For the fourth consecutive summer, the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society presents its “Passport to Coweta” program for kids. This popular program involves a printed “passport” that looks very much like an official one except that it’s filled with historic location “stops” around Coweta County. The theme of this year’s program is “Catch Nan if You Can!” Nan is a little white Scottish Terrier whose likeness is on signage, the passport, website, etc. The recommended ages for the program are those 5 to 12 years old.
To participate, kids visit the McRitchie-Hollis Museum at 74 Jackson St. during regular hours to pick up their own passport and instructions. From there they can travel to all local historic stops at their own pace while collecting stamps along the way. Once again, Hillcrest Chapel Funeral Home is the major sponsor of the event. Kids may also pick up their passports at their location which is 1 Bullsboro Drive.
Stops this year include Willie Lynch Park, the Coweta County Historic Courthouse (exterior only), Oak Hill Cemetery, the Sharpsburg Library, the African-American Museum, and the James E. McGuffey Nature Center. With each stop there is an opportunity to collect a stamp there or a nearby business listed on the instructions.
Once kids make the rounds collecting stamps, they bring their passport back to the museum or Hillcrest Chapel Funeral Home for a prize. Deadline to submit completed passports is August 2nd.
NCHS Director, Larisa Scott says, “This is a wonderful program to engage kids in their community. It was started three summers ago and as far as I can tell families seem to enjoy the opportunity to expose their children to some local history while having fun. We also appreciate Hillcrest Chapel Funeral Home for sponsoring this educational program for kids in the county. We hope families will bring kids early on in June to grab a passport and get going!”
The website with additional information is passportcoweta.com. Also, those interested may call the McRitchie-Hollis Museum at 770-251-0207 to ask any questions they may have.
