SavingTara

A few days ago we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the savingtara project. Ten years ago this month I called for volunteers to come to Lovejoy, Ga and help me begin the work needed to clean up, inventory and then assemble the “hero pieces” of the most iconic movie house ever known,… Tara.

The first thing we did was remove the old motorcycles, go carts and general junk that was mixed in, then we took on the task of putting an inventory tag on each piece and posting it to a master list. My plan was to reassemble the pieces of Tara that were seen in close up in the movie and then give guided tours of the site to creat interest and build brand. Tara was tagged when it arrived in Lovejoy in 1980 so we did have a list to help us search and identify pieces but many had been broken apart after so many years.

The Facebook site went to 25000 likes and many people, “met me at the gate” which was the electronic gate that blocked access to the 3500 acre Talmadge property were Tara tested in the old dairy barn. In July of 2019 the Tara facade (the original windows, doors and side porches) was sold as one lot (and Tara’s front doorway sold on another separate lot) on an online auction held by Profiles in History in Callabasas, CA.

The auction house used my descriptions and photos for their catalogue and I was tasked with meeting the movers who arrived first in a small truck but had to return with a large tractor trailer to haul Taras massive front porch roof. During the project I posted many stories and photos at the savingtara.com website and many here also.

I’m glad to see Tara is still popular with groups on the internet, and I hope to update my book of there stories, the battle of Jonesboro AND of course the amazing story of how Tara survived all these years. Thanks for the continued support.

I’ll see y’all up at the gate!

Saving Tara - The Famous Home from Gone With The Wind Saving Tara is a Peter Bonner project restoring the famous home from Gone With The Wind - Tara, the source of strength for Scarlett O'Hara

In recognition of the Rev. M. L. King holiday I’ll not focus on those who have tried to proclaim themselves the new leaders of the civil rights movement while turning our country back to a segregated society based on special privilege for special groups. Kings message of “content of character over color of skin” is both Biblical and logical.

When I used to meet the tour buses at the Jonesboro Depot I could look across the street at a little building where a former slave named Alonzo Herndon cut hair. Years later he moved to Atlanta and thru more hard work and saving he opened The Crystal Palace in the Markham House Hotel where the most important visitors to Atlanta were photographed standing on the balcony just above his double doors. He later got involved in politics, and then insurance, founding the Atlanta Life Insurance Company. He died one of the wealthiest men in America.

Rather than spending his life bemoaning his birth, he learned a trade that gave him a living and a spot in society and from there proved himself in business and the community as he bought real estate and created the life insurance company. Along the way he hired some of the best to help him with his books and taxes.

Our son Jason owns a barber shop (Apache) in Saint Augustine and he often said the story of Herndon and a quote I found gave him the motivation. Herndon said, “I didn’t want to cut hair, but it grows and I figured I’d get lots of repeat business”. Jason has been successful, has a wife and two children and has seen Heendons statement in his daily life.

I have often quoted Galatians 3:28 and I think Rev King would give a loud “amen” to it today….

3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”.

I’ll see y’all on the off ramp!

For those who may now be watching Gone With the Wind and wondering, “was Tara real”… yes, it was. Tara was based on Margaret Mitchell’s great grandfather Fitzgerald’s Plantation and his family was the model for the O’Hara’s. Of course Marge Mitchell described it and Hollywood then made it begged and more opulent.

As for the movie set Tara, it remained on the lot in Hollywood until 1959 when it was dismantled and shipped to Atlanta to be the center piece of a museum. But, a demand from the Mitchell estate (then controlled by Margaret’s brother) that the estate receive 51% of the proceeds of the museum caused the investors to say, “no” and return all the moneys and put Tara in storage where it remained until 1980 when Betty Talmadge bought it and stored it in her barn.

It was there in 2014 when I received the contract from Talmadge to reassemble the hero pieces, build brand, write books and share Taras story on tours and video. That I did as I assembled the most famous pieces. And in 2019 the Tara facade and Taras front doorway were sold by Profiles in History.

I still have a few copies of The Official Guide to the Saving Tara Project if you’d like to see the first photos and information I put out to provide Tara was real and still available for tours.

Simply got to savingtara.com and click on the book link. I’ll receive your payment, sign a book and send it to you. Hurry, I’ll be sending out the last few books over the next couple of days so it has a chance of arriving by Christmas.

I’ll look for you at the gate.