LOVE A PARTY?   BROOKS IS HAVING A BIGGUN  ON SATURDAY, OCT. 25!

     In town council a couple of years ago,  Brooks’s mayor mentioned that the 60^th Anniversary of the town’s re-chartering would take place as 2024 rolled into 2025.  He suggested a commemorative ceremony of some sort.   

     What he had in mind was something along the lines of a simple, understated cake and punch reception, but three energetic folks in town  — Jennifer Robinson, Lorey Spohr, and Bishop Watts — took that modest mayoral idea and morphed it into a festival the likes of which Brooks has never seen.   Along the way, someone realized that the 115^th Anniversary of Brooks’s initial chartering as a town would also occur in 2025, and the race was on to plan a sho’nuff event!

      Backtracking for a minute, we might note that the Town of Brooks was chartered in 1910 and functioned as a town government for a bit over fifteen years, finally sputtering to a stop during the Boll Weevil Depression in the mid-to-late 1920s.  In the words of longtime Citizen columnist Sallie Satterthwaite (1937-2018), Brooks “outslept Rip van Winkle twice over.”

     In the summer of 1963, concerned citizens first met about re-activating the charter, and accomplished this in little more than a year with the help of state legislators.  The first municipal elections in nearly forty years occurred in January 1965, and Brooks has been self-governing ever since.  A little history goes a long way for most folks, so let’s now get on to the fun.

     Saturday, October 25, 2025, is the date of the 115^th Anniversary Festival.  The main street through town will be closed to vehicular traffic all day, and all sorts of enjoyable activities will be available for people ranging from those in diapers to those in Depends.  Golf carts and a tractor-pulled (of course – it’s Brooks!) people mover will be available to get folks from somewhat distant parking locations — Brooks Park, Liberty Tech Charter School, Brooks Baptist Church, Railroad Ave. and Brooks Football field — to the center of the municipal party. Let’s hit some high spots of what you’ll see when you get off the people mover or the golf carts:

     FOOD:  There will be a chili cook-off as well as a Brunswick stew cookoff from 11:00 AM till 2:00 PM, so samples can be tasted by everyone here in that time frame.  Brooks was known for its Brunswick stew for many years, and at least one of the stews being sampled that day will be almost exactly like the old Mask & Gay brand stew that once pleased local palates. Some of the contestants will have product for sale.  Cookoff winners will be announced at 2:00 PM and winners will receive cash prizes for first, second, and third place.

     There will be a Varsity food truck, praise the Lord, from 11:30 AM till 2:30 PM.   A barbecue food truck will be there all day, as well as a funnel cake vendor, Beez Freez, and other gustatory delights. Brooks’s own Heavenly Coffeehouse and Market will be open all day, with its delicious beverages, baked goods, and sandwiches.  

     SWAG:  The first 300 attendees will receive a Swag Bag filled with goodies.   A Brooks-opoly game has been developed and will be on sale, and promises to be a fun thing for families for years to come.   A Brooks cookbook with over 400 recipes has been compiled and will also be available, and Brooks’s first-ever municipal flag – designed by accomplished high school student Ella Robinson — will be available for purchase. 

     ACTIVITIES – Goodness gracious at the free activities!   Face painting, pony rides, a petting zoo, a balloon artist, and even a caricaturist area will be available for the little ones.  Axe-throwing, mechanical bull riding, and an antique car show will be draws for those a bit older.  A photo booth will be available for those who wish to capture memories of this eventful day, and a dunk tank will be operational from 11:00 AM till 6:00 PM, with a number of local folks in it.  Cost for three throws at the dunk tank will be $5.00.  Come take your best shot at the mayor between 5:00 and 5:30, for example!  The Brooks Market will be open that day, where one can usually get anything from home goods to honey to produce and meats.   

      There will be over 80 vendors to visit and shop, and the antique car show will have trophies awarded at the end of the day.

     Short presentations on the histories of Brooks and nearby communities will be offered in Brooks Chapel (the 1911 Methodist Church building on Church Alley) on the following schedule:

     History of Woolsey – Mayor Gary Laggis     1:00 PM

     History of Brooks – Mayor Dan Langford     2:00 PM

     History of Senoia – Bonnie Bobbitt    3:00 PM

     History of Starr’s Mill – John Lynch  4:00 PM

    MUSIC  will be provided all through the day by local artists, as follows:

       Rylee Banks 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

       Luke Morgan  1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

       Sean Carter Band  3:00 PM – 6:00 PM

     OTHER:   Countless sponsors have stepped up to make this festival possible, and we thank each and every one.