Things I learned last night at the Oconee County Historical Society meeting

Members of the Oconee County Historical Society listen to Bob Burton talk about the Battle of the Bulge he was in.

Bob Burton

1. Oconee means "smells like a skunk" in Cherokee. However according to Wikipedia: "Oconee" is the Anglicized form of the Itsati (Hitchiti-Creek) word Okvni, which means "born from water" or "living on water."^{[citation needed]} This branch of the Creeks is better known for the name given them by the chroniclers of the Hernando de Soto Expedition in 1540, Ocute - which is the Spanish version of the Itsati word Okvte. Okvte means "Water People." According to Oconee-Creek tradition, their original homeland was in the Okefenokee Swamp of southeastern Georgia. In fact, a branch of the Oconee still lived in this vast expanse of water during the 1600s, when it was under the domain of Spain. The Oconee Creeks also once occupied towns in present-day northeastern Georgia, northwestern South Carolina and in the Great Smoky Mountains. Their presence in the Great Smoky Mountains is remembered by the name of the Oconaluftee River, which in the Itsati-Creek language means "separated Oconee people."^{[citation needed]}

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   Andy Ward, left, smiles as he holds a photo of the Watkinsville home guard for his father Albert Ward during the discussion at the Oconee County Historical Society Monday evening at the OCAF building where Albert once attended school. In this photo he is 14 years old and is naming nearly everyone in the photograph. (All photographs by Dan Matthews - may not be used without permission)

   
   

2. There never was a Watkinsville High School - there was an Oconee High School before there was  an Oconee County High School.
3. All of Fort Benning once maneuvered down Main Street for two days. They camped between Bishop and Watkinsville.
4. The Battle of the Bulge referred to the geographic region the Germans were trying to access in Belgium.
5. The Watkinsville home guard won a battle in capturing an airbase in Macon after getting lost en route to a successful rear invasion.
6. My son was more interested in flying paper airplanes than listening to people talk about World War II era in Watkinsville, but so did I when I was 12.
7. Lisa Douglas does a very nice job with a whole bunch of groups including the DAR, the SCV, the Oconee County Historical Society and I am sure there are several more. She is the only person maintaining the upkeep of the pocket park, and deserves our support and help in that endeavor.
8. Nedra Johnson of Bishop was born in Pennsylvania. 
9. Her father did not use all of his World War II rations, and God bless him for it. They drove a '39 Dodge with a curved back window.
10. Bob Burton was the news director for WRFC for 30 years after coming him from the Battle of the Bulge, where his feet suffered frostbite.
11. Albert Ward can still name 95% of the Watkinsville home guard after all these years, and tell you stories about them as well: Rabbitt Hardigree was my favorite name mentioned. 
12. We should all join the Oconee County Historical Society.
13. I am thankful and eternally grateful the greatest generation fought for us, and there was an expectation of protection and service for those who were still here.
14. The Home Guard was formed after Germans paratroopers invaded the island of Crete. Their uniforms may have been made from excess CCC material or from unwanted British uniforms. 
15. We might be speaking German if not for these heroes,  so thank a veteran, especially from World War II, who are dying at an astounding rate of 1,000 a day.