Home Tour, Flower Show Kick Off Jubilee Week
Bridging Monticello is kicking off a weeek of activities this Saturday, April 12 leading up to the Jasper Jubilee on Saturday, April 19.
This Saturday the Spring Tour of Homes and the Monticello Garden Club flower show will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tour headquarters is Thomas Persons Hall, 319 College Street, which is also the setting for the flower show.
The tour features five historic homes, one business, on historic school house, and three churches. The flower show features many arrangements of native and non-native flowers, some of which are grown locally and some others.
Then, on Sunday, everyone is invited to a community picnic on the Square. “Bring your picnic basket or favorite take-out,” says Bridging Monticello, and join family and friends for a fun outing.
On Monday, the week-long scavenger hunt begins. Look for clues on the Facebook page by searching for Bridging Monticello GA. Tuesday is a great day to eat out as many local restaurants will over specials. Some can be seen on pages 6 and 7 of this week’s paper. On Thursday, don’t miss the fashion show and headwear contest to be held at 6 p.m. in the Visitors’ Center on the Square. Local people will model outfits from local establishments. Models are old and young, male and female. Then on Friday everyone can enjoy Music Bingo at the Courtyard behind Monticello City Hall. All this leads up to the Jasper Jubilee on Saturday, April 19.
The Jubilee begins with a 5K run at 8 a.m., followed by a flag raising and the national anthem by Grace DeGarmo. The Jubilee showcases local artisans, food, fund raisers, all sorts of activities. It is designed to promote Jasper County, and promises to be lots of fun. Besides the hot-dog eating contest, which is a hoot to watch, there are other interactive acativities like the Apex Officer Virtual Reality Training Simulator being brought by the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.
It’s great fun to see how you react when faced with a lawbreaker. Even those of us who don’t know much about using a gun can get a taste of what its like.
The Apex Officer Virtual Reality Training Simulator is designed to have real world training scenarios. The system is equipped with life like weapons such as duty handgun, rifle, and taser. This system is completely limitless based on the instructors ability to come up with real life in the line of duty scenarios such as deadly force, non- deadly force, de-escalation, traffic stops, building clearing and citizen encounters. The system is operated by the instructor, who narrates the scenarios and reacts to the officer who is training inside the simulator. This gives the officer real time feed back on dealing with high stress situations. The Apex Officer system is also good for the public to use, by putting them in the officer’s shoes and having to make split second decisions in critical moments.
The simulator will be available all day as will most booths and activities. The hot dog eating contest is set for 2 p.m. And, there’s a 50-50 raffle, yoga, water balloons, and so much more. And, who knows, the Easter Bunny may coming hopping along.
