INSIGHT Magazine September 2015 | Page 24

Weaver th 70 Birthday by Benjamin Nunnally T he City of Weaver is celebrating their 70th birthday in September, and they’ve got plans to make it a real bash. postmaster and a railroad agent for the new creations. The station was naturally named for the donor, hence the “Weaver Station” heritage festival. The Weaver Station Heritage and Music Festival is Sept. 12 from 9 AM to 9 PM at Weaver Park, featuring tons of community talent with everything from crafters and cooks to some of the most popular musicians in Calhoun County. There’s also a 5K Walk-Run to give visitors an excuse to get in some exercise while helping the youth football program generate funding, as well as activities like the duck pond, where kids wade in and grab rubber duckies for prizes. Weaver residents came together in 1945 to vote on incorporating the town with an official government, ending up with an unsurprisingly lopsided 60 to 4 vote in favor of becoming an official city. “We want a celebration of our city,” said Aletha Young, a volunteer helping coordinate the project. “We want to get all the people in the community to work together as a group to do things for our city.” Weaver existed in some form or another since the 1830s, when Simeon and Linzey Weaver and others took up residence in the former Cherokee land near McClellan. Their son, David, donated land for the building of a post office and a rail depot, later serving as Now, 70 years later, the town is bringing in local music favorites like Riley Green, Lindsey Hinkle and RPM to help commemorate the anniversary, setting the stage for great food and local art. Young says that there’s a lot to choose from, with BBQ, Mexican and more on the menu, and cool crafts like metalwork, crochet and even airplanes made from beer cans all having made appearances at previous heritage festivals. Though the city holds an annual heritage day, the Weaver Station Her ]Y