Opinion & Editorial

Photo credit: Magnus S

Photo credit: Magnus S

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Environmental ‘ignorance’ isn’t bliss

Dink NeSmith
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
True or false: “Ignorance is bliss”? If that was true, I was blissfully ignorant—nestled in my Strand Theater seat—watching cowboy-and-Indian movies during my boyhood Saturdays. And how many times, in backyard play, did you choose to be a cowboy rather than an Indian?
Photo credit: Mae Mu

Photo credit: Mae Mu

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Picking oranges plucks story from Great Depression

Dink NeSmith
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Circa 1935. Soup kitchens. Bread lines. Unemployment almost 25 percent. The Great Depression had America’s stomach gnawing on its backbone. Jobs were hard to come by, but the two youthful brothers always found work.
Photo credit: Simon Maage

Photo credit: Simon Maage

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Celebrating a life full of gratefulness and thanksgiving

Dink NeSmith
Tuesday, November 22, 2022
As family and friends gather to celebrate Thanksgiving, I share my gratitude for this sample of blessings: •For Big Dink and Margie, our parents from the Greatest Generation, who were daily lessons in love, compassion, giving, and the values of hard work and a good name.
William “Bill” Chafin celebrating the Braves’ 2021 World Series championship with wife Kaye.

William “Bill” Chafin celebrating the Braves’ 2021 World Series championship with wife Kaye.

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Bill Chafin is Loving Life

Josh Brannen
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
The Latin expression “carpe diem” or “seize the day” is an ordinary ingredient that leads one to the gates of “vita bona” or “the good life”.
A big-rig-tanker load of industrial waste, aka soil amendment or sludge, sits along the roadside in Lexington.

A big-rig-tanker load of industrial waste, aka soil amendment or sludge, sits along the roadside in Lexington.

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‘Let there be peace in the valley’

Dink NeSmith
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
If “misery loves company,” the residents of a growing number of North and South Georgia counties aren’t alone. That was obvious at last week’s meeting of the Savannah-Upper Ogeechee Water Council meeting in Elberton.
Photo submitted On Capitol Hill in Atlanta, the state erected a memorial to its veterans and in honor of Gen. Pete Wheeler, who served as commissioner of the Department of Veterans Service from 1948 until his death in 2015.

Photo submitted On Capitol Hill in Atlanta, the state erected a memorial to its veterans and in honor of Gen. Pete Wheeler, who served as commissioner of the Department of Veterans Service from 1948 until his death in 2015.

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Curiosity killed the cat

Dink NeSmith
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Curiosity killed the cat, said my grandmother. Curiosity made me drive to Atlanta in 2011.  All these years later, I am still shaking my head—in amazement—about the legacy of Crawford’s native son, the late Pete Wheeler.
My wife Madison and I after the 2019 home game against Monroe Area.

My wife Madison and I after the 2019 home game against Monroe Area.

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Greetings from the new sports reporter

News Staff
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
To the Hartwell and Hart County community. I am beyond excited to announce that I am the new sports writer for The Hartwell Sun. I am 24 years old from Hartwell but I was born in Fort Worth, Texas and raised in Watkinsville, Georgia.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 1996 Olympics, Athens and the University of Georgia re-enacted the torch run. As chairman of Athens 96, I invited Billy Payne, left, and Vince Dooley, right, to speak at the ceremony.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 1996 Olympics, Athens and the University of Georgia re-enacted the torch run. As chairman of Athens 96, I invited Billy Payne, left, and Vince Dooley, right, to speak at the ceremony.

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Remembering my friend, Coach Vince Dooley

Dink NeSmith
Wednesday, November 2, 2022
In sports lingo, it’d be a highlights reel. For me, it’s more of a mental scrapbook. I remember that Oct. 8, 1966, Saturday afternoon.