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Eclectic Observer Page 4
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The
THURSDAY • NOVEMBER 10, 2016
TheWetumpkaHerald.com
Vol. 27, No. 45
Town council passes 2017 budget By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
The Eclectic Town Council voted at its monthly meeting Tuesday night to approve a budget that Mayor Gary Davenport termed “balanced” for fiscal year 2017. The budget includes pay raises for most town employees. “I made it known from the start when I took this job that I’m not going to give pay raises every year,”
said Eclectic Mayor Gary Davenport. “I said that I would look at them every two years and, believe me, (employees) have held my feet to the fire on that.” The pay raises for the town’s employees averaged 5.8 percent across the board. The total budget for the town is $4.01 million with a projected cash reserve of $650,000 among all departments. The town was able to go forward with pay raises, Davenport said, because of its stable financial condi-
tion. “Sales tax revenue has been averaging about a four percent increase for the last three years,” Davenport said. “The business license, we went up almost five percent this last year and the number of business licenses issued, we did have an increase, which is the first increase we’ve had in three years. So the economy’s starting to turn around a little bit. Submitted / The Observer We’re starting to see some of that. The Town of Eclectic formally swore in its town council members at “You will notice – and I told you its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday. Council members are See COUNCIL • Page 3 David Goodwin, Jackie Stearns, Inez Gates , Mayor Gary Davenport, Linda Reed and Charles Powell.
Dennis defeats Harrison for Elmore County Superintendent
Burn ban extended to entire state By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
By WILLIAM CARROLL Managing Editor
With a small number of provisional ballots still to count, Republican challenger Richard Dennis has unseated Dr. Andre Harrison in the race for Elmore County School Superintendent. With all precincts reporting Dennis has 20,513 votes over Harrison’s 13,593. Harrison was running in the race as an independent due to an issue with filing his paperwork that prevented him from running in the Republican primary. Dennis was still in high spirits Wednesday morning when he was interviewed regarding his victory. “I am really excited,” he said. “This is something that for a long time I have actually considered. It just felt right at this time. I am excited to be getting back to Elmore County where I grew up.” Dennis spoke at length with the Observer regarding his plans for the future. Check out this weekend’s Elmore County Weekend for more details. For Elmore County Commission District 5, Earl Reeves defeated incumbent Stephanie Daniels Smoke with 2,710 votes to 2,407. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took Elmore County in See ELECTION • Page 3
Photo courtesy of Chrietzberg Photography / The Observer
Miss Christmas on the Coosa Hannah Royal was crowned at the pageant held Saturday at the Wetumpka Civic Center. See page 5 inside today’s paper for more images from the pageant.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley approved State Forester Gary Cole’s formal statewide declaration of drought emergency conditions, placing a no-burn order over the entire state, effective at 3 p.m. Monday. “Although 46 counties in North Alabama were already under the no-burn order, it was necessary to add the remaining 21 counties in the southern part of the state because of alarming wildfire activity and continued lack of rainfall,” Bentley said. “The expansion of this no-burn order is critical to keeping our citizens safe from the threat of wildfires and reducing the chance of avoidable fires.” Since Oct. 1, a total of 1,421 wildfires have occurred in Alabama destroying approximately 15,409 acres of land. Last year during this same time frame, there were only 232 wildfires burning 1,846 acres across the state. See BURN BAN • Page 3
Battle for armory re-enactment offers a glimpse of living history By CARMEN RODGERS Staff Writer
The Tallassee Armory Guards will hold the annual “Battles for the Armory” at the historic Gibson’s View Plantation on Rifle Range Road in Tallassee on Nov. 10, 11, 12 and 13. Thursday will kickoff the four-day weekend with a school day where students from Tallassee and surrounding areas can see what life was like for people during that period of time. Students will be taken back in time as they walk through a guided tour of hands-on demonstrations and on-site examples of day-to-day life during war times. Students will learn about the history of the United States Flag and the Confederate States Flag, along with the British Flag and the Spanish Flag. Several other stations will be provided for student enrichment, such as music, spinning,
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medicine, toys, blacksmith, artillery, cavalry and period dancing. Music of the era will be performed. Music was a way to generate enthusiasm before battles and to lift the spirits of soldiers after a hard battle. A spinning station will be on hand to demonstrate the process of making fabric using a spinning wheel. There will be many authentic time-period fashioned clothing displays on hand for viewing. There will also be a medical station on display to showcase the crude process of tending to wounded soldiers on the outskirts of a battlefield; re-enactors will play the role of army doctors and wounded soldiers. Blacksmiths will be on hand demonstrating the important roles they played in the civil war, making nails, horseshoes and other needed hardware. There will be period dancing, along with See HISTORY • Page 3
Carmen Rodgers / The Tribune
Re-enactors from across the Southeast will embark on Tallassee late this week and into the weekend for the 19th annual Battles for the Armory re-enactment at Gibson’s View Plantation on Riffle Range Road. The event begins Thursday and runs through Sunday.
Operation Christmas Child
Shoebox Collection COLLECTION TIMES:
•Monday, November 14 • 6pm - 8pm •Tuesday, November 15 • 8:30am - 10:30am •Wednesday, November 16 • 5pm - 7pm •Thursday, November 17 • 6pm - 8pm •Friday, November 18 • 8:30am - 10:30 am •Saturday, November 19 • 9am - Noon •Sunday, November 20 • 2pm - 5pm Questions? Call Teresa Wheat 334-283-5818 • 334-386-3315
Collection Center: Tallassee First Assembly 185 Friendship Road • Tallassee, AL
of God