Ripple Makers

In This Episode
This episode features in-depth conversations with Lisa Lemon of the Ocmulgee Mounds Association and Scott Mitchell of Macon Pride, exploring the cultural, historical, and community significance of local initiatives and indigenous heritage in Macon. Discover how these organizations are fostering inclusivity, education, and preservation throughout the year.

Featured Guest: 
Lisa Lemon, Ocmulgee Mounds Association

Topics include:
  • The history and significance of Ocmulgee Mounds and efforts to make it a national park
  • Partnerships between the Ocmulgee Mounds Association and park rangers for education and preservation
  • The role of indigenous storytelling and cultural programming in community engagement
Featured Guest: 
Scott Mitchell, Macon Pride

Topics include:
  • The evolution of Macon Pride from a one-day event to a year-round organization
  • The importance of authentic representation and collaboration with the Muscogee Nation
  • How local organizations support LGBTQ+ youth and foster safe spaces
  • Community involvement opportunities and volunteer programs at local festivals
  • The impact of cultural tourism on Macon's economy and identity
  • The role of music and art in expressing community pride
Sound Bites
"We created a safe space for people who hadn't had one."
"What have you done today to make you feel proud?"

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Macon Fall Festivals and Key Guests
02:00 The Significance of Ukmulgi Mounds and Its Supporters
03:50 Partnerships for Preservation and Education at the Park
04:55 Cultural Programming and Indigenous Storytelling
06:58 The Role of the Muscogee Nation in the Park's Revival
08:56 Community Engagement and Support Opportunities
10:47 The Future of Ukmulgi Mounds and Cultural Tourism
13:06 The Origins and Growth of Macon Pride
14:53 Community Impact and Youth Engagement in Pride
16:53 Supporting LGBTQ+ Communities Year-Round
19:04 Music, Pride, and Personal Stories of Connection
21:02 How Local Businesses and Allies Support Pride
23:16 Closing Remarks and Call to Support Local Organizations

Featured Music
  •  "Proud" — Heather Small
  •  "Best Days of My Life" — American Authors
Connect
Ocmulgee Mounds Association - https://www.ocmulgeemounds.org/
Macon Pride - https://www.maconpride.org/
StreamTheCreek - https://streamthecreek.com

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Genuinely Southern Whether through writing, broadcasting, or word-of-mouth, stories have always forged a connection between people and places. Nowhere else is this truer than in The South. Southern artist, influencer, speaker, and author Mark Ballard will weave stories of life in Macon, Georgia, and stories of the South. Tales told as only Mark can, will be interwoven with guest interviews and listener questions and requests.
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Creators and Guests

Host
Charles Davis

What is Ripple Makers?

This series shares the stories of Macon/Central Georgia nonprofits, giving them a platform to raise awareness of their causes and highlighting their role in the Macon community.

Charles Davis:

Hello, and welcome to a brand new edition of Ripple Makers here on streamthecreek.com and wherever you can hear audio. My name is Charles Davis, I'm joined by the incredible miss Susie Cowan. Susie, how are you?

Susie Cowan:

I'm wonderful.

Charles Davis:

Good. Good. Good. As we start to get away from the summer months and we start to fall,

Susie Cowan:

pun intended, into the rest of our year, let's talk about the things we like about fall. And I said I was gonna say this

Charles Davis:

on the air, and I will document it. I'll put it on wax.

Susie Cowan:

That does not include pumpkin spice lattes, muffins, scents, perfumes, colognes, anything. But it's fall, yo. You did it. I did. See?

Susie Cowan:

That's why I love this.

Charles Davis:

But if we're gonna celebrate fall, let's celebrate some of the great things that are happening here in and around town, And two great festivals are held during this time of the year, and we are so happy to have them on the show today. First off, on the show, will have miss Lisa Lemon of the Ocmulgee Mounds Association talking about the great, indigenous celebration that happens in this town every single year. And just one of my personal favorite people in the history of the entire world, mister Scott Mitchell with Macon Pride highlighting and celebrating all the things that make everybody inclusive in this town. So, Susie, you're here at a great time. If you're gonna be moving to Macon, it's gonna be a great time to

Susie Cowan:

be here especially excited. Especially in the fall because then you get to realize it's not always hot down here. I'm ready.

Lisa Lemon:

Ready for that, actually.

Susie Cowan:

I I know you are. I am too. So with that being said, let's get into this.

Charles Davis:

Now Susie, you are a park person. Correct? You you like you like parking. Well, not parking cars. You like going to the I don't know what people who go to the park call it.

Charles Davis:

Don't know if that that's not what

Susie Cowan:

I Outdoor enthusiast.

Charles Davis:

Oh, thank you. Thank you. And out you're an outdoor enthusiast. Have you had a chance to, get out and and visit some of the parks that we have here in Macon yet?

Susie Cowan:

Absolutely. I have. And they're beautiful.

Charles Davis:

Okay. Alright. Now I figured if with you being a outdoor enthusiast now that I've got the lingo right, you have been out to this one, and you moved here at the perfect time, for a lot of things because there's a huge initiative happening around one of our most treasured parks that we have in this community. A bunch of different organizations are coming together to try and make, one of our parks a national historic park. And we have a lady here who is, who who is a bit connected, to the park and everything.

Charles Davis:

Miss Lisa Lemon of the Ocmulgee Mound Association. Good morning. How are you?

Lisa Lemon:

Good morning. I'm great. Thank you for having me.

Charles Davis:

Good. Good. Glad glad you're here. Like I said, Susie's new here, we're trying to teach her about all the people who do things and make the things happen here. So, Susie, it is on you.

Susie Cowan:

Yeah. And one of the first places I learned about was the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park. Can you tell us a little bit more about the park and how Ocmulgee Mounds Association first started?

Lisa Lemon:

I'd be happy to. How much time do you have? When it comes to Ocmulgee Mounds, I am obsessed. It is such a wonderful place. Ocmulgee Mounds Association, or OMA as we call it, is the official nonprofit partner of Ocmulgee Mounds.

Lisa Lemon:

Since 1942, we've been supporting Ocmulgee Mounds programming, cultural events, community engagement, fundraising, and visitor experiences. So it's just been an amazing several years watching the park grow, watching the national attention coming to the park and getting the recognition it's long deserved. I mean it's got something for everybody. It's got, of course, the history and the cultural connections, over twelve thousand years of human habitation. It has trails, it has earthworks, swamps, it's got woodlands.

Lisa Lemon:

It is just an amazing place and it has something for everybody.

Susie Cowan:

Well, mentioned the partnerships. What's it like working alongside the Rangers and the team with the park?

Lisa Lemon:

We have a close partnership. We work really close together on increasing the programming, park needs. That's what we do. We support the things they need to do their programming and some of their preservation and restoration efforts. So we have a great partnership.

Lisa Lemon:

We talk regularly about what those needs are and moving forward into the future and do everything we can to get the visitors out there and give them an excellent experience.

Charles Davis:

Having that beautiful space is one thing but also the education around the space is another. Talk a little bit about the programs that you all have out there as far as the education and why you think those programs are so important to the community.

Lisa Lemon:

Okay. Well, for one thing, at the park means visitation to Macon. So the tourism aspect is big and huge and could not be done without the all the partnerships in Macon that work on promoting the park, helping us get the word out. In addition to the Ranger talks on the park itself, on some specific time periods, we also bring in people from the Muskogee Nation to talk about their history, teach us how to make baskets, corn husk dolls. Moggy Indigenous celebration in the second week of September, we bring over 100 indigenous representatives from southeastern tribes to share their stories, some dance demonstrations, songs, in their own voices, which is what we want to increase, having more and more cultural tourism, cultural programming, so they can share their stories.

Lisa Lemon:

We do the best we can. But they do, it's a beautiful thing to see the connection when they're telling their stories and they're moved by coming back to their homeland, a place that some people have never seen. And when they come for the first time to have that connection, I don't have that to a place that my ancestors lived that I've never seen. They have that immediately, and it's so beautiful to see that connection and that pride of being back on their ancestral homeland.

Charles Davis:

Yeah. Yeah. And that leads right into the next part, and you already talked about having the Muskogee nation be a part of this. And you don't really see that in a lot of other places when it comes to the indigenous population that lives in this country. Having the collaboration between one, the, you know, remembrance and the it's the only way I know how to say it.

Charles Davis:

The apology that has to go towards the nation, but then also the collaboration and the work of being there and having them be back on their ancestral homeland and be a part of it, not just a piece of it, be a working collaborator. Once again, why do you feel like it's important to have their voice be as big of a part of this as anybody else's?

Lisa Lemon:

Because they were a removed tribe. Some of the parks out west do have that, but the people still live nearby. So this is unique for a tribe or a nation that has been removed to come back. It's bittersweet for them. It's bittersweet for all of us because there is that feeling of this shouldn't have happened.

Lisa Lemon:

But to know that they want to come back and work with us and help us get the story straight, the story's authentic, that's just incredibly important. You know, even with, in addition to the programming, the things we sell in the store, we want to make sure it's authentic to who they are as opposed to something that'll just sell and bring We want that's very important to us to do the right thing and work with them. We also work with graphic designers with the nation that they help us with our flyers, they help us with some of the t shirt designs and some of the merchandise that we sell. When you work with a vendor, it's always a win win for both. You purchase an item, you sell an item, and everybody wins.

Lisa Lemon:

But with this situation, when I put something in the store and post it, and immediately it's shared with pride that this is in their homeland. And the first time see, I got chills now. The first time somebody said that to me, I got chills because I didn't realize how important that connection would be to that artist. And that means everything to me. So that's probably those connections with the Muskogee Nation would be my number one.

Susie Cowan:

Wow, that is amazing. How can the public get involved? Can you share a little bit more about the events and gatherings you hold throughout

Lisa Lemon:

the I can, I can? And also if you want to follow Mulgey Mounds and Mulgey Mounds Association on social media, our websites, we do put the events and programs on there. Also, I think probably every Saturday when staffing allows, they do an Earth Lodge tour at eleven They usually do another talk at two Whether it's a pottery class, and all these are free, by the way. The park is free, the events are free. They can do those things.

Lisa Lemon:

Also, if you want to get involved and help support Ocmulgee Mounds, if you go to ocmulgeemounds.org, that is our website, and it talks about what we do. It shares how you can get involved. Donations, shop in the store. Proceeds from the store help fund these events, so that is extremely important. They can join our membership, which really is a donation with perks.

Lisa Lemon:

They get discounts in the store, they get invitations and comp programs and events they can come to. And then the lantern light tours that we have in spring during Cherry Blossom Festival, that is the only ticketed event that we have, it's in the evening. But that is outstanding. It's the only time you have the opportunity to be out there And at then the Akmulge indigenous celebration in September, second week, it is also free. So it is a great opportunity to come and meet a lot of these artists and educators and representatives from the Muskogee Nation.

Charles Davis:

Yeah. Lisa, have you had the opportunity to go out to Oklahoma and actually be out on Muskogee Nation land?

Lisa Lemon:

I have.

Charles Davis:

What what about that experience can you talk about that is kind of more already said you love the park anyway, but what what did you gain from going out there that made your love for it even deeper?

Lisa Lemon:

Tracy Rivas is amazing with taking us out there and showing us things that we might not have known about, which I love that part of it. And one of the things is when we get into Tulsa, she takes us to the Council Oak Tree, which is where the story is at removal, that is their oral tradition, that is where they stopped walking and sat down and said, We're home. That tree still stands. When we drive to the capital of the nation, Ocmulgee, Oklahoma, and the sign saying, Welcome to Ocmulgee, that just is cool to me. It's spelled different.

Lisa Lemon:

It's spelled in Muskogee, of course. But that was pretty cool to see. But just going and seeing some of their buildings, one looks like the Earth Lodge. And so it is just seeing that the connection stayed, you know, and going inside some of the buildings there, meeting the people, of course. I'm actually going at the end of June for their festival.

Susie Cowan:

What are your hopes for the future of the organization? How do you hope to see it grow as the work continues towards having Okmulgee Mounds National Historic Park become Georgia's first national park?

Lisa Lemon:

All the work that the people in the community have done to shine that bright light on Okmulgee Mounds has already increased tourism somewhat, quite a bit actually, and I know a lot more is to come. So we will just continue to grow. We will continue to seek more opportunities, more donations, memberships, increase our merchandise in the store so we can increase that revenue, but we will continue to fight fight and and increase programming. I think we're kind of somewhat a bridge between the park and the community as far as helping get that programming here and then sharing what we're doing.

Charles Davis:

With every episode that we do with this, we love the organizations to bring in some music that kind of identifies with them. And I think you brought in a really good release. So talk about the song that you brought in today.

Lisa Lemon:

Best Days of My Life by American Authors because it's to me, it shows how many ideas we have and how much we love the park and how hard we're gonna work to bring more programming and and support this park long as we can.

Charles Davis:

Yeah, that is awesome. Thank you so much Lisa. Thank you for all that you do everybody over at the board and I'm greatly appreciate you for doing this.

Lisa Lemon:

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Charles Davis:

Alright. Welcome back to Ripple Makers. Now, Susie, you've been in town a good little while now. Right?

Susie Cowan:

Yes.

Charles Davis:

Alright. Just have a couple questions for you. Have you been down to the Bohemian Den?

Susie Cowan:

You know I have.

Charles Davis:

Okay. Know you have.

Susie Cowan:

I love some rocks.

Charles Davis:

I know you do. I know you're a fan of rocks. Have you been down to Sweet

Susie Cowan:

Eleanor's? Absolutely.

Charles Davis:

Okay. Good. The cheesecake is amazing. Get your get yourself some of that. But I don't know if you know the man, the myth, the legend behind all those things.

Charles Davis:

A lot of the things that have happened in this town, one of the biggest microphones for this town that we have had and currently have. And and he is also the founder of one of the best organizations in this town as well. I do not know if you know a one mister Scott Mitchell. Do you know Scott Mitchell?

Susie Cowan:

I've met, but looking forward to learning so much more. Well, he's sitting right next to

Charles Davis:

you now, so you might as well get to know him. Scott Mitchell, good morning. How are you, buddy?

Scott Mitchell:

Good morning, Susie. Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got. I'm still I'm still Scotty from the block.

Susie Cowan:

And this is why I love Scott Mitchell.

Charles Davis:

Scott Mitchell is the founder of one of the best organizations in this town, Macon Pride, and we are so glad to have you in here. So first first off, how are you Scott Sears? How are you,

Scott Mitchell:

baby? Phenomenal.

Charles Davis:

Alright. Good. Good to hear. Like I said, Susie, since I don't think you've been here in town for a Macon Pride event yet. Have not.

Charles Davis:

Oh, it is so amazing. So I'm gonna turn the mic over to you and let you learn all the things you need to know.

Susie Cowan:

Yeah, Scott. What so tell me more about the Macon Pride.

Scott Mitchell:

To learn about Macon Pride, have to kinda go a little bit further to like 2016, 'seventeen. After Charlottesville and then so many things happening around that time, there was a march from Coleman Hill to the government center. That kind of like spurred a movement. And from there, some conversations started happening. And there was a group of us in 2019 that were sitting in a coffee shop.

Scott Mitchell:

There had been an enormous amount of trans people murdered that year and it was only April. And that week, a trans person was murdered in Atlanta while walking from the bus station. And we started talking about how close that was hitting to home. And we needed to do something. And we didn't really know what that something looked like at the time, but we started throwing around some ideas of a Pride Day or something to do with like a gay Pride Day and we chose a date.

Scott Mitchell:

We did what we knew you had to do to start a festival and we ordered t shirts because

Charles Davis:

You gotta have t shirts.

Scott Mitchell:

You know? You gotta have t shirts. We didn't know who was going to show up. We didn't know what it was going to be like. We had the smallest 10 by 10 stage that you've ever seen in your life set up in 3rd Street Park.

Scott Mitchell:

About halfway through, it poured down rain. Our DJ was not covered. Everything was getting wet. And the DJ just broke into songs about rain. And all the people started doing line dancing in the rain.

Scott Mitchell:

And people started dancing in the rain. We were afraid it was going to end the day and instead more people came after it rained than And they were there was a sea of people. We had a thousand people show up that day. And we knew then that we were onto something. We used that year of COVID time to really get on Zoom with each other monthly.

Scott Mitchell:

We got our five zero one c three. We did all that back office stuff that you would need to really be a festival that has sustainability.

Susie Cowan:

Why did you feel that the organization was so needed in the Macon community?

Scott Mitchell:

So we knew it was needed because there were so many of us that really didn't have anything like that growing up in Middle And South Georgia. So when we were younger, you had to go to Atlanta. And if you've ever been to Atlanta Pride, it's a million people, you know? And that's not for everybody, Yeah. You We still have this like small town, deep, hard attachment to Macon.

Scott Mitchell:

And we wanted to be able to do something like that here. And we wanted to also bring world class acts that no one else is gonna bring to Macon to Macon. And that's one of the reasons we partner with people to bring in RuPaul's Drag Race Queens to Macon to perform every year because it's important. We went from being that one day in the afternoon to being a four day festival for a couple of years. And then we changed and moved to a seven day festival.

Scott Mitchell:

And then we moved to an eleven day festival. When we moved to that eleven day festival, it was fabulous. That was a great year, wonderful. We were absolutely exhausted and the world changed that next year, especially here in The US. And so we knew that we needed to become a year round organization and not just put on a festival in the fall.

Scott Mitchell:

We do programming year round. We do at least two affinity events a month. And then we also do service work now. We've really leaned into our partners here in Macon. And we do everything now from a Habitat for Humanity pride build, to cleaning up the Ocmulgee National Park, to hosting, we're doing a craft club next month.

Scott Mitchell:

You know? Like so we really have just tried to find where do people need us, who wants to partner with us, and then we've made that happen. That's great.

Charles Davis:

What are some of the accomplishments that you look back during the time and you go, I'm really glad we did that. I'm really glad that turned out the way it did.

Scott Mitchell:

So back in, back the first year in 2019, one of the things that we saw very early on was the amount of teenagers that parents who had brought their teens to festival. And we knew then that we were different from Atlanta, that we were different from major cities where the demographics were different, Out you of Pride and not even under the umbrella of Pride, but because of it, we started the first LGBTQIA plus youth group here in Macon where the very first event that we held, we just kind of cast the net out there and we had 23 kids show up. And those, now this is important in the queer community. It might not make as much sense in the heterosexual community, but out of those kids, we did not have a single one of them commit suicide. That is a huge statistic in the queer community

Charles Davis:

because that's definitely not always the case. They're all thriving. They've gone to college. They've had healthy relationships. They're friends and we've watched them become friends with other

Scott Mitchell:

queer queer kids. During that time, we had one kid that would drive up from Cordele. If y'all know where Cordele

Charles Davis:

is, it's like an hour and

Scott Mitchell:

twenty minutes away from here. Just to be around people like them. Another thing too that just always just really blows my mind here in Macon is we have like six or seven affirming religious communities here. And that has been a huge thing for our Pride Festival. Those communities have supported us from the very beginning.

Scott Mitchell:

And when I say supported us, they have done everything from financially and emotionally and spiritually to a couple of years ago there was a need to form what we call the Angel Brigade. And now every year, Angel Brigade comes out from those churches and religious institutions, and they form a line of angels to block the protesters from interrupting the Pride Festival.

Charles Davis:

Making Pride created a safe space Yeah. For people who hadn't had one. Yes. And y'all saw the need of a future generation, as you just said, to not go through the things and to not have the quote unquote shame attached to it and to live their lives as open and as beautifully as they need to.

Scott Mitchell:

And we allowed businesses and spaces to become safe spaces. We gave them, almost gave them like permission.

Charles Davis:

Yeah, You know,

Scott Mitchell:

you can do this. I remember when I hung the pride flag in the window Bohemian den in 2019. It was absolutely one of the most nerve wracking things I've ever done. Coming out as a business owner is just as stressful or more stressful than coming out as a 15 year old because your money and your livelihood is attached It's to tied to it. But when you have to have that thick skin just to like walk through the street sometimes, that gets hard.

Susie Cowan:

Thank you for paving that road.

Charles Davis:

Yeah. I think one of the also one of the great things about making pride every event that you all put on is that this event is not exclusionary. Like, it is for every single person no matter who you are. So for anybody that is out there that is thinking and hearing this going, you know, I would love to be involved in in something like this. How can people what are the opportunities for people in the public to be involved if they feel so so wanting to do so?

Scott Mitchell:

Yeah, so one of the very first things that we noticed besides all the teams out there was just how many allies we have in Macon. I mean, there are so many people that come and support us. We now, because we're a year round organization, we have opportunities to volunteer all the time. Yeah. We love our volunteers.

Scott Mitchell:

So that's probably the number one way, Charles.

Charles Davis:

Best way to do so. Okay. Well, with you being the the music man that you are, because Scott loves him some music and knows a lot of great music as well. I'll never take that from him. With with you being here today, what song did you bring in that you feel represents some of the things about Macon Prime?

Scott Mitchell:

For the longest time, like ever in the history of the world, I have loved the song Proud by Heather Small. For people that don't know who Heather Small is, Heather Small was the lead singer of M People.

Charles Davis:

Okay.

Scott Mitchell:

And M People was a huge, huge dance, soulful group from the nineties. Heather Small did the song Proud, and it really speaks to the heart of what pride means for so many people. She says, what have you done today to make you feel proud?

Charles Davis:

Scott, I love it. No. I love it and I love you. You know that. Thank you so much for everything that you've done, everything that you do, and everything that will come of things that you have helped create.

Charles Davis:

So really greatly appreciate you being here today.

Susie Cowan:

Okay.

Charles Davis:

Well, those were two phenomenal interviews right there. We wanna thank Lisa Lemon with the Okmulgee Mounds Association, and we wanna thank Scott Mitchell with Macon Pride. Both of those individuals are just great people.

Lisa Lemon:

They're just

Charles Davis:

they're just phenomenal. Now also realize this. These fall these things are happening in the fall. These are fall festivals, but let's not just support them during the fall. These are organizations that are doing things throughout the entirety of the year.

Charles Davis:

So keep up with them, but also make sure that you're supporting them throughout the entirety of the year as well. So do not forget about that. We wanna thank you all for hanging out with us on this episode. You could stream all of these episodes at streamthecreek.com. Do that.

Charles Davis:

Listen to all the other shows there as well. But with that being said, I am Charles Davis. She is Susie Cowan, and we'll see you all next time.

Susie Cowan:

Ripple Makers is a podcast by Creek Media hosted by Charles Davis and Susie Cowan. This show is produced and edited by Big Hair Productions. Follow us on social media at streamthecreek. Engage with us, like, subscribe, share with a friend. Be sure to stream this and more podcasts you may love at streamthecreek.com.