Cedartown’s Georgia Cities Week helps residents explore community
Ever think you could learn about your City’s history from a rock? The City of Cedartown gave residents a chance to get out and explore the City on their own and learn about the services their government offers from a fun and unique perspective called rock hiding.
What is rock hiding you ask? Across the United States, the game of rock hiding has taken off. There are countless websites dedicated to the activity, along with social media groups. CBS news even dedicated a segment to the craft of painting, hiding and searching for rocks. The game is played when someone paints a smooth stone or rock. Crafters can paint inspirational quotes, special scenes, even cartoon characters on the rocks. Once painted, they “hide” the rocks in public areas and post clues to where they can be found on social media. In fact, there is a local group called “Cedartown Ga Rocks” with more than 1,400 members that enjoy painting, hiding and finding rocks.
“We try to come up with unique ways to celebrate Georgia Cities Week every year, something that anyone can participate in and something that they can do at their leisure,” explained Public Information Officer Aimee Madden. “I have seen how fun rock hiding can be, and so one of the things we decided to was to paint and hide rocks that either showed off our City’s landmarks or highlighted the services that we provide f or our residents on a day- in and day- out basis.”
A total of 10 rocks were hidden around town in areas like Turner Street Park, the Trail of Tears National Historic Marker, the Ideal Bakery, the Cedartown Police Department and the Cedar town Fire Department, just to name a few.
“We were tickled with the response we received. There are still a few rocks out there unaccounted for, but several of our residents that found them took the time to take a photo and then sent it to us. Each rock was hidden along with a piece of paper that either explained the role of our municipal service departments or provided a cool insight into Cedartown’s history,” Madden said. “It’s my hope that the kids ( and kids at heart) who found these rocks will remember that local history lesson or remember some of the fire safety tips we provided them every time they look at that rock.”
The City also took advantage of their nearly 7,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter and invited older kids and adults to participate in an online scavenger hunt. “We posted eight questions via social media and directed participants to visit our website to find the answers. We received a lot of participation and at the same time, spread the word that our website contains great information a bout our municipal services as well as fun Cedar town trivia and historical facts,” Madden said. Billie Barnette was the first resident to complete the online scavenger hunt correctly. She was awarded with a City of Cedartown Tervis tumbler.
The City also developed a special Georgia Cities Week crossword puzzle using current and past Cedartown trivia. The puzzle was posted online, but also in two different locations in town including Pirkle’s Deli and the Cedartown Library. Resident Kenneth Hutchins was the winner of the crossword contest.
“We would like to thank everyone that participated in our Georgia Cities Week activities. They were a little “out- of- the- box” but our aim with these activities is to engage our residents, t each t hem about t he services we provide and also educate t hem on Cedartown’s unique and pretty fascinating history.”