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Helen locals support small businesses during tourism off-season

By
Madeline Montgomery
Madeline Montgomery
Reporter, CBS News Atlanta
Madeline Montgomery is a reporter for CBS News Atlanta, born and raised right here in the Peach State.
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Madeline Montgomery

/ CBS Atlanta

Helen locals are helping keep small businesses alive during the off-season.

While Oktoberfest and Christmas bring in thousands of tourists, not much tourism revenue comes in January through April.

Johann Ramsey, who lives in Helen, and his friend Brian, who lives in Hiawassee, make a point of meeting up at a local business in Helen every week.

"We go to different restaurants each week, the locals know each other, so we always try to support," Ramsey said. 

That makes a difference, according to server Chase Hogan.

"I know a lot of places in town close down, but the locals keep this place afloat in the really slow times," Hogan said. 

Hogan works at Bodensee, a German restaurant that's packed during Oktoberfest. 

"During the busy season, I know that myself and a lot of the other servers worked 200 straight double shifts, so now we get a day or two a week off," Hogan said. 

The town of Helen keeps adding weeks to its Oktoberfest celebration to keep money coming in before the slow season. That fight to stay alive is how the town became the tourist destination it is now.

"After WWII, most of the population had left because the mine shut down, the mill shut down, and those who were left got it in them, 'We're not going down without a fight,'" Ramsey said. 

That's when local businessmen and artist John Kollock decided to transform the town into the Bavarian theme seen now. 

"That's what made Helen special. If we refused to die in the 1950s and 60s and we're doing so again in the off-seasons, it's that American spirit of saying, 'We're not going down, we're going to keep going,'" Ramsey said. 

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