Around Madison: Pilot club sponsors child safety check day

The Madison County Pilot Club will sponsor a Child Safety Seat Check Day on Saturday in the parking lot of Ingles supermarket in Hull.

The check will be held from 10 a.m. to noon in conjunction with the national Child Passenger Safety Week, Sept. 12-18.

Information from AAA Going Places states that "motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children from the ages of 2 to 14 with a high percentage of the deaths being preventable with the proper use of car seats and seat belts."

Rural Georgia has the lowest use rates in the state and among the lowest in the nation. Besides Madison County, Clarke, Oglethorpe and Jackson counties are participating during the week. Randall Townley with the Northeast Georgia Rural Initiative is providing certified checkers and other expertise to conduct this program.

A Pilot Club representative said "all seats deemed to be unsafe" will be replaced. The seat, child and vehicle all must be present with parents or caregivers during seat checks.

Lt. David Patton, the Madison County's DARE Officer, said the Pilot program is important.

"We've noticed an increase in young people not wearing their seat belts and children that ought to be in car seats. This is a way of bringing public awareness of the dangers of not wearing seat belts or having children property restrained.

"There are numerous fatalities each year due to the fact people are not wearing seat belts," Patton added.

In addition, deputies patrolling the roads will cite people for the violations.

"Our traffic unit is keeping a watchful eye on those issues," Patton said. "We're serious about keeping people in our county safe."

A trial fit for a dog

The Georgia Stock Dog Association will be hosting a sheep herding competition at Patterson Farm in Hull on Sept. 25-27. The trials will be held each day from 8 a.m. until completed.

Patterson Farm, owned by Tom and Carol Patterson, has been hosting this competition annually for five years. The event is open to viewing at no cost.

The Novice and Pro-Novice events will be held Sept. 25, and the Open Sheep and Open Ranch events are the next two days.

Most of the dogs in the competit

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