DECEMBER 2023/JANUARY 2024 | maconmagazine.com 61
T O O K M U L G E E
BY CHARLES E. RICHARDSON
P e r s p e c t i v e s o n t h e
I N T E R C I T Y T O U R
H
ome lives in a special part of everyone's being.
No matter where we stray, home remains home.
A group of 54 Macon residents representing
various aspects of the community — education,
banking, business, healthcare, nonprofits, and
foundations — embarked on a three-day trek to Tulsa and
Okmulgee, Oklahoma on Sept. 27, 2023, to explore and
attempt to understand home. Not only our home, but also
the present-day home of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation
(Mvskoke). In so doing, we hoped to better understand why,
after almost 200 years since removal, the connection to
their first home, here in Central Georgia, remains strong.
The trip was a collaborative effort of NewTown Macon and
Visit Macon, sponsored by the Community Foundation of
Central Georgia, Griffith Foundation, Knight Foundation, Peyton
Anderson Foundation, Georgia Power, Cox Communications,
OVG 360, Adams Law Firm, and Piedmont Macon.
The intercity tour is an annual event that allows participants
to see how other cities work and discover similarities and
differences in their approaches to handling public safety,
tourism, housing, economic development — and, most
importantly, how residents solve problems to overcome
historical challenges.
Cass Hatcher, River Edge Behavioral Health CEO, said of the
tour, "We are all busy working in our various silos with limited
opportunities for true engagement. This trip provided an added
benefit of building relationships and networking opportunities
that developed among the Macon contingent."
