Snowflakes instead of fish leads to Lake Living Winter 2022 cover

  • Jonathon, Sarah, and Jonathon Barge Jr., who goes by “J,” are all smiles having learned that Jonathon Barge won the Winter 2022 Lake Living cover contest for the picture of “J” in the family’s 1972 Alumacraft fishing boat “catching snowflakes instead of fish” on Lake Burton in January 2022. Enoch Autry, publisher of The Clayton Tribune in Rabun County, right, hands the family the $100 prize for winning the contest. (Photo by Megan Broome)
    Jonathon, Sarah, and Jonathon Barge Jr., who goes by “J,” are all smiles having learned that Jonathon Barge won the Winter 2022 Lake Living cover contest for the picture of “J” in the family’s 1972 Alumacraft fishing boat “catching snowflakes instead of fish” on Lake Burton in January 2022. Enoch Autry, publisher of The Clayton Tribune in Rabun County, right, hands the family the $100 prize for winning the contest. (Photo by Megan Broome)

By Megan Broome / CNI News Service  ---------------  Northeast Georgia offers many picture-perfect opportunities with its majestic mountains and beautiful lakes as the backdrop for endless exciting adventures.  Lake Burton is home to many families who like to swim, fish and sail their boats on the water while making memories that last a lifetime.  For the Barge family, a photograph taken on Lake Burton during a snowstorm in January 2022 is captured forever as the Lake Living Winter 2022 cover photo. The family owns a house on Lake Burton and went out on the boat to enjoy the scenery.
The photo was taken by Jonathon Barge and features his son, Jonathon Jr., who goes by “J,” “catching snowflakes instead of fish” while wearing his blue life jacket as he sat in the family fishing boat on Lake Burton. The boat is a 1972 Alumacraft.
With “J” in the foreground with an open mouth to reel in some fluffy white flakes that floated down from above, the crisp photo depicts snow along the lake’s banks in the background.
“[It was the] perfect opportunity to take a picture,” the elder Barge said about how the picture was captured when Rabun County received nearly a foot of snow over a wintery weekend.
Barge said the original plan was to go fishing, but his son wanted to try and catch snowflakes instead.
Sarah Barge said they saw a social media posting about the Lake Living cover contest and wanted to enter her husband’s photograph to see what would happen.
“We were thrilled,” she said about finding out the photograph had won the contest. Sarah Barge admitted they were a bit surprised to hear the news.
“It’s exciting,” the 10-year-old Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School student “J” said with a huge grin on his face about being featured on the cover.
Jonathon and Sarah have three children, Peyton, Abby and “J.”
Lake Living magazine – a free publication – is distributed to visitors’ centers, chambers of commerce and retailers throughout the Northeast Georgia lake region.