I am sure many of you are familiar with a little Bar-B-Que establishment located about 2 miles south of Watkinsville on Hwy 15.  It's simply known as "Hot Thomas BBQ" and has been serving up some of the finest eats since I can remember.  I know we often jest about our BBQ around here, but in reality, it's as important to us as wine is to the French.  Here is some very sad news I first learned earlier this evening through some of my Watkinsville Facebook friends:

Howard “Hot” Thomas, 76, died around 3 p.m. after he shot himself behind Tractor Supply Store on Lexington Road, police said.

Police responded to the store after someone called 911 to report a person had been shot there, said Capt. Clarence Holeman, commanding officer of Athens-Clarke police’s Centralized Criminal Investigations Division.

The person who called 911 was not with Thomas at the time of his death, Holeman said.

Athens Banner-Herald

 

I didn't want to automatically promote this to the front page, but thought some of our regular readers and other folks who just happen to drop by and are familiar with Hot might want to know.  I went to high school with all the Thomas kids and just want to express my condolences to them.  Hot wasn't just a restauranteur.  He was a huge part of the Oconee County community and will be missed.