MILLIANS: We’re almost famous

Published 10:30 am Friday, July 25, 2025

The Fourth of July fireworks might have been a flop, but we’ve got plenty of other news around these parts.

ECCENTRIC TOWN

Milledgeville has been named among the 13 most eccentric towns in Georgia, according to the WorldAtlas website. The writers said the 13 towns “offer a delightful detour into the unusual, the unexpected, and the wonderfully weird.”

Of Milledgeville, they wrote: “. . . boasts a rich and dynamic backstory since its founding in 1803. . . The former Central State Hospital is its quirkiest attraction yet, where the deserted remains of one of the largest asylums ever built have been left to the mercy of the elements. The complex features hundreds of old buildings, which are believed to host aggrieved spirits. . .  Almost 25,000 graves surround the facility at Cedar Lane Cemetery. . . .

“Tour the beautiful Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion for a deep history lesson. The High Greek Revival structure was completed in 1839 and provides an intimate look into the lives of eight former state governors and their families.” 

The other dozen towns on the list are: Plains, Senoia, Thomasville, White, Tallulah Falls, Jekyll Island, Helen, Dahlonega, Clarkston, Calhoun, Americus and Alto.

ON THE RADIO

The radio announcers for the Georgia football games this season will have a couple of strong Milledgeville connections.

Josh Brock, who was born in Milledgeville, is taking over as the Bulldogs’ radio color analyst. Brock is replacing Eric Zeier. 

Brock grew up in Cartersville before playing offensive line for the Dawgs. He’s now a financial planner as well as doing other radio work.

Scott Howard, who had the unenviable task of replacing Larry Munson, remains as the Bulldogs’ radio play-by-play man. He has done an excellent job.

Howard cut his teeth in the radio business right here in Milledgeville in late 1980s. He was a disc jockey and sports reporter at WMVG/WKZR, working with Scott MacLeod.

Fittingly, Howard and MacLeod are being inducted this year into the Friends of Radio Hall of Fame. 

SLIM CHICKENS

Well, I guess this comes under the category of “You Can’t Win ‘Em All.”

We’re getting a new Wingstop in the shopping strip next to Publix, but I understand Slim Chickens is building its next restaurant in Gray. 

Wingstop, of course, features classic and boneless wings in a wide variety of flavors, as well as chicken tenders and chicken sandwiches. I’ve had their wings at locations in other cities, and they’re not bad. 

But Slim Chickens? That’s got to be the best name out there for a chicken finger place. It makes way more sense than Huey Magoos. 

I have long called Milledgeville the “Chicken Finger Capital of the World,” so how did we lose out to Gray? 

Slim Chickens seems to take its menu up a notch, offering the usual fingers, wings, sandwiches and wraps, as well as chicken and waffles and mac n’ cheese/finger bowls. 

And they’ll fry anything as your side — mushrooms, okra, fries, etc. 

And, still on fast food, I’m hearing rumors that Jack’s (A Taste of the South in Your Mouth) might be coming here. They’ve already got us surrounded with locations in Gray, Monticello and Dublin.

PETE THE GREAT 

My belated sympathies to the family of Pete Bailey, Jr., who passed away on July 4 at the age of 79. If someone compiled a list of the all-time best football players at Baldwin High School, Pete would be on it. 

He played fullback and linebacker for Baldwin in the early ’60s and signed with North Carolina State — one of the first Baldwin players to earn a scholarship from a major college program.

He was a starting linebacker for the Wolfpack from 1965 to 1969 and proudly wore his ACC championship ring throughout his life.

According to his obituary, Pete carried the same energy from the gridiron into his career in real estate. He developed Lake Oconee’s first golf course, Port Armor Golf Club, now known as The Landing Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee.

Pete later became the founding developer and co-owner of Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee, a course designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. Pete had met Crenshaw on an airplane shortly after purchasing the land.

His was an impressive life. 

—Rick Millians, a 1970 Baldwin graduate, is retired after working at newspapers in Georgia, Ohio and South Carolina. Reach him at rdmillians@aol.com.