Wednesday, March 13, 2002
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Wednesday, March 13, 2002 |
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Tall tales bring new life to small town By REV JOHN HATCHER Last Saturday night my family went to my home town of Colquitt, Georgia (not to be confused with Colquitt County) to see the town's Swamp Gravy production of "The Land Between Two Rivers." This year The Colquitt/Miller Arts Council celebrates ten years of Swamp Gravy that is basically a collection of local stories woven together with a poignant theme. Previous productions included themes dealing with Swamp Medicine, The Ten Commandments, and Love and Marriage. What happened? About ten years ago some of the local folks in that southwest Georgia city decided to have a story-telling time in the local high school auditorium. That was ten years ago. Today, Swamp Gravy is recognized as Georgia's Official Folk Life Play and has been taken on the road to the Kennedy Center in Washington and was included in the Cultural Olympics. Now, a dying community known only for soy beans, peanuts, and cotton has become a thriving arts center bringing new life and vitality to a dried up town. From Swamp Gravy has come Market on the Square, New Life Leaning Center, Story Telling Festival, New Vision Coalition (an after school program called Bounce), Community Development Corporation, Millennium Mural Project, Peace Wall Project, Building Renovations, and even a Museum of Southern Cultures. Get the idea? A group of community do-gooders not caring who got the credit put their heads and hearts together and have now delivered a whole wonderful heritage to their children and children's children. About coming together. Rich and poor. Black and White. Educated and uneducated. My family stayed Saturday night in a newly renovated loft-type apartment on Town Square. The local, on-the-square hotel called Tarrer Inn with finely appointed rooms was already booked when reservations were made some six months ago. When my Mama and Daddy took us five children and moved out of Miller County 50 years ago, they did it because the future was not very bright and they wanted us to have a future. Now, what a difference ten years and a group of like-minded folks can make! The future in Colquitt, Ga. is as bright as the lights of Kennedy Center Washington, D.C. After the Saturday night performance, my family walked around the Town Square. Not a place was open. Didn't see any of the performers milling around either. As soon as the production was over, they skedaddled. Why? It hit me as I remembered an earlier conversation that day with a shopkeeper. They all went to their homes to get ready to go to church the next morning. About 100 percent of the production staff are church folks who are just as committed to their church as well as community. What about us here in Fayette? Don't the folks in old Fayetteville have some stories that need to be told to the new folks in Peachtree City? Stories about the past that are funny and maybe some painful? Why not a Lafayette Festival that would bring the past together for us in the present so it will be preserved for the future? I mean, Carolyn Cary can only do just so much for our collective memory and thank God for her. You can build a mixed-use community off the Town Square. But that doesn't bring the heart and soul of a community together. Go to Colquitt and see for yourself.
The Rev. Dr. John Hatcher is pastor of River's Edge Community Church 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive Fayetteville, Georgia 30215 770-719-0303 |
