To cast your vote:

Click on your chosen nominee’s vote button which will take you to a Pay Pal screen, votes are counted per dollars donated. Donate any dollar amount. Each dollar will count as one vote. For example a $20.00 donation will mean 20 votes for that particular nominee. You can vote as often as you choose. The bidding deadline is Friday, February 17 , 2012 at 9:00 pm. At that time voting will be closed and the King and Queen will be announced at the Gala Event.

Nominations for QUEEN

Carolyn Hice Bruce

Carolyn Hice Bruce

Gilmer County
A native and life long resident of North Georgia and Gilmer County, Carolyn has worked in the county for over 35 years in various positions in the carpet industry. She attended Truitt McConnell  College and has always shown leadership and patience in all that she does.

Carolyn has been a long time supporter of Georgia Mountain Hospice (GMH); She has assisted the GMH staff with their annual golf tournament for over 10 Years. She along with her family has been the number one supporter (Diamond Sponsor) of this tournament and has assisted in obtaining donations of over $100,000.00 during that period of time.

Carolyn as a resident of the Cherry Log Community served as the Vice President for many years. This non-profit organization raises money for those in need. The main event is the annual Cherry Log festival in October.

Every Thanksgiving and Christmas Carolyn along with her husband Ed show their support of the Gilmer county Food Pantry by donating a truck load of Turkeys to feed the needy families throughout the holidays.

Carolyn is an avid golfer and supports many Charity Golf tournaments in Gilmer County.

She also was instrumental in a summer program for over 60 Gilmer County
Youth ages 6-16, at White-path Golf Course.

She has held charity tournaments for various groups such as the Gilmer High School band.

In addition Carolyn chaired a group to start the first annual Golf tournament for the Ruth House, The Ruth House is a facility for alcohol and drug addicted women over 18 years of age. The first tournament was a big success and they where able to pay off a building project.

Carolyn is an excellent athlete. She has won the Women’s Championship at Whitepath Golf Club Eighteen times (18). She also is a hunter and holds a Grand Slam for the State of Georgia.

Dawn Popadics

Dawn Popadics

Pickens County
Dawn Popadics moved to Jasper in 2001 from Cumming, Georgia. In 2002 Dawn began working at The Carriage House Restaurant and in less than one year later became the owner of the restaurant. As a result of Dawn’s commitment to quality and service the Carriage House continues to be one of Jasper’s best restaurants and a favorite gathering place for locals and visitors. Dawn enjoys the community feel of Jasper and makes that a part of the atmosphere in her restaurant. She often makes and delivers homemade soup for customers and friends who are sick, donates meals to the JOY HOUSE kids that make the honor roll, and routinely donates her amazing cakes to various benefit auctions such as CARES. Some of Dawn’s cakes have raised over $1000.00 for needy groups!

Dawn’s commitment to Jasper and Pickens County doesn’t rest solely with owning the Carriage House. She has served on the Chamber of Commerce for over four years, chaired the Chamber Events Committee, has completed the Pickens’s Leadership Program and has served as Chairman of the Board of the THRIVE TO FIVE children’s organization. Each year Dawn host’s the Chamber of Commerce Youth Leadership Dinner, volunteering her time and staff to ensure the kids have a great meal. Last year the FERST Foundation requested Dawn’s help with their annual celebrity “jail and bail” fundraiser. As usual Dawn’s participation helped immensely with the success of the program.

The Red Cross has also benefited from Dawn’s “friendship” for several years. Dawn has not only given over eight gallons of blood but also platelets to specific people in need. After September 11, 2001occurred Dawn personally helped raise over $35000.00 for the Red Cross and she currently raises money for the local Chapter of the Red Cross by holding a benefit “Pot Pie Luncheon” each year.

In 2005 Dawn took her friendship to a level few people ever reach. She successfully donated one of her kidneys to the father of her best friend! As a result he is a healthy active person today, and both he and Dawn regularly participate in the DONATE LIFE WALKS each year helping to raise money and awareness for organ donations.

Dawn has two adult sons living in Georgia and plans to marry her fiancé’ in 2012.

Melissa Lowrie

Melissa Lowrie

Dawson County
A graduate of Louisiana Tech University with a BS in Marketing, Melissa Lowrie, her husband Parish, and their two children moved to Pickens County in the summer of 2006 from Rome, Georgia.

Since relocating to Big Canoe in Pickens County, Melissa has served as the Director of Marketing at Wildwood Christian Academy from 2006 to August 2011. Currently, Melissa is the news editor at the Smoke Signals newspaper.

An active member of Big Canoe Chapel, Melissa has served on the Women’s Guild Executive Board and as a Sunday School teacher. She volunteers yearly at the Tour of Homes. Currently Melissa is a volunteer at her children’s school, Wildwood Christian Academy in Marble Hill.

A former member of the Rome Junior Service League and the Rome First United Methodist Church Council, Melissa has always enjoyed volunteering her time and talents for the betterment of the communities in which she lives.

Melissa’s husband Parish, a successful State Farm agent in Jasper, is also involved in helping the community, currently serving as a director on the boards of the Pickens County Chamber of Commerce, Hope House and Wildwood Christian Academy.

An avid hiker, skier, reader and writer, Melissa enjoys all that life has to offer in the beautiful mountains of North Georgia.

Dr. Jan Henriques

Dr. Jan Henriques

Cherokee County
Dr. Jan Henriques and her husband of 25 years, Mayor Donnie Henriques, have lived in the Woodstock area for over 20 years. Jan is an audiologist and completed her Doctoral degree at the Univeristy of Florida and her Masters at the Lousisana State University Medical Center in New Orleans.

Dr. Henriques opened her practice Progressive Audiology Center in 1998 and has locations in both Towne Lake and Jasper. She is very active in her professional Audiology organizations and is the past president of the Georgia Academy of Audiology. She is also very involved in community and offers both time and resources in helping both children and senior adults.

She is a member of both the Cherokee county chamber of commerce, and is a graduate as well as Chariman of the steering committee for Leadership Cherokee. She and her husband attend Transfiguration Catholic Church where he is a member of the Knights of Columubus and she is a member of the choir.

The Henriques love their community of Woodstock as well as all of North Georgia.

Nominees for KING

Dave Garner

Dave Garner

Pickens County
A native of North Georgia, Dave has enjoyed over 15 years in the broadcast media industry. Most of that time has been spent in cable news and sports broadcasting. His job responsibilities have included producing, directing, anchoring, editing, reporting, announcing, commercial voiceovers, public speaking, videography, marketing, and public relations. Dave has also earned multiple Telly Awards for his work on both sports and non-sports related documentaries.

Dave currently serves as the Sports Director and Senior Producer for ETC 3 Television in Ellijay, Georgia and has maintained a professional relationship with Georgia Public Broadcasting as a play-by-play announcer for the GHSA State football and basketball championships for over a decade.

Dave has served on several non-profit boards including the Appalachian Children’s Center, Pickens County Chamber of Commerce, and the 515 Chapter of FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) while also volunteering for numerous organizations including the American Cancer Society (Relay for Life), March of Dimes, and the Ferst Foundation for childhood literacy. He is an active member of the Rotary Club of Jasper and belongs to the First Baptist Church of Jasper serving as a deacon and Sunday school teacher.

Dave is a 1996 graduate of Kennesaw State University where he earned his Bachelors in Communications and was a member of the KSU Communication Association. Following a year of post-graduate education at Mercer University, Dave was accepted into the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University where he earned his M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications and was selected for membership into the Golden Key Honour Society.

Dave currently teaches as an adjunct professor of communication at Reinhardt University where he instructs speech communication, advertising, and feature/news writing. He has two children and resides in Jasper, Georgia.

Steve Purvis

Steve Purvis

Gilmer County
Steven Purvis is a pharmacist and owner of Huff’s Drug Store in Ellijay. Steven has spent the last 12 years as pharmacist at Huff’s Drug and has enjoyed every minute of it. He has spent almost his entire professional career at Huff’s Drug except for 7 months that he worked in Gallup, New Mexico on the Navaho Indian Reservation as a staff pharmacist in the hospital there.

He has served on numerous local community service organizations including serving as the President of the Gilmer Chamber of Commerce and as secretary of the Rotary Club of Gilmer County. In 2009 he was recognized by his peers as the Independent Pharmacist of the Year in the State of Georgia.

Although he has had many rewarding parts of serving the community through pharmacy, his most rewarding has been the service to a particular hospice patient. He was awoken at home one night around 3 AM with a call from a hospice nurse stating that a patient was in severe respiratory distress and would he open the pharmacy to fill a prescription. A few minutes later he met a nurse at the pharmacy and was able to fill the prescription for the patient. The next morning as he opened the pharmacy for the day, the patient’s family came to the pharmacy to inform him that the patient had passed away, but because of the medication she had calmed down and passed very peacefully at around 6:30 that morning. That patient and family will never know how big of an impact their situation made on Steven. It was then he knew he was truly put here to serve others.

Steven is a graduate of the University Of Georgia College Of Pharmacy. In the winter of 1999, he was lucky enough to marry his college sweetheart in the Chapel on North Campus in Athens. He and his wife Kara, along with their 7 year old twins, are members at the First United Methodist Church in Ellijay and reside in Gilmer County.

Donnie Henriques

Donnie Henriques

Cherokee County
Donnie Henriques was the first to serve as a City Council Member for Ward 6 upon its creation in 1999.

He served as City Council Member from January 2000 through December 2003. Mayor Henriques was elected in 2005 to serve as Mayor. He was recently re-elected to serve a 2nd term through December 31, 2013.

His first love is the senior citizen community. He’s been a vital part of the growth of the William G. Long Senior Center by offering his time, compassion, and expertise.

Donnie and his wife, Dr. Jan Henriques have three children. They own and operate the Progressive Audiology Center, located on Towne Lake Parkway.

In January 2008 he received the Bronze Certificate in the National League of Cities Certificate of Achievement in Leadership Program.

Scott Yochum

Scott Yochum

Dawson County
Scott Yochum is a native of Newton Iowa. He graduated from Drake University with degrees in both finance and marketing. Scott spent the first 15 years of his professional career in marketing and management positions with both the Maytag and Rayovac Corporations. In 1998 he became Executive Vice President of The Fran Tarkenton Companies. Scott is now President of the Yochum Financial Group in Dawsonville Georgia. Scott is a “safe money” expert and focusses on retirement and income planning. He is a member of several professional organizations including The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, National Ethics Bureau and a Chartered Federal Empolyer Benefits Consultant.

Scott is an active member of the Dawson County Rotary Club and the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of North Point Church (Andy Stanley) and teaches 3rd. grade bible school. In his spare time, Scott enjoys coaching youth basketball and doing volunteer work throughout Dawson and Forsyth Counties.

Scott and his wife Debbie live in Dawsonville and have two sons. Brad is a third year Law student at John Marshall, and Trevor is a Senior at UGA.