-3330. Help for Women Bullied at Work or Church. Dates and place to be determined. Contact helpforthebullied@yahoo.com. Infidelity support group. For women seeking emotional healing following
infidelity. Meets the first Tuesday of each month from 7 to 8 p.m. at Gainesville Care Center, 434 Green Street Place NE. Contact isggainesville@yahoo.com. MOMS Club of Gainesville. 10 a.m. first Tuesdays, Family Life Center, behind the First Baptist Church of Gainesville. Contact momsclubgainesville.homestead.com Mothers of Preschoolers. Moms can call for child care reservations. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. second Thursdays, First United Methodist Church, 2780 Thompson Bridge Road, Gainesville. Contact 706-867-1573 or www.gainesvillemops.com. Mothers of Preschoolers. 9:30 a.m.-noon first and third Thursdays, First Baptist Church, Gainesville. Contact 678-6778066 or coordinator@fbcgmops.org. Gwinnett Area Mommies. Online group with monthly playdates and support meetings. Contact www. GwinnettAreaMommies.com. Newborn parenting. 6:30-9:30 p.m. second Mondays of every other month, Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Contact 770-535-3357. Operation Patriot’s Call. For the families of local U.S. Army troops in Charlie Company who will be deployed to Afghanistan in the spring. 4 p.m. Thursdays, 153 Alta Vista Road, Gainesville. Parenting support group (Englishspeaking). Sponsored by Family TIES — Gainesville, for parents who have children ages from infancy to 17. Learn coping skills, new discipline techniques, anger management and managing stress. 6:30 p.m. Mondays and 9:30 a.m. Tuesdays. Contact 770-287-3071. Parenting support group (Spanishspeaking). Parenting Support Group (Spanish Speaking). Sponsored by Family TIES — Gainesville, for parents who have children ages from infancy to 17. Learn coping skills, new discipline techniques, anger management and managing stress. 6:30 p.m. Thursdays. Contact 404-4524803. Spouses of sexual betrayal support group for women. Access Christian Counseling, 101 Pilgrim Village Drive, Cumming. Contact Jeffrey Stull at 770-888-7754. Teen parent support group. 6 p.m. Wednesdays, The Veterans & Community Outreach Foundation and C.C. Cloud Youth Center, 996 Athens Highway, Suite E, Gainesville. Contact Victor Lamar Johnson at 770-531-0046. Women’s sexual recovery support group. Access Christian Counseling, 101 Pilgrim Village Drive, Cumming. Contact Jeffrey Stull at 770-888-7754. Encourage Me support group for single moms. Dinner, childcare provided. 6:30 p.m. first Tuesday of each month, Lakewood Baptist Church, Thompson Bridge Road. Contact Jessica Hart at hartjn@yahoo.com or 770-535-1413.
Health, disease
Alzheimers support group. 2-3:30 p.m. second Tuesdays, The Guest House, 320 Tower Heights Road, Gainesville. Contact 770-535-1487. Alzheimer’s/dementia caregiver support group. 10-11:30 a.m., first Tuesdays. First Presbyterian Church, 800 South Enota Drive NE, Gainesville. Contact Roger Ray at 678-936-9764 or ray5023@gmail.com. Alzheimer’s Caregiver Luncheon Program. Noon-1 p.m. third Tuesdays, Bentley Center, 135 Hoyt St., Athens. Contact 706-549-4850, eanthony@accaging.org or cboozer@accaging.org. Asperger’s Syndrome support group. 78:30 p.m. first and third Thursdays, Rooms 1 and 2 on the third floor, Barrow Regional Medical Center, 316 N. Broad St., Winder. Contact Marcia Singson at 770-307-0672, or www.georgiaaspergersorganization.org. Breast cancer support group. 6:30 p.m. second Thursdays, Gainesville Civic Center, 830 Green St. NE. Contact 770538-7210. Breast cancer support group. Includes newly diagnosed or longtime survivors. 7 p.m. third Tuesdays, Dahlonega Community House, 111 Park St. N. Corner of Hawkins Street and Park Street North. Contact Reita Snipes at 706-864-1708 or Jessie Souther at 706-864-6696. Breast Cancer Survivors’ Lunch Bunch. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. second Thursdays, 4293 Skyline View, Oakwood. Contact Vicki
Castleberry at 770-535-8331 or 678-3159216. Breastfeeding support group. 11 a.m. second Thursdays, Hall County Health Department. Contact 770-531-5600. Breastfeeding support group. 12:30-2 p.m. second Tuesdays, White County Library conference room. Contact Liane Varnes at 706-969-0999 or elvarnes@yahoo. com; or Alisa Weakley at 706-200-6651 or alisaweakley@yahoo.com. Burn survivors support group. 7:30-9 p.m. first Tuesdays, Suite A-2, 621 Washington St., Gainesville. Contact 770-287-1356 or 770-983-3593. Breastfeeding support group. 12:30 p.m. second Tuesdays, Cleveland Library; 6 p.m. third Thursdays, First Baptist Church, Cleveland; 11:30 a.m. every 2nd to last Monday, Dahlonega Library. Open to all moms. Contact Amanda Bales at 770-5307138. Cancer support group. 7 p.m. second Mondays, Radiation Therapy Waiting area-Outpatient Services Building, (ground floor) Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Contact 770-535-3563. Cancer support group. 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Stephens County Senior Center, Toccoa. Contact 706-886-4740. Celebrate Recovery. Hurts, habits or hang-ups. KJV Bible-based. 7-8 p.m. Tuesdays, Refreshments. 28 Industrial Blvd., Cleveland. Contact 770-900-5110 or 678-677-6352. Diabetes support group. 10 a.m. third Thursdays, Blue Ridge Room at Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s Lanier Park campus; 6 p.m. third Thursdays, Diabetes Education Classroom at Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s Lanier Park campus. Contact 678-343-4887. The Gainesville Lake Country Shakers. First and third Thursdays at St. Paul United Methodist Church. Contact Bob and Marie Bridges at 770-532-8849 or Ray and Louell Roper at 678-546-5455. GA Galt support group. For anyone suffering from the metabolic disorder galactosemia. Join at gagalt.webs.com. Gainesville Parkinson’s support group. 11 a.m. first and third Thursdays, St. Paul United Methodist Church. Contact 770532-8849 or 678-546-5455. The Greater Hall County Area Chapter of the Visually Impaired. 10:30 am to noon on the second Saturday of each month September through June. Activity Room at Smoky Springs Retirement, 940 South Enota Drive, Gainesville. Support group hosts speakers who share information and resources for the visually impaired. For more information and directions, contact 770-535-8349. HIV/AIDS education and prevention seminar. 6-7 p.m. Tuesdays, Boys & Girls Clubs, Gainesville. Contact 770-297-7755. Insulin pump support group. 7 p.m. every other third Tuesday, Blue Ridge Room, Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s Lanier Park campus. Contact 770-531-3899. Mended Hearts. For heart patients and caretakers. 6 p.m. second Tuesdays, Auxiliary Conference Room, Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Contact 678-4509223. National Alliance on Mental Illness — Hall. 7 p.m. last Tuesdays, and beginning Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. each Thursday, Room 210 and Room 208 (family), First Baptist Church, 751 Green St. NW, Gainesville. Contact 678-617-1332 or 706-429-4006. North Georgia Women Surviving Cancer Support Group.. 11 a.m. every third Saturday of the month. Gainesville First United Methodist Church. Free. Contact 770-536-2341. Nursing Mothers support group. 12:30 p.m. second Wednesdays in the conference room at the Cleveland branch of the White County Library. Contact Liane Varnes at 706-969-0999 or elvarnes@yahoo.com. Post Abortion Support and Treatment. 6:30 p.m. Mondays. 770-535-1245. Parkinson’s support group. 11 a.m. first and third Thursdays, St. Paul United Methodist Church, Washington Street, Gainesville. Contact 770-532-8848. Thyroid support group. 7-8 p.m. Tuesdays, Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Room ED3-1, third floor, Ocie Pope Building, Gainesville. Contact Deborah at 770-9659224.
CMYK
Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
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Progress
A publication of
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY | Sunday, march 25, 2012
Growth still on the way Country wide struggle has affected Gainesville BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Photos by Scott Rogers | Times file
The Georgia Department of Labor processes a line of job seekers waiting inside the Atlanta Highway site.
Finding a job can take a little luck Many still having trouble as unemployment continues to drop BY MEGHAN SCHULER
mschuler@gainesvilletimes.com
T
he Georgia Department of Labor is seeing a decline in unemployment in Hall County. As of January, the unemployment rate dropped to 7.6 percent, from 9 percent the year before. It hit its lowest point, 7.5 percent, in December. For many, though, finding a new job takes some luck. Mike Long lost his job in May but was able to find employment by August. A mechanic by trade, Long sent out more than 200 applications, but only a few gained any response from employers. “It was tough. I had almost 30 years with my previous job and suddenly it was all gone,” Long said. Several months of interviews and no returned calls finally yielded a maintenance job at a university. “We took a hit financially, but the most important thing was my having a job again,” he said. “I’m lucky. I know guys who were out of work longer than I was and are still out of work. It’s not easy.” ■ Please see Job, 3
Top 10 Hall employers Advantage Human Resourcing Inc. Fieldale Farms Corp. Kings Delight Kubota Manufacturing of America Corp. Mar Jac Poultry Inc. Northeast Georgia Medical Center Inc. Pilgrims Pride Corp. Publix Super Market Inc. Wal-Mart Wrigley Manufacturing Co. Note: Employers are listed alphabetically by area, not by the number of employees. Represents employment covered by unemployment insurance excluding all government agencies except correctional institutions, state and local hospitals, state colleges and universities. Data shown for the third quarter of 2010, the latest data available. Source: Georgia Department of Labor
Inside Unemployment rate by county, 3
Cory Mack fills out applications during last year’s Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce job fair at the Georgia Mountains Center.
Hall County unemployment rates 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2000
9.1 9.2 5.4 3.6 3.8 4.4 2.9
Source: Department of Labor
January 2011 February March April May June July August September October November December
9 8.9 8.5 8 7.9 8.9 8.6 8.6 8.6 8.3 7.7 7.5
Above: Patrons stand in line at the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce job fair at the Georgia Mountains Center. Left: Bonnie Kendrick, left, of ZF Industries, speaks with Ricky and Karen Durham at the Georgia Mountains Center during the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce job fair.
The Gainesville area has seen rapid growth in the commercial sector, even as other parts of the country have struggled during and after the recession, and more development may be on the way. “It’s really amazing to think that we’ve had lots of new restaurants, new retail, a lot of national brands that were not in this market already that have been trying to get here,” said Tim Evans, vice president for economic development at the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce. “We really don’t have a lot of vacant new retail space. ... We’ve had all our vacancies absorbed.” One of Gainesville’s newest retail spots, the Beechwood Crossing Shopping Center, on Dawsonville Highway, west of McEver Road Extension, has seen much activity between two restaurants, Olive Garden and Cheddar’s Casual Cafe. “There are some restaurant sites behind (those two), as well as a (planned) retail center across the street,” Evans said. “The road improvements there for the Cheddar’s and Olive Garden will also serve that other retail development, which is planned and being marketed. “But as any retail developer will tell you, the retail project is dependent on the leases that they get signed from anchor tenants.” Rusty Ligon, Gainesville’s community development director, said city officials were planning to hear a request this month from Beechwood’s developers for a detention pond “that would be associated with a future shopping center” across from the restaurants. Also, “there’s some property there that needs to be rezoned as part of that shopping center and that will be coming up in the next couple of months,” Ligon said. “We do see the Dawsonville Highway area as one of our really strong regional business corridors,” he added. On the horizon for nearby areas are improvements to Lakeshore Mall, a longstanding commercial area off Pearl Nix Parkway. A project is in the works “to keep that a viable shopping center for the long term,” Evans said, without giving details. “It would involve a fair amount of work on the owners to do that. ... It’s a promising project for the next year.” A major new development also is planned for the New Holland area of Gainesville. Pacolet Milliken, a Spartanburg, S.C.-based company that includes executives of the Milliken textile empire, is planning a 700,000-squarefoot retail complex for 55 acres at Limestone and Jesse Jewell parkways. Originally, it was slated for a late 2011 or early 2012 opening. The 700,000 square feet “is probably on the upper end” of the project’s size, Evans said. “That project is likewise ■ Please see Growth, 5
INSIDE: Industrial growth surging, 2
CMYK
Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
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Tom Reed | The Times
ProCare RX is a new business building that is nearing completion just off Exit 20 of Interstate 985.
Industrial growth again surging in Gainesville-Hall Chamber’s business group has 65 ‘active projects’ being worked on, president says BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com The Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce has seen a strong uptick in industrial interest in GainesvilleHall County. The business group, busy in recruiting employers to the area, has 65 “active projects we’re working on,” said Tim Evans, the chamber’s vice president for economic development. “That’s higher than it has been in a long time,” he said. “We had 40 projects in 2005 and that number grew to 50 by 2008.” An active project is defined as a company with “a defined need and timeline and a set of parameters” for plant location and typically looking at a wide range of communities, Evans said. Just recently, a couple of companies have announced projects that are expected to add up to 130 new
jobs and pump some $30 million into the local economy. One of those was a company creating 20-30 jobs, with an $8 million to $10 million investment. “That’s a great size for us,” Evans said. “Those (projects) tend not to demand as much, have reasonable expectations and have really good employers.” Overall, Hall County has some 300 manufacturers and food-processing companies, which employ about 25 percent of the total workforce. One of the newest additions to the community is King’s Hawaiian, which opened a distribution plant in October off H.F. Reed Industrial Boulevard in Oakwood. The California-based bread maker held the operation’s grand opening and dedication last March. King’s Hawaiian considered several Eastern states, including North
Carolina and South Carolina, before settling on Georgia for its first plant east of the Mississippi River. The company, along with area and state officials, including thenGov. Sonny Perdue, announced in September 2010 that King’s Hawaiian would settle in a 112,000-squarefoot plant on 20 acres in the Oakwood South Industrial Park. John Linehan, executive vice president of strategy and business development, has said the company hopes to have 150 employees by the end of this year and eventually 250 to 260 workers. In September, Gov. Nathan Deal was among the guests officially opening the ZF Wind Power plant in the new Gainesville Business Park. The plant at 1925 New Harvest Drive, off Calvary Church Road, will produce gearboxes for wind turbines, with full production set to get under way this year. It is also expected to create some 250 jobs.
Photos by Sara Guevara | The Times
Top: Employees check to make sure the dough balls are centered in the aluminum pans inside the King’s Hawaiian bakery and distribution facility in Oakwood. Above: The King’s Hawaiian bakery is located off H.F. Reed Industrial Parkway in Oakwood. The plant opened Oct. 5, 2011.
“This opening represents a $98 million investment in construction and manufacturing equipment,” said Elizabeth Umberson, president of ZF, at the time. Down the street from ZF, Patillo Industrial Real Estate has finished grading the site for a 77,000-squarefoot speculative building, the first one built in Georgia in four years, Evans said. “The steel is on order and they’ll be erecting this (building) over the next couple of months,” he said. “This is a bait for our community. About 80 percent of our industrial development is starting off looking for available buildings. “Two years ago, we had a lot of industrial buildings on the market. Right now, a lot of the larger buildings have been absorbed. “We still have a lot of small and medium-size buildings that are available, and that’s because a lot of the small businesses haven’t recovered as fast. In this recession, they’ve been at the back end of the recovery,” Evans said. Also, ProCare Rx, a national pharmacy benefit company, broke ground in November on its 395,000-
square-foot campus in an area between Candler Road and Interstate 985. The first building, which would be occupied by ProCare, is 55,000 square feet on a single floor. “A second pad is set for just about a duplicate of that building, and then we are set for a six-story office building,” said Chris Earwood, owner’s representative for ProCare. “And then, there are three retail pads that face Ga. 60 as part of the development.” Tom Oliver, chairman of the Hall County Board of Commissioners, has said he believes ProCare could be “a cornerstone” to bringing other industries to the county. “I think it has staggering potential,” he said. “I think we have opportunities to bring our 985 corridor into more of a business corridor.” Overall, Rusty Ligon, Gainesville’s community development director, said he sees nothing but promise ahead. “We’ve always been the hub of activity in Northeast Georgia,” he said. “We have a strong labor force here. We’ve got a lot of tools in place to attract development here.”
Sara Guevara | The Times
Dozens of loaves of round bread make their way onto large-scale cooling racks via a conveyor belt inside the King’s Hawaiian bakery and distribution facility in Oakwood. The company produces its brand of Hawaiian sweet bread dinner rolls, sandwich and snack rolls and round bread.
CMYK Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
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Sunday, March 25, 2012
Unemployment rate by county Hall County’s unemployment rate is lower than many in the region, at 7.6 percent as of January.
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Scott Rogers | The Times
Job seekers wait in line to speak with a representative at the Georgia Department of Labor on Atlanta Highway in Hall County.
JOB: Workshops focus on resume building, etc. ■ Continued from 1 Mark Winters, manager of the Department of Labor’s Gainesville office, said he is pleased to see the rates decreasing. “We offer to help those in search of a job by providing access to computers, resume help and critiquing and working with other organizations to help in reemployment,” he said. The Department of Labor offers three different workshops to help those out of work find a place in the field. The workshops focus on resume building, what
to wear to an interview, networking and other skills to aid those searching for work. In addition to workshops, the department also offers free computer access where applicants can fill out applications online or search for jobs. Ed Hall, communications specialist with the Department of Labor, said the department also provides help for people struggling with layoffs, offering emotional and financial support through nonprofit organizations like the United Way and Goodwill Industries.
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14% or greater 12% to 13.9% 9.4% to 11.9% Less than 9.4%
Source: Department of Labor
The Times
‘We offer to help those in search of a job by providing access to computers, resume help and critiquing and working with other organizations to help in reemployment.’ Mark Winters Manager of the Department of Labor’s Gainesville office
Building on history to grow a future for our clients. That’s who we are.
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Sunday, March 25, 2012
Rise in permits a sign of economic uptick ‘Dreams are starting to be fulfilled’ by entrepreneurs BY AARON HALE
ahale@gainesvilletimes.com Perhaps the most common indicators sought for taking the pulse on economic health are unemployment rates, the gains and losses in the stock market and gross domestic product calculations. But another way to monitor local business activity is to look at the request for permits that go to local government planning departments. When new businesses spring up or existing ones look to expand, chances are they have to visit city or county officials to get the
required inspections and permits. There was a marked drop in these kinds of permits requested from Hall County and Gainesville in recent years as construction skidded to a halt and many businesses put a hold on plans for expansion and renovations. However, there are signs that business activity is stirring once again when it comes to local permitting, which could be a positive indicator that the economy is on the road to recovery. In 2007, just before the housing bubble burst, Gainesville city government issued
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Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
2,441 permits for everything from new commercial and residential buildings to business remodeling, new plumbing and change in occupancy. Beginning in 2008, that number saw a steady decline until 2010, when permitting dropped to its lowest at 1,585. Last year, the number recovered to nearly 2,000. And things are anticipated to approve again. “Early indications are pointing to a continued upward trend in permit numbers in 2012,” said Rusty Ligon, Gainesville’s community development director. Reports from Hall County
Building Inspection Division and its planning division are more tempered for now. Unlike Gainesville, the county’s permits continued to decline in 2011 compared to 2010. Both departments report by calendar year, rather than fiscal year. So it’s difficult to tell if the numbers are improving with reports remaining from only the slowest month. If those permits were to continue to increase, it’s likely the efforts of entrepreneurs laying the groundwork for what could be economic revival in Northeast Georgia.
Building permits Hall County and city of Gainesville departments saw a sharp drop in permit requests in recent years as construction and business expansion slowed. So far this year, there are some positive indications that business activity is improving with some increase in permitting requests. Peak time for inspections typically begin in the spring when weather warms and building conditions improve.
Hall County Building Inspection Divisions permits 2008 3,085
2009 2,356
* Through February
2010 2,225
2011 2,122
2012* 352
Source: Hall County
Gainesville Community Development Department permits FY 2007 2,441
2008 1,990
* Through January
2009 1,683
Frank Norton, president of the Gainesville real estate group The Norton Agency, said he’s observing local trends of new startup businesses that may be helping the number of permits rise. He said businesses “from yogurt shops to insurance to
2010 1,585
2011 1,958
2012* 980
Source: City of Gainesville
retail” are being spawned by entrepreneurs who lost or left their jobs in the recession. “Many are taking early retirement and pouring that into new businesses,” he said. “Dreams are starting to be fulfilled.”
North Georgia a tourism hub for many years Area a central spot for those seeking urban, rural attractions BY SAVANNAH KING
sking@gainesvilletimes.com Gainesville has been a destination for travelers in the North Georgia area since before the days of the Dahlonega gold rush. Once a central location for settlers to gather supplies, the area has since become more of a recreational and resort destination. “The tourist economy is not a new thing on our area, it’s just evolved and expanded,” Stacey Dickson, president of the Lake Lanier Convention and Visitors Bureau, said. Today Hall County and surrounding areas draw people from all over the world. In 2010, tourism generated more than $208 million in Hall County. The industry created 2,248 jobs that year. Catiel Felts, communications and tourism director for Gainesville, said the area has continued to do well even in slow economic times. “We are currently $10,000 ahead of where we were this time last year,” Felts said. The hotel/motel tax, one of the city’s best measurements for tourism, generated more than $511,000 in fiscal year 2011. Part of the local industry’s success is because the area is a central location for travelers seeking both urban and rural attractions. “The proximity to urban Altanta, the arts, the culture, the dinning. And we’re right in the middle of that and the authentic Appalachian experience,” Dickson said. Travelers can make an easy day trip to area attractions. Some of the most popular attractions are just a short drive from Gainesville and include Road Atlanta, North Georgia Canopy Tours, Lake Lanier Islands and Jaemor Farms. The Lake Lanier Convention and Visitors Bureau works in cooperation with 17
other counties and the North Georgia Travel Association. “We are very much the hub in the region and we send people out on the spokes as much as we can,” Dickson said. For those tourists who prefer to stay close, there are also plenty of things to see and do in the immediate area. “I think one of the things that is nice about the Gainesville community is we really do have something for everyone,” Felts said. “We also have so much for the children.” Both parents and kids can enjoy a trip to the Interactive Neighborhood for Kids. Or families could take a dip in the Frances Meadows Aquatic Center’s Splash Zone, which saw 75,000 visitors last year. Admission for either attraction is under $8. “I think the other thing about Gainesville is that all of this is affordable,” Felts said. Lake Lanier is a very popular destination for those tourists who prefer aquatic activity while on vacation. Fishing and boating are popular activities on the lake. Fishing tournaments bring both amateur and professional anglers to the area. Felts said they are currently negotiating with the top three fishing tournaments to come to Gainesville, an event that could bring as much as $400,000 to the area. The lake is also home to the 1996 Olympic Rowing Venue. The site remains a popular training destination for athletes. “One of the best kept secrets in Gainesville is that you will almost always have students in the hotels who are training in rowing, canoeing and kayaking at Lake Lanier,” Felts said. Visitors to the Gainesville area can find more information at lakelaniercvb.com or gainesville.org/tourism.
Sara Guevara | The Times
Jett Bishop zip lines through the trees at North Georgia Canopy Tours in Lula.
Visitors can also stop by the official visitors center at the Hall County Chamber of Commerce on Green Street.
Scott Rogers | The Times
Mark Miller and daughter Heather paddle their way alongside the Olympic venue at Lake Lanier while taking a paddling and fishing trip on the lake.
CMYK Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia  |
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Sunday, March 25, 2012
Market tipping toward affordable homes BY MEGHAN SCHULER mschuler@ gainesvilletimes.com
The housing market in Hall County is at a standstill. With the decreasing market, more people are able to afford homes at a reasonable price range, but there are fewer houses available on the market.
Real estate executive Frank Norton of The Norton Agency in Gainesville has been watching the market slowly unbalance, tipping into a lack of homes for people hoping to relocate. “Average people are buying average houses at a really fast rate,� Norton said. “This means we have more demand than supply. It
means the supply of houses will continue to decline.� Many are drawn to Hall County by the strong school systems and the recreational lifestyle available on Lake Lanier. Many homes in Hall also are priced relatively low. However, higher-priced homes are not selling at the same rate as lowered-priced
houses, leaving a gap in the market. The county offers both housing and apartment living. Sales have increased since last year for properties on the lake. According to Norton’s Native Intelligence statistics, most people in the market for a home want new houses. But with a limited supply
of new homes at all price points, that may not be feasible right now. “We still see a fair of amount of foreclosures in this marketplace,� Norton said. “It’s averaging about 240 foreclosures every month. It’s down from last year, which was at 340. We’re projecting this year should see somewhere in the
190-200 range.� Unfortunately, in order to stave off the decrease in available housing, the county will need to stimulate new construction. Building more homes will not only attract potential buyers back into Hall County, but may bring businesses along as well, Norton said.
Growth: Cheddars, Olive Garden lead growth off Dawsonville Highway ■Continued from 1 dependent on the tenants and someone signing a lease, but that’s a big retail development for (that) side of Gainesville,� he said. “It would probably start off with some of the retail needs for area residents, such as food and basic staples — those are the kinds of things that the first tenant would probably lead off with,� Evans said. “And that would help the whole corridor in terms of commercial retail development.� Ligon said he expected to get an annexation and rezoning application in March from Milliken for a shopping center. Other parts of Hall County haven’t seen quite the level of activity Gainesville has, but officials say the potential is there for strong development. Oakwood has seen some redevelopment on Mundy Mill Road, such as with Dunkin Donuts and a new Firehouse Subs under construction. Smokehouse Barbecue off Atlanta Highway and near Winder Highway plans to open a new dining area in a converted old Kentucky Fried Chicken building. “We do hear inquiries about different restaurants and things like that,� City Manager Stan Brown said. “Especially with Thurmon Tanner Parkway opening up, I think you’ll see some activity along (that road). “From what I’m seeing, we’re getting some interest. We’re talking with people who are asking about properties.�
Tom Reed | The Times
The recent addition of Cheddars Casual Cafe and Olive Garden could lead to more development of this type in an open area across Dawsonville Highway.
‘(The planned Pacolet Milliken shopping center) would probably start off with some of the retail needs for area residents, such as food and basic staples — those are the kinds of things that the first tenant would probably lead off with.’
129
Developing Hall
The Beechwood Crossing and Pacolet Milliken shopping centers plan to be next for new retail in Hall County.
Planned Pacolet Milliken shopping center
369
985
Beechwood Crossing Shopping Center
53
11
R. Keith Hatchell | The Times
Tim Evans, vice president for economic development at the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce
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CMYK
Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
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EXPERIENCE, STRENGTH and SERVICE
The Key for United Community Bank in Hall County
Pictured left to right: Lori Armour, VP Bank Manager - Murrayville; Sheila Chapman, VP Bank Manager - Quillian’s Corner; Dawn Justus, VP Bank Manager - Thompson Bridge; Anne Wade, EVP Bank Manager - South Hall; Tricia Atkins, VP Bank Manager - Main Office
Hall County: a dynamic place to live, work and do business. United Community Bank is proud to have been a part of this county since 2005, serving its citizens, our customers and the business community. United Community Bank today has five locations in Hall County: three in Gainesville plus locations in Murrayville and South Hall (Oakwood). The bank today employs 62 employees in Hall County. These people are not just employees; they are experienced bankers you know and trust. As an example of the experience of our bankers, United Community Bank’s five branch managers have a combined 135 years of banking experience. Our commercial lenders have a combined 167 years of banking experience. Each of these bankers is dedicated to personal service and individualized attention. This is what sets United Community Bank apart. Decisions are made locally, so United’s customers can be provided the products and services they need quickly and efficiently. As a result of this personal attention, United Community Bank – Hall County earned a customer satisfaction score of 95.1% for 2011. This is in line with United Community Bank overall which has earned the distinction of being #1 in Customer Satisfaction in the entire United States, according to independent research firm Customer Service Profiles. Our customer satisfaction, coupled with civic involvement and commitment to our communities has resulted in United Community Bank – Hall County growing its position to number three in total deposits. UCB – Hall County is one of United Community Bank’s 21 banks with 106 banking offices throughout north Georgia, coastal Georgia, metro Atlanta, western North Carolina and east Tennessee. United Community Bank was founded in 1950 as Union County Bank. Today, headquarters for the $7.2 billion bank remains in Blairsville, GA. “United Community Bank is dedicated to Hall County,” says UCB – Hall County CEO, Dick Valentine. “Hall County is a critical part of United’s overall footprint. This is our home. We are all so proud to be a part of this community and its dynamic growth. Our 62 employees in Gainesville, Murrayville and Oakwood work every single day to provide our customers the exact services and products THEY need, not what WE think they should have. I invite everyone to stop by one of our offices, meet the staff and give us the opportunity to be your bank.”
Main Office 351 Jesse Jewell Parkway Gainesville, GA
Thompson Bridge 2157 Sandridge Court Gainesville, GA
Quillian's Corner 5172 Cleveland Hwy. Gainesville, GA
770-531-3191
770-534-1165
770-983-2593
Member FDIC Copyright © 2012 United Community Bank
Murrayville 5504 Thompson Bridge Rd. Murrayville, GA 770-535-8642
South Hall 3785 Mundy Mill Road Oakwood, GA 770-287-8976
ucbi.com
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Progress
A publication of
Education & Government | Sunday, march 25, 2012
Technology pushing education forward Hall County, Gainesville try to stay ahead of digital curve by lee johnson
ljohnson@gainesvilletimes.com
T
Scott Rogers | The Times
East Hall High School freshman Callie Crawford joins other students in the school’s media center to work on the computers for their directed studies.
he educational landscape is shifting at a rapid pace, forcing schools to keep up or lose an edge on instructing tomorrow’s leaders. The driving force behind the shift is the ever-advancing technology available to students and school systems today. “The schoolhouse of the 1900s and the schoolhouse of the 21st century, in most places of the country, don’t look very different,” said Aaron Turpin, Hall County Schools’ executive director of technology. “We know that’s not the way. Our kids come into the schoolhouse with a huge advantage that (growing up) we didn’t have. They understand how to connect and how to live in a very flat world.” Both Hall County Schools and Gainesville City Schools have recognized the importance on staying ahead of the curve when it comes to technology in the classroom. “The thing that technology does is it takes the walls down,” said Jamey Moore, Gainesville schools’ director of curriculum and instruction. “It allows for customization that the students need.” What the two systems mirror is a push to create an environment for student-based innovation, customization for individual students and encouraging collaboration between students, classes and schools. The success of the movement is based on the available technology and employing the people that know how to use it effectively. Enter media centers and media center specialists. “Instead of the media center being a place where somebody goes, checks out a book and leaves, it’s the place where collaboration is occurring,” said Moore. Both city and county schools employ a media center specialist at every school. Those employees are charged with moving from a “book keeper” role into an informational hub for technological resources. “(Media centers) are in a stage of transition,” said Turpin. “It’s the hub — it has to be there.” Turpin said Hall County is working on a revamp of their media centers, starting with the Old South Hall campus, which will house a modern center. The new look will model some university libraries, ■ Please see EDUCATION, 6
Gainesville’s comprehensive plan coming together Plan may include multifamily homes, multistory condominiums, townhomes BY ASHLEY FIELDING
afielding@gainesvilletimes.com Larry Long doesn’t live in Gainesville, but as a member of its business community and a former planner, he wanted to have a hand in the city’s future. Long, vice president of development of downtown’s Forestar Group, feels as if his fingerprints are on a new document that outlines a vision for Gainesville’s days to come.
He and a number of other residents and city business people were involved in a monthslong process to develop the city’s new comprehensive plan. The document is mandated by the state, but Long feels what Gainesville has is more than that. When he got a chance to be involved in the document’s creation, Long was particularly interested in having a say in the future of downtown. “That’s the heart of our com-
munity, if you will,” Long said. “I guess it’s the spiritual and cultural center.” He wanted to see more development, new architecture, “people actually living, working, playing in the downtown core.” The plan out for consideration calls for multifamily residential developments, perhaps multistory condominiums or townhomes, near downtown. It urges an expansion of Brenau University toward the south and west, making E.E. Butler Parkway less of a state thoroughfare and more of a college town boulevard. It has a vision for a walkable downtown and midtown community that connects easily with bus
and rail transportation. Much of the plans for a more pedestrianfriendly community are already under way, but the comprehensive plan calls on an expansion of those ideas to connect residents of Newtown and New Holland with the city’s commercial center. Kevin Meyer, a 32 year old nurse at Northeast Georgia Medical Center, said it’s this part of the plan that excites him most, especially with the prospect of a future high-speed railway. “There’s isn’t much there (in midtown) now,” Meyer, a member of the historic preservation commission and a member of the task force that helped shape the plan,
said. “It’s almost like a clean slate that businesses and residential areas can be built up there.” The plan also calls on future city leaders to expand on the area’s current strengths, including encouraging more small businesses to locate in midtown and downtown. Beyond that, the vision is for a redevelopment of the five-point intersection at Oak and Rainey streets, tying the intersection in with the existing greenway at Ivy Terrace. The vision is for streetlights and outdoor cafes at the intersection, making it a sort of “Main Street” for residents in the Bradford and ■ Please see PLAN, 2
INSIDE: Gainesville City, Hall County schools continue to grow, 2
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Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
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Growing schools face growing challenges Gainesville City, Hall County schools enroll more than 33,000 students by lee johnson
ljohnson@gainesvilletimes.com As school systems continue to grow, albeit, some faster than others, administrators and leaders find themselves dealing with a problem they like to have: a rising student population. Hall County Schools currently enroll more than 26,000 students, while Gainesville City Schools enroll more than 7,000. The increases the schools have seen since 2009, however, have been gradual. Hall County, since then, has seen
a 3 percent increase in their student population. The slow increase over four years has not put much pressure on the system to add schools or find ways to increase personnel. “Generally speaking, we have not had to make accommodations since the growth is spread out between all the schools in the system,” Eloise Barron, Hall County Schools’ assistant superintendent, said. “At time, it means add a teacher or two, but we are not experiencing any overcrowding to the extent we have had to build schools or redistrict.”
Gainesville City Schools, however, has had to address overcrowding due to a steady increase in enrollment. Since 2009, the system has seen a yearly increase of between 2 and 6 percent. For the smaller system, space and personnel can sometimes be more of an issue. “With decreased state funding (and) with austerity cuts, we have less people,” Merrianne Dyer, Gainesville schools’ superintendentm said. “We have less people in the central office, less people at the schools, less people overall, and we have more kids. So that challenge of getting all the services and maintaining the level of services with fewer people.” In 2008, the city schools housed around 6,000 students in eight
schools. But from 1996 to 2004, the city saw a 20 percent yearly increase. “It was rampant,” said Dyer of the enrollment boost in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The system was forced to construct new schools to compensate for the “rampant” growth. Gainesville Elementary School and New Holland Elementary School were built in 2003. Gainesville High School was rebuilt between 1998 and 2000. Dyer said the system also built the new middle school about three years ago and it is already full. To address the space issue in the city, ideas have surfaced about utilizing Wood’s Mill High School’s campus as an eighth- to ninth-graders’ transition hall. Discussions
about building a new elementary school on Mundy Mill Road are also in circulation. That building is slated for construction sometime between 2016 and 2020 and will sit on property donated to the school system. “We need to keep our eye on (the population boost) for the longrange planning,” said Dyer. Hall County schools have not been exposed to the recent growth and construction Gainesville has. The only schools that are close to full capacity, Barron said, are Flowery Branch High School and Davis Middle School. “With a student population of over 25,000 students, (the) increase has been gradual and has not had that much of an impact on the system,” Barron said.
Gainesville, Hall nurses ‘surviving’ budget shortfalls by lee johnson
ljohnson@ gainesvilletimes.com The idea that school nurses sit in an office solely taking temperatures, putting on Band-Aids and calling parents to pick up their sick child from school is outdated. In fact, some say it is prehistoric. “It’s different than when we were growing up,” Mamie Coker, health services coordinator for Hall County Schools, said. “Nurses just don’t sit there and put on Band-Aids.” Actually, she said, the nurses in the school system serve as first responders in the offices Coker refers to as “mini emergency rooms.” Both Hall County and Gainesville City schools have either a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse in each school. Some systems in the area are not so fortunate. Before the 2012 fiscal year, Gwinnett County Schools employed 11 RNs for its 130 schools. Those nurses were employed at the district level and provided support for a cluster of schools. The system also staffed 165 clinical aides systemwide. About 50 of those were RNs or LPNs. “We’re very fortunate in Hall County,” Coker said. The school system has been fortunate enough to fully staff a nursing program, but has not been immune to the budget shortfalls. In 2000, the state received $30 million in tobacco settlement money used to fund the state nurse program. Each system would receive a portion of that money depending on their enrollment. The state budget for nursing, however, did not make it out of recent cuts unscathed. Over the past three years, the budget has been slashed around $3.7 million, putting a strain on local programs. Hall County had to cut
Photos by TOM REED | The Times
Chestatee High School nurse Sid Smithson makes preparations for a visit by one of the students.
nurses’ hours, whose average annual salary is around $21,000. “You can staff a school nurse program with very low funding,” Coker said. “It’s not ideal and it’s hard to keep nurses, but (it can be done).” But as the budgets continue to shrink, the need for a professional medical staff in schools continues to grow. Both the county and city system have seen a dramatic increase in Type 1 diabetes cases, along with allergies and asthma. “The needs just grow,” Merrianne Dyer, Gainesville superintendent, said. “I think it’s one of those things that once you have them, then not having them (makes) you realize how much you need them.” The city has been able to keep RNs and LPNs in each school at the expense of “a little bit larger class sizes” and fewer paraprofessionals. They have not had to cut nurses, only their hours. “When we look at priorities, they always emerge as a high priority,” Dyer said.
Coker said when the school nurse program began in 2000, county schools only had five cases of diabetes. Now they have 110 students diagnosed with diabetes. “That’s one reason why it’s important to have a school nurse present,” Coker said. “They coordinate all these chronic illnesses in young kids that we used to not see.” She also said there were 19 cases of students with cancer and numerous children on blood pressure medication. The knowledge of the nurses, according to Coker, is essential to maintain the safety of the students when administering insulin, medication or on-site emergency care. A situation recently, in Coker’s opinion, highlighted the necessity of having trained medical personnel on campus. While the nurse was providing medical care to a student whose eyeball had been dislodged, another student began to seizure. “It takes a unique person to accept this position,” said Coker.
PLAN: According to the plan, westside would become an international district ■ Continued from 1 Ridgewood neighborhoods. “I hope that both businesses and residents look at the vision and see something exciting in the future and dream about what could be possible and know that what is there now doesn’t always have to be there,” Meyer said. “It can be something better for everybody.” Meyer, a Ridgewood resident, said the plan keeps the city a livable city but gives residents options for recreation and retail within a walkable distance from their homes. Haydee Anderson, the owner of a newspaper for the local Latino community, sees the same thing in the plan for the Atlanta Highway area of Gainesville. In the plan, Gainesville’s westside would be embraced as an emerging international district. The currently deteriorating roadways would have sidewalks, public art and landscaping. The community would have parks and a possible farmer’s market. Anderson believes that if the city follows through with its plans, neighboring land owners will take note and respond. “I think priority No. 1 should be creating walking
areas and planting some trees where the people will feel good about where they live, where they shop,” Anderson said. “It will probably give them better ideas of what other things to do.” She also said the changes might better connect the areas anglo and Latino communities. The plan calls for similar visions across the city, expanding on each area’s current assets. The vision for Thompson Bridge Road makes room for both pedestrians and cyclists to move comfortably alongside motorists. The dream includes a park with a fountain near Fair Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a redeveloped area around the mall that creates a “town center” type shopping atmosphere that capitalizes on the nearby lake. The plan currently awaits public comment and the approval of the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission. If the commission signs off, then the city council can adopt a final version of the plan within the next three months, said Gainesville Planning Manager Matt Tate. While none of the plans seem easily attainable — many require extensive private investment — the plan is “really a clear road map
to where the city and the different departments need to start putting their effort,” John Skach, a senior associate for Urban Collage, the company that conceptualized residents’ ideas, said. “You can’t just take this plan and do a project right away,” Skach said. “You have to go through more detailed studies, budgeting.” The plan includes some short-term goals for the city, including studying how to make Thompson Bridge Road more of a multimodal boulevard and the feasibility of an “eastside greenway” that would extend from midtown toward the New Holland area. It also includes some shortterm direction for a plan to deal with stormwater runoff in the city, build new fire stations and improve key intersections. But most importantly, for Long, is the hope that the vision brings with it. He said none of it, public nor private improvements, can start without that. “Unless you have a vision, people don’t know what to do,” Long said. “When you have a vision, a plan and the picture and everything that goes along with that, that actually creates ideas and innovation.” “That’s what Gainesville’s trying to do.”
Centennial Arts Academy nurse Diane Marlow helps student Anslee Barrett with an asthma treatment.
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Sunday, March 25, 2012
% ## "!$ $#&
7 – 8 Grades
These fundamental classes are offered to cadets coming from 6th, 7th, and 8th grades.
They will meet for one half day each for 4 weeks. They are designed to strengthen essential skills for academic success.
• English Fundamentals • Math Fundamentals
These elective classes provide a variety of enrichment experiences, and each of them meets for a half day for 2 weeks. • Art • Computer Science
• Creative Writing
• U.S Military History
Select one: and Math Fundamentals Option A: English Option B: One of the Fundamentals classes and two electives Option C: All four electives
9 – 12 Grades
Each of these classes meets for a full day for four weeks and earns one full credit
toward graduation. Only one of these courses can be taken in SOAR.
Select one: • Math II • Biology III • Math • Chemistry • Spanish I • English: Studies in Literature and Composition for Speakers of Other Languages • U.S. History • English • Math I • World History Each of these classes meets for a full day for two weeks and earns one half credit. Two
of these courses can be taken in SOAR. Select two: • Art Science • Computer • Economics
• Government
• SAT Preparation
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Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
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Will the budget crisis ease this year? Improving economy may forestall further severe cuts to come by aaron hale
ahale@gainesvilletimes.com Local governments across the country have struggled with budget restraints just as many Americans have during the recession. For Hall County, last summer’s budgeting process was one of its most difficult. Facing an $11.5 million budget shortfall, the Hall County Board of Commissioners voted to slash costs by cutting county jobs, services and employee benefits to make up the difference. The result was an $183.8 million budget. Once again, local government departments for local counties and municipalities are gearing up to draft bud-
get proposals, which will be presented to elected officials in the coming weeks. As many departments have already been cut back and neither taxpayers nor many elected officials are expressing much interest in tax hikes, the hope for government officials is that signs of an economic recovery will create less pressure for drastic cuts. At this point, though, officials are cautious about predicting if, and where, more big cuts will come. Hall County Administrator Randy Knighton said county staff at are at the beginning stages of the “very time consuming and very detailed” process of drafting depart-
mental budget. “It’s too difficult to draw conclusion based on where we are now,” he said. Part of those calculations for the new budgets will be based on projected tax revenue. There are multiple sources of revenues for local governments but the main two that have fluctuated with the economy are sales and property tax. As the housing market continues to struggle, values have decreased. That’s bad news for homeowners looking to sell, but it also means less revenue from property taxes — putting pressure on local government budgets. Once again, officials are
preparing for a decrease in what they can collect from property taxes. In December, Hall County Chief Tax Appraiser Steve Watson estimated that the countywide taxable value could drop between 6 and 9 percent in 2012. Property tax assessments will be sent out in April. The city of Oakwood’s 2012 budget, passed in November, was been built on an expectation that the city will collect $41,000 less in property taxes due to the lowered values, according to City Manager Stan Brown. Despite some concerns with property tax revenues, there has been good news for local governments on the
sales tax front. Hall County as a whole drew higher than expected revenues from the 1 percent Local Option Sales Tax in December. Reports in January showed an increase in LOST revenue from the previous year as well. However, officials are cautious about reading too much into those numbers after just a few goods months. “I think it’s still hard to tell,” Knighton said. “We don’t see a consistent trend yet.” While the numbers for government budgets are still taking shape, officials said they have learned lessons from the previous years. “I directed all departments to deliver a zero increase budget,” Gainesville City Manager Kip Padgett said. That means no increases,
but it’s not a call for cuts, either. Still, Padgett said, maintaining the same budget from last year could be tricky. A rise in fuel and energy costs can affect government budgets just as much as they do household budgets. Meanwhile, Hall County officials say the painful process last summer should make things a little easier this year. Monthly budget reports show the county departments are coming in under budget so far. Looking ahead in the county, commissioners are anticipating another budget gap. But talking to The Times in December, Commissioner Craig Lutz said he expected it will come “with a softer landing.”
Ballgames delayed at Cool Springs Park Disputed Sardis project remains in early stages BY DONN COOPER For The Times
The Atlanta Braves are in the thick of spring training. The Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have been batting around for weeks. But those excited about playing baseball games in the Sardis community are going to have a wait another year. At the new Cool Springs Parks, the sounds of summer will ring from dump trucks and machinery, not aluminum baseball bats. According to Hall County Parks and Leisure director Mike Little, construction at the park is still in the “very, very early stages.” Major grading may be over, but work on the ballfields has yet to begin. “They’ve got the first run of bricks for the concession/ restroom facility,” Little said. “There is no fencing.” Hall County civil engineer Jody Woodall said workers are still finishing the final grade and asphalt topping on the access road from Cool Springs Road. The parking lot has to be graveled and the baseball fields and other facilities have to be built in their entirety. But after lengthy debate ensued budgetary setbacks, it’s a small miracle the project is even moving forward at all. In its current phase, Cool Springs Park will primarily be a baseball facility with concessions, lights and three 225-foot baseball fields, which were deemed a priority after other features were drastically scaled back. Little said the county hopes to revisit those other features, such as a skate park, in the future. “But the most needed aspect of the facility — the baseball fields — is what we decided to go with,” Little said. “Because in that area over there we just don’t have enough fields for everybody that’s playing ball.” In fact, according to Little, there were 37 baseball teams from the Sardis-Lanier area that participated at county parks last year. The county barely has enough baseball facilities for games, much less practice. He hopes that four baseball fields at the new park on Nopone Road
will help satisfy some of the demand until Cool Springs is ready for use in spring 2013. At one time officials had hoped for a an opening date this July, but the road to the creation of the park has never been a smooth one. In 2010, land developer Wendell Starke donated 78 acres near his Marina Bay subdivision to the county for the purpose of a park. That gift was not without controversy, however. Hall County residents had filed an ethics complaint against Hall County Commission Chairman Tom Oliver and Commissioner Billy Powell, alleging they benefited personally from county business involving Starke, one of the developers of the proposed Gainesville City Center hotel/office complex project. “I just want to make it clear to everybody that this was an outright gift intended to be a good park for people in a part of the county that don’t have anything like this,” Starke said before the commission in August 2010. Highlighting the discord over the issue, the commission voted to accept the land from Starke 3-2. Commissioner Ashley Bell and former Commissioner Steve Gailey both dissented. The original plan for Cool Springs Park also included a playground, basketball courts, BMX track and walking trails. But those amenities did not survive the commission’s decision to halt work on the park due to budgetary concerns during the economic downturn. In February 2011, Powell, whose district encompasses the park, pressed other commissioners to consider moving forward with mid-range ballfields on the site, including everything for a competition grade field except for lights and batting cages. That project was estimated to cost $1.57 million. According to Purchasing Manager Tim Sims, $1.8 million in SPLOST V money had been reserved for the park. The commission voted in favor of the ballfields once again 3-2, with Commissioners Scott Gibbs and Craig Lutz dissenting. Still, the debate over Cool Springs Park would linger. By the end of 2011, cost to build the park had risen to $1.67 million, with only $1.46 in SPLOST funds available. Lights added another $205,000. “If you don’t have lights for the parks, how useful will
Photos by TOM REED | The Times
Work is progressing on the concession stand at the Cool Springs Park ballfields.
it be?” Lutz said in December. At the December 2011 commission meeting, commissioners authorized almost $1.9 million for the park. They agreed to use $418,000 in impact fees to pay for additional costs not covered by SPLOST. Lutz had tried unsuccessfully to downgrade the facilities on the park in March 2011 citing concerns over operational costs. But he agreed to the allocation of impact fees because the county was obliged to spend that money for parks. Consequently, he said completing work on Cool Springs made sense, although his budget worries had not been put to bed. Commissioners also hope construction and operational costs can be offset by revenue from charging for use of the fields. However, Little said that player participation fees and concession revenue will not completely offset the estimated $25,000 cost to run and keep up the park. To minimize cost, his department will not assign staff to Cool Springs Park and will bring in maintenance equipment from the department’s Sardis shop. The possibility also stands that the park could be used for soccer once baseball season is complete. “It’s a good project, and it’s going to get heavily used when we get done,” Little said.
The area that will be one of the ballfields at Cool Springs Park is being graded.
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Sunday, March 25, 2012
Midtown plans shaping up Jesse Jewel pedestrian bridge to be finished in May BY ASHLEY FIELDING
afielding@gainesvilletimes.com Certain pieces of the puzzle give a glimpse at the bigger picture. The city government’s nearly 12year-old plans to make the heavily commercial and industrial areas of Gainesville’s midtown a pedestrian-friendly place are still years away from realization. But this year, some of the bigger picture will begin to come into focus. By the end of May, years of work on a pedestrian bridge spanning Jesse Jewell Parkway will be completed. The bridge, located near the Georgia Mountains Center, will effectively connect the city’s downtown to midtown, according to city project manager Barclay Fouts. City officials hope it’s a place people one day will want to go. “The grand, big picture, if you will, for midtown is to revitalize it as a live, work and play area,” Jessica Tullar, special projects manager for Gainesville, said. By the time the bridge opens, parts of a trail running alongside a recently unearthed stream will serve as one of the city’s most recent transportation projects. The 12-foot wide trail runs along an old CSX railway from Mule Camp Springs to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. It is the city’s first step in midtown toward a trail residents can follow from the lake on the other side of downtown at Longwood Park to Aviation Boulevard. From there, they may be able to walk along another countyfunded trail. The stream alongside it is part of a project to restore Flat Creek, which has for years been diverted through pipes in the city. City officials removed about 150 feet of box culvert from the creek this year, adding to the total of about 1,100 linear feet of the creek that has been restored in midtown below Banks Street. It and the section of trail from
Above: After years of work, the pedestrian bridge spanning Jesse Jewel Parkway is expected to be completed by the end of May. The bridge will connect the city’s downtown to midtown. Left: The old CSX maintenance yard is expected to be a feature on a 12-foot wide trail that runs from Mule Camp Springs to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Photos by Tom Reed | The Times
‘The grand, big picture, if you will, for midtown is to revitalize it as a live, work and play area.’ Jessica Tullar Special project manager for Gainesville
Mule Camp Springs to Martin Luther King should be complete in April, Fouts said. And with that, residents will be able to visit and envision a future park in midtown. The old CSX maintenance yard is expected to be a feature on the trail. In April, it will likely not be much more than a parking lot, a
stage and a grassy area. The area also has a playground in its future. Later this year, the city will take the trail a few steps further, from Martin Luther King to Industrial Boulevard, adding yet another piece to the puzzle, Tullar said. But not all of the pieces are in place. A path connecting the bridge
to Mule Camp Springs is still being conceptualized, Tullar said. It likely would involve some “streetscaping” along Bradford and Main streets and College Avenue, she said. Depending on the fate of the project’s funding, Tullar said the trail could reach to Aviation Boulevard as soon as 2015 or 2016.
And what city officials hope follows that is the business community’s buy-in. “This certainly adds an amenity to the area that we believe is a strategic public investment that will serve as an attractor for businesses to revitalize and for new businesses to relocate,” Tullar said.
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Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
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Tom Reed | The Times
Scott Rogers | The Times
Above: Betsabe Landeros works on a computer lesson in the media center at New Holland Core Knowledge Academy. Left: East Hall High School students may check out audio books that use dedicated MP3 players instead of CDs or cassettes.
EDUCATION: Title 1 schools tend to get more funding for technology ■ Continued from 1 minus the books, making space for students to “power up” while doing research. Both systems allow students to bring their own technology into the classrooms. “Seven years ago, the kids would come in the schoolhouse and power down, so this is all happening very, very quickly,” said Turpin. One of the best benefits from applying the available technology is the ability to individualize learning. Hall County has developed a “blended-learning platform,” Hall Connect, that allows students and parents to organize and keep up with class work, projects and communicate with classmates
and peers. The system partnered with Intel and Dell to develop the technology. The city uses Web-based platforms like e2020 and Classworks. “There are infinite possibilities for creating, as well as consuming information,” said Moore. Individualizing education through technology gives teachers the advantage to help students who are falling behind while, at the same time, pushing students who are ahead of the curve. “That is very hard in a classroom that doesn’t have technology,” said Moore. The affordability of new technology is constantly an issues, but, as Turpin points
out, most students in the system have smart phones and access to Internet. “It is still an issue, but we have mechanisms in place,” said Turpin. Title 1 schools tend to get a little more funding for technology, and the 11 Title 1 schools in the system are currently set up with 44 model classrooms. But no matter how much technology advances, local administrators say, its use ultimately rests on the faculty’s shoulders. “Technology is the tool to allow the customization level the students need,” said Moore. “But, it’s still a tool. It still requires that amazing instructor to pull those tools together.”
Scott Rogers | The Times
East Hall High School senior Abel Olvera works in the school’s media center while taking virtual school classes.
TOM REED | The Times
New Holland Core Knowledge Academy students Miriam Aguilar, left, and Rebeca Rocha work together in the school’s media center.
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Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
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Downtown Redevelopment & Commercial Growth: Building a Brighter Future
Highway 365 and 441 intersection is home to Cornelia’s newest commercial redevelopment project. Once an abandoned factory site, this development now houses 3 new restaurants and a new super Wal-Mart. When you’re in town this is where the action is!
Before
Dog Park Project Club Canine, an off-leash dog park, is another redevelopment project in the city. The dog park property was originally an old neglected blight house that had been abandoned for over 15 years. The city applied for and received a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant to acquire the property and construct a dog park. This is a great example of the redevelopment process, be sure to bark with us on April 1st for the grand opening! E S T.
1887
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elcome To
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Cornelia
Façade Grant Program The Cornelia Better Hometown implemented a Façade Grant Program to boost revitalization efforts in Cornelia’s central business district. Three grants have been approved within the last 6 months: Compass Pest Management, River Point Community Church & Reflective Images. Regions Bank recently donated more funds.
CITY OF CORNELIA: 2012 Calendar of Events
April 1: PetFest 2012 & Off Leash Dog Park Grand Opening @ the new dog Park-Club Canine April 14: Great American Clean-Up Day Cornelia & Camp Creek April 20-21: Cornelia Apple Blossom BBQ Festival (Downtown Cornelia) - A KCBS Sanctioned BBQ Contest & More! Kick off Georgia Cities Week - “The Magic of Cities” April 27: Friday Night Flicks @ Sam Pitts Park, Clarkesville* May 4: Friday Night Flicks @ Cornelia City Park, Cornelia* June 1: Friday Night Flicks @ Sam Pitts Park, Clarkesville* June 12: Blood Drive @ the Community House (1-6PM) July 13: Friday Night Flicks @ Cornelia City Park, Cornelia* August 11: Habersham County Back to School Bash @ the Ruby C. Fulbright Aquatic Center 3-6PM. Free community movie starting at dusk (Title TBA). September 8: Relaxing at the Apple Car Show September 11: Blood Drive @ the Community House (1-6PM) September 18: Better Hometown Job Expo October 12-13: 25th Annual Big Red Apple Festival/125th City Birthday Celebration October 5-31: Haunting on Main - Haunted House at the Old Cornelia Bank Building Every Friday & Saturday in October (7-11PM) & Halloween Night October 19: 2nd Annual Pink & Black Ball Benefiting the Evie Peters Foundation @ The Community House October 27: A Cornelia Spooktacular - Halloween Fun @ the Depot (12-3PM) November 10: Harlem Legends Basketball Game @ Piedmont College Thanksgiving Night-New Year’s Day: Christmas in the Park Lighted Christmas Display December 1: Habersham County Christmas Parade December (Dates TBA): Christmas in Cornelia - Tree Lighting/Ice Skating/Christmas Fun December 31 9th Annual Apple Drop New Year’s Eve Celebration *Schedule of movie titles can be found at www.explorecornelia.com
www.corneliageorgia.org
CMYK
Progress
A publication of
Poultry | Sunday, march 25, 2012
Freedom for farmers, chickens
Small-scale growers take organic approach to raising birds BY DONN COOPER
N
For The Times
ot long out of college, Rebecca Ennis doesn’t look like your average chicken farmer. Although she’s armed with a degree in Speech Communication from the University of Georgia, the Gainesville High graduate spent 2011 tending to a flock of chickens on her small vegetable farm in Douglasville. Selling at the local farmers market alongside those in Grant Park and Decatur, Ennis and her business partner made as much as $5 a dozen for eggs from her Rhode Island Red, Wyandotte and Araucana hens. “We always sold out of eggs,” Ennis said. “I haven’t sold in Atlanta in a while, but I’ve heard people are selling them at $6 (per dozen) right now.” It’s little wonder that Ennis, who lives in Athens, is currently searching for a few acres near the Classic City where she can farm chickens full-time. But unlike conventional growers, she wants to start at only 250 hens, possibly reaching 500 down the road. The chickens would be outside, feeding primarily on vegetation and bugs. They might be in “chicken tractors” — mobile, floor-less chicken coops — so that she can move them around the property and not worry over predators. Ennis, 26, first fell in love with chickens while volunteering with her husband on a farm on San Juan Island, north of Seattle. “They were so much fun to hang out with, seriously,” Ennis said. “I know it sounds dumb, but I’d never been around chickens and I thought they were hilarious.” Enclosed on 2 acres of fenced pasture, the flock of about 100 hens wandered and pecked over the grass throughout the day. They had a coop to roost in at night, but otherwise, she said, they just did what felt natural. According to Lula-native Daniel Dover of Darby Farms, that’s exactly the way it’s supposed to be. ■ Please see FREEDOM, 5
Photos by Sara Guevara | The Times
Above: A Gold Lace Wyandotte guards freshly laid eggs March 16 at Phoenix Gardens in Lawrenceville. Right: This two-week-old Buff Orpington chick will stay inside a climate-controlled area until it gets its feathers.
ERS: Broiler production to decrease in ’12 Poultry, livestock, dairy exports for the year have increased to $29.2B By David B. Strickland Poultry Times Staff
WASHINGTON — Production decreases are anticipated for broilers for the majority of the year, with a production increase predicted for the end of 2012, according to USDA’s Economic Research Service in its recent “Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook” report. Broiler meat production amounted to 37.2 billion pounds last
year, the department said. Turkey meat production is also looking to decrease for the beginning of 2012, then increase for the later three quarters of the year. ERS is projecting turkey meat production at 5.86 billion pounds for the year. Table eggs are forecast to increase production for the year to 6.64 billion dozen, an increase of approximately 6.1 billion dozen from last year, the report noted.
Broilers “The estimate for 2012 broiler meat production was reduced from (January forecasts) by 400 million pounds to 36.1 billion pounds, down 3 percent from 2011,” according to the report. “Most of the reduction is the result of lower expectations for broiler weights. For the first three quarters of 2011, average broiler weights had been sharply higher than the previous year but in the fourth quarter fell below the previous year. The combination of lower chicks being placed for growout and expected lower weights is the major factor in the reduced production estimate.”
The department also notes that product demand will be influenced by the domestic economy and unemployment rates, adding that expansion of broiler production, “will continue to be influenced by the outlook for feed costs.” Broiler production for the last quarter of 2011 was 8.9 billion pounds, a decrease of 6.6 percent from 2010, the report said. “The decrease was again due to both a decrease in the number of broilers being slaughtered (down 6 percent) and a decrease in the average liveweight at slaughter (down 0.7 percent),” the report states. “The average liveweight per bird at slaughter in fourth quarter 2011
was 5.83 pounds. The fourth quarter was the only quarter where the average weight was less than the previous year.” Broiler meat exports for this year are being anticipated to be slightly more than last year, the report noted. And in regard to overall prices of broiler meat products, they are “expected to continue to gradually move higher in 2012 due to the influence of high prices for competing meats and lower levels of broiler production.”
Eggs Table eggs are anticipated to ■ Please see BROILER, 5
INSIDE: Timeline of poultry in Gainesville, Hall County, 2
CMYK
Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
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Egg industry looks to increase consumer awareness in 2012 New ‘Wake Up to Eggs’ campaign aims to increase egg awareness By Joanne C. Ivy
President & CEO, American Egg Board PARK RIDGE, Ill. — Consumers who know about eggs and their nutritional benefits are also the heaviest users of eggs, according to research from the American Egg Board. In essence, people who know more, buy more. For 2012, AEB is revamping its consumer marketing efforts to increase consumer demand by encouraging consumers to rethink their first meal of the day and to eat one more weekday egg breakfast. This shift in thinking presents an opportunity for a strong 2012. As a result, the new “Wake Up to Eggs” campaign attempts to increase awareness of a variety of motivating facts about eggs and reminds consumers to wake up to eggs for breakfast but also to wake up to the new news about eggs. Here is a roundup of how AEB’s focus is different in 2012. The Good Egg Project targets older school children in classrooms and parents at home by coordinating in-school education through the State Support Program and by partnering with Discovery Education, the number one provider of K12 broadband-delivered content to U.S. schools, used by 1MM+ teachers and 35MM+ students. Community donations now focus on mass reach by giving food instead of feeding and eliminating catering
costs. Overall, the GEP strives to encourage consumer interaction to learn, share or inspire others by telling American egg farmers’ stories while giving back to the community as well. The Egg Nutrition Center continues focusing on health professionals and supporting targeted research. This research helps power all of AEB’s marketing programs and provides the new news needed for continued success. ENC is also forming strategic partnerships, enhancing communications efforts and working on updates to EggNutrition Center.org. As a result of its strategic partnerships, ENC facilitated a whole egg being included in the criteria of health meals for children in the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the National Restaurant Association’s Kids LiveWell. Through updated advertising, Egg Product Marketing highlights the 20-plus functional benefits of eggs and reaches research and development professionals promoting the expertise of AEB. In fact the AEB-sponsored Egg Products School at Auburn University will target R&D professionals for the first time. Foodservice, specifically the Quick-Service Restaurants segment, continues its growth. In the past five years, the QSR morning meal is up $7.3 billion incremental sales. AEB works with national chains throughout the country on
Sara Guevara | The Times
Mike Atherton, a quality manager with TSS EggQuality.com in the United Kingdom, demonstrates how the eLamp, an egg candling lamp, works to test the quality of an egg at the International Poultry Expo at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. The new “Wake Up to Eggs” campaign by the American Egg Board is attempting to increase awareness about the breakfast item.
menu development, trend information and more as needed in hopes to increase breakfast programs and egg sales. The State Support Program now better aligns with the overall national marketing messages and focuses on helping the state promotional organizations best execute AEB’s national messages locally. This ensures all consumers hear
the same messages from AEB next year. Industry Communications continues to reach producers with updates on AEB’s programs, and plans are underway in 2012 to improve AEB’s communication to those producers not currently on AEB’s board. A blog geared at the industry is one more way to inform the industry.
AEB’s staff is more energized and eggcited for the year ahead. Through a comprehensive analytical and strategic process of taking a fresh look at everything that we do, new, exciting opportunities are being explored. AEB has an extraordinary, devoted staff working on behalf of egg producers to increase the sales and profitability of egg and egg products.
Poultry timeline A look at the evolution of the poultry industry in Hall County.
1902
Gainesville poultry pioneer Jesse Dickson Jewell is born March 13 in Gainesville.
company, which contracted with farmers. The plant was able to process 900 broilers per hour, 7,200 in an eighthour shift.
1924
1945
M.E. Murphy of Talmo began commercial broiler production on a large scale, growing broilers in batteries, tiers of cages with wire floors and dropping pans. He also grew them on the floor using oil brooders. About the same time, commercial broiler production began in Hall County as well as in nearby Forsyth and Cherokee counties.
1928
Happy Family Mills of Memphis, Tenn., published a booklet entitled “Feeding the Happy Family” that documented the origins of the poultry business in Georgia. The book reported that C.H. Wester of Temple entered the chicken business in 1922 and maintained a flock of laying hens and raised broilers every spring. The publication also reported that W.C. Morgan of Buchanan entered the business in 1921. In 1925, his wife made a net profit of $500 on 1,000 fryers, which was used as the first payment on a new car.
1931
W. Loyd Lawson, a poultry grower, had a feed dealership and in his first year sold enough feed for 10,000 chickens. By 1950, his store was supplying feed for 2 million chickens.
1935
Production in North Georgia was estimated at 500,000 chickens with a cash value of $230,000. From 1939 to 1940, production jumped from 1.6 million to 3.5 million birds.
1941
Jewell opens his first poultry processing plant in Gainesville. He already had a poultry and feed business and operated a hatchery to supply broiler chicks. He was the first to market “cut-up frozen chicken” in attractive retail packaging. Jewell is often referred to as the father of the modern broiler industry in Georgia and led the trend toward the integrated poultry industry where all facets of production were controlled by the processing
Expansion was huge during the war years and production increased to 29.5 million with a cash value of $24.4 million. The military had been buying quantities of chicken for shipment overseas and had inspectors at every plant to select the best for the men in service.
1946
After the war, the loss of the government business sent the broiler industry into the doldrums. Prices dropped below the cost of production. The situation was temporary and the industry began enjoying a postwar resurgence.
1949
Jewell is named president of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and later serves on the national Chamber of Commerce board of directors.
1950
Jewell opens a modern processing plant near the airport in Gainesville on Jan. 21. In Hall County, the number of farms that raised mainly chickens rose from 57 to 1,044 between 1939 and 1950.
1951
The Georgia Poultry Federation is formed in Gainesville. Attempts to unionize the Jewell plant by the American Federation of Labor leads to violence outside the company offices on March 15.
1954
Marvin and Jackson McKibbon begin Mar-Jac Poultry, a processing plant to save local growers from transporting live chickens to distant areas to sell for processing. A group of growers that provided birds to the Mar-Jac processing plant formed a marketing cooperative in 1962 and purchased it from the McKibbon brothers. The National Broiler Council is formed, with Jewell as its first chairman.
1957
Joe Hatfield, a Tennessee native who moved to Georgia in 1951
with Georgia Broilers, purchases Gainesville Fryer Co. with others and was named its president.
1959
Federal inspection of broilers becomes mandatory.
1960
Abit Massey becomes head of the Georgia Poultry Federation.
1961
Gainesville passes an ordinance banning the use of a fork when eating fried chicken, stating it a violation to eat “a culinary delicacy sacred to this municipality, this county, this state, the Southland and this republic,” with anything other than your fingers.
1962
Ralston Purina purchased Hatfield’s Gainesville Fryer Co., a year after purchasing the poultry operations for Tom and Lee Arrendale. All three men worked for Ralston Purina, with Hatfield as a general manager of southeastern poultry operations.
1967
A fire at Poultry Enterprises on Pine Street caused $500,000 in damage.
1968
Georgia produces 469 million broilers.
1970s
Poultry production soars as Americans consume less red meat and more chicken.
1972
Ralston Purina sells off its U.S. poultry operations, including Gainesville Fryer Co., purchased in 1962 from Hatfield. Hatfield, the Arrendales and other associates then purchase the operation, renaming it Fieldale Farms, a combination of the names Hatfield and Arrendale.
1972
The J.D. Jewell plant closes down on Nov. 17 because of mounting financial losses.
1973
The first and only Poultry Bowl college football game is played at City
Park on Saturday, Dec. 8, 1973. The Stephen Austin Lumberjacks beat the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs 31-10.
1974
An independent truckers’ strike temporarily halts production at Gainesville’s processing plants.
1975
Jewell dies of a stroke on Jan. 16.
1977
Poultry Park is dedicated at the corner of West Academy Street and Jesse Jewell Parkway, including the city’s landmark bronze statue of a rooster atop a 25-foot marble monument, marking Gainesville as the Poultry Capital of the World. That same year, Georgia sets a one-day processing record in July of 2 million chickens, with 10 million processed in one week in August. Cagle’s Inc. purchases the J.D. Jewell plant in Gainesville, which it had operated since 1973 as part of a bankruptcy deal.
1981
Georgia’s poultry production tops $1 billion in
earnings.
1985
Chicken consumption surpasses pork consumption in the United States.
1990
Lee Arrendale and his wife, Johnnie, died in a plane crashes near Demorest.
1991
The first processed chicken leg quarters are exported to the Soviet Union, called “Bush legs” by Russian consumers after U.S. President George H.W. Bush. By 2001, chicken exports account for 20 percent of U.S. production, worth more than $2 billion.
1992
1998
Georgia emerges as the top broiler-producing state in the country. But a mid-summer heat wave leads to the loss of at least $100,000 worth of chickens at local farms.
2003
Georgia continues to rank first in production of broilers and sixth in production of eggs nationwide. That same year, Pilgrim’s Pride acquires ConAgra and its 28-year-old Gainesville plant on Queen City Parkway. Tom Arrendale dies Nov. 3 at age 83.
2008
Joe Hatfield dies June 21 at age 84.
2009
Chicken consumption surpasses beef consumption in the United States.
Mike Giles takes over as president of the Georgia Poultry Federation for the retiring Massey.
1995
Sources: Times archives; Georgia’s Broiler Industry, by Arthur Gannon, extension poultryman, June 1, 1956; the New Georgia Encyclopedia Web site, www.georgiaencyclopedia. org; Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network, www.gapoultrylab.org; Fieldale Farms website, www. fieldale.com; Mar-Jac website, www.marjacpoultry.com.
Georgia annually processes more than 5 billion pounds of chicken.
1996
Fieldale Farms sales are estimated at $360 million.
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Sunday, March 25, 2012
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Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Prices play a big role in meat and poultry purchasing decisions From staff reports ORLANDO, Fla. — The impact of the economy and higher prices for meat and poultry products are making a significant difference for consumers at the meat case. Price has taken on an ever-greater role in the meat purchasing decision process, as price per pound ranks as the most important decision factor for consumers. Total package cost is now the second most important decision factor, surpassing product appearance, according to the seventh annual “Power of Meat” study. The study, conducted by 210 Analytics, was commissioned jointly by the American Meat Institute and the Food Marketing Institute with sponsorship by Sealed Air’s Cryovac Food Packaging Division. The report details the findings of a national online poll of 1,340 consumers conducted in November 2011. Among the study findings were: ■ Money-saving actions: For the first time this year, the share of shoppers simply opting to buy less (and thus spend less) equaled the share using lists, coupons and other saving measures. In terms of meat and poultry, dollar sales increased by 2.5 percent, but volume sales decreased by 5.3 percent as a result of inflation across proteins. A growing share of shoppers engage in pre-trip research and planning meals around promotions. However, an even greater share compares prices while in the store. The end result is greater shopper flexibility to adjust purchases to spend less. ■ Purchasing patterns: Full-service supermarkets continue to be a stronghold for fresh meat and poultry, with high retention rates and a pick-up of shoppers from other channels, especially supercenters. Private-brand meat and poultry remains popular. However, rather than an outright preference, it is better defined as a greater willingness to purchase private brands. This led to an increase in the share of “switchers” — shoppers who do not have a preference for national or private brand, but choose based on other factors, predominantly price. Meanwhile, shoppers’ reduced interest in volume-based discounts, such as bulk and buy-oneget-one free, as measured last year, did not rebound any this year. Despite economic pressures, natural and organic meat and poultry expe-
rienced an uptick in the number of buyers over the past year to 24 percent of shoppers. Additionally, 90 percent of shoppers predict they will buy about the same (70 percent) or more (20 percent) next year. ■ At the dinner table: Meat and poultry play an important role at the American dinner table, with chicken and beef making up the largest share of purchases. The fresh category continues to be much larger than the heat-and-eat and ready-to-eat categories, but the latter continues to show signs of strength for the convenience-oriented shopper. Another area of growth is marinated meat and poultry, with an increasing share of shoppers preparing their own mixes or purchasing marinades or spice mixes along with the meat/poultry. Meat and poultry preparation techniques have changed quite a bit over the past five years. Frying (pan fry and deep fry) experienced a 22 percentage-point decline in use, whereas more people are using the oven and crock pot/slow cooker (up 12 percentage points). ■ Preparation knowledge: Despite the popularity of meat and poultry, shoppers’ knowledge and preparation skills leave much to be desired. Shoppers mostly rate their skills relative to preparation, nutrition knowledge, meal planning, etc. as “just OK” versus “great.” Interest in a “here’s-how-it’s-done” type service in the meat department is moderately high, providing suppliers and retailers with an excellent opportunity to connect with shoppers in new ways. ■ Innovations: Shoppers are definitely open to a variety of packaging innovations, especially leak-proof packaging and concepts that aim at the reduction of food waste. On the other hand, environmentallyfriendly packaging only does well if no price premium is charged. Also, the survey looked at ways retailers can improve meat departments to encourage meat and poultry purchases. Down from 40 percent last year, 30 percent say nothing retailers or manufacturers will do or offer will persuade them to purchase more. Among shoppers that do see room for improvement, better quality and greater variety are the two key areas. More information can be obtained from the Food Marketing Institute at www. fmi.org.
Poultry Ordinance In 1961 the City Council of the City of Gainesville adopted an Ordinance to promote the Poultry Industry, as that was the main industry in the city and surrounding area at the time. Although this ordinance is in the minutes of the City Council Meeting, it is not an ordinance that has been codified and placed in the Code of the City of Gainesville. It was mainly a recognition of the Poultry Industry. The Ordinance reads as follows: AN ORDINANCE WHEREAS, the frying of chicken is an art and should be considered, and WHEREAS, the frying of chicken being an art, it is the right of every man, woman and child to enjoy every ecstatic moment in its eating, and WHEREAS, sinister forces are at work in an attempt to undermine this sacred custom by endorsing the eating of fried chicken with mechanical appliances such as knives, forks and similar other devices, and WHEREAS, eating fried chicken with the fingers is the very essence of American practicality and provides mankind the only means of completely, logically and properly removing every succulent morsel of the chicken from the bone, and WHEREAS, the consumption of chicken has increased thousandfold, and this great increase is multiplying, the gross injustice being foisted on all lovers of fried chicken, and WHEREAS, Gainesville is the Poultry Capital of the World and therefore should be the leader in preserving this precious American heritage, and WHEREAS, someone needs to preserve inalienable right of every true American to eat fried chicken with his fingers to his heart’s content, be it therefore RESOLVED, that the Gainesville-Hall County Chamber of Commerce, in meeting duly assembled, hereby calls on the City Commission of the City of Gainesville to adopt such ordinances as are necessary making it forever and eternally unlawful to eat fried chicken within the environs of the City of Gainesville, Georgia, in any fashion other than with the fingers. ADOPTED THIS 15th Day of JANUARY, 1961
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New name next year for annual poultry trade show Event will be one of the 50 largest trade shows in US From staff reports ATLANTA — The International Production & Processing Expo will serve as the umbrella name for the new U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, American Feed Industry Association and American Meat Institute 2013 Expo in Atlanta. The new show is the result of the co-location of the International Poultry Expo, International Feed Expo and International Meat Expo. The three shows will operate under one structure, creating one of the 50 largest trade shows in the U.S., organizers noted. The entire trade show is expected to include more than 1,000 exhibitors and approximately 400,000 net square feet of exhibit space at the Georgia World Congress Center. All three associations will continue to operate independently, serving their respective constituents and will offer targeted education and networking opportunities that meet the customer needs and compliment the Expo, the groups noted. “We are very excited about this partnership with AMI, and the co-location is something our exhibitors have asked about for a long time,” said John Starkey, president of the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association based in Tucker. “The consolidation of the trade shows will allow our respective organizations to build on the synergies of the poultry, feed and meat sectors, as well as provide a benefit to our exhibitors and
Sara Guevara | The Times
Hundreds of attendees visit exhibitor booths during this year’s annual International Poultry Expo at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. The expo will bear a new name next year: The International Production & Processing Expo.
members who produce or exhibit across multiple protein sectors.” “This partnership will enhance the value of our trade shows to exhibitors and attendees alike,” said J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute. “Now we have one show that provides more education, networking and hands on demonstration of equipment and supplies from farm through distribution. Our entire industry will benefit from the reduction in travel expenses, exhibit costs and see an undeniable increase in value.” “We are very pleased about the co-location with AMI,” said Joel Newman, president of the American Feed Industry Association. “The consolidation will pro-
vide a more diverse event for our members and allow for more educational opportunities for attendees.” Show hours for the 2013 International Production & Processing Expo are: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Jan. 29; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Jan. 30 and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Jan. 31. There will be a reception on the show floor from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29. An announcement of the anticipated educational programs will be released in June. The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, founded in 1947, represents the complete spectrum of the poultry industry, serving member companies through research, education, communication and technical assistance. The American Feed Industry Association represents
the business, legislative and regulatory interests of the U.S. animal feed industry and its suppliers. Membercompanies are livestock feed and pet food manufacturers, integrators, pharmaceutical companies, ingredient suppliers, equipment manufacturers and companies which supply other products, services and supplies to feed manufacturers. American Meat Institute members produce 95 percent of the beef, pork, lamb and veal products and 70 percent of the turkey products in the U.S. The institute provides legislative, regulatory, public relations, technical, scientific and educational services to the meat and poultry packing and processing industry.
US poultry, egg exports set records in ’11 From staff reports For U.S. poultry and egg exports, 2011 was a recordbreaking year, with significant gains in both quantity and value across the board, according to trade data recently released by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. Highlights include: ■ Combined export value of U.S. poultry and eggs set a new record in 2011 of $5.1 billion, a 17 percent increase over 2010. ■ Total U.S. poultry export value last year also established a new record, $4.91 billion, 17 percent ahead of 2010. ■ Total U.S. poultry export quantity of more than 3.9 million metric tons was the second-highest ever, up nearly 6 percent, trailing only the record year of 2008. ■ Exports of U.S. broiler meat in 2011 — excluding chicken paws — set records in both quantity and value, reaching 3.2 million tons valued at $3.6 billion, up from 2010 by 3 percent and 17 percent, respectively. ■ U.S. turkey exports last year also registered record highs of 319,015 tons valued at $599.5 million, up 21 percent and 29 percent, respectively. ■ Total U.S. egg exports (table eggs, plus processed egg products calculated as shell-egg equivalents) last year reached 220.5 million dozen, up 7 percent, the second-highest on record. ■ Value of U.S. egg exports hit $194.7 million, up 12 percent, setting a new record high. ■ Exports of chicken paws in 2011 reached 346,048 metric tons, an increase of 13 percent from the previous year. Export value set a new record at $502.1 million, up 8 percent. “It’s obvious from the data that exports are growing in importance for the U.S. poultry and egg industry,” said Jim Sumner, president of the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council based in Stone Mountain. “We expect this growth trend will continue well into the future as our industry becomes more pricecompetitive, as USAPEEC continues to develop new markets for our products, and as economies around
the world, particularly in emerging markets, continue to grow.”
Broilers Although U.S. broiler meat shipments in 2011 to several key markets — Russia, Ukraine and Cuba included — were down significantly, increased exports to other destinations such as Hong Kong, Korea, Iraq, Mexico, Angola and Canada helped to drive the overall increase. Shipments to Hong Kong increased 20 percent to 234,769 tons, while exports to Korea jumped 54 percent to 108,154 tons. Exports to Mexico rose by 4 percent to 457,574 tons, while shipments to Canada climbed 12 percent to 142,039 tons. Exports to Angola reached 164,007 tons, up 11 percent, while shipments to Iraq (including transshipments via Turkey) were 144,983 tons, up 15 percent. Also, broiler shipments to other markets such as the United Arab Emirates, China, Philippines, Haiti, Japan, Singapore, Jordan, Chile, Gabon and Kazakhstan
also increased significantly from the previous year. Of the total chicken paw exports, 90 percent were shipped to Hong Kong, up 28 percent from 2010, while 8 percent were shipped to China, down 41 percent from the previous year. Total exports of U.S. broilers (including paws) in 2011 were 3.5 million tons valued at $4.2 billion, up 4 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Of the total, 43 percent went to the top five markets of Hong Kong, Mexico, Russia, Angola and Canada.
Turkeys Turkey exports to Mexico, the top market for U.S. turkey, climbed to 180,996 tons, up 24 percent. Other key markets include China, 37,588 tons, up 12 percent; Hong Kong, 17,194 tons, up 53 percent; and Canada, 10,280 tons, up 7 percent. Of the total U.S. turkey meat exports, 79 percent went to the top five markets, with shipments to Mexico alone accounting for 57 percent.
Table eggs For table eggs, exports in 2011 were 82.8 million dozen valued at $77 million, up 12 and 28 percent, respectively, thanks largely to increased shipments to Hong Kong and Japan. Export value reached an all-time high. Of total shipments, 86 percent were shipped to the top five export markets — Hong Kong, Canada, the U.A.E., Japan and Netherlands Antilles.
Egg products Export value of U.S. processed egg products in 2011 set a record at $117.7 million, up 4 percent from the previous year. Shipments to Japan, the top export market for U.S. egg products, rose by 55 percent to $62.3 million, accounting for 53 percent of the total global export value. Export value to the European Union declined by 40 percent to $20.405 million, while export value to Canada decreased 20 percent to $8.164 million. Export value to the top five markets totaled accounted for 84 percent of the total.
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■ Continued from 1
SARA GUEVARA | The Times
FREEDOM: Chicken farming full of expectations “You can run right around 750 birds per acre with proper management, and you don’t have to worry about water pollution, air pollution or any of that kind of stuff because you’re working within the realm of how nature intended,” said Dover, who expects to raise about 10,000 broilers, laying hens and turkeys on about 15 acres of pasture in Good Hope, near Monroe. Dover said that managing poultry on pasture emulates the natural fertility-building systems that once occurred in the Great Plains and other places where animals grazed intensively. His chickens disturb the soil by scratching, feeding and taking dust baths. Through their waste they return and redistribute nutrients back to the land, where it’s subsequently broken down by microbes. The chickens are regularly moved throughout the farm and returned to pastures only after their manure has been completely recycled, usually between 30 to 60 days. After five years of farming chickens on grass, Dover is now becoming involved in advocacy. He’s a founding member of Georgians for Pastured Poultry and is spearheading a new group called the Georgia Pastured Poultry Association. According to Dover, the purpose of Georgians for Pastured Poultry, or GPP, is simple: to inform “people about their food choices.” The Georgia Pastured Poultry Association, which will have its first meeting on Dover’s farm on April 4, is “for growers, by growers.” Dover said the association intends to educate pasture-poultry farmers of all levels on the newest management techniques and resources. It will also work to achieve clarification
BROILER: Poultry, livestock, dairy exports to increase
Gwendolyn Washington of Phoenix Gardens, LLC, in Lawrenceville checks on her egglaying chickens March 16. Washington and her husband have a variety of chickens on their property at various stages of maturity.
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Sunday, March 25, 2012
from various governmental regulating agencies in order to find viable processing options within the state of Georgia. At the moment there is no USDAinspected processing facility for small-scale poultry producers, although Tim Dyer of West Georgia Processing in Carrollton has expressed in building one, said Dover. Together, the two groups aim to provide “fair access market for growers that want to sell to consumers that want this food choice.” “This is about freedom,” Dover said. “It’s about the individual being to choose. It’s about food sovereignty, liberty, everything the Constitution is written about, about having freedom of choice.” Concerned they could be liberated from their jobs due to downsizing, Brennan and Gwendolyn Washington, owners of Phoenix Gardens, LLC, became chicken farmers almost out of necessity. Originally hobby gardeners on their 2« acres in Lawrenceville, they began selling heirloom vegetables at local farmer markets around 2005. Their plan was to reinvest in their small farm and, eventually, replace Gwendolyn’s salary, which they did. “It was a big shortage of eggs,” said Brennan Washington, who has worked in Information Technology for 20 years. “That’s what everybody would ask us for, ‘You got any fresh eggs? You got any fresh eggs?’” Phoenix Gardens started off with ten laying hens. Those numbers quickly increased. Then ducks and even some broilers were added — all due to customer demand. Expanding on their interest in heirloom varieties and biodiversity, the Washingtons want to begin growing unique and endangered chicken
breeds, as well as those developed here in Georgia. At the moment they’ve got a flock that’s both colorful and hard to spell. Buff Orpintons, Ameraucanas, Black Australops, Welsummers join Rhode Island Reds to feed in a custom chicken tractor that fits over one of their vacant raised vegetable beds. Once the manure there reaches a certain level, the chickens are moved to a new vacant bed. Bedding and manure in the bed they’ve just left are turned under in preparation for a new vegetable crop. Burgeoning demand has made Phoenix Gardens practically a fulltime job. As a result, Brennan Washington, who spoke about the basics of his operation to an overflow crowd at the recent Georgia Organics conference, is excited to see the growing interest in agriculture. “A lot of people coming out of the corporate world, either because of downsizing or just being tired, are actually getting into farming,” he said. “That’s exciting to see.” Having built his operation without taking out huge loans or setting up costly infrastructure, Daniel Dover said that a pasture-poultry farming system is readily accessible to anyone interested. “It’s something that’s attainable by anyone, whether it be in their backyard or whether it be in Africa or South America,” Dover said. “This is totally transferable as long as you have at least 15 to 20 inches of rain per year.” As soon as she find the right property, Ennis is ready to transfer those same ideas. Only this time she said she’d also like to add the rich chocolate-colored egg of the Cuckoo Maran hen to her dozen. Chicken farming, it seems, is suddenly full of exceptions.
have production increases for all four quarters of 2012, with the majority of the total being for the first of the year, the report said. “The production growth is expected to come from small increases in the number of hens in the table egg flock, with relatively little change in the rate of eggs produced per bird,” the report said. “The number of birds in the table egg flock was down four the last six months of 2011, but the flock is expected to average above year-earlier levels through the first several months of 2012 as strong prices encourage production. Higher egg production is also expected to be supported by higher prices for most livestock and poultry products.” The department is estimating hatching egg production to be 1.04 billion dozen for the year, a decrease of 1.7 percent from last year. “The decline in production of hatching eggs reflects the expected decline in broiler production,” the report noted. “The reduction in production is expected to mirror changes in broiler output, with production down on a year-over-year basis in the first three quarters and increasing in the fourth quarter.” Decreases in broiler production has also led to a decrease in the need for meat-type eggs, the report said, adding that, “the number of hens in the broiler-breeder flock averaged 3.2 percent lower in 2011 than in the previous year. The number of birds in the broiler-breeder flock is expected to remain lower than the previous year through the first half of 2012 and then to move slightly higher as demand for broiler chicks increases.” Wholesale table egg prices for 2011, Grade A Large, were at an average of $1.15 per dozen, the report noted. Wholesale table egg prices are being forecast to average $1.03 to $1.09 per dozen for this year.
Turkeys “Turkey meat production is expected to show a slight decline in the first quarter 2012, but then increase in the remaining three quarters of the year,” the report said. “The increased meat production is expected to arise from a larger number of birds slaugh-
tered, as average liveweight at slaughter is expected to remain near year-earlier levels. “Turkey producers, like other livestock producers, will continue to be influenced by the outlook for feed costs and the uncertainty over sustained growth in the domestic economy.” Turkey meat production totaled 1.5 billion pounds for the last quarter of 2011, which was a decline of less than 1 percent from 2010, the report said. “The decrease in turkey meat production in fourth quarter 2011 was due to a smaller number of turkeys slaughtered (down 0.6 percent), as the average liveweight of those birds at slaughter was basically the same as the previous year,” the report noted. “With turkey production expected to be lower in the first quarter, but higher in the remaining three quarters, turkey quarterly ending stocks are expected to remain slightly above year-earlier levels throughout 2012.” Prices for frozen whole hen turkeys were an average of 98.4 cents per pound in January, which was 12 percent more than the same month in 2011, but approximately 8 cents per pound less than for December 2011, the report said, adding that this is the usual seasonal decline for the first of they year. The report added that, “with only slightly higher production expected during the first half of 2012 and relatively low beginning stocks of whole birds and other turkey meat, national prices for frozen hens are expected to remain above year-earlier levels through the first half of 2012.”
Ag trade Exports in 2012 for poultry, livestock and dairy have been increased to a record $29.2 billion, an increase of $1.9 billion from 2011, ERS notes in its recent “Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade” report. “For poultry products, higher unit values, partnered with escalating Asian demand, lead to an increase of over $300 million,” the report said. “Other livestock products are revised higher by more than $300 million, mostly on surging live cattle exports. Pork exports are raised $100 million on greater volumes to Asia.” The department is estimating overall U.S. agricultural exports for fiscal 2012 at $131 billion.
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Sunday, March 25, 2012
Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
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Progress
A publication of
Sports | Sunday, march 25, 2012
Photos by Tom Reed | The Times
Gainesville’s Anthony Carrera connects for a single during a recent Hall County Middle School game against Flowery Branch.
A step in the right direction Middle school baseball a stepping stone for high school BY DAVID MITCHELL
dmitchell@gainesvilletimes.com In 2009, former University of Georgia baseball coach Robert Sapp set in motion a plan to bring baseball to a group of Hall County kids who had only limited access. There were plenty of strong high school baseball teams, and the youth baseball in the area was top notch. But when he looked at the middle schools, Sapp saw a void that needed to be filled. “They had middle school basketball, football, soccer and everything, but they didn’t have baseball,” Sapp said. “I just thought that was kind of strange, and I thought they needed somewhere that they could get a head start for high school baseball.” Now, three years later, he can begin to see the fruits of his labor, as well as a future for the upstart program. Six teams from Hall County comprise the league. While each bears the name of the middle school mascot and has about 15 players from each respective middle school, most teams are not directly affiliated with the school (Gainesville, which plays a number of other games outside of the Hall County
league, is the exception). The teams play a 15-game schedule, as well as a postseason tournament. But more important than success in the league, perhaps, is the advanced instruction the players receive, preparing them early on for competition at the high school level. “We try to make advances, try to teach the fundamentals and teach the kids how to play at the next level,” Sapp said. Brian Kovach, the coach of the Red Elephants middle school team, said that his players are learning things he didn’t learn until he played in high school. As a result, he said, players are more advanced when they reach the next level, allowing coaches to instruct at a higher level. “They’re light years ahead of where I was,” Kovach said. “And I can’t speak for every team, but I owe a lot of that to the Gainesville Braves youth teams. They come in knowing the fundamentals already, so we can move on to some more advanced areas of the game. And when I send them up to high school, they’ll be ready to learn even more advanced things there, too. “It can’t help but improve the level of high school baseball.”
East Hall’s Isaac Buffington pitches to a Chestatee batter during a recent Hall County Middle School game at Laurel Park.
Gainesville High baseball coach Jeremy Kemp said he’s appreciative of the work Sapp and the middle school coaches do, because it helps advance his team at a faster clip. “The more they know about the obvious things — the things they definitely should know — the more you can get
Inside 2012 Hall County middle school baseball schedule, 5
■ Please see BASEBALL, 5
Competitive swim team coming to Francis Meadows BY LISA LESNICK
llesnick@gainesvilletimes.com The Francis Meadows Aquatic Center is launching a new competitive swim team. The Splash Aquatic Club is a complete training program that combines land and
water training as well as nutrition and mental preparedness. Children ages 6-18 may participate in competitive swimming and a completion of Level 6 swim lessons or swimming proficiency is required. The competitive swim team
will offer the community an opportunity to compete at a higher level of swimming, said Julie Butler Colombiano, communications manager at the Francis Meadows Aquatic Center. Children who participate in competitive swim teams are learn-
ing more than just the sport. Children learn about nutrition from an age as early as six years old, said Colombiano. “This (Francis Meadows Aquatic Center) facility has provided a lot of opportunity for children to get involved with swimming,” Colom-
INSIDE: Baseball, softball, fishing camps, 3
biano said. The competition swim team will be coached by former U.S. National Team swimmer, Andy Dichert. Deichert has won numerous medals and was an All-American in Individual and Medley Relays.
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Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
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Local courses buck downward trend Area golf courses Achasta Golf Club 150 Birch River Drive, Dahlonega, GA 30533, 888988-6222, www.achasta.com. Semi-private. Length: Gold, 6,964; Blue, 6,425; Birch, 6,034; White, 5,796; Red 4,999.
Apple Mountain Resort 901 Rock Ford Creek Road, Clarkesville, GA 30523, 706-754-2255, www. applemountaingolfga.com. Length: Blue, 6,428; White, 5,902; Gold, 5,105; Red, 5,003.
Brasstown Valley Resort 6321 US Highway 76, Young Harris, GA 30582, 706-3794613, www.brasstownvalley. com/golfing. Length: Gold, 7,047; Teal, 6,593; White, 6,011; Red 5,028.
Butternut Creek Golf Course 129 Union County Recreation Road, Blairsville, GA 30512, 706-439-6076, www. butternutcreekgolf.com. Length: Golf, 6,536; Blue, 6,023; White, 5,459; Red, 4,715.
Chattahoochee Golf Club 301 Tommy Aaron Drive, Gainesville, GA 30506, 770532-0066, www.gainesville. org/golf-1. Length: Black, 7,004; Blue, 6,526; White 6,104; Gold, 5,526; Red, 4,851.
Chateau Elan 100 Rue Charlemagne, Braselton, GA 30517, 678425-6050, www.chateauelan. com/energize/golf. Two 18-hole public courses, one 9-hole public course. Length: Chateau course, Gold 7,030; Green, 6,484; White, 5,900; Burgundy 5,092. Woodlands Course, Gold, 6,735; Green, 6,355; White, 5,927 Burgundy, 4,850.
Chestatee Golf Club
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times
Lakeview Academy’s Matt Askounis watches his approach shot to the ninth green at Royal Lakes Golf Course during the annual Hall County Championships.
Area directors say participation rates holding steady BY BRENT HOLLOWAY
bholloway@gainesvilletimes.com When the U.S. economy took a turn for the worse in 2008, perhaps no sport was hurt as much as golf. As reliant as it is on the discretionary income of its participants, the sag was only natural, especially considering the fact that many experts believed the supply of courses was already on the verge of overtaking the demand of golfers. Northeast Georgia golf courses weren’t hit as hard as many other parts of the country, but the area wasn’t entirely spared — Gold Creek Golf Club was shuttered in 2008. Though numbers have improved somewhat since then, 2011 marked the fifth consecutive year of decreasing participation in the United States, according to a Golf 2020 report which measures the number of rounds played per year. But amid all the gloomy statistics and forecasts, there has been a ray of hope locally. According to the same Golf 2020 report, participation in Georgia was up in 2011 for the first time since 2007, ticking northward 4.2 percent. Levels are still far below where they were five years ago, but any reason for optimism is welcomed by those in the industry. Throughout the tumult, most area courses say their numbers are holding relatively steady and some are even trending upward. Nonetheless, financial belt-tightening is now a way of life. “We’re not subsidized at all,” said Jim Arendt, director of golf at Chicopee Woods. “We operate on our own, just like any other business would, and we have to make our ends meet, which means we’ve cut our staffing, we’ve got people in management positions operating the counter, all that kind of stuff.” That includes doing more inhouse, whereas in the past, golf courses might have been able to afford to outsource programs and projects. “Sometimes we try some things and afterward we realize maybe we tried to squeeze a little too much out of that, but there’s only one way to know, and that’s to try,” Arendt said. “So you’re testing the waters to find out how much can we do without and how far can you make everything go.” But surviving and prospering require more than simple austerity. As many courses directors can at-
777 Dogwood Trail, Dawsonville, GA 30534, 800520-8675, chestateegolf.net. Length: Black, 6,877; Blue, 6,475; White, 6,065; Gold, 5,597; Red, 4,947
Chicopee Woods 2515 Atlanta Highway, Gainesville, GA 30504, 770-534-7322, www. chicopeewoodsgolfcourse. com. Length: School/Village, Gold, 7,040; Blue, 6,606; White, 6,050; Red, 5,001. Village/Mill, Gold, 7,008; Blue, 6,559; White, 6,052; Green, 4,888; Red, 4,888.
Chan Song of Cartersville chips on the 18th green at the Chattahoochee Golf Course during The Milton Martin Honda Classic.
Deer Trail Country Club 224 Country Club Lane, Commerce, GA 30529, 706335-3987. Nine holes. 18-hole length: Men’s 6,200; Women’s 5,300.
Double Oaks Golf Course 3100 Ila Road, Commerce, GA 30530, 706-335-8100, doubleoaksgolfclub.net. Length: Gold, 6,823; Blue, 6,525; White, 5,945; Silver, 5,221; Red, 4,717.
Innsbruck Golf Club of Helen Bahn Innsbruck, Helen, GA 30545, 800-642-2709, www. innsbruckgolfclub.com. Length: Blue 6,502; White, 5,991; Gold, 5,472; Red, 4,725.
Legacy Golf Club test, some tried-and-true business principles like customer service and old-fashioned salesmanship never seem to go out of style. “We’re making every effort to grow our revenue by having our ears completely open to giving the customer exactly what he wants,” Arendt said. “Because if you give the customer what he wants, he’s going to come back.” Similarly, at city-owned Chattahoochee Golf Course, director of golf Rodger Hogan is “beating the bushes and drumming up business” in the form of visiting tournaments. In mid-March, the course was visited again by the NGA Tour, which held the weeklong Milton Martin Honda Classic at Chattahoochee. In June, the Atlanta Open comes to town. Hogan said both help bring in money for the course. “We do receive some monetary value from the NGA Tour,” he said. ‘They have the course for the week, but we generate revenue through the Pro-Am and through sponsors,
which is good. “And the Atlanta Open is a twoday event and it’s 156 players in the field and they play on a Monday and a Tuesday, which are two of the slower days of the week for us. And we do get green-fee revenue for that. Anytime you can put those kinds of numbers out there on a Monday-Tuesday, you’re doing OK.” With that boost, Hogan said Chattahoochee has not only avoided a drop in number of rounds played, it’s reversed the trend. “Actually, this past year (Chattahoochee) was up a couple thousand rounds over the year before, so our level of rounds played has actually been rising a little bit, which is a good thing,” Hogan said. “So the main thing we’re doing is really keeping expenses down as low as possible and waiting for the economy to turn.” Arendt said the number of rounds played at Chicopee Woods has remained consistent, with a slight trend toward play later in the day, when rates are lower.
“Which is another one of the things that we really pride ourselves on,” Arendt said. “We offer golf for people on all budgets.” Arendt also sees the benefit of bringing in tournaments. The course will host a Georgia PGA senior division event in June, and Arendt said the charity events held at Chicopee Woods have returned dividends for the course. “What we try to do is help them achieve what they want out of the tournament, not just say ‘hey, here’s your golf course for the day.’” Arendt said. “And when you do that, they want to come back and use your golf course and their friends want to use your golf course.” And in golf, one should never overlook the effect of good luck when it comes to Mother Nature. “We are still very busy,” Arendt said. “This mild winter has been a great thing for the golf course, because the weather has been nice enough that people can play, so it’s been a lot better than the last two winters.”
7000 Holiday Road, Lake Lanier Islands, GA 30518, 678-318-7861, www. lakelanierislandsgolf.com. Length: Black 6,580; Blue, 6,193; White, 5,706; Red, 4,852.
Mossy Creek Golf Course 7883 Ga. 254, Cleveland, GA 30528, 706-865-2277. Length: Blue, 6,100; Men’s, 5,700; Senior, 5,000; Red, 4,500.
Royal Lakes Golf and Country Club 4700 Royal Lakes Drive, Flowery Branch, GA 30542, 770-535-8800, www. royallakesgolfcc.com. Semi-private. Length: Championship, 6,871; forward 5,325; middle, 6,327.
CMYK Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
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Sunday, March 25, 2012
Gainesville Parks and Recreation Sports Camps
Youth Softball
Baseball Camp: Grades 1-8 Get a jump on the competition by coming and learning the fundamentals of baseball with Coach Jeremy Kemp from Gainesville High School. Hitting, pitching, fielding, base running, catching and the importance of stretching will be covered.
8 & Under Softball (Coach Pitch): Ages 7-8 Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturday Candler Field & Hall County Facilities
Softball Camp: Grades 1-8 Participants will learn the basic fundamentals of Fast Pitch Softball. Pitching, catching, hitting and base running will be highlighted.
14 & Under Softball Fast-Pitch: Ages 13-14 Tuesdays, Thursdays Candler Field & Hall County Facilities
Football Camp: Ages 6-12 This camp introduces players to the basic fundamentals of Football.
Ages 6-8 Tuesday, Thursday 4 p.m.-5 p.m. Young golfers will be introduced to the proper golf stance, grip, swing and follow through. Proper etiquette and golf attire will be emphasized. Age appropriate golf clubs are provided. Where: Chattahoochee Golf Course Min/ Max: 8/16
Basketball Shooting Camp This camp is a fundamental basketball camp with a special emphasis on shooting. Both sessions are open to boys and girls. Register with Gainesville Parks and Recreation or the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hall County.
Lane Grindell successfully jumps sideways over a small hurdle while instructor Justice Smith looks on during a speed and agility class at the Frances Meadows Center.
Speed, agility not just for athletes Training classes available at the Wellness Performance Institute for boys, girls ages 5-17 BY LISA LESNICK
llesnick@gainesvilletimes.com No matter what sport an athlete is involved in, practicing speed and agility drills can give them an edge over their competitors. The new Wellness Performance Institute Speed and Agility Training class, held at the Francis Meadows Aquatic Center, is now available to help boys and girls ages 5-17 develop lateral and linear movement, power and quickness, technique and injury prevention. Developing speed and agility skills can be a crucial step in taking athletes to the next level of performance, said Kaf Herring, founder of Kinetic Prototype and Director of Performance at the Wellness Performance Institute in Suwanee. In common sports such as football, basketball or soccer, an athlete’s ultimate goal is to beat their opponent and score. Speed and agility exercises include components such as balance and body control. Developing lateral and linear movement can be beneficial in any sport, Herring said. “Speed is an old term; we like to use change of direction,” he said. “It is about how fast you can go right to left.” The combination of a rapid directional change can be beneficial particularly in sports such as football and basketball, Herring said.
Volleyball Camp: Ages 9-14 Participants will learn the basic fundamentals of volleyball highlighting how to serve, spike, dig & volley. Campers provide knee pads and water bottle.
Pee Wee Programs Pee Wee Baseball: Age 4 Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4 p.m.-5 p.m. Registration ends April 6 or when class meets it maximum of 40. Pee Wee Basketball Tuesday, Thursday 4 p.m.-5 pm Registration ends when class meets its maximum of 16. Pee Wee Golf: Ages 4-5 Tuesday, Thursday 4 p.m.-5 p.m. Children will have a ball learning the basic fundamentals and etiquette of golf. Grip, stance and follow through will be introduced. Age appropriate golf clubs are provided. Where: Chattahoochee Golf Course Instructors: GPRA Staff Min/Max: 8/16 Pee Wee Football Tuesday, Thursday, 4 p.m.-5 p.m. Pee Wee Soccer Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4 p.m.-5 p.m. Youth Baseball Tee Ball League Ages 5-6 Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays Candler Field 2
Instructor Maurice Thorpe watches as Garv Gaur runs through an agility exercise during a speed and agility class at the Frances Meadows Center.
Conditioning athletes will also help decrease the risk of injury. “In any sport, whether it be the second half or the fourth quarter, that is when conditioning comes into play,” Herring said. “We want them to last more than just a few seconds.” It is natural for an athlete to become tired and fatigued when competing, but the conditioning drills will create stamina and will allow the athlete to continue performing at a competitive level, he said. To attend the speed and agility class, children do not have to play sports. For non-athletes, this class will improve overall fitness.
“There is such an increase of diabetes and obesity in children,” class instructor Maurice Tharpe said. “This class motivates kids to get healthy and be active.” The drills and exercises focus on personal improvements and the class does not treat boys and girls differently. When it comes to competing and improving, everyone wants to grow and get better. With a larger group in attendance, the class may be split into different groups, Herring said. “Children develop muscles differently at different ages,” he said. “It’s important to take that into consideration when training.”
12 & Under Softball Player/Fast-Pitch: Ages 11-12 Tuesdays, Thursdays Candler Field & Hall County Facilities
Fishing Camp: Ages 8 and up Learn how to bait a hook, the correct bait to use, safety measures and how to handle and care for a fish. Campers provide their own equipment and bait.
Soccer Camp: Ages 4-5 and 6-8 These camps will introduce participants to the basic fundamentals of the game of soccer such as passing, shooting, trapping and dribbling.
Photos by Tom Reed | The Times
10 & Under Softball Player Fast Pitch: Ages 9-10 Tuesdays, Thursdays Candler Field & Hall County Facilities
Rookie League Coach Pitch: Ages 7-8 Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays Candler Field 1 Minor League Player Pitch: Ages 9-10 Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays City Park 1 & 2 Major League Player Pitch: Ages 11-12 Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays City Park 1 & 2 & Lanier Point Athletic Complex Junior League Player Pitch: Ages 13-14 Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays GHS Baseball Fields, Hall County Parks and Leisure Facilities, & Lanier Point
Rookie Golf
Tennis Where: City Park Tennis Courts Instructor: Betsy Kiser Minimum/Maximum: 4/8 Registration ends Friday noon prior to class start or when class has met max. Balls furnished and rackets available for use. Quick Start: Ages 10 and Under Mondays 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Exciting new format for learning tennis, designed to bring kids to the game using shorter courts and low compression balls. Students will learn stroke and fundamentals, point play introduction while improving hand eye coordination, playing games, and having lots of fun. After School Tennis: Ages 5-12 Wednesdays, Fridays 4:30 p.m.-5:30pm This class is a beginner session for those students that are interested in learning about tennis. After school tennis is the perfect way to increase your skill level and meet others that are interested in tennis. Level 1: Ages 16 and under Mondays 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Students will learn the basic fundamental strokes of the game and knowledge in how to play and score the game to prepare them for the next level. Level 2: Ages 16 and under Mondays 7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Students will have basic knowledge of the game and be introduced to strategy and court positioning techniques. This class will also focus on match-point play. Tennis for Adults: Beginner Level 16 & Older Mondays, Thursdays 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Give novice players skills, confidence and knowledge to begin playing. The goal of each class is to introduce one or more skills necessary to play while keeping the environment simple enough to build confidence. Cardio Tennis Wednesdays, Fridays 5:30-6:30pm Cardio Tennis is a new, fun group activity featuring drills to give players of all abilities an ultimate, high energy workout. Taught by a teaching professional, Cardio Tennis includes a warm-up, cardio workout, and cool down phases.
Annual Tennis Tournaments Open to the Public Singles, Doubles, Junior, Adult and Senior Divisions
For information on any of the camps or events listed above, please contact the Gainesville Parks and Recreation at 770-531-2680.
Improving either as an athlete or non-athlete can build self-esteem and confidence. Providing a program to motivate an athlete to improve and take their ability up a notch is a great addition
to any community. “These kids are motivated, mature and very respectful,” Tharpe said. The class is to build speed and agility, but these instructors are role models.
“We are seen as mentors to these kids,” Herring said. “We train, but we are also here to talk if they need to, about school or friends. We are an outlet of an older brother for these kids.”
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Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
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Lake Lanier aids rowing, kayak clubs LCKC coach aims to make Gainesville a training destination BY BILL MURPHY
bmurphy@ gainesvilletimes.com
Photos by Tom Reed | The Times
Haley Frankum returns a volley during a youth tennis practice at City Park.
Junior tennis helpful to HS teams Popular program breeds strong competitors for next level BY ZAC TAYLOR
ztaylor@gainesvilletimes.com Stephanie Gibson knows the secret to the North Hall tennis program’s success this season, because she’s seen many of the top players first hand. Gibson, the Northeast Georgia Tennis Association’s Junior Coordinator, has had a number of the current players come up through the middle-school age United States Tennis Association junior tennis program that she and coach Betsy Kiser put together back in 2009. “We have witnessed first hand the importance for kids of middle school age to begin match play so they can be prepared to play on their high school junior varsity and varsity teams,” Gibson said. “They can do this with middle school tennis and/or team tennis with USTA. Most kids we work with do both.” Currently five of the North Hall freshman come from the program, which Gibson and Kiser started after realizing that there was a gap between most youth programs and when players can start high school tennis. “Betsy and I saw the need to begin a middle school age program to fill in the gaps and keep these kids on the court,” Gibson said. “We knew there were some private schools and a few others such as Lakeview, Buford and Banks County that had been getting together in the spring seasons to play matches against each other. Our players, mostly out of North Hall Middle and Gainesville Middle did not have that opportunity. “So, with the help of many parents and volunteers, we were able to very successfully build a middle school age program that has been running out of over seven schools.” So far, the program has been popular — 32 players last fall — and helpful to high school teams. “The youth tennis program in North Hall has been a major contributor to improving the level of tennis played and the maturity of the kids playing,” said Trojans coach Bob Woodworth. “By startWilliam Usrey concentrates on the ball during a drill at a youth tennis practice at City Park.
ing kids playing earlier, kids have more time to learn to be better players of course.” Gibson said that her program has primarily attracted players who end up at North Hall or Gainesville, both of which have strong tennis programs. The NEGTA program certainly has helped those programs to grow. “All in all, youth tennis makes better tennis players and more mature kids,” Woodworth said. “Hall County tennis teams will compete with some of the top teams in the area in the coming years thanks to expanding youth tennis in the area — whether a kid plays USTA or a junior program through a school, the player becomes better and plays at a higher level.” The programs that NEGTA junior tennis, which started in Hall County in 2008, offers has only expanded in the last few years. Recently, Kiser and Gibson have run adult/ child tournaments, a doubles tournament and Varsity night area players. They also hold Challenge Court in the summer at Longwood Park, Live Ball Fridays in the summer out of North Hall High, as well as summer camps for all ages, endurance programs and more. It all adds up to having more youth who know what to do with a racket in their hands, and youth who continue to play the sport. Many of the players in the program participate in USTA team tennis that runs in Hall County in the fall and spring, where they are competing for a chance to go to state and win a state title. It’s good practice for when the youth players move up to the next level, including the North Hall girls freshman class. “These five freshman have come from doing the USTA junior tennis program that I now represent, and most of these girls began with Kiser, who has worked effortlessly to bring the game of tennis back to our kids,” said Gibson, who added that the program has successfully bridged the gap between younger programs and high school. “These girls are the proof.”
Shawn Wallhausen stretches to return a volley during a youth tennis practice at City Park.
Hall County tennis programs USTA team tennis: For ages 7-18 (all levels) beginning at the end of March. Anyone wanting information can contact Stephanie Gibson, Jr Team Tennis Coordinator at stephaniegibson@bellsouth.net or Betsy Kiser at betsykiser@hotmail.com. Cost to play is $18- $20. Visit www.ustanegta.com for more details. Spring Break tennis camp: April 2-6, noon- 3:00 p.m., City Park. This camp is designed for the intermediate to advanced player. Cost: $100. Contact betsykiser@ hotmail.com to sign up. Summer Tennis camps: For all ages and levels, run by Coach Betsy Kiser, PTR. For more info see www. gainesville.org (Park and Rec), or in the North Hall area see www.jrtrojantennis.com. Challenge Court at Longwood: Challenge Court returns this summer. Sign up for Live Ball challenge to keep your skills up over the summer. Open to players from any school. Wednesday evenings are JV nights for all area middle school and junior varsity age players. Thursday evenings are Varsity Nights for all area varsity players. For more info check www.gainesville.org. Quick Start programs: Hall County Tennis is holding quick start programs for children 10 and under at the Bobby Bailey Tennis Center at Alberta Banks Park. Hall County Tennis also offers a tennis academy for middle school and high school students, juniors and adults. Clinics are also available for beginners and advanced players. For more information call 770-530-1304 or visit www.hallcountytennis.com. Tennis clinics: Brenau University is offering tennis clinics to juniors and adults, as well as private lessons and team clinics. For more information contact Andre Ferreira (USPTA) 770-534-6230. Tennis leagues: The Northeast Georgia Tennis Association is offering all types of leagues throughout the year. For more information on the current offerings contact Teri Miller at 770-535-2615 or teriroger@att. com. Tennis classes: Gainesville Parks and Recreation offers adult and youth beginner and intermediate tennis classes at Roper Park Tennis Court on Thompson Bridge Road. Classes include four one-hour lessons. Youth classes for ages 8-14 are held Monday nights for beginners from 6:45-7:45 p.m. and for intermediates from 7:45-8:45 p.m. Adult classes for ages 15 and older are held Tuesday nights from 6:45-7:45 p.m. for beginners, and from 7:45-8:45 p.m. for intermediates. The cost is $50 and city residents receive $10 discount. Contact 770-538-4950 for more information.
Claudiu Ciur is one of the biggest advocates of Lake Lanier. The high performance coach for athletes at the Lanier Canoe & Kayak club has traveled the world, but considers Lanier’s waters the best in the U.S. for athletes. “This is the best lake, the best course for training in all of the U.S.,” Ciur said. “Everyone wants to come here to train.” The opportunities for athletes to train and compete at Lake Lanier are quite extensive. Not only does the LCKC cater to athletes in elementary school, but the Lake Lanier Rowing Club also has a strong presence at the Olympic Training Venue at Clarks Bridge Park. “Right here, we have the Olympic facility, which is a top-of-the line facility,” said Brian Ransom, coach of the Lake Lanier Junior Rowing Crew. “It’s the kind of facility that not many people in the country have access to. “And as far as Lake Lanier goes, it’s certainly one of the best for training in the country.” There’s a long list of advantages to getting involved in disciplines that the LCKC and LLRC offer. First of all, both provide a full-body, low-impact workout that is beneficial to living a healthy lifestyle. Also, it provides a social network to meet others who have an equal interest and train together. Athletes also travel to races against other groups, both nationally and internationally. “I think the most important benefit to getting involved in rowing for younger athletes is exposure to college scholarship opportunities,” said Ransom, who coached at Kansas State before being hired at the LLRC earlier this year. “With Title IX, girls that are probably 5-foot-9 or taller, and are a reasonable build have great access to college scholarships.” That’s why Ransom believes that the LLRC’s summer camps for kids as young as 13 are a great way to gain exposure to the
sport. The LCKC also brings in athletes young and tries to keep them interested in moving up through athlete development. The LCKC’s BBI Racing League is for athletes 9-14 to pick up the basics of the sport and learn to compete on the water. Ciur has also spent a big portion of his time promoting Lake Lanier as a place to train for possible Olympic competition for the Senior athletes — those who have already graduated from high school. He’s trying to build up the reputation for athletes to move to Hall County to train, live and attend college. Ian Ross, a native of Washington, D.C., moved to Gainesville last year to train in the sprint canoe events. He’s enjoyed the experience of working under the coaching of Ciur, a native of Romania and former World Championship medallist. Ross, who graduated from high school in 2011, is one of three Senior LCKC athletes who have moved to Hall County for training purposes. He is also a student at Gainesville State College. “Everything they do here at the LCKC is built around developing athletes to be ready and compete at a high level,” Ross said. “Having Claudiu as a coach has brought big changes. “He’s much more intense and has high expectations for the athletes.” Lake Lanier has also remained a top warmweather destination for rowing and canoe/kayak programs from all over the World. Currently, the LCKC has nine athletes from the German National team, and earlier this month college athletes from some of the biggest college crew programs, primarily from the Northeastern U.S., were at Lake Lanier to train during their spring break. Even more athletes will visit Lake Lanier this summer with events such as the Canadian Olympic Trials, U.S. Canoe/Kayak marathon trials, Southern Invitational and Summer Sprints. “The programs here at the LCKC seem to be growing every year,” Ross said.
Lanier Canoe & Kayak Club Activities BBI Junior Olympic Program: Offers introduction of flatwater canoe/kayak for up to 25 kids ages 10-15 for six weeks through the spring. Practice starts Monday and the first race is April 28. The championship fungatta is May 12. Cost is $95 and all equipment is provided. Adult learn to kayak: Four coached lessons to learn basic paddling skills, water safety and gain exposure to many different types of boats. Registration is required and closes at noon the Friday prior to each session. Classes run from 6-7:30 p.m. on May 15-24, June 1122, July 17-26, Aug. 13-24 and Sept. 11-20. Cost is $75 per class. Moonlight paddles: Paddle sessions for every full moon during the summer, lead by a professional instructor. All moonlight paddles are on Friday nights. All equipment provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. Sessions are June 1, July 6, Aug. 3, Aug. 31 and Sept. 28. LCKC Summer day camp: Introduces paddling to kids ages 7-14 for four hours each day during one-week camps. Early registration deadline is May 15. The cost for camps is $125 for LCKC members before early registration deadline, and $150 for non-members. After May 15, it’s $135 for LCKC members and $165 for nonmembers. Sessions run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 4-8, June 11-15, June 18-22, June 25-29, July 9-13 and July 16-20. Rentals: Guided paddle tours or self-guided paddles are available. Dragon boat team building programs are also available. For more information on all programs, contact the Lanier Canoe & Kayak Club 770-287-7888 or e-mail at www.lckc.org.
Events Canadian Olympic Trials: Canada’s top athletes will compete May 4-6 for Olympic spots, along with World Cup for Canada’s Under-23 team May. U.S. Canoe/Kayak Marathon Trials: Athletes will compete May 19-20 in the distance races for a chance to represent the U.S. at the Marathon World Championships in Rome, Italy, in September. Southern Invitational: Sprint races with 200, 500 and 1,000 meter events on June 9. The entry fee is $20 by June 6 and $25 afterward. Summer sprints: Sprint races in the 200, 500 and 1,000 meter events on July 28. Entry fee is $20 by June 6 and $25 afterward.
CMYK Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
gainesvilletimes com
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Photos by Tom Reed | The Times
Flowery Branch first baseman Kholton Hamann waits for the throw as Gainesville’s Blake Gray dives safely back to first during a recent Hall County Middle School game at Laurel Park.
BASEBALL: The league has progressed at a great rate
Hall County Middle School Baseball League 2012 schedule/results
■ Continued from 1
Feb. 25
into specifics when they get up to high school,” Kemp said. “They know a lot more than they did five or six years ago.” Gainesville has had the benefit of having a middle school club for eight years, and the results have been obvious at the next level. As of Wednesday, the team was undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the state in Class AAA. Now, the other teams around Hall County can advance at that level, as well. “I didn’t see as much balance among the high school programs when I came here,” Sapp said. “There were a couple of teams that were strong, but a lot of the county didn’t measure up. I think we’re going to start to see how a middle school program can benefit each high school.” The league itself has progressed at a great rate. Sapp said he has been pleased with the level competition over the first three seasons and, if the beginning of the season is any indication, this year appears to be no different. A different team won the postseason tournament each of the previous three years. This year, a number of teams are locked in a battle for the league’s best record. “So far, we’ve had some good
years,” Sapp said. “It looks like this will be a good year as well.” The logical step for the league in the future would be to get each of the teams directly affiliated with their respective middle schools and, eventually, bring in teams from outside the county as well. Kemp said that he would like to see such a progression take place. “I’d like to see that,” he said of the middle schools taking over the teams. “I’d like to see some of the Gwinnett County schools join as well. I’d love something like a Northeast Georgia league with even more competitive teams.” Kovach stated his agreement, although he noted he wasn’t the best person to ask since his Red Elephants are directly affiliated with the middle school. “There are that many more competitive teams to play against if more teams get picked up,” he said. For now, in the current economic climate, it would be difficult for schools to pick up another sport. But it’s something they’d all like to look for in the future. “Eventually, we’d love to see it in the school system,” Sapp said. “That was our goal from the beginning. But, so far we’ve been doing so good. I’m just trying to give back to a sport that’s given me so much over the years.”
Spartans 4, Knights 1 Red Elephants 6, Falcons 5 War Eagles 7, Vikings 2
Feb. 28 Falcons 7, War Eagles 4 Spartans 9, Vikings 6 Knights 10, Red Elephants 9
March 3 Falcons 10, Vikings 1 Knights 15, War Eagles 0 Red Elephants 16, Spartans 7
March 6 Falcons 15, Spartans 5 Knights 13, Vikings 3 Red Elephants 12, War Eagles 5
March 10 War Eagles 11, Spartans 1 Falcons 12, Knights 2
March 13 Spartans 14, Knights 7 Red Elephants 9, Falcons 4 War Eagles 7, Vikings 5
March 17 Falcons vs. War Eagles, ppd Spartans 8, Vikings 5 Knights vs. Red Elephants, ppd
March 20 Vikings 10, Falcons 8 War Eagles 13, Knights 2 Red Elephants 15, Spartans 5
March 24 Falcons vs. Spartans, 11 a.m., Alberta Banks Park Knights vs. Vikings, 11 a.m., Laurel Park Field 1 War Eagles vs. Red Elephants, 11 a.m., Laurel Park Field 2
March 27 Vikings vs. Red Elephants, 6:30 p.m., Laurel Park Field 1 Spartans vs. War Eagles, 6:30 p.m., Laurel Park Field 2
Gainesville pitcher Blake Gray pitches to a Flowery Branch batter during a recent Hall County Middle School game at Laurel Park. Knights vs. Falcons, 6:30 p.m., Alberta Banks Park
March 29 Spartans vs. Knights, 6:30 p.m., Alberta Banks Park Red Elephants vs. Falcons, 6:30 p.m., Laurel Park Field 1 Vikings vs. War Eagles, 6:30 p.m., Laurel Park Field 2
April 10 Falcons vs. War Eagles, 6:30 p.m., Alberta Banks Park Spartans vs. Vikings, 6:30 p.m., Laurel Park Field 1 Knights vs. Red Elephants, 6:30 p.m., Laurel Park Field 2
April 14
Vikings vs. Falcons, 11 a.m., Laurel Park Field 1 War Eagles vs. Knights, 11 a.m.,
Alberta Banks Park Red Elephants vs. Spartans, 11 a.m., Laurel Park Field 2
April 17 Falcons vs. Spartans, 6:30 p.m., Alberta Banks Park Knights vs. Vikings, 6:30 p.m., Laurel Park Field 1 War Eagles vs. Red Elephants, 6:30 p.m., Laurel Park Field 2
April 21 Red Elephants vs. Vikings, 11 a.m., Laurel Park Field 1 Spartans vs. War Eagles, 11 a.m., Laurel Park Field 2 Knights vs. Falcons, 11 a.m., Alberta Banks Park
Postseason Tournament April 28, April 29, April 30 Far left: Joey Fogle, of Chestatee, connects for a hit during a recent Hall County Middle School game at Laurel Park against East Hall. Left: Christian Carter, of Chestatee, eyes the ball on a bunt attempt during a recent game.
CMYK
Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
gainesvilletimes com
MOORE’S
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Last year we added an office in Alpharetta and now we have added on to our Gainesville office. The adjoining suite to our Gainesville office became available earlier this month and we decided to expand. We now have a beautiful spacious conference room to meet with our guests, as well as more much needed office space and a file/breakroom area. We are truly blessed to have the most wonderful clients an advisor could ask for, who are always ready to pass our name along to friends and family who can also utilize our service. Approximately 50% of our new business came from referrals last year, which only shows that we have happy and appreciative clients! As a seasoned financial advisor with a fiduciary role, Scott Moore takes a conservative approach to protecting and preserving his clients’ retirement assets. He has a low-risk, safe and secure philosophy toward managing his clients’ portfolios while pursuing a reasonable 5%, maybe 7%, rate of return over 5, 10, 15 or more years. Scott and his two oldest sons relocated their family owned and family run firm from Snellville to Gainesville in 2008, and his middle son, Kyle, recently joined the business on a part-time basis while he completes his degree in finance at BYU. According to Drew Horter of Horter Investment Management out of Cincinnati, “The tremendous growth that Moore’s Wealth Management has experienced these past few years is a combination of Scott Moore’s total dedication to his business as a Fiduciary to his clients and providing an investment platform of low risk and safety and security. Scott clearly wants to convey the message to as many retirees as possible that there are better ways to protect their life savings in retirement, but still possibly earn a higher than normal rate of return”. Scott was a mutual fund broker for almost 17 years before becoming an independent fiduciary advisor three years ago. Having been on both sides of the profession, he can quickly analyze a client’s retirement portfolio to determine if it was designed for the best interest of the client or the best interest of their financial professional. According to Scott, “Today’s retirees, and those about to enter retirement, need more than just a banker, broker and insurance agent. They need someone to be their ‘financial quarterback’ -- someone to help put it all together. We are proud to be that firm and provide those services for the people of north Georgia.” Scott and his wife of 31 years, Carla, have five children ranging in age from 18 to 30 and three wonderful grandchildren. In his spare time, Scott enjoys spending time with his family and attending automotive enthusiast events as well as restoring classic cars. Scott and Carla also love to cruise the Georgia mountains on their motorcycle. To learn more about Scott’s philosophies and what led him to become one of the top advisors in the nation, visit his website at www.mooreswealthmanagement.com or call to arrange a visit with Scott at one of his offices located in Gainesville and Alpharetta.
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Progress
A publication of
Health & Safety | Sunday, march 25, 2012
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS | The Times
Sgt. Chris Jones with the new infrared scope used by the Gainesville Police Department. The scope reads heat and can help officers track people.
Following the heat BY SAVANNAH KING
sking@gainesvilletimes.com Gainesville Police have a new tool to help them catch subjects on the run. In January, the police department received two Forward Looking Infrared Systems. The handheld systems, similar to those found mounted on helicopters, were purchased for about $6,000 each with grant funds. The system allows officers to search for people in conditions that otherwise would be difficult, like in heavily wooded areas at night. “We as humans leave heat behind wherever we go. So we are therefore able to follow that subject’s trail to some extent,” Cpl. Kevin Holbrook said. To illustrate the FLIR’s capabilities Holbrook placed his palm flat against the wall in a darkened office at the police department. Without any light, the FLIR allows the viewer to clearly see forms in sur-
prising detail. The viewer can easily observe where a person is, where they’ve been and if they’re armed. When Holbrook removed his hand from the wall, a bright, white handprint was still visible through the FLIR. “That way we can follow a person’s trail. Kind of the same way a dog would follow a scent, we’re able to track them that way,” Holbrook said. Instead of a scent, officers can simply follow a person’s footprints. “You can hide but you can’t hide your heat,” Holbrook said. Holbrook said that in the past if subjects run in the dead of night or in densely wooded areas they would have the advantage over the officers, but not now. “We can take these and look for those subjects without putting an officer in harm by sending them into a dark unknown area,” Holbrook said. The FLIR is an “officer safety tool” because officers are able to tell if the subject has a gun or other weapon. The metal in the gun acts to block the heat coming off the person so officers can easily see where the weapons are located. The trail a person leaves behind them will remain visible for a several minutes. The length of time a person’s trail will linger is dependant on several factors including the weather and the amount of heat a particular person
The Gainesville Police Department’s newest piece of equipment is an infrared scope that reads heat patterns that can be useful for spotting subjects on the run.
produces. The system isn’t limited to use at night. The heat display simply needs to be reversed for officers to use it in daylight. If officers are also looking for a subject with a FLIR equipped helicopter, the systems can be synced over the Internet. The images can also be recorded in a video or in a photograph. Of course the system’s uses aren’t limited to chasing criminals. Officers were able to help the Hall
Hospital sets its sights on South Hall campus Development VP: We are still early in the design phase BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
211
Planned River Place campus
der ay hw
Hig
■ Please see HOSPITAL, 2
The proposed site for the Northeast Georgia Health area of detail System’s River Place campus:
Win
In addition, “we are currently looking at our operations and what sort of functions and programs we will be providing in the hospital,” Williamson said. “... Once you know what you want to build the building for, then you have a better idea of how to design it.” Health system officials, along with the project architect, held a series of public forums in January to get input on issues ranging from design and layout of the hospital/campus to services and needs of the new hospital.
Where will the campus be located?
Old
The Northeast Georgia Health System will be working this year to branch out from its main campus in Gainesville with plans to put a new hospital in fastgrowing South Hall. “We are still kind of early in the design phase,” said Anthony Williamson, vice president of Greater Braselton development. “We will be doing project design until the end of this calendar year.” Grading work at the 119-acre River
Place site, which is off Thompson Mill Road and Ga. 211/Old Winder Highway, could begin this fall. Construction of the 100-bed hospital is set to begin in January. “We’re still allowing for two years of construction, which gets us to the end of 2014,” Williamson said. “And then we will (have) three or four months of move-in.” So, the new hospital could open in the spring of 2015. As far as the hospital’s size, that still needs to be worked out, but it could be as large as 250,000 square feet.
County Sheriff’s Office locate a missing Alzheimer’s patient within two weeks of receiving the tools. “He had been missing for four or five hours They had a large search party with helicopters. We were able to get our officers on the scene and within a matter of minutes of utilizing this we found him in a briar patch,” Holbrook said. He added that just by locating that man the systems have more than paid for themselves.
Deaton Creek Parkway
Infrared camera traces heat trails of those on the run
347 Planned new Ga. 347
ad NE
n Mill Ro
Thompso 1,000 feet
N
R. KEITH HATCHELL | The Times
INSIDE: Hall County looks for new emergency warning systems, 3
CMYK
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
gainesvilletimes com
Child safety tips Georgia child safety laws Child Safety Seat: All children under 8 years of age are required to ride in an appropriate child safety seat in the back seat. Primary Safety Belt: All children 6-18 years of age who ride in a car, van or truck must wear a safety belt. Only one person per belt. Bike Helmet: All children under 16 years of age must wear an approved bicycle helmet while riding on public roads, sidewalks and bike paths. Life Jacket Law: All children under 10 years of age on a moving vessel must wear a U.S. Coast Guard approved and appropriately sized personal flotation device. The law does not apply when a child is within a fully enclosed roofed cabin or other fully enclosed roofed compartment or structure of the vessel.
Carbon monoxide safety ■ Know the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. The most common include headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and confusion. In severe cases, the person may lose consciousness or die. ■ Install a CO alarm outside every sleeping area and on every level of your home. Place CO alarms at least 15 feet away from every fuel-burning appliance to reduce the number of nuisance alarms. ■ Test alarms every month and replace them every five years. ■ Make sure alarms can be heard when you test them and practice an escape plan with your entire family. ■ Have all gas, oil or coal burning appliances inspected by a technician every year to ensure they are working correctly and are properly ventilated. ■ Never use a stove for heating. ■ Do not use a grill, generator or camping stove inside your home, garage or near a window. ■ Never leave a car, SUV or motorcycle engine running inside a garage, even if the garage door is open. ■ CO can accumulate anywhere in or around your boat, so install a CO alarm on your motorboat.
If your CO alarm goes off, follow these steps: ■ Get everyone out of the house as quickly as possible into fresh air. Then call for help from a neighbor’s home or a cell phone outside of your home. ■ If someone is experiencing CO poisoning symptoms, call 911 for medical attention. ■ If no one is experiencing symptoms, call the fire department. They will let you know when it is safe to re-enter your home.
Fire safety A small fire can grow into a deadly one within minutes. To help prevent a tragedy, closely inspect your home to eliminate potential hazards. Prepare your
home for an emergency and teach your family about the dangers of fire and how to escape. If a child is coached properly ahead of time, he or she will have a better chance of surviving.
Eliminate potential hazards ■ Keep matches, lighters and other heat sources out of children’s reach. Playing with matches and lighters is the leading cause of fire deaths for children age 5 and younger. ■ Keep flammable items such as clothing, furniture, newspapers or magazines away from the fireplace, heater or radiator. ■ Keep all portable heaters out of children’s reach. ■ Avoid plugging several appliance cords into the same electrical socket. ■ Replace old or frayed electrical wires and appliance cords, and keep them on top of, not beneath, rugs. ■ Store all flammable liquids such as gasoline outside of the home.
Prepare your home ■ Install smoke alarms on every level of your home and in every sleeping area. Consider installing both ionization alarms, which are better at sensing flaming fires, and photoelectric alarms, which are better at sensing slow, smoky fires. ■ Test smoke alarms monthly. Maintain alarms by replacing batteries at least once a year, and replace alarms every 10 years. Plan and practice two escape routes out of each room of the house. It is important to have an alternate escape route in case one is blocked by fire. Fire drills should be practiced spontaneously throughout the year, as home fires and home firerelated deaths are more likely to occur during coldweather months, December through February. ■ Keep furniture and other heavy objects out of the way of doors and windows, so they won’t block an escape. ■ Designate an outside meeting place, so all members of the family can be accounted for quickly.
Teach safety Children should know the sound of the smoke alarm. When they hear it, teach them to: ■ Crawl low under smoke. An estimated three-fourths of childhood fire deaths are caused by the smoke and toxic gases produced as a fire develops and spreads. ■ Touch doors before opening them. If the door is hot, use an alternative exit. ■ Never go back into a burning building. Children should be reminded not to stop or return for anything, such as a toy or to call 911. A call to 911 should be placed after leaving the premises. ■ “Stop, drop and roll.” Upon leaving the burning house or building, children whose clothes have caught on fire should immediately stop, drop to the ground and roll themselves back and forth quickly to extinguish the flames. ■ Take children to your local fire station for a tour. Children will be able to
see a firefighter in full gear and learn that he or she is someone who saves children, not someone to be afraid of or hide from. ■ Also, be sure you’re not teaching your children bad habits. Don’t let them see you smoke in bed or disconnect smoke alarm batteries.
Open water safety ■ Actively supervise children in and around open bodies of water, giving them your undivided attention. Appoint a designated “water watcher,” taking turns with other adults. ■ Enroll your child in swimming lessons after age 4, typically the earliest age when they are likely to practice and retain information. Teach children how to tread water, float and stay by the shore. ■ Make sure kids swim only in areas designated for swimming. ■ Teach children that swimming in open water is not the same as swimming in a pool. They need to be aware of uneven surfaces, river currents, ocean undertow and changing weather. ■ Do not let kids operate personal water crafts. These are intended for adults and require special training. ■ Teach children not to dive into oceans, lakes or rivers because you never know how deep the water is or what might be hidden under the surface of the water. ■ Learn infant and child CPR and keep a phone nearby in case of an emergency.
Protect your children while boating, by following these steps: ■ Always have your children wear a life jacket approved by the U.S. Coast Guard while on boats or around open bodies of water or participating in water sports. The life jacket should fit snugly and not allow the child’s chin or ears to slip through the neck opening. ■ Take a boating education course that will teach safe boating practices. ■ Get a vessel safety check every year for free from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary or U.S. Power Squadrons. For more information go to www.uscgboating.org and click “get a free safety check.” ■ Never drink alcoholic beverages while boating.
Pool and hot tub safety Prevent entrapment ■ Pools that pose the greatest risk of entrapment are children’s public wading pools, in-ground hot tubs or any others pools that have flat drain grates and/or a single main drain system. ■ Warn your children about the dangers of drain entanglement and entrapment and teach them to never play or swim near drains or suction outlets. ■ Never swim in a pool or hot tub that has a broken, loose or missing drain cover. ■ Install protection to prevent entrapment if you
HOSPITAL: More than 1,000 people commented on hospital project ■ Continued from 1 But even before that, Northeast Georgia had formed an advisory group to help with the project. “We took about 15 or 20 of the hospital’s managers and another roughly 15 of our doctors, and we added about 15 residents from the Greater Braselton area,” Williamson said. “Those folks were divided into eight teams that looked at the patient experience along eight different diagnoses. ... That work was very insightful. Those teams interviewed former patients, gathered information about patient experiences and brought back information about what they would like to see in a new hospital.” Presentations were given at the community forums and then feedback was received. The hospital also got input through an online survey on its website. Overall, more than 1,000 people at forums and online
commented on the project. “We got some really good input,” Williamson said. The architect, Minneapolis-based HGA Architects and Engineers, “has captured information from both of those (hospital endeavors) and will help carry that forward as we go further into the design process.” The hospital system has backed off, for now, on seeking annexation of the campus into Braselton. That’s because of “the high volume of feedback and the complexity of the project,” spokeswoman Melissa Tymchuk said. “We have determined that we need more planning time to evaluate the system’s needs relative to the new hospital and campus,” she said. The project’s timing lines up with Georgia Department of Transportation plans to widen Ga. 347 from Interstate 985 to Ga. 211/Old Winder Highway. The hospital property would front the
new road. The DOT hopes to put the project to bid in June on the nearly 8-mile stretch. Teri Pope, DOT’s spokeswoman for the Gainesvillebased District, said that the contractor will be required to work first on the new Ga. 347 running between Spout Springs Road and Ga. 211. “The road will be there when the hospital is ready to open,” she said. Signal lights are planned at Ga. 347 and Ga. 211, a junction that also includes Mossy Grand Road, and at the Village of Deaton Creek, a sprawling retirement community next to River Place. A third light is planned at the hospital itself, but will “be put up just prior to the opening of the hospital,” Pope said. Also, the project calls for a four-lane road by the hospital, but “we are now working through (a traffic) analysis and could add two lanes, giving us a total of six lanes,” she said.
SARA GUEVARA | The Times
Sgt. Dean Staples of the Gainesville Police Department watches as third-grader William Gonzalez, 9, demonstrates how to secure a seatbelt during a safety fair last year at Enota Multiple Intelligences Academy. The safety fair was hosted by Safe Kids Gainesville/Hall County. own a pool or hot tub. ■ For new pools or hot tubs, install multiple drains or use a no-drain circulation system. ■ If you do have drains, protective measures include anti-entrapment drain covers and a safety vacuum release system to automatically release suction and shut down the pump should entrapment occur. Go to www. poolsafety.gov for a list of manufacturers of certified covers.
■ You can check with your pool operator to find out whether your pool or hot tub’s drains are compliant with the Pool and Spa Safety Act.
Prevent drowning ■ Actively supervise your children around water at all times, and have a phone nearby to call for help in an emergency. ■ Make sure your pool has four-sided fencing and a self-closing, self-latching gate to prevent a child
from wandering into the pool area unsupervised. In addition, hot tubs should be covered and locked when not in use. ■ Install a door alarm, a window alarm or both to alert you if a child wanders into the pool area unsupervised. ■ From the start, teach children to never go near or in water without an adult present. ■ Learn CPR and know how to respond in water emergencies.
Source: Safe Kids USA
CMYK Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
gainesvilletimes com
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Hall County exploring mobile emergency alerts
1
Clermont
2
ahale@gainesvilletimes.com Early this month, severe storms brought the threat of tornadoes as they ripped through Northeast Georgia. Hall County’s first responders were at work monitoring the need to react but also working to notify residents of the threats. Hall County Emergency Management Agency’s chief tools for alerting residents to severe weather are its 17 outdoor weather sirens scattered throughout the county. However, those sirens are designed only to notify people outdoors of weather threats. Meanwhile, emergency management personnel were also pushing updates through its website and via Twitter for those not already tuned into media outlets. Fortunately, those storms did not bring the kind of devastation tornadoes left in Kentucky and Indiana. In an effort to bring those alerts to more eyes and ears in Hall County, the agency is again exploring new alert systems that could allow residents to receive calls, emails or text messages if severe weather strikes. “A lot of people don’t pay attention to the sirens or they may be out of range,” said Hall County Emergency Management Director Chief David Kimbrell. “When someone’s phone goes off, they will grab it. People pay attention to their cellphones.” Similar systems already exist in Dawson and Forsyth counties, as well as others throughout the nation and Georgia. After the storms passed, Hall County Commissioner Craig Lutz requested that emergency management staff look into ways to bolster weather alerts at a Hall County work session. Lutz asked for county staff to seek a grant to fund the costs. Forsyth County’s mobile alert system was launched in the fall of 2011, according to Lorraine Morris, the county’s emergency management coordinator.
The system, which is run through Twenty First Century Communications, sends out weather alerts through phone calls, text or emails to residents who signed up for the program. Weather alerts are sent directly by the county’s provider when the National Weather Service reports severe weather. “We don’t have to touch the computer,” Morris said. Residents who sign up for the alerts don’t pay a fee, except the for data and messaging charges their cellphone carrier may charge. Additionally, the alerts can be sent based on a residents’ address within the county, so residents out of the reach of potential weather alerts don’t receive the message. Morris said the annual cost of the system is about $4,000. Morris said it was a bargain created from the county’s existing relationship with the provider, which already administered Forsyth’s reverse call-back system for 911 calls. While Dawson County does not offer email or text alerts for severe weather, it does offer automated phone calls to residents, which can go either to land lines or cellphones. Dawson County used that service in early March when a tornado warning was issued for the county. “In a matter of minutes we were able to make a countywide phone call,” said Billy Thurmond, director of Dawson County Emergency Services. “That comes just by pushing a button.” Hall County’s Chief Kimbrell said his agency explored similar alert systems several years ago. At the time, elected officials were not interested in funding the expense. Kimbrell said the agency will look at several different systems like those in Forsyth and Dawson to find the most cost effective. In place of such an alert, Kimbrell recommends that residents purchase weather radios, which have the capacity to notify customers when severe weather approaches.
129
284
3
Lula 365 60
4
5
Forsyth employs a mobile alert system; Dawson makes a countywide phone call BY AARON HALE
6
53 8
7
Gainesville 369
9
323
985
Oakwood 11 13
Flowery Branch
14
10 12
15
53
16 17
Sirens spread across the county
Hall County has 17 tornado sirens scattered across the county, find out which one is closest to you in the map above. 1 Hall County Fire Station 2:
10 Gainesville State College:
2 North Hall High School:
11 Oakwood Elementary School:
6012 Hulsey Road, Clermont
4885 Mount Vernon Road, Gainesville
3 Lula Elementary School: 6130 Chattahoochee St., Lula
4 Sardis Elementary School: 2805 Sardis Road, Gainesville
5 River Bend Elementary School: 1742 Clevaland Highway, Gainesville
6 East Hall High School: 3534 East Hall Road, Gainesville
7 Fair Street Elementary School: 715 Woods Mill Road, Gainesville
8 Gainesville High School: 830 Century Place, Gainesville
9 Hall County Fire Station 1: 2460 Athens Highway, Gainesville
Source: Hall County Emergency Management Agency
3820 Mundy Mill Road, Oakwood 4500 Allen Road, Oakwood
12 Da Vinci Academy:
3215 Poker Springs Road, Gainesville
13 West Hall High School: 5500 McEver Road, Oakwood
14 Hall County Fire Station 5: 4187 Falcon Parkway, Flowery Branch
15 Martin Road at Winder Highway 16 Hall County Fire Station 8: 6175 Gaines Ferry Road, Flowery Branch
17 Sprout Springs Elementary School: 6640 Sprout Springs Road, Flowery Branch
911/Central Communications Office:
470 Crescent Drive, Gainesville
The Times
CMYK
Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
gainesvilletimes com
Bearcat keeps SWAT team safe
Sara GUEVARA | The Times
Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks, with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, looks over the Special Purpose Chemical, Biological, Nuclear and Explosive Rescue and Incident Response Vehicle, also known as Lenco BearCat Armored Vehicle.
Vehicle can be used by all Hall County agencies BY SAVANNAH KING
sking@gainesvilletimes.com Just listening to the engine purr, you wouldn’t know the Lenco Bearcat is a heavy-duty armored vehicle. “You’d think something like this would sound like a freight train when it cranks up,” Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks, public information officer with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, said. But if the Bearcat drove through your neighborhood in the middle of the night, you probably wouldn’t even know it. The vehicle provides Hall County
Sheriff’s Office SWAT team with the protection they need in an emergency. “I can say firsthand I would much rather ride up to the door with this than not have it. I’ve gone up to them without armor and I’ll take armor any day,” Wilbanks said. The vehicle isn’t just designed to withstand bullets. It can also detect chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear chemicals. “It’s not an everyday situation that you would use this, but it is important to have this as an option,” Wilbanks said. Since the office received the vehicle from the Georgia Office of
Homeland Security in August, it has been deployed four times. Once for a subject who barricaded himself inside a home, once for a false hostage threat and two times to serve warrants to subjects who were considered potentially violent. The vehicle has not seen any combat. However, Wilbanks said that’s not out of the realm of possibility, referring to a Lula incident in 2008 in which a subject fired at officers, injuring one. “All of us are pretty confident that if we’d had this vehicle at that time, that deputy wouldn’t have been shot,” Wilbanks said.
In a situation where a negation is needed, the vehicle has an intercom system and a PA system so that negotiators can be protected while speaking with a subject. “As opposed to a team going up there throwing a phone in the window, trying to find a cell phone or a landline number. It gives us a more direct means of communication,” Wilbanks said. The vehicle could also be used across Hall County agencies. Firefighters can use the on-board oxygen system to conserve air in their tanks while traveling. An added bonus is that the vehicle requires very little maintenance, which means the county will have very little costs for the vehicle. “The low number of uses and
miles this vehicle is going to have put on it, it’s not going to be a high maintenance issue,” Wilbanks said. Wilbanks said having the vehicle provides priceless protection, though. But its $263,449 price tag wasn’t paid for with local money in the first place. “The money that purchased the vehicle never even passed through Hall County’s hands,” Wilbanks said. “I think there was some confusion about that. I think a little bit of a rocky road when we went to get approval for the vehicle. It’s totally a homeland security purchase and we were selected by the Georgia Office of Homeland Security to receive the vehicle.”
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CMYK Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
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Sunday, March 25, 2012
TOM REED | The Times
Dr. Richard LoCicero, front, and Dr. Tim Carey check a patient’s status using the Merge iConnect software at The Longstreet Clinic. LoCicero is starting to use the system more often and said it is invaluable when used to determine how a patient’s treatment is going.
Merge iConnect improves patient care Software will allow doctors to immediately access diagnostic images BY SAVANNAH KING
sking@gainesvilletimes.com In a medical emergency, doctors need to have quick access to a patient’s information. The Community Health Alliance, a collaboration between North Georgia Diagnostic Clinic, Northeast Georgia Health System, Northeast Georgia Heart Center, Northeast Georgia Physicians Group, The Longstreet Clinic and other specialty practice physicians in the region, is improving patient care with new computer software called Merge iConnect. The software will allow doctors
to have instant access to a patient’s diagnostic images. About a year ago, the physicians in the Community Health Alliance noticed a need for improving the way they share patient images. “We said what can we do as a community to provide better patient care. How do we access each others (picture archiving and communications) systems in a secure and efficient way,” Dr. Richard LoCicero, chairman of Community Health Alliance and an oncologist with The Longstreet Clinic, said. In the past, if a patient had a diagnostic test, like an MRI, at another facility the doctor would have to
have the images sent to their office on a compact disk. Inevitably there would by delays either with the courier system or the disk wouldn’t be compatible with the requesting physician’s computer system. “The beauty of this technology that we now have in place is that it essentially is able to take different types of formats and make them vendor neutral,” said Dr. James Bailey, chief medical informatics officer and chief quality officer at Northeast Georgia Medical Center. As a practicing intensive care unit doctor, Bailey said access to a
patient’s information is crucial. The new program also allows doctors to have instant access to these files through their office computers or while at home through their iPhones or iPads. Having the images so readily available also provides the opportunity to share the images with other doctors who may offer a second opinion. Patients may benefit from the improved efficiency, but they’ll also avoid unnecessary testing, saving them money and radiation exposure. “If there is anything we’re all agreed on is health care costs are high,” Bailey said.
Doctors are excited about what this technology could bring to the medical field in the future. Bailey said the idea is to expand to other hospitals in the region. The hope is that one day the information will be available to doctors across the nation. “I’ll probably be long retired before the final version is realized but these are the first steps,” Bailey said. Physicians are still getting used to the program since it was installed in January. But doctors are calling it an extremely efficient tool that will only provide better care for patients. “It’s like the future is here,” LoCicero said.
CMYK
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
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Road projects, key road vote expected this year Replacement of Clarks Bridge Road in the works BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com After a year or two of slower road construction, Hall County motorists should expect to see construction crews out in force throughout 2012, with an especially large project taking shape in South Hall. The Department of Transportation hopes to contract out work in early spring on Ga. 347/Lanier Islands Parkway between Interstate 985 and McEver Road. Project letting on Ga. 347/ Friendship Road between I985 and Ga. 211/Old Winder Highway could take place in June, as the DOT winds up what has been a lengthy right-of-way acquisition. In February, the Georgia Department of Transportation awarded a $2.2 million contract for a new Ga. 52 bridge over Candler Creek in Gillsville. The project, awarded to Sunbelt Structures Inc. of Tucker, is set for completion Sept. 30, 2013. The 112-foot bridge, built in 1940, has a sufficiency rating of 46.79 based on a 0-100 scale that measures structural integrity and other factors. At 50, a bridge is considered structurally deficient. At 40, it begins to work its way into replacement plans. Both projects are ambitious, with the Lanier Islands phase running through a heavy commercial district, particularly between Atlanta Highway and I-985. The Friendship side of the project is more residential, although the new road would pass by one school, Friendship Elementary. The first phase of the Friendship project is set to take place between Spout Springs Road and Ga. 211, and is expected to coincide somewhat with the timing of the construction of Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s South Hall hospital. The new road will run in front of the hospital. Also, Ga. 211 leads to Chateau Elan, a Braselton resort featuring a winery, hotel and golf course off Interstate 85. That work essentially serves as a realignment of Ga. 347, which currently runs along the two-lane Thompson Mill Road. The DOT also is looking to eventually widen Ga. 347/ Lanier Islands Parkway from McEver to Lake Lanier Islands. Another major project that could get under way this fall is the replacement of the Ga. 284/Clarks Bridge Road bridge over Lake Lanier and near the Olympic venue. Workers will spend about two years building the new bridge, which will feature two 12-foot vehicle lanes, as well as 4-foot bicycle lanes and 5-foot sidewalks in each direction. Overall, the new bridge will be 952 feet long, nearly 50 feet wide and have five columns in Lake Lanier. Bike lanes and sidewalks will run
For The Times
The section of Ga. 347/Lanier Islands Parkway just past Exit 8 of Interstate 985 is scheduled for widening by the Georgia Department of Transportation.
along Ga. 284/Clarks Bridge Road for 2,781 feet. The current bridge, built in 1958, is 834 feet long and nearly 24 feet wide. The new bridge will be built next to the existing bridge, so traffic can flow normally during construction. Once it is finished, workers can build the approaches and install a 63-foot pedestrian tunnel. The tunnel will connect Clarks Bridge Park and Lake Lanier Rowing Club/Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club’s boathouse to the Olympic venue and boat ramps. “It is precast so it comes to the site in sections (that) have to be moved into place and joined together for the length needed,” said Teri Pope, spokeswoman for the DOT’s Gainesville office. Orange construction barrels aren’t involved, but one road matter that residents will have to navigate is whether they favor a 1 percent sales tax for transportation projects. The issue will be decided July 31 in 12 separate regions throughout Georgia, with Hall County belonging to the 13-county Georgia Mountains Region. The issue has polarized many Georgians, with supporters saying the tax is needed to improve roadway safety and boost economic development. Opponents
say another tax isn’t what Georgia needs as the state still tries to recover from the Great Recession. If approved, Hall County’s sales tax would rise to 8 percent from 7 percent. The tax is expected to generate about $1.25 billion in the Georgia Mountains Region over 10 years. Hall County is expected to receive about $300 million to spend on nine regional projects. The Transportation Investment Act of 2010, which set up the tax vote, calls for 75 percent of revenue to go for regional projects and 25 percent for local government to spend on discretionary transportation projects, including maintenance and operation efforts. Under the 25 percent funding, Hall County and its city governments would receive about $4.8 million per year, or nearly $48 million over 10 years. If the tax vote fails, “we do have a federal (funding) program and that ... will be ongoing,” said Todd Long, the DOT’s planning director and a former district engineer based in Gainesville. “It’s just not at the level we’re hoping for, and it depends on what the next (federal) transportation bill is. “Georgia could see a 25 percent decrease in the funding we have now.”
SARA GUEVARA | The Times
The Georgia Department of Transportation hopes to contract out work in early spring on Ga. 347/Lanier Islands Parkway between Interstate 985 and McEver Road.
CMYK Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
gainesvilletimes com
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Law enforcement embraces social media
Sara Guevara | The Times
Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks, spokesman for the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, updates the department’s Facebook page. Law enforcement agencies have started using Facebook and Twitter to connect with citizens.
Sheriff’s office, fire department look to Facebook, Twitter to inform public BY SAVANNAH KING
sking@gainesvilletimes.com Are you friends with local law enforcement? You should be. Law enforcement agencies across the country are using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to quickly get information to the public. For more than a year Hall County Fire Services has used Twitter and Facebook to inform the public about emergencies and safety issues. “We’ve gotten very positive feedback,” Capt. Scott Cagle, Hall County fire marshal, said.
So far, only about 350 people follow their updates. Cagle said he hopes more people will subscribe to the pages. “If more people know what kind of info we’re giving out I think more people would follow it,” Cagle said. The fire department primarily uses Twitter to post information about car accidents that may block traffic, fires or severe weather. They use Facebook as a means to communicate more general topics like fire safety. More agencies are jumping on board the social media bandwagon. Hall County Sheriff’s Office recently launched a Facebook page
and Gainesville Police are preparing to launch both Facebook and Twitter pages. “In this day and age people are more likely to interact with social media, other than picking up the phone and making contact with the police agency. So that does make it easier for them and for us,” Cpl. Kevin Holbrook, Gainesville Police Department public information officer, said. Both agencies use a similar program for law enforcement called Nixle, but are excited to use the more popular social networks. Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks, public information officer with the Hall
County Sheriff’s Office, said the addition of Facebook will create more connections because of the website’s name recognition. Since the Facebook page was launched in February, Wilbanks said he’s had a lot of positive feedback. “A lot of citizens are saying they’re glad to see this come along,” he said. The agencies all look to other outside agencies before setting up their social media pages. They learn from each other about what is helpful and how often the other communities actually use the pages. “We’ve heard nothing but posi-
tives from agencies that have already begun using it,” Wilbanks said. Police hope the networking will help with crime prevention. If more people are aware of what is happening in their community they may be likely to notice and contact police. “Two-way communication is an important factor in policing because of course we get information from the community and feedback from the community and vital information as far as tips on specific crimes, drug activity, and it helps in investigating crimes,” Holbrook said.
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CMYK
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Progress is a publication of The Times, Gainesville, Georgia  |
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