What makes Waycross Special?

What makes Waycross special to me?  Why does it stand out from other towns?  Everybody thinks their home town is special, which is probably a good thing,  but what traits truly stand out, at least for me?

Let's get the choady stuff out of the way right off the top.  It's special because this is where many of the people that are important to me live.  Theatre and church friends, people I work with, some I've met through facebook - all make this town special to me.  Some are even people who may live outside Waycross but I know primarily because of our connections in this town.

This town is special because of Pogofest.  That's the only thing about this area that I knew about before I moved here.  Here was going to be a place to honor the work of our great cartoonists, including a Cartoonist's Walk of Fame.  Alison and I will always cherish the memory of taking Jeff Smith, the creator of the fabulous comic book Bone, and his wife Vijaya, around the area, including the swamp park.  This was truly something special that would help Waycross stand out all around the country!

Of course, all that has been abandoned now, in some stupid dispute.  So we just have a "Swampfest".  So what?  Do you know how many towns neighboring swamps can have Swampfests?

Maybe one golden day, Pogofect and the Cartoonists Walk of Fame will come roaring back - one can only dream!

Waycross is special because of Wong's.  A great restaurant that demonstrates the value of customer service.  At Wong's, you can have it whatever way you want it.  And the owner, Paul Tang, is very friendly, will greet you and shake your hand, remember details of your life that even you had forgotten.

Waycross is special because of it's railroad foundation and the railroad union.  That gives Waycross a tiny bit of history of supporting the middle class and worker's right a little tiny bit better than other small southern towns.  Over time, as the railroad fades in importance to the area, this little edge is getting lost, but you can still see it a tiny bit in the voting patterns.  Republicans win here, but not quite by the same margin as they do in neighboring counties.

And Waycross is special because of WACT, Waycross Area Community Theatre, one of the oldest continually running community theatres in South Georgia, operating in a renovated Ritz Theatre.  The recent production of Hairspray was as close to Broadway quality as ?I've ever seen from a community theatre.

Waycross is special because it has it's own musical written bout it's history called Lydia, Queen of the Swamp.  This great production is largely the brianchild of John Youmans, a very talented performer and craftsman whom Waycross is blessed to have.


Finally, and most importantly, Waycross is special because of the Flying Dragons Art Center.  This is a children's theatre that a town four times the size of Waycross would be proud to have!  A full slate of seven or more productions each year, exposing many, many children to the arts.  Everybody gets to act!  Everybody gets to learn what it's like to be onstage, what it's like to practice and get better.   Chris and Tamara Jeffords, along with Bobbie Bateman and JoAnn Fields, have done this community  a great service by bringing a first rate children's theatre to Waycross.  It deserves your support - with money, time, and attending their wonderful shows.

And very soon, the Flying Dragon will be offering tutoring classes, further expanding the ways in which they benefit our children.  Dragon voice taught by the brilliant vocalists Chris Jeffords and Michelle Chancey, Dragon Acting by the first-rate young and talented Blake Kildow, Dragon Art by the artiste' extraordinaire Kayti Jeffords, and Dragon Language taught by the amazing Kimberly Beck, fluent in several languages.  This special effort also deserves your support!  Please, if you live in the area and you have children, sign them up TODAY!

So those are a few of the things that make Waycross special.  If you're from here, feel free to add some of your own.  If not, think about the truly unique things about the towns in and around you.  I welcome your comments!