October 14th marked the return of the MidTown Mingle, with our 10th in-person celebration. Staged at Lakebottom Park this year, the Mingle had a record-breaking crowd of 925 attendees who enjoyed music from the Chattahoochee Pine Beatles, a great meal – juicy pork chops, delicious grilled chicken, squash casserole, sweet potatoes and a fall salad – catered by Scott Ressmeyer with Country’s Barbecue, and donated desserts from Chick-fil-A, Midtown Coffee House, and Fred Schladensky. Beer and wine were generously donated by Triangle Distributors and Georgia Crown. In all, the event generated close to $125,000 through sponsorships, ticket sales, and in-kind donations to further MidTown’s goals. Congratulations to park residents Amy and Rob Ward III, winners of Maudie Huff's Mingle 2021 painting, Afternoon in the Park, which was sold in a sealed-bid auction. Maudie was the perfect choice as our 2021 artist not only for her talent and beautiful portfolio of work, but also for being a long time Lakebottom Park resident.
It was fun standing in the park and imagining that very same space 130 years ago-the heart of MidTown- as a shallow lake with small boats, a bowling alley, a dance pavilion, and even a zoo! The city purchased the private land in 1924, using some of it for the construction of Columbus High School and officially renaming the rest of it Weracoba Park, in honor of the adjacent creek.
We’d like to send out a big THANK YOU to all of our sponsors of our signature event, and especially to this year’s chair, Crystal Trawick, and a stellar team of volunteer committees with ongoing support from the previous chairs. And another thank-you to graphic designer Cam Addison, a MidTown resident, who designed the Mingle logo in 2011 and has created all of our printed materials for the past ten years as in-kind donations to our organization.
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