October 26, 2023
Professionalism
Respect
Integrity
Dedication
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Excellence
Parks, Recreation, and Events Earns Prestigious CAPRA National Accreditation! Columbia County Parks, Recreation and Events received the prestigious national accreditation from the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA). This recognition confirms that Columbia County’s Parks and Recreation department is operating according to the national standards of excellence, demonstrating its commitment to providing top-quality services and amenities to the community. The CAPRA accreditation serves as a validation of Columbia County Parks, Recreation and Events' commitment to excellence and continuous improvement. The accreditation affirms Columbia County’s compliance with the best practices of operational management and quality assurance at the national level. Moreover, it is a valuable measure of the quality of the department's operation, management, and service to the community. With only one percent of eligible Parks and Recreation agencies accredited, this achievement puts Columbia County in good company with others at the elite level throughout the country. There are currently only 193 accredited agencies nationwide and 14 accredited agencies in Georgia.
In our upcoming November 9th Roundabout, we would like to recognize our coworkers that have served in the military. If you are a veteran or member of the Reserves, please click this link or scan this QR code to give us your name, current department, and branch of service. Please complete this survey by Friday November 3, and thank you for your service!
Lunch and Learn (Last One for the Year!) PRESENTER: CIARA MORRIS, Fitness & Wellness Instructor Thursday, November 16, 2023 12:00 Noon in the Bldg. A Auditorium Ciara will be sharing information on wellness & nutrition as well as presenting a surprise exercise routine! Can you guess? LUNCHES WILL BE PROVIDED BY CHICK-FIL-A WITH CHOICES OF Chicken Sandwich OR Nuggets Boxed Lunch- OR Cobb Salad Register here and order your lunch! Deadline is November 9, 2023 Order lunch with this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LRWCHWH
Important Dates from the Benefits Staff 10/31/2023 11/16/2023 11/30/2023
Open Enrollment Ends! Ciara Morris – Fitness Instructor – Lunch and Learn – Evans, Auditorium Building A – 12:00pm - 1:00 pm Last day to submit Health4Me2 points for 2023
Remaining Holidays 2023
November 10, 2023-Veterans Day November 23 & 24, 2023-Thanksgiving December 25 & 26, 2023-Christmas
Deadline for Health 4Me2 points is Nov. 30th
November Birthdays 1st Deborah DeWitt, Information Technology John Hurst, Fleet Services Matthew Johnson, Fire Rescue Dale Neal, Water Utility 2nd Joshua Small, Performing Arts Center Mark Miller, Water Utility Charles Barmore, Finance
7th Catherine Chaffin, Juvenile Court Rodney Brown, Juvenile Court David Steedley, Engineering Luke Urban, Fire Rescue Elizabeth Gibbs, 911 Dispatch William Wright, Roads & Bridges
3rd Janet Green, Detention Center Juan Muenchmeyer, Code Compliance Anthony Urbizo, Sheriff’s Office
8th Mark Radle, Facility Maintenance Shawn Granato, Emergency Management Carlos Perez, Parks & Recreation Galen Mercer, Water Utility Megan Hattaway, Fleet Services Jimmy Cronan, Sheriff’s Office
4th Donna Pellman, Clerk of Court Lafayette Butler, Public Transit Shane Duggan, Sheriff’s Office Kathryn Degelman, Parks & Recreation
10th Martha Bartles, Human Resources Jameson Lewis, Fire Rescue Taylor Simpson, Parks & Recreation Jacob Lichty, Fire Rescue
5th Van Williams, Water Utility Michael Stead, Fire Rescue Gregory Power, Detention Center Susan Combe, Tax Commissioner’s Office Jesse Evans, Stormwater Maintenance Ronald Bagwell, Water Utility Kateri Terrette, Probate Court Joseph Binkley, Fire Rescue
11th Deron Johnson, Water Utility Alison Couch, Commissioner
6th Claudia Hutchison, Superior Court Kathryn Tabor, Tax Commissioner’s Office Andrew LaSure, Water Utility Hannah Johns, District Attorney’s Office
12th Anthony Holt, Fire Rescue Michael DeLeon, Water Utility Hugh Long, Sheriff’s Office Jennifer Lee, Library Allison Prichard, Broadband Utility Troy Fields, Fire Rescue Cameron Hutcherson, Fire Rescue Chelsea Peterson, Code Compliance Nicholas Black, Library
Happy Birthday
November Birthdays Continued 13th Erika Harmon, Building Standards Kerry Page, Water Utility Gary Smith, Fire Rescue William Smith, Animal Services 14th Joseph Chen, Parks & Recreation Morgan Aune, Tax Assessors Office Teresa Reynolds, Sheriff’s Office David Germann, Fire Rescue Joseph Csira, Sheriff’s Office Julia Woodard, Magistrate Court Daniel Hyman, Water Utility 15th Dennis West, Code Compliance Jim Perdue, Fire Rescue Toni Tiedeman, Tax Assessors Office Amanda Bradford, Sheriff’s Office Robert Grant, Tax Assessors Office Cody Merrick, Fire Rescue 16th Tim Rupert, Fire Rescue Amy Sorrow, Tax Commissioner’s Office Katie Cason, Performing Arts Center Caroline Culbreth, Detention Center 17th Tammeria Bussey, Superior Court Carey Simmons, Detention Center Joshua Bogdanow, Sheriff’s Office Jim Parish, Fire Rescue Johnathan Mosley, Facility Maintenance 18th Carolton Fulcher, Water Utility Todd Andrews, Information Technology
19th William Hanks, Detention Center Donald Allen, Fire Rescue Katie Beth Jennings, Stormwater Utility 20th Rosemarie Garman, Tax Commissioner’s Office 21st Vanessa Simmons, Permitting Matthew Norton, Fire Rescue 22nd Richard Hennings, Water Utility Bobby Williams, Sheriff’s Office Steven Losgar, Fire Marshal’s Office Chadrick Bright, Fire Rescue 23rd Brian Herrington, Road Construction Jennifer Weathers, Tax Commissioner’s Office Chris Landers, Procurement Jordan Ford, Sheriff’s Office Kristen Taylor, 911 Dispatch Jonathan Rosier, Fire Rescue 24th Eyela Vance, Tax Assessors Office Ronald Koch, Sheriff’s Office Nicholas Dukes, Roads & Bridges 25th Clay Whittle, Sheriff Scott Daniel, Water Utility James Maples, Detention Center Audrey Mosley, Detention Center Hunter Baldwin, Water Utility
Happy Birthday
November Birthdays Continued 26th Bill Wood, Sheriff’s Office Pamela Goble, Probate Court Tyler Roberson, Traffic Engineering Alexis Hart, Probate Court 27th Lori Adams, Finance Stacey Gordon, Water Utility Taylor Blessing, Clerk of Court Kyle Reece, Water Utility 28th Rick Kelly, Facility Maintenance Philip Smith, Detention Center Danny Tiedeman, Fire Rescue
29th Ronnie Hutto, Road Construction Mark Swain, GIS Wanda Anderson, Finance Shirley Guerrero, Superior Court Danielle Dickenson, Superior Court Daniel Gaston, Sheriff’s Office Dale Tupper, Fire Rescue 30th Floyd Bowling, Building Standards Melvin Hester, Stormwater Maintenance Kelly Greene, Information Technology Ronnie Kitchens, Parks & Recreation Justin Farr, Roads & Bridges Leann Collins, Detention Center
y a d h t r i B y p p a H
November Anniversaries
Michael Barrett Sheriff’s Office 37 Years
Tim Holloway Roads & Bridges 35 Years
Michelle Carter Sheriff’s Office 27 Years 23 Years Brent Willis, Fire Rescue 22 Years Harry Collins, Sheriff’s Office 21 Years Ken Cooter, Building Standards Kevin Faires, Sheriff’s Office Josefina Gaspard, 911 Dispatch Todd Andrews, Information Technology 20 Years Rita Shelton, Information Technology 19 Years Marcus Johnson, Parks & Recreation Michael Anderson, Stormwater Utility 18 Years Scott Dye, Water Utility Don Barrow, Road Construction Matt Schlachter, County Administration
Rhusha Mack Fire Rescue 34 Years
Rico Green Water Utility 26 Years
Michael Smolen Sheriff’s Office 31 Years
Kimberly Powell Clerk of Court 25 Years 17 Years Dale Newman, Sheriff’s Office Adam Hamilton, 911 Dispatch Morgan Aune, Tax Assessors Office Joseph Aycox, Traffic Engineering 16 Years Fred Jennings, Fire Rescue Nayna Mistry, Planning Melissa Coston, Superior Court 15 Years Heidi Curlee, Tax Commissioner’s Office Roxanne Scrum, Animal Services William Fanning, Detention Center 12 Years Kerry Paige, Water Utility 11 Years Shelly Blackburn, CCCVB Ryan Mura, Animal Services 10 Years James Justice, Magistrate Court William Wright, Fire Rescue
November Anniversaries Continued 9 Years Chelsea Peterson, Code Compliance Robert Grant, Tax Assessors Office Richard Thigpen, Fire Rescue 8 Years Troy Fields, Fire Rescue David Brassell, Sheriff’s Office Joshua Crockett, Building Standards Preston Oellerich, Sheriff’s Office Donna Wiley, Tax Assessors Office Michael Glasscock, Water Utility 7 Years Jason Lutz, Tax Assessors Office Miles Juelfs, Sheriff’s Office Christopher Hinton, Fire Rescue Wheeler Cowart, Stormwater Utility John Bryan, Public Transit Anthony Holt, Fire Rescue 6 Years Omani Washington, Fire Rescue Michael Wise, Water Utility 5 Years Russell Rainey, Parks & Recreation Brandon Sikes, Sheriff’s Office Samantha Thompson-Hall, Fire Rescue 4 Years Michael Yamarino, Fire Rescue James Duffy, Fire Rescue Cody Merrick, Fire Rescue Michael Aguilar, Fire Rescue Daniel Day, Fire Rescue Matthew Kennedy, Fire Rescue Jensen Iles, Fleet Services Willie Germany, Traffic Engineering James Crane, Procurement Jamese Walker, Board of Elections Bryan Armstrong, Tax Assessors Office Patrick Fairfax, Parks & Recreation Jarred Viehl, Water Utility
3 Years Robert Benedetto, Building Standards Emily Glisson, Stormwater Utility Mary Kate O’Steen, Water Utility James Knight, Fire Rescue Mark Hensley, Fire Rescue David Hall, Water Utility Wayne Wingrove, Fire Rescue Justin Dilger-Ewing, Fire Rescue William Owens, Fire Rescue Elizabeth Hobbs, Library 2 Years Jehan Fletcher, Detention Cetner Mark Cowdrey, Fire Rescue Connor Bruce, Fire Rescue Steven Spencer, Sheriff’s Office 1 Year Amy Graulty, Tax Assessors Office Caroline Culbreth, Detention Center James Lowe, Water Utility Ryan Crow, Tax Assessors Office Noah Bowers, Library Zachary Jones, Stormwater Maintenance Christie Small, Recycling Nathaniel Wood, GIS Andrew Brown, Sheriff’s Office Benjamin White, Sheriff's Office Michael Levinsohn, Water Utility
We'll fall back this year at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023.
Don’t Forget! EAP services are available to you and your household members as well as dependent children living away from home, up to age 26.
November 2023 Newsletter
Challenges of Caregiving November is National Family Caregivers Month, a time to honor and focus on the needs of the 43.5 million caregivers among us. Who are the caregivers? Look around at your colleagues! In a recent benefit survey, 57% of employees surveyed self-identified as caregivers. A caregiver is an unpaid family member or other person who provides help with activities of daily living and medical tasks for seniors, children with disabilities or people with cancer, brain injuries, ALS, MS, Alzheimer’s Disease, and many other health conditions. The toll on caregivers can be high in terms of stress, fatigue, isolation, and depression. Without support, caregivers often suffer deterioration in physical, mental, and financial health. Support caregivers in your life by staying connected and listening. Plus, offer concrete help such as shoveling a walk, mowing a lawn or offering a ride. Find ways to break through their isolation and relieve their stress. Here are caregiver-to-caregiver basic tips for maintaining good health: • “Put your own lifejacket on first” by taking care of your own physical and mental health.
• Share your feelings. Find someone to talk to – a counselor, an online network, a support group, or a friend.
November’s Featured Webinar
• Identify and tap into local support resources. Learn how to ask for help and accept it.
Supporting Someone with Substance Misuse – Simply log in to www.theEAP.com during November to take the webinar at your convenience and explore related resources. Topics change monthly so revisit next month!
• Don’t neglect your own needs and interests. Take time off, even if only a few minutes a day.
• Learn how to say no. Pace yourself and set limits. Recognize signs of burnout and get help.
More November Events
• Find healthy ways to deal with your stress: Yoga, meditation, reading, listening to music, or walking in nature.
• National Native American Heritage Month
Get support and ideas from the Family Caregiver Alliance, Caring.com and explore your state’s Caregiver Services. You can also log in to www.theEAP.com and click on the Connections/Work-Life tile for Caregiver Resources. Plus, you can call to speak with counselors, who can help with finding local support resources.
• Lung Cancer Awareness Month • National Epilepsy Awareness Month • Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month • 11/11 - Veterans Day • 11/19 - Great American Smokeout • 11/23 - Thanksgiving Day
Giving Thanks With Thanksgiving in the air, we offer a few thoughts on gratitude and thankfulness: • “When eating fruit, remember the one who planted the tree.” - Vietnamese Proverb • "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." - William Arthur Ward • "Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - Marcel Proust
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www.theEAP.com | 800.252.4555
• "You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late." - Ralph Waldo Emerson • "The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you." - John E. Southard
Accessing Your EAP Training Center 1. Go to www.theEAP.com and click Member Login. 2. If you’ve already created an account, log in with your User Name/Password.
Diabetes Prevention November is American Diabetes Month. Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of US death, but most people first have prediabetes. Do you? Over a third of US adults have prediabetes but don’t know it. Prediabetes can be prevented or reversed with proven lifestyle changes, such as weight control, healthy diets, and regular physical activity. To learn if you’re at risk, take this quick prediabetes risk test. Learn more in our blog post: Prevent prediabetes – learn your risk.
Sharpen your Work Skills!
3. If it’s your first time, click REGISTER to create your User Name and Password. You only need to register once. 4. Click the ‘Training Center’ and then choose ‘Comprehensive Training Library’. 5. In the Search bar at the top of the screen, type the course code or search for a topic. 6. Click the course icon, and click the ‘Play’ or ‘Start’ button to begin.
Looking to advance your career? Explore thousands of free E-Learning trainings to grow your work skills. Here’s a sampling, but you can search for more by clicking on “Member Login” at www.theEAP.com. When signed in, click on the comprehensive training library in the “Training Center.” • NEW! Leadership Fundamentals | Course ID: SVL_1022128 Learn the essentials of becoming a great leader in a 17-minute interactive course, covering basic tips for being a leader, the difference between leadership and management, and a few common leadership styles.
To get a certificate: View the course and take the quiz. Not all courses require a quiz, but if so, you must score at least 80% for a certificate. To get your certificate, click on the ribbon icon below the right corner of the video. The certificate will download to your computer.
• NEW! Basic Computer Skills | Course ID: SVL_1022149 This 22-minute video includes 4 lessons: introducing computer input and output devices, the basics of operating systems, network connections, and how to use internet browsers. • Communicating Through Body Language At Work | Course ID: SVL_102152 This 7-minute course will help you understand nonverbal communication, how to read nonverbal cues from others, and better control your own body language.
Learn More! How to Scan a QR Code 1. Open the camera app.
Scan the QR code with your device or smart phone to explore more of your employee benefits!
2. Select the rear-facing camera in Photo mode. 3. Center the QR code you want to scan on the screen and hold your phone steady for a couple of seconds. 4. Tap the notification that pops up to open the link. (You will need to be connected to the internet to do this.)
98% Employee Satisfaction Rate
www.theEAP.com | 800.252.4555
Upcoming
Events
ation m r o Inf More ere H
Free Event
Saturday, October 28, 2023 9 AM - 1 PM The Plaza, in front of the Performing Arts Center
Train With Swain
Phyllis Swain Training Manager 706-312-7302
Risk Management Training Schedule This completes the training calendar for 2023. If you need any of these classes, register soon before classes fill up.
National Safety Council Defensive Driving (8 hours) at the EOC 8:30am - 5:00pm Wednesday, November 8, 2023
To register contact: Jennifer: jneal@columbiacountyga.gov or Darlene: dbartlett@columbiacountyga.gov Or call Rish Management at 706.312.7475 for information
American Red Cross CPR/AED & First Aid at the EOC 8:30am - 5:00pm Wednesday, December 13, 2023