New signs pay homage to Lee County celebrities

LEESBURG — New signs welcoming visitors to Lee County pay homage to four national celebrities who once called Lee County home.

On Friday, Lee County Co-Manager Mike Sistrunk picked up the long-awaited road sign featuring the faces of four Lee County celebrities: Luke Bryan, Buster Posey, Carly Mathis and Phillip Phillips. The sign was created by Matrix Department Inc. of Leesburg.

Native Lee County resident, Phillips grew up in Sasser and Leesburg. In 2012, he won the 11th season of TV’s “American Idol.” His song “Home” became the all-time best-selling song by an “Idol” alum. His debut album, “The World from the Other Side of the Moon,” was released in 2012. His second album, “Behind the Light,” was released in May 2014, and his third album, “Collateral,” will be released soon after the first of next year.

Posey is professional baseball player for the San Francisco Giants. He was born and raised in Leesburg, played sports while attending Lee County High School and went on to Florida State University, where be began playing catcher for the college baseball team.

Mathis finished in the Top 10 of the Miss America Pageant after serving as Miss Georgia in 2013. Bryan is a superstar country singer and songwriter who was born and raised in Leesburg.

“This is one way to show our appreciation for those celebrities and to let visitors know about them,” Sistrunk said.

Last month, Lee County officials also installed blue road signs along all of the state roads entering into the county: Highway 32, Highway 82 at the Terrell County line and U.S. Highway 19 at the Dougherty County line. Similar white road signs were installed at the Lee County line on Lovers Lane Road coming in from Dougherty County, on Oakland Parkway off Highway 82 and at Ledo Road off 82.

Each sign reads: “Welcome to Lee County home of Luke Bryan, Buster Posey, Carly Mathis, Phillip Phillips.”