By AWM
Seeing that most of us are adolescents in older bodies [Snicker], let’s revisit a staple of our elementary school days: Show and Tell.
Tell us about yourself… any special talents you have and what’s unique/interesting about where you grew up or where you live now. My special talent is that I can freehand-draw Fred Flintstone. I’ve had this “special talent” since I was around 10 years old. How’d I acquire this unique aptitude? Remember those wax paper/carbon toys where you used a stylus to imprint an image? Well, the one I played with was a Flintstones thingy. Here are 3 examples of the type of carbon imprint toy thingy I’m talking about.
And here’s a rendition of Fred that I just knocked out in about 30 seconds.
Regarding interesting facts about where I live – Augusta*, GA – here are a few.
- Augusta was established in 1736 by General James Edward Oglethorpe.
- Augusta was named after Princess Augusta of Wales.
- Augusta’s elite lived along Broad, Greene and Telfair streets. They were known as “Pinch Gut” for the corseted ladies who inhabited the area.
- Augusta was twice the capital of Georgia.
- The Medical College of Georgia was the state’s first medical school.
- In the late 1800s, Augusta staked out a claim as a resort city. Guests included President William H. Taft, John D. Rockefeller, and Harvey Firestone.
- President Woodrow Wilson lived in Augusta during the Civil War. Boyhood Home of Woodrow Wilson | Augusta, Georgia (wilsonboyhoodhome.org)
- Bobby Jones built the Augusta National Golf Club and hosted its First Invitational Tournament in 1934. Heard of The Masters?
- At least 10 Confederate generals were either born in the Augusta area, called it home at one time, or are buried here.
- Two signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried in Augusta.
- The Augusta Chronicle is the South’s oldest newspaper.
- The Georgia Republican Party and the Southern Baptist Convention were both started in Augusta.
- St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, built in 1749, is the third oldest Episcopal Church in Georgia.
- Ty Cobb’s baseball career began with the Augusta Tourists in 1904.
- It is rumored that George Washington’s dog is buried in Augusta.
*Technically I live in a suburb, but you get the idea.