This year's
BATL event commemorating the historic Battle of Atlanta that took place in the neighborhoods of southeast Atlanta will be back this year with more living history action and a rare opportunity to get inside of the famous East Lake Golf Club. Plans are still being finalized and firmed up for the weekend of July 17th through the 19th. BATL has always been held around the weekend nearest the date of the actual battle on July 22nd. It returns with the van tours, a new cemetery tour joining the usual ones, walking tours,
5K race, music concerts, living history re-enactors, author talks and storytelling festival that people have come to expect.
This year the BATL Gala will be held on Friday July 17th at 7:30 pm at the impressive Neel Reid designed East Lake Golf Club. Organizers of the event are excited this year to not only offer dinner at the clubhouse , but also entertainment by the popular Banks and Shane singing group. The East Lake Golf Club was established in 1904 and became a New South icon even beyond Atlanta as the home course of legendary golfer Bobby Jones. It is the only course in the world to have produced two British Amateur Champions, Bobby Jones and Charlie Yates. In 2005 the course was named the permanent home of the Tour Championship presented by Coca Cola which features Tiger Woods and all of the other current championship professional golfers. The Golf Club is open year round and is noted for its active work with neighborhood youth including college scholarships. It is a private club with corporate memberships and access to the grounds and clubhouse is normally limited.
During the Civil War the property where the club is located was part of the Alston plantation. Previous Galas have been held at the antebellum Alston Home across from the golf course. Early on the namesake lakes at East Lake were created by damming one of the creeks that flows through the neighborhood. As the 20th Century approached an amusement park was opened on the site and folks came out from Atlanta and Decatur for a day in the country air. Soon a golf course was developed and the English Tudor style clubhouse was built, and the rest is history. Visitors to the Gala will get a chance to get inside the clubhouse, sample a bit of the history, enjoy a delicious dinner and fantastic entertainment. The BATL committee has held the ticket price to last year's rate. Tickets are $45 ($400 for a table of 10). There will be a cash bar.
While the Gala is beginning on Friday night the troops will have already set up camp. Confederate and Union troops are planning to camp at the frontlines exhibit all weekend and will be arriving on Friday afternoon. The re-enactment soldiers arrive in character in real-to-history uniforms. Visitors are invited to stop by on Friday early in the evening to informally see the group as they prepare their camp and supper and settle in for the weekend - they will be there through Sunday afternoon this year.
The Frontlines display area is one of the more popular features of BATL and has as its centerpiece over 75 feet of breastworks. On Saturday starting at 10am the soldiers will begin their soldiering activities with regular interpretive talks. This year the lines will be fortified with two functioning cannons. East Atlanta neighbor David Furikawa will return this year playing the part of a Union medical officer. He comes equipped with authentic battlefield surgical implements and an already bloody patient. Mothers and children are on hand nearby to give visitors an idea of what homelife was like in 1864. The structures and frontlines trenchworks are built to match historic photos from the Library of Congress from the battle. Soldiers will lay wreaths at the East Atlanta monuments for General McPherson and General Walker who lost their lives in the Battle.
Living history actors will also be on hand in the East Atlanta Village to tell the story of Civil War to Civil Rights. Actors in authentic costumes portraying actual people from history will be at a special venue in the Village for presentations about the time from before the Civil War and into the 20th Century. This is particularly appropriate for the BATL event which promotes the idea that this neighborhood battlefield features layers of history extending before the battle and right up to today. All of the living history talks and exhibits are offered free of charge.
The BATL tours will depart from the East Atlanta Village on July 19th. Two Different Van Tours - The Frontlines Tour and McPherson's Last Ride Tour - as well as the Frontlines Walking Tour will leave on the hour starting at 10am. There will also be one morning tour of
Historic Sylvester Cemetery. All of these tours are $10 in advance ($15 day of) and if the past is any guide they will fill up. New this year there will be two free scheduled tours of the Clay Family Cemetery at 11am and 1pm. Also for free are twilight tours of
Oakland Cemetery at 7pm on Saturday and Sunday. Free admission will be offered to the Cyclorama again this year. The free tours and admissions will require tickets that will be available at BATL headquarters on Saturday morning or at
Traders in the East Atlanta Village in July as well as on the BATL website.
Authors are scheduled throughout the day on Saturday for author talks and booksignings at
Bound to Be Read Bookstore. A special lecture by a nationally known author/expert is being finalized for Sunday evening and will be announced soon.
Plus, Oakland Cemetery will have Russell Bonds with his presentation "Saving the General". Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres begin at 5pm and the lecture begins at 5:30pm. The lecture is free to Oaklland Foundation members and $15 for others. There is very limited seating and these lectures are usually sold out well in advance so reservations and tickets should be arranged by contacting
mwoodlan@oaklandcemetery.com.
The 5th Annual BATL Doublequick presented by the East Lake YMCA will run across the battlefield with a start time of 8:30am Saturday in Bessie Branham Park. Registration can be handled online at www.batlevent.org or on race morning at the park ($17 advance/ $20 day of)..
The BATL Storytelling Festival will be in session at
East Atlanta Library starting at 10am on Saturday for children and adults of all ages. Sessions will be held at Kirkwood library in the afternoon as well.. Ghost Tales, African Folk Tales from the Wren's Nest Rambler and Gone With the Wind in 20 Minutes are just some of the highlights. The whole festival is offered free of charge courtesy of a list of neighborhood sponsors.
Tickets and more information, are available online at
www.batlevent.org.
The Oakland Cemetery Foundation, The East Lake Family YMCA, Sylvester Cemetery Foundation, and The Atlanta Preservation Center are assisting the B*ATL committee representing the various neighborhood associations. BATL is sponsored by the City of Atlanta and The Georgia Humanities Council.
Contact: Henry Bryant 404-377-6148 or
hbryant@mindspring.com.
is participating in the Georgia Public Library Summer Reading Program, "Be Creative at Your Library." He will be performing at the East Atlanta Branch Library on June 23 at 10:30am. Mr. Keith, a resident of Oconee County, is a magician and ventriloquist. Recently, he was a finalist in a national ventriloquism talent contest. In addition to the display of the art of ventriloquism, sleight of hand, and a host of magical illusions, his show promises lots of fun and audience participation. He will be accompanied by his exotic talking and singing Goony Bird, "Vern." Each child attending will receive a coloring picture of Mr. Keith and Vern.
