Fresh Loaf

For over 20 years, Civil War reenactor Jeff Thornton has taken the term history buff to the next level. Serving as a “sergeant” who helps to train new recruits, Thornton engages in faux battles and teaches students about the Civil War.

How did you get involved in reenacting?
Back in like 1989, my stepdad had a friend that had been reenacting. I was about 12 years old then. By the time I got old enough to fight, which is 16, I joined a unit.

What kind of training do you have to go through?
Usually it’s on-the-spot training. Before we put someone out on the field, we make sure they know all of the safety stuff. After they learn that, we put them on the field — but since they’re new, we will usually surround them with veterans during the battle to guide them.

How much time do you devote to reenacting?
I go to an event at least once a month, but since I’ve started helping with the classes I read up on it about two to three hours a night. If someone wanted to, though, there is something going on just about every weekend, whether it’s at Kennesaw Mountain or national events like Gettysburg.

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Imagine that. Somewhere in the legislative process, a piece of chest-thumping Dixieland legislation about the Civil War morphed into — a bill about Civil Rights?

Last week, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed a bill sponsored by state Sen. John Bulloch, R-Ochlochknee, that designates April as “Confederate Heritage and History Month” — a 30-day tribute to one of the country’s darkest periods and the first holiday of its kind in the country. I know, you’re shaking your head, saying “Oh, dear God, those mouth-breathing lawmakers are at it again.” Quite understandable if you just look at the name of the monthlong holiday.

But the actual language of the bill that ultimately passed might surprise you. And for all the negative publicity the bill had the potential to attract (and oddly enough didn’t), you wonder why lawmakers decided not to point out an olive branch — designating a Savannah museum as an “official Georgia historical civil rights museum” — that was inserted into the bill.

First, let’s take a look at the bill when it was first introduced:

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SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA: "The Beltline? Destroy it!"

How bad are the nation’s public schools?

Republicans are so bent-out-of-shape about their two straight national election blowouts that leaders in Republican strongholds Georgia and Texas recently threatened to secede.

Didn’t any of them have history teachers who explained how that secession thingy worked out for everybody last time?

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Mayor Shirley Franklin (CL file photo)

Shirley Franklin didn’t need to say a word before finding out how Atlanta’s business/civic leadership feel about her tenure as mayor. Even as she stepped to the podium in an Omni Hotel ballroom to deliver her State of the City address this morning, she was greeted with a long, enthusiastic standing ovation by the near-overflow crowd.

It may have helped that the audience had been primed by a slick, 15-minute video produced by Coke extolling Franklin’s accomplishments: the sewer overhaul, the purchase of the King papers, the completion of the fifth runway. But even some of Shirley’s detractors later told me they were surprised by how warmly she was received by the business community. It was not polite applause heard this morning; it was genuine affection for a mayor who – whether or not you appreciate her style or the results of her efforts – hasn’t backed away from tackling some very formidable challenges since coming into office.

Thankfully, Franklin didn’t give the same speech she delivered to the City Council on Monday, which was simply a disjointed litany of statistics and trivia designed to tout her accomplishments as mayor, with little real acknowledgment of the city’s recent setbacks

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Dec. 24, 2008, 9:45 a.m. at Grant Park

On my way to work, I spotted this guy with a full, white beard, dressed in white warm-ups jogging up Atlanta Avenue carrying a Confederate battle flag. His name is Alan Keck and he lives in Grant Park, although he’s not a native Atlantan. A few years ago, he told me, he got interested in Southern history and realized that the Confederacy had gotten a raw deal in the Civil War. Recently, he said, he’d gotten up the courage to jog with the flag and has even carried it in the Peachtree Road Race.

(Photo by Scott Henry)

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The state House of Representatives followed the Senate’s lead this morning and voted 136-26 to pursue what some say is Georgia’s legal claim to water from the Tennessee River. The drought caused the desperation move, which all dates back to an 1818 surveying error that some legislators say botched the accurate location of where the border between Georgia and Tennessee should lie. The General Assembly also plans to exhume the body of the long-dead surveyor, shoot it into space, and then destroy the corpse with a missile. Kidding!

Damn those surveyors, always reading the latest issue of Hiawassee Gazette to see what covered-wagon racers’ wives were wearing at the Dahlonega 500. If you’re participating in a Civil War re-enactment this weekend, keep your eye on your bayonet. Legislators will be looking for weapons as they sally forth on their quest to reclaim what is rightfully ours! After all, stealin’ sho’ is easier than being responsible.

(Photo courtesy Stock Exchange)

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BATTLE OF ATLANTA: Prior to last weekend’s re-enactment, little was known about the Mad Hatter’s participation in the Civil War.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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