verge / february 2010 / 5
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verge publisher Matt Plocha editor Lara Plocha pipeline editors Claire Riche web guy Mr. Verge photographers Katie McGuire Chris Selmek
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smatterings / notes from the publisher There is so much to do in February and, if you looked at the calendar, it would make your head spin. There are so many special events and holidays packed in this, the smallest of months, it will be amazing if we get any sleep. Here are a few of my favorites: February is American Heart Month, American History Month, Black History Month and Children’s Dental Health Month. These are ongoing and month long events. Many are being celebrated right here in Augusta – a perfect opportunity for you to get involved directly with your community. Help celebrate any or all of these great events and make a difference right here in your backyard. On the more absurd side of things, HoodieHoo Day is on the 20th. You are supposed to go outside to shout “Hoodie-hoo!” to scare away winter and make way for spring! I expect to hear you all out there screaming. We’ve had enough of the cold stuff to last a couple of winters. This is the South already. This month, we also celebrate Gum Drop Day (don’t tell that to Hershey, that company was found in February in 1894). We also have National Humble Day which coincides with World Thinking Day on the 23rd, hmmmm. February has Love Your Pet Day and Valentine’s Day. Chinese New Year, 2010, is the year of the Tiger. Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood debuted in 1968. We have Random Act of Kindness Day, No Brainer Day, Polar Bear Day, Ash Wednesday, Purim, Mardis Gras and the proverbial favorite Super Bowl Sunday. A few famous people celebrate birthdays this month: Langston Hughes (1st), Rosa Park ( 4th), Hank Aaron (5th), Babe Ruth (6th), Charles Dickens (7th), Laura Ingalls Wilder (7th) , Abraham Lincoln (12th) , Susan B. Anthony (15th), George Washington (22nd) Levi Strauss’ (26th), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (27th). Many great people with vision and commitment to their community and their country were born in February. Are there any local heroes that you know that have a birthday this month? Celebrate with them in grand style. Celebrate their life and their commitment to what they are passionate about. Ask how they are making a difference and how you might be able to get involved with them. It is your community too. The relevance of the two paragraphs above are pretty amazing. If the birthdays we celebrate of famous people do not occur, we are not reminded of the great accomplishments in their lives and the impact that each had on our
society. Instead, we look to muddy up our day with things like Love Your Pet Day and World Thinking day, these should happen every day yet we as a society can make a national day of this that or the other thing like there is no tomorrow. My personal recommendations would be a “Love Your Neighbor Day” and “I am Going To Make A Difference in my Community Day.” These two days would be great! Instead, let’s get distracted with unimportant things in life while our community falls apart around us because we are not involved as much as we could be and use those distractions as our excuse. My challenge is to free yourself of the “clutter” (or “fuzzy land” as a good friend of mine puts it) and get to the heart of the matter. Start with your family and friends and move on to those that you come in contact with every day. What a better place we would live in and a stronger community we would be building if this took place. I myself have decided to put my Polar Bear back in the Arctic freezer where it belongs. How about you? As you look through this month’s verge, there are a lot of ways to get connected with your community. We are also proud that this month we have been blessed with a rare “one on one” interview with none other than Mr. Leon Redbone. This is truly a special treat for you, our readers, and we hope you enjoy the interview. With the many special events ahead this month clear your calendars now, and then fill them up with all of the great things going on downtown. You do not have to wait until the 22nd to “think” about it. Kick off your February with a night out during First Friday and don’t look back until the 28th. February 28th is Public Sleeping Day – woo-hoo! (Just celebrating, dear; doing my part to help with awareness) I’m tired just thinking about it all and March Madness is about to get started up. On a non-activity related topic, I wanted to remind everyone that it is still critical to support your locally owned and operated businesses in your community. We lost some great staples of the downtown community in January and that should be an indicator to just how important the 3/50 Project really is. We are saddened by the news of two more store closings in the downtown district. We wish our brothers and sisters well in their next endeavor! Shop Local Augusta! That might be defined to you as downtown local or Evans and Martinez local, Aiken local or wherever you might call home
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cover artist: katie mcguire’s vision “Graffiti can define a space, but also a generation. With Sector 7G, Nick Laws has provided a safe venue to attend shows. I can appreciate his work having spent much of my youth watching bands in gritty venues. Walking in Sector, I saw this wall of graffiti that appropriately defined the environment and the generation of eager music lovers. Photographing Nick sitting in front of the wall only seemed appropriate.”
local. As the year marches on, stick to the 3/50 Project and your local community will benefit. The numbers do not lie. This local drum beat moves past the wallet and on to doing good things in your community. Are you helping build a stronger one? Are you involved? Get involved and look for the chance to make a difference. I have challenged you before and I will continue to do so. Many opportunities are out there for relief work and assistance programs. There is a mountain of relief and aid efforts for the people of Haiti and here locally there are many chances to get involved with that cause. The vivid pictures coming out of Port Au Prince have us. They are ingrained in our memory. We as a “People” and as a country know how to rally when the cry comes in the night. Now listen and look locally. There are a lot of people in similar situations right here in Augusta. Find them and help to make a positive difference in their life. We do have many immediate crisis issues here locally that cannot go unnoticed. I know that there are not enough hours in the day to remedy all of our communities needs overnight. However, pick a cause that strikes home with you and give it your all. Your energy and enthusiasm to help will be rewarded ten-fold. The change that you can make in someone’s life can be dramatic in their time of need. So, while you are off thinking about how you can help your community more or how to get involved, remember to pray first and act second. One day you might be the recipient of a random act of kindness (celebrated in February) that would change your life. Here – have a Gum Drop. See you downtown. Matt
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