The Panola County Board of Supervisors named a third person to the county hospital board Friday afternoon, January 21, marking the supervisors’ third and final pick to the five-person board.

District Two Supervisor Robert Avant pushed for and got the board appointment of Greg Franklin, district human resources manager at the Miss. Deptartment of Transportation in Batesville.

At the Friday meeting, Avant made the motion to appoint Franklin and received a second from District 1 Supervisor James Birge.

Avant said the appointment of Franklin, who is black, was needed to add racial diversity to the board while it deals with the pending sale of the Tri-Lakes Medical Center.

Franklin, 46, told The Panolian he’s eager to work for the community.

"I’m delighted to serve in a capacity where I might be a benefit to the residents of Panola County and surrounding communities," Franklin said.

Following a January 13 joint executive session, the Batesville Board of Aldermen named city clerk Judy Savage to the hospital board while county supervisors appointed Patricia Tramel, a Batesville retiree.

The city and county’s action effectively restructured the hospital board, removing trustees Ken Bloodworth, Joe Thomas, Mark Larson and George Randolph.

The supervisors appointed County Administrator David Chandler to the hospital board in December, putting him into a vacant seat once held by trustee Larry Pratt.

The supervisors voted 4-0 to appoint Franklin, who lives in the Concord community in Avant’s district.

District Five Supervisor Bubba Waldrup was absent for the January 21 meeting due to a death in the family.

Board President Jerry Perkins told Avant that he, too, supported naming a minority to the hospital board but wanted to give the City of Batesville more time to name its second pick.

"I want to give the city a little more time to find their person," Perkins told Avant. "We would have three appointments and they would have only one."

"We own sixty percent of the facility," Avant responded, referring to the 60/40 ownership split between Panola County and the City of Batesville.

After the meeting, Perkins acknowledged that Avant’s nomination caught him by surprise.

"I did not expect to discuss appointing anybody," Perkins said.

The supervisors originally met to discuss leasing Mack trucks. The board acted on that issue, voting to accept the lease program, and afterward Avant announced his intention to nominate Franklin.

A county-wide cleanup of county roads is slowly gaining ground, with volunteer captains now in place to lead the clean-up troops.

The Cleanup Panola Program, or C.U.P., is scheduled to kick off in early spring after volunteers organize through January and February.

One of the cleanup captains is Curtis resident William Parker, who plans to attack Nash Road before advancing on Seven, Curtis and other roads in the area.

Couches, tires, beer bottles, and soda and beer cans litter the roadsides, Parker said.

"Every last one of them is bad, and Nash Road is one of the worst," Parker, 55, said of the roads around his home.

The C.U.P. Program is still in its first phase and is still on schedule, said organizer Lygunnah Bean, Panola County’s road manager. The first step is organizing a "foundation" of volunteers, beginning with leaders such as Parker.

"The volunteers are going to be the anchor to the whole thing," said Bean, "If people see a well-organized operation with capable people in place, then they’ll be eager to help."

The C.U.P. captains will meet next week to discuss the next phase, which is calling for volunteers, Bean said.

The names and phone numbers of the captains will be ready for publication next week.

The list of C.U.P. captains began with four and has since grown to six, a change due to the sheer size of Panola County. The county has about 900 miles of paved and unpaved roads.

Bean and co-leader Dean Joiner originally divided the county into four sections, with Hwy. 35 and Hwy. 51 serving as dividing lines.

Each captain would have been responsible for one area.

"We had to back up and take a second look because it’s such a big county," said Joiner, who heads the county’s solid waste department.

All donors will receive a specially designed T-shirt.

Mississippi Blood Services’ costumed character, Buddy the Bloodhound, visited Batesville Elementary School on January 19. During his presentation, Buddy and an MBS representative explained the four life-saving components of the blood, how they are used inside the body and the importance of donating blood. All students who recruit an adult to donate will receive a miniature Beanie Buddy the Bloodhound.

Door prizes were donated by Dale’s Smokehouse, Thermos, Maria J. Prather Designs, Stubbs Department Store, Framed Picture, Cracker Barrel, Blossoms, The Candle Shoppe, Perry’s, Lakeway, BancorpSouth, Entergy, Gold Strike Casino, First Security Bank, the VFW, Fitzgerald’s Casino and Lowe’s to be given away throughout the three-day event. More local businesses will be donating items to be given away during the blood drive.

Nearly 130 National Guard troops from Panola County have been deployed to serve in Iraq. The local Army National Guard will be collecting supplies at the blood drive to send to these troops. Items being collected include AA and D batteries, disposable razors, Tylenol, Wet Wipes, Blistex, sunscreen, stationery, black ink pens and phone cards consisting of a minimum of 120 minutes. Each "care package" will cost $15 to ship. Those wanting to make a monetary contribution to help offset the cost of shipping may do so at the blood drive.

All donors must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds and have a valid ID.

"Mississippi Blood Services receives phone calls from families who have loved ones in the hospital in need of blood and blood components weekly," said Todd Sing, MBS donor resources director. "We are asking Panola County to help us answer their calls and to protect the blood supply in Panola County this week."

MBS offers a "mini physical" before each donation to ensure the donation process is safe for the donor and the recipient. A full round of blood tests is performed after each donation.