I’m absolutely thrilled and honored to be in this position as your new editor/publisher of The Hartwell Sun.
My goal with The Sun is to help make our community even stronger by providing a strong newspaper each and every week. As our parent company, Community Newspapers Inc.’s motto says, “Strong newspapers build strong communities.”
I’ll go ahead and break the ice by saying that even though I’ve lived in Elbert County for over half my life and am a Franklin County High School graduate, I vow to be passionate about, and a champion for, this community. I even got some Hart County gear for Christmas last week to help me cheer on the Bulldogs.
While I grew up in the other two counties in the tri-county area, I’m no stranger to the area. My mom, Angela Leopard Scoggins, is a Hart County native, and my grandparents, great-grandmother and other family members live in various areas of the county.
Over the years I’ve been to countless sporting events at Hart County High School and Hart County Middle School, seen plays and dance recitals at the Lonnie Burns Fine Arts Center and Hart County Community Theatre, watched my sister in various activities at the Bell Family YMCA, had a tradition of coming to see all of the scarecrows around the square, visited the beautiful Hart County Botanical Garden, walked the dam and, of course, spent many a lake day down on Old 29.
Hart County isn’t just about the lake for me. It’s about a tight-knit community made up of local volunteers, small business owners, spirited fans, leaders who want the best for their constituents, citizens who take pride in where they live and so much more.
As your new editor/publisher, I believe every area of this county is important, and vow to help showcase those areas to the best of my abilities. While that will include a lot of good stories about people and programs in the community, it will also mean holding our elected officials accountable when needed and reporting hard news that includes information you need to know.
That’s the forefront of what my job is here – to keep all of Hart County’s citizens informed about the local issues in their community that will affect their everyday lives. Because, to echo the Georgia Press Association’s campaign, local matters.
With that being said, I can’t do it all on my own – and I still have a lot to learn. I’ll rely on our experienced staff to help me, but also ask for your help as well.
Do you have a news tip or good story you’d like to see shared with the community? Please reach out to me via email at editor@thehartwellsun.com, give me a call at 706-376-8025 or stop by our office located at 8 Benson St. I’d love to meet you in person and hear what you have to say.
After all, it’s readers like you that help keep us running, and, most importantly, will help in our efforts at The Sun to keep the community informed and make Hart County even stronger.