18 OCT 09: Going Up the Middle
Did you realize Saturday was "Sweetest Day?" It's one of those semi-holidays which some of us hold in suspicion -- since it only seems to show up on the calendars of greeting card companies.
Saturday night was very sweet for one Columbus woman I know. It was her wedding night - but there's a story here which goes beyond her marriage. It's how the wedding date was selected. The bride made sure her entire day was sweet - by picking a Saturday when her alma mater was likely to win a football game.
You may have seen this picture on the late-night news of the marriage of WTVM news Producer Hayley Ethridge. She admitted to friends last year she chose her wedding date after reviewing the Georgia football schedule. So I was a bit surprised to read online the bridesmaids wore blue and green, not red and black.
Hayley Ethridge avoided the weekends when Georgia faced Louisiana State and Tennessee. Instead, she put her wedding on the day the Bulldogs visited Vanderbilt. Auburn fans with memories of the 2008 season could tell you this was a very risky move....
(Georgia has a bye next Saturday - but I believe that date was off-limits, because the Producer's honeymoon would have fallen during a TV ratings period. News departments have to be fully staffed during November, in case any more homemade weather balloons break loose.)
So Hayley Ethridge walked down the aisle several hours after her beloved Bulldogs rolled up the score in Nashville. Georgia was victorious over Vanderbilt 34-10 - and if someone will point Coach Mark Richt toward our blog, he might want to send the bride an autographed game ball for a belated wedding gift.
We asked an online focus group if they had ever done something like this - scheduling a big event around a college football game. One man admitted he once postponed a funeral home visitation, because of an Auburn game. I think this is understandable - since the deceased isn't likely to know, much less be offended.
(Before you ask - my alma mater Kansas did NOT adjust its football schedule, to have a game on my older brother's 60th birthday last month. If my family had that much clout, one of the new training facilities around the stadium would be named the Burkard Building.)
If you're surprised that a woman would take the trouble to schedule her wedding around college football, you must live outside the South. WIOL/WEAM-AM talk show host Rachel Baribeau once admitted wearing headphones at a wedding during football season [7 Dec 06] -- and as I recall, she was a bridesmaid. Hopefully she waited to raise her hands for a touchdown until after the groom kissed the bride.
With congratulations and best wishes to the bride and groom, let's quickly check some of Saturday's other college football action:
+ Alabama outshone South Carolina 20-6. But Columbus radio listeners couldn't hear it, because WIOL/WEAM-AM broadcast a baseball playoff game instead. When those stations combined the other day, the connecting wires must have been soldered in solidly.
+ Kentucky embarrassed Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium 21-14. The Auburn radio announcers were stunned that the Tigers were called for ten penalties, while Kentucky was cited for only one which was declined. Those officials must not work college basketball games....
(WTVM's highlights showed a second-quarter touchdown which put Auburn in the lead - except it was a score which was reversed by the officials, after a video review. I didn't really think the NASCAR race near Charlotte was that distracting.)
+ Troy triumphed at Florida International 42-33. The Trojans marched for 400 yards of offense in the first half - but also had 100 yards of first-half penalties. It's almost like half the players are majoring in tax accounting.
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E-MAIL UPDATE: We told you Thursday about cutbacks at the Phenix City-Russell County Library. The library director clearly was caught reading....
Hello,
I read the blog, and thanks---I think! We do have 5 computers provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. They award those every few years to libraries in Alabama. We received ours a couple of years ago. We have a total of 27 computers that the public can access and those 5 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are part of the 27. (Two computers are from a grant the teens acquired for the teen area.)
An audit is done every year.
The people are Phenix City & Russell County are very deserving. The library in Hurtsboro is staffed by volunteers, but I do believe Russell County Commission contributes to it. I'm not certain how much they contribute.
Thanks for your interest!
Martha Noyes
The 27 public-access computers in Phenix City is a large number for a city of that size. If my memory is correct, the main Columbus Public Library has 36. But sadly, Columbus now charges outsiders five dollars for a seven-day "guest card." Florida libraries don't have policies like that - proving again they actually care about promoting tourism.
Friday's InBox also had an open invitation, which we did NOT post Saturday because of our religious convictions:
Hi,
Would you please post on your Blog Site today that the Community Spouses Club of Ft Benning is having their annual Benning Bazaar.... from 12-4 pm on Sunday 18 Oct. The event will be located at the Lawson Army Airfield Hanger 2491. There will be door prizes and over 70 vendors. All are welcome; you do not have to be military to attend.
Directions:
· Enter Post through the I-185 entrance. Continue South into post on I -185 and merge right where I-185 ends onto Dixie Rd.
· Follow Dixie Rd to Jacelin Rd
· Follow Jacelin Rd to the right along the airfield
· Turn left at Hanger 2491
· Parking is in the large lot to the right
Thanks.
Dave Bearden
Remember, this is a "bazaar" as in shopping. When SOA Watch shows up outside the main gate in November, that will be a Benning BIZARRE.
That's not the only event at Fort Benning this weekend. The U.S. Army's Sniper Competition continued Saturday. Unknown dozens of deer would like to thank the Army for this -- because that made opening day of firearm hunting season a little safer for them.
And if that's not enough, the Uchee Creek campground at Fort Benning continues Oktoberfest today. One organizer told the late-night news the celebration is SO authentic, yodelers were brought in from Bavaria. Country music bands which play at local veterans' halls ought to be offended by this....
So what else is happening this weekend? Quite a bit, it appears:
+ Columbus had a Saturday high temperature of only 52 degrees F., with a morning low projected at 40. It appears the fall season this year lasted approximately 44 hours.
+ Columbus Police investigated a curious burglary case. Someone broke into the Woodmen of the World building on Milgen Road, then somehow unlocked an unmarked closet and stole several electronic items. Those specially-trained Georgia Power dogs may be living double lives.
+ Volunteers removed litter along the sides of the river on "Help the Hooch" Saturday. One organizer told WLTZ it was acceptable even to clean up the 14 th Street Pedestrian Bridge. I was going to call this a wimpy copout -- but then I remembered some of the ornery folks who seem to sit on that bridge all day long.
+ Country music legend Loretta Lynn performed at the RiverCenter. An e-mail promoting the concert called Lynn "as American as apple pie" - which I guess is better than comparing her to Kentucky coal dust and black lung disease.
+ Lynn had to compete with a World Wrestling Entertainment card at the Columbus Civic Center. If you attended both this event and Friday night's Cottonmouths exhibition game, please let me know - which show had the better fights?
+ Instant Message to Taco Bell: C'mon now - if you're going to offer a "Black Jack Taco," why don't you sell it for 21 cents?
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