South Rome comes together for fest
Anna K. Davie Elementary School was the site for Saturday’s South Rome Spring Festival, as community members gathered for a day of warm weather fun.
Students got a chance to have their faces painted by teachers, including 8-year-old Rylan Sauls sporting a Batman mask, and get a little exercise on the playground and obstacle course. CrossFit Rome owner Jeff Holloway guided kids through the course where participants performed burpees — a strength-training exercise — stepped through ladders and ran in circles before sprinting to the finish.
AKD student Jordyn Beasley found out about EKGs — electrocardiograms — from Floyd County EMS personnel Connie Chandler and Amber Eason.
Caroline Looney, the 9-year-old daughter of South Rome Redevelopment Corp. Executive Director Charles Looney, made her first major step in starting a small business — Caroline’s Sweet Lemons — with her lemonade stand. To prepare for the festival, her biggest event yet after years of setting up at her home, she squeezed 30 lemons Saturday morning. She plans to expand into selling boiled peanuts this summer and find a spot where she can, legally, set up shop in town, her mother, Rachael Looney, laughed.
Food offerings included Bak Ah Yard Jamaican Grill, a recent addition to South Rome at 308 S. Broad St., serving up jerk chicken wings and oxtail, and to cool off, Kona Ice served up flavored shaved ice.
The Rome League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization which has recently been revived, was on-site to register new voters or help those who already have with verifying their polling location and voter information ahead of the May 22 party primaries and local nonpartisan election.