Oconee County, GA Politics

I am thankful for the many friends, and having my family here in Oconee County. I am thankful for the freedom to write what I want in this blog. I am thankful for a chance to raise my son in such a wonderful and safe place. I am thankful for the freedom to pedal bicycles on our streets. I am thankful for the police patrolling our neighborhoods. I am thankful for the waves and nods hello from the people in my subdivision and on the soccer fields and basketball courts. I am thankful for Krimson Kafe, Jittery Joe's and Publix. I am thankful for the excellent public schools like North Oconee and Oconee County High Schools, as well as private schools such as Athens Academy and Prince Avenue Christian schools. I am thankful for parents involved with their children's lives in a positive way. I am thankful for the people who read this blog. I am thankful for the folks who respond to my writing in an honest manner. I am thankful for the opportunity to present news, opinion, commen...

I know at least some of these folks like in Oconee County, maybe a bassoon player or viola? Subject: Athens Symphony announces launch of food drive in conjunction with Christmas concerts The Athens Symphony will host its Christmas Concerts Saturday, December 12 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 13 at 3:00 p.m. in the Classic Center Theatre. This season, the symphony is launching a canned food drive for the Salvation Army on the days of the performances. Symphony leaders are hopeful you can include part or all of the announcement below to help get the word out about this initiative.                                                             Athens symphony Launches food drive at its 200...

This from Mary Mellein and the fine folks of the Oconee County Civitan Club: Subject: Oconee County Civitan Club Fund Raiser - BBQ Hi everyone, As you may or may not know, I am a member of the local Oconee County Civitan Club .  Our purpose is to assist people in need in the local community with a strong focus on those who are disabled in some way.  A current project, for example, is the building of an access ramp for an individual who lives in Watkinsville and will soon be wheel chair bound due to a progressive illness. We are a relatively new organization experimenting with different types of fund raising activities to help pay for these projects.  For the holidays we are conducting the "Inaugural Oconee Civitan Junk in your Trunk BBQ & Yard Sale".  This event is a two prong approach.  First, we are pre-selling BBQ Boston Butt, cooked by one of our own, an award winning BBQ master Wicked Q.  The price is $25.00 per butt.  We will c...

Great story written by Joe VanHoose of the Athens Banner-Herald about the pathetic state of disrepair of the Watkinsville Cemetery, maybe six blocks from my house. I fully intend to bring my loppers over there on Saturday, December 12th to help the Daughters of the American Revolution clear, especially in the African-American section of the burial plots. I hope it is a bright, sunshiny day that day. Watkinsville Cemetery full of history, but much of it hidden || OnlineAthens.com

Not much news here, but a whole lot more then what is available for the 113th House district (Bob Smith). State Senate District 46 - 2010 Georgia Race Tracker

If you attend this evening's meeting, and get a chance to do so tactfully, please wish Commissioner Margaret Hale the best with his medical situation. I am taking my son to go see the battle of Bulldogs in basketball instead with Georgia's men taking on UNC Asheville at the Coliseum. Oconee Commissioners Meet - WGAU Local News on 1340wgau.com

Date: Monday, November 23, 2009, 4:09 PM Hi everyone, As you may or may not know, I am a member of the local Oconee County Civitan Club .  Our purpose is to assist people in need in the local community with a strong focus on those who are disabled in some way.  A current project, for example, is the building of an access ramp for an individual who lives in Watkinsville and will soon be wheel chair bound due to a progressive illness. We are a relatively new organization experimenting with different types of fund raising activities to help pay for these projects.  For the holidays we are conducting the "Inaugural Oconee Civitan Junk in your Trunk BBQ & Yard Sale".  This event is a two prong approach.  First, we are pre-selling BBQ Boston Butt, cooked by one of our own, an award winning BBQ master Wicked Q.  The price is $25.00 per butt.  We will cook the butts over night and have them available for pick up on Saturday, December 19, 2009, at the wa...

Damn good dawg. Wear black tomorrow in honor of UGA VII

Oconee County Democratic Committee's book club will be meeting 6 pm Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at Five Points Deli in on Epps Bridge Road. Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:01:21 -0500 Subject: [oconee] The Tipping Point   Two things: First, I wanted to let you know we raised $1,010.00 for local charities with our series of Saturday Strolls! Thanks to all of you who joined us to walk or share their expertise or enthusiasm for the town and its history! See more about the stroll scheduling for next year below if you're interested. Also wanted to let folks know that the December book for our book group is The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. It's an influential and entertaining book about how small things can tip trends forward toward success. We'll meet December 30th to discuss it. Perhaps you can find time just before the New Year to get together with us for a robust discussion. We'll meet at Five Points Deli on ...

The Oconee County Democratic Committee met once again this evening, and it is basically the same set of folks lamenting our lack of candidates for the same set of offices time and time again. Who would like to run against semi-permanently entrenched incumbents State Representative Bob Smith or Congressman Paul Broun? We will help you run, canvass, campaign and host events for your campaign. Many interesting names get tossed around at meetings such as these, and frustrations can sometimes bare fruit. All the yard sales and Adopt-a-Road clean ups cannot create one candidate if the local churches still shun us like lepers, so the idea of a church tour (or garden tour or home tour or history tour) was discussed well into the night. The more outreach in to the actual community, the better for all concerned. More than $1,000.00 was raised by some 16 people on both sides of the aisle during the successful Saturday Stroll series. Nearly than much again was raised during two soggy Saturda...

Saturday Strolls Charities and Funds Raised 2009 Juvenile Diabetes (Mark Smith) $135 Extra Special People (Peggy Holcomb) $ 75 Oconee Relay for Life (Bethel Baptist) $ 60 OCAF (Joe Ruiz) $ 70 Extra Special People (Representative Bob Smith) $ 85 Nuci’s Space (Kevan Williams) $ 40 OCAF (Mayor Jim Luken) $105 Eagle Tavern (Commissioner Melvin Davis) $ 50 4-H (Mary Mellein) $ 25 Concerns of Police Survivors (Sheriff Scott Berry) $ 40 Athens-Area Resource Council (Commissioner Chuck Horton) $ 35 Veterans’ Relief Fund (Pat Priest) $100 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (Geoff Seila) $ 75 Oconee River Land Trust (Dr. Robert Wyatt) $ 50 Georgia Voters’ Conservation Education Fund (Dr. Liz Kramer) $ 35 OCAF (Kathy and Jerry Chappelle) $ 30 Total: $1010

Wonkette : Saxby Chambliss Thinks Georgia Looks Like *This* Posted using ShareThis

A comparison of two farewell letters.  Jeff Thomas in blue, and Robert E. Lee in Gray Town of North High Shoals 108 Jefferson Road High Shoals, Ga. 30645 Jeff. D. Thomas Mayor November 16, 2009 Dear Council and Citizens of the Town of North High Shoals; After eighteen plus years of arduous service as mayor of North High Shoals, I have come to the decision that my presence is no longer desired or required .  "After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources. I have remained steadfast to the last concerning my duties, but I now feel that valor and devotion can accomplish nothing that will compensate for the loss of time to my family that would attend the continuance of my services. I need not tell the brave survivors of some many hard fought battles who have remained steadfast to the last that I have consented to this result fro...

Former Oconee County G.O.P. chair Sarah Bell, who came 20 tantalizingly close to upsetting Chair G. Melvin Davis for the Oconee County Board of Commission chair seat in 2008, announced she is seeking the post in 2012 today on the Newsmaker Thursday program on NewsTalk 1340 WGAU AM local radio interview show hosted by Tim Bryant while discussing an animal shelter effort  ~ We Care Animal Haven group ~ 140 Rocky Drive in Athens. No word if current Chair Davis will seek a fourth term. She might be the first announced candidate, certainly in Oconee County, for the 2012 election cycle.

Any rush to judgment on the Oconee Veterans Park gym was strictly on my part, and I appreciate Jared Hightower getting back to me quickly about my perceived imperfections in the construction. Always appreciate getting feedback and correction from our well informed civil servants Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. From: jhightower@oconee.ga.us Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:50:29 -0500 Subject: details Dan, I was emailed the blog link about your visit to OVP gym on the day after Halloween.  To start - No complaints from me about  it,  because I fought for this country and its freedom of speech  and I cherish that liberty.  Therefore,  I  send this email purely as an informational reason to  help with a couple of details.  ·          According to your blog you arrived at the OVP gym on the day after  Halloween which was a Sunday. Since we opened the gym at OVP in February we have never had a sign...

The Jeannette Rankin Women's Scholarship fund is something I always support, and I may be able to get up early enough to enjoy coffee with them Friday morning and still make it to work on time. Jeannette Rankin is easily the most international famous political person with connections to Oconee County, Georgia. Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:48:58 -0500From: bentley@rankinfoundation.org To: danmatt@hotmail.com Subject: JRF's open house is this Friday Jeannette Rankin Women's Scholarship Fund's Open House and Preview Sale Enjoy coffee and doughnuts while being the first to shop! Date:  Description: Friday, November 20, 8am-5pm Enjoy free coffee and doughnuts from 8-11am. Browse holiday offerings that benefit JRF's program: Hope Mugs made by local potters and  Daring to Dream , a collection of JRF scholar storie...

Remember the Titans! Taylor Hicks, Joe Robinson And Austin Wheeler Sign With Georgia - Official Athletics Site of the University of Georgia Bulldogs

Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. EMAILING FOR THE GREATER GOOD Join me From: jhightower@oconee.ga.us To: danmatt@hotmail.com Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:18:05 -0500 Subject: RE: details Just say yes to coaching!   Oh yeah,  I failed to list the other bullet to let you know that the one of the  main hoops is stored upward  for free play because it encourages full court play  when it is down and that too often has caused patrons to wait for a game verses playing  two games cross court. However, according to our policy  there is supposed to be one main goal down on the far end  so that there can be (3) goals open for free shooting if only one game is running cross court.  That would be our error if they were both stored upward.   Jared HT   From: Dan Matthews [mailto:danmatt@hotmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 3:57 PM To: Jared Hightower Subject: RE: details   ...

Now former Mayor Jeff Thomas of North High Shoals is a man of many cloths, and we wish him well in all his future endeavors. I think he will remain quite busy with his family's nursing home on the edge of the city limits, not to mention his church and family. He was always appropriately entertaining when participating in local politics, wearing red on Valentine's Day, that sort of thing. This process has been several years and multiple personalities ~ some even passed on now for several years ~ whose real estate, living situations, rental properties, hired help, scandals and assorted other skeletons in the closet are much the subject of gossip and whisper campaigns on all three sides of the big bubbling rocks on the Apalachee River at the confluence of Morgan, Walton, and Oconee counties. North High Shoals is a wonderful town full of interesting individuals, some well educated, others woefully ignorant, that will always occupy a place near and dear to my heart. Now that bo...

Watkinsville/ Arnoldsville based contractor American Stadium Services is responsible for removing a small mountain of garbage from the sacred North Campus after University of Georgia welcomes 90,000 people to come watch some football games on Saturdays. Night has its obvious logistic limitations and seems to be the sole unifying factor when the trash talk starts coming from higher-ups than usual. Please be kind to my campus Saturday night against Kentucky and clean up after yourself as a responsible tailgater. Pack out what you pack in, and please place your refuse in a garbage bag and hopefully remove it when you leave. Editorial: It's past time to stop trashing North Campus || OnlineAthens.com