The Oglethorpe Echo
In college basketball, the third month of each year is called March Madness.
In the fifth month, the tag could be May’s Mash Dash to get it all done before the end of the school year. Banquets, awards, field trips, celebrations and graduations pack the calendar this month.
And this year, there was a primary election, including local candidates. The campaigning has been brisk, but early Tuesday morning election officials reported voting was going at a snail’s pace.
As you read this edition, you’ll find out who were the winners and losers in the multiple races — local and state.
Here are our opinions for the month of May:
Memorial Day
Monday is a federal holiday.
Families and friends will gather to relax, play and give an early kickoff to summer. Let’s hope Americans will remember to celebrate the reason for the day off from work.
The last Monday of May was signified as the special day to honor and mourn our American troops who died while serving our country.
Our freedoms come with a price, often paid in blood and sacrifice. While we splash in the water and grill in the backyards, let’s not forget why we call it Memorial Day.
To all the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms, we give a heartfelt thumbs up.
OCHS graduates
Twelve years ago, a group of boys and girls started their elementary educations. Friday night, 154 will step forward to receive their Oglethorpe County High School diplomas.
Oglethorpe County’s school system is one of the community’s points of pride. And it should be.
A solid education is a major step into the future for these students. That’s why we should be proud of the improving graduation rate of OCHS. Today, it is 95.8% and climbing.
To the students, staff, faculty and administration of Oglethorpe County schools, we give a thumbs up.
Week of sunshine
The lives of farmers are a whirling dervish.
From sunup to sundown, the to-do list is longer than anyone’s arm. And then there’s the weather.
Farmers are one day praying for rain, and the next for sunshine.
Rain — God’s water — is so important to get their crops sprouting out of the ground and to keep the crops nurtured until harvest time.
But there’s always the quandary of how much water. Often, it’s too little or too much. Feast or famine, they say.
This year, the hay farmers have been blessed with plenty of rain. But when it comes time for harvesting, the hayfields are too wet to crank up the mowers. That’s been the plight lately.
This week, sunshine has prevailed. Take a look around the 442 square miles of Oglethorpe County, and you’ll see farmers with their hay equipment scrambling to take advantage of the cooperative weather.
So, for this week’s sunny skies and our happy hay farmers, we give a thumbs up.