the News April 11, 2015 Volume 6, Issue 52

rockdalenews.com Serving Rockdale County and Conyers

NEWSApril 11, 2015 Volume 6, Issue 52 $1the THE MASTER’S LIFE:

See Page 3

submitted photo/The Rockdale News

SUPERHUMANCovington athlete Michael Mills loves challenges

that some may think impossible for a man who is paralyzed below the waist. He’s already known local-ly for competing in extreme obstacle-course races. Now he wants to set a new Guinness World Record by pulling a 5,000-pound SUV the distance of a foot-ball field—while in his wheelchair.

Mills has been practicing for the April 18 feat in a Rockdale County parking lot, among other places. He tells the News that he not only got Guinness to give him a shot—he actually convinced them to create the “heaviest SUV pulled by a wheelchair” category itself.

“I don’t take no for an answer. I always find a way,” Mills said, explaining that Guinness at first declined because it had no solo wheelchair records. “I said, ‘You make the rule, I’ll prove you wrong.’”

Mills, 38, will attempt the truck-pulling record at the Festivus Games—an amateur sports competition—at CrossFit Etowah in Woodstock. Just as important to Mills, a husband and father of three, is that the feat doubles as a fundraiser for Bert’s Big Adventure, which provides Disney World trips to children with chronic or terminal illnesses.

When Mills was paralyzed, the town he’s from helped raise money for his mom and dad so they could keep their home. Mills says he would’ve been in a nursing home if it weren’t for them. Their kindness generated something within Mills and he’s always tried to find something to give back to ever since. He found a solu-tion in Bert’s Big Adventure.

“I can’t imagine for the life of me what it would be like if one of my kids were sick or not well and how

Wheelchair athlete attempts world-record truck pull for charity

By John Ruch & Shakeem Holloway

[email protected]

See MILLS on PAGE 14

Behind the scenes at Augusta

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The News2 • Saturday, April 11, 2015

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the NEWS News BriefsHands Across Rockdale day of service, April 18

Gregory B. Levett and Sons Funeral Homes and Crematory, Inc.

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South DeKalb Chapel4247 Flat Shoals Pkwy. • Decatur, GA 30034

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“A FAMiLy sERViNg FAMiLiEs wORLdwidE”

It’s all hands on deck as Hands Across Rockdale gears up for its fourth annual day of community service, April 18, 8 a.m. - noon.

Hands Across Rockdale will bring more than 200 volunteers together April 18 to create, em-power, and ignite passion for volunteerism on over 12 key projects.

Volunteers are encouraged to sign up online at www.hand-sacrossrockdale.org. Volunteers registered early will receive a team T-shirt and enjoy lunch af-ter the event. The day begins at 8 a.m. until noon.

Some volunteer teams include Heritage High School football team, Conyers and Rockdale Rotary Clubs, businesses and more. Leadership Rockdale’s Class of 2015 will be partici-

pating as a team as well in HAR with a legacy project at Rock-dale Head Start.

Volunteers are asked to sign up for these projects to impact our schools, seniors, and communi-ty. “We still need help as we con-tinue to help others and inspire Rockdale to be its very best,” said organizer JaNice Van Ness.

Hands Across Rockdale has motivated corporate, civic and political leaders from every sec-tor in our community. Corporate partners have previously includ-ed Snapping Shoals EMC, Geor-gia Power, Bank of North Geor-gia, BB&T, Evans Tool & Die, Pratt Industries and many more. All proceeds will go towards the cost of project supplies.

For additional information, call or email Committee Co-chairs Thua Barlay at 770-602-9924 or JaNice Van Ness at 770-356-7301.

By Michelle [email protected]

Rockdale Board of Comissioners Tuesday, April 14, 10 a.m., 901 Main Street

Meeting Place

The Rockdale County Board of Commissioners proclaimed March 17, 2015, as Rotary Day in Rockdale at the BOC meeting. The Conyers City Council proclaimed March 18, 2015, as Rotary Day in the City of Conyers at the City Council meeting. In addition, the Rotary clubs of Conyers and Rockdale County participated in the World’s Fastest Growing Saint Patrick’s Day festivities in Olde Town Conyers on March 17 to highlight the good works that the clubs are doing in the Conyers-Rockdale Community. The clubs’ projects include Empty Stocking Fund, Hands Across Rockdale, Handicap Wheelchair Ramps, Light House Village Garden, Read Across America, Read for the Record, and Salvation Bell Ringing. Rotary, a global network of more than 1.2 million community volunteers, is one of the largest and most influential international humanitarian service organiza-tions worldwide. Rotary members, as volunteers, conduct projects to address today’s humanitarian challenges, including illiteracy, disease, hunger, poverty, lack of clean water, and environmental concerns while encouraging high standards in all vocations.

Submitted/The Rockdale News

The News Saturday, April 11, 2015 • 3

To register call Conyers Rockdale Council for the Arts at770-922-3143 • www.conyersarts.org

MUSICAL DRAMA CAMP

Be a Triple Threat!ACTING • SINGING • DANCING

2015 SESSIONJuly 13-24 • 9 am-1 pm

Classes held at the Rockdale Auditorium

Learn musical theater and fi nish the week with a performance at The Rockdale Auditorium!

Everyone will receive training in singing, acting and dance!

TUITION $150 FOR ENTIRE TWO WEEKS!

242071-1

Saturday, June 27, 2015 Time: 8am Fun Run 8:30am 5K/WalK Location: Conyers Olde Town Pavilion

949 South Main St ~Conyers, GA $25 Per Person until June 19, 2015, $35 afterward and race day

Bring a bag of kitty litter or dog food and get $10 off race day registration. Medals for all under 14. Medals for top 3 Male & Female in age groups (15-19,20-24,25-29, etc.)

For more information email [email protected] or 770.787.3763

Proceeds will Benefit Rockdale & Newton Animal Control

Participants Name___________________________________________________ Address_____________________ City ____________ State______ Zip________ Gender______ Date of Birth____________ Age _______ Phone _______________ Email___________________________ T- shirt size: S M L XL XXL Sponsorship Opportunity Terrier Level $50 Name on Back of Race Shirt WAIVER RELEASE I hereby certify the following: I am physically fit and have received medical clearance to participate in the Pounding for Paws 5K Run/Walk, Saturday, June 27, 2015. If I do participate, I, on behalf of myself, my heirs and assigns, and my estate, hereby waive and forever discharge the sponsors, organizers, affiliates, as well as their agents and employees, from any and all claims that may occur as a result of my participation.

Signature_________________________________________Date_____________ If under 18, Parent or Guardian Signature Revised 1.29.15 efma

There will be pets up for adoption at the event!

Make check payable to: EMBOR Box 1143

Covington,GA 30015

Pets brought must be well behaved, vaccinated and on a leash. Please clean up after your pet.

Saturday, June 27, 2015 Time: 8am Fun Run, 8:30am 5K/WalK Location: Conyers Olde Town Pavilion

949 South Main St ~ Conyers, GA $25 Per Person until June 19, 2015, $35 afterward and race day

Bring a bag of kitty litter or dog food and get $10 off race day registration. Medals for all under 14. Medals for top 3 Male & Female in

age groups (15-19,20-24,25-29, etc.)

For more information email [email protected] or 770.787.3763 Proceeds will Benefit Rockdale & Newton Animal Control

Make check payable to: EMBOR Box 1143 Covington,GA 30015 Pets brought must be

well behaved, vaccinated and on a leash. Please clean up after your pet.

There will be pets up for adoption at

the event!

Participants Name_______________________________________________

Address_____________________ City ______________State_____

Zip________ Gender______ Date of Birth____________

Age _______ Phone _______________

Email__________________________ T- shirt size: S M L XL XXL

Sponsorship Opportunity a Terrier Level $50 Name on Back of Race Shirt WAIVER RELEASEI hereby certify the following: I am physically fit and have received medical clearance to participate in the Pounding for Paws 5K Run/Walk, Saturday, June 27, 2015. If I do participate, I, on behalf of myself, my heirs and assigns, and my estate, hereby waive and forever discharge the sponsors, organizers, affiliates, as well as their agents and employ-ees, from any and all claims that may occur as a result of my participation.

Signature___________________________________________ Date___________ If under 18, Parent or Guardian Signature

East Metro Board of REALTORS®Pounding for Paws 5k Run/Walk

Saturday, June 27, 2015 Time: 8am Fun Run 8:30am 5K/WalK Location: Conyers Olde Town Pavilion

949 South Main St ~Conyers, GA $25 Per Person until June 19, 2015, $35 afterward and race day

Bring a bag of kitty litter or dog food and get $10 off race day registration. Medals for all under 14. Medals for top 3 Male & Female in age groups (15-19,20-24,25-29, etc.)

For more information email [email protected] or 770.787.3763

Proceeds will Benefit Rockdale & Newton Animal Control

Participants Name___________________________________________________ Address_____________________ City ____________ State______ Zip________ Gender______ Date of Birth____________ Age _______ Phone _______________ Email___________________________ T- shirt size: S M L XL XXL Sponsorship Opportunity Terrier Level $50 Name on Back of Race Shirt WAIVER RELEASE I hereby certify the following: I am physically fit and have received medical clearance to participate in the Pounding for Paws 5K Run/Walk, Saturday, June 27, 2015. If I do participate, I, on behalf of myself, my heirs and assigns, and my estate, hereby waive and forever discharge the sponsors, organizers, affiliates, as well as their agents and employees, from any and all claims that may occur as a result of my participation.

Signature_________________________________________Date_____________ If under 18, Parent or Guardian Signature Revised 1.29.15 efma

There will be pets up for adoption at the event!

Make check payable to: EMBOR Box 1143

Covington,GA 30015

Pets brought must be well behaved, vaccinated and on a leash. Please clean up after your pet.

The spring 2015 class of the Conyers Rockdale Chamber of Commerce’s Entrepreneurial Academy recently celebrated their graduation from the sev-en-week long program on all the essential information to run a successful business. For more, go to www.conyers-rockdale.com/programs/entrepreneurial-acad-emy. The graduates pictured are (in no particular order): Andrew Arnold, Elizabeth Barnes, Carlton Brannon, Lori Brown, Nicklaus Cartledge, Keisha Cooper, Trenicia Curry, Tyisha Davis, Angela Finley, Kia Johnson, Andrico Lee, Eric Levett, Gloria Mitchell, Deanne Neal, Teresa Payne, Keishia Renae Pittman, Alesha Puckett, Kimberly Sayles, Gregory Speights, Audrey Sullivan, Alethia Sykes, Maxine Watson, Wanda Welch, Carmenza Whitley, Alston Wilds, Zanaida Wilds, Margie Williams, Cheryl Young


The Rockdale County Board of Commissioners (BOC) could spend over $500,000 on the next phase of the Milstead communi-ty improvement project.

The BOC heard a request to pay $584,625 to Summit Con-struction & Development of Stone Mountain to complete the construction phase of the Mil-stead II Drainage Improvement Project, which will include im-proving Stormwater drain pipes, curbs and gutters, inlets and pavement additions and repairs.

To pay for this project, about $333,371 would come from a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) that was awarded to the county in 2013, and the rest would come from the Rockdale County Stormwater Utility Fund.

“We’re excited about this Mil-stead project,” said Rockdale Chairman and CEO Richard Oden. “This moves this commu-nity forward and improves their quality of life.”

Last month, the board ap-proved applying for a CDBG that would pave the way for the county to begin a million dollar

sewer project in the Milstead area which would allow h homes in the community to attach to the wastewater system of Rockdale Water Resources (RWR).

“When this community is fin-ished, it will be totally restored unlike anything else,” said Oden.

In other county business:The Rockdale Department of

Transportation (RDOT) present-ed a resolution that would offi-cially say it supports the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) putting a roundabout at the intersection of Ga. Highway 20 and West Hightower Trail.

RDOT had previously wanted to put a traffic light at the in-tersection to handle traffic, but GDOT did not approve a traf-fic signal permit, says Director RDOT Miguel Valentin. GDOT hasn’t decided on a final config-uration either, but this resolution tells GDOT that RDOT would support a roundabout.

“We’ve been arm wrestling with (GDOT) for almost three years with this project,” said Oden.

Currently, there wouldn’t be any cost associated with devel-opment of the roundabout to the county, other than maintenance cost after the construction is

complete and the entire cost for any lights installed.

An additional $60,260 is need-ed for the Old Covington Widen-ing Project after an unknown wa-ter line was discovered east of Ga. Highway 138. The waterline is in conflict with other road develop-ments and needs to be relocated, according to county documents.

“It just seems to me we ought to know where all the waterlines are,” said Post 2 County Com-missioner Doreen Williams.

“I wish that were true,” said RWR Director Dwight Wicks. “Unfortunately we don’t have them all mapped (due to lack of records).”

Wicks said that this isn’t the first time this sort of event has occurred because most of the unknown waterlines are around 60 years old, but as RWR contin-ues to upgrade its system, it will map any newly found unmarked waterlines.

Oden suggested RWR write a proposal to do an audit to find these unmarked waterlines.

The BOC will meet again during its voting session next Tuesday, April 14, at 10 a.m. at the Assembly Hall building, 901 Main Street, Conyers.

By Martin Rand, [email protected]

More Milstead improvements in the works

The Conyers-Rockdale Chamber of Commerce is showing their ap-preciation for the men and women who work to keep the community safe during National Law Enforcement Appreciation Week, May 11-15, with a free Law Enforcement Appreciation luncheon on May 15.

In addition, the Chamber is asking the community and local busi-nesses to do what they can to show their appreciation to law enforce-ment as well during that week.

“Every day, the dedicated law enforcement officers and deputies of Conyers-Rockdale place themselves in harm’s way to ensure that our community remains safe. They also understand that support and in-volvement from the local citizens is essential to keeping our communi-ty safe,” wrote event organizers Terry Massey of the Massey Law Firm and T. Pat Cavanaugh of The News.

The May 15 appreciation event will feature a free barbecue lunch for law enforcement as well as prize drawings and giveaways.

“Working in law enforcement is not just a job, it’s a calling. Officers take an oath to serve and to protect their communities, no matter the cost. All officers make sacrifices. They sacrifice holidays, weekends, evenings and time with their families,” said Massey and Cavanaugh.

“Let’s join together to say thank you to these honorable men and women.”

To donate to the Law Enforcement Appreciation luncheon or to find out more information, call 770-483-7049.

By Staff [email protected]

Chamber celebrates Law Enforcement Appreciation Day with luncheon May 15

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The Conyers Police Depart-ment is the latest of agencies to receive a donation of opioid overdose emergency treatment injectors.

Kaléo, a privately held phar-maceutical company headquar-tered in Richmond, has a do-nation program that will allow qualifying local law enforce-ment agencies to receive EVZIO naloxone auto-injectors without charge as part of the Kaléo Cares program.

“Patrol officers are typically the first responder to arrive at an overdose emergency call and with the increase of such deaths occurring nationwide; equip-ping our officers with this device could potentially save lives,” said Chief of Police Gene Wilson in a press release.

EVZIO auto-injectors are a handheld, single-use device for the emergency treatment

of known or suspected opioid, medications that relieve pain, overdose. EVZIO should be ad-ministered as quickly as possible when an opioid overdose, such as Vicodin or OxyContin, is sus-pected because prolonged respi-ratory depression may result in damage to the central nervous system or death.

“It is also important to inform our citizens, especially teens, of the amnesty law that was passed here in Georgia just last year,” said Wilson.

In 2014, Georgia became the 15th state to enact a 911 Medical Amnesty law granting limited legal immunity to the 911 caller and the patient experiencing the drug or alcohol overdose.

This bill passed in the wake of many examples of overdose deaths where those with them did not call 911 to seek medical assistance for fear of prosecu-tion for the possession and use of illegal drugs or underage al-cohol consumption.


Police get overdose emergency treatment injectors

Conyers Police Department

Conyers Police recently re-leased arrest data for the first quarter of 2015, in an effort to get ahead of anticipated feder-al reporting requirements in the wake of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) report on the Fer-guson Police Department. That report found wide-spread racial discrimination and injustices were present in the Ferguson de-partment.

Conyers Police Chief Wilson has previously said he expects new federal policing standards to emerge from Ferguson, and he wants Conyers to be ahead of them.

Both white and black people were arrested at rates a bit higher than their percentage of the pop-ulation. Latino people had dis-proportionately lower arrest rates.

The City of Conyers’ 2010 Cen-sus populations showed 56.6 per-cent African American, 24.3 per-cent white, 16.3 percent Hispanic or Latino, and about 1.8 percent

other racial categories. Among the 407 arrests in the

first quarter of 2015, 62.65 per-cent were black, 28.01 percent were white, 8.85 percent Hispan-ic, and 0.49 percent other races.

Citations totaled 1,258. Among those, 59.22 percent were black, 30.37 percent white, 5.01 Hispan-ic, 0.53 percent other races.

There were five complaints sub-mitted wto internal affairs for in-vestigation; three were from black residents and two were from white residents. There were two use of force complaints submit-ted to internal affairs; both were black residents.

CPD plans to release similar data categories quarterly.


POLICE RELEASE ARREST DATABoth blacks and whites see higher arrests and citations

The Chi Tau Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. of Newton and Rockdale counties hosted a Fiscal Responsibility workshop March 28 at St. Paul AME Church in Covington, taught by Joyce Broadwater (Walden), a 20-year business professional. She spoke about everyday areas where credit affects a person’s life. Examples given revolved around career, life and auto insurance, purchasing a house and acquiring a car. Other topics included Wills & Trust, Power of Attorney, Life insurance and securing important papers in a secure place like a virtual lockbox. For more information and upcoming CTO AKA events, go to www.chitauomega.com


Credit worthy

In February, Chief Deputy Scott Free-man and I was in-

vited to the Rockdale County chapter of the NAACP to give a pre-sentation. The presen-tation was to address questions and con-cerns from participants in regards to the new body cameras. The fol-lowing are some of the great questions posed at the presentation and the RCSO would like share the answers with everyone.

1. Are the body cameras be purchased - can they be turned off? Yes. The body cameras will allow the deputy to turn off the camera at his/her discretion. This will be governed by RCSO policy, and will follow recom-mendations on best practice.

2. Is there an option to not use the body camera? At present, the RCSO will make it mandatory for deputies to use the body camera on all class for service and any contact with a citizen.

3. Could there be a light on them so citizens will know it is on? Anything with a light on it could present a safety issue for the deputy, especially at night. There is very much a need to ensure deputies do not have any-thing (i.e., a flashing light) that makes them a target at night or at any other time. Ultimately, the safety of deputies will never be compromised.

4. Can someone from the of-fice see what is going on “live” and in real-time? No. At pres-ent, live feed is not an option for the body cameras or the in-cameras.

5. When you go inside a home will the body camera fall under the Fourth Amendment? While the RCSO will work to en-sure that we protect citizens un-der the Fourth Amendment, the main issue is the current state law in Georgia O.C.G.A. 16-11-62 currently reads, “It shall be unlawful for … Any person, through the use of any device,

without the con-sent of all per-sons observed, to observe, photograph, or record the activities of another which occur in any private place and out of pub-lic view.” Current law does not pro-vide an exception for law enforce-ment officers in

their official duties. Until such time that Georgia law can be changed, deputies will initially ask for permis-sion to record inside private residences in order to comply with the law.

6. When a deputy’s tour of duty ends, where will the items be stored? At the end of a deputy’s tour, the deputy will take the body camera and “dock” it into the network of the RCSO. The body camera, which can hold four hours of video, will take about 10 minutes to upload all the video. The video will be stored on the current system that the RCSO utilizes for in-car vid-eo. The body camera video and the in-car video will be stored on the same system.

7. Once stored, who has ac-cess to video data? The RCSO currently utilizes a video evi-dence management system for all in-car video, and that same system will be used to store body camera video. Only authorized personnel are allowed to access and view the video. More strin-gent access and viewing restric-tions apply to which personnel can download the video.

8. If deputies go bad and use the systems wrong or try to get around it, what standards will be used as discipline? The RCSO currently has a policy on in-car video and is developing a policy for the body cameras utilizing a model policy from the Interna-tional Association of Chiefs of Police. Training will be provided to the deputies on the use of the system and the requirements of

p o l i c y. As with all policy violations, an attempt to understand the vi-olation will be made so we can re-train and correct the behavior to ensure standards are met. As with all policies, discipline, up to and including termination could result depending on the violation of the policy and the intent of the deputy (i.e., conceal something illegal or wrong).

9. How long do we keep vid-eo footage? The RCSO complies with the state law on records re-tention, which includes in-car and body camera footage. The Records Retention Law pro-vides, “Video Tapes, Mobile Vid-eo tapes taken from patrol car video cameras of police actions - Retain tapes containing arrests for: five years; retain all other tapes until no longer useful.”

10. Do all of our cars cur-rently have in car cameras? No, not all cars have in-car cameras. As of today, only half of marked patrol units have an in-car cam-era system. In January 2015, the RCSO ordered enough in-car cameras to outfit the remainder of the RCSO marked unit fleet. This order also included the body cameras. At present, esti-mations for delivery and instal-lation of all of the in-car camera

systems and body cam-eras should be fully de-ployed by June 2015.

11. What is the clar-ity of the camera? The body cameras being deployed by the RCSO are manufactured by L3 Mobile Vision and will be the lat-est, most advanced body camera on the market today. The

video resolution will be 1280 x 720 HD (High Definition).

12. What funds were used to pay for the cameras and how will they be maintained? These in-car cam-era systems and

body cameras were paid for with seized drug funds – not taxpayer dollars. As with all technology, the system will require upkeep to remain oper-ational and up-to-date. Failure to expend monies for upkeep could ultimately result in system failures when we need it most. Keeping this system up and run-ning is not expected to increase the burden on the taxpayer. Ad-ditional expansions and major repairs will continue to be paid for with seized drug funds. Rou-tine maintenance and upkeep will be taken out of the operat-ing budget as has been with the in-car camera system.

Thank you to the Rockdale County chapter of the NAACP for allowing the RCSO the op-portunity to address the con-cerns of the participants.

OpiniOnSaturday, April 11, 2015

RockdaleNews.com/opinion

Our Thoughts

EditorMichelle Kim

[email protected]

SalES dirEctorAnnette Godwin

[email protected]

comptrollErDebbie [email protected]

publiShErT. Pat Cavanaugh

[email protected]

circulation dir.Amanda [email protected]

dESign EditorSabastian Wee

[email protected]

the NEWS

Rotary Volunteerism

A group of us were talking the other day on how you motivate people to volunteer again like the some of the old timers did and still do.

That is an issue that can be the subject of much discussion and debate; we do know we still in Conyers-Rockdale have volun-teer civic groups like the Rotary Clubs and Kiwanis, Lions Club, Progressive Citizens Club, Shri-ners and the Pilot Club. We are fortunate to have these groups because without their commu-nity efforts and giving, our taxes would be much higher as people would have to be paid to per-form the duties that these good folks provide for free.

You have a chance to support one of those groups right now. On May 1 the Conyers Rotary will be holding their annual Golf Tournament at the Cherokee Run Golf Course here in the city.

The Rotarians use the money raised by this tournament to sup-port almost every worthwhile charitable project that there is in Conyers-Rockdale – aiding homeless families and domestic violence victims, feeding hun-gry families, bringing Christmas smiles to children in need, help-ing homebound senior citizens and so much more.

If you or your family has ever been touched in anyway by the Conyers Rotary here is your chance to pay back the kindness.

You can put together a golf team for the day. The total cost is $500; that includes all fees and food, you can be the sponsor of a hole for $150; for our larg-er companies whose people live in our community and enjoy the benefits, here is your chance to sign up to help sponsor the tour-nament. You can find the form on page 10. For more informa-tion, call 404-915-6810.

Eric LevettRockdale

County Sheriff

Questions regarding body cameras

HAVE YOUR SAYWe welcome letters to the editor. Letters must be 350 words or less. They should be limited to issues of public interest and may be edited for content, grammar, spelling and length. • Mail: Editor, The News, 1009 Milstead Ave., Suite 200, Conyers, GA 30012 • Email: [email protected]

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We teach ages 4 years - 18 years old,we also offer Drama classes,Beginners Gymnastics and

Private coaching for Dance competitions,Performing Arts Schools, etc.

Our 4th annual recital will be held atConyers Middle School in Rockdale County

Saturday, May 16th, 2015 at 6PM!We will showcase routines that include

Ballet, Jazz, Tap, African and Hip Hop Dance.

Registration for the JDE 2015-2016 school year begins online 5/16/15.Visit www.jenaesdanceexperience.com for more details!!!

So You Think You Can Dance?!?!?As seen at The Fox Theater, Rockdale news channels

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CMS shines at first Clerk of Courts Oratorical Contest

Conyers Middle School’s Joi Nobles was named the winner of the inaugural Oratorical Competition held March 28 by Rockdale County Clerk of Courts Ruth Wilson’s Office and Rockdale County Public Schools.

Eighth graders prepared an original persuasive/motivational speech on the topic of “I am responsible for good government” that was 3-5 minutes in length. Criteria for selection include speech development, effectiveness, speech value, physical demeanor, voice, manner, appropriateness, and correctness (adapted from ToastMasters International). A panel of 11 judg-es – including Maria von Dickerson, Rockdale Com-missioner Doreen Williams, Wilson, Kysa Daniels, State Court Judge Nancy Bills, Teresa Gordy, Candice Jones, CMS Assistant Principal Anterro Graham, at-torney Gary Washington, Ga. Piedmont Technical College representative Joel Alvarado, educator Maria Brown, Lonnie Edwards, CMS Principal Allison Bar-bour – heard and evaluated the entries.

Nobles won the $500 first place prize for having

the most effective, impressive speech. Second place went to Davis Middle’s Dexter Holmes Jr., who won $350. Another Davis Middle student, Chelsea Casteal, took third place and won $150. Finalists included Enya McDaniels (Memorial Middle School), Nao-mi Pinnock (MMS), Amanni Oda (Edwards Middle School), Aryanna Brown (DMS), Lalia Boyd (CMS), Kylie Butler (CMS).

Like many attending the event, Clerk Wilson ex-pressed delight at the level of performance delivered by the young speakers. “I found myself with a tear in my eye at one point, chuckling the next and later shaking my head in agreement as the students took their turns at the microphone. It was a very uplifting experience,” said Wilson.

The event included a presentation by Georgia’s Path2College 529 college savings plan.

Plans are underway to expand the Oratorical Com-petition in the 2015-2016 school year to include all middle school students in 6th, 7th and 8th grades. This is the first year of this innovative partnership be-tween the Clerk of Courts Office and Rockdale Coun-ty Public Schools.


Submitted/The Rockdale NewsOratorical contest First Place winner Joi Nobles (middle).

SATURDAY, APRIL 11

East Metro Atlanta Christian Writers 10 a.m.- noon; at Ga Piedmont Technical College’s Newton Campus, Bldg. D, 8100 Bob Williams Parkway, Covington; 404-444-7514 or 770-784-0079

Great American Cleanup9 a.m. - 1 p.m., starts at Pine Log Park Pavilion, 1500 Ga. Highway 138; Keep Conyers Rockdale Beautiful; [email protected]

MONDAY, APRIL 13

Library Board meeting4 p.m.; The Conyers-Rockdale Library System Board of Trustees meets at the Nancy Guinn Me-morial Library, 864 Green St SW; 770-388-5040

FRIDAY, APRIL 17

Phoenix Pass Golf Tournament7:45 am breakfast with a shot gun start at 8:45 am; at Honey Creek Golf Club, 635 Clubhouse Drive, Conyers; Breakfast by McDonald’s; BBQ lunch during 2 p.m. Awards Ceremony; raffle items including golf equipment, gift cards, lawn care items, home maintenance packages, jewelry, more; register at www.phoenixpass.org/events/ or call 770-760-1020.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18

Covington Cheerios ChallengePacket pickup April 17, 10a.m. - 7 p.m.; 7:30 a.m. 10K, 9 a.m. 1 mile, 9:30 a.m. 5K; at Covington Family YMCA, 2140 Newton Dr., Covington; Registration $15-20, $55 family pack; www.active.com or www.facebook.com/

CovCheeriosChal

Hands Across Rockdale8 a.m. - noon; County-wide day of service; calling all volunteers to help out with dozens of proj-ects in schools, churches, streets, senior citizens homes and more; www.handsacrossrockdale.org

Ga. Renaissance Festival’s 30th Year 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., April 18 to June 7 on Saturdays, Sundays and Memorial Day; Located just south of Atlanta’s Airport at I-85, Exit #61 (Peachtree City/Fair-burn); General Admission at the gate: Adult $22, Child ages 6 to 12 $10, Senior, 60+ $20, children under 5 are always free.; Discount tickets online at GArenfest.com: Adult $19, Child $8, Senior $18; Free parking; www.garenfest.com, 770-964-8575

Tree Top Excursions: Introduction Climb1 p.m.; Panola Mountain State Park, Stockbridge; explore the canopy above using rope and harness, moderately strenuous activity; Register in advance; $15 and $5 parking; 770-389-7801.

TUESDAY, APRIL 21

Prevent Child Abuse Rockdale fundraiser5:30 p.m.; Amici’s, Corner Mar-ket, Flat Shoals Rd and Parker Rd, Conyers; food, trivia, live music, silent auction, corn hole on the lawn; tickets $50 each or $90 for two; 678-890-2005

Earth Day at GPC Newton11 a.m.-1 p.m.. Newton Campus, Building 2N, Lobby; see Chevy Volt electric car, crafts using plas-tic grocery bags; Newton Campus Earth Club and Sustainablity committee; free; [email protected] or [email protected]

community calendar


Due to the ingenuity and can-do attitude of Yanks in World War II, the Brit-

ish witnessed their London Lor-ries remodeled into odd-looking clubmobiles that smelled of coffee and donuts. In July and August of 1944, brand-new clubmobiles crossed the stormy English Chan-nel as remodeled two-and-a-half ton Army trucks. These vehicles also smacked of hot Joe and circu-lar pastry. Eventually 80 clubmo-biles and 320 females known as “clubmobile girls” braved the haz-ards of war to provide our soldiers with familiar tastes and a touch of home. Fifty-two of the ladies would die in the line of duty.

“Clubmobile girls” had to meet certain criteria: some college, a pleasant personality, and at-tractiveness. Their requirements toughened during the Korean and Vietnam Wars: a college degree was a must, high moral standards, attractiveness, the gift of gab, and a knack for smiling when you wanted to weep. Most GIs in all three wars called these dedicated Red Cross workers Donut Dollies. This is one of their stories.

Mary Atkinson Robeck grew up in Cajun Country a few feet below sea level in a city called New Orle-ans, better known as Nawlins’. Her B.A. degree was attained at Wil-liam Carey College in Hattiesburg, Miss., then Mary continued her studies at the University of South-ern Mississippi to earn a Master’s Degree in Sociology.

“I always wanted an unusual life, a life of service,” Mary said. “In grad school I saw an ad for the Red Cross. They needed workers in military hospitals and for service in Vietnam. In the fall of 1970 I flew to Atlanta for an interview. I qualified and asked for the first opening in a military hospital as a social or rec-reation worker in the Southeast. I went home and told my parents the furthest posting would be North Carolina. So I waited; waited for months, and was in the middle of tests and finishing my thesis for a Master’s. I asked God, ‘Lord, make something happen.’”

Ask, and ye shall receive. Three days later Mary received a phone call from the Red Cross. Instead

of a posting to a stateside military hospital, the Red Cross asked if Vietnam was an option for consid-eration. Mary recalled, “I agreed immediately. Since I had asked God to do something it seemed like the right thing to do.”

She had two weeks to get things in order, finish and turn in her the-sis, get all her shots and a passport, say goodbye to friends and fami-ly. “I am not a courageous person and have a deadly fear of heights,” Mary stated. “So the people in my hometown were stunned at my decision, but my parents were ab-solutely horrified. My mother was so desperate to talk me out of it, she said, ‘You know there’s not go-ing to be enough water; you’re not going to be able to wash your hair every day like you love to do.’ They thought I’d lost my mind.” Her sal-ary: $7,000 a year.

First stop, Atlanta: “So, I’m sitting in a hotel room in Atlanta waiting to travel to Washington, DC, for training, and thinking, ‘What have I done?’ Then I’m in Washington at the Red Cross National Head-quarters, snow, walking to class ev-ery day, learning military protocol, ranks, Red Cross history, proper conduct… it was exciting. Drug enforcement folks came to our class and actually burned marijuana so we’d recognize the smell. We had the reputation of the Red Cross on our shoulders so we didn’t want to be in a situation to embarrass the organization or ourselves.”

January 1971 – “We landed at Tan Son Nhut AFB in Saigon at three or four o’clock in the morn-ing. Dark, hot, steamy, welcome to Vietnam. I was amazed during the drive to the hotel to see refugees living in boxes or tin sheds. Inside our hotel I saw South Vietnamese soldiers sleeping in the lobby. After we got into a room I told my room-mate, Ilene, how nice it was of the hotel to let the soldiers sleep in the lobby. Ilene said, ‘Mary, you’re an idiot. Those soldiers are supposed to be guarding the hotel.’”

“The next morning a lady came in from the field to train us for a week about what to do or not to do, the ins and outs of Vietnam. Then we were on our way to Qui Nhon on a C-130. Problem was, Qui Nhon was aflame in riots. Ap-parently a kid had been hit by an Army truck and the people turned

violent. We landed safely then a Red Cross lady came to get us, took us to her room until things calmed down. So, we’re sitting in this room and all of a sudden a women runs in, says ‘Hello, I’m Susan Frankhart your unit leader, there’s a chopper waiting, let’s go,’ and we were gone that quickly.”

“We didn’t have time to think or worry. We got on the chopper, took off, dropped off a wounded ARVN soldier at the hospital then flew on to the Quincy Compound across town from Qui Nhon. We

had a rec hooch called the ‘Happy Hooch’ where G.I.s could play pool or ping pong, drink Kool-Aid and eat popcorn. We didn’t have do-nuts. Too hot and humid. I quickly learned two girls worked the Happy Hooch and the rest went out to fire support bases, landing zones, raid bases, and we flew into Phu Cat to visit MACV teams outside the base. We flew into Pleiku often and into An Khe which by that time was ba-sically a MASH unit.”

The Donut Dollies, minus the donuts, called their chopper runs

Missions. Mission 1 to perhaps An Khe, Mission 2 to Phu Cat, Mission 3 to Pleiku, and so forth. Programs for the troops included classes and studies on camping, US Presidents, even cheese. Surprisingly, many of the soldiers studied before their classes on program topics. Mary recalled, “The guys were very in-volved and looked forward to our visits… of course a woman with round eyes in Vietnam drew a lot of attention. The Army cooks helped

Red Cross Donut Dollies bring a touch of home

By Pete [email protected]

Counter-clockwise from top: Former Donut Dolly Mary Robeck at the Atlanta HQ for the American Red Cross; Mary boarding another chopper for another mission; Mary making the boys feel at home; Mary in front of the Happy Hooch.


Continued on PAGE 9


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make our refreshments and we loved the dog handlers. They were great guys.”

Some soldiers just wanted to talk; others to hear a soft voice, others to gaze upon a blonde-haired lady. Mary said, “Sooner or later they would ask us about our big canvas bags, ‘Hey, what’s in the bag to-day?’ and in minutes we’d be into one of our programs.” Red Cross recreation in a war zone required planning. Mary recalled, “We’d call the fire support bases or LZs the night before. If they got hit in the mornings, we went there in the af-ternoons; if they’re hit in the after-noons, we flew in that morning. I guess we were on a Viet Cong time-table. Explosions would still occur off base, usually land mines.”

Mary was never at a raid camp, fire support base, or LZ that re-ceived incoming during her visits. Qui Nhon, however, was a different story. Mary said, “The second week at Qui Nhon a unit leader ran in and said, ‘We’re on Red Alert, put on your flak vests, helmets, and pull a mattress over your heads. She walked out the door then we heard her yell, ‘Oh, my God!’ Light travels faster than sound, so she saw the ammo dump go up in a big ball of fire, then the sound hit us. The walls of our hooch moved with the shock wave to the ends of the nails. Then mortar rounds start-ed hitting around our hooch. After the alert one of our drivers told us he couldn’t believe we were safe, that the mortar rounds danced all around our hooch but never hit us.”

Her posting at Qui Nhon lasted five months. During another attack, their Red Cross rec room took a di-rect hit; all personnel had just left, nobody was hurt.

Mary’s next port-of-call was ac-tually a port, the huge anchorage called Cam Ranh Bay. “Cam Ranh was very active,” she recalled. “We had a nice rec center and went on missions to places like Tuy Hoa. Plus, we had new recruits coming in all the time. They couldn’t believe the first thing they saw in Vietnam was round-eyed women, it made them feel good, boosted morale. Those young boys thought ‘Maybe I will make it home.’ By that time I had come to hate war.”

For her last three months in Viet-nam, Mary was in the Mekong Del-ta. “My base was Binh Thuy,” she said. “The Mekong Delta witnessed a lot of war but by 1971 most of our boys were gone. My old roommate, Ilene, met up with me again in the Delta. One day we flew on a chop-per near the Cambodian border. Well, Ilene and I had been to the village in that area before, but our chopper pilots were new and they flew right by a mountain that we

recognized. We knew the chopper was in Cambodia. The pilots had been given wrong coordinates. We got out of there real fast!”

On another mission Mary dozed off in the chopper as one of the door gunners cleared his machine gun. “That sounds a little crazy try-ing to sleep with a machine gun go-ing off, but you get use to the noise after being in Nam for so long. Well, a spent shell casing struck my leg and I thought I’d been wound-ed. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Scared me to death!”

Her final thoughts on the Delta: “I know our soldiers hated the Del-ta but I loved it. By 1971 we were allowed to go off base into the lo-cal economy, to eat, shop. We were on a boat once, minus one of the crew because he was on leave. He came back a week later and was killed on the same boat. Yeah, the war still raged, but Ilene and I did more traveling in the Delta than anywhere else.”

On our soldiers: “We quickly learned that the military had all kinds of people. Good guys, bad guys, ones that used drugs, others that drank, and boys that stayed in church. I came home with a lot of respect for the people in a country at war. Most Americans haven’t ex-perienced that, gunfire every night in your neighborhood, explosions, death all around you. I came to love the Vietnamese people; that year in Nam directed the rest of my life.”

Mary Atkinson Robeck contin-

ued to serve: She helped the Viet-namese boat people by joining the Peace Corps in the West Indies, recruited for the Peace Corps in Philadelphia, ended up in Indo-nesia and Singapore to process thousands of Vietnamese refugees for passage to the U.S., and taught them English to help their transi-tion. She met her future husband in Indonesia, a case worker; they flew home, got married, and flew back to Indonesia. Mary worked at a Boston Naval hospital for the Red Cross and another military hospi-tal in Michigan, coordinated blood drives, served as a 2nd Lt. in the National Guard, and finally had her two children at the age of 40 and 42.

“My husband and I have had a full life,” she said. Asked if they enjoy retirement, Mary replied, “We’re not retired. I just took a new job with Habitat for Humanity as programs manager for restores, ac-cumulating building supplies, tubs, things like that. My husband drives a school bus and on the weekends is an emergency driver for a mental health center in Atlanta.”

After a short pause, Mary reflect-ed on Vietnam: “You know, when the guys left Vietnam they were happy. I got on the plane home and cried. I didn’t want to leave, and I’d go back to do it again.”

The words on the back of her Do-nut Dolly T-shirt: A touch of home, in a combat zone; A smiling face, at a bleak firebase; The illusion of calm, in Vietnam.

Volunteers with the Walk of Heroes Veterans Memorial are step-ping up to the plate to make sure every Vietnam veteran in Georgia is personally recognized for his or her service as part of a statewide campaign to individually honor each of Georgia’s 234,000 living Viet-nam era veterans.

On Monday, March 30, Gov. Nathan Deal, in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Veteran’s Service and the nation’s 50th Anniversary Ob-servance of the Vietnam War, kicked off the four-year long campaign by honoring the Vietnam-era veterans, includ-ing volunteers with the Walk of Heroes, at the state Capitol.

The Walk of Heroes will be collecting the name, branch of service, rank, and dates served during the Vietnam conflict/war (August 3, 1950 - May 7, 1975) of as many Vietnam-era veterans they can and will submit them to the Ga. Dept. of Veterans Ser-vices to obtain a personalized Certificate of Honor. Those certificates will then be pre-sented in ceremonies orga-nized by the Walk of Heroes and other community groups.

Clubs, churches, civic groups, businesses or any other groups are encouraged to collect those four pieces of information for their members who are Vietnam-era veterans and submit it to the Walk of Heroes.

“This opportunity will run for four years,” said WOH President Tommy Clack. “The Walk of Heroes wishes to maximize the opportu-nity of every such Veteran to receive this earned honor.”

Community members can submit a veteran’s information along with a phone number and address - this information will not be shared with anyone else or any other groups - to Walk of Heroes Board of Directors member Bob Atkinson, who served in the Ma-rines during Vietnam. Atkinson can be contacted at 404-376-7812 or [email protected]

Due to turnaround time for the certificates, ceremonies may not start until May at the earliest.

By Michelle [email protected]

GA Vietnam veterans to be individually honored

Those WOH volunteers and veterans honored included:

WOH Board of Directors members Bob Atkinson, Charles King, Pete Mecca, Buddy Roebuck

WOH Board of Directors President Tommy Clack

Vietnam Moving Wall sponsor Roger Rehorn

State President of the GA Vietnam Vets Motorcycle Club Jim Bledsoe

State and SE Coordinator of the “Wounded Warrior” Program for Safari Club International Dick Caillouet

Mary with the G.I.sSubmitted/The Rockdale News

Continued on PAGE 10


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How do you stop Jordan Spieth? That’s on the minds of many after the

21-year-old ran through Augusta National for the second day in a row Friday, turning a course known for its intimidation into his personal playground.

Spieth carded a bogey-free round of 66, and in doing so, set a Masters 36-hole record of 14-under that was previously set by Raymond Floyd in 1976.

That was 39 years ago, 18 years before Jordan Spieth made his way to planet Earth.

Now, it’s the all-time tournament record holder asking officials to turn up the heat.

“The scoring conditions were there, because the greens were soft,” Tiger Woods said Friday after his good-but-not-enough round of 69, the same Tiger Woods who shot that 18-under tournament record as a 21-year-old in 1997.

“I was talking to Thomas Bjorn and (Mark) O’Meara and even Tom Watson earlier today, and we couldn’t believe how slow (the greens) were (Thursday). Again, they were slow (Fri-day),” Woods said, dropping some names of past champions.

Woods continued. “The balls were spinning back. 5-irons were

making ball marks, things like that you don’t normally find here.”

Then, Tiger dropped the haymaker.“But it’s up to the committee. If they want

to make this golf course a little drier, it’s quiet out there, there’s no sub airs going. If they turn the sub airs on, they can suck the moisture out of this thing and get them firm, or they can live with it like it is, and we can go out there and make a bunch of birdies,” Woods said, sitting 12 shots behind Spieth entering Saturday’s play.

The sub air system is a series of pipes sitting beneath the course that sucks moisture from the surface. Through vents around walkways, they sound like a giant hair dryer running un-

der the course. When Tiger was asked about the 21-year-old

threatening to run away with the tourney, and how it compared to his own win in ’97, he went back to the well once more.

“The difference is that he’s separated himself from the rest of the pack. I believe I only had a three shot lead (after 36 holes),” Woods said, as Speith holds a five-shot lead over Charlie Hoffman entering Saturday. “Again, it’s up to what the committee does overnight, whether or not they’re going to make the golf course like it is where we can go get it, or if they’re going to make it hard and firm, where it’s going to be tough to make birdies.”

It screams of Phil Jackson pleading for fouls or Bill Belichick looking for holding calls.

However, if history tells us anything, Tiger is likely to get his way. Between pin placements and course conditions, Augusta National nor-mally plays tougher on the weekends.

“We don’t prepare the course for a specific result, only for a specific test of their capabil-ity,” Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne said Wednesday, after it was noted that the past three Masters champions finished between 8-under and 10-under par. “And the factor that would cause extreme variations would be weather-related conditions, in most cases”

‘In most cases’ left room for the 36-hole mag-ic of Spieth, threatening to not only break – but obliterate – Tiger’s tournament record of 18-un-der on golf ’s truest test.

Spieth, to his credit, seems steady. “I got off to great start and had a chance to

win last year on Sunday. I’d like to have the same opportunity this year,” Speith said. “But this is only the halfway point, and I’m aware of that.”

Halfway to history.

Vince Johnson is covering his 7th Masters tour-nament. You can follow his coverage at rockdale-news.com or Twitter @vincejohnson.

Halfway to History

Saturday, April 11, 2015

rockdalenews.com SportS

POWER RANKINGSRockdale/Newton baseball

1EASTSIDE - The Eagles have been the best baseball team between the two counties this season — it’s not by a mile but it’s also not that close. Eastside boasts a 13-5 record,

including a 9-3 mark in Region 4-AAAA. Three of the Eagles’ losses came in succes-sion to teams that were ranked ahead of them by the AJC (Locust Grove twice and Pike County). Eastside lost its two games to Locust Grove by a combined three runs and could have beaten both of them had it not been for an insurmountable number of errors by Eastside’s defense. First year head coach, Bruce Evans has helped boost the Eagles’ offense and they’re finally getting back their pitchers. Evans and co. are a formidable bunch, they have a good offense and when they don’t make errors the defense is equally strong – barring some unforeseen injury or crazy upset the Eagles could make a deep playoff run.

2SALEM - Led by Bobby Link, the Seminoles have established them-selves as a formidable force in Region 8-AAAAA, a tough region to be good in. Salem has had quality

showings against Gainesville and Wind-er-Barrow, two of the best teams in the region, splitting the two-game series with both of them. The ‘Noles have yet to play Heritage and beat Newton in both games. With an impressive 11-5 record (5-3 Re-gion 8-AAAAA), Salem is a top-five team in the region and one of the best baseball teams in the Newton/Rockdale area. The Seminoles have some good pitching with Chris Simonds and Kevin Barham and they also can put the bat on the ball, not as well as some of the other teams but well enough to go off against subpar pitching and score enough runs to stay in the game against teams that pitch well.

3RCHS - Rockdale started off its non-region schedule just 2-4, but the Bulldogs used a winning streak to push their record to 9-6 and 6-0 in Region 2-AAAAAA play before

losing three-straight to Tucker last week. The Bulldogs just fought off Newton for third place, as the Rams are 8-9 while the Bulldogs are 9-9, but the real test to de-termine which team is better will come in a couple of weeks when the teams face-off in a season series finale. For now, Rockdale is one game ahead of Newton in the region standings and that one simple game has them ahead of the Rams...for now.

4NEWTON - Newton has come on strong in its last six games. The Rams don’t have a strong senior core like they did last year, but they’ve made the best of the team

they have. Studs like Alex Johnson, Au-gustus Murray and Mason Calloway have stood out and played well helping to lift Newton to its stellar record. A thing that has kept Newton behind early in the season was its lack of offense, but that’s changed over the last four games in which the Rams have scored over 40 runs. Newton also met up with the two toughest teams in the region already (Lakeside and Tucker) and managed to steal one game against each team in a three-game series. Newton played Tucker the closes, coming within a play or two of sweeping the Tucker Tigers. After winning the final game against Tucker, Newton swept cross-town rival Alcovy and pretty much locked up a spot in the state playoffs. The Rockdale/Newton series will be a pivotal one in determining which of these teams is the best at the end of the season and which one has the higher seed.

5HERITAGE - Coming off a season that saw the Patriots go 18-18 and 11-5 in region play, this season hasn’t been of equal value as last season for Heritage. The Patriots

are 11-7 and 6-5 in Region 8-AAAAA. To finish with the same record they did last year, would require Heritage to go unde-feated for the rest of the way – possible, but unlikely. Of its 15-plus players, Her-itage has just 10 0r 11 players that are healthy. However, despite the injuries, the Patriots still have a shot at the playoffs as they’re just behind Salem in the region standings. Heritage has some talent on its pitching staff and they’ve dealt with a myriad of injuries to that staff. Making a run in the final games of the season could give Heritage enough to get into the big dance and then, who knows?

6ALCOVY - Alcovy has talent but errors and inconsistent offense have kept them from being the team they’re capable of being. The Tigers are 2-18 (0-9 Region

2-AAAAAA) and have been virtually eliminated from the playoffs this year. Alcovy doesn’t have a lot of seniors, but they do have 11 juniors on its 16-man roster. With next year’s stacked class in-cluding Hunter Phillips, Quintin Grizzard and Chandler White, the Tigers could find themselves back in the thick of the playoff race.

By Shakeem Holloway


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Finding a way to win

Heritage is almost literally limp-ing toward the finish line. Surviv-ing may be a bit of an understate-ment for this Heritage baseball team. They’re 11-7 (6-5 Region 8-AAAAA) despite being hit with enough injuries to force head coach Jason Borcherding into an early retirement.

Heritage started the season with more than 15 players on the varsi-ty roster, now when the Patriots hit the diamond they do it with just one or two players on their bench. A 2-4 start to region play didn’t help either, but Heritage has won four of its last six region games and now they’re in fifth place in the region behind Salem and Flowery Branch, who are tied for fourth.

“We put ourselves into a position where games that we play moving forward – they matter,” Borcherd-ing said.

The top four teams in the region will make the playoffs, and Heritage has a legitimate chance to be one of those teams. The fact that they were able to fight through this type of ad-versity is an accomplishment in it-self, but a trip to the playoffs would be the icing on the cake.

“It says everything about the kids. They find a way. They find a way to persevere,” Borcherding said proudly about the team being in playoff contention. “They’re tough. We wouldn’t be in this position if we weren’t so I’m extremely proud of those guys. They’ve done every-thing I’ve asked them to do.”

Heritage has lost six players – two were dismissed and four to in-

jury – total since the beginning of the season. Heritage has been play-ing with nine or 10 healthy bodies for the past few weeks.

Borcherding says “team ball” has been a major factor for them. He admires them for not quitting when other teams would have with less adversity and says he’s most proud of their perseverance.

The Patriots have been winning by committee. With the losses they’ve had, players have had to adjust to new positions than they’re used to playing.

Heritage lost its two best players early in the season when the No. 1 left-handed pitcher/first baseman George Mahl dislocated his knee-cap in the third game of the season. They lost their catcher, Anthony Williams to broken hand after it was hit by a bat in the first region series. Then Heritage’s No. 2 arm, Josh Parnell, went down and fresh-men Jake Beach hasn’t been able to throw either.

These events thrusted play-ers like Matt Studdard and Yoiler Guevara to the mound. Studdard has become a true No. 1 pitcher, he’s a beast and when he pitches the Patriots chances of winning increase greatly. Guevara has gone from a No. 3 guy to the No. 2 and Borcherding says he’s been doing really well for them.

“I knew early on in the season that we were going to end up de-veloping more arms because every year we deal with something like this. Every year we’ve had some type of crazy situation happen where somebody gets injured,” Borcherd-ing said. “Ever since I’ve been here we’ve had 13 season-ending injuries

in the five years that I’ve been here.”Drew Terrell, who was out last

year with a spinal fracture, was the starting second baseman at the beginning of the year. He’s now the starting catcher and a pitcher. Nick Evans has been really flexible for Heritage as well, he went from starting left field to playing second base. Replacing Mahl, Studdard plays first when he’s not pitching.

“It’s very interchangeable. That’s the one thing that we’ve devel-oped – a level of flexibility. I usu-ally keep my numbers down from a roster standpoint because I play a lot of guys so what I look for is flexibility in players,” Borcherding said. “When you keep your num-bers down, you’ve got to have that flexibility to be able to move guys in and out. Everybody’s engaged. They know that they’re going to have an opportunity to play and so it doesn’t get into one of those situa-tions where you’ve got guys that are just sitting on the bench. It was the same way from a pitching stand-point. All these guys have worked to pitch for us so that if we needed somebody to go into a game they’ve all had enough experience and thrown enough.”

“We’ve had a lot of guys that where we’ve had to have some flex-ibility and those guys have been great about being flexible and doing what the team needs. Ultimately when it’s all said and done that’s the only way we’ve survived is playing team ball,” Borcherding said.

Heritage will have to find a way to win again when it faces Salem in a crucial series that could determine which team goes to the playoffs be-ginning Monday at Salem, 5:55 p.m.

Depleted Heritage High School baseball team continues to win despite injuries

By Shakeem [email protected]

HIGH SCHOOLatHLEtE oF tHE wEEK

Justin JacksonJustin Jackson has been the best offensive player for Heritage this season. He went 3-7 in two games earlier in the week and he had a big homerun against Apalachee that stretched the Patriots’ lead to two runs, eventually giving them the win.


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A WALK WITH ANGELS More women will be able to have mammograms after 87 walkers came together in the cool morning of March 28 for the annual Walk with Angels fund-raiser by the Kimberley Chance Atkins Foundation. The 8-mile walk though Conyers raised about $32,000 for the founda-tion. The first place team (TOP), Breastfriends, with 18 members, raised $6619. The second place team (RIGHT), Crossroads United Methodist Church, with 10 mem-bers, raised $6324. In third place was the 18 member Rockdale Medical Center team with $5986. Kelly Parker of Breastfriends raised $3,094 on her own. For more information, go to www.kimatkins.net. (Photos courtesy of Marvin Maner)


DIGITAL EDITIONEvery Wednesday, just in time for your morning coffee.

theNEWS

What’s in this week’s edition:

— Sky’s the Limit: Local enthusiasts take up drone flying and explore new applications for business, public safety and more.— Arrest Statistics: Conyers Police release arrest information by race compared to local demographics.— Summer Movie Preview: Check out the top 10 summer blockbusters.

Register for free, then visit rockdalenewsdigital.com

NewsWednesday, April 8, 2015Serving Rockdale County and Conyers, Ga.

In Depth Perspectives Sidelines Variety

Local enthusiasts take up flying

drones, explore new applications

for businesses, safety and more

EYES IN THE SKY

Also inside: Summer blockbuster season has officially kicked off. We pick the top 10 films to watch.

much it impacts a whole family,” Mills said. “At the end of the day if we can raise money for this charity and show proof to these kids that life’s not over if you’re disabled or if you’re sick or ill. You can still do things and if you have that in your mindset – that faith – you can go forward.”

“It would be cool to say I have the record,” Mills says, “but if I can raise money for this charity and show these kids anything is possi-ble, that’s what it’s all about.”

While Mills has been promoting the Guinness record effort, he told the News the event actually will double as a feat for the rival orga-nization RecordSetter. He said that RecordSetter already has a category for wheelchair truck-pulls, and that one record is held by an able-bod-ied South African man who used a wheelchair as a stunt.

“I don’t think it’s right, a guy who can walk setting the record,” Mills said. “I’m going to take it away from him.”

The Ripley’s Believe It or Not or-ganization will film the event for

their web series as well, Mills said.In 1996, Mills was a 16-year-old

growing up in Mississippi when his car was hit by a drunk driver. The crash nearly killed him and para-lyzed his legs. That life-changing wreck pushed him to succeed as an “adaptive athlete,” meaning an ath-lete with a disability.

“When I got paralyzed, I had to grow up real fast,” Mills told the News previously. “It was all about, ‘How are you going to make it? How are you going to get better? How fast can you do these things?’ Every-thing I did was a competition.”

Mills’ unwavering confidence and desire to compete at such a high level despite his disability is something that comes from his parents, especially his dad who was military. When Mills came out of his coma for his car wreck his dad’s mentality was that his son had to be strong. When someone says “you can’t do it” Mills wants to prove them wrong.

“You told me I can’t. I’m gonna show you I did. That’s one of my sayings,” Mills said. “If someone tells me I can’t, I’m going to show you I did. I’ve always been that way. I’ve always been a glass half-full kind of person, not half-empty. I’ve always wanted to be different when

I was a kid. I wanted to be different. Two weeks before I got paralyzed, I told my dad I wanted to be dif-ferent than anybody else. He said, “Be careful what you wish for you just my get it.” Two weeks later I’m fighting for my life in a coma from a car wreck.”

“From that day forward it was ‘you’re different. You asked for this, make it positive.’ My life’s been bet-ter,” Mills added.

Mills says his life’s been great and he has no qualms. Mills hasn’t used his handicap as an excuse; in fact he’s turned it into a positive. The powerfully built Mills particularly enjoys brutal physical challenges and endurance competitions.

He’s on a pro team for the Spar-tan Death Race, an extreme obstacle course, and is signed up for the sim-ilar BattleFrog event in May at the Georgia International Horse Park. Mills is sometimes the only adaptive athlete competing in these events.

A few years ago someone told Mills he couldn’t crawl up Stone Mountain. Now he does it the first weekend of every February. Mills lasted 25 hours in the Spartan Death Race before he was cut where he was the 20th person to go out beat-ing 19 able bodied men who quit or were cut before him. He’s also

done an Army Ranger event that required a physical 13 hours of phys-ical training by Navy Seals.

He recently par t ic ipated in a 200-mile race in South C a r o l i n a , and finished his annual climb of Stone Mo u n t a i n —accomplished by crawling up on his hands and knees.

For the re-cord-setting attempt, he will try to pull a 2015 Honda Pilot SUV that weighs just under 5,000 pounds for 100 meters. He has been training heavily, including by pulling borrowed cars in a Rockdale shopping center park-ing lot off McDonough Highway. He ties a 400-foot-long rope to a light pole, hooks himself to the car with a harness, and pulls away.

The training is a good conversa-tion-starter with “people scratching their head, wondering what I’m do-

ing,” Mills said.“The hardest part is getting your

mind set to do it,” he says of the massive physical effort of such a feat. “If you can get it in your mind, your body will follow.”

As of Friday, the event raised $1,325 of the $2,000 goal. To sup-port Mills’ superhuman record attempt, go to https://www.crow-drise.com/festivusandmichael4kids

For more information on Mills and the event, see his Facebook page at facebook.com/chasing-michaelmills.

MILLSFrom FRONT PAGE


Yard Sales

Yard & Estate Sales

Community Yard Sale Friday, 4/10 and Saturday, 4/11 from

9am-1pm at Camerons Landing and Woodstone Subdivision located off

Fairview Road.

TOOLS! TOOLS! Household goods, metal storage shelves, storage cabinet, Garage Sale, Saturday, April 11th. 8

am till6102 Forest Drive, Covington

Rain or Shine

Items for Sale

Cemetery Lots

Cemetery lot for sale at Lawnwood Memorial

Park. Grave Space: Section D, Lot 426,

Space 1. $1500. 678-634-2813

General Merchandise

Household items for sale. Kitchen table set, sofa/cocktail table with bev-eled glass $225, refrig-erator, stove, dishwasher $225 each, microwave $125. All good condition.

770-385-9817

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a wheelchair, is deaf, requires lifting and help showering. Female staff

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Real Estate

Homes For Sale

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the News April 11, 2015 Volume 6, Issue 52

Documents

Transcript of the News April 11, 2015 Volume 6, Issue 52