A Look Back at 2003

It’s that time again—the turkey has been baked, the gifts have been unwrapped and we now turn our attentions to preparing for the new year.

Looking forward to tomorrow, January 1, 2004 it’s only fitting that we say farewell to ’03.

Nationally we weren’t short for news this year. If it wasn’t the war on terrorism stories, child molestation and abuses dominated the mainstream media from television to the internet.

From the rampant searches for the now captured Saddam Hussein and still ellusive Osama Bin Laden to the mounting allegations against the Catholic priests and Michael Jackson, the world was not short for news.

It’s always amazing what actually makes the headlines. Often times it happens to be whatever the media outlets deem it should be. And sometimes it turns out to be the reporter—remember the Jayson Blair scandal.

Local news is not so random, it tends to be whatever the town folk are gossiping about. Though gossip is not always fit for print it usually has a tinge of truth somewhere in the mix.

What do you remember most about Monticello in 2003? Let’s run the down the list of what made local headlines in The News and see if your lists compare.

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JANUARY
•Johnny Myrick of Shady Dale had a memorable year making it to his 100th birthday.
•The courthouse addition was completed with many departments relocating to their new offices. Renovations began on the original structure.

•Holsey Tinsley was named Citizen of the Year.
•Russell Bennett and Carl Pennamon were named chairman and vice chairman of the county commission.
•Roger Bell was named District Supervisor of the Year by the Georgia Association of Conservation District Supervisors.

•The Lady Hurricanes brought home top honors from the Bank of Gray Christmas basketball tournament in Jones County.
•Odell Thurman returns to the University of Georgia after receiving Most Valuable Player honors as a Georgia Military College Bulldog in the division championship.

FEBRUARY

•Former Sheriff Deputy Johnnie Keller Malone was laid to rest. He served the sheriff’s department for 30 years.

•Jasper County Primary School principal Cheryl Strozier announced her resignation after 21 years with the local school system. She is currently an administrator in Henry County.

•The Lady Cougars and Lady Hurricanes head to state play-offs. The Lady ‘Canes also won the region title.
•Hollywood actress Shirley Jones led storytime at the Jasper County Library.

•Two assessors were removed from the Tax Assessors board before the entire board was dismantled.
•Jasper County High School athletic director Steve Patterson resigns.
•Marvin Gude, a former Jasper County Board of Education member, was laid to rest.

MARCH

•Money from the United States Department of Agriculture came in abundance to two county organizations. The Jasper County Water & Sewer Authority received a multi-million dollar loan/grant for the County Line Road project and and the City Council received monies for a parking lot.

•A new tax assessors board was put in place.
•The Tussahaw Creek Reservoir is halted by the Corp of Engineers.

APRIL

•Ann James retires from the McIntosh State Bank after 32 years.
•Sheriff Charles Roper begins a series of town hall meetings.
•Shady Dale city council votes to demolish the Banks-Kelly Building.
•Piedmont Academy students spend spring break in Costa Rica.
•Doug Huff named Jasper County High School athletic director.
•Family rescued from sinking vehicle in Jackson Lake.
•Diamond Cougars head to state baseball play-offs.
•Jasper County is listed as one of the fastest growing counties in Georgia.

MAY

•McIntosh State Bank named Janell Wild as 2002 employee of the year.
•Jasper Memorial Hospital scores high on the patient satisfaction survey.
•Rudolph Clements retires from the City of Monticello street department after 36 years.
•Betty Jean Jordan is featured in the “Taste of Home” magazine.

•The Get Ahead House/Multipurpose Center opens.
•Brandy Thomas, 14, receives a liver transplant.
•Charlie Elliott water project begins.
•Jasper County Humane Society holds its first rabies clinic as a non-profit organization in addition to adopting out more than 200 pets.
•Relay For Life raises $46,000 for American Cancer Society.

JUNE

•Jasper County Primary School teacher Mary Ann Gordan retired after 30 years teaching locally.
•Ted Goolsby retires from the City of Monticello after 17 years.
•Missy Hopper is named 2003 Teacher of the Year.
•Brack Bohannon is hired as chief appraiser.
•Susan Holmes becomes Georgia Municipal Association president.
•The Sheriff department offers ladies firearm training.
•Supreme Wings opens.

JULY

•Jasper Memorial Hospital renovations begin.
•Tennis courts are resurfaced with funding achieved through the Heartland Tennis Association.
•Georgia Pacific of Monticello cuts 40 jobs.
•City of Monticello has cash shortfall.
•Dell Massey enters the Atlanta CowParade.
•Lisa Cunard and sons Max and Owen are killed in an accident during a rainstorm.
•Robert Jordan named Engineer of the year by Georgia Society of Professional Engineers.
•Forest Glen subdivision phase II opens.
•Overseer Rosa Braswell dies.

AUGUST
•Adam McGinnis announces he will leave his post on the City Council.
•Olive Tree Gallery opens.
•Bill’s Dollar Store announces the close of the local store.
•Monticello Mail & More changes ownership when Otis and Barbara Clark purchase the business from Susan Kent.
•Longtime city councilman Eddie Braswell dies.
•Shady Dale prepares to get a new well.
•The Sign Shop opens on the Square.

SEPTEMBER

•Sandra Carter makes an appearance in the movie “The Fighting Temptations” starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Beyonce Knowles.
•Plane crashes in northern Jasper County killing one man.
•Jasper County High School gets a new softball field.
•JMH gets a CT scanner.
•Griffin Tech’s first class of CDL drivers graduate.
•Old sewing room parking lot is repaved.

OCTOBER

•Odell Thurman makes his debut as the starting middle linebacker for the Georgia Bulldogs.
•Theresa Urbano announces that she will run for a seat on the county commission.
•Former St. James Church minister J.C. Reynolds is murdered in an Atlanta church.

•The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation hosted a Fall Ramble which toured many local historic buildings.
•Alleged child molester is located in Costa Rica after a year as a fugitive.
•Retired HOPE Scholarship director Glenn Newsome is named to city council.

•Tax assessors board award a revaluation contract for the second time this year.
•Zoning issues for Hwy. 11 and Perimeter Road residents heat up.

NOVEMBER

•New figures for the millage rate produces a 20 percent property tax increase for county residents for the next year.
•Rosa Dunn, 104, dies.
•Misplaced county funds are found under the courthouse steps.
•Hospital administrator Curt Roberts takes another job.
•Ivey Rogers is named Deer Festival Queen and Halley Tyler named Little Miss Fawn during the annual Deer Festival.

DECEMBER

•Domestic call to the sheriff department leads to one injury and one death.
•The courthouse front entry doors are re-opened after renovations completed.
•Three fugitives captured and taken into local custody.
•Flu outbreak is rampant.
•Jasper County’s role in the Bear Creek Reservoir project with Newton County is questioned by the public.
•Former mayor and barber Eddie Ray Tyler retires after 25 years as a bus driver.

Sports
•Hurricane Reggie Goolsby accepts football scholarship to Furman University.
•Lady Cougars April Young and Haley Binowski earn title of the state doubles duo.
•Cougar Blake Thomas accepts a baseball scholarship to Atlanta Christian College.
•Lady Hurricane Traci Glawson accepts a scholarship to the University of Charlotte.
•Odell Thurman has a big year as a Bulldog as he preps to make his first appearance in a college bowl game.
Academics
•Davey Thompson and Rachel Dudley were named Star Students; Johnny Smith and Chip Fletcher named Star Teachers.

What Went Up
•Property taxes by 20 percent.

Alas another 365 days have come and gone. Jasper County gained new faces along the way while losing several familiar ones. Good, bad, or indifferent let the years’ memories be a light for the future.