April 2012
In April, the Cherokee County Commission approved Cherokee County Sewage Disposal Ordinance 2012-02. Following some tiem of planning, discussion and debate, the Commission adopted the ordinance to help keep the waters of Weiss Lake clean and healthy for citizens and visitors.
Each commissioner was polled individually and each one voted “Yes” to adopt the ordinance.
The Town of Cedar Bluff, in April, accepted the resignation of Shane Woodham as Cedar Bluff Fire Chief and appointed Jeremy Stepps as acting fire chief until the town found a replacement. The council also passed an ordinance prohibiting discharge of firearms within the city limits of within 1,000 feet of any structure designated for human occupancy.
The ordinance excludes police officers, military and national guard personnel within the scope of their duties and the use of a firearm for self defense,.
The city of Centre recorded $1.7 million in building projects for the first quarter of 2012, including $720,000 in commercial building permits, $1,028,650 in residential permits and $52 in sign permits.
After months of preparation and anticipation, the Centre Goody’s store officially opened its doors in April. Lines began forming early as some 350 to 400 people came out to shop and see the new location in the Cherokee Plaza for themselves.
“We have been working on this for a while,” said Cindy Owens, manager, Goody’s of Centre.
“We have been feeling the excitement and the support of this community, not just for today, but we want to be your number one store to come shop.”
The Cherokee County Board of Education, in April, rejected Gaylesville Principal Scott Hays’ recommendation of Brett Keasler as his assistant principal by a vote of 3-2. Board Member Dewandee Neyman and Lisa McKissick voted for Keasler’s hiring while Board Members Don Stowe, Lyn Rochester and Mark Gossett voted against it.
The Cherokee County Commission in April paid tribute to local corrections officers. During its April 23rd meeting, the commission adopted a resolution naming April 20-May 2, 2012 as Cherokee County Correctional Office Week in Cherokee for “outstanding achievement and dedicated service of these correction officers abd correction officers’ supervisors of the county.
Andrew Jones, who live in Sand Rock, Ala., was featured in April as the Secondary Alabama Teacher of the Year representing Cherokee County and also the county’s nominee for Jacksonville State University Teacher Hall of Fame in the secondary division.
Jones received a BS in Secondary Education from Jacksonville State University and then a Master’s and Education Specialist degree from the University of Alabama.
Jones has been a high school Science teacher at Sand Rock School since 2000.
May 2012
Following a three-year hiatus, Cherokee county got its “Taste” back in early May as more than 200 local citizens and more than 20 restaurants gathered for the 28th Taste of Cherokee 2012 held at the ROC of Centre.
The event, sponsored by The Spirit of Cherokee, Inc. is held to raise funds for the Avenue of Flags, a salute to local deceased veterans, which are display several holidays throughout the year on 411 medians between Centre and Leesburg.
For one ticket price, attendees have the opportunity to try delicacies from several local restaurants including desserts.
A Blount County Springs author was another one of the latest to brave the 631-mile Alabama Scenic River Trail. David Haynes, accompanied by his two Golden Retrivers, Bailey and Roscoe, canoed into Bay Springs Motel late Tuesday afternoon, May 1, after completing the first leg of his journey.
Sandi Wheeling, a second grade teacher at Gaylesville School, was featured as Cherokee County’s nominee for Alabama Teacher of the Year in the Elementary Division.
Wheeling graduated with honors from Jacksonville State University in April of 2006 and began her teaching career at Gaylesville School as a Pre=K teacher that year. Presently, she is teach second grade but also taught third grade.
A local citizen asked the Cherokee County Board of Education in May to “do the right thing” by a group of teachers in the Cherokee County School System who had their pay reduced by about 10 percent this past year because of budgetary constraints.
During the Thursday, May 3 meeting of the board, Jerry Baker called upon the board during the public comment period to restore the pay which was initially supposed to be a temporary measure.
At the May 8, 2012 meeting of the Cedar Bluff Town Council, Bobbie Joe Stinson was named Cedar Bluff Fire Chief.
The council went into a 17-minute executive session in which to protect the good name and character of a town employee. Upon returning to reguar session the council unanimously approved stinson as fire chief.
The Town of Cedar Bluff was set to receive the Silver Risk Management Award at the 2012 Annual Convention of the Alabama League of Municipalities in Birmingham Monday, May 21.
Approximately 730 public entities participate in one or both of the Alabama League of Municipalities (ALM) sponsored insurance programs which are the Municipal Workers Compensation Fund (MWCF) and the Alabama Municipal Insurance Corporation (AMIC).
Roy Moore, a candidate for Supreme Court Justice of Alabama who rose to fame for his stand on the Ten Commandments, shared his views during a meeting of the Cherokee County Tea Pary held at the Dean Buttram Senior Center in Centre.
“When I consider the Tea Party, this is not Democrat, this is not Republican,” said Moore. “This is America and we could lose everything we’ve got. It is astounding how many young people don’t get it, but a lot of older people don’t get it either.”
Dr. Thomas Leach, a local physician, passed away in May at the age of 50.
“Dr. Tom,” as he was affectonately known through the years, was a native of Harlingen, Texas, the son of Barbara and Thomas Terrance Leacham Sr.
Team Cherokee, which competed in the 2011 FIRST LEGO League World Festival Robotics Competition in St. Louis, was featured in May. The team won third place in Innovative Solutions out of 76 teams worldwide for their shell egg pallet chilling canopy invention.
The 76 teams who competed in St. Louis earned the right to compete as the top one percent by winning district, state and national qualifiers from an international pool of 16,000 FFL teams.
With shovels, sod, weedeaters and other materials in hand, a huge number of local volunteers gathered recently for a long-awaited Cherokee County Courthouse Courtyard renovation project.
The three-day-plus project was a joint effort of the Cherokee Rose Garden Club, Centre Wal-Mart, inmates from the Cherokee County Detention Center and the Cherokee County Commission.
John Holbrook with the Cherokee Rose Garden Club said the project involved removing virtually all the existing overgrown plants and shrubbery and replacing it to make the Cherokee County Courthouse more visible.
The Cherokee County Board of Education took some time in May to honor those who go “well-beyond” the 40-hour work week, the teachers in our local classrooms. The Annual 2012 Teacher Recognition Banquet was held in the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce headquarters on the campus of Gadsden State Community College-Cherokee.
Like other school systems across the state, the Cherokee County School System had to go back to the drawing board on its proposed School Calendar for 2012-2013 to comply with the Flexible School Calendar Act, approved by the Alabama Legislature that mandated that the first day of school for students is Aug. 20 and the final day is May 24.
In April of 2012 Teri Sweezy began a cross country walk to raise awareness and funds for aging Americans and their caregivers. She started in North Carolina and arrived in Cherokee County in May where she spent the night at Bay Springs Motel before continuing on.
Sweezey’s campaign was labeled SOAR (Seniors Obtaining Assistance and Resources. She established a website, walkusa4-soar.org.
The Cherokee County Commission, in May, approved using federal funds for repairs on Cherokee County Road 15 and Cherokee County Road 22.
Don Fisher, chairman, Third District Republican Executive Committee, addressed the Spring Dutch Treat Dinner sponsored by the Cherokee County Republican Party and Cherokee County Republican Women held at First Southern State Bank in Centre. He urged Republican not to take anything for granted in the upcoming election cycle.
June 2012
The Centre City Council Chambers of Centre City Hall was the setting for the 2012 Installation of District 13 American Legion officers. And Outgoing Commander David Hartline also recognized District 13 for well exceeding membership goals over the past year.
Steve Shaver of Post 114 was elected as commander; Luke Christian, senior vice commander; Robert Shumaker of Post 30, junior vice commander; David Hartline of Post 62, DEC; Janet Carson of Post 114, adjutant; Wendell Rakestraw of Post 62, chaplain; John Edmunds of Post 30, sergeant at arms; Bobby Harless of Post 30, judge advocate; Daniel Kovacs of Post 62, Cherokee County Commander; Bernie Arnold of Post 30, Jackson County Commander; R.J. Jukes of Post 8, Marshall County commander; Rebecca Wood of Post 8, finance committee chairperson; David Cook of Post 30, two-year committee member; Donald Tucker of Post 62, three-year committee member and Luke Christian as four-year committee member.
The Cherokee County Relay For Life in June raise more than $55,000 for cancer research with funds continuing to come in.
For years, the Cherokee County Relay For Life Committee sold luminiaries in honor and in memory of those who have battled cancer. A few years ago they added torches and this year family members and loved ones released sky lanterns and held a moment of silence as they floated upward and faded away into tht night.
In June, a dream became reality for the generations that cruised The Big E parking lot after months of talking to city hall, vendors and volunteers. The Centre City Park was the setting for the Big E Parking Lot Cruisin Reunion!
Alan Amos opened the festivities at 10 a.m. on a June Saturday by welcoming all cruisers and telling the crowd the reason why the event had happened. “Big E Cruizin’’4 Charity” raised money for the Children’s Advocacy Center.
It was also good news for Cherokee Medical Center in June when the Joint Commission began a routine, unannounced audit of the local hospital with more than 1,200 measures of performance in the Medicare Conditions of Participation, said Cherokee Medical Center CEO Patrick Trammell.
“I am thrilled to say that we completed the three-day survey with flawless clinical resuls (that is NO negative comment or findings from the surveyors),” said Trammell. “This is very rare for a full-service hospital and it is a testament to the dedication and performance of our organization related to the patient experience, patient safety and superior clinical outcomes.”
The Centre City Council approved the sale of draft beer and malt beverages within the city limits in June.
The council approved the sale during its Tuesday, June 12 meeting after the Alabama Legislature approved House Bill 557, authorizing the sale of draft or keg beer or malt beverages by properly licensed retail licenses of the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, as presented by Cherokee County Representative to the Alabama Legilature Richard Lindsey which was approved and signed by Gov. Robert Bentley this past April.
The Carpenters for Christ returned from their annual mission trip with work being done in this area at New Life Ministries in Ider, Ala.
The workers from six states arrive to begin construction of the interior walls, partitions, stage with baptistery, electrical, plumbing and insulation inside an 80 by 100 foot metal building.
The congregation had outgrown the facilities that they had been renting to worship in.
During the week the largest number of volunteers was 126, representing 23 churches, four denominations from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, Texas and Missouri.
For the third year in a row, families with Rhizomelic Chondrodysplasia Punctata (RCDP) descending on Chesnut Bay Resort in Leesburg. RCDP is a rare, genetic form of dwarfism that causes an array of health problems for the affected children, among them are cataracts, shortness of the proximal bones, feeding complications and some have heart issues as a result of the diagnosis. Perhaps the most devastating of all the RCDP related issues is the short life expectancy for these children for which there is no cure and no treatment.
In 2007 when two boys were born with RCDP in Birmingham just five weeks apart, the two families decided to combine forces and help find a cure. Ian Ellis from Centre and Jackson Thomas from Sylacauga were the only two children in Alabama with thid particular form of dwarfism. Months later, moms Mary Ellis and Tracey Thomas, formed RhizoKids International, a 501( c )(3) charitable organization dedicated to raising money to help find a treatment or cure for their children and other affected children.
In conjunction with the conference in Leesburg, associates from the Honda plant of Lincoln joined parents and children at the Annual Rhizo Kids Conference as part of their community service projects by preparing meals for the healthy siblings of parents and families while children with RCDP and their parents attended conferences with doctors and other professionals.
COMING in the Jan. 16 issue of the Herald: June 2012 continued, and more highlights from 2012.
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