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29 AUG 04: SOUTH SEALE - THE DEAL
The "Celebrate Phenix City" 50 years summer celebration concluded Saturday night, with a fireworks show over the Chattahoochee. If you missed that well-planned show, head to South Seale Road tonight and you might see an improvised
one.
Some residents along South Seale Road say Sunday and Thursday nights are dangerous times. They claim long lines of cars go by, and some people fire guns into the air. Don't these folks know East Alabama Motor Speedway is WEST of Phenix City?
(If people in south Phenix City actually are doing this for fun, Shooters ought to consider opening a second location....)
One South Seale Road resident showed off two big handguns he's bought, to protect himself from late-night troublemakers. Hopefully Mayor-Elect Jeff Hardin did all his "door-to-door campaigning" during broad daylight.
Some South Seale Road residents say they took a signed petition to the Phenix City Council two years ago, seeking better policing of the neighborhood - but they claim nothing was done. Perhaps Council members were too busy trying to find a
dealership to sell new cars on 14th Street, instead of used ones.
South Seale Road has received a lot of attention in the last couple of days, after a man was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Davis Lounge. The owner admits he's concerned about what happens inside his business, more than what happens outside. So he takes this "lounge" stuff seriously....
Apparently after watching Friday evening's news, Phenix City Public Safety Director Preston Robinson announced he was shutting down the Davis Lounge that very night. He had to move quickly, of course - while the rest of town was distracted by the Shaw-Central football game.
None of the TV newscasts went down South Seale Road Saturday night, so I assume the shutdown of the Davis Lounge went peaceably. But how about that Phenix City Police Department -- making Fort Benning and Columbus police look like wimps, for merely banning soldiers from businesses?
So how can Phenix City police shut down businesses like Davis Lounge on the spot, while Columbus can't? Certainly police couldn't have been scared away from the Boom Boom Room by that big Bobby Peters sign outside it....
It happens that the Davis Lounge crackdown occurred on the weekend of a big semi-annual gun show at the Columbus Trade Center. I'm pleased to report when I jogged underneath the Trade Center Saturday night, there were NO tables set up on the Riverwalk -- and no one was showing off what they'd just bought.
To come full circle: that Riverwalk run gave me a good view of the big "Celebrate 50 Years" event - and I never have seen the Phenix City Amphitheater more filled with people than it was Saturday night. Of course, since it was a country music concert, a good number of them likely were "filled" with alcohol as well....
Grand Ole Opry star John Conlee was the headline act at the Phenix City Amphitheater - but he should have tailored his act to his audience. Conlee sang "I'm on the back side of 30" as I jogged by - but I might have changed it to, "You're on the back side of 50."
Some co-workers challenged me Friday to name a John Conlee song - and on the spur of the moment, I couldn't. You're showing your age if you can remember when Conlee was a big country star. And you're REALLY showing your age if you can't remember why.
I also passed a couple of Columbus Police cars at the south end of Bay Avenue, near the Dillingham Street bridge. Presumably they were looking for concert fans on the "FRONT side of 30" - as in miles per hour....
For the record, the Saturday night run was my personal best in a year -- at a fraction above two miles non-stop. I've mentioned here my improving distances [22 Aug], but I think there was a subconscious explanation for this effort. I knew
fireworks were coming - and after Golden Park three weeks ago [8 Aug], I didn't want to be anywhere close.
Now a quick look at other interesting items for a late-summer weekend:
+ The Trade Center hosted not only a gun show, but a "Reptile Show." Wow - what IS new in reptiles for Fall 2004? Are the alligator handbags going to be tie-dyed this season? Are rectangular shells in for tortoises, instead of round ones?
+ Country's Barbecue staged its annual charity "Midnight Run" in Midtown. I think they chose the wrong course for this race. It should circle the new library and the old Sears Building - and be called the "Columbus Square Memorial."
+ The Capital City Bombers blew out the Catfish 13-5 -- and things got so out of hand that infielder Jimmy Rohan was called on to pitch, for at least the second time this season. Rohan actually struck out a batter -- and I think in cases like that, it should count for two outs.
+ A couple of guys at church were talking about how badly the U.S. men's basketball team played at the Olympics - so I asked them if they did what I did [25 Aug], and tried NOT to watch the games all week. "No," they said abruptly. And here
I thought my congregation was full of right-wing conservatives....
BURKARD'S BEST BETS: Gas for $1.69 a gallon at Snack Attack on Buena Vista Road.... 20-ounce sodas for 50 cents at Walgreens.... but a "Gator Stick" for $2.99 at Skipper's on Buena Vista? Bill Purvis can have that one....
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