Reasons to enjoy a real spring weekend

The Hay House Spring Stroll of Macon Houses and Gardens was given a reprieve on May 4, after a dreary couple of days, when the preview party opened the 24th annual event on the beautifully manicured lawn of Hay House.

The garden vendors outdo themselves each year with more exotic plants and winsome outdoor furniture. The reclaimed metal rocking chairs at Leah Hair’s Easy Living Garden Center booth, with their new hibiscus coral paint, had several potential buyers discussing where they would look best in their gardens.

Victor Davidson, owner of Agape Nursery, brought his luscious array of bedding plants, but could be seen buying from other vendors the specimens he wanted for his own garden.

The house and garden tour is the unofficial start of the planting season — once you’ve seen the plants available from Middle Georgia’s nurseries and toured the imaginative gardens, it is time to get to work at home, sprucing up for the outdoor living season.

Elizabeth and Tom Jones, who live on Alexandria Drive in north Macon, started almost 30 years ago with a cottage that had little personality and even less landscaping. With the addition of planned beds and foundation shrubbery, and the conversion of outbuildings to functional play areas near a pool, the Joneses have transformed the house into a shady country retreat where they regularly and readily entertain friends. During the weekend tours, their house and gardens charmed the tour goers whose cars lined the street each day.

Hay House Volunteer Recognized by the Georgia Trust

A.T. Long & Son Painting Contractors has been a fixture in the construction business for most of a century. The son, Tony Long, learned a lot about preservation from his father and the men with whom he worked as a young man. All this was long before the consciousness raising that gave birth to the restoration of old houses in Macon, before there was a Historic Macon Foundation, and before Hay House became a Georgia Trust property, a gift from the Hay family.

Long knew the Hays and worked on the house when the family still lived there. When the preservation initiative gained momentum in Macon, Long was part of the Vineville Neighborhood Association, where he lived, served as its president and was involved in the research required to have Vineville officially listed as a National Trust neighborhood. Long invested in historic properties and still lives in one of Macon’s historic neighborhoods today.

On April 28, at the annual Georgia Trust Preservation Awards ceremony, Long was recognized for his decades long, fervent support of historic preservation with the Excellence in Preservation award. His tireless efforts and personal investment in revitalization, long before it became popular, are well known throughout the state.

He has kept his business relevant by understanding the techniques used by house builders in the 19th century and by knowing how to replicate and improve upon methods to stabilize and preserve the old houses and buildings entrusted to him by his clients. Congratulations, Tony!

From the Back Roads to the Beaches

Matthew Raiford, chef from the Farmer and the Larder in St. Simons, once again worked his magic — in more ways than one — when the Georgia Industrial Children’s Home held its sixth annual fundraiser, a dinner in the orchard at the home on May 6. The theme this year, Back Roads to Beaches, featured a five-course dinner prepared by Raiford and by Chef Adam Jones from Halyard’s Catering, also in St. Simons.

The festive evening began with hors d’oeuvres: shrimp and seared tuna from the coast, warm Vidalia onion dip and handmade hummus. The prosciutto wrapped peaches, a nod to Middle Georgia’s favorite summer crop, cleansed the palate for the tossed salad with marinated white beets, followed by crab cakes and filets — all paired with complementary wine selections. For dessert, blueberry strudel, fresh out of the oven, was topped by the famous homemade vanilla ice cream from the Farmer and the Larder.

While the strains of Latin music from Big Daddy and Company could be heard from atop the hill on Mumford Road, Raiford took a break from the kitchen to conduct a brief live auction and to promote the one-of-a-kind and luxury items offered in the silent auction. Committed to the mission of the children’s home, he auctioned off dinner in a private home, prepared by him as the personal chef, adding a bonus dinner he will prepare for the boys and young men who are residents at the home.

The tents and the numbers of seats have increased each year, raising funds for the planned on-campus school and gymnasium, which are now under construction. According to program director Linda Finley, the goal of the fundraiser is to continue the sound tradition of keeping the home debt free so that the focus is on the future for the children in their care.

This story was originally published May 12, 2017 at 8:32 AM with the headline "Reasons to enjoy a real spring weekend."