25 OCT 07: THE GAME OF THE NAME
Try to find Milgen Court on a Columbus city map, or even a Google map, and you may run into trouble. You'd figure it intersects with Milgen Road somewhere. But is it one of those new apartment complexes? Or is it where the latest "Yellow Book" indicates - down the street from COPPER Creek Park? (True!)
We won't have to worry about finding Milgen Court anymore, because its name officially changed Wednesday. Mayor Jim Wetherington is renaming it Masterbuilt Court, because the Columbus company Masterbuilt plans to construct a warehouse there. Imagine if last year's campaign donors at the Foxy Lady Lounge planned to move there....
I'd driven by the Masterbuilt office on Brown Avenue, but never thought about it much. The company makes items such as outdoor fryers and grills. But it's only been in business 34 years - so the executives haven't learned how to move grill-making jobs to China.
Masterbuilt will move from Brown Avenue to the former Milgen Court, and spend two million dollars on a new warehouse. President John McLemore predicts the company's business will triple in the next five years - much of it from selling fryers outside that new Phenix City poultry plant.
John McLemore expects Masterbuilt will add about 40 jobs in the next five years. So do eight new jobs a year earn your own street in Columbus? It's a wonder there's no Wal-Mart Avenue near Columbus Park Crossing.
The last time a street name caused this much interest in Columbus, a new subdivision had a street named after then-Mayor Bob Poydasheff. That didn't help him win a second term in office. But the Fraternal Order of Police might name a driveway after Jim Wetherington one of these days.
A few other short streets in Columbus are named after private companies. You enter WLTZ by driving down "NBC-38 Drive" off Buena Vista Road. But it appears drivers no longer can say, "It just feels great to be on NBC-38."
Down the street from the new home of Masterbuilt, a sign was added on Milgen Road several months ago pointing to "Woodmen of the World Drive." It's really a simple driveway leading to a Woodmen of the World insurance office and meeting hall. But until there's an Aflac Avenue, this company has a key sales point.
By the way, Mayor Wetherington and the Chamber of Commerce were all smiles at the Masterbuilt announcement. But hold on - what does this mean for the Brown Avenue area, and Columbus South? There seems to be plenty of open property around Martin Luther King Boulevard for a warehouse. Or are there plans for a few more beauty supply stores?
BLOG UPDATE: Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue traveled to Troup County Wednesday, and stood by what he called "the remains of West Point Lake." [True/GPB] It's a wonder his handlers didn't surround his speaking stand with dead fish.
Governor Perdue ordered Georgia state agencies to take steps to reduce water consumption. Among other things, state vehicles will go unwashed -- which might give speeders a slight advantage in a chase with a State Patrol car.
Governor Perdue wants President Bush to come to Georgia, and personally see the impact of drought and Army Corps of Engineers decisions on several lakes. Instead, the President is going to California today -- surprisingly preferring a day under fire to a place that's nice and Sonny.
Meanwhile, Alabama Governor Bob Riley plans to hold his own media event near a water source today. He's traveling to a nuclear power plant near Dothan, which relies on the Chattahoochee River. We'll see if "no-nukes" protesters show up, to show how you can create condensed water by standing under hot solar panels.
The TV news hunt for "Water Wasters" made an interesting discovery Wednesday - as a fountain was still running outside the Columbus Chamber of Commerce office on Sixth Avenue. Attempts to explain how Mike Gaymon drinks from it every day were met with skepticism.
Let's see what else splashed across our windshield Wednesday:
+ The high temperature in Columbus was only 61 degrees F., making it the chilliest day since mid-April. If we have a couple more cool nights, I might actually have to put a blanket over my one sheet on the bed.
(The mild temperature at sunset resulted in my best run in more than a year: 3.75 miles non-stop! Yet for some odd reason, the guys who gather on the 14th Street pedestrian bridge still don't feel inspired to jog after me - not even to ask for a handout.)
+ Aflac stock closed at a record high of $61.72 a share. I never realized winning NASCAR races could have such an impact....
+ WRBL reported Calvary Christian High School was closed, due to a small electrical fire. So how many teachers plan lessons today on Moses and the burning bush?
+ ESPN.com reported Atlanta Falcons quarterback Byron Leftwich had ankle surgery. Until he returns, the team's third-string emergency quarterback will be Warrick Dunn. San Diego doesn't even use LaDamien Tomlinson for a "halfback option" like this.
(Meanwhile, Falcons cornerback D'Angelo Hall complained that team managers are giving up on the season. Hey, at least they waited seven games. Some of us gave up when Michael Vick was barred from training camp.)
+ Instant Message to Clint Hurdle: You may be managing the Colorado Rockies in the World Series. But I remember when you were a highly-hyped rookie with the Kansas City Royals. I even remember the radio commercials you did for soft drinks. So congratulations, "Mister Pop Shoppe...."
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