What I leave behind; what's ahead for Augusta

I liked to think of this as my town. Not just the city, but the entire Augusta area.

For 25 years I have marveled at its resources, rejoiced at its accomplishments and agonized over its disappointments.

I know others have, too.

I remember joining the celebration and seeing the area's pride at the opening of the Augusta Richmond County Civic Center a few weeks after I arrived here. And I recall becoming so impressed with the plans that Augusta Tomorrow had for building a "Riverwalk" on a dilapidated downtown riverbank that we ran a two-page spread in The Augusta Chronicle to display it for all to see. No one thought it would all be built. No one dreamed those plans would be surpassed.

WE DROVE IN a group through downtown Augusta in my wife's minivan during Masters week several years ago to marvel at the late night crowds that we could only assume surpassed the hustle and bustle of the '50s and '60s, listening to Woody Merry exclaim over and over, "Wow! Look at us!"

I loved to look at downtown from arriving airliners, the 17th floor of the Wachovia Building and the glass penthouse atop the Lamar Building to get a better view of my city. And I tried, when returning from trips, to route myself through lower Broad Street so I enter the city through the beautiful homes there.

I think I know almost every inch of the canal path from the rapids in Columbia County to downtown as well as the Greeneway in North Augusta, and I enjoyed riding bicycles through the Augusta State campus to marvel at that sanctuary atop The Hill. This was my town.

For some reason, I always took pride in living in a city with an active bus line (though I never rode one), a sheriff's office that worked for me, or at least acted that way the few times I called on it for help, and especially those marvelous rowing races on the river and Langley Pond. (If you haven't participated in those in some manner you are cheating yourself.)

There was a certain amount of pride in living in an area with the Medical College of Georgia and so many hospitals. I couldn't understand why we didn't promote ourselves more as a medical community than just "The Home of the Masters." But I was equally proud to live in a community with the Augusta National that strived every year to attain perfection, and came so, so close.

I TOOK PERSONAL offense when outside writers came to visit in April and criticized our city for not keeping up with the National's perfection goals. (Right, Mitch Albom, Detroit is so utopian?) And I bristled at our governor when he cut funding for Fort Discovery in the midst of our efforts to convince the Army that Augusta was one place they did not want BRAC to affect.

I had no particular right to claim this area. I wasn't born here. My family had no ties to Augusta history and, save the few houses I financed, we owned no property here. But I met and married my wife here and reared two children, supported several churches and a synagogue and "grew up" in a company and a community that rewarded hard work with more opportunities. For many, that would constitute a lifetime. It pretty much has for me.

Augusta grew on me from the moment I drove into it in 1979. And it didn't take long to make me feel a native.

It wasn't all a bed of azaleas.

I rejoiced with Ed McIntyre at his victory celebration when he was elected the city's first black mayor, then agonized when he was arrested and convicted. I told him I could never vote for him again, even though I respected him as a person, and I never did. I regretted both when I attended his funeral and realized the man was only human. I was tormented by the loss of missions at the Savannah River Site, the Hancook project and its thousand jobs that crashed along with the Korean economy in the early '90s, and the thought of losing Fort Gordon in a BRAC decision.

I saw the departure of Georgia Pacific after that tragic plane crash, and Merry Land, and so many civic leaders transferred by their companies that it was downright depressing. But others rose to take their place.

Sadly, I now join those transferred elsewhere. I am leaving my beloved area to publish our sister newspaper in Savannah. And while I am excited at a new challenge in a beautiful area, packing up 25 years of community pride has been anything but easy. Many of the goals we have set for both the Chronicle and the Augusta area are yet to be achieved, but they are still lofty aspirations. I am sure they will be achieved and exceeded.

THE POLITICAL stalemates are more the result of poor communication than racial divides. Once they are addressed, this area will soar in new opportunities. Eventually, Augusta Regional Airport will secure the flights it needs to draw more people. The consolidation of our city and county will begin to pay more dividends. And MCG, the Savannah River Parkway and Fall Line Freeway to Macon and Columbus, and even new civic centers and convention centers all will develop soon to help this area grow. Other even better undertakings will develop as well.

This will happen because the people of the Augusta area will continue to work together to make it so. I have no doubt of that. But it will take the efforts of every resident.

This is your town. Please, treat it well.

Farewell.

(Editor's note: Julian Miller is outgoing president of The Augusta Chronicle and incoming publisher of the Savannah Morning News.)