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May 2, 2018
After 15 weeks of re- ing pairs work to raiseand WGX Meteorologistand Figures Report, it is
hearsal, 12 local Central money by gaining votes in Jeff Cox. Celebrity judges estimated there are 140,000
Georgia business and the one-night gala dance include Tripp Amos, Mark Georgians living with
community leaders, includ- competition. The other 11 Ballard and Michael Dun- Alzheimer's disease with
ing Dr. Stan Hickman of celebrity dancers are Lori away. 521,000 family caregiv-
Forsyth, will showcase their Mitchell, Linda Brennan, "No one is safe from ers. Alzheimer's deaths in
best moves on the dance Dr. Douglas Brewer, Dr. Er- Alzheimer's disease", added Georgia increased by 201
floor, with their dance pro- nest Carlton, Darlyn Davis, star dancer Linda Brennan. percent from 2000-2015.
fessional partners, for one Jordon Hale, John Holmes, "My father passed awayWith seven offices state-
exciting evening to help Wimberly Treadwell, Chris from Alzheimer's last year Wide, the Georgia Chapter
end Alzheimer's. Tsavatewa, Brittany Turner and now my father-in-law provides vital education,
The 7th Annual Danc- and Dr. Champa Wood- is battling it. The struggle support and services in all
ing Stars of Central Geor- ham. is awful and the demands of Georgia's 159 counties.
gia will be Saturday, May 5 Supporters can vote foron families and caregiv- Alzheimer's disease is a
at the Macon City Audi- their favorite star and pur- ers are immense. Please, growing epidemic and the
tofium. The event raises chase tickets to the event by please consider donating nation's sixth-leading cause
money for the Alzheimer's visiting www.dancingstar- to Dancing Stars of Central of death. As baby boomers
Association, Georgia sofcentralgeorgia.com. For Georgia. They support age, the number of individ-
Chapter's care, support and more event information,caregivers and families uals living With Alzheimer's
research. Since 2011, the contact Laura West, event living this disease here in disease will rapidly escalate,
event has raised more than organizer, at 478-442-9994 Georgia" added Brennan. increasing well beyond to-
$1 million, or lwest@alz.org. With the recent release day's more than 5.7 million
Mirroring the popular The event will be hosted of the Alzheimer's As-Americans to as many as
TV show, the 12 danc- by WDEN'S Laura Starling sociation's 2018 Facts16 million by 2050
~ i ! !i i! i!!iiii/fi!ii]!i]
Pictured top, "Hydrangea Flower" in color pencil by Kai-
flirt Hill; bottom left, "It Don't Matter" in acrylic oncanvas
by Leah Jenkins; bottom right, "Expressive Self-JPortrait"
in pastel, acrylic by Laurel Sparks.
Kaitlin Hill of Mary Per-
ons received third place
In this year's Congressio-
laal Art Competition for
her color pencil drawing
"Hydrangea Flower:' Leah
Jenkins and Laurel Sparks
of Mary Persons received
Honorable Mention for
their artworks. Congress-
man Austin Scott of
Georgia District 8 recog-
nized the three artists at a
reception on Sunday, April
22 at the Valdosta Mall,
in coordination With the
Annette Howell Turner
Center for the Arts in
Valdosta.
Grand prize Winner
Ashley Wukasinovich
:rom Perry High School
is eligible for scholarships
and receives airfare to
Washington D.C. where
her piece will hang in the
U.S. Capitol for one year.
second and third
place award recipients will
display their artworks in
Rep. Scott's Warner Rob-
ins and Tifton offices.
"The Congressional Art
Competition is a great way
to showcase the talent of
students from across the
Eighth District, and this
year's submissions were
certainly no exception"
said Scott. "I would like
to personally extend a
'congratulations' to this
year's winners, as well as
to each and every sub-
mission we received, and
extend a 'thank you' to the
art teachers who inspire
the talent, creativity,
and confidence of these
students. As I pass by
these great works, either
in our district offices or in
the U.S. Capitol, I will be
reminded that the work
we're doing today is to
ensure a brighter future
for them:'
The second place winner
was Aisha Raza of Hous-
ton County High School,
and the People's Choice
winner, whose artwork
willbe displayed in the
Washington, D.C. office
for one year, was Haley
Harden of First Presby-
terian Day School. The
People's Choice winner
was chosen by over 350
votes on Scott's Facebook
page,
In addition to the art-
work of Jenkins, Sparks
and Harden, three other
entries were awarded
Honorable Mention, all
submitted by Houston
County High School
students.This year's judges
for the competition were
local professional artists
and gallery owners.
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This look at wluit Monroo County residents wers reading In the
, ,Repoder 30, 20 and 10 years auo this week is brought to you by
Monroe County
Memorial Chapel
'We set the standards
that others follow'
Harley Ray "Spanky" Beck
86 West Main Street Forsyth
478-994-4266
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Pep. Allen Peake was the
guest speaker at the April
18 meeting of Monroe
County Retired Educa-
tors. Peake is completing
his fourth term in the
Georgia House of Repre-
sentatives, having decided
not to run for another
term for District 141 this
fall. Several local leaders
joined the Retired Educa-
tors meeting, including
Commission Chair Greg
Tapley, Tax Commissioner
Lori Andrews, Forsyth
Mayor Eric Wilson, Police
Chief Eddie Harris, City
Manager Janice Hall and
Culloden Council member
Dr. Margie Bryant.
Shirley Henderson
introduced Peake, de-
scribing his biography as
"absolutely fantastic:' Peake
attended First Presby-
terian Day School and
Auburn University, earned
a degree in accounting
from Mercer University
and attended seminary
before beginning a career
in the restaurant indus-
try in 1985. A leveraged
buy-out of the restaurant
group where he worked
led him into the ownership
and management of what
became the 10th largest
restaurant franchise in the
U.S with over 130 estab-
lishments in three states.
In 1989 he passed the
CPA exam. Maintaining a
business philosophy based
on servant leadership, he
has continued a successful
business career while serv-
ing on numerous boards
and working with commu-
nity charities.
Peake and his wife of 29
years, Betsy, whose parents
were long time educators,
have three children and
two grandchildren. His av-
ocations include running,
golf and scuba diving,
which may be why he was
interviewed as a contestant
for TV'S ' rnazing Race:'
Henderson commented
that Peake's biography
did not mention his work
to make medical can-
nabis available for those
who need it, a cause with
which he has been dosely
identified over the last
three years. Peake said that
was because the biogra-
phy was not completely
up-to-date and that he was
about to cover the topic.
He said that he lives in
Bibb County, almost on the
Educators
!
0il laws
Monroe County line. His
championship of medical
marijuana began with an
email he received from a
Monroe County mother
in April 2015 asking him
to help save the life of her
little girl, Haleigh.Cox.
He said that this began
his championship of a
cause he never imagined
taking on. He visited
Haleigh, who was having
over 100 seizures each day
at the time, in the hospital.
Asking h!mself what he
would do if she were his
child, he answered himself
that he would crawl over
glass to help her. He saw
how cannabis oil helped
control her seizures.
"I am a conservative
Republican;' he said. "I
have never done drugs in
my life:'
He sponsored legisla-
tion to allow individuals
with conditions helped
by cannabis oil to register
with the state to legally
possess small amounts 'of it
with low concentrations of
THC (less than .5 percent),
the active ingredient in
marijuana. It has benefited
Haleigh to the extent that
she is now able to attend
kindergarten in Monroe
County.
Hurdles to access of can-
nabis oil continue. Peake
and his wife have made it
public that they help pro-
vide legal 2-ounce bottles
of cannabis oil to those
who are registered and
will continue to do so after
he leaves the legislature.
He is pleased that in 2017
the legislature granted
reciprocity to those from
other states with medical
marijuana laws and added
more conditions that can
be registered for use, in-
cluding sickle cell anemia,
PTSD and intractable pain.
Georgia has 3,964 regis-
tered patients and 537 pre-
scribing physicians. As well
as the bottles of oil, there
is now a spray to instantly
knock out a seizure.
Peake said he is opposed
to recreational mari-
juana but believes Geor-
gia should issue limited
licenses to grow and pack-
age marijuana for medical
use in the state. That would
eliminate legal problems
of crossing state lines with
the drug and would let the
state regulate and control
the process. Peake was
part of a state commit-
tee charged to study and
recommend on cultivation
of marijuana in the state.
It recommended against
allowing cultivation, 11-5.
He said that he and all the
physicians on the commit-
tee gave the 'yes' votes, and
he hopes the new governor
will re-create the com-
mittee. Cultivation is now
legal in 30 states.
He said that it is time for
Congress to act to clear up
the legal issues of crossing
state lines. "Public support
is off the charts, 84 percent
for medical marijuana"
he said. "It's less than 50
percent for recreational
marijuana:'
Chief Harris asked how
drinking a whole bottle of
medical cannabis oil would
affect someone. Peake said
the person would probably
get a bad case of diarrhea
from the other oils mixed
with the cannabis oil; he
would not get high. Peake
said cannabis oil is usually
administered under the
tongue with a syringe and
has a bitter taste; it is given
intravenously or by a small
capsule to some children.
"This issue is evolving.
It will be a non-issue in 20
years when our kids are
running the state," said
Peake.
Tapley asked why not just
set strict regulations rather
than limit the number of
licenses for cultivation,
processing and packaging.
Peake said the the Depart-
ment of Public Health
would issue the licenses,
which would be limited to
four or five places in the
state in order to address
law enforcement issues.
Henderson asked Peake
about his plans since he
is not running for office
this term. He said he has
endorsed Clay Tippins for
governor and is helping
campaign for him. He feels
Tippins will work to fix
issues important to him.
Asked if he is endorsing
anyone in the four-candi-
date race to replace him in
District 141, Peake said it
is an interesting race with
four good men, but he is
not endorsing anyone.
"Thank you for the privi-
lege to serve for the last 12
years" said Peake.
The next meeting of
Monroe County Educators
will be Wednesday, May
16 at Forsyth Presbyterian
Church Parish House on
North Jackson Street. It
will recognize the 2017
retirees from the Monroe
County School System.
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