Ear to the ground: A sunset is on the horizon

This weekend, you can witness a sky-grazing, fire-breathing robot towering above Tattnall Square Park. You'll see what the new economy has deemed "makers" doing what they do best -- being creators, innovators, artists, inventors and acceptable versions of mad scientists.

This debut event is dubbed Make-End Maker Festival, and it's a jam-packed weekend of amusements and attractions to show off the art and heart of making in Tattnall Square Park.

Make-End received the majority of its funding from a nationwide ArtPlace America grant and is one of the last visible events you'll see operated by the College Hill Alliance. The administrative office has been in business now for six years to support the wildly successful College Hill Corridor neighborhood revitalization initiative and is slated to sunset at the end of this year.

Like many events the alliance has supported or initiated over the years, the drive to do this is fueled by offering something new to the community and launching traditions that continue well past the office's business hours.

Less than a month after Make-End, there will be a celebration event Dec. 9 at Tattnall Square Center for the Arts that looks back and leaps forward toward the future of the College Hill Corridor -- and our community, in general. Everyone is invited to the celebration.

I'm excited to be there, along with many others who are part of the shared College Hill story. This will be an official close to an integral part of my career that is intertwined with the College Hill Alliance. Although I have moved on past my formal title as director of communications, I'm taking the College Hill Corridor torch with me, always.

After all, just like so many things that are special about Macon, the spirit of this community isn't confined to an office. It lives on in how we live it, daily, in the Corridor and beyond.

And that won't be my only chapter coming to a close this fall. For four years, I've enjoyed serving as a contributor to this column and sharing my passion for my hometown and the people, places and stories that make it so special. But just as I take a torch from College Hill, I'm passing a torch to another writer who shares this same passion.

It's been a couple of columns since I left off on how Macon music history's real life drama could unfold on the big screen. I had to go off script for a couple of entries because there is so much to do right here, right now -- the past had to wait.

If you want to see the rest of that story unfold, join me for a music history tour with Rock Candy Tours, which I will continue to lead alongside my husband. You can also catch me on Instagram at Macon Candy and my blog www.maconcan dy.com, which I will try to update more often.

As my daddy, Alan Walden, taught me to say: rock on.

Jessica Walden is a community relations consultant and co-owner of Rock Candy Tours, a Macon music history tour company. Contact her at rockcandytours@gmail.com.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Ear to the ground: A sunset is on the horizon ."