Georgia Magazine - January 2015 - 8

COMPILED BY JENNIFER J. HEWETT

* Gamers converge. The SMITE World
Championship, attracting teams of video
game players from around the world, is
set for Jan. 9-11 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta. SMITE, a
popular mythology-themed action game,
was created by Alpharetta-based Hi-Rez
Studios. Two teams from North America,
two from Europe, two from China, one
from Brazil and one from countries in the
Hispano-American region will compete
for the $1.73 million-plus prize pool. For
tickets and details, see bit.ly/1zBBc3B.
* Monologue competition. Georgia Public Broadcasting and Kenny Leon's True
Colors Theatre Co. are partnering to produce a broadcast version of the 2015 August Wilson Monologue Competition, set
for Feb. 23 at GPB studios. High school
sophomores, juniors and seniors from the
Atlanta area will perform two- to threeminute monologues from one of 10 plays
written by Wilson. The top three winners
will advance to the National Finals in
New York City in early May.

COURTESY ROCK CITY GARDENS

* Historic place. Rock City Gardens in
Lookout Mountain was recently added to
the National Register of Historic Places.
Developed in the 1930s as a way to capitalize on the growing trend of automobile
tourism, today visitors can tour scenic
trails and natural stone features such as
Fat Man's Squeeze and Lover's Leap,
and see whimsical statues at this
42-acre park.
Visit seerock
city.com for
info.

The Fox Theatre in Atlanta
kicked off a yearlong celebration in
September in honor of the grassroots
campaign that saved the theater 40
years ago. As part of "The Legend
Lives On" celebration, ofﬁcials also
launched a search for the Fox Theatre's Biggest Fan, asking patrons to
share their stories about the theater
on social media. Sharon Frank, of
Palmetto, a frequent visitor for more
than 50 years, was recently named
the winner.
"We received so many great submissions from fans across the nation-from engagement proposals
and weddings to family traditions
and group gatherings," says Carmie
McDonald, community engagement
manager.
In the winning entry, Frank wrote
about her ﬁrst date with her husband,
Charles, at the Fox in 1967 to see the
movie "Hotel." They were engaged
later that year and recently celebrated
46 years together.

COURTESY THE FOX THEATRE

* Top city! Savannah was named No. 7 on
the list of Condé Nast Traveler's "North
American Top Cities" in their Readers'
Choice Awards, for the city's abundant
arts and culture, friendliness, scenery,
accommodations and more. This is the
eighth year Savannah has been named
to the list, moving up two spots from
No. 9 in 2013.

Celebrating an iconic theater

Upcoming festivities for 2015
include special shows, a gala celebration, block party and educational
opportunities. For details and Frank's
story, visit www.foxtheatre.org/the
legend.

Fun facts:
* The Fox Theatre was one of the earliest air-conditioned buildings
in the country, even preceding the White House.
* The theater's "sky" is a vaulted ceiling painted ultramarine blue,
and its twinkling stars are 11-watt bulbs ﬁxed above 3-inch
crystals. The drifting clouds are produced by a special projector.
* The theater serves more than 4.5 tons of popcorn each year!

Places in peril named
Ten threatened historic Georgia
sites were named in October to the
Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation's 2014 Places in Peril list. Buildings on this ninth annual list are
threatened by demolition, neglect,
lack of maintenance and encroaching
development.
Sites include the Sowega Building in Adel (Cook County); Blackshear Prison Camp in Blackshear
(Pierce County); Chauncey School
in Chauncey (Dodge County); Grifﬁn City Hall in Grifﬁn (Spalding
County); Hawkinsville Firehouse in
Hawkinsville (Pulaski County); Kolb
Street House in Madison (Morgan
County); Church of the Puriﬁcation
More online at www.georgiamagazine.org

HALSTON PITMAN / MOTORSPORTMEDIA /
RACEMSM.COM

Georgia glimpses

W&A Railroad Depot,
Tunnel Hill

of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Sharon
(Taliaferro County); Greek Revival
houses of Troup County; W&A Railroad Depot in Tunnel Hill (Whitﬁeld
County); and the Connally Marchman
House in Villa Rica (Carroll County).
Visit www.georgiatrust.org for
more on these sites and how you can
help save them.
GEORGIA MAGAZINE

http://www.bit.ly/1zBBc3B http://www.foxtheatre.org/thelegend http://www.foxtheatre.org/thelegend http://www.seerockcity.com http://www.seerockcity.com http://www.georgiatrust.org http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Georgia Magazine - January 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - January 2015