Macon12-18-14 by 11th Hour Macon

NOV 14 - 28, 2014

Pub Notes

BRAD EVANS bradevans11@gmail.com The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars. -Jack Kerouac This passage has lived with me and helped me justify who my friends are for about as long as I can remember. On the Road was one of the first books I ever read that wasn’t handed to me, and I carried it around and it changed my life. There is one friend I have, that makes me think of this passage, perhaps more than any other. I met him briefly after he’d stolen a car from Ocilla, GA, to make the drive down to Valdosta, where I was in school at the time. He was drunk, probably high on something, and without a doubt he was the smartest person I’d ever met, gently mixing the philosophical ponderings of Socrates with the backwoods lyrics of Charlie Pride, all in a deep southern accent that sounded like it couldn’t possibly belong to his brain. The only times he’s been out of Ocilla is for work and school. He’s been an apprentice millwright in Puerto Rico, a dock builder in Savannah, and a mobile home salesmen in Crestview, Florida. Though I have no doubt he could be a physics professor at MIT were it not for his glorious appetites, he does have a degree in History, and has followed with post graduate studies both in history and in Latin. He’s currently a third year law student for the second year running, and the law administration is trying to keep him from registering for spring. He recently sent me a poem about a girl, who he loved and lost last year. I don’t know that I’ve ever published a poem in the 11th hour, or that I’ve ever been sent one that I wanted to publish. But I thought this one was pretty amazing, and I thought it deserved a place here. I’m also printing the email that accompanied it which explains who the poem is about. Another character in the poem, Wesley Walters is someone else who deserves troves of books written about him. He has a legion of South Georgian’s who worship the ground he galloped on, and the more I learn about him, the more I think they are right to. EMAIL EXCERPT When I was about 25 I got Kimberly’s best friend Alison pregnant, but I refused to marry her. After our child was born in 1999 I tried desperately to get Alison to marry me, to love me again. It was too late. My heart was wrenched for years in regret and pain. Summer of 2009 Kimberly and I came into close and frequent contact. We soon fell in love. She was now pregnant. I knew she was struggling, wrestling with demons, but I was certain that I had the ability and strength of character to help her. I was certainly not going to make the same mistake I had made with her friend Alison. I was a fool for all the right reasons. We were married on December 31, 2009. 04 DECEMBER 17 - 30, 2014

I discovered her body in the bathroom early one Fall morning, 2012. I experienced years of regret and pain in one exquisitely heart-wrenching instant. We had been using drugs together for a couple of years. She didn’t make it. I was so affected by the loss of Kimberly that I fell in love with her mean and cruelly beautiful little sister. The outcome of that turn of heart has not been favorable. Not for anyone. This Fall little sister made it abundantly clear that our romance was a one-way street and I have finally begun to heal. The poem is about Kimberly and is as true as I can write. In the coolest crystal palace on the most exclusive moon I came to her, she met me there, then left us all too soon. In a single wide in Mystic, black plastic for a roof she bore herself with dignity, from insult held aloof. From a big old house in Gordon, whence her father left in shame she came forth her head held high, impervious to same. Where now will her soul abide, her shell the flames consume? In the coolest crystal palace on the most exclusive moon. A little girl in a little place, Dry Branch, true in words. She stalked and hoped to win it, the manic hummingbird. The wiliest cat ought hide its face, young huntress on the make. The hour but a minute, the time is hers to take. She creeps evermore so slowly, one mete longer than the last until her hand holds in it time, no present future past. She grasps the bird, and lo she wonders, hears its silent tune in the coolest crystal palace on the most exclusive moon. An older girl as yet untouched by hand of any man stood beautiful and poor and proud upon a gentry’s land. Her lovely head so darkness-fletched to beggar raven’s wing among her peers demure, reserved; inside her was the thing. When the Man storms up on horseback, a heaving spirit tide the others washed away, he asks, “Who with me will ride?” She raised her hand, he pulls her up, they gallop to their doom in the coolest crystal palace on the most exclusive moon. Her midnight mane it glows alight, luminous ether caught. Wings in time with the hummingbird, but furiously not. She rides, she flies, she plumbs the height, the very speed of thought. We are here, the ones left anchored, weeping on this spot. Somewhere yet they All are One, a timeless sidereal noon in the coolest crystal palace on the most exclusive moon.

goseedo B e s t B e t s t h i s We e k b y S e a n P r i t c h a rd

As the year winds down, I want to say that I’m yet again impressed by the changes that have occurred in Macon over the last twelve months. Yes, we’re a far cry away from getting it all right but I believe the train is headed in the right direction. I’ve lived in Macon for sixteen years now and I’m confident that when the clock strikes midnight and all the excitement of the new year comes rushing in, I’ll look back on 2014 with a smiling face. A friend recently said to me, “Don’t look forward to this next year like it’s going to be your best yet. Instead, think of it as a road trip with your family that you’ve been dreading but you have to go. Those always turn out awesome in the least expected ways.” So yeah, take that however you want. Have a great year and I hope you enjoy the last few days of December. There’s plenty of things happening around town to keep you entertained. The Historic Hay House will be hosting their annual Christmas Gala on Wednesday, December 17th from 7pm - 9pm. The event will allow guests the opportunity to see the house in full decoration, plus enjoy a variety of drinks and hors d’oeuvres and live music to get you in the holiday spirit. Tickets are $30. Call 478-742-8155. If you aren’t tired of the Christmas music that’s been playing in stores everywhere since before Thanksgiving, the Grand Opera House will be presenting a concert with Grammy-nominee John Berry on Friday, December 19th. Berry’s annual Christmas Tour is now in its 18th year and will feature signature takes on old classics, as well as plenty of the more than fifteen hits that Berry has charted during his career. Tickets are available by visiting TheGrandMacon.com. Rising blues-rock sensation Selwyn Birchwood takes over the Cox Capitol Theatre on Friday, December 19th as part of the Outlaw 100.9 “Blues, Brews, and BBQ” Series. He’ll be joined by John Nemeth, another notable player in the blues circuit. If you haven’t made it to any of the shows in this series, this is the time! A meal from Georgia Bob’s BBQ is included with your ticket price and the Theatre always has great specials on beverages. Tickets are available for $15. I’m probably most excited about celebrating an amazing year (and my upcoming birthday) at back-to-back shows on the 26th and 27th. You’ll likely have a bit of extra cash in hand from Christmas and what better way to spend it than on live music! TheBlueIndi-

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an.com has teamed up with the Hummingbird Stage & Taproom and the Cox Capitol Theatre to close out 2014 in style! On Friday, December 26th, The Hummingbird’s 3rd annual Holiday Extravaganza will bring Atlanta’s BABY BABY to Macon for the first time in more than a year. After touring with Run the Jewels, releasing a fulllength album, and playing countless festivals around the country, they’re ready for Macon. They’ll be joined by GOOD NIGHT ALIVE, a rapidly growing local indie-pop group who will be releasing their debut EP at the show. Thomas Young, a singer-songwriter from Macon will be making his debut at The Hummingbird to start the evening off. Admission is $5 for guests 21+ and $10 for guests 18-20. On Saturday, December 27th, a benefit concert for Historic Macon will take place at the Cox Capitol Theatre. Featuring ROADKILL GHOST CHOIR, T. HARDY MORRIS, and SUNDOLLARS, the event partners are proud to promote that 100% of profits from the show will be donated back to Historic Macon for use with their continued preservation efforts. ROADKILL GHOST CHOIR released Quiet Light in 2013 and then toured the country with Band of Horses and played festival slots at New York’s Governor’s Ball, Austin City Limits and Shaky Knees in Atlanta. This year, the band performed on the “Late Show with David Letterman” and released a full-length record, In Tongues, as well as touring around Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. The band has been garnering praise far and wide, with acclaim fromRolling Stone,SPIN and Relix, and “Consequence of Sound” claiming the band is “combining the experimental edge of Radiohead and the dusty roots-rock of Tom Petty, tailor-made for arena-sized, prog-rock festivals and grassy, pastoral stages alike.” Hardy made his debut in Macon years ago with Dead Confederate and returned more recently for a solo show at Bragg Jam 2013. SUNDOLLARS are a longtime local favorite of mine and I’m thrilled to wind down the year with them. Tickets are $10.00 in advance and $15.00 at the door . As for New Year’s Eve, I’m hoping to split my time between the 6th annual Cherry Blossom Ball Drop in Downtown and Marriott Macon’s NYE Bash with Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds. Macon knows how to ring in the New Year like no other city and I look forward to seeing everyone out and about. Stay safe and stay happy!

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15days c u l t u re c a l e n d a r

Thursday

12.18

A Christmas Cabaret at Theatre Macon December 18 - December 21. Back for a third year, A Christmas Cabaret at Theatre Macon is already an annual favorite for the entire family! Many of your favorite Theatre Macon peformers sing and dance to holiday favorites! Accompanied by Jim Penndorf on Piano, David Lintz on Guitar, and Rob Sumowski on drums, this will certainly be a performance you don’t want to miss! Please note: A Christmas Cabaret is not included in Theatre Macon’s season, and so season tickets are not valid for this production. Tickets are $20. 478-746-9485

Friday

12.19 Selwyn Birchwood in Concert Presented by The Outlaw 100.9 Blues, Brews, and BBQ Concert Series at Cox Capitol Theatre. Selwyn Birchwood, Florida’s rising young blues fireball, is a guitar and lap-steel-playing bundle of pure energy. $15 admission includes a BBQ Buffet from Georgia Bob’s. Doors open at 7p.m. 382 Second Street. Coxcapitoltheatre.com

Y D N CK CA

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John Berry Christmas Concert at the Grand Opera House Grammy Award nominee John Berry returns with his nationally touring Christmas concert to the Grand Opera House for this annual holiday favorite event. Berry’s 1995 album O Holy Night launched his annual Christmas concert tour, which is now in its 17th year. thegrandmacon.com

Saturday

12.20

Santa at Coleman Hill 11a.m. - 1 p.m. Join the College Hill Alliance and neighbors and friends at the slide on Coleman Hill. Santa will be there to greet your little ones and a photographer will be there to capture all the fun.

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Corks & Canvas Presented by The 567 Center for Renewal Bring a bottle of your favorite wine or other beverage to sip on, bring a friend, and learn to create a 11 x 14 Wintery Christmas Trees painting. No painting experience required. Artist Casie Pace will guide you through the steps. $25 includes all materials for the class (except the wine), and the class lasts 2 and 1/2 hours. Space is limited. To register, call (478) 238-6051 or you can pay online at http://the567.org/art-classes/. Frontier Fort Christmas Presented by Fort Hawkins Commission Noon - 4 p.m. Celebrate the Season with a visit to the early American frontier fort and trading post factory for a Fort

Hawkins Frontier Christmas. Enjoy some warm mulled cider and sweet treats around one of the earliest known Christmas trees in the country at the site’s Blockhouse Replica. In 1805 Moravian Missionaries in Georgia created a simple cedar Christmas tree and those same Moravians served at Col. Benjamin Hawkins Creek Agency on the Flint River and at Fort Hawkins. The new log cabin Visitors Center will offer spectacular gift purchases of Native American art including western silver jewelry with many bear motifs. Free event every Saturday and Sunday thru December.

Tuesday

12.23

Circles with Shel Silverstein Presented by College Hill Alliance at Coleman Hill 8:30 a.m. Join us #inthecorridor for a morning meditation of whimsy with Shel Silverstein poetry readings, author of “The Missing Piece” and inspiration behind the circle sculptures rolling down Coleman Hill. In the spirit of fun, enjoy doughnuts and coffee from Ocmulgee Traders. Free, but RSVP is reccommended. 285 Spring Street. Also Dec. 30.

Saturday

12.27

Rock ’n Roll Benefit for Historic Macon at the Cox Capitol Theater Featuring Roadkill Ghost Choir, T. Hardy Morris and the sunDollars. $10 in advance, $15 day of the show. : 478-257-6391

Tuesday

12.30

Frozen Movie Screening at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame will be showing Frozen at 2pm and 6pm in our 205 seat theater. Get there early seating is first come first serve. Admission to the museum will be FREE all day and we will have hot chocolate, popcorn, and soda for sale. Don’t miss out on this family fun event! Presented by The Children’s Hospital at Navicent Health

Sunday

1.04

NT Live: “John”Presented by Douglass Theatre Screening at 3 p.m. The company’s new production, JOHN, authentically depicts real-life stories, combining movement and spoken word to create an intense and moving theatrical experience. Lloyd Newson, DV8’s Artistic Director, interviewed more than 50 men asking them frank questions, initially about love and sex. One of those men was John. $20 and $15 for students and seniors.

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First Friday is your ticket to Downtown Macon! On every first Friday of each month, downtown comes alive with events for everyone. Art gallerys open new exhibits, businesses offer entertainment and specials, and venues have events for every age group. Visit MaconFirstFriday.com for monthly event details.

2015 FIRST FRIDAY JANUARY LET’S GET MOVING: HEALTH AND WELLNESS

JULY SUMMER LOVE

FEBRUARY AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE NIGHT

AUGUST MACON DRAMA

MARCH FIRST FRIDAY CONCERT

SEPTEMBER FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE: COMEDY NIGHT

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OP-ED

BY BILL KNOWLES

{ SEEING RED }

COMMENT ONLINE AT 11thHourOnline.com

Haliegh’s Hope Continues: Representative Allen Peake and HB1 for 2015 Last year I surprised a lot of people with my stance on medicinal cannabis and how much I am in favor of its’ legalization. Much to the chagrin of my highly conservative friends, some of whom sometimes can’t see the forest for the trees, I am still steadfastly in favor of its’ passage as is my good friend State Representative Allen Peake. For the past year, Peak has worked tirelessly in an effort to get this measure passed in the Georgia State Legislature and on November 17th, pre-filed his new bill HB1, which upon passage allow the use of non-smoking cannabis to be used medicinally in the form of liquid, pill or injection while specifically eliminating recreational use. By now I’m sure you have all heard or seen the story of Haleigh Cox, a young child who suffers from severe seizures, who has had to move to Colorado with her mother Janea in order to get treatment, as medicinal cannabis is legal there. To say that Haleigh has improved is an understatement, as she has gone from hundreds of seizures per day to a few seizures per week. Janea and I have become very good friends since my original interview with her earlier this year, which I have reprinted below. James Russell Lowe once said, “The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.” Although several people in the community might disagree, I guess I’m neither foolish nor dead because I’ve certainly changed my opinion about the legalization of marijuana being used in Georgia for medicinal purposes. For years I’ve heard that medicinal marijuana helped ease pain for people suffering from glaucoma, cancer, AIDS and even for children who have autism but Conservative that I am, also thought that legalization somehow might lead to the fall of our moral nation as we know it. That all changed when I saw the story of four year old Haleigh Cox of Forsyth on WMAZ over the past couple weeks. I reached out and contacted Haleigh’s mother Janea to ask her a few questions about Haleigh and her treatment. Janea has been extremely busy with Haleigh and is currently in Atlanta getting treatment for her at Egleston Children’s Hospital. Has Haleigh had epilepsy since birth and has it gotten progressively worse? What types of treatment is she currently under? Haleigh started having seizures when she was 8 months old. They were small and unnoticeable, but still seizures. She started having infantile spasms, which is a very devastating diagnosis to hear. Infantile spasms are very dangerous seizures. If they go on uncontrolled they can continue to cause more damage to her brain. They have continued to get progressively worse. She started at 1 a month to now having 100+ a day. When Haleigh was first diagnosed the neurologist told us that our child would never walk or talk and her seizures would get worse till they could not be controlled by medicine. He told us she would live a 12 DECEMBER 17 - 30, 2014

horrible life. We have tried everything for Haleigh. We have tried Haleigh on 10 different anti epileptic drugs that have side effects of brain shrinkage, liver disease, and blindness-they failed. We have tried having her cord blood re-infused at Duke University, after keeping it when she was born-it failed. We have 2008 GOP Casttherapy of Characters tried hyperbaric oxygen in New Orleans, LA for 2 months- it failed. We have tried a special high fat low carb low protein diet called the ketogenic diet for 2 years- it failed. We have even gone to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis TN to have surgery to have a special device implanted that sets off a shock of electricity to the brain to try and change the chemistry of the brain- it failed. What has been the response of people since the story broke on WMAZ and then again with Representative Peake’s comments? I have had an overwhelming response from the 13WMAZ story. Most of the comments were positive. I wasn’t expecting as much support. Some comments wanted to pass recreational use and other comments were just people who were uneducated about medical Cannabis. When Representive Peake put his story on Facebook, I was shocked. I didn’t know he was against it from the start. My child changed his mind. That is the reason I wanted to get her story out. I wanted to educate people to what children are experiencing in Colorado, California, Oregon, and Maine. Why is it that children can get this life saving treatment in other states but my child is left to die? How would the Cannabis treatment be administered to Haleigh? Medical Cannabis is made into a special oil. It is high on CBD (Cannabidiol) and low in THC ( the chemical that makes you high and gives marijuana it’s addictive properties). Most kids can take it by mouth in a capsule form. Some kids have to take it through a tube in their stomachs because they are unable to eat anything by mouth, like Haleigh. What would you say to lawmakers or citizens who are steadfastly against legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes? CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

11thHourOnline.com 13

FA M I LY- F R I E N DLY ACTI VI TI E S

MAKE A DATE TO ICE SKATE!

Tuesday, Dec. 30 at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Join us on Tuesday, December 3oth for a FREE showing of Frozen! The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame will be showing Frozen at 2pm and 6pm in our 205 seat theater. Get there early seating is first come first serve. Admission to the museum will be FREE all day and we will have hot chocolate, popcorn, and soda for sale. Don't miss out on this family fun event! Presented by The Children’s Hospital at Navicent Health

ADMISSION: $10 per person - Skates Included! MATINEE: 10:30a-12:30p: $8! Non-skating guests admitted free. FRIDAY, DEC. 26 10:30am-12:30, 1:30-4 p.m. 5-7:30 p.m., 8:30-11 p.m.

FRIDAY, DEC. 19 5-7:30 p.m., 8:30-11 p.m. SATURDAY, DEC. 20 10:30am-12:30, 1:30-4 p.m. 5-7:30 p.m., 8:30-11 p.m.

SATURDAY, DEC. 27 10:30am-12:30, 1:30-4 p.m. 5-7:30 p.m., 8:30-11 p.m.

SUNDAY, DEC. 21 12:30-3 p.m., 4-6:30 p.m. 7:30-10 p.m.

SUNDAY, DEC. 28 12:30-3 p.m., 4-6:30 p.m. 7:30-10 p.m.

DEC. 22-23 10:30am-12:30, 1:30-4 p.m. 5-7:30 p.m., 8:30-11 p.m. DEC. 24 Drop-In Marathon Skate 11am-4pm

Wednesday, Jan. 28 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. The Grand Opera House

DEC. 29-31 10:30am-12:30, 1:30-4 p.m. 5-7:30 p.m., 8:30-11 p.m. LAST SESSION GOES UNTIL 1:30AM NEW YEAR’S EVE!

A part of the Grand’s Arts Education Series. All tickets $7. Based on the hit Saturday morning cartoon series, the show explodes with songs and dance based on history, grammar, and math.

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Former NFL Player Gives Back to His Hometown Roger Jackson knows Over 200 kids a day are that he has had a involved in their after blessed life. Growing school programs. Both up in the Unionville retired and current and Tindell Heights teachers work side by neighborhoods, he side with the students witnessed first-hand who take part. Memhow hard it can be bers take part in acfor a kid trying to tivities that encourage play it straight in leadership, community some of Macon’s most service, and advanced impoverished areas. education. They learn Fortunately, for Roger, to work as a team to he was fast, very fast. accomplish goals. They And once he found make decisions, plan Roger Jackson (right) and his football, Roger had a their own events, and ticket out of the rough Motivating Youth Foundation will govern themselves. raffle off a new car on Dec. 23. neighborhoods Last year the moLast chance to buy tickets He was the starting tivating Youth Founwill be Dec. 21. corner back for Cendation was able to give tral High School when 16 Macon students they won the State Championship in 1975 scholarships for college with the proceeds and following his senior year he signed generated form a raffle. Through a partwith Bethune Cookman in Daytona Beach nership with Youman’s Chevrolet, a $25 High school. There he earned the title raffle ticket gives you a chance to win a of most valuable defensive back and also 2015 Chevy Camaro or take a cash option finished with the highest GPA for a student of $15,000. There are other chances to athlete his senior year. He went on to sign win other big prizes. The drawing will be as a free agent with the Denver Broncos held December 23, which also makes this and played for five years in the NFL. When golden ticket an awesome stocking stuffer. he retired from playing, he spent the next The program has grown from five 15 years in the league in the front office as honor roll kids in 2009 when Jackson a scout of the Broncos, the Chiefs and the first opened the Center, to over 75 honor Vikings. But even with his success as a roll kids today out of 135 youth, with 14 football player, the measure of Jackson as a after-school teachers and 22 teachers and man came later, with the charity he found5 coaches for the summer. It hopes to ed, the Motivating Youth Foundation. keep growing with your help. Buy a ticket The Foundation has become a model today for your chance to win a new car, for how to better educate inner city youth. and helping our youth is a win-win!

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Haliegh’s Hope Continued

As a parent, I can’t imagine the horror and pain that parents like Janea and Brian Cox go through as they see their baby suffer over 100 times a day but what is even more unimaginable is a lawmaker who would presume to be so pious and heartless as to vote against a bill which could help alleviate some of the pain. Currently 18 states have

legalized some sort of medicinal use of marijuana, with only Washington and Colorado legalizing its’ use for recreation. Also, our neighbors to the south down in Florida are debating legalization in their legislature as well. For the record, I am in NO WAY advocating any legislation for Georgians that would allow marijuana use for anything besides medical treatment and I hope that all of our legislators will be like Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston, who, like local Representatives Allen Peake and Nikki Randall, is open to legalization for medical purposes. Now before all of you ‘real’ Republicans call for my head on a platter for daring to support this idea, the most Conservative of the Conservatives William F. Buckley was completely in favor of total legalization of marijuana. Here’s my question: Why do we have a double standard when it comes to marijuana? What I mean is that the last I heard smoking opium is illegal and has been since 1905 when Congress shut down all of the nations’ opium dens yet morphine is one of the most widely used opiate painkillers prescribed. What am I missing? Once again I urge all of you to contact your State Representatives and State Senators to get this important bill passed this time so people like Janea and Haleigh don’t have continue to be refugees from their own state.

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I would say that it is so unfair that I have to put my family through more financial strife by uprooting to California, Colorado or Oregon to legally treat my daughter. Do people know the side effects of the drugs my daughter is exposed to DAILY? Look up valium, Diastat (rectal valium), Versed, Phenobarbital. Anyone want to start their child on any of the above? Me neither. One kills the liver and subsequently the child. The other causes irreversible ocular damage -- blindness. All of these will stop her seizures 0 to 2%. The 3rd -marijuana with a high CBD to THC ratio - unlike most pharmaceuticals in the AED class MMJ has no life threatening side effects. What are you afraid of GA? Have you witnessed a child stoned on Versed, valium, Phenobarbital and the like? You know they give burn victims Versed because it so hampers the memory that they do not recall the trauma of debriefing a burn? I gave that memory killing stuff to my kid today -- legally -- up her nose. She cannot even WALK on 1/2 the legal drugs she is prescribed as deemed SAFE by our enlightened government.

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11thHourOnline.com 15

OP-ED

BY LARRY SCHLESINGER

{ CITY SCENE }

MACON-BIBB COUNTY COMMISSION, DISTRICT 2

COMMENT ONLINE AT 11thHourOnline.com

The Right Recipe Last week, I along with a throng of others attended the Leadership Macon Class of 2014’s ceremony that celebrated the opening of the Ingram-Pye Elementary School Playground and Garden Complex. All Leadership Macon classes are tasked with the development and implementation of a project that in some constructive way brings benefits and blessings to our community. This year’s class, of which I am proud to say that my daughter, Arielle, is a part, developed their project when it was discovered that the students at Ingram-Pye had absolutely no access to any playground equipment at all. In addition, they determined that the construction of a school and community garden adjacent to the playground would also significantly enhance the quality of life and the educational experience of the students. The Class of 2014 recognized that it could not effectuate all of this alone, and successfully solicited and secured partners in the endeavor that included the United Way of Central Georgia, the Macon-Bibb County School District, Mercer University and the Macon-Bibb County Government. A $30,000 grant from GE Capital was the key ingredient made the playground at Ingram-Pye happen. I’ve heard that GE Capital actually began its partnership with Bibb County schools at Burke Elementary in 2005. GE has also provided Ingram-Pye with the necessary financial support to create a mobile computer lab, replenish its library and enhance its accelerated reading and science & technology programs. As if all that isn’t enough, GE continues to provide volunteers to mentor students in math, reading and technology.

Students from Mercer University’s Tift School of Education also played a role in the development and construction of the playground. They have also spent numerous hours with Ingram-Pye students as student teachers, mentors and tutors. It was Perdue Farms, its Arthur W. Perdue Foundation and the Macon-Bibb Consolidated Government that provided the grant monies necessary to create the school and community garden. Lowes on Eisenhower Parkway also partnered with Leadership Macon and Macon Roots to supply materials at cost and volunteer labor that is still in the process of creating raised garden beds, drip irrigation systems, storage benches, solar lighting, and an outdoor classroom. In addition to the portion of the garden set aside for the students at Ingram-Pye that will engage them in year round in activities to promote gardening and healthy food choices, the garden will be also open to all community members who would like to cultivate a garden for themselves, their community or even for their own profit. All in all and in addition to the to inkind donations and volunteer hours, the Leadership Macon Class of 2014 raised some $60,000 in grant monies and contributions to this most worthy cause. But what ought to be most impressive to, and a model for all of us, is just how various businesses, groups and individuals of common vision and purpose actually came together in public private partnership, and pooled their resources in the recipe that made their vision real.

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WHAT KILLED THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT ON CAPITOL AVENUE? by JESSICA WALDEN

Between the matching flannel nightgowns my sister and I were wearing and the bundle of blankets thrown over us, there was so much static energy in the backseat of our mother’s car, you could see the blue zaps of electricity before you felt them. There we were with our noses pressed against the car windows with the Christmas music cranked and headlights off. Our car was now at a slow crawl, bumper-to-bumper with others who came to see the same thing. For four blocks, stakes were driven into yards and outlined with blinking, twinkling Christmas lights. Cut-out milk jugs and paper bags lined the streets as luminaries. House upon house glowed in the night with its icicle lights, rope lights, white lights, rainbow lights, shaped lights and hundreds upon hundreds of plastic lawn ornaments – the carolers, candy canes, angels, snowmen, gingerbread houses, candles, Rudolphs, Vixens, Blitzens, Donners and more, elves, Wise Men, baby Jesus and the rest of the Nativity, Looney Tunes, Mickeys and the Santas, black and white. For us, it wasn’t Christmas Eve until you visited Macon’s Capitol Avenue. On that one Holy Night, in the midst of holiday trappings and retail hyperactivity, all was put aside to visit – and to linger – in a place that by the late 1980s was being considered “the wrong part of town.” None of that mattered when you were cruising the street’s Christmas lights. We were all equal. We were all at peace. Call it tacky, over-the-top or kitsch, but the fact was evident by all of the visitors. The Christmas lights on Capitol Avenue brought Macon together, if only for that stretch of four neighborhood blocks. ----One of the easiest ways to get to Capitol Avenue is take Houston Avenue past Fincher’s Barbecue, turn left on Chatham Street and arrive head-on in what was once Christmas lights central. But first you must pass Pendleton Homes, a multitude of hand-painted ministry signs, neon fast-cash ads, rodent-gnawed furniture in front yards, people out of work, people hustling for a living, stray dogs, pitbull mixes on chains, boarded up houses and spray-painted phone numbers on ram-shackled boarding houses. But for one moment in Macon’s time, from the night after Thanksgiving to the night of December 25th, never mind the neighborhood decline. Capitol Avenue was Macon’s winter wonderland, where even unseasonable 70-degree December nights couldn’t damper the Christmas Spirit.

That spirit was led by four dedicated neighbors, cornerstones of Capitol Avenue – Joe Cornelius, Al Crooke, James Tidwell, Jr., and Ed Herron. Tidwell moved to the neighborhood in the 1970s. “It was an excellent neighborhood, then,” he described. “Just a good place to raise a family.” He said the lights, at first, were very traditional – he liked to put up strands around his windows and house, much like several of his neighbors at the time. But he said when Herron moved to the neighborhood that’s when things “went to the next level,” he said. Herron, now retired, arrived in Macon via Brown & Williamson. With him came an uncanny love for Christmas, brought on from a childhood growing up in Louisville, Kentucky. As a young boy, he stared wistfully at the elaborate window displays created by Sears & Roebuck and other downtown retailers during the holiday season. The moving animatronics particularly caught his eye. “It was just magical,” he recalled. “I began to live for Christmas. It became my hobby.” The year was 1982 when things got colorful on Capitol Avenue. Herron’s yard was so elaborately decorated that a neighbor asked if he could help do the same to hers. He had extra lights and decorations, so why not? Soon, it caused a chain reaction. Other neighbors wanted to participate in the merriment and Herron was there to help. “The furnished what they could afford,” he said. “And I helped with the rest.” Tidwell is quick to say that he furnished his own lights and displays. And it was Tidwell, Herron, Corne-

lius and Crooke that began the physical installation of the lights which now stretching throughout the street for four entire blocks. Stakes were driven into yards so lights could outline the street. Tidwell purchased a “Merry Christmas” light display that stretched across the street as cars entered the neighborhood on display. Herron’s house was one of the biggest spectacles of the Christmas light blitz. Not only was the outside of his home covered in all of the holiday bells and whistles, but its inside was decked to the hilt as well with his growing collection of animatronics. From a full-size singing choir to seven-feet tall Mr. and Mrs. Claus to an entire room dedicated to Looney Tunes and Disney moving and grooving Christmas characters, Herron was obsessed with the animated dolls and would buy out the entire stock at local discount retailers. “I would go in the stores and clean out everything they had. I would get a discount for buying it all at once, but I would still spend $10,000 at a time,” he said. And if they didn’t have them here, he’d travel. He once went all the way to Florida to buy a robotic Christmas Yosemite Sam. He eventually amassed 5,000 animatronics in his collection. Word was out that Capitol Avenue was the place to see the Christmas lights. For almost a decade, the participating neighbors went to work four months before opening night in preparation. Tidwell assumed the role of Santa Claus, spending the season in full costume waving to onlookers and passing out donated candy to all of the children. Herron had to take the furniture out of his modest house to make room for the moving decorations, which now stacked four shelves high. He opened his home to the public. Anyone could park their car and come through his living room to take a gander at his impressive collection. “I just wanted kids to have what I had in Louisville, Kentucky, when I stared at those windows. I wanted them to experience that sense of magic,” he reminisced. That magic created was now attracting busloads of gawkers, some even coming from Atlanta. Jake Fincher, whose family has owned Fincher’s Barbecue since 1935, recalls the busloads of people who would stop at their original location on Houston Avenue for dinner before touring Capitol Avenue’s lights. “People would come from all over,” Fincher said. “There would sometimes be 15 buses stopping by Fincher’s in one day before going to see the lights. Christmas was huge there.” CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE 11thHourOnline.com 23

CAPITOL AVENUE cont. Despite the high traffic and even higher power bills, Tidwell refused to take cash when offered by revelers. “I just believed if you didn’t do it from the heart, you shouldn’t do it all,” he said. He also admitted that the cash donations began to make it awkward among neighbors. But there was another Grinch of sorts working against them. Although there was peace and joy for just over a month a year, the rest of the calendar was being filled by crime. ---The final lights went out on Capitol Avenue about five years ago. That’s when Herron quit decorating his yard. “Things just got so bad,” he said, slightly shaking his head. His yard still has the remnants. A few strands of dangling lights here and there, a faded bow and the painted former stable that housed baby Jesus and company are markers of the holiday glory days gone by. Most of the yard ornaments that once adorned his front yard are also gone. “I like to say they were borrowed and someone just forgot to bring them back,” he said. “I can’t point too many fingers because I’ve still got to live in this neighborhood.” Crime is a clear reason. In a previous 11th Hour article on gang violence, Macon-Bibb Sheriff David Davis was quoted as saying, “Christmas lights have given away to blue lights,” as Capitol Avenue is considered a hotbed of gang activity. But when asked recently about the street, Sheriff Davis also factored in another reason things began to get “so bad” as Herron described. “I think the major influence was when many of the old-time residents either died or moved away,” Davis said. “The houses then became mostly rental with a lot of absentee landlords. Things deteriorated from there.” As a business owner, Fincher also said time just hasn’t been on the neighborhood’s side. “You really began to see things go downhill when some of the older churches moved, like Mabel White and Macedonia,” he said. Tidwell left the neighborhood in the late eighties. He said it was obvious that the area was in decline. He now lives in Lizella. Cornelius has since passed away. Crooke and Herron still live on the street and are some of the rare remaining owner-occupied residences. Herron also points to a small home that once belonged to a favorite neighbor. “She had one of those floating interest loans. Her payment got up to $1,000 a month and she could no longer afford it.” Herron is determined to stay in his home. He’s literally seen surrounding homes go up in flames due to angry drug dealers. But still, this is his home. Macon is where he found his place as the King of Christmas. 24 DECEMBER 17 - 30, 2014

“I’ve gotten used to it all – the crack heads, the drug dealers,” he said. “The neighborhood still loves me. I don’t know why.” Ultimately, Herron amassed close to $40,000 in credit card debt between his own Christmas collection and decorating the neighborhood. He mortgaged his house twice to pay it off. He still has his indoor moving collection, though he is hesitant to say where he keeps it all now. Herron dearly misses the days of bringing joy to his neighborhood – and all of the Macon. Christmas was his hobby-turned-calling. He made memories for many of us who once made Capitol Avenue a part of our Christmas rituals. Tidwell still shares fond memories of Capitol Avenue’s heyday. His favorite part of the display that still makes him smile is the large manger scene that proclaimed, “A King is Born.” “I just never dreamed it would get so big,” he reminisced. “I hate what happened to the neighborhood. I loved doing it so bad,” added Herron. “I wish I was young enough and still had the money. It was the best part of my life for 25 years.” STREET TO SUCCESS In the Spirit of Christmas, there is a new leader near Capitol Avenue who is working to bring something good to the now blighted neighborhood. Ray Rover is director of the local outreach Street to Success on Houston Avenue. In addition to hosting youth programs, such as weekly tutoring, technology access and basketball, the center also hosts a weekly “Scrambled Eggs for Jesus” breakfast for those in need. “Not living in Macon all of my life has left me out of a lot of changes she’s been through the last 30 years,” says Rover. “Speaking of Capitol Avenue, I remember coming up from Warner Robins to see the lights several days before Christmas. There would be a long line of cars turning to go the whole length. Even as an adult, I was taken with the wonder. Flash forward 30 years. I’m working in the neighborhood with the kids who have nothing, hoping for everything. Where 13 out of 20 homes are boarded up. Where a good lesson to be learned has so much evidence. Among the children walk every manner of evil – from abandoned houses to empty, overgrown lots. When those lights of amazement were replaced by the blinking blue lights of Sheriffs’ cars, we readied to take our last breath. At Street to Success, we believe there is a place for each one of us to right where we are called to be through hard work and study.” To get involved, visit their Facebook page at Facebook.com/Street-to-Success or call Ray Rover at 478.284.8463. Volunteers are needed for tutoring and preparing breakfast.

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Barely a stones throw from the banks of the Ocmulgee River and the quaint little Main Street of Juliette sits a place unlike just about any other in Middle Georgia. Juliette Trading Company is a new store where tie-dyed t-shirts, hand made furniture, antiques and oddities that will blow your mind, mix as if they were always meant to be together. My old friend operates this place, and those that know BIll Lucado, know that only he could put such a place together. Right out front a statue of a wild hog that dates to 1857 sits watching the road. There are only 12 like in in the world, three in the U.S. Inside, you are as likely to find a tie-dyed onsie as you are a one of a kind desk made to sit on the back of a camel. As is the case with anything Lucado is involved in, everything has a story. He found a crate with an old crystal chandelier in it, that used to hang in his grandmother’s dining room and hand dipped the crystal in bright colors to create a one of a kind piece that looks like it might have been owned by Timothy Leary himself. “Mother would roll over in her grave,” he said when he told me about it. Right across the room are two beautiful stained glass windows that used to be owned by Berry Oakley, who bought them out of a Catholic Church in Chicago before he moved to Macon. Need a giant eagle carved out of a huge redwood stump? Juliette Trading

company’s got one for you. The artfully crafted front porch overlooks an expansive lawn brimming with handcrafted outdoor furniture made by Swamp Creek Woodwork of Adrian, GA. JTC is the exclusive dealer for them in Monroe County, and once you sit in these chairs, you are going to want one. They have Adirondacks, rocking chairs, swings, tall cafe sets, and regular tables and chairs. Each piece is hand-cut, sanded and made of durable, pressure treated wood. Lucado operates the JTC for his partner Dr. Debbie Gadd, and they were proud to be able to use Monroe County builders and contractors to restore the place. Beautiful hardwood floors were installed by Chris Cawthon, and “Xerox” Cheney did all the murals. The enormous chicken coop out back will soon be filled with chickens, and naturally, eggs. One of the coolest things I noticed about JTC is the old-school Coke Cooler, operated on the honor system. You open the old doors, grab a TAB or a coke or a Grape Soda, put a dollar in the box, and take a half-dollar out. That’s the kind of experience you can’t get anywhere else. Both Gadd and Lucado hope that JTC can become a destination for travelers and for those of us in Macon that are looking for something unique. Get out there, buy some cool stuff for Christmas, sit by the fire, and listen to Lucado tell you some good stories for a little while. You won’t regret it.

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Things are starting to happen in our fair city. Local, original music things. Things we like and hope you will as well. Floco Torres recently released ANOTHER killer EP. Dalmation has several shows booked over the next month and a half and more recording set for release. Widow Pills debut EP is now available online and they (full disclosure: I play in this one, so I suppose “we” is more appropriate) have a few shows in November. The point: there’s a momentum starting to build. I wish I could sit here and truthfully say that I (and we here @ FNS) have a finger on all of the great bands sprouting up and playing some damn fine original music in our area, but I (and we) cannot. If you are a band or know of a band, contact us on Facebook or fieldnotestenograpers@gmail.com. (you can follow us on twitter @FNStenographers) Remember: this is your music Macon. Get dirty. Dig the field.

Live Show Review

Mike Cooley/Music Ambassadors Show 12/7/14 Cost: $35 at the door / by JR Olive Chances are, if you grew up playing in a band, had a friend who played in a band, or were ever invited to a party in high school, you’re familiar with the idea of the house show. Most often house shows are cheap or free shoulder-to-shoulder music performances in some guy’s living room or sweatbox garage. They also usually end with the cops showing up instead of the band actually finishing their set. That said, there’s definitely something intoxicating about being inches from a rock trio going full tilt or a singer/songwriter turning intricate stories into songs. The latter was the case with Mike Cooley’s Music Ambassadors: Macon show. For the last year and a half, a handful of volunteers led by Tim Regan-Porter (of Mercer’s Center for Collaborative Journalism) have taken the idea of the house show to a new place with a concert series called Music Ambassadors: Macon. The series brings nationally recognized artists to play intimate shows in historic homes in the College Hill neighborhood. On the first Saturday in December, the Music Ambassador folks booked Mike Cooley to play at 1483 Oglethorpe Street for a house show that was a completely new experience yet felt oh so familiar. Doors were advertised as opening at 6:30, but there was a line up the front porch steps of 1483 at 5:30. Fans were eager to get in, get a drink from the bar setup in the living room, and then figure out how the rest of the evening would play out. Questions like, “Can I smoke out here?” or “Can I bring a beer in?” were common as people tried to gauge just how comfortable they could get in someone else’s home. Cooley went on around 7:20 in a garage behind the main house. The space was one car wide, but long enough to accommodate 75 or so. In true house show fashion it was hot and nearly impossible not to rub shoulders with the guy next to you if you wanted to stand inside. Luckily, the garage had plenty of big windows and outdoor speakers which allowed overflow to stand outside and still enjoy the show. Cooley sat alone on a stool at one end with his custom Baxendale acoustic. Before starting his performance, he told the story of how Drive-By Truckers co-writer Patterson Hood had left their summer tour during a short break to play his Music Ambassadors gig in Macon back in June. Cooley said he had to see what all the fuss was about and

hadn’t been disappointed by his choice to play a Music Ambassadors gig. The first two songs began slowly and quietly with a crowd that was ready and waiting and another few who were just there to party. After those first two songs, Cooley addressed the crowd to say, “This isn’t a free show and people paid good money to be here, so take your conversations out in the yard.” This drew loud cheers from the diehards standing up front and sent a few fashion-forward females out to the yard. From then on it was nearly silent in the garage except for cheers of approval at the beginning and end of each tune. Cooley’s songs are an incredible blend of clever storytelling, gritty humor, a little frustration, and words of wisdom that seem to come from a place of real authenticity. It’s easy for singer/songwriter solo artists to fall into a pattern of only singing about depression, woe, and heart-ache which can be exhausting to listen to— Cooley couldn’t have been further from this cliche. The show was like listening to after-dinner stories from your funny uncle who never spares the details that make your mom blush. As the show came to a close, the crowd could’ve mobbed Cooley for photos and autographs. After all, there were only about 100 in the audience; the show itself took place in what is basically a tool shed. Instead, most chose to respect his space, which was a welcomed since many in the crowd left in cabs after paying hefty bar tabs. Like all home shows, Mike Cooley at 1483 Oglethorpe was not just a performance, but an entire experience. Cooley’s special brand of narrative song, strong fan base, and the fact that I had to go through someone’s living room and kitchen to watch a show in their garage made the whole evening something special. Something that’s not really happening anywhere else; nowhere but Macon, Georgia.This is your music scene Macon. Get dirty. Dig the field.

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Downtown Macon’s social bar Relax with friends in conversation while enjoying your favorite beverage and food in one of our four separate seating areas

eat.

Sidewalk, inside cocktail area, coppertop bar, or courtyard.

Play pool, darts, chess, various board games, redemption games, or watch your favorite program on one of our many flat screen TVs.

drink. NIGHTLY 7-CL

Sun: Service Industry $2 Wells & Domestics

play.

Wed: Ladies - 2 for 1 Everything; Gentlemen: Tie-One-On 2 for 1 if you’re wearing a tie!

EVERYDAY

Happy Hour

2-7pm - $2 domestics, $3 wells $2 PBR and High Life all day! Shot Specials!

Texas Hold ‘Em Nightly, 9pm

e v E s r a e Y w Ne Live Music with SESSION ROAD

$10 cover

Includes:

Party Favors Appetizers from 8-9pm Country Breakfast 1am!

Li v e Music

FRIDAYS

SATURDAYS

12/19: the Skeeterz

12/20: Session Road

1/2: Karaoke

1/3: The Skeeterz

12/26: Kool Change

KARAOKE

• Sunday 9pm - until

TEXAS HOLD EM • Tues / Wed / Thur 7pm

12/27: The Skeeterz

Bike Night FRIDAYS friDAYS

FREE PLAY TOURNAMENTS MON & WED 8pm. Awards to top 3 players, all entered in drawing for prizes

430 MLK JR BLVD • 478-254-2460

relax. Designated drivers welcomed (19 and up)

30 DECEMBER 17 - 30, 2014

Corner of Cherry St & MLK 21 and up - Dress code enforced Mon - Sat 2pm-2am, Sunday 6pm-12am

Homecooking like your Grandma!

Tues-Fri 3pm-until, Sat-Sun 12-until

4274 Broadway, Macon • 781-5656

the scene

{ BAR & MUSIC } live music, venues, nightclubs, karaoke, drink specials

THUR 12/18

FRI 12/26

Craig Waters & the Flood THE HUMMINGBIRD

Boot Hill Band BILLY’S CLUBHOUSE

Drink Specials / Special Events

Mike Brookshire 20’S PUB

Mondays

Matt Moncrief and Pics with Santa MAIN STREET PIZZA

Kool Change AP’S HIDDEN HIDEAWAY

Milk Money and Stereomonster THE HUMMINGBIRD

FRI 12/19 B Keith Williams 20’S PUB The Placeholders BILLY’S CLUBHOUSE Thomas Tillman THE CRAZY BULL Selwyn Birchwood COX CAPITOL THEATRE

Nick Sturms THE CRAZY BULL Baby Baby Good Night Alive CD Release Party THE HUMMINGBIRD Wes Heath WILD WING CAFE

SAT 12/27 The Skeeter AP’S HIDDEN HIDEAWAY

The Skeeterz AP’S HIDDEN HIDEAWAY

Lance Daniel Band BILLY’S CLUBHOUSE

Guitar-mageddon! THE HUMMINGBIRD

Roadkill Ghost Choir, T Hardy Morris & the sunDollars COX CAPITOL THEATRE

Wartown WILD WING CAFE 8th Block High School MAIN STREET PIZZA

SAT 12/20 Session Road AP’S HIDDEN HIDEAWAY Tyler Hammond THE CRAZY BULL Copious Jones THE HUMMINGBIRD Trea Landon Band WILD WING CAFE

SUN 12/21 Big Mike & the Booty Papas, 3pm on the patio AP’S HIDDEN HIDEAWAY

Travis Denning CRAZY BULL Stoopgrass THE HUMMINGBIRD Radio Cult WILD WING CAFE

SUN 12/28 Big Mike & the Booty Papas, 3pm on the patio AP’S HIDDEN HIDEAWAY

NEW YEAR’S EVE

Big Daddy & Co. WILD WING CAFE

FRI 1/2 Trea Hombre 20’S PUB Thomas Tillman THE CRAZY BULL Karaoke AP’S HIDDEN HIDEAWAY tba WILD WING CAFE 8th Block High School Fridays MAIN STREET PIZZA

SAT 1/3 The Skeeterz AP’S HIDDEN HIDEAWAY Tyler Hammond THE CRAZY BULL Copious Jones THE HUMMINGBIRD

SAT 1/10 Kansas COX CAPITOL THEATRE

Happy Hour till 9pm 20’s pub Everyday 4-7 1.50 Beers and $6 Domestic $1 Wells all night Hummingbird Happy Hour 4-7 Beer of the Month $2 PBR and Miller High Life Wild Wing Cafe

Tuesdays Half Price Drafts 10-12am every Tues & Wed at The Rookery Happy Hour all Night Poker at & Trivia 9Pm Rivalries Build Your Own Martini Night @ Dovetail

Half Price Drafts 10-12am every Tues & Wed at The Rookery 2-4-1 Wells Open Mic Night Billy’s Clubhouse Ladies Night at Tap’d Ladies 2 for 1 everything Gentlemen, Tie One On 2 For 1 when wearing a tie! Free Pool Table and darts BJ’s Downtown

Thursdays 1/s Price Martinis Poker 7PM Billy’s Clubhouse Margarita Thursdays $8 Bottomless Mugs Hummingbird College Night $5 Jager Bombs DJ Crazy Bull

College Night 3-4-1 Drinks every Tuesday. Mai Tai Specials The Hummingbird

Taco and Rita Night $2 Tacos and $3 Margaritas $6 Megaritas 5pm-Close $4 Bombs $4 Baby Guiness shots. Happy hour 4-6pm Wild Wing

Everyday 4-7 $1.50 Beers and $6 Domestic Locos

Buy 1 Get 1 Wells 8Until AP’s

2fer Wing Night 5-10Pm Buy 10 weings get 10 free. Happy hour 4-7Pm Beer of the Month $2 PBR and Highlife @ Wild Wing $4 You call it Darty Tourney 7Pm Billy’s Clubhouse

Wednesday $4 Bombs/$4 Baby Guiness shots. Happy Hour 4-7 Wild Wing

Master Blasters 20’S PUB

½ Price Whiskey flights every Wednesday @Dovetail

Session Road AP’S HIDDEN HIDEAWAY

$1 Wells $2 Domestic all night for the ladies The Crazy Bull

Lunatic Fringe and Sister Sandoz BACKPORCH LOUNGE

$2 Beers and Wings, Karoake Rivalry’s

Saturdays College students get 15% off entire bill Spirit day @ Locos $10 Beer Buckets 20’s pub Game Day Specials 2 For 1 bombs and $1 domestics Billy’s Clubhouse

Sundays $10 Beer Buckets 20’s Pub and subs $12 Bottomless Mimosas 12:304Pm Happy Hour 4p-7p $2 PBR & Highlife bottles Wild Wing

Everyday 4-7 PM 1.50 Beers and $6 Domestic Locos 11thHourOnline.com 31

Health Care Healthcare Open Enrollment Begins

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

• We can help you ON or OFF the Federally-facilitated Marketplace / Exchange

• We help you find the BEST plan that covers your doctors, hospital and prescriptions

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Find out if you will need to pay a penalty or if you qualify for exemption

WE CAN HELP. NO FEES. CALL TODAY. M. Danny Martin, LUTCF 1291 Jefferson Terrace, Macon

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SCENE

Sister Sparrow @ Macon Marriott

g o h e a r.

THE 11TH HOUR

430 Cherry Street | macon 741-9130 | OPEN DAILY 4PM

our H y p Hap

2-4-1 wells 4-8PM!

TERMINAL STATION

DETAILS: Dressy Casual, A benefit for The Arc Macon. Featuring the Grapevine Band, Decorated table seating, silent auction and complimentary coffee, sodas and ice. You bring your own liquor. Tickets $40 each. Arcmacon.org

CHERRY BLOSSOM BALL DROP

Ring in the New Year with The Pinkest Party on Earth. On December 31st come to Cherry Street Plaza for a New Years Eve Celebration. Events begin at 7 p.m. with free kids activities until 9 p.m. Next up is a kids fireworks show at 9 p.m. The New Years Eve Party begins at 9 p.m. and ends at midnight. Cherry Blossom Ball Drop with a Midnight Fireworks Show. Food, drink, and novelty items available for purchase.

FRIDAY, DEC. 19 Selwyn Birchwood @ COX CAPITOL THEATRE Birchwood is an American blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter from Tampa, Florida. He was the winner of the Blues Foundation’s 2013 International Blues Challenge (band category), as well the winner of the Albert King Guitarist of the Year award, presented at the same event. To win, he bested 125 other bands from around the country. Birchwood plays electric guitar and electric lap steel guitar. Living Blues magazine said, “Selwyn Birchwood is making waves, surprising people and defying expectations. Be on the lookout. He revels in the unexpected.

SATURDAY, DEC. 20 Session Road @ AP’S HIDDEN HIDEAWAY Session Road is a country band made of of six members playing their hearts out. The release of their first single Caterpillar Man, through Pretty World Records, went to #31 on New Music Weekly’s Chart, to #2 on Indieworlds Chart. Also playing New Year’s Eve. Copious Jones @ THE BIRD Copious Jones is an original rock band from Atlanta, Ga, consisting of 3

THE HUMMINGBIRD

MACON CENTREPLEX BALLROOM

BACKPORCH LOUNGE

DETAILS: NYE party featuring a live music reunion with the band Lunatic Fringe. No cover! And no need to drive home, just get a room at the Riverside Hotel.

DETAILS: Featuring music from Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds with Benjamin Olsen & Dirty Rhythm. tTICKETS: VIP Double: $70 (includes entry for two, open bar from 8- 12:00 a.m., appetizers, and a post-midnight breakfast buffet) VIP Single: $37.50 General Ticket: $20. For tickets call 478-803-1628. Special room rates at the Marriott available.

20’S PUB

THE CRAZY BULL

DETAILS: New Year’s Even bash with local favorite Milk Money and the ‘80s rock outfit Stereomonster!

DETAILS: $10 per person, Includes champagne toast, party favors, live music with Master Blasters and a New Year’s day breakfast buffet at midnight.

DETAILS: Party favors, champagne toast, and live music with Gannon Admas and Jared Ashley! Reserve a table now. $10

RIVALRY’S

Live music by Session road. New Year's Eve party $10 per person- party favorscountry breakfast after midnight

DETAILS: NYE Bash sponsored by B95.1. Justin Bryant from 11-1, with DJ Ric Flare! Champagne toast and giveaways all night long! $2 domestics / $3 wells and shot specials.

friends from music school who joined creative forces with 2 respected veterans from the local jazz/Latin scene. The band was recently featured in the September issue of Relix Magazine as an artist “on the rise”. Trea Landon Band @ WILD WING Trea Landon is an upcoming country performer/songwriter. Only at the age of 21, he has been performing in top notch venues for over 3 years. Trea is currently riding off of his first original album that he released in October of 2013, and has also been in the studio preparing for his next release.

FRIDAY, DEC. 26 Baby Baby Good Night Alive CD Release Party @ THE BIRD Baby Baby - Atlanta, GA - High energy garage-pop who’ve spent the last year touring with Run the Jewels, opening for Bad Religion, making appearences at various festivals around the country and are proudly featured as a Red Bull Sound Select Artist.

SATURDAY, DEC. 27 Roadkill Ghost Choir, T Hardy Morris & the sunDollars @ COX CAPITOL THEATRE Emerging fully-formed from the desolate heart of Central Florida,

AP’S HIDDEN HIDEAWAY

Roadkill Ghost Choir makes unsettling, powerful American rock, Tom Petty by way of Radiohead and Cormac McCarthy. T HARDY MORRIS-A strangely complimentary mix of rollicking lo-fi southern rock pedal steel twang run through a grunge punk buzzsaw, “Painted On Attitude” showcases Morris’ snarling yet tuneful vocals on the sharp end of the blade. This is a benefit show for Historic Macon. Come on out for an after Christmas special!

NEW YEAR’S EVE Lunatic Fringe and Sister Sandoz @ BACKPORCH LOUNGE Back in the day Lunatic Fringe split the bill with Stuck Mojo and almost every other good rock band that came to town in the 90’s and they’ve had plenty a night of filling Liz Reeds on their own. Members have also played in bands like Petty Bliss, Gravel, Hollow Core, Heavy Bag,Profits Of Doom, X’s 4 Eyes and others. Jared Ashley @ CRAZY BULL With his high-energy live shows and distinctive country rock sound, Jared Ashley has built his career on the little things— And little by little, all the elements have come together to make Jared Ashley one of Nashville’s most promising rising artists.

league $1 Wells all Day! MON dart night TUES college 3-4-1 drinks WED THUR MARGARITA THURSDAYS Team Trivia 7-9pm 2-4-1 Drinks WHISKEY SPECIALS

THUR. DEC. 18

Craig Waters & the Flood FRI. DEC 19 some of the finest guitarists in the southeast!

guitar-mageddon SAT. DEC 20

Copious Jones FRI. DEC 26

BABY BABY

GOOD NIGHT ALIVE SAT. DEC 27

STOOPGRASS NEW YEARS EVE

Milk Money with stereomonster FOR A COMPLETE SCHEDULE VISIT HUMMINGBIRDMACON.COM 11thHourOnline.com 33

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