For the 5th consecutive summer, the Newnan-Coweta History Center 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 encourages kids to “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. The program is also supported by Newnan Kiwanis.
Stops this year include the old Newnan Hospital, now University of W. Georgia, the Coweta County Genealogical Society, Brown’s Mill Battlefield, Newnan Carnegie Library, Senoia Historical Society, Moreland Hometown Heritage Museum, the African-American Museum, Newnan Times-Herald, Newnan Cotton Mills, and Newnan Chapel UMC. With each stop there is an opportunity to collect a stamp or snap a photo.
Once kids make the rounds collecting stamps, they bring their passport back to the museum or Hillcrest Chapel Funeral Home for a prize. Submit completed passports by the end of August to claim the prize!
NCHC Director, Larisa Scott says, “This is a wonderful program to engage kids in their community. It was started several 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 for more information.
