Scottdale Day 2024

              A Scottdale Day To Remember

   From the moment I woke up, there was a sense of excitement in the air. It was a beautiful Saturday morning, August 17th to be exact. I called one of my older cousins to find out what time he would be there in hopes that we could meet up. First thing first, my wife had to work that morning. I took her to her job, somewhat upset, because I had wanted to take my son to see the parade that had marked the beginning of Scottdale Day ever since I could remember.

   The parade typically started at the bottom of Cedar Street. The parade would be filled with different community groups of all ages some in cars and some on foot. From Cedar Street, the group would turn on Glendale Road and make their way past Hamilton Recreation Center. Crowds of people would line the streets with their young, cheering them on. From there they would make their way past Oak Forest Apartments, to North Decatur Road. North Decatur Road was a major throughway, it stretched downtown Atlanta to Memorial Dr. 

  Normally, They would continue up Glendale Road and take a left, then a right onto Parkdale Drive arriving at their final destination which was Tobie Recreation Center. This year for the first time, they actually took a left on North Decatur Road and a right into Mills Creek Crossing ( Formerly known as Tobie Grant Manor). I would have never known this if one of my other cousins hadn't called me to report it.

  Scottdale is a small community, so as you can imagine news of any kind seems to travel faster than the speed of light. My cousin, and I were both somewhat disappointed that the parade no longer passed by of former family home. However, this small change was not enough to dull our shared excitement. I few hours later it was time for me to "go show my face".

    I never actually even made it to the heart of the festivities. I was told there was a nice stage setup for performers with a huge banner that read "Sponsored by Levett Funeral Home". I might seem weird to an outsider, but they had to perform funeral services in our community so long they were like family to most. In fact, I had a few family members work there over the years. Anyways, this is where local artists got their chance to perform in front of the whole neighborhood.

   I had performed there a couple times. This year's acts included names like Joe Green and The Charlie Boy Gang. Both had experienced some commercial success in the music industry and were well-known in Atlanta. There was an opening for fans, surrounded by vendors. The vendors were mostly people from the neighborhood selling food, t-shirts, etc. A lot of the community elders were gathered in this area, as well. The street leading to the entrance was blocked on both sides by police cruisers.

    Like I said earlier, I never made it that far. Before I could get close I saw a group of family members gathered and I just had to stop. My son and I were immediately greeted by one of my uncles. It was about 92 degrees that day, so I only stayed about an hour for my son's safety( I might be a little overprotective). In that short period, I saw a whole host of family and friends. These are people that I have known my whole. They had seen the good, the bad, and the ugliest versions of me, but nonetheless, every last one of them was genuinely glad to see me. I was glad to see them too. 

   There was food, music, and dancing. For a moment I felt like a kid again. There was nothing, but positive energy and love everywhere I looked. I hadn't been to Scottdale Day in about 5 years, but for that hour it felt like I had never left. This was the Scottdale, I remember, these were the people I loved. 

I gathered my son and left that day knowing no matter how much time had passed by that Scottdale would always be my home.

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