Suzie and Jim Hudson

Lake Oconee offers many opportunities to celebrate the Christmas Season. Thanksgiving is almost here, then we will immediately begin the rush to Christmas. Below is a list of Holiday Activities that are happening here at Lake Oconee.

November 23rd, the kickoff to the Lake Oconee Christmas Season will be the Village of Lights Festival at Harmony Crossing. The Village at Harmony Crossing will illuminate their entire shopping center with over 15,000 lights. The event will include entertainment, and activities for children. Merchants will offer discounts to tempt the shoppers. Join the fun from 5 PM until 9 PM.

December 1 the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Holiday Concert will be held at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Arts Center.

December 2 there will be the Downtown Tree Lighting in Greensboro. Local shops will be open late so the Christmas shopping can begin! The event will be from 5 PM until 7 PM.

Decorate the Community Tree

December 1-4 Madison will hold its Town and Country Holiday Tour of Homes. It is always a real treat to visit the older antebellum homes all decorated for Christmas. For details, click here.

December 3 downtown Eatonton will hold its Christmas in the Briar Patch celebration. The event from 4 to 7 PM will include a parade with the theme of “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”. A bazaar will be on the courthouse square, and entertainment will be provided.

December 3 is the date of the Festival of Trees at Festival Hall in Greensboro. Decorated trees and other decorations will be sold to benefit the new Greene County Boys and Girls Club. A special Santa’s Secret Shop will be available for child-only purchases! This event is from 9 AM until 9 PM.

December 17th John Berry is bringing his entire band with him to Festival Hall in Greensborofor the ”Joy to the World” Christmas concert/tour. Tickets are on sale at the Greene County Chamber of Commerce.

John Berry Christmas Concert

Lake Oconee even has wonderful farms to cut your own Christmas Tree. It is a lot of fun to take the children to choose and cut your own tree to decorate!

• Jack’s Creek Tree Farm 706-343-1855
• Belcher Tree Farm 706-342-1948

Lake Oconee Tree Farms

For a special surprise treat, take your family to Ice Skate at Lake Oconee! The Ritz-Carlton Lodge at Reynolds Plantation has added an ice rink to their winter activities. The 5500 square-foot rink, complete with hot chocolate and s’mores is open daily from 10 AM until 2 PM, and from 4 PM until 8 PM until February 15th. The activity is $30 per hour for adults $20/hour for children 12 and under. The fee includes rental of skates.

This list is not exhaustive, so check your Chambers of Commerce, and local publications for more ideas.

For all your Real Estate questions and needs, call Suzie or Jim Hudson at RE/MAX, 706-453-6253 (Jim) 706-347-1115 (Suzie). Check out our newly redesigned LakeOconee.com website that is more user friendly! Most of all, have a wonderful, safe Holiday Season

Prospective home buyers in the Lake Oconee area often ask questions about what living in the Lake Oconee area is like. As I reported in a previous post , one of the aspects of life that many incoming people want to have available is opportunity for volunteer work. There are many local agencies and churches that offer a chance to "give back" to the community and the people in it. An especially exciting new organization that has moved to the Greensboro area this year is the Boys and Girls Club. A national organization, the Boys and Girls Club's goal is to improve the lives of underprivileged children by teaching them skills, promoting confidence, and helping them be successful in school. There are almost 4000 Chartered Boys and Girls Clubs over the country, and this year there is a new one in Greene County, Georgia.

As many of the children in Greene County are from single parent, low income families, there is a great need to help nuture these children so they will stay in school, and have a chance to prepare for a viable career. The aim of the Boys and Girls Club is that each member will "graduate from high school on time, ready for a post-secondary education and a 21st century career". The Greene County Boys and Girls Club opened its doors in June, 2011. The Boys and Girls Clubs are community-based and building-centered. The club provides a safe place for members to spend time in non-school hours. Although the club operates with a paid, professional staff, volunteers from the community are needed to mentor the young people, and guide them as they grow.

Lake Oconee residents are invited to a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club, a first ever Festival of Trees in downtown Greensboro, Georgia, on Saturday, December 3, 2011. Inside the Festival Hall at 201 North Main Street, there will be an opportunity to buy decorated trees, wreaths, and gingerbread creations donated by local designers and organizations. Entertainment will be provided by local bands and choirs. There will even be a Santa's Secret Shop for children to buys gifts for the family, and Santa, himself will be there. The event will last from 9 AM until 9 PM. All proceeds will go to the Greene County Boys and Girls Club.

Volunteerism is what makes the Lake Oconee Area a satisfying place in which to live. Start by attending the Festival of Trees, and then volunteer to give your time to the Greene County Boys and Girls Club.

For details of the Festival of Trees, click here.

To search for homes in the Lake Oconee area, click LakeOconee.com. Ask for Jim or Suzie Hudson.

The Lake Oconee Lifestyle includes wonderful shopping opportunities to pick up fresh produce when it's in season. One of the largest and the most popular Farmer's Markets is held weekly on a grassy area inside the Harmony Crossing shopping center. All of the vendors are from a radius of 75 miles around the market. The event takes place from May to September, every Saturday morning from 8 AM until 12 Noon.

So many friends have recommended this particular farmer's market to me, so I ventured down the road one day this summer to try it out. I came away with my favorite vine-ripened tomatoes, squash, and some fresh bread. Many vendors offered samples of their wares; I tasted a bit of Hummingbird Cake (a Southern treat), and some peaches. However, I learned to be cautious in tasting samples as some "spicy" peach salsa sent me running for water!!

This Farmer's Market includes all types of local produce, but also includes home sewn gifts, local artists' creations, honey, and a wonderful array of freshly baked pastries and cakes. Don't miss this special "happening" if you are in the Lake Oconee area on a Saturday morning! This Farmer's Market is a wonderful part of the Lake Oconee Lifestyle.

This is the third in the Play the Lake Oconee Golf Courses series featuring all of the courses in the order in which they were completed and opened for play. The author is a mid-handicapper who has played all the courses. Click to see previous posts in this series: Reynolds Landing, and the Plantation Course at Reynolds. The golf course featured in this post is Harbor Club on Lake Oconee.

Harbor Club par 4 Number 3 Hole

The third of the eight golf courses built in the Lake Oconee area is Harbor Club, opened for play in 1991. Before discussing Harbor Club, I should disclose that I am a resident and have been a member of Harbor Club since 2005, so bear in mind what I say here will be with some bias. The Harbor Club championship golf course was designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Moorish, widely acclaimed golf course designers. The course has Tom Weiskopf signature design features, most significantly a couple of par 4s that are driveable for the big hitters. ForHarbor Club, these are the signature par-4 7th hole over a portion of Lake Oconee, and the short par-4 15th hole. You make par or bogey on these, you lose one or two shots to the field. Following a major renovation of several years ago when all the greens were completely redone, what is now the 18th hole was completely reconfigured into what is now a great finishing hole. Sometime during the years since Harbor Club Golf Course’s opening in 1991, the front and back nine holes had been reversed. Following the renovation and reconfiguration of the greens and redo of the 18th hole in 2005, the nines were taken back to the original 1991 configuration of the Weiskopf-Moorish design. Now the closing holes at Harbor Club are as below

• 16th hole- Par-4, a sharp, difficult dogleg left (Signature Hole)
• 17th hole – Par 3, all carry over Lake Oconee to an impossible green
• 18th hole Par-4, players must cross a wide creek flowing into Lake Oconee TWICE (except for the extremely long hitters playing from up tees who can try to drive over trees to a landing area just short of the green)

Hole number 17, above, was voted by readers of a local magazine the Best Par Three Hole of the Lake Oconee Golf Courses for 2010.

These three holes now make what I believe to be the toughest closing holes on Lake Oconee. (I call it “The Gauntlet”)

Over the years Harbor Club has been host to several Mickey Mantle Celebrity Tournaments (Mickey was a resident of Harbor Club for many years); many University of Georgia outings; various college, high school, and other amateur tournaments; and many other corporate and charity events.

Jay Hudson, Mickey Mantle, Jim Hudson

Family memories above are from the Mickey Mantle Golf Tournament in 1992 when Mickey congratulated our son Jay, then 12, on his super golf game.

In my opinion, speaking as an mid-handicapper, Harbor Club is one Lake Oconee golf coursethat I think anyone would be comfortable in playing several times a week, regardless of their level of play. With 6 sets of tees, you can pick your poison – play the tees most appropriate to your handicap or the challenge you desire.

Everyone who plays Harbor Club Golf Course will have a great day of golf. My biased opinion is that you will find the course and the folks you’ll meet here feel as welcoming as going back home - where ever you’re from.