Sweet Tea: Counting bats

Hey there, I’m so glad you’re here! Welcome to Sweet Tea by the AJC, a newsletter for refreshing, positive stories from around the South. Sit and stay a while. We have so much to tell you.

THE BEST KIND OF SANTA

Randy Smith leads a group of volunteers from Santa for the Homeless. The group comprised of members from 10 different churches provides much needed supplies to the estimated 104 people that live at the Gainesville encampment.

They call him Santa Randy, and it’s a title well-earned. For years, Randy Smith has been collecting food, clothing and supplies for unhoused peple in Gainesville, Georgia.

His mission turned into “Santa for the Homeless,” a monthly gathering where Smith, his wife Melanie and a group of volunteers set up tables of donations and welcome their unhoused neighbors with open arms.

For Smith, it’s not just about giving. It’s about showing up face-to-face, embracing others as brothers and sisters, and putting his own faith into practice.

“We are serving the homeless,” he said. “We are just the feet and hands of God.”

BAT BLITZ!

I'm so sorry, yes, I know you are the terror of the night, very scary, but this is for your own good!

Most of Alabama’s bats are either endangered or have a high level of conservation concern. What’s a bat-loving human to do?

• Every year, researchers and members of Alabama’s Bet Working Group gather for a “Bat Blitz,” a multi-night bat-palooza in which they gently catch and examine bats across the state to gauge things like species health and population size.
• The little critters make a big impact on human life. Bats can eat pests that would otherwise lay waste to crops, keep mosquito populations down and generally balance insect ecosystems.

If only there were a way to tell them what the Bat Blitz is about. To the bats, it’s a bunch of giants with soft nets temporarily abducting them. It’s for science, little guys! We love you!

DEBATE: WHAT IS THE SOUTH, EXACTLY?

Let’s be honest. We’re never going to solve this question. Do you define the South by geography? Historical precedent? The Mason-Dixon Line? Let’s be honest, Southernness is very much a vibes-based metric.

It’s helpful to look at the fringes: The places that could or could not be the South, depending on the definition. (After all, no one’s debating whether Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee and their neighbors are the South. Y’all are good.) I’m talking Maryland, Texas, Florida. The maybes.

I love my AJC colleague Tom Lake’s rubric for deciding the borders of Southern culture in Florida. It’s a good litmus test for other places, too:

• How hard is it to find sweet tea?
• Do local leaders have Southern accents?
• Are people proud of being Southern?

What other things would you add to the test? I would add a Waffle House density matrix.

SIPS FROM AROUND THE SOUTH

TELL US SOMETHING GOOD

SOUTHERN WISDOM

Monograms! Now that may crack the “What is the South?” question wide open.