By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
Officially, summer is not here yet, but let’s just say that things are hoppin’ and poppin’ enough to where venues are crowded, folks are happily lined up to wait for fresh summertime treats, the trees look gorgeous, and it is a good time to be alive in Athens, Alabama.
Mayor Ronnie and I met on Wednesday rather than Monday, which just added a couple of days’ worth of events about which to celebrate, but starting with Fridays After Five, I don’t think I had ever seen so many people on the Square. The seventh annual Addiction Eviction will be held tomorrow in Swan Creek Park beginning at 11 a.m., and there is going to be a huge pickleball tourney. There is no shortage of things to do!
Mayor Ronnie told me about the walk he had taken out and about on Tuesday, June 3. The redbud trees as well as the crepe myrtles had made the announcement that summer is here. As the mayor walked past the benches on the south side of City Hall, he stopped for awhile and soaked up the memories. There is a bench honoring Jimmie Gill, the first African American to sit on the Athens City Council. The mayor and Jimmie had a friendship filled with laughter that lasted decades, and it has always “gotten” to Mayor Ronnie that Jimmie passed away from cancer before the new City Hall was finished. Frank Travis has a bench, too, and the mayor talked about how Frank, when he was president of the city council, would start off meetings with stories, some times songs, and more. Former Mayor Dan Williams has a bench on the south side, as well. “I had to stop for a while, and I got misty-eyed,” Mayor Ronnie told me. Me too. All three of these men were kind to me, and especially encouraging when I first started producing Athens Now.
Mayor Ronnie headed on over to Southern Table to meet with some developers, and on the way he encountered some women from another town who had come to Ro’s Grill and were eating outside. “Mayor, we were just talking about you,” they said. They were going through some tough times in their town and were wondering if they could see restoration in their own city. “You can, and you will,” he said, “but it will take time.”
After the meeting at Southern Table, the mayor headed on down to the Farmer’s Market for Strawberry Shortcake Day. However, on the way he noticed that Kreme Delight had a line of folks waiting for the cones that have made that place an icon since the early ‘60s. It is just not summer in Athens without ice cream from Kreme Delight.
Speaking of lines, there was a long one at the recently renovated Farmer’s Market for the celebration of all things shortcake, and no one seemed to mind. Vendors lined the stalls, smiles abounded, and it was just an all-around reminder that it’s summer in the city…almost.
There was just one thing left to do, and that was to pray, and then, once again it was time for Ronnie to roll.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
June 6, 2025
