Editors note, May 18: Dan Matthews has announced on his blog that he is running for the 113th District House seat. The announcement followed the publication of this column and came without prior notice to Patch. Matthews has been suspended as a Patch columnist as a result of his candidacy. Anyone who has the audacity to announce his candidacy for any elected office deserves to be commended on his dedication to public service.  Right now I would predict a three-way dead heat between the announced candidates, which means your vote can really make a difference in this otherwise dead time, …

With the recent announcement by President Barack Obama that the Navy SEALs took out Osama bin Laden in a daring raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, it is proper time to reflect on how we have changed in our society since the al-Qaeda terrorists took down the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in  New York City on that crystal clear blue-skied morning of September 11, 2001. How will you remember the September 11 attacks in 2012? The security is much tighter in airports than it was in 2001. No longer will box cutters (or nail files or scissors or any sharp objects) be allowed on airplanes. Of …

The T-SPLOST is being marketed as a last chance for various Georgia counties and municipalities to get on the fast track for building anything transportation-related in the next couple of decades, and so far most counties are sticking with the tried and true method of asphalt and cement almost everywhere. I would love to wave a magic wand and get the 39-mile Firefly Trail completed for bicyclists to have a safe route from Athens-Clarke to Greene County through Oglethorpe County, but this is about Oconee. Organizers of this proposed route had a tent and were taking surveys at this weekend's …

I love the Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department. They are a well run group of folks who care about our kids' well beings and present programs to keep them busy during the many weeks of the year. But like all organizations one is passionate about, there is room for growth, evolution and change to adapt to different circumstances and needs. I am not the least bit impartial or objective about the Rec. Department here, partially because of past employment as the gymnasium supervisor in the John T. Brannen building of the Herman C. Michael Park. Essentially I checked IDs at the door and …

The following are some random thoughts and assessments about the current state of affairs in Oconee County. Oconee County, Georgia is a great place to start or relocate a business. We want you to move here, or at least bring your money here in terms of sending your kids to Gainesville State University, Oconee Campus. All the municipal governments are non-partisan and cautious, but accepting, in terms of most industries.  North High Shoals, Bishop and Bogart are not yet on sewers.  The county firemen and first responders remain professionally trained volunteers.  Bike riders are from both …

What brings people to Oconee County? Quite simply the way and quality of life may be the biggest single attraction, since we have amongst the lowest unemployment rates, highest graduation levels as well as the healthiest and wealthiest populations around, but this article will attempt to highlight some of the other reasons people travel to Oconee County in northeast Georgia. Just for those who are not from around here, we do not have Lake Oconee (that is part of Morgan and Putnam counties to the south), the Oconee National Forest (Greene County), nor do we have mountains or nuclear reactors (…

The best kept secret in Georgia may not be so unknown for much longer. For over a decade people have been coming to Watkinsville in droves, parking everywhere from the Oconee County Courthouse to various churches so they can attend the most popular attraction this town has to offer. Watkinsville's Ashford Manor Bed and Breakfast has been a cherished jewel in the heart of the city just off Main Street and Harden Hill Road, snuggled discretely behind Ashford Memorial Methodist Church. The five-acre estate encompasses much more than the lovely 1893 mansion with a half dozen gorgeous and well-…

According to a couple of recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper articles, the Atlanta-based sports marketing firm Collegiate Licensing Company sent letters to several metro Atlanta area high schools for trademark infringement over the high schools' use of a logo resembling that of the Florida State Seminoles and the University of Florida. I am not a trademark attorney nor do I play one on TV, but I am a fan of high school football and know the pride our kids take in putting on uniforms similar to those with the same name: the Athens Academy Spartans and Michigan State Spartans would be…

If your son or daughter had an emergency medical need of say, a two-inch long deep gash on a finger and you woke up to find him/her in need, where would you take your loved one to get stitched up in a big hurry on a Saturday morning? First of all, let me say for the record I am well aware of the outstanding hospitals no more than 15 minutes away in Athens-Clarke County. I am also well aware that many of the highly qualified and well-trained doctors and nurses live in Oconee County, and there are ambulances parked in Watkinsville ready to transport any patient to these well-staffed and …

Nobody I know likes to pay taxes. However, a penny taxed for transportation is a penny saved toward improvements for counties and municipalities if the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax is approved by the voters of Oconee County in 2012. Oconee County government has its own list, but this column will be devoted toward the plans of the City of Watkinsville. Watkinsville is especially in need of sidewalks for streets such as Whitehall/Simonton Bridge and the connecting Harden Hill Road. The municipal government, and in particular Police Chief Lee O'Dillon, have done as much …

The University of Georgia Herpetological Society members brought much more than a laptop and students to a discussion at the Oconee County Library on a rainy Monday evening in Watkinsville. They brought an interesting array of small and large snakes, salamanders and turtles to give the crowd of more than three dozen  a hands-on approach to learning about these fascinating creatures. They also let the audience know exactly what they can do to help foster a habitat for these creatures. Leaving a log or pot turned upside down in your backyard is just one step to help these creatures thrive …

Our 10th District Congressman Dr. Paul Broun awarded the first question at his Town Hall meeting Feb. 22 at the Board of Commissioners chambers in the city of Lexington in our neighboring county of Oglethorpe to the person who had traveled the furthest from that political gathering. An elderly man in a red shirt was given the right to ask the Congress member the first question by claiming to have driven 75 miles last Tuesday to the event titled Georgia Values Town Hall at 341 West Main Street. The first question out of this man’s lips was “Who’s going to shoot President Obama?” The reaction …

Smoothly paved and hilly Oconee County rural roads have long been sought out by the serious bicyclists wanting to tear out a quick 40 mile jaunt, with the more recreational pedal pumping people taking their bikes around the streets of Watkinsville and Bishop. Inside of 80 days from now, the two distinct groups of bike riders will get their chance to come together with the first Tour d’Oconee Saturday, May 7, 2011, pending official approval by Oconee County Board of Commissioners (having already been given the thumbs up and reviewed by the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office and getting help from …

On Super Bowl Sunday, I was driving my son and his buddy Seth back from a basketball scrimmage at Athens Academy when I saw an opened fire hydrant on full blast spewing a geyser of water down the gulley on the less developed side of Main Street on the north end of Watkinsville. In normal times I would not bat an eye at this sight, but in this post-drought Georgia, I found this somewhat uncommon.  So I did what any good citizen would do, and that is make a call to the non-emergency number of the local municipality in question, and that is 706-769-7891 for the administrative office at the …

The Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation continues its creative and artistic onslaught this spring with a fiction writing clinic featuring "To Dance with the White Dog" author Terry Kay on March 26 and the rapidly approaching deadline for the Southworks: Juried Artists' Market. The deadline for the 16th annual Juried Artists Market is Saturday, Feb. 19. Mailed applications must be post-marked by this date. Applications are available online at www.ocaf.com. It can be mailed to Southworks Committee c/o Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation, 34 School St. (or P.O. Box 631) Watkinsville GA 30677. For …

Next door to the Watkinsville Community Center on VFW Drive is Extra Special People, Inc. This non-profit business works with children of all levels of ability and provides them an opportunity to enjoy social and recreational activities that otherwise might no be available to them. Their 4th Annual Big Hearts Pageant for Special People of Northeast Georgia will take place at the Oconee County Civic Center from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12 and will feature autographed items from the likes of musical stars Taylor Swift and Widespread Panic, not to mention a pair of tickets to the Athens band’…

Oconee County was carved from a much larger Clarke County in 1875 after an adverse reaction from locals when the county seat was switched from Watkinsville to Athens in 1872, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia. This was the 137th of the 159 counties created with the antiquated legend of having no county seat farther than one day’s ride by horse from anywhere in any individual county in the entire state of Georgia. Having not ridden a horse that far lately, I cannot attest to the veracity of that statement. Sometimes the chasm seems much larger between the neighboring counties, but to …