Towns Democrats donate school supplies

Towns County Democrats Vice Chair Tammy Bates, left, and immediate past chair Charlotte Sleczkowski get ready to transport the 12 bins of donated school supplies collected during July and early August.  

Following a very successful community drive to collect school supplies for local students, Towns County Democrats offered their thanks to local residents for their generous donations and to Hiawassee and Young Harris businesses for hosting drop-off points.

In all, some 1,221 items or packages of items were donated, ranging from backpacks and three-ring notebooks to pencils, notebook paper, crayons — the most frequently donated item — composition books, colored pencils, glue sticks, and scissors, to name a few.  

All of the supplies, filling 12 large plastic bins, were delivered Monday, Aug. 4, to Macedonia Baptist Church in Hiawassee.  Along with supplies donated to the church, church members organized all the items for distribution on Tuesday, Aug. 5, to students from across Towns County in partnership with the school system's Family Connection office.

"The community response was tremendous and we appreciate the generosity shown to students and teachers, " said David Plunkett, chair of the Towns County Democrats.  "School system personnel commented that with our donated items and the items collected by Macedonia, they likely wouldn't have to go shopping to fill any gaps in supplies."

Plunkett also thanked local merchants for allowing drop boxes to placed at the following places of business: Bacchus on the Lake, Hiawassee Brew, Trailful, and Going Postal in Hiawasee, and Cable's Gallery, The Fix, and the Towns County Recreation Center in Young Harris.  "We couldn't have done this without their participation," Plunkett said.

Towns Democrats culminated the effort with a Back to School Supplies Bash on Saturday, Aug. 2, at Hiawassee Town Square with free food supplied by VFW Post 7807 and live music by Nelson Thomas.  Event organizers Tammy Bates and Charlotte Sleczkowski, both of Hiawassee, added their thanks to the VFW and to Thomas for helping with the celebration.

District ranger to address Towns County Democrats

Dr. Steverson Moffat will be the guest speaker when Towns County Democrats hold their monthly meeting on Thursday, Aug. 14.

Dr. Steverson Moffat

The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Towns County Civic Center, 67 Lakeview Circle, Hiawassee.  

Moffat will present an overview of the role of the Forest Service and will discuss the impact review of President Trump's executive order regarding additional timbering in the national forests as it relates to the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. 

Moffat holds a bachelor of science degree in natural resources and forestry from the University of the South at Sewanee, Tenn., and a master of science degree in forest landscape ecosystems from Clemson University.  He received his doctorate in U.S. forest policy from North Carolina State University in 1999.

After a short stint with The Nature Conservancy in South Carolina in the late 1980s, Moffat served from 1999 to 2010 as a policy analyst for the U.S. Forest Service's Southern Research Station in New Orleans.  From 2010 to 2022 he led the Environmental Law Compliance Team for Nantahala National Forest.  He was named district ranger for the Blue Ridge Ranger District of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in May 2022.