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1000 Faces Coffee opens in Wire Park
By Nathalee Simoneau


Athens based coffee shop 1000 Faces has opened its first franchise in Watkinsville’s Wire Park. The brand is known for its in-house roasted single origins and friendly service.
David Jobson, manager of the Wire Park location and former general manager at the Athens location, said that the decor and atmosphere of the Wire Park location is purposely different from the original. “It definitely focuses more on the customers out here. (It’s) not as minimalistic,” Jobson said. “The flooring, the lighting, we basically want it to feel like a French cafe.”
To achieve that look, the business put out bistro-style chairs and adorned the walls with murals from the artist Madeline Kennon.
Opening another location in Wire Park had been talked about in the cafe for years, but one of the owner’s sisters, Lindsey Payne, signed the lease last summer. Payne also owns and operates Lindsey’s Culinary Market behind the 1000 Faces location on North Thomas Street in Athens.
Wire Park’s established foot traffic and event schedule made the location appealing. In addition to the mezzanine above the bar, customers are able to make use of Wire Park’s extensive outdoor seating to drink their beverages.
Although Jobson has been in the coffee industry for some time, this was the first time he had the opportunity to design a cafe. “There was very little I liked about the layout behind the bar in Athens. I thought it caused a lot of congestion,” he said. Instead of copying the layout, Jobson reworked the order to be more efficient. He also replicated a system that he had used in a coffee shop in Portland, Oregon where the baristas use the orientation of the cups to determine the drink, not a ticket.
“I try to make it as easy as possible for the baristas, because I feel like the easier the baristas can get the drink done, the better the experience for the customer,” Jobson said, adding that he ordered the same, much loved espresso machine that the Athens location has.
The cafe had a soft opening the weekend of March 7 and officially opened Monday, March 10. Since then, the cafe has been busier each weekend. “It took off quicker than I thought,” Jobson said. “People have been saying, ‘we’ve been waiting for y’all to be here…’ It’s nice to hear that from the community and be able to provide something like that.”
Prince Avenue girls soccer falls 5-3 against Stephens County
By Stuart Steele




After a hard fought, back-and-forth match that saw eight total goals scored, the Prince Avenue Christian School girls soccer team lost 5-3 against Stephens County on Tuesday night.
Stephens County hit the ground running with two goals in the opening 20 minutes, both great strikes that gave the Indians a commanding 2-0 advantage. Prince Avenue cut that lead in half in the 23rd minute, when Whitney Elrod scored off a corner kick. The Indians quickly restored their lead to two goals with another in the 27th minute.
In the 34th minute, Prince Avenue’s Ashlyn Smith scored an exceptional goal, curling her shot into the top of the net from about 10 yards outside the box. Smith’s excellent goal made the score 3-2 heading into the half, though Stephens County seized some of the momentum back near the end of the first half with several opportunities to score.
Coming out of halftime, both teams defended well for the opening 20 minutes, but in the 61st minute, the Wolverines got the first goal of the second half. This time it was Gracie Smith with an ambitious effort from outside the box, a similar finish to Prince Avenue’s second goal.
Unfortunately for the Wolverines, Stephens County was able to respond to that equalizer, scoring in the 71st minute to take back the lead and sealing the game with its fifth goal of the night in the 78th minute. Prince Avenue head coach Christina Jones said she was proud of the way her team responded to going down early but disappointed that they weren’t able to hang on to momentum after clawing their way back to 3-3.
“I thought we started slower than we could have, and I thought our captains and leaders helped us at halftime make the decision to come out stronger, come out more aggressive, more mentally tough in the second half, still sticking to the game plan,” Jones said. “I thought they fought really hard for 30 minutes. They fought back really hard from going down two, and to tie it up there, showed a lot of fight and a lot of resolve. Just got to be able to finish. Just got to be able to finish at the end, those last 10 minutes.”
Ashlyn and Gracie Smith were two standouts for the Wolverines. Beyond each of their individual goals, they also showed good technique with the ball and a good understanding of where the gaps in the Stephens County defense were. A common pattern of play for the Wolverines was getting the ball to Ashlyn, who would play the ball diagonally to the left or right wing to Gracie or Naomi Bledsoe. That pass was a challenge to get exactly right on a very windy day, but it was the right idea and created several dangerous moments for the PACS attack.
Outside of the attacking trio, midfielder Reese Foster was another key player for Prince Avenue. Foster broke up the Indians’ play frequently, and was always in a good position to serve as an outlet pass for the Wolverine attackers. The Wolverines will be back on the field this Friday night at 5:30 p.m. as they host region leader Hebron Christian. The Lions are 9-0 overall and 3-0 in region play this season, and will represent another stiff test for Prince Avenue. Jones said the main thing she’s looking to see is effort and the fight her players showed in their comeback effort against Stephens.
“That's what I preach to them often, to work hard for the girl next to you,” Jones said. “I think that they've, they've shown that throughout the season, and so that's really, that's really all I want to see going forward, that continual fight and that continual belief. When you're down, when you're up, can you battle hard for the girl next to you, and can you work hard for the girl in the same jersey next to you?”
The Oconee Enterprise Marketing Director Avery Moon and Community Engagement Director Caitlin Farmer attended the O2 Performance and Recovery ribbon cutting on Tuesday with the Oconee Chamber of Commerce