dawson chamber chronicle 1009

By David [email protected]

For 12 years, the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce has held a yearly Business Expo. This year, attendees also saw health booths.

The Expo was held Oct. 1 at the Rock Creek Sports Complex.

In the past, the expo had been held at the Lakeview Center.

“We like it much better. It’s roomier and the space is much better,” said local State Farm agent and Board of Education member Roger Slaton. “Although Lakeview is big, this just seems like it’s much more open.”

The location wasn’t the only thing new this year. The time was also moved.

“We’ve moved it from 3 to 7 p.m. after receiving some feedback about how people wanted to come by right

after work, instead of going home and then waiting to come back,” said Christie Haynes, Dawson County Chamber of Commerce pres-ident.

Visitors to this free event were able to check out booths from businesses rang-ing from local printing, to newspapers, to health orga-nizations.

“We’ve noticed health

The Member Newsletter of the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce

Edition Highlights:

October 2013Post Office Box 299292 Hwy. 400, North

Dawsonville, GA 30534(706) 265-6278

Moonshine Festival is this month

Recycling facilities added at schools

Fashion show supportswoman’s club

Movie films scenes in Dawson County

Expo showcases health, business

News

Website part of chamber’s rebrandingFrom staff reports

The Dawson County Chamber of Commerce announced Sept. 23 that its new website has been launched. The launching of the site is part of the chamber’s efforts to rebrand, innovate and better serve its members.

The website includes a landing page that is reached at www.dawson.org,

which directs visitors to the chamber, tourism, community and government, and economic development pages.

The landing page is geared to meet the informational needs of any local resident, business leader, out of town guest or family looking to relocate to Dawson County.

The chamber website can be directly visited at www.dawsonchamber.org.

The website includes new features such as a chamber business of the week highlighted on the front page, a busi-ness resources section, easy access to all chamber information, links to the chamber’s Facebook and Twitter pages, and much more.

The website provides continued pri-vate access to chamber members so they can manage their chamber

accounts, contact information and busi-ness profiles. It also allows members to directly post events to the community calendar which is easily accessible from the landing page, chamber and tourism websites.

Chamber members also have the abili-ty to post available job opportunities

See WEBSITE | 2

See EXPO | 3

State Farm agent Roger Slaton and staff give away free State Farm mer-chandise and apples to those who came to their table during the Health and Business Expo on Oct. 1.

David Renner Dawson Community News

Since the last time I’ve written to y’all, I’ve been blessed with multiple experiences that have forced me outside of my comfort zone.

I know we are all often guilty of falling into our routines of driving the same way to work, speaking to the same people at church and commu-nity functions and volunteering for the same events. This makes perfect sense — we’re all creatures of habit.

I am a participant in the 2013-14 Leadership Dawson class which has already offered two unique experi-ences.

The first of which was spending the night at the Len Foote Hike Inn. What a treasure this getaway is to have in Dawson County.

The view of the sunrise was spec-tacular. Getting to spend two days with leaders from across our commu-nity, some of which have known each other for years and some who met for the first time, in a place where cell phones are off limits and entertainment includes board games and deep conversations was quite the treat.

It also took most of us, creatures of habit, outside of our comfort zones. If you have never been to the Hike Inn, I highly suggest adding it to your list of places to explore in

Dawson County. I promise you will not be disappointed.

My second adven-ture that took me out of my routine was spending an evening riding along with a deputy with the Dawson County

Sheriff’s Office. This certainly was an eye opening

experience about many of the issues our community faces, but it also gave me an even deeper apprecia-tion for what the men and women that work for our sheriff’s office do for our community every day.

The men and women that I had the pleasure of meeting that evening were all facing difficult situations but they did it with the utmost grace and respect.

Many of y’all know that I have worked in multiple communities and I must say that the culture of our sher-iff’s office, of working to not only protect residents but of truly being a partner with the community to help enhance the quality of life in Dawson County is one of which we should all be grateful and proud.

I may sound like a broken record sometimes but I hope that y’all will take some time this fall to step out-

side of your comfort zone in our community.

Whether that means taking a hike on a new trail, sitting with someone different at church, attending a chamber event for the first time or volunteering for a new community organization, I guarantee these experiences will only serve to enrich your life as these recent experiences have enriched mine.

Christie HaynesPresident

2 | DAWSON CHAMBER CHRONICLE | dawsonnews.com OCTOBER 2013

Brooke AndersonEtowah Water and Sewer Authority

Pat AndersonAnderson Family Mediciine

James AskewUnited Community Bank-Dawsonville

Charlie AuvermannDevelopment Authority of Dawson County

Jennifer BakerUnited Community Bank-Dawsonville

Mike BergDawson County Board of Commissioners

Carla BoutinState Farm Insurance

Kathy C. FullerKC Fuller & Associates

Chris GainesTaylor, Turner & Hartsfield

James GroganCity of Dawsonville

Christie HaynesDawson County Chamber of Commerce, tourism development

Peter Hill Hill Design Associates Architects, Inc.

Andrew LeavittUniversity of North Georgia

Steve MelchingBig Canoe Homeowners Association

George ParsonCartridge on Wheels of North Georgia

Keith PorterDawson County Board of Education

Denny PutlakDenny Insurance Group

Carol TygerIndividual

Mike UnderwoodFirst Citizens Bank of Georgia

Gloria Wyatt, Northside Hospital-Forsyth

Scott Yochum, Yochum Financial Group

CHAMBer oF CoMMerCe 2013 BoArD oF DireCTorSGet outside your comfort zone

Haynes

directly to the website, as well as, post hot deals which can be accessed by local residents and out of town visitors alike.

A main feature of the newly launched website is that the cham-ber’s business directory is easily accessible throughout the landing page, chamber website, and tour-ism website so that chamber mem-bers are constantly being promoted

to all website visitors. “We are very excited about the

launch of our new website. We hope that our community uses it as an informational resource,” said Christie Haynes, president of the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce.

“We believe the website will bring an even greater value to our mem-ber’s investment in the chamber as it becomes more highly trafficked, continues to be a resource to not only the community but visitors as well, and presents Dawson County as the unique, scenic, engaged

community that we are.” In addition to the launching of

www.dawson.org and www.daw-sonchamber.org, a website specifi-cally geared towards tourism and out of town visitors has been launched. Individuals looking to plan a trip can now visit www.destina-tiondawsonville.org to find all the information they need to create their own adventure in Dawsonville and Dawson County.

FroM 1

Website

‘I may sound like a broken record some-times but I hope that y’all will take some time this fall to step outside of your com-fort zone in our com-munity.’

dawsonnews.com | DAWSON CHAMBER CHRONICLE | 3OCTOBER 2013

• Uncle Shuck’s Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch is now open for its 12th fall season of operation. Offering hay rides, evening bonfires, kid’s soybean maze, climbing goats and of course the mega maze, Uncle Shuck’s Corn Maze is now open weekends in September. The com-plex will be open daily in October, and weekends in November through the 24th. Tickets are $10 for the corn maze and $5 for the hay ride; maze admission is free for children four and under.

• The Chamber of Commerce will be holding its monthly lunch at noon on Oct. 10 at Peach Brandy Cottage. This is a great opportunity to network and hear from speakers on issues that impact your busi-ness and our community. This month’s speakers will be Senator Steve Gooch and Representative Kevin Tanner. Members that register online no later than 5 p.m. Oct. 8 will pay an early bird price of $12.50. The price after the cutoff date will be $15. Visitors are invited to attend and pay a visi-tor fee of $15.00. Visit www.dawson.org to register or call (706) 265-6278.

• NOA’s Monster Dash 5K Walk/Run & Kids Fun Run Kick Start will be from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 12 at Yahoola Creek Park in Dahlonega. NOA will also be holding its Eighth Annual Chili Cook-Off from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 26 at Hancock Park in Dahlonega. All proceeds benefit the NOA Domestic Violence Shelter and Programs. For more information on either event, con-tact Andrea Shoemaker at (706) 864-1306, Ext. 3 or email [email protected].

• Five Start NTP will host its Booker’s Run & Ride 5K & Duathlon at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 12 at the Dawson County Library on Allen St. Visit www.fivestarntp.com for more information or to register.

• The 46th Annual Mountain Moonshine Festival will be on Oct. 26 and 27 in downtown Dawsonville. There will be con-certs, a car show, cruise in, swap meet, vendors, food and fun for all. Visit www.kareforkids.us for more information.

calendar of events

partners move into the county and establishing offices and becoming bigger players in the county,” Haynes said.

Haynes said the purpose of add-ing health booths is to make visitors aware of the local healthcare choic-es in the county.

“We understand healthcare is

such a vital part in our community, but a lot of the citizens don’t know what’s actually offered in Dawson County,” she said. “Part of the goal of this Expo was to have representa-tives from health organizations come in and talk about what they offer.”

In the past, Dawson County put on an annual Health Expo, but has stopped in recent times.

“The county used to have a Health Expo,” Haynes said. “They don’t do that anymore, to our knowledge, so we thought we could help support

them in that. We decided to take that on for them.”

Haynes said that she hoped the new expo would become another tradition upheld by the chamber.

“Our expo continues to be an excellent opportunity for businesses to network with one another and the community,” she said. “We are proud of the partnership with Dawson County Parks and Recreation that allowed us to hold our annual event at their facility.”

froM 1

Expo


Insurance is something that every-body needs, but no one wants to ever have to use.

However, like their corporate com-mercial and jingles, State Farm agent Carla Boutin wants everyone to know that she wants to be your neighbor.

From any of the company’s wide array of coverage, from home insur-ance, life insurance or event auto bank loans through State Farm bank, Boutin wants to give her customers the best service.

“Our customers can expect the best customer service possible,” she said. “They can expect that we will treat them like we would treat our family and we will be there when they need us.”

Opening in the area in January of 2003, Boutin will celebrate her 11th year in Dawson County this coming January.

“I like to be involved in the commu-nity and make our presence known,” she said. “I like for us to be able to give back to the community. I encour-age all of our employees to be active.”

Boutin works alongside her employ-ees Sharon Smith and Connie Baker to be what she calls a “risk manager” or insurance advisor for Dawson County.

Boutin also extended the State Farm

office family with her own actual fami-ly in August. Her latest employee is her husband, Charles.

Every agent in Boutin’s office is a licensed professional.

With her husband at work with her, Boutin treats her office as a second home, welcoming anyone to come in and visit at any time.

“We would like to invite everybody to just give us a call or come in just to see us,” she said. We’ll see what we can do to save them some money and provide them with the kind of service they expect.”

And, like home, her employees said the office is often filled with the smell of

fresh baked goods.“Carla is baking all of the time. She’s

always got us some kind of treat,” Baker said. “She’s a wonderful baker. She shares that with the whole commu-nity.”

Boutin said she prefers to think of each of her clients as family, not a busi-ness relationship.

“We like to be a part of our custom-ers’ life and have that kind of relation-ship with them — and not just with insurance,” she said. “If you have a claim, you don’t have to call a corpo-rate number. You can just call us and we’ll be here to help you through that whole process.”


State Farm agent Carla Boutin sits in her 1972 Chevrolet Custom truck. Beside her are employees, Sharon Smith and Connie Baker, and husband, Charles Boutin.

Insurance a ‘family affair’


The 2014 Relay for Life campaign is up and running in Dawson County.

The local arm of the American Cancer Society held its kick-off dinner Sept. 19 at the Dawson County Board of Education Professional Development Center.

“This is a life-changing event that helps commu-nities across the country celebrate the lives of people with cancer, remember loved ones who have lost the battle and help the ones who are still fighting,” said Beth Covington, 2014 Relay for Life chair for Dawson County.

This year’s theme will be “A Carnival of Hope.”

Plans call for carnival style games, food, clowns, balloons and other sights one might see at a carnival.

Last year, Dawson County raised more than $51,000 for the American Cancer Society.

“By helping with Relay for Life, you are helping the American Cancer Society save lives and helping people get well, stay well and find the cure for cancer,” Covington said.

“We are all fighting a battle because there is so much work to be

done. We’ve all been touched by cancer and many of us have lost someone we love to this disease.”

Covington says she has big plans for this year’s Relay and the events leading up to it.

“This year, we still have all the supplies we need to help fundraising, but this year we’re focus-ing on only using what we need.”

One of the goals for this year is to keep costs low and supply waste down.

All teams are encour-aged to register online this year. For the month of September, teams who register online are

given a half-price rate of $5 per person instead of the usual $10. When registering online, teams must type in the code “relay” for the discounted price.

Also, as part of the waste and cost reduction effort, only teams that raise at least $100 per person will receive a T-shirt this year.

The 2014 Relay for Life event will be April 25, at Veterans Memorial Park.

As of the kickoff event, a goal for 2014 had not been set.

For more information, call Covington at (706) 974-9771 or visit www.dawsoncountyrelay.org.


Office: 706-216-4806Fax: [email protected]

P.O Box 1096137 Prominence Court

Suite 240Dawsonville, GA 30534


The sky was blue and the weather fine on Sept. 23 as business leaders from across the county gathered for the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce annual golf tournament at Crystal Falls Golf Course.

The chamber held its annual golf tour-nament at the scenic golf course and lake. Sixteen teams comprised of more than 60 people teed off at 9:30 a.m. to see who could get the lowest score.

“We had a good number of new players this year,” said Christie Haynes, chamber of commerce president. “It’s always fun to see new faces.”

Haynes said the tournament gives business leaders in the community a chance to get together in a less rigor-ous environment.

“It’s definitely a fundraiser, but it’s also great networking for the people of the community,” she said. “It’s one of the few times they get to relax and just spend some time on the course without having to worry about being in a more enclosed atmosphere.”

Groups come in different sizes, with some preferring long-standing teams while others take a gamble at their partners.

“Some people register together, but we also take individual players and group them up to put teams together,”

Haynes said. “A lot of people will play with the same people for years and then some like to mix it up.”

One example was County Attorney Joey Homans’ team.

“We had a couple of guys that had to drop out, but we picked up two more, so we got to make some new friends,” he said.

Prizes were given for lowest net score, lowest gross score, the closest to hole putting contest and the longest drive.

Taking first place in overall gross points was Carla Boutin’s State Farm team. First place net was Northside Hospital-Forsyth’s team. Awards for individuals went to Bruce Howerton for closest to the pin, Todd Buckner for longest drive and Zach Moore for the putting contest.

“My favorite hole is the ‘Dress in Drag’ hole. Our men pay extra to put on women’s clothes,” Haynes said. “Then they can take their shot from the ladies’ tee. Since its closer, it actually is a pretty big benefit.”

Overall, the participants enjoyed golfing in the fall weather.

“It was great. We had a lot of fun,” Homans said “I’ve played in this one every year. I think we’re in the middle of the pack this year. We always are.”

Business leaders gather for chamber golf tourney

Dolford Payne, Chris Averitt, Jack Conner

and Fred Reed of Team

Northside Forsyth paid

the extra cash to dress in

drag in order to tee from the women’s area.


Relay for Life kicks off 2014 campaign

‘By helping with Relay for Life, you are helping the American Cancer Society save lives and helping people get well, stay well and find the cure for cancer.’

Beth CovingtonChair, 2014 Relay for Life


By Michele [email protected]

Ask anyone in attendance at the Sept. 26 elemen-tary education contest if they are without a doubt “Smarter than a 10-year-old” and only the Dawsonville Walmart team can answer “yes, we are.”

“It was a team effort,” said Mike Bradbury, co-manager at the superstore, who competed in the Reading Education Association of Dawson County fundraiser along with retail associates Steve Wilkinson and Luca Isandora.

“Walmart likes to take part in community events. I begged these two guys to join the team because of their wit and their wisdom. We all had different expertise. They couldn’t have gotten the megabytes question and I couldn’t have got the presidents ques-tion, so it all worked out.”

The team from Northeast Georgia Medical Plaza also made it to the 1,000,000 point question Sept. 26 at Dawson County Middle School but failed to answer the final question correctly: Which U.S. state has the longest non freshwater shoreline?

A retired Marine, Wilkinson knew the answer was Alaska, while Jo Brewer for the medical team chose California.

Mike Ziegenbalg, president of the R.E.A.D. board, called the seventh annual event a great success.

“On behalf of R.E.A.D., I’d like to thank everybody that helped support our organization this year. It sure-ly makes a difference to Dawson County,” he said. “We had a great turnout and I think everybody had a great time.”

Set up much like Jeff Foxworthy’s popular TV game show, the event poses questions taught at the elemen-tary school level. Fifth-graders from each of the coun-ty’s elementary schools are on hand to help if the queries prove too difficult.

Dawsonville Gun and Pawn, Lanier Technical College, the City of Dawsonville, Rotary Club of Dawson County, Lions Club and the Dawson County Woman’s Club also had teams competing.

A portion of the event’s proceeds go toward a scholarship for a graduating Dawson County High School senior in the spring.

R.E.A.D. will sponsor the scholarship in the name of the Mark Heard Fuel, which was selected from among about two dozen local businesses and indi-viduals that helped sponsor the event by purchasing letters in an alphabet raffle.

Retail giant team takes home prize

Photos by Michele Hester Dawson Community News

Rotary team member Scott Yochum takes a “peek” at Shyla Shffield and Diane Frazier’s answer to see if they know the capital of Michigan.

Reading Education Association of Dawson County executive director Sandy Lipkowitz presents Steve Wilkinson, Luca Isandora and Mike Bradbury of the Dawsonville Walmart team with the win-ning plaque at the 7th annual “Are You smarter than a 10-year old” compe-tition.


• Improve your skills … take an online class. For more information, visit www.dawson.org.

• Past issues of the Dawson County Chamber Chronicle can be found on the chamber’s Web site, www.dawson.org.

Please let the chamber know when you have a special event.

Bulletin board

Literacy group donates thesaurusesRiverview Middle

School eighth graders Jordyn

Gentry and Cameron Baker

look up words in thesauruses given

to them recently by volunteers with

Reading Education Association of

Dawson County.

Michele Hester Dawson Community News


The Dawson County Kiwanis Club’s new leaders have offi-cially been sworn into office and will be settling into their new roles in the coming weeks.

During the Sept. 24 meet-ing, Kiwanis Lt. Gov. Joel Williams, along with Kiwanis’ Past President Kristie Myers, administered the oath and swore in the new leaders.

The club, in its own words, is a “global organization of volunteers dedicated to chang-ing the world one child and one community at a time.”

Members of every age attend regular meetings, expe-rience fellowship, raise funds for various causes and partici-pate in service projects that

help their communities.“This is great group. I happi-

ly turn over the gavel,” Myers said. “Your commitment to this club has made this year spe-cial to me, to have a small group of people who are dedi-cated to Kiwanis and are dedi-cated to the children of our community.”

Myers, immediate past presi-dent, acts as an advisor to the year’s current president.

This year, that role was bestowed upon Dawson County Sheriff Billy Carlisle.

“It’s all about helping the kids in the county,” Carlisle said. “It’s an honor they would even consider selecting me. I just hope I can fill Kristie’s shoes. She did an excellent job.”

“I can’t imagine being sheriff and president of this club, as

well,” Williams said. “This is the highest office we have and it’s a great honor with great responsibility. The success of this club depends on you.”

Other officials sworn in this year include Secretary Meredith Starr and Treasurer Regina Varnado. The 2014-2015 president has also been chosen as Angela Holloway.

Directors sworn in this year are Joey Homans, Dan Pichon, Becky Holbrook and Cheryl Waldrip.

The Kiwanis Club meets at 11:30 a.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at Ryan’s at the intersec-tion of Hwys. 400 and 53.

For more information, visit www.dawsoncountykiwanis.org.

Kiwanis inducts new leaders


Kiwanis Lt. Gov. Joel Williams congratulates Dawson County Sheriff Billy Carlisle on his presidency.


File: dawsonGunAndPawn100913_DawsonChamber

Thank you to the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce Members for your support on making our Business

After Hours a success!

North Georgia’s Largest Selection of Firearms

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706.216.1468 • dawsonvillegunandpawn.com

From staff reports

Sawnee Electric Membership Corporation recently announced that the corporation’s board of direc-tors approved a reduction in the Wholesale Power Cost Adjustment factor, a compo-nent by which most of the cooperative’s electric bills are calculated. The rate reduction will affect the vast majority of Sawnee EMC members and could not come at a better time.

The rate change, which goes into effect on Oct. 1, will reduce monthly Sawnee EMC bills by $7.50 per 1,500 kWh used. Those members who use more electricity will see an even bigger savings,

while those that use less, will see lower savings.

“This is very good news and we are pleased to be able to deliver this much needed break for our members,” said Blake House, vice president of member services. “We know that many families continue to experience personal financial challenges and we are proud to be able to help in any way we can.”

The WPCA factor is an adjustment component that is used within Sawnee’s retail rates to address various oper-ating costs that are not being recovered through the stan-dard rates.

The action will lower the electricity rate for about 136,000 Sawnee EMC mem-

bers on the energy bills pro-cessed in October, November and December of 2013.

It is estimated that the rate reduction, in total, will save Sawnee members more than $2.9 million dollars in lower energy bills during the three month period.

“Sawnee EMC is committed to the principles that make this organization great; keeping our costs and our member’s rates as low as possible, while at the same time delivering world-class customer service,” said Michael Goodroe, presi-dent and CEO. “We know that energy cost increases are on our horizon due to federal environmental regulations, fuel cost swings and other factors, but for now, we are proud to

see our members’ rates low-ered for the rest of this year.”

Also, to further its mission of providing exceptional service and value to its members, Sawnee EMC has deployed a number of cutting edge mobile and web based tools and applications to help members save money by monitoring their monthly, daily and even hourly energy usage; the most significant is the completion of its new Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system, which began installation in 2009. The AMI system allows members access to the present-ment of their energy usage data online, as well as on their smart phone or tablet.

Sawnee EMC has also recently deployed its new inno-

vative “Billing Alert Program.” Participating members can

receive up to three e-mail mes-sages about how their energy bill is progressing towards their maximum bill threshold that they have entered. This new program makes “high bill shock” a thing of the past.

“We are committed to keep-ing our members informed and involved; making sure that the amount of electricity they are using each month is very trans-parent,” House said. “We want them to use energy wise-ly and pay less, whenever possible.”

To learn more about how Sawnee EMC members can reduce their energy bills visit Sawnee online at www.sawnee.com.

Sawnee EMC announces rate decrease



Keep Dawson County Beautiful has embarked on a new project intended to increase recycling efforts at area schools and across the community.

The volunteer group has out-lined plans to purchase two custom-made Dumpsters to place at Riverview Elementary and Dawson County Middle schools.

In addition to offering the schools a facility to recycle items such as plastic, metal cans and cardboard used in the cafeteria and across the campus, the recycling contain-ers will be available for the community to utilize as a recy-

cling resource. “We’ve had several requests

for additional recycling facilities in the county,” said Kristi Hudson, director of Keep Dawson County Beautiful. “These containers are open to the parents of the students and could give them a more conve-nient location for recycling.”

Keep Dawson County Beautiful announced the part-nership with the Dawson County School System last week during the group’s 10th anniversary celebration.

Established in 2003, Keep Dawson County Beautiful was based on the very successful Gwinnett County Clean and Beautiful campaign.

With a focus on bringing meaningful change to our envi-

ronment through quality of life services, Keep Dawson County Beautiful’s initiatives include lit-ter prevention, solid waste plan-ning and coordination, environ-mental education, beautifica-tion and conservation.

County Commission chair Mike Berg praised the group for their work in the communi-ty.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years, and over the years, there have been some good programs that have come from Keep Dawson County Beautiful,” he said.

Areas of service volunteers coordinate include Adopt-a-Road, Christmas tree recy-cling, electronic recycling, community clean-ups, old tire recycling and classroom pre-

sentations.“The program with the

school is very positive,” Berg said.

School Superintendent Keith Porter said the system is proud of the partnership.

At Riverview Elementary, staff has developed lesson plans that incorporate recy-cling education and will roll out that initiative in connec-tion with the new recycling container at the school.

“It is our desire to provide opportunities for our students to develop skills that will lead to them becoming good citizens,” Porter said.

“By acting responsibly regarding the manner in which they deal with recy-clable materials, we hope

that they will develop habits that will last them throughout their lives. I am so glad that Riverview Elementary School has piloted a recycling pro-gram this year, and I hope that it can be replicated in other places in the future.”

Hudson said the group’s long-term plan is to have a recycling container at each of the county schools.

Keep Dawson County Beautiful meets at 5 p.m. the third Wednesday of each month at Fire Station 2. The public is invited to attend the meetings, and volunteers are always needed for various community projects.

For more information, call Kristi Hudson at (706) 344-3501.

New recycling facilities added at local schools

(706) 974-9161 • www.balletetc.org • 258 Beartooth Pkwy. Ste. 170, Dawsonville

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Chamber Chronicle is the monthly newsletter of the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce.

The editorial content includes Chamber News and goals of interest to the business and residential community.

The Chamber will keep the community informed about ribbon cuttings, business expansions, chamber functions and events, community events and the benefits of Chamber membership through Chamber Chronicle.

The Chronicle is mailed to all subscribers of the Dawson Community News, plus all Chamber members. Additional copies are available at the Chamber office.

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Dawsonville: arounD the square


The lore of Dawsonville’s unique moon-shining history will have the community see-ing stars come October when moonshiners from Discovery Channel’s hit cable series of the same name will be in town to serve as grand marshals for the 46th annual Mountain Moonshine Festival.

“We’re excited to be coming to Dawsonville for the Moonshine Festival,” said Jeff Waldroup, who along with his sidekick Mark will be at the festival in downtown Dawsonville on Oct. 26-27.

Like his character on this show, the ever illusive Mark, who signs his name with only “X Mark,” requested that his last name not be revealed due to the nature of their illegal liquor business.

Typically, the festival brings an estimated 100,000 people to the area, but organiz-ers are already saying that having the moonshiners around this year is going to mean much larger crowds.

The festival pays tribute to the commu-nity’s unique moonshine heritage and cel-ebrates Dawsonville as the birthplace of NASCAR, which got its start with moon-shiners racing south on Hwy. 9 to escape revenuers charged with shutting down the illegal trade.

“This is exciting. This is about the best thing we can have at the festival. They’re going to bring people from all over that watch the show and want to meet the moonshiners,” said Gordon Pirkle, a volun-teer with K.A.R.E. for Kids, who organizes the festival each year.

Calvin Byrd, president of the nonprofit that uses funds from the festival for local chil-dren in need, said he sees having the televi-sion stars as grand marshals as a plus for the organization.

“It’s a great opportunity for K.A.R.E. for Kids to gain some more exposure and reach out to a bigger audience,” he said.

Averaging nearly 3 million viewers for each episode, ‘Moonshiners’ first aired on Discovery Channel in December 2011. The show, filmed in the woods of North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina, dra-matizes the life of several moonshiners as they produce illegal liquor and avoid the revenuers hoping to shut down their stills.

Bud Thomas, a former moonshiner from Cumming who manufactures replica copper stills, said he was thrilled at the chance to meet the ‘Moonshiners’ stars.

“I’m a big fan. I really like the show,” he said.

As far as the truth of moonshine being portrayed on the series, Thomas said the moonshiners “know what they’re doing.”

“They sometimes do things that aren’t exactly right, but that’s just TV. They got to keep it exciting for us to keep us interested,” he said.

The weekend festivities also include more than 500 vendors from across the Southeast, live entertainment on twho stages and one of the biggest displays of hot rods and racecars at any festival across the country.

Proceeds from the festival support K.A.R.E. for Kids’ efforts to provide Christmas and other necessities to Dawson County children in need.


Volunteers are needed to help clean downtown Dawsonville in anticipation of the 46th annual Mountain Moonshine Festival.

Keep Dawson County Beautiful invites the community to meet at 8 a.m. Oct. 19 at Dawson County Middle School for the Great Dawson Clean-up event.

Trash bags and reflective vests will be available to pick up at this time. Clean-up volunteers will be asked to sign a liability waiver.

Volunteers are then asked to scour downtown Dawsonville to

clear debris from the streets, road-ways and public areas.

“Dawsonville is expecting several thousand visitors the weekend of the Moonshine Festival, and we want to make sure the streets in downtown Dawsonville look beau-tiful for all our guests,” said Karen Armstrong, president of the volun-teer organization.

The festival, which reportedly brings an estimated 100,000 peo-ple to the area each fall, will be held the following weekend.

For more information or to regis-ter your clean-up crew, call Kristi Hudson at (706) 344-3501.

Festival celebrates moonshine history

Community clean-up planned


New street signs for roads named for drivers of Dawsonville’s rac-ing history went up Sept. 30. Among those celebrated are Ted Chester, Bill Elliott, Roy Hall, Bernard Long, Harry Melling, Raymond Parks, Lloyd Seay and Gober Sosebee.

streets have new names

File photo

The 46th annual Mountain Moonshine Fest i va l wi l l be in downtown Dawsonville on Oct. 26-27.


Walk-in visitors: 90 Referrals: 75 Newcomer packages: 40

monthly totals

dawsonChamber091113_ChamberChronicle

new members

Dawson County Kiwanis

109 Highway 53 West

Dawsonville, GA 30534

(706) 531-1022

Georgia Communications Cooperative

6135 State Highway 115, Suite 1-A

Clarkesville, GA 30523

(706) 770-2022

North Georgia Vein Institute

6002 Highway 53 E, Ste 100

Dawsonville, GA 30534

(678) 513-1600

member renewals

Bergen, Richard S. Jr

John Megel Chevrolet

Dawson County WEE Books Program Inc

Home Depot

North Georgia Premium Car Wash

Bethel United Methodist Church

United Community Bank - Gail Morris

Southern Select Properties, LLC

Hinderliter, David and Carolyn

McDonald’s

special thanks to the following members for renewing in september


ambassador of the month

ambassador spotlight

The Dawson County Chamber of Commerce would like to congratulate Mandy Power, who was named Ambassador of the Month for September.

Power was selected as Ambassador of the Month for her commitment to promoting the cham-ber and its many programs.

Giving back is part of the mission at BB&T, where she is branch manager at the Dawsonville location.

“I wanted to get involved in my community...and was looking for an organization that I could help fulfill BB&T’s mission to make our communities in which we work and live better places to be. The chamber Ambassador Program was a great fit for me,” Power said.

She also recently volunteered to as the chamber’s Ambassador representative in the Dawson County Woman’s Club’s Racing Goes Glam fashion show and fundraiser. Her husband James also modeled with her in the fashion show.

“I’ve never done anything like this before, but I wanted to be able to give back to my community. Part of BB&T’s mission is to give back. We had lots of fun,” she said.

The Ambassadors are an elite group of volunteer chamber members who act as liaisons between the business community and the organization.

Ambassadors attend ribbon cutting ceremonies, grand opening celebrations and volunteer at cham-ber functions to promote the chamber.

For more information on the Ambassador Program, call (706) 265-6278.

— Michele Hester

File photo

Mandy Power and husband James represent-ed the chamber ambassadors in the Dawson County Woman’s Club’s fashion show last month.

Power promotes chamber

From staff reports

The Dawson County Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors would like to thank the Atlanta Motorsports Park for host-ing them for a fun after-noon of karting.

AMP offers fun for the whole family with world-class driving courses, fam-ily-friendly atmosphere and country club style facilities and amenities.

The park also offers charity events and open course days in the eve-

ning for walking on the course or riding bicycles.

They also offer track rentals for corporate events.

The chamber would also like to thank AMP’s Emily Stubbs for speaking at the September luncheon.

The Dawson County

Chamber of Commerce

Ambassadors went karting at

AMP’s tracks on Sept. 27.

For the Dawson Community News

Motorsports park offers fun for all ages

By David Renner [email protected]

The showroom was packed will chatting people and catered food during the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event at Dawsonville Gun and Pawn.

“We are thrilled that the turnout at the chamber’s Business After Hours continues to grow,” said Christie Haynes, Dawson County Chamber of Commerce presi-dent. “We love seeing familiar and new faces at our monthly networking events.”

Haynes complimented the store for not only supporting the chamber but also being involved in the community.

“We are so grateful to Dawsonville Gun and Pawn for being such an ardent supporter of not only the chamber but also of our community as a whole,” she said. “They are truly a destination business that visitors travel from all around to visit and we are proud to have them as a member and as a business in Dawson County.”

The chamber would like to thank the individuals and businesses that donated door prizes and congratulate the winners. The next Business After Hours will from 5 to 7 p.m. at Big Canoe. Special thanks to Larry Anderson, Anderson Family Medicine and Kristie Myers, The Norton Agency for sponsoring the chamber’s monthly cash drawing, which is at $300 for the October event. Remember, you must be present to claim the cash prize if your name is drawn.

dawsonville gun and pawn holds after hours event



Fall fashions took the checkered flag on Sept. 21 at the Dawson County Woman’s Club’s Racing Goes Glam event.

Held at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, the fashion show and luncheon was a fundraiser for the club and collect-ed several thousand dollars that will be redistributed back into the local commu-nity.

Georgann Schmalz, club president, said she was delighted to have so many women in attendance.

“The weather was horrible but people still came out to support us ... so they must believe in the things we do, and it’s good to know that,” she said.

Local community members took to the catwalk and showcased a collection of fall separates and cocktail attire.

Marge Carey, a member of the wom-an’s club, said she couldn’t have been happier with the men, women and chil-dren that volunteered to model in the fashion show.

“I think the models were fantastic. They were having a good time. They were relaxed, they were confident and they knew they looked good,” she said.

Modeling in his first fashion show, Dawsonville Mayor James Grogan said the fun he was having took his mind off his nerves.

“It was just a fun thing. I wouldn’t have done it if it hadn’t been fun,” he said.

“I just feel like we as a city, and myself, want to participate in as many of these types of things as we can. I think that everybody wants to see their mayor out, active and participating, and that’s the kind of mayor I want to be.”

Proceeds from Racing Goes Glam support the woman’s club’s community commitments, which include high school scholarships, improved literacy efforts, RIC Rack Charity Thrift Store and the Good Shepherd Clinic, among others.

Fashion show supports woman’s club

Dawson County Manager Cindy Campbell, above, models a black cocktail dress during the Dawson County Woman’s Club Racing Goes Glam fashion show.

Photos by Michele Hester Dawson Community News

Jennifer Wooten looks radiant in a rock-inspired trapeze top, leather jacket and leg-gings.

Owen Wooten, 5, was among several local mod-els Racing Goes Glam fashion show at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame.



Film crews from the blockbust-er “Hunger Games” franchise were in town last month filming scenes for “Mockingjay,” the third segment in the popular series.

Christie Haynes, president of the local chamber of com-merce and office of tourism development, said filming a movie of “Hunger Games” magnitude could have a tre-mendous impact on economic development.

“You can look to Covington and Peachtree City as exam-ples of communities in Georgia that now offer film tours to visitors and have brought in many new niche industries since becoming known as destinations for film-ing,” she said.

“Vampire Diaries” and now its spinoff “The Originals” have created a bustling entertain-ment business in both cities and the small towns nearby with onlookers driving for miles hoping to get a glimpse of their favorite stars.

“Visitors want to see where a movie was shot, know who the actors and actresses were, and learn where they stayed,” Haynes said.

The crew arrived in town and shot scenes on a large tract of private land off Elliott Family Parkway. They were seen hauling in large lights and industrial strength fans.

Then, by the end of the week, everything was packed up and the crew on to the next set.

The local set was closed to the public and local off-duty officers working security kept

away any onlookers, including a couple of paparazzo who heard Academy Award win-ning actress Jennifer Lawrence might be around.

It’s unclear if Lawrence, who stars as “Hunger Games” hero-ine Katniss Everdeen, was on the set.

She was, however, spotted about a year ago at the local Starbuck’s and shopping at the outlet mall when production crews were scouting Dawson County for areas to film scenes for “Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” the second installment in the series.

Advanced tickets for “Hunger Games: Catching Fire” was for sale Oct. 1 for a worldwide release Nov. 22.

Georgia has been one of the country’s leading locations for Hollywood film production for a couple of years, thanks to the tax breaks and incentives the state offers.

Many remember early 2012 when Clint Eastwood, Justin Timberlake and Amy

Adams were in town filming scenes from “Trouble with the Curve” at Amicalola Lodge just west of downtown Dawsonville, but it was long before that when Dawson County was first “discovered” by Hollywood.

“It was more than 100 years ago…and everyone always talked about Dawsonville being so primitive, but we were ahead of our time,” said Scott Goswick, a county native.

“There wasn’t even electricity here yet, but movie crews were here in the silent era and filmed up at Amicalola Falls.”

Goswick said historical doc-umentation credits the silent film’s site as Dahlonega, but he’s sure the crew “just didn’t know where they were at.”

“They came to Gainesville on train and then they took them to Dahlonega and then Amicalola Falls — in Dawson County.”


The “Hunger Games” film crew arrived in town last month and shot scenes on a large tract of private land off Elliott Family Parkway. They were seen hauling in large lights and industrial-strength fans to the set.

Blockbuster movie films scenes in Dawson County


Good Shepherd Clinic has announced plans for an expan-sion that will include vision and dental services.

The clinic provides free, non-emergency medical care for adults who live, work or go to school in Dawson County and fall at 200 percent or below the federal guidelines for poverty.

A general practice facility, the clinic also offers specialty care, ranging from gynecology and surgical consultations to ear, nose and throat exams.

Volunteers are excited to offer the new services at the clinic, which is currently seeking addi-tional doctors, nurses and admin-istrative personnel in order to the expand hours of operation.

Currently, the plan is to offer eye exams and dental screenings once a month, beginning within the next few weeks.

“We’ve already been in the process of coordinating this,” said Doug Powell, who volun-teers at the clinic and sits on its board of directors. “We just need to pick the day and sched-ule it. If we find that the demand is there to do more than one day a month, we’ll do that.”

Through a partnership with the Lighthouse Foundation, the clinic will be able to offer eye exams, as well as tests for conditions such as glaucoma, a degenera-tive and incurable disease that can be treated if diagnosed in its early stages.

“There’s very effective treatment that’s readily available that doesn’t cost very much,” Powell said.

The Lighthouse Foundation has mobile units that will be brought to the clinic, where a room has been designated for eye exams.

The clinic has also developed a referral process with local vision specialists, who will fit the patients for glasses.

“Lighthouse pays most of [the cost of the glasses] and the clinic will pay some,” Powell said.

Patients will also be asked to pay a small percentage of the cost of the glasses.

“We’re going to ask individu-als to pay maybe $5 or $10. We’ve learned from other clinics that do this that the individual has something invested, they’ll take better care of their glasses,” he said.

The clinic also has a dedicat-ed dental room and two retired dentist ready to start seeing patients.

“They will be operational in November if all goes as planned,” Powell said. “We’ll be doing cleaning and screening, extractions, but if people need more involved services or fillings, we’re not going to be able to do everything.

“We will refer them to dentists who want to work with us…and then we’ll pay the bill and do any follow up with them that’s necessary.”

The volunteer staff of doctors, nurses, medical technicians and administrative personnel operates the clinic entirely on donations.

A fundraiser in support of the free clinic is also planned Oct. 20 at The Chimneys at Big Canoe. The 2nd annual Grits and Granola brunch will be held from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 20. Admission into the event is $38 per person.

The clinic, which previously operated from the basement at Grace Presbyterian, moved to its current Dawson Commons loca-tion, near the intersection of Hwy. 53 and Lumpkin Campground Road, about four months ago.

For more information on the free clinic, call (706) 429-9914.

For details on the brunch, call Powell at (770) 329-6268 or Jean Weathers at (404) 644-3575.

Clinic expands services



The dramatic rescue of a hiker who fell nearly 30 feet off Cochran Falls last year earned several local first responders with awards of valor.

Dawson County Emergency Services Lt. Todd Hollaway, Paramedic Andrew Wilson and the department’s entire B-Shift received the Life Saving Valor Award that recognizes outstand-ing firefighters for their heroic efforts during the Georgia State Firefighters Association annual fire service banquet in Albany on Sept. 14.

Chief Lanier Swafford, who also serves as the state agency’s current president, said he was proud to see his crew recog-nized for saving a young man’s life.

“Every day we run calls that make a difference in people’s lives and it’s just a few like this that wind up to be the extraordi-nary,” he said. “I’m proud of the guys, proud of the award and proud of the recognition it

brings to the county, because they see that we do run what I consider to be a top-notch department with the greatest people in the world and can give a cutting-edge service.”

The daring, September 2012 rescue began with emergency personnel driving nearly two miles down a nar-row mountain road and then hiking another three miles with their gear into the Chattahoochee National Forest, about 4 miles from Amicalola Falls State Park.

“It was a tough call because we knew where it was at, and we knew it was a challenging location,” Swafford said. “We’d had three previous falls up there since my tenure with the department, two of which involved fatalities, so we knew the chances of a serious injury or a death was high.”

The emergency crew then repelled down the side of an embankment to reach the 22-year-old man, who had been hiking with friends when he fell and suffered several

broken bones in his lower extremities.

They were able to stabilize him and treated his injuries on a thin, mountain ledge before he was secured on a basket stretcher, lifted into the air and flown by DNR Aviation at about 40 mph over treetops to emergency workers waiting in a nearby field.

The rescue was captured on video and sparked national media attention for the emergen-cy crew’s actions.

While the rescue was dramat-ic, Swafford said it was “no dif-ferent than what we do every day.”

“These are the events we train for. These are the events that we hope that we’re able to respond and deliver that service, whether it be patient care, fire service, whatever, that makes the differ-ence,” Swafford said. “And in this young man’s life it did. It made a difference.”

B-Shift Battalion Chief Milton Keller said he could not be more proud of the shift he super-vises.

“This is a great example of how standardized training pre-pares different departments to operate effectively together. [The award] shows the drive and dedication of our local firefight-ers and emergency personnel,” he said.

Hollaway was also involved in a recent rescue of a wheel-

chair bound man from a van fire on Ga. 400 in Forsyth County.

Swafford said he was not sur-prised to hear of the off-duty paramedic’s heroics.

“That’s just the caliber of the kind of man he is. I wouldn’t expect anything less from him or anyone in our department,” he said.

Emergency workers receive valor award

For the Dawson Community News

Dawson County Emergency Services Paramedic Andrew Wilson, from left, Chief Lanier Swafford, Lt. Todd Hollaway and Battalion Chief Milton Keller on behalf of the depart-ment’s entire B-Shift received the Life Saving Valor Award during the Georgia State Firefighters Association annual fire service banquet in Albany.

From staff reports

Dawson County has once again been named one of only two regional Veterans Day sites in Georgia. This year’s Veterans Day celebra-tions will be held Nov. 11 at Dawson County Middle School, followed by a parade through downtown Dawsonville.

"We are very proud and very happy that we are, once again, selected for the

regional site for the state of Georgia Veterans Affairs for Veterans Day," said Donald Brown, president of the Veterans Affairs Committee of Dawson County. "There is only two in the state, Dawsonville and Atlanta, so that makes us a little more proud of what we've accom-plished."

For the parade, Brown is hoping for vintage military vehicles and to have several military marching units, which

will include surrounding high school ROTC's, University of North Georgia and possibly the ranger camp in Dahlonega.

"We really want to encour-age our veterans in Dawsonville and the sur-rounding area to come out for this program," Brown said.

"More than anything, I want the community to stand there and cheer on these men and women who have really

put their lives on the line for this country.

"There will be [veterans] there from Vietnam, World War II, Iraq, Afghanistan, Desert Storm, so these peo-ple need to know that the community is proud of them, that the community is behind them and [that the communi-ty] feels grateful for what they have done," he said.

A luncheon will also be held for veterans and their families.

Veteran Affairs is a volun-teer organization and relies on volunteers and the commu-nity for support. They offer help to veterans, not mone-tarily, Brown said, because they don't have the funds to do that, but to help direct vet-erans to get the support that they need.

For more information, veter-ans and potential volunteers can call (706) 265-7613.

Veterans Day celebration set for Nov. 11


We’re honored to serve youIt’s an honor to be recognized as the nation’s leading hospital for maternity and newborn care. Look a little closer and you’ll discover

that Northside performs more surgeries and diagnoses and treats more breast and gynecologic cancer than any other hospital in

Georgia. While people chooseNorthside for our expertise, they also know us for our exceptional compassionate care.

Visit us online at www.northside.com

dawson chamber chronicle 1009

Documents

chamber website

chamber business

chamber members

chamber information

chamber accounts

new website

dawson countyexpo

health booths