Both groups were in Oconee County at the same time for a week and yet, while their paths did not cross, they helped Oconee County stay on track.

The National Bass Tournament organization brought its national championship fishing finals to Lake Keowee with a schedule that included practice days on Sunday and Monday, an invitational event for youngsters on Tuesday and three days of adult and junior competition.

In between, wives and friends got a tour of the county and a shopping spree on Ram Cat Alley, coordinated by the Greater Seneca Area Chamber of Commerce.

Also in the county that same week was the writer and actor who will bring to life a 15-minute film about the history of Oconee County. The video will serve as an introduction to the Oconee Heritage Center in Walhalla. It will also be the program for countless business, church, civic, tourists, and travel groups.

The Seneca chamber, which is sponsoring the production, plans to distribute 1,000 copies of the DVD and generate interest in the county. The video spans the period from Native Americans in the Golden Corner to nuclear power plants and the adjacent lakes.

These two events highlight the fact that many in Oconee County see the county’s future depending a great deal on taking advantage of its lakes, rivers, proximity to mountains and a major university.

Add the fact that the major corridor between Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., cuts across the southern portion on the county and it is easy to see why the county is growing with or without the guidelines that should have been in place years ago.

Anyone who thinks the door to Oconee County was closed behind him when he moved here is as blind as an ostrich with its head 3 feet in the dirt.

Another film crew plans to air the bass tournament championship in January. It was an event that featured more than 40 anglers who qualified for the event from an organization with more than 400 members. They came here from as far away as Wisconsin and as close as Lavonia, Ga. With the current state of the economy and price of gas, fishing Lakes Keowee, Jocassee, Hartwell, Lanier, Greenwood, Russell, and Thurmond is good business, good fishing business.

Drawing those here that would hike, bike, camp, boat or spend any amount of time and money is also good business.

Oconee County has been open for business since Oconee Station was the hub of trading between settlers and Cherokees, as depicted in the video.

Who knows, maybe in another 200 years, the county offices on Pine Street will be viewed as the Treaty Oak and such terms as SWAG and Zoning Enabling Ordinance will be viewed as paving the county’s path to perpetual prosperity.