Classic City Rewind with Lesley Platek

Lesley Platek
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Welcome to "Classic City Rewind" — I'm your host, Lesley Platek. As a longtime Athen's resident, who first moved to Athens, Ga in 1992 with my husband Zach, a three year old son named Travis and a three day old daughter named Sydney -the moment we arrived, the city felt like a perfect place to raise our family. I've spent decades connecting with the people who make this community extraordinary. From producing heartfelt biographies through my company Lifefilms to spotlighting local sports legends, my mission has always been to share stories that matter. Each week, Classic City Rewind takes you behind the scenes of Athens' rich history through intimate, inspiring conversations with the people who lived it. You'll meet guests like: - Charlotte (Chot) Johnson, who reflects on life with her late husband — legendary UGA and New England Patriots football player Andy Johnson and on breaking barriers as one of Athens' first female home builders and Contractors. - Charlotte Thomas Marshall, a local historian and author of the book "The Tangible Past in Athens, Ga." - Loran Smith,Longtime Assistant Sports information Director for UGA. - Dan Aldridge, Author "Lasso the Cloud" the story of Ben Epps and early aviation in Athens. and - Peter Dale, Owner of 5 & 10 Resturant and celebrating the Resturant's 25th Anniversary . And so many more. Highlighting one non profit and one business is also important to my heart. This season, I'll be featuring the Athens Boys and Girls Club with Derrick Floyd, who also made a FInal ROur run beating UNC with Michael Jordan on the way in 82-but 83. As well as "Finish Performance Health" with Kelly Ward about her 30+ years of experience in Orthopedic sports medicine. Whether you're a lifelong Athenian or a newcomer discovering the city's soul, this podcast invites you to rediscover what makes Athens timeless. My hope is that this podcast will be an archive for the community as well as for the families of the folks who I interview. It's my way of giving back to my beloved Athens, Ga. Because remembering where we've been helps us see who we've become. Join me, Lesley, on Classic City Rewind — where Athens' past comes alive, one story at a time.

  1. 3d ago

    38. Rebecca Lang (author of nine cookbooks) Her new book is about Pimento Cheese and Passing Down Tradition

    Whether you're craving a taste of home or missing the person who first taught you to love food, we're so glad you're here for this week's episode of Classic City Rewind. Host Lesley Platek welcomes Rebecca Lang, a ninth-generation Southerner, Athens resident, and author of nine cookbooks, including her newest, Pimento Cheese The Southern Spread. A University of Georgia journalism graduate and Johnson & Wales-trained chef, Rebecca has judged Chopped Junior on Food Network and cooked at the James Beard House. In this warm and fun conversation, Rebecca takes us from her small-town childhood in McRae, Georgia, to the cookbook world. She shares how a cold call to Natalie Dupree's home phone led to an apprenticeship that shaped her career. She also talks about earning respect in a male-dominated culinary school, spending a spring break in Martha Stewart's kitchen, and waiting on the FedEx truck to see whether her book proposals came back. Along the way, she explains why she never lets fear of hearing "no" stop her from trying. In this episode: How a 411 call to Natalie Dupree launched Rebecca's career in food writing What culinary school taught her, including why everyone should work a dish pit once The persistence behind her first national book deal, and the stories behind QVC and David's famous happy dance Why pimento cheese is a food for every table, from mill workers to the Masters How her grandmother Tom's cooking, and her glass bowl, cast iron skillet, and table, inspired her to cook The second half of the episode turns to Pimento Cheese, which Rebecca says is as much about the stories as the recipes. She reads the book's heartfelt introduction about afternoons at her grandmother Tom's porch after swim practice. She also shares the surprising Athens connection to the pimento cheese sandwiches at Augusta National and the family behind them. Rebecca closes by talking about her kids, her next "big book," and the heirlooms she hopes to pass down.

  2. Oct 13

    37. Athens, Ga's Most Interesting Man: The Fred Birchmore Story

    Whether you've called Athens home for decades or just arrived, it's a joy to discover a local legend you may have walked past without knowing his story. In this episode of Classic City Rewind, Lesley  sits down with Libba Beaucham, guest services specialist and museum educator, and Luis Vicent-Vazquez, tour guide and researcher, both of the Historic Athens Welcome Center, to celebrate the remarkable life of Athens' own Fred Birchmore. Many Athenians remember Birchmore (1911-2012) from the YMCA or the trail that bears his name, but few know the full extent of his adventures. As a young exchange student in 1930s Germany, he bought a single-speed bicycle and kept pedaling, covering roughly 25,000 miles through Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Libba and Luis share how the kindness of strangers carried him through desert crossings, a Burmese jungle, and even a Matterhorn climb, and why he never carried a weapon. In this episode: The "Athens' Most Interesting Man" exhibit, created for Twilight Criterium week as an interactive, kid-friendly journey around the Welcome Center, with a scavenger hunt and thrifted props Highlights from Birchmore's memoir, Around the World on a Bicycle, including his humanitarian outlook and his bike, Bucephalus, now in the Smithsonian's collection Birchmore's later adventures, from a tandem-bike honeymoon through Latin America to hiking the Appalachian Trail in his 70s and building the famous Birchmore Wall The difference between Historic Athens (preservation) and the Athens Historical Society (storytelling) How to get involved, including membership The exhibit will return every year during Twilight, and the hosts invite anyone with Birchmore stories to share them with the Welcome Center. They also tour the Church-Waddel-Brumby House, believed to be Athens' oldest surviving home, built in 1820, and highlight upcoming events and self-guided audio tours. To keep exploring, visit athenswelcomecenter.com for tours and exhibits and historicathens.com for preservation news, or follow both organizations on Instagram and Facebook. The Welcome Center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

  3. Oct 6

    36. From Between the Hedges to Hospitality: The David Dukes Story

    Whether you're feeling nostalgic for the Athens of your childhood or simply need a warm story today, we're so glad you're here. In this episode, host Lesley Platek sits down with David Dukes, an Athens native, former Georgia Bulldog quarterback and wide receiver, and Senior Vice President at Benson's Hospitality Group. David begins with his late father, Leroy, who grew up in a small southeast Georgia community, spent time in an orphanage, and was mentored by a high school coach before becoming the oldest player on Vince Dooley's first Georgia team in 1964. David says his father's empathy and respect for people shaped his own approach to life and work. From there, David shares memories of growing up at the Athens YMCA, playing a quarter of football in Sanford Stadium before Georgia home games, and idolizing Andy Johnson. He also recalls a recruiting visit with Coach Bryant at Alabama and his decision to stay home and play for Georgia. His stories include the 1984 G-Day alumni game, where his own father suited up, lined up across from him, and jumped offsides to try to tackle him for a photo. David also explains how he ended up lettering at four positions. In this episode: How Leroy Dukes's childhood, military service, and football career shaped his family's values Growing up at the Athens Y, and the lessons David took from a childhood of team sports The 1984 G-Day game, when David's dad suited up and jumped offsides to tackle him Coach Dooley's focus on education, and how it led to a 15-year career in aggregates and a decade with Caterpillar and Yancey Brothers How a professional analysis at age 45 pointed to hospitality, leading to 16 years at Benson's, a family business founded in 1918 The conversation also covers David's love story with his wife, Evelyn, which began as a friendship in middle school. They discuss his competitive golf career, including a top-15 finish at the 1994 Georgia State Amateur, and why he believes the human connection will always matter in hospitality. David also describes the Benson Hospitality scholarship at UGA and the behind-the-scenes hotel tours the company gives hospitality students.

  4. Sep 29

    35.The Trent Allen Story: Bass Player for "Dreams So Real ", Photographer and Entrepreneur

    Grab a cocktail and settle in — this episode of Classic City Rewind is a fun one. Host Lesley Platek  sits down with Trent Allen, bassist and harmony vocalist for the beloved Athens band Dreams So Real, to trace a career that started in the 40 Watt Club and somehow led all the way to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley. Trent walks through the band's formation in the early '80s alongside songwriter Barry Marler and drummer Drew Worsham, their unlikely path to a Peter Buck-produced single, a deal with Arista Records home of Whitney Houston, Barry Manilow, The Kinks, Santana etc...and tour stops with acts ranging from Melissa Etheridge to ZZ Top. From there, the conversation turns to Trent's second act: how a disappointing UGA sports schedule card sparked a sports design and photography business, which eventually grew into one of the country's leading fan-photography operations for Major League Baseball and the Kentucky Derby before being acquired by a California firm. Dreams So Real's formation, sound, and rise through the Athens music scene alongside R.E.M., the B-52s, and Pylon Recording with Peter Buck and signing to Arista Records, plus the band's MTV-era music videos Life on tour, including memorable moments with Melissa Etheridge, ZZ Top, and Jimmy Page The accidental start of a sports design business through UGA schedule cards, and its evolution into a fan-photography empire with MLB and the Kentucky Derby The "door behind the door" philosophy that carried Trent from music to entrepreneurship to his current company, Facilitron Throughout, Trent returns again and again to a mentor's metaphor about opening the doors in front of you to eventually reach the ones you actually want — a thread that ties together his band days, his sports photography hustle, and his current venture, Facilitron, a marketplace for renting public spaces like school gyms and auditoriums. It's a story about reinvention, seizing unglamorous opportunities (playing organ at baseball games, showing up as a fan photographer in the hot sun), and finding that the throughline in all of it was the same: creating something, putting it out into the world, and feeding off the reaction. "Dreams so Real" returns to the stage December 3rd and 4th, 2026 at the 40 Watt Club. Inside/Out Anniversay shows are SOLD OUT

  5. Sep 22

    34. Captain Henry Beusse Athens,Ga's first Mayor in 1871, 1872 and then again in 1881

    If you've ever wondered how much of Athens' history walks unnoticed past us every day, this episode will change the way you see the city. Host Lesley Platek sits down to uncover the extraordinary life of Captain Henry Beusse — a German orphan who crossed an ocean at 16, survived the California Gold Rush and the Civil War, and went on to shape Athens into the community it is today, yet whose name graces no street, statue, or building in the city he helped build. Guiding us through this story is Scott Thompson, a novelist and family historian whose wife's family turns out to be directly connected to Beusse—  What follows is a sweeping account of grit, ambition, tragedy, and the way one immigrant's decisions rippled out to shape entire towns, families, and generations that came after him. Beusse's teenage voyage from Germany, his years at sea, and his harrowing trek through the jungles of Panama during the Gold Rush His Civil War service driving supply trains, his 375-mile walk home after the Confederacy collapsed, and the loss of two children during the war After the war, Beusse became a builder-literally and politically. Alderman by 1866. Mayor of Athen in 1871, 1872 and again in 1881. Along the way, he helped bring the city its first streetcar company, its first laundry, its first building and loan association, and in 1872 Georgia's very first roller skating rink. His three terms as Athens' first mayor, and the pivotal, almost accidental decision that determined the location of present-day Commerce, Georgia The devastating family scandal — a deadly confrontation involving two of his sons — that Scott believes explains why Beusse's remarkable legacy was largely erased from the city's public memory   The conversation doesn't shy away from the harder parts of this history, including the era's violence, the fragility of life before modern medicine, and a trial that gripped 1890s Athens. But it's ultimately a story about resilience and the quiet, compounding impact one person can have — something Scott and Lesley both reflect on with real warmth as they trace how Beusse's descendants, including a great-great-nephew freshly graduated from high school, carry his name forward today. Tune in to hear the full story of the man behind Athens' first fire brigade, first roller rink, and first mayor's office — and why his legacy deserves to be remembered.

  6. Sep 15

    33. Sarah McKinney on Building a Culture of Giving in Athens, Ga.

    If you've ever wondered what really happens behind the scenes of local philanthropy, this episode will leave you both moved and inspired. Host Lesley Platek sits down with Sarah McKinney, President and CEO of the Athens Area Community Foundation, for a warm, wide-ranging conversation about what it means to grow giving in a community you love. Sarah shares her personal path into nonprofit work — sparked by caring for her grandparents as a college student — and how that early experience shaped a career spanning the Athens Community Council on Aging, Georgia 4-H, and now nearly a decade leading the Community Foundation. The heart of the episode is Sarah's breakdown of how the Foundation actually operates: as a trusted partner, community leader, and philanthropic guide that helps donors give "to, through, and with" the organization. She explains donor-advised funds, estate planning partnerships, and how the Foundation safeguards a donor's original charitable intent even if a nonprofit someday closes or changes course. Along the way, she shares a favorite story about a summer reading nonprofit whose urgent, middle-of-the-night ask ended up inspiring the Foundation's very first impact-investing loan strategy. How Sarah's family caregiving experience in college led her into a lifelong nonprofit career The three roles the Community Foundation plays: trusted partner, community leader, and philanthropy guide What donor-advised funds are and why they're the fastest-growing charitable vehicle around How the Foundation protects a donor's legacy even if their chosen nonprofit changes or closes Why strong board training and donor stewardship matter as much as fundraising itself The conversation closes on a bigger-picture note, touching on the sheer number of nonprofits in Athens (over 600!), the tension between running a mission-driven organization and running a sound business, and why "donor fatigue" is a real challenge in a small, generous town. Sarah's passion for Athens — and for the people and causes she serves — comes through in every answer, making this a great listen for anyone curious about philanthropy, nonprofit leadership, or simply the heartbeat of their own community.

  7. Sep 8

    32.Marianne Gordon Rogers: From Barrow Elementary School to Hollywood

    If you've ever wondered what it's like to go from riding horses on an Athens farm to sitting between Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra at a Hollywood dinner party, this episode is for you. Host Lesley Platek welcomes Marianne Gordon Rogers, an Athens native turned actress and model who built a career in Hollywood commercials and film before returning home to build a life with country music legend Kenny Rogers. Marianne shares her journey from a horse-loving tomboy to a working actress in LA, opening up about the surprising strategy shift (going blonde!) that kept her booked, and the eerie experience of filming Rosemary's Baby alongside Mia Farrow just before the Manson murders shook Hollywood.   The conversation moves into her decades with Kenny Rogers, from their chance meeting in Nashville to the sprawling Georgia farm they built together, filled with horses, basketball courts, and celebrity guests like Michael Jordan and Gladys Knight & the Pips. Marianne also reflects candidly on faith, family, and her recent Alzheimer's diagnosis, offering listeners a message of hope and encouragement to seek early testing. Marianne's early years in Athens and her unexpected path into Hollywood modeling and commercials Behind-the-scenes memories from Rosemary's Baby and her friendship with Sharon Tate How she met Kenny Rogers and the couple's move back to build their Georgia farm Stories of celebrity friendships, including Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, and Lionel Richie Her decades-long mentorship work in Athens and an honest, hopeful reflection on living with Alzheimer's It's a warm, wide-ranging conversation full of Hollywood glamour, Southern roots, and hard-won wisdom, and a reminder that even the most star-studded lives are anchored by home, faith, and the people you love.

  8. Sep 1

    31. "Remembering Bobby Poss: A Classic City Legacy"

    Some conversations feel less like an interview and more like sitting on a porch swing, and that's exactly what this episode offers. This episode was recorded on June 4th, 2026, and it is shared now with heavy hearts — Bobby Poss passed away just days ago. He was a beloved figure in Athens, known and cherished by so many, and this conversation stands as a warm tribute to a life fully lived in this community. Bobby, whose family name is stitched into Athens history through food, football, and decades of hometown hospitality. Bobby takes us back to a childhood spent selling peanuts and Coca-Colas at Sanford Stadium, riding tractors before he was old enough to drive, and growing up in the shadow of his family's beloved barbecue business. From backyard hand-canning in the 1920s to feeding generations of Athenians at Poss' Lakeview and the Atlanta Highway restaurant, Bobby traces how his grandfather's small operation grew into a Southern food institution — one later merged with Castleberry's Fine Foods. Along the way, he shares stories of playing football at Athens High and the University of Georgia, working the stadium concession stands for 35 years, and the discipline (and mischief) of growing up under watchful parents and a legendary YMCA camp director. Bobby's earliest memories of Athens, from Memorial Park to Camp Kelly at four years old The Poss family barbecue legacy Stories from Athens High and UGA football, including life under tough, formative coaches Bobby's near-fatal bike accident and the strangers who saved his life Life lessons and hard-earned wisdom from decades in the hospitality business Bobby Poss was a lifelong Athenian, former UGA football player, and steward of one of the city's most iconic barbecue legacies, and his stories capture a version of Athens that's equal parts nostalgic and enduring. Whether you remember Poss' barbecue firsthand or are hearing these stories for the first time, this episode is a warm, funny, and moving look at what it means to be raised — and rooted — in the Classic City, and now, a lasting piece of Bobby's own legacy.

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About

Welcome to "Classic City Rewind" — I'm your host, Lesley Platek. As a longtime Athen's resident, who first moved to Athens, Ga in 1992 with my husband Zach, a three year old son named Travis and a three day old daughter named Sydney -the moment we arrived, the city felt like a perfect place to raise our family. I've spent decades connecting with the people who make this community extraordinary. From producing heartfelt biographies through my company Lifefilms to spotlighting local sports legends, my mission has always been to share stories that matter. Each week, Classic City Rewind takes you behind the scenes of Athens' rich history through intimate, inspiring conversations with the people who lived it. You'll meet guests like: - Charlotte (Chot) Johnson, who reflects on life with her late husband — legendary UGA and New England Patriots football player Andy Johnson and on breaking barriers as one of Athens' first female home builders and Contractors. - Charlotte Thomas Marshall, a local historian and author of the book "The Tangible Past in Athens, Ga." - Loran Smith,Longtime Assistant Sports information Director for UGA. - Dan Aldridge, Author "Lasso the Cloud" the story of Ben Epps and early aviation in Athens. and - Peter Dale, Owner of 5 & 10 Resturant and celebrating the Resturant's 25th Anniversary . And so many more. Highlighting one non profit and one business is also important to my heart. This season, I'll be featuring the Athens Boys and Girls Club with Derrick Floyd, who also made a FInal ROur run beating UNC with Michael Jordan on the way in 82-but 83. As well as "Finish Performance Health" with Kelly Ward about her 30+ years of experience in Orthopedic sports medicine. Whether you're a lifelong Athenian or a newcomer discovering the city's soul, this podcast invites you to rediscover what makes Athens timeless. My hope is that this podcast will be an archive for the community as well as for the families of the folks who I interview. It's my way of giving back to my beloved Athens, Ga. Because remembering where we've been helps us see who we've become. Join me, Lesley, on Classic City Rewind — where Athens' past comes alive, one story at a time.

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