Photo from Google

            Thursday night, the 11^th Hour Award Show was held at the Cox Theatre at 7:00 p.m. The 11^th Hour is a magazine published every other week, covering news and entertainment about middle Georgia, especially Macon. The 11^th Hour Awards are readers’ choice, meaning that the readers chose the winners in each category.

            There were several categories, ranging from Best Neighborhood and Favorite Lunch Spot, to Favorite College Bar and Best Pizza. There were also several live performances. Throughout the entire show, the feeling of pride for Macon was tangible. The presenters, winners, host, and everyone in the audience showed so much pride and excitement about being at the show.

            Danny Davis, known around Macon as ‘The Captain,’ was this year’s host, making it Davis’s second year as host. He brought the show to life and it was easy to see why he was selected as host. “Last year I was voted Favorite Local Celebrity,” Davis said. And the crowd reacted to him as such.

            Davis presented all of the presenters and live musical acts. Presenters included GPB’s Adam Ragusea and his wife, Lauren Morrill Ragusea, who opened the night with humor and witty banter. The pair announced awards including Best Neighborhood (College Hill), Best Annual Event in Macon (The Cherry Blossom Festival), and Best Local Blogger and Twitter Account (The Blue Indian and Floco Torres, respectively). Adam Ragusea also accepted GPB’s award for Best Radio station.

There were also several awards for the Macon food lover. Laura starling and Vance Shepard presented many of these awards. Ingleside Village Pizza won two awards in the Best Place to Bring Kids and Best Pizza categories.

            Live performances were done throughout the night, spanning many genres. Robert McDuffie, founder and namesake of Mercer University’s McDuffie Center for Strings, performed. The crowd responded well to the violinist, who did not play songs that people generally think of when they think of the violin. The music was more contemporary, causing people to get up from their seats to dance. He received a standing ovation.

            Other local artists, Houston, Jubee and the Morning After, Woolfolk, Boothill, and Floco Torres performed. All of those artists were nominated for one or more music awards. The people of Macon respond well to live music, and that was evident at the 11^th Hour Awards.

            There was also a large amount of downtown restaurants nominated for awards, showing the progress that the downtown area is making. Downtown Macon was actually nominated for the Best Neighborhood award. Davis said of Macon, “Our city of Macon has progressed a lot in the last year and we’ve become a larger entity in many different areas. Through the 11^th Hour Awards we are showing the people that will continue to help making these changes.”

            The 11^th Hour Awards are designed so that the people of Macon are able to thank the people and businesses that make living in Macon so enjoyable.