Local

Pictured front row, from left, Lisa Anders, Explore Gwinnett; Jennifer Grimmer, Gilmer Chamber President and CEO; Caitlin Neal, Gilmer Chamber Communications Director; Natalie Knight, Gilmer Chamber Events Director. Back row, Ron Cheslock, Pick Ellijay Tourism Director; Jay Markwalter, Georgia Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus’ Executive Director.

Pictured front row, from left, Lisa Anders, Explore Gwinnett; Jennifer Grimmer, Gilmer Chamber President and CEO; Caitlin Neal, Gilmer Chamber Communications Director; Natalie Knight, Gilmer Chamber Events Director. Back row, Ron Cheslock, Pick Ellijay Tourism Director; Jay Markwalter, Georgia Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus’ Executive Director.

Gilmer Chamber wins state award for initiatives

News Staff
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Pick Ellijay, a division of the Gilmer Chamber, won the Paul Broun Award for Marketing Initiatives at the Georgia Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus’ Annual Conference held in Albany. The award was presented at the GACVB “Denim and Diamonds” Gala at Chehaw Zoo.
Karon Warren, left, holds a copy of her book, “100 Things to Do in the North Georgia Mountains Before You Die,” alongside Samantha Callihan, of The Pink Pig. The Cherry Log barbecue restaurant is among several Gilmer County businesses and attractions featured in the travel guide.

Karon Warren, left, holds a copy of her book, “100 Things to Do in the North Georgia Mountains Before You Die,” alongside Samantha Callihan, of The Pink Pig. The Cherry Log barbecue restaurant is among several Gilmer County businesses and attractions featured in the travel guide.

‘100 Things to Do’ in mountains book first offering from Gilmer author

Michael Andrews - Mountain Life Editor
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
A local author’s first book covers at least a hundred things to do, see and taste in a multicounty area of north Georgia, which includes Gilmer. Karon Warren, of Ellijay, said she’s been a freelance journalist specializing in travel stories for several years.
Dr. David Roberson, of VCA Appalachian Animal Hospital, holds a feral cat that is in the first group of ferals to be fixed under a trap, neuter and release program led by Friends of the Gilmer Animal Shelter.

Dr. David Roberson, of VCA Appalachian Animal Hospital, holds a feral cat that is in the first group of ferals to be fixed under a trap, neuter and release program led by Friends of the Gilmer Animal Shelter.

Reducing feral cat population focus of TNR program

Michael Andrews - Mountain Life Editor
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Friends of the Gilmer Animal Shelter (FOGAS) are teaming up with a local veterinary clinic in hopes of reducing the number of feral cats in the county. A trap, neuter and release (TNR) program for feral cats had previously been offered directly by the Gilmer Animal Shelter.
Longtime East Ellijay Mayor Mack West is pictured with wife, Ann.

Longtime East Ellijay Mayor Mack West is pictured with wife, Ann.

East Ellijay Mayor Mack West dies

Michael Andrews - Mountain Life Editor
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Mack West, who served as mayor of East Ellijay the past 50 years, has died. West passed away at age 88 Saturday, Feb. 11, after recently being diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. As East Ellijay’s mayor, he followed his dad, Newman “N.A.” West, who’d served as mayor from 1950-1972. N.A.
Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office personnel gather around the memorial marker for late Gilmer deputy Brett Dickey as a ceremony held to honor Dickey’s memory began Monday morning outside the courthouse. Dickey was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 13, 1996.

Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office personnel gather around the memorial marker for late Gilmer deputy Brett Dickey as a ceremony held to honor Dickey’s memory began Monday morning outside the courthouse. Dickey was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 13, 1996.

Brett Dickey remembered

Michael Andrews - Mountain Life Editor
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Cristin “Scarlet” Combs works on sewing a hand-stitched stuffed animal for a friend who’s expecting a baby. A former foster child whose name was changed after adoption, Combs has been trying for several years, but is still unable to obtain a copy of her birth certificate and a Social Security card.

Cristin “Scarlet” Combs works on sewing a hand-stitched stuffed animal for a friend who’s expecting a baby. A former foster child whose name was changed after adoption, Combs has been trying for several years, but is still unable to obtain a copy of her birth certificate and a Social Security card.

Screaming underwater, waiting on an answer

Michael Andrews - Mountain Life Editor
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Everybody calls her “Scarlet,” but a young Ellijay woman isn’t giving up a seemingly endless quest to obtain proof of identity under another name. Scarlet Combs, 23, was born Cristin Albritton, but her last name was changed when she was a teenager, long before she took her current married name.
Times-Courier

Times-Courier

Water board OKs wastewater plant repairs

Michael Andrews - Mountain Life Editor
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Ellijay-Gilmer County Water and Sewerage Authority board members approved expenses for emergency repairs already done to a ruptured sludge line at the wastewater treatment plant and future repairs at the wastewater plant when meeting last Monday.
Gilmer Chamber Citizen of the Year Trent Sanford is shown with the 2023 COTY award after receiving it at the chamber’s recent gala and awards reception.

Gilmer Chamber Citizen of the Year Trent Sanford is shown with the 2023 COTY award after receiving it at the chamber’s recent gala and awards reception.

Sanford proud to be chamber’s COTY

Michael Andrews - Mountain Life Editor
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
The Gilmer Chamber named a longtime member of numerous local civic groups its Citizen of the Year (COTY), while also recognizing its Member and Business of the Year, at the chamber’s annual meeting and award reception Saturday, Jan. 28.