LUCILLE SEAGARS LEWALLEN, age 93, of Clarkesville, Georgia, passed away on Wednesday, October 8, 2014, at a local private care facility.
Salary hikes but no tax increases in Cornelia budget
Cornelia residents would face no increase in taxes or fees under the proposed 2015 city budget, which provides for salary increases for city staff and funds several Water and Sewer Department capital projects.
Lady Lions drop volleyball road contest
The Lady Lions struggled on the road Tuesday night falling to North Greenville in straight sets 3-0. Piedmont only tallied 27 kills combined in the match and was held to a negative attack percentage.
Tigerville, S.C. – Entering the night on a two-match winning streak, the Piedmont College Volleyball team lost in straight sets, 3-0, on the road facing Division II North Greenville University Tuesday night. The loss moved the Lady Lions to 12-8 overall entering another conference tri-match this upcoming weekend.
Piedmont struggled early in the first set losing 25-12 after being forced to use a new lineup Tuesday. In the second set the Lady Lions were able to stay with the Crusaders most of the way falling 25-19 before dropping the third and final set 25-10.
“In the second set we really played well,” Head Volleyball Coach Sid Feldman said. “We recovered well and the players did not get down on themselves. They were positive throughout the match.”
It was Jennifer Opper leading the way for the Lady Lions with 4 kills while Jenna Hoffman and Jessica Cheij both added 3. Kait Steele recorded 8 assists in the match while Katie Faith was the leader in digs with 10 in the contest.
Saturday, the Lady Lions will look to rebound in Ferrum, Virginia taking on Ferrum College and Averett University in a tri-match. Ferrum is currently 3-14 overall while Averett is 13-11 this season.
The Lady Lions are coming off two straight-set victories in conference play after winning against Mary Baldwin and Greensboro at home last Saturday. Piedmont will take on the Panthers this upcoming Saturday at noon and the Cougars at 2:00 p.m.
Lions finish 13th at golf invitational
Piedmont’s Austin Coleman (left) trimmed six strokes from his day one score to shoot a 74 in round two of the Royal Lakes Fall Invitational hosted by Oglethorpe, but it wasn’t enough to help PC climb in the standings as five other Lions finished behind him on the leaderboard.
Flowery Branch, GA – The Piedmont College men’s golf team finished up their third tournament of the fall Oct. 7 placing 13th overall in the Royal Lakes Fall Invitational. The team was able to knock off ten strokes collectively as a team led by Joseph Morris and Austin Coleman who both knocked off six strokes from their first days finish.
The pair featured two more Lions that were able to finish the second day under the field average of 77. Joining the duo were freshmen Sam Hill and Douglas Burke.
Oglethorpe University was able to come from behind and win their home event as the team scored 2 under par on the second day with a 286 (578 overall). Tying the outstanding second day scoring was Southwestern University (579 overall) who finished just one stroke behind Oglethorpe in second place.
The first day of competition would settle the final rankings as Oglethorpe’s 292 bested Southwestern’s 293. The team average for the tournament dropped roughly 3 strokes, with both of these teams shooting under par as a complete team.
The Lions were unable to catch up to the five other USA South member institutions that finished ahead of them on both days. LaGrange College finished 7 strokes behind Oglethorpe as they finished tied for 3rd with Centre College who led the field after the first day.
Ferrum College (604) wrapped up the tournament finishing in 8th along with Greensboro College (606) finishing tied for 9th, Huntingdon College (610) in 11th, and Maryville College (615) finishing in 12th just ahead of the Lions. NC Wesleyan (626) finished just behind the Lions in 14th, with Emory University (637) finishing in 15th.
Coleman shot a team low 74 on the second day along with Hill who had the best finish for the Lions ending up in 25th. Morris’ 3-over 75 brought him into a tie for 58th. Jake Forbes finished in a tie for 65 with a 79 in round one and two. Freshmen Davis Cook (T-73) followed in Forbes’ footsteps with the even scoring with an 80 on both days of the tournament. Douglas Burke (T-82) knocked off a team-high 9 strokes with a 77 on day two.
Austin Coleman was joined in the individuals race by Aaron Vankempen who was the final Lion to finish the tournament. Vankampen finished in 94th.
The Lions will play their final tournament of the fall in two weeks as they head to Rome, Georgia for the Chick-Fil-A Collegiate. The Berry College hosted tournament will take place October 20-21. Fans are encouraged to stay tuned to PiedmontLions.com for all Piedmont men’s golf schedules, updated statistics, and results.
John King to play Piedmont benefit concert Nov. 2
Fresh off his debut at the Grand Ol’ Opry, country singer John King returns home for a concert at Piedmont College Nov. 2 called “Homegrown.”
The concert at the Arrendale Amphitheater begins with another “Homegrown” band, Georgia Street, opening at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available online for $12 at www.piedmont.edu/homegrown and will be $15 at the door. Admission for Piedmont students, faculty, and staff is $5. All proceeds will benefit Habitat for Humanity of Northeast Georgia. The Amphitheater is located at 359 College Drive in Demorest.
King, who’s debut single, “Tonight, Tonight” co-written with Marshall Altman, has reached the Top 40 on Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart, is a Demorest native who formed his first band at age 15 and honed his musical skills in Athens. In 2013, King signed with Black River Entertainment out of Nashville.
Georgia Street is a new band made up of Piedmont College students Logan Pethel and Preston Graham with area musicians Trey Brantley, Tahd Adams, and Maison Clouatre. The group plays a variety of rock, country, and Christian music.
Benjamin Burrell piano concert at Piedmont
Pianist and Cornelia native Benjamin Burrell of Savannah will present a free concert at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 18, in the Center for Worship and Music at Piedmont College in Demorest.
Hailed as “a true poet” on the piano, Burrell’s recent concert as part of the Sunday Classical Salon Series in Cambridge, Mass., was selected by The Boston Globe as a “Sunday Best.” In 2008, Burrell gave recitals in Spain and France and performed a solo piano recital at the invitation of the President of the Association Eurocultures in Corbières, France. For the Piedmont concert, Burrell will perform works by Poulenc, Mendelssohn, and Liszt.
Born and raised in Cornelia, Burrell graduated magna cum laude from Emory University and received a master’s degree in music from Northwestern University’s School of Music in Evanston, Ill. He has performed as conductor, pianist, and organist at venues around the world. He has served as the director of music in churches of various sizes and traditions in Georgia, Illinois, and Massachusetts. After serving 18 years as Director of Music at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Natick, Mass., he began devoting his time solely to piano performance. Since 2010, Burrell has been a resident of Savannah, where he recorded his latest CD “Impressions.”
Hoyt Street bridge saved
The Cornelia City Commission has responded to a vocal and active public outcry against the proposed removal of the Hoyt Street bridge. Commissioners, at Tuesday’s regular meeting, instructed city manager Donald Anderson, to communicate with Norfolk Southern Corporation and let them know that the city would not approve the railroad company’s request to remove the bridge.
In a July 21 letter from Norfolk Southern to the city, the company indicated that, “due to the bridge’s vertical and horizontal clearance envelope,” the bridge “currently hinders our efforts” to maintain the track beneath the bridge. Norfolk Southern requested the city’s approval to remove the bridge at Norfolk Southern’s expense.
“We have also noted that there are numerous ways to traverse Norfolk Southern’s tracks in the area, including the Wayside Street Overpass to the south or the Wells Street underpass to the north,” states Norfolk Southern.
A public hearing was hosted by the city commission regarding the removal of the bridge, at which three people spoke in favor of removal; no one spoke against the removal.
“Their (Norfolk Southern’s) reason for the request is because, if you look at the bridge, they say it was built for horse and buggy, that’s how old it is,” Anderson says, describing the old wooden trestle bridge. “They claim the height of the bridge was restricting their ability to properly maintain the tracks,” he adds, pointing out that the city conducted measurements of the bridge and discovered that the Hoyt Street bridge is three inches taller than the Wayside Bridge, which is a fairly new bridge.
Following the public hearing, city officials placed barricades at the Hoyt Street bridge.
“Before the commissioners made a decision, we tried a little experiment where we barricaded the bridge to simulate the closure,” Anderson says. “When we did that, the calls just came flooding in; a lot of people over there did not realize what an inconvenience it was going to be to have to go all the way around town to get to Walmart or whatever.”
Public response to the simulated closure of the bridge was both overwhelming and insistent, says Anderson.
“The plan was to have the barricades up for two weeks and we didn’t quite make it; after about a week, the public finally got tired of it and actually took the barricades down and threw some of them down on the train tracks,” he says. “Plus, we were bombarded with phone calls at city hall from people in the area telling us what an inconvenience it would create, and the postmaster called to tell us they would have to drastically change their delivery route.”
Safety could, at some point, be a considerations regarding the bridge, due to its age and construction. However, regular inspections by Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) engineers have not revealed any safety issues to date.
“The way it works is, GDOT sends an inspection engineer every few years to inspect bridges and determine weight limits (Hoyt Street Bridge is currently rated at 7 tons). Nothing has been pointed out to us structurally,” Anderson says. “There is a law specifically for bridges in Georgia and, as far as the structure, that is 100 percent the railroad’s (responsibility), so if that was determined to be structurally unsafe, it would be at their expense to fix it. The city’s responsibility is for maintaining the surface — paving it — and for the guard rails.”
Commissioners agreed that it was not in the best interest of the city or the residents to allow the bridge to be removed.
“Based on the input we’ve received in the last month, the decision was to tell the railroad ‘no, we’re not going to give you permission to take the bridge down,’” Anderson says. “Based on the law, the railroad cannot take the bridge down without the city’s permission — essentially, it is the city’s call.”
Little School BBQ fundraiser
The Little School in Clarkesville will hold a BBQ fundraiser on Friday, October 24, from 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. in the fellowship hall at First Presbyterian Church of Clarkesville. Pulled pork plates sell for $8. Deliveries available for large orders. For more information visit The Little School online at www.tlsacademy.com or call 706-754-8894.
Cornelia preps for festival
Fall is definitely in the air, with cooler temperatures and turning leaves in evidence over the past week. Likewise, the Big Red Apple Festival, another local hallmark of Autumn, is set to get underway at 10 a.m. this coming Saturday, Oct. 11.
As of midweek, evidence of the ongoing water line replacement project that has disrupted traffic patterns and torn up sidewalks in downtown Cornelia for the past several months is still apparent, with areas of torn-up blacktop and bright orange traffic cones still re-directing traffic in areas.
That situation will be rectified in time for Saturday’s festival, assures city manager Donald Anderson.
“We met with our contractors this morning to go over what they had left and they assured me that all of the sidewalks will be in,” he says. “The only thing that won’t be done is on one street, Chattahoochee Street.”
Logistics and timing of the replacement of a fire hydrant at that location has required postponing completion of that section of work, Anderson explains.
“They are going to have it (Chattahoochee Street entrance) safely passable with gravel and marked with cones,” he says. “The rest of the sidewalks will be done, we’re assured.”
The work is part of the city’s Community Development Block Grant Water Line Replacement Program and is funded through Georgia’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Cornelia was awarded the $500,000 2014 grant for water improvements that include the replacement of undersized water mains for fire protection in the designated “target area.” According to the CDBG program, the project will serve 260 persons, of whom 230 are low- to moderate-income. $123,669 in match and leverage funds were required from the city as a part of the grant agreement.
The City of Cornelia has applied for, and received, a CDBG for water line replacement for more than three consecutive years, with grants totaling in excess of $1.5 million in grant funds and $500,000 in SPLOST funds. Once the project is complete, city officials expect to have replaced $2 million in water lines.
The Big Red Apple Festival, an annual Cornelia celebration, will kick off early Saturday morning with the Big Red Apple Festival 5K & Fun Run. Registration begins at 7 a.m., with the Fun Run/Walk beginning at 8 a.m. and the 5K beginning at 8:30 a.m. The Walk A Mile In Her Shoes walk to bring attention to domestic violence begins at 10 a.m., with registration at 9 a.m.
Core festival activities will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and include a book sale at the Cornelia Public Library, hayrides to, and tours of the Chenocetah Fire Tower, vendors and children’s’ activities, a soap box derby, a car show and more.
Entertainment will be provided by several area bands with headline act, The Chase Thomas Band, performing from noon until 2 p.m. Supporting acts include 14 Roots (10 a.m.), The Regulars Band (11 a.m.), Breathing Kansas (2 p.m.), and Paul Hunter (3 p.m.)
Weather on Saturday is expected to be warm, with a chance of some rain and possible intermittent thunderstorms. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather forecast calls for a chance of showers before 2 p.m., then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., then a chance of showers after 4 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 78. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.
Two SPLOST VI meetings left
If you want to learn more about Habersham County’s SPLOST VI referendum before you head to the polls next month then mark your calendars now. Two more public meetings are scheduled before the November 4 vote. A town hall meeting will be held in Tallulah Falls tomorrow, Thursday, October 9, at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall and a public forum is scheduled for Tuesday, October 14, at 6 p.m., at the Torch Worship Center located at 800 Cannon Bridge Road in Demorest.
The proposed penny-on-the-dollar tax would be in effect for six years and would raise revenue to fund a wide range of county and municipal projects. A SPLOST VI oversight committee is being appointed to monitor SPLOST VI collections and disbursements. While the committee will not have any authority over SPLOST VI fund management, it will report back to the community through local media twice a year to inform the public about how much money is raised and where the money is spent.
For details on SPLOST VI projects watch the above video and visit the Habersham County Chamber of Commerce website.
Local church/civic leader dies
Funeral services are scheduled this weekend for Fred K. Hamby. Hamby was a respected business, church and civic leader in Habersham County. Hamby died Tuesday, October 7, after an extended illness. He was 87.