Alfredo Rodriguez, born in Havana, Cuba, is a Grammy Award-nominated jazz pianist and composer whose trio will bring the international sounds of Miami to Ramsey Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 15. For more info, visit pac.uga.edu.
Larry Tenner
ADVERTISING SALES Libba Beaucham, Dave Martin
CITY EDITOR Blake Aued
Outgoing Western Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez highlighted what she considers her top accomplishments during a rocky tenure as the top prosecutor for Clarke and Oconee counties. Kalki Yalamanchili, who defeated the progressive Democrat in November running as an independent, was sworn in Dec. 16 and officially took office on Jan. 1.
See “District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez’s Parting Thoughts” at flagpole.com.
Tackling Growth in North Athens
PLUS, MORE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT AND SCHOOL TAX NEWS
By Blake Aued news@flagpole.com
A second proposal for a large residential development off Newton Bridge Road prompted Athens- Clarke County planners and planning commissioners to start talking about the future of the area as the north side of town continues to grow rapidly.
The area is currently designated for industrial use, but industries are no longer interested in locating there because it contains environmentally sensitive wetlands. A developer has proposed building 186 townhouses and 160 detached homes on 120 acres off Newton Bridge Road about a quarter-mile from the Holland Youth Sports Complex, which would require a rezoning and a change to the county’s future land use map. The ACC Commission approved another subdivision nearby in December 2023 after the applicant made concessions on pedestrian amenities.
“From a staff standpoint, we’re optimistic that the corridor needs to pivot from a future land use standpoint, and residential seems like the appropriate direction,” Planning Director Bruce Lonnee said at a Jan. 2 planning commission meeting. “The question then becomes, at what density?” Planning commissioners discussed whether the corridor should be designated “traditional neighborhood” or “mixeddensity residential,” both of which allow for walkable residential and small- scale commercial development. A committee is currently working on the first update of ACC’s future land use map in 25 years.
“We’re still working on all of this, but that corridor, Newton Bridge, is definitely not looking like industrial, I think that’s pretty safe to say,” said Alex Sams, a planning commissioner who serves on the committee drawing the land-use map. “It’s seeming very appropriate at the moment that more housing go in there.”
Previously industrial buildings nearby are already transitioning into other uses— for example, mixed-use developments at the Chase Park Warehouses, Southern Mill and the former watch factory General Time. “We could see [General Time] becoming a little bit of a node for this area, for residents to come and enjoy themselves,” senior planner Stephen Jaques said. Those are denser developments and led to discussion about how densely Newton Bridge Road should be developed. Planning commissioner Sara Beresford worried about “accidentally [creating] Gwinnett County sprawl. I don’t want to see that there. I think we can do better.” Likewise, planning commissioner Jennifer Fleece said she wants to see the corridor develop as a community, rather than as isolated subdivisions lacking restaurants or a grocery store.
Planning commissioners also raised concerns about transportation safety. “You’re adding residential density on a road that I think is pretty treacherous,” Beresford said. As Lonnee noted, another committee assigned to recommend infrastructure improvements funded by tax revenue from future growth on Newton Bridge has said road safety should be the top priority.
The planning commission had similar issues with the latest iteration of Winslow Park, an even larger subdivision proposed for Atlanta Highway west of Georgia Square Mall. It would include a total of 944 units. Planning commissioners roundly criticized the proposal in September and did not like it much better last week—in particular, the “flat,” repetitive architecture, the use of alleys, a lack of community greenspace or a civic center, a lack of housing options for such a large development and the lack of a commercial component.
“For 200 acres, we’re only getting four housing types—single- family detached, single- family attached, low-rise multifamily and duplexes,” Jaques said. “We feel like with a project this size, we should get more variety than that.”
The original New Urban- style plan from 2004 was “intended to give residents access to commercial and that interplay between commercial and residential, in hopes that folks wouldn’t have to get in their car and go on the highway every time they want to get something,” but through various revisions over the years now suffers from “design drift,” Jaques said. “Essentially, we’re getting increased density without the design principles that make density an attractive place to live,” he said.
neighborhood.
The planning commission—an appointed board that advises the county commission on zoning decisions—voted unanimously to table the rezoning and waiver requests for up to 90 days.
A third major development planning commissioners reviewed did get high marks. Both planning staffers and planning commissioners praised the “unique,” “modern” architecture of a 228-bedroom apartment complex proposed for the corner of North Avenue and Strickland Avenue. The 4.5-acre parcel is currently a mobile home park with about 12 RV owners living on the property, but the current landowner said he is working with the residents to relocate and is willing to assist them financially. That proposal will get a hearing at the Jan. 21 ACC Commission meeting, with a vote tentatively scheduled for Feb. 4.
CCSD Wants to Opt Out of Property Tax Cap
The Clarke County School District wants to opt out of a new state law capping how fast property tax assessments can rise, and is planning to hold three mandatory public hearings this month.
“ That corridor, Newton Bridge, is definitely not looking like industrial, I think that’s pretty safe to say.
Prompted by state legislators’ concerns about rapidly rising home values, and thus taxes, House Bill 581—ratified by Georgia voters in a November referendum—caps assessments at the rate of inflation. For example, if a home’s value rose 5% but inflation was 2%, the assessment for tax purposes would go up 2%.
property taxes and, under state law, cannot raise the tax rate higher than 20 mills to compensate. It could also lead to higher taxes for renters and business owners, since the cap only applies to owner-occupied homes.
“While the legislation would reduce the tax burden on homeowners on the surface, it could lead to an increase in the millage rate to offset the revenue difference, which would shift the tax burden to businesses and income-producing rental properties,” according to a news release from CCSD. “The state legislation provides school districts only one opportunity to opt out, and by not opting out, the district and BOE would lose local control over property- tax policies, along with the ability to tailor tax rates and exemptions to specific community needs and fiscal conditions.”
CCSD has lowered the tax rate in recent years from the maximum of 20 mills to 18.8 mills in response to higher property values. The district expects to take in $135 million in property tax revenue this year, which is 57% of its fiscal 2025 general fund budget. The rest comes from the state government through the chronically underfunded Quality Basic Education formula. CCSD also collects a 1% sales tax, but is restricted to spending it on construction projects and other capital expenses, not operating costs.
The three hearings are scheduled for 6 p.m. on Jan. 14, 21 and 28 at 595 Prince Ave., the district’s headquarters. The school board will then vote on an opt-out resolution at its Feb. 13 meeting.
The Oconee County school system also intends to opt out, although Flagpole contributor Lee Becker reported at his blog oconeecountyobservations.org that new chair Michael Ransom made the decision unilaterally, without a vote of the school board.
Under the current plan, the 415 detached houses, 216 townhouses and 313 apartments would be separated from each other, but planning commissioners said they wanted to see them mixed together. “What it’s really missing is the principle of integrating housing types,” Beresford said.
“It feels very Gwinnett County,” Fleece added.
Scott Haines of W&A Engineering said the project now includes entry-level cottages that will sell for about $100,000 less than Athens’ $350,000 median home price. “We feel like this is a really awesome opportunity to add some housing to the community, so we’d really like to see if there’s a path forward for it.”
Although it may be cookie- cutter, planning commissioner Sarah Gehring said its affordability is a plus. “Especially if you’re on a budget, you can’t always afford the nicest things,” she said.
Regarding the exclusion of commercial or retail space, Haines said his client, D.R. Horton, is a homebuilder and not a commercial developer, and that the landowner has sold the commercially zoned property. He also argued that the residential component should come first. “If you want village commercial, it needs a village,” he said. “You can’t build a coffee shop and expect the neighborhood to come later.”
However, as Jaques noted, in past New Urban developments in Athens, the commercial portion either never materialized or, like Oak Grove, turned into a car- centric strip mall rather than part of a walkable
However, city and county governments and school districts can opt out before Mar. 1. For those that opt out, the current system where county assessors use the fair market value to determine property values for tax purposes would remain in place.
Critics worry that the new law could starve local governments, particularly school districts, which are heavily reliant on
Athens homeowners could still save a few dollars off the ACC portion of their tax bill. Mayor Kelly Girtz has said he does not anticipate that Athens- Clarke County will opt out, because the ACC government has a more diverse tax base than CCSD and can more easily absorb the impact of the cap. Nor has ACC run the required legal notices to do so. f
2024 in Review
GEORGIA’S TOP POLITICAL STORIES OF THE YEAR
By Jill Nolin news@flagpole.com
All aboard ye ol’ time machine as we take stock of the year’s biggest stories in Georgia politics. The first stop on our journey is January of 2024, which was exactly one million years ago—or so it seems to your narrator.
Election Interference Case Derailed
In January, an attorney for one of the lesser-known co-defendants in the Fulton County election interference probe filed a motion that would upend District Attorney Fani Willis’ plans to take the case to trial in 2024—or ever.
The filing accused Willis of having a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, in the probe and argued that the arrangement represented a conflict of interest, pointing to vacations the two took together. Willis admitted to the relationship but said it started after Wade was hired.
A Fulton County judge ruled in March that Willis could stay on the case if Wade resigned, which he promptly did. But a Georgia Court of Appeals panel issued a 2-1 ruling this month saying that wasn’t adequate and disqualified Willis and her office from the case. Willis is appealing the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court.
As the year winds down, the case is left limping along and risks losing its top target, President-elect Donald Trump, if his attorneys succeed in arguing that the incoming president cannot be prosecuted once he is sworn in next month.
Epic Debate Failure
Atlanta was the setting of the now infamous CNN debate that put President Joe Biden’s frailty on full, unfiltered display for the American public in late June. The debate exposed the president’s vulnerabilities, though he and his supporters dismissed it as a bad night, and led to intense scrutiny of Biden’s fitness and raised new questions about his ability to lead the country for another four years. Biden ended his visit that day in a very Atlanta way with a late-night stop at a Waffle House, where he told reporters he thought he “did well” at the debate.
More than three weeks would pass before Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to run in his place, setting her up to run an abbreviated campaign that bypassed the usual primary process. The unusual move created an unprecedented vacancy at the top of the ticket just one month before Biden was scheduled to officially accept his party’s nomination.
Battleground Status Endures
One of seven swing states, Georgia was a top target for both presidential candidates this year. Harris and Trump’s tit-for-tat campaign events—often falling within a week, if not days, of each other—gave voters plenty of opportunities to see the candidates in person this fall (and ran the state’s politics reporters ragged).
But unlike four years ago, when Biden narrowly won Georgia by about 12,000 votes and became the first Democratic presidential candidate in three decades to clinch the state, Trump found electoral redemption here with a healthy 115,000-vote edge over Harris in November’s election. Also unlike four years ago, Trump accepted the outcome of Georgia’s election this time.
School Shooting Leads to Arrest of Father
A 14-year-old student shot more than a dozen people at Apalachee High School in Barrow County in September, killing two students and two teachers. Nine other people were injured.
The shooter was arrested and charged with murder. But in a rare move, his father, 54-year-old Colin Gray was also
charged with involuntary manslaughter, second degree murder and cruelty to children.
The father purchased the AR-style firearm used in the shooting last December as a Christmas gift for his son, according to law enforcement officials. In 2023, the police had talked to the son about online posts threatening to target a school in another county. It was only the second time nationally that a parent of a school shooting suspect has been charged.
The shooting has also renewed calls for gun safety measures.
A Historic, Deadly Storm
In late September, Hurricane Helene crossed over the Florida state line into Georgia still at hurricane strength, then barreled up the eastern side of the state, devastating communities along the way.
Helene will be remembered for the string of tragedies left in the storm’s wake. Thirty-four people were killed in Georgia alone, making it the deadliest storm to hit the state in more than a century. The storm also caused at least $5.5 billion in agricultural and timber losses, putting Georgia leaders from both parties at the center of a late-year fight over disaster relief in Washington.
College Student’s Murder Sparks Immigration Debate
The impact of Laken Riley’s murder while jogging on the University of Georgia’s campus in February was immediate and widespread, fueling a national debate over immigration when it was revealed that her then-accused killer had entered the country illegally.
went to an Atlanta-area hospital for treatment, the doctors waited 20 hours to perform a dilation and curettage, or D&C, to treat sepsis that resulted from an incomplete abortion.
In Georgia, the revelations reignited debate over an exception in the law that purports to protect mothers when their own health is imperiled. There is expected to be a new push to repeal Georgia’s 2019 law, which is currently before the Georgia Supreme Court again.
In November, Georgia officials dismissed all members of the maternal mortality review committee in response to ProPublica obtaining internal reports detailing the deaths of the two women.
Trump Trio on Election Board Goes Rogue
Three members of the State Election Board attempted to push through new election rules that critics argued were attempts to create chaos in the immediate aftermath of the November election in Georgia.
Rules like requiring a hand count of all ballots on election night thrust the otherwise little-known panel into the national news. Their work also earned them a shoutout from Trump on the campaign trail, where he called them “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.”
Their actions drew pushback from the board’s GOP governor-appointed chairman, John Fervier, and Republican Attorney General Chris Carr, who warned the members that they were exceeding their authority. The board is designed to interpret and implement the policy decisions made by the legislature.
After the election, the board voted instead to ask state lawmakers to take up legislation next year that would address their concerns, rather than pursue their own rulemaking.
The 22-year-old Augusta University student’s name was evoked under the Gold Dome when state lawmakers pushed forward measures meant to force local enforcement to assist federal immigration officials, and her murder was often cited by President-elect Donald Trump on the campaign trail.
Jose Antonio Ibarra was convicted in November of felony murder, malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury and aggravated assault with intent to rape, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His attorneys have since asked for a new trial.
Two Women Die Seeking Abortions
At least two Georgia women, Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller, died after the state’s six-week abortion ban took effect in 2022 while trying to end their pregnancy, according to ProPublica.
The state’s maternal mortality review committee concluded that both deaths were preventable.
Miller’s death in particular became part of the national debate over the impact of the wave of abortion restrictions that took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court ended the federal right to an abortion more than two years ago.
The 28-year-old mother attempted to terminate her pregnancy using abortion medication from a clinic in North Carolina. But when she experienced a rare complication and
Medicaid Expansion Gets a Look
For the first time, high-ranking Georgia Republicans went into a new legislative session saying they were open to considering expanding the public insurance program for the poor, or at least a version of it.
Georgia’s GOP leaders had long shunned expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, so it was big news this year when an expansion proposal received a surprise hearing in a Senate committee. But Gov. Brian Kemp’s limited expansion program, Georgia Pathways to Coverage, cast a long shadow over those discussions, and the governor’s continued opposition to full expansion has been credited with blocking this year’s talks from progressing. Sen. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) cast the tie-breaking vote against moving Medicaid expansion forward to the full Senate. At the time, Republican lawmakers said the governor’s program deserved more time to be successful. As of November, 5,562 people enrolled in the program, according to a tracker from the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.
Georgia is one of 10 states that have not fully expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
School Voucher Bill Passes
Following years of failed attempts, GOP lawmakers mustered enough votes last year to expand the state’s school voucher program, thanks partly to the governor’s announcement that getting it passed this year would be a priority for him.
The measure allows families with students enrolled in Georgia’s K-12 public schools to remove $6,500 of state funding provided to local school districts in order to attend private schools or to homeschool. Critics of the vouchers argued the measure will siphon away funding from public schools and questioned whether the $6,500 would even be enough for cash-strapped families to afford the cost of tuition at many of the state’s better private schools. But an expansive interpretation of the law by the new agency running the program has led to far more students being made eligible for the voucher than originally expected, the Associated Press reported in December. f
This story originally appeared at georgiarecorder.com.
Thousands of UGA students attended a public memorial for Laken Riley, whose murder brought national attention to Athens.
JAKE ZERKEL / FILE
Trump and Carter
TWO BOOKENDS TO A HALF-CENTURY
By Charles Hayslett news@flagpole.com
After nearly two years in hospice care at his home in Plains, Jimmy Carter died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100. His family had said a few months ago that the nation’s 39th president was set on hanging on until he could cast his vote for Kamala Harris over Donald Trump. He achieved that last goal, albeit to no avail.
No doubt like many Americans, I had been wondering since the Nov. 5 general election how America could have gone from Carter to Trump in a mere half-century and, more importantly, what that metamorphosis says about us as a nation. How could we have gone from a president who campaigned on a pledge never to lie to the American people (and who, nearly as I can recall or determine with a bit of research, kept that promise) to one who, according to The Washington Post, made 30,573 “false or misleading” statements during his four-year presidency?
From a presidential candidate whose public acknowledgement that he had “committed adultery in my heart many times” nearly upended his campaign to one who actually did commit adultery and bragged that he could “grab [women] by the pussy” and paid no political price for it?
From a president who vowed to do all he could to eliminate nuclear weapons from the face of the planet to one who, by multiple accounts, repeatedly harried the nation’s military leaders about using them?
From a president who opened his inaugural address by thanking the man he had defeated “for all he has done to heal our land” to one who built his campaign on a false claim that his predecessor wasn’t even born in the United States?
is credited with all but eradicating Guinea worm disease in Africa and helping farmers in African countries double and even triple their grain production. The Carter Center also provided election observation services in 26 countries around the world and focused on mental health issues, a passion of Mrs. Carter’s.
The Carters continued their support for Habitat for Humanity, including participating in homebuilding projects into their 90s, and Carter himself went back to teaching Sunday school at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”
If Carter did indeed cling to life long enough to cast his 2024 presidential ballot for Vice President Harris, it’s not a stretch to think he might have deliberately hung on just a little longer to make a final statement on the state of our politics—and to make a dramatic exit. Few who knew Carter will have difficulty believing that. But whether by design or a twist of fate, Carter’s state funeral will serve as a prelude to Trump’s impending inauguration as the nation’s 47th president. American flags will still be flying at half-staff to honor Carter when Trump takes the oath of office on Jan. 20.
Carter left office a much-maligned figure. He had presided over an economy plagued by double-digit inflation and an Iranian hostage crisis that dominated national news for the final 444 days of his presidency. He was swept from office in a landslide loss to Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Carter, of course, is almost certainly better known to current generations for his post-presidential work. After losing to Reagan, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter returned to their peanut farm in Sumter County and founded, instead of a traditional presidential library, the Carter Center in Atlanta. The work of that organization
Trump spent his four-year post-presidency dealing with criminal charges and civil lawsuits—and, of course, complaining that the 2020 election had been stolen from him. He also repeatedly proclaimed himself to be “the best” president in American history, with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln.
Carter characterized his own presidency as “mediocre,” but history may be kinder to him. A 2024 survey of 154 presidential historians and experts ranked Carter 22nd out of 45. Trump ranked 45th.
Carter’s funeral and Trump’s inaugural will stand as bookends to one of the most turbulent half-centuries in American history, and I will leave it to historians, philosophers and others smarter than I to sort it out and explain the evolution from Carter to Trump. I can’t help but think, though, that tens of thousands of people will line the highways from Plains to Atlanta and then the streets in Washington, D.C., to bid Carter farewell, and that a comparable number will show up for Trump’s inaugural just a few days later and a short distance away. I also can’t help but think that the two crowds will be made up of very different groups of people. f
Jimmy Carter in 1979.
ANSEL
Jimmy Carter and Me
By Pete McCommons pete@flagpole.com
Jimmy Carter belongs to the world, but most Georgians have their own memories of him, and I have mine.
He was originally known politically as Jimmy Who? He seemed always to be running for something as an unknown. He was an unknown state senator when he first ran for governor, losing but knocking out the frontrunner, with the election finally being decided by the Georgia legislature, which of course chose Lester Maddox, because he was the Democrat, like most of the legislature in those days.
Then Carter ran again for governor, this time against Carl Sanders, who had been a popular, progressive governor previously, but couldn’t succeed himself under Georgia law at that time. When Sanders could run again, everybody just naturally assumed that he would be a shoo-in, but Jimmy Carter didn’t share that assumption. Since Sanders was the “liberal,” Carter had to run to the right of him, always a good strategy amongst our electorate. In the campaign, Carter dropped enough code words to assure the good old white boys that he was
Carter set about reorganizing the government, Collins arranged for him to come over to Athens for a dog and pony show to demonstrate what-all the Institute could do to help.
We spent the day making presentations on our various areas of competence. Mine was thought to be the legislature, since I was working on a modernization plan for that body. So I got to make the pitch to the new governor on how the institute could help him give the General Assembly a makeover.
At that time in my life, I was living in a tin-roofed cabin out on Jefferson Road and taking long, early morning walks in the woods with my beagle. I cleaned up pretty well and came to work in a coat and tie, and that’s how I faced the governor when I began my presentation. I had already noticed his mannerism of opening his mouth and eyes wide for a moment every now and then, and after I realized that he wasn’t about to scream or laugh, I assumed it was some kind of relaxation mechanism for all the long meetings that filled his day.
their man, and he beat the silk-stocking Atlanta lawyer, calling him “Cufflinks Carl,” a term originally coined by Republican gubernatorial candidate Jimmy Bentley. In his inaugural address, Gov. Carter announced that the days of racism were over in Georgia, causing the good old boys to start eyeing the Grand Old Party.
Among those assuming that Carl Sanders would win another term as governor were many administrators and department heads at the University of Georgia, which had benefited greatly from the Sanders administration’s emphasis on education. Although the university was usually careful to stay out of state politics, this time around Carl was their friend, and it never entered their minds that he wouldn’t win.
So when Carter won, the university had to scramble to make amends to the Georgia Tech graduate sitting in the governor’s chair. I was working at the UGA Institute of Government at the time, and my boss, Bill Collins, knew as much as anyone in Georgia about state government. He was also a friend of Carl Sanders. When Gov.
I wasn’t disconcerted when he did that a couple of times during my pitch, but I did wonder why he was staring at my forehead while I talked, instead of looking me in the eye. As I finished, I felt a tickle, and when I could, I brushed at it, only to discover a wood tick that had been crawling across my forehead while I was demonstrating my expertise to the governor. I suddenly understood why I thought I had the impression that he hadn’t heard a word I had said.
That was the closest I ever got to President Carter. A lot of Georgians, including good friends of mine, went on to serve in his administration. I was not among them. I do not blame my beagle for keeping me out of the White House, nor do I blame my participation in a rebellion against Gov. Carter’s leadership in the Georgia delegation to the Democratic National Convention in Miami. Our crowd nominated Sen. George McGovern; Gov. Carter rightly admonished that McGovern could not win the presidency, but McGovern did pave the way for Carter by preparing the Democratic Party to nominate a more moderate candidate the next time around.
I voted enthusiastically for President Carter, and history shows that he accomplished solid achievements domestically and in foreign relations in spite of economic hard times brought on by OPEC oil embargoes and inflation. He has since gone on to walk with kings, but has kept the common touch. I hope the conference here this week that examines his presidency helps to show him the high regard in which he is now held at the University of Georgia. I’m sure he’s no longer ticked off. f
Jimmy Carter at the town hall meeting, “The Carter Presidency: Lessons for the 21st Century,” in 2007.
Musical comedy inspired by you!
Happy 85th, Pete McCommons!
The universe of Flagpole’s staff, alumni and friends dedicate this issue to celebrating the 85th birthday (Jan. 6) of Special Agent Rollin “Pete” McCommons—our longtime publisher, columnist and editor extraordinaire. Having run the weekly Athens Observer in the 1970s and ’80s, Pete spent three decades at the helm of Flagpole before easing into semi-retirement in recent years. Yet he remains our spiritual leader, the colorbearer of Athens personified. We asked people close to Pete over the years to share their stories.
It’s difficult to imagine who or where my father would be without his spectacular accent. I’m convinced the silken Southern intonation, bestowed upon him by his mother Lina Belle and daddy Rollin in Greene County, is his lifelong secret to success, the over-the-top sprinkle of je ne sais quoi that ties together his many charms: the talent, the impishness, the generosity of spirit, the savvy instincts, a not-insignificant streak of eccentricity and that soulful, green-eyed visage. You just don’t hear many accents like his, these days—vowels as voluptuous as can be, with a stately undercurrent of genial wisdom, teetering delightfully close to self-parody without going over the edge… mostly. His signature drawl can make the simplest statements sound like prophecy.
Once, in New York, I witnessed a trio of determined ladies attempt to shove past him to seize the cab he had just hailed. “Excuse me, but this is owa taxi,” he informed them calmly (and, by New York standards, slowly.) One of the women snapped suddenly from her pushy fugue, peered up at him and exclaimed, “Are you from ENGLAND?!” My friend Camille will still regale me with her impression of Pete trying to cajole me into finishing my vegetables at dinner when we were kids. “Molleh! Eat yuwh peas!”
Sure, he may polish his columns, but the edited material isn’t too different from his unalloyed speech, which flows readily from some personal inner wellspring with an inexhaustible supply of bordering-on-archaic turns of phrase, fractals of Casablanca and Faulkner and ’30s screwballs and vacation Bible school and bygone comic strips. I’ve never forgotten what he said when I asked for permission to go to a park with some friends when I was in the ninth grade: “I don’t know,” he mused skeptically. “Might be dangerous. What if a gang of toughs comes out of the woods?” A gang of what? I pictured Guys and Dolls characters snapping fingers and soft-shoeing out from behind the trees. When I was around 12, he began indulging my musical obsessions by escorting me to rock shows at the 40 Watt Club or, once or twice, the Masquerade in Atlanta, installing himself a discreet distance away from me in the back of the club like the Secret Service while I watched the band. I have so many memories of looking back and seeing him standing patiently by the back wall of the 40 Watt, alone, earplugs in. Another core memory has me pretty young and driving around with him while he sold classified ads for Auto Trader magazine. I loved tooling around together while he went from one sales call to the next, and I washed down Smartfood popcorn with Yoo-Hoo. Hopefully, the presence of a child in the car helped him sell those classifieds. I don’t remember exactly what we talked about during the drives, but I do remember a deep feeling of contentment while we motored and chatted. This was our little echo of his sessions feasting on sardines and Coca-Cola one-on-one in the family store with his own father, as enshrined in my favorite Pub Notes column. Decades later, Pete remains the best company for the journey. Happy 85th, and cheers to the wellspring.
Molly McCommons
The values that Pete projects through his writing in Flagpole are real.
Not only that, but he’s a lot of fun.
To the man of my dreams made real: Happy 85, sweetheart.
Gay McCommons
Here’s wishing a happy and healthy birthday to Pete McCommons and hoping for a grand new adventure as he heads into his 85th orbit around the sun.
If memory serves me well—often it does not—we met in 1971 through a circle of friends that included University of Georgia students (like me), UGA faculty (Pete was among those), community progressives and more, all of whom were politically active in protesting the Vietnam War and UGA policies, and who worked to help organize local unions and to help in selecting delegates to the Democratic party. The group published a regular newsletter using an old mimeograph machine.
In 1973, our friend, Chuck Searcy, a Vietnam veteran who had recently graduated from UGA, began talking about starting up a publication in Athens to compete with the Athens Daily News and Banner-Herald and to provide coverage of issues the dailies would not address. Chuck convinced Pete to join him in the endeavor, and with the help of countless volunteers—including yours truly—The Athens Observer weekly newspaper was born. Its first publication came on Jan. 3, 1974. It became an award-winning model of journalism excellence among the state’s weekly newspapers, thanks to the many wonderful people who we worked with over the years.
That experience provided one of the most enriching, educating and fulfilling experiences of my life. It defined my career. The work we did, the friendships and relationships we made and the memories we shared are priceless. My thanks go out to Pete and to Chuck for inviting me and the late Chatham Murray into the partnership of The Athens Observer and for their generosity of friendship throughout the years.
Pete, of course, went on to become publisher of the Flagpole and quite an accomplished writer. His memory for detail of people and places combined with his keen observation skills and sharp wordsmithing make him among the best.
Thanks, Pete, and, again, have a wonderful birthday.
Don Nelson
I became business partners with Pete in the mid ’90s. He and I took over the management of Flagpole, and have been treading water together ever since. Who knew how much fun it would be to be partners with someone the same age as my mother? But Pete never treated me like a kid. He always made me feel like an equal partner in the chaos that is Flagpole
I learned a lot from Pete over the 30 years that we have worked together. He showed me how you can disagree with someone, call them out in print, and then have lunch with them the next week. He is one of the most forgiving people I have ever met, and he taught many lessons through example: like when not to use “reply all”!
Pete goes above and beyond in everything he does—like the time he dressed in drag in order to attend my bachelorette party (don’t quit your day job, Pete!) or when he went “undercover” to interview sex workers at Fantasy World.
One of the most important lessons I learned from Pete is that age is just a number, and I am looking forward to many more lunch meetings and birthday celebrations!
Happy birthday, Pete!
Alicia Nickles
Pete has been my good friend for about 81 years. He was always trying to get me in shape for football since I worked in a drug store and consumed too much ice cream.
He invited me over to his home to work out using the Army Daily Dozen exercises. After we had done four or five, he wanted me to do one for balance. You put one hand on the porch floor and turn around six or more times with your eyes closed. After I stopped turning, I lost my balance and fell toward the window and hit my head on the corner of the window frame. It knocked a hole in my skull. As I lay on the porch, Pete came to my rescue and said, “It’s not that bad, Sonny, but let me get my mother.”
His mom came and called Dr. Killiam, who lived only four or five houses from Pete. He patched me up on the porch and wrapped my head with gauze like a mummy. I never exercised with Rollin (Pete) McCommons again!
Best friend you could ever have!
Gartrell “Sonny” Thurmond Jr.
When I worked at Flagpole as its editor back in the late ’90s, I did a lot of, well, editing: working with young or inexperienced writers, monkeying with their copy, asking for rewrites and using up my virtual red pencil. I was young and inexperienced myself, and the results were sometimes about what you’d expect—which is to say, modest to heaping shitshows, often of my own making. You console yourself in a situation like that by reminding everybody it’s a goddamned free newspaper. You got complaints? Set up a tip jar.
I never “edited” Pete. He would just show up with his pristine Pub Notes column right before deadline, and I would send it up, untouched, to Larry and Cindy in layout. Then I would feel a moment of smug unearned pride about what a good editor I was.
But here’s the thing: I don’t recall ever having seen Pete actually write the columns. Newspaper people can be performative writers in newsrooms, with lots of loud clacking on keyboards and shouting into the phone, arguing with sources, talking over nut grafs and ledes over cubicles and water coolers.
I would talk to Pete about all sorts of things when we worked together, and I cherished those conversations. He is a hero of mine, you know: erudite, polite, witty, generous, mischievous, with an unerring moral compass and a bottomless trove of anecdotes and stories from decades of bearing witness to the foibles of one of America’s most curious and wonderful college towns. But I never really talked to Pete about what he was writing about that week. The articles just sort of appeared, as if by magic. You couldn’t see the effort behind the work. I’ve seen this in certain great basketball players. They don’t seem to be over-exert-
ing themselves. Then suddenly you hear the buzzer and they’ve put up 35 with 12 assists.
Not infrequently, I would pop into Pete’s office in the afternoon, and he would be knocked out snoring in his chair. I interpreted this as a flex, because the column would never not appear, and it was always good. Sometimes it was great. Some weeks, I thought he was the best newspaper columnist in the country.
Of course, there was no magic to this process. Good writing is nothing but clear thinking, and clear thinking makes no noise. We are lucky that Pete has shared so much of himself with us for so many years. I wish I was there to make a big hubbub and a joyful noise on his 85th birthday. Here’s to many more.
Richard Fausset
In 1986 my mother was dying, terminal cancer, and I and my three siblings decided we would begin staying with her, each for three months, for the next year in the family home in South Georgia. I was at that time a reporter for the Athens Observer newspaper, where Pete was publisher and an owner, and when my turn came that spring and I told him I had to leave for three months, I was not sure I would have a job when I returned to Athens. But the Observer gave me a kind of sabbatical with partial pay so I could fulfill my family promise.
My mother died that April, and one of those in attendance at her funeral was Pete, who made the long drive from Athens—around nine hours round trip—to pay his respects.
That’s a kind of kindness you don’t forget. In the years since I have also come to appreciate that kindness is one of Pete’s essential characteristics, an important part of what makes him the great person he is—along with his humor, his acute observations of our human condition and other traits we might mention.
Lee Shearer
Chuck Searcy introduced Pete McCommons at a reception given by Denny Galis (then the Athens city attorney) and his law partner John Timmons in 1982. They were celebrating new law offices in the Victorian house that is now home to Flagpole. I didn’t meet her that night, but I noticed an excited Teresa Cullen and overheard her tell then-husband John, “I got her on tape saying it. Telling us.” Teresa had secretly recorded UGA Dean of Students Virginia Trotter telling remedial teachers of football players to pass them no matter what. Hugh Henry later used the tape to win Jan Kemp’s millions and bring down President Fred Davison and Dean Trotter. (Nothing happened to Vince Dooley.) So Pete and I have both been mired in Athens history ever since.
Anyway, afterwards Pete and Chuck came back with John O’Looney and me to see our new house. Somehow the evening ended with them suggesting that I run for city council. I thought they were crazy. I had lived in Athens less than two years, partnered with John to buy our dilapidated home and was tackling a new job. So the first time I met Pete McCommons, he was trouble. “Good trouble,” as John Lewis used to say.
Until the Georgia legislature changed the law, classifieds alternated annually between all local papers that fit a certain category that, until then, the Observer fit. The Observer was one of the best newspapers in Georgia, but it could not compete without the classified income. Chuck went off, and Pete took over Flagpole from Dennis Greenia.
Pete McCommons has always been the best arbiter of every person, issue, story or thought he has ever shared. Pete’s publishings and conversations are wise. Pete is my hero.
Pete has been my partner in loving Athens. Our 43 years of friendship have evolved intertwined with Athens history. Pete was the reporter of politics, and his take on things always made a lot of sense to me. His slant on anything is appreciated for the wisdom, humor or shared pathos. My thanks to Pete for helping me define my thoughts and reactions so many times.
Pete’s presence is peaceful. Pete is special! Pete’s home is a nest of two great minds—his and Gay’s. Nothing like a kitchen visit when Molly is home. Thank you all for letting John and I be a part of your Athens.
Happy 85th and many more!
Gwen O’Looney
Pete and Gay became my close friends during our years together at Chase Street (now Johnnie Lay Burks) Elementary School back in the late ’80s, at the same time that our children were forming their own permanent bond. Through years of St. Simons beach trips, Sunday night “X-Files,” Town & Gown performances and those amazing cake auctions at Chase Street, from quiet summer evenings in our gardens to the long months of losing our dear friend Joe Causey, we have, I now understand, grown old together. And now Pete is celebrating another year of his well-lived life, so it’s time for some stories!
If everybody had a friend like Pete, the world would be a happier place. Pete will do for you what no one else will do. He will attend a meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission with you in support of your protest about a church parking lot that, if approved, will empty directly in front of your driveway. He will get up at 1:30 a.m. to drive you or someone in your family to the Groome office to set out on whatever journey they’ve felt called to undertake. He will come to your garden before the Piedmont Garden Tour crowds arrive and carefully, by hand, remove the spent and fallen cherry blossoms from the hostas below the tree. He will even travel north through the freezing January night on the Amtrak Crescent with your 10-year-old son to attend the inauguration of Bill Clinton, the first Democratic president elected since Jimmy Carter. Pete is the OG stand-up guy, and his friendship is a priceless gift. Happy birthday, Pete!
Weaver ➤ continued on next page
Dera
Pete McCommons, Chuck Searcy and Don Nelson in 1975.
Happy 85th, Pete
I first met Pete around the time that my friend Jesslyn Shields suggested that Flagpole would be interested in publishing my journals from river trips under the auspices of the Georgia River Survey. She was right: Pete ate it up! Even better, after I eventually found full-time employment at Flagpole, he was generous with schedule flexibility when the opportunity arose for more river time, in exchange for more river stories in the paper. It was a nice counterbalance to all those nights spent in meetings at City Hall.
I have a lot of great memories of my time at Flagpole and working with Pete. Here’s one:
“He may be a wingnut, but he’s our wingnut!” I can still hear Pete’s voice proclaiming this piece of political wisdom, a nugget of knowledge reflecting a perspective on politics that could only be his. The time would have been some time in the very late aughts, and the subject of the proclamation—unless memory fails, which it might—must have been Representative Paul Broun Jr.
At this point in time, we in Athens had been coping with the reality of Paul Broun Jr.’s somewhat wacky, very right-wing political identity as our representation in the U.S. Congress for a few years. The alternative, whoever it was that particular cycle, somehow appeared even worse to us. (And anyway, they weren’t from Athens.) Thus we reluctantly endorsed Broun. As hard as it was to stomach all those realities, I can see now that Pete was ahead of many of us in processing what it all meant and how we should respond.
And as much as Pete delivered the line for laughs—which he did, in his mellifluous accent, heavily emphasizing the “our,” infused with a manic comic energy—he also meant it. Dead serious. It was the best we could do as Athenians in the situation at the time, and it was the best we could do as a paper in making our endorsement.
Our freak-out at Paul Broun Jr.’s emergence on the political scene seems quaint now. Hindsight is 20/20, and I can quite clearly see the Broun thing as a precursor to the worsethan-wacky, farther-right-wing politics that have since hijacked the nation. If any lefty-liberal journalists in the country could have seen things coming, maybe it was us. At least I’m left with Pete’s memorable line, and a perhaps greater appreciation of its wisdom. Plus, it still makes me laugh.
Happy birthday, Pete!
away and only $15 per ticket for one of the world’s most profound rituals. What should we wear? To a ritual? A profound one?”
Pete and Gay, never ones to miss giving Molly (then 11) a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, bought tickets and invited me along. Indeed, it was a transplendent evening that included readings by Coleman and Robert Bly. Molly,
ever the good sport, allowed us to dwell in our profundity. In return we agreed to go to the restaurant of her choice on our way home. And that is how, with visions of dervishes whirling in our heads, we came to land at The Varsity in downtown Atlanta. I have had many experiences involving disparate worlds with Pete, but this proved to be an all-out mind-warping one.
When I was a wise sophomore and Pete was a naïve freshman, a few of us in the fraternity introduced him to the game of poker, but obviously had failed to tell him about maintaining a poker face. After explaining the poker hand rankings, from the lowest (high card) to the highest (royal flush), we dealt the cards and prepared to place our bets. Pete, after looking at his cards and looking at the rankings, got very excited and shouted, “WHAT’S THE MOST I CAN BET?” We all folded without playing the hand.
Many years later Hattie, my beloved 1969 Chevy pickup truck, was stolen. Friends and family had been searching for her for almost a year without success, and I was losing all hope of ever seeing her again. Pete, however, never gave up, and when he noticed a “For Sale” internet listing for a truck that resembled my truck, he immediately called to see if that may be it. Knowing every inch of the truck, I confirmed in just a few seconds that it was Hattie. Thanks to Pete, she’s back home where she belongs. Without Pete’s diligence, it would not have happened.
Chris Foster
I can’t find the photo I took of Pete with Hairy Dawg, so you’ll just have to imagine it. He (Pete, not Hairy) and I had walked out of the Georgia Center after recording WUGA’s “Athens News Matters” 13 or 14 years ago, when I still worked with Pete as Flagpole’s city editor, and were heading to our cars in the narrow lot across the street when we encountered the beloved mascot… headless. What I mean is, the cheer squad kid in the costume had taken off the giant head to get into his own car, and when he saw us see him, he raised a finger to his lips to say silently, “Shhhh!”—we were seeing something secret! Pete, of course, quickly asked for a photo and the kid, realizing he had no choice, replaced the head and wrapped a faux-furry arm around him.
So when you think of Pete turning 85, think of him as I often do: smiling with absurd delight beside an impressively ripped anthropomorphic bulldog, each of them giving a jaunty “thumbs-up,” and remember that Pete McCommons knows everybody.
Dave Marr
Ben Emanuel
I met Pete (like Cher, no last name needed) 50 years ago when The Athens Observer arrived on the scene. Our friendship grew after I was hired as an inserter at the paper; we bonded over discussions of Southern authors. But, our lasting bond began in 1982 when Pete and Gay entrusted me with the care of their daughter Molly; they became family. Years later he became my astute editor at Flagpole
On Nov. 9, 1994, the Whirling Dervishes performed their ceremony of “the turn” at the World Congress Center in Atlanta. Coleman Barks had written an article, “Dance of a Lifetime,” announcing it for Flagpole. I was visiting Gay and Molly when Pete came home, waved the paper over his head and proclaimed, “Whirling Dervishes, only 60 miles
We sat stunned, looking at tables of customers in their sweatpants, slurping frosted oranges and devouring piles of onion rings and fries and heavy-laden burgers and hot dogs. Pete, sensing that if our silence was to be broken it must be by him, said, “I don’t think we should wait on the dervishes to order, What’ll ya’ll have?”
Happy birthday Rollin Merritt McCommons. What’ll ya have? I will do my best to deliver, naked, glorified or all the way, sideways.
Judy Long
Pete has been one of my closest friends for over 65 years, dating back to our days when we both were students at UGA. In happy times and sad times, I always could count on Pete to share those experiences with me and to be a part of my life. I’m honored to call him my friend. Happy birthday, Pete.
In 2017, during the filming of Athens in Our Lifetimes—the 90-minute documentary in which 90 Athenians reflected on how and why, over all or part of the past 60 years, they became Athenians and what Athens meant to them—we enlisted Pete to provide perspective and context.
He had as much knowledge of Athens from personal experience over many decades as anyone we knew. He gladly complied, and his contributions were priceless. But when we showed him some of the first rough takes of the film, he thought for a good while, then asked, “Is there any way you can make me talk a little faster?”
Our editor, Matt DeGennaro, diligently tried, but every change in speed made Pete’s voice sound like a chipmunk. Matt found the perfect solution by eliminating most of the moments of reflection Pete took between each spoken word. Not only did it give Pete a faster delivery, we shortened the film by about 15 minutes!
Thank you, Pete, for being Athens’ guiding light for so many years.
Kathy Prescott and Grady Thrasher
New Art for the New Year
NINE EXHIBITIONS OPENING THIS JANUARY
By Jessica Smith arts@flagpole.com
Providing colorful and cozy experiences against the gray and dreary backdrop of winter, a handful of Athens galleries are kicking off the new year with new exhibitions that open this January. Discover a wave of exciting new artwork below, and check Flagpole’s weekly Art Around Town listings for future exhibitions.
ATHICA: The exhibition “Plantronics” spotlights the creative collaborations of two artists, Wendy DesChene and Jeff Schmuki, who operate under the guise of Plantbot Genetics Inc., a parody of big agricultural firms who manipulate current food production and distribution systems. Through a variety of streetbased, interactive artworks since 2008, the duo has encouraged critical thinking and political action on environmental issues. Promised to adapt and mutate to a broad range of climates, their “PlantBots” are next-generation, robot-plant hybrids that underscore the consequences of unethical and unregulated agricultural practices.
The exhibition will open on Jan. 11 and close Feb. 9. Check athica.org for upcoming details about an artist talk and drop-in community wheat paste mural.
reconstructions resemble distorted, cartoonish figures excavated from the depths of layered surfaces that represent the passage of time.
Pruett’s exhibition is currently on view through Feb. 25, and a reception will be held Feb. 6 from 6–8 p.m.
incorporate these images—originally cut from magazines, clothing catalogs and the like—into unclear narratives that prompt reflections on the associative nature of meaning.
An opening reception will be held Jan. 10 from 6–8 p.m., and “Realia” will remain on view through Mar. 22.
CLEMENTS GALLERY: Athens-born painter and muralist Broderick Flanigan presents “Family Val-hues,” a collection of paintings that depict the faces of family members. With an artistic practice rooted in activism, Flanigan’s deep commitment to community engagement has led to previously establishing Flanigan’s Portrait Studio in the Nelly B neighborhood’s Triangle Plaza, an initiative called HARPS (Helping Art Reach Public Spaces) and a variety of youth-led mural projects.
Named after Bob and Claire Clements, the Clements Gallery is located inside of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens. An opening reception will be held Jan. 17 from 5–7 p.m., and the exhibition can be visited through March.
GEORGIA MUSEUM OF ART: “The Awe of Ordinary Labors: 20th- Century Paintings from Ukraine” exemplifies socialist realism, a style of art promoted by the government of the Soviet Union. These scenes not only promoted Communist values by depicting working people’s virtues and struggles, but celebrated the history and the landscape of the country. Beneath the surface, some painters also took artistic freedom in communicating subtle subversive messages. Though initially dismissed as propaganda after the collapse of the Soviet Union, images such as these, created between 1930–1980, provide a vital glimpse into understanding the experiences of people living under Soviet rule.
shapes. Her playful and hypnotizing body of work is the result of a disciplined studio practice spanning four decades.
“Distillations” shares drawings on paper and wall-bound constructions by Johntimothy Pizzuto and Patti RobertsPizzuto, life partners and recent retirees from South Dakota who have made a new home in Athens. Sharing a restrained palette and lightness of touch, the artists explore themes of memory and temporality through their mixed-media works.
An opening reception will be held Jan. 16 from 5:30–7:30 p.m., and both exhibitions will remain on view through Mar. 15. Studio visits will be offered with John on Feb. 22 and the Pizzutos on Mar. 1.
TAYLOR-GRADY HOUSE: Sculpted in reaction to witnessing widespread injustices against women, Watkinsville ceramicist Alice Woodruff’s powerful body of work, “Warrior Women,” pays tribute to real-life heroines from across history and cultures. Influenced by the #MeToo movement, these ceramic torsos represent a way of processing the intense, complex feelings of anger, empathy and solidarity she has experienced. Each sculpture is paired with a narrative to illustrate the stories of women who have overcome adversity.
An opening reception will be held Jan. 24 from 5–7 p.m., and the Taylor Grady House will host open viewing hours through Feb. 21 on Thursdays from 10 a.m.–7 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
ATHICA@CINE GALLERY: Using a technique coined as “cannibalism,” R.B. Pruett cuts up and repurposes “failed” paintings to create new figurative works that emerge from layers of fragmentation and collage. Alluding to the beauty of decay, vulnerability and socio-political issues, his visceral
ATHENAEUM: Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist Matt Keegan’s exhibition “Realia” takes inspiration from a set of 400 double- sided image-based flashcards his mother made to teach English to students. His sculptures, collage and paintings
The exhibition will be on view Jan. 18–June 1. Asen Kirin, Parker Curator of Russian Art, will offer a curator talk on Jan. 23 at 5:30 p.m.
LYNDON HOUSE ARTS CENTER: Carol John’s solo show “Twist” explores pattern, color and composition through bold paintings that vibrate with repetitive dots, lines and
TINY ATH GALLERY: Over the last decade, the suspended steel wire portraits of Noah James Saunders have become epic in scale, mesmerizing viewers as they cast gently rotating shadows onto the walls behind them. Saunders’ first solo show in Athens in over eight years, “Ode to a Watering Hole,” presents his latest innovation: ephemeral copper wire “drawings” preserved between sheets of clear fused glass. Intrigued by how the mood of a bar can shift from hour to hour over the course of a night and throughout the week, each of these smallscale works are named after the day and time they imagine.
A reception for this pop-up exhibition will be held Jan. 16 from 6–9 p.m. f
R.B. Pruett
calendar picks arts & culture
MUSIC |
THU, JAN. 9
Wonderland Rangers EP Release Show
Flicker Theatre & Bar • 8 p.m. (doors) • $10 Wonderland Rangers’ newest EP, Troubles & Treasure Pt. 4, is the latest addition to an album project dating back to December 2019. This part of the release includes three songs that are all about love or relationships, but that’s where their similarities end. The five-piece band of veteran Athens musicians Timi Conley, Shelley Lotus, Andrew Hanmer, Greg Surratt and Chris Byron takes a “you name it” approach to genre, touching on everything from soul to disco to slacker to funk to rock to rap to shoegaze, which holds true for this EP. “Soul Mate” makes use of the guitar riff from Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” along with a disco rhythm and auto-tuned vocals, while “Your Damn Hair” is inspired by ’80s Britrock and “Crazy Love” is a moody number that takes after Southern soul-blues. Joining Wonderland Rangers for this EP release show are Astral Summer, the atmospheric pop and electronic project of David Ferguson and Dave F. Martin, and Drí, the looper-based project of Adriana Thomas. [Mary Beth Bryan]
MUSIC | FRI, JAN. 10
Bobby Rush
Rialto Club • 7 p.m. (doors), 8 p.m. (show) • $20 (adv.), $25 Emmett Ellis was born in rural Louisiana in 1933 and grew up picking cotton on his family’s farm. He found an escape from farm labor in the blues, building his first guitar from broom wire, nails, bottles and bricks. Eventually Ellis left the farm behind and went on the road with Rabbit Foot Minstrels under his new name, Bobby Rush, touring across Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi before settling in Chicago in the 1950s. Now based in Jackson, MS, Rush has over 400 recordings to his name, as well as an illustrious touring history, features in documentaries like the Martin Scorsese-produced The Road to Memphis and is even currently co-writing a Broadway musical. Despite how long he has been a working musician, he didn’t win his first Grammy Award until age 83, taking home the honor for Best Traditional Blues Album for 2016’s Porcupine Meat. One might expect a more relaxed performance style from a man who is now 91 years old, but instead Rush is known for his dynamic stage presence, often jumping high into the air while singing. [MB]
MUSIC | SAT, JAN. 11
The Medium
Flicker Theatre & Bar • 8 p.m. (doors) • $12
Replete with tight-knit harmonies and riff-driven instrumentals, The Medium is heavily inspired by the ’70s rock sound. The Nashville-based band also dips and sways effortlessly between country, surf rock and psych-folk influences, with often irreverent, yet thoughtful lyrics and themes. Its sophomore release, For Horses, seems at first glance like it might be more tied up in a country sound, but ends up just as much an homage to space travel as it is equine. The album went up for sale at Wuxtry Records
with a tag reading, “For fans of the Beatles and pictures of horses.” The band’s most recent album, last year’s self-produced City Life, leans further into a country sound while retaining the band’s genre-bending nature and memorable lyricism. Tracks range from an ironic censure of the pursuit of fame in “Sellout City” to a musical salute to Dale Earnhardt in “The Day Dale Died.” Presented by Attaboy, The Medium will be joined at this show by Jay Gonzalez, Your Ex’s Pets and Rowan Newby. [MB]
THEATER | SUN, JAN. 12
Ain’t Too Proud
The Classic Center • 7:30 p.m. • $25.00–87.25
Following the life of the beloved R&B and soul vocal group, Ain’t Too Proud - The Life and Times of The Temptations is a musical tracing the band’s steps from 1960s Detroit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It covers how the band’s members met, the heights the group reached in their mainstream success, and the personal and political conflicts that threatened to tear them apart. Themes of brotherhood, betrayal, family and loyalty emerge alongside performances of hits like “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” “Get Ready” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” complete with the band’s
signature harmonies and dance moves. This performance of Ain’t Too Proud is part of a touring production that is currently traveling across America through July. [MB]
MUSIC
| SUN, JAN.
12
Yulianna Avdeeva
Ramsey Concert Hall • 3 p.m. • $10 (w/ UGA ID), $50
Russian classical pianist Yulianna Avdeeva rose to international fame after winning the 2010 International Chopin Competition. Avdeeva has played at prestigious venues and collaborated with orchestras around the world, including performing with the Barcelona Symphony and touring across Japan with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century. She also has a wide recorded discography; her most recent album is Chopin Voyage, preceded by 2023’s Resilience, which features music by composers who endured political instability such as Szpilman and Prokofiev. Avdeeva also launched #YuliannasMusicalDialogues, an online initiative for her followers to share their passion for music. This is her debut recital for UGA Presents, which will feature an all-Chopin program that touches on a variety of genres and includes his rarely performed last prelude, Op. 45. [MB] f
Bobby Rush
threats & promises
Tomorrow’s News Today
A FORECAST OF THE ATHENS MUSIC SCENE IN 2025
By Gordon Lamb threatsandpromises@flagpole.com
Happy New Year, y’all. In the interest of starting off on the right foot and prioritizing efficiency, I went ahead and wrapped up the whole year for you. Sure, you can keep on reading every week, and I’d appreciate that, too, but this is basically all you need to know about what happened in 2025. And, as in years past, this news is so surprising it’s literally unbelievable!*
JANUARY: In an effort to stave off feelings of doom and, you know, just to do something, local punks and hippie types quickly assembled a compilation album in protest against the inauguration of Donald Trump. While the tunes themselves were actually pretty rock solid, the effort was about as effective as the 2004 “Rock Against Bush” project spearheaded by Fat Wreck Chords.
FEBRUARY: Because, magically and out of absolutely nowhere, Athens has become a town of hockey fans, local slapstick troupe the Rock Lobsters went all-in for its Valentine’s Day promotion. Temporarily
Lowery launched his own streaming platform named Beacon, its name inspired by Camper Van Beethoven’s 1989 track “The Light from a Cake.” While music selections were restricted to music exclusively created, owned and/or published by Lowery, subscribers were assured that he was paying himself appropriate royalties.
JUNE–AUGUST: This summer was, for the most part, a blur. Locals continued to ask when AthFest was happening, complained that it wasn’t happening at some other time, and wondered aloud how exactly that one band got booked instead of some other band they would have preferred but still would have wound up missing somehow. So much energy was spent discussing these items that the scene just laid low until fall semester came back around.
SEPTEMBER: In order to stem the inevitable tide of new students starting new bands on a whim without really considering the pros and cons, local musical instrument stores implemented a three-day cooling off period for all new guitar purchases. Athens sage Kevin Sweeney was seen standing outside the Nowhere Bar shouting, “From my cold, dead hands!” while hoisting a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard above his head.
changing its team name to “The Classic City Love,” attendees at its game on Feb. 14 were edified by being able to chant, finally, “LOVE WINS!”
MARCH: For the first time in several years, Athens bands decided not to make the trip to Austin’s South By Southwest en masse this year, citing the general music-industry pullback from dropping tons of cash at the 38-year-old event. One local spoke anonymously regarding this saying, “There’s, like, not even any free stuff anymore. Used to be you knew you’d leave with a month’s worth of free T-shirts. Last year all I got was a taco coupon and some weird international disco compilation I had to download myself.”
APRIL: Students in the UGA Music Business Program began working on their final projects this month in anticipation of graduation. So, we were treated to the formation of three new dance music “collectives” vying for booking dates at Live Wire, an acoustic song-swap live show at the Foundry, a paper zine to be found around local coffee shops and such, and a brand new label populated by bands that all broke up by the end of summer.
MAY: Buoyed by his successful lawsuits against both Napster and Spotify, David
OCTOBER: After growing by proportions of magnitude since its inception in 2018, the Historic Athens Porchfest began running out of neighborhoods to populate with bands. In a forward-looking move, the Athens-Clarke County Commission passed a resolution requiring all new development applications to include a plan for accommodating this annual event.
NOVEMBER: This month was spent preparing for the annual Downtown Parade Of Lights, which had an unprecedented number of local musicians joining the lineup this year. Considered by most to be a glowed-up version of busking, this swell of participation accomplished two things: First, bands could be reasonably assured of actually getting booked and, second, this was by far the largest audience for which any of these folks had played.
DECEMBER: Ah, December—the time of near-endless celebration of myriad things. More effort was expended this year into declining invitations than accepting them but, as always, there seemed to be a concentrated effort on packing as many events into a single night than could ever be reasonably accommodated. Thus, New Year’s Eve turned into New Year’s Week and, by its conclusion, a singularly bleary-eyed Dan Geller, who’d been deejaying for seven full days, lifted his skinny fists like antennas to heaven and asked, “Are we there yet?”
*Literally as in literally. Nothing here should be believed.
Step Afrika!
Kevin Sweeney
230 River Road, Athens
“Their polyrhythmic drill-team routines connect African heritage with hip-hop and bring down the house. Then they bring the audience into the act, turning us into drumfolk, too — and the whole theater into a drum.”— New York Times
live music calendar
Tuesday 7
Ciné
8 p.m. FREE! www.athenscine.com
KARAOKE WITH THE KING Show off your pipes to the world. Every first, third and fifth Tuesday.
Hendershot’s
No Phone Party. 7 p.m. www.hendershotsathens.com
KENOSHA KID Instrumental adventure-jazz group centered around the rollicking compositions of Dan Nettles and featuring Luca Lombardi, Seth Hendershot and various guests.
Normal Bar
8–11 p.m. FREE! booking@rudy montayremusic.com
OPEN MIC All musicians welcome. Every Tuesday.
The World Famous Hard Tack Presents. 9 p.m. $10 suggested donation. www.facebook. com/theworldfamousathens
ANSWERING MACHINES Garage rockers from Chicago.
PETER AND THE SKEETERS New local lo-fi egg punk group.
GIRL PORN For queer punks by queer punks.
BAYOU PRINCESS Your favorite internet narcissist.
Wednesday 8
Athentic Brewing Co.
7–10 p.m. www.athenticbrewing.com
KARAOKE WITH DJ GREGORY Every Wednesday.
Flicker Theatre & Bar
9 p.m. FREE! www.flickertheatreand bar.com
DR. FRED’S KARAOKE Featuring a large assortment of pop, rock, indie and more.
WONDERLAND RANGERS Local rabble-rouser Timi Conley performs dance-tastic psych-pop with his all-star backing band. Celebrating the release of the three-song EP Trouble & Treasure (Part 4).
ASTRAL SUMMER Dreamy, quirky, atmospheric pop and electronic music from David Ferguson and Dave F. Martin.
DRÍ Adriana Thomas’ original project features richly layered looperbased solo songs, plus Adriana on drums and vocals with a full band. Hendershot’s
FLORENCE CARDIGAN Local group mixing funk, punk and jazzinspired indie rock. Celebrating the new single “Final Thread.”
ROOMMATE College students playing a medley of rock covers and originals.
Hendershot’s
8 p.m. FREE! www.hendershotsathens. com
LIBBALOOPS AND MATT HOUSE
The musical comedy duo presents an evening of absurdity and silliness with a fun mix of original bits, bops and improvisation inspired by the audience.
Nowhere Bar
9:30 p.m. www.facebook.com/ NowhereBarAthens
SOLSHAKR Rock band recently reformed after a long hiatus.
JAY GONZALEZ Athens songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with an affinity for ’70s power pop melodies. YOUR EX’S PETS New band featuring members of Dadgum, Jake Brower Band and Liz Farrell.
THE MEDIUM Saccharine harmonies, hypnotic riffs and earnest ballads from Nashville.
ROWAN NEWBY Poetic and humorous Americana music inspired by ’60s and ’70s songwriting.
TRAVIS DENNING Nashvillebased country singer-songwriter originally from Warner Robins.
SCOOT TEASLEY R&B-tinged country artist born and raised in Toccoa.
ETHAN GARNER Country artist and Georgia boy living in Nashville.
Normaltown Brewing Company
New Year, New Pup Adoption Party. 2–5 p.m. www.instagram.com/ normaltownbrewingco
STRANGEAMONGUS Acoustic hippy funk, selected covers and extended jams.
Nowhere Bar 9:30 p.m. www.facebook.com/ NowhereBarAthens
THE GRAWKS Punk and garage-infused local rock and roll band.
MELVIS No info available.
HATCH Psych-tinged garage rock led by songwriter Garett Hatch.
Sunday 12
ACC Library
Live at the Library. 3 p.m. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org
THE SOLSTICE SISTERS Susan Staley, Anna Durden and Maggie Hunter harmonize on old-time country ballads, traditional folk and ’40s styled swing.
Athentic Brewing Co. 2–5 p.m. FREE! www.athenticbrewing. com
ATHENTIC BLUEGRASS JAM Players of all skill levels are invited to participate in this open jam, which strives to unite members of the local folk music community. Every second Sunday. No. 3 Railroad Street 6 p.m. $10 suggested donation. www.3railroad.org
FESTER HAGOOD’S MOJO
CONFESSIONAL SONGWRITER SHOWCASE Every second Sunday. Bring a dish to share at the potluck. Today features songwriters Claire Campbell and Barb Carbon, plus live painting by Leanna Gable.
Ramsey Hall 3 p.m. $50. pac.uga.edu
YULIANNA AVDEEVA A pianist of fiery temperament and virtuosity performs an all-Chopin program.
Monday 13
Flicker Theatre & Bar 8 p.m. FREE! www.flickertheatreand bar.com
BLUE MONDAY De La Luna and DJ Charlieflower spin new wave, post-punk, remixes, goth and Italo disco for this ’80s dance party. Ramsey Hall 7:30 p.m. FREE! music.uga.edu
CAVATINA DUO Spanish flutist Eugenia Moliner and Bosnian guitarist Denis Azabagic perform.
Tuesday 14
Hendershot’s No Phone Party. 7 p.m. www.hendershotsathens.com
KENOSHA KID Instrumental adventure-jazz group centered around the compositions of Dan Nettles and featuring Luca Lombardi, Seth Hendershot and various guests.
Normal Bar
8–11 p.m. FREE! booking@rudy montayremusic.com
OPEN MIC All musicians welcome. Every Tuesday. Ramsey Hall
7:30 p.m. FREE! music.uga.edu
FACULTY ARTIST SERIES Featuring Matthew Shipes, assistant professor of tuba and euphonium at UGA and tubist with the Georgia Brass Quintet.
Down the Line
1/15 Bayker Blankenship (Georgia Theatre)
1/15 Alfredo Rodriguez Trio (Ramsey Hall)
1/16 Penelope Road (40 Watt Club) 1/18 Tinsley Ellis (Marigold Auditorium for Arts and Culture) 1/18 Burly Ivy, Lemonmnm, The Shut-Ups (Flicker Theatre & Bar) 1/21 Kenosha Kid (Hendershot’s) 1/24 Trio Metro (Athentic Brewing Co.)
1/25 From Broadway & Beyond (St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church) f
The Cavatina Duo will perform at Ramsey Concert Hall on Monday, Jan. 13.
‘Don Toberman: Ping-Pong Champ’ PROFESSIONAL CLOWN CHASE BRANTLEY LAUNCHES WORLD TOUR
By Sam Lipkin editorial@flagpole.com
Washed-up ping-pong star Don Toberman enters on stage, hyped up and ready to make his comeback after a mental breakdown and multiple rehab stays. But nothing can stop Toberman this time, right? He exhibits his prowess by challenging audience members to rounds of invisible ping pong, until absurdity derails his story.
Toberman is a character developed and played by professional clown Chase Brantley, and it came about through Brantley exploring outrageous playfulness in anger in the comedy setting. The show itself is a spoof on sports culture, including a halftime show. It has all the elements of modern clowning, a comedy form that can be traced back thousands of years and has undergone many changes.
“Modern clowning is about many things, but it’s about spirit. The pleasure to be on stage. When you see a modern clown that’s excellent, they enter the stage and you immediately love them. As an adult it doesn’t feel like a children’s party. And you usually think, ‘Oh my God, who is this fucking idiot?’” says Brantley. “They make you laugh every five seconds, and you don’t know what you’re laughing at. It was the thing that drew me to clown, which is that
I saw some performers where I left their shows and I didn’t know what was funny, and I laughed the whole time.”
Stand-up comedy centers on the joke being told, without requiring props or audience interaction inherently. A flop equals a bad joke, but clowns continually flop and recover as part of their act.
Improv is usually a team activity based on scene creation within the bubble of what’s happening on stage. Brantley explains that clowning is different from these other forms of comedy because the audience is the only thing that matters—a good clown is listening to and taking cues from the audience at all times.
Brantley has 200 sound cues in the Don Toberman show to guide what he does next and keep the show relatively on track, but ultimately when the audience starts laughing it’s the clown’s job to lean into whatever the crowd finds funny in that moment.
the same venue as me,” says Brantley. Once back in the states, Brantley has plans for a national tour May through July. But then he’s off again to Edinburgh, Scotland for a run of 26 shows over a month span. Across all of these performances, the magic of clown is that each show will be uniquely driven by the audience. Although the storyline remains the same, truly anything could happen to send the clown into a comedic spiral—or perhaps, a promising clown might be found within the audience.
“I think my hope for the show always is that people leave and they feel a little bit like a child again in the way that they are like, ‘Oh, I forgot we could be that playful. I forgot that comedy could be that simple,’” says Brantley. “It’s fun to see what crazy things people will do when you give them permission.”
The launch of the 2025 world tour of “Don Toberman: Ping-Pong Champ” is taking place in Athens, Brantley’s home base, on Saturday, Jan. 11 at Canopy Studio. This show is a fundraiser benefitting the rest of the tour happening later this year, as well as efforts to build up the clown scene in Athens.
However, Brantley won an Arts Unlimited grant, funded by the government of Australia for international artists, to bring his clown performance to the other side of the world. The grant covers airfare, housing and venue fees. During Brantley’s three- week stay in Australia in March he will perform the Toberman show about 20 times with an additional 20 runs of his other material, too. Having managed and produced comedy shows since 2016, planning an international tour fit right into his wheelhouse.
“I’m so excited to go. I actually know a lot of Australian clowns. A lot of my good friends from college were Australian. So I probably know six or seven amazing Australian performers who will be at the fringe at
Although it is a highly interactive show, shy or more observant audience members don’t have to fear that they’ll be forced to get on stage or participate in a way they don’t want to. “No” is fully respected in the clown arena.
“To go to a space where someone is giving permission to be an idiot, to fail, to be confused, to be lost and have joy in that space is powerful because those are just average human experiences that we try to bury so much,” says Brantley. f
WHO: “Don Toberman: Ping-Pong Champ” WHEN: Saturday, Jan . 11, 8 p .m . WHERE: Canopy Studio HOW MUCH: $15
event calendar
Tuesday 7
CLASSES: ESOL (Bogart Library) Learn or polish your English skills using Mango languages online and in-person conversation. 12 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart
GAMES: Bad Dog Trivia (Eddie’s Calzones) Test your trivia knowledge with host TJ Wayt. Tuesdays, 7 p.m. www.facebook.com/baddog athens
LECTURES & LIT: Bogart Bookies (Bogart Library) Pick up a copy of Absolution by Alice McDermott and discuss it with the group. 1 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart
SPORTS: Classic City Pétanque Club (Lay Park) New players welcome. Scheduled days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. info@petanque.org, www.athenspetanque.org
Wednesday 8
ART: Tour At Two (Georgia Museum of Art) These drop-in public tours feature highlights of the permanent collection. 2 p.m. FREE! www.georgiamuseum.org
CLASSES: Android Basics (ACC Library) Learn about the Android operating system for smartphones and tablets. Registration required. 6 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org
CLASSES: Adobe Photoshop for Beginners (ACC Library) Learn how to resize, crop, repair and adjust photos. Registration required. 6 p.m. FREE! www.athens library.org
CLASSES: Salsa Dancing (El Carretonero) Join SALSAthens for Cuban salsa lessons meeting a variety of dance abilities. Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m. (advanced), 7:30 p.m. (beginner/intermediate). $10. SALS AthensDancing@gmail.com
$5 suggested donation. www.flying squidcomedy.com
FILM: Blood Everywhere (Flicker Theatre & Bar) A photographer witnesses a murder and becomes the next target as each witness gets slashed to pieces in Death Carries a Cane. 7 p.m. FREE! www.instagram. com/bloodeverywhere.athens
GAMES: Shadowfist Power Lunch (Tyche’s Games) Come down with your lunch and play Shadowfist. New players welcome. 12 p.m. FREE! www.tychesgames.com
GAMES: Not Rocket Science Trivia (Locos Grill and Pub Eastside) Test your trivia knowledge with host Michael. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. www. notrocketsciencetrivia.com
KIDSTUFF: Busy Bee Toddler Time (Bogart Library) Join Ms. Donna for rhymes, songs, puppets and a story. 10 a.m. & 11 a.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart
KIDSTUFF: LEGO Mania (Bogart Library) Drop in to free build and create. All ages. 3–5 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart
LECTURES & LIT: Author Talk & Book Signing (Historic Fire Hall No. 2) Author Kim Cross will read from her book In Light of All Darkness: Inside the Polly Klaas Kidnapping and the Search for America’s Child. 6 p.m. FREE! www. avidbookshop.com/event/cross
LECTURES & LIT: Word of Mouth (The Globe) Athens’ longest-running spoken word open mic, with this month’s featured reader Lee Furey. 6 p.m. (sign-ups), 7 p.m. (poetry). FREE! www.facebook.com/ athenswordofmouth
MEETINGS: Athens Psychedelic Society (740 Prince Avenue Bldg 14) Meet like-minded individuals interested in topics related to expanded states of consciousness. 6 p.m. FREE! Athens Psychedelic Society on Facebook
OUTDOORS: ‘Normal’ Run (Athentic
6:30 p.m. FREE! www.athentic brewing.com
Thursday 9
CLASSES: Creative Aging Seated Yoga (Georgia Museum of Art) This class will include restorative stretching, deep breathing and mindfulness. All levels welcome. RSVP by email. 10:30 a.m. FREE! gmoa-tours@uga.edu
GAMES: Adult Dungeons & Dragons (Bogart Library) All skill levels are invited to join the popular role playing game. Ages 18 & up. 6 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/ bogart
GAMES: Thursday Trivia (Johnny’s New York Style Pizza) Test your trivia knowledge with host Todd Henderson. 6:30 p.m. www.johnnys pizza.com
GAMES: Bad Dog Trivia (The Foundry) Test your trivia knowledge with host TJ Wayt. Thursdays, 7 p.m. www.facebook.com/baddog athens
KIDSTUFF: Open Play (Oconee County Library) Drop in for playtime that’s focused on encouraging early literacy and brain building. Ages 5 & under. 11 a.m. FREE! www.athens library.org/oconee
KIDSTUFF: STEAM Thursday: Ice Art & Science (Bogart Library) Join Ms. Donna and Elsa for activities. 12 p.m. FREE! www.athens library.org/bogart
KIDSTUFF: LEGO Club (Oconee County Library) Drop in to free build and create, or do one of the fun LEGO challenges. Ages 5–12. Thursdays, 3:30–5:30. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org/oconee
KIDSTUFF: LEGO Robots Workshop (ACC Library) Learn how to build real, working robots while practicing teamwork skills. Ages 7 & up. Registration required. 4:30
ideas and knit to their hearts’ content. Thursdays, 6 p.m. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org/bogart
SPORTS: Classic City Pétanque Club (Lay Park) New players welcome. Scheduled days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. info@petanque.org, www.athenspetanque.org
Friday 10
ART: Morning Mindfulness (Georgia Museum of Art) Instructor-led meditation, movement and mindfulness techniques in the galleries. Email to RSVP. 9:30 a.m. FREE! gmoatours@uga.edu
ART: Opening Reception (Athenaeum) Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist Matt Keegan’s exhibition “Realia” will be on view. 6–8 p.m. FREE! athenaeum.uga.edu
CLASSES: Open House (Feel Free Yoga + Wellness) Try out classes centered around yoga, pilates and sound baths. Registration required. Jan. 10–12, 9:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m. FREE! www.feelfreeyogawellness. com
COMEDY: MIXTAPE: One Clown’s Quest for Love (150 Fritz Mar Lane) An anarchic clown spectacle where Iranian-American clown Darius Emadi attempts to fall in love by the end of the night. 8 p.m. $12. www.flyingsquidcomedy.com
COMEDY: Musical Comedy (Hendershot’s) Join Libbaloops and Matt House for an evening of absurdity and silliness with original bits, bops and improvisation inspired by the audience. 8 p.m. FREE! www. hendershotsathens.com
FILM: Athens Historical Society Short Film Festival (Marigold Auditorium for Arts and Culture) Screening of films highlighting the history of Athens-Clarke County. 7 p.m. FREE! www.marigoldaudito
6–10 p.m. FREE! www.winterville center.com
GAMES: Bad Dog Trivia (Soldier of the Sea Distillery) Test your trivia knowledge with host Miles Bunch. Fridays, 7 p.m. www.facebook.com/ baddogathens
GAMES: Friday Night Initiative (Online: Tyche’s Games) Learn how to play a new roleplaying game. New players welcome. 7 p.m. FREE! www.tychesgames.com
KIDSTUFF: Bouncing Baby Storytime (Bogart Library) Join Ms. Donna for a music and language floor-based program. 10 a.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart
KIDSTUFF: Meet & Play (Bogart Library) Drop in for facilitated open play with age-appropriate toys. Best for ages 6 & under. Fridays, 10:30 a.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/ bogart
LECTURES & LIT: UGA MFA Student Readings (Hendershot’s) Listen to presentations by current MFA students. 5 p.m. www.hendershots athens.com
SPORTS: Athens Rock Lobsters vs. Baton Rouge Zydeco (Akins Ford Arena) Cheer on the home team in this hockey match. 7 p.m. $20–43. www.classiccenter.com
Saturday 11
CLASSES: Open House (Feel Free Yoga + Wellness) Try out classes centered around yoga, pilates and sound baths. Registration required. Jan. 10–12, 9:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m. FREE! www.feelfreeyogawellness. com
COMEDY: Don Toberman: PingPong Champ (Canopy Studio) Witness sports history as Don Toberman attempts to become the world’s most decorated ping-pong player in this fundraising clown spectacle by Chase Brantley. 8 p.m. $15. www.canopystudio.org
EVENTS: Really, Really Free Market (Reese and Pope Park) Just like a yard sale, but everything is free.
Bring what you can, take what you need. Second Saturday of every month. 12–1:30 p.m. reallyreally freemarketathens@gmail.com, www.facebook.com/RRFMAthens
EVENTS: New Discoveries Historic Mill Tour (Watson Mill Bridge State Park) Archeologist Tom Gresham and Greg Yoder lead a walk talking about the history of the park and mills. 1 p.m. $5/person, $5 parking pass/vehicle. www. gastateparks.org/WatsonMillBridge
EVENTS: New Year, New Pup Adoption Party (Normaltown Brewing Company) Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter will have adoptable animals on site, along with live music and a food truck. 2–5 p.m. www.instagram.com/ normaltownbrewingco
EVENTS: New Year, New Recipes (ACC Library) Bring a dish that’s a favorite at your family gatherings and share the story behind it with Genealogical Society members. 2 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org EVENTS: Figment Non-Alcoholic Kombucha Cocktails Tasting (Tonique Bottle Co.) Drop by to taste Figment’s two non-alcoholic spritz-style sodas. 3–5 p.m. FREE! www.shoptonique.com
GAMES: Day of Board Game Demonstrations (Tyche’s Games) Try new games and watch how they’re played. 12 p.m. FREE! www. tychesgames.com
KIDSTUFF: Family Day: Beauty in Form (Georgia Museum of Art) Learn about the elements of art with interactive gallery activities and a take-home art project. 10 a.m.–12 p.m. FREE! www.georgiamuseum. org
KIDSTUFF: Pokémon Club (ACC Library) Trade Pokémon cards or learn to play the game. Ages 5–12. 12 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary. org
KIDSTUFF: Kids’ Anime Club (ACC Library) Watch anime, create art, try Japanese snacks and make new friends. All ages. 2 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org
If your partner objects when you use the phone, limits your everyday contact with family and friends, and you restrict yourself to avoid angry, aggressive confrontations, you need to step back and take another look. How can you cope once you are involved with a controlling partner? Call Project Safe for help. Our hotline is confidential, and counseling is free. Get your life back. Get help.
KIDSTUFF: LEGO Saturday (Bogart Library) Drop in to free build and create. All ages. 2–4 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart
MEETINGS: Just Do Something (ACC Library) During this genealogy research shared interest group dig deeper into your genealogy or history research. Second Saturdays, 10 a.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary. org
PERFORMANCE: All Elite Wrestling (Akins Ford Arena) AEW presents Collision with a roster of diverse male and female wrestlers. 7:30 p.m. www.classiccenter.com
SPORTS: Athens Rock Lobsters vs. Baton Rouge Zydeco (Akins Ford Arena) Cheer on the home team in this hockey match. 7 p.m. $20–43. www.classiccenter.com
Sunday 12
CLASSES: Open House (Feel Free Yoga + Wellness) Try out classes centered around yoga, pilates and sound baths. Registration required. Jan. 10–12, 9:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m. FREE! www.feelfreeyogawellness. com
COMEDY: Comedy Open Mic (MaiKai Kava Lounge) Show up and go up with your stand-up material. 6–8 p.m. FREE! www.instagram. com/bulaatmaikai
GAMES: Bad Dog Trivia (The Globe) Test your trivia knowledge with host TJ Wayt. Sundays, 6 p.m. www. facebook.com/baddogathens
SPORTS: Classic City Pétanque Club (Lay Park) New players welcome. Scheduled days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. info@petanque.org, www.athenspetanque.org
SPORTS: Athens Rock Lobsters vs. Thunderbirds (Akins Ford Arena) Cheer on the home team in this hockey match. 4 p.m. $20–43. www.classiccenter.com
THEATER: Ain’t Too Proud (The Classic Center) The Life and Times of The Temptations is a Broadway musical following the group’s journey from Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. 7:30 p.m. $25–87.25. www.classiccenter.com
Monday 13
CLASSES: Spending & Savings Plan (Online) Virtual workshop hosted by the Athens Land Trust. 5:30 p.m. FREE! www.athensland trust.org
GAMES: Bad Dog Trivia (LumberJaxe) Test your trivia knowledge with host TJ Wayt. Mondays, 7 p.m. www.facebook.com/baddogathens
GAMES: General Trivia (Athentic Brewing Co.) Test your trivia knowledge. Mondays, 7–9 p.m. FREE! www.athenticbrewing.com
KIDSTUFF: Monday Funday (Bogart Library) Join Ms. Donna for songs, fingerplays, storytelling and STEAM activities. Ages 3–7 years. Registration suggested. 10:30 a.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart
MEETINGS: Hook and Needle (Winterville Cultural Center) A crafting group with a focus on creating and contributing blanket projects for Project Linus. Second Mondays, 2 p.m. FREE! www.wintervillecenter. com
MEETINGS: Classic City Rotary (1430 N Chase St) The local chapter meets weekly. Mondays, 11:30 a.m. FREE! www.classiccityrotary. org
Tuesday 14
CLASSES: Internet 101: Privacy and Security (ACC Library) Learn how to protect your data, recognize security risks and get tips on how to manage your personal information. Registration required. 10 a.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org
CLASSES: ESOL (Bogart Library) Learn or polish your English skills using Mango languages online and in-person conversation. 12 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart
FILM: Athentic Movie Night (Athentic Brewing Co.) Screening of the Disney sports film Cool Runnings 6:30 p.m. FREE! www.athentic brewing.com
GAMES: Bad Dog Trivia (Eddie’s Calzones) Test your trivia knowledge with host TJ Wayt. Tuesdays, 7 p.m. www.facebook.com/baddog athens
GAMES: Lunch & Learn (Tyche’s Games) Bring your lunch and learn new games. 11:30 a.m. FREE! www. tychesgames.com
GAMES: Rock ‘n Roll Trivia (Athentic Brewing Company) Test your trivia knowledge with host The Music Man. 7 p.m. FREE! www. athenticbrewing.com
KIDSTUFF: Toddler Tuesday: Action Art (Georgia Museum of Art) Enjoy art and storytime in the galleries, then complete an art activity. Ages 18 months to 3 years. RSVP by email. 10 a.m. FREE! gmoa-tours@uga.edu
KIDSTUFF: Storytime (Oconee County Library) Drop in and join Ms. Jera for rhymes, songs, movement, a story and a craft. Ages 5 & under. 11 a.m. & 12 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/oconee
KIDSTUFF: Crafternoon (Oconee County Library) Drop in for a craft or two. Supplies Provided. All ages. Tuesdays, 3:30–5:30 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/oconee
MEETINGS: Athens Fibercraft Guild (Lyndon House Arts Center) Laura Gutzwiller, who creates wool paintings using needle felting, will present. 12:30–2:30 p.m. FREE! www.athensfiber.org
MEETINGS: Memoir Writing Group (Bogart Library) During this monthly group, hear memoirs from others and learn tips on how to write your own. 5:30 p.m. FREE! www.athens library.org/bogart
SPORTS: Classic City Pétanque Club (Lay Park) New players welcome. Scheduled days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. info@petanque.org, www.athenspetanque.org
Down the Line
1/15 Busy Bee Toddler Time (Bogart Library)
1/15 Shadowfist Power Lunch (Tyche’s Games)
1/15 Tour At Two (Georgia Museum of Art)
1/15 LEGO Mania (Bogart Library)
1/15 iPhone/iPad Basics (ACC Library)
1/15 Avid Writers’ Collective (Avid Bookshop)
1/15 Salsa Dancing (El Carretonero)
1/15 Gorgeous George’s Improv League (Buvez)
1/15 Pachinko Pop (Flicker Theatre & Bar)
1/15 Not Rocket Science Trivia (Locos Grill and Pub Eastside)
1/16 Open Play (Oconee County Library)
1/16 Classic City Pétanque Club (Lay Park)
1/16 LEGO Club (Oconee County Library)
1/16 Bad Dog Trivia (The Foundry) f
bulletin board
Deadline for getting listed in Bulletin Board is every THURSDAY at 5 p.m. for the print issue that comes out the following Wednesday. Online listings are updated daily. Email calendar@flagpole.com.
AAAC QUARTERLY GRANT (Athens, GA) The Athens Area Arts Council offers $500 grants to visual and performing artists in any medium to support specific projects that enrich the culture of Athens. Rolling deadlines are Mar. 15, June 15, Sept. 15 and Dec. 15. Apply online. www. athensarts.org/support
ART MART CALL FOR ARTISTS
AND VENDORS (Lyndon House Arts Center) Applications are now open for fine artists and craftspeople to participate in the indoor 2025 Art Market. All mediums welcome. Free to apply. $60 (vendor fee). Deadline Jan. 15. Event held May 17, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. www.lyndon houseartsfoundation.com
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM
(Lyndon House Arts Center) The AIR Program provides participants with a semi-private workspace, access to the center’s seven open studios and a $250 stipend. Rising professional and studio-based artists are invited to apply. Artists will be expected to present their work in a workshop or artist talk and will be invited to take part in a group exhibition with other AIR Program alumni. Applications are reviewed Apr. 20 for residencies beginning July 1 and Sept. 20 for residencies beginning Jan. 1. www.accgov. com/lyndonhouse
BIPOC ARTIST/CURATOR PROJECT OPEN CALL (Lyndon House Arts Center) Seeking BIPOC individuals residing in Georgia to develop an art exhibition to be on display for 6–8 weeks at the LHAC. A stipend of $1,500 is provided. www.accgov. com/9799/ArtistCurator
CALL FOR ART (Amici at The Falls) Amici is seeking artists to share artwork in monthly exhibitions. Email an introduction and a few examples of work. careywelsh20@gmail.com
CALL FOR COLLECTORS (Lyndon House Arts Center) The LHAC’s “Collections from our Community” series features unique collections
of objects found in the closets, cabinets and shelves of Athenians. Email if interested in displaying your collection. shelby.little@ accgov.com
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS (Lyndon House Arts Center) The 50th Juried Exhibition will be juried by Michael Rooks, Wieland Family Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the High Museum in Atlanta. Artists living in Athens or surrounding counties may submit up to three entries. Submissions accepted Jan. 7, 7 a.m.–Jan. 24, 11:59 p.m. Application clinic held Jan. 18, 12–3 p.m. Exhibition on view Mar. 13–May 10. $35/entry fee. accgov.com/lyndonhouse FLIGHT OF THE FIREFLIES CALL FOR ART (Dudley Park) The ACC Leisure Services Arts Division is seeking proposals from four artists or artist teams for temporary light sculptures to display during the Flight of the Fireflies Lantern Parade. Deadline Jan. 27, 5 p.m. $500 all-inclusive budget. Event held Mar. 8. www.accgov. com/10862/Call-for-Art-Flight-ofthe-Fireflies
JOKERJOKERTV CALL FOR ARTISTS (Online) JOKERJOKERtv is actively accepting proposals for collaboration from visual, musical and video artists and curators living in Athens. Artists worldwide can also submit music videos, short films, skits and ideas to share with a weekly livestream audience. www. jokerjokertv.com/submit OPEN STUDIOS (Lyndon House Arts Center) Studio members have access to spaces for painting, printmaking, photography, ceramics, jewelry, fiber and woodworking. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. $65/month. www. accgov.com/7350/Open-StudioMembership PUBLIC ART SELECTION PANELS (Athens GA) The Athens Cultural Affairs Commission is seeking community members to participate in upcoming public art selection panels. Panels review, evaluate and
art around town
ARTS + ATHLETICS (Contact for Address) “Raised Bed” features works on paper and sculptural works by Sara Hess, co-founder of printmaking studio Two Parts Press. Closing Reception Feb. 22, 4–6 p.m. Open by appointment through Feb. 22.
ATHENAEUM (287 W. Broad St.) Brooklyn-based artist Matt Keegan’s sculptures, collage and paintings in “Realia” are based on double-sided image-based flash cards his mother made to teach English. On view Jan. 10–Mar. 22.
ATHENS INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART: ATHICA (675 Pulaski St.) Wendy DesChene and Jeff Schmuki operate under the guise of “PlantBot Genetics,” a parody of Big Agricultural Firms who skillfully manipulate current food production and distribution systems. Jan. 11–Feb. 9.
ATHICA@CINÉ GALLERY (234 W. Hancock Ave.) R.B. Pruett’s solo exhibition includes visceral “cannibalized” paintings that involve a process of cutting up and collaging fragments of other paintings. Through Feb. 25.
CLASSIC CENTER (300 N. Thomas St.) On view in Classic Gallery I, “Legendary Georgia Musicians in Watercolor” is Jackie Dorsey’s homage to musicians who have called Georgia their home. • In Classic Gallery II, “Linnentown Then and Now: The Johnsons” includes portraits by Caroline Ford Coleman.
select from submitted proposals for ACC-funded public art commissions. www.accgov.com/9656/ Public-Art-Selection-Panels
Auditions
ANGEL STREET (GASLIGHT) (Elberton Arts Center) Encore Productions hosts auditions seeking two adult men and three adult women. Auditions held Feb. 17–18, 6–8 p.m. Performances held May 2–4, 9–11. 706-213-3109, tking@cityof elberton.net
Classes
A COURSE OF LOVE (Unity Athens Church) Learn a positive path for spiritual living based on A Course in Miracles. Wednesdays, 10–11:30 a.m. FREE! www.unity athens.com
ACCENT REDUCTION CLASS
(Covenant Presbyterian Church)
Improve your American English pronunciation skills. For ages 18 and up. Tuesdays, 12 p.m. FREE! marjoriemiller@gmail.com
ART CLASSES (K.A. Artist Shop) The shop offers a range of fine art classes and workshops for adults, private classes and parties, summer camps, and art clubs for youth. Register online. www.kaartist.com
BLACKSMITHING CLASSES (Greenhow Handmade Ironworks, Washington) A variety of blacksmithing classes include “Beginner Blacksmithing: Forge a Fire Poker” (Jan. 11), “Forge a Medieval Flail” (Jan. 17), “Beginner Blacksmithing: Forge a Bottle Opener” (Jan. 25), “First Time at the Forge: Three Hook Rack” (Feb. 8), “Crash Course in Artistic Blacksmithing” (Feb. 9–10, $250) and “Forging Basic Tongs” (Feb. 15). Classes run 10 a.m.–5 p.m. $150/class. www.greenhow handmade.com/blacksmith-classes CANOPY CLASSES & SCHOLARSHIPS (Canopy Studio) Canopy offers a variety of trapeze and aerial
arts classes for children and adults. Scholarships and financial aid are available. outreach@canopystudio. org, www.canopystudio.org/ outreach/scholarships CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS (Athens, GA) The Athens Land Trust hosts a variety of virtual and in-person classes. Topics include “Spending & Savings Plan” (Jan. 13, 5:30 p.m.), “Homebuyer Education” (Jan. 25 or Feb. 22, 9:30 a.m.), “Building Your Financial Future” (Jan. 27, 5:30 p.m.), “Credit Reports & Scores” (Feb. 10, 5:30 p.m.) and “Using Credit Cards” (Feb. 24, 5:30 p.m.). Visit website for full list. www.athensland trust.org/classes-events
CUBAN SALSA CLASSES (UGA Dance Building) TIMBAthens offers multiple classes for different skill levels. Sundays, 3 p.m. (Level 1) and 4 p.m (Level 2). $10 drop-in. timbathens@gmail.com, www. timbathens.com
DANCE CLASSES (East Athens Educational Dance Center) The center offers classes in ballet, hip hop, jazz, modern and tap. Lunch time classes are available for adults including “Pilates & Dance Conditioning” on Wednesdays at noon. www.accgov.com/myrec
LEVEL 1 IMPROV (Flying Squid Comedy) This six-week class provides the resources needed to get started or to hone the skills you already have. Begins Jan. 12, 4–6 p.m. rachelhopekurtz@gmail.com, www.flyingsquidcomedy.com
EARTH FARE (1689 S. Lumpkin St.) Susan Pelham’s collages are inspired by Magic Realism, Surrealism, nursery rhymes, fables and more. FOYER (135 Park Ave.) Brooklyn-based artist Baker Overstreet’s “Goblin Gazebo” features sculptures that bring to mind puppets, dolls and French clowns, and are made with canvas and bits and bobbles like wood, push pins and found materials. On view through Jan. 18 by appointment.
GEORGIA MUSEUM OF ART (90 Carlton St.) “On Wonder and Witnessing at Tallulah Falls” places a 1841 painting by George Cooke alongside contemporary photographs by Caitlin Peterson. Through Jan. 12. • Shot through the windows from inside Waffle House restaurants across the Southeast, Micah Cash’s photographs in “Waffle House Vistas” contemplate the built and natural environments. Through June 1.
GLASSCUBE@INDIGO (500 College Ave.) Zane Cochran presents “Aurora,” a sculptural interpretation of the aurora borealis using 3D geometric figures and lights.
HOTEL INDIGO (500 College Ave.) Vivian Liddell shares “Athens Landscapes,” a series of monotypes based on photographs taken around town over the past several years.
LYNDON HOUSE ARTS CENTER (211 Hoyt St.) Collections from Our Community hosts John Stephenson’s vintage radio collection. Through Jan. 11. • “Inspired: Artworks by Students of the Clarke County School District Inspired by Athens Creatives” was envisioned as a way to foster a connection between local artists and students. Through Jan. 18. • The Window Works series presents a site-specific artwork by Atlanta artist Michael
PÉTANQUE CLUB OF ATHENS (5 Alumni Dr.) Learn to play Pétanque. RSVP for a free Wednesday introduction. www.athenspetanqueclub. wixsite.com/play
TRADITIONAL MARTIAL ARTS
CLASSES (Live Oak Martial Arts) Traditional and modern-style Taekwondo, self-defense, grappling and weapons classes are offered for all ages. Classes in Jodo, the art of the Japanese staff and sword, are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7 p.m. Visit the website for a full schedule. liveoak martialarts@gmail.com, www.live oakmartialarts.com
UGA COMMUNITY ART SCHOOL (Lamar Dodd School of Art) This new program features 10-week courses for adult students seeking to learn new skills or expand their artistic expression. “Drawing Other Humans” runs Tuesdays, Jan. 28–Apr. 8, 6–8:30 p.m. $450. Register by Jan. 15. art.uga.edu/ugacommunity-art-school
Help Out
ATHENS REPAIR CAFE (Solid Waste Office) The repair cafe is seeking volunteers who are comfortable fixing any of the following: clothing, pillows, small appliances, lamps, electronics, computers, bikes, small engines, clocks, knives, tools. The repair cafe is held on the fourth Sunday of every month. reuse@accgov. com, www.accgov.com/RepairCafe
MLK DAY OF SERVICE (Athens, GA) Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day by volunteering on Jan. 20. Over 30 different community organizations, cemeteries, schools and government agencies will host service projects. Registration deadline Jan. 17. www.accgov.com/mlkday MULTIPLE CHOICES VOLUNTEERS (Multiple Choices Center for Independent Living) Seeking volunteers to assist a nonprofit agency that serves individuals living with disabilities throughout a 10-country area of Northeastern Georgia. Contact Daniel Myers at 706-850-4025 or dmyers@multiplechoices.us PET FOOD PANTRY (Animal Services Adoption Center) The Animal Services community pet food pantry provides pet food to ACC residents at no cost. Donations always welcome. Monday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Sundays, 12–3 p.m. www.accgov.com/adoptioncenter SEEKING BOARD MEMBERS (Bigger Vision of Athens) The nonprofit homeless shelter Bigger Vision of Athens, Inc. is seeking new members for its board of directors. The application is available online. the biggervisionshelter@gmail.com, www.bvoa.org/boardmember TOWELS FOR ANIMALS (ACCGov Animal Services Adoption Center) Seeking donations of gently used bath towels and hand rags for bathing animals and cleaning kennels. Donations can be dropped off at the door if it’s after hours. www.accgov. com/animalservices
Reese that questions the perception of the Black Body against cyanotype photography popular with architectural blueprints. Through spring 2025. • “fast tracks, ski masks, plaid slacks” by Tim Root includes playful wooden constructions drawn from a comic book aesthetic and DIY ethos. Artist event held Jan. 30, 6–8 p.m. Currently on view through Feb. 8.
OCONEE CULTURAL ARTS FOUNDATION (34 School St., Watkinsville) “Winter Respite” features photographs by Glenn Galau. Opening Reception Jan. 10, 5–7 p.m. Through Feb. 28.
PORCELAIN AND DECORATIVE ARTS MUSEUM (2450 S. Milledge Ave.)
Two new collections celebrating the connection between art and nature include a complete Jasperware tea set from Wedgewood in England and a series of hand-carved coconut vessels.
UGA SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARIES (300 S. Hull St.) “Bulldog Olympians” celebrates over 200 UGA athletes who have competed for Team USA or their home countries through photographs and artifacts. Through January. • “Precious, Almost Sacred: Voting Rights in America” features photos, pamphlets, newspaper reports, letters and more from the Russell Library archives to illustrate the expansion of voter access in Georgia. Through May.
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP OF ATHENS CLEMENTS GALLERY (780 Timothy Rd.) “Family Val-hues” by Broderick Flanigan focuses on the faces of the Athens-born painter and muralist’s family members. Opening Reception Jan. 17, 5–7 p.m. Currently on view through March.
Tim Root’s exhibition, “fast tracks, ski masks, and plaid slacks,” is currently on view at the Lyndon House Arts Center through Feb. 8.
Kidstuff
ART CARD CLUB FOR PRE-TEENS AND TEENS (K.A. Artist Shop)
Draw, paint, collage and create your own collection of art cards. Materials provided. Fridays, 6–7:30 p.m. $28/drop-in, $200 (10 classes).
www.kaartist.com
BRELLA ACTIVITIES (’Brella Studio)
After-school art lessons for ages 6–11 include drawing and mixed media activities and are held Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Family Playgroups are for ages 0–5 and their caregivers. Check website for descriptions and meeting times. www.brellastudio.com/events
CREATIVE CLASSES (Treehouse Kid & Craft) Treehouse offers a variety of art-centric activities for children, such as “Art School,” “Toddler/ Baby Process Art,” “Digital Art Designer,” “Open Studio,” “Art School Junior,” “Saturday Morning Crafts” and more. Check website for schedule and details. www. treehousekidandcraft.com
GROUPS AT REBLOSSOM
(ReBlossom) A variety of classes, playgroups and support groups are offered for parents and young children. Topics include birth and breastfeeding, prenatal and parent-baby yoga, instrument play, maternal mental health and more. Check website for a schedule. www. reblossomathens.com
LIBRARY STORYTIMES (ACC Library) Storytime for preschool aged children and their caregivers is offered every Tuesday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. www.athens library.org
Support Groups
BRAIN INJURY SUPPORT GROUP
(St. Mary’s Hospital, 5th Floor Therapy Room) This support group for survivors of traumatic head injury, their families, friends and caregivers offers friendship, information about resources and opportunities for advocacy. Every third Monday, 4:30–6 p.m. Contact Floretta Johnson, 706-353-1892, floretta.johnson@stmarysathens.
org NEW PARENTS AND INFANT
FEEDING SUPPORT GROUP (BYL Family Resource Center) Come as you are for community, snacks and feeding advice from professionals. Babies and children of all ages are welcome. Second and fourth Wednesdays, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. FREE! www.byyourleave.org
POLYAMORY SUPPORT GROUP
(Revolution Therapy and Yoga) This open support group for adults practicing or considering polyamory or nonmonogamy discusses navigating jealousy, polysaturation, relationships with metamours and polyamorous parenting. Thursdays, 6:30–7:30 p.m. $10 donation. www.revolutiontherapyandyoga. com
PROJECT SAFE (Family Protection Center) Project Safe hosts a support group for survivors of domestic violence. Mondays, 6:30–8 p.m. www. project-safe.org
RECOVERY DHARMA (Athens Addiction Recovery Center) This peer-led support group offers a Buddhist-inspired path to recovery from any addiction. Visit the website for details. Thursdays, 7 p.m. www.athensrecoverydharma.org
RECREATE JOY (Sunny Days Therapeutics) Nuçi’s Space hosts a recreational therapy support group. Improve coping skills and self esteem while reducing depression and anxiety through adaptive yoga,
games and leisure education. Sixweek sessions. Wednesdays, 5–6 p.m. tinyurl.com/rnvuhesa
SURVIVORS OF SUICIDE (Nuçi’s Space) SOS is a support group for anyone who has lost a loved one to suicide. Meets the third Wednesday of every month, 5:30–7:30 p.m. www.nuci.org
Word on the Street
ATHENS ON ICE (440 Foundry Pavilion) Outdoor ice skating is currently available through February. Tickets include skate rental and 75 minutes on the ice. $15. www.classiccenter. com/iceskating ATHFEST MUSICIAN APPLICATIONS (Downtown Athens) The 2025 AthFest Music & Arts Festival, held June 20–22, is seeking applications from musicians to perform. Fill out the online form. Deadline Mar. 7. www.athfest.com/ athfest-musician-applications BIKE REPAIR STATIONS (Multiple Locations) Over 15 free bike repair stations are located across Athens with tools, an air pump and a QR code for quick guides on basic bike repairs. Visit the website for participating locations. www.accgov. com/10584/Bike-Repair-Stations COMMUNITY LAUNCHPAD PRO-
GRAM (ACC Library) This new program is geared towards helping people get their idea for a new event, interest group or initiative off the ground. The library offers idea generation workshops, resource access, meeting space, mentorship, grant writing assistance and more. Orientation session held Jan. 11, 11 a.m. or 4 p.m. Jan. 12, 4 p.m. www.athenslibrary.org
FILM LOCATION DIRECTORY
(Athens, GA) The Athens Film Office, part of the ACCGov Communications Department, recently launched a new database to showcase potential local sites that could be considered for film, TV or other production projects. Residents and business owners can add photos and information. www.athensgafilm office.com
RABBIT BOX (Athens VFW 2872)
Rabbit Box presents true short stories shared by community members. Upcoming themes include “Some ‘Body’ to Love: Body Image Stories” on Jan. 28, “Open Theme Show” on Feb. 25, “In the Wrong Place, at the Wrong Time” on Mar. 25, “Road Trip!” on Apr. 22 and “Soundtrack of My Life” on May 27. Submit story ideas online. www. rabbitbox.org/tell
RABBIT HOLE EVENTS (Rabbit Hole Studios) Weekly events include Open Mic (Tuesdays, 7–11 p.m.), Acoustic Song Circle (Thursdays, 7–11 p.m.) and Drumming and Song Circle (Sundays, 3–5 p.m.). Wednesday Yoga (5 p.m.) is followed by Meditation and Integration (6 p.m.). Events are free or donation based. www.rabbitholestudios.org/ calendar
SEVENTH GENERATION (Healing Path Farm) Seventh Generation Native American Church hosts gatherings on Sundays at 11 a.m., Men’s Group on Tuesdays at 6 p.m., and Women’s Circle every second and fourth Wednesday at 6 p.m. www.seventhgeneration nativeamericanchurch.org
WINTER PROGRAM REGISTRATION (Athens, GA) The Leisure Services Department offers a diverse selection of activities highlighting the arts, environmental science, recreation, sports and holiday events for both adults and children. Now registering. www.accgov.com/ myrec f
3) Reduce Carbon Footprint
Fight Climate Change.
Using public transit is one of the most effective actions individuals can take to reduce their carbon footprint. Start riding and make an impact today!
REAL ESTATE
HOUSES FOR RENT
3BR/2BA house in Normaltown, quiet interior street. Central heat/air. Furnished. Hwd floors. Washer/dryer. Driveway/on-street parking. No smokers, pets. Calls only! 706-372-1505
Newly Built Home for Rent. This 3BR/2.5BA craftsman home features an open layout, modern kitchen, master suite, covered porch, and is small dog-friendly. Going for $2,150/mon. Call 706-2271326 to learn more.
ROOMS FOR RENT
Room for rent. Utils. included. $600/mon. 706366-8081
Get Flagpole delivered straight to your mailbox!
Weekly delivery straight from the source. Makes a great gift! Only $65 for six months or $125 for one year. Purchase online at www.flagpole.bigcartel. com, call 706-549-0301 or email frontdesk@flagpole. com.
FOR SALE
MISCELLANEOUS
Business Water Solutions offers the cleanest drinking water available through innovative bottle-less water coolers and ice machines. 706-248-6761 or business watersolutions.com to set up a consultation.
MUSIC INSTRUCTION
Athens School of Music. Now offering in-person and online instruction in guitar, bass, drums, piano, voice, brass, woodwinds, strings, banjo, mandolin and more. From beginner to expert, all styles. Visit www.athens schoolofmusic.com. 706543-5800
MUSIC SERVICES
Instant cash is now being paid for good vinyl records & CDs in fine condition. Wuxtry Records at corner of Clayton & College Dwntn. 706-369-9428
Flagpole ♥s our advertisers.
SERVICES
HOME AND GARDEN
Hi! I’m Pablo, an expert gardener offering personalized care for your landscape. I specialize in low-maintenance, native gardens that support pollinators and biodiversity. Call 631-903-4365 or email pkozatch@gmail. com.
Flagpole ♥s our donors.
Woman-Run Gardening Services: Prep for Winter! We offer garden clean-up/ maintenance, invasive plant removal, raised beds, personalized native/edible gardens for home/business and more! Call/Text: 706395-5321.
JOBS
FULL-TIME
Taste of India is now hiring (Busser, host, to-go specialist, floater). Paid weekly, employee meals, flexible schedules, full-time or parttime $15–$20. APPLY IN PERSON.
PART-TIME
Join a diverse, inclusive workplace and get paid to type! 12–40 hours, Mon–Fri. NEVER be called in for a shift you didn’t sign up for. Must type 65+ wpm. Make your own schedule and work independently with no customer interaction. Starts at $13 with automatic increases. www.ctscribes. com
NOTICES
LOST AND FOUND
$2000 REWARD. Cherished gift! Small ladies ring. Bezel set ruby surrounded by tiny diamonds in yellow gold band. Lost during early voting, Oct. 21. Area: tax office to back entrance of Courthouse, down Jackson St. to Lyndon House Arts Center voting area. Contact: 706-612-4516.
ORGANIZATIONS
Athens Songwriters’ Forum: A kickoff event to launch the nominations period for the 2025 Vic Chesnutt Songwriter of the Year Awards! Jan. 16, 8 p.m. at Ciné. $20.
Follow ACC Solid Waste on Instagram/Facebook @ accsolidwaste for tips and resources for recycling, composting, repairs, and more or visit accgov.com/ solidwaste.
Juvenile Offender Advocates. Seeking volunteer advocates and interns to make a difference in a juvenile offender’s life. juvenile offenderadvocateinc.org
Registration is open for the Classic City Marathon, Athena Half Marathon, and the Marathon Relay on Jan. 25, 2025. classiccitymarathon.squarespace.com
The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia accepts food donations between 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon-Fri. Volunteer opportunities available! foodbank nega.org
The Lightroom Athens offers affordable professional studio and equipment rentals for photo, video, podcasting, and more! Right next to Puma Yu’s. thelightroom-ath.com
Wild Earth School offers nature classes for ages 3–8, Mon & Wed 9:30 am–1:30 pm, starting Feb. 24 at the 50-acre Piedmont Preserve off of Chase St. www.wild earthcamp.org
UGA SCHOOL OF MUSIC FACULTY CHAMBER ENSEMBLES
Romantic Mostly
Brahms, Rachmaninoff & Piazzol-
Tuesday, January 21 7:30 p.m.
Ramsey Concert Hall UGA PAC
Featuring Levon Ambartsumian, violin,
and Anatoly Sheludyakov, piano
PLUS...CHECK OUT OUR FREE PERFORMANCES BELOW
GUEST ARTIST: CAVATINA DUO
$15 - Adults | $3 - UGA student with valid ID Eugenia Moliner, flute (Spain) Denis Azabagic, guitar (Bosnia)
Monday, January 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Ramsey Concert Hall, UGA PAC
FACULTY ARTIST SERIES MATTHEW SHIPES, TUBA/EUPHONIUM
with Anatoly Sheludyakov, piano Tuesday, January 14 7:30 p.m. in Ramsey Hall Reception to follow
UGA CHORAL PROJECT “TWO STREAMS”
Two Streams (2021) is a cantata in 14 movements for choir and string orchestra that incorporates elements of Chant, Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic, and contemporary styles.
Saturday, January 18 at 6 p.m. First Christian Church 268 W Dougherty St, Athens, GA
Tuesday, January 21 at 5:30 p.m.
Ramsey Concert Hall, UGA PAC
GUEST ARTIST AND UGA ALUM CAROLINE HALLECK, saxophone
Thursday, January 23 at 7:30 p.m. Ramsey Concert Hall, UGA PAC
Master class Wednesday, January 22 at 6:30 p.m. in Edge Hall, HHSOM Building 250 River Road
