Economic growth emerges as top issue at candidate forum

Alexander Goble, left, and his brother Taylor after completing a grueling half-marathon on the Great Wall of China.

By Alexander Goble

“Beijing is like a crucible in which one cannot but be transformed.” An apt description of the city where I've found a second home, attributed to Mao Zedong no less, but the saying works for any foreign city one might live in. I find it a more appropriate description for the Great Wall Marathon, a race that occurs each April, falling on April 15th this year.

The marathon bills itself as "the most beautiful great wall, the most difficult marathon", running through a mountainous area 125 kilometers Northeast of Beijing called JinShanLing. If my Chinese was right (it's often wrong) I heard that there were about 1,300 runners this year from all around the world. We all stood near the starting line waiting for the "game" (as the Chinese translate it) to start and watched with amusement as the government representatives gave stuffy announcements for almost 10 minutes following a

        An enthusiastic crowd of mountain bikers, hikers, trail runners, bee keepers, birders and outdoor lovers were on hand to officially dedicate the first trails at the Talking Rock Nature Preserve Saturday.

The increasingly-popular mountain bike trails in the Talking Rock Nature Preserve were officially dedicated Saturday with a ceremony on a day that also featured guided hikes and demo bikes.

Jon’s Trail was named in honor of local cyclist Jon Hudgens who died last year; another section of trails was named Nitro North and Nitro South to recognize Ken “Nitro” Nix who led the trail-building work.

The event Saturday was a dedication of the trails, but not a ribbon cutting said Bill Jones, the executive director of Southeastern Trust for Parks and Land. Jones said there are still quite a few options being explored for the 211-acre tract on Carns Mill Road, across Highway 515 from Biguns Barbecue.

The updated final draft of the plan is now available at the county's website.

The long in the works comprehenisve plan update has produced a first draft copy of the work, that was sent to those who had attended stakeholder meetings for the update of county plans.

The draft of the comprehensive plan compiled by the state is a starting point, said county planning director Richard Osborne. Osborne cautioned there are quite a few areas where it is important to remember this is still in rough draft form. He said there was some copy/paste by the state that will be fine-tuned on several points to reflect accurately the status quo of Pickens County.

Please review the earlier attached draft comprehensive plan which includes the 2013-17 list of accomplishments and 2018-22 community work programs for each jurisdiction. If you would like to review a hard copy, come see me in the county admin building at 1266 E. Church St or call me 706-253-8852 and I’ll be glad to print out a copy for you.

By Max Caylor

Rotary member

“We are excited to announce the opening of The Rotary Children’s Music Park at Roper Park behind the Boys & Girls Club,” said Music Park Chair Kay Lawrence. The ceremony will take place on Wednesday May 30th at noon.

The Rotary Music park will be a unique outdoor attraction for children of all ages and levels to promote their musical talents and help them have fun.  All of the instruments will have concrete bases and sidewalks for being handicapped accessible.                       

Patricia Jones of Teacher Support Force, observed that the ease of playing Freenotes instruments: “Without question the best resource I have ever seen for nurturing the musician in every child are Harmony Park outdoor instruments and playgrounds by Freenotes.”