Deer Festival–A Tradition
Continuing with the fall theme from last week’s column, a big part of the season has to be all the festivals which towns and cities — some close and some not-so-close — host each year.
Monticello and Jasper County’s very own Deer Festival is this weekend and this event remains a popular event each year for local residents, as well as those who travel to our central Georgia location to enjoy the event.
While the event dates back decades, my memories go back to the 1980s in my pre-driving days when I would get a ride to the Deer Festival with my parents or other family members. There was even something special about being on the square for several hours, something I wouldn’t normally be able to do.
The crafts which vendors sold were interesting, but the food was also an attraction to me, probably the top one. The parade was also a highlight and something I looked forward to. One year I even was a parade participant as part of a local Cub Scout troop, led by my grandfather, Roy Bowden.
I remember one fall Rhubarb Jones of Y106 Atlanta radio fame was in town for the event. As I walking around the square I suddenly found himself face-to-to face with Rhubarb and, without thinking, yelled “Hey Rhubarb!” to which he responded “Hey Yourself!”
Y106 was in its early stages at that time, but Rhubarb had already become somewhat of an area celebrity. He would be on the airwaves for decades on the same station and would later expand into being the stadium announcer for the Atlanta Falcons as well as being involved with Joe Pedicino in various Atlanta-based pro wrestling ventures.
Back to the festival itself, one of my favorite pictures in my home is from a Deer Festival from the 1970s (someone told me it was 1973) and it featured a local BBQ chicken cooking crew which included my great uncle, Red McMichael and my father, Paul Bridges, along with Harvey Miller, Ted Sauls, Gene Mills, Calvin Fish, Q.O. Miller and Joe Mattison.
It wasn’t until recent years that I even became aware of the photo and it took my father to identify everyone in it for me. I had several prints made for various people and one is now framed in my house.
In the early years of the paper I previously worked at in Winder (our publication was a new one which began in 2008) we would attend area fall festivals. Those events were the first ones that I attended as an actual vendor. After a late night of high school football a few hours earlier, I would have to roll out of bed and be at the festival site in the pre-daylight hours to help prepare for the day.
Those who attend festivals are an interesting group of people. There are those who are the “lookers,” the ones who are never going to buy anything, regardless of price or what it may be. There are those who are simply looking for anything and everything free. And there are those who are there to enjoy the food, be it BBQ chicken or grilled hamburgers or kettle corn or cotton candy.
There are some who attend festivals to allow their children to enjoy certain attractions and some who do it as a means of simply getting their children out of their hair for a little while.
All in all, festivals are a traditional for many towns. It certainly is that way in Monticello and our annual Deer Festival. It has taken place for so long now that all you have to say is “Deer Festival” and everyone knows what you are referring to.
The Deer Festival will return once in a couple of days with all the usual attractions and maybe even some new ones. As always, it’s a great spotlight for our town. It’s one of those special things that help make fall so great.
Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.