By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
For years, we have gotten together at 8:30 a.m. on the first and third Monday of every month to do our interview, pray, and then get the article finished and go on to produce the whole paper on Wednesdays. And every once in a while, we have to wait until Wednesday because of scheduling issues. This was one of those, and if this article ends up seeming like a crazy quilt of wonderful spring events, that’s because it is.
While we waited for Mayor Ronnie to arrive from his meeting with U.S. Congressman Dale Strong, Justin Travis, who recently started working at City Hall with Communications and Grant Manager Holly Hollman and I got a chance to chat. Justin is a native of Tuscaloosa and has his degree in journalism from Jacksonville State. Justin has always enjoyed writing and thought he would be a sports writer. As a man of faith, Justin knows that if we want to make God laugh, just tell Him our plans. So, he’s been doing a lot of laughing this last month, and is enjoying everything from the Easter Bonnet Festival at the Senior Activity Center to being with kids at the Mayor’s Youth Commission, and learning a whole new version of “whirlwind.”
In came Mayor Ronnie, who hadn’t been sure he was going to be able to make the interview, and it had been a full on “Whirlwind Wednesday.”
We are blessed to have a U.S. Congressman who genuinely enjoys our city and county, and who is able to fight for us to get much-needed funding to continue to improve our quality of life. Dale Strong and Ronnie had breakfast on Wednesday morning, and additionally, Congressman Strong is going to be speaking at a breakfast sponsored by the Chamber on May 12. It will be held at 8 a.m. at Carter Gym on the Athens State University Campus. Tickets are still available.
Back to the “whirlwind.” After the breakfast with Congressman Strong, Ronnie came back for one of the chief loves of his life — the Mayor’s Youth Commission. This month’s meeting was held at the Birdie Thornton Center, and as many years as the MYC has been there, there have always been students who are deeply touched by the people who frequent the center. This year was no exception.
After leaving Birdie Thornton, Mayor Ronnie, Justin, and Amy Gold had several moments of much-needed levity at the Easter Bonnet Festival. “Ninety-six people came,” said Mayor Ronnie, and he had his own “blue bonnet” that over the years has started to sport all kinds of accessories. His blue hat is a cobalt-colored fedora that has been featured in several skits.
There were more things to discuss — concerns for people in Athens who were dealing with life-threatening diseases and projects that needed to be completed. Then, there was only one thing left to do, and that was pray. Pray we did, and once again it was time for Ronnie to roll.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
April 18, 2025
