Entries by Staff Writer

By Matt Gardner

The Appling County Board of Commissioners held their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, June 7 at 5:30 p.m. at the Appling County Courthouse Annex. During the meeting the Commissioners approved a proposal from Golder Associates to do exploratory drilling on the dam located at Lake Tara. The work includes two 25-foot holes and two 50-foot holes to be drilled in order to evaluate the dam and find out if further work will be needed. The cost of the drilling will cost $35,000.00. A motion to approve the work was made by Commissioner Charlie Leggett with a second from Commissioner Ronnie Rentz. The motion was approved by all in attendance. [Full Story »] 

The mite baseball champs went to the Dodgers. [Full Story »] 

Fourth District Elementary School had 6 students participate at the State Track Meet, which was held in Carrollton, Georgia on May 13 and 14. [Full Story »] 

I am truly thankful for the rain that fell on Pine Grove this afternoon. We sat and watched as giant drops fell to a thirsty earth, but rain fell faster than the ground could soak it up. It’s been a while since we saw puddles in the yard. Before it completely stopped, Larry and I went out to check out our gardens. Everything was beautiful, appearing fresh and cool and new. When we surveyed the watermelons, they seemed to have grown during the downpour. We could hardly believe our eyes. There’s no longer a need to push aside the leaves to look for them. They’ve gotten big enough to push aside the leaves themselves. [Full Story »] 

In 1969, Geech joined the Jaycees. He had never had a chance to mingle with city folk that much, but these were a great bunch of people and they got along like peas and rice. At each regular meeting, they had a meal and a business meeting, along with story telling, laughter and lightheartedness. [Full Story »] 

Several years ago, B. J. and I were searching for an ancient colonial ancestral cemetery in the swampy South Carolina Low Country. We had discovered some information in a Beaufort, S. C., library that had led us deep into the remote areas in search of the old burial site. [Full Story »] 

Barbara Howell Edwards, 63, died Thursday morning (June 9, 2011) at Kansas City Hospice House of Kansas City, MO following an extended illness. [Full Story »] 

Carolyn Rose King Owens died May 14, 2011. Carolyn was born on July 27, 1954 to Willie and Marion King of Alamo. [Full Story »] 

Bonnie Herndon Pickren, 93, died Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at her residence in Perry. She was born Dec. 29, 1917 in Appling County to the late Carl Herndon and the late Edna Smith Herndon. As a young lady she was employed as a clerk at Finkelstein Department Store and Tootle’s Bakery in Baxley. Ms. Pickren also worked at the Shipyard in Brunswick. She moved to Warner Robins in 1952 and was employed and retired with Civil Service. Ms. Pickren was a member of First Baptist Church of Warner Robins and a member of the Eastern Star of Warner Robins. She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward Lambert Pickren, a son, Glenn Edward Pickren, four sisters, Gladis Knight, Sarah White, Monteen Morris and Marilyn Vance and a brother, H. C. Herndon. [Full Story »] 

Eugene Stone, Sr., 64, of Hazlehurst, died suddenly Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at Jeff Davis Hospital. Mr. Stone was born Dec. 29, 1946 in Appling County to the late Vernon Stone and the late Jessie Brown Stone. He was employed with Hazlehurst Mills and was a veteran of the United States Army having served in the Vietnam War. [Full Story »] 

The Associated Press reported last week that up to five Georgia school districts could be subject to a new law allowing the governor to remove board members if the district is in danger of losing accreditation.
State education department attorney Brad Bryant told the Georgia School Board last Wednesday that the Atlanta, Appling County, Coffee County, Randolph County and Warren County districts are on probation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. [Full Story »] 

A representative from Congressman Jack Kingston’s office will be in Appling County to meet with anyone who needs assistance with a federal agency during an upcoming Congressional “Day Office.”
“We hold these ‘Day offices’ throughout the district to make it more convenient for citizens who may find it difficult to get to one of my offices,” said Kingston. [Full Story »] 

Chief of Police James Godfrey reports that on June 2 officers from the Baxley Police Department, and the Appling County Sheriff’s Office, assisted agents of the Altamaha Drug Task Force, and the G.B.I., in executing a search warrant at 746 Fair Street. This search is the culmination of several months of under cover investigations, which were conducted by agents of the Altamaha Drug Task Force and the G.B.I. [Full Story »]