“I’ll always be grateful for what we have here in the north Georgia mountains,” said 7th district representative Johnny Chastain at the Fannin County Republican Party’s Third Annual Fall Festival. This was a sentiment echoed by many of the speakers present at the event.
The festival featured several speakers including as State Senator Steve Gooch, Fannin County Sheriff Dane Kirby, 7th District State Representative Johnny Chastain, and a number of other local officials including Commission Chairman Jamie Hensley, District Attorney B. Alison Sosebee, Clerk of Court Dana Chastain, Probate Judge Scott Kiker, and Blue Ridge City Councilman Jack Taylor.
Frank Wood, county party chairman, thanked the community support and reminded the crowd that the local GOP is non-profit, and all funds raised go towards electing more Republicans into office.
Gooch recognized the sheriff’s and the district attorney’s efforts to keep the county safe in lieu of the verdict reached on the Murillo case, saying “I appreciate everything Dane Kirby and Alison Sosebee for all they do to keep Fannin safe.”
“Do your own independent investigation on these candidates,” Kirby said, urging voters to thoroughly vet the candidates that they vote for.
Chastain described a property rights issue concerning “non-navigable streams” in Georgia, saying, “The state owns the fish, but we own the property.” He urged voters to research the issue and vote for candidates who would eliminate the state’s proposed ordinance that would allow them to use these private waterways.
Sosebee thanked Gooch and Chastain for their involvement with law enforcement concerning the Murillo case, and the influx of similar cases. “There’s no place I feel safer than here with y’all,” she said.
Chastain said “We’ve got to hold on to the values that we have as a community.” She thanked voters for their support and said that she’d appreciate their support in the upcoming election.
Jamie Hensley thanked voters their March approval to extend the county’s Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), and urged them to vote for the e-SPLOST that appears on the November 7 ballot as well.
Kiker urged voters to not ignore the election for judiciary offices, and said “I’d appreciate your support in the upcoming judiciary election.”
“Kids are why we do this,” said Councilman Jack Taylor. He went on to say that the children of the community may very well lose their futures if the liberal influx isn’t stopped soon.
Besides the many speakers, the festival featured Creekside Petting Zoo, a face painting booth, lunch concessions, bluegrass and gospel music, and a bouncy house for the kids. The event was held on Saturday at the Epworth Community Center.