MAJOR FAUX PAS:   this blog was attributed to the wrong author when posted yesterday.  We are re-posting/redistributing the blog today under the correct author’s name (ie Cora Bett Thomas). We apologize profusely for this error!

The Creative Coast’s blogspot is Savannah’s sounding board for local thinkers, innovators, wanderers and wonderers. Guest bloggers share their thoughts, opinions and creative noodling from all over the map. This week’s guest blogger is Cora Bett Thomas, founder and president of Cora Bett Thomas Realty, one of Savannah’s most prominent real estate firms. Read on as Cora Bett recalls 40+ years of life in downtown Savannah and the inspiration to be gained from our city’s newest residents….

“I want to fit into a world with no boundaries and an infinity of perspectives, a world where art and life merge, where the future is bright and the past is a wellspring of inspiration.”

- Keia Barua, SCAD 2011 Valedictorian

At Saturday’s 2011 SCAD Commencement Ceremony, Valedictorian Keia Barua’s words, quoted by President Paula Wallace in her introduction of Keia, articulated the spirit of our city so eloquently. These words now live in my heart and I experience the sublime truth of those words every morning on my walk to work from Jones Street to the Cora Bett Thomas Realty office at Oglethorpe & Drayton.

The Creative Coast’s blogspot is Savannah’s sounding board for local thinkers, wanderers and wonderers.  Guest bloggers share their thoughts, opinions and creative noodling from all over the map. This week’s guest blogger is Bret Bell, public information officer for The City of Savannah.  Read on to find your own time zone with Bret’s snippet of historic innovation….

Savannah’s time ball can be seen sitting atop the Cotton Exchange on Bay Street, circa 1908.

OK, so at the tail end of his blog in this space last month, Mayor Johnson solicited questions from Creative Coasters about the City that he said I’d answer in my blog this month. His piece generated a lot of comments, but not a single question for me. Phew — another day, another bullet dodged.

The Mayor’s invitation is still open, but as a reward for letting me off the hook, I’m going to treat you to a little story about Savannah’s time balls. First, some background.

When you work in City Hall, lots of random things come across your desk. One of those recent things was a thesis from the 1980s written by a Georgia Southern University masters student named Roger Allen, titled “The Standardization of Time and the Establishment of Time Balls in the United States, including a Case Study of the City of Savannah, Georgia.” I’m going to share some highlights.

Every other week or so we’ll turn this space over to a guest blogger so you can get thoughts, opinions and creative noodling from all over the map. This week’s guest blogger is Michelle Hunter with The City of Savannah’s Department of Cultural Affairs.  Read on for Michelle’s take on the Tower of Babel, Savannah Gardens and the power of citizen involvement.

Learn the history of Savannah's unique neighborhoods using the latest technology.

The Book of Genesis offers many tales, interesting in their complexion and sometimes lurid in their telling, but maybe none quite as compelling as that of the Tower of Babel. I sat through Sunday School so I know that this is, most explicitly, an examination of the consequences of hubris. But something else is conveyed more subtly in the telling of the tale. Something about how conversation is the catalyst for collective action, in this case altering the very course of humanity.

Cities live and die according to their ability to embrace change. They have to create forums where participants of various backgrounds can safely explore commonalities and differences produced by change.

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?Hello world.

Last week the Creative Coast community responded to the news that Fitz is moving on…

Fitz and I sat across from one another in the Creative Coast office wondering what would happen, who would respond, and how.  We were overwhelmed by the positive energy and messaging that was shared.

Its cliche I know, but in business as in life, hard decisions have to be made, and we both appreciated all of the well wishes, both public and private.

Well, many hard decisions have been made, and quite a few things have changed.

When I moved to Savannah nearly four years ago, my objective was to setup two businesses with my wife and business partner, Miriam.

And we did just that.

When we were thinking of moving here we met a crazy long haired guy wearing socks and flip-flops.  He smoked and used antiquated handheld devices.

He was our introduction to the Creative Coast and we were hooked.