Eddy Ariail
Eddy Ariail is a native of Habersham County. He attended Piedmont College, where he received his degree in history. He continued his education at the University of Georgia and received his MBA.
He married Alice Crowder in 1984. Together, they have two daughters, Cat and Caroline. They have lived in the same Amilee Graves Circle home since marriage.
Eddy is currently on his second career as a financial advisor with Carson Advisory Group/Raymond James out of Athens, Georgia.
He is a member of Grace Calvary Episcopal Church. He is also a Trustee Emeritus at Piedmont University, a Grace Gate Clinic board member, and a lifetime Kiwanian.
He is a Leadership Georgia alumnus and a member of The Gridiron Secret Society at the University of Georgia.
His favorite pastimes are reading history, but he also enjoys hiking in the North Georgia mountains and walking for exercise on the streets and greenways of Clarksville.
Diane Black Brown
Diane Black Brown is a native of Clarkesville and a graduate of the University of Georgia.
Diane is currently a partner and broker for The Norton Agency’s residential and commercial mountain divisions.
Her career in Habersham County has always been community-focused.
Diane is a past nominee for Georgia Realtor of the Year and served as president of Habersham, White, Stephens Board of Realtors for two terms. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Georgia Mountain and Lakes Realtor Association. Additionally, she serves as the chair of the Faith Christian Academy Board of Directors.
She is a member of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Habersham County Rotary Club, Alpha Gamma Delta Alumni Chapter, past member of Emma Shepherd Burns Chapter Children of the Confederacy, Habersham Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Diane is married to Franklin Brown, has three children, nine grandchildren, and a very faithful Cocker Spaniel, Dixie Rose. She enjoys cooking, collecting antiques, and genealogy.
Brooks Garcia
Brooks was born in Atlanta, attended The Lovett School and then the University of Georgia, where he majored in Landscape Architecture and received his BLA. Garcia then toured Europe and studied classical garden design.
After working for the renowned garden designer Ryan Gainey, Brooks launched his own garden design firm, Fine Gardens, which he headed for almost 25 years. Fine Gardens specialized in high-end residential design.
While in Atlanta, Brooks served on the Hills and Dales Estate board in LaGrange, Georgia, and helped open the historic Fuller Callaway home and gardens to the public. He also served on the board of The Historic Oakland Foundation, which is charged with restoring and preserving Historic Oakland Cemetery. He also worked at the cemetery as a gardener, helping to plant and maintain the Victorian-style gardens there.
He brings his six years of experience working at Oakland to the Old Clarkesville Cemetery board and project. He desires to return the Old Clarkesville Cemetery to the Victorian splendor it once might have been.
What brought this new resident to Habersham County was a lifelong desire to fulfill his dream of living in the mountains, owning property, and farming. He designed his Tuscan-style villa and oversaw its construction in Demorest. When asked if he misses Atlanta, he responds, “Where!?” “I have never been happier than I have been living here.”
E. Lane Gresham–Chair
E. Lane Gresham relocated with her family to Habersham County in 1999, seeking a deeper connection to community.
Lane, a writer and photographer, is the Director of Communications and Media for Prevent Child Abuse Georgia.
She is a former member of the Clarkesville City Council and serves as an advisory board member for the Commercial Photography program at North Georgia Technical College.
She is a past member of several other boards and committees, including Habersham 200 [Habersham County’s Bicentennial committee], the Georgia Literary Festival, The Little School, the Sautee-Nacoochee Community Association, and the Foothills Photography Group.
Lane and her husband, Bill, are the parents of three adult children and one fabulous daughter-in-law.
Don Nix–Treasurer
A native of Clarkesville, Board Member Don Nix grew up on Wildwood Circle playing in the woods and along the river. Those areas are now some of Clarkesville’s newer neighborhoods.
Since the 1940s, Don’s maternal grandparents lived on Washington Street, and his mother’s family is generational to the original Habersham County in the part now White County.
Don graduated from Habersham Central High School and then the University of Georgia with a BBA and MBA in 1981.
During high school and college, he worked for John Carey as a clerk in the downtown Clarkesville office.
Don returned home to Clarkesville in 2020 after living in various cities and having recently retired as a regional network manager from Stellantis US LLC.
Don is married to Sean Nix, and they have two adult sons.
Don is a member and serves as an Elder at First Presbyterian Church, Clarkesville. He also joined the Clarkesville City Council in 2023.
He enjoys gardening, traveling, hiking, and local history in his spare time.
Barbara Strain
Coming soon
Kathy Walker-Secretary
Kathy Walker moved to Clarkesville from Stuart, FL, in 1990.
Kathy married Habersham County native Tommy Walker and spent the next 25 years owning and operating Cody Road Workshops, a boutique furniture factory.
She and her late husband raised two sons.
Barrie Aycock – Board Member Emeritus
Barrie Aycock and her husband Bobby moved to Habersham County from Decatur, Georgia, in 1987 to renovate and open the 150-year-old Glen-Ella Springs Inn they owned and operated until 2008.
Barrie’s primary focus at the inn was managing the restaurant, which quickly became known as the premier fine-dining destination in Northeast Georgia. During that time, she was involved in many local and statewide tourism organizations and was active in national culinary and inn-keeping associations.
After the sale of Glen-Ella Springs in 2008, the couple moved to Clarkesville. She became a member of the Clarkesville City Council in 2013. She has been mayor of Clarkesville since 2015. In the fall of 2017, when she learned of the opportunity for the City of Clarkesville to assume ownership of the Old Clarkesville Cemetery, she led the efforts to acquire the property from the former non-profit that had been inactive for several years.
Polly Earle – Board Member Emeritus
Polly Earle is an avid historic preservationist who brings a no-nonsense work ethic to any project.
Along with Brooks Garcia, Polly is happiest on warm days up to her elbow in concrete and dirt, working to bring the Old Clarkesville Cemetery back to a sanctuary of respite and solace.
She has worked on several historic preservation projects in Northeast Georgia, including a cemetery in the Lavonia area and a historic schoolhouse.
Old Clarkesville Cemetery 