Apr 21, 2017
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jimmy Jacobs
Vice-President, GOWA
jimmyjacobs@mindspring.com
(c) 678-849-5873
Columbus, GA--April 21, 2017: The Georgia Outdoor Writers Association is holding its 50th anniversary conference on April 27-29, 2017, in Columbus. The organization is composed of more than 40 magazine and newspaper writers, photographers and editors from around the state, as well as television personalities.
Those members are involved in the organization’s mission of supporting sound conservation practices and reporting on Georgia’s outdoor recreational resources. As part of that goal, the group’s annual spring conferences move around to different parts of the state each spring. The revitalization of the downtown and development of the Chattahoochee RiverWalk with its associated outdoor recreational opportunities was a major draw to bring the event to Columbus.
Since its founding in the 1960s at an organizational meeting in Macon, the group has grown to include writers for such magazines as Georgia Outdoor News, Georgia Game & Fish (formerly Georgia Sportsman), Georgia Southwest Living and Georgia Connector. Writers from daily and weekly newspapers are among the membership, as are outdoor television personalities O’Neill Williams and Capt. Cefus McRae of Nuts N’ Bolts of Fishing on the Fox Sports South network.
GOWA also maintains the Georgia Hunting and Fishing Hall of Fame, which has a display featuring those legendary outdoors persons at the visitor center of the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center near Mansfield, Georgia. The hall of fame provides recognition for individuals having been influential in the hook and bullet sports in the state. Among those are George W. Perry, holder of the largemouth bass world record; President Jimmy Carter, for having protected portions of both the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers; Arthur Woody, the barefoot ranger of the Chattahoochee National Forest, and outdoor scribe Charlie Elliott, field editor for Outdoor Life magazine for more than 50 years.
The GOWA conference culminates with an awards banquet on Saturday evening, taking place this year at the Columbus Doubletree by Hilton hotel. The festivities are sponsored by the Georgia Power Company and include the presentation of awards to the winners of the 2016 Georgia Big Deer Contest.
The contest is co-sponsored by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, GOWA and GON magazine. It is the oldest continuous deer-hunting competition in the state, having recognized the biggest deer taken each year since 1967. Awards are presented for the top-scoring typical and non-typical bucks taken by archers and firearms hunters from the preceding season.
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