-Rome Braves see more tickets sold in 2010 vs. 2009--but also had three more home games. Regular season ends on the road Sept. 6.
-Another McDo-over for Mickey D's, this time in Rockmart.
-So if gas costs $2.37 a gallon in Acworth, why is it $2.58 in Rome?
-Labor Day means barbecue in Greater Rome: The annual Knights of Columbus barbecue is from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Civic Center Sept. 6.
-The Rome (fill-in-the-blank) indoor football team to get formal announcement Thursday.
Today's focus: Click
-Big growth coming to WinShape's offices on the Berry College campus. Natalie Simms report.
Sept. 2, 7:30 a.m.: Adairsville Chamber Council breakfast sponsored by Ace Home Center at theAdairsville Inn. All chamber members are invited to attend. No charge for breakfast.
Sunday's Bartow County Jail reports. Incident reports / Intake reports
Your week-ahead forecast: We're not done with the 90s just yet.
-Monday: High of 86, low of 63.
-Tuesday: Sunny, high of 90, low of 58.
Norman Arey's Sports Roundtable. Arey
-Can Alabama repeat as champ? Sure but don't believe it's a done deal just yet.
John McClellan's High School picks, updates. McClellan
-John was 9-2 last week on local games; 25-7 overall. Next picks: Tuesday.
Darlington No. 9 in Class A poll; Calhoun No.3 in Class AA. High School
Shorter Hawks football. Hawks
-No rest for 0-1 Hawks; at Georgia Dome vs. Georgia State Thursday.
Rome Braves. Click Sports
-The Braves were off Sunday.
-Tonight-Thursday in West Virginia; Friday-Monday in Lexington.
-Mills Fitzner's 2010 home game photos. Click
A better season for ticket sales for the Rome Braves but . . .
Nearly 4,900 people packed State Mutual Stadium to see Saturday night's home season finale vs. Greensboro. They helped boost the number of tickets sold for the 2010 season to 193,061, up nearly 10,000 from 2009. Photo by Mills Fitzner. More photos from the finale and 2010 season. Click Gallery.
The bad news about the 2010 Rome Braves' season is that it is one to forget in terms of playoffs. With a week's worth of games left to play -- all on the road -- Rome needs to put together a winning streak to avoid being the cellar dweller of the 14-team South Atlantic League (latest standings).
But in the ticket sales category, 2010 will do down as a winner. The Braves sold 193,061 tickets over 68 home games (two rainouts this year) or 2,839 tickets per home game. The 2008 total was 183,750 tickets. That's an increase of more than 5 percent.
But there are caveats: The Braves hosted 65 games in 2009, three less than this year. In 2008, Rome average 3,366 tickets sold for each of its 66 games, or a total of 222,168.
The major slide has occurred with season ticket sales, which is the major source of income for Floyd County as per the contract with the Atlanta baseball organization. A share of naming rights and an escalating annual fee paid by the ball club complete the supplement.
Also hurting this year: a blistering hot summer. There were 7 p.m. games where the field temperature was still 100 degrees; afternoon games were warmer.
But the Braves countered in 2010 with a new social media marketing campaign; more ticket specials; game promotions from fireworks to kid-friendly acts; and increased outreach to a broader North Georgia market.
Rome probably will finish in seventh or eighth place in the SAL in terms of attendance this year--which demandsanother caveat. Rome/Floyd County is the smallest market in the league that includes Charleston, Savannah, Lexington and the others.
As for 2011: Opening night is April 7 and season ticket sales are under way. Click
Three-Dot Buzz . . . :
-Latest McDo-over is in Rockmart: The latest local McDonald's to be leveled only to be replaced by a new building is the Mickey D's on U.S. 278 in Rockmart. Look for the grand reopening within a few weeks. Shops in Calhoun and West Rome have been erased and replaced in recent years . . .
-Drive-by gas pricing -- in more ways than one: Our travels Saturday took us through Rockmart and later Acworth. At the RaceWay on U.S. 278, unleaded was $2.44 a gallon. At the Home Depot on U.S. 41 in Acworth, unleaded was $2.37. The privilege of buying gas in Greater Rome cost you $2.58 a gallon on Saturday; $2.48 in Bartow County (we paid $2.50 at QuikTrip in Adairsville Friday); and $2.53 in Gordon County (source: MSN Autos) . . .
-Barbecue time again: Labor Day means barbecue in Greater Rome courtesy of the Saint Mary's Knights of Columbus. This year's barbecue is from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday or until sold out (usually 12:30-1 p.m.) at the Rome Civic Center. Tickets are $8 per person. Proceeds are used by the Knights to help charitable causes in Rome/Floyd County. You can dine in or get it to go. The menu includes: a plate for $8; pound of pork, $8; pound of beef, $8.50; half chicken, $4; sandwich, $3; quart of Brunswick stew, $8; full rack of ribs, $16. A bake sale will be held in conjunction with the barbecue . . .
-First & goal for indoor football: With a Sept. 2 media briefing set, Rome indeed is returning as an indoor football city starting in March. The venue: The Forum. The name of the team: you'll get a chance to suggest the monicker. Our hope: Something clever that goes beyond the normal urge to tie it to ancient Rome. We have good memories of the Rome Renegades and hope this team can build on that solid foundation . . .
Today's Focus
WinShape adds 'The Hub' to help with summer camps, year-round needs at Berry's Mountain Campus. More changes on the way
By Natalie Simms
nsimmshh@att.net
Within several weeks, The WinShape Foundation will begin construction on an activities center for its expanding summer camp programs. Appropriately, it is named "The Hub."
"With this new building, we will be able to have all of our campers come together at once for special performances and closing ceremony events," says Bob Skelton, WinShape Senior Director. "We've always used the auditorium at the Retreat Center but it is not large enough for all of our campers to meet together at one time."
Summer camps are just one of seven programs under the WinShape Foundation, which was created in 1984 by Truett and Jeannette Cathy, founder of Chick-Fil-A restaurants. WinShape is a non-profit organization and charitable foundation with one goal: "to help shape winners."
The Hub will be used year-round by both WinShape campers and as part of Berry College's Mountain Campus. It will include a college-size basketball court, indoor rock-climbing wall, exercise and conditioning rooms, a stunts and tumbling area, outdoor jumping pillow, locker rooms and a performance stage.
"Behind the performance stage will be a roll-up wall that will allow the stage to convert to an outdoor amphitheater … it will be a multifunctional area with a sound and lighting system," says Skelton, right. "During the summer, it will mainly be used by our girls' camps. Right now, they have to share facilities, which isn't very functional. This gives us a second facility where we can offer indoor climbing, basketball and volleyball for boys and girls at the same time."
The Hub will be behind Inez Henry Hall, home of WinShape's administrative offices; between the Hall and Kimbrell Cottage, one of the WinShape's foster homes. A walking path will connect The Hub to rest of the retreat area.
The final architectural drawings on The Hub are expected this week and should go to bid around mid-September. Skelton says the project will need to be completed by May 1, prior to the upcoming summer camp season.
WinShape also is renovating Inez Henry Hall to add office space. The building, which was constructed in the 1930s as a mule barn for Berry and later housed the Berry Academy Middle School until 1982, has been the administrative center for WinShape since it began.
"We are renovating the space for more personnel and to bring all of our programming offices together," Skelton says. "We have seven different programs under the WinShape umbrella with about 80 employees here at Berry."
WinShape also is adding central heat and air-conditioning to the former Berry Academy Gymnasium. The building has never had air-conditioning, only heat through steam units. The HVAC will be all electrical. That renovation should be completed by the end of the year.
"Our camps are really growing," Skelton says. "We are adding a number of off-site one-week girls' camps this year. We will be doing eight sessions of one-week camps for girls who have completed first grade up through sixth grade. All details will be announced Oct. 10, 2010."
For more information about the WinShape Foundation and summer camps, visit www.winshape.org. (Images courtesy of the WinShape websites).
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