Blog Topic: In the Community

In the Loop: Athens Groups Organize School Shooting Forum Today

By Blake Aued | February 27, 2018 11:22am

Photo Credit: Formulanone

The Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and other local groups and individuals will hold a "community response forum in support of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School" in Parkland, FL, where a gunman killed 17 people earlier this month.

The forum is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. tonight in the auditorium at the Athens-Clarke County Library. It will open with a moment of silence, then Clarke County School Superintendent Demond Means and state Rep. Spencer Frye (D-Athens) will speak.

The AADM is seeking volunteers to "perform simple tasks for this event." Volunteers should call Knowa Johnson or Michael Smith at 706-380-5256.

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Culture Briefs: Photo Gallery: Lunar New Year Celebration at the Botanical Garden

By Blake Aued and Jessica Silverman | February 20, 2018 3:56pm

It's the Year of the Dog—or Dawg, if you prefer—and the State Botanical Garden helped usher in the lunar new year with a celebration Saturday featuring crafts, food, storytelling, music and more.

Flagpole photographer Jessica Silverman captured the festivities, but if you missed them, don't worry: more are on the way, thanks to a Big Read project sponsored by the University of Georgia Department of Language and Literacy Education and the National Endowment for the Arts. This year's Big Read is based around To Live by Yu Hua and the work of the young-adult novelist Grace Lin.

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In the Loop: Oconee County Democrats and Republicans Managed to Have a Civil Discussion

By Lee Becker | February 5, 2018 1:03pm

Twenty-eight people turned out at the Oconee County Library in Watkinsville on a rainy afternoon Jan. 28 to exchange nonpartisan conversation with the goals of getting to know each other and of building community.

The sponsors, the Oconee Progressives and Oconee Democrats, had reached out across party lines with their invitations, and they were successful.

Oconee County Commissioner Chuck Horton, a Republican, attended, as did Kate McDaniel, secretary of the Oconee County Republican Party, and Marcus Wiedower, who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican in the special election for House District 117 representative last November.

The event started at 3 p.m. and lasted just an hour, but several people were around a half hour later, continuing the conversations started during the structured part of the session.

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In the Loop: Photo Gallery: Snow in Athens

By Nicole Adamson | January 18, 2018 10:29am

ICYMI, it snowed in Athens on Wednesday, and Flagpole photographer Nicole Adamson took the opportunity provided by a UGA snow day to wander around Five Points and capture the scene. Here are some of her photos:

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In the Loop: Brooklyn Cemetery Restoration Moves Forward

By Tre Brown | January 16, 2018 5:12pm

Photo Credit: Tre Brown

Monday morning, volunteers poured into the parking lot of Holy Cross Lutheran Church to help with the restoration efforts of Brooklyn Cemetery, one of the first African-American cemetery in Athens. Over the years, time and nature have taken claim to the resting places of the hundreds buried on its grounds.

Gathering on the annual MLK Day of Service, the Friends of Brooklyn Cemetery, led by trustee Linda Davis, worked with clearing paths and revealing unseen tombstones. All of their efforts led to the dedication of their new signage to the cemetery.

What seems like a small part of this ongoing project is actually an important step to the maintenance and preservation of the area. When Davis, whose grandparents are buried in the cemetery, took on this project in 2006, it was unclear to the community who actually had ownership of the property. Over 10 years later, the group brings over 600 volunteers from the Athens area each year to help with its efforts.

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Grub Notes: Koko Buni Is Back and More Athens Beer News

By Blake Aued | December 21, 2017 11:44am

Photo Credit: courtesy of Creature Comforts

One of Creature Comforts' most popular seasonals, Koko Buni, is back in cans and on draft as of Tuesday.

The well-balanced milk porter (6.5% ABV) brewed with toasted coconut, Ecuadorian cocoa nibs from Condor Chocolates and an Ethiopian coffee blend from 1000 Faces can be, like many of Creature Comforts' special releases, notoriously hard to find, so snatch some up if you see any.

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Culture Briefs: Photo Gallery: The Downtown Athens Parade of Lights

By Nicole Adamson and Blake Aued | December 12, 2017 12:53pm

The Downtown Parade of Lights is perennially one of the most family-friendly and diverse events in Athens, and this year was no different. Sure, there were a few hiccups—one of George Bugg's classic cars stalled out with Mayor Nancy Denson riding shotgun; a runaway camel that wasn't really feeling being dressed like a dinosaur—but in the end, a good time was had by all. Except this little girl:

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In the Loop: Athens Moms Protest Gun Violence

By Nate Harris | November 16, 2017 11:14am

Photo Credit: Nate Harris

In response to the shooting at a church in Texas on Nov. 5 that killed 26 people, members of the Georgia chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America gathered at City Hall in Athens on Saturday for a vigil for the victims, as well as a call to action.

The event, deeply rooted in faith, began at First A.M.E. Church before marchers made their way through downtown to City Hall. Many of the roughly 40 people held signs calling for an end to gun violence and a repeal of Georgia's campus carry law. During the procession, the group sang in unison, and was greeted by a church choir on the front steps of City Hall.

At City Hall, state Rep. Spencer Frye (D-Athens) and others local leaders and gun safety advocates spoke to the crowd about the need for a solution to gun violence.

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In the Loop: Photo Gallery: Vulture Day at the Landfill

By Blake Aued and Jessica Silverman | October 2, 2017 4:25pm

Dozens of families gathered at the Athens-Clarke County Landfill on Saturday for the Solid Waste Department's fourth annual Vulture Day.

The day began with a bird tour guided by the Oconee Rivers Audobon Society. Then, at the landfill's outdoor classroom, Bear Hollow experts gave a presentation on birds of prey. Lenetta Root of Watkinsville and other local artists worked on a mural. Children also had the opportunity to make vulture masks, pose for photos with an inflatable vulture and participate in educational activities, such as learning what "nature's recyclers" eat and how they digest their food.

Flagpole photo intern Jessica Silverman documented the fun:

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Culture Briefs: Photo Gallery: Athens PRIDE Festival

By Blake Aued and Jessica Silverman | September 12, 2017 3:27pm

With Hurricane Irma looming, hundreds of people still turned out for the annual Athens PRIDE Festival—the culmination of PRIDE Week—featuring music, speakers, local businesses and political groups, and a drag show. Flagpole photo intern Jessica Silverman documented the scene.

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