Bob Cramer's Blog

Atlanta showed off this weekend and proved yet again why it is one great American city. With something for everybody, I tried to do everything.

One minute I stood eye to eye with the world’s 30 best golfers at the historic East Lake Golf Club, another minute on the edge of my seat at the world debut of Barry Manilow’s powerful new musical, Harmony, which tells the story of a famous six man vocal group banned by the Nazis.

On Sunday I joining 1,400 other Atlantans who spent a crystal clear, chamber of commerce weekend afternoon inside Symphony Hall at the inaugural (Co)Lab, a collaborative learning summit to make our wonderful city an even better place to live. On Friday, 400 of us gathered at an Atlanta art gallery for Hope Flies, an evening to celebrate hope and raise funds and awareness for the most promising Mitochondrial disease research and treatments.   On Saturday, 100,000 gathered in Piedmont Park for Music Midtown, dancing to the Red Hot Chili Peppers amidst the raindrops.  (To be honest, I missed the concert, but my son attended and I had to pick him up so it was just like I was there).

Civic pride, charity and remarkable doses of humanity on display everywhere.   At the golf, talk centers on the transformation of the East Lake, community revitalization and the massive Charter school being built just across from the club.  At (Co)lab, Atlanta boosterism alive and well but backed up with talk about the BeltLine (one speaker said it was the greatest urban opportunity for any American city), the shareable city initiative and the positive impact of the arts.  At Hope Flies, the quiet dignity, pure courage and internal strength of people caring for those inflicted with this little known disease (please note, 1 in 2,500 people suffer from Mitochondrial disease and it has very strong connections to other better known diseases like Autism, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s).  At dinner before the moving Harmony, a brief but touching conversation with a healthy 82-year old man who after enjoying a hearty shrimp and grits dinner, followed by dessert, talked about life’s blessings as he planned a 2014 trip with his wife to New Zealand.

Blessings were all over the ATL this weekend. And to top it off, I got a chance to shake hands with Mayor Reed late Sunday.  For the man ultimately responsible for making things work around here, he sure looked pretty cool, calm and collected.