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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 10 > Entry
Pair’s plea: Keep Six Flags’ Scout in Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With four days to go, a check of eBay at mid-afternoon Tuesday showed 61 bids, with a high offer of $2,650, had been made for Scout, a playful kiddie creature from Six Flags Over Georgia’s venerable Monster Plantation ride. The park is renovating the ride, renaming it Monster Mansion and donating proceeds from the monster auction to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
But two Atlanta residents say they’re worried about Scout’s post-ride retirement. Matt Berger, 30, and his creative partner, Rick Hill, 32, want Scout to stay here — go to Atlanta Braves games, nosh at the Varsity, see how much the city has changed since his fiberglass-and-fuzz body was built for the ride’s 1981 debut. Said Berger, without a hint of sarcasm: “It’s a whole new world out there for him. That’s why we want to protect him.”
The pair have launched SaveScout.org to share news and memories about the ride and its characters — and to raise some cash. (So far the coffers are low.) They bid $250 early in the eBay auction, but want to give it another shot. If they don’t win it — “and I say that with some pain,” Berger said — any money raised will still go to Children’s Healthcare.
Six Flags says it isn’t in on the SaveScout project. For now, Scout is safe inside spokeswoman Hela Sheth’s Six Flags office. Whoever wins him, she says, know this: He makes a good roomie. He’s cute, doesn’t talk much and, since 27 years of dust and water-ride stink was washed off, Sheth said, “he smells great.”
RAISING SPIRITS IN LITTLE 5 POINTS
The home invasion Dec. 3 at Little Five Points musician Chris Devoe’s apartment became a night of horror for Devoe and his girlfriend Rachael Spiewak of the SoPo Bicycle Cooperative. Devoe ended up in the hospital and both were traumatized. Area friends and musicians want to help them heal, and to raise neighborhood spirits at a time when such crimes seem more common. “This is happening way too often to all our friends in Little Five Points and East Atlanta,” said Suzy Moran, organizer of a benefit Thursday for Devoe and Spiewak at the Highland Inn Ballroom. The event will include performances by members of the Black Lips, Noot d’ Noot and others. “We want to make it fun, bring spirits up, and help our friends out,” said Moran. Information: http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/cribnotes/2008/12/08/chris-devoe-rachael-spiewak-benefit-at-highland-inn-thurs-dec-9th
PEARSON SHOWS HER ‘POWER’
Next month, the editors at Atlanta Woman magazine will be honoring WSB television news anchor Monica Pearson — she of the ever-changing hairstyle — for her dual career as a television personality and as a champion of good causes. She has worked tirelessly for the United Way, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Meals on Wheels, the American Cancer Society, Families First and the Northwest Georgia Girl Scouts, among others. During ceremonies Jan. 13 at the Georgia Aquarium, the magazine will bestow plaudits on Pearson as their 2009 Power Woman of the Year.
About 20 other women also will be honored that day as Women on the Way, said publisher Elisabeth Marchant, including engineers, lawyers, PTA moms and MBAs. “One speaks five languages. There is a three-time Emmy award winner, a 2008 World Series Poker player and a WNBA coach. The personal accomplishments of these 20 women run the gamut and take many different forms, but one common thread ties them together — they are on their way to the top.”
TUSH TAKES A BOW FOR ‘LIFE’
Bill Tush, veteran Atlanta broadcaster and one of Ted Turner’s early hires, will make a cameo appearance in the Dec. 13 matinee performance of “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play,” produced by the Theatrical Outfit. Tush read the late-night news on Channel 17, ran his own comedy show called “Tush,” and hosted shows for CNN in Los Angeles and New York. He appears with the theater group at the Saturday performance as the Bridgekeeper who witnesses George Bailey’s plunge into the river. Information: www.theatricaloutfit.org
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh is 48 today. Rock drummer Meg White (The White Stripes) is 34; actress Summer Phoenix is 30; actor Patrick Flueger (“The 4400”) is 25; actress and musician Raven Symone “The Cheetah Girls”) is 23.
WHERE WE RANK
Among the pages of data in the U.S. Census Bureau’s new report on smaller Georgia cities and counties, a few quirky facts surfaced:
• At least a quarter of the residents in Hinesville in southeast Georgia are veterans, making it one of nine small cities nationwide with such a high percentage of vets.
• Jackson County experienced a 74 percent increase in service jobs — including firefighters and police officers, janitors, chefs, home health aids and waiters — since 2000. Jackson County, which at 59,254 people was No. 10 in the nation in growth rate last year, was growing at a 6.7 percent rate.
• In Douglasville, fewer of the city’s 24,174 residents (44.7 percent) were born in Georgia than were born in another state (47.6 percent). The rest were born abroad.
Contributing: Jamie Gumbrecht, Mary Lou Pickel, Jennifer Brett and news services
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