OFFICE MANAGER & DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Jennifer Keene
CLASSIFIED ADS & CALENDAR COORDINATOR Jennifer Keene
AD DESIGNERS Chris McNeal, Cody Robinson
CONTRIBUTORS Allison Floyd, Erin France, Leon Galis, Gordon Lamb, Rebecca McCarthy, Ed Tant
CARTOONISTS Missy Kulik, David Mack, Klon Waldrip, Joey Weiser
CIRCULATION Jennifer Bray, Charles Greenleaf, Joe Rowe
EDITORIAL & OFFICE ASSISTANT Mary Beth Bryan
EDITORIAL INTERN Lily Thomas
PHOTOGRAPHERS CJ Bartunek, Kat Wood, Jake Zerkel
SPECIAL AGENT Pete McCommons
Grassland shared the music video for its darkly comedic yet uplifting single “Ola Mae” last Friday. This single is part of a waterfall release for the band’s upcoming 13-track album Patches, to be released on Mar. 4. See “Flagpole Premieres: Grassland, ‘Ola Mae’” at flagpole.com.
On the opening night of the HeAthens Homecoming weekend, Mayor Kelly Girtz officially declared it Drive-By Truckers Day and presented the group with a Key to the City.
city dope
Safe Streets for All PLUS, WORRIES OVER VOTING BILLS AND MORE LOCAL NEWS
By Blake Aued, Rebecca McCarthy and Lily Thomas news@flagpole.com
Athens- Clarke County transportation officials are working with consultants on a plan to make some of Athens’ most dangerous streets safer.
Drivers kill an average of 13 people in Athens each year and cause 57 serious, lifealtering injuries, like losing a limb. About 85% of crashes happen on just 18% of the county’s roads, mostly on wide and fastmoving roads called arterials and collectors. “There’s different ways we can address the transportation network and improve safety,
All Safety Action Plan, including a mix of cheap quick-build projects and longer- term improvements. For example, on Gaines School Road, mid-block crosswalks could be upgraded and the lanes could easily be narrowed to slow down drivers until the road is repaved, when it could be three-laned with bike lanes and wider sidewalks installed, a process called a road diet.
For the state highways, creating a plan could entice the Georgia Department of Transportation to pay for the improve-
the average household each month—and 4% the following four years. Public Utilities is an enterprise fund, meaning it’s run like a business and charges fees for services, rather than being funded by taxes.
The commission put off a vote on the future land use map until it saw the service delivery plan. “They are married,” Terry said—PUD uses the map to predict where growth will occur and capacity needs upgrading, while planners ensured that growth would be guided toward areas where sewer service is already available.
That includes most of the urban and suburban parts of the county, with the exception of the Freeman Drive area. Past commissions have shied away from extending sewer to the houses there because Sandy Creek is an environmentally sensitive watershed that feeds into the North Oconee River near the water treatment plant’s intake, so a sewer line break would contaminate the drinking water. Installing a line would also require clear- cutting forests and taking land by eminent domain. “Not only is there a massive financial cost, there is a massive environmental cost,” Commissioner Melissa Link said.
but ultimately, we know that speeding kills,” said Courtney Frisch of the infrastructure firm AECOM. The chances of a pedestrian surviving a crash at 23 miles per hour are 90%; conversely, the odds of death are 90% at 58 mph.
In addition to studying crashes, consultants also installed cameras to measure near-misses at five locations. At two of those—the Gaines School Road McDonald’s and Thomas Street near the Classic Center—pedestrians were killed last year. “We’d rather know where a crash almost occurred than where a pedestrian has already been hit,” Frisch said at an ACC Mayor and Commission work session Feb. 10.
Using the data, AECOM identified 10 local roads as top priorities, in addition to three state highways: Barnett Shoals Road, Danielsville Road, Epps Bridge Parkway, Gaines School Road, Harve Mathis Road, Jefferson River Road, Newton Bridge Road, Pulaski Street, Timothy Road, Whit Davis Road, U.S. Highway 29, U.S. Highway 129 (Jefferson Road and part of Prince Avenue) and U.S. Highway 78 (Atlanta Highway, Broad Street and Lexington Road). “These are all corridors where we generally saw some of the biggest problems—probably not a surprise to anyone in this room,” said AECOM’s Bryan Hill.
Transportation and Public Works can choose from a toolkit of 80 safety measures in the Safe Streets and Roads for
ments. “We show them [GDOT] it’s in a plan, it’s prioritized, and it’s got projects for it,” Hill said. “We not only know the problem, we know what to do about it. That can be a platform for GDOT to address these things.”
$11 million in local funding will be available if voters agree to extend TSPLOST, the 1% sales tax for transportation. In addition, the federal government is expected to open up grant applications for road safety projects this March, and TSPLOST could be used for matching funds. “We’ll be able to tell the feds we’ve got some eggs in our basket already,” Mayor Kelly Girtz said.
Commissioners also received a briefing on the water and sewer service delivery plan—a topic of much interest lately as it relates to the future land use map and planning for growth. Although a few areas are at capacity for sewer, “we are in really good shape compared to some of our neighbors and other municipalities across the country,” said Hugh Ogle, assistant director for the Public Utilities Department.
The 20- year plan is updated every five years. Maintaining and improving the water and sewer system is a huge expense: Since 1995, ACC has spent $1.5 billion on 266 projects, and the Public Works Department plans to spend $558 million on 50 projects over the next five years. “Inflation is real,” said Public Utilities Director Hollis Terry.
That will require raising water and sewer rates by 10% this year—about $4 or $5 for
On the other hand, many septic tanks in the area are failing, and they cannot be replaced because the lots are too small for septic according to modern standards. But even if sewer were available, ACC can’t force homeowners to tie onto it. The property owner generally is responsible for pipes on their property, and Manager Bob Cowell questioned whether it would be fair to ask current ratepayers to cover those installation costs. Several commissioners floated ideas like a loan program or applying for grants. Commissioners also brought up Homewood Hills, where some residents have complained of overflowing sewers. The commission recently rejected a plan to build apartments at the Homewood Village shopping center, partly due to those concerns. “Some of the problems that were alluded to at Homewood Hills might have been exaggerated,” Ogle said, adding that a planned upgrade to
an interceptor line along the Middle Oconee River should fix any issues.
Critics also objected to a storage tank at Homewood Village. Such tanks are “industry standard,” Ogle said. They store sewage during the day, then send it down the pipes at night when most people are asleep. Sometimes developers offer to pay for a sewage project to expedite it, as CORE Spaces is doing for a student housing development near Lay Park. However, “We were geared up, ready to go” when CORE offered to pay for a larger line along College Avenue, PUD assistant director Matt Adamson said. “We have intentions to handle all these projects. We’re not sitting around hoping developers pick them up for us.”
[Blake Aued]
Voting Bills, Fulton Raid Raise Concerns
Members of the Athens- Clarke County Board of Elections and the public shared concerns about ballot access and voting bills in the Georgia legislature at a Feb. 10 meeting.
Senate Bill 214 proposes replacing Georgia’s current system of counting votes by recording electric barcodes on ballots with new machinery that scans photocopies of hand-marked paper ballots. Further, it mandates non-electronic devices for ballot marking and allows for “ballot on demand” printing. Athens Clarke- County is expected to operate under 23 polling locations using 53 unique ballots with different combinations of races, and the passage of this bill would make ballot counting all but impossible, election officials said. The board is closely monitoring this Senate bill, which could pose many operational changes for the upcoming election cycle.
Athens residents made public comments regarding their concerns for upcoming elections, with members of Fair Fight—a Georgia nonprofit combating voter suppression—advocating for free and fair elections. A key concern is the potential presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at voting precincts, with citizens urging for contingency plans to prepare for
Athens-Clarke County installed bulb-outs on Thomas Street to slow down traffic after a woman was killed there last year.
such potential disruptions. Another worry was the budgetary and staffing feasibility of opening every precinct for early voting, despite the importance of ensuring equal opportunity for all Athenians to vote.
Further, questions were raised about whether the state will comply with 2024’s Senate Bill 189, which requires QR codes no longer be used to count ballots in elections after July 1, 2026. Cybersecurity experts criticize the practice, along with paper ballot proponents, urging ballots be counted based on text that can be understood by humans. Lawmakers failed to appropriate the funds needed for this change before the legislature adjourned last year. Next year’s proposed budget includes funding for hand- counting votes and technology to scan human readable text on ballots, but it does not include the means to make this change before the July 1 deadline.
SB 189 was strongly contested for allowing challenges to the eligibility of nursing home residents, college students living in dorms and people living in military facilities. It also created barriers to voting for people who are unhoused by requiring they use the county registrar’s office as their mailing address and travel to the office to receive any election mail.
Following the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s seizure of 2020 ballots in Fulton County, commenters also expressed the importance of preparing if a similar situation were to occur in Athens. The board addressed citizen concerns about potential federal interference impacting elections, stating preparatory measures are being drafted with ACC attorney Courtney Davis to produce a standard operation procedure in the event of record seizure. Once reviewed, this document will put measures in place to protect Athens voting records. The board has also consulted with Davis on a contingency plan if federal agents are present at polling locations during the May election. They are conducting meetings with the Athens- Clarke County Police Department and Sheriff’s Office, the Clarke County School District (which hosts several voting sites) and other precinct locations to put preparatory measures into place.
In addition, the board voted on an upcoming polling location change and the inclusion of a Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) on the May 19 ballot. The 8A polling location at Gaines Elementary School will be temporarily moved to the Hilsman Middle School resource room due to ongoing construction that will continue until August. This change will only affect the primary in May and runoff in June, and the facilities are located next door to each other. A notice will be posted about the change, and the board will hear public comment at its next meeting on Tuesday, Mar. 10.
Former Election Department Director Charlotte Sosbee left the position almost a year ago, and interim director Pamela Long has been occupying the role. Board chair Rocky Raffle told Flagpole the initial hiring search failed and has been reopened. Former Board of Elections member Adam Shirley recently resigned to run for school board, so this position is currently open, too.
On the topic of potential election disruptions, Raffle said the board will “do what we can within the law.”
In advance of election day on May 19, absentee ballot applications will be accepted
until May 8. The voter registration deadline is Apr. 20, and advance voting will take place Apr. 27 through May 15. Athens is home to 80,604 eligible voters, and all are encouraged to make their voice heard in upcoming elections. [Lily Thomas]
New Recycling Facility on Hold
The Athens- Clarke County Solid Waste Department wanted $16 million in SPLOST 2020 funds to build a new Materials Recycling Facility (MRF, pronounced “Murph”) and to move the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM) from College Avenue to Collins Industrial Boulevard. Solid Waste officials had run the numbers and conferred with planners, and had spent months determining how much money would be necessary to build a 30,000 square- foot facility. The current MRF is 32 years old and needs to be replaced.
The ACC Commission asked applicants for sales tax funding to reduce their budgets, and the MRF fell to $8 million. It was also pushed out to 2025, and as Solid Waste Director Suki Janssen said, “times have changed,” with the same skyrocketing construction costs that have plagued other projects affecting the MRF as well. Now, $8 million won’t be close to sufficient.
Janssen is searching for more money to fund an up- to- the-minute MRF. The current machine was set up to handle large quantities of newsprint, but that feature is no longer needed. The recycling market for cardboard is still strong, as it is for aluminum. A new manufacturer is coming to look at the county’s recycled glass. No. 1 and 2 plastics continue to have a good market.
Solid Waste has to install water tanks at the landfill—an expense that’s taking money away from the MRF—in case a fire breaks out. One item causing fires in landfills across the country, and in sanitation trucks, is the lithium batteries found in phones, laptops, even small toys and timers. Basically, Janssen said, any battery that can be charged is combustible. So are discarded vape cases, which have little batteries inside them. All batteries can be recycled at the CHaRM.
When lithium batteries are thrown out with the trash, and then compacted in a truck, they can cause fires. Janssen has instructed sanitation truck drivers that if the load they’re hauling catches fire, they are to tip it out wherever they are rather than risk losing the entire truck, which can cost almost half a million dollars.
The Solid Waste Department is now picking up “bulky waste” for all Clarke County residents. Bulky waste could mean an old lawnmower, a broken wheelbarrow or a collapsed couch—anything that won’t fit into a trash receptacle, except construction debris or hazardous materials.
In November, county workers picked up 23.9 tons of bulky waste; in December, with UGA students mostly gone, they picked up 18.1 tons. It’s cheaper for the county to collect these items than to have to deal with illegal dumping, which costs about $1 million annually to clean up. Residents must call Solid Waste and make an appointment for pickup. Every household has four free pickups a year.
Another change in the Solid Waste Department will delight many homeowners: Janssen has been able to find enough staff for leaf-and-limb collection every four weeks instead of every six weeks. [Rebecca McCarthy] f
Out in the Cold FOR
THE UNHOUSED, WINTER WEATHER CAN BE DEADLY
By Allison Floyd news@flagpole.com
The temperature outside remained in the teens for hours the night 22- year-old Dequavious Ragsdale died in a tent off Old Hull Road. He was one of four people in Athens who perished in the freezing cold over a few days in January.
A friend allowed Ragsdale—who was called “Qua”—to stay in his tent Monday, Jan. 26, but when the friend returned early the next morning, he found Ragsdale lying in the same position. He wasn’t moving, and ice crystals had formed on his face and in his hair. He clutched a straw, and a lighter was nearby. “It appears he may have used fentanyl and then succumbed to the environmental conditions,” an Athens- Clarke police officer wrote in his report.
invited in out of the cold. The warming station—which offered warm drinks and extra blankets or clothes, but no place to sleep— moved throughout the winter, from a tent in Lay Park parking lot to the Multimodal Center to a temporary building in the parking lot of First Baptist Church.
The Athens Homeless Coalition estimates there are 750–900 homeless people in Athens at any given time, about half of them completely unsheltered. “We have a hard time enumerating homelessness, not just in Athens, but everywhere,” said Michael Bien, executive director of the Athens Area Homeless Coalition.
An unidentified woman also died that Tuesday night in a parking lot at 3145 Atlanta Highway. An employee of a business there found the body of a small, middleaged woman who did not have identification on her.
A 46- year-old man who had been staying in a room in a gas station off U.S. 441 for the past few weeks also was found dead that Wednesday. A friend who lives outdoors in the area said Christopher Michael Creese was homeless and also sometimes stayed in a tent nearby.
A 64- year-old man who passed away in a house on Helen Street may also have died from the extreme cold. Rogelio Perez was lying on the floor of the basement when another man found him the morning of Feb. 1. According to a police report, the room was extremely cold and “it appeared as if Mr. Perez was attempting to plug in a heater.” The low was 16 degrees in Athens that night.
Authorities are awaiting the results of autopsies and can’t say for sure whether drugs or other factors may have contributed to the deaths.
An annual headcount of the unhoused population found 386 people experiencing homelessness one day in 2025, a number that experts say is far below the actual number. The data has been collected for this year but not yet released.
While county commissioners are aware of the gap and looking for solutions, living on the streets is stressful, even when the weather isn’t brutally cold, Bien said. Research in Minnesota found that unhoused people have a mortality rate three times higher than someone housed, even adjusting for age and risk factors.
The city does offer additional services during extreme cold, but it wasn’t enough for everyone. A declaration of a weather emergency triggers the ACC government to open an overnight shelter, a step the city took the weekend of Jan. 24–25 and again Jan. 30–31. The city equipped Lay Park Community Center with cots and bedding, staff and volunteers, getting about 100 additional people out of the cold.
Another 14 nights this winter, volunteers staffed an overnight pop-up warming station, a place that homeless people were
The service providers who work with unhoused people—medical and mental health professionals, shelter operators, food providers and others—begin meetings by recognizing the people in the homeless community who have died recently. At the end of the year, they hold a memorial service. “My colleagues and I talk about this daily,” Bien said.
Homeless services providers counted 25 deaths in the homeless community in 2025. Some people died from a medical emergency or overdosed. Some were struck by cars or a train. For some, the cause of death is unknown. f
Dequavious “Qua” Ragsdale
Black History Month
READING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FEBRUARY
By Ed Tant news@flagpole.com
Black History Month began a century ago, in 1926. Historian Carter Woodson started the observance as a week-long event each February. Woodson’s choice of February was fitting since President Abraham Lincoln and civil rights firebrand Frederick Douglass were born during February in the 19th century.
In the 20th century Black activists Rosa Parks and John Lewis were born in February, underlining the appropriateness of the month as a time to remember what the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. called a long “stride toward freedom” by Black people in America.
ment was having some of its first stirrings in Athens. Though the 1961 racial integration of the University of Georgia had been met with violence by white students, Athens townspeople and Klan agitators, a few months later the Freedom Riders had no problems when they stopped at the downtown bus station. In his excellent book Freedom Ride, participant James Peck detailed the 1961 interracial bus rides that became a touchstone of African American history.
Around the same time that Freedom Rides were making headlines nationally in the early 1960s, the university and the city of Athens wrecked a thriving local African American community called Linnentown. In her compelling book Giving Voice to Linnentown: A Memoir, Hattie Thomas Whitehead shared poignant memories of a vibrant Black community here in Athens that was destroyed by town and gown in the name of “urban renewal.”
In 1969 students at Kent State University began campaigning for a month-long recognition of African American history. Their efforts paid off in the 1970s. During the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, President Gerald Ford called for Black History Month to be a part of coast- to- coast celebrations of America’s 200th year. Ten years later, in 1986, the observance became official when President Ronald Reagan called on “all Americans to observe this month with appropriate activities to heighten awareness of Black history and to stimulate continuing inquiry into this rich vein of the American experience.” Ford and Reagan were Republican presidents, but their support for telling the history of Black Americans is a lesson for Republicans today. Black history is indeed “a rich vein of the American experience” that has surfaced all across this nation and right here in Athens. In her book Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan, author Nancy MacLean used documents from the Athens KKK chapter to show how America’s oldest terrorist group gained power in Athens during the Klan’s resurgence in the 1920s.
By the early 1960s the civil rights move-
Trump Told on Himself
HE NEEDS THE ELECTION TO HAVE BEEN STOLEN TO FEED HIS EGO
By Leon Galis news@flagpole.com
One of the most significant news items to surface recently passed largely unnoticed. Susan Glasser, writing on Feb. 5 in The New Yorker about Donald Trump’s efforts to cast doubt on the 2026 election, reported a stunning admission he made at the Prayer Breakfast held annually in Washington.
Trump said, regarding the 2020 election results in Georgia, “They rigged the second election. I had to win it. I needed it for my own ego… I would’ve had a bad ego for the rest of my life.” Maureen Dowd reported the same confession in The New York Times a few days later.
You guys are right. It’s got nothing to do with election integrity, ideology or even a lust for power. It’s all about making me look good, not to other people—who cares about them?—but to myself.” And it’s not me saying so, it’s him.
In 1955 the murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi shocked the nation and became an indelible part of African American history. Till was a 14- year-old Black kid whose murder by white supremacists and their subsequent acquittal in court was revisited by journalist Wright Thompson 70 years after the heinous crime. In his seminal book, The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi, Thompson shows the dark side of the Magnolia State in a book that belongs on every shelf of Black history volumes.
The Deep South in the post-World War II era was a land where Black people were constrained by custom and law, while the North had its own racial injustice. Author James Baldwin called Black America “another country.” White journalist John Howard Griffin toured that country within a country to write his 1960 book Black Like Me—a title taken from a Langston Hughes poem. Using medical treatments to blacken his skin, Griffin embarked on an odyssey through darkest Dixie, seeing firsthand views of the ugliness of Jim Crow segregation and writing an iconic book of Black history.
In his novel Kingsblood Royal, author Sinclair Lewis penned one of the best fictional treatments of race and racism in America. Published in 1947, Kingsblood Royal is relevant today. It was set not in the South but in Minnesota—the same state where the murder of George Floyd by a police officer set off volatile protests in 2020. King was right when he called upon all Americans to know history “to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.” f
Let that sink in for a minute. Trump didn’t say that he actually won the election in Georgia and would’ve suffered a bruised ego if the victory had been denied him by Italian military satellites, Venezuelan voting machine tampering or whatever. Nor did he say that he would’ve been elected president if he’d won Georgia. He could’ve won Georgia and still lost the election if nothing else had been different. Rather, he said that he needed to win it to slake his ego hunger. It had to be “rigged,” not because there’s compelling evidence that it was, but because his ego is too fragile for him to accept, as most people on the planet do about life in general, that you win some and you lose some.
The implications are staggering. For starters, when the FBI made off with Fulton County’s 2020 federal election ballots and a whole bunch of other stuff, it wasn’t acting as a nonpartisan national investigative and law enforcement agency. It’s now just Trump’s therapist. And it’s been joined in that capacity by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. If you were puzzled about what the heck she was doing on the scene of the heist, Trump cleared that up for you. It wasn’t about national intelligence. The ONDI’s mission is now salving Trump’s ego.
Ever since Trump’s first term, when he worked harder at undermining our elections than at most anything else, speculation has been rife about what was driving him. Pundits competed to offer the most compelling explanations. Some were certain that it was his lust for power, others that it was authoritarian ideology of one flavor or another, and still others that it was nothing like that, but only personal snakes that it would take a talented psychiatrist to disentangle.
But his confession at the Prayer Breakfast should shut down this cottage industry. We don’t have to speculate anymore about his “election integrity” campaign. We now know that it has absolutely nothing to do with election integrity. He blew his cover himself. He can’t any longer claim that all the people delving into his animus for elections that pass Constitutional muster are partisan Trump “haters,” leftist “lunatics,” etc. He’s vindicated those citing his character flaws as the right explanation. He’s all in on the fraud that he loudly decries when it feeds his insatiable ego. To those who’ve written him off as someone who can’t abide even the appearance of losing at anything, stopping at nothing to dispel it, he’s confessed in a public forum (I hesitate to say in front of God and everybody), “Yep.
And lucky for Trump that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ witless behavior blew up her election interference case against him because he’s now confessed to the central charge. Ditto for Special Counsel Jack Smith’s claim that he’s proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump attempted to steal the 2020 election. Trump just copped to that.
Election and other public officials around the country falling all over themselves to recast their election procedures to Trump’s liking should understand now that they aren’t in the “election integrity” business any more than he is. They’re just another arm of his therapy regime. There are two things about this that ought to trouble everybody in the reality-based community. One is that huge chunks of Trump’s therapy apparatus are tax- supported. We’re all bearing much of the cost of sparing him the dismal prospect of living out his days under the crushing burden of a “bad ego.” But taxpayers shouldn’t have to be doing that. He’s not on Medicaid. The other is this: The scale of his fake election integrity campaign is so vast because his ego is a bottomless pit, a psychic black hole. That should be terrifying to anybody who cares about the fate of our country, let alone the world. f
President Trump at the National Prayer Breakfast.
JOYCE N. BOGHOSIAN / WHITE HOUSE
Hattie Thomas Whitehead
ART | THU, FEB. 19
‘Bird’s Eye View’ Reception
ATHICA@Ciné Gallery • 6 p.m.• FREE!
Conceptual artist Lybi Cucurullo’s “Bird’s Eye View” is a series of abstract landscapes based on bird murmurations, the phenomenon where flocks fly together in coordinated, shifting patterns. The works fall somewhere between paintings and sculptures, made from forms inked onto plexiglass that stand alone or overlay oil paintings. “Bird’s Eye View” fits into the theme of cycles in nature that is present in much of Cucurullo’s work. Birds and their migratory patterns are common subjects among her pieces, as well as sunrises and sunsets. She finds that, though these cycles seem predictable, they often actually create uncertainty and mystery. Through her art, she intends to communicate this balance between constancy and unpredictability.
“Bird’s Eye View” will be on display through Feb. 25. [Mary Beth Bryan]
FILM | THU, FEB. 19
Chungking Express
Ciné • 8 p.m. • $20
As part of his Behind the Slate live podcast series, filmmaker Aaron Strand hosts monthly screenings of curated films at Ciné with an introduction of the film and director’s history. While Strand enjoys sharing his love of film history, the bigger picture of Behind the Slate is to make great films and their history accessible to everyone. “The palpable excitement to see these types of films screened in Athens, to foster that community engagement, the audience discus sions, has been electric. The hunger for real cinema culture in Athens is just bubbling. I’m just really excited about the future of this art form in Athens,” says Strand. This month’s featured film is Chungking Express, directed by Wong Kar-Wai. The 1994 film tells two stories, each about a different lovesick Hong Kong policeman. [Sam Lipkin]
MUSIC | THU, FEB. 19
Cannon Rogers’ Single Release
The World Famous • 8:30 p.m. • $10
MUSIC | SAT, FEB. 21
Sphinx Virtuosi
Ramsey Concert Hall • 7:30 p.m. • $15 (w/ UGA ID), $52 Made up of 18 of the country’s best Black and Latino string players, Spinx Virtuosi is the flagship ensemble of the Spinx Organization, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming lives through the arts. For its visit to UGA, the ensemble will be performing a program called “Visions of Peace,” which is about resilience, reflection and shared humanity. It will include José White Lafitte’s La Bella Cubana, selections from Clarice Assad’s Impressions, the program’s titular piece written by ensemble member Quenton Blache and more. Violinist Randall Goosby will join Spinx Virtuosi on stage for William Grant Still’s Suite for Violin and String Orchestra, which he arranged for the ensemble himself. Before the performance, members of the ensemble will hold a discussion in Hodgson Concert Hall from
“Puppies, Pretty Girls, and Cold Beer” is the second single from local musician Cannon Rogers’ upcoming EP, Hydroponic Southern Gothic. Rogers, who can often be found playing guitar and pedal steel in projects outside of his own, says he wrote the song last year as a protest tune after reading Grapes of Wrath. He adds, “As cheesy as it sounds I believe in the power of music, and this tune is my attempt at wielding that power in (hopefully) the right direction.” The single was brought to life at Racquet Recording alongside bandmates Aaron Daugherty, Toni Hunlo and Iain Cooke, with Julia Barfield featuring on backing vocals and Jay Gonzales on organ and lead guitar. For the single’s release show, Rogers will be joined by supporting musicians Red McAdam and Hunter Pinkston. The full EP will follow on Mar. 20. [MB]
tions in the present. [MB] f
Terah Shelton Harris
The Lanes’ Self-Titled Album
PLUS, MORE MUSIC NEWS AND GOSSIP
By Gordon Lamb threatsandpromises@flagpole.com
A SIMPLE LIFE IN A QUIET TOWN: If you were among the lucky ones, then you caught The Lanes opening for the Drive-By Truckers last week. Even if you weren’t, though, you should still know that the band’s brandnew debut album just got released. It’s self- titled, runs 10 tracks long, and features some well known local folks (namely, the Lanes themselves—Matt and Kevin— but also Richard Milkulka and Chuck Bradburn). The album was mastered with the loving attention of Jason NeSmith at Chase Park Transduction. The Lanes excel in speaking a multi-dialect version of the language we call rock and roll. Which is to say, its influences run so deep and wide, it’s a fool’s errand to chase them all down. I was surprised, though, to find most of this record being solidly in the mid- or slow- tempo arena. Sometimes this works to great impact, though, such as on the Beach Boys/Jesus & Mary Chain-reminiscent “It’s Only You.” The Big Star-ish “I Won’t Say Anything” is another highlight. Basically, take some time to enjoy this without rushing through, as the band certainly didn’t. Find it at thelanesathensga.bandcamp.com.
FREEDOM OF CHOICE: The Flagpole cover star from a couple of weeks ago, Bayou Princess, has now officially released its album. It’s titled Burger In My Mouth, which is basically the only way I want to live, and runs a tight eight tracks. At first, I cringed at the description of the band as “egg punk,” a term only really known to the terminally online, but it’s actually pretty damn accurate, even if not necessarily embraced by the group itself, which tags its own music as “swamp rock” and “proto-punk.” It’s not terribly lo- fi, but it is terribly tuneful and packed to its gills with earworms. The peak example of this is likely “Internet Narcissist” which fulfils its duty of presenting riffy guitars and frenetic keyboard fills. Honestly, it took me a few trips through this for it to grab me, but I was glad when it finally did. I can’t speak to what any of these songs are actually
about, but for a quick slice of catchy DIY pop energy, you could do a lot worse, and I speak from experience. Find this at bayouprincess.bandcamp.com.
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW: The three-day passes for the upcoming Cracker CampIn #12 at the 40 Watt Club appear to be moving quickly. The event runs Thursday through Saturday, March 12–14. The threeday passes run $177.82 (inclusive of fees
entirety and more, with Thayer Sarrano opening. For tickets, please see 40watt.com, and for all other information, see crackersoul.com.
THREE-PEAT FRIDAY: On Friday, Feb. 20 you can catch a sweet triple bill at the newly christened Dead Beat Club (formerly Buvez). Punters in attendance will see Immaterial Possession, Telemarket and Nicholas Mallis. This night will also serve as a celebration for the newly released single by Mallis (which comes out on the 18th) named “A Program To Invest In.” Musically, it’s a clever spaghetti Western- styled tune, but with a sharp jazzy saxophone interlude courtesy of Jeff Webber towards its middle-end. The song is a sharp take on loneliness, muti-level marketing schemes and snake oil of all kinds. Once released, you should be able to find it at nicholasmallis.
as part of a boxed set in 2017, but it has been out of print since. This new version is on rose- splatter colored vinyl and limited to 1,500 copies. Recorded in 1989 at the same time as the sessions for the band’s debut album, this set of tunes cooks just as hot. Record Store Day is Apr. 18, and more information can be found at recordstoreday. com and propellersoundrecordings.com.
KEEP IT LOUD:Those punks in Glance Of Dismissal released the band’s full-length Them Or Us late last month. Nearly every bit of press attention the band has garnered makes a big deal out of its declaration of being a “hardcore band aspiring to incubate an ’80s revival within the Athens, Georgia community” by then misinterpreting this as “’80s Hardcore Revival.” While there are definitely 1980s touchstones here (the Black Flag guitar tones on “Nightmare” come to mind, as well as the bass walkdown in “This One’s Political”), this mostly sounds more ’90s than ’80s. This is, admittedly, a distinction that matters less and less as the years pass by, and was probably always a stupid demarcation anyway. It’s got loads of garage rock chunkiness and a couple of cool choruses, notably there’s one in the title song. For me, this exists somewhere at or near the intersection of Naked Aggression and Blanks ’77. Find it at glanceofdismissal.bandcamp.com, and follow along at instagram.com/ glanceofdismissalband.
but not sales tax), but you also get a signed poster and meet-n-greet, so take that into consideration. Individual night tickets are $39.84 (inclusive of fees but not sales tax).
The first night is a seated show featuring a songwriter’s circle with David Lowery, Johnny Hickman, Kevn Kinney and Megan Slankard. Friday night features David Lowery, Greg Lisher and friends playing Camper Van Beethoven and more, with Cicada Rhythm opening. Saturday night is Cracker playing The Golden Age album in its
bandcamp.com and, of course, for all other information, please see facebook.com/ nicholasmallis.
EBAY’S GREATEST HITS: Here’s another slice of news of which the actual impact is still a little ways off, but should still be of interest to y’all. Propeller Sound Recordings has announced it will release the 13- track album Boogie On Your Head! by Flat Duo Jets as a stand-alone LP for this year’s Record Store Day. It was originally released
THREE-WAY TIE FOR LAST: Right on the heels of the previously mentioned split release with Obscurity, here comes Ixian on another split. This time it’s with Ohio’s Disposal Unit and Pennsylvania’s Beauty. Only Ixian’s tracks are available to preview right now, but if you drop a few bucks for the digital download, you’ll get the others as well. And, of course, if you buy the cassette tape you’ll get everything. Ixian has four tracks on this, and they open with the bombastic “Amen” which, more than any other particular Ixian tracks, reminds me of Swans in a big way. “Pyongyang Traffic Lady (Summer Uniform)” functions more as a sonic placeholder than anything truly compelling, but this is resolved by the next track, “Metaverse Real Estate Mogul.” Ixian’s contributions end with “Gwabbit,” which also doesn’t really move the needle very much. All this said, I could still use some more. Find this at ixian.bandcamp.com. f
The Lanes
‘We,
Too, Are Made of Wonders’
EXHIBITION EXPLORES HUMANITY’S CONNECTION TO THE COSMOS
By Libba Beaucham arts@flagpole.com
The Georgia Museum of Art exhibition “We, Too, Are Made of Wonders” explores the human fascination with the cosmos and its mysteries through over 100 works of art from its collection.
Inspired by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón’s poem “In Praise of Mystery,” the exhibition features five galleries each with a theme and poem to prompt the viewer’s own reflection and interpretation of the pieces that span historic to contemporary art. Among the works on display are paintings, photography, sculpture, works on paper and artists’ books from the University of Georgia’s Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
“Awe and wonder is such an exciting theme to play with,” said Ciel Rodriguez, the exhibition’s curator who had the challenging task of selecting pieces from the museum’s permanent collection of 20,000 works of art. “The editing process is super tough for me because there’s so many great works, but the fun thing about this theme is that we can pull works from different time periods, different mediums. It’s a really exciting opportunity to bring works out that haven’t been on view before… there really is a little something for everyone in this show.”
Experiencing the exhibition myself was a delight.
energies of the universe, the beauty in the patterns we can perceive in nature, and wonder for those we cannot. “Launch from the Apollo Story” by Robert T. McCall
As a layperson-enjoyer-of-art, I appreciated how approachable and fun the entire exhibition is while still remaining rich in its depth and range. There are interactive elements like a poetry writing station with those refrigerator magnets of words to piece together, an intro to astrology traditions with cards for each Zodiac sign, and drawing and writing prompts to take home and create your own works of art and poetry.
“We were planning the show with our 5th grade tours in mind,” said Rodriguez. As a museum educator myself, I found the narrative thread of each gallery’s theme and associated poem a great way to invite guests of all ages to reflect and take in the artwork with a mindset of wonder and curiosity.
I loved viewing works through the lens of the cosmos and imagining what other worlds out there might be like. Landscape works like “Sunset on Cornwall Cliffs” by Frederick J. Waugh (1861–1940) felt like observing the rugged terrain and rough waters of another planet with a sun and sunset like our own. “Science (Magnetic)” by Berenice Abbott (1898–1991) inspired reflection on the mysterious forces and
(1919–2010) was reminiscent of classic comic books and caused me to chuckle at the absurd and astonishing achievement of us apes having the gumption and brainpower to make it to the moon and back. Works by Lamar Dodd (1909–1996) were ideal additions to the exhibition as these were created through his participation in the first NASA Art Program before and after the Apollo 11 mission.
Dark Night of the Soul, Part 2, Darkness” are mirrored paintings that play with movement, the soft, curving shapes of organic forms, and contrasting tones of landscape and night sky that evoke a sense of transformation and balance. The familiar yet ambiguous shapes of the natural world brought to mind Earth’s early multi- cellular life and flora, a reminder of our home planet’s vast evolution.
“Looking up at the sky can be a pretty similar experience to looking at a work of art,” said Rodriguez. “There’s this moment of self reflection and contemplation… that’s what we’re hoping this will be, a welcoming and inspiring show for the community.”
There are several events coming up to engage people of all ages with the exhibition including an open house on Feb. 21 from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. that features kid- friendly activities, poetry writing stations, mini-astrology readings and an artist talk with Boramie Sao. Following the open house is the ticketed opening reception from 5–7 p.m. A homeschool day will be held on Feb. 27 from 10 a.m. to noon. Visit georgiamuseum.org for a full schedule of activities and details. f
We, too, are made of wonders, of great and ordinary loves, of small invisible worlds, of a need to call out through the dark. “A
Among the newest of the museum acquisitions are two abstract paintings by self- taught Cambodian American artist Boramie Sao, which were given to the museum in 2023 as part of the Museum Exchange program. “She is an artist that reads a lot of poetry and brings creative writing into her practice,” says Rodriguez. “She wrote a poem that is in conversation with this painting when she was making it, and that’s part of the show as well.” Sao’s “Part 1, Lightness” and its companion piece “A
‘In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa’
Arching under the night sky inky with black expansiveness, we point to the planets we know, we
pin quick wishes on stars. From earth, we read the sky as if it is an unerring book of the universe, expert and evident.
Still, there are mysteries below our sky: the whale song, the songbird singing its call in the bough of a wind-shaken tree.
We are creatures of constant awe, curious at beauty, at leaf and blossom, at grief and pleasure, sun and shadow.
And it is not darkness that unites us, not the cold distance of space, but the offering of water, each drop of rain, each rivulet, each pulse, each vein. O second moon, we, too, are made of water, of vast and beckoning seas.
Jazz and swing band offering music from the ’10s, ’20s and ’30s.
BICHOS VIVOS Local band playing forró, an accordion, zabumba and triangle-driven genre of party music from Brazil.
Hendershot’s
No Phone Party. 7 p.m. www.hendershotsathens.com
KENOSHA KID The brainchild of guitarist Dan Nettles performs two sets of adventurous new music each week from his ever-expanding catalog that exists “somewhere in the Schrödinger’s nexus of jazz, post-rock and improvised music.”
Nowhere Bar
9 p.m. $10. www.instagram.com/ nowherebarathensga
GHOSTWRITER Musical project from Austin, TX that melds influences from country-blues to postpunk and has opened for acts like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and T-Model Ford.
Ramsey Hall
7:30 p.m. FREE! music.uga.edu
FACULTY ARTIST SERIES Featuring violinist Levon Ambartsumian.
UGA Tate Student Center
Live in the Lobby. 8 p.m. FREE! www. wuog.org
SPIDERHOUSE Atlanta-based indie music.
Wednesday 18
Flicker Theatre & Bar
9 p.m. FREE! www.flickertheatreand bar.com
DR. FRED’S KARAOKE Featuring a large assortment of pop, rock, indie and more.
Hidden Gem
Lunar New Year Celebration. 8:30 p.m. www.instagram.com/hiddengemglobalhq
TRADITIONAL CHINESE MUSIC
Vicki Lu and Molly Schneider will be joined by members of the UGA Chinese Music Ensemble.
JAZZMYN Four-piece ensemble blending jazz with Chinese influences.
SPRING YANG Playing the erhu, a two-stringed Chinese bowed instrument.
JULIA NYUNT Multi-talented Athens-based violinist, pianist, guitarist and singer. Porterhouse Grill
7 p.m. www.porterhousegrillathens. com
JAZZ NIGHT Longest running jazz gig in Athens featuring a rotating cast of familiar faces performing American songbook, bossa nova classics and crossover hits.
ATTICUS RONESS Atlanta-based power pop artist and member of The Corduroy Blue known for his stage presence.
ELIJAH JOHNSTON Athens-based emo musician whose songs bridge the conversational songwriter fare of now and the hooky guitar based music of the past.
WILLIAM HINSON Indie pop singer-songwriter from WinstonSalem, NC who cites The Beatles, John Mayer, Hall and Oates and The 1975 as inspirations for his sound.
NOLEN DURHAM Drummer, producer and songwriter living in Tennessee.
SHANE PARISH AND MICHAEL LIBRAMENTO Master guitarist and fearless explorer of rhythm and timbre Shane Parish joined by jazz multi-instrumentalist Michael Libramento.
Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall
7:30 p.m. $6 (w/ UGA ID), $18. pac. uga.edu
UGA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Performing a wide variety of orchestral music, both classical and contemporary, including one featured concerto, Reflections on the Mississippi (2015) by Michael Daugherty.
Lyndon House Arts Center
Music in the House. 6 p.m. FREE! www.facebook.com/LyndonHouse Arts
CICADA RHYTHM Captivating Athens act playing melodic, rootsinfluenced folk-rock.
Nowhere Bar 7 p.m. (doors), 9:30 p.m. (show). www.instagram.com/nowherebar athensga
PINKY DOWN Locally-sourced funk rock from Athens.
THE DOWNSTAIRS The youth gone wild. Athens alt-rock amalgamation composed of five UGA students.
RANDALL BRAMBLETT This established Georgia singersongwriter’s Southern-tinged music pulls from a variety of influences.
JONTAVIOUS WILLIS Artist reinvigorating today’s blues with the spirit of the past.
The World Famous 8:30 p.m. $10. www.facebook.com/ theworldfamousathens
CANNON ROGERS Local altcountry songwriter, guitarist and pedal steel player drawing inspiration from the likes of Flannery O’Connor and Lucinda Williams. Single release show!
(adv. or w/ UGA ID), $20. bit.ly/ Eddie9VFeb20
EDDIE 9V Modern blues musician influenced by ’60s and ’70s soul artists.
ADVANCE BASE The melancholic soft rock recording project of Chicago, IL singer-songwriter Owen Ashworth.
MOONTYPE Indie-rock band from Chicago, IL that was originally a solo project of vocalist Margaret McCarthy.
SCOTT SPILLANE The Neutral Milk Hotel member plays hypnotic folk-rock.
Memorial Park Administration Building AFMDS Contra Dance. 6:30 p.m. (intro session), 7–10 p.m. (dance). FREE! (17 & under), $10–12. www. athensfolk.org
MOUNTAIN CREEK BOYS Live music for a contra dance hosted by Athens Folk Music and Dance Society.
Normal Bar Attaboy Tapes Presents. 8 p.m. (doors), 9 p.m. (show). $10. www. instagram.com/normal_bar_athens BIZNER Alternative folk band from Atlanta.
BLAKE WHITEN Country singersongwriter from South Carolina. HUDSON WESTBROOK Selftaught country musician who blends traditional Texas country with a modern edge.
Athentic Brewing Co. Joy Village School Fundraiser. 4–10 p.m. www.athenticbrewing.com
CARDYNAL AND THE FLOCK An eclectic, multi-faceted producer, instrumentalist and vocalist delivering hard-hitting, witty bars and catchy melodies.
Boutier Winery & Inn
8 p.m. $10. www.boutierwinery.com
KERRY DREW AND THE PINK TRUCK BAND Playing a blend of ’70s, ’80s and ’90s classic rock, blues, R&B and even a little country.
JOE CAT Athens-based Americana singer-songwriter and troubadour joined by Klay Whitehead on drums.
Dead Beat Club
8 p.m. $10. www.deadbeatathens.com
IAIN COOKE A solo performance from one of Athens’ busiest musicians.
JESSE WOOTEN Musician whose other projects include Dipper Grande and Creekbed.
Ramsey Hall
7:30 p.m. $52 (discount w/ UGA ID). pac.uga.edu
SPHINX VIRTUOSI A dynamic self-conducted chamber orchestra composed of Black and Latino artists that transforms lives through the power of music. Featuring the celebrated young violinist Randall Goosby. The Root 10 p.m. FREE! www.therootathens. com
SILENT DISCO Grab a pair of headphones, choose a music channel and dance the night away.
Sunday 22
Boutier Winery & Inn Wine Down. 3–5 p.m. www.boutierwinery.com
JASON ELDER Smooth jazz performer.
Dead Beat Club
8 p.m. $5. www.deadbeatathens.com THE SPEAX Athens-based rock music trio.
ALRIGHT GUY Local rock band. The Globe 4–7 p.m. www.facebook.com/globe. athens
TRADITIONAL IRISH SESSION Easy listening traditional Irish music.
SANDY EWEN Experimental guitarist, artist and architect based in Brooklyn, NY whose guitar playing playing is centered around found objects and extended techniques.
SHANE PARISH Master guitarist and fearless explorer of rhythm and timbre, known for releasing music on Bill Orcutt’s Palilalia Records and John Zorn’s Tzadik Records. Release show!
MARCEL SLETTEN California-born and Athens-based electronic music producer, composer and artist whose sound varies from peaceful to intense.
Hendershot’s
No Phone Party. 7 p.m. www.hendershotsathens.com
KENOSHA KID The brainchild of guitarist Dan Nettles performs two sets from his catalog that exists “somewhere in the Schrödinger’s nexus of jazz, post-rock and improvised music.”
Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall
7:30 p.m. $6 (w/ UGA ID), $23. pac. uga.edu
UGA WIND ENSEMBLE Performing Paul Hindemith’s Symphony in B-flat.
KEVN KINNEY Lead singer and songwriter of Drivin N Cryin.
PETER BUCK Co-founder and lead guitarist of alt-rock legend R.E.M.
UGA Tate Student Center
Live in the Lobby. 8 p.m. FREE! www. wuog.org
COUSIN CLEM Rockin’ and rollin’ Americana.
Wednesday 25
Athentic Brewing Co.
7–10 p.m. www.athenticbrewing.com
KARAOKE WITH DJ GREGORY Second and fourth Wednesdays. Dead Beat Club
8 p.m. $5. www.deadbeatathens.com
ADAM PAYNE Singer-songwriter playing a blend of folk music.
ALLIE BRYAN Local country singer-songwriter.
AUSTIN SISK Alt-pop wanderer, soundtracking the strange, sacred and cinematic.
JOSH PERKINS Long-time local singer-songwriter, also in altcountry band Southern Gothic. Flicker Theatre & Bar 9 p.m. FREE! www.flickertheatreand bar.com
DR. FRED’S KARAOKE Featuring a large assortment of pop, rock, indie and more.
Georgia Theatre
6:30 p.m (doors), 7:30 p.m. (show).
SOLD OUT! www.georgiatheatre.
com
THE RUNAROUNDS A five-piece alt-rock band formed in 2021 for the Netflix series Outer Banks
AESTREA Indie pop musician and producer based in Altanta.
Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall
7:30 p.m. FREE! music.uga.edu
WIND SYMPHONY Performing the finest standard and new repertoire for wind band.
SYMPHONIC BAND Experienced undergraduate music majors, minors and non-majors from across campus play classic band repertoire and new music.
GIANT DENIRO Absurdist punk band from Milledgeville. Porterhouse Grill
7 p.m. www.porterhousegrillathens. com
JAZZ NIGHT Longest running jazz gig in Athens performing American songbook, bossa nova classics and crossover hits.
Ramsey Hall
5:30 p.m. FREE! music.uga.edu
GUEST ARTIST RECITAL Featuring classical guitarist Leonela Alejandro, winner of the Rose Augustine Grand Prize in the 2024 Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition. Rialto Club
Aubrey Entertainment Presents. 6:30 p.m. (doors), 7:30 p.m. (show). SOLD OUT! www.facebook.com/ AubreyEntertainmentAthensGA
KEVN KINNEY Lead singer and songwriter of the Atlanta rock band Drivin N Cryin.
PETER BUCK Co-founder and lead guitarist of Athens alt-rock legend
R.E.M.
JASON NARDUCY Musician known for his punk rock band Verboten and his collaborations with artists like Bob Mould and Michael Shannon. f
‘The Lost Weekend’ MAY PANG SHARES PHOTOGRAPHS AT WINTERVILLE CULTURAL CENTER
By Gordon Lamb arts@flagpole.com
May Pang worked for Allen Klein and Apple Records before becoming assistant to John Lennon and Yoko Ono, but was ever present, at Ono’s urging, during Lennon’s storied “Lost Weekend.”
The 2022 documentary The Lost Weekend: A Love Story details the 18-month period between the summer of 1973 and early 1975 during which the quite multi- faceted Pang was Lennon’s companion and created a home with him during this time in exile from the life he’d built with Ono. Pang’s photography from this period captures a domestic side of Lennon not generally seen: casual, homey and unfiltered.
Fate called Ono’s bluff, however, as Pang and Lennon fell in love and were planning a future together before he eventually went back to Ono. After Lennon’s death, Yippie Jerry Rubin conveyed to Pang, “Well, [Ono] did say that she was very surprised that your time with John lasted [as long as] it did… she really thought it was only gonna last two weeks.” Pang explains, “What she didn’t count on was the fact that we did fall in love. In February ’74 she had already asked John for a divorce. And he said yes. She was the one that called it off when she realized it was real.”
Pang—a wonderful conversationalist and storyteller with decades of experience in music publishing, copyrights, acting and the record industry in general—brings her touring exhibit The Lost Weekend – The Photography of May Pang to the Winterville Cultural Center this weekend. An opening reception will be held Friday, Feb. 20 from 4–8 p.m. Pang will be on site for a meet-and-greet on Feb. 21 from 12–6 p.m. and Feb. 22 from 1–5 p.m. This is a shortened version of a lengthy conversation and is edited for length and clarity.
Flagpole: Did you ever have any formal training in photography, or are you all self taught?
May Pang: None. All self- taught.
FP: When I look at your work I don’t see rockand-roll photography. I see a family photo album.
MP: When I picked up the camera and just sort of looked around me, that’s what I wanted: the beauty of what was happening. It wasn’t for rock and roll… because none of the photos I took were for a magazine or anything. This was only for my pleasure. You know, what I saw in people. And what I saw was the beauty in life, as it were. [John] stopped posing for me. So when you see him looking at the camera, it’s because I catch him at that moment, and he’s turned around and he’s looking but he’s not looking at me. And I’m not saying, you know, “Can you sit there and look at me like this.”
The Troubadour was the big place. But it was Harry Nilsson who started it. I always say, “But who’s gonna make the better [tabloid] copy? You got John Lennon sitting there, or is it gonna be Harry?”
FP: Throughout your life you’ve seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
MP: The universe has put me there; I’m just telling you. It’s not like I was, “Oh, yeah, I’m gonna sit here, and this is gonna happen.” I just happened to be… anytime someone talks about an event or whatever, I’ll say, “well, I was there.” But I don’t think about it until somebody mentions it, and then I’ll be like, “Oh, yeah.” Even taking the last photo of John signing [the paperwork that would finalize the disso-
lution of the Beatles]. He had to coax me into doing it. I was busy trying to watch Julian and be sure he was OK. I wasn’t caring about [what John was doing], and John was like, “I want you to take a photo.”
I didn’t want to waste my frames. You know, ’cause this is film! And I would only do one shot. I never took a second. Sometimes it would be days before I took the next shot. Which is just funny because people would say, “You didn’t take a second one?” I’d say, “No, it was just that moment.”
FP: Exactly. I mean, they’re snapshots of family. MP: Yeah, and you don’t take a million of them.
FP: Having heard of John Lennon’s “Lost Weekend,” that’s what I thought it was. Maybe a couple of weekends, but basically just jetting off to L.A. to party with Harry Nilsson.
MP: And that’s not the way it happened at all. You know, [they’re] only basing it [the mythical story] off of two main incidents when John got thrown out of The Troubadour.
FP: The point you just made about John coaxing you to take a photo of that moment makes me think that at no point did you ever consider the historical context of [life with John].
MP: I never did. It’s true. You’re the first person who actually realizes that. When I would take a photo [it was] because I thought at that moment what a great shot it would be. Just the picture aspect of it. Never thought, “This will be such a historic moment, blah, blah, blah, you know.” I’m not thinking like that. I didn’t consider myself a professional photographer. I would think of Linda as the professional photographer, you know, Linda McCartney, because that’s what she did. I just did it because of my love for the photography. And I could have done more, tons more, but I didn’t. You know, John didn’t care. He liked whenever I just took photos, and he would say, “Let me see what you’ve done.” He didn’t care. And it was just moments. These were our at home moments. f
event calendar
Wednesday 18
ART: Tour at Two (Georgia Museum of Art) These drop-in public tours feature highlights of the permanent collection. 2 p.m. FREE! www.georgiamuseum.org
COMEDY: Hendershot’s Comedy (Hendershot’s) Enjoy a lineup featuring comics from Athens and Atlanta as well as newcomers. Hosted by Noell Appling. Third Wednesdays, 8 p.m. www.hendershotsathens.com
FILM: Three Star Cinema (Flicker Theatre & Bar) Screening of the Chinese film Strange Door and Dark Blade. 7 p.m. FREE! www.flicker theatreandbar.com
GAMES: Shadowfist Power Lunch (Tyche’s Games) Drop in and play Shadowfist. All skill levels. 11:30 a.m. FREE! www.tychesgames.com
GAMES: Shih Tzu Not Trivia (South Main Brewing) Test your trivia knowledge. Wednesdays, 6 p.m. www.instagram.com/shihtzunottrivia
GAMES: Magic The Gathering and Pokemon Meet-Up (Athentic Brewing Co.) Drop in to spend an evening playing games or matches. Third Wednesdays, 6–9 p.m. FREE! www.athenticbrewing.com
GAMES: Shih Tzu Not Trivia (Normal Bar) Test your general trivia knowledge. Wednesdays, 7 p.m. www.instagram.com/shihtzunottrivia
GAMES: Classic City Trivia (The Local 706) Test your general trivia knowledge with host Garrett. Wednesdays, 7:06 p.m. www.instagram.com/classiccitytriviaco
GAMES: Shih Tzu Not Trivia (Locos Grill and Pub Eastside) Test your general trivia knowledge. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. www.instagram.com/ shihtzunottrivia
KIDSTUFF: Teen D&D Club (Oconee County Library) Join a librarian led one-shot game open to all skill levels. Grades 6–12. 6 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/oconee
LECTURES & LIT: The Invincible Brain (Athens Community Council on Aging) Athens Neurological Associates presents a brain health talk on how to stay sharp as you age. 4:30 p.m. FREE! www.acc aging.org
MEETINGS: Neurodivergent Meet-Up (Healing Arts Centre) A chance for neurodivergent adults and caretakers of neurodivergent children to meet and discuss holistic health. 5 p.m. FREE! www. allisonehealth.com
SPORTS: Athens Rock Lobsters vs. Columbus River Dragons (Akins Ford Arena) Cheer on the home team in this hockey match. 10:30 a.m. $28–50. www.classiccenter. com
Thursday 19
ART: Student Perspectives (Georgia Museum of Art) Join one of the student guides for a conversational tour of the permanent collection. 1:15 p.m. FREE! www.georgia museum.org
ART: Artist Talk (The Taylor-Grady House) Artist Jamaal Barber and participating UGA students discuss
art around town
ATHICA (675 Pulaski St Ste. 1200) “New in Town” features works from first year graduate students of the Lamar Dodd School of Art including sculpture, photography, jewelry, painting and video. Opening reception Feb. 19, 6–9 p.m. Through Mar. 14.
ATHICA@Ciné Gallery (234 W. Hancock Ave.) “Bird’s Eye View” presents abstracted landscapes by Lybi Cucurullo that combine ink on plexiglass with oil-painted topographies inspired by bird murmurations. Artist reception featuring nature-inspired poetry readings by local writers Feb. 19, 6–8 p.m. Through Feb. 25.
ATHENAEUM (287 W. Broad St.) “Beverly’s Athens” is a concurrent exhibition with the Georgia Museum of Art featuring works by Beverly Buchanan. The exhibition includes sculptures, drawings, photographs, print multiples, autobiographical ephemera and research materials alongside examples of her well-known “shacks.” Closing symposium Mar. 20–21. Through Mar. 21.
ARTS + ATHLETICS (130 The Plaza) Atlanta artist Paige Adair’s exhibition “The Swan’s Chamber and Other Enchanted Portals” features paintings, printmaking and works on paper. On view by appointment only through Mar. 21.
DODD GALLERIES (270 River Rd.) On the third floor landing, Derek Larson’s “Made in Mexico” features animated films produced in Mexico City between 1952–1956 by the studio Dibujos Animados S.A. • MFA candidate Phoebe-Agnès Mills’ paintings in “Ekstasis” consider how the spiritual might be sensed within the material world. • The 35th Annual Student Scientific and Medical Illustration Juried Exhibition features illustrators from UGA and Augusta University. • “the green glass door” is a collaboration by Jon Vogt’s digital printmaking class. • “Quantum Castle” is an interactive and immersive exhibition featuring ceramic characters by Adah Bennion, Eve J. Brown, Brian George, Jana Ghazawi, Clara-Beth Hamill, Jeanne Marie Martineau, Maddy Underwood and others. Through Mar. 20. DONDERO’S KITCHEN (590 N. Milledge Ave.) Paintings by artist and musician Andrew Evans that explore metaphysical themes and nature are on display through February.
GEORGIA MUSEUM OF ART (90 Carlton St.) Drawing on Ada Limón’s poem “In Praise of Mystery,” “We, Too, Are Made of Wonders” explores humanity’s fascination with the cosmos through poetry, science and visual art from the museum’s collection. On Feb. 21, there will be an artist talk with Boramie Sao from 4–5 p.m. and an opening reception from 5–7 p.m. Through June 28. • “Shacks, Stories and Spirit: Beverly Buchanan’s Art of
their Black History Month exhibition “Home & Family: A Printmaking Exhibit.” 6 p.m. FREE! www.taylor grady.com
ART: Opening Reception (Ciné) Artist Lybi Cucurullo will discuss her recent work in the exhibition “Bird’s Eye View.” 6 p.m. FREE! www. athenscine.com
ART: Opening Reception (tiny ATH gallery) Martijn van Wagtendonk’s exhibition “New beginnings are caused by old problems” will be on view. 6–9 p.m. FREE! www.tinyath gallery.com
CLASSES: Creative Aging Seated Yoga (Georgia Museum of Art) This class will include restorative stretching, deep breathing and mindfulness. All levels welcome. RSVP by email. 10:30 a.m. FREE! gmoa-tours@uga.edu
CLASSES: Square Dance Lessons (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens) Learn basic square dancing steps for all ages. No partner required. 2–4 p.m. $5. www. facebook.com/groups/classiccity squares
COMEDY: Bad Ath Babes (Dead Beat Club) Local stand-up show featuring all women comedians. 7:45 p.m. $10. www.deadbeat athens.com
EVENTS: Planet Earth Rocks and Crystals Warehouse Sale (Planet Earth Rocks and Crystals) The warehouse is open to the public to browse over 6,000 square feet of crystals and specimens. Feb. 19–20, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Feb. 21, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. www.facebook.com/ planetearthrocksandcrystals
EVENTS: Summer Camp Open House (Memorial Park) Drop in to learn about a variety of summer camp opportunities, how to register and how to apply for scholarships. 5:30–7:30 p.m. FREE! www. accgovga.myrec.com
EVENTS: Bowling for Bottoms (Starland Lounge & Lanes) The fundraiser will include socializing and duckpin bowling in benefit of the Athens Area Diaper Bank. 6:30–8:30 p.m. $25. www.athens areadiaperbank.com
FILM: Chungking Express (Ciné) Screening of the film directed by Wong Kar-Wai with a live film history podcast hosted by Aaron Strand of Behind the Slate. 8 p.m. $20. www.athenscine.com
GAMES: Bad Dog BINGO (Amici at The Falls) Play BINGO with host TJ Wayt. Thursdays, 6 p.m. www. instagram.com/baddogathens
GAMES: ’90s Music Trivia Night (Creature Comforts Brewery) Test your ’90s music trivia themed around female artists for a chance to win Amy Ray Band tickets, vintage vinyl and more. 6 p.m. www. creaturecomfortsbeer.com
GAMES: Shih Tzu Not Trivia (Terrapin Beer Co.) Test your trivia knowledge. Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. www.instagram.com/shihtzunottrivia
GAMES: Shih Tzu Not Trivia (Butt Hutt) Test your general trivia knowledge. Thursdays, 7 p.m. www. instagram.com/shihtzunottrivia
KIDSTUFF: Tiny Picasso (Howard Park & Community Center) Play a game and explore your artistic side, this month making paintings
Home” is a concurrent exhibition with the Athenaeum featuring works by Beverly Buchanan. The exhibition includes sculptures, drawings, photographs, print multiples, autobiographical ephemera and research materials alongside examples of her well-known “shacks.” Through June 28. • asinnajaq’s “Three Thousand” combines archival videos from the National Film Board of Canada with animations, soundscapes and contemporary video footage. Through June 28. • “Looking Through a Sewn Sky: Rachel B. Hayes” is a commissioned installation in the Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden that blends sculpture, painting and craft. Through Jul. 30, 2027.
HABIBI ART (160 Tracy St. Unit 4, Ste. 10) Artist Christina Habibi will host a free Third Thursday Open Studio Feb. 19, 6–9 p.m. LAST RESORT (174-184 W. Clayton St.) Known for her surreal and whimsical themes of magic realism, Susan Pelham’s mixed media works will be on display through Mar. 8.
LYNDON HOUSE ARTS CENTER (211 Hoyt St.) In the Lobby Case, Jeff Campana’s “Assemblage Vessels” features modular ceramic vessels produced using computer-designed molds and CNC milling. Through Feb. 21. • In the Ronnie Lukasiewicz Gallery, “Creative Tracks: Artwork from Inside the Athens-Clarke County Jail” presents art created by participants in the Creative Tracks studio art program taught by Kristen Bach at the ACC Jail. Through Mar. 21. • In the Lounge Gallery, “hold still, please” features abstract landscape paintings by Kate Kaiser, exploring memory, space and quiet presence through oil on wood panels. Artist talk Feb. 26, 5:30 p.m. Through Mar. 21. • In the North Gallery, “En mi mente” features charcoal and wax pastel works by Sebastian Granados. Artist Talk Feb. 26, 5:30 p.m. Through Mar. 21. • A new Lobby installation by artist and STEAM educator Maria Nissan, “18,443 Souls: A Metamorphosis of Coffee Culture,” features works inspired by the multicultural connections to coffee that are composed using coffee and tea filters touched by 18,443 people in Athens. On view Feb. 27–May 8.
MADISON-MORGAN CULTURAL ARTS CENTER (434 South Main St., Madison) “Color Resonance: Gary Hudson in Full Hue” presents vibrant abstract artwork by Gary Hudson through Mar. 27.
OCONEE CULTURAL ARTS FOUNDATION (34 School St., Watkinsville) In the Main Gallery, “A Way Among Ways” is curated by Beth Malone and features artists whose work explores labor, material and improvisation. Through Mar. 7. • In the Members Gallery, “This Beautiful Tangle” includes paintings and illustrations by Jeffrey Whittle alongside prints and paper works by Melissa Harshman. Through Mar. 7.
STATE BOTANICAL GARDEN OF GEORGIA (2450 S. Milledge Ave.) Works by artist Judy Hammond are on view, featuring paintings in oil, acrylic and pastel. Through Mar. 1. • “Reimagine: Contemporary Georgia Artists”
of ladybugs and butterflies. Ages 1.5–4. 10 a.m. $4 (ACC residents), $6 (non-residents). www.accgovga. myrec.com
KIDSTUFF: Read to Rover (Bogart Library) Drop in to read a story to certified therapy dog Maisy Jane. Ages 4 & up. 4 p.m. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org/bogart
LECTURES & LIT: Athens Science Café (Athentic Brewing Co.) Join the Coalition of Athens Scientists for a discussion and Q&A with local researcher Dr. Yao Yao about treatments of brain disease. 7 p.m. FREE! www.instagram.com/athens sciencecafe
MEETINGS: West Broad School Public Update Session (Clarke County School District) The Clarke County School District will share its plans for the historic complex. 10 a.m. & 5 p.m. FREE! www.clarke. k12.ga.us
MEETINGS: Greater Athens Puppetry Club (Merit Music Academy) Write, create and workshop your puppetry dreams. Bring in a puppet or play work in progress. 8 p.m. FREE! www.meritmusicacademy. com
SPORTS: Classic City Pétanque Club (Lay Park) New players welcome. Scheduled days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. www.athenspetanque.org
Friday 20
COMEDY: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are FINE (Flying Squid Comedy) An improv comedy
show within an improv comedy show starring Mike Bryson and Matt House. 8 p.m. $10. www. flyingsquidcomedy.com
EVENTS: Planet Earth Rocks and Crystals Warehouse Sale (Planet Earth Rocks and Crystals) The warehouse is open to the public to browse over 6,000 square feet of crystals and specimens. Feb. 19–20, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Feb. 21, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. www.facebook.com/ planetearthrocksandcrystals
EVENTS: Arbor Day Tree Giveaway (Athentic Brewing Co.) Celebrate Arbor Day, learn about The Community Tree Council and receive a tree sapling. FREE! www.facebook. com/AthensTrees FILM: The Room (Ciné) Screening of the hit cult classic with a meet-andgreet and Q&W with Greg Sestero. 8:30 p.m. $18. www.athenscine. com
GAMES: Family Trivia (Oconee County Library) Compete against other teams in a fun night of trivia. 4 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary. org/oconee
GAMES: Shih Tzu Not Trivia (Oak House Distillery) Test your general trivia knowledge. Fridays, 7 p.m. www.instagram.com/shihtzunot trivia
GAMES: Friday Night Initiative (Tyche’s Games) Learn how to play a new roleplaying game. New players welcome. 7 p.m. FREE! www. tychesgames.com
KIDSTUFF: Homeschool Art Explorers (OCAF) Enjoy a scavenger hunt, artist talk, art activities and more. Ages 5 & up. Registration
presents 20 works from Georgia’s State Art Collection alongside pieces by local and regional artists including painting, ceramics, fiber, sculpture, photography and works on paper. Presented by the Georgia Council for the Arts as part of a statewide touring exhibition through May 29.
STEFFEN THOMAS MUSEUM OF ART (4200 Bethany Rd., Buckhead) “Steffen Thomas Through the Eyes of Young Adults” is on display in the Educational Gallery. Final date TBA.
TAYLOR-GRADY HOUSE (634 Prince Ave.) In celebration of Black History Month, “Home & Family: A Printmaking Exhibit” explores belonging, community and kinship through printmaking. Featuring work by Jamaal Barber, UGA students and faculty. Artist talk with Jamaal Barber and participating UGA students Feb. 19, 7 p.m. Through Feb. 27.
TINYATH GALLERY (174 Cleveland Ave.) Works by sculpture artist Martijn van Wagtendonk on view. Artist reception Feb. 19, 6–9 p.m. Artist talk and demo Feb. 22, 2–5 p.m.
UGA SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARIES (300 S. Hull St.) “Fashioning the Classic Bride: The Life and Career of Anne Barge” features 33 dresses from the UGA alumna. Signature Lecture Feb. 24, 6 p.m. Through July. • “Beyond the ’96 Games: Atlanta’s Olympic Legacy” features an original torch from the opening relay and other authentic memorabilia. Through October. • “Captain Planet: The Power Is Yours” explores the origins and impact of the TV series. Through May. • “Sustained Excellence: A History of UGA Swim & Dive” explores the program’s history through photographs and artifacts. Through May.
UGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (230 River Rd.) In the Lobby Gallery on the mezzanine level outside Ramsey Concert Hall are large-scale paintings by Christopher Hocking with themes of pop culture, history, literature and more.
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP OF ATHENS (780 Timothy Rd.) Artist Rodney Grainger’s exhibition “Locking Up Our Own” is on view at the Claire and Robert Clements Gallery, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Black History Month. Through February.
WINTERVILLE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER (371 N. Church St., Winterville) Six new exhibitions will run through Mar. 24. Gallery 1 features plein air works by the Athens Area Plein Air Artists depicting the Winterville Trestle and local scenes. Gallery 2 features modern quilted wall pieces by Sarah Hubbard and complex sculptures by Kelly King. The Narrow Gallery features resin works by local author and artist Anita Eberhart Shaw. The Foyer Gallery features paintings by Sherre Watwood. The Garden Gallery features fused-glass works by Babs Kall. • “The Lost Weekend: The Photography of May Pang” presents 38 photographs documenting John Lennon during his post-Beatles era for a three-day exhibition Feb. 20–22. Pang will appear in person with photographs for sale.
(Canopy Studio) Canopy Studio’s advanced students present a performance featuring aerial dance, trapeze, slings, pole and more. Feb. 20, 8 p.m. Feb. 21, 4 p.m. & 8 p.m. Feb. 22, 2 p.m. $15 (adults), $10 (students/children). www.canopy studio.org
THEATER: The Magician’s Nephew (The Elbert Theatre) Encore Productions presents a magical tale based on the novel by C.S. Lewis. Feb. 20–21 & 27–28, 7 p.m. Feb. 22 & Mar. 1, 2 p.m. $9–17. www. elberttheatre.org
THEATER: Our Friend Thomas (Marigold Auditorium for Arts and Culture) This darkly funny story of friendship, chosen family and the struggles of caregiving follows a widower diagnosed with dementia. Feb. 20–21, 8 p.m. Feb. 22, 3 p.m. $15. www.wintervillecenter.com
Saturday 21
ART: Family Day (Lyndon House Arts Center) Community members of all ages can drop in for hands-on art workshops inspired by current exhibitions. 12–2 p.m. FREE! www. accgov.com/lyndonhouse
ART: Opening Reception (Georgia Museum of Art) The exhibition “We, Too, Are Made of Wonders” will be on view with refreshments, tarot readings, a poetry station and more. Registration required. 5–7 p.m. $15. www.georgiamuseum.org
CLASSES: Orchid Repotting Class (State Botanical Garden of Georgia) The horticulture staff will lead a repotting class for those with their own orchid and pot. Register for individual sessions. 9–11 a.m. $30. www.botgarden.uga.edu
EVENTS: The Athens Farmers Market (Bishop Park) Markets offer locally grown groceries and handmade goods with live music and children’s activities. AFM doubles SNAP dollars spent. Saturdays, 8 a.m.–12 p.m. www.athensfarmers market.net
EVENTS: Journey Through the Stars (Sandy Creek Nature Center) Learn about the night sky with an immersive planetarium program. Ages 5 & up. Registration required. 10 a.m. $5 (ACC residents), $8 (non-residents). www.accgov.com/ myrec
EVENTS: Community Open House (Georgia Museum of Art) A celebration of spring exhibitions that includes family day activities, a food truck, door prizes, mini astrology readings, a poetry writing station, an artist talk and more. Registration required. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. www.georgiamuseum.org
EVENTS: Planet Earth Rocks and Crystals Warehouse Sale (Planet Earth Rocks and Crystals) The warehouse is open to the public to browse over 6,000 square feet of crystals and specimens. Feb. 19–20, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Feb. 21, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. www.facebook.com/ planetearthrocksandcrystals
EVENTS: Art & Craft Supply Swap (ACC Library) Bring excess or no-longer-needed craft supplies and get new (to you) supplies. 10 a.m.–1 p.m. FREE! www.athens library.org
EVENTS: Adult Trips (Howard Park & Community Center) Leisure Services offers round trip travel to the Gainesville for a showing of the theatrical production The Play That Goes Wrong. 11 a.m.–6 p.m. $40 (ACC resident), $60 (non-resident). www.accgov.com/myrec
EVENTS: Arbor Day Forestry Education & Cultural Festival (Virginia Walker Park) Celebrate Arbor Day with tree plantings, music, a kids corner and more. 11 a.m.–2 p.m. FREE! www.rice-georgia.org
EVENTS: Summer Camp Open House (Heard Park & Community Center) Drop in to learn about a variety of summer camp opportunities, how to register and how to apply for scholarships. 2:30–4:30 p.m. FREE! www.accgovga.myrec.com
EVENTS: Joy Village School Fundraiser (Athentic Brewing Co.) There will be a new beer release, readings from Athens Poet Laureate Mikhayla Smith, live music from Cardynal and the Flock, and featured artwork from Joy Village students and Broderick Flanigan. 4–10 p.m. www. athenticbrewing.com
EVENTS: AFMDS Contra Dance (Memorial Park Administration Building) This community dance features caller Elijah Jaime and live music by Mountain Creek Boys with Mike Robinson. No partner required. 6:30 p.m. (intro session), 7–10 p.m. (dance). $12 (adults), $10 (students w/ ID), 17 & under FREE! www.athensfolk.org
GAMES: Plant BINGO (Foxglove Plantbar) Learn more about plants, and win plant prizes. 7 p.m. $20. www.instagram.com/foxglove plantbar
KIDSTUFF: Scripts & Chips (OCAF) All skill levels can drop in for fun script readings of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. Ages 10 & up. 3 p.m. $10 (member), $15 (nonmember). www.ocaf.com
LECTURES & LIT: Author Talk (Oconee County Library) New York Times bestselling author Terah Shelton Harris will discuss her latest novel Where the Wildflowers Grow. 2 p.m. FREE! www.athens library.org/oconee
PERFORMANCE: LegendAIRy (Canopy Studio) Canopy Studio’s advanced students present a performance featuring aerial dance, trapeze, slings, pole and more. Feb. 20, 8 p.m. Feb. 21, 4 p.m. & 8 p.m. Feb. 22, 2 p.m. $15 (adults), $10 (students/children). www.canopy studio.org
PERFORMANCE: Winning: The Champion Within (Morton Theatre) The East Athens Educational Dance Center presents its annual production showcasing different dance styles. Feb. 21, 7 p.m. Feb. 22, 3 p.m. $15 (adv.), $18. www. accgov.com/dance
THEATER: The Magician’s Nephew (The Elbert Theatre) Encore Productions presents a magical tale based on the novel by C.S. Lewis. Feb. 20–21 & 27–28, 7 p.m. Feb. 22 & Mar. 1, 2 p.m. $9–17. www. elberttheatre.org
THEATER: Our Friend Thomas (Marigold Auditorium for Arts and Culture) This darkly funny story of friendship, chosen family and the struggles of caregiving follows a widower diagnosed with dementia. Feb. 20–21, 8 p.m. Feb. 22, 3 p.m. $15. www.wintervillecenter.com
Sunday 22
ART: Artist Talk (tiny ATH gallery) Martijn van Wagtendonk will discuss his exhibition “New beginnings are caused by old problems.” 2–5 p.m. FREE! www.tinyathgallery.com
COMEDY: Funny Femmes (The Globe) An all-femme showcase featuring comedians from Athens and Atlanta. Fourth Sundays, 9 p.m. $10. www.globetavern.com
EVENTS: Family Folk Dance Fundraiser (St. Philothea Greek Orthodox Church) Enjoy
professionally-led folk dancing, singing, silent auction, games and more supporting Meridian Women’s Chorus. 2:30–4:30 p.m. Donations accepted. www.meridianwomens chorus.org
EVENTS: Wake-n-Bake Off (Terrapin Beer Co.) This cooking and baking competition requires Terrapin’s Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout as an ingredient. 4 p.m. $25. www.terrapinbeer.com
EVENTS: Candlelight Vigil (ACC Courthouse) Athens area faith organizations are hosting a vigil for those affected by mass detention and deportation. 6 p.m. FREE! 706589-5568
FILM: Tokusatsu Club (ATHICA) Screening of the 1990 Japanese cyber-fantasy film Monster Heaven: Ghost Hero. 2:30 p.m. FREE! clubtoku@gmail.com
your pup for a hike around the loop trail. 1 p.m. $10 parking pass/ vehicle. www.gastateparks.org/ WatsonMillBridge
PERFORMANCE: Drag Brunch (Athentic Brewing Co.) A high tea themed afternoon of drag entertainment. 12 p.m. $10 (show only). www.athenticbrewing.com
PERFORMANCE: LegendAIRy (Canopy Studio) Canopy Studio’s advanced students present a performance featuring aerial dance, trapeze, slings, pole and more. Feb. 20, 8 p.m. Feb. 21, 4 p.m. & 8 p.m. Feb. 22, 2 p.m. $15 (adults), $10 (students/children). www.canopy studio.org
PERFORMANCE: Winning: The Champion Within (Morton Theatre) The East Athens Educational Dance Center presents its annual production showcasing different
GAMES: Bad Dog Trivia (The Globe) Test your trivia knowledge with host TJ Wayt. Sundays, 6 p.m. www. instagram.com/baddogathens
LECTURES & LIT: Author Talk (Oconee County Library) Elizabeth Tandy Shermer discusses her book From Cotton Fields to Factories: How Georgia Became a Sunbelt State. 4 p.m. FREE! www.athens library.org/oconee
LECTURES & LIT: From Cotton Fields to Factories (Oconee County Library) Elizabeth Tandy Shermer will discuss how Georgia became a Sunbelt State. 4 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/ oconee
OUTDOORS: Bookin’ It 5K & Fun Run (Sandy Creek Park) The first annual Friends of the Library Fun Run and 5K benefitting the ACC Library. 8:30 a.m. (Fun Run), 9 a.m. (5K). $20–35. www.friendsofacc library.org/bookin-it
OUTDOORS: Scavenger Hunt (Watson Mill Bridge State Park) Enjoy a ranger-led scavenger hunt around the park. 11 a.m. $10 parking pass/ vehicle. www.gastateparks.org/ WatsonMillBridge
OUTDOORS: Tails on Trails (Watson Mill Bridge State Park) Bring
GAMES: Chess and Community (ACC Library) Drop in for open chess play to learn the game, challenge skills and engage with other enthusiasts. Mondays, 3:30–5:30 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org
GAMES: Shih Tzu Not Trivia (Fully Loaded Pizza Kitchen (Normaltown)) Test your general trivia knowledge. Mondays, 7 p.m. www. instagram.com/shihtzunottrivia
GAMES: Classic City Trivia (Dooley’s Bar and Grill) Test your general trivia knowledge with host Garrett. Mondays, 7 p.m. www.instagram. com/classiccitytriviaco
GAMES: General Trivia (Athentic Brewing Co.) Test your general trivia knowledge. Mondays, 7 p.m. www.athenticbrewing.com
GAMES: Lord of the Rings Trivia (Athentic Brewing Co.) Test your Lord of the Rings trivia knowledge. 7–9 p.m. www.athenticbrewing.com
GAMES: Shih Tzu Not Trivia (Pancho’s Tacos & Tequila) Test your general trivia knowledge. Mondays, 7 p.m. www.instagram.com/shihtzu nottrivia
GAMES: Classic City Trivia (Grindhouse Killer Burgers) Test your general trivia knowledge with host Benjamin. Mondays, 7:30 p.m. www.instagram.com/classiccity triviaco
KIDSTUFF: Movie Night (Oconee County Library) Join library staff to watch a movie of the month. Grades 6–12. 6 p.m. FREE! www.athens library.org/oconee
MEETINGS: Pen Pals Writing Group (Oconee County Library) Meet other writers, share your writing experiences and get feedback on your work. Second & fourth Mondays, 5 p.m. FREE! www.athens library.org/oconee
OUTDOORS: Star Viewing Party (Oconee County Library) Join Athens Astronomy Club for a special sky viewing program. 7 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/oconee
Tuesday 24
ART: Student Perspectives (Georgia Museum of Art) Join one of the student guides for a conversational tour of the permanent collection. 3 p.m. FREE! www.georgiamuseum. org
SPORTS: Classic City Pétanque Club (Lay Park) New players welcome. Scheduled days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. www.athenspetanque.org
THEATER: The Magician’s Nephew (The Elbert Theatre) Encore Productions presents a magical tale based on the novel by C.S. Lewis. Feb. 20–21 & 27–28, 7 p.m. Feb. 22 & Mar. 1, 2 p.m. $9–17. www. elberttheatre.org
THEATER: Our Friend Thomas (Marigold Auditorium for Arts and Culture) This darkly funny story of friendship, chosen family and the struggles of caregiving follows a widower diagnosed with dementia. Feb. 20–21, 8 p.m. Feb. 22, 3 p.m. $15. www.wintervillecenter.com
Monday 23
CLASSES: Vietnamese Class (Oconee County Library) Instructor Martine Thy Nguyen will lead a class on the basics of Vietnamese. 6–7 p.m. FREE! www.athens library.org/oconee
KIDSTUFF: Teen Night (Lay Park Community Center) Join other teens to help solve the mystery of the science lab escape room. 6 p.m. FREE! www.accgov.com/myrec
PERFORMANCE: Rabbit Box Storytelling (VFW Post 2872) This month’s storytelling theme is “Open Theme” with local people sharing real life stories. 6 p.m. (doors), 7 p.m. (show). $10. www.rabbitbox. org
PERFORMANCE: Jackie Robinson: A Game Apart (Morton Theatre) The one-man performance starring Mike Wiley tells the story of the star player’s battles on and off the field. 7 p.m. $15 (general admission), $10 (students/seniors). www.mortontheatre.com
SPORTS: Classic City Pétanque Club (Lay Park) New players welcome. Scheduled days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. info@athenspetanque. org, www.athenspetanque.org
Wednesday 25
ART: Tour at Two (Georgia Museum of Art) These drop-in public tours feature highlights of the permanent collection. 2 p.m. FREE! www.georgiamuseum.org
CLASSES: Sip & Paint (Terrapin Beer Co.) Drop in for a guided painting session. 6–9 p.m. $20. www.terrapinbeer.com
EVENTS: Senior Shenanigans: Sip & Paint! (Howard Park & Community Center) Join other seniors to enjoy a painting session. 12–1:30 p.m. $4 (ACC residents), $6 (nonresidents). www.accgov.com/myrec
EVENTS: Summer Camp Open House (Lyndon House Arts Center) Drop in to learn about a variety of summer camp opportunities, how to register and how to apply for scholarships. 12–4 p.m. FREE! www. accgovga.myrec.com
FILM: Film Happy Hour (Flicker Theatre & Bar) Meet and network with others in the filmmaking community (actors, directors, etc.) during happy hour. 5 p.m. FREE! www.facebook.com/FilmAthens
GAMES: Shadowfist Power Lunch (Tyche’s Games) Drop in and play Shadowfist. All skill levels. 11:30 a.m. FREE! www.tychesgames.com
CLASSES: Bridgerton Candle Tea Cups (Oconee County Library) Craft your own candle while discussing the popular television series. Ages 18 & up. 4 p.m. FREE! www.athens library.org/oconee
GAMES: Lunch & Learn (Tyche’s Games) Bring your lunch and learn new games. 11:30 a.m. FREE! www. tychesgames.com
GAMES: Bad Dog Trivia (Amici at The Falls) Test your trivia knowledge with host Miles Bunch. Tuesdays, 7 p.m. www.instagram.com/ baddogathens
GAMES: Bad Dog Trivia (Paloma Park) Test your trivia knowledge with host TJ Wayt. Tuesdays, 7 p.m. www.instagram.com/baddogathens
GAMES: Shih Tzu Not Trivia (Winghouse Grill Hull) Test your general trivia knowledge. Tuesdays, 7 p.m. www.instagram.com/shihtzunottrivia
GAMES: Classic City Trivia (Akademia Brewing Co.) Test your general trivia knowledge with host Garrett. Tuesdays, 7 p.m. www.instagram.com/classiccitytriviaco
GAMES: Singo! (Beef O’Brady’s) Win gift certificates and prizes at this music bingo night. Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m. www.beefobradys.com/athens
GAMES: Classic City Trivia (Magnolias of Athens) Test your general trivia knowledge with host Benjamin. Tuesdays, 8 p.m. www. instagram.com/classiccitytriviaco
GAMES: Shih Tzu Not Trivia (South Main Brewing) Test your general trivia knowledge. Wednesdays, 6 p.m. www.instagram.com/shihtzu nottrivia
GAMES: Shih Tzu Not Trivia (Normal Bar) Test your general trivia knowledge. Wednesdays, 7 p.m. www.instagram.com/shihtzunottrivia
GAMES: Classic City Trivia (The Local 706) Test your general trivia knowledge with host Garrett. Wednesdays, 7:06 p.m. www.instagram.com/classiccitytriviaco
GAMES: Shih Tzu Not Trivia (Locos Grill and Pub Eastside) Test your general trivia knowledge. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. www.instagram.com/ shihtzunottrivia
PERFORMANCE: STOMP (The Classic Center) The eight-member troupe uses everything but conventional percussion instruments to create rhythms. 6 p.m. (doors), 7 p.m. (show). $35.75–94.50. www. classiccenter.com
Down the Line
2/26 Jumping Gym (Howard Park & Community Center)
2/26 Lil Master Chef (Howard Park & Community Center)
2/26 Oconee County Library Friends Winter Book Sale (Oconee County Civic Center) f
SHANNAH MONTGOMERY
Canopy Studio’s LegendAIRy performances will take place Feb. 20–22.
bulletin board & classifieds
BULLETIN BOARD: Listings from nonprofits, community resources and free opportunities. Print deadline is THURSDAY at 5 p.m. for the following Wednesday issue. Email calendar@flagpole.com.
CLASSIFIEDS: Rates are $10/individual * $14/real estate * $16/business. Deadline to place ads is FRIDAY at 10 a.m. for the following Wednesday issue. Email class@flagpole.com or call 706-549-0301.
Classifieds
HELP WANTED (Full-time) Aurum Studios is hiring a full-time sales associate. Strong customer service skills and multi-tasking abilities preferred. Email resume to lori@ aurumstudios.com.
MUSIC (Instruction) Athens School of Music. Now offering in-person and online instruction in guitar, bass, drums, piano, voice, brass, woodwinds, strings, banjo, mandolin and more. From beginner to expert, all styles. Visit www.athensschoolof music.com. 706-543-5800
MUSIC (Services) Instant cash is now being paid for good vinyl records & CDs in fine condition. Wuxtry Records at corner of Clayton and College Dwntn. 706-369-9428
SERVICES (Home & Garden) Brrr… winter is here! A perfect time to tackle those invasive plants!
Woman-Run Gardening Services: We offer garden maintenance, invasive plant removal, personalized edible and native gardens for your school, home or business! 706395-5321
SERVICES (Home & Garden) Hi! I’m Pablo, an expert gardener offering personalized care for your landscape. I specialize in lowmaintenance, native gardens that support pollinators and biodiversity. Find me @pablofromseed, email
pkozatch@gmail.com or call 631903-4365.
SERVICES (Travel) Retired professional driver with vehicle for hire. Can transport up to six passengers where needed; anytime. Will drive your car or truck one-way or roundtrip anywhere in U.S. Call Bob Andrews 706-608-2288 or email AthensBob5@gmail.com.
Arts
AAAC QUARTERLY GRANT (Athens, GA) The Athens Area Arts Council offers $500 grants to visual and performing artists. www.athensarts. org/support ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM (Lyndon House Arts Center) The AIR Program provides participants with a workspace, access and a stipend. www.accgov.com/lyndonhouse ATHENS CREATIVE DIRECTORY (Athens, GA) The ACD is a free platform to connect creatives with patrons. www.athenscreatives. directory
BIPOC ARTIST/CURATOR PROJECT OPEN CALL (Lyndon House Arts Center) Seeking BIPOC individuals to develop an art exhibition for LHAC. www.accgov.com/9799/ ArtistCurator
CALL FOR ART (ACCGov) Athens Downtown Development Authority, Morton Theatre Corporation and
ACCGov invite professional artists to submit qualifications for consideration for a mural in the Morton Theatre lobby. Deadline Feb. 27, 5 p.m. www.accgov.com/11628/Callfor-Public-Art-Morton-Theatre
CALL FOR ART (Amici at The Falls) Seeking artists to share artwork in monthly exhibitions. careywelsh20@gmail.com
CALL FOR ART (Donderos’) Seeking new artists to exhibit works. contact @donderoskitchen.com
CALL FOR ART (OCAF, Watkinsville) Now accepting submissions for the 31st annual SouthWorks National Juried Art Exhibition. Juried by Beth Malone. Awards include a $2,500 prize Best-in-Show and $2,500 Prize Member’s Choice. Deadline Apr. 4. Submit up to 3 pieces. www.ocaf.com/exhibitions
CALL FOR ART (Oconee County Library) Seeking local artists to share their artwork in monthly exhibitions. adial@athenslibrary.org
CALL FOR ART (Winterville Library) Apply to be a featured local artist in the Front Room Gallery. The library accepts all 2D mediums. swatson @athenslibrary.org
CALL FOR ARTISTS (MAGallery) Now accepting artist applications. MAGallery is a nonprofit cooperative gallery. Gallery Artists work one day a month and participate on a committee. www.themadisonartists guild.org/call-for-artists
CALL FOR ARTISTS (Online) JOKER JOKERtv is accepting proposals from artists and curators living in Athens. Artists worldwide can submit ideas. www.jokerjokertv. com/submit
CALL FOR ARTISTS (Winterville Cultural Center Gallery) Now accepting submissions for Third Annual Juried Exhibit. Deadline Mar. 14 with notification of acceptance Mar. 25. $25–35 fee. Prizes for top three artists. Rules, regulations and submission form online. www.instagram.com/winterville centergallery
CALL FOR COLLECTORS (Lyndon House Arts Center) The LHAC’s “Collections from our Community” series features objects found in the closets, cabinets and shelves of Athenians. shelby.little@accgov. com
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS (Athens Homeless Coalition) Seeking submissions for street newspaper. Poetry, short stories, visual art, song lyrics. enagementcoordinator @athenshc.org
CALL FOR VENDORS (Marigold Collective, Winterville) Applications for artists, crafters, community services and more. The 2026 Marigold Market season will run Saturdays from Apr. 11 through Nov. 21. www. marigoldcollectivewinterville.com
LIFE DRAWING (Winterville Cultural Center, Winterville) Open studio for
artists 18 & up to draw unclothed models. Two models, Mar. 6. $25. Male model Mar. 26. $20. Registration required. www.drawathens.org
OPEN STUDIOS (Lyndon House Arts Center) Studio members have access to spaces for photography, ceramics and more. www.accgov. com/7350/Open-Studio-Membership
PUBLIC ART SELECTION PANELS
(Athens, GA) The Athens Cultural Affairs Commission is seeking community members to participate in upcoming public art selection panels. www.accgov.com/9656/ Public-Art-Selection-Panels
Auditions
OPEN AUDITIONS (Athens Master Chorale) Seeking new members in all voice parts including high sopranos, tenors and basses. Scheduled auditions held at St. Gregory the Great Church. athmcdirector@ gmail.com
OPEN AUDITIONS (Athens Symphony) The Athens Symphony is holding auditions for qualified musicians. www.athenssymphony. org/openings
Classes
A COURSE OF LOVE (Unity Athens Church) Learn a positive path for spiritual living based on A Course in Miracles. Wednesdays, 10–11:30 a.m. www.unityathens.com
ACCENT REDUCTION CLASS (Covenant Presbyterian Church) Improve your American English pronunciation skills. For ages 18 & up. Tuesdays, 12 p.m. marjoriemiller@ gmail.com
CLASSES, HIKES & PADDLES (Watson Mill State Park, Comer) The park offers a variety of events including “Introduction to iNaturalist & Merlin,” morning and evening kayak sessions, firebuilding classes, various educational hikes including “A Bridge to the Past,” “Tree ID,” “Homestead Hike” and more. Parking fee/pass required for all events. www.gastateparks.org/ WatsonMillBridge
CANOPY CLASSES & SCHOLARSHIPS (Canopy Studio) Canopy offers a variety of trapeze and aerial arts classes for children and adults.
Scholarships and financial aid are available. outreach@canopystudio. org, www.canopystudio.org/ outreach/scholarships
CLASSES & PROGRAMS (Bogart Library) Various ongoing weekly events including ESL (Tuesdays and Thursdays), Knit Lits Knitting (Thursdays) and more.
CLASSES, PROGRAMS & TOURS (State Botanical Garden of Georgia) Various ongoing weekly events including Guided Plant Walk (Tuesdays–Fridays), Porcelain and Decorative Arts Tour (Tuesdays), Free Sketch (Fridays) and more. botgarden.uga.edu
CLASSES & WORKSHOPS (Athens, GA) The Athens Land Trust hosts a variety of virtual and in-person classes. Topics include “Affordable Housing Info” and “Homebuyer Education Course.” www.athens landtrust.org/classes-events
CUBAN MUSIC & MOVEMENT (The Studio Athens) TIMBAthens offers multiple classes for different skill levels. Sundays, 3 p.m. (Level 1), 4 p.m. (Level 2 & 3), 5 p.m. (Advanced). $10 drop-in. timbathens@gmail.com, www. timbathens.com
CUBAN SALSA LESSONS (El Carretonero) SALSAthens offers multiple classes for different skill levels. Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m. (advanced) and 7:30 p.m. (beginner/intermediate). $10 drop-in. www.SALS AthensDancing@gmail.com
DANCE CLASSES (East Athens Educational Dance Center) The center offers classes in ballet, hip hop, jazz, modern and more for all ages and skills. www.accgov.com/myrec FREE CLASSES (The Athens Free School) Learning network for community centered around compassion, autonomy and playfulness. Visit @athensfreeschool on Instagram.
NETWORKING, LESSONS AND MEETINGS (Integrative Medicine Initiative) Free events for those in the local wellness sector seeking support and educational opportunities. admin@integrativemedicine initiative.org
OPEN ICE SKATING (Akins Ford Arena) Athens GA Figure Skating Club offers open ice skating for all skill levels every Monday through Thursday, 4–5 p.m. $10 students, $15 general admission. RSVP required. Athensgafigureskating@
gmail.com, athens_ga_figure_
skating_club
VARIOUS ONGOING CLASSES
(Winterville Cultural Center, Winterville) The Basics of Crocheting (Thursdays), Yoga in the Gallery (Tuesdays and Wednesdays), Tai Chi (Wednesdays) and more. www. wintervillecenter.com
Help Out
ANIMAL SERVICES VOLUNTEERS
(Animal Services Adoption Center) Volunteers needed for daily interactions with the shelter dogs. Sessions run Monday through Friday; training session required. Individuals under 18 years of age must be accompanied by an adult. www.tidycal.com/animalservices
volunteer
ATHENS SKATEPARK PROJECT
(Athens Skate Park) Seeking volunteers and community input. Third Sundays. www.athensskatepark project.org
DIAPER DONATIONS (Athens Area Diaper Bank) Diaper donations needed for local infants. All sizes and open packs/boxes are accepted. www.athensareadiaper bank.com
MEDICAL EQUIPMENT (Friends of Disabled Adults and Children) Free home medical equipment provided to those in need. Athens locations for pickup at Northeast Georgia Area Agency on Aging and Multiple Choices. Donations also accepted. www.fodac.org
MEDICAL EQUIPMENT EXCHANGE
(Silver Lace) Open registration for consideration for free mobility and daily living medical items. Donations also accepted. www.silver laceinc.org, info@silverlace.org
MICROCHIP SCANNING STATIONS
(Multiple Locations) Connect lost pets with their owners via scanning stations. Available 24 hours. Located at ACC Animals Services, Memorial Park Dog Park and Southeast Clarke Park. Instructions provided at each location.
MULTIPLE CHOICES VOLUNTEERS (Multiple Choices Center for Independent Living) Seeking volunteers to assist a nonprofit agency that serves individuals living with disabilities throughout a 10-country area of Northeastern Georgia. 706-850-4025, dmyers@ multiplechoices.us
PET FOOD PANTRY (Animal Services Adoption Center) The Animal Services community pet food pantry provides pet food to ACC residents at no cost. Donations always welcome. Monday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Sundays, 12–3 p.m. www.accgov.com/adoptioncenter
SEEKING BOARD MEMBERS (Bigger Vision of Athens) The nonprofit homeless shelter Bigger Vision of Athens, Inc. is seeking new members for its board of directors. the biggervisionshelter@gmail.com, www.bvoa.org/boardmember
SEEKING DONATIONS (The Cottage) Seeking donations of single-serving, non-perishable snacks to help children and adults navigating interviews, therapy sessions and court hearings. To arrange a drop-off please call 706-546-1133, ext 223.
SEEKING DONATIONS (Hands of Hope) Local homeless ministry accepting donations of winter clothing for their free distribution program. Other donations accepted for fundraising yard sale with proceeds benefiting program. 706-207-5172
SEEKING NEW MEMBERS (ACAC)
The Athens Cultural Affairs Commission is seeking new members. Deadline to apply is Mar. 13. www. athensculturalaffairs.org
SEEKING SEASONAL POLL WORKERS (ACCGov) ACCGov Elections Department is hiring seasonal poll workers for the 2026 election cycle. Pay ranges from $15.60–$17.94 per hour. Training and specific availability required. Accepting applications through Feb. 27. www. accgov.com/jobs
SEEKING VOLUNTEERS (Marigold Collective, Winterville) Volunteers needed for community food distribution events including weekly food kitchen, meal deliveries and more. Also accepting donations of canned and dry goods. wwwmarigold collectivewinterville.com
SEEKING VOLUNTEERS (Meals on Wheels) Currently recruiting volunteers to deliver meals, engage in safety checks and more. eschley@ accaging.org
SEEKING VOLUNTEERS (Morton Theatre) Volunteers needed for upcoming events. Board Member opportunities also available. www. mortontheatre.com/volunteer
SEEKING VOLUNTEERS (St. Mary’s Home Health & Hospice) Seeking volunteers to provide companionship or to help with simple tasks for those in hospice care. Training provided. 706-389-2273
TEACHER SUPPLIES (Teacher Reuse Store) Educators can access free creative supplies at the store. Please bring credentials. www. accgov.com/trs
TOWELS FOR ANIMALS (Animal Services Adoption Center) Seeking donations of gently used bath towels and hand rags for bathing animals and cleaning kennels. Donations can be dropped off at the door after hours. www.accgov.com/ animalservices
Kidstuff
CALL FOR ART (ACC Waste) AthensClarke County PreK-12 students are invited to create paintings, sculptures, photographs, poetry or other art about “Hometown Heroes” for 2026 Green Life Exhibition. Deadline Mar. 4. Exhibition will be displayed at Lyndon House. www. accgov.com/GreenLife
CALL FOR ART (State Botanical Garden of Georgia) Seeking original art submissions from students 9th grade and above attending school full- or part-time in Georgia. Winning art may be used for promotional materials and merchandise. Prizes include $1,000 for 1st place, $500 for 2nd place and $250 for 3rd place. Application deadline Mar. 27. www.botgarden.uga.edu/ student-art-competition
CLASSES & PROGRAMS (Bogart Library) Various ongoing weekly events including LEGO Mania (Wednesdays), Storytime with Miss Harli (Mondays) and more. www. athenslibrary.org/bogart
CLASSES & PROGRAMS (Oconee Library) Various ongoing weekly events including children’s yoga (Tuesdays), “Story Time” and “Tween Cocoa Club” (Wednesdays), and more. www.athens library.org/oconee
GUITAR CLUB (Lay Park Community Center) Monday classes run Feb. 23 through Apr. 27. Ages 8–11, 5:30 p.m. Ages 12–17, 6:30 p.m. $10. Registration required. www. accgovga.myrec.com/ POSTER CONTEST (Athens, GA) Georgia DNR, The State Botanical Garden of Georgia and TERN encourage K-5 students to submit works to the 36th annual Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest. Part of the “Kids for Conservation” initiative, the 2026 theme is “Welcome to the Wild World, Little Ones!”
Deadline is Mar. 6. www.georgia wildlife.com/PosterContest
SPRING & SUMMER CAMP (Canopy Studios) Registration for a variety of day camp dates for grades K-12 is now available. www.canopystudio. org/class-schedule/camps/
SUMMER CAMP (Athens Area Humane Society) Registration is now open for “Humane Heroes” and “Junior Vet” summer camps in June & July. Ages 6–14. www.athenshumanesociety.org/summer-camp
Word on the Street
BIKE REPAIR STATIONS (Multiple Locations) Over 15 free bike repair stations located across Athens with tools, an air pump and more. www. accgov.com/10584/Bike-RepairStations
CALL FOR STORYTELLERS (Rabbit Box) Rabbit Box seeks story ideas for upcoming shows. www.rabbit box.org/tell
CITY TOURS (Historic Athens Welcome Center) A variety of guided tours available including a daily shuttle tour, walking tour of the downtown area and local music tour. Schedule in advance. www. athenswelcomecenter.com
FRIDAY EVENTS (Multiplechoices Center for Independent Living) The organization hosts ongoing Friday gatherings. Tech discussions, support groups, movies and games. www.multiplechoices.us/youreinvited
MEDICAL ASSISTANCE (Nuçi’s Space) Direct connections to mental healthcare like counseling and psychiatry, medical care for physical concerns and more. www. nuci.org, 706-227-1515
MINDFUL BREATH SANGHA MEETING (Healing Lodge) In the Zen tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. Sundays, 1–2:30 p.m. Newcomers welcome. Free. www.mindfulbreathsangha.org PRESERVATION AWARD NOMINATIONS (Historic Athens) Nominations open through Feb. 28 for the 57th Annual Historic Preservation Awards. Projects completed between May 2025 and Feb. 2026 are eligible for nomination, as well as projects that are scheduled to be complete in Mar. 2026. Award categories, criteria and submission form via riteriabit.ly/presawards26.
SEVENTH GENERATION (No. 3 Railroad Street, Arnoldsville) Seventh Generation Native American Church hosts various gatherings on Sundays, 11 a.m. 706-340-7134
SUMMER JOBS (ACCGov Leisure Services) Now hiring for more than 100 summer positions including camp counselors, counselors in training, lifeguards and more. $15.60–$17.94 an hour. www. accgov.com/jobs
VIC CHESNUTT SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR AWARDS (Athens, GA)
Classic City Rotary is now accepting nominations. Songs must have a public release date during 2025, and songwriters must reside in Athens-Clarke County or a contiguous county. All genres welcome. Winner receives $1,500 cash prize, recording time from Amplify at Nuçi’s Space, a photo shoot with Jason Thrasher and a Team Clermont promotional package. Finalists receive $250 cash prizes. Deadline Mar. 1. www.vicchesnuttaward.com
VOTER REGISTRATION
RESOURCES (ACC Library Atrium)
Economic Justice Coalition community volunteers assist Georgia residents with registration, confirm prior registration and update voter registration information as needed. www.economicjusticecoalition. org f
food & drink
good growing Rain, Rain, Go My Way
COLLECTING AND TREATING RAINWATER FOR GARDEN USE
By Erin France editorial@flagpole.com
We need rainwater throughout the year to irrigate plants, fill bird baths and soak the ground. But rainwater can also puddle in a yard, wash out driveways, and transfer petroleum and pesticide pollutants into local waterways.
I looked for ways to address some of these issues in my own yard and found a great local resource—a February class named Stormwater Management for the Sustainable Landscape at the UGA State Botanical Garden. I picked up many great ideas for dealing with rainwater at my home, and came away with a new appreciation for engineers.
Instructors Richard Ludwig, a former host for PBS TV’s “GardenSmart” and former garden specialist for Southern Living magazine, and Azael Garza, the principal civil engineer for Aztlan Engineering LLC, focused on slowing down, spreading out and soaking up rainwater without terraforming your property. “Don’t fight the site, work with what you’ve got,” Ludwig said.
If you have specific concerns about rainwater around your property, this is a great class. Warning: There are formulas and calculations, but you don’t need to be a math whiz. I think I submitted more incorrect than correct answers, trying to figure out which formula to use and how to employ the engineer’s tape measure. It’s worth the embarrassment of being wrong and learning. The calculations will help you understand where the rain comes from and how to adequately size your improvements. The math can also come in handy if you have to explain to the county or an HOA why your rain garden (or bioswale or other project) is the correct size, shape and location.
RAIN BARRELS AND CISTERNS: Both excellent uses of rainwater. Rain barrels typically hold less and are above or at ground level, near a downspout. Cisterns usually hold much more water and are at or below ground level. Ludwig also introduced the idea of the water pillow—essentially a large, sturdy rubber bag that fits into the crawl space of your home and can be filled with runoff. This seems like a great idea for some homes, but the rats on my property already know how to bite through irrigation piping. I do not want to give them a water bed to turn into a water park.
If you’re interested in learning more about general rainwater-handling techniques, here’s a few mentioned in the class:
RAIN CHAINS: Mostly made of metal, these hang from the corners of your roof and slow down the gush of water that can come from a heavy rainstorm. They don’t handle much volume, but they are very pretty— like jewelry for your front porch. Ludwig stressed the importance of making rainwater improvements that are more than just functional. “Anything you can do to make it more ornamental,” he said. “Beauty sells.”
FLOW THROUGH PLANTER: Ending a gutter at a planter seems like a win-win. Any pollution in the runoff from the roof will immediately have a first line of filtration. Any water-loving plant will get inundated during storms—and in times of drought these plants will be close enough to the house to keep a close eye on and tide over with a little extra watering.
With all of these options, installing a first flush diverter is the best practice, Ludwig said. The most polluted water comes from the first flush. That’s the first inch of rainwater sluicing away any bird poop, petroleum products or other nasties from the roof and into your rain barrel. If you’re using your roof water to irrigate food plants, you’ll likely want one of these devices, though they are a little pricey at about $75.
RAIN GARDENS AND BIOSWALES: I love these and gave a public presentation about them (albeit with much less math) when I was an active Athens-Clarke County master gardener. If you’re considering installing one on your property, it’s worth it to do your research about location, size and plant selection. Rain gardens and bioswales give water a place to puddle where plants will drink it up and filter out the majority of the pollution. The bot garden and the ACC Master Gardener program are both places to find out more, if you’re interested.
Not sure which method to try? It’s OK to pick more than one. “There’s nothing wrong with too much or too many ways to capture rainwater,” Ludwig said. f
Most Mayoral Candidates Are Clueless
Like movies shown at Ciné, the mayoral debate at Ciné was thought-provoking. Unfortunately, the thoughts provoked were of frustration. The debate was heavy on vibes and light on substance.
Three of the four candidates failed to identify a single tangible policy that they would champion as mayor. Multiple candidates waxed poetically about a moratorium on housing (haha). At least two of the candidates appeared disinterested in basic facts and figures. Dexter Fisher disputed existing data on the percentage of unhoused folks coming from outside of Athens, as well as current housing vacancy rates in Athens (also a fact) without offering any evidence of his own. “Trust me, bro” is actually not a good platform to run on.
Mara Zuniga’s big idea was to require an independent audit of the Athens- Clarke County government—something that is already required. It’s inspiring (not) to see that Athens has our own “fraud, waste and abuse” candidate.
Fisher expressed a lot of frustration with commission decisions and actions over the past few years. Ironically, Fisher has been part of the exact commission that he is criticizing for the last four years, and he has played an important role in delaying votes and slowing down projects.
Zuniga opened up the debate by denouncing any attempts to “politicize” the race, then proceeded to do just that. She expressed contempt for “performative politics,” “the left” and “Democratic Socialists.”
Most of the candidates had pretty weak responses regarding a question about the role of ICE in our community. I think it’s actually pretty easy to say, “ICE is killing people, and I don’t support them,” but only one candidate (Tim Denson) said something in this vein. For the cherry on
top, Fisher added that he thinks the role of immigrants in our community is to work low paying jobs—just awful stuff.
If this were a movie, I could laugh, cringe and then go home. But this isn’t a movie; it’s very real life. The mayoral election is in a few short months, and we have about one or maybe two candidates who understand the challenges our community faces and have ideas on how to address them.
Ezra Schley Athens
Banish Invasive Plants
I confess: I did it, and I knew better.
Stemming from hubris and nostalgia, I planted some Japanese spirea my mom gave me. The shrub has pretty, white flowers, reminds me of my grandmother’s garden and is an invasive species.
Like many, many people, I thought I could keep a known invasive under control. Fast forward, I hadn’t checked on it in ages, and when I did, I was dismayed—at myself. When I wasn’t looking, each stem I’d stuck in the ground had begat about a dozen more. I used a tool called a Weed Wrench to try to yank out the plants, but each stem broke off in fragments, so I broke off the work to right this mea culpa.
Each Japanese spirea can generate 100 seeds, and those seeds and root fragments can resurrect tenaciously. In this and other ways, nonnative invasive species smother our Garden of Eden once so rich in biodiversity. Among the culprits are nandina (known to be fatal to cedar waxwings), mahonia, wisteria, Bradford pear and other plants that gallop across the landscape and are, like spirea, very hard to dig out.
My sister said I should concentrate my writing here on something like Chinese privet, a much bigger problem and something I’ve spent a lot of money and hours trying to banish. I’m sure the state has spent a small fortune on the task. And
there’s this bit of interesting and sad history: Georgia football, as we know, is celebrated as happening between the hedges. And what are those hedges? Yes, privet. And when the hedges had to be removed to widen the field in 1996 for the Olympics soccer matches, what happened to many of the cuttings? Some enterprising men licensed snippets and sold them to fans around the country.
The plants went forth and multiplied. Nurseries—especially big box stores—often have an informal policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” about invasive species, leading me and others into temptation.
We play God and think we can control our own little dominion even when warned. And though we may be vigilant, what about future owners of the property? The persistence of many seeds (and roots, too) sometimes seems like the lifespan of Methuselah.
I try to forgive my neighbors for the eventual trespass of their English ivy, which can bring down trees and snuff out native perennials. People often tell me that an invasive plant hasn’t spread in their yard and that the birds love the berries, so what’s the problem? The birds fly away and have shat out the seeds prodigiously elsewhere.
Athens- Clarke County has an ordinance prohibiting incursions on other people’s property, and they’re using it, especially for bamboo and kudzu encroaching from apartment complexes.
One of my heroes in Athens, Gary Crider, a saint, has spent decades smiting invasives in parks and historic Black cemeteries around town. (Bless him!) I’m a disciple trying to learn. All of us must do our part. Here’s a catechism for 2026: What shall we do, neighbors? Answer: Learn to identify, rule out and cast out invasive species.
Why? Because our gardens, forests, parks and natural areas really matter when so much land has been lost to development. Resolve now to be a good steward of our earthly paradise.
As for me, I’ve got to get back out there and tackle that devilish tangle of spirea. Then I’ll tend to my gardenias, which aren’t native but aren’t invasive either, and they
also remind me of my remarkable grandmother, Virginia Journigan, and our dear old homeplace.
Pat Priest Watkinsville
The U.S. Is a Nation of Sheep
In 1961, William Lederer published A Nation of Sheep, in which he described average Americans as uninformed, lied to and misled by their own government, and disinterested in politics and foreign affairs if it did not concern them personally. He also mentioned our uninformed political leaders. Neither has changed since 1961.
Few remember, for example, that just short of 60,000 American soldiers were killed in Vietnam in a war that our “leaders” knew we couldn’t win and were losing, yet continued sending troops in order to save political face. Even fewer remember Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger (war criminal) sabotaged a peace agreement set for Christmas, 1968.
Alas, the average American male, who may or may not read this article, is currently more interested in who will win the Super Bowl than what is going on in the United States and around the world. Yet both have more to do with the safety of his family and his life than the game in February.
The Nation of Sheep pays little attention to the continuous American bombs used for ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians so that President Trump can build his Riviera on the Palestinian coasts. Not enough are concerned about his desires to control Venezuela or Greenland. Few know our government controls many third- world nations and intends to keep them that way. Our school histories are not allowed to teach that truth.
Churches are just as guilty as the government. Even the better- trained ministers are silent behind their pulpits in regard to world affairs. Separation of church and state is no excuse when it comes to the gospel of truth.
Government or church, if the world is to have peace, it will be the sheep who bring it about, not the shepherds of either.
Dennis A. Rice Athens
by Margie E. Burke
by Margie E. Burke
The Weekly Crossword
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19 at 7:30 p.m. Hodgson Concert Hall. FOR TICKETS:
$15 - Adults
$3 UGA students
music.uga.edu
706-542-4400
“REFLECTIONS” - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
This evening features a wide variety of orchestral music, both classical and contemporary, including one featured concerto, “Reflections on the Mississippi” (2015) by Michael Daugherty with UGA faculty soloist Matthew Shipes, tuba.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24 at 7:30 p.m. Hodgson Concert Hall. FOR TICKETS:
$15 - Adults
$3 UGA students
music.uga.edu
706-542-4400
UPCOMING
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA WIND ENSEMBLE with the COBB WIND SYMPHONY
Program includes “Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Band” by Paul Creston performed by 2026 Concerto winner Yun Qu Tan, saxophone and the world premiere of “Jarabe Sinfónico No. 1” by Jose Hernandez, arranged by Gilbert Villagrana.
PERFORMANCES
FACULTY RECITAL EMELY PHELPS, PIANO
Featuring American piano music from the 20th and 21st centuries
TUESDAY, FEB. 24 at 5:30 p.m. Ramsey Concert Hall
GUEST ARTIST LEONELA ALEJANDRO, GUITAR
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25 at 5:30 p.m. Ramsey Concert Hall
