Saturday 12/19/2009 at from 2:30 to 2:45 p.m. Sweetwater Camera Club field trip attendees will meet at the downtown Douglasville parking lot across from City Hall at the corner of Church Street and Price Avenue for car pooling purposes, and from there take a trip down to Newnan, Georgia to photograph the historic downtown area and the Festival of Lights Parade.

Visitors are welcome to attend the SCC field trips.

The parade itself starts at 7 p.m. but by going earlier in the day you will have the opportunity to photograph the historic downtown Newnan area including their holiday decorations. The parade has floats that are lit up so this is a chance to practice your twilight and night photography using tripods and higher ISOs to improve the sensitivity of the camera sensors. Also, those of you who have video capabilities might enjoy this.

If you want to go to Newnan by yourself (without the carpool) here are a couple of maps . .  from Douglasville to Newnan: http://alturl.com/qnv8

Map of downtown Newnan: http://alturl.com/j2hv

Here is more information from Newnan’s Main Street website:

Festival of Lights Parade

Saturday, December 19, 2009 7:00 pm

Main Street Newnan invites you to be a part of the

Festival of Lights and Magical Main Street Parade!

A nighttime lights parade through historic downtown Newnan.

This parade is open to the public; there is no charge. Each float will be ready to begin at 6:30 pm from the Coweta County Justice Center.

From there, the parade will turn onto LaGrange and make the loop around the downtown area.  The parade will dismantle back at the Justice Center. 

• Think Disney’s night time lights parade. The more lights the better!
• No walking groups; each entry will be a float
• Each float will be well lit and contain music
• This parade will not be judged
• Nothing will be thrown from the floats. NO CANDY, as it is dark and we don’t want children running into the streets!

Please watch the weather and dress appropriately. So far the forecast for tomorrow is:

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. West wind between 5 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. West wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Newnan was awarded a “Great Places in Georgia” award in October 2009 for its attention to the preservation of its past and its quality of living:

http://www.ci.newnan.ga.us/content/view/554/1/

Here is a link to more information about Newnan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newnan,_Georgia

Pictures of Historic Newnan (look at Our Town by Karen Warfield):

http://www.ci.newnan.ga.us/content/view/193/131/

There is a Confederate soldier cemetery in Newnan with over 260 southern soldiers who perished in the Civil War buried there.

Thanks! Enjoy Newnan at its December best!