Time to Change…

The Woodstock Music Festival was a huge success. I am so very proud. The Town raised money for our Senior Center and our Youth Ballpark.

I was involved in 4 booths.

• Photo Booth- for fun and a souvenir picture with a Woodstock logo
• Bibb County Pet Welfare- a cause not only I support, but John did as well.

The other two booths I wanted to focus on hospitality and education. I have learned that higher suicide rates in rural areas are due to several factors. One being lack of health care services and the other being it is not comfortable to be discussed.

We discussed it all day yesterday. We did not avoid S-Town. We embraced it as an effort to look in the mirror and improve.

That is all we can do.

Brian Reed called me when the Woodstock Music Festival opened at 10 am and I described this in great detail for 30 minutes. And I asked for him to support this.

I am doing my best to raise awareness.

I have lost friends other than John. Each one is missed.

I did not intend to become an advocate.

I am just a person who misses my friend. You are not forgotten is something that echoes in my head.

I probably looked like a crazy woman at 1 a.m. painting dimes. I painted them gold for John. The fingernail polish made it from me.

Sweet Jaq Davis thought of “Time for Change”. Isn’t that perfect?

Katie “B” and her brother David Sides, were both S-Town fans that I did not know before the podcast and they voluntarily staffed the tent along with 4 friends. I am so proud of them.

All I did was talk. And talk. Ironically, today I am hoarse. So I will type.

Crystal Moore Phipps thought of “Opening Doors to Awareness”. She drew the message at the top. We then used the doors to graffiti our guests names and messages.

We also had a guest book and address book and a sign up sheet for more information.

My sweet friend Kellye Burt lost her father-in-law in the middle of preparations this week. She still provided the decorations and furniture and souvenir cups because her family knows this cause personally.

It also did not prevent her from making her biscuit pudding and delivering it personally.

Mrs. Billie Dailey lost her husband of 48 years last week. Her banana pudding was served in the afternoon.

In the midst of their losses, their “comfort food” was served all day long. We should have been comforting them and they were encouraging others.

We felt that serving up the food made it easier to discuss. And it did.

We put you in the guest book, on the door and the gate with tags.

A souvenir bag included pamphlets along with a ceramic cup. That cup had a small take home tag that was stamped with our symbolic bee and candy.

If we helped one person, I would feel that it was successful. And I feel that we did.

I did not make it to the stage or music until the latter part of the day. I had 3 hours sleep Friday and was up to 2:30 a.m. today. This has been the wildest weekend I have had in years.

I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you everyone. So many people helped that I could never begin to thank you all. This little town could not have done it on its own.

And it did not. The love and support came from overseas and next door.

Have a great day!

I am going back to bed.

Don’t laugh,

Cheryl