Yesterday afternoon I took a walk on the Boardwalk at Spring Creek Park. The weather has moderated and we are beginning to get a taste of Fall, and not a moment too soon. The Park is always a busy place and this Thursdday afternoon was no exception. Parents were watching their middle school sons get introduced to midget football and the young cheerleaders were learning about school spirit. A family was having a picnic and people were walking on the board walk. It makes my heart so happy to have families having fun together.

The walk over the wet lands is always a spiritual experience. The sheer beauty of the wildness of the land, the trees, the wild flowers remind me of Nature as God created it, before man tried to tame it. The walk is a different experience every day. The light, the reflections in the water, the color and swiftness of the water create a different landscape. I call it my Cathedral.

As I was walking I heard lots of talking and giggling. Imagine my surprise when I recognized Jerry Stropnecky, Swamp Gravy’s director and Kate Willis, the production manager. They had brought a bevy of young girls on a nature walk. These girls are the cast of the Mayhaw scene in the new Fall show. Jerry was giving them lessons in deep listening and awareness of beauty. What a gift to teach them the excitemet of finding a beautiful spider web or the red Indian paint brush plant in its cardinal red glory. To fall in love with God’s gifts in nature is to find a lifetime of joy.

Bernard Shaw said that life isn’t about finding yourseld, it is about creating yourself. Isn’t that a revolutionary concept? We spend half of our life trying to figure out what we want to be when we grow up.. In the meantime life goes on.. and we are happy one minute and disgruntled the next. Always a little dissatisfied, always thinking that there must be something more and the grass must be greener somewhere else. So get over it and create a beautiful life for yourself. Abe Lincoln said “People are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

The same is true for communities. Young folks can’t wait to get away to a big city. Then after they have a family they realize that life can be great in a small town.. It is all about creating the life you want, no matter where you live.

Where is home is a question that has been answered in many ways..”Where the heart is”..”The place that when you go there, they have to take you in.” It is definitely more than a place where you hang your hat. In this day and time when most people move every 2 or 3 years, I am the rare person who has lived in the same little town all my life. “Home encompasses safety, comfort, acceptance but also yearning. When I was a little girl, a great-aunt had a blue house on Main Street.  On the front gate was the name of the house, “My Blue Heaven.” I hope name depicted the life inside the house.

The name Ithaka has come to symbolize in Western culture the yearning for home. The mythic place where all is right with the world. But the longing we feel for home is beyond this time and place. It is a longing for the Paradise of the Garden, the Kingdom of God, for Heaven.

“When we all get to Heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be.”

This morning I was in the Novel Bookstore next to my office and Jessie Roland, the owner, said to me “Colquitt is as near perfect as a town can be.” Needless to say I was surprised and pleased. Sure we have political infighting, disgruntled people griping about everything and some unsightly scenes. So what makes Colquitt nearly perfect?

If you drive around rural America you will see beautiful farm land but small towns with boarded-up store fronts, delapidated buildings,  deserted town squares and depressed people. Colquitt is not like the typical small town. Our town square is thriving. You can hardly find a parking place. Almost all the store have thriving businesses. Even at night people are in town at the gymns, Daryl’s Place for Pizza, the Captain’s Cup for ice cream, the Chinese restaurant or the Upsale Boutique for the latest in fashion.

What makes Colquitt nearly perfect is the Spirit of the people. A Spirit of friendliness, helpfulness, willingness to work together for the good of all is evident even to strangers.Swamp Gravy has given Colquitt a sense of pride and a can-do atitude. It has made people appreciate each other and the talents we all have. It has created community where once there was only jealousy and division.

Thank You, citizens of Colquitt who have created a nearly perfect community.

Yes, You read it correctly. Colquitt has chartreuse green fire plugs. It is a shock to the senses. Doesn’t the Fire Department know that fire plugs are suppose to be red?It is against the law of nature and common sense for fire plugs not to be red. After all red means Stop, Danger, Hot. Green means Go, Nature, Beauty. However, I learned from our City Manager, Cory Thomas, that irridescent, chartreuse green fire plugs glow in the dark and are easy for the firemen to see. Enough said.. Whatever makes these volunteers job easier as they protect our lives and our property, I say Go for It.

Colquitt leads the way again.

It is Dog Days for sure… record heat, so rain..gnats galore. It is the worst time of year. People are tired of the summer weather,theirr summer clothes are spotted and stained. Everyone is ready for a change. But the kids are not ready for school to start even if the Mothers are.I had no idea that the early Romans recognized Dog Days and named them. According to Wikipedia this time of year is called Dog Days because Sirius, the dog star, is nearest the earth. Sirius is the brightest star in the heavens after Mars. The Romans sacrificed a brown dog to appese Sirius whic they beleived cause the hot sultry weather. I don’t want to see any brown dog carcases by the road but I do hope we get some rain and some relief soon.

If you really want to be a part of a vibrant, alive community Colquitt is the place to live. Swamp Gravy rehersals start next week  Jerry Stropnicky , this year’s director will be here for auditions, but don’t worry, if you can breathe and speak passable English you are in. It is a great group of people. Some great actora and singers, some not so great… All ages, shapes, colors and sizes celebrating community and living in Southwest Georgia.

The Icon Mural tribute to Agriculture has begun. The mural committee will meet Mon. night at 6 to finalize the plans with Charlie Johnston, the award winning international muralist. He has finished cleaning the peanut silos and removing 60 years of dust and grime. He is from Winnipeg, Canada, so he is having to get use to the heat. But he never complains, maybe he is like lots of others and grateful for a job.

The courses on e-commerce are going well and the stores around the Square are learning to sell their products across the country through the medium of the 21st Century.

AS I travel and tell the Colquitt story people ask me if we are able to retain our young people. In most communities kids leave as soon as they graduate from High School to seek jobs or higher education. I really don’t know how to answer that scientifically, but I now have an answer. The three major churches within the city limits are having an explosion of babies being born in thier membership. Don’t you think that is a good indication of whether Colquitt has any young people?

More next time. I think I’ll write about Dog Days.

Colquitt will be hosting the Global, Mural, Arts and Cultural Tourism Conference in Oct. The Legacy of the conference will be the mural tribute to Agriculture painted on the 100ft tall peanut silos in downtown Colquitt. These silos are working silos, meaning they are full of peanuts waiting to be made into peanut butter or oil or put into a Nestle or Hershey candy bar. Since Colquitt is the center of the peanut industry, the best quality peanuts grow in the rich, fertile, sandy land of Southwest Georgia and north Florida. These peanuts go into candy and peanut butter. Peanuts of lesser quality are made into peanut oil and used to fry Tarrer Inn’s wonderful fried chicken. It is perfect that the Colquitt/Miller Arts Council chose to paint a tribute to Agriculture on these silos. Birdsong Peanut Corp graciously granted the Arts Council permission to use the silos as the latest canvas in Georgia’s First Mural City.

The great news is that the muralist, Charlie Johnston from Winnepig, has arrived in Colquitt to paint his interpretation of South Georgia agriculture. If that strikes you as strange, the mural committee carefull screened applicants and chose Charlie because of his ability to paint beautiful, natural faces. So welcome, Charlie, to our wonderful community.

Colquitt is a national model for community development through the Arts and Culture and the murals set the tone of beauty and caring for the palce where we live. 

Colquitt is noted for being the home of Georgia’a Folklife Play, Swamp Gray. For 18 years Colquitt/Miller Arts Council has produced a new play based on the stories of the community. This year’s play, opening the first week-end in October, is called The Big Picture. It is the the stories behind the stories of the 17 beautiful murals that bring public art to the  downtown square. The quality of these murals has earned Colquitt the designation as Georgia’s First Mural City. For four week-ends in October and March audiences will thrill to the stories, music and peformance of the volunteer actors. People travel from a 400 miles radius, north of Atlanta, south of Tampa, west to the Gulf Coast and all over Georgia to attend.

On Oct 26-29, Colquitt will be hosting the Global Mural, Arts and Cultural Tourism Conference. This Conference, which began in Chemainus, British Columbia, has never been held in the Eastern United States. In 2006, we traveled to Sheffield, Tasmania, to attend, and in 2004 it was held in Prestongrange, Scotland. The host committee expects people from many communities in the world. How do you say “You’all” in 7 languages?We’re practicing, we’re practicing.

Mayhaw, Colquitt’s variety show, a take-off on the old Hew-Haw show opened this weer-end. We love to laugh, especially at ourselves. Local talent impersonate county music stars and sing, not lip sync, everyone’s favorites.  Dolly, Patsy, Tammy as well as Kenny and Willie are present. What fun!

I can’t forget to mention the JO-KA-RA film studio, the largest Sound Stage in Georgia, Florida or Alabama.  Ralph Wilcox, a 30 year Hollywood actor, had a dream of making movies in rural Georgia. Ralph has completed the first movie, Hope and Redemption, the Lena Baker Story which will be released in the Fall.

Anyone wanting to participate in Swamp Gravy, Mayhaw, the Youth theatre, Movie making,script writing, acting, storytelling, story gathering or Art creation is welcome to join in.

Colquitt has created a Cultural Tourism industry which brings economic benefits to the community. But more importantly, the local citizens, adults and children, develop talents, skills, knowledge and appreciation as they give back to their community. Thus the human spirit thrives and grows.