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Published Sunday, November 22, 2009 in Local

Photo by Bob Fraley

Jerry Cochran, left, of Adopt A Soldier visits with Lamar Nelms, owner of a 1955 Chevy. Today’s Chubby Checker’s Cruisin’ the Square car show benefits Adopt A Soldier.

It's Chubby Checker Day

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Newnan Times-Herald

Today is Chubby Checker Day in Newnan.

The music legend will be performing a concert tonight, and will be a judge for the car show being held today from 2 to 6 p.m. on the Court Square.

Checker is in town to celebrate the 50th anniversary of "The Twist" -- the song that made him famous -- and it's his only stop in Georgia.

In honor of the concert, the city of Newnan has declared today "Chubby Checker Day."

Checker will be presented with a proclamation in his honor at 3 p.m., said Linda Kee, Newnan's director of business development and the city's Main Street program.

The presentation will be on a stage that has been set up on North Court Square, Kee said.

After the proclamation, Checker will pick out his favorite vehicles as a judge for the car show.

Tickets are still available for the evening's concert, which will be held at The Alamo on West Court Square. Tickets are $75. Twenty-five dollars from each ticket will go to support the Boys and Girls Clubs and is tax-deductible. Tickets may be purchased at the door or at Fabiano's Pizzeria downtown.

Doors open at 6, and Checker is expected to take the stage around 8.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the song that got everybody twisting, Checker's manager "was looking for a place that he felt epitomized the feeling of 'The Twist,' the period of 'The Twist,'" Kee said. The manager visited Newnan and "he happened upon The Alamo," she said. He got to talking to the owner, and decided that the club, a former movie theater, was exactly what he was looking for.

"It's a historic entertainment venue. Where so many people met their husbands and wives. That's where they went, back in the '50s," Kee said. "So to be able to bring Chubby to a venue like The Alamo is really a feather in our cap as a Main Street city."

The car show and cruise benefits the local Adopt A Soldier program. In addition to Checker, Kee and Newnan Mayor Keith Brady will be the judges, choosing their favorite vehicles.

There will also be a "Twist" contest and a Hula Hoop contest for the kids as part of the car show Sunday afternoon.

Show registration is $25, and all vehicles are welcome. Registrants will be eligible for a variety of door prizes, as well as a 50/50 cash drawing.

Adopt A Soldier is a local program that sends care packages to soldiers with a Coweta connection serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The program has grown by leaps and bounds since it began in August.

"My phone's been ringing off the hook," said Adopt A Soldier coordinator Jerry Cochran. He said he received nearly 20 new addresses for soldiers last week.

The program also has been donated three weeks of free shipping, Cochran said.

Last week, some 60 boxes were shipped to the war zone, and that has cleaned out the stock.

Items for the care packages can be dropped off every Thursday at any Coweta County or Newnan fire station. Several local businesses are also collecting items. There are also plans to provide Christmas gifts to the families of deployed soldiers.

For more information about Adopt A Soldier, contact Cochran at 770-328-4763 or e-mail jcochra6@bellsouth.net .

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