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50 years ago!
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HOGANSVILLE, GA
PERMITNO. 35
VOL. 65, NO. 9
Formerly The Hogansville Herald .
Serving the HogansmUe-Granttrtlle Area Since 1944
HOGANSVILLE, GEORGIA - THURSDAY; FEB. 28, 2008
10 PAGES 1 SECTION "50
%.
By Angela Brown
STANDING FOR THOSE WHO STOOD FOR US - An estimated 80 Patriot Guard Riders led the family from Faith
Baptist Church to Meadoway Gardens Cemetery with American and Bulldog flags flying in the air.
team, and j
Hundreds lined I 'ck when played/
ets of LaGvange j theplayoffsc'atthe Georgiti
sfletlce last Saturday to'pay uome in Atlanta.
their respe ctstoSgt. Corey He attei ded the Marc
Emmett Spates.
Sgt. Spates, 21, passed
away on: Sunday Feb. I0 in
Diyala Province, Iraq.
He was serving in his seer,
end tour of duty in Iraq at the
time of his death.
After the funeral servic-
es, an estimated 80 Patriot
Guard Riders escorted fam-
ily and friends of Sgt Spates
to . Meadoway . Gardens
Cemetery where a burial
with military honors was
Richt footb4dlcamp. At Troup
High he was also a letterman
of the Swim Team, and a
member of Western Heights
Baptist Church.
After high school, he
joined the United States
Army in May 2004 and served
his first tour in Iraq from
January 2005 to January
2006.
Family received friends
atWestern Heights Baptist
Church from 5-9 p.m. on
held. Friday, Feb. 22.
On Feb. 15 a memorial ! aieral servi6es were
service was heldiraq by heidSaturdayFeb. 23 atFaith
his uqit, 213 AcR ' Baptist Church with
FOB CaldWell and was'led Revere l Greg Brown offi-
by Lt. Col. Paul Colvert. ciating.
SGT. SPATES was an avid
Georgia Bulldog fan and to
honor his 10ve for this team,
the family requested every-
one to wear black and red for
the funeral,
Born July 3, 1986 in
LaGrange, he attended Troup
County Schools and played
the saxophone in the band at
Long Cane Middle School.
He was:a lettermml 0fthe
. / By Angela S~
AN EMOT|ONAL EYENT---
residentsof LaGrange gath-
ered near the streets with
American Flags,and
Georgia Bulldogs flags to
pay respects to. Sgt. Spates,
along with his family and
friends.
SGT. SPARES leaves to
cherish his memories his
beloved wife Celeste Spates
of Hogansville; mother and
step-father, Joy and Steve
Thomas of LaGrange; father,
Steve Spates of LaGrange;
three brothers, Michael and
Amanda Spates, Jacob
Thomas and Patrick Thomas,
all of LaGrange; grandpar-
ents, Donald and Jackie Estes
of Adairsvile; Sandra and
John Simpson, Jolly Spates,
and Argle and Debra
Thomas, all of :LaGrange;
mother-in-law and andstep-
father-in-law, Cynthia and
Greg York of Hogansville;
father-in-law and step-moth-
er-in-law, Scott and Susie
Burke of Odessadale; three
n phews, Michael Crowder,
Crowder, and Corey
Scott Spates; a niece, Georgia
Spates; and his dog, Herschel
and cat, Bruce.
A angements were
entn ed to Striffler-Hamby
Mortuary located in
'LaGrange.
THOSE DESIRING are
urgedto contribute to either
Western Heights Baptist
Church, Children's Ministry
orthe UniverSity of Georgia,
Athletic Department. Attn:
Georgia Bulldog Club, P.O.
Box 1472, Athens, GA 30603,
checks payable to the Arch
Foundation in memory of
Corey Spates.
ByAngela Brown
YOUNG AND OLD REMEMBER THE BRAVE- Residents
got out of their cars and gathered silently at the edge of
the streets to pay tribute for a fallen hero.
HES TEACHER OF THE YEAR - Mindy Dukes was
selected by her peers as the Hogansville Elementary
School Teacher of the Year.
By ANDY KOBER
Ronnie Doche, Mayor of
Lone Oak, has addressed the
Hogansville City Council
complaining that Hogansville
was encroaching on his city's
water service area.
The Hogansville City
Council has entered into an
agreement with the
Meriwether County Commis-
sion to supply water to
Meriwether County. While
Meriwether County would be
the customer, the county
would be allowed to resell that
,water to customers in
Meriwether County up to a
limit of 200,000 gallons per
day. Should Hogansville have
more water available at a
later time, that limit could be
increased.
This action was taken to
supply the proposed
Meriwether Industrial Park,
which will be located just out-
side of Hogansville, east of 1-
85
Doche said th oHogan
ville,selling water to
Meriwether County would be
a "violation" of Lone Oak's
Service Strategy Area and
could result in Hogansville
losing its eligibility for
grants.
Doche also Complained
the Meriwether County
Commission had signed the
water contract with
Hogansville without consult-
ing the city of Lone Oak.
"I have already contact-
ed the Department of
Community Affairs and RDC
(Regional Development
Council) to conduct some
research on it," Doche report-
ed.
Doche said his city want-
ed to be included in discus-
sions on supplying water to
the northwest area of
Meriwether County, but indi-
cated it appeared as though
Lone Oak "had been put out
of it."
"I'd like for ya'll to come
By ANDY KOBF ,R
Precision Planning, of
Lawrenceville, has been
selected as the engineering
firm to design Hogansville's
Tower Trail walking trail
project.
The decision" to hire
Precision Planning was based
on the recon mendatioa of
Lynn Miller, with the Chatt-
Flint Regional Development
Council, or RDC. The RDC
wrote the grant that 'was
approved by the Georgia
Department of Natural
Resources recreational trails
program.
The city had advertised
for design proposals andMs.
Mill: er reported that five com-
panies had submitted pro-
posals.
Precision Planning
offered the lowest cost pro-
posal at $21,000. Ms. Miller
explained that $10,000 of the
fee will be paid from the grant
funds and the $i 1,000 balance
will be locally raised.
Among their many other
projects, Precision Planning
designed Hogansville's
StreetScape project. The
company designed the
StreetScape project in
LaGrange. Precision
Planning also designed the
StreetScape project, wet-
See TRATL Page 2A
By LUANN HENDRIX
Mrs. Melinda "Mindy"
Dukes has been chosen as
Teacher of the Year at
Hogansvflle Elementary
School.
Dukes was chosen by her
colleagues for her dedica-
tion, expertise, and caring
spirit.
She has dual duties at
Hogansville Elementary
School. She is the fourth
grade Extension teacher and
the Enrichment teacher for
all grades.
Dukes has an English
degree and a Masters Degree
from LaGrange College plus
an Educational Specialist
Degree from Troy State
University.
She has been teaching for
22 years; twelve of those at
Hogansville Elementary
School. She is a member of
the Beta Iota Chapter of
Alpha Delta Kappa and a
member of New Community
Church ih LaGrange.
Dukes comes from a fam-
ily of educators, Her grand-
mother was a teacher, both
of her parents were teach-
ers, and her father retired
after 38 years in the profes-
sion. Besides the lessons she
learned from her father at
home, he was also her high
school principal and her
ninth grade Algebra teacher.
Dukes lives in LaGrange
with her husband, Derrick
and she has two sons Drew,
a freshman at Bevfll State
Community College, and
Rob, a junior at Troup High
School.
When she is not devoting
time to her students, she
enjoys collecting depression
glass, decorating cakes, bird
watching, and reading. Her
favorite pastime is watching
her boys play baseball.
