A recent action by the Georgia General Assembly has officially dedicated the intersection of Pinetree Way and Morrison Moore Parkway to former Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Emergency Management Agency Director Donald Seabolt.
On Monday morning, state Senator Steve Gooch, current Director of Emergency Services David Wimpy and a host of current and former department personnel gathered inside the garage of Fire Station 1 for a special ceremony honoring Seabolt’s lengthy career in public service.
Seabolt, a military veteran, joined the 25th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army in 1968. In 1972 he applied his training to become Lumpkin County’s volunteer fire chief.
He would go on to serve as a local paramedic, civil defense director and, ultimately, EMA director.
Seabolt is credited with helping establish much of the County’s modern emergency assistance infrastructure, including the implementation of Lumpkin’s first 911 emergency system.
“Mr. Seabolt’s more than five decades of service established a lasting foundation of public safety and community resilience, and it is abundantly fitting and proper that this remarkable and distinguished Georgian be appropriately recognized by dedicating an intersection in his honor,” stated the resolution by the Georgia Senate Committee on Transportation.
HONORABLE OCCASION
Gooch was the first to speak at the dedication ceremony honoring Seabolt.
“This is gonna take about three hours, so y’all get comfortable,” the senator joked. “It’s great to see all of you here this morning.”
He said he has known Seabolt ever since he was a baby.
“His father and my father worked together in construction back years ago, and we both grew up on a poultry farm, so this is like a little bit of a homecoming. I haven’t seen Don and his family in many, many years, but it’s an honor to be here to recognize and honor a great leader and a great community citizen,” Gooch said.
He jokingly warned Seabolt that some of his past colleagues would be speaking about him that morning as well.
“Don, this may start to sound more like a roast more than it is a dedication, because a lot of people came here today willing to pay money to get up here and say a few words about you. So we’ll see how it goes,” Gooch said with a laugh.
He recognized the many elected officials in attendance, including County Chair Rhett Stringer, Commissioners Tucker Greene, Bobby Mayfield and Jeff Moran, Mayor Sam Norton and Councilman Ross Shirley. Sheriff Stacy Jarrard, Dahlonega Police Chief George Albert and Dawson County Commission Chair Billy Thurmond were on hand for the event as well.
Gooch recalled a time when Dahlonega had only one fire truck and one ambulance, and the ambulance was actually run by the local funeral home.
“But look at what we’ve turned this into over the last 30 or 40 years,” he said, flanked by two fire engines and an ambulance in the station driveway. “It’s been amazing. It’s because of the leadership of so many people that are here in this room, and of course, Don Seabolt was the leader of that charge for many, many years.”
Next, Gooch brought up Wimpy to say a few words.
CHIEF CHAT
Wimpy said it was an honor to be there to recognize his predecessor.
“Back in ‘07, I moved up from Augusta and moved home. They offered me a job here, and I got with Don, and he mentored me and worked with me. We’ve moved through some rough times and good times and he scared me a lot, but we got through it,” Wimpy said with a smile.
He described Seabolt as having a heart for the community and public service, and recalled one humorous story from their time working together.
“We got a call one morning and it was from downstairs,” Wimpy said. “Don called up 911 and they told us, ‘You’ve got to come get Don. He’s doubled up in the floor, and he’s hurting. He’s got kidney stones—We’ve gotta do something.’”
Wimpy said he and his partner at the time, Mark Barber, were hesitant to be the ones to transport Seabolt to the hospital in Gainesville, but they got to the scene.
“Poor old Don was laid up in his office, and he was doubled over, hurting, and I mean, hurting bad,” he continued.
The pair got him loaded up in a medical unit and took off toward Gainesville.
“I was scared to death ’cause I thought, boy, every bump I hit, he’s gonna get onto me. This ride’s got to be good, and I’m not known for good driving, so I was really scared,” he said.
But once they backed into the Emergency Room at Northeast Georgia and opened the ambulance doors, Seabolt was in the back giggling and “carrying on.”
“Mark had juiced him up real good, and he was in good shape by the time we got him to the hospital,” Wimpy said with a laugh, before pivoting to a serious tone.
“Don, again, I want to say thank you for looking out for this County.”
LOCAL TRIBUTES
Gooch noted that he had even received emergency assistance from Seabolt himself as a teenager.
“I woke up one morning getting ready to go to school, and I started to feel light-headed and weak, and started to feel like I was gonna faint. And sure enough, I fainted. I fell over in the bathroom in my house where my mom and dad are. And so sure enough, they called the ambulance. Don Seabolt showed up … it was people like Don and Ann Wigley that came to the rescue that morning. You don’t forget those things,” he recalled.
Next Gooch invited Seabolt’s daughter, Donna Robert, to speak. She helped organize the dedication ceremony for her father along with Wigley, and said the idea came from really not knowing much about his career before now.
“I knew that this was my dad’s life, and I knew that he helped people when they were sick or there was a natural disaster, and I knew that he was always well-respected in the community. But as I get older, I wanted to know more, and he’s not really one to say too much,” Robert said.
But after some words of encouragement from former Lumpkin County Sole Commissioner J.B. Jones, she knew she had to help share Seabolt’s story.
“He said, ‘You don’t understand that public safety in this county was built by your father, and not only in this county, but they would send him to other counties, they would send him to other states, and they would ask him, ‘How did you do it? Where did you start?,’” Jones told Robert.
The ceremony wouldn’t have been complete, however, without some colleagues weighing in, starting with Wigley.
“I just want you to know you were the greatest boss. Yes, you were a little tough on us at times, but yes, we needed it … We appreciate everything you did for us,” she said.
Lanier Swafford said Lumpkin County’s EMS has become what it is today because of Seabolt’s leadership.
“Who’d have even thought when you retired just a few years ago that this type of equipment that’s sitting behind us could be in Lumpkin County today? It is because you had a vision and because you stayed the course,” Swafford said.
Next, Gooch read aloud from the text of the Senate resolution honoring Seabolt.
“Be it further resolved and enacted that the intersection of State Route 9/Highway 19 and Pinetree Way in Lumpkin County is dedicated as the Donald Seabolt Intersection,” he stated.
When it was finally Seabolt’s turn to speak, the man of honor thanked Gooch.
“This means the world to me,” he said. “Steve, you said you only do this mostly for dead people. Well, I actually think it should be given to the folks before they die, so they know that they’ve been recognized. Because otherwise they don’t know it. The families know it, but they don’t know it. And I do appreciate this. I spent years in public safety in this community, and I loved every moment of it.”