January 2026 Community Life - Canton Sign Up for Cherokee County Emergency Notifications Cherokee County has partnered with Motorola Rave to deliver National Weather Service alerts to registered users. Sign up at CherokeeGa-EMA.org by clicking the Rave button, or text CHEROKEEEMA to 226787 for text alerts. Alerts include weather, traffic, and evacuation notices. Users of the county’s previous notification system must create a new Rave account.—————————————————————Chamber Names Volunteer of the QuarterThe Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce honored Family Life Magazines’ David Wright as the Chairman’s Council Volunteer of the Quarter for fourth quarter 2025. The Chairman’s Council is a group of key community volunteers who offer their time to help cultivate successful relationships with business owners across Cherokee County. Members are accepted by invitation only from the Chamber’s Board Chair. In determining the Volunteer of the Quarter, attendance at Chamber events is evaluated for all members of the Chairman’s Council. “We appreciate all the time and effort that David has given to the Chamber this year,” said 2025 Chamber Board Chair Neil Blackman. For information on the Chamber and its programs, visit CherokeeChamber.com.—————————————————————Keep Cherokee Beautiful Awards and UpdatesDistrict 3 Commissioner Benny Carter helped resurrect Keep Cherokee Beautiful several years ago, with a goal of a thriving community-led, county-supported nonprofit. It is now operated by a local board of directors and is supported by the Cherokee County Recycling Center for items such as trash bags, vests, trash pickers, and trash pickup for Adopt-A-Mile events. Keep Cherokee Beautiful now has 61 miles adopted by 43 unique Adopt-A-Mile partners. In 2025, 15,140 pounds of litter were removed from county roads, and the organization had 44,400 volunteer hours.Each year, the KCB Board presents two awards, one for the Adopt-A-Mile Partner of the Year and one to an individual volunteer. The 2025 Adopt-A-Mile Partner of the Year is Universal Alloy, and the 2025 Volunteer of the Year is Megan Topper.—————————————————————Dinkins Named Cherokee County CFO Cherokee County’s financial team named Chuck Dinkins, former finance director for the city of Valdosta, as its new chief financial officer (CFO). He succeeds recently retired CFO Jimmy Marquis.Dinkins is a certified public accountant, certified fraud examiner, and chartered global management accountant. He completed required accounting education for the CPA at Valdosta State University and holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Emory University. He also completed a Master of Arts in History from Valdosta State University. He worked for the City of Valdosta for the last 24 years. Dinkins served as the finance director since 2015.The CFO is responsible for budgeting, forecasting, and managing the county’s overall budget as well as working with agency and department directors and making recommendations to the county manager and Board of Commissioners.—————————————————————Love Where You Live Honors 2025 Giveback Recipient Love Where You Live is a local tourism and community multimedia initiative that highlights residents who share why they choose to live in Cherokee County and what they like about it. Its mission is also to spread positivity and kindness.“This initiative focuses on what makes Cherokee County great, and that is the people who call Cherokee County home,” said Communications Director Erika Neldner. “Every participant for Love Where You Live 2025 was nominated by someone in our very own community.”The initiative includes a community giveback component that benefits at least one local nonprofit each year. Funds are raised through T-shirt, polo, sweatshirt, hat, and drink tumbler sales through a partnership with local business Deadline Apparel. Merchandise sales dictate how much a donation will be and how many nonprofits can benefit. No general fund (property tax) dollars are used to fund the initiative.From the nomination applications received, a volunteer committee selected the Homeless Coalition of Cherokee County to receive the $1,941 that was raised for the 2025 Community Giveback Award. “We are beyond thrilled to receive this award and acknowledgement for the work we are doing in the community. The Homeless Coalition of Cherokee County is committed to helping individuals and families who are facing housing insecurity,” said Dr. Marianne Butler, executive director of the organization. For more information about Homeless Coalition, visit HomelessCoalitionCherokee.org.Nominations are being accepted for the 2026 Love Where You Live resident features and the 2026 Community Giveback. Merchandise items are also available for purchase. Learn more at LWYL.CherokeeCountyGa.gov.—————————————————————City of Canton Honors Councilor Sandy McGrewUpon her decision to step down after serving three terms, City of Canton honored Ward 1 Councilor Sandy McGrew last month. While on City Council, McGrew led initiatives on the alcohol ordinance, charter revisions, noise ordinance, unified development code update, and ethics ordinance. She attended annual training from the Georgia Municipal Association, took interest in sustainability efforts, and led the charge to update the City’s plant palette. McGrew has long supported downtown redevelopment efforts, improvements in traffic design in the SR 140 corridor, and working with youth. She, along with former Councilor JoEllen Wilson, led an initiative (pre-Covid) to put a new book in the hands of every elementary school student in Canton to foster literacy. She has annually supported the Shop with a Cop program with the Canton Police Department and served the community through the Cherokee Arts Center Board of Directors. The City of Canton is grateful for her 12 years of service. —————————————————————Dean House 150th Anniversary Celebrated The City of Woodstock recognized the 150th anniversary of the Dean House. It is the oldest home in Woodstock and a lasting symbol of the city’s history and community spirit.Built in 1875 by Dr. G.A. Merritt using bricks made on the premises, the Dean House has stood through 15 decades of Woodstock’s evolution from a railroad town to a thriving modern city. The home later became the residence of Dr. Will Dean and his wife, Lou Dean, who married in 1883 and lived there throughout their lives. The Dean family’s descendants continued to occupy the home for over a century, anchoring generations of Woodstock’s story within its walls.Today, the home is owned and occupied by Avin, Inc., whose thoughtful stewardship has preserved the home’s character while ensuring it remains a meaningful piece of Woodstock’s built heritage.To commemorate this milestone, Mayor Michael Caldwell issued a proclamation honoring the Dean House’s 150th anniversary, which recognized the home’s enduring place in the city’s history and the generations of Woodstock residents who have helped preserve it.—————————————————————Woodstock Announces New Police ChiefThe City of Woodstock welcomes Roland Castro as its new chief of police. Chief Castro began working with Woodstock PD last month after a nationwide search to fill the position when former Chief Robert Jones announced his retirement.Chief Castro brings over 28 years of law enforcement experience to the role, having served most recently as deputy chief of police in Johns Creek (2008-2025). Prior to joining Johns Creek, Castro served with the Alpharetta Police Department (1997-2008).Chief Castro is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police. He is also a graduate of the Georgia Law Enforcement Command College. Among the many law enforcement training certificates he has completed, Chief Castro holds six Georgia POST Certificates. He is a member of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.—————————————————————CHEROKEE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT ANNOUNCEMENTSCarmel ES Named a State Distinguished School Carmel ES has been honored as a National ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) Distinguished School. In Georgia, Title I schools that rank in the top 5% statewide in English language arts and math — based on College and Career Readiness Performance Index Content Mastery scores — are eligible for the recognition. Out of 93 high-performing Title I Distinguished Schools in Georgia, only two were chosen to represent the state as 2025 National ESEA Distinguished Schools. 2025-26 REACH Georgia Scholars Celebrated REACH Georgia is a statewide mentorship and college scholarship program for middle and high school students. Five eighth-graders were selected for this year’s class: Giselle Altamirano Martinez, Creekland MS; Alberto Ernesto, Dean Rusk MS; Akira Hargraves, E.T. Booth MS; Teagan Banks, Freedom MS; and Luke Clark, Mill Creek MS. As part of Georgia’s Complete College initiative, REACH seeks to identify rising eighth-grade students who display academic promise and provide them with the academic, social, and financial support they will need to graduate from high school and attend and complete college. REACH Scholars who complete program requirements receive as much as $10,000 in scholarship dollars at a HOPE eligible Georgia university or technical college. The program requires participating students to meet specific expectations for academic achievement, attendance, behavior, and participation in academic coaching and mentorship meetings. Update on the New Cherokee HS Campus A committee, made up of current students, parents, teachers, and community members, recommended naming the new Cherokee HS football field for the late Tommy Baker, beloved Cherokee HS student for whom the existing field at Cherokee HS has been named since 1958; naming the stadium, Warrior Stadium; and naming the gymnasium, baseball/softball complex, and practice field for noted alumnus and generous philanthropist Ken White, class of 1959.Construction of the new replacement campus, funded by the voter-approved Education SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax), is within budget and on schedule to open in August. The new school will house all current students, with room for additional enrollment growth.Sequoyah HS Student Selected for 2026 All-State Theatre Program Senior Bailey St. Vrain is participating in this school year’s prestigious program, which culminates with performances at the 2026 Georgia Thespian Conference attended by high school theatre students and educators statewide.
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