VALDOSTA —
The City of Valdosta Sesquicentennial Committee is placing a time capsule in Drexel Park Friday night at 6 p.m., right before the first Valdosta Wildcats game.
The committee is working hard to ensure that the items placed inside are well preserved and are reflective of what is happening in the community in 2010. The capsule will be opened by the VHS Class of 2010 in the year 2060 at their 50th high school class reunion, which will also be the year of the city’s 200th birthday celebration.
While a lot of us may not still be around then, if we are, it will be interesting to look back on this year and see all of the changes that will have happened in the next few decades. Will John Fretti still be mayor? Will Ashley and Patterson ever become one-way streets? Or will we still even be driving cars by then? Maybe the streets will be railways and monorails. How will we communicate in the future? Will the written word be obsolete? And, more importantly to a lot of folks, will we have ever had an Olive Garden in Valdosta?
Alas, those questions are left to our future selves, but in the present, come help the city celebrate this wonderful 150th birthday year at Drexel Park Friday evening. Come to Valdosta Back to the Future 2060 before the big opening game for VHS.
Business Roundup
Busy week with openings and closings and new announcements. If you missed it earlier this week, CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) has announced that Valdosta is a site they will pitch when they bid on future prison projects from the state and federal government. Here’s hoping they’re successful. Lots of jobs, good paying ones, will come if they are.
On a more immediate note, Taqueria Sur Este has recently expanded and moved into an adjacent space so that they now have room for larger groups and parties. The restaurant is on North Oak Street Extension
Valdosta Powerhouse Outdoor equipment is moving down the block on Janet Street. Instead of facing Bemiss Road, they will now face North Ashley Street in the building where Leo’s used to be.
There’s a new Mexican themed restaurant moving in on North Ashley Street where the former Margarita’s used to be. The sign is up, but the building is still being worked on, so I am not sure when it will open.
Traditions Flooring just opened on Northside Drive. The retail location for the company is located next to Simply Silver in the Stone Crest plaza.
The Potters House has plans to expand into the mall this fall, and I should have more details soon.
There are two places in Lake Park that have closed, and I’m not sure what’s happening with them. One is the Sonic, and at first, I thought they were just renovating, but now it appears that they are closed indefinitely. The other is Nero Tires, and they are referring all their customers to the location they have in Valdosta.
And speaking of closing, Old South Barbeque on Hill Avenue is closed, but I’ve had no luck finding out if it’s temporary or permanent. Does anyone know?
To end on a more permanent note, the construction on Cheddar’s restaurant is going well for its location on Norman Drive, and the Walmart next to it has started its renovation but will remain open while the work is being done. That’s it for this week, but if there’s something I’ve missed, please let me know!
Business
Related Photos
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LEFT: (From left) Roger Brooks of Bailey’s Monument, Inc., sets a granite bench in Drexel Park, as Donald Davis and Sementha Mathews, both of the Valdosta Sesquicentennial Planning Committee, assist. The bench is temporarily placed in the west end of the park, until after the city’s time capsule is buried at the Valdosta Back to the Future 2060 event on Friday, Aug. 27, at 6 p.m. Following the ceremony, the bench will be relocated on top of the buried time capsule to securely mark the location for the city’s bicentennial event in the year 2060.
Business This Week: Time Capsule this weekend
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Gayla’s Grits: A Taste of the South
What started as a unique Christmas gift for family and friends has turned into the go-to business for the best grits in town and, possibly, the world.
Gayla’s Grits, owned by husband-and-wife duo Kevin and Gayla Shaw, began in 1997 while grinding naturally grown white corn for personal consumption. -
Graduates heading into the real world
Over the last week or so, thousands of high school students in our area have graduated and are preparing for their next step in life. Some are going straight to college, others are seeking military careers, some are going straight to work, and there are most likely quite a few who have no real plans or idea what to do next.
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Have A Happy Free Birthday!
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Valdosta Shared Office Space
VALDOSTA — Though Valdosta Shared Office Space is not new to Valdosta, it is newly green. The first and only shared office space in Valdosta owned by Gino Fina, just became the first Downtown Valdosta business to work with the Georgia Cities Foundation’s Green Communities Fund to implement environmentally friendly, energy-efficient improvements, reducing energy consumption upwards of 50 percent. -
Downtown businesses to be mobbed this week
A few years ago, when everyone started talking through social media, flash mobs became the new in thing to do. Primarily in the big cities, although VSU did their own a year or two ago, a designated place and time would be set and masses of people would descend on these sites, sometimes dancing, sometimes singing, sometimes acting obnoxiously.
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Keep tails wagging when your budget is lagging
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The Valdosta Mall: Revamped and Ready for Business!
VALDOSTA — The Valdosta Mall has made tremendous strides since its rebranding away from Colonial Mall in 2007 and it’s refocus in 2008 when it made a move from serving the community to being a part of the community.
“We had taken for granted our place in the community for a long time,” said Jerry Weller, general manager of the Valdosta Mall. “We don’t do that anymore.” -
Keep your clothes looking fab to avoid looking drab
As I get older, I’m beginning to learn that there are more important things than clothes. Ugh! It pains me to even form that sentence; however, it’s true.
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Business This Week: Happy Mother’s Day!
Today is the one day a year dedicated to celebrating mothers, although we all use their guidance and wisdom every day. But for this one day, their sacrifices, kindness, love, and advice are recognized, hopefully, by the children they raised or helped to raise. It might not even be those born to them, as most mothers don’t limit their love and it flows over onto their children’s friends, family members, and the children they influence in the classroom, in Sunday school and in volunteer activities.
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Downtown will have a new beat this week
The Brown Bag Concert Series produced by Valdosta Main Street will begin again on Monday and last all week.
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