AFTER HOURS: Expanding boundaries and pushing the envelope
For those who attended Mercer University before the age of enlightenment, the idea of dancing on campus seems as foreign as girls wearing jeans -- a real taboo in the 1950s.
The changes since the days of bouffant hairdos and button-down shirts are taken for granted by a campus populated by the hip, techno savvy generation that could not care less about wardrobes. If you hang out at one of the eateries in Mercer Village, you can hear a variety of music coming from each store front. Mercer is cool!
On March 8, at a Cox Capitol Theatre news conference, it was announced that the Macon Pops' Oct. 28 concert, "Dancing Through the Decades," will be held at Mercer's Hawkins Arena.
Gasp! Do they not know that Mercer was once so entrenched in the evangelical tradition that dancing could send you straight to purgatory?
Life on campus is more relaxed and brethren of many traditions are having fun. There is no better catalyst for a rollicking evening than Steve Moretti and Matt Catingub, co-founders of Macon Pops that, from its inception, have wanted to partner with other entities that promote music in Macon.
BRING A PICNIC FOR THE SEASON OPENER
The opening concert, "Picnic Pops," will be held on the campus of Middle Georgia State University on Aug. 26, overlooking the scenic lake behind the university's wellness center.
Christopher Blake, president of MGSU, which has supported the Macon Pops since the beginning, said that "music is at the very heart of who we are in Macon," and agrees with Moretti and Catingub that local institutions of higher education should be stewards of the arts for the community at large.
The idyllic, rural setting of Middle Georgia State University, tucked away behind the interstate, is something no one envisioned when Macon Junior College opened its doors in 1968. According to Moretti, the fourth season will continue to "push the boundaries and think outside the box" bringing to the stage the best musicians in jazz, pop, rock and more to play with the Macon Pops orchestra.
HELLO YELLOW IN FORSYTH
For the 29th year, Forsyth celebrated the Forsythia Festival last weekend with a record breaking 20,000 people attending the two-day event. After the winter doldrums, when everyone is itching to get outside, Forsyth kicked off the Middle Georgia festival season with attractions for every taste.
The Kids Zone expanded to a mini-fair with trains, planes and jump houses. The Super Hero Stroll, a tongue in cheek moniker for people who like to dress up and mosey on carts or on foot, allowed participants to hide behind a mask and costume to indulge their lazy egos for 30 minutes of hilarity.
Connie and Jerry McDougald took advantage of the unseasonable spring warmth to ride their motorcycle from Macon and look over the vintage automobiles at the car show on Saturday. Ashley Marie's Boutique stayed open for the festival and reported that showing off its hot spring fashions, off the beaten path, was good for business.
MACON EARNS ITS CHOPS IN THE FILM INDUSTRY
If Terrell Sandefur had his way, Macon could become another film mecca for producers looking for locations outside of Hollywood. Last Monday, Sandefur shared some secrets with the Macon Rotary Club about the efforts of the Georgia Film Commission to bring more attention to the state for its tax incentives and reasonable costs for filming television series and movies.
According to Sandefur, the producers do not want anyone to know they are bringing actors and crews to Macon until they arrive, and often require that anyone locally involved in a project sign a confidentiality agreement to that effect.
That explains why Clint Eastwood, of "Trouble with the Curve," and Harrison Ford, with "42," could slip into town in 2012 and dine at Cheers on Northside Drive, or at the Rookery, without being harassed.
Early Bird passes for this year's Macon Film Festival will be sold through May 1 for $100 and after that will be $125 to attend the festival, which runs from July 21-24. The film festival will open with a screening of the 1986 cult favorite "Pretty in Pink," starring Molly Ringwald and headlining actor Andrew McCarthy, who appears in "The Family" on ABC.
After a 37-year lull since the John Huston classic "Wise Blood," based on Flannery O'Connor's novel, was filmed in and around Macon, Sandefur is networking from one coast to the other to make film-making a viable industry in Macon and to share the six billion dollars in revenue it brought to the state in the last year. Now, that is serious money.
Katherine Walden is a freelance writer and interior designer in Macon. Contact her at 478-742-2224 or kwaldenint@aol.com.
This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 8:39 PM with the headline "AFTER HOURS: Expanding boundaries and pushing the envelope ."