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2 AUG 04: FESTIVE-US
If you didn't get out and have fun in the area this past weekend, you simply didn't try. We made stops Sunday at one festival, one "celebration," a couple of tax holiday hot spots -- and one supermarket, because we were out of soda to refresh
ourselves from all the excitement.
2:45 p.m.: We walk over to the Civic Center and the 9th annual International Festival. Three different Archway Broadcasting stations have vans in the parking lot. Of course, at "Kissin' 99.3" their idea of something international is Canada's Shania Twain.
The International Festival is free, and a great place to beat the August heat. It also can be very educational. For instance, some of you will be stunned to learn "Chile" is the name of a country, as well as a pepper.
I walk into the main floor of the Civic Center as the "16 Wheelers" take the stage. It's a group of square dancers in wheelchairs. Sadly, the schedule does not also have the "18 Wheelers" - drivers from The Waggoners Trucking.
Booths for various nations are set up on either of the Civic Center's main floor. I'm pleased to report things have changed from last year - and the Spanish-language countries are NOT all segregated on one side of the building. [4 Aug 03]
Various parts of the planet are represented with booths - but for some reason, the Caribbean country of Dominica has an empty table. That's strange. I didn't even hear about a coup listening to National Public Radio.
A few restaurants have "international" food on sale on the main floor. Que Pasa Burrito Co. has replaced Ritmo Latino, selling Mexican items. So exactly when was Jose Ricci taken off the schedule - before or after his arrest?
As I see dancers in traditional costumes of India, I'm reminded of a conversation I heard at church over the weekend. A man from Warm Springs said the first wave of Indians HAD to integrate there in the 1980's - but current immigrants don't see a need. So which approach did the Georgian immigrants do with those OTHER "Indians," 400 years ago?
The upper level of the Civic Center has booths and tables for local organizations. What does it say about this area when the Columbus Fire Department has one table - while Lonnie Jackson has three for all his plaques?
It's no exaggeration - Lonnie Jackson has three tables full of plaques, and nine display boards full of things the "Combined Communities of Southeast Columbus" has done over the years. It almost makes you wonder why they named that YMCA after A.J. McClung.
But back at the Columbus Fire Department table, they're handing out free plastic "Fire Chief" hats. For some reason, the firefighters are NOT demanding proof that people hold at least a two-year college degree.
(What surprises me is one thing the Fire Department table is NOT handing out - lists of City Councilors' phone numbers, to call and demand a raise.)
The Columbus Business Improvement District has an upstairs booth. Bernie Quick urges me to take a free downtown map. "I worked on it more than a year," he says. Too bad it's about to become outdated, with Columbus State University doing all sorts of renovations.
(The map has all sorts of downtown landmarks - but for some strange reasons, it doesn't show the Booker T. Washington apartments.)
The upstairs tables at the International Festival are the best places to look for freebies. I pick up a water bottle and a pen from "Children's Medical Services." But what's going on, when a dentistry office has cookie packets on its table? [True!]
4:30 p.m.: I walk home with my goodies and various papers, load up the car and head for Office Depot. I'm still recycling old computer gear there [15 Jul] - and find the parking lot crowded with "Tax Holiday" shoppers. When I was young, no one thought of buying back-to-school items at office supply stores.
I'm merely recycling, but many other people are buying. An employee carts out three big computer boxes for one couple. I never stopped to consider this, but it's one of the best weekends of the year to start a small business.
I walk from Office Depot to Big Lots - past the Mustard Seed store which is selling my CD. But the Christian store has NOT succumbed to the temptation to open on this Tax Holiday Sunday. Why they discriminate against Sabbath-keepers like me, I don't quite understand....
4:50 p.m.: On we go to Target, which is also busy with Tax Holiday shopping. How sneaky of the management to put the school supplies in the very back corner of this store -- so you have to walk by all those tempting toys and CD's on the way out.
But I'm not going back to school, and I have no children. Instead, I'm at Target to pick up a new set of sweatbands. My current white wideband has become so weak and worn, it might turn into a cooling band for soda cans.
5:15 p.m.: There's just enough time left to drive to Phenix City's "50 Years" carnival at Idle Hour Park. It was scheduled from 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m. -- but hardly anyone is there now. When it's about 95 degrees F. and no one is in line for cola and water, THAT'S empty.
Old rock tunes I've never heard before are playing at Idle Hour Park -- and a sign on one of the tents offers me "Personized" items. Don't they mean "Personalized?" Or is this something out of the movie "I, Robot?"
All in all, it was a full day - and I never got to the public display at the Trade Center, opening the Georgia Water Expo. But if I had gone to this, critics would have said I'm "all wet."
BLOG UPDATE: It turns out John Fourcade indeed may have coached his last game with the Columbus Wardogs - because the entire team might leave town! Owner Ed Randle suggested it, in a TV interview shown Sunday night. But he said the same thing last year -- so maybe he should move them to Eufaula, the "Bluff City."
Ed Randle says the Wardogs had financial losses in the "high six figures" this past season. Of course, it didn't help that the team again had losses in the "double figures."
Ed Randle explains the Wardogs have been unable to generate enough season ticket sales. If only the Fort Benning staff had announced earlier exactly when the Third Brigade would head back to Iraq....
It happens that arrangements are in place for a new "A-F-2" team in Albany next season. So the Wardogs could decide to move there and become.... well, what? There's a big Miller brewery in Albany, so maybe they'll be the St. Bernards and
have mini-kegs around their necks.
Now other weekend leftovers that we found worth collecting....
+ Georgia Congressional candidate Dylan Glenn unveiled a new "attack ad," showing opponent Lynn Westmoreland's name and videotape of pigs. It looks like the "rising star" has become a dirt-digging meteorite.
+ Phenix City Mayoral candidate J.W. Brannan defended a proposal to open "Cadillac Jack's" nightclub on U.S. 280 near U.S. 80. He said with proper police protection, "we're not going to have any Boom Boom Rooms...." When your nightclub name becomes a punchline, it may be time to make a change.
+ Instant Message to Homer's Lounge on Victory Drive: About that sign, "Congratulations Bobby Peters, Marilyn" - is THAT the name of that woman he's escorting to restaurants all over town?
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