[0:17] Welcome to Thomasville Insights with the
City of Thomasville. On the podcast,
[0:21] we'll talk to experts on everything from
Thomasville history and events to daily
[0:25] operations and city business. All while
having some fun in the process.
[0:34] Welcome to Thomasville Insights with the
City of Thomasville. I am your co-host
[0:38] Ricky Zambrano and I've got my main man
here, Austin Reames.
[0:43] » Ricky, what a great day to be alive. How
you doing today?
[0:46] » Uh
it it it is a good day. Got my workout
[0:49] in this morning and uh
made it through.
[0:52] » That's right. Hey,
>> That's the important part. Made it
[0:54] through.
>> That's it and uh you know, new routines
[0:57] as we get to this side of August, uh a
couple of new routines coming up here
[1:02] for uh our community.
>> Yeah, it's back to school time so, you
[1:06] know, the traffic is flowing.
Um as always, a reminder, please uh be
[1:11] be watchful of the uh
school zones and uh you know, let's be
[1:15] watchful of the kids in the school zones
because they're back to school.
[1:19] » That's right. That's right. So, uh we
have a uh back to school uh themed
[1:24] podcast and um and uh again, we have um
I'll go ahead and introduce them before
[1:29] we get to the interview, but we have our
our guest on this show, Dr. Scott
[1:33] Sweeney, who's the superintendent and
also uh you'll hear from Ashley Palmer,
[1:38] who is executive director of STEM and
CTAE. So, STEM, just think science and
[1:44] CTAE, think vocational for those of us
old people like myself. Uh and also, I
[1:50] had to throw in career development for
Ashley Palmer as well.
[1:53] » It's a lot of titles.
>> It's a lot of titles. They're both from
[1:56] obviously from the Thomasville City
Schools. And uh some exciting man, I'm
[2:00] I'm really fired up up about their
program.
[2:03] Really kind of we got the Youth Council,
but just how they're how they're
[2:08] approaching this thing.
>> You know, part of this program is for
[2:11] the city council to serve as mentors
for each of the youth council members.
[2:16] So, they will actually rotate through
each each city council member. They will
[2:21] have an opportunity in two different
months to be mentored by a city council
[2:27] member.
So, each council member will mentor each
[2:31] of the kids.
It's 10 months, five council members.
[2:34] So, they'll rotate rotate through them
two times.
[2:37] So, they will get access to them,
connectivity.
[2:42] We've connected them with them and and
and that's not something that's said in
[2:46] a in XYZ format. That is for the
youth council member and the city
[2:52] council member to dictate the terms of
how that mentorship works, whether it's
[2:56] a face-to-face meeting, whether it's
just accessibility
[3:00] in regards to emailing them questions
and talking to them, talking by phone,
[3:04] or whatever the case may be. So, that's
the beauty of that is that you know,
[3:08] those kids will have that opportunity,
like you said, to kind of get more
[3:11] insight into, you know, what is a daily
life, what is the
[3:15] what it's like to be a city council
member, what they deal with,
[3:19] how they how they connect with the
community, how they listen to the
[3:22] community, and all those types of
things.
[3:24] » Yeah, it's going to be exciting. Again,
here we have coming up. We got the
[3:27] interview starting just now. Again, Dr.
Scott Sweeting and Ashley [music]
[3:32] Palmer.
[3:36] » [music]
>> And hello, welcome everyone. And I just
[3:39] wanted to welcome our special guest
today. I have with me and with the show
[3:45] Dr. Scott Sweeting.
>> Great to be here. Thanks for having me.
[3:48] » Yes, and newly
crowned executive Ashley Palmer.
[3:54] » Hey, thanks for having me.
>> Yeah. [laughter]
[3:56] So, congratulations on that. But, what
is what is executive executive of what?
[4:01] » Executive director of STEM, CTAE, and
career development.
[4:04] » All right. Yes. All right. Well, welcome
you guys here. We're going to I'm going
[4:08] to talk to Ricky for a second. So,
and then we'll we'll get going in the
[4:12] interview. So,
>> Yeah. Yeah, you can do that. But, first
[4:14] I got to say that's a whole lot of
names and titles and words and
[4:21] you know what that means.
>> What does that mean?
[4:23] » It's not too important.
>> Not too important. The more names
[4:25] [laughter]
you get, the less important you are.
[4:27] Yeah.
That would explain my why my title is
[4:30] very long.
Yeah. [laughter]
[4:32] Exactly.
>> The bigger the the bigger the business
[4:34] card,
>> the more important you are.
[4:36] That's true. That's true.
Oh,
[4:38] » [laughter]
>> that's true.
[4:40] All right, Ricky. Let's I'm going to
start with you cuz you're a part of this
[4:43] project. So, I wanted to pull Ricky in.
And again, headed into 2026.
[4:50] Our fearless city manager Chris White
asked the marketing team with
[4:54] implementing the city's first ever City
of Thomasville Youth Council. And Ricky
[4:59] tried to join the Youth Council rather
than guide it. But, anyway, that's
[5:02] another story. But, why is this
initiative important, Ricky?
[5:07] » Well, I mean it it's the the bigger part
of it is actually this process started
[5:12] dating back, you know, about 8 years, 10
years. And and Dominic [clears throat]
[5:17] Ford,
our chief HR officer,
[5:20] was one of those that was kind of
leading the way, doing the research. And
[5:25] so, there's been there's been layers
done throughout the years. And you know,
[5:29] Chris White, you know, last year really
committed to it and said, "Let you know,
[5:32] let's get this done." And you know,
here's what was interesting that this
[5:36] gentleman sitting on my left shoulder
was hired on when Dr. Sweeten took took
[5:42] over at the city school system.
He came in to meet with me. And he's
[5:46] like, "You know, all these
all this excitement all these ideas and
[5:50] all this that and I'm just like
Yeah, we've got a we've got a big one
[5:55] that's going to really going to get you
excited and then I mentioned to you he's
[5:58] like,
oh my goodness.
[6:00] » [laughter]
>> Is that what he really sounded like?
[6:02] » what he really sounded like.
>> Took all the air out of the room.
[6:04] » Yeah, for [laughter] real.
>> No wonder he's an executive.
[6:07] » I I think that's why we have to
That's why we got to redo the municipal
[6:11] cuz they think he damaged it from the
excitement.
[6:14] But but yeah, I mean obviously you know,
as soon [snorts] as Ashley and I
[6:17] discussed it it was it was just like
yeah, it's it's it's a no-brainer in
[6:21] regards to you know
you know, how do we how do we how do we
[6:25] get that done? But but again going back
a step, you know, when we when we look
[6:29] at this
you know, we are tasked with being
[6:32] leaders of this community as an
organization and
[6:37] you know, that starts with our city
council. It starts with our our city
[6:40] leadership and you know, what a great
opportunity this is in order to try and
[6:45] impact the future leaders of our
community. So so really when it comes
[6:49] down to it it's it's just like the
internship program attempts to do as
[6:52] well.
You know, impact the local kids that are
[6:55] already in college. You know, we've kind
of got a little system going here where
[6:59] you know, we've got the college
internship. Now we've got the youth
[7:02] council
that addresses
[7:05] sophomores, juniors and seniors. And and
then below that, you know, we have our
[7:10] summer youth leadership academy
that also is available to to kids that
[7:16] are in eighth and ninth grade. So you
know, we've got got a little train going
[7:21] here of trying to make an impact the
students in our community and and we
[7:26] certainly hope that as the years come we
continue to see that.
[7:29] » Well, this is a partnership with
Thomasville City Schools. Why is this
[7:33] partnership valuable?
>> So so as we as we worked on this
[7:38] and as we did the research we found that
the municipalities across the state that
[7:43] are that do have already a youth council
in place have all
[7:48] partnered with a school system or a
local school. You know, in some areas
[7:52] they may only have one school system and
one high school.
[7:55] In our area we're blessed, we truly are
blessed to have two two school systems
[7:59] that and a third school in Brookwood
obviously that that you know, do a great
[8:03] job for the community and and and
educating our students.
[8:06] But you know, we are we are the city of
Thomasville. These [snorts] are partners
[8:11] within within our city limits and you
know, this was the route this was the
[8:16] route to go. But the bigger part here is
of why a school, why connecting with a
[8:21] school is having all the same kids under
the same roof is important.
[8:27] It allows for a lot more
it allows to for the schedule to work
[8:32] out the way we need it to work out
throughout a year.
[8:34] It also allows for the opportunity for
the school
[8:38] to take on other duties as well to
continue to educate them on on the
[8:42] importance of civics. Allows the schools
to monitor you know, how the process is
[8:47] going. So it should not just be a hey,
you're on the youth council and when you
[8:53] graduate you're done.
It's a process.
[8:57] » All right, well
now let's make this interview not about
[9:01] Ricky and go to our guest. Um
>> [laughter]
[9:04] » Now good job Ricky and but uh I do
>> I don't need you to tell me it's a good
[9:07] job.
I mean
[9:09] Yeah.
>> All right. Um so let's let's try to make
[9:12] this show interesting and talk to our
guest. Um so
[9:16] same question to you Dr. Sweety. Why
why's this important for city schools?
[9:21] » I'll make this podcast more exciting.
That's a high bar. I'm sorry. I will try
[9:26] my best though. But yeah, we are we're
we're really excited as as as
[9:31] Ricky talked about, you know, providing
these kids
[9:35] experience uh know, while they are still
in high school,
[9:39] um giving them exposure, um career
exposure, um the opportunity to bring
[9:44] mentorship, you know, through our
Bulldog Plus One initiative. It's all
[9:47] about trying to
uh be extremely intentional about giving
[9:51] kids um exposure to and opportunities
and experiences to um different career
[9:57] paths. Um this obviously giving uh these
kids um
[10:02] real-world application uh to be able to
see what, you know, civic duty is all
[10:07] about and see if there's something that,
you know, not only to be a well-informed
[10:11] citizen, um but also maybe it's a
possible career path for them. And so,
[10:16] um like I've told Ashley, we've had many
conversations about watching all what
[10:20] all these kids are doing um when they
when they uh when they have one of these
[10:24] experiences opportunities, but living
vicariously through them um and and
[10:29] feeling their excitement um for the
learning that that that that that's
[10:33] occurring and the exposures that they're
getting. Like I said, all before they
[10:37] even uh graduate high school. And so, um
you know, that gets kids excited about,
[10:43] you know, their future, uh gives them
purpose, and um
[10:47] in the same token, that's going to lead
to better grades because all of a sudden
[10:50] school becomes uh more applicable to
them, becomes important. Uh they see the
[10:55] value. And so, that's uh you know,
that's that's that's the whole idea
[10:59] behind our um you know, our Bulldog Plus
One initiative, which this is a this is
[11:03] just been a great addition to that.
>> Ashley, you know, there was a there was
[11:06] a nomination process that was put in
place.
[11:09] Um you know, talk to us about how the
students were identified.
[11:13] » Well, so as you know, our students are
obviously our of most importance for us,
[11:18] and
we want to make sure [clears throat]
[11:20] that every student graduates with that
clear purpose of enrolled, employed, or
[11:24] enlisted. And And And so, with that, uh
our teachers, they're they're the ones
[11:29] that know the students the best. So, we
asked them if they would uh
[11:33] nominate students. We uh they they put
forth uh throughout the uh school about
[11:39] 10 to 15 students that they they
nominated. And then the students had an
[11:43] application they had to fill out that
listed uh references, that listed why
[11:47] they would be a good uh
council member. And then uh we had a
[11:52] committee that met uh
with staff uh at the school, teachers,
[11:57] administrators, uh myself. Uh Mr.
Zambrano was there as well as an
[12:01] advisory role.
>> Mr. Ricky
[12:03] » Yeah, Ricky. Ricky was there.
>> Just Ricky?
[12:04] » Yeah, that's right. Well, yeah.
>> My daddy is?
[12:06] » Hey. With [laughter]
uh with an executive With an executive
[12:09] executive Mr. Ricky Zambrano.
>> I don't know where he gave himself that
[12:12] title. That's the problem.
>> I just I just gave it to you.
[12:15] » I [laughter] used to have it before.
>> Thank you, Doc.
[12:17] » Oh, but he he was there.
>> I like that one over what Austin likes
[12:19] to call me.
>> [laughter]
[12:23] » No, other title.
>> Three letter three word statement that
[12:26] he often makes about me. But it was a
That was an important way to do it
[12:29] because we didn't want it Well, we
really didn't want it to happen was it
[12:31] to be a popularity contest
um of oh, this kid's elected cuz you
[12:36] know, he's the one that everybody likes
the most or she's elected cuz everybody
[12:40] when everybody likes the most. And so,
that was that was that was that was very
[12:43] key to to have a a selection process in
that way that went through an
[12:45] application. We also want to be very
intentional about making sure that we
[12:49] had equal representation of our grades
and of our uh
[12:55] on-level students and our uh students
that are in our [snorts] scholars
[12:59] program. And the reason that's important
is because
[13:02] uh in the community, you know, you're
going to have uh
[13:06] folks that work in many different
fields, you know, and and I think that
[13:11] what has often maybe been felt is uh do
all voices have a say in local
[13:15] municipalities and in local government.
And so, that was what we were striving
[13:19] to to to achieve there. So, I think
we're exposing uh students to this
[13:22] through this process that that uh for
for many of them it'll be a very unique
[13:26] time learning about about the
government. That was That was
[13:29] kind of an intentional process of
selecting students
[13:33] that uh
would be the best for the job.
[13:36] » I'll tell you what, the committee, um
you know, having met the with the kids
[13:41] now a couple times,
they knocked it out the park. Great
[13:44] great group of kids and we're really
excited to work with them.
[13:47] » All right. Well, let's get to it, Dr.
Sweeney. Tell us the names and and the
[13:52] years or just even the names of the
youth council members.
[13:56] » Yeah, I'm very excited to
to to to list these names. So, we've got
[14:01] Lily Bella Richardson.
Uh we have Cameron Showkat.
[14:07] We have Jayla Brooks.
Zachary Fan and John Adiyeye. So, very
[14:14] excited, very very very proud of these
students. And like I said before, living
[14:19] vicariously through them. We're we're
excited for them. So, can't wait to see
[14:23] all that they get to experience and and
hear about you know, I plan on having
[14:27] them on my podcast eventually and
and have them and and talk about their
[14:32] experiences and what they've learned.
So.
[14:34] » Yeah, that's going to going to be fun
and
[14:36] » Hey, is that a permissible? That That
wasn't in the contract.
[14:40] » [laughter]
>> Plug it. Plug it now.
[14:43] » That's like a That's a first.
>> We're not in competition.
[14:47] » First, let's mark down that day. Hit
that subscribe button.
[14:51] » Yeah, that's right.
>> I didn't say it at the Bulldog Plus One
[14:53] Podcast. That's [laughter] what I didn't
say about it.
[14:54] » Yeah, wherever podcasts are sold.
>> Apple Music
[14:59] » Yeah, [laughter] that's true.
>> We can have him to do the outro.
[15:02] » Or or can they come in and be host?
>> That's [laughter] right.
[15:05] » They might replace us.
>> Replace us.
[15:07] » Maybe they're AI like we were talking
about.
[15:10] » They both have good, you know, strong
voices. They are real audience. They're
[15:14] not AI.
>> And I'm sure they could hit record
[15:16] better than us.
>> That's [laughter] true. I was My record
[15:19] button was having a problem today.
>> What has as as guys? You guys have got a
[15:22] more equipment.
>> But but I will add on to this. You know,
[15:24] we went through that entire process
and we come to find out when we
[15:29] presented the the the group to to our
city council in in May
[15:34] that one of the students selected is the
daughter of one of our employees.
[15:38] » Okay.
>> Went through the entire process, did not
[15:40] did not even know that until
at the city council meeting, you know,
[15:44] dad was there.
Uh that's Jayla Brooks. Um so I mean
[15:48] that that that that was awesome.
>> So uh
[15:51] Ricky, you got the next question?
Is this one on me? So uh
[15:55] So Ashley, the earlier in the month the
council participated in their
[15:58] orientation session and um they're going
to later in the month they're going to
[16:02] participate in the field trip to our
city facilities. Uh
[16:06] Tell us tell us about that part that
that you're most excited about and and
[16:10] don't say the studio
uh in the podcast room cuz you know, we
[16:14] know you'd be lying.
>> the kids.
[16:16] » But uh
>> How about you, Ashley?
[16:17] » Yeah, that's right. What are [laughter]
you what are you excited about?
[16:20] » Well, besides the studio, no, so for me
um
[16:24] it things for students can the classroom
can often feel separate from
[16:29] real life, if if you will. And and we we
really believe strongly at our school
[16:34] that uh our school exists for the
community and the community for the
[16:37] school. And so having these students
just gain this familiarity with the way
[16:41] local government works.
Uh there are there are so many people in
[16:45] town um
you know, grown and otherwise that don't
[16:48] don't have a complete under- standing
and and this is the town we live in and
[16:51] this is a way that you can get involved
and and these are things that you can do
[16:54] to serve your community and do it make
it better. Thomasville has done such a
[16:57] great job of growing and and improving
the this town. Uh I've watched we've
[17:01] watched. Uh you've been here. We we grew
up here, Austin, and we've seen the
[17:05] changes.
>> You struck you out, didn't he?
[17:07] » Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, struck me out in
Little League. He sure did. Yeah. And uh
[17:11] still a little bitter about that, but
that's okay, [laughter] you know. Um and
[17:13] I'd never seen a lefty before. What am I
going to do with that, you know? Uh but
[17:16] for the kids, they're going to get
familiarity at a younger age. You know,
[17:20] they're meeting community leaders, and
these connections
[17:24] the networking that happens in that is
what excites me the most because they're
[17:28] going to have an understanding
at a younger age that we didn't have
[17:32] um
at our age or their age when we were
[17:35] when we were when we were younger. And
that's going to make a a huge difference
[17:38] in in their career choices, their career
path, and the way they come back and
[17:41] serve and help their community. Even if
they don't choose to work in government,
[17:44] they're going to be able to be involved
in making informed decisions to make
[17:47] Thomasville a better place.
>> And if I could just
[17:50] piggyback on that, I you know, we we've
talked a lot about
[17:53] being in truly well, truly truly living
out what it means to have have a
[17:58] village, you know, you need a village to
raise it help raise a child, you know,
[18:01] it does take a village. And so,
you know, that is that is
[18:05] what we are asking the community, you
know, the school system cannot do it
[18:09] alone, right? And so, we need the
community. We need businesses, we need,
[18:13] you know, other
the school systems, you know,
[18:17] civic groups,
community members to to help us raise
[18:22] these children and help them become, you
know, productive members of society and
[18:27] and and
you know, help find their their passion
[18:30] for what they want to do in life. And
so, you know, that is that is we're
[18:34] being very very purposeful about that
and and realizing that hey, we cannot do
[18:38] this alone. We we need we need the whole
we need everybody. We need the city
[18:42] council, you know, we need, like I said,
local businesses to help come in and
[18:46] give these kids these experiences and
opportunities that are going to help
[18:49] them thrive.
>> You know, we we talk about impact.
[18:53] And you know, what type of experience do
you believe
[18:57] you know, this will have on their
current educational experience?
[19:00] » Yeah, I think that obviously they they
gain a much stronger civic knowledge,
[19:04] you know, through this specific program.
As I mentioned before, you know, a real
[19:08] world application, Um, know, through
your you know, city council, you guys
[19:13] get involved in, you know, doing some
research, data analysis, you know,
[19:17] looking at public speaking, writing,
budgeting, problem solving, you know,
[19:21] all these things that that kids need to
learn at a young age, you know, critical
[19:25] thinking.
Um, this is also going to give them, you
[19:28] know, the ability to test out, you know,
their leadership, uh, gain help them
[19:32] gain confidence. Uh, like I said, you
may have a Jayla Brooks there, might be
[19:36] future mayor, you know, who it's a it
runs in the blood, so she's getting
[19:40] great experience now being able to do
this while she's in high school. Um,
[19:43] this is going to, you know, obviously,
doing all these things outside of the
[19:47] classroom is actually going to, uh, give
them greater engagement, I think, in
[19:51] school, you know. Um, when students see
that their ideas can influence, um, you
[19:55] know, parks and transportation and
safety and recreation, all these things,
[20:00] they're going to be a lot more likely to
engage in learning, uh, in the classroom
[20:04] cuz all of a sudden, what they're doing
with their teachers in the classroom
[20:07] seems a lot more, um, important, seems,
uh, uh, has purpose.
[20:11] Um, like I mentioned before, through
Bullock Plus One, this is a part of that
[20:14] career exposure and mentorship, um, that
we're providing for these students, you
[20:18] know, while they're in in high school.
And of course,
[20:22] you know, people people want to hear
from the youth, right? This cuz this is
[20:25] going to give these students a strong
This is a stronger student voice that
[20:29] you guys are providing by by allowing
them to be on the council. So, um, you
[20:33] know, this is a very well-designed
council and it's going to give, um, you
[20:37] know, city leaders direct insight into
all their youth pers- pectives and and
[20:40] and youth want to be heard. They want
They want to know that their voice is is
[20:44] heard and and they want to be able And
they have great ideas, you know. Um, a
[20:48] lot of times youth can be discounted,
you know, they're just young, they don't
[20:51] know, but they have they have some
wonderful, wonderful ideas and can
[20:55] really add to, um, our community.
>> And and and if we look at it from the
[20:59] perspective, let's just say 5 years down
the road, um, or five Let's just say 5
[21:05] years from when they graduate,
You know, what would be your hope
[21:10] that this experience brings to them 5
years from the point that they're done
[21:14] serving on the council?
>> Well, you know, my my hope is in in not
[21:17] just for the council members, but also
for for all these students that we're
[21:21] working with that, you know, we we want
to we you've got a lot of wonderful,
[21:26] bright, young minds in our schools. And
I want to I want to keep a lot of those
[21:31] bright, young minds. Too often, um the a
lot of these students feel like I've got
[21:35] to leave Thomasville go to Atlanta to to
find a good job or be able to do
[21:38] anything with my career. But, I want to
encourage those to stay here in
[21:43] Thomasville. You know, stay local. Um
and help grow this town um because um
[21:49] you know, we'll we'll take all of the
great, wonderful, bright minds we can
[21:52] get, you know? And so, I hope that yeah,
5 years down the road that once they've
[21:55] graduated that they they do come back,
you know, after they either they've, you
[21:59] know, got a their college degree or
they've got some kind of technical
[22:04] expertise um that they um want to come
back and they want to give back and
[22:09] contribute to to the city of
Thomasville.
[22:11] » And that and that's such a key part
because there's so many ways to give
[22:14] back. Um you know, and and and that's
the that's the key part of it is
[22:20] uh you know, one of the things we
discussed with them as you bring that up
[22:23] in the orientation was
uh the value of all of our 450
[22:27] employees, for example. Um that it's not
that the city manager is the most
[22:31] important. You know, when our solid
waste uh truck drivers are out on their
[22:36] route, at that moment they're the most
important. When the electricity goes
[22:40] out, the electric team is is the most
important. So, you know, when public
[22:44] safety, when they're out on patrol,
they're the most important. So, everyone
[22:48] has their role to play and each each is
of equal value. And that's one of the
[22:52] things that we hope that as part of
this, you know, we're able to extend on
[22:56] to them is how many different ways they
can make an impact,
[23:00] not just through our organization, but
just in the community um as well. So,
[23:05] » Absolutely.
>> But Dr. Sweeting, Ashley, executive
[23:09] director
>> Hey, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[23:11] » Um
>> Glad to see you guys got you all's
[23:12] executive titles today as well.
[laughter]
[23:14] » Yeah, for the day.
It's like adopted. It's like honorary.
[23:17] » We'll get you a name tag.
>> [laughter]
[23:19] » We've got a couple of those.
[23:22] But we appreciate you guys being here.
Did we Did we Anything
[23:25] that that we left out? Anything you guys
like to add?
[23:28] » Just as as as I think we said, just
thank you to the to the city for for
[23:31] allowing this, for all of y'all to
putting this together, and
[23:34] what it means to the students. There's
just not enough not enough thanks to be
[23:37] said because of the doors that'll open
for them. We haven't even seen them all
[23:40] yet. So,
>> Yeah, and now you get to experience the
[23:43] best part cuz Austin is going to talk to
us about our
[23:47] "Did You Know?" segment. Austin, you
want to jump right into that?
[23:50] » All right, here we go. In honor of the
bicentennial this year, the 2026 podcast
[23:55] will include Thomasville history "Did
You Know?" segment with information
[23:59] provided to us by the fantastic
Thomasville History Center.
[24:04] Let's get to it.
And you know, Ashley you know, probably
[24:08] knows our history more than all the rest
of us combined. So, he could probably
[24:12] fill fill us in, color this information
for us. But did you know that in 1889,
[24:17] Saint Thomas Church and First
Presbyterian Church are built?
[24:21] Also in 1889, electricity is introduced
to Thomasville.
[24:27] And also the Southern Enterprise and
Thomasville Times newspaper merge to
[24:32] create the Thomasville Times Enterprise.
And then lastly, in
[24:39] 1890, the Thomasville County population
stands at 26,000
[24:45] 154.
So, population boom. That's you know,
[24:50] right in the middle of
the resort era for the city of
[24:53] Thomasville when a lot of northerners
were coming in. So, a lot of stuff a lot
[24:58] of history was happening at that time.
So, yep.
[25:02] » Yeah, how about that?
>> Yeah, that's a large population at that
[25:05] time.
>> Yeah,
[25:06] it was huge. Big city.
>> Uh and apparently it still is a little
[25:11] bit controversial that that Yankees were
coming in at that time or you know,
[25:15] pretty close to the Civil War and
>> not use that word Yankees?
[25:19] » Oh, yeah. [laughter] Okay, northerners.
Northerners, okay.
[25:22] » It's offensive.
>> Yeah, I'm a Mets fan.
[25:25] » Well, that's true. Okay.
>> You can call me anything else.
[25:27] » Anything else.
>> You don't need to be Mets. It could be a
[25:30] lot of other things.
But just don't say that word.
[25:33] » That's right. Northerners coming in and
so it's kind of controversial. That's
[25:38] right. It's kind of controversial to
this day.
[25:41] To this day people still kind of there
are counties that are not happy with
[25:46] Thomasville, [music] Thomas County for
being welcoming to
[25:50] to northerners.
>> To Mets fans.
[25:52] » People like Mets. That's right. We only
have three in our city. Three Mets fans.
[25:56] So, there [laughter] we go.
>> We've got more than three.
[26:00] » All right.
Ricky, upcoming events.
[26:03] » Uh
things are a little quiet right now. So,
[26:06] we invite everybody to come out to our
as as always come out to our public
[26:10] meetings and you know, we do remind
everyone to visit public meetings
[26:15] calendar at thomasville.org for meeting
dates, times and locations. A lot of
[26:19] changes due to the municipal building
renovation. So, a lot of the meetings
[26:24] being held
across the city. So, please be be sure
[26:28] to check out the calendar and know where
your favorite meeting is being held.
[26:33] » All right. I just want to thank everyone
for listening to the show. Thank our
[26:37] guests, [music] Dr. Scott Sweeney and
Ashley Palmer, Executive Ashley Palmer.
[26:41] And again, appreciate you listening.
Please subscribe
[26:45] on your favorite listening app and we
will talk to you next time.
[26:50] » You've been listening to Thomasville
Insights with the city of Thomasville.
[26:54] The show is produced by the city of
Thomasville marketing department.
[26:57] » [music]
>> The show's music is by pond5.com.
[27:01] To learn more about the city of
Thomasville, visit thomasville.org or
[27:05] follow us on social media.
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast
[27:09] on your favorite listening app so you
don't miss an episode. Thanks for
[27:13] listening.