ATHENS-What makes Athens special? A Scottish contest designed for children is finding out.
The City of Athens, Athens City Schools and Athens State University participate in the Sister City program with Stonehaven and NE Scotland Twinning Group. The Stonehaven, Scotland, group asked students from Athens and Limestone County to describe “their town” or share a local recipe for a writing contest.
The essays and recipe will be sent to Scotland for judging, and winners will be announced later this fall. Winners will receive prizes from Scotland.
The predominate theme in the essays revolved around football games, ice cream, parades, music, playing outside, The Square and home.
One student submitted a recipe and photo. Temperance Martin, age 10, submitted a recipe for Isom’s Orchard Apple Pie. Temperance said it tastes best with vanilla ice cream.
The City of Athens will share these comments and that recipe over the next few weeks in segment called “Wow Wednesdays.” The city will share these on Facebook at City of Athens, Alabama (Public Relations) as well as other city social media sites.
When the Stonehaven group announces the winners and sends the prizes later this fall, Athens will set up a time to invite students to City Hall to receive their gifts and do an online meeting with its Sister City friends.
Here a few things students had to say about Athens:
Athens overall
Sawyer Hodges, age 9, said, “I live in Athens, Alabama. We have so many good stores, parks and people. I have lived here my entire life and I absolutely love it here.”
Temperance Martin, age 10, said she likes the concerts on The Square, downtown shops and her school system (Athens City). She did want to add a note about the weather. “The average temp is between 90°F – 28°. This temperature may not be the best but, it’s great for swimming, slip-n-sliding, and drinking hot chocolate on cold days. In conclusion, Athens, Alabama, is a great place with life changing experiences, great school systems, and amazing temperatures.”
Kids Dugout
Kinsley Silverstein, age 9, said, “The Kids Dugout helps kids learn how to make music and have some express (expression) who they are. It is my sister’s favorite place to go. You can do a lot of stuff there like create music, go on a tire swing or on the regular swing. You can down the bridge. You can watch people practice or play a sport there. There’s even a wheelchair swing.”
Kiddie Carnival
Lena Murray, age 9, said, “My parents remember attending the carnival when they were kids, and now we enjoy going as a family. There are many treasured rides, but my favorites are the big swings and the scrambler.”
Athens Rec Center
Logan Woods, age 9, said, “The Rec Center is the best place for you to play around because it’s so big where you can play basketball and soccer and if you don’t kick hard we can play kickball.”
Athens-Limestone County Public Library
Anyah Patel, age 9, said, “My favorite place in town. Athens Library is very big. The library is a home for books. Our library is beautiful and clean. My library have a good book collection. I love my library.”
Pep Rally on The Square
Molly Montgomery, age 9, said, “I love the pep rally on the square. I love hearing the music and seeing them dance.”
Church
Elijah Hand, age 9, said, “First up. Church on the square. It is the best. My mom is the choir director and my whole family is in choir. The preacher’s name is Dayton Sr. He isn’t bad. He’s actually pretty good.”
Kreme Delite
Katelyn Johnson, age 10, said, “One great place to go is Kream Delight. (Kreme Delite). I love Kream Delight because it’s an old part of our town, and it’s ice cream. What person does not like ice cream?”
Jimmy Gill Park
Nyia Marie Duncombe, age 9, said, “I go to Jimmy Gill Park. I like it because it has monkey bars. I love monkey bars. It has a pond. I love ponds. I my favorite, it also have slides. I love slides.”
Duck Pond
Christian Cortez, age 9, said, “I like the Duck Park. I like feed the duck and play with them and my mom like to go to the Duck Park.”
Haunt Walks
Brooks Whiteside, age 9 said, “I really like the haunted walk because of all the scary stories. My favorite stories are Houston Library with the old grandfather clock chiming on the hour but no one can find the clock and Railroad Bill who got ran over by a train.”
Dub’s Burgers
Jack Christopher, age 9, said, “Dub’s Burgers comes next. I love Dub’s because I like ther (their) burgers a lot because ther so greasy and fat.”
Home
Logan Woods, age 9, said, “My home is my favorite place to go and rest and I am going to be the best gamer ever but, my setup is still in the making. One day I’m going to make millions of dollars just from YouTube all from the start of my bedroom.”
