Telling the story of Oconee’s 150th

The Oconee County Sesquicentennial next year will have a little bit of this…and a little bit of that.  But its organizers say it’s not going to be anything like the bash the county threw 50 years ago for the Centennial, where the headliners included Strom Thurmond and Minnie Pearl.  Leslie White and Phil Shirley last night unveiled a banner proclaiming 2018 the 150th year of Oconee County.  That banner was unveiled to applause at the annual meeting of Walhalla’s Partners for Progress. The official start will be January, but there will be stuff throughout 2018.  The first visible sign will be a float depicting the Sesquicentennial that’ll appear in this year’s Christmas parades.  On January 29 Oconee County Council will proclaim 2018 the Sesquicentennial year.  There will be a time capsule, a commemorative coin, a gala at Chattooga Belle Farms, and art work will be displayed at or near the courthouse.  Shirley, the director of Oconee Parks, Recreation and Tourism, is working on a feature to highlight “150 things to do in Oconee County.”