Sorry again for the tardy in posting, but when you get busy, you just get busy! Below, we will start with the Gooch and Fifty updates, followed by Gooch and Fifty Trivia and Rewards standings, which will show the 1st quarter, 2nd quarter, and half-point standings. The standings will show how much prize and rewards value has been earned, by who, and how much each person has won. As I have stated before, if you have been following along on Facebook and paying attention, there will be a reward and/or rewards given out to the winner(and maybe even the top 3). Winners will be based on total winnings and number of times won.

 

Gooch & Fifty Updates:

Blogs

As I stated, my original plans were to make bucket list blog posts the first week followed by itinerary blog posts that complement the bucket lists on the 2nd week. I also stated that was the “planned schedule” because I figured I might get and stay busy between real estate, this project, and other things that I have going on. Needless to say, I was right, and I have yet to make a single itinerary, but they will be coming shortly. I do, however, have plenty of bucket lists made on local, state, and national levels for you to enjoy. If you would like, you can use these bucket lists to create your own itinerary OR you can request me personalize an itinerary for you for a charge. That part is all up to you. As for the subjects I have chosen so far to write about, they have been base on the times of year. For example, in November, I chose to write about: “Political/Presidential paths” because of election week; Veterans and war landmarks because of Veterans Day; And Native American sites because of Native American Heritage Month. While this has just been the start, I may change course somewhat and write more about subjects that are not always based on the time of year OR I may not. We will see where and how things go. The next subject series for this week will be “Buttered and Boozed” which revolves around places you can grab drinks and bites to eat. The locations talked about will be in Union County, throughout the state of Georgia, and throughout the United States. These are all planned to be posted some time this week and not by the “planned schedule” of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And while I am at it, depending on my level of busy, I may go from posting 3 times a week to just 2, but again, we will see.

Podcast

In the very first blog post, I announced the plans for a podcast and what I was looking for. Luckily for me, I have found someone who is willing to help host this podcast for me and interview others throughout Union County and beyond. This person is Jamie Crump who served with me on the Union County Historical Society Board and who still serves today. As a matter of a fact, she is the only one from the historical society who has pitched into help with this project so far and I couldn’t be more thankful for her willingness to help and show support to this project! After further discussion with her, we are planning to begin the podcast interviews shortly after the new year. Mainly, we want to focus on interviewing people who have relation to the subjects of the project, but we will also try interviewing the older Union Countians who have an immense amount of knowledge and stories worth sharing before it is too late. Really, I am pretty excited about this, but for now, this is all of the information that I have and can give for now. In the meantime, stay tuned for the next announcements!

 

Union County Crime and Murder Tour

For those not aware or who didn’t follow the last updates blog, this new tour was on its way. Now, it has finally arrived and is finally up and available on the Gooch & Fifty website! For those still confused by the “tour” part, then again, let me simply break it down. Each story featured has its own GPS map which is geared to give you your own self-guided tour with each map location giving details into each location. Clearly, you do not have to go touring, but this option is why I consider it a tour. In total, there are 6 different stories, each also coming with their own videos, hundreds of historical newspaper clippings and photos, and additional links. Worth noting is that some of the photo galleries are not organized as I had them due to the uploading process from my web developer’s end mixing things up. However, I will be working to have this fixed. Just as a note, if you go to the Mike Thevis page, keep in mind that you should scroll through the photo gallery backwards for now as that is how the organization of the photo gallery turned out.

 

Merchandise

For those who have followed, you will notice that I have released 2 more shirts(M.D. Collins and Eric England), which have been requested by many people. Others who ordered their Micajah Clark Dyer T-shirts from last time have also arrived. In order to keep myself from going crazy by trying to be in a million places at one time and getting payment for these shirts, setting up a merchandise page on the Gooch and Fifty website seems to be the best and most convenient way for me to do so. Do keep in mind that there WILL be a shipping and delivery fee attached to those who make an order of these T-shirts online, BUT you DO NOT have to pay through the website as long as you just go pick up your shirts and pay for them at Gooch Trucking(Highly recommended to save money). Very, very soon, I will be adding more merchandise to the page that relates to Union County history and culture. If you are a Union County business, author, artist, or any other entity that sells products that relate to Union County history and would like to sell your stuff online, please let me know and we will work something out! As of now, the merchandise section is not available, but should be as soon as Monday, December 2nd. If you would like to pre-order, please let me know and I will have you set up!

 

Guided Walking Tours

I am still working on these. I have not yet found the people needed to help, but at this time with the winter weather here, there is still plenty of time to try figuring it all out. If you or anyone you know has a love and passion for history and would like to help or work with me on doing these upcoming, planned guided tours, please let me know! I will update you all more when more information is gathered!

 

Videographers/Social Media Content Creators

I am currently on the lookout for skilled and/or experienced videographers/social media content creators who can help me put together content based on criteria I have gathered for different historical locations in Union County. This is in order to help add to the Gooch & Fifty experience, promote Union County’s history, and to add more content. I need this to be affordable. If you or anyone you know may be interested, please let me know by reaching out in a Facebook message or by email at jakegooch2011@gmail.com or JakeG1739@gmail.com.

 

Gooch & Fifty Trivia & Rewards

Where We Currently Stand

The 78 rewards that were won as of the half-point(Week 26 Question 3), as well as the 78 rewards that are left to go, can be seen below in the green boxes(NOTE: There has been 1 reward won since after the half-point, making for 79 rewards won and 77 left to go). As of now, out of the 26 sponsors(Really 23 with Gooch & Fifty sponsoring 4 rounds of rewards), there are 9 total businesses who’s rewards have all been chosen and that you can no longer pick from. Clearly, those businesses are the ones who have the red X’s over them. These businesses include: Gooch Trucking, Lance Law, Kenya Patton Attorney At Law, Colwell Construction, Jeff Davis State Farm, River City Bank, Country Financial, Jim’s Smokin Que, and of course Gooch & Fifty. Of the rest of the rewards available, those clearly will be the rewards still showing without the mark white outs with winners’ names placed over them. The businesses that still have rewards being offered include the following(Number of rewards left to choose from will be included by each business): Odom Springs Vineyards(3); Living Water Winery and Vineyard(4); Roadside Distilling(1); G&G Bakery and Cafe(2); Sushi Shack(2); Blairsville’s Ice Cream & Mini Golf(1); Lucky’s Taqueria and Cantina(6); Teppanyaki Time(6); Pizza Belly(6); Sammies(6); Glow Hair Salon(6); Maters, Taters, and More(6); Keen Creations(6); Grateful Hiker(6); And Gooch and Fifty(16).

Corrections To Know About And Things You Should Know

1. For Gooch & Fifty, you will notice that 2 rewards of a free daily or weekly tour pass have been chosen. These 2 selections have been substituted for 2 shirts for Ken and Sharon Howell, who already have year-round passes. Therefore, do realize that rewards such as “Free Admission For 2 For Gooch & Fifty Walking Tour” are also bound for substitution of a free T-shirt claim because the walking tours are not yet here, and cannot be claimed. HOWEVER, each person can ONLY have ONE T-shirt of each T-shirt available(No winning unlimited shirts because they cost out of pocket).

2. On week 1, question 3, Julie Rachel chose to claim a free “Greetings From Union County, Georgia” T-shirt from Keen Creations. I made the mistake of marking off a free shirt from Gooch & Fifty instead of Keen Creations, but this still leaves 6 rewards and prizes left for Keen’s. 3. If you are a local business and would like to replace the current slots that Gooch & Fifty takes up that HAVE NOT had rewards chosen, let me know, along with the rewards you would like to offer, and I will replace Gooch & Fifty with your business! NEW RULES!!! 1. You NO LONGER have to have a Gooch & Fifty membership or pass to play! Everyone is now welcome to play! 2. You can now win an UNLIMITED amount of times and there will be no more one win a week rule! However, in order to keep it fair and competitive, if you do win at least once in the same week, any other question that you try to answer in the same week, following your first win, will result in a mandatory 1-hour wait timeframe(And another additional hour for another additional answer attempt). During that timeframe, if no one else answers or they answer incorrectly, you then have the greenlight to answer! Example: If you win on Monday, then you have to wait until 7 P.M. for the Wednesday question until your answer could be honored over the other contestants’ answers that start coming in at 6 P.M.. If you win again on Wednesday, then you must wait until 8 P.M. on Friday for your answer to be honored over everyone else’s answers that come(or don’t) before that.

3. Time Change: Questions will now be asked at 6 P.M. as opposed to 3 P.M.. This is because 3 P.M. is still a time when most are either busy at work or picking their kids up from school. 6 should be a more convenient time for more people to play.

 

 

For now, this is all I have for you! Until next time, be sure to check back for more blogs and other updates! I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving, and if any of you have any questions for me about this blog, the trivia, or anything else, please reach out and let me know!