More Georgia Wild Hogs

Last night elected officials here in Georgia held their 45th Wild Hog Supper, the traditional kickoff to the winter legislative session. According to a resolution passed by the Georgia General Assembly (here), the tradition began in the mid-1950s, when E.C. "Boo" Addison invited Agriculture Commissioner Phil Campbell, Jr. on a camping trip down on the Ocmulgee River. Campbell expressed a wish that his colleagues in Atlanta could share Boo's barbeque, so the following year Boo brought some hogs up to the city and held a supper for the pols. Boo Addison passed on in 2000, but his sons continue the tradition, bringing 16 pit-cooked hogs, 40 gallons of Brunswick Stew and 15 gallons of barbeque sauce to Atlanta for the 2006 event.

There was a bit of controversy this year when Casey Cagle, the Republican lieutenant governor, scheduled his inaugural ball (featuring music by Travis Tritt) for the same night as the Wild Hog Supper. But for me what really upstaged the Wild Hog Supper was the capture of a gigantic wild hog right here in the southern suburbs of Atlanta. Many news outlets carried the story of this second "Hogzilla," which was shot a couple of days ago by William Coursey in his neighbor's yard in Fayetteville. The boar weighs a reported 1100 pounds, ostensibly a record, although Melissa Cummings of the DNR's public affairs department noted that "We don't keep records on hogs."