There is a hawk who perches on top of the famous gold steeple of Price Memorial at the University of North Georgia. I have watched him many times sitting there, watching the college before him. He is a strange bird who never goes a day without being on his perch. There is a story behind this bird and many times he has been mistaken as an eagle.
This hawk is native to the mountains of North Georgia. He has been part of an old family that predates the city of Dahlonega itself. Some say that his family knew the people who once lived in these lands who were the original discoverers of gold before the strange city folks moved in. The hawk I saw the other day seemed proud as ever. School had begun and the chimes of Price seemed louder than normal. As the hawk sat on his perch, he looked across the land seeing the people play on the field before him. In the other direction he could see elders visiting the strange and almost forgotten city square. The hawk's father once told him that in his days there weren't this many people. That back in his time the streets were less busier and the city less crowded. The grandfather hawk had told him of a different time. He spoke of a different world almost too unfamiliar. He spoke about buildings that once stood where two were now built. He spoke of a man named Gaillard and a Daddy Barnes. He spoke of a time where there were hardly any people in 'normal' clothes. He spoke of a time that is just too far away to remember.
The young bird looked over the campus of the University of North Georgia. To his father it was called North Georgia College, and to his grandfather too. His grandfather told his grandson hawk that his own father was from an even older time. Back in his time there were hardly any buildings in site except this here building. They once called it "The Main Building," as it really was what it was called. In his time men tended to the crops on the big field below. He even saw a great fire burn down a building that was less than two decades old. In his time the city was quiet. A lot has changed since the young hawk's great grandfather's time. The college he saw before him was once known as North Georgia Agricultural College. The hawk sat on top of that steeple looking down below. There have been times when he saw Saint Bernards when he was young. Now he rarely sees them. He sees few of the "green" looking people, but instead sees a great variety of people. He always loves to watch the people play and wonders what will happen in is own son's lifetime. Whenever you see this hawk, remember that his family is older than the school itself. That over the years the hawks have guarded and looked after our beautiful campus. They remember our history more than we do. Maybe we, too should become the hawk looking over our beloved campus.
