All Aboard!
Take a weeken trolley ride
Written by JENNIFER DZIEDZIC
City of Newnan trolley driver Rick Makle celebrates another successful ride with trolley guest and Newnan-Coweta Magazine writer Jennifer Dziedzic. Photo by Jackie Kennedy.
Hop on the Newnan trolley for a complimentary ride Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and you'll enjoy a unique way to get from downtown Newnan to Ashley Park – and back again.
“The City of Newnan’s trolley is such a fun, unique way for locals and tourists to explore the downtown area and Ashley Park,” says Aimee Hadden, communications manager with the City of Newnan. “It’s more than just an option for transportation. The trolley helps us connect with the community.”
Drivers Rick Makle and Sam Jones alternate working every other weekend. On a recent outing, Newnan-Coweta Magazine freelance writers and photographers caught the trolley with Makle at the wheel. His radiant smile welcomed all aboard, and his penchant for jazz was evident in music streaming through the trolley speakers.
Makle worked in the driving industry for the last 30 years, more recently holding jobs with MARTA and as a shuttle driver for Emory Hospital before retiring.
“I moved to Florida for a couple of years, met my wife, and got married in 2017,” he says. After the couple moved back to Georgia, Makle put in for a driver job and was steering the Newnan trolley when it began services on Feb.14, 2019.
“I thought it was a great opportunity because I am a people person and I enjoy serving the public,” he says, admitting he’d never driven a trolley. “Once you’ve driven a semi, buses and all that, anything else with wheels is pretty much a piece of cake.”
Wheels and people, that’s what Makle adores.
“I enjoy what I do, I enjoy people,” he says. “Hopefully, when people get on the trolley they have a great experience. You try to make their experience great by always having an open ear to listen.”
Coweta resident and trolley enthusiast Angela Cambas says, “Pre-Covid, we would take our little crew on some Fridays to ride the trolley, which included walking around downtown, a visit to the Carnegie, then for cookies or ice cream at Ashley Park. Waiting to get picked back up, the kids would play and sing, ‘Here comes the trolley,’ when they saw it coming.”
From local families with children to groups hosting an outing, Makle has seen it all. He asks parents if their children can ring the bell, and he offers to take photos of riders at the back of the trolley when it’s parked.
“That really brings joy to them; the kids just love it,” Makle says. “It’s not just about the ride. It’s really about the experience and memory that you have once you ride the trolley.”
Newnan resident Angie Readd-McSpadden says of her trolley experience: “The McSpadden family enjoyed our first ride shortly after the trolley route opened. It was our kids’ birth month and we were riding in celebration. The driver was chatting with us and found out Genny’s and Joey’s birthdays were soon. He proceeded to treat our kids like celebrities. The driver ended our trip by politely refusing the tips our children tried to hand him and instead reached into his tip box and pulled out a dollar for each of them. He gave them a big ‘Happy Birthday’, a ring of the bell, and an event to remember.”
Makle considers it part of the job.
“You don’t know how you affect people from day to day, you just don’t,” he says. “It’s just amazing how you can influence someone or make someone’s day just by being kind and saying nice things. We don’t know what walk of life people are coming from when they get on the trolley. I really enjoy doing this for the people of Newnan and for the people who visit Newnan.”
The trolley runs, rain or shine, from 1 to 8 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with the last pick-up at 7 p.m. Visit cityofnewnan.org/business/trolley to view routes, rent the trolley for events, and track the trolley’s location. Share photos of trolley rides on social media; tag the City of Newnan and use the hashtag #NewnanTrolley on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. NCM
