Oconee County, GA Politics

All photos on this post by Kate McDaniel From: Angela Helwig ahelwig@oconee.ga.us To: Cc: Angela H angelahelwig@yahoo.com  Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 4:45 PM Subject: Preliminary Report on the Great American Cleanup in Oconee Good afternoon!  What a wonderful day Saturday was!  Thank you everyone for showing up to help with the Kickoff and Cleanup Day!  What a turnout!  I have attached some photos – thanks to Kate McDaniel!  If anyone else has photos, please send them my way. I am still working on my report for this year's Great American Cleanup and there is lots more info to be tallied.  Here are some numbers from our Great American Cleanup in Oconee, so far: 136 volunteers 150 man hours 91 bags of trash/recyclables 1140 lbs of trash/recyclables 20+ miles of Oconee roads litter free (for now) Please check out the latest article by Melissa Steele, on Oconee Patch:  http://oconee.patch.com/articles...

Subject: Rose Creek Stewardship CLEAN UP! Hi Friends! Here is your friendly reminder about our Rose Creek Stewardship Roadside (and creek) litter clean up as a part of Keep Oconee Clean and Beautiful Commissions GREAT OCONEE CLEAN UP!   Click on that link to see the story I wrote for Patch, and why Melvin Davis wants us to step up our efforts for this event.  It's an interesting story! The event takes place all over Oconee County on April 21st, but because I will be involved in those efforts on that day, I have scheduled our ROSE CREEK STEWARDSHIP clean up the Sunday before, on April 15. I HOPE YOU WILL PARTICIPATE IN BOTH EVENTS, but at the very least, let's get our area litter free! I am hoping that you will meet me at The Covered Bridge at 2:00 on Sunday April 15 and we can sort out the rest of the details from there. I will have safety vests, bags, gloves (I think) and pick up sticks, and also orange cones to help keep us safe in our efforts...

Great Oconee Clean Up: Part 1

Melissa is gearing up for another clean up in one of the most pristine and beautiful corners of the county. From: Melissa Steele mechanted757@gmail.com Date: March 27, 2012 2:24:44 PM EDT Subject: Rose Creek Stewardship SAVE THE DATE! APRIL 15, 2:00 pm  Rose Creek Stewardship Roadside and Creekside litter pick up as a part of THE GREAT OCONEE CLEAN UP!  Stay tuned for more details.

The Roaring Twenties!

Subject: Art Exhibit Info Here's the link to my new blog giving an introduction to my upcoming art exhibit. www.mechanted.com Before the end of the month I will be posting the DVD which is my exhibit proposal I'll be sending out to Butterfly Houses and Botanical Gardens all over the country, starting first in the Southeast. This exhibit is tied to Rose Creek Stewardship and my goals of helping keep our local waterways free of litter, and sharing  the message of good stewardship! XO Melissa

Pick up trash in your neighborhood or consider volunteering for the Tour D'Oconee bike ride early Saturday morning, May 7 Subject: Rose Creek Stewardship Dear Friends and Neighbors, Happy Earth Day! Last March we all banded together to clean up roadsides and creek banks along Elder Mill Road, Big Rose Creek, and Little Rose creek.  We collected 85 pounds of trash and a whopping 220 pounds of recyclable materials! I was so thrilled and honored that you all wanted to be a part of that project, which is attached to my upcoming art exhibit. I am contacting you again on behalf of Keep Oconee Clean And Beautiful Commission's "Great Oconee Clean Up Project". KOCBC has joined with county officials to name April 30 and May 14 as special clean up days.  You can meet up with groups at Harris Shoals Park to go to designated areas, or, you can clean up in your own neighborhood.  Please see the attached flyer for more details. After our successful clean up last March, I f...

A half dozen hearty souls bared rain and the remnants of snow to pick up a gazillion cigarette butts and assorted debris along side the Oconee Connector essentially between the Golden Pantry and the Quick Trip. This clean up was rescheduled from Saturday because of the snow on the side of the road. Not all had melted by Monday. Melissa Steele, Pat Priest, Sara Jane Love, Dan Matthews, and Robert Wyatt Many thanks to the volunteers including Mary Mellein, Sara Jane Love, Pat Priest, Melissa Steele, Ann Stoneburner, Dr. Robert Wyatt and Dan Matthews for coming out on a soggy holiday. The group met at the Barber Creek Fire Station and divided up and picked up trash on both sides of the road, one group heading toward the busy Highway 316 and the other past the Quick Trip and the Golden Pantry. The smart and experienced people brought bags and clean up tools to pick up the trash near the side of the roads. The oncoming traffic kept the volunteers dodging vehicles to grab the wrappers...

Subject: Make Oconee Beautiful! Hi Everybody! Since you all were responsible for our Rose Creek Clean Up being so successful, I thought you might want to take part in this event as well!   Keeping Oconee Clean and Beautiful Commission, in association with Keep America Beautiful, has organized this county wide event!    I will be there and I am hoping to gather a group to work along Elder Mill Road, Saxon Road, and Antioch Church Road.  We got about 60% of Elder Mill Road covered last time, but there is still trash washing downhill towards Little Rose and Big Rose Creeks..  Would LOVE to see any of you guys!   Thanks and PLEASE pass this on! Melissa Steele 706-255-8528

What a wonderful turnout of people of all ages, stages, colors, political persuasion, religions, even nationalities. Biggest thanks should go to the person who wrote the below letter, Melissa Steele Subject: A Rose Creek Thank You! Dear Friends, Words are inadequate for me to express my graditude to all of you for your participation in my Rose Creek clean-up project.  I am honored that you thought enough me to listen to my request in the first place, then chose to become involved, step up, and make an effort to make a difference.  And make a difference you did!  Together we picked up 85 pounds of trash, and a combined 220 pounds of glass, plastic, and cans, ALL recycleable!  How 'bout that!!! The most important thing we did together, however, was raise awareness in our community and in our own hearts. Now as we open our eyes any time we are outside, we will all notice the trash on the roads, riverbanks, and wherever humans tread, and in many cases ...

Oconee County Democratic Committee members and Republicans, and every political stripe in between ought to be part of Melissa Steele's Rose Creeks clean ups this Saturday morning down Highway 15 at Antioch Church Fellowship Hall on Antioch Church Road some eight miles south of Watkinsville. I do not have the waiver attached but I am sure Melissa will bring some on Saturday morning. To: Oconee County Democratic Committee  Sent: Mon, March 1, 2010 8:47:32 AM Subject: [oconeedemocrats] Creek clean-up   Did the committee talk about the creek clean-up that Melissa Steele is organizing? I sent out information about it some time ago to Karen to pass along to high school-aged Young Dems -- and to Kelly Manley, who oversees the Young Dems at GSU, but the date has crept up on me to talk about it among ourselves. I meant to bring this up at the monthly meeting -- If you guys will let me know if you'll attend, I'll pass along a rough count to Melissa. I...

Rose Creek cleanup slated for March 6 (this was borrowed from the Oconee Living section of the Athens Banner-Herald's February 24, 2010 issue A cleanup organized by local artist Melissa Steele along Rose Creek and Little Rose Creek is planned for Saturday, March 6. Volunteers are asked to meet at 9 a.m. in the parking lot of Antioch Christian Church on Antioch Church Road for breakfast. Signs with balloons will be posted to help volunteers find the location. The church is located about 8 miles south of downtown Watkinsville along Georgia Highway 15. Volunteers will gather inside the church fellowship hall. “We will provide breakfast, parking and restrooms, and give a brief safety talk, select teams and ferry volunteers to dropoff locations, pick them up later, return them to the church and their vehicles,” Steele said. To help plan food, people who want to help with the cleanup of these two streams are asked to call Steele at (706) 255-8528 or send an e-mail to mechanted7...