Macon DJ Roger Riddle and Y-O Latimore of Poetic Peace Arts join us to talk about fun things to do in Middle Georgia over the weekend and beyond.

Roger's picks for August 29:

Can you believe it? College football in Macon! This city was made to have a football team. We love it. We live it. And now we bleed orange and black.

The Mercer University Bears kick off their inaugural season against Reinhardt to a sold out crowd at 6pm this Saturday. If you don't have tickets, don't worry you can still join in the opening day fun at the official tailgating party at Cherry Street Plaza.

Main Street Macon and NewTown Macon want all us Mercer Bear fans to set up our tables and tents and layout our game day spreads in front of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

There's going to be music from the A2Z band and the Macon Transit Authority will be providing shuttle service to the stadium and back for $2. So you can park your car downtown, walk around and enjoy all your favorite downtown spots and then head to the game and cheer on the Bears!

The tailgating starts at 12pm and admission is free. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/419764151457243

Robert McDuffie is one of the world's most celebrated violin soloists today and he is a Macon native. He developed the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University's Townsend School of Music to bring the world's most talented young string players to Macon to hone their craft and learn the business of music.

They are celebrating Labor Day with a concert at Fickling Hall on Mercer's campus. The concert will feature Robert McDuffie and the very talented Amy Schwartz Moretti on violin, the wonderful Elizabeth Pridgen on piano, and of course the incredibly talented students of the Center for Strings.

If you've never heard this incredible group play together, you owe it to yourself. It's the best musicians of today playing with the best musicians of tomorrow. The concert is Monday at 3pm and admission is free. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/431908563590611/

--Roger

Y-O picks for August 29:

How many of you all can remember poppin' your collar with the rap group Three 6 Mafia? Well, Juicy J, one of the former members of the group has started a solo career and he will be in town Saturday, August 31 at the Macon Centreplex. The show starts at 8 p.m.

Juicy J along with DJ Paul out of Memphis, Tennessee were some of the pioneers who put southern rap in the mainstream circuit with the well-known east and west coast rappers in the 1990's. Project Pat is Juicy J's brother and is also from Memphis. While he was never an official member of Three 6 Mafia, he made quite a bit of noise in the underground Dirty South market with his music.

For ticket prices and more, log onto www.maconcentreplex.com

I must admit this pick is a shameless plug. As many of you all know, I started Poetic Peace Arts in 2003. It's a grassroots organization which engages the community by showcasing emerging artists at open mics and reading theaters.

This Saturday, August 31, one of the last events to celebrate 10 years of Poetic Peace Arts will take place at the Tubman African American Museum from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. We will start the evening with a discussion on John Oliver Killens who is from Pleasant Hill and was born in Macon in 1916.

He was a writer who co-founded the Harlem Writers Guild with John Henrick Clarke, Rosa Guy, Willard Moore and Walter Christmas. He is the author of such works as Crossroads, Youngblood and The Cotillion.

After the discussion, we will have an open mic session, featured artist performance from Catherine Zickgraf along with coffee from Jittery Joe's. This is a free event.

For more information, log onto the Poetic Peace Arts Facebook Page.

--Y-O

Tags: Adam Ragusea, Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, Roger Riddle, Y-O Latimore, Mercer University football