Oconee County, GA Politics

As a last stupid vestige of the long by-gone segregation era, Oconee County has no public swimming facility. I shook my head to this ignorance in the late 1980s and early 1990s working in the John T. Brannen building of the Herman C. Michael park as redneck white kids who listen to rap music somehow thought they were keeping their KKK street cred "because I don't swim with them" meaning black people. Last time I checked the skin tone of African Americans does not wash off, even in chlorine. Morgan County has public swimming facilities (at least the city of Madison does) and so does Clarke County, but now because of a lack of swimming facility at Veterans Park (and despite an anonymous donor's attempted donation of $10,000.00 to build a pool first) we have no functioning truly public swimming facility to go with the two parks on Highway 53 along with other facilities. Oconee County does have a proliferation of private swim clubs where kids who do not even live near th...

I am sure that the Farmer's market crowd will mix quite well with a lot of the patriotic bunting and chairs set up for activities later on in the day at 10 am with the James Hunter band and free watermelon, popcorn, lemonade and cotton candy. Apparently they will be charging for the ice cream and Bar-B-Q, which is fine. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. EMAILING FOR THE GREATER GOOD Join me Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 07:29:56 -0700 From: oconeefm@yahoo.com Subject: Saturday's Market To: oconeefm@yahoo.com Hello,  Hope everyone is well. This week we will have : sweet potato pie , many different kinds of pound cakes , banana bread , assorted pies, fresh baked breads and cinnamon buns, fresh eggs,  blueberries, jams , jellies, handmade soaps & lotions, tomatoes, green onions , sweet onions , cucumbers, lettuce, potatoes, various greens, chard,several kinds of squash, zucchini, green beans , herbs, root vegetables , fresh cut flowers, gourds, woolens, among o...

Not sure if I can bribe my son to attend yet, but in a very few hours I hope to attend the first Art Tour of Watkinsville leaving from Rocket Field at 6 pm. There are two vans from the Oconee Senior Center which will be toting people around to a variety of artsy places in our lovely city. I hope some of the Oconee County Democratic Committee will attend as this was something they are attempting to replicate in the ensuing weeks on Saturday mornings and it would be a good place to find out what does and does not work in a brief tour of the city. There will also be tons of stuff for the kids to do up and and down Main Street. Come to Watkinsville as well tomorrow on the 4th of July for various goings on and lots of happenings at Eagle Tavern and surrounding areas. There will be a Van Morrison cover band featuring Greg Hester at Ashford Manor Bed and Breakfast tomorrow evening as well. I do not think James Brown will be rising from the dead, but it might be a wonderful night for a Moondan...

I like the pristine basketball courts in the Oconee Veterans Park' brand spanking new gymnasium facility. They have two cross courts and one full size regulation court with three point lines adorned to all of them, with a good safe clean wooden floor and a track above it all. It shall be interesting to contrast with the North Oconee camp. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 15:52:46 -0400 Subject: OCHS Basketball Camp - change of location Parents,   This is a reminder that the Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department's OCHS Coed Basketball Camp will be held Monday, July 6 – Thursday July 9, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  The location for this camp has been changed from its originally advertised location.  OCHS basketball camp will be held at the Oconee Veterans Park Gym , please do not go to the Oconee County High School gym for camp.  Coach Michael Youngblood will be the lead instructor.   Please contac...

Great photos by David Manning of the Athens Banner-Herald today of this fire yesterday afternoon. Saw the smoke from the fire from a far and did not realize it is so close to my neighborhood (we were running errands yesterday evening. Saw some of our volunteers rapidly responding to the piles of garbage besides the tracks. I had told the city code enforcement officer of the many piles of garbage along the tracks long ago. Glad we have a very good fire department. One day soon we are going to have to pay those people. Passing train apparently sparks Oconee blaze | News | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis

Are the voters of Oglethorpe and Madison County finally free of the Hudgens dynasty? For the sake of the fate of the State of Georgia, I hope so. We shall see who declares of his old State Senate seat. Expect a flurry of activity soon. Could we have a Secretary of State Brian Kemp and Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens (wielding considerable clout for the home folks) We shall see. Hudgens announces insurance candidacy | News | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis

Somebody just needs to go punch this guy in the face several times until he leaves the area and goes back to Virginia. I have received numerous bulletins on Facebook and elsewhere about this scum-sucking buttwipe named Kenny Bledsoe who apparently gets his jollies looking at our children (and has been banned in Clarke County parks). I am not for random vigilantism but if you see this dude with zebra stripes on the back of his red midsized pick-up truck, you have my permission to ask him to leave in whatever manner you deem approrpiate.  I have tried to remove as much of the email adddresses of those who have seen him and also forwarded this email, but it has been on lots of other blogs as well. There are photos of his vehicle on Facebook and the most distinctive feature is black and white downward pointing arrows somewhat resembling a lego vehicle. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Subject: Fwd: Child predator now in Oconee Child predator now in Oconee Re...

A letter in today's Banner-Herald from the Vice Chair of the Keep Oconee County Beautiful Committee. Rosemary F. Franklin: KOCBC vote was wrong move | Letters | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis

Former 10th district Congressional candidate Jim Marlow has not let his defeat in the special election to Paul Broun a few years back slow him down. Atlanta Business Chronicle: Startup Radiance Solar raises $500,000 Shared via AddThis

Oconee Rec news for those who are contemplating soccer or football (or a host of other newly jacked up prices thanks to your Board of Commissioners) in the autumn. Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. From: wbyce@oconee.ga.us Subject: Fall Registration Monday, July 6, 2009 This is a reminder that Fall Registration for sports, After School, and Teen Extreme will begin Monday, July 6, 2009 at 8:00 a.m.  Registration for After School and Teen Extreme will be held at Herman C. Michael Park ONLY.  Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m.  **Reminder - Our offices and summer day camp will be CLOSED this Friday, July 3rd for the holiday.** If you have any questions please contact our office at 706-769-3965.  Oconee Veterans Park 3500A Hog Mountain Road Watkinsville, GA 30677

Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. From: wbyce@oconee.ga.us To: danmatt@hotmail.com Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:22:26 -0700 Subject: Closed Friday, July 3rd This is a friendly reminder that our offices and summer day camp will be CLOSED on Friday, July 3, 2009 for the Independence Holiday.  We will resume normal business hours on Monday, July 6, 2009.  Thank you! Oconee Veterans Park 3500A Hog Mountain Road Watkinsville, GA 30677 If you believe you have received this message in error and/or wish to be removed from all our subscription lists, you can unsubscribe by clicking here .

 Mary Mellein has always been a champion of the underdog here in Oconee County, having run an unsuccessful campaign to get herself on the Board of Commissioners a few years ago. This time it is the continued clean up of our wonderful county she is trying to maintain, and Chairman G. Melvin Davis and some of the current Board of Commissioners do not seem to share the same esteem for the aesthetic of keeping Oconee County free of litter, among other things.  The following is a letter from her in an attempt to save the committee she chairs: From: Mary MELLEIN <mrmellein@bellsouth.net> Subject: The Fate of the Keep Oconee County Beautiful Commission Dear Neighbors and Friends,   In follow up to my earlier e-mail concerning the fate of the Keep Oconee County Beautiful (KOCB) Commission at the hands of the Board of Commissioners (BOC), the decision of the BOC did not go favorably for the KOCB commission.   To better explain the position of the KOCBC volunteer memb...

Pat Priest does a great job with a wide and varying list of fiction and non-fiction to read to expand her horizons and those of the members of the Oconee County Democratic Committee book club (and some members do not belong to the regular political committee). So I am just reiterating you do not have to live in Oconee County or even be a member of the Democratic Party to join our book group. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Subject: [oconee] Sherman's March -- the novel Hello, fellow Democrats, About a month before my family's reunion a couple of years ago, I sent my mom, nephews, and siblings a surprise gift: Jimmy Carter's book about his childhood called "An Hour Before Daylight." The book was a wonderful catalyst for conversation, and because my mom grew up in the same era, it prompted fascinating recollections about her childhood during hard times in the south. (And our former pr...