IN EVERY ISSUE

Plenty of area fall events are usually showcased in the September/October, Tourism & Agriculture issue of Statesboro Magazine: Georgia Southern Football, The Great Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair, the Brooklet Peanut Festival, the list goes on. But, this year, due to Covid-19 precautions, many of those area events and festivals have been postponed or cancelled until next year. Better safe than sorry, we say. But that hasn’t stopped us from finding plenty of inspiring stories that will appeal to visitors and natives alike. In the signature Blind Willie tune, Statesboro Blues, there’s a line that stands out to us – “I’m goin’ to the Country, baby do you wanna go?” In this issue, we decided to go to the Country where we found three area musicians to talk to: Micah Bonn, formerly known as Micahlan Boney, Clayton Hackle, and Bluegrass bass player Rafe Waters. Each musician shares with us their dreams and successes on the road to Country music fame.

We also have a special feature that takes us on a tour of the beautiful traditional Southern home of Ralph Cowart. It has taken 18 months for Cowart to renovate and refurnish the beautiful neoclassical former home of Dr. & Mrs. Charles Richardson, with help from area artisans and designers including Southern Traditions, The Warehouse, South Georgia Kitchen & Bath, and B & M Pools. Working together they were able to restore the home to its former grandeur. Take a peek inside and see the amazing transformation.

Speaking of transformations, have you been to Metter lately? In the past few months, in spite of the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic, 12 new businesses have opened in the downtown area! And, Georgia Southern University will soon be opening their second Business Innovation Group Incubator in the downtown area, too. Metter is using her agricultural roots to brand herself as a Georgia Grown community. We talked to City Manager Carter Crawford and Director of Tourism & Business Development Heidi Jeffers to learn what’s going on to make Everything Even Better in Metter.

We have some writers we’d like for you to meet, too. Inside you’ll meet Shannon Grindler, who authored the story on musician Clayton Hackle. And, we’ve added two new columnists: Carolyn Altman, Director of the Georgia Southern Botanic Garden, with her column, Garden Variety. And, Randall Ford, DDS, who has a master’s degree in Conflict Management, and shares with us five ways to resolve conflict in his column, State of Mind.

We may be stuck at home, but at least we have something great to read about!

Enjoy!

Jenny Foss, Editor