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Rotary honors leading community builder Keely Fennell as 2025 Citizen of the Year
Keely Nesmith Fennell receives a round of applause as she make her way to the podium after being named the 2025 Citizen of the Year by the Rotary Club of Statesboro and The Rotary Club of Downtown Statesboro at Forest Heights Country Club on Wednesday, Ap
Keely Nesmith Fennell receives a round of applause as she make her way to the podium after being named the 2025 Citizen of the Year by the Rotary Club of Statesboro and The Rotary Club of Downtown Statesboro at Forest Heights Country Club on Wednesday, April 23. - photo by SCOTT BRYANT/staff

Statesboro’s two Rotary Clubs during their shared annual luncheon Wednesday named Keely NeSmith Fennell, a leading professional builder in the community and volunteer builder of community itself, as 2025 Citizen of the Year in Bulloch County.

The tradition was launched 54 years ago by the Rotary Club of Statesboro, becoming a Citizen of the Year award more than 30 years ago when women as well as men began to receive the honor.  With the growth of the Rotary Club of Downtown Statesboro, which was founded 30 years ago, the two clubs created a joint committee and began making the presentation at a shared meeting. The honoree is chosen to reflect Rotary International’s ideal of “service above self” but is not required to be a member of either of the clubs.

Phyllis Amason, previously Phyllis Thompson, a friend of Fennell’s and member of the Downtown Rotary Club, did the introduction, of course not naming the honoree at first.

“If you want a job done right, and especially if you want it done pronto, this is ‘the’ person to have on your team,” Amason said. “A dynamic leader who just makes things happen, she has given time beyond family and career to easily over 20 local, regional and state organizations. This Statesboro native, a graduate of Statesboro High School and Georgia Southern’s Parker College of Business … has deep roots in her feet and wide ones in her heart.”

Amason suggested asking any of the following organizations and volunteer programs about the honoree’s service: Rockin’ Out Alzheimer’s, the Boys and Girls Club, Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce, Emmaus,  the Soup Kitchen, the Food Bank, Georgia Southern, Ogeechee Tech,  Bulloch Academy, the Home Builders Association, Leadership Bulloch, Leadership Southeast and Leadership Georgia. Her written remarks had also listed Bulloch County Recreation & Parks, Relay for Life and the Statesboro Service League.

 

Business and family

“Ask them and you'll be told she's all in, all the time,” Amason said. “This in addition to being a spectacular parent, spouse, daughter, friend and just last month, grandmother!

“It seems like I’m leaving something out,” the presenter continued. “Oh, I know – the Blue Mile and the Creek on the Blue Mile. Keely NeSmith Fennell … has been a part of the barest details of our community revitalization project since its inception about a dozen years ago.”

Keely Nesmith Fennell expresses her gratitude as she is presented with the 2025 Citizen of the Year award by Kathy Spivey on behalf of the Rotary Club of Statesboro and The Rotary Club of Downtown Statesboro at Forest Heights Country Club on Wednesday, Ap
Keely Nesmith Fennell expresses her gratitude as she is presented with the 2025 Citizen of the Year award by Kathy Spivey on behalf of the Rotary Club of Statesboro and The Rotary Club of Downtown Statesboro at Forest Heights Country Club on Wednesday, April 23. - photo by SCOTT BRYANT/staff

Fennell is vice president and secretary of NeSmith Construction, managing day-to-day operations in the business founded by her grandfather, Andrew “A.P.” NeSmith, carried forward by her father, Donald NeSmith, and owned and operated since 1998 by Fennell and her brother, Kyle NeSmith. Donald and Kyle NeSmith were among the family members who slipped into the ballroom to congratulate her and be part of the surprise.

She had arrived at the luncheon with her husband, Bo Fennell, who told her they were going for the company he works for, she said. Keely and Bo have a son, Charlie Fennell, who resides in Atlanta, and a daughter, Powell Fennell Kenerly, who lives in Washington, D.C., area, where she and husband Asher Kenerly are parents of Lane, age 1 month.

 

Blue mile leader

Back around 2012, Keely Fennell helped launch the effort by local business people to revitalize Statesboro’s South Main Street, which they called the Blue Mile, from the Sweetheart Circle entrance of Georgia Southern University up to the Bulloch County Courthouse. Fennell continues to serve on the Blue Mile Committee and chairs the Blue Mile Foundation.

Amason, who was the Statesboro-Bulloch County Chamber of Commerce executive when Fennell served as chair of that organization more than a decade ago, said Fennell has seen the Blue Mile effort through “from vision to execution, design standards to gateway markers, funding to promotion.”

“Creating a group of volunteers to work with city and county officials and the Georgia Department of Transportation, in the time Keely has spent on the Blue Mile alone, she could have built a dozen neighborhoods for the benefit of her family business,” Amason said. “Instead, this good citizen has elected to build a legacy project for the benefit of her hometown and all who pass through it.”

As a third-generation builder who “manages dozens of subcontractors day in and out,” Fennell also took notice of home construction sites that were not her responsibility and worked with other reputable builders to improve industry standards, Amason noted. Then-Gov. Sonny Perdue recognized her efforts by appointing her to the State Board of Licensed Builders and Contractors.

Keely Nesmith Fennell gets a hug from Ellis Wood as she is surrounded by congratulators after being named the 2025 Citizen of the Year by the Rotary Club of Statesboro and The Rotary Club of Downtown Statesboro at Forest Heights Country Club on Wednesday,
Keely Nesmith Fennell gets a hug from Ellis Wood as she is surrounded by congratulators after being named the 2025 Citizen of the Year by the Rotary Club of Statesboro and The Rotary Club of Downtown Statesboro at Forest Heights Country Club on Wednesday, April 23. - photo by SCOTT BRYANT/staff

“Most notably, despite her busy schedule and numerous efforts, when someone knows or has heard about somebody who is ill or injured or sidelined due by loss, Keely instantly goes into overdrive mode getting just the right resources to your door,” said Amason. “Many citizens of Bulloch County … could attest to that, if they only knew, for most of the time the recipients don’t really know who’s behind the effort.”

 

‘A community award’

Called to the front of the ballroom at Forest Heights Country Club to  receive the Citizen of the Year plaque and a round of applause, Fennell began, “Y’all, I am rarely speechless, as many of you know.

“I am humbled and completely honored by this award,” she said. “Rotary has been part of our community for years, and you guys, many of you have mentored me and continue to mentor me, continue to work alongside me in what we do. I tell you, this would probably be nice to say it’s a Keely as Citizen of the Year, but really it’s a community award.

“Guys, we all work together, and I think working together is what makes this work,” Fennell continued. “I’m just glad to be on your team. I’m glad to work alongside you, so I really think this honor is more devoted to the citizens of Statesboro, which I’m glad to be one of.”

She also thanked her family members “and the NeSmith Construction gang” for allowing her opportunities for community service.

Statesboro Rotary Club President Matt Mathews had welcomed Rotarians and guests.

“Today we have the privilege of continuing a tradition in the Statesboro Rotary Club that’s been going on since 1971, of honoring somebody who has modeled the ideal of service above self,” he said.

Downtown Statesboro Rotary Club President Kathy Spivey introduced several past Citizen of the Year recipients who returned for this year’s luncheon. She also presented Fennell her plaque and a separate award, a Paul Harris Fellowship obtained with contributions in her honor to the Rotary Foundation.

 

 

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Visit Statesboro launches ‘Sip & Soar’ to highlight downtown open cups zone
Features specially designed, optional cups for participating places that pour
Sip & Soar
Special to-go cups, featuring artwork by Visit Statesboro's visitor center Manager Murphy McRae, depict the exterior of "Sip & Soar" participating establishments in the downtown Statesboro open container exemption zone. These cups are optional, but the requirement for paper or plastic cups of 20 ounces or less is part of the city law.

Without promoting drinking on the streets in general, Visit Statesboro has launched a “Sip & Soar” campaign to highlight the fact that alcoholic beverages in paper or plastic cups can legally be taken outside of eating and drinking establishments in a limited, ordinance-defined area of downtown Statesboro, as long as rules are followed.

Nearly five years have passed since City Council approved the ordinance that makes this possible, and it took effect immediately, in July 2020. Visit Statesboro, the destination marketing organization long known as the Statesboro Convention and Visitors Bureau, issued a media release May 2, 2025, announcing the Sip & Soar initiative and including a map of the designated “open container area.” A bird in flight is part of Visit Statesboro’s logo, and the organization already used references to “soaring” in its marketing efforts.

“We just wanted to make it clear to everyone, and that’s one reason why we included the map,” Visit Statesboro President and CEO Becky Sanders told the Statesboro Herald. “We just want everyone to enjoy the benefits but also follow the rules.”


Its own webpage

In addition to issuing the map and media release and giving the initiative its own webpage, https://sipandsoar.com, Visit Statesboro is partnering with eating and drinking establishments in the open container area to provide them with “exclusive, custom-designed to-go cups.” The cups feature original artwork by Murphy McRae, Visit Statesboro’s visitor center manager, whom Sanders called “an amazing graphic artist,” with tiny sketches of the participating establishments’ exteriors, plus a QR code to sipandsoar.com.

These cups are optional and “purely for fun,” but are also meant to “help ensure that everyone, from locals to visitors, knows exactly how to enjoy the open container area safely and responsibly,” the release stated.

 

Key rules of the zone

 ● No Glass or Aluminum Beverage Containers: Only paper or plastic cups are allowed.

Container Size: The cup must be 20 ounces or less.

Age Requirement: Of course, people must be 21 years or older to drink or be served alcoholic beverages.

No-Go Area: The Bulloch County Courthouse and its grounds, being county property, are not part of the city’s open-container area, and drinking alcoholic beverages is prohibited on the courthouse grounds.

That last point may be important for people to bear in mind during special events such as the city-sponsored Downtown Live concerts, when eating and drinking establishments in the area may be serving adult beverages, but there’s more of a family atmosphere near the courthouse.

Also, as was pointed out five years ago when the city “open container exemption zone” ordinance amendment was adopted, the Georgia law prohibiting possession of an open alcoholic beverage container in the passenger area of a motor vehicle remains in effect in the city’s zone, as does, of course, the law against driving under the influence. Being a pedestrian under the influence is also a state law violation if a person’s behavior threatens the safety of others or occurs in a roadway.

The city ordinance section, 6-17(k), also restricts establishments in the zone from selling more than one alcoholic beverage in a to-go cup per person age 21 and up.

Visit Statesboro  has included the text of the ordinance section on the sipandsoar.com site.

Sip & Soar
This map shows Statesboro's downtown open container zone, defined since July 2020 as bounded on the north by Courtland Street, Simmons Way and Proctor Street; on the east by Mulberry Street; on the west by Martin Luther King Jr. Drive; and on the south by Bulloch Street between MLK Drive and College Street. But then after turning north along College Street, the remainder of the southern boundary is on Cherry Street between College and Mulberry.

That site also gives these landmarks for the open container zone’s boundaries:

  • To the South you should turn back before you pass the Methodist Church.
  • To the West don’t wander too far past the Post Office.
  • Walking to the North you should stop just beyond the Bulloch County Courthouse.
  • To the East you can walk to Eagle Creek Brewery and the Boro Art Park, but not beyond.

Sanders noted that another organization, the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority, led in advocating for the ordinance amendment’s passage.

“Their leadership has helped ensure the open-container area enriches downtown’s welcoming atmosphere while preserving a safe, family-friendly environment,” she said.

The release also quoted Justin Samples, Visit Statesboro’s vice president of marketing.

 “We are thrilled to highlight this unique city ordinance and invite everyone to experience downtown Statesboro in a unique and exciting new way,” he said. “The Sip & Soar campaign not only educates our community about the open container area but also supports our local businesses, encouraging a lively, safe, and enjoyable downtown atmosphere.”

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