Global pandemic hits locally, celebrity visits and changes to local government
As 2020 comes to an end, the Calhoun Times is looking back at the top stories of the year. The global pandemic dominated headlines with its impact on local schools, businesses and the community, as did stories about this year’s historic presidential election, visits from celebrity guests, new health center openings and personnel changes in our local government.
In a year that has been decidedly difficult on just about everyone, our top stories have also included heartwarming tales of local residents doing their best to support our healthcare community through one of the most difficult challenges they have ever faced.
What follows are the top 10 news stories of the year, arranged in chronological order:
Walmart, local government and business officials, as well as a crowd of residents eager to catch a glimpse of actor Mark Wahlberg, crowded the parking lot in front of the newly opened Walmart Health Center on Wednesday, Jan. 29, for a grand opening and ribbon cutting celebration. The Cal
houn location was only the second Walmart clinic to open and offers primary and urgent care services, dental care, counseling, optometry, hearing services and health and wellness classes.
During his visit, Wahlberg announced his foundation would be working with Walmart to address the country’s opioid crisis. Susan G. Komen President and CEO Paula Schneider said Walmart would be partnering with the breast cancer foundation to meet women’s health needs through expanded access to care, including mammogram screenings, education and support services for underserved and at-risk patients in Georgia.
The normal operating hours for the Walmart
Health Clinic are MondaySaturday from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Appointments can be made at walmarthealth.com.
Swink departs
Calhoun Board of Education
The Calhoun City Schools Board of Education said goodbye to now- retired board member and former board secretary Tony Swink in late January, thanking him for his 15 years of service and dedication to the school system. In his time with the board, Swink worked alongside three superintendents and 12 different board members.
“If I’ve made — if I helped make — your jobs just a little bit better, it’s been
worth it,” said Swink, who noted that the real “superheroes” of any school system are its teachers, coaches, administrators and the people on the front lines working with students every day.
The board also recognized its staff members of the year in January, Shakira Balliew and Robyn Greeson.
Balliew was praised for her work as “the face” of the complex and for always being there to make an impact on visitors and hold down the fort. Greeson was recognized by Calhoun Middle School Principal Casey Parker, who thanked her for her kindness, organization and ability to problem solve with a smile.
Walmart Health Center opens with visit from Mark
Wahlberg
In late January, the Calhoun City Council voted unanimously to suspend former City Administrator Eddie Peterson for 30 days without pay after he was arrested by local police and charged with DUI on Saturday, Jan. 18. At the same meeting, the council named then-Assistant City Administrator Paul Worley to act as city administrator for the duration of Peterson’s suspension.
Peterson, who had worked for the city for 19 years, resigned from the position of city administrator on Feb. 5, at which time Worley was unanimously chosen by the council to fill the position.
County emergency management confirms first local case of
COVID-19
Calhoun’s Mask Angels donate more than 2,500 masks to
fight COVID-19
Gordon County Emergency Management announced the first confirmed local case of COVID-19 on March 12 after a Georgia Department of Public Health map listed one case in the county on its website earlier in the day. By the end of March, Gordon County and the City of Calhoun were in local states of emergency with restaurants, businesses and schools closed in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. The first local death related to the coronavirus pandemic occurred on March 25.
Calhoun and Gordon
County Schools close through Friday,
March 27
In consideration of Gov. Brian Kemp’s executive order issued on March 16, as well as guidance from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention for slowing the spread of COVID- 19, Calhoun City and Gordon County Schools proactively closed school campuses for all students for a two week period, from March 16-27. All school field trips and special events until April 13 were also canceled or postponed during the closure, as were all athletic practices and games. It was later announced that schools would remain closed through April 10, which included the already-scheduled spring break holiday. All field trips for the remainder of the year were canceled at the time of the extension.
These closures marked the first for local schools but were far from the last. On April 1, Gov. Kemp ordered that all schools in the state should remain closed for in- person instruction through the remainder of the school year. Both systems shut their doors in compliance with the order, instead opting for online and digital learning options that could be done from home.
A group of 19 women from across Calhoun and Gordon County came together in mid-March to start sewing protective face masks for the elderly and ill. Dubbed the Mask Angels, the women went on to provide more than 2,500 free face masks to healthcare workers, the elderly, school employees, families and business leaders in the community.
Marsha McDaniel and her daughter, Etta, the two women responsible for putting the group together in its earliest days, said the group started out small and snowballed into something much bigger and more beautiful than they ever imagined.
Potts unseats Sexton
on county commission; Fox takes
school board seat
Republican voters elected Ronald Bruce Potts Jr.
to represent the party in the fall contest for the District 3 seat over incumbent Norris Sexton on Tuesday, June 9. Potts earned 4,217 of a possible 8,528 votes in the primary. No Democratic challengers would be on the ballot in November. Christie Owens Fox also won the Republican primary for the Gordon County Board of Education in June with 3,586 of a possible 6,730 votes.
Incumbent Bobby E. Hall held on to the Post 4 school board seat. Incumbent coroner James Carver also defended his position, earning 5,287 of the 8,528 votes cast. Neither would face challengers in November. In the U.S. House District 14 race, Marjorie Taylor Greene won Gordon County with 3,423 votes, besting second- place finisher John Cowan’s 2,201.
Protesters say they stand up for, demand
equality
Protesters led by 19-yearold organizer Dylan McKen
Voter interest higher than ever in November
general election
More voters than ever before have turned out for the November general election. Shea Hicks, chairperson of the Gordon County Board of Elections and Voter Registration Office, said records were set with early voting, voter registration and absentee voting. The trend has continued through early voting for the Jan. 5 runoff election.