around the state and the ACCG team at work. Email your photos to bbrown@accg.org.

Carroll County Chairman Michelle Morgan (who is also an ACCG Board member) recently joined the fun with West Georgia Woman magazine's "Most Marvelous Mask" contest. Chairman Morgan's mask features charms that represent Carroll County - including parks, animal services, cows and agriculture. If her entry is selected as the winner, she plans to donate the proceeds to stock the "Blessing Box" at the Carroll County Agricultural Center as it provides pantry items for those in need throughout the community. To cast your vote for Chairman Morgan, click here.

If you want to vote, please do so by January 31!

Macon-Bibb County has announced a new initiative called Clean Streets Matter, supported by Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful; crews from the county's Public Works, Solid Waste and Parks & Beautification departments; and community members. Since January 15, tens of thousands of pounds of debris have been removed from the streets and more than a dozen neighborhood cleanups are planned. To date, 16 illegal dumps, 43.50 tons (87,000 pounds) of trash, furniture, appliances, and more were removed from the streets, curbs, and rights of way. Additionally, approximately 100 cubic yards of yard waste and downed trees were removed.

The Georgia Ports are not only an important gateway for imports and exports, they are a critical economic driver for the state. The Georgia Ports Authority reports it moved more than 4.68 million twenty-foot equivalent container units in 2020, up 1.8 percent over its 2019 total. The Garden City Terminal at the Port of Savannah features 34 ship-to-shore cranes and nearly 10,000 contiguous feet of dock.

Union County recently transformed its new recreation and sports center into the site for the county's first mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic. By the end of the day, the clinic had vaccinated 1,015 people from Union and Towns counties. The clinic was made possible thanks to the efforts of Union County Health Department, fire and emergency management personnel, Rotary Club members and other volunteers.

Spring is traditionally a period where the threat of high winds, hail and lightning from tornadoes and severe thunderstorms greatly increases. Spring Weather Preparedness Week, coordinated by the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) and the National Weather Service, serves as a reminder to review emergency procedures and prepare for weather-related hazards. For more information on community outreach ideas to promote each day click here or check out Ready Georgia.

In case you missed it earlier this week, the ACCG Board of Managers made the difficult decision to postpone the 2021 ACCG Annual Conference usually held at the end of April due to safety concerns regarding COVID-19 and capacity restrictions currently in place at the Savannah Convention Center.

Save the dates - November 12 - 15, 2021 - for an ACCG "big event" to be held at the Savannah Convention Center. The "big event" is a one-year combination of the ACCG Annual Conference and the ACCG Legislative Leadership Conference. More details will be released soon!

Name: April Carr

Program: ACCG Retirement Services

Position: DC Plan Administrator

Joined ACCG: April 2020

About April: Born and raised in Georgia, April is a self-proclaimed warm weather girl. She loves vacationing at the beach in St. Augustine, Florida, with her family. She has been married to the love of her life, David, for 18 years and has two children - Abigail (14) and Ethan (12). She enjoys reading, watching ID TV and shopping with her daughter. She also enjoys crafting and cooking (sometimes), even if she's not always happy with the final results.

ACCG wants to share positive news about events and projects from your county with your peers from across the state. Photos and story ideas submitted to ACCG for Georgia's Local Lens or the Georgia County Spotlight may be used in this e-newsletter or on ACCG's website or social media. Photos and other information used are provided courtesy of our county constituents and ACCG staff. For questions or information, please contact Beth Brown at bbrown@accg.org.