The Georgia Foundation for Agriculture (GFA) is offering $65,000 in scholarships to Georgia students pursuing a degree in agriculture, veterinary medicine, family and consumer sciences or a related field, William Grizzle, Cherokee County Farm Bureau president, recently announced.

The GFA will award scholarships in the following four categories.

Scholarship for Agriculture – This scholarship is for high school students who plan to enter a college that is part of the University System of Georgia, Berry College, Emmanuel College or any accredited college/university in Georgia with an ag program during the 2022-23 academic year to pursue an undergraduate degree in agricultural and environmental sciences, family and consumer sciences or a related agricultural field. The GFA will award 10 scholarships of $3,000 each. The top three ranked applicants will be eligible for an additional $1,000 bonus.

Cherokee County Farm Bureau will award two $1075 Cheyenne Heard College Scholarships to two High School Seniors in Cherokee County. For more information contact the Cherokee County Farm Bureau Office at 770-479-1481 ext. 0.

Technical College Scholarship for Agriculture – This scholarship is for students who will be enrolled in a Georgia accredited technical college and major in an area of agriculture or an ag-related field of study, such as welding, mechanics, culinary arts, or commercial truck driving. The GFA will award four scholarships of $1,500 each. Visit https://gfb.ag/gfatechscholarshipmajors for a list of eligible schools and majors.

Rising College Junior/Senior Scholarship for Agriculture – This scholarship is for college students who have at least two semesters of college remaining to receive an undergraduate degree from a unit of The University System of Georgia, Berry College, Emmanuel College or any accredited college/university in Georgia with an ag program. Applicants must be majoring in agriculture and environmental sciences, family and consumer sciences or an ag-related field. The GFA will award eight scholarships of $2,000 each.

UGA College of Veterinary Medicine Scholarship - This scholarship is for students currently enrolled in the UGA Veterinary Medicine program specializing in large animal/food animal practice. The GFA will award two $5,000 scholarships. “I encourage any student who qualifies for one of the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture scholarships to apply,” said Grizzle. “Agriculture offers many exciting career opportunities. Both farmers and consumers depend on the many jobs agriculture creates such as mechanics, large animal veterinarians and food scientists.” Visit www.gafoundationag.org/scholarships for a list of eligible majors/schools for all scholarships, applications, and instructions to apply. All applications must be submitted online by March 1, 2022. Transcripts and letters of recommendation must be submitted online with the application.

The scholarship recipients will be announced in spring of 2022. Scholarship checks will be sent to the qualifying college/university the recipient is attending and placed in their school account upon verification the student has met all qualifications for the scholarship. Scholarships awarded to graduating high school seniors will be distributed for spring 2023 upon receipt of first semester college transcript indicating the recipient is pursuing an ag-related course of study and has at least a 3.0 GPA.

The Cherokee County Public Services Agency recently hosted a specialized Animal Investigations and Safety Training event for animal services professionals.

The training event was held on Nov. 6 at the Cherokee Conference Center in Canton and drew roughly 40 attendees from jurisdictions across the state, as well as from Florida and Alabama. The Cherokee County Animal Shelter and Cherokee Marshal’s Office, both departments within Cherokee County Public Services Agency, teamed up to host the training event.

“I am proud that these departments worked together to provide training for our Animal Shelter Team and Animal Control Officers,” said Public Services Agency Director Dana Martin. “This type of training directly benefits the citizens of this county by making our team better at performing this important work safely and effectively.”

Subjects taught at the eight-hour training event included: Animal Cruelty Investigations, Dangerous Animal Investigations, Tactical Animal Handling, Canine Confrontations, Officer Safety and Community and Culture Competency. Attendees also received eight credit hours from the Georgia Peace Officer and Standards Training Council.

“There is very limited training like this offered, so the turnout was excellent,” said Martin. “I want to thank my staff for their hard work in organizing this event.”

Blankets Creek will be closed to the public for three days in December and January as Cherokee County has recently been notified of potentially dangerous deer behavior.

The Blankets Creek area consists of 330-acres of land on which the deer population has swollen to hundreds of deer on the property. The overpopulation has led to malnourished animals and a safety issue for trail users.

Upon learning of the situation, Cherokee Recreation and Parks officials contacted the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division which suggested a wildlife management event to thin the deer population on the property.

To control the deer population, Cherokee Recreation and Parks will hold a deer management event on December 19, January 2, and January 9. The event is for Cherokee County residents only.

December 19 is reserved for youth and disabled hunters with one chaperone and a single piece of archery equipment. The January 2 and January 9 dates will be open to all residents of Cherokee County.

Interested hunters may register for the limited spots by visiting PlayCherokee.org. Online registration will begin Tuesday, December 7 at 5:00 p.m. Hunters will be selected through a lottery process, with a maximum of 30 hunters per date. Registration costs $25 per slot, and all funds raised will be designated for Blankets Creek.

All state hunting laws must be followed.

For more information, visit PlayCherokee.org.