Features

Reigning citizen of the year Kelly Hughes will serve as grand marshal of the Buggy Days parade Saturday and she and her family will be riding in style. They will traverse the parade route in this stagecoach provided by Dean Ryan of Concord. The stagecoach will be pulled by a team of Percheron draft horses.

The parade will form up in and around Summers Field Park. It gets underway at 2 p.m.

The LC Marching Trojan Band is planning a mattress sale fundraiser for Sunday, Sept. 29 at the old high school gym from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. All forms of payment will be accepted. For more information, call 770-358-8641.

The 46th annual Buggy Days festival is drawing near. The kickoff event, the Miss Buggy Days Pageant, is set for Sept. 14 at the Fine Arts Center. The deadline to register is Sept. 6.

The pageant features multiple age groups and winners get spots in the Buggy Days parade.

The main event weekend kicks off Saturday, Sept. 21 with the annual Buggython Road Race. There are 10K and 5K runs and a two-mile walk on the schedule. The event is sponsored by the LCHS athletic department.

The antique car display will return on Saturday as well and many of the old cars will participate in the parade. [Full Story »] 

The little white building with the triple-gabled roof is something of a throwback in its Stafford Avenue neighborhood.

It is flanked by two seasoned buildings, Guillebeau Hall and the Emmett Coleman House, both of which have been extensively revamped by Gordon State College.

Across the street is the towering Gordon instructional complex. The Women’s Clubhouse spends much of its day humbly sitting in the shadow of Barnesville’s closest thing to a skyscraper.

Both inside and outside, the little building looks much as it did when it was completed in 1929. That is about to change in a big way.
[Full Story »] 

The 46th annual Buggy Days festival is looming on the calendar with its first event, the Miss Buggy Days Pageant, just 12 days away. Contestants are needed in several categories. The pageant will be held Sept. 14 at the Fine Arts Center.

The deadline to register is Sept. 6. For more information, call the chamber office at 770-358-5884.

Also set for Sept. 14 is the Window Decoration Contest downtown. Businesses are encouraged to decorate storefronts in accordance with the 2019 festival theme ‘Official and Genuine’.

The main event weekend kicks off Saturday, Sept. 21 with the annual Buggython Road Race. There are 10K and 5K runs and a two-nile walk on the schedule. The event is sponsored by the LCHS athletic department.

The antique car display will return on Saturday as well and many of the old cars will participate in the parade.

The Buggy Days Parade, one of the longest in Georgia, begins at 2 p.m. The grand marshal will be reigning Citizen of the Year Kelly Hughes. The arts and crafts fair runs all day Saturday and from noon- 5 p.m. on Sunday with an emphasis on true, quality crafters.

The Kids Park will be located in the United Bank parking lot and a $10 wristband is good for all day admission.

The annual street dance, featuring music by the Master Blasters and a fireworks display, will be held Saturday night at the rodeo arena on Roberta Drive. Tickets are $10. Children under age 10 get in free.

For more information on the festival schedule of events, call the chamber office or e-mail [email protected]

The LC Lady Trojans (5-2-1) take on Whitewater tonight at the Gordon State College softball field. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.

THIS GAME WAS CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER.

Southern Rivers Energy will hold its annual membership meeting Saturday at the cooperative headquarters on Hwy. 341 South here. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. with the business meeting commencing at 10 a.m.

On the agenda are a free health fair along with breakfast, information booths, door prizes and gifts. For more information, call 770-358-1383.

The UGA cooperative extension service in pushing pollinator awareness in August with multiple events on tap.

A session on how to participate in the pollinator count will be held at the Milner library Aug. 20 from 3-4 p.m. Admission is free. For information, call 770-358-5163.

A lunch and learn on pollinator plants is set for the Barnesville library Aug. 23 from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Registration is $10. Call 770-358-5163 for more information.

Guided counts associated with the Great Georgia Pollinator Census will be conducted in both Lamar and Upson counties Aug. 24. The Lamar location has yet to be determined.

Qualifying for municipal elections in Barnesville and Milner begins next week. One mayoral and six city council races will be on ballots Nov. 5.

In Barnesville, incumbent mayor Peter Banks and current council members Anne Claxton (ward 1) and Sammie Shropshire (ward 3) must seek reelection. No one has announced intention to challenge any of the three.

Barnesville candidates may qualify at city hall on Aug. 19 from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and Aug. 20-21 from 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

In Milner, the spots occupied by current council members Betty Wilson, Tracey Alford, Fred Stephens and Roger Samples are up for reelection. Alford reportedly resigned Thursday and will not offer for reelection.

Qualifying in Milner will be conducted at city hall Aug. 19-21 from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

By Kay S. Pedrotti

After contentious debate among council members, city of Milner residents and the city administrator, the four council members present at Monday's called meeting could not agree on a request for variance for Tina Martin. A motion by Betty Wilson to approve the variance died for lack of a second.

Martin, 70, who has lived in the same house on Tom Bell Road since she was a teenager, has been approved for a federal Department of Housing and Urban Development loan to replace her debilitated residence with a manufactured home. The variance request was made to allow a roof-pitch of 3-12 instead of 4-12 and to reduce the AR zoning district requirement for her lot. Mrs. Martin now has four family members living with her – her husband died in 2018 – and she left the meeting in tears.
[Full Story »] 

Nurse/manager Sherry Farr (with scissors) prepares to cut the ribbon at the official opening of the new Lamar County health department facility on Academy Drive in Barnesville July 31. A huge crowd was on hand to tour the much-needed new building. The department has long languished in a leaky portion of the old Barnesville Academy building next door.

The annual Buggy Days Beauty Pageant will be held September 14 to kick off the annual Buggy Days Festival. Entries are currently being accepted from contestants.

Applications are available at the chamber office. For more information, call 770.358.5884 or e-mail [email protected]

Donavan's Dream, the food pantry founded by local teen Donavan Sanford, will host Summer Jam Saturday, Aug. 3 at Ritz Park from 3-11 p.m.

Barnesville's own Tinn Man will serve as emcee. Performers include Caleb Anthony, Pearl Bottom Radio, Griffin Rhythm and the Garrett Collins Project. There will be plenty of activities for kids including face painting and a dunk tank. Also on the schedule is a cornhole tournament. Registration is $40 per team.

General admission is $15 or $10 with a canned good donation. VIP tickets are $40 and include special parking and five adult beverages.

For more information, call Jennifer at 770.710.7721 or Dustin at 678.378.6158

A 27-year-old lineman electrocuted July 17 while changing out transformers in the Liberty Hill community had removed his insulated safety gloves before making contact with a live transmission line, according to multiple witnesses. [Full Story »]