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Ogeechee Riverkeeper opens new, permanent office
Ribbon Cutting - Ogeechee Riverkeeper June 7 2016
From left: Brianne Yontz, Richmond Hill Chamber of Commerce executive director; Caitlin Young, Chamber Ambassador/catering and conference manager at Richmond Hill City Center; Jesse Demonbreun-Chapman, Ogeechee Riverkeeper watershed outreach coordinator; Emily Markesteyn, Ogeechee Riverkeeper executive director. - photo by Photo provided.
Ted O'Neil
Updated: Jun 7, 2016, 6:42 PM
Published: Jun 7, 2016, 6:54 PM

Despite the heavy rains, Ogeechee Riverkeeper’s grand opening of its new office Tuesday was still accessible by car and the organization thinks that will help it be even more effective in safeguarding the river.

“During our 10-plus years we’ve really boosted our presence, but having a permanent home is going to be a big help,” said Executive Director and Riverkeeper Emily Markesteyn. “We’ve moved around a lot and relied on in-kind donations for office space, but owning this gives us more stability.”

The 800-square-foot office, renovated by volunteers, is located at 785 King George Blvd, Ste. 102, in Georgetown, just off of Route 204.

“It’s really a prime location near the Chatham and Bryan county lines with easy access to I-95 that will allow us to travel around the Ogeechee and Canochee river basins and waterways,” Markesteyn said.

The group monitors not only the two rivers but also all of the affiliated tributaries, creeks and streams, covering some 5,500 square miles over 22 counties.

Ogeechee Riverkeeper didn’t have to move very far this time — literally just across the hall — but ownership gives the organization and its partners and supporters a greater sense of stability.

“We were never sure with our rent or if an office might get sold,” Markesteyn said. “This makes it convenient for planning meetings, debriefs, hosting meetings. And it’s a place the public can come and visit.”

For more information, see www.ogeecheeriverkeeper.org.

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Later yall, its been fun
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Ted O'Neil
Updated: May 23, 2018, 6:03 PM
Published: May 23, 2018, 6:05 PM

This is among the last pieces I’ll ever write for the Bryan County News.

Friday is my last day with the paper, and come June 1 I’m headed back to my native Michigan.

I moved here in 2015 from the Great Lake State due to my wife’s job. It’s amicable, but she has since moved on to a different life in a different state, and it’s time for me to do the same.

My son Thomas, an RHHS grad as of Saturday, also is headed back to Michigan to play basketball for a small school near Ann Arbor called Concordia University. My daughter, Erin, is in law school at University of Toledo. She had already begun her college volleyball career at Lourdes University in Ohio when we moved down here and had no desire to leave the Midwest.

With both of them and the rest of my family up north, there’s no reason for me to stay here. I haven’t missed winter one bit, but I’m sure I won’t miss the sand gnats, either.

Shortly after we arrived here in 2015, I got a job in communications with a certain art school in Savannah for a few short months. It was both personally and professionally toxic and I’ll leave it at that.

In March 2016 I signed on with the Bryan County News as assistant editor and I’ve loved every minute of it. My “first” newspaper career, in the late 80s and early 90s, was great. But when I left it to work in politics and later with a free-market think tank, I never pictured myself as an ink-stained wretch again.

Like they say, never say never.

During my time here at the News, I’ve covered everything that came along. That’s one big difference between working for a weekly as opposed to a daily paper. Reporters at a daily paper have a “beat” to cover. At a weekly paper like this, you cover … life. Sports, features, government meetings, crime, fundraisers, parades, festivals, successes, failures and everything in between. Oh, and hurricanes. Two of them. I’ll take a winter blizzard over that any day.

Along the way I’ve met a lot of great people. Volunteers, business owners, pastors, students, athletes, teachers, coaches, co-workers, first responders, veterans, soldiers and yes, even some politicians.

And I learned that the same adrenalin rush from covering “breaking news” that I experienced right out of college is still just as exciting nearly 30 years later.

With as much as I’ve written about the population increase and traffic problems, at least for a few short minutes my departure means there will be one less vehicle clogging up local roads. At least until I pass three or four moving vans headed this way as I get on northbound I-95.

The hub-bub over growth here can be humorous, unintentional and ironic all at once. We often get comments on our Facebook page that go something like this: “I’ve lived here for (usually less than five years) and the growth is out of control! We need a moratorium on new construction.”

It’s like people who move into phase I of “Walden Woods” subdivision after all the trees are cleared out and then complain about trees being cut down for phase II.

Bryan County will always hold a special place in my heart and I definitely plan on visiting again someday. My hope is that my boss, Jeff Whitten (one of the best I’ve ever had), will let me continue to be part of the Pembroke Mafia Football League from afar. If the Corleone family could expand to Vegas, there’s no reason the PMFL can’t expand to Michigan.

But the main reason I want to return someday is about that traffic issue. After all, I’ll need to see it with my own eyes before I’ll believe that Highway 144 actually got widened.

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