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Index
News 2, 3,5,6, 7,8
Opinion 4
Around the County 6
Calendar 9
Classifieds 9
Legals 10-11
Sheriff's Report 12
Sports 13
Inside
Abby Jones, the softball
£ team's lone senior, was
honored at Senior Night
last week and was praisec
by coach Brianna Dickens
for her ability to make the
"coaching staff's lives easier
... Page lit
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The Oglethorpe Echo
Volume 149, Number 49
September 7, 2023 ■ Oglethorpe County, Georgia
$1
Deer are bigger, just
in time for bow season
By Christian Kirby II
The Oglethorpe Echo
Hunters who head into the
woods for the start of bow sea
son this weekend might notice a
trend.
While deer harvest totals have
remained consistent the past few
seasons, hunters have noticed
that the size of deer are on the
rise.
“It seems to me, from looking at
things, that people are harvesting
larger bucks,” said Adam Louder-
milk, a game warden for Georgia’s
Department of Natural Resources
(DNR).
Loudermilk said he believes that
the size of deer have increased in
the last 8-10 years.
Adam Smith, a member of Na
ture’s Harvest Meat Co. in Craw
ford, also confirmed similar ob
servations regarding overall deer
size.
“You still get a small one ev
ery now and then, but the rule of
thumb is they are a lot bigger and
heavier,” he said.
Hunters are restricted to using
bows until Oct. 21, when the use
of firearms is permitted through
Jan. 14.
See DEER, Page 7
Georgia deer harvests vary only slightly over past six years
While the total number of deer harvested has remained about the same, according to the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources, hunters and deer processors speculate that the size of deer
has been increasing in recent years.
221,430
201S-!9
Chart Christian Kirby II • Source: Georgia Department of Natural Resources * Created with Daiawrapper
CHRISTIAN KIRBY ll/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
The history
of county’s
schools is
on display
Library exhibit seeks to add
insight into misconceptions
By Jared Smith
The Oglethorpe Echo
Tom Gresham and Ashley Simpson, mem
bers of the Digital Atlas of Historic Oglethorpe
County project, hope their current exhibit will
provide insight into the history of education in
Oglethorpe County.
“We have a lot of misconceptions about ed
ucation in Georgia,” Simpson said. “We have
the misconception that Black (people) weren’t
educated, that women weren’t educated, or that
women were only taught to do handiwork, and
that does not seem to be the case, at least in
Oglethorpe County.”
The exhibit titled “Back to School — 100
Years Ago” is on display through this month
at the Oglethorpe County Library. It fea
tures a variety of photos, maps and mem
orabilia.
The two biggest pieces are the maps of the
white and Black school districts of Oglethorpe
County from 1934. Multiple indicators on the
maps show details of school locations, railroad
tracks, churches and more.
See HISTORY. Page 5
JOHN HENRY HAMMOND/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Amanda Tedrow and Patrick Phelps discussTedrow's compost bin, which includes dirt, paper scraps, vegetables and
worms. She showed the box at the UGA Extension Office's second annual Fall Garden Workshop in Lexington on Aug. 31.
Cultivating
community
Experts offer advice
for home gardening
in cool, fall temps
JARED SMITH/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Tom Gresham assembles the "Back to
School — 100 Years Ago" exhibit at the
Oglethorpe County Library on Aug. 31.
The exhibit, which was researched and
is presented by the Digital Atlas of His
toric Oglethorpe County, can be viewed
throughout this month.
By John Henry Hammond
The Oglethorpe Echo
Amanda Tedrow keeps a discreet, but
fascinating, secret beneath her desk: a
box of paper scraps, dirt, vegetables and,
most surprisingly, worms.
The unassuming box is a testament to
her passion for sustainability and com
posting.
Tedrow, the University of Georgia Ex
tension Office program coordinator for
Northeast Georgia, joined Lama Ney and
Philip Brown at the UGA Extension Of
fice’s second annual Fall Garden Work
shop on Aug. 31.
“It was just easier to put my food
scraps in here, along with shredded pa
per,” Tedrow said. “To me, it was just an
easier way to do composting instead of
the backyard version.”
The event featured best practices for
growing and maintaining a garden during
the fall. The 14 attendees participated in a
two-workshop in three sections: fall gar
dening basics, a rainfall simulator — and
Tedrow’s box of worms, which was used
to gain insights into composting.
“I think having open, inviting, free
classes that introduce people to new in
formation and give them the space to ask
their questions, and even talk one-on-one,
will just help people if they stumble while
trying to garden,” Ney said.
Ney talked about plant selection and
cultivation through the cooler fall tem
peratures. She walked participants
through advantages and disadvantages of
popular plants, while emphasizing cover
crops in maintaining a healthy garden.
Ney said novice gardeners often face
barriers, but she was optimistic that shar
ing expertise would help.
Brown, a grazing specialist with the
National Resource Conservation Service,
led a demonstration on soil erosion and
water infiltration.
Brown placed five soil and vege
tation samples found in Oglethorpe
County under a rainfall simulator. The
simulator then sprayed the samples
with water at 15 mph to imitate intense
rainfall.
Jars were positioned in front of the soil
deposits to help gauge how much water
was running off, and a second set of jars
sat beneath the samples to show how well
the water was able to penetrate the soil.
See GARDENING, Page 12
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