11/6/2022

 

Weekly Update 11/6/2022

Savannah is back from the pandemic! The fall lectures are every where, and I attended a lot this week. The HSF annual meeting was on Tuesday, and although I’m not a member of the Historic Savannah Foundation, I am associated with it through my work at DH. The speakers at the meeting were from Rochester! They work with groups who are filling in the Inner Loop. I was a bit disappointed because the talk was more about how to get neighborhood groups engaged in the decisions that affect them, and not as much about the project itself. But It was a small bit of Rochester, and I don’t get much of that here. Wednesday, I attended a CMA luncheon meeting. I haven’t been able to do that because I’ve been giving tours at DH on Wednesdays. But I asked to change to Thursdays, just so I could participate in this group again. The speaker after the lunch talked about social media platforms, and how groups can use them to promote their programs. As an individual member, I have no program to promote, so it was mostly lost on me. That same afternoon, I went to TLC for a lecture about Harry Hervey, a local Savannah author who wrote in the early 20^th century. I’ve read one of his books, and he’s buried at Bonaventure, so I wanted to learn more. And then, in the evening, I went back to the Juliet Gordon Low Birthplace museum for an interesting lecture about Mamie Williams. She was a local Savannahian who was active in the Republican party in the first half of the 20^th century. She was African American, and worked with registering Black voters and women's suffrage. She became disenchanted with politics later in her life, and re-focused her efforts on organizing Girl Scout Troops for young Black girls in the area. The Bonaventure Historical Society Annual business meeting was Thursday evening, and they had a speaker. But I can’t tell you what that was about. The dinner and meeting were at the History Museum, and the acoustics were so bad, I couldn’t hear anything that was said. Saturday night, I went with Jane to a talk at the Jepson about Slave Dwelling Project. There is man who is goes about the south and sleeps in slaves quarters that he finds, whether in museums, or just on the side of a roadway. He uses that as a way to connect to his ancestors and get an honest feeling of what life may have been like for them. That was fascinating.  So I’ve used a lot of gas this week, going here and there, but I’ve learned a lot and that’s what I like to do.

I also went to two knitting groups. Wednesday, between all the lectures, I went to the Pooler Library and worked there for a short time. On Saturday, I met with the Lions Club group at a new coffee house that’s only slightly closer to my apartment. I took one baby blanket that I’d finished, and worked on another while I was there.

Saturday morning, I joined other members of the Bonaventure Historical Society to clean up the Carl Brandt plot. Carl Brandt is important to Savannah because he was the long time art collector for the Telfair Academy, and really formed it into an important collection. But the site has become overgrown and the marker was so dirty it couldn’t be read. With permission of out-of-state distant relatives, the BHS took it upon themselves to return it to the condition that it deserves.  The marble had been cleaned by professionals before we started, but we took out overgrown shrubs, raked debris and reset garden tiles. It only took a couple of hours. We  have a sense of satisfaction that it now looks so good. Of course, I’m not really good at that working outside, and I did get some dirt under my fingernails which drove me crazy, but I took a shower as soon as I got home again, and was none the worse for my participation.

In my continuing quest to eat as much pumpkin flavored everything while it’s available, I went to Leopold’s after DH and got a Pumpkin Spice ice cream. That was so-o-o good.

Former neighbors at MP, Bob and Suzy, are moving to a house in upstate New York to be closer to family. On Sunday, there was a farewell gathering for them. We all wish them the best, and we look forward to the times they will return to Savannah for a visit.

The Bills were a terrible disappointment this week. They needed this game, but I have to say they didn’t deserve to win. They did not play well. I didn’t like the outcomes of most of the games this week. I hope Josh Allen can step up and play better next week.