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Enoch Autry/The Clayton Tribune. Here World Champion David Lee and 2021 Big E winner Austin Irby talk with guests at the event.

Enoch Autry/The Clayton Tribune. Here World Champion David Lee and 2021 Big E winner Austin Irby talk with guests at the event.

Big E

Enoch Autry - Publisher
Thursday, August 11, 2022
The 18th Big E Festival & Elvis Tribute Artists Competition was held at the Rabun County Civic Center on Aug. 5-7 in Clayton. The festival started Friday with a Meet & Greet in the downstairs Rock N Roll Café at the Civic Center. 

Rotary donates $5,000 to Food Bank

Megan Horn
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Tim Ranney, district service chair for the Rotary Club of Clayton, hands a $5,000 donation check to James Brim, director for the Food Bank Mountain Branch, for the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia at the Rotary Club of Clayton meeting July 14.
Megan Broome/The Clayton Tribune. Minor injuries were reported in a three-vehicle crash near Highway 76 East in Clayton Aug. 3. First responders had to break the windshield of a Ram 1500 to rescue a victim, according to first responders on scene.

Megan Broome/The Clayton Tribune. Minor injuries were reported in a three-vehicle crash near Highway 76 East in Clayton Aug. 3. First responders had to break the windshield of a Ram 1500 to rescue a victim, according to first responders on scene.

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Minor injuries in three-vehicle crash in Clayton

Megan Horn
Thursday, August 11, 2022
CLAYTON– Minor injuries were reported in a three-vehicle crash at the Highway 441 and Highway 76 East intersection near Walgreens in Clayton Aug. 3. Emergency personnel were dispatched around 7:19 a.m. A gray 2018 Ram 1500, driven by Cynthia Ann Spencer, 65, of Otto, N.C.
Megan Broome/The Clayton Tribune. Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp have a chicken sandwich with fries for lunch with local officials at The Rusty Bike Café Aug. 4 when the governor made a visit to Rabun County to meet-and-greet members of the community. Pictured are Hunter Spear, Northeast Georgia field director for Kemp for Governor, left; Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp; Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp; Sheriff Chad Nichols; Joslan Nichols; Cathy Cannon; and Clayton Mayor Kurt Cannon.

Megan Broome/The Clayton Tribune. Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp have a chicken sandwich with fries for lunch with local officials at The Rusty Bike Café Aug. 4 when the governor made a visit to Rabun County to meet-and-greet members of the community. Pictured are Hunter Spear, Northeast Georgia field director for Kemp for Governor, left; Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp; Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp; Sheriff Chad Nichols; Joslan Nichols; Cathy Cannon; and Clayton Mayor Kurt Cannon.

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Georgia governor returns to Clayton on his campaign trail for re-election

Megan Horn
Thursday, August 11, 2022
CLAYTON– Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp rode into Rabun County Aug. 4 for a scheduled stop at The Rusty Bike Café in Clayton to meet-and-greet community members and have lunch.
Photo courtesy of Brian Panell/Rabun County EMA Director. A 2015 Mack Granite carrying “blasting agents” overturned on its side early Tuesday morning at Kellys Creek Road in Rabun Gap.

Photo courtesy of Brian Panell/Rabun County EMA Director. A 2015 Mack Granite carrying “blasting agents” overturned on its side early Tuesday morning at Kellys Creek Road in Rabun Gap.

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Truck carrying ‘blasting agents’ overturns 

Megan Horn
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
Dozens of residents were evacuated after a commercial vehicle carrying “blasting agents” overturned on its side early Tuesday morning at Kellys Creek Road in Rabun Gap.
Enoch Autry/The Clayton Tribune. Those who attended on July 30 pray outside the primary school.

Enoch Autry/The Clayton Tribune. Those who attended on July 30 pray outside the primary school.

Prayer a driving force toward good school year

Enoch Autry - Publisher
Thursday, August 4, 2022
The 13th Annual Prayer Motorcade was Saturday, July 30, as the community prayed for each of the public schools, buses, and administration in Rabun County. The motorcade began at the Rabun County Board of Education at 8:30 a.m.
Megan Broome/The Clayton Tribune. Law Enforcement Officers received training to remain proficient in firearms, building clearing and incident response measures in the event of an active shooter at Rabun County Schools and the shooting range last week. This was part of the week-long active shooter response training that happens every year in Rabun County. RCSO Deputies spent the entire summer training and preparing for students to head back to school Aug. 5.

Megan Broome/The Clayton Tribune. Law Enforcement Officers received training to remain proficient in firearms, building clearing and incident response measures in the event of an active shooter at Rabun County Schools and the shooting range last week. This was part of the week-long active shooter response training that happens every year in Rabun County. RCSO Deputies spent the entire summer training and preparing for students to head back to school Aug. 5.

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Rabun County School Resource Deputies stay conditioned on keeping children safe

Megan Horn
Thursday, August 4, 2022
TIGER– Keeping children safe is top priority for School Resource Deputies as they spent the summer training and preparing for students to come back to campus Aug. 5.
Megan Broome/The Clayton Tribune. Lt. Mark Gerrells and Sgt. Lindsey Owens, School Resource Deputy at the high school, talk to bus drivers at the Board of Education Tuesday as part of their annual safety training to prepare for kids as they go back to the classroom Friday. They talked to bus drivers about the importance of situational awareness and being aware of surroundings. He referred to the buses as “mobile classrooms” and talked about what to do in the instance of an active shooter situation.

Megan Broome/The Clayton Tribune. Lt. Mark Gerrells and Sgt. Lindsey Owens, School Resource Deputy at the high school, talk to bus drivers at the Board of Education Tuesday as part of their annual safety training to prepare for kids as they go back to the classroom Friday. They talked to bus drivers about the importance of situational awareness and being aware of surroundings. He referred to the buses as “mobile classrooms” and talked about what to do in the instance of an active shooter situation.

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School bus drivers suit up for bus safety training

Megan Horn
Thursday, August 4, 2022
Rabun County Schools bus drivers suited up for bus safety training at the Board of Education on Tuesday. This was part of training courses to prepare as kids go back to the classroom Friday.

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Projected property tax hike for county

News Staff
Thursday, August 4, 2022
The Rabun County Board of Commissioners has announced the intention to increase the 2022 property taxes as the board plans to levy this year by 11.14 percent over the rollback millage rate. The proposed millage rate of 9.928 is a 0.995 increase over the rollback rate. Of the 0.995 increase, 0.