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Page 4 • The OGLETHORPE Echo • Thursday, October 14, 2021
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Redistricting meeting goes smoothly,
EDA/BOC will continue to meet
A small group of Oglethorpe County officials traveled to Atlanta
on Tuesday to attend the county’s appointment for reapportionment.
Commission Chair Paul reported that he thought
the session went extremely well and that he was
very pleased with the changes that the county was
able to make in the District lines for the Board of
Commissioners and the Board of Education.
Paul said that the group that went "" HMF to
Atlanta included Beverly Nation and Steve
McCannon with the Election Board, Becky Soto
with the Board of Education, and Josh Hawkins
the county finance manager.
Paul’s opinion that he thought the district lines made a lot more sense
now compared to what they did 10 years ago. He pointed out that the
district numbers matched up well compared with each other and there
just weren’t any weird lines that could look like gerrymandering. He said
everyone in the room agreed that Oglethorpe County suffered a severe
under count in the 2020 census.
Paul was also pleased that the first two get-on-the-same-page meetings
between the Board of Commissioners and the Economic Development
Authority had gone well. Paul said he was convinced that the meetings
had gone well and accomplished good things. He suggested that the two
groups would continue to meet every three to six months.
Ralph Maxwell
Editor
Why I’m optimistic about the future
One of the great privileges of teaching and working on a university cam
pus is the chance to be in regular touch with young people. Even better, I
sometimes get asked to give talks elsewhere and to meet with young people
of all kinds and descriptions—sometimes one on one, sometimes in small
groups, sometimes with as many as 50 or 60 people.
Over the past few years, this has given me a chance to
observe the upcoming generation of citizens and leaders, and
what I’ve seen heartens me. Not least because the young people
I’ve met are, for the most part, deeply concerned about the fu
ture of the country. They can be sharply critical, but it’s clear
that most of them take a fundamental pride in what this nation
stands for and how far it’s traveled over the centuries.
This shows up in a fundamental respect for the country’s
diversity, and an overall respect for many of the institutions
of representative democracy: the military, the courts, law en
forcement, the health care system—though Congress often comes in for some
sharp words. To be sure, they can also be critical of these institutions’ flaws,
but I haven’t encountered anyone who wants to tear them up and start over
again. Instead, they want to fix what’s in front of them. They’re curious about
how the nation’s institutions work, even skeptical, but they don’t reject them
outright as irredeemably flawed.
There are several key issues that dominate our conversations: climate
change, COVID-19, student loans and college debt. If you ask what problems
they’re most concerned about, racial issues also loom large: they see racial
inequity and repairing historic wrongs as a huge and important challenge to
our representative democracy. Interestingly, more than the older people I en
counter, they will often speak up in favor of US engagement with the world
and want the US to exert a helpful leadership role.
When it comes to domestic politics. I’ve been struck by the extent to
which the students I meet seem interested in making voting easier. Not infre
quently, they’ll bring up the idea of making Election Day a national holiday.
And they seem to like the idea of automatic voter registration for citizens, to
encourage participation.
As for their own participation, I often ask if anyone wants to run for pub
lic office. I’m always pleasantly surprised at the number of hands that go
up. More than a few want to pursue jobs in government at all levels, arguing
that they can make a greater contribution there than they might otherwise—
they recognize that working for government is not a path to great wealth, yet
they’re still committed to that idea. Perhaps most heartening, even those who
have no desire to serve in government confess an interest in serving their
communities and improving their comer of the world. I always come away
stirred by the number of these young people who speak with knowledge and
commitment about their desire to be of service.
To be sure, it’s bracing to sit in on their discussions about where the coun
try’s headed. They’re often robust, with plenty of differences of opinion. But
underlying these conversations is a general optimism about the future—and,
quite notably in this political climate, a wide tolerance for the viewpoints of
others and a willingness to listen to one another. I wish it were more common
among adults.
The one other thing I’ll note is that fairly regularly, I come across stu
dents—of all races, ethnicity, and description—who are clearly talented, en
gaged, and impressive. They are, I believe, marked for leadership. And if I’m
right, we’re going to be in good hands.
Lee H.
Hamilton
Joro Spiders
You’ve seen them, Joro spiders. They look similar in color to our own
garden writing spiders. But writing spiders aren’t all over the place like the
Joros. The Joros are in the treetops, on power poles, on the front porch, back
porch, the eaves of the house, and in your face. They are everywhere, and,
according to the UGA Extension Service they are here to stay.
First seen in Colbert the UGA Extension News says, “The Joro spider is
originally from Asia, and entomologists believe that they first traveled to
Georgia a few years ago in shipping containers destined for
the Interstate 85 distribution centers in northeast Georgia, said
Rick Hoebeke, associate curator and collection manager of
arthropods at the Georgia Museum of Natural History at the
University of Georgia.”
Quite often I walk my dogs on the forest trails at Watson
Mill State Park, which is loaded with Joro spiders. There were
a few last year but there are tons of them this year. When I
first read about them the writer said they usually build their By Dan Giles
webs high in the trees and you probably wouldn’t notice them.
Turns out that Joro spiders aren’t particular where they build a web.
The brightly colored ones we see are the females. The males are smaller
and a dull brown color according to the Extension newsletter. Reportedly
they can get up to four inches long counting their legs. A website called
Strange Sounds says. “The good news is they are not deadly. The bad news
is a four-inch spider has large fangs and if they bite, it can hurt.” Yeah, right.
What these so-called experts and websites don’t take into account is the
amount of damage you can do to yourself if you come face to face with one
of these eight-legged creatures.
You know what I’m talking about, it’s like seeing a snake right at your feet.
If you saw it, the snake I mean, ten feet from you it would be one thing, but
you never do. By the time you see it, it is way up in your personal space and
all you want to do is get away from it ten feet ago. It’s the same with a spider.
It’s always a right in your face confrontation. You’re in the Matrix trying
to bend backwards like Neo dodging bullets. Then you’re trying to back up
as fast as you can while your heart is going 400mph. I ran into one of these
Joro spiders at Watson Mill last week. It had built its web across the walking
trail and I got it smack in the face. I like to died. So when they say the spider
won’t hurt you it’s a lie. You’ll hurt yourself trying to get out of the way, or
like me, trying to get it off of you.
According to the experts, Joro spiders eat bugs, including a smelly invasive
stinkbug that nothing else will eat, so in that regard they are good to have
around. Garden guy Walter Reeves’ website says that in the fall the females
will mate with the much smaller males and fill an egg sac that can be the size
of a grape to a tennis ball with between 400 to 1500 eggs. The spiders die off
and the eggs hatch next spring.
So do these spiders face any natural predators? Yes, they do. Birds, lizards,
wasps, and other spiders are on the list of animals that eat Joro’s. Yet I’m
willing to bet that the bigger these spiders grow the smaller that list becomes.
Congratulations to OC softball on winning the region for the second straight
year. Good luck in the post regular season tournament.
Trauma in the tower stand
Cooler fall weather has finally
started appearing around here, at
least in the mornings, and deer
hunting season is underway. This
coming weekend will be the opener
for those hunting with guns other
than primitive weapons, which is
when the majority of hunters get
involved each year.
Without fail, when this time
of year rolls around, I can’t help
but think back to one of the most
frightening experiences I’ve ever
had. Though we always get a good
laugh about it now, it was tmly
traumatizing at the time.
Let me start this out by saying
that I am not an outdoorsy person.
I like being outside as much as the
next person, but I don’t really have
the desire to camp out, or traipse
through the woods, and I definitely
don’t like being outside when it’s
either really hot or really dark.
However, I married someone
who loves the outdoors, particularly
hunting or fishing. Therefore, for the
sake of love and marital harmony, I
went fishing and hunting with him
several times in the early years of
our relationship.
The first few times I went
hunting with him, we sat on the
ground because I obviously was not
climbing up a tree in an individual
deer stand when I have no desire to
hunt myself and don’t even want
to hold a gun. After a couple years,
though, he joined a hunting club
that had several tower stands on the
property.
Brandon felt like this was the
perfect opportunity for me to
experience “real” hunting, up in the
air, with a much greater chance of
seeing deer or at least some form of
wildlife. The few times I had been
hunting previously when we sat on
the ground, we never saw a single
deer.
The afternoon we went hunting
together in the tower stand was
gorgeous, but the wind was
blowing. Once we got to the tower
stand, I was a little discouraged by
precisely how high up the stand
was. It seemed much taller than I
had anticipated.
Jessica Colquitt
Also, the ladder did not extend
up above the platform, so once you
got near the top,
there was nothing
to hold onto but
the platform itself.
You had to swing
your leg up and
climb into the stand.
The ladder was at
a 90 degree angle
as well, straight up, so when you
climbed down, you couldn’t see
anything below you.
Once I neared the top of the
ladder, I made the mistake of
looking down, and then when I
didn’t have anything to hold onto
anymore, I really got scared. It
took some convincing to finally
get me to swing my leg up onto the
platform, which bruised my ankle
pretty bad in the process. I then had
to be essentially pulled up into the
stand, which wasn’t fun and scared
me even worse.
I discovered as soon as I sat
down in my chair that the tower
stand swayed at the slightest
movement. Anytime the wind
blew, it moved. If once of us
shifted our weight, it moved,
and that didn’t help my queasy
stomach any.
Add to that the fact that
I was facing the one side of
the stand that was completely
open, making me stare down at
the ground and the ladder that
I couldn’t even see, knowing
I would have to climb down it
eventually, and having no idea
how I would. The longer I was
up there, the more upset and
scared I became.
I was absolutely freezing,
wrapped up like an Eskimo
in my coat. My lips were dry
as sand because I couldn’t put
any chapstick on them, and the
wind was making them worse. I
had a raging headache and felt
like I could throw up or bust out
crying at any moment.
On top of all of this, I was
See Colquitt, Page Five
Time to put on our thinking caps
By Dink NeSmith
O glethorpe County, I hear
you.
Everywhere I go, you are
telling me that you are pleased your
148-year-old newspaper is planning
to have more birthdays.
Yes, indeed, that’s the plan.
And at the same time—while you are
expressing your appreciation—you are
asking, “What can I do to help?”
I don’t have all the answers, but I do have
suggestions.
Oglethorpe County, it’s time to put on your
thinking caps. I’ve got mine on. Together, we’ll
find a way to keep
Dink
NeSmith
Together, we'll
find a way
to keep The
Echo blowing
out birthday
candles for
years to come.
The Echo blowing out
birthday candles for
years to come.
To prime your
brainstorming
pumps, here are
some of my thoughts:
■ We’ll be forming
a community
advisory board for
the new nonprofit
corporation that
will own The Oglethorpe
Echo. We’ll need a diverse group of citizens who can
advise but not control the newspaper. Suggestions?
■ At the same time, I have spoken with Susie
Johnson, principal of Oglethorpe County High
School. We aim to have an equally diverse group of
six to eight high school students to inject their ideas
as to how The Echo can best serve their generation
and the community.
■ We’re meeting regularly with UGA’s Grady
College of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Instructor Andy Johnston, as managing editor, will
supervise the student interns. As the volunteer
chairman of The Oglethorpe Echo Legacy Inc., I will
be an additional adviser. I live here. I vote here, and
we pay taxes in Oglethorpe County. Right now, we
are trying to build an operational bridge from Nov.
1 until the start of winter semester in mid-January
2022.1 ask for your cooperation and patience.
■ We’ll need to add more subscribers. If you
subscribe, thank you. Please talk to your friends,
family and neighbors. If they aren’t subscribers,
encourage them to sign up. We’ll be conducting
circulation campaigns. Maybe your civic club would
like to get involved with this.
■ Expanding our readership base is vital. We’ll
also need to increase advertising. You must be a
good business before you can be a good anything-
else. If you own a business, let us help you promote
your enterprise. The Echo will soon be adding a
digital option, too. We’ll be knocking on your doors.
■ An application is being filed to form the
newspaper’s parent company, The Oglethorpe Echo
Legacy Inc. When approved by the IRS, you can
make tax-deductible
donations. The
process can take
six to nine months,
but I understand—
once approved—
the tax-deduction
provision will be
retroactive. Already,
we are receiving
contributions and
pledges. Thank you!
■ Maybe you can’t
make a monetary donation. There are still ways
for you to donate something just as important—
your time and energy. Perhaps you’d like to say,
“Let me take care of the landscaping chores at The
Echo.” Or maybe you could volunteer to answer the
telephone one afternoon a week. You get the idea.
There are plenty of ways you can help.
I read something the other day: “Local news knits
the fabric of American life.” Peter Funt is spot-on.
That’s exactly what your newspaper has been doing
for 148 years. And that’s why The Oglethorpe Echo
must keep on keeping on knitting our community
together.
Oglethorpe County, it’s time to put on your
thinking caps.
I’m listening.
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com
(For more commentaries visit\www.dinknesmith.com.)
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