Annual ‘True Gris Awards’ honor some of the people making Middle Georgia wonderful
The world is filled with wonderful people doing the right thing at the right time in the right way for the right reason.
Here are some of the “good news” folks I wrote about in 2019 and wish to recognize again as recipients of my annual “True Gris Awards.’’
SOUL FOOD AWARD
After an 8-year-old child knocked on their door one afternoon and asked for a cup of cold water, David and Shirley Duncan rolled out the welcome mat for their “Hot Dog Club” ministry. Every week, the Duncans round up the neighborhood children at Lake Wildwood for Bible study, singing and life lessons from the living room. Hot dogs are rarely on the menu but the Duncans always have plenty of food. And the kids go home with donated clothes, school supplies, personal items and a happy heart. There are 31 children on the roll, and the Hot Dog Club’s community outreach has expanded to visiting nursing homes, caroling in the neighborhood and filling Christmas boxes for Samaritan’s Purse.
‘MERRIE’ AND BRIGHT AWARD
Merrie Kaplan loved the holidays, especially Christmas. She was born with genetic condition known as William’s Syndrome and died last August of heart complications at the age of 45. Her parents, Nancy and Mike Kaplan, honored her memory by establishing the “Merrie Christmas Project” through the United Way of Central Georgia. As of Christmas day, more than $76,000 had been raised and some 619 people (433 children and 186 adults) had a brighter holiday season, receiving donations of toys, books, educational items, food, household necessities, Christmas trees, gas cards and other transportation cards.
WORDSMITH EMERITUS AWARD
For the past 36 years, Bob Berg has been the wordsmith behind some of the city’s longest running “texts.” At Sid’s Sandwich Shop, near the bottom of the hill on Forsyth Street, he regularly has posted puns, jokes, congratulatory messages and food for thought. The sandwich shop is named after 19th century poet Sidney Lanier, Macon’s most renowned writer. The marquee at Sid’s is — no pun intended — the height of cleverness. Pass the mustard.
COKE AND A SMILE AWARD
Her grandfather drove the first Coca-Cola truck in Macon. Joyce Beasley, 83, may not drive a truck but she makes special deliveries. Every day (except Sunday), she greets her mailman at the end of her driveway with a cold Coke in her hand. And on Fridays, the workers on the garbage truck get the same curb-side service from a lady who is diabetic, so she can’t drink one with them. When folks at Macon’s Coca-Cola bottling plant read the story back in August, they made arrangements with Beasley and her family for a VIP tour of the plant. The week before Christmas, representatives from the company arrived at her house with personalized Coke bottles.
SERVICE SALUTE AWARD
John Prettyman has been playing “Taps” on his trumpet at cemeteries on Memorial Day since he was in high school in the 1950s. Without fanfare, Prettyman, the choir director and visitation minister at Central Fellowship Baptist Church, continues to honor military veterans buried in church graveyards and area cemeteries every Memorial Day. His story is emotionally powerful.
HO HO HOLD THE LINE AWARD
Scott Chalkley may live in North Carolina, but lately it has been more like the North Pole. He still has the same cell phone number he was issued back during his high school days in Macon. About eight years ago, he began getting phone calls for Santa Claus while working in Miami, Austin, Texas and now in Raleigh, N.C. After solving the wrong number mystery — the first seven digits were the same as a Santa hot line — he began to have some fun and play along with it. Chalkley launched a website (ForAGoodClaus.org) with some of the archived phone messages and collecting donations for local United Way charity at Christmas. A few days after the column was published earlier this month, the story was picked up by CBS News. So, Chalkley, a 32-year-old father of two, got some well-deserved national accolades.
CLIMB ABOARD AWARD
There are no trains in the Bible, but the pastor at Northminster Presbyterian Church in Macon has a long family history with the railroads. The Rev. Ralph Hawkins is a local authority on locomotives and Southern Short Lines. His extensive website (www.hawkinsrails.net) is a web scrapbook of more than 70 years of railroad photography, with more than 14,000 images. It attracts web traffic from all over the world.
THOUSAND POINTS OF LIGHT AWARD
Bryan Nichols is the co-owner of a downtown coffee shop and a champion of historic preservation. He also is the enthusiastic mastermind behind the Main Street Christmas Light Extravaganza on Poplar Street. In only its third year, the 700,000-light display is approaching impressive numbers, closing in on almost a half-million folks coming downtown to be merry and see the bright lights.
May you see the good news of the new year with 2020 vision.
Ed Grisamore teaches journalism at Stratford Academy in Macon. His column appears on Sundays in The Telegraph.