LETTERS / COMMUNITY NEWS
EDITOR’S INBOX
Why don’t our county commissioners
care about the health and welfare of
people in Fannin County?
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14 April a homeowner about 5 miles outside the city limits of Blue Ridge on Aska Road
shot and killed a rabid raccoon.
I moved to Mineral Bluff in ‘98 and I believe that since I moved here there has been
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being attacked by rabid foxes in Morganton.
Two years ago my elderly uncle was attacked in his yard down in Woodstock, Ga. by
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while he was feeding them on his porch. Being in his mid 80’s it was very painful for him
to receive all of the shots he had to take to save his life.
A woman in her mid 30’s that lived over in Flintstone, Ga. in Walker County in N.W.
Ga. was moving and on her last trip was loading her pet cat into her car when it bit her.
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any more about it. A few days later, she started running a high fever and went to a Walk-In
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away a few days later from rabies after not being treated for it because the doctor thought
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Not long after that Walker, Dade & Catoosa Counties along with DNR put out dog
WUHDWVZLWKWKHUDELHVYDFFLQHLQWKHPIURPORZÀ\LQJDLUSODQHVDQGKHOLFRSWHUVDQGWKURZing them out by hand in populated areas of the counties to vaccine the local wildlife from
rabies. After doing so, the numbers of rabid wildlife dropped big time in those counties.
In the Fall of last year (I believe it was in Sept.) just across the Tennessee State Line
in Polk County, Tn. Polk Co. & Tn. DNR did the same thing of putting out bait that had
been treated with the rabies vaccine.
Just like the three counties in N.W. Ga. and in Polk County, their County Commissioners cared about the welfare of the voters--I mean the people of their counties--by putting out the baited treats with the rabies vaccine in them. Not long after the four students
at East Fannin Elementary had to take the rabies shots after playing with a bat on the playground there, which was right after the three counties here in Ga. had put out the treated
bait, I went to our County Commissioner and asked him why Fannin County didn’t do the
same? He told me that he didn’t feel that there was a need to do so here in Fannin County.
I guess that it will take someone’s child dying from rabies in Fannin County before
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Last March I lost two pets when my house burnt down and to both me and my daughWHULWIHOWMXVWOLNHORVLQJWZRIDPLO\PHPEHUVLQWKH¿UH,UHDGZKHUHRQHORFDOZRPDQ
had to suffer through the pain and suffering that she had felt when her husband passed
away after having to put his dog to sleep after it was attacked by a rabid animal. One of
his last words to her on his death bed was to look out for and take care of his dog after his
death. To her that dog kept his memory alive and now, like her husband, his dog is also
gone.
How many family members (pets) across Fannin County have had to be put down
after getting attacked in their own yards by rabid wildlife? How many more will have to
be put down after being attacked by rabid wildlife in their own yards? How many more
people will have to suffer through rabies shots after being attacked in their own yards by
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Co. Tn. and a number of other counties across Georgia did--because they care about the
voters and their children in their counties???
Maybe they should watch the Disney movie Old Yeller again, where at the end the
boy was forced to shoot his hound dawg after it was attacked by a rabid animal. Maybe
they will think about all of the children and their parents that have cried and had their
hearts broken after having to put their family pets down after they were attacked by a
rabid animal while tied up in their own yards.
If our County Commissioners do not care enough about the health and welfare of the
voters and their families here in Fannin County to do anything about it instead of just carLQJDERXWZKRFDQDQGFDQQRWKLUHDQG¿UHFRXQW\HPSOR\HHVWKHQMXVWPD\EHZHVKRXOG
get rid of them and vote in someone new that does care about the people and their pets
here in Fannin County.
Blessed Be to all.
Keevin Prince
Mineral Bluff, Ga.
Thank You for helping make
BINGO night a success!
The Friends of the Fannin County Public Library would like to thank the many people
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Our coveted grand prize, worth over $500, was generously donated by Angela and
Steve Oyer of the Black Sheep Restaurant, and Skeeter Jourdan.
Other lovely prizes were donated by: Blue Ridge Dairy Queen, the Blue Ridge Mountain Arts Association, Elaine and Jim Owen of the Fannin Sentinel, the Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store, the Blue Ridge Mountains Wine & Jazz Festival, Kathy Thompson,
the Humane Society Thrift Store, the Blue Ridge Community Theater, Hidden Treasures
Thrift Shop, the L&L Beanery, the North Georgia Mountain Crisis Network Thrift Store,
Town and Country Furniture, Hope and Greg Killingsworth at Tea Trees Boutique & Spa,
Mercier Orchards, Christine & Cesar Martinez of Blue Ridge Adventure Wear, Serenity
Spa in the Mountains, and the Friends of the Library.
We are so appreciative of these benefactors, without whose generosity our BINGO
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worthy cause, the Friends of the Library members who put much effort into the evening
and the preparations, and last but certainly not least, thank you to everyone who came out
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Sincerely,
Clare Barton, Fannin County Public Library and
The Friends of the Fannin County Public Library
Thursday, April 23, 2015 • FANNIN SENTINEL Page 5A
ESSAY CONTEST
“Why littering is bad for the beauty of
Fannin County and what can we do about it?”
Who can enter?
Elementary School Students, grades 3-5 Middle School Students High School Students
Up to 250 words
Up to 500 words
Up to 1,000 words
Award: $100
Award: $200
Award: $500
Call for Submissions:
1. Only one entry per participant is allowed. Only Fannin County residents are
eligible.
2. If handwritten, must be legible on lined notebook paper; if typed, must use
MS Word, Times New Roman with font size 12.
3. First page upper right corner must contain name, school and grade, phone
number and address.
4. Essays will be judged for content, grammar, and spelling.
5. Deadline is June 30, 2015. All submissions must be postmarked by June 30,
2015. Any entry received after this date will not be considered. Essays should
be sent to Litter Essay Competition, P.O. Box 429, Mineral Bluff, GA 30559.
6. Winners will be notified by mail or phone by Aug. 31, 2015.
7. Winning submissions will be printed in a local Fannin County newspaper.
8. Parents of the winners and the winners will be asked to sign a document
verifying sole authorship of the essay and giving permission to publish.
Questions may be sent via email to toddraque@mindspring.com
Blue Ridge Mountain
Cattlemen win State Honors
The Blue Ridge Mountain
Cattlemen’s Association walked
away with top honors at the
recent Georgia Cattlemen’s
Association State Conference
in Perry, GA. Award-winning
chapter activities this year have
been directed by President Joe
Garner. According to Garner,
“Our members really put their
best foot forward this past year,
worked hard, and achieved
great things working together.”
Members in attendance include
Joe Garner of Blairsville,
Secretary and Treasurer Paula
and Richard Myers of Young
Harris, and producers Brenda
and Benny Brookshire of
Brookshire Farm in Suches.
Brenda, Past President of
the Georgia Cattlewomen’s
Association adds, “Two standards the course reinforces are
the calm, safe handling of cattle.
During the four-day event
the local Association which
serves Union, Towns, Fannin,
Cherokee and Clay counties,
received recognition on numerous levels. The chapter received
the State award for the largest
increase in membership. Chapter
members were presented with a
cattle chute valued at $4500.
The chute will be available for
members’ use. Bobby Lance of
Blairsville’s Wolf Creek Farms
headed up the 2014 membership
drive.
The chapter received other
awards including monetary
awards for “Chapter of the Year”
and “Beef Month Promotion”.
Applications for these awards
were coordinated by member,
Annette Hopgood.
If you are involved in the cattle
industry and would like to join
the local cattlemen’s association,
contact the chapter President
Joe Garner at jgarner@sefcoop.
com. The chapter is affiliated
with the Georgia and National
Cattlemen’s Association and
promotes improved land and
cattle management and cattle
health through its programs and
activities. Such practices are
designed to ultimately improve
the consumer’s beef experience
with a focus on quality, value,
and nutrition.
Left to Right: Benny and Brenda Brookshire; Joe Garner; Richard and Paula Myers.