Patti Garrett – “Champion of the Week”

Looks like the District 2 media blitz is well under way.

Allison points out that city commission candidate Patti Garrett is Champion Newspapers’ “Champion of the Week.”  I’ve pasted the entire article below, since I can’t for the life of me find it online.

“Decatur is a great city to volunteer in. With so many fun activities to join in and volunteer with, there are always ways to give back,” said Patti Garrett.

Garrett is a resident of the Oakhurst community who gives a tireless effort to help her community. From chairperson of the Tour of Homes project since 2002 to serving on the Oakhurst Community Garden Board for the past four years, where she and her husband share a seat, Garrett is an active volunteer from Volunteer! Decatur.

“I have so many great volunteers Patti is definitely one of them. She is always willing to help whenever there is a need. She volunteers on so many projects we have and elected Hometown Hero a couple years ago for her extraordinary efforts”, said LeeAnn Harvey of Volunteer! Decatur.

Being an outstanding volunteer is all about timing, according to Garrett. “The time just comes for people to get involved and when it does and you actually take part, it is always rewarding. Because my children are in the adult ages and I now work part-time, I have the timeto give back to a wonderful community like Oakhurst.”

Being a Decatur resident is very fulfilling for Garrett, which, she says, is why enjoys giving back to her community. “I am a strong advocate for Decatur and great supporter of the local businesses. I try to always shop in Decatur and eat in Decatur. It makes it that much greater to volunteer when you have great people, like LeeAnn, who set up such wonderful projects. It’s just extremely fun and always rewarding.”

Champion Newspaper Profiles DeKalb Community Blogs

Jonathan Cribbs wrote a front page story about DeKalb’s three most prominent local, community blogs in this week’s issue to the Champion Newspaper.

John Heneghan, Dave and I, all give our thoughts on the rise and importance of our county’s community blogs. Good reading if you don’t already get enough of us on a daily basis.

BTW, I’ve decided to retire the term “hyper-local” from my lexicon.  From here on out I will be employing “community” in its stead.  Why?  Because I’ve come to realize that the “hyper-local” descriptor doesn’t go far enough in describing these types of blogs.  In my estimation the unifying aspect of blogs like those profiled in the article is not just that they are more local-centric than the city dailies, but that they actively support their communities.  Our tactics may be different, but our motive is universal.

Its a small, but I think, important semantic change if you care about such things.