9 JUN 08: GOING GA-GA

An e-mail debate here recently focused on the old Columbus Welcome Center on Victory Drive. I stopped there one morning last week, and didn't notice anything unusual. The shrubs were trimmed. No paint was peeling. And there was no sign Port Columbus had turned its cannons in the wrong direction.

But when was the last time you stopped by the current Columbus Visitors Center? I went there Friday, after learning it was "Georgia on My Mind Day." Free hot dogs for lunch usually are worth a short drive - especially if no high-pressure salespeople are there offering cars.

The Columbus Visitors Center is located near Interstate 185 and Williams Road. It's an easy exit for southbound travelers, but a bit complicated for northbound drivers like me. Apparently visitors from Albany and Tallahassee have a choice -- be impressed by what you happen to see, or move on to LaGrange.

It had been 11 years since my last visit to the Columbus Visitors Center. I picked up a small city map that day, on the way to a job interview. That map is still in my car - and one of these days I should get Shelby Guest to autograph it.

Several tents were set up outside the Visitors Center, to mark Georgia on My Mind Day. People in the tents promoted various attractions around the state. The Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau had its own table, with a sign promising "10,000 great seats" at the Civic Center. And unless a country music star is in town, half of them are always available.

The other Columbus representative at the Visitors Center was Country's Barbecue -- offering free cups of iced tea, but no barbecue. Apparently too many people are "eating fine for $3.99."

The free hot dogs were offered by the DeKalb County Convention and Visitors Bureau. That area also gave away free boxes of popcorn -- and I was amazed how warm it still was, after several hours in my steamy trunk.

And the giveaways just kept on coming - ranging from pens and note pads to an Olympic lapel pin from the Atlanta History Center. It was an Atlanta 1996 pin, promoting the "Cultural Olympiad." I guess some of those pins haven't turned into valuable collectibles after all.

A tent promoting Georgia forests provided me a hand-held "Trees Columbus" fan. As hot as it's been, I would have been happier taking home a shade tree.

The big moment for me came at the Atlanta baseball table. I spun a big wheel for a prize, and wound up with an Atlanta ball cap. I never had one of those when I lived in metro Atlanta. And it certainly beat one of those other prizes on the wheel - because I'd have to defend that foam tomahawk for a long time to come.

But amidst all the giveaways and free food, I learned some interesting information about Georgia tourist attractions....

+ Albany has giant turtles set up, to lead you to important places. That downtown statue of Ray Charles might point you in the wrong direction - since he was blind, after all.

+ The Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth is "Georgia's Official Transportation History Museum." I forgot to ask if Governor Perdue vetoed money for that project, like he did some others.

+ A book of Georgia "History Rhymes" has a poem about female golfers trying to win a green jacket. Now hold on here - they still don't have female members at Augusta National, much less any invitations for Michelle Wie.

I wound up with four handfuls of goodies, not to mention the Atlanta baseball cap on my head. "Georgia on My Mind Day" reminded me of an old-fashioned county fair, the sort of thing Columbus hasn't had in years. Well, except no one considered my old car trashy and started pounding it in a fund-raising project.

Yet for all I enjoyed, there's one thing I didn't do. I never walked inside the Georgia Visitors Center at all. So I can't tell you what's changed there in the last 11 years - or whether they've updated the city maps to show Columbus Park Crossing.

BLOG UPDATE: Brent Rollins informs your blog he is appealing his firing from the Columbus Police Department. The Friday evening news confirmed he was dismissed for misconduct, after hitting a pedestrian with a patrol car last fall. There's a lesson here for all of us. Just because the sign says "PEDS XING" does not mean you should them X them out.

Brent Rollins is NOT commenting on his dismissal, on advice of his attorney. But he tells us it will "all come out in the wash." Rollins needs to help me get the antiperspirant stains out of my dress shirts....

Brent Rollins gained fame here by writing the "Is Our City Safe" e-mails against Columbus city government before the 2006 election. Now he's off the police force, less than two years after a "pro-public safety" mayor was elected. The question may become whether the city is safe from lawsuits.

Now let's get caught up on events from the weekend....

+ Who left a black ski mask with a couple of small eye-holes on the ground, at one corner in the Historic District? Did that person finally decide global warming is real?

+ The June heat wave produced a record Sunday high in Columbus of 98 degrees F. I saw signs around town showing 100 and 101 - and at least was thankful those triple digits didn't match the price of gasoline.

+ A Sunday evening stroll found young skateboarders using the new skate park in South Commons - even though there's still a construction fence and piles of dirt around it. But no, they were NOT chanting something like: "We can't wait, we have to skate."

+ The Ledger-Enquirer reported Judge Kenneth Followill will leave the bench at the end of the year, and wants to become some sort of "senior judge." He'll be needed, to handle all those appeals by high school students who fail the CRCT exams.

(So who will run for Judge Followill's seat? Will Roxann Daniel try again, after losing to Bobby Peters four years ago? And how much pressure will the successor face to.... well, you know.... Follow-well?)

+ Auburn University announced it wants to increase tuition 12 percent, because state funding has been cut. I have a better idea -- keep tuition as it is, by moving 12 percent of the funding for that new basketball arena. The only time those extra 1,000 seats will matter is at commencement time, or when Alabama comes to town.

+ A WLTZ viewer poll found 56 percent of online voters can watch their newscast in high-definition. The other 44 percent like Calvin Floyd's face on "Rise N Shine" just the way it is.

+ Singer Michael Martin Murphey performed at the Phenix City Amphitheater. I'm told he did a good job with the classic Marty Robbins tune "El Paso." And the song apparently was NOT cleaned up, to have the main character Tasered instead of shot.

+ Columbus State baseball player Rodney Rutherford was drafted by the Oakland A's. Rutherford learned the news while he was waiting for a ride at Six Flags Over Georgia. Someone should remind him NOT to spend all of his signing bonus too early.

+ Georgia advanced to the College World Series by annihilating North Carolina State 17-8. The Bulldogs scored nine runs in the first inning - which leads me to think they watched tape of last January's Sugar Bowl before the game.

+ Instant Message to Hillary Rodham Clinton: I admittedly didn't hear much news over the weekend - so what did you finally do? Did you throw the support of all those voters behind Big Brown?

SCHEDULED TUESDAY: An e-mailed "Car Talk" moment....

To offer a story tip, make a PayPal donation, advertise to our readers or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post your e-mail comment and offer a reply.

BURKARD BULK MAIL INDEX: 798 (- 3, 0.4%)

The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author -- not necessarily those of anyone else in Columbus living or dead, and perhaps not even you.

© 2003-08 Richard Burkard, all rights reserved.