Middle Georgia's past, told by the people who lived it
Ben Sandifer sets up each story with a few dates and names, then lets someone who was there tell it: a park manager's daughter, a World War II veteran at his 99th birthday, an archaeologist who worked at Fort Hawkins. Episodes often end by pointing to a website or group where the story continues.
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Middle GA Podcasts records local history while the people who carry it can still tell it. It covers Middle Georgia: Macon's old parks and churches, Milledgeville, the site of Fort Hawkins. The method is simple. Ben Sandifer sets the scene with a few dates and names, then gives the microphone to someone who was there. 'Remembering Lakeside Park' shows the approach clearly. The story starts in 1894, when William Alexander Scott Jr. came to Macon for a railroad job and turned McCall's Mill Pond into a recreation area. The center of the episode, though, is Lynn Hawk, daughter of Robert Stevenson, who ran the park for owner Burt Maxwell from 1955 to 1975. She remembers diving boards and a bowling alley, one-dollar Friday night dances, and a father who booked every band himself. War memories are another thread. J. Keith Lancaster, visited around his 99th birthday, describes a crash landing near Bucharest near Christmas of 1944 and three weeks as a guest of the Russians. On a later mission his crew flew home with a Red Tails escort. His episode closes with details on how veterans of World War II, Korea or Vietnam can sign up for an Honor Flight. 'World War II Veteran Jim Garland' is a memorial. Garland was interviewed in November 2022 and died the following June at 96. His account of leading a Navy aerographical crew is presented in his own words. Not everything looks back. The Wesleyan Academy for Lifelong Learning episode profiles a program that has run at Wesleyan College since 2011, with courses ranging from Supreme Court rulings to antisemitism. A guest stresses that the courses do not advocate a position. Then there is the archaeology. A numbered Fort Hawkins series includes research archaeologist Dan Elliott on palisade ditches, midden deposits and evidence of a second blockhouse, the first being the one on the city of Macon's logo. The Cherokee Heights reunion, where more than 60 former members gathered in June 2023, covers scout troops and church history back to 1913. Its music comes from piano recordings Emily Greer made in 1997. The show is practical as well as nostalgic. Episodes here often end with a website, a phone number or a Facebook group so a listener can go further. 'Remembering Lakeside Park' is a good place to start: one place, one person who remembers it, and plenty of summer detail.
Made for: Suits a listener with ties to Macon or Middle Georgia who wants to hear places like Lakeside Park and Cherokee Heights remembered firsthand. It also suits anyone drawn to World War II veterans' own accounts or to hands-on local archaeology.
What sets it apart: It does not retell regional history secondhand. It records the people closest to it: a park manager's daughter, veterans in their nineties, an archaeologist who worked the Fort Hawkins site. Each account comes with a pointer to where more can be found.
Podcasts about events, people, history and more, in and from Middle Georgia.
Ben Sandifer hears about Fort Hawkins School's poolside graduations; your yearbook may feel underdressed.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A family memory turns Lakeside Park's summer routines into a warm record of Macon-area life.
Lakeside Park lands as Macon-area history told through the family that helped keep it running. Ben Sandifer's conversation with Lynn Hawk, whose father Robert Stevenson managed the park for Burt Maxwell, traces the place from William Alexander Scott Jr.
A grounded look at a Macon learning program built around difficult subjects, low-cost classes, and community-minded study.
Wesleyan Academy for Lifelong Learning presents itself as a community classroom shaped by ideas, history, and discussion. The episode follows WALL from Vince Coghlan's founding work through its growth after the first classes in 2011, then uses courses on anti-Semitism, Supreme…
A warm school history shaped by poolside ceremonies, student memories, and lasting community ties.
Fort Hawkins - Episode 3 looks at the school that carried the fort's name for nearly six decades, grounding its story near one of the original blockhouse sites and in the memories of four former students.
Miller Beach chaos, served breakfast-style.
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Nebraska culture, live and close to home.
Lynn Hawk says Lakeside Park was a place where "everything was $0.25," from swimming and ferry rides to candy bars and snow cones.
Middle Georgia Podcast presents Ben Sandifer's conversations with 99-year-old World War II veteran J.
Middle Georgia Podcast visits Wesleyan Academy for Lifelong Learning, or WALL, a Wesleyan College program that has served Middle Georgia adults since 2011.
Middle GA Podcasts records a June 2023 reunion where more than 60 former Cherokee Heights members shared memories of Macon church life.
Fort Hawkins School opened in fall 1921 with 506 students, 15 classrooms, and no lunchroom or auditorium, and Middle Georgia Podcast uses Episode 3 to revisit the building on the Fort Hawkins grounds in Macon, Georgia.
Ben Sandifer interviews Diane Dent Wilcox, author of the 1999 book Fort Hawkins in Frontier Georgia, about the fort's role in Macon's origins.
"In 1806, there was no 16 acres. It was less than two acres" with two blockhouses on diagonal corners.
A special tribute episode remembering Del Ward, a beloved local TV host, through her own words recorded on her 92nd birthday.
A 50th anniversary retrospective of the 1970 Atlanta International Pop Festival in Byron, Georgia, featuring interviews and historical context.
A live event celebrating Macon's music history, honoring Terry Taylor and featuring stories about the Allman Brothers and Capricorn Records.
A 50th anniversary podcast about the last graduating class of Miller and Lanier high schools, featuring classmates sharing memories.