Welcome to The Loft, a weekly hangout and link up for Christian bloggers.
The Loft is open, come on up!
Now it’s time to link up!
This Week’s Topic: “My Town”
I’m excited about this week’s topic here at The Loft. I am eager to introduce you to my hometown, and to visit a few of yours in the link-up. I’ve lived in several places over these 50 years, but the majority of my life has been spent in this beautiful small town in the North Georgia mountains.
When I was growing up here, there was very little other than a few mom-and-pop stores, farms, and homes. The closest movie theater was about 30 miles away, while shopping was a bit over an hour away. We had a plethora of Baptist and Methodist churches, but little else to add flavor to the body of Christ in these mountains. Then, and now, our county boasts one school system with two locations.
As the years have come and gone, our county and town have grown. We now have four stop-lights, a 4-lane highway, Home Depot, Walmart, and rumors swirling of Chick-Fil A on the horizon. The body of Christ has expanded significantly to include Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Lutheran, Church of God, and a few non-denominational offerings. Our local park, Meeks Park, is a beautiful gem with trails, ballfields, picnic sheds, and streams. Just outside the county line Brasstown Bald Mountain rises majestically to the heavens. It is the highest peak in Georgia, and on a clear day one can see into five states.
We have four spectacular seasons in the north Georgia mountains, and festivals abound in each season. The area has several wineries, as well as a Farmer’s Market that is second to none. Farming used to be the primary industry here, but in the past couple of decades we have seen several large companies move in, employing many people in our county. Our area is a popular retirement haven, and thus, senior adults make up a sizable portion of the population.
Today it is my delight to share a few pictures of our little slice of heaven. The first pictures are my own, while the ones beginning with the waterfall through the last ones are courtesy of family friend and county commissioner, Lamar Paris.
I want to invite you to come visit the North Georgia mountains, and sample our southern hospitality.
Friday Night Lights!! High school football in my town offers what has to be one of the most beautiful views anywhere in the world. Photo by Susan Oliver
…and another of the view from our football stadium….just because I never grow tired of looking at the mountains.
The Old Courthouse.
The church I attend. The Rock Chapel was where we attended worship when I was a girl. Now, the church has grown so much that the larger sanctuary is used. It sits just beyond the Rock Chapel.
A double rainbow shot from my deck.
Fall means pumpkin time at Sunrise Grocery on Hwy 19-129. It is a wonderful mountain store. Love the antique car, too.
Waterfalls abound in our county
A beautiful pond and waterfall in the winter
A beautiful picture from the southeast side of the county
A North Georgia road in the snow.
Dogwoods in Meeks Park in the spring.
The beautiful Community Center where the Chamber of Commerce and Butternut Creek Golf Course are headquartered.
Union County Farmer’s Market
The Historic Union County Courthouse
Sunrise Grocery – A Union County Landmark
Local produce.
Butternut Creek Golf Course.
My beautiful, peaceful mountains.
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About #TheLoft
The Loft is the place for conversation, community, networking, and Christian growth.
Each week we provide a topic to start the conversation.
PLEASE NOTE: We want to foster community and transparent conversation with one another, just like we’d do if we were meeting in real life. So we ask that your link stick to the weekly topic and that you mention The Loft in your post. Thank you so much!
Monday night, at 9pm Eastern, the linky goes live and all week you can link up your post on that week’s topic.
We’ll have fun topics, serious topics, practical, soul-ful, holiday, and so, so much more…we can’t wait to get started! This is not only a great way to connect with others, it’s also a fun and easy way to establish a writing habit. If you aren’t a blogger, you are welcome to join in by leaving your comments in the comment section.
So grab your coffee mug and come on up! Hang out for a bit. We betcha you’ll be glad you did.
To Participate:
1. Be creative. Feel free to use words, photos, video, audio, your family pet, whatever, to communicate on the weekly topic. But please stick to the weekly topic 🙂
2. Listen twice as much as you talk. If you leave one link, visit two. Trust us on this one~wink.
3. Be a community. Include #TheLoft graphic and/or link back in your post so we can find each other. Also, share the great stuff you find when you visit around…we’ll be doing the same.
When you link up at The Loft, your link will appear on 5 blogs! We’d love for you to visit The Loft co-hosts and know who we are:
Next week’s topic: Favorite Books! I’m so excited about this one because I am a book nerd!! We will also have a giveaway or two, so stay tuned!
