Salute to the South hearkens back to earlier era

By Cheryl RodewigMay 1, 2009

Celebrate all things Southern at the first Salute to the South, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. May 9 and noon to 6 p.m. May 10 at the Uchee Creek Campground.

"We're trying to turn back time a little bit," said Shannon Beck, marketing director for the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation. "We have hula hoop contests, fishing games, hayrides, spoon races ... old-fashioned games such as bean bag toss, sack races, a watermelon eating contest, and we have six bands playing country and bluegrass music," she said. "It's really just to pay homage to everything Southern."

For lunch or dinner, visitors can sample traditional Southern food, including fried chicken, barbecue and cobbler. They can also shop from a variety of arts and crafts vendors, many based in Georgia, Beck said.

In keeping with the old-time theme, there will be a car show, including vintage models, a rocking chair marathon and demonstrations of quilting, blacksmithing and woodworking.

Kids can enjoy inflatables, activities with Sayers Memorial Library and an outdoor showing of the movie Babe, Beck said, but they can also take part in some of the pastimes their parents or grandparents may have enjoyed as children.

"I think there's something there for

everyone," she said. "It's definitely a chance

for the parents to show the kids what they did when they were children - before the Xbox and before we had a television and a computer in every room - just getting back to good old fun."

The festival replaces the annual spring luau. The Recreation Delivery System, a board made up of leaders from different FMWR divisions on post, regularly assesses new programs for Fort Benning.

Salute to the South was a year in the making and the result of a careful evaluation of what the community was looking for, said Noelle Phillips, who heads up the RDS team.

"We felt it was time to evaluate what we were doing and why we were doing it, and that's how Salute to the South came about," Phillips said. "We're so excited about it. We have something going on every single hour, whether it's a barbecue eating contest or a clogging show."

From face painting to Southern rock, the festival will take families "back to the basics," regardless of generation, Phillips said.

"We wanted to celebrate the region in which we live and bring back a small-town feel to the installation. Most military families will tell you the Army is like a family, so we wanted to create an event that fosters that type of feeling," she said.

There will be giveaways, including a chance to win a three-day Country Music Awards Music Fest trip to Nashville or a guitar autographed by country music artist Ronnie Dunn of Brooks and Dunn.

Moms who attend the Mother's Day brunch at the Benning Conference Center May 10 will receive a coupon for a free photo at Salute to the South. The same day, Grammy-award-winning band Rhonda Vincent and the Rage will perform two shows.

For more information, visit www.benningmwr.com/salutetothesouth.php.