40th Annual Deer Festival Is Success

The 40th annual Deer Festival brought many visitors to Monticello Saturday, and a fun time was had by all, according to reports. Festivities began with a fun run at 7:30 a.m. before the Deer Dash at 8 a.m., and then the day-long festivities on the Square.

Photos from Saturday can be seen on Page 16 of today’s print edition. The RVI students from Jasper County High School won the Deer Stand Derby for the second year in a row, beating out the fire dogs. They are looking for new competition next year, so start planning now on how to beat them.

Gleybis Carrera was named Deer Festival Queen.

Rick Johnson of Forsyth won the award for biggest rack with his 15-pointer. Scott Austin of Lawrenceville killed the heaviest deer that was killed in Jasper this year, with his buck weighing in at 210 pounds. Ten-year-old Conner Pool of Charlotte, N.C. was the youngest successful hunter, having killed two deer in Jasper County on opening day.

In the Kiwanis Club Venison Cook-Off Jimmy Mudd took first in the barbecue class, and Rusty Bullard was second. Morgan Caldwell took first with her burrito casserole and Jimmy Mudd took second with his shish-kabobs in the open class. Joseph Caldwell took first in the chili class.

The Kiwanis expressed their thanks to the Chamber of Commerce, the cooks, the volunteers, and the owners of the parking lot next to The News office for making this year’s cook-off a success.

Deer dash winners are listed on page 13, and can be found online at coolrunning.com and www.runningintheusa.com.