Dalton State to present ‘Barefoot in the Park’

DALTON, Ga. —  Adjusting to married life isn’t easy for a straight-laced lawyer and a free spirit in the Neil Simon play “Barefoot in the Park.” Dalton State College’s Department of Communication and Theatre will present the romantic comedy Thursday-Saturday, April 11-13, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 14, at 2 p.m. at the Artistic Civic Theatre at 907 Gaston St. in Dalton. Tickets are $7 for the public; admission is free to faculty, staff and students with a Dalton State ID. Corie and Paul Bratter, played by Mackenzie Manning and Price Rogers, are a newly wed couple struggling to adjust to their new lives. Paul is a lawyer, who plans his life to the smallest detail, while Corie is a young, impetuous and in-love better half. The couple is ultimately faced with the difficult decision of whether to stay in their marriage or cut their losses and move on with their lives. Other cast members include Katie Mae Sponberger, as Corie’s mother, Ethel Banks; John Logan as neighbor Victor Velasco; Jacob Broom as Harry Pepper and the telephone man; and Clayton Lamb as the delivery man. Kristen West is the stage manager.

ABAC Concert Band Stages ‘From Darkness to Light’ at Tift Theatre April 11

TIFTON, Ga. —The Concert Band at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will present “From Darkness to Light” in its annual spring concert at the Tift Theatre in downtown Tifton on April 11 at 7 p.m. Johnny Folsom, in his seventh year as the director of the concert band, said the evening will incorporate the music of renowned composer Quincy Hilliard, who wrote “As the World Watched” after a chance encounter at Folsom’s house in 2015.  The concert is open to the public at no charge. “Quincy came and worked with our band that year, and I invited him to our house afterward,” Folsom said. “My wife, Betty Ann, shared with Quincy a book she had just finished reading and one that had touched her deeply. The book was ‘While the World Watched’ by Carolyn Maull McKinstry.” McKinstry was a little girl who survived the Birmingham church bombing incident on Sept. 15, 1963 which killed four girls and injured many others. She later wrote the book which was subtitled, “A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age During the Civil Rights Movement.” “Quincy seemed interested in the book, so Betty Ann gave him her copy,” Folsom said. “Two years later, we got a phone call, and Quincy said he had just written a piece of music relating to the book Betty Ann had shared with him two years earlier.”

Walk for Christ scheduled for April 13

LIVE OAK, Fla. — When the Walk for Christ started six years ago, organizer Bud Smith wanted a way for Christians to stand united. “The main reason we started this thing was so Christians can stand up and be counted, be accounted for,” Smith said. Thousands have done just that every year since. More will have the opportunity to be counted Saturday when the sixth annual Walk for Christ takes place at 10 a.m. at Paul Langford Stadium. The walk, as well as those who ride in golf carts, buses, cars and trucks, will also finish at the stadium after walking up Parshley Street before turning left onto Ohio Avenue and then Howard Street. The event will take less than an hour. “People can come and take a leisurely little walk and go on about their business,” Smith said. The event is a non-sponsored, non-denominational walk for Christ with Smith encouraging people from surrounding towns in South Georgia and North Florida to come and participate in as well. “Oh goodness, we’ve had tremendous support for it,” he added. “We’ve had support from over 100 churches. We’ve had tremendous support from within the community and I look for us to have it again.”