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About The Oglethorpe echo. (Crawford, Ga.) 1874-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2025)
Page 2 THE OGLETHORPE Echo Thursday, October 2, 2025 LOCAL ROUNDUP Monday is final day to register to vote in next month’s elections DREW BEARDEN/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO Crawford resident Erica Lillard helps her daughter Clementine make a pirate hat during Homeschool Hangout at the Oglethorpe County Library on Sept. 19. Homeschool Hangout gains traction at library By Drew Bearden The Oglethorpe Echo For years, homeschool families in Oglethorpe County had to travel to neighboring counties for alterna tive schooling programs or enrich ment activities. Now, a short drive to the Oglethorpe County Library for the Homeschool Hangout Program gives them a chance to meet clos er to home. “We just come to the library all the time, so we’re just coming here when it happens,” said Craw ford resident Erica Lillard, who at tended on a recent Friday with her 4-year-old daughter, Clementine, and 1-year-old son, Caspian. Georgia has one of the largest homeschooling populations in the country, according to the National Home Education Research Center, with 85,510 students. That accounts for about 4.6% of the state’s school- age children. The library’s Homeschool Hang out, relaunched in August, is de signed as a space for families to meet, share resources and give kids time to socialize. When the program began in August 2022, 10-12 chil dren attended each week. The program was suspended last year following the transition to pub lic schools by several attendees and time conflicts for several regular participants. Attendance has yet to reach those numbers since return ing, but organizers are hopeful. “It gives the kids a chance to do something fun at the library,” branch manager Nicole Hensley said. The program offers themed activ ities for younger kids, with games and computer-based learning avail able for older students from 3-4 MORE Info Homeschool Hangout is held from 3-4 p.m. on the third Friday every month at the Oglethorpe County Library. For more infor mation, call the library at 706-743-8817. p.m. the third Friday of the month. Past projects have ranged from li brary-tied crafts to Talk like a Pi rate Day. Families also have direct say in what those activities can look like, Hensley said. “I think there was one time a family was doing a study on in sects,” she said. “So we did a craft and activity with insects, and had a bunch of insect books available.” The library staff, including chil dren’s program specialist Beth Akins and young adult program specialist Cameron Shook, empha sized the hangout is open to sugges tions. “We want people to know that we can build a program around what they’re interested in,” Hensley said. For families like the Lillards, the hangout has become a natural ex tension of their library visits. The program fits into their routine while giving the children a space to ex plore new ideas and activities with other homeschool students. Lillard said “going through the books and being able to broaden their knowledge” was her favorite part of the program. WEST MAIN AUTO REPAIR 706-743-7379 Stokely’s Garage 126 North Street Crawford GA 30630 706.743.3707 Tuesday - Saturday 11am-6pm Motorcycle & ATV Repair BE OUR GUEST BIBLE STUDY WED. 6:30™ SS 10am SUN WORSHIP I 1am SUN NIGHT 6:30pm 791 LEXINGTON CARLTON RD CARLTON, GA 30627 Staff Report The last day to register to vote for next month’s general and special election is Monday, Oct. 6. There are three ways to register: Go to the Georgia Secretary of State’s website: [mvp.sos.ga.gov) Go to the Oglethorpe County Board of Elections and Registra tion office at 41 Fairground Road in Lexington. Print and fill out a voter registra tion application and return it to the elections office. The board of elections and regis tration also is accepting applications for mailed ballots for the general election. The deadline to request a mailed ballot is Oct. 24. Applications are available on the Oglethorpe County Elections web- site |oglethorpecountyga.gov/elec-| tions) or by calling the elections of fice at 706-743-8954. Registration underway at rec department Registration for flag football and basketball is underway at the Oglethorpe County Recreation De partment. Flag football registration con tinues through Nov. 12 for co-ed groups: 8U, 10U and 12U. There is a $50 registration fee and games will be held at 2, 3 and 4 p.m. on Sundays. Basketball registration will con tinue through Nov. 3. Cost is $75. The age groups are co-ed ages 4-6, boys 7-14 and girls 7-10. The flag football and basketball schedules will not conflict. State sets tourism mark at 174.2 million visitors Tourists and business travel ers continued flocking to the Peach State last year, injecting billions into the economy, according to new state numbers from Gov. Bri an Kemp. A record 174.2 million traveled across the country and the globe to visit Georgia in 2024 and spent $45.2 billion, up 4% from the year before, he said in a statement issued by his office Friday. The governor traveled to Savan nah for a state tourism conference where he revealed the numbers. He credited Georgia’s cultural attrac tions, its communities and its scen ery — from coasts to mountains — for a third record-breaking year in a row. The Georgia Department of Eco nomic Development said more than 17 million of the visitors were do mestic travelers here for business and conventions. Their numbers were up nearly 5%, accounting for $4.6 billion in spending. Tourism is the state’s sec ond-largest economic contributor, according to the agency. The influx — more than 15 times the state population of 11.2 mil lion last year — bolstered the bot tom lines of hotels, restaurants and recreation and transportation busi nesses. The government also took a $5.1 billion cut, with Kemp saying the state and local tax revenues saved each household an average $1,285 in taxes. — Capitol Beat News Service Hogs, From Page 1 In the case of the 391-pound hog, Rankin said it was one of the largest that they have caught. Rankin was a linebacker at the University of Georgia from 2014- 16 and contributed to the Bulldogs’ special teams. He had 26 career tackles. “The adrenaline is just like foot ball,” he said. “When I walked up and saw those dogs holding that hog, it felt just like running on the field at Sanford Stadium. “Football taught me discipline, it taught me to work hard. Now, I just put that into something different.” Feral hogs have become an in creasing issue for agricultural pro ducers in Georgia and across the U.S. According to The American Farm Bureau Federation, feral hog damage tops $1.6 billion annually. Feral hogs are an adaptable spe cies, and controlling their popula ¬ tion can be challenging. “They’re smart animals,” Rankin said. “They’ll learn to avoid traps. They adapt fast. Hunting is one of the only ways to keep these numbers under control.” Rankin also said the meat from the hogs never goes to waste. “We eat what we kill. If it is healthy, we will harvest the meat; we don’t just kill to kill,” he said. Budget, From Page 1 said. “They are gonna get the bulk up from the county level. It makes sense that they’re gonna increase just because they never close.” The budget has increased steadi ly over the past few years, with an overall increase of $2.45 million since 2020. On the other side of the ledger, property taxes are the largest source of revenue, consistently making up about 38% of the total revenue ev ery year. Other revenue sources — like lo ¬ cal option sales tax, insurance pre mium tax and title ad valorem — increase annually, which allows the budget to increase. Lewis predicted that hospital transport fees would go up in 2026 as well. “There’s a lot of moving parts when it comes to getting all of this finalized for 2026,” he said. Lewis compiles the budget by meeting with department heads, fulfilling requests and prioritizing needs. The target with the budget every year is to reach the rollback rate, a millage rate that prevents a tax increase by ensuring the county collects the same amount of proper ty tax revenue as the previous year. Lewis said he makes all of these decisions with the taxpayer in the “forefront” of his mind because all of the budget “comes from tax mon ey of some sort from somewhere.” “The business of the county changes almost daily,” Lewis said. “The budget process is continuous.” Hunting for local news?! Oglethorpe ECHO with a Friend How to- 1 THE OGLETHORPE SUBSCRIBE NOW In-County: 1 year $37.00 (incl tax) • Adjoining County: 1 year $45.00 (incl tax) Elsewhere in GA: 1 year $53.00 (incl tax) • Out of State: 1 year $56.00 (no tax) Digital Only Subscription: $30.00 Start Date: Expire Date: WEBNESBAJ NIEMIS 0 00-7:30 FOOD GAMES BIBLE LEESON IF YOU NEED A RIDE JD CHURCH CONTACT US ON FACEBOOK OR WWW.SANDVCROSSBAPIIST.COM Name: | | NEW Address: | I RENEWAL Email Address: Phone GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE P.O. Box 268, Lexington, GA 30648 | 706.743.3111| www.theoglethorpeecho.com
