Aubrey Higgins with parents Sarah and Dee Higgins during his recent signing. (photo by Lane Gresham)
On Tuesday afternoon at Tallulah Falls School, senior Aubrey Higgins of Cornelia signed his letter of intent to pursue his academic and baseball career at Berry College.
The Berry Vikings are located in Mount Berry, GA, and reside in the Southern Athletic Association as a member of NCAA Division-III.
“We are very excited for Aubrey to join our program next year at Berry College,” says Berry baseball coach David Beasley. “He is a tremendous talent on the mound and we look forward to him growing as a pitcher at the next level. I would definitely like to thank Coach [Justin] Pollock for all of his help during the recruitment of Aubrey.”
Last season, Higgins anchored the Indians’ rotation, as we sported a 5-2 record with a 4.45 ERA, striking out 78 batters in 50.1 innings of work. He was a vital part of the school’s first state playoff team that put up a program-record 13 wins last season. His 7 career wins is first in school history, as is his single-season 78 strikeouts and single-game mark of 12 strikeouts set last season.
“Since middle school, Aubrey’s passion for baseball, for his teammates, and for developing into a respected young man has been a joy to watch,” says TFS Athletic Director Scott Neal. “His dedication to skill development, to offseason training, and to his peers as a consistent leader has earned him the ability to continue playing the game he loves while earning the respect of those around him.”
Higgins marks the seventh TFS baseball player to sign to play at the college level, and makes it a third year in a row that the Indians have had a college signee.
During their meeting on Dec. 6, the Clarkesville City Council decided to table until next year the ordinance governing liquor stores in the city. Voters approved package sales in November. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
The City of Clarkesville decided to table voting on a package sales ordinance at their Dec. 6 meeting until early 2022 as they continue to discuss their plans for the ordinance.
The city’s voters approved the sale of distilled spirits within city limits during the Nov. 2021 municipal election, and while the city has the ability to start selling on Jan. 1 if an ordinance is in place, the council isn’t worried about having the ordinance done by the first of the year.
City Attorney Janney Sanders discusses the drafted package sales ordinance with the Clarkesville council. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Clarkesville city attorney, Janney Sanders, and city manager, Keith Dickerson, have worked together to lay out a draft of the ordinance over the past few months, but the council hasn’t put their final touches on it.
“I think we should take our time with this,” Councilman Steven Ward said. “We need to look at a map and make sure [we agree with] where Keith has outlined and maybe just go out and drive to see where these locations would be.”
The council needs to decide on specifics of the ordinance, such as how many stores will be allowed within city limits, store inventory minimums, where liquor stores can be located, licensing fees and other specifics that will designate how liquor stores would populate the city.
Councilwoman Roxie Barron expressed her concerns that the number of liquor stores in the city needed to be controlled to preserve Clarkesville’s historic charm. Barron also shared that she believes the city doesn’t need more than two liquor stores, and that letting demand control where, and how many, liquor stores came to the city wasn’t wise.
Councilwoman Roxie Barron shares her concerns about preserving Clarkesville’s history in the ordinance. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
“We just got the historic designation,” Barron said. “I think we need to really focus on maintaining some of our quaintness and our [history], rather than saying the market is going to control it. I don’t always trust the market.”
State laws indicate that liquor stores cannot be in residential zones, and must be 100 yards away from churches and 200 yards away from schools. The council seems to be in consensus that they are not interested in allowing liquor stores in the historic downtown area.
The council plans to further discuss the ordinance at their work session, and vote on an ordinance in February.
The City of Cornelia Commission held their monthly meeting and a budget public hearing Monday night, during which they discussed their 2022 budget and amendments to their alcohol ordinance.
The commission held a public hearing for their 2022 budget, during which no members of the public voiced questions or concerns relating to the budget during. Mayor John Borrow encourages any citizens with questions or concerns regarding the budget to contact City Manager Dee Anderson or City Financial Director Melanie Chandler.
The commission will consider the adoption of the 2022 budget at a special called meeting at noon on Dec. 20.
The Cornelia Commission also voted to post amendments to the city’s alcohol sales ordinance to allow for the package sale of distilled spirits after citizens voted to allow liquor sales in the Nov. 2 election. The amendments allow the city control of licensing, taxation, regulation of and sale of liquor in Cornelia.
Liquor stores in Cornelia will be limited to setting up shop along the city’s highway business district, away from Downtown Cornelia and the historic district, according to the ordinance amendments. The city will not allow liquor stores to open within 500 yards of any other business selling alcohol, and per state laws, cannot exist within 100 yards of a church, 100 yards of an alcohol treatment center and 200 yards of a school.
The establishing fee to open a liquor store in Cornelia would be $5,000. The city will hold a public forum for the alcohol sales ordinance at their Jan. 4 meeting.
Mary Geneva Anglin, age 84, of Gainesville, entered heaven Monday, December 6, 2021, at her residence surrounded by her family.
Geneva was born September 25, 1937, in Gainesville to the late Vestel & Ruby Tanner Brown. She was retired from CWT Farms where she worked as an egg grader. She was a member of Springway Baptist Church but had attended Pond Fork Baptist Church for close to 30 years. She was preceded in death by her husband, Melvin Anglin; brother, Jimmie Brown; brother-in-law, Junior Baugh.
Survivors include her kids, Glenda (Dennis) Turpin & Gene (Loraine) Anglin; grandkids, Keith & Linda Turpin, Corey & Amy Anglin, Jessica & Clair Anglin; great-grandchildren, Ashley & Sammi Turpin, Ansley & J.J. Anglin, Kaylie, Trinity & Matthew Fletcher & Haden Ellis; great-great-grandchild, Bryson Turpin; sisters, Jerry (Sam) Lewis, Carolyn Baugh & Margie (James) Willis; sister-in-law’s, Bonnie Brown & Gwen Pierce; a host of nieces & nephews and other relatives also survive.
Funeral services will be held12:00 p.m. Thursday, December 9, 2021, at the Ward’s Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Johnny Knight & Rev. Chris Hulsey officiating. Burial will follow in Springway Baptist Church Cemetery. The Family will receive friends from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
A special heartfelt thanks to Natasha Wohlrab, Jennifer Day, Rosa Rencos, Kerry Nolan and the rest of the Northeast Georgia Medical Center Hospice Team.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Hospice of Northeast Georgia, 2150 Limestone Parkway, Gainesville, Georgia 30501.
Please share online condolences with the family at www.wardsfh.com. Ward’s Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Mary Geneva Anglin.
Former Sen. David Perdue, pictured in 2020 with his wife, Bonnie Perdue, will run in the GOP primary against current Gov. Brian Kemp. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
(GA Recorder) — Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue has joined the race to become the state’s next governor, setting up a bruising primary against sitting Republican governor Brian Kemp before the eventual victor can challenge likely Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams.
“It will be like a cage match,” said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock. “World heavyweight title on the line. There will be no holds barred, I suspect. They were friends, and the story is – probably accurate – that the Perdue cousins were instrumental in getting President Trump to weigh in on behalf of Gov. Kemp in the Republican runoff in 2018, but now that they’ve broken, they’ll be unrestrained, and there’s an awful lot at stake.”
Back in 2018, Kemp, then the secretary of state, styled himself as a political outsider in President Donald Trump’s mold, and the president’s endorsement helped ensure his victory over then-Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, the establishment pick in that year’s Republican primary.
But a lot has changed since then, and Kemp has found himself in the crosshairs of the former president after Trump’s narrow 2020 loss in Georgia, and he now faces what could be the first serious primary challenge for a sitting Georgia governor in a century.
Perdue publicly announced his candidacy Monday and received Trump’s official endorsement on the same day.
“The last time I think there was a really serious one, certainly the last time that a sitting governor was denied a nomination was 100 years ago in 1922,” Bullock said. “Thomas Hardwick lost the Democratic primary to Clifford Walker. The big issue was the Ku Klux Klan. Hardwick opposed it, Walker was a member.”
For about 30 years ending in the 1970s, Georgia governors could not run for a second term. Since that changed, no sitting governor has been seriously challenged from within his own party, Bullock said.
Trump issued a pair of statements Monday, praising Perdue and condemning Kemp in equal measure. The former president has vowed to help defeat Kemp ever since the governor refused to overturn last year’s election results.
Gov. Brian Kemp stood with Sen. David Perdue shortly after Perdue qualified to run for reelection in 2020. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder (file photo)
“This will be very interesting, and I can’t imagine that Brian Kemp, who has hurt election integrity in Georgia so badly, can do well at the ballot box (unless the election is rigged, of course). He cost us two Senate seats and a Presidential victory in the Great State of Georgia,” Trump said.
Kemp’s campaign scoffed at the idea that the governor was responsible for losing Georgia’s two Senate seats. In a tweet, Kemp’s communications director Cody Hall accused Perdue of “Blam(ing) your two election losses on someone who wasn’t even on the ballot, but did dozens of campaign events/fundraisers for you.”
A referendum on 2020
When it comes to policy, there are not a lot of differences between Kemp and Perdue, said Amy Steigerwalt, a political science professor at Georgia State University. The distinction between the two, she said, comes down primarily to their relationship with Trump and the 2020 presidential election.
“It lays bare the fact that this is not about policy right now, it’s not truly about what is the best path forward in many ways for the country, it’s about what does it mean to be a Republican,” Steigerwalt said. “Does being a Republican mean that you adhere to conservative policy positions and values, or does it mean that you support former President Trump, including his accusations of fraud? And that’s not a great place for the party to be.”
Republican strategist Brian Robinson agreed that the primary race is shaping up to be a referendum on 2020.
“It’s a fascinating battle royale, and it’s going to potentially divide the party right down the middle based on how you view the 2020 election,” he said. “I mean, Perdue told us that today, he wants the election to be about the 2020 election, and Brian Kemp wants the election to be about Perdue not winning his runoff, about the stock portfolio issue, et cetera. So I think we’ve gotten a preview already of what the campaign is going to be. It’s going to be personal. It is going to be vicious.”
Perdue, who served one term in the Senate, could be a dangerous opponent for Kemp – at least according to a survey funded by Trump’s Save America PAC, which found a Trump-endorsed Perdue could have the upper hand in a primary against Kemp.
And even if Kemp pulls through in the primary, the governor can’t be happy having to spend time and money fighting off Perdue rather than Abrams, Steigerwalt said.
“Now there is going to be a terribly nasty and brutal Republican primary that is going to leave scars and wounds, festering, bubbling, horrible open wounds, I think, not only on whoever wins, but on the party and its ability to then reunite for the general election,” she said.
And while both GOP candidates will have the incentive to play to the base in the primary, pushing too far to the right could haunt the nominee in the general election when more moderate swing voters become important.
“The more that both of the candidates feel that they have to run to the right to try and not just shore up sort of the hardcore base, but the QAnon base, to bring in the Marjorie Taylor Greene voters out in the 14th, the more they feel they have to do that during the primary, the more difficult it’s going to be for them to win the general election,” Steigerwalt said.
And Trump himself will likely prove to be a more dangerous foe to Kemp than Perdue, Bullock said. Kemp has so far been unwilling to return the former president’s barbs.
“What we’re going to see is Trump following through on his policy, which has been to try to do everything he can to prevent Brian Kemp’s renomination,” Bullock said. “Can you continue to turn the other cheek, turn the other cheek, turn the other cheek?”
If Perdue clinches the primary, he could have a hard time winning back moderate voters who favor the GOP but dislike Trump, Bullock argued.
“He’s not going to be in the position like Glenn Youngkin was in Virginia, where Youngkin was not wrapped in Trump’s cloak,” he said. “If David Perdue gets the nomination, he’s going to be very much wrapped up in Trump’s cloak and not be able to separate himself from Trump.”
Kemp’s status as an outsider – this time from the Trump wing of the party rather than the establishment wing – could help him in the general election, but only if he gets that far, Bullock added.
“If he makes it to the general election, then he doesn’t bear the stigma of being Trump’s candidate, which might cost him among that critical electorate, but can he get to that stage?” Bullock said. “Certainly, he’ll have plenty of money. He’s got power. He’s got influence as the governor of the state, so it’s not like he has no tools.”
Abrams watching the fight
Perdue started off his announcement video Monday with a jab at Abrams rather than Kemp, but he didn’t hold back from attacking his former ally.
“I’m running for Governor to make sure Stacey Abrams is never governor of Georgia,” he said. “Make no mistake, Abrams will smile, lie and cheat to transform Georgia into her radical vision of a state that would look more like California or New York. To fight back we simply have to be united. Unfortunately, today we are divided and Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger are to blame.”
Raffensperger has consistently pushed back against allegations he mismanaged the election. He did so again Monday.
“I made sure we had honest elections, and I’ll continue to fight that because I think people want people who hold high office to have integrity,” Raffensperger told reporters Monday after a Rotary Club of Atlanta meeting. “Integrity counts. It always has and always will.”
Democrat Stacey Abrams, who came within about 55,000 votes of defeating Kemp in 2018, announced her plans to run again last week. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder (file photo)
Abrams, who came within about 55,000 votes of defeating Kemp in 2018, announced her plans to run last week. It’s likely that very few Georgians were happier to watch Perdue’s announcement video than her, Bullock said.
“She gets to sit back and watch her opponents beat each other over the head for a while,” he said. “Bring out the popcorn.”
Abrams’ campaign said as much Monday in reaction to the news.
“While David Perdue and Brian Kemp fight each other, Stacey Abrams will be fighting for the people of Georgia,” her campaign said in a statement. “Both Kemp and Perdue would deprive 500,000 Georgians of health coverage that our taxpayers already paid for. Both would continue to underfund our schools, both would continue to divide Georgia and both would continue reckless decisions that have endangered the lives of Georgians during the pandemic.”
Not all Republicans are worried about a hard-fought primary leaving their candidate weakened against Abrams, though. Take Cobb County GOP Chair Salleigh Grubbs.
“I don’t necessarily see it as a bad thing,” she said. “I think there are people that want options, and now they have an option.”
As a county chair, Grubbs said she cannot support one of the two candidates until the primary is over. The Cobb GOP censured Kemp earlier this year for not carrying out campaign promises concerning illegal immigration.
“Of course, it always enters one’s mind,” she added. “The more that’s spent in the primary, the less resources you have in the general, so that’s a concern with every race. We have that situation in the 6th District, but I think there are a lot of Georgians who will get behind Perdue just like I think there’s a lot that will get behind Kemp.”
Grubbs said she will welcome the opportunity to take another look at the 2020 election results.
“We definitely have to look forward, but we have to look at the things that need to be fixed,” she said. “I for one am for hand-marked paper ballots. I think the Dominion system is flawed. There are many, many, many people who believe the same way, and in order to get confidence in the election for 2022, there are going to have to be some changes.”
Numerous investigations have found no evidence of widespread voting fraud in Georgia or elsewhere during the 2020 election, and three tallies of the vote confirmed Biden’s win. Still, state lawmakers passed a bill this year that they say will secure future elections, but Democrats say the law makes it harder for Georgians to vote, especially minorities.
And there are many factors that would favor a Republican in this race, Robinson said. Typically, the party in power loses during midterms, Democrats tend to have more problems getting out the vote in non-presidential years, and President Joe Biden’s approval ratings are far from enviable. Those factors will still be in play after the primary, he said.
“I do not deny that the Democrats are united at a time when Republicans are divided,” Robinson said. “But barring a runoff, the Republicans are going to go into the general election in an environment that is historically bad for Democrats. We don’t even need a 10-point swing like they had in Virginia or New Jersey, we need a much smaller swing than that here.”
“The crux of what the nominee, whoever it is, must do is not lose the educated metropolitan voters who abandoned the Republicans for the Democrats in the last few cycles,” he added. “Those people want to come home. Those people are mad about the inflation. They’re mad about how Biden is running the country. They’re mad about schools, and all of those issues are huge net positives for whoever the Republican nominee is. So the question becomes, can the party unite and mend after the primary? And that’s an answer I don’t have at this juncture.”
Georgia Recorder Stanley Dunlap contributed to this report.
Baldwin Police Chief Jeff Branyon has returned to the city after a two-week intensive public safety leadership training in Israel.
Branyon trained alongside Israel’s police executives, Georgia police chiefs and command staff, sheriffs, the director of the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council and a Georgia Bureau of Investigation assistant director.
The training program in partnership with the Israel Police was held by the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange’s (GILEE), a research center within Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. The research center’s goal is to enhance public safety by “nurturing partnerships within and across public law enforcement agencies and the private sector.”
“Acknowledging the more than 700,000 American police who have served on the front lines during an unprecedented pandemic and period of social unrest, GILEE’s delegates learned more about strategies to successfully lead ongoing, nonstop law enforcement services while building stronger, safer and better community relations through community policing,” the GILEE said in a press release.
Baldwin Baldwin Police Chief Jeff Branyon (front, center) was involved in a two-week intensive public safety leadership training in Israel. (Photo: GILEE)
More than 1,100 public safety officials—most from Georgia—have participated in the program in Israel. More than 40,000 have attended additional GILEE trainings, briefings, seminars and workshops in Georgia and around the world.
“Trying to describe the meaningful impact of participating in the GILEE delegation to Israel to others is no small task,” said Chief Janet Moon of the Peachtree City Police Department, president of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, and a GILEE delegate in 2015. “Observing how the Israeli Police interacted with people very diverse from them was inspirational. The Israeli Police embraced this diversity within its own ranks as well. I found the experience very rewarding in a way that led me to expand upon my commitment and resolve to utilize principles of community policing.”
Cornelia artist Jan Walker’s art display, which includes the art from her new children’s book, “The Christmas Neep,” is on display at the Piedmont University’s Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art in Demorest. The show also includes the art of her students.
Walker and her “Neeps,” which she began drawing in 1984, hold a whimsical piece of Habersham County’s history and culture. Walker is an instrumental part of the Cornelia community as an artist, mentor and friend to many. She is the owner of Cornelia’s “The Children’s Gallery,” where she has taught art to Habersham’s youth for over 40 years.
“Teaching has been my greatest joy in life, more than my art and my books, for sure,” Walker says. “I love being a teacher, and I think that I have things to teach [my students]. I have a podium, I can teach children good things: to be kind and nice, and to be good to each other.”
Over the years, Walker has drawn many of her Neeps on the knees of students and friends, with some even getting their Neeps tattooed in adulthood. (Jan Walker/Facebook)
Beyond mentoring area children, her art has added a magical perspective to Cornelia’s landmarks and natural beauty. Her art includes familiar scenes like Lake Russell and the Big Red Apple, populated with her fairy-like Neeps.
“I think Jan is a wonderful part of our community,” says Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art Director Rebecca Brantley. “And one thing we want to do is celebrate her contribution. It’s a lot of fun to see her new book, which is a brand new book.”
“The Christmas Neep,” is Walker’s fifth book, and a story she wrote many years ago to tell students when she visited local elementary schools. The story follows along a Neep who has been nominated to become the “Christmas Neep,” and discovers the true meaning of Christmas—giving to those in need—along the way.
Walker has the original pages of her book, “The Christmas Neep” and the story on the walls of the MSMA, which include layered cut-outs and original art to put whimsical scenes together. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Walker will hold a book signing at the MSMA from 1 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8 where attendees can purchase a hardcover copy of “The Christmas Neep,” and get their book signed, just in time for Christmas.
Walker’s quirky Christmas exhibit at the museum will be on display until Dec. 15.
Christmas trees decorated with student-made ornaments of snakes, as well as children’s recreations of Walker’s Neeps are on display at the MSMA through Dec. 15. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Anslee Danielle Foster will spend the rest of her life in prison following sentencing on Monday in the murder of Christopher Eldreth.
Judge Chan Caudell sentenced Foster to life without the possibility of parole plus 30 years for burglary and auto theft in Habersham County Superior Court. The judge handed down the sentence on Dec. 6 after hearing evidence and arguments from prosecutors and Foster’s attorneys.
In July, the 24-year-old Foster, formerly of Clarkesville, pled guilty to Eldreth’s murder.
Christopher Eldreth
The 36-year-old Eldreth, who had muscular dystrophy and was legally blind, was found dead in his apartment at 846 Straight Street in Cornelia on September 29, 2019. An autopsy revealed that he had been stabbed multiple times and died of blunt-force trauma to the head.
During the investigation into Eldreth’s murder, Foster admitted to entering his home through a window that she opened. She told the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that she saw the victim asleep in his bed and left his residence to go to a relative’s house, where she got a hammer.
According to the Habersham County District Attorney’s office, Foster then returned to Eldreth’s home and hit him in the head with the hammer, stabbed him with two knives, and broke the hammer and knives in the process. She also admitted to stabbing him with a fork.
Following the murder, Foster, who was 22 years old at the time, stole a truck and fled the state. She was arrested at a homeless shelter in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on September 30 and was returned home to Habersham to face the charges against her.
In addition to the life sentence, Caudell sentenced Foster to 20 years for burglary and 10 years for theft by taking of a motor vehicle. All sentences will be served concurrently.
Christopher Eldreth was found stabbed to death inside his apartment at 846 Straight Street in Cornelia on Sept. 29, 2019. (Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)Investigators look for evidence at Eldreth’s apartment the day after he was found murdered inside his home. (Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)
After Foster’s arrest, Eldreth’s sister-in-law Haley Eldreth told Now Habersham, “Our family is grieving with the thought that someone could break into his home and do something so horrendous to someone that was not able to defend themself.”
The GBI assisted Cornelia Police with the investigation.
This article has been updated with new information.
Some of the children rescued from the An Lac Orphanage during Operation Babylift.
Who am I?
Jason Robertson has asked himself that question more than once. He was one of many children at the An Lac Orphanage in Vietnam. Picked up off the streets. Left at the gate with no paperwork. Not even a name until the orphanage gave him one, Vu Tien Thuoc.
He wasn’t alone. There were hundreds of other babies and children, many whose Vietnamese mothers were left to raise children from American fathers. Their fathers were young soldiers looking for companionship from young Vietnamese women looking for promises of a better life.
“I didn’t have an identity until I came to this country and was adopted by Bill and Wanda Robertson from Salem, Alabama. Then I became Jason Robertson.”
He was about four years old at the time. Although with a lack of a birth certificate, that is anyone’s guess. His adopted parents gave him the birthdate of December 30, 1970.
An Lac Orphanage
Young Vu Tien Thuoc in An Lac orphanage. His American adopted parents would give him the name Jason Robertson.
The orphanage was founded in the mid-1950s. Madame Vu Thi Ngai, who fled South Vietnam after Communists killed her parents during the takeover of North Vietnam, was the caretaker.
In a dilapidated military barracks in Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, toddlers sat on overturned pots. Stools and urns of water served as makeshift showers. Food was cooked in pots placed on charcoal burners on the dirt floors.
The cribs were rusty with hammocks and rags between them. There was no electricity and no running water.
Over the years, Madame Ngai would take in thousands of homeless children. Resources may have been limited but she was able to provide a roof over their heads and keep them off the streets. None had names or any official paperwork. Some were given names while others were given numbers.
The Angel of Saigon
Enter Betty Tisdale. A force of nature from New York who was inspired by the stories of the sick and poor half a world away. In 1961, then in her late 20s, she made her first trip to An Lac. The visit changed her life and would eventually change the lives of children at the orphanage.
Betty Tisdale loved the children of An Lac as if they were her own.
When she returned to America, Betty began raising money to send food, diapers, and other supplies to An Lac.
She skimped on her own meals to save money to visit again and again over the years. While there she scrubbed floors, washed clothes, and taught songs to the children like Row, Row, Row Your Boat, hoping life for them would someday be a dream.
Operation Babylift
In 1974, the city was being overrun by Viet Cong in a war that would cost an estimated two million civilians their lives. Villages were wiped out. During the fall of Saigon, death and destruction were imminent.
Betty Tisdale went into high gear to secure military help in saving the children at An Lac. In an unpopular move stateside, she arranged for more than 200 of the children to be airlifted to Fort Benning, Georgia.
There weren’t enough blankets for all of them. The babies and smaller kids were placed in cardboard boxes.
Today, those children, now grown men and women, give thanks to Betty Tisdale and the brave soldiers that defended their city and helped them escape almost certain death.
“They all helped rescue me and other children. They saved our lives and we are eternally grateful. Thanks to all of them, America is my country now.”
Coming to America
Bill and Wanda Robertson gave their adopted son a name and a birthdate but it was clear that like many of the other An Lac orphans, Jason had endured the traumas of war. He was thin as a rail and struggling to overcome night terrors and flashbacks of his former life.
“When a helicopter would fly over our house, I could see and hear those Huey choppers that dotted the Vietnam sky. I would wake up in the middle of the night and could see and hear the children from the orphanage crawling around my room.”
Those sights and sounds give him a chill up his spine even now.
The challenges of his early life would continue to haunt him. During his school years, Jason never seemed to fit in. He didn’t look like everyone else.
“My skin was brown but I didn’t have slanted eyes. It was like being a minority for many races. I was called the “N” word and a “Gook” but I was always in a world of my own. I could never escape my own skin.”
While Jason suppressed his feelings, his experience would later make him stronger and more independent. His life has never been easy but he appreciates the opportunities the Robertson’s gave him and the values they instilled.
From rice to grits
In 2006, Jason published a book about his experience, A Love Beyond Explaining: An Orphan’s Journey From Rice to Grits. The description reads: A positive story from the Vietnam War about an orphan. It is a story of encouragement and appreciation to all who have served and are currently serving our country. It also lets readers know how blessed we are to live in a country of such freedom.
He is currently working on a rewrite and update of his story to include some of the emotions and meaning behind the story that may have been too raw to tell at the time.
As a child, Jason’s early experience of abandonment and displacement made it difficult for him to connect with not just his adopted parents in a new country, but to establish true friendships.
“I always protected myself from getting close to anyone (adopted parents, adopted siblings, friends, girlfriends, then my wife) due to the underlying fear that they could abandon me for any reason at any moment.”
A recent diagnosis of Reactive Attachment Disorder, a serious condition sometimes found in adopted children, has helped him better understand what has been a lifelong struggle. The disorder can be a result of not having basic needs met as early as infancy to include being abandoned.
“Until I realized that I needed to take part in the responsibility of my healing, the trauma, past hurt, and pain never disappeared. Healing is a process that I am still experiencing but so much further along than before.”
Happy Birthday, Jason!
During the Christmas rush, it’s easy to forget the true meaning of the season. Surely the story of the An Lac orphans will remind us of what’s truly important.
We’ve all heard the story of the Three Wise Men. Isaiah 60:1–6, refers to them as the “kings coming to the brightness of your dawn.”
Jason’s “dawn” comes from a happy marriage and being the father of four children. He and his wife, Debbie, have helped them be strong and forge their own way to success and happiness.
1 of 4
Madame Ngai feeding the children at An Lac Orphanage
Jason and Betty reunited in 2010 at a reunion for An Lac orphans
Jason and his wifeDebbie
Jason's four children
“I’ve had great examples of strong women in my life. Madame Ngai, the director and caretaker of the An Lac Orphanage, Betty Tisdale, known as the “Angel of Saigon” and “Mom” to many, and his wife Debbie. They have all played a part in taking the bad in my life and helping me reverse it for good.”
So who is Jason Robertson? He is a child of Vietnam, a patriot who loves this country, who strives to be a good husband and father and to inspire others to heal regardless of their circumstances.
This is his birth month and he is celebrating by asking for a gift from all of us.
“I want to use this month to offer my healing experiences to any parent that has an adopted child whether it be same race adoption, but especially multicultural adoptions.
I hope that they don’t have to go a lifetime refusing help. You can’t do it alone, at least not successfully.”
For his birthday gift, introduce Jason to someone that he can help. Someone who needs to shape their journey into a story they can share with others. You can connect with Jason on Facebook or by email.
It’s not wrapped in shiny paper with a big bow but it is a gift from the heart!
The Tallulah Falls varsity swim teams dove back into the season following the Thanksgiving break at Habersham Central’s Jingle Jam Invitational in Clarkesville on Saturday. The teams had outstanding showings with the boys team placing 3rd out of 15 teams and the girls team placing 5th out of 19 teams.
Notable swims from the boys team include several new GHSA state qualifying times. The boys relay team of Emery Sims, Nelson Wilkinson, Henry Rickman, and Emre Sungur placed 1st and qualified in both the 200-yard medley relay and 200-yard freestyle relays. Wilkinson swam to a 1st place finish and qualified for the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.90, securing an individual event for himself for the 3rd consecutive season. Wilkinson also placed 3rd in the 100-yard backstroke. Sungur swam to two 1st place finishes and qualified in the 200-yard Individual Medley and the 500-yard freestyle, breaking the school record in the 500. The record was previously held by Hunter Weyrich (’20). Rickman placed 2nd in the 100 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke.
Notable swims from the girls team include top 3 finishes. The A relay of Daya Ssemakula, Emma Jackson, Karis Tatum, and Emily Wolfe swam to a 1st place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Ssemakula raced to a 2nd place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.
“We are so proud of all of our swimmers and their accomplishments,” says coach Rachel Nichols.
The team will make their next appearance Friday, December 10 at home at the Winter Snow Invitational.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger defended his record Monday even as he faced fresh criticism from his own party. (Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder)
(GA Recorder) — Embattled Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger defended his record Monday as he faces continued criticism from his own party heading into next year’s election.
In an appearance before the Rotary Club of Atlanta, the Republican state official pushed back on accusations that he is to blame for 2020 election losses. Raffensperger remains under siege more than a year later and after former President Donald Trump and his supporters’ election conspiracies have been repeatedly discredited.
Raffensperger reiterated that he continues to advocate for fair and honest elections, regardless of the political fallout. Trump narrowly lost in Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden.
In announcing his Republican primary challenge to Gov. Brian Kemp, former U.S. Sen David Perdue – who fell flat in his January runoff against now-Sen. Jon Ossoff – claimed Kemp and Raffensperger “caved” to the demands of Democrat Stacey Abrams who announced last week she is running again for governor.
Raffensperger denied Perdue’s accusations, and despite three tallies of the vote in last year’s presidential contest and daily press conferences in the immediate aftermath of the election, he said his office continues to fight election misinformation from people like Trump and Perdue.
“We were out there almost every day, dispelling rumors,” Raffensperger said. “You have to understand that in my office on a good day, we might have 40,000 Twitter followers and then some other people have 80 million Twitter followers.
“That’s like the Swiss Army trying to take on the Americans,” Raffensperger said. “It’s not that there aren’t good soldiers over there in Switzerland, but you’re just outmanned.”
Trump’s attacks on Raffensperger peaked in January when Trump sought to overturn the election in Georgia by asking the secretary of state to “find” enough votes to change the outcome. Weeks earlier, Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, spun baseless theories about widespread fraud with absentee ballots and electronic voting machines, which were quickly devoured by Republicans on state legislative committees.
Now, Raffensperger is in a heated campaign with his toughest GOP primary competitor likely being Trump ally U.S. Rep. Jody Hice.
Trump might have cost himself enough votes with his anti-election rhetoric with more than 28,000 voters having skipped the presidential race on their ballots, Raffensperger said.
Raffensperger also pointed to the success of the 2020 election that has withstood a multitude of legal challenges and held up to the scrutiny of investigations by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, FBI and other agencies.
As for the future, Raffensperger said he believes the state will overcome challenges from the U.S. Department of Justice, Democrats, and progressive organizations over the controversial voting overhaul that he says had a strong test run with this year’s municipal elections.
He said the most important change is replacing the subjective absentee signature match requirement with a state ID requirement. But municipal election data shows that more absentee ballot requests were rejected in the citywide races because of the newly shortened request deadline.
Raffensperger also highlighted what he saw as the positives from 2020, such as low wait times for voters and election staff and poll workers handling a record turnout during the pandemic. He pledged to work on educating voters on changes to absentee voting.
“We’ll get that message out there so if people want to vote absentee, that they’ll have that opportunity,” Raffensperger said. “The last (data) that we saw the absentee numbers dropped down to about 12%, which is about twice the historical average but half of what it was last year. People are going back to their natural patterns. They’ll vote early or on Election Day.”
A Celebration of Life service for Christy Barrett Freeman, age 47 of Toccoa, will be held at 10:00 AM, Saturday, December 11, 2021, at The Torch with Pastor Mike Franklin, officiating.
Christy passed away on Sunday, December 5th at her residence surrounded by her loving family.
Born in Duluth, Georgia on June 9, 1974, Christy was the daughter of the late Bobby Barrett and Mary Knight of Toccoa.
Christy was a true inspiration to anyone that she crossed paths with. As a young girl, she had a sensitive soul and a touch of spunk to her. She married her teenage sweetheart and adored the ground he walked on. She and Bryan soon had two boys that became their world. Christy loved being silly and making the boys laugh. She enjoyed taking family adventures together, with their latest being a trip to Puerto Rico. She was so excited to get on an airplane and eat real BBQ in Texas. It was the little things that brought her joy!
Christy loved her relationships and connections with her family and friends; they meant so much to her and she would often talk about them. She loved spending afternoons sitting on the swing out by their lake property, listening to the birds and enjoying the scenery and sunshine. When Christy got the news of her cancer diagnosis in 2013, she became the most amazing person ever known. Her faith in God took any worries out of her mind. She was simply living God’s plan and has now fulfilled His plan with the utmost respect. Most of all, Christy loved everyone! She cared deeply about people and found the good in everyone and every situation.
In addition to her father, Christy is preceded in death by father-in-law Dean Freeman and grandmother Jeweldean Craig.
Survivors include her husband Bryan Freeman and sons Bryson and Brayden Freeman of Toccoa, parents Butch and Mary Knight, mother in law Irene Freeman all of Toccoa, siblings Dana Montgomery and Richy Stamey of Panama City, Florida, Amy and Jon White of Dawsonville, Crystal and Eddie Tanner of Auburn, Tony and Jessalyn Barrett of Richmond Hill, sisters in law Deana Hardigree of Toccoa, Dawna and Wayne Teague of Toccoa, brothers in law Darrell and Marthe Freeman of Toccoa, Darren and Cindi Freeman of Clayton and Nathan and Karen Freeman of Toccoa. Christy also leaves behind many nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, extended family and many friends. Christy touched so many lives and will forever be missed.
