Alma Kennedy Bowen

Celebrate! Alma Kennedy Bowen

A major happening in Northeast Georgia in the early 1900s completely changed the future of the mountains. Bennie, a teenage mother, bravely decides to give up her familiar mountain home and move to the strange new town of Helen. She learns how the giant sawmill is operated and faces religious bigotry concerning her woods child.

Bennie is beginning to like what Helen offers when her cousin is brutally murdered. She is adjusting to this last major change in her life when she learns that her childhood friend is in jail.

Bennie's daughter, Katherine, moves to Atlanta during the Great Depression. She searches for a way she can restore the mountains and lessen her mother's sadness, but a single woman can't do anything. Franklin Delano Roosevelt offers hope for the mountains, but it's a wild idea.

Celebrate shares the tale of single mother's search to find happiness for her special daughter within the confines of a sawmill town in Georgia at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Alma Bowen's intimate knowledge of the history of Georgia's mountains and the ways of its people are reflected in Celebrate! Her book expertly weaves the rich history of the town of Helen throughout her storyline, relating the people's strengths and frailties. It's a well-written must-read for anybody interested in a good story based on real history.
- Johnny Vardeman, long-time writer of Northeast Georgia history
and retired executive editor of The Times of Gainesville.