One Man’s Opinion: So VERY Cherry

By Bill Crane

Spring has finally sprung, with pine pollen in the air – everywhere – giving my car and truck a nice, golden yellow glow. Thankfully, for several blooming Georgia communities, as well as others across the nation, it is also time to Think Pink Cherry blossoms are the reason for this season in an America where primary colors increasingly take on meanings all their own.

Red means Republican, conservative, and for some, patriotism. Blue means Democratic, progressive, and even a specific type of Democrat, the few Blue Dogs remaining within that caucus. Yellow is associated with cowardice and, in backward times, a racial slander against those of Asian descent. Purple connotes royalty, majesty, Vikings, and several national fraternal organizations. I don’t think I need to explain the broad- er uses of black and white, though technically those are the absence of color, or all colors together forming the spectrum of light. Pink is the color most associated with breast cancer survivorship, as well as those battles, anything related to Barbie (hot pink), some wildly popular lingerie and couture, and across our nation, spring Cherry Blossom Festivals.

Cherry blossom trees are a transplanted species from Japan to the United States. The District of Columbia first put the cherry blossom tree, a hardy perennial, to good use surrounding the National Mall in 1912, and those pink spring blossoms were a symbol of friendship and a gift from the people of Japan. D.C. considers this event as our National Cherry Blossom Festival, beginning annually on the first day of spring. In Japan, this tradition and celebration of spring is centuries old.

In Georgia, the Macon Cherry Blossom Festival was born in 1982 under the auspices of the Keep Macon-Bibb County Beautiful Commission. Macon entrepreneur, William Fickling, had begun planting Yoshino cherry blossom trees in his hometown in 1949. Civic leader Carolyn Crayton would start the festival forty-two years ago in Macon’s downtown as part of downtown revitalization and beautification, as well as thanks and remembrance of the Fickling family and their many gifts to Macon.

That same year in Conyers, Georgia, as part of a sister cities initiative with Japan, the Rockdale County seat began its Cherry Blossom Festival, and since its 30th year when the festival outgrew its original location at the Maxwell property, it has been held at the Georgia International Horse Park. The Conyers celebration has an international flavor with arts, crafts, and a wide array of cuisine, and it has been selected for many years as a Top 20 Event in the Southeast by the Southeast Tourism Society.

Relatively new to Thinking Pink, Brookhaven, Georgia is holding its 8th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival, though the city itself just turned ten in 2022. The Brookhaven festival straddles two weekends, including a 5K Fun Run benefitting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the Brookhaven CherryFest, which has fast become the Southeast’s second-largest music festival, and a wide array of other family-friendly activities, vendors, and state-fair style food options.

And these CherryFest concerts feature upwardly mobile regional talent and nationally known acts, including proven superstars of days gone by playing legendary pop standards like “Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie”

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