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Wednesday, Sep. 16, 2009

How many do you remember?

There are ways to have your longevity in this city certified as platinum.

For example, just mention H.M.F.P.I.C.

Old-timers will know you’re talking about the “Home Made Fresh Peach Ice Cream” once served at Len Berg’s.

(Those who were not here before that famous little restaurant in the post office alley closed might assume H.M.F.P.I.C. is an elaborate text-messaging code.)

There are other methods to demonstrate your tenure and seal your long-standing citizenship.

You could tell your children or grandchildren you remember when the Cherry Blossom Festival was just a long weekend.

Or boast that there were once 11 Piggly Wiggly grocery stores in town. (At the end of the month, we’ll be down to one.)

You don’t have to qualify for a senior citizen’s discount to recall when The Wellness Center was a bowling alley. Or when the Hutchings Career Center site was a Kmart. And when “going green” meant a trip to the S&H store in Shurlington Plaza to redeem your green stamps.

Remember when Westgate Mall was the first enclosed mall in the state? Remember when you went to the Terminal Station to catch the train, not the bus?

I’ve been thinking along these lines lately. I’ve been working on a project called “Macon By the Numbers.” It’s scheduled to start Sunday and run for five weeks.

I also recently rewatched the movie “Wise Blood,” which was filmed in Macon in 1979. I was shocked at how much the city’s landscape has changed in 30 years.

Raise your hand if you remember the Goat Man, Dannenberg’s, the Macon Whoopee, the smell of the paper mill, wrasslin’ at the Coliseum, Ragan’s Park, WNEX and “Machine Gun” Ronnie Thompson.

Remember when the “JESUS CARES” sign for the Macon Rescue Mission at the foot of Poplar Street was one of downtown’s most visible landmarks?

Keep ’em raised if you remember the late Bill Powell on the radio, urging us to “keep on keeping on.” Or Hamp “King Bee” Swain spinning vinyl over at WIBB.

Do you remember nightspots the Sand Trap, Lucy Cooper’s and Flaming Sally’s? (Even if you did, you probably don’t.)

Any of the following stir memories? Durr’s Skating Rink, Cag’s, Waldorf’s Pastry, Pig’N Whistle, The Varsity and catching a movie downtown at any — or all — of the following theaters: Capitol, Grand, Ritz, Rialto or Bibb. (All before “Shows to Go,” Macon’s first video store.)

I’ve lived in this town long enough to remember when the Jos. N. Neel department store was in “Guinness World Records” for having the longest-running advertisement. It had a permanent spot on page 2A of The Telegraph from Feb. 22, 1889, until Aug. 17, 1987.

What about when Northside Drive was known as V.C.&L. Road? Or when Stratford Academy sat at the top of Coleman Hill?

A friend remembers when Market City Cafe was Newberry’s department store, and his mama used to take him there to ride one of the only escalators in town. And I remember when Joshua Cup used to be Capitol Cycle.

There are a number of Facebook pages devoted entirely to this task of waxing nostalgic about Macon.

If you have some to add here, send them along and I’ll include a few in “Gris & More” on Monday.

Reach Gris at 744-4275 or gris@macon.com.