Let me get this straight. Gov. Nathan Deal had to leave the hills and hollers of North Georgia and come down to fancy-pants Buckhead in order to locate a steady source of moonshine?
Yep.
The governor revealed the shocking truth at the Atlanta History Center’s Swan House Ball. During the April 26 event, Deal signed Senate Bill 240, allowing the 1860s-era century Smith Family Farm, located on the History Center campus, to operate a 19th-century still for educational purposes.
“We’ve always looked up to your sophistication,” the former congressman said during dinner, a magnificent event despite the lack of white lightnin’ on the drink menu. “I don’t know how I’m going to explain to the folks I used to represent in North Georgia that the Atlanta History Center has a moonshine still.”
"We're all about the local foods movement," Atlanta History Center President and CEO Sheffield Hale deadpanned.
The Swan House Ball honored both Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.
“Tonight, in all of my time being mayor, was the first time I was jealous of my friend Gov. Deal,” Reed said. “He had an easier commute.”
Both the mayor and governor stressed their ongoing collaboration and economic successes including the city and state’s growing filming industry. The “Hunger Games” series, which filmed key scenes for “Catching Fire” at the Swan House, recently returned for “Mockingjay.” A number of projects, including the Lifetime show “Devious Maids” and movies such as “The Three Stooges,” “Anchorman 2,” “Endless Love” and “Need for Speed,” have filmed in some of the stately private homes within shouting distance of the Swan House and the Georgia Governor’s Mansion.
“We have caused the city and the state to go so much farther because of the work we have been able to do together,” Reed said. “We care more about Atlanta, more about Georgia than the small differences we have. The governor and I wake up every single day thinking about you.”
Radio host plans benefit golf tournament
97.1 The River morning show host Kaedy Kiely plans a benefit golf tournament Monday in memory of longtime Atlanta Motor Speedway promotion and marketing director Marcy Scott, who died of cancer last fall at age 42.
“It was heartbreaking that someone with such will and desire to live would have to leave us,” said Kiely, a breast cancer survivor. “I miss her terribly, and just had to do something to honor her awe-inspiring courage.”
The event, at the Fairways of Canton, 400 Laurel Canyon Parkway, aids the Thomas F. Chapman Family Cancer Wellness at Piedmont, a nonprofit that serves cancer patients for free. Registration starts at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start at 10 a.m. Registration is $200 for individuals or $750 for a foursome. If you can't attend, there's also an online silent auction. See full details at www.marcysmulligan.org.
