Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1512887
DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | maconmagazine.com 109 Truist.com Truist Bank, Member FDIC. © 2022 Truist Financial Corporation. Truist, the Truist logo and Truist Purple are ser vice marks of Truist Financial Corporation. Care isn't just what we do at Truist—it's who we are. We make sure people around us feel supported and more in control. We find out what's important to our clients, and make it important to us. We get involved in meaningful ways with our communities. Why? Because real connections and real care create better outcomes. Now that's powerful. When you start with care, you get a different kind of bank. Find Macon200 on social media to keep up with Bicentennial Park developments and the future bicentennial book. "I love my city. I didn't even know how loudly I needed to say that ... And I've worked alongside people I didn't know loved it so much, too." America's next national park. The park has long been planned as a space for Maconites to enjoy, with input from nearby residents being sought in the design process by the Urban Development Authority during the Mill Hill neighborhood revitalization. The bicentennial committee has been focused on finding several key artworks to complete the design, and sent out a national call for artists to bring the best to Macon. To showcase the park's potential, in October, Macon200 partnered with artist John Mollica to bring the brand-new All-Blues Music and Art Revival to the site. A new crosswalk – emblazoned with Macon200 in bold bubble letters – connects Main Street to Schell Avenue in a design featuring the flow of the Ocmulgee River, created collaboratively by Erin Hawkins and Randy Heart. The crosswalk was painted during Play Streets, a program managed by Bike Walk Macon (read more on page 34), which held an event closing off the street with free games and entertainment for families. Wrapping the year Co-chair Alex Habersham, publisher and owner of the Macon-Middle Georgia Black Pages, was appointed to preside over the bicentennial with Moonhanger Group's Wes Griffith. Habersham called it "an unparalleled opportunity to play a role in the accomplishment of the project's mission." Looking back on the breadth of the year, Habersham believes the programs have made "a measurable difference" in bringing the city together, despite differences in backgrounds and a fraught history. "I tell everyone that I want to get t-shirts emblazoned saying, 'I love my city.' I didn't even know how loudly I needed to say that until we heard the anthem. I love my city. I really love it. And I've worked alongside people I didn't know loved it so much, too." ✤ Julia Morrison served on the Macon200 commission as part of the executive committee, the arts committee, and the subcommittee on historic markers. She managed the Bicentennial Art Shows. BELOW Fire Starters Film Festival brought Indigenous films and filmmakers to Macon. BOTTOM An audience member views maps of removal routes Muscogee citizens took when they were forced to migrate to Oklahoma from Georgia. Both photos by Jessica Whitley.