Oconee County, GA Politics

Tourism Director Peggy Holcomb announces retirement - Oconee Enterprise: News  Warning: now leaving objectivity zone. I worked for her predecessor and have seen the leaps and bounds that the tourism industry has grown in a relatively short time. I am good friends with Peggy Holcomb, and she has done a fantastic job making Oconee County, Georgia a more visible place to visit on next to no budget for the last several years.  I applaud her efforts and know that she will be enjoying her retirement with grandchildren and other loved ones.

Maria Caudill came in 3rd in Post 3 results Tuesday evening Congratulations to first time candidate Maria Caudill, who ran a very good campaign for the Oconee County Board of Commissioners Post 3 (but came up a little short with 892 votes, a solid 20% of the electorate), OC Commission, Post 3 Margaret S. Hale — 1,787 (41.61%) W.E. "Bubber" Wilkes — 1,616 (37.63%) Maria Caudill — 892 (20.77%) 13 of 13 precincts reporting and now Margaret Hale needs to make her and Peggy Holcomb her new best friends for at least the next two months. Margaret is a very nice person, open to discussion on any ideas, and always willing to explain her point of view even if you do not agree with her. I do not know if there will be any formal endorsements, but I am sure there will be lots of conversations and considerations of which candidate is worthy of your support in two long hot months from now. Bubber led the results early, with Margaret taking over the race later in the even...

I am deeply saddened at the impending closing of Art Masters Gallery and Framing in downtown Watkinsville. They sponsored my radio show back when I was an AM radio talk show host, so I am not the least bit impartial about the demise of this business. The owner Geoff Seila is one of my best friends as well. Almost every framed photo, newspaper or piece of art in my house was done by them either under Seila's tutelage or perhaps as far back as Peggy Holcomb's ownership.  Peggy is of course the head of the Oconee County tourism department now. I have traded with Art Masters in at least four different locations and six different incarnations of space and scope of business.  I hope nothing but the best for Geoff and his wife Sherry and their son Drew. Geoff recently thought about closing this business before, and he was talked out of it by former Watkinsville Mayor Jim Luken. He worked hard to come up from under the mountain of debt accumulated from a variety of loans and oth...

Oconee County tourism director Peggy Holcomb suffered a fall at her home last night during her recovery from recent back surgery. We wish her a complete recovery from this latest setback, and know she cares more than anyone about tourism in Watkinsville and the rest of Oconee County.

Please attend this non-partisan forum tonight if you can. Woven brightly,  Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:25:55 +0000 Subject: [oconee] Elder Mill Bridge Park Forum Tonight   The panelists at tonight's Elder Mill Bridge Park Forum will be Dr. Russ Page, Peggy Holcomb, and Wayne Provost. Dr. Page will talk about his efforts to preserve the Elder Mill and its surrounding land; Ms. Holcomb will talk about the tourism implications of such a park; Mr. Provost will talk about governmental aspects of creating and maintaining a park. The forum is tonight, Thursday, March 25th, from 7 - 9 pm at the Watkinsville Library. Thanks! Jonathan Veit __._,_.___

Watkinsville and Oconee County historic sites [Vinnie Williams, Oconee Enterprise, 9/27/07, p. A3] are not drawing tourists because their destruction is being encouraged by those who should be fighting tooth and nail to save these special places. Word gets around quickly and the public wants no part of it. The guilty parties are developers who don’t care and their supporters in the city and county governments. Those folks seemly have no vision of what should be protected, how to do it, and what the public really wants. Are they deaf? The gateway charm at the intersection of Barnett Shoals Road and Main Street in Watkinsville has been replaced by some out-of-scale ‘thing’ which comes close to a spaghetti western stage set. The wonderfully wide sidewalks in downtown Watkinsville have been replaced by parking spaces. Now the sidewalks are so narrow that two people can’t pass each other without turning sideways. Who thought that improvement up? And then, there are those unfortunate t...