Leadership Paulding Class 22 Brings Flowers to Paulding

The Leadership Paulding Class 22 (the twenty-second in the series of classes created to foster effective leadership practices in the county) recently took on a class project to beautify Paulding County. The project, suggested by class member Sam Elrod of Elrod Nursery and titled, “Paulding is Blooming,” involved planting flowers on the medians in the main roads going into Paulding County. Elrod headed up the project and it has been heralded throughout the county as a smashing success.

State Representative Paulette Braddock (R-HD19) commented on the how well the project has been received.  “Everywhere I go, people are talking about how beautiful the flowers are,” she said. “When I tell them it was a project from my Leadership Paulding class, they clearly appreciate our efforts. I commend Sam Elrod because he has overcome adversity to make this project a success. He had to re-plant flowers a couple of times due to the rain and the medians being inadvertently mowed.  And he funded a lot of the project himself,” said Rep. Rakestraw Braddock.  “Sam has exhibited good, old-fashioned American ingenuity and devotion to hard work.” The class undertook and planned the initiative and facilitated fundraising to support the effort.  The county, in turn, used prison labor to plant the flowers.

The members of the Leadership Paulding class are as follows:  

Brian Acker, Paulding County Board of Commissioners

Paula Bechtler, Kennesaw State University

Paulette Braddock, GA State Representative 

Erica Breazele, Olympus Media Inc

Sam Elrod, Edrod Garden Center

Jamie Gilbert, Paulding Economic Development

Natalie Higgins, Hardy Dealerships

Mark Jackson, Croft & Associates

Teresa Janiga, Visiting Angels

Cathy Ledbetter, Georgia Highland College

Clark Maggart, Paulding County Board of Edcuation

Kara Marinko, Aspen Village at Lost Mountain

Jim McMichen, Ragsdale Heating & Air

Tonya McNabb, Comfort Keepers

Anthony Murray, Oasis Family Center

Carol O'Connell, Wellstar Paulding Nursing Center

Doug Osteen, Ace Hardware of Dallas

Catherine Owens, United Way

Jody Palmer, City of Hiram

John Rakestraw, Raker Construction

Michael Rickman, Flad Architects

Carmen Rollins, Main Street Guns, Gold & Pawn

Amy Turner, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson