Fall in love with LaGrange, Georgia

An array of festivals fills the calendar with something to celebrate for everyone

LAGRANGE, GEORGIA – AUGUST 2013 – With the first crisp notes of autumnal air, the calendar fills with a harvest of happenings clearing the way for memory-making excursions the whole family will enjoy. From old-fashioned festival fun to musical pursuits to sophisticated cultural explorations, find it all this fall in LaGrange, Georgia, about an hour from Atlanta.

Hummingbird Festival

Like the event’s namesake birds, flock to the annual Hogansville Hummingbird Festival, October 19-20, where Main Street will be bustling with food, crafts, antiques, music, local artists, open storefronts, rides, and activities for the whole family. More than 200 booths filled with the wares and taste bud tickling treats of artisans, businesses, charities, hobbyists and enthusiasts from across Georgia lead to two days of old-fashioned family fun.

The Annual Hummingbird Festival Golf Tournament, dinner, dance and silent auction and a Pancake Breakfast add to the festivities. Get in the spirit of the season: each year the Festival also marks the opening of the Hogansville Halloween Haunted House of Horrors at the old Royal Theater. Hauntings begin at 7 p.m. Not for the faint of heart!

See website for schedule and full details: Hummingbirdfestival.com.
 

Pickin’ in the Park
What could be better than a lakefront setting and the great Southern Rock sounds of The Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie and Paris Luna? Join in the music with sweet Southern Rock sounds, Saturday, September 21, at Pyne Road Park, on the shores of scenic West Point Lake. Tickets: $25 in advance, $30 at door and buy one, get one free for college students with an I.D. Kids under 12 are free. Gates open at 5 p.m.; music begins at 7 p.m.

Hills and Dales one-day speaking event: A Rich Spot of Earth

Surrounded by the tranquil historic Ferrell Gardens, cultivated over 175 years, the 1916 Italian-inspired Hills and Dales Estate is the 30-room, 13,000-square-foot home of the Fuller E. Callaway family, designed by Neel Reid and opened to the public in 2004.

Plan to visit during the week of October 6 and catch Peter Hatch, director of Gardens and Grounds at Monticello and a Jefferson scholar, as he presents “A Rich Spot of Earth: Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden at Monticello” at Hills and Dales Estate, 6:30 p.m., October 8. After the lecture, Hatch will sign copies of his new award-winning book entitled “A Rich Spot of Earth” about Jefferson’s vegetable garden. Admission to the grounds is $10; free for annual pass holders; reservations required.

The following week, Stories in the Gardens takes place at 2 p.m. on October 13. Sit for a spell in the pecan grove and listen as engaging storytellers spin a yarn. Admission is free.

For more information, call 706-882-3242 or email info@hillsanddales.org .

Merry Market

Who has been naughty and who has been nice? Get ready to check your list twice just in time for the third annual Merry Market, sponsored by Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc. and benefiting the early learning programs in Troup County, Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 24-26, at the Callaway Conference Center at West Georgia Tech in LaGrange.

“In the past two years we have hosted a Mexican silver merchant from New York to a ladies boutique merchant from North Carolina,” said Stephanie Preston, chairwoman of the event. “We have also had fabulous merchants from Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and beyond. We want to make sure we spread the word in the Southeast about this opportunity so we can showcase the great items available in our region.”

The Merry Market opens Thursday night with a Preview Party and Silent auction from 5-8 p.m. and continues throughout the days on Friday (9 a.m.-7 p.m.) and Saturday (9 a.m.-5 p.m.). A Preview Party ticket ($25) includes food and beverage, music as well as the first chance to shop plus entrance into the market for the entire weekend. A one day General Admission ticket for Friday and Saturday can be purchased at the door for $5 per person.

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October Smithsonian exhibit: New Harmonies Roots Music

Beginning October 12 and continuing through November 26, the Smithsonian exhibit, “New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music,” lands at Legacy Museum on Main in LaGrange. Take advantage of the opportunity to see American musicians, listen to America’s music and hear the story of freedom. The main beat of the exhibition is the on-going cultural process that has made America the birthplace of more music than any place on earth. The exhibition provides a fascinating, inspiring and toe-tapping listen to the American story of multi-cultural exchange. The story is full of surprises about familiar songs, histories of instruments, the roles of religion and technology and the continuity of musical roots from “Yankee Doodle Dandy” to the latest hip hop CD. An opening reception will take place from 10 a.m. – noon on October 12 and special events spotlighting roots music will be held during the exhibit.

“We are very excited to be hosting ‘New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music’. This is a very well designed exhibit by the Smithsonian Museum that we are fortunate to be able to share with the people of Troup County and West Georgia. The exhibit is both educational and great fun. We are also looking forward to working with a variety of cultural groups in the area to having special programs during the exhibit period. We will be working with LaGrange Symphony Orchestra, the LaGrange College Music Department, LaGrange Art Museum, Sons of LaFayette Men’s Choir, and several other groups.

We will spotlight several of our local groups and we will also sponsor a concert by a great Blue Grass band, Doyle Larson and Quicksilver, who will perform at Callaway Auditorium. Their performance may spur you to find online guitar lessons and further your love of bluegrass.

Finally, this will be a great way to celebrate our musical roots — from Sacred Harp singing in the 1840s to bands sponsored by the textile mills in the 1930s to the great impact LaGrange College and the public schools have had on the lives of many of our residents,” says Kaye Minchew, executive director of Legacy Museum on Main and the Troup County Archives.

If you go
Make for a memorable weekend with stay in LaGrange during one or all of these events and take advantage of special fall rates:

Best Western LaFayette Garden Inn: $62, plus tax, with hotel-based IHOP breakfast. 706-668-7422

Country Inn & Suites LaGrange: $72, plus tax, includes breakfast. 706-298-4571

Wingate by Wyndham LaGrange: $74, plus tax, with breakfast. 706-298-5270

LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce, www.LagrangeChamber.com, 706-884-8671.

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