Newspaper Page Text
Classic City
named a
Distinctive
Destination
By KATIE ANDREW
The Red & Black
Towering wooden staircases that wind
through grand parlors, fireplaces that re
tell the stories of antebellum America,
stupendous wrap-around porches that
stack like wedding cakes. These are
things most people have only seen in
“Gone With the Wind.” Athenians are
lucky enough to see them every day.
Recently, someone else took note of
the well-preserved architectural achieve
ments that make this the Classic City.
“The mission of the National Trust is
to help people protect, enhance and
enjoy the places that matter to them,”
said Karen Nickless, field representative
for the National Trust for Historic
Preservation.
The NTHP recognized Athens as one
of its annual Dozen Distinctive
Destinations. Since 2000, the NTHP has
chosen 12 American vacation destina
tions each year that combine a vibrant,
eclectic culture with an enduring value of
historic preservation and revitalization.
“Historic preservation is important
because everyone in the community has
something that they value. It’s not about
the National Trust coming in and telling
you what’s important in your communi
ty,” Nickless said. “It also makes a good
deal of sense economically, too, because
people will come to visit someplace like
Athens that’s not Anywhere, USA.
Communities with revitalized historic
downtowns tend to be more vibrant than,
say, the suburbs.”
Nickless explained that the National
Trust is interested in boosting the econo
mies of these distinct locations.
“The Dozen Distinctive Destinations is
Festival presents ‘highly interactive’ performances, sessions
By LAURIE MCGOWAN
The Red & Black
Where can any young
lad or lass come upon a
parade of bagpipers, bonny
knees and men in kilts?
Why, Athens’ very first
Scottish Heritage Festival,
of course.
As Scotland may be out
of reach for some, the
Lyndon House Arts Center
offers an excellent alterna
tive for students to get a
taste of Scottish culture,
history and heritage.
Event coordinator
Dorothy Harnish, along
side husband Dan Wilson,
has embraced Scottish
music, literature, food,
dance, art, genealogy, his
tory and heraldry for many
years.
“We’ve been to Scotland
several times and have
organized Robert Burns
CORRECTIONS
In Thursday’s
“Happy Nude Year,”
the Odum School of
Ecology was incorrect
ly called the Ecology
Department. Also, the
calendar was created
by individual students,
not the Ecology Club.
Also, in Thursday’s
“Redcoats trade in
plumes, play on stage, ”
it should say the con
cert is hosted by Phi
Kappa Theta.
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JIIVI DIFFLY | The Red & Black
A The Taylor-Grady House is located off of Prince Avenue in Athens. The house was built in 1839 by General
Robert Taylor and was occupied by Henry Grady from 1865 to 1868.
really a way to reward communities that
are already doing a good job using pres
ervation as an economic engine,” she
said. “[They] often use it as a marketing
tool, which is wonderful, but it’s really,
from our point of view, a reward for a job
well done kind of a pat on the back.”
Main Street, a program developed by
NTHR is an avant-garde approach to
incorporating historic revitalization into
economic expansion. It has helped
encourage nation-wide restoration of his
toric downtowns for almost 30 years.
“[Main Street] helps downtowns
develop the resources they have, which
are very different than the resources in
other areas,” Nickless said. “We bring the
ATHENS SCOTTISH
HERITAGE FESTIVAL
When: 10 a.m. Saturday
Where: Lyndon House Arts
Center
Price: Free
Dinners in Athens for the
past three years,” Harnish
said. “But what really
made it work this year was
the opportunity for our
local group, the Thistle
and Kudzu Scottish
Society, to partner with
two great community
groups: the Lyndon House
Arts Center and the
Athens Regional Ljbrary.”
Wilson, also an avid
Scots enthusiast, agreed it
all began with a trip to
Scotland.
“Doing the usual pub
crawls, we were looking for
POKER: Senior maintains normalcy
>- From Page 1
home the top prize.
Since his Monte Carlo debut,
Williams has participated in a number of
tournaments and continues playing
online.
Still, even with such extraordinary
success under his belt, Williams seems
content being an average University stu
dent who ventures downtown “way too
much.”
Williams plans on staying in Athens
after graduation and traveling around
“doing poker stuff.” This includes jet-set
ting to Las Vegas to play in the World
Series of Poker tournaments, which
Williams did this past year, placing sec
ond in one of the tournaments.
“The final table was shown on ESPN,
and a lot of people have come up to me
[since the show],” he said.
Viewers would have noticed Williams
something to do and were
told to go to [something
called] the military tat
too,” Wilson said. “So,
bored, we picked up tick
ets. We soon found out
that ‘tattoo’ meant enter
tainment. It was real dra
matic with lit-up skies and
a sunset and [bag] pipers
walking out of castles one
after another.”
After that, Wilson was
hooked. Taught by a pipe
and drum band in Buffalo,
N.Y., Wilson has pursued
his vision all the way to
Athens where he started
his own group, the Thistle
& Kudzu Scottish Pipes
and Drums, and began
teaching classes at the
Oconee Cultural Arts
Foundation.
However, in organizing
the event, Harnish has
tried to keep it on a more
educational note as well.
donning his poker gear, which includes
sunglasses and headphones, in order to
stay focused and “combat boredom”
throughout the game.
His music selection varies, depending
on the amount of chips he’s accumulat
ed. If he’s up in chips, Williams blasts rap
music to keep him playing aggressively. If
he’s down in the chip count, Williams
tends to listen to calm music to “keep
him from going crazy.”
Even with aspirations of winning a top
prize at the World Series event, Williams
does not plan to pursue poker full time.
In fact, poker may have led Williams
to anew career path: venture capitalist.
Known as “staking” in the poker
world, Williams has started “banking”
players and receiving a percentage of
their wins in return, he said.
And while it’s a risky career path,
Williams certainly does have a knack for
putting it all on the line.
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technical tools and the expertise to try to
help people protect what’s important to
them.”
Hannah Smith, communications man
ager at the Athens Visitors’ Bureau,
heard the NTHP was looking for “places
that had not lost their soul” to qualify for
the 2009 Dozen Distinctive Locations.
“I think we fit that bill pretty well,”
Smith said.
The Visitors’ Bureau, along with the
Athens Welcome Center and Athens-
Clarke Heritage Foundation, were
required to submit an application to be
considered for the award.
“Some of the things we highlighted for
them were our 16 historic districts and
“We tried to balance
performances of dance,
songs, music and bagpipe
bands, with more informa
tional sessions on history,
literature, attire, tartan
heritage and genealogy,”
Harnish said.
Which is why, in addi
tion to the Great Highland
bagpipes of Wilson,
Harnish chose to introduce
James A1 Bullman, a
Scottish history expert,
and Lydia Craig, a
University student who is
a native of Scotland.
Craig, a junior English
major, will be presenting
poet Robert Bums’ most
popular writings. She will
also perform other
Scottish songs, ballads
and traditional folk tunes
to illustrate the lifestyle,
culture and history of the
Scots.
Craig said an amalgam
MUSIC
The Red & Black [ Friday, January 23, 2009
our four house museums,” Smith said.
“Downtown and the art and music scene
were very important to them as well.”
Among that catalog of historic land
marks around town, Smith named the
Morton Theater at the top of the list.
“It’s one of the only remaining
Vaudeville theaters that was built and
operated by an African American.”
Another beloved benchmark Smith
identified was the Taylor-Grady House.
“The Taylor-Grady House is your ste
reotypical Greek revival mansion. It’s
what people picture in their heads when
they think about that,” Smith said. “It is
a national historic landmark the only
one in Athens.”
of Celtic sagas, an aggres
sive English culture and
the confusion experienced
through the abrupt change
in religion and lifestyle in
the sixteenth century sets
Scottish literature apart.
“The history of Scotland
provides a fascinating
account of a brave people
dealing with harsh circum
stances and oppressors,
and the literature reflects
their mingled humor and
despondency in these situ
ations,” Craig said.
According to Craig, the
role of Bums in Scottish
literature is one of defiance
and pride.
“Burns was one of the
first Scottish writers to be
proud of his nationality
and even to use it as his
inspiration. The Scots
have always identified him
as the writer closest to the
•nation’s heart and identi
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ty,” she said.
Craig will also be per
forming traditional music
during the festival.
“I’ll take a stab at
teaching everyone a song
in the native Gaelic, which
should be delightfully chal
lenging.”
While there are perfor
mances and informational
sessions, the festival is also
highly interactive.
Organizers encourage
audience participation, but
not always the typical
interaction one would
think.
“There will be a fun
event called the Bonniest
Knees Contest,” said
Harnish. “Guys in kilts will
compete to see whose
[knees] are judged to be
best by a team of blind
folded female judges exam
ining each pair.... This can
get pretty wild.”
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