Submitted by Sammy Smith (sammy@thesga.org)

What an exciting day!

At the all-day 2009 Spring Meeting, held May 16th at Wesleyan College in Macon, we enjoyed formal presentations on current research and provocative ideas about many aspects of Georgia archaeology, touching on the theme of this year’s Archaeology Month: Mounds in Our Midst: Monuments of Prehistoric Culture in Georgia. Attending members received copies of the latest Early Georgia and our 2009 Archaeology Month poster.

The schedule allowed ample time to chat with other attendees. Over one hundred people attended the meeting—a grand success!

Perhaps the most important, and most fun, business was the unveiling of the ArchaeoBus, nicknamed Abbey! We learned that Abbey is one tough bus, or at least her bumpers are! We watched the champagne bottle loudly bounce away unharmed on the first strong stroke. Christener Tom Gresham upped the power level, and on the second stroke, the bottle shattered dramatically.

Abbey already has good karma, we think, since the rain deluge began only after the ceremonies. Teachers, librarians, and others are already reading about the ArchaeoBus on this website and asking how they can arrange a visit!

In short, your SGA is moving forward through 2009 with aggressive education and outreach activities, including both our own meetings, encouraging and publicizing Archaeology Month activities (May is Archaeology Month in Georgia!), and getting the ArchaeoBus on the road, doing both formal programs and less formal events.

Stay tuned for a more detailed report….

Posted online on Monday, May 18th, 2009