Monroe County Commissioners presented their annual Service Awards on Tuesday, Jan. 5. Each commissioner chose one Monroe County citizen to be honored for his/her contributions to the county in 2020.
Out-going District 1 Commissioner Larry Evans selected longtime Monroe County Planning & Zoning member Connie Gantt as his 2020 Service Award recipient.
Evans said, “Mrs. Gantt is the definition of public service.”
Gantt, who is married with three adult children, is a lifelong resident of Monroe County. In addition to her lengthy stint on the P&Z Board, Gantt also operates the county’s senior transportation service, working out of the Monroe County Senior Center, and has previously served on the Monroe County Recreation Board.
Evans said of Gantt’s P&Z tenure, which concluded at the end of 2020: “That’s a hard board to serve on because a lot of people don’t want to be told what they can and cannot do with their property. And she’s done an outstanding job. And I am so, so proud of her.”
Gantt thanked Evans for the honor and said she will continue working hard for Monroe County.
District 2 Commissioner Eddie Rowland selected Culloden Mayor Lynn Miller as his 2020 Service Award recipient.
Rowland read aloud a message from Culloden Councilwoman Jackie Boling about her close friend Miller. Boling said Miller donates her mayoral salary back to the City of Culloden to pay water bills for a family suffering from illness and going through tough financial times. She said Miller also frequently takes food to persons in need and buys Christmas gifts or school supplies for charitable organizations.
Rowland said Miller has been instrumental in teaching him how to be a “good public servant.”
Rowland said of Miller: “It is people like you that have served longer than I have and have been in the service field longer than I have that really helped me understand how to be a good person, how to be a good Christian and how to be a good servant to God’s people. Lynn Miller epitomizes that. She has a heart for people. It doesn’t matter how old, how young, what color, she is going to take care of God’s people.”
Miller said her community of Culloden means everything to her and thanked Rowland and the other commissioners for their support of Culloden.
Miller said, “I’m speechless. I’m humbled. It’s been a pleasure to serve my city, my county.”
District 3 Commissioner John Ambrose selected Juliette resident Pam Wolff as his 2020 Service Award recipient.
Ambrose said Wolff was at the forefront of a group of Juliette citizens who brought to light issues with potentially hazardous contaminants polluting drinking water from private wells. Wolff’s “Juliette Rd Neighborhood News” Facebook page was instrumental in rallying residents to fight for safe drinking water and informing citizens what actions that Commissioners were taking to rectify the situation. Within four months of first learning of the drinking water concerns, Commissioners had already begun a two-year water project that will bring safe drinking water to all affected homes in the Juliette/Rum Creek area.
Ambrose likened Wolff’s steadfastness in spreading the message of the need for safe drinking water to a motivational football coach.
“Kirby Smart needs to hire her for the Georgia Bulldogs,” Ambrose said. “She’s tenacious. She goes after everything. And she’s pushed us all and pushed the county into getting the water put in out in that area. And that took a lot. Our commissioners and our county manager, we all got together and made it happen.”
District 4 Commissioner George Emami selected River Forest subdivision property manager Jay Pace as his 2020 Service Award recipient.
Emami read aloud a message from River Forest developer David Aldridge who said the popular golf community would not exist without Pace’s efforts.
Aldridge said of Pace: “He 100 percent spearheaded the construction of the development. During the critical 18 months of development, Jay worked from 4:30 in the morning to 9:00 at night overseeing over 40 workers. His crews built 18 miles of road, constructed fairways, landscaping, timber harvesting, surveying, siding, paving and much more. He is the first to put in the hard work and the last to take credit for it.”
Emami also read aloud a message from Monroe County realtor Chad Tyler who said a long list of Monroe Countians have worked under and learned from Pace.
“To work with him is to learn from him,” Tyler said. “He mentors without trying. He leads by example. That’s who he is and that’s what he does.”
Emami then read aloud a message from Drew Hickman, one of those young men mentored by Pace. Hickman said working for Pace at River Forest was an opportunity that changed his life.
Hickman said of Pace: “He taught me more life skills and love for land management than I would have ever dreamed of. From flagging property lines, running any piece of equipment with a key and learning to take the hard days with a grain of salt. Besides that, if you ever find yourself in a tight spot and need some help in Monroe County. . . just look for a white Chevy truck and ask for Jay Pace.”
Emami, who said the unassuming Pace asked, “Are you sure?” when he was told he would receive a service award, said he frequently relies on Pace for advice, often for a dissenting opinion. And Emami said he can always count on Pace to give it to him straight.
“Our great community needs people like Jay, and that is why I felt he is worthy of being honored tonight,” Emami said. “Jay, thank you for all you do to make Monroe County great.”
Commission Chairman Greg Tapley selected Forsyth resident Wendy Baker as his 2020 Service Award recipient.
Tapley said he’s been disappointed that local news coverage has been so frequently negative despite all the good things that happen in the Monroe County community.
“This is an amazing community that we live in,” Tapley said. “I’d put us up against anybody. Family, friends, it’s a tight-knit group. We definitely disagree from time to time. But we’re kind of like family. We’ll beat ourselves up, but we won’t let anyone else come in and beat us up.”
Tapley said he gets frustrated and “discouraged” when he hears negative comments about Monroe County that are often not justified. He said Monroe County has long been lacking an effective means of getting positive news to the public about the happenings in the county.
But Tapley said that changed in 2020 when Baker founded a new Facebook page entitled “Good News, Monroe County!” that focuses on positive developments in Monroe County.
Baker grew up in Forsyth, graduating from Monroe Academy in 1989, before moving to Atlanta, where she lived for 25 years. Baker, who works in probation, moved back to Forsyth in 2019 where her parents still reside and has recently become engaged to Brandt Harvil, a high school classmate to whom she became reacquainted upon relocating to Forsyth.
Tapley said Baker had become disconcerted by all the negativity on social media and the news when the pandemic struck last spring, so she decided to start the “Good News, Monroe County!” page.
In a biographical summary read aloud by Tapley, Baker wrote: “I decided to start a place where people could go to get cheered up and a place of kindness. So many people were sheltering in place, not having much contact with the outside world. This was a place where people could go and talk to others in the community and pass on positivity, kindness and also a way to promote local businesses who were struggling during the pandemic.”
As part of her social media presence, Baker also decided to do a quarterly “Kindness project.” The first “Kindness” initiative occurred last fall when Baker assisted with donating $25 gift cards to all Monroe County Schools custodians to thank them for keeping local schools clean and safe for students.
Baker said starting the “Good News, Monroe County!” Facebook page gave her a mission while she was furloughed from her job.
Baker said of her popular social media page: “I never expected it would blow up. . . I love it. I love it every day I get there and love reading what people say and the positive things people say. It really has helped a lot of the small businesses because we’re constantly pushing them to make sure that people know they are still open and stuff. It’s been a pleasure.”
