Publisher's Note

by Cheri Leavy

My husband Vance’s family trade has put ink in my blood. He is fourth generation of the fourth estate, print journalism. And we already bled Red and Black, so our endeavor into publishing Bulldawg Illustrated has truly been a labor of love.

When we created Bulldawg Illustrated nine years ago I never dreamed that it would lead us back to our alma mater and a home in Athens nearly full time. We are coastal kids, right? But now I find my trips “home” to St. Simons shorter and shorter because we don’t want to miss the Dawgs vs. Kentucky in Stegeman. Or we don’t want to miss our neighborhood progressive Christmas party down University Drive. Wait how can we skip a Tribute to Dan Magill, the greatest bulldog ever, at the Classic Center? (By the way, that is set for January 28.) Allgood is playing at Melting Point and we can’t miss that now can we? We need to support our clients that are participating in the Taste of Athens benefit- oh I’ll come clean- who wants to skip all that great food?

You get the drift, there are so many reasons to enjoy Athens and we do. There is so much going on all the time. We love it! So those that know us know that all our interests end up in print. Vance felt strongly that we needed to support winter and spring sports so last year we launched BI Athens from January to June to cover beyond the hedges. We deliver it in print to Athens and Oconee, while everyone else can follow along online.

This year, we are adding the Athens flavor to the publication. We are covering philanthropy, music, culture, the downtown vibe and more. It comes a little easier after two years of getting to know so many of the movers and shakers and their enterprises through our guide2athens book and website. It is the perfect fit.

You will notice the way to navigate BI Athens is the sports news is on red pages and the Athens entertainment news is on black. Of course I know your favorite part of the publication will be the photos from all the happenings. “You never know who you’ll see in BI,” coined our sports guru Jeff Dantzler years ago. He even admits to looking at the photos first before delving into the articles.

Our entire team that contributes to Bulldawg Illustrated at the end of the day is first and foremost comprised of diehard Dawgs fans. Dantzler spends his days and nights covering the Bulldogs as a sportscaster on air and has done so for three decades. He lives and dies for the joy of the Ws. Murray Poole has covered the Dawgs in print for nearly a century, first at The Brunswick News and now more for fun than a paycheck for Bulldawg Illustrated. Our BI Athens editor, Ryan Scates, is going to be a “Double Dawg” when he wraps up law school. Our Public Relations Director Andrew Miller was graduated from UGA. Our sales girls alum Holly Stanfill and Kelley Blanton are both super fans. Our Athens delivery fella for the last four years, Zack Miller is a senior at Georgia. Throw in our interns from Grady and we have a pure bred UGA staff.

I hope Bulldawg Illustrated reflects the spirit that guides us – the enthusiasm and love that we as fans feel for the Bulldogs we support.

I will let you get to it. Plus I want to get out into the snow day. My neighbor just skied down University Drive. Never a dull moment in the Classic City!

Tagged: publishers note, cheri leavy, cha cha cha publishing inc, bulldawg illustrated, guide2athens, bulldawg illustrated athens, bi athens