Long time comin’ Rodgers honored with Walk of Fame statue

On Saturday, July 2, a life size bronze statue of Cedartown coaching legend Escue Rodgers was presented to the public. His likeness is the latest to join the Polk County Sports Walk of Fame.

Rodgers had a tradition of winning. He nurtured success after success, cultivating an athletic program that yielded champions. Not just shiny gold and silver trophies, not just a lengthy line of wins in the column, but a legacy of determination and excellence.

For the most part, Rodgers and his athletes excelled without help. They did it without much recognition. They did it with very little equipment. Rodgers was head coach and athletic director at Cedar Hill High School from 1945 until the late 60s. “He was a beacon of light for us,” recalled Cedar Hill alumni Terry Nelson.

Nelson, class of 1959, played football from 8th grade through 12th grade under Rodgers’ leadership. “He was a beacon not only for athletics but also academics. Coach carried us places, gave us experiences we would have never had otherwise. He’d carry a carload to Atlanta to watch a game and showed us how to scout.” Nelson also said that he kept close tabs on his players, checking on them nightly to make sure they were home. “I remember going to the West Cinema. We’d leave from the theatre late at night and we’d see his car circling the parking lot,” he laughed. “We’d take off headed for home for sure. He was one of a kind.”

Football, basketball, track — the Cedar Hill High School Panthers came from a small school but had a big reputation for winning. In fact, Rodgers’ teams were so good, local schools often refused to play them. So instead, the Cedar Hill athletes were squared off against much larger schools in Atlanta. Even with a more formidable challenger, it wasn’t unusual for the Panthers to still bring home a win.

Nelson was part of the 1957 championship team, a win he will never forget. He said that Coach Rodgers was a skilled master of designing football plays, even though Rodgers himself had never played on a football team. “He used Coca-Cola bottles,” Nelson explained. “He’d take a case of 24 Cokes and position those bottles to show us plays and tell us positions.”

The man who loved to wear his ball cap was not only a coach, he was an encourager. He valued education just as much as a championship title — and there were many of those. The Cedar Hill Panthers were perennial winners under Rodgers’ leadership. They won 85 trophies in 24 years. The Panthers once held the record for most points scored in one season. During his tenure, Rodger ’s football teams won 45 football games, lost 18, and tied for four.

Cedar Hill won the State Championship B title in 1951 and finished second in 1952. They won the North Georgia title for four years (1951, 1953, 1955 and 1957). Making the playoffs became a regular occurrence under Rodgers’ leadership, and in 1954, the Cedar Hill Panthers won the Class B State Championship in football in a victory over Wayne County Training School of Jessup. Rodgers was selected as head coach for the North Team of the first Georgia Interscholastic Association All-Star Gem in Macon in 1950. He guided the Northern All-Stars to a 13-7 victory over the Southern All-Stars. He was also a coach for the East-West GIA All-Star Football game in 1962.

After integration in the late 1960s and the phase out of Cedar Hill High School in 1969, Rodgers attained a position at Cedartown High School as assistant coach under athletic director Jimmy Carter. Off the field, Rodgers was well-loved in the classroom. He taught math and was just as much the encourager to his kids in front of the chalkboard as he was to his kids in uniform. “He always told us grades first, then football and sports,” said Nelson, who played basketball and ran track as well.

And it was his students, The Cedar Hill High School Alumni Association, that put forth the herculean effort in having Rodgers recognized in his community for his accomplishments. They wanted his story told and recognized. They wanted his accomplishments celebrated by future generations. An application was submitted by the alumni association to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame; it was their wish to have Rodgers inducted. It took several attempts and five years, but on May 22, 2021, their wish came true: Escue Rodgers was officially inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. But they didn’t stop there.

Another success was earned by the group in July 2021, as $30,000 was raised and applied towards the creation of a bronze life-size statue of Coach Rodgers to be placed in the Polk County Sports

Walk of Fame. And in the winning tradition and determination of the Cedar Hill Panthers, the statue of their role model — a community coaching legend — was unveiled on July 2, 2022, at 11 a.m.

Rodgers will take his rightful place along with the six other bronze statues that are displayed along the Polk County Walk of Fame. These statues were unveiled in 2016 and include local athletic greats and Georgia Sports Hall of Famers Ray Beck, Edgar Chandler, Doug Sanders, Whitlow Wyatt, Doc Ayers and Jimmy Hightower.

Cedartown native and sculptor Julia Knight created the first set of statues and was honored to sculpt Rodgers as well. “This has been such a long-time coming,” Knight said. “We are really talking about an untold story here, the story of Escue Rodgers. When I began researching information and gathering photos before starting the sculpture, I realized that information, those photographs hardly exist. The only photos that seemingly exist are tiny and came from the school yearbook.” Because photos were scarce, Knight worked closely with the Cedar Hill Alumni Association to recreate his likeness.

Cedar Hill alumni Carolyn Gibbs (’65) worked closely with Knight in order to get the statue just right. “People just didn’t take as many photos back then. We gathered up what we could,” explained Gibbs. Gibbs reflected on her memories to paint a complete picture of Coach Rodgers to aid in the sculpture process. She created a profile for Knight to work with, which included his general stature and personality. Rodgers loved his ball cap, Gibbs recalled with a chuckle. “He just wasn’t Mr. Rodgers without that ball cap, and when he couldn’t wear it, it was folded up and stuck down in the pocket of his trademark tan jacket.”

Former students of Rodgers will be happy to see that his cherished ball cap and jacket are featured on the statue. “The statue is absolutely wonderful.”

Municipal Court Judge Ben Burch was sworn-in August 2022. He has been a partner in Mundy & Burch Law Firm since 2012. In addition, he is a part-time juvenile court judge in Polk & Haralson Counties. He is a board member on the Cedartown Polk Humane Society. Judge Burch fills the position left vacant by Judge Andrew Roper who was recently sworn in as Polk Superior Court Judge. sworn in as Polk Superior Court Judge.

The Cedartown Home Depot employees worked to restore our “Welcome to Cedartown” signs. These beauties needed a lot of TLC and the folks at Home Depot knew exactly what to do. A little repair work, patching here and there, and a fresh coat of paint took this artwork from drab to fab. Before the signs were hung back up, we took a quick photo to mark to occasion. Cedartown Home Depot Store Manager Tim Ramirez is pictured at far left with Renee Weeks and Hannah Coalson, two of the Home Depot employees that worked on the sign (there were more, but they were not present for the photo). Also in the picture is Cedartown Public Works Street Superintendent Luke Turley; Cedartown City Manager Edward Guzman; Aaron Pettit, Cedartown maintenance department and Cedartown Public Works Director Matthew Wray.

Kristen Brannon and her family officially broke ground on the soon-to-be built Chick-Fil-A restaurant on Oct. 24. The restaurant will be located on US 27, just in front of Tractor Supply Co. Plans are for a spring 2023 opening. City of Cedartown officials, city commissioners, and representatives of Polk County, Polk Chamber of Commerce and the Development Authority of Polk County also participated in the groundbreaking. Above, the Brannons and local officials “break ground.” At left, Commission Chair (2022) Andrew Carter began the ceremony.

Above: The Cedartown 5K Wheelchair Race was back on the list of annual events in 2022. Hometown favorite Krige Schabort speeds down College Street during warm-ups. At left and below: Seasonal banners were created and purchased by the Economic Development and Tourism Department in 2022. These banners hang along historic downtown Main Street and are changed out according to the season.