Friday, September 19, 2008

Show And Tell: A Tour of Omega (a small, southern town)

TGIF! Fridays are so wonderful and full of promise! Last Friday I was delighted to head to South Georgia for some much needed family time! Little did I know what wonderment awaited me!

My grandmother (we call her Nanny) lives in a tiny little town called Omega (by the way it is not pronounced how you think it would be, no tiny South Georgia town is pronounced how you think it should be). Omega is not only home to my Nanny, but it is where my mother was raised. It is also home to Three Chicks and a Hen (my mom and sister's gift shop). This little town also holds many childhood memories for me. For example, every Monday afternoon when I was in the 4th grade I went to Omega to take piano lessons. The woman that conducted my piano lessons was also the same woman who taught my mother piano lessons, my aunt (who is 10 years older than my mom) piano lessons, and Noah himself also took piano lessons from her. John the Baptist was also given the opportunity to take piano lessons from her, but he chose to play
another instrument. :)
Omega is a very special place with a community feel, and much to my surprise and delight they were having a festival the very same weekend I was visiting. The Pepper Festival even included a parade. I really enjoyed the parade, and I love Omega (so please don't think I am poking fun) but I had to giggle at some of the parade entries. The animal control truck (pictured below) was one entry in the parade that still makes me giggle. I just think it is funny that animal control decided they needed to be in the parade.

There were a few antique tractors that were really neat. There were also some random riding lawn mowers and a couple of kids on dirt bikes. The Shriners had their tiny cars, which are always fun to watch, but they make my mom nervous (so it is actually more fun watching my mom watch the tiny cars). However, my favorite part of the parade was the hillbilly truck. It had a stuffed dog on the side that lifted his leg and peed on innocent parade spectators. It was amazing. The picture is below. Unfortunately I didn't get a pee action shot.

My niece and nephew and I enjoyed the parade festivities. Below is a picture of my niece and I at the parade. It was a self portrait, so that is why you have a nice up the nose shot of me. There are no pictures with me and my nephew. He wasn't feeling well that day. He left before the parade was over.
I didn't get to attend the rest of The Pepper Festival activities. Three Chicks and a Hen was very busy after the parade, so I had to help out in the store instead of frolicking through the festival booths. However, I did take a little time out to take a few photographs of Omega. Here is your tour of Omega, GA (a very tiny, but very charming southern town). A big thanks to my mom who helped with my photo tour.

Our first stop on the tour is Omega City Hall. Omega City Hall is located right outside of the downtown area. It houses city officials along with the police department. It is one of the newer buildings in Omega being built within the last 10 years.


Our next stop is the downtown area. The downtown area houses several little businesses including Three Chicks and a Hen, a beauty shop, a little grocery store, and a hardware store.


A charming sign painted on the side of a building points you in the right direction if you are headed to the hardware store. I don't know why, but I love signs like this. By the way, the pink van is a delivery truck for a florist. Not sure why they picked hot pink, but I think it is a great color!


The newest building in Omega is the fire station. This isn't the best picture of the fire station, but at least you get the idea of what it looks like.




There are two main churches in town. The Methodist Church and the Baptist Church. The Baptist Church is where my mom and dad were married. The church used to be brick, but they had to stucco it due to a moisture problem.


The Methodist church is located right around the corner. I couldn't get a great picture of it because of the huge magnolia, but I thought I would share the snapshots that I was able to take.





Our last stop on the tour is Omega Elementary School. Omega School used to go all the way through high school, but now they just have an elementary school. My mom used to walk to and from school everyday. It was quite a walk, but she said that all the neighborhood kids walked so it was a lot of fun. I think her dog, Buttons, followed her to school most days too. Omega Elementary is currently under renovations, but I will share the pictures any way.



I hope you have enjoyed your tour of Omega! It is a great little town full of wonderful, friendly people. The next time I am in South Georgia again I will make sure to do a photo tour of my hometown, Tifton. Have a great weekend!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jen,
I love your post!! I love my small hometown in Georgia and I miss it alot. There is just something about Georgia that if you aren't from there, you wouldn't understand. I am sure that many other people think this exact same thing about their state but I like to think that Georgia is the only state that gives off the feel of down home country!! My husband and I are headed back to my hometown for Thanksgiving so I think I will do a little blog and picture tour:) How far is Bainbridge from Omega? I hope you have a wonderful weekend:)
Tara

Anonymous said...

I can not believe how much your neice looks like your sister. Oh my. It is really scary that she looks so much like her. I really miss you.