How We Protest in Dahlonega and Beyond

In so many parts of the world, when you get angry, you get a few thousand of your closest friends, relatives, and acquaintances together and riot. You burn a few buildings. Turn over a dozen or so cars. Throw heavy rocks at police officers. And, of course, you scream chants incessantly loud over and over  while waving your fists in the air.

Europe protest photo by Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty

Fortunately, oh so fortunately, that's not how people in Dahlonega and Beyond react when they get mad. Here in North Georgia, we show our anger without taking to the streets, burning and looting

Here are a few examples of how people in our part of the world show their disdain:

1. Earlier this year, residents were angry, very angry, with County Commissioner Tim Bowden's seemingly disregard for voters. So, Commissioner Bowden was voted out of office.
2. A local distraught Walmart shopper, instead of rioting over a perceived misjustice, picked up a paint brush, a couple of cans of paint and painted a huge Don't Shop at Walmart sign on an abandoned building on Hwy. 9.
3. A Lumpkin homeowner, angered by a commissioner's actions (which she and others viewed as lawbreaking), printed up fliers, stood on a street corner and handed out her missives as voters went to the polls.
4. Upset with the response from a Lumpkin County Sheriff's deputy, a member of the Dahlonega Women's Club penned a scathing Letter to the Editor for The Dahlonega Nugget.

While the people in our area may show their dissatisfaction in non-violent ways, don't think we don't value our freedom and will fight for them. Our love of freedom and are country are quite evident to anyone who sees the war memorial on Dahlonega's town square or the graves of war veterans in local cemeteries.

Murder and Mayhem in Lumpkin

Yes, folks. There is murder and mayhem right here in Lumpkin County. Well, murder might be stretching the truth just a tad, but there definitely is some mayhem.

The story starts several weeks ago when the Dahlonega Women's Club displayed their first scarecrows around town to promote the organization's Scarecrow Stomp, a fundraiser and contest based on scarecrow building and scarecrow creativity. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the mayhem (and first of the many incidents) began.

One scarecrow disappeared, then another, and another. What happened next was even more disturbing. Someone (or someones) burned a scarecrow right where he/she stood. A news story in the Dahlonega Nugget, calling attention to the disappearances, and burning, seemed to quell the mayhem for a while.

But it wasn't long before scarecrows began disappearing again. Not just in downtown Dahlonega, but along county roads, in front of churches, and next to local businesses.

The scarecrows on display went missing at the Dahlonega Funeral Home, Woody's Barber Shop, the United Community Bank and the Dahlonega Baptist Church were all attacked and wrecked. The anti-scarecrow folks even stole the Uncle Sam scarecrow. (Ironically, among the missing is a scarecrow a deputy sheriff's uniform.)

"While they have small monetary value per se, they (the scarecrows) represent the collective work and enthusiasm of people trying to do good for the community," wrote Leah Ratzel in an editorial published in this week's Nugget. Sadden by "this reception in our community," Ratzel wrote that nearby towns have similar festivals, yet they "have no problem with vandalism. What's up with Lumpkin County."

It is sad, extremely sad, that a group of thugs (yes, I said thugs) have acted so irresponsibly. Having total disregard for the work of others. Destruction of property. Theft. Vandalism. These are not behaviors we want in Lumpkin.

Mayhem is not funny. It is a crime. Let's hope this vandalism doesn't deter the Dahlonega Women's Club from sponsoring Scarecrow Stomp again next year.

Scarecrow Stomp's Missing (Scare)Persons

Photos compliments of the Dahlonega Women's Club, Facebook

Best Social Club in Dahlonega

Okay. To be fair to the Lions Club, D&B hasn't been to a Dahlonega Lions Club meeting yet, so this is sort of a prejudiced Best OF Dahlonega & Beyond selection of Best Club. (Last  month, the Lions Club tied with the Dahlonega Women's Club in local voting for Best Club for 2011.)

But after just one visit to the Dahlonega Women's Club, D&B has to say, "Wow. The Lions Club must be amazing to have tied with the Women's Club."

Our guest visit at the Women's Club started with a mini chili cookoff to determine which chili recipe would represent the club at the town's upcoming chili cookoff. Then for the next hour, one group chairman after another told of the amazing work the club is doing - Meals on Wheels, senior citizen center visits, time and funds donated to the library, participation in the Lumpkin Literacy Coalition's Spelling Bee, trash pickup along the highway, a fund for purchase flower seeds for highway medians, volunteering for charity events, and the list goes on and on.

Does that club stay busy! The local joke is that every event the Women's Club participates in involves a meal of some type. We can see why. Those meals provide the members with the fuel they need to take on all the charity work and volunteerism they do.