Spring Fling Festival, Moultrie GA
When the colorful butterflies floated around my tent at the Spring Fling and entertained the small fry by posing for photos with them, I decided I qualified as a small fry. I was sad I didn’t have any wings to spread, but I did my best.
It was the first time we’d gone to the Spring Fling, but they’re definitely on our Return in 2026 List. The vendor sites were generous, there were a lot of readers who stopped to talk (and buy!) books, and the weather was gorgeous. And there were butterflies!
A Hero In Action
Across the street from us was a 26-foot climbing wall sponsored by a local business. The climbing wall was free, and in between talking to readers and signing books, we were entertained by the children climbing the wall. All of them wore the appropriate-sized harnesses and safety gear and were safely tethered as they tackled the wall with the goal of getting to the top and hitting a button that sounded a buzzer.
Late in the afternoon, we watched a young girl who was six or seven make her way almost to the top. She stopped and looked up, but the next hand-hold was out of her reach. She stretched and grab onto the peg, but then she was stuck. She couldn’t go up, and she couldn’t touch the foothold that was below her without letting go of the peg.
Her mother and the two men who operated the climbing wall tried to coax her to hold on to the rope, so she could come down, but she was frozen in place and had a death grip on the plastic climbing pegs as her feet were perched precariously on a single peg.
There were so many people, and so much noise, no one could hear her screams. She was so high up, people wandered past the wall and didn’t notice the terrified little girl clinging to the side of the wall. But we saw her.
After a half hour of watching the experts and her mom try to coax her down, I stopped a passing City of Moultrie firefighter and told him about the little girl. She was so high up that it took him a minute to see her, but when he did, he strode across the street, removed all his gear, and within a few minutes, he was tethered to the back side of the wall.
He climbed the wall, but when he got close to her, he had to stop to calm her. He tried to talk her into grabbing onto him, but she was too overcome by the terror of falling to listen. Her arms were quivering from muscle fatigue, so he climbed higher and put his arm around her.
When she leaned against him and grabbed onto him with one hand, he held her tight, and she let go of the peg with her other hand.
He climbed down, holding her securely, while she had a viselike grip on him as tight as she had clutched her peg. When they reached the ground, the experts quickly removed the girl’s harness, and her mom whisked her away.
The firefighter, Cam, came to our tent to chat with us after his rescue, which is why we know how harrowing the ordeal was for the little girl.
Farmer Man emailed the chief of the Moultrie City Fire Department, commending Cam for being a hero and received a nice reply from the chief.
Friends in High Places, indeed.
I see stories everywhere I go.
You keep reading;
I’ll keep writing.
The Photos, Close Up
Judith A. Barrett - Author 