Calhoun seniors Reed Allen (left) and Ben Lamb celebrate following the championship game in early December. (Tricia Dillard/Calhoun Times)
Tony Silvers shows the damage to his family’s chicken houses from the tornado Thursday night. The houses were just being used for storage when the storm hit; however, Silvers said the family would have to dig out their tractors to feed cows. (Tricia Dillard/Calhoun Times)
Voters voiced their approval of the continuation of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax Tuesday, Nov. 8.
The 2012 SPLOST passed 2,069 to 926, or 69.08 percent to 30.92 percent, during the municipal and special elections in Gordon County.
The 1-penny sales tax will fund projects like a new parking deck downtown and upgrades to the county courthouse. Also included in the pre-determined project list are a new county health department building and additional fire station, as well as improvements to the Calhoun utility system and the city recreation department.
Fairmount, Resaca and Plainville will also see SPLOST money for new municipal buildings (Fairmount); a new recreational park (Resaca); and recreation department upgrades (Plainville), among other projects.
December - Calhoun wins state football championship
For three straight years, Calhoun came up just short in the state championship game against Buford.
But even after surrendering a 14-point lead to the Wolves in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, Friday, Dec. 9, the Jackets would not let a state runner-up finish happen again.
Calhoun’s Hunter Knight forced and Heath Everett recovered a fumble on Buford’s first play from scrimmage in overtime to set up a game-winning and state-title clinching 32-yard field goal by Adam Griffith to make the final score 27-24.
The championship was the first football state title for the Jackets (15-0) since 1952.
“Deep down, I really thought it was going to happen again (when we gave up that lead late in the fourth quarter), but somehow we found a way,” said Calhoun coach Hal Lamb.
“This is an awesome feeling. I’m so happy for our kids and our community. They really deserved this.”
“I know it is sweet to finally beat Buford,” said Lamb. “Every single guy in that locker room has worked extremely hard to be the best they could be this year.
“Buford has great players, but today we had the heart.”
December – F3 tornado touches down
The National Weather Service released an event summary of the storm that hit Northwest Georgia Dec. 22, confirming that the wind and rain that pelted Gordon County did generate an EF3 tornado.
“An area of low pressure developed over the lower Mississippi Valley region and moved through portions of Alabama and Northwest Georgia through the afternoon and evening hours of December 22,” stated the summary on www.srh.noaa.gov. “Along and ahead of this feature, a low level wind profile was in place, conducive for the formation of tornadoes given sufficient storm development. Three storms embedded within a larger line of moderate showers were able to reach an intensity that enabled them to take advantage of the wind profile and produce tornadoes.”
A home at the corner of Beason and Boone Ford Roads in Gordon County was completely destroyed, and a number of other houses and structures in the area saw significant damage.
The four people in the home that the tornado destroyed escaped with non-life-threatening injuries.
The summary stated that the storm “spawned the first tornado west of Rome, Ga.”
An EF2 funnel caused damage to several homes in Rome subdivisions.
The summary states that the storm hit “maximum intensity” near Boone Ford Road in the Sonoraville area of Gordon County
The storm weakened to EFO level and dissipated east of Calhoun, the website states.
Gordon County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy0 Robert Paris said Sonoraville, Farmville, Plainview, Talking Rock and Gardner Springs communities all experienced damage. Paris said no fatalities or major injuries have been reported.
North Georgia EMC said 3,000 were left without power Thursday, and more than 300 people had no electricity Friday morning, Dec. 23.
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