Connect Savannah | January 5, 2022 by Connect Savannah

CONNECT SAVANNAH

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JANUARY 5 - 11, 2022

WHAT DOES 2022 HAVE IN STORE FOR US? SAVANNAH PSYCHICS GIVE PREDICTIONS HEADING TO ENMARKET ARENA FOR THE OPENING SHOW? YOU’LL NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PARKING

IT’S EASY BEING

RILEY GREEN

COUNTRY STAR SET TO OPEN NEW ENMARKET ARENA

JAN/

5-11

WEEK CONNECT SAVANNAH

AT A GLANCE

WEDNESDAY 1/5

VOLUNTEER FOR MEALS ON WHEELS

(Ongoing, Mondays-Fridays, 10:45 a.m.) Senior Citizens Inc., 3025 Bull St., There are seniors in our community who are hungry. You can make a difference by volunteering one hour a week to delivering Meals on Wheels to homebound seniors. We have routes throughout Savannah, so we can match you to an area that is convenient. Training included. Volunteers use their own vehicle. Gas stipend is optional. There are over 500 seniors on the waiting list to receive meals, and the number continues to grow. For more information, contact Lauren at Volunteer@seniorcitizens-inc. org or 912-236-0363

OPEN MIC AT MINT TO BE MOJITO BAR

Musicians & Singers Wanted! Join host Larry Broussard (of the band LAX) for Savannah’s Best Open Mic every Wednesday. Watch LIVE ON TIKTOK! (Cajuncookin). Larry plays your favorite hits and requests between sets. Call 912-713-1009 to book your 30 minutes of stage time. No cover charge! 5-11 p.m. Mint to Be Mojito Bar & Bites, 12 W State St.

WHISKEY WEDNESDAYS

THURSDAY 1/6

FREE YOGA ON THE BEACH AT THE THE DECK Enjoy free yoga on the Tybee sponsored by The Deck Beach Bar & Kitchen. Bring a large

To have your event considered for inclusion, please send an email to happenings@connectsavannah.com. Include the event name, date, time, location with address, cost, website address for additional information, and a contact number. The submission deadline is 5PM each Friday before the following Wednesday’s edition.

beach towel, your mat or a tapestry, a hat and sunglasses, water and a friend. 9-10 a.m. The Deck Beachbar and Kitchen, 404 Butler Ave.

FRIDAY 1/7

LAX AT COFFEE BLUFF MARINA

The dynamic duo of Larry Broussard and Jeri Boxx are Lectric Acoustic Xperiment. LAX plays your favorite songs with a fun and fast acoustic twist. This is not your typical coffee shop slow, sedation songs. Coffee Bluff Marina, 14915 Coffee Bluff Dr. 6-8 pm This is an All ages show, pet friendly, no cover Fresh seafood BYOB

BLUEGRASS BY THE PINT WITH SWAMPTOOTH

GEORGIA VS. ALABAMA PART II: THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (Official UGA Alumni Game Watching)

Join Service Brewing for Bluegrass by the Pint every Friday featuring live bluegrass from favorite local favorite’s, Swamptooth.6 p.m. Service Brewing Co., 574 Indian St.

SATURDAY 1/8

THE SOUTHERN TABLE COOKING CLASS

(two dates) There is a collection of ubiquitous Southern classics enjoyed at nearly every dinner table from Virginia to Texas. In this interactive class, guests will master the techniques and skills to take their cooking skills to the next level. Class menu items include Nancy’s Fried Chicken; World’s Best Mac and Cheese; Tomato Pie; Collard Greens; Hoppin’ John; and Lemon Chess Pie. Wednesday, January 5 AND Saturday, January 8. 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. 700 Kitchen Cooking School at The Mansion on Forsyth Park, 700 Drayton St. Pre-registration required; spaces limited. mansion. classesbykessler.com

YOGA + SIPS AT KIMPTON BRICE HOTEL

Celebrate the weekend during

B&D Burgers (Congress St. and various locations) Join the Univ. of Georgia Alumni for the rematch with Alabama to decide the College Football Playoff National Championship. B&D has plenty of specials to go around. Come celebrate and Go Dawgs! Be there early. The game starts at 8 p.m.

anupbeat, poolside yoga classes. 60-minute high energy yoga class with Savannah Yoga featuring a welcome cocktail, social hour, and more! Reservations required. Kimpton Brice Hotel 601 E Bay St. bricehotel.com

FORSYTH FARMERS MARKET

Local and regional produce, honey, meat, dairy, pasta, baked goods, and other delights. Rain or shine. 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Forsyth Park. Drayton St. & East Park Ave.

FIRE & WINE

Enjoy half off bottles of wine and fire pits in the courtyard. Purchase one of our s’mores kits (marshmallows included) for the ultimate fall experience. 6-9 p.m. Foxy Loxy Cafe, 1919 Bull St.

STATE BALLET OF UKRAINE PRESENTS CINDERELLA

2:00 p.m. Johnny Mercer Theatre, 301 W Oglethorpe Ave. The State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine returns to the United States to present their captivating two-act performance of Cinderella, one of the most beloved stories of all time. With no fewer than 55 of Ukrainians finest performers, this esteemed ensemble has performed to the delight of audiences worldwide. Set to Sergei Prokofiev’s music with Vladimir Vasiliev’s choreography, this fullscale production follows the beautiful maiden’s story as she seeks her handsome Prince Charming. With the help of a little magic, she discovers that dreams really can come true. Featuring graceful dancers,

enchanting music, and beautiful costumes, this classic fairy tale is a treat the whole family will enjoy!

GARDENING SESSION

First and Third Saturday of every month, 9:30 a.m. Charles H. Morris Center10 East Broad St., Savannah Free and open to the public. Learn how to garden and harvest vegetables and herbs to bring home. Kerry Shay, an organic farmer and owner of landscaping company Victory Gardens, provides free instruction. First and third Saturday of every month.

SUNDAY 1/9

THE JEA OY VEY 5K & KIDS MILE RUN

3 p.m. The Oy Vey 5K is open to individuals of all ages, strollers are welcome! The course is designed to start in

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

Discounted regional and international whiskey and bourbon selections every Wednesday at Oak 36 Bar + Kitchen. Come try something new on the rocks, as a smoked drink, or perhaps with natural shrubs and fresh pressed juices in one of their craft cocktails. 5500 Abercorn St. Suite #36

HIGHLIGHTED PICKS FROM HOSTESS CITY HAPPENINGS THIS WEEK

WEEK

AT A GLANCE

ADMINISTRATIVE ERICA BASKIN PUBLISHER erica@connectsavannah.com (912) 721-4378 WENDY WICKHAM BUSINESS MANAGER wendy@connectsavannah.com (912) 721-4373

CONTENT CHRISTOPHER SWEAT CREATIVE | CONTENT DIRECTOR christopher @connectsavannah.com JAMIE BURTON MULTIMEDIA JOURNALIST jamie@connectsavannah.com JASON BIRKELBACH COMMUNITY JOURNALIST jason@connectsavannah.com MCKENNAH DRURY GRAPHIC DESIGNER

OUR VALUES Connect Savannah is a weekly arts, entertainment and news magazine, focused on Savannah and the Coastal Empire life and experience. We strive to feature stories that impact our community and the people who live here— to educate, entertain, inform and foster conversation. We appreciate and encourage readers to share news and information with us, and to share any criticism and questions. We want to be your comprehensive source for what happens in our community and beyond. We are here to serve you. Find us on the following social media platforms or reach out to us at news@connectsavannah.com or 912-721-4378.

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EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS

ADVERTISING

LOGAN HINTON DIGITAL SALES MANAGER logan@connectsavannah.com (912) 721-4354

DISTRIBUTION WAYNE FRANKLIN DISTRIBUTION MANAGER (912) 721-4376

Riley Green photographed by Sam Crabtree. Green is the opening act at the new Enmarket Arena Jan. 14.

(Official UGA Alumni Game Watching party) B&D Burgers (Congress St. and various locations) Join the Univ. of Georgia Alumni for the rematch with Alabama to decide the College Football Playoff National Championship. B&D has plenty of specials to go around. Come celebrate and Go Dawgs! Be there early. The game starts at 8 p.m.

TYBEE ISLAND FARMERS MARKET

Kick-off the new year by jumping in the beautiful (cold) JEA Pool after the JEA OY VEY 5K – and then dig in our Hot Chocolate Bar! Jewish Educational Alliance (JEA) savj.org 5111 Abercorn St 4:30 p.m.

LIVE JAZZ SUNDAY BRUNCH

PILATES CLASS

Featuring the Howard Paul Jazz Trio Live performances from legendary jazz guitarist Howard Paul at Myrtle & Rose Rooftop Garden at Plant Riverside District. 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. 400 West River St

Skidaway Island United Methodist Church (SIUMC) offers, to church and non-church members alike, basic Mat Pilates classes on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:15-10:15 a.m., for only $5.00-$6.25 per class. Classes focus on improving core strength, posture, flexibility and muscle tone. Visit siumc. org/nurture 54 Diamond Causeway

TUESDAY 1/11

ISLANDS FARMERS MARKET

WHISKEY TASTING CLASSES

Weekly farmers market on Talahi Island highlighting local growers and makers, healthy foods and a positive environment. 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. 912-6565626 401 Quarterman Dr.

Taste and learn differences between six different whiskey varieties. Reservations required. 7:30 p.m. Congress Street Up, 220 W. Congress St. americanprohibitionmuseum.com

SUNSET PARTY SUNDAY

TRIVIA TUESDAYS

Wrap up the weekend with a Sunday Funday Sunset Party on the roof. Local DJ Doc Ock on the 1s and 2s, an amazing view, Long Drink and Herradura specials, and $3 Rosé all day. 6 - 9 p.m. Top Deck, 125 W. River Street

ON THE COVER

GEORGIA VS. ALABAMA PART II: THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Weekly market featuring a variety of produce, baked goods, honey, eggs, BBQ, sauces and dressings, popsicles, dog treats and natural body products. Artisans are also featured each week. Located at 30 Meddin Dr., right behind the Historic Tybee Lighthouse. tybeeislandfarmersmarket.com

JEA POLAR PLUNGE

Join Elks Lodge for Bingo from 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Enjoy great family fun, good food at the snack bar, and many chances to win cash. Elks Lodge, 183 Wilshire Blvd.

INFORMATION: (912) 721-4378 sales@connectsavannah.com

LAUREN WOLVERTON STRATEGIC MARKETING CONSULTANT lauren@connectsavannah.com (912) 721-4380

the JEA parking lot, go through local quiet neighborhoods, circle Hull Park and end back at the JEA for the Polar Plunge & Hot Chocolate Bar. If you are looking for other ways to get involved that are less physical, we have lots of volunteer opportunities available so you can be there to cheer on your family & friends as they cross the finish line. Registration includes the race participation (which will be timed), postrun beer, participation medals for every age group, and a cool new T-shirt. Cost is $36 for the Oy Vey 5k and $18 for the Kids Mile Fun Run. The Kids Mile Run is timed and available for kids ages 12 and under. savj.org

BINGO! AT ELKS LODGE

Jesse Blanco, Frank Ricci, Jamie Burton, Marley Gibson, Kareem McMichael, Lauren Wolverton, Alan Sculley, Renee Lasalle

BUCKY BRYANT STRATEGIC MARKETING CONSULTANT bucky@connectsavannah.com (912) 721-4381

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MONDAY 1/10

MIDTOWN MONDAYS

Savannah’s largest industry night at Oak 36 Bar + Kitchen. Enjoy Pubstar Karaoke hosted by Shane along with DJ B-RAD playing today’s hits inbetween singers. Enjoy $4-$5 drink specials all night along with a late night menu and craft cocktail bar. The fun starts at 10pm every Monday! 5500 Abercorn St. Suite #36

Voted one of Savannah’s best places to enjoy trivia in 2021. Enjoy video trivia hosted by Hangover Entertainment at Oak 36 Bar + Kitchen. Free to play, and starts at 7pm with prizes for top 2 teams. Full menu and craft cocktail bar. 5500 Abercorn St. Suite #36

STAFFORD’S TUESDAY COMEDY OPEN MIC

The ghost of Savannah’s legendary open mic returns. Head out to the sequel to the open mic Hannibal Buress called “whack” and “please put that phone down”. All experience levels welcome! Come out and give us your best 5 minutes, or just come and laugh at us, we like it. 8:30-11:45 p.m. Stafford’s Public House, 306 W. Upper Factor’s Walk.

COMMUNITY INTRODUCTIONS

MEET

BRIAN AND JEN BYERS SAVANNAH PSYCHICS By Lauren Wolverton

After an uncertain 2020 and 2021, it’s safe to say that the world is hopeful and ready to have a great year. Brian and Jen Byers are a husband and wife psychic team, and own Savannah Psychics. Just before the New Year, the pair shared their 2022 psychic predictions. Does Savannah’s future look bright? Brian drew his predictions from a scrying stone technique, where he meditates with the stone and quickly writes down everything he sees. WHAT DID YOU WRITE DOWN? Streets will flow with people from many places as they stand on her bricks. The rivers will be empty of fish but the town will be filled with gold. A man will take the horse’s reigns and guide her to drink from the fountain. Behind the people a cloud of sickness will slowly take the land like the end of a fire and one will guide children away to safety.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? WHAT DO YOU PREDICT IS IN STORE FOR SAVANNAH IN 2022? Overall, I predict that 2022 will start off as an amazing year. There will be lots of commerce. Small businesses will grow, and there will be an upsurge in education. I believe there will be a thirst for tradition and possibly a lot of people trying their hand at living naturally, things like farming, beekeeping, soap-making.

Lastly I see less racial tension and more brother and sisterhood ignoring social classes and skin color. This is going to be a great year to get out and embrace our friends, families and relearn and relive our beautiful city. Savannah is going to do great this year.” Jen then performed a tarot card reading for Savannah and gave her predictions for every month of 2022. JANUARY TAROT CARD: THREE OF PENTACLES This month’s themes are collaboration, teamwork, learning and implementation. Surround yourself with people from different backgrounds, giftings and abilities than yourself. Work together with these knowledgeable people and see your vision and project become better than what you could have done on your own. We are better together and we need each other. FEBRUARY TAROT CARD: KING OF CUPS This month’s themes are emotional balance, compassion and diplomacy. This card shows a leader that embraces the personality of the King of Cups. This leader is a master of their emotions and is grounded, caring about the people. This card is also an encouragement to all of us to allow the personality of the King of Cups to flow through you to the people around you.

MARCH TAROT CARD: ACE OF SWORDS This month’s themes are breakthroughs, new ideas, mental clarity and success. New ideas will emerge. Be aware of your thoughts and write down what ideas are coming to mind. Discuss with the people you collaborate with. There is a great chance that the ideas that you come up with this month will be successful, if you do what it takes to make it happen. APRIL TAROT CARD: CHARIOT This month’s themes are control, willpower, success, action and determination. This month is pivotal, the Chariot card is a Major Arcana card and speaks of major life events. This month take control and drive your ideas, goals and visions. I see great success coming to Savannah if we take action and work with determination. But we also must also remember to continue to act with grounded love and compassion for others and collaborate with our team of people and act on the idea that you and your group came up with. The Chariot is the sign to take action on your idea and success will follow.

MAY TAROT CARD: FOUR OF CUPS This month’s themes are, Meditation, contemplation, apathy, reevaluation. This month you might find yourself reflecting a lot on the past. While it is good to reevaluate and make things better, don’t be so focused on the past that you cannot see the opportunity that is being given to you. You have a choice: you can take the cup being given to you or you can be apathetic and allow the opportunity to pass you by. I believe that if we take the opportunity the next couple months will prove to be very abundant months. JUNE TAROT CARD: THREE OF CUPS This month’s themes are celebration, friendship, creativity and collaborations. I strongly feel that this card is about abundance in friendships and celebrations. But I cannot ignore that it also means collaboration. Again, this word comes up in my reading. I believe that if you collaborate in January you will reap great rewards in June.

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A force of hidden knowledge will be opened and the standing will fall below the earth and will be washed into the ocean.

This all being said, I also feel some sort of sickness or disease may show itself about midway through the year and that we should all be aware and ready as we have learned in the past few years. It’s always good to just be prepared.

COMMUNITY

WHAT DOES 2022 HAVE IN STORE FOR US?

SAVANNAH PSYCHICS GIVE PREDICTIONS CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

JUNE (CONT.) The Three of Cups really makes me think of tourism in Savannah. The card has three women dancing, having fun and even holding an open container. If the tarot deck had a card of Savannah, this would be it!

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JULY TAROT CARD: KNIGHT OF WANDS This month’s themes are energy, passion, inspired action, adventure and impulsiveness. This month is a great time to be adventurous and passionate. Savannah has everything to satisfy the spontaneity of an impulsive trip. I strongly feel like this card is speaking of travelers coming to Savannah in July. But even if you are a local, July might be your month to be like the Knight of Wands and follow your passion.

AUGUST TAROT CARD: THREE OF WANDS This month’s themes are progress, expansion, foresight and overseas. This month is about stepping out into the future. It is a good time for implementing plans of expansion and progress. SEPTEMBER TAROT CARD: KNIGHT OF PENTACLES This month’s themes are hard work, productivity, routine and conservatism. This month is about your hard work. Be sure to spend money wisely and be strategic about your finances this month. Plan to better your productivity for the upcoming months.

OCTOBER TAROT CARDS: KING OF WANDS This month’s themes are natural-born leader, vision, entrepreneur, and honor. This month is about a leader with a vision and an entrancing spirit. This month may evoke feelings of entrepreneurship in you, or if you are already a business owner, this month is a great time to write your vision for the next year. Honor this month goes to those with personality. NOVEMBER TAROT CARDS: 7 OF WANDS This month’s themes are challenge, competition, protection, and perseverance. This month might come to some as a challenge. You may need to protect yourself and what you have worked hard for. I hear the word perseverance very strongly. DECEMBER TAROT CARDS: 2 OF CUPS This month’s themes are unified love, partnership, and mutual attraction. December wraps up this whole year’s theme of collaboration and partnership, unifying Savannah. This month is a good month to join partnerships and if you’re not in business, then this card might bring the possibility of finding romantic mutual love. Overall, Brian explained, Savannah’s future looks promising. He said the year won’t come without some hardships, but said he feels confident Savannah will be just fine. Learn more about Savannah Psychics at savannahpsychics.com.

HOSTESS CITY PEOPLE

FOR CHRIS HOWARD,

EVERYTHING’S COMING UP ROSES By Marley Gibson Feature Writer

to work—all because of the gift of life through a tissue donation. “I want to do everything I can to get the word out,” Howard said. “There are other people like me who are in so much pain. If I can help let others know about tissue donation and the nerve graft, other families can have the chance to heal as mine has.” There are many living with chronic neuropathic pain. For these patients, Dr. Kolovich wants them to know there is hope. “Advances in nerve repair surgery can potentially end your neuropathic pain and give you back your life. Chris is certainly living proof and he is one of many.” According to Donate Life America, tissue from one donor can help heal the lives of up to 75 patients. “I know how fortunate I am and I am eager to do my part to get information out there about becoming an organ and tissue donor. We have it in our power to make this important decision to give the gift of life,” Howard said. Howard and his entire family received an all-expense-paid trip to the Rose Bowl

where they participated in the Tournament of Roses Parade on the Donate Life float. “My wife and kids have been great through all of this,” Chris said, a bit emotionally. “This trip is a once-in-alifetime opportunity for all of us. A true blessing.” “I have a wonderful support system,” he continued. “It has been tough on everyone. There’s shock, of course, but there’s also the understanding that Daddy is hurt and his arm is missing. It takes a long time to get back to normal life again, but we’re trying. We’re having so much fun as a family that my arm is almost an afterthought.” “I’m just grateful for it all,” Howard concluded. “My accident could have gone in a totally different direction. I would rather have my life. Especially throughout all the holidays. We’re all so grateful for the opportunity and I hope folks can take a positive message out of my experiences and journey.” “People can literally change each other’s lives.” For more information on how to become a tissue donor, visit donatelife.net

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In this season of giving and receiving, one local man is not only grateful to be alive, but due to the gift of a tissue donation, he’s living pain-free and was honored by Donate Life as part of their Rose Parade Celebration in Pasadena, California. Savannah’s Chris Howard, as well as his wife, Keli, was a 2022 Donate Life float rider to help raise awareness of the life-changing impact of tissue donation. Something Chris knows about all too well. On March 15, 2019, Chris Howard was helping out with an issue at the pulp mill where he worked. “I was two stories up in the air when my hand got caught,” he explained. “It literally ripped my arm off.” Miraculously, Howard was able to climb down from the machinery and get assistance from his co-workers before being rushed to the hospital. Despite losing his arm, Howard is grateful to be alive and still around for his four children. Through surgery and rehabilitation, Howard kept a positive attitude to cover his suffering. “A few months after my injury, I had relentless chronic pain,” he said. “The pain was constant and often so intense it felt like lightning bolts shooting through my amputated arm. I was unable to work, sleep, or even function, pretty much daily in my life.” He explained how pain medication did little to help and instead caused unbearable side effects. “I went through a plethora of medications to battle the pain. I think we tried everything… some serious pain medication. It didn’t help much at all,” he said. Howard’s Workers’ Compensation case manager knew of his discomfort and informed him about surgery for nerve reconstruction. It was then that Chris was referred to local orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Greg Kolovich, who specializes in nerve pain. “He told me that nerves leftover and/ or injured from my amputation were the cause of my pain. He recommended surgical nerve repair,” Howard said. “The

tissue for the graft comes from a tissue donation from a donor.” The procedure surgically removes masses of scar tissue within the nerve and then reconstructs and reconnects the nerves of the donated tissue through a process called nerve allograft – which bridges the nerve gaps to potentially restore normal signals to the brain, according to Dr. Kolovich of Optim Orthopaedics. “When Chris had his accident and lost his arm, the nerves to his arm were cut leaving them a bit like a live, ungrounded electrical wire,” Dr. Kolovich said. “Unfortunately, the pain Chris experienced can be common after an amputation because of the nerve damage that occurs. Pain may be felt at the amputation site or experienced as phantom limb pain, where the damaged nerves send pain signals to the brain, making it think the limb is still intact. In Chris’s case, neuromas—tangled masses of nerve fibers and scar tissue formed at the end of his cut nerves—were causing his pain.” “The procedure sort of gave my remaining nerves a job to do again,” Howard added. “As the doctor said, that live wire needs to be grounded. So, when it’s connected back, it no longer causes pain when it fires off.” Dr. Kolovich stated the goal of surgical nerve repair is to identify and fix the source of pain. “I reconstructed each nerve by connecting them to uninjured nerves located in muscles within Chris’s chest. Given the severity and location of his injury, each nerve reconstruction involved large gaps that needed to be bridged,” the doctor said. That bridge was made possible because of a donor’s gift of human nerve tissue (Avance Nerve Graft), which allowed Howard’s nerves to regenerate and restore more normal signals to his brain. “All I can say is… ‘Wow!’” Howard said with a laugh. “It’s a pretty new procedure and I am so fortunate to have the support structure that I do. I appreciated that my doctor was honest upfront about how the surgery could make a difference and it certainly did. It got me out of pain.” Now, Howard is living pain-free, spending time with his family, and is back

COMMUNITY

2022 IN THE COASTAL EMPIRE:

Three local leaders give their takes on the year ahead SHIRLEY SESSIONS MAYOR, CITY OF TYBEE ISLAND

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“The only constant is change… Whether it’s changing from 2021 to 2022 and beyond, the only thing we know for sure is there will be change. I’ve learned the importance of adapting to that change and making it work in a positive way and recognizing that you can only change yourself. You can only change how you react to other people and situations. That’s something I hope to do better in 2022.” “In 2020 we were all so excited for the New Year…

Then the pandemic happened and everything in our lives changed. We had to realize that we had no control over anything, but how we adapt to change and how we embrace it.” We’ve learned to embrace change and how we think about challenges.” I personally I’ve learned to look at challenges as opportunities. Because that’s what I saw in 2020 and 2021, opportunities that we’ve been forced to make for ourselves. And in 2022 there will be new opportunities disguised and challenges.” “I’m looking forward to days like this (gorgeous day on the patio of CoCo’s at Lazaretto Creek). I’m looking forward to doing what I can to encourage people to be positive and instead of concentrating on what they don’t have. And I’m a big believer in trying to be the change that you want to see.” When I hear grumbling, even on Tybee, I try to encourage people to look around at all that we have and look beyond the Lazaretto Bridge. What can you do to make Tybee better, to make Savannah better, to make our country better. And sometimes it’s a change in your own attitude.”

“I look forward to music and being able to listen to live music outside and I look forward to being able to have lunches with friends and family again and I look forward to traveling again.” “There’s a lot to look forward to!” Here on Tybee we will be celebrating our 135th anniversary as a city.” I’m looking forward to working with the council and our staff and our residents to plan a big celebration for Tybee in October.” So, I look forward to parades and I look forward to gatherings and I look forward to embracing fun again.” We took it for granted for so long and now we’re slowly getting back into it and I hope 2022 is wide open for fun and festivities, celebrated safely with our new normal.”

VAN JOHNSON

MAYOR, CITY OF SAVANNAH “I am looking forward to Savannah finally defeating COVID and re-establishing our new normal and finally being able to move on in our new environment.” I think we have forever been changed. I think hand-sanitizer and masking to some degree is forever going to be part of our vernacular as well as booster shots and vaccinations… … But also hopefully we’ll pay more attention to our health and safety and I’m looking forward to that.” “From this (pandemic) we have learned what Savannah Strong really is. We’ve seen people doing marvelous things, looking out for their neighbors and that’s what Savannah’s all about.” “I’m looking forward to the third year of my first term as mayor. We’ve done some great things over the first two years, even in the midst of a pandemic and I’m just

looking forward being healthy, remaining calm, keeping my peace and really moving forward.” “And I’m looking forward to people being kinder. I think (because of social media) people have just gotten mean and we don’t have to be that way. I think the new seat at our table should be filled with kindness and respect and empathy. And I’m hoping to add those seats as well.”

REBECCA BENTON MAYOR, CITY OF POOLER

“I hope the city will continue moving forward with all of our projects. And that the One Chatham transportation tax will pass in the Spring for needed road improvement projects. Without it there won’t be much money to work on road projects. And that the city continues to progress as it has.” “I’ve been in city government now 18 years, 16 on city council and two as mayor and we have the best employees we’ve ever had in Pooler . I hope we can keep theses great employees.” “I hope we can all work together. We just need to be unified as the United States and work together for a common goal for all. Most people to respect the rights of others… We only see the bad part on some of the media…” “I’m ready for COVID to be under control… And I look forward to traveling again. I’ve been planning a trip to Southern France with South Carolina ETV. I’ve had some of the best trips with ETV and I’m hoping COVID is under control (in 2022) and that we can travel again.” Compiled by Renee LaSalle

2022 OUTLOOK

GSU gives 2022 economic outlook Georgia Southern University’s latest Economic Monitor, which reflects Q3 2021, reports that the Savannah metro area economy continued to roar back for the fourth consecutive quarter. “Nearly all major indicators of regional economic activity increased during the third quarter,” stated Michael Toma, Ph.D., Georgia Southern’s Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Economics. “Tourism indicators led metro growth and skyrocketed for the second consecutive quarter.”

Bryan, Chatham and Effingham counties in Georgia. The coincident index measures the current economic heartbeat of the region. The leading index is designed to provide a short-term forecast of the region’s economic activity in the upcoming six to nine months.

HOUSING MARKET The seasonally adjusted number of single-family homes permitted for construction surged 20%, rising to 698 units from 579 in the previous quarter. The thirdquarter number is 1% higher than its year-ago level. The average valuation per single-family unit, however, decreased for the second consecutive quarter, falling 4.2% to $239,000 from $249,300. REGION POISED FOR NORMALIZED GROWTH The Savannah area business forecasting index increased 1.3% in the third quarter. The leading index jumped to 159.3 from 157.3 in the previous quarter. The gain primarily reflects improving labor market and consumer confidence. In the labor market, the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) plummeted nearly 70% from the second to the third quarter. New claims for UI fell to 1,500 in the quarter from 4,740. The number of claims declined throughout the quarter, dropping to 911 in September. Accordingly, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rapidly fell to 2.8% from 4.2% in the previous quarter. The unemployment rate was 7.2% in the third quarter of 2020. The forecasting index is expected to surge in the fourth quarter as labor market and housing market gains become more firmly entrenched in the calculation of the index. Thus, near-term prospects for growth in the Savannah metro economy are favorable. Continued strength in the tourism and logistics industry, along with land development and construction, will support the regional economy. ABOUT THE INDICATORS The Economic Monitor provides a continuously updated quarterly snapshot of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area economy, including

The Economic Monitor is available by email and at the Center’s website parker.georgiasouthern.edu/big/bigprograms/cbaer/ To receive the Monitor by email, send a ‘subscribe’ message to CBAER@georgiasouthern.edu. This information was provided by Georgia Southern University

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

EMPLOYMENT TRENDS The pandemic-induced restructuring of the regional economy is clearly present in the service sector. Business and professional services continue to soar, adding another 1,000 workers during the third quarter. In the past four quarters, the sector added 6,500 jobs, rising to a total of 29,300 workers, comprising the largest component of the regional economy. Logistics added 500 jobs (+3%), swelling to 114% above its prepandemic level. The tourism and hospitality sector added 1,400 employees for a total of 25,800 workers and stands at 96% above its pre-pandemic level. Additionally, automobile rentals and alcohol sales increased 6% and 6.5%, respectively. During the third quarter, occupancy rates in the historic district in Savannah remained about 6% to 10% below pre-pandemic levels but room rates increased to offset the decline in total hotel rooms sold. On the goods-producing side of the economy, manufacturing added 400 jobs for a total of 18,100 workers. This remains about 700 jobs below the peak recorded in fall 2019 and 96% of its pre-pandemic level in February 2020. Note that some components of the manufacturing sector such as bakeries and beer breweries are linked to the tourism industry and will continue to recover along with leisure and business visitation to the region. Construction employment added 200 workers for a total of 8,500 workers. Tightness in the labor market has not manifested in wage gains in the Savannah metro area in 2021. The private sector workweek declined 1.1% to 33.3 hours

from 33.7 hours.

Savannah photos from Getty Images.

REGION IS RECOVERED, BUT RESTRUCTURED As of the third quarter, the business index for the Savannah metro economy has fully recovered from the pandemic-induced plunge. The quarterly increase was 4.3%, up from last quarter’s 16% annualized growth. The index of current activity increased to 199.2 from 190.9. For the second consecutive quarter, tourism lifted the index as hotel room sales (+24%) and airplane boardings (+19%) registered massive one-quarter growth. Employment in Savannah’s three-county metro area improved by 2.3% (+4,300 jobs), rising to 193,000 as compared to the pre-pandemic peak of 192,100 in the fourth quarter of 2019. The regional economy has added 32,000 jobs since the pandemic low of 161,000 in April 2020. Employment growth will slow into the first quarter of 2022, settling toward a typical pre-pandemic pace of about 0.6% per quarter.

COMMUNITY PETS OF THE WEEK Quality Eats + Drinks

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. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

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Each week, we will highlight pets available for adoption from local rescue organizations. In January, we are featuring One Love Animal Rescue.

CHLOE

AGE: 1.5 YEARS WEIGHT: 40 POUNDS COLORS: GRAY AND WHITE Meet Chloe Gray! This little lady is so fond of her humans! She has so much love, smooches and cuddles to share. Her life started a little depressing as she was kept in a backyard for the first year of her life without any friends and proper care but, she has come into our care without any grudges. She is a little more than a year old and is learning how to socialize with dogs and at the moment, she is lacking confidence and is fearful of other dogs but she is making improvements every day.

CHEESE & CRACKERS

AGE: BOTH 1 YEAR WEIGHT: BOTH 9 POUNDS COLOR: ORANGE TABBY AND GRAY TABBY

These bonded kittens have become so playful and fun after spending the first few months of their lives out on their own. They love feather toys and springs, and love to cuddle in a cat tree. Submit an application to meet this cutie at oneloveanimalrescue.com.

ABOUT ONE LOVE ANIMAL RESCUE ONE LOVE, ONE LIFE AT A TIME

A licensed non-profit 501(c)(3) rescue organization, the mission of One Love Animal Rescue, Inc. is to help abandoned, neglected, abused, and unwanted pets by partnering with shelters, rescue groups, and the community to facilitate the adoption of these animals into permanent and loving homes.

Compiled by Jamie Burton

Graphic provided by Oak View Group

CITY ANNOUNCES TEMPORARY TRAFFIC PLAN FOR ENMARKET ARENA OPENING

Enmarket Arena is almost ready for guests, but getting to the arena won’t be as simple as simply getting to the arena—at least for a little while. period, we will likely experience many of the same neighborhood impacts even after our permanent parking and road projects are complete.”

Melder attributes the delay of the remaining infrastructure to COVID complications, labor shortages and supply-chain disruptions. The remaining projects include the widening of Stiles avenue, Gwinnett street and the Springfield Canal as well as the 2,000-space parking lot itself. Enmarket arena is on schedule for its first event on Jan. 14. However, according to Melder, future large events could be in jeopardy if the temporary traffic pattern proves problematic. “There will be a period of trial and error as we adjust to changing traffic patterns,” Melder wrote “If we decide the impacts of these temporary parking and traffic solutions are too great on surrounding residents, and the Enmarket Arena product is too poor for customers, we will cancel large shows until our infrastructure is complete.” Riley Green plays the arena in what the City is calling a “soft opening.” The arena’s full opening won’t come until Feb. 19, when the Eagles come to town. The venue will also house Savannah’s new ECHL hockey team, the Ghost Pirates, who open their season later this year.

THURSDAY-SUNDAY @9PM

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

The City of Savannah announced that the arena is on schedule to make its Jan. 13 opening, but the parking lots won’t be done until June 2022. In a memo to Mayor Van Jones and the city aldermen, city manager Joseph Melder revealed an interim parking plan for arena events. “The opening of the Enmarket Arena is an exciting milestone for this community, and will be a great addition to Savannah’s westside,” Melder wrote. “But it is a big change, and we will work with our stakeholders to manage that change.” Eight temporary lots will open on Stiles avenue, holding approximately 1,600 spaces total. Oak View Group, the arena operator, will require attendees to reserve parking spots through their online ticket portal. Two churches have agreed to allow Oak View Group to use their parking lots. Operators will shut down Feely avenue. during events. The road will serve as a rideshare and shuttle drop-off and pick-up zone. Oak View Group will provide shuttles from Savannah’s Historic District. Savannah police will manage other key intersections, while temporary traffic lights and arena workers will direct drivers within the parking lots. The city contracted traffic consultants Walker Consultants and Jacobs to develop the plan The city will also use traffic control contractors Area Wide Protective to lay traffic cones, drop barriers and place residentonly parking signs to protect surrounding residential areas. Violators risk being towed, the memo says. Despite these precautions, however, Melder still expects hassles for residents. “There will be disruptions, and residents who live in the neighborhoods near the Arena will experience elevations in traffic in the hour before and after events,” Melder wrote. “While these disruptions will likely be greater in this four-month interim

BRUNCH

5-11

JAN/

CONNECT SAVANNAH

GUIDE

PRESENTED BY

CUTWATER SPIRITS

WHERE TO GRAB BRUNCH IN SAVANNAH

To have your restaurant considered for inclusion in the weekly Brunch Guide, please send an email to happenings @connectsavannah.com. Include the restaurant name, a few menu highlights, address, contact number, and website. The submission deadline is 5PM each Friday before the following Wednesday’s edition.

THE HOSTESS CITY IS FAMOUS FOR BRUNCH! AND CONNECT SAVANNAH HAS YOU COVERED 24/7 IF THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE CRAVING! VISIT OUR ONLINE BRUNCH GUIDE AT CONNECTSAVANNAH.COM OR SCAN THE QR CODE BELOW. HUEY’S

Located on River Street, Huey’s is a Southern Cafe serving both New Orleans style classics and Lowcountry favorites. Some of their brunch specialties include a Seafood Omelette filled with wild caught shrimp, lump crab, scallops, and thermidor sauce. And the best part? Their brunch specials are served all day, every day starting at 8 a.m. 115 E. River St. hueysontheriver.net

CHURCHILL’S

Two words: bottomless mimosas. Churchill’s serves up British cuisine with unique ingredients from Costal Ga. Join them for one of their unique menu items like the roasted vegetable quiche. 13W. Bay St. thebritishpub.com

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

WORLD OF BEER

Join the World of Beer on the weekends for bottomless mimosas, beermosas, or Bloody Marys. Don’t forget to pair it with a chicken and waffle sandwich or one of their breakfast flatbreads. 112 W Broughton St. worldofbeer.com

THE SENTIENT BEAN

Serving a special brunch menu with seasonal ingredients fresh from Forsyth Farmers’ Market, join the Sentient Bean every Sun. from 9 - noon for brunch. Some local favorites include a brunch bowl and vegan pancakes. 13 E. Park Ave. sentientbean.com

THE FUNKY BRUNCH CAFÉ

Colorful brunch spot featuring a cook-yourown pancakes option on griddles built into the tables. 304 E Broughton St. thefunkybrunchcafe.com

HENRY’S RESTAURANT

Stop by Henry’s for one of Savannah’s classic breakfasts downtown. 28 Drayton St. henrys. restaurantwebexpert.com

TOP DECK

Chill out on the rooftop and take in the city views at Top Deck, located above the Cotton Sail Hotel on River St. Offering craft cocktails, charcuterie boards, small plates, and more, Check out their famous “Mimosa Tower.” 125 W. River St. topdeckbar.com

ARDSLEY STATION

Famous for their Johnny Cake Benedict. 12hr-pork, poached eggs, and collard greens béarnaise. 102 E. Victory Dr. ardsleystation.com

BAR•FOOD

Guys, trying to get your lady to watch more sports? Ladies, need a way to get your man out to brunch on Sundays? Bar•Food has both. Join them for brunch on Sundays at 11 a.m. for biscuit and gravy casserole or loaded avocado toast. 4523 Habersham St. savannahbarfood.com

22 SQUARE RESTAURANT

Gather with your friends and family to share a farmto-table Southern inspired brunch at 22 Square Restaurant, located inside the Andaz. Build your own omelet or try their shrimp n’ grits paired with a Bloody Mary or Citrus Mimosa. 14 Barnard St.

MCDONOUGH’S RESTAURANT

Known around town as a place where locals go, McDonough’s extensive menu ensures that everyone is able to find something to eat, even the pickiest of eaters. Kitchen is open at 10 a.m. seven days a week. 21 E. McDonough St. mcdonoughslounge.com

THE PIRATES HOUSE

If you enjoy brunch with a side of history, their brunch offers an all-you-can-eat buffet with a range of Southern style dishes and dessert. Full menu is available as well. 20 E. Broad St. thepirateshouse.com

BARNES RESTAURANT

A BBQ favorite of locals, Barnes serves up a variety of different Southern BBQ specials seven days a week. Try their fried or rotisserie chicken with one of their home-made Southern sides. 5320 Waters Ave. barnesrestaurant.com

FEATURED: THE SENTIENT BEAN

Chorizo Quesadilla - a flour tortilla stuffed and grilled with crumbled chorizo sausage, scrambled eggs, pepper jack cheese, sautéed bell peppers, onions, and ancho chili sauce. Topped with housemade corn salsa. 5710 Ogeechee Rd, Suite 450 eggsupgrill.olo.com

LILI’S RESTAURANT & BAR

Relax and enjoy brunch on Wilmington Island with bottomless mimosas! Try the Spicy Tataki Bloody Mary, made with Savannah Bloody Mary Mix and pepper-infused Vodka, garnished with pickled vegetables and seared

Tuna. Brunch specialties: crab cakes benedict and breakfast burritos. Brunch is 11:00-3:00, Sundays 326 Johnny Mercer Boulevard, Wilmington Island

OAK 36 BAR + KITCHEN

The menu features items like creamy gouda grits with shrimp and chorizo topped with a Lowcountry Sauce, or buttermilk cheddar biscuits smothered in Hunter Cattle sausage gravy. Try Bottomless bubbles, peach, strawberry and raspberry bellini, Savannah Coffee Roasters Espresso Martini, Oak’s pickled bloody mary. oakthirtysix.com

ANOTHER BROKEN EGG CAFÉ

Lobster Benedict – a toasted “everything” bagel topped with sauteed asparagus, poached eggs and sauteed lobster in a creamy bisque-style sauce. Served with grits or fresh country potatoes. 201 C Tanger Outlet Blvd, anotherbrokenegg.com

BRUNCH IN SAVANNAH IS BEST ENJOYED WITH

FOOD & DRINK EAT IT & LIKE IT PRESENTED WEEKLY BY SAVANNAH TECHNICAL COLLEGE

Film CrewS preFer our gradS DESPOSITO’S IN THUNDERBOLT

2022 OPENINGS:

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR SAVANNAH’S FOOD SCENE? EAT IT AND LIKE IT By Jesse Blanco eatitandlikeit.com

DESPOSITO’S RETURN TO THUNDERBOLT Despositos is a legendary spot on the other side of the Highway 80 Bridge in Thunderbolt. We reported early in 2021 that it was sold and would be making a comeback. The good news is the project evolved from a quick clean up to complete overhaul. The new Desposito’s will do everything it can to capture the spirit of what that spot was, but it will be bigger, more family friendly and hopefully open by Summer. Look for the massive 6 foot neon sign on the roof visible every time you drive over the bridge. STARLAND NEIGHBORHOOD CONTINUES TO GROW Starland District remains Savannah’s hottest part of town. A few new projects are

An equal opportunity institution.

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

With the calendar flip to a new year, there have been more than a few inquiries about what is next on the horizon for Savannah’s food scene. We had a few big stories in 2021, but if everything we know about comes to fruition, 2022 will make it feel like our food scene took a year off. I could probably rattle off 7-8 new concepts that expect to open in the next 18 months around Savannah. That’s just the ones I know about. There are always more. No room for more restaurants, you say? Yeah, well, we disagree. They are coming. Here are four that you will want to keep an eye out for:

SavannahTech.edu/Sav-Film

EAT IT & LIKE IT (CONT.) expected to open in that area this year. Including a new Brewery on 42nd Street behind Ardsley Station, a brand new restaurant across Bull Street from Back in the Day Bakery led by a Michelin rated chef and a brand new - currently under construction at the corner of Bull and 39th Street in the space formerly occupied by Chazito’s 787 Restaurant. SHUK SAVANNAH Shuk is a Mediterranean themed spot being built at the corner of Habersham and Anderson streets in the Victorian District. The plan now is a fast-casual concept for lunch and slightly more elevated service in the evening. Work continues as we speak. We should see them Spring/Summer. JAVA BURRITO COMPANY Java Burrito is a very popular Coffee/Cocktails/Burritos and Tacos concept from Hilton Head Island that will be opening at the corner of Broughton and Price Streets by Summer. Yes, the old 5 Spot, old Juarez Mexican Restaurant known to so many locals. JBC is a true neighborhood concept that does very well across the river. It should do well and become a draw to the sometimes forgotten Eastern end of Broughton Street. JAVA BURRITO COMPANY’S HILTON HEAD ISLAND LOCATION

There will be more. We could go on for a while here. Stay in the loop, sign up for our newsletter at eatitandlikeit.com. Once a week to your inbox. No Spam. No Fillers additives or preservatives. Happy New Year.

By Jamie Burton

COCKTAIL OF THE WEEK Pisco Sour ENJOY AT:

LA APARICIÓN, THE SPEAKEASY INSIDE MINT TO BE MOJITO BAR

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

MADE WITH: PUMPKIN SPICE SHRUB, DRY WINE, DIPLOMÁTICO MANTUANO RUM

You’ve got four ounces of a dry wine. In this particular one I used a Pinot Noir. Any wine that’s going bad, you can always repurpose the wine. The life is still in the wine. I recommend anything dry, like a merlot or anything like that. Something fun and something spicy. Then I used the Diplomático Mantuano Rum, it’s a dark sipping rum but it’s delicious. We do an ounce and a half of the rum. Then you can do an ounce of the Pumpkin Spice Shrub. All of those fun Fall and Winter spice are the flavor profiles you’ll get with the drink. Cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon spices. I was thinking about a malt wine because it’s seasonal and then put the spiced shrub with the wine. ALSO ON THE MENU:

Bacardi Alejandro

jamie@connectsavannah.com

MEET THE BARTENDER:

Miller Wright

I like a lot of the stuff we make here. One of my favorites right now, is the Bacardi Alejandro. It’s kind of a Christmasy cocktail. It tastes kind of like baileys or kind of like eggnog. It’s very nice. We’ve taken this space back here and turned into into an IBA standard cocktail bar. Every week we change out which drinks we have on the menu. We will have usually three to five different cocktails to choose from. All of them based off of what the staff likes, what are in season, and what have been the most popular. Everyone gets a little bit of input. I’m a bourbon guy by nature, but I like gin cocktails more. We have a good selection of them here. One of my favorites is the Bees Knees. It’s got some lemon, honey, Old Tom Gin, and orange juice. It is spectacular. I’m the lead bartender back here. My favorite part about working here is the craft, the ambiance, and the way I get to interact with people that come in and get to hangout with me. The thing that I like is to get to build up a relationship with the people and to give them something they’re going to remember. Something that’s going to stick with them throughout their whole trip here or maybe it’s something that will keep them coming back if they live here.

BARCARDI GOLD, CREME DE CACAO, HEAVY CREAM, AND GARNISHED WITH NUTMEG

CULTURE

FILM

AT THE CINEMA: Movies to watch now By Kareem McMichael

The SCAD Savannah Film Festival wrapped in October but some of the films that screened there are out now in theatres or streaming. Some of the films that received rave reviews at the film festival here have been receiving acclaim on the award circuit so far as the road to the Oscars is underway. Many of the movie stars and creators spoke with Connect while in Savannah for the film festival.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 7TH

CITIZEN COPE THURSDAY, JANUARY 27

ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION

SATURDAY, JANUARY 29 and all of the sisters. We also wanted to honor their mother and give her a voice.” Venus and Serena also served as executive producers on the film and their other sisters were involved in aspects of the film as well making it a true family affair. Will Smith is nominated for a Best Actor in a Motion Picture Golden Globe and Aunjanue Ellis is nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Golden Globe. Ellis was presented with the Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Award at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. Streaming on Netflix is the movie Passing starring Tessa Thompson, Academy Award nominee Ruth Negga, and André Holland. Adapted from the 1929 novel by Nella Larsen, Passing tells the story of two Black women who can “pass” as white but choose to live on opposite sides of the color line during the height of the Harlem Renaissance. After a chance encounter reunites the former childhood friends, Irene (played by Thompson) reluctantly allows Clare (played by Negga) into her home, where Clare ingratiates herself into Irene’s family and larger social circle. As their lives become more deeply intertwined, Irene finds her once-steady existence upended by Clare. “I found it really liberating playing Claire because I felt that the constraints that society had placed upon her as a woman of color, she acknowledged but refused to live by and live within and that was pure pleasure and freedom,” said Negga. Read this full story online at connectsavannah.com

RUMOURS:

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STRING BAND

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. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

Belfast was one of the movies that was a part of the signature screenings at the film festival and is a strong contender for a Best Picture Oscar nomination. It received six Golden Globe nominations including Drama Motion Picture and a Best Director of Motion Picture nomination for the film’s director Kenneth Branagh. Branagh has been nominated for five Academy Awards in five different categories and five Golden Globes. Belfast is about a nine-year-old boy who must chart a path toward adulthood through a world that has suddenly turned upside down. His stable and loving community and everything he thought he understood about life is changed forever, but joy, laughter, music, and the formative magic of the movies remain. Branagh was the writer and director for this film that is based in parts on his own life. “It was a very emotional experience writing it. I chose to do it at this time because we were living through this period of uncertainty and being unsettled in the way the pandemic had its effect on everybody. The story of the film is about

a period of deep uncertainty with my family. When something happened when I was nine years old, when our world was turned entirely upside down in the north of Ireland, what was a peaceful environment? A very happy environment turned into a very, very dangerous one,” said Branagh. Branagh was presented with the Lifetime Achievement in Acting and Directing Award at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. Another film getting a lot of buzz that was a part of the signature screenings at the festival is King Richard, a film that looks at how tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams became who they are after the coaching from their father Richard Williams. Williams, an undeterred father, is instrumental in raising two of the most extraordinarily gifted athletes of all time. Will Smith delivers a strong performance as Richard Williams. Richard uses unconventional methods to take Venus and Serena Williams from the streets of Compton to the global stage as legendary icons, changing tennis forever. Even more than the sports the film is about family and family bonds. The film also stars Aunjanue Ellis who plays Venus and Serena Williams’ mother Oracene Price. The movie shows just how influential Price was in her daughters lives and the impact that has had on their success. “Venus and Serena are heroes of mine and I wanted to be a part of something that honored them and gave them their flowers,” said Ellis. “Love was their weapon. The love that they had in their house was rich. What we wanted to do with this film was honor the Williams family

CULTURE

STYLE Let’s talk about bucket hats. Surprisingly, these have proven to be one of the most versatile accessories in the last year. They come in all colors, patterns and fabrics- faux fur, leather, canvas, denim and more. A leather bucket hat paired with black leather pants, a black bodysuit and a chic trench coat will give you serious Kardashian vibes on your next night out. Or, go for a more casual, daytime look and pair a tie-dye bucket hat with a graphic tee and a skort. You’ll be a California dream if you rock these purple roller-skates too. T-shirts, bucket hat, sunglasses, skort and roller-skates available at Starland Strange (17 W 41 St).

Just because the holiday season is over, doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to sequins. Bring the glam year round with a decked out denim jacket like this one. For a casual look, put it over a graphic tee and wear your favorite hat, some cool shades and combat boots. With all those sequins, you’ll have the same shine you had on New Year’s Eve. Jacket, purple tee, hats, sunglasses and bolo tie available at Starland Strange (17 W 41 St).

By Lauren Wolverton

lauren@connectsavannah.com

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

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CULTURE

FILM

Local film, filmmakers win Davey Award from Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts

Melissa Lloyd-Wade (L) and film director Kareem McMichael (R) on the set of MLK JR. BLVD. Photo by Susanna Deal. By Angie Miller

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

Local filmmakers Kareem McMichael and Chad Penchion have been recognized with Silver award honors at 17th Annual Davey Awards with their film “MLK JR. BLVD.” The Davey Awards, which are judged and overseen by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts, are divided into different categories and honor the finest creative work from the best small shops, firms, and companies worldwide. With over 2,000 entries from across the globe, only a select few receive an award. “MLK JR. BLVD” won Silver for Film/Video-Entertainment for NonBroadcast. “It is an honor to have our film recognized with this award,” McMichael said. “We worked really hard on this project and wanted to tell a story that has been true and personal to people.” Written by Penchion and directed by McMichael, “MLK JR. BLVD” follows the life of a young artist and music lover, De’Andre, whose father, a policeman, is killed in the line of duty. De’Andre resents that his father worked for a system he feels oppresses people and expresses his distrust for the system through art. With tones of underlying racial tension and stereotypes, the short film explores negative perceptions surrounding race relations and De’Andre’s struggle to find himself. According to McMichael, the film started as a student project of Penchion’s when he was a student at SCAD. “We started working on the film in November of 2018,” he said. “We had a few production hiccups along the way but we pulled it together and finished in

April of 2019. After filming was complete, we wrapped up post-production in about four days. A lot of hours went into this film and I’m really proud of the dedication from the entire crew.” McMichael added that in addition to the time and dedication that went into the film, he’s especially proud of the level of authenticity he feels the crew was able to bring on screen. “When we all sat down and broke down the script and the cinematography, we knew we wanted to capture the reality of what it’s like on most ‘MLK JR. BLVDs’ in almost every city including cities as rural as Statesboro,” said McMichael. “There’s an aesthetic to it and we really wanted to capture the essence of that but also in the film capture this duality of what Martin Luther King Jr. was and what Malcom X was. Although they had different perspectives they were fighting for the same thing.” In addition to winning a Davey Award, “MLK JR. BLVD” has been seen in over 15 film festivals. The film was also a semi-finalist in the Los Angeles Cinefest, a finalist in the Southeast Regional Film Festival in Jacksonville, and won “Best Student Film” at the Charlotte Black Film Festival. McMichael says he’s working on releasing the film via streaming platforms. “It’s not streaming anywhere yet but we are discussing those possibilities. We’re hoping to get it on Amazon Prime and a few other streaming platforms eventually.” To follow the release and McMichael’s work visit kmcmichael.weebly.com or visit his instagram @Karmac_ent1 Editor’s note: Kareem McMichael is a regular contributor to Connect Savannah.

CULTURE NEW SHOWS AT LANEY CONTEMPORARY AND RO3 GALLERY:

LOW COUNTRY PASSION & THE VASTNESS OF ONE’S LIFE By Beth Logan ART COLUMNIST

I am always excited when the cutting-edge Laney Contemporary Gallery hangs a new show. But when it’s a show created by a nationally acclaimed artist who happens to be a friend, I am beyond excited! Don’t miss “The Nature of Not Knowing” by Betsy Cain, hanging this Friday, January 7. A native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Cain received both her BFA and MFA degrees from The University of Alabama, experiencing formative undergraduate work at Auburn University and Instituto Allende, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. After the culmination of a national grant through New Mexico’s Roswell Museum and Art Center in 1981, Betsy and photographer husband David Kaminsky moved to Savannah where she has maintained an independent studio practice for four decades. It is fun to look back on my studio visits over the years – everything from a gorgeous space overlooking the canopy of live oaks on Wright Square to the rather sinister former abattoir, Meddin Meat Packing Company, on Louisville Road. One of our city’s most highly accomplished contemporary artists, Cain’s multi-media paintings are in many corporate collections and in such public institutions as the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Macon Museum of Arts and Sciences, the Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center for the Arts, Savannah, and the Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, NM. She was awarded the Macon Museum’s Bowen Award in 2018 for Artistic Excellence and the Georgia Women in the Visual Arts, Governor’s Award in 1997. Cain describes her show as a “Pandemic body of work with most pieces made in 2020 and 2021. We could have

called the show “Sequestered!” Since I work alone in my studio, my studio practice did not change much with the onset of the virus and subsequent shutdown, except that I had so many fewer distractions from an eclipsed social life.” However, “The generalized anxiety we all felt did permeate my work. I think of the two “eye of the storm” paintings, which seem to reflect a kind of turmoil or vortex of energy. The Covid storm we are all experiencing is anything but calm.” She goes on, “I continue with paintings, works on paper and cut-outs, all exploring an essence of form and the suggestion of both the figure and the landscape. Since I don’t work from life (with the exception of drawing/ painting on Ossabaw island), I distill relationships and imagery from what I perceive and experience. I am very much engaged with the low country landscape, tidal estuaries, the maritime forest, dripping spanish moss, rich textures, and saturated hues… “My husband and I live on the marsh, and we witness the dramatic turns with tide, light, and storms. It is a never-ending inspiration to me. As is the color indigo, which I use in abundance in many of these works. I like the fact that a pigment can be associated with a place, with this place.” In stark contrast to the plethora of color she employs and the preponderance of indigo, Cain says, “Many of the cut-outs in the show are painted with the blackest black (Black 3.0). I am using these pieces in the famous mirrored room at the gallery and am excited about the context. A dualism is established with all the refractory light and the deep darkness of the cutouts” As I wrote last month, I consider Laney Contemporary,

Top: ‘purple, please’, 2021, Bottom: Betsy Cain at work, photo by David Kaminsky. Opposite: Deb Oden unfurls prints in her home studio, photo by Stephanie Forbes.

VISUAL ART located at 1810 Mills B. Lane Blvd., to be the sexiest gallery in town; an amazing space housed inside a brutalist concrete bunker of a building that more people need to discover for themselves. Here is your chance. The following Friday (January 14) is your opportunity to check out our city’s newest gallery, Rule of Three, or RO3, a gorgeous little space, situated on the edge of the historic district at 915 Montgomery. RO3 was founded by Stephanie Forbes, an Augusta, Georgia native with the distinction of being SCAD’s first “double legacy” graduate. A SCAD Atelier Associate, she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in Painting (2019) and is a multidisciplinary artist who utilizes such mediums as sculpture, photography, and jewelry, who, despite, her youth, has a strong resume in art gallery management. Rule of Three’s name is a nod to both the classically pleasing compositional layout of artwork and to the fact that she and her parents are artists. The space, presented to Forbes by Anthony Koncul of JAK Homes who had previously transformed Cedar House Gallery was originally a barber shop and café. Post renovation, the two-room gallery was stunning in its clean white simplicity when I visited for last month’s opening. Forbes also has plans (which may morph before they come to fruition in the 3rd quarter) for the adjoining space. The current concept is a casual beer and wine tap bar with mocktail offerings to create a “bar gallery” kind of vibe, which she hopes will be perfect for a date night, solo or with friends. On January 14, Rule of Three presents “Tilting at Windmills,” a compilation of screen prints and paintings from Savannah-based artist Debora Oden, an award-winning printmaker and professor at SCAD who holds both a BFA and MFA in art from The University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The curated exhibition will be Oden’s first solo exhibition here and represents a look into the historical context of her life. Forbes’ press release explains, “A bit like resurfaced memory, these works

highlight defining moments of Oden’s life as a mother, an artist and teacher, as much of these works have been created sporadically, rather than collectively, along the timeline of the artist’s life… many of these works feel almost like an obsessive hope and calling to tap into the depths of our pivotal moments in life, that we should sit with but only for a moment, taking the necessary time to pull from them what we need in order to gracefully move in this life.” The title of the show derives from “Don Quixote,” one of Oden’s staple pieces in the exhibition made up of over 20 smaller paintings and displayed as one large image. To tilt at windmills, of course, means to attack imaginary enemies and, specifically to this exhibition, derives from Miguel de Cervantes’ ‘Don Quixote’ where Quixote imagines himself fighting giants as he attacks windmills. Forbes tells me, “It’s a bit of a “fool on a knight’s mission” kind of story; One where the hero remains endowed to the mission of saving what may not need to be saved, or curating stories in his mind that simply do not exist. To compact this in relation to Oden, it may be distilled to the idea that creating art to replicate the vastness of one’s life may sometimes feel overwhelming, an honor hard to make tangible; but as an artist, we are obligated to do this.” Laney Contemporary, 1810 Mills B. Lane Blvd., is open Tuesday-Friday 11-5 and Saturday 11-2 and by appointment. (912) 438.4442. Laneycontemporary. com. Instagram.com/laneycontemporary. “The Nature of Not Knowing” runs January 7 through March 19 with the opening reception postponed (due to Covid concerns) to Friday, February 4, but check for updates. Rule of Three Gallery, 915 Montgomery Street between Gwinnett and Park, is open Wednesday - Saturday, 11-5 and by appointment. (706) 373-9905. Ro3Gallery. com. Instagram.com/ro3_gallery. Opening reception for “Tilting at Windmills” is Friday, January 14 from 5 to 9 and the show runs through February 18. Covid protocols observed.

SAVANNAH CULTURAL ARTS CENTER

Find your Rhythm DANCE CLASSES SERIES AND DROP-IN AFRICAN | BALLET | CHOREOGRAPHY | JAZZ Register: savannahga.gov/arts

@SavannahCulture

201 Montgomery St. | Savannah, GA

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

MUSIC CLASSES 8-WEEK SERIES BRAZILIAN DRUMMING | GUITAR

CULTURE Savannah’s Independent Bookstore since 1975 offering a selection of fiction, nonfiction, regional, and children’s books

BOOKS

WHAT ARE WE READING? PRESENTED AND CURATED WEEKLY BY E. SHAVER, BOOKSELLER MATRIX

BY LAUREN GROFF FINALIST FOR THE 2021 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION Cast out of the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine, deemed too coarse and rough-hewn for marriage or courtly life, seventeen-year-old Marie de France is sent to England to be the new prioress of an impoverished abbey, its nuns on the brink of starvation and beset by disease. At first taken aback by the severity of her new life, Marie finds focus and love in collective life with her singular and mercurial sisters. In this crucible, Marie steadily supplants her desire for family, for her homeland, for the passions of her youth with something new to her: devotion to her sisters, and a conviction in her own divine visions.

THE GLASS HOTEL

BY EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL Vincent is a bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star lodging on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island. On the night she meets Jonathan Alkaitis, a hooded figure scrawls a message on the lobby’s glass wall. High above Manhattan, a greater crime is committed: Alkaitis’s billion-dollar business is really nothing more than a game of smoke and mirrors. When his scheme collapses, it obliterates countless fortunes and devastates lives. Vincent, who had been posing as Jonathan’s wife, walks away into the night. Years later, a victim of the fraud is hired to investigate a strange occurrence: a woman has seemingly vanished from the deck of a container ship between ports of call. Emily St. John Mandel takes readers through often hidden landscapes: campgrounds for the near-homeless, underground electronica clubs, service in luxury hotels, and life in a federal prison.

THE 1619 PROJECT:

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

CREATING A NEW ORIGIN STORY BY VARIOUS CONTRIBUTORS

In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric and unprecedented system of American chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. This is sometimes referred to as the country’s original sin, but it is more than that: It is the source of so much that still defines the United States.

326 Bull Street

Behind the Desoto Historic Downtown Savannah 912.234.7257

eshaverbooks.com

The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together eighteen essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with thirty-six poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.

CONNECT SAVANNAH

ART PATROL BETSY CAIN: THE NATURE OF NOT KNOWING

On View: January 7 - March 19 Laney Contemporary is pleased to start the year 2022 with a solo exhibition by Savannah-based artist Betsy Cain. The exhibition entitled the nature of not knowing starts as a way to explore new forms and ideas, a mapping of possibility. Cain’s lines are responsive and her processes move fluidly from one medium to the next. Her dance-like, calligraphic line work on the picture plane is a spatial record of movement. Two and three-dimensional works intertwine and inform one another in this large and innovative selection, an aggregate of concentrated responses to solitary time, reflection, the subtlety of colors, and the way that all of these elements are grounded in nature and experience.Email: info@laneycontemporary.com Address: 1810 Mills B Lane Blvd.

‘NOEL W ANDERSON: HEAVY IS THE CROWN’ EXHIBITION

‘Noel W Anderson: Heavy is the Crown’ considers Black experience and its legacies between the temporal brackets of two “kings”–1963 when Martin Luther King Jr. presented his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech and 1992, the brutal beating of Rodney King and his subsequent plea “Can we all just get along…?” The printed works, tapestries, and paperworks on view in the exhibition utilize found imagery from various media and archives that are reprocessed by Anderson through assorted means of distortion and manipulation to collectively expose the haunting relationship of black masculine (mis) representation to structures of power. telfair.org Jepson Center for the Arts, 207 West York St.

KOBO GALLERY 360

Kobo Gallery artists Morgan Adler, Angela Burson, Antoine de Villiers, Joy Dunigan, Marta McWhorter, David Kaminsky and

ON::VIEW REVUE - ANNUAL ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE EXHIBITION

After a nearly year-long pause due to Covid, the ON::View Residency Program returned in June of 2021, and hosted five Artists-in-Residence: Bridget Conn, Kimberly Riner, Kellie Martin, Sinead Hornak, and Rebecca Braziel. Through media ranging from fibers to painting, ceramics to photography, these five artists challenged the community to contemplate grief, inclusivity, impermanence, memory, relationships, and more. Featuring work created during each artist’s residency and afterward, this exhibition surveys their recent explorations and presents them in conversation with one another. The Gallery at Sulfur Studios. 2301 Bull St. January 6 - 22 Opening Reception: January 7, 5:00 - 9:00 pm Gallery Hours: Thursday – Sunday, noon – 5 pmsulfurstudios.org/onview-revue

‘SONYA CLARK: FINDING FREEDOM’ EXHIBITION

‘Sonya Clark: Finding Freedom’ consists of a large-scale canopy quilted together from cyanotype reactive fabric squares that were made with the help of workshop participants over the course of Clark’s various residencies. 10 a.m.-noon. 912-7908800. info@telfair.org. telfair.org/exhibitions/sonya-clark-finding-freedom/. telfair. org/jepson/. Jepson Center for the Arts, 207 West York St.’’

RE-COR-DARE BY SAUDA MITCHELL

Re-Cor-Dare is a solo #art912 exhibition of Savannah-based artist Sauda Mitchell (American, b. 1981). Mitchell’s prints, paintings, and artist books serve as compelling visual responses to her sustained engagement with archival collection materials. In researching personal papers, photographs, artifacts, and curated digital collections, her work explores thematic topics of study relating to the Black experience. Utilizing QR codes, selected works link to digitized collection materials focusing on their ability as teaching tools recalling stories embedded within the African American collective memory. Every 7 days. telfair.org/ exhibitions/re-cor-dare-sauda-mitchell/. telfair.org/jepson/. Jepson Center for the Arts, 207 West York St.

To submit an ART PATROL listing, please email us at happenings@connectsavannah.com

BETH LOGAN’S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THIS WEEKEND: REFLECTIONS ON A TURBULENT YEAR Sulfur Studios, located at 2301 Bull Street offers two openings this Friday, January 7, from 5:00-9:00 in conjunction with First Fridays in Starland. The main Gallery features “ON::View Revue,” the annual exhibition featuring the previous year’s Artists-in-Residence which will hang through January 22. After a year-long pause due to Covid, the ON::View Residency Program returned in June and hosted five Artists-in-Residence: Bridget Conn, Kimberly Riner, Kellie Martin, Sinead Hornak, and Rebecca Braziel. Through media ranging from fibers to painting, ceramics to photography, these five artists challenged the community to contemplate grief, inclusivity, impermanence, memory, relationships, and more. Featuring work created during each artist’s residency and afterward, this exhibition surveys their recent explorations and presents them in conversation with one another. I am particularly excited to see the show “18 Months” in the Bull Street-facing ON::View Gallery by friend and multidisciplinary artist Rob Hessler. Hessler is a tireless advocate for the arts whom readers may know from his weekly radio show and podcast “Art on the Air” on WRUU 107.5 FM, his weekly art column for the Savannah Morning News, or from his role as Executive Director of Bigger Pie, an arts and cultural advocacy organization. An all-round nice guy, Hessler’s “18 Months” show hangs through the end of the month and includes a video installation of Hessler and wife Gretchen Hilmer’s podcast RPGs & Baby Makes 3. “18 Months” is rooted in the profound impact COVID-19 had on Hessler as an artist. He says, “Over the past 18 months, I’ve experienced a wide range of emotions, from relief that things were shutting down and I could take a break, to anxiety that the pandemic would never end, to elation at receiving my vaccination, to outrage at people downplaying the dangers of the pandemic and people that I cared about died. Over the past six-plus years, I’ve kept a daily journal, chronicling both the events of a given 24-hour period and the ups and downs I’ve experienced as a person. Looking back on the 18-month period defined by COVID-19, I selected three entries that I believe defined my state of mind in that moment.” “Using those words of inspiration, I imagined them as “writing on the walls” of my personal journey, literally representing them in graffiti as one might tag an outdoor surface. From there, I created self-portraits meant to capture where I was emotionally, combining them with the written words taken from my journals. The result, I believe, is a triptych of images that represents my path through one of the most turbulent periods of my life.”

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

‘FROM DUST TO GOLD’ BY DAVID GUMBS This exhibition represents the first U.S. solo exhibition by Caribbean artist David Gumbs, featuring immersive, interactive digital installations and drawings. Gumbs is a multi-disciplinary artist from the island of Saint Martin, currently based in Martinique. Inspired by Caribbean flora, fauna, history, and mythology, Gumbs’ work often is concerned with “the offscreen of perception, the cycle of life, the visible and invisible.” More on telfair.org 10 a.m.-5 p.m.. telfair.org/exhibitions/david-gumbs-fromdust-to-gold/. telfair.org/jepson/. Jepson Center for the Arts, 207 West York St.

Daniel E. Smith rotate the gallery, prompting a display of new work arrivals and a fresh take on existing works. 10:30 a.m.5:30 p.m. kobogallery.com. Kobo Gallery, 33 Barnard Street

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MUSIC Riley Green has made no secret that one of his goals in following up his 2019 full-length debut album, “Different ‘Round Here,” was to not stray too far from the sound or lyrical personality of that first major label album. That album, which brought together songs from three earlier EPs, gave Green his first two top 15 hits on “Billboard” magazine’s Country Songs chart in “There Was This Girl” and “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.” He knows he’s trying now to accomplish what he considers one of the biggest challenges an artist faces, beginning with his recently released EP, “Behind The Bar.” “I think it’s really hard for a new artist to go from ‘Hey, I know this song, but I don’t know who sings it’ into ‘Oh, and that’s a Riley Green song.’” Green explained in a recent phone interview. “I think that probably comes from maybe too much bouncing (around stylistically) with your first few singles. “Ten years ago, your average Joe couldn’t go into the studio and record something and put it out on Spotify or Amazon or iTunes,” he added. “Now that you have so much music, this overflow of music, you’ve got to find a way to stand out, and I think that’s kind of by having your own sound.” Green, ironically, isn’t able to actually articulate just yet exactly what makes his songs or his sound stand apart from other country artists.

“I have no idea what it is about what I’m doing that’s working, but I just want to make sure I don’t mess it up,” he said.

IT’S EASY BEING

RILEY GREEN By Alan Sculley

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

Perhaps part of what is working for Green is the way he puts pieces of himself, his life and the people he’s known into his lyrics. His songs are solid musically, but that’s not what sets him apart. On uptempo tunes like “Jesus and Wranglers,” “If I Didn’t Wear Boots” (both from the “If It Wasn’t For Trucks” EP), and “Put ‘Em On Mine” (from “Behind The Bar”) he mixes a good bit of twang with muscular rock, creating a sound that fits well in today’s mainstream country. Even his lyrics, which incorporate familiar country themes about family bonds, faith, a blue-collar work ethic, small-town life and wholesome values, might not seem that unique. Still, Green’s lyrics give listeners a tangible sense of where he’s from (the small Alabama town of Jacksonville), his down-to-earth upbringing, his outlook on life and his love of country and rock music. Of course, plenty of country singers grew up in small towns in the South with tight-knit families, but Green sounds authentic when he references his life and times in his songs. And he knows fans respond to something in his music. “I mean, a great example is I’ve got this song called ‘Georgia Time’ that I wrote when I was 22 or 23, I guess,” said Green, who is now 32. “I recorded it and put it out myself. It’s a demo at the very best. I recorded it at like Bob’s garage or something and spent a few hundred bucks on it. But that song has got 30 something million streams, and it’s just like at every show they scream for it at the top of their lungs. And I don’t know, I don’t know what it is about the songs I’ve written...I wrote a lot of songs about myself because I didn’t have anybody else to write with, but something about them was very relatable to fans.” Green certainly came to country music honestly and he put in plenty of time and effort to reach the point now where he’s a major label artist (signed to Big Machine Records), with a couple of hit singles on his resume that helped him win the prestigious 2020 Academy of Country Music award for New Male Artist of the Year. It all began in Jacksonville, Alabama, where he spent plenty of time, not only with his parents and siblings, but he grew close to his two grandparents, Buford and Lendon (which helps explain why “I Wish Grandpas Never Died”—one of a number of earthy, acoustic-leaning ballads that sit along the rockers in his catalog—is so personal to Green). Buford, in particular, was a big country music fan and introduced his grandson to legendary artists like Roy Acuff and Merle Haggard. And it was at Buford’s house-turned-music-hall where the idea of having a music career formed for Green. “Neither one of us was a really good singer, but we enjoyed it,” Green recalled. “We’d sit on the porch of that old house and play. And he’d get my grandmother to bring down the yellow pages, and he’d call up so and so that

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used to play the banjo or the guitar or the mandolin or whatever, and these old men started coming over and we started meeting up weekly and playing. Then people started to come to listen. “We had a saw mill there, and my dad and his brother, we were always in construction, so we tore the floor up and built a stage and people started showing up every Friday,” Green continued. “We called it the Golden Saw. We painted an old saw blade gold on the front so people could see it when they drove by. It went on for 14 years. They never missed a Friday. It was anybody who wanted to play and sing could play and sing. The older ladies would bring snacks. There would be a break time. It was a really miniature Grand Ol’ Opry to us, and it was kind of a place that kept a lot of people alive. I’m sure there were a lot of older folks that didn’t have anything to look forward to all week except for that show on Friday night. That was where I got confidence enough to get up on stage and play, and I learned to play guitar by watching how these old men made chords and it was a very accidental thing that turned into something really cool.” Green found himself writing songs, and by his early 20s, he had started getting gigs around the Southeast. He posted songs online and self-released several EPs, gradually building a following that was large enough to allow him to make music a full-time venture. This self-made career was what eventually got noticed in Nashville. “I played for probably 10 years before a record label ever showed up at a show,” Green said. “I had never been to Nashville. It wasn’t because I was just amazing or I had some big hit song that I got discovered. It was because I was selling a lot of tickets and people were coming to my shows and downloading my songs.” After spending much of 2020 unable to tour, Green returned to the road, playing in an acoustic format for what were largely socially distanced shows. But he’s now back to playing plugged-in format. The tour will be an opportunity for Green to debut songs from the seven-song EP, “Behind The Bar,” which he finished just before he started the acoustic tour in April. Like the “If It Wasn’t For Trucks” EP, “Behind The Bar” has a mix of rock-edged uptempo tunes such as “That Was Us,” “Put ‘Em On Mine” and the title track and acoustic-leaning ballads like “That’s My Dixie” and “That’s What I’ve Been Told.” Green likes doing EPs because it involves fewer songs and he can get music released soon after songs have been written and recorded. “Now there are so many platforms where you can put music out and for me it’s just, the only way I can really disappoint my fans is by not putting out music,” he said. “And so it takes awhile to go do a full-length album. That’s months and months and months of planning and picking songs and (scheduling) studio time. You know, when you put out a project like this EP, it buys you some time. And I think it will probably be similar to how my debut album was, ‘Different ‘Round Here,’ where it was actually three EPs that became an album. That, to me, is sort of an easier way to give fans (a larger batch) of music, but also not jump the gun and go hey man, we’ve got to go cut 12 songs right now.” Green will bring his ‘We Out Here Tour’ to the Enmarket Arena stage in Savannah for its first ever show, and will be joined by special guests, Georgia’s own Corey Smith and Mike Ryan. The show is set for Jan. 14.

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

Below: Enmarket Arena, image provided by City of Savannah. Previous page: Riley Green, photo provided by the artist.

THUR JULY 29

THE STAGE PAGE LATIN NIGHT WITH DJ CESAR @ VICE LOUNGE + MOJITO BAR Dominating the turntables

U R first Thursday of the G E T Y Oevery month at VICE Lounge, DJ TS ON T I C K E Cesar is a Southeast regional R I T E !who can read the floor Bveteran E V E N T and respond accordingly. He mixes all genres effortlessly, with a thumb on the Latin scale, to keep the party hopping. THURSDAY, JAN 6 | 9 PM

DOWNTOWN DELILAHS @ MATA HARI’S SPEAKEASY

KING OF POP - A TRIBUTE TO THE GENIUS OF MICHAEL JACKSON

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

NATIONAL FRI JULY 30

CHAMPIONSHIP

THE ULTIMATE AEROSMITH TRIBUTE

FRI AUG 6 SAT JULY JAN 10,312022 8:00PM #3 GEORGIA BULLDOGS VS #1 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

A TRIBUTE TO THE ROLLING STONES

DDMBC has fun with burlesque, adding more comedy and audience participation than usual. It’s neo, but rests on a solid foundation of flirtatious striptease from a talented troupe of entertainers who respectfully expand the art form. THU, JAN 6, 11 PM | FRI & SAT, JAN 7 & 8, 9:30 & 11 PM

UPCOMING SHOWS

SEAN PATTON @ THE WORMHOLE

The New Orleans area native who now calls New York home swings through the Hostess City for another killer comedy show at The Wormhole. He takes the Brooklyn hipster vibe to unexpected places, mining the humor of sexual performance anxiety, emotional support peacocks, and what to name your dog. FRIDAY JAN 7 | 8 PM

AUG. 7 Grand Paradise - A Tribute to STYX AUG 13 FA-Q AUG 14 Interstellar Echoes - A Tribute to Pink Floyd AUG 20 The Bitteroots AUG 27 The Petty Hearts - The National Tom Petty Tribute Show AUG 28 The Stratton James Trio COME CATCH ALL THE ACTION FROM NBA, NFL, SEPT 3 Tribute -A Celebration of the Allman Bros. Band COLLEGE HOOPS, SOCCER, AND EVERYTHING IN SEPT 4 Slippery When Wet - A Tribute to Bon Jovi BETWEEN AT COACH’S WE HAVE OVER 60 SEPT 11CORNER. Jupiter Coyote

TV’S, AND A FRIENDLY STAFF THAT CONTINUES TO KEEP OUR #1 SPORTS BAR RANKING INTACT. COME SEE WHY FOR YOURSELF!

BREAKFAST IS BACK! 7-10:30 • TUESDAY - FRIDAY 8-11:30 • SATURDAY

Have your drag and eat it, too. The Diva Royale troupe performs weekend dinner shows and (on most weekends) Sunday brunch. You can opt to skip the meal and focus all your attention on bombastic interpretations of Adele, Tina Turner, Madonna, Dolly Parton, Beyoncé and so many more. FRIDAY JAN 7 | 9 PM

3016 E. VICTORY DR. 912.352.2933 COACHS.NET

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. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

DIVA ROYALE DRAG QUEEN SHOW @ VICE LOUNGE

5-11

JAN/

CONNECT SAVANNAH MUSIC

SOUNDBOARD WHO IS PLAYING WHERE THIS WEEK WEDNESDAY 1/ 5 LIVE MUSIC

Cohen’s Retreat Midtown Pickers, 6 p.m. Driftaway Cafe Chuck Courtenay, 6 p.m. McDonough’s Blues with Eric Culberson, 9 p.m. Nickie’s 1971 Ray Tomasino, 7 p.m.

TRIVIA & GAMES

El-Rocko Lounge Trivia with Jules and Chris Grimmett, 9-11:30 p.m. Service Brewing Company Trivia Night with Jess Shaw, 6:30 p.m. The Wormhole Bingo, 10 p.m.

KARAOKE

Club One Karaoke, 10 p.m. Wet Willie’s Karaoke, 9 p.m.

COMEDY

Totally Awesome Bar Savannah Comedy Underground, 9 p.m.

THURSDAY 1/ 6 LIVE MUSIC

Cohen’s Retreat Munchies & Music, 5-9 p.m.

TRIVIA & GAMES

PS Tavern Beer Pong Tournament, 10 p.m.

KARAOKE

Bay Street Blues Karaoke, 8 p.m. Blueberry Hill Karaoke, 9 p.m.-3 a.m. Club One Karaoke, 10 p.m. McDonough’s Karaoke, 9 p.m. Nickie’s 1971 Karaoke Night, 9 p.m. The Hive Repertory Theatre LLC Adult Night Out - Karaoke!, 8 p.m. Totally Awesome Bar Karaoke, 10 p.m.

COMEDY

VICE Lounge + Mojito Bar Diva Royale Drag Queen Show Savannah, GA - Weekly Drag Queen Shows, 9 p.m.

Club 51 Degrees DJ Fer, DJ Emalo, DJ Lil G, DJ BRad, 9 p.m.

BAR & CLUB EVENTS

Club One Drag Show, 10:30 p.m. & 12:30 a.m.

Club One Karaoke, 10 p.m. McDonough’s Karaoke, 9 p.m. Nickie’s 1971 Karaoke Night, 8 p.m.

Rancho Alegre Cuban Restaurant JodyJazz Trio, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Sting Ray’s Robert Willis, 6 p.m. Randy’s Pickin’ Parlor Sideline, 8 p.m. Congress St. Social Club JD Music Group, 10 p.m.

COMEDY

Totally Awesome Bar Open Mic Comedy, 8:30 p.m.

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

TRIVIA & GAMES

Bar Food Trivia Night, 8 p.m. McDonough’s Family Feud, 7 p.m.

KARAOKE

Bluegrass By The Pint with Swamptooth, 6 p.m. Sting Ray’s Robert Willis, 6 p.m. Victory North Citizen Cope, 7-11 p.m.

Club 51 Degrees DJ B-Rad, 9 p.m. Top Deck Sunset Deck Party, 6 p.m. VICE Lounge + Mojito Bar Latin Night with DL Cesar, first Thursday of every month, 9 p.m.

BAR & CLUB EVENTS

Service Brewing Company Service Brewing Run Club, 6:30 p.m.

FRIDAY 1/ 7 LIVE MUSIC

First Presbyterian Church First Friday for Folk Music Concert - Eric Britt and Jefferson Ross, 7:309:30 p.m. Congress St. Social Club DJ Basik Lee, 10 p.m. Rancho Alegre Cuban Restaurant JodyJazz Trio, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Service Brewing Company

SATURDAY 1/ 8

SAT/

LIVE MUSIC

TRIVIA & GAMES

Blueberry Hill Pool Tournament, 2 p.m.

KARAOKE

Bar Food Karaoke Night, 10 p.m. Bay Street Blues Karaoke, 8 p.m. Club One Karaoke, 10 p.m. McDonough’s Karaoke, 9 p.m. Totally Awesome Bar Karaoke, 10 p.m.

COMEDY

Club One Comedy Revue, second Saturday of every month, 8 p.m.

Club 51 Degrees Dance Party

BAR & CLUB EVENTS

Club One Drag Show, 10:30 p.m. & 12:30 a.m.

SIDELINE @ RANDY’S PICKIN’ PARLOR | 8 PM

A highly pedigreed, six-piece powerhouse whose style has set the pace in Bluegrass for over two decades. Founders Steve Dilling and Skip Cherryholmes can both claim their own historical significance to the genre as members of groups with multiple Grand Ole Opry appearances and many years of national and international touring.

SUNDAY 1/ 9

MONDAY 1/10

LIVE MUSIC

Collins Quarter at Forsyth Ember City, 2 p.m. Congress Street Social Club Voodoo Soup, 10 p.m. Myrtle & Rose, Rooftop Garden Plant Riverside Live Jazz Sunday Brunch Featuring the Howard Paul Jazz Trio, 11 a.m.3 p.m. Nickie’s 1971 Roy Swindell, 7 p.m. Sting Ray’s Robert Willis, 6 p.m. Starland Yard JD Music Group

TRIVIA & GAMES

Moon River Brewing Co. Trivia, 6 p.m.

Nickie’s 1971 Ray Tomasino, 7 p.m. The Wormhole Open Mic/Jam, 6-10 & 10 p.m.-2 a.m.

TRIVIA & GAMES

Club One Super Gay Bingo, 5:30 p.m. Starland Yard Music Bingo, 7-9 p.m.

KARAOKE

Club One Karaoke, 10 p.m. Wet Willie’s Karaoke, 9 p.m.

BAR & CLUB EVENTS Fia Rua Irish Pub Family Movie Night, 8 p.m.

KARAOKE

Club One Karaoke, 10 p.m. McDonough’s Karaoke, 9 p.m.

TUESDAY 1/11 LIVE MUSIC

McDonough’s Open Mic/Jam, 9 p.m. Nickie’s 1971 Roy Swindell, 7 p.m.

TRIVIA & GAMES

Basil’s Pizza and Deli Trivia, 7 p.m. Fia Rua Irish Pub Trivia, 7 p.m. McDonough’s Trivia Tuesday, 7 p.m. Oak 36 Bar + Kitchen Trivia Tuesday, 9 p.m. Savannah Taphouse Trivia, 7 p.m. Starland Yard Trivia with Chris Grimmett, 6:30 p.m.; Trivia Night With Chris Grimmett, 6:30-8:30 p.m. The Wormhole Trivia, 9:30 p.m.

KARAOKE

Blueberry Hill Karaoke, 9 p.m.-3 a.m. Club One Karaoke, 10 p.m. Wet Willie’s Karaoke, 9 p.m.

COMEDY

Stafford’s Public House Stafford’s Tuesday Comedy Open Mic, 8:30-11:45 p.m.

SOUNDBOARD IS A FREE SERVICE - TO BE INCLUDED, PLEASE SEND YOUR LIVE MUSIC INFORMATION WEEKLY TO SOUNDBOARD@CONNECTSAVANNAH.COM. DEADLINE IS NOON MONDAY, TO APPEAR IN WEDNESDAY’S EDITION. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT OR CUT LISTINGS DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS.

Amy Sussman | Getty Images

THE BAND PAGE

CITIZEN COPE @ VICTORY NORTH

Few artists blend genres as successfully as Citizen Cope, one reason he’s so popular with Savannah audiences. We like a sonic blend the way we like a well-crafted cocktail. This one mixes hiphop beats, quiet piano, and blues with a 100-proof pop floater. Drink it in. FRIDAY JAN 7 | 7 PM

Since Connect publishes on Wednesdays, this early alert is for a must-see show next Wednesday. Portland, Oregon’s MOTRIK does krautrock right. Few bands play this inspiring and oftmisunderstood genre at all. Seeing pros do it live is a rare treat. Local garage punks Bastardane and indie rockers Klept open. WEDNESDAY JAN 12 | 8 PM

Calendar digits have no bearing on AURA Fest and the promotion of a constant flow of quality heavy music shows. The latest unholy trinity consists of the metal and hardcore mélange of Savannah’s Depressor (pictured), the crossover thrash of Atlanta’s Living in Fear, and the grindcore of SC’s Slugcrust. Resolve to mosh more this year. FRIDAY JAN 7 | 8 PM

CHEATING ALETHIA @ THE WORMHOLE

The Brunswick trio trudges up I-95 to start off 2022 the right way. Audiences keep them coming back because growth isn’t hard to recognize. These guys get better and better, constantly riding their altrock roots and fantastic musicianship to new and interesting places. FRIDAY JAN 7 | 9:30 PM

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

MØTRIK, BASTARDANE, KLEPT @ EL ROCKO LOUNGE

DEPRESSOR, LIVING IN FEAR, SLUGCRUST @ EL ROCKO LOUNGE

PHOTOS FROM LOCAL EVENTSle

Photos by Alexander Neumann

View more photos online at connectsavannah.com/connected

TYBEE POST THEATER’S 2022 POLAR PLUNGE Hundreds of Polar Plunge supporters took a dive into 60 degree waters at the Tybee Pier on New Years Day! The dual in-person and virtual event was a success, with Tybee Post Theater Executive Director Evan Goetz encouraging participants to post videos from wherever they were—their backyard the beach or the bathtub, this much loved annual event hopes to be back bigger and better next year. The proceeds from the Tybee Polar Plunge go toward the programming and operations of the Tybee Post Theater. This historic movie house, builtin 1930 by the Army stationed at Fort Screven, has been restored and reopened as a performing arts and movie venue for Tybee Island’s residents and visitors. Harrison, Mattie Bell, Matt and Nikki Hammons

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

Sallie Hogan, Mermaid Heather, Adalyn Hancock

Kathy Rogers, Kiara Griffin, Cindy Davis

Robin Compton, Bo Schabel

Lucas, Gretchen, Max, Andrey and Andrew Pretorius

David Bachelor, Steve Meersman, David Miller

PHOTOS FROM LOCAL EVENTS

Photos by Bunny Ware

View more photos online at connectsavannah.com/connected

Morgan, Madison, Aaron Whitely Sr, Tye and Aaron Whitely Jr.

Imari Poole, Sakarah Hall-Edge

Althea, Emerald and MacArthur Daniels

Jamal Toure, Amirah Jalil, Donovan Lee

Polly Beckett, Kesha Gibson-Carter

KWANZAA FESTIVAL CELEBRATION

Joyce Griggs, Mya Spann

. CONNECT SAVANNAH | JANUARY 5-11, 2022

Johannes and Jay Jones

Savannah Alderwoman Gibson-Carter identified an opportunity to build on the community’s annual holiday by amplifying the principles of Kwanzaa. Organizers say the seven-day event was established “to remind our young men and boys of their value by promoting peace, evoking love, and ultimately helping them understand the responsibility they have to our ancestors, who fought for so many of the freedoms they enjoy today.” Each night, a restaurant served as the host site. In addition, local historians & speakers offered expressions for each principle of the Kwanzaa celebration. The events included offerings by vendors & local artists. Partial proceeds from sales will be donated to several local charities. The culmination event on Sun., Jan 2, was held at Ms. Polly’s Cake Giant.

JONESIN’ CROSSWORD CONNECT SAVANNAH

connectsavannah.com

“Time to Start Over”--only a few days left. by Matt Jones

ACT II

AUGUST 11 - 17 • 2021

for DOLETTE McDONALD

REPLANTING WORMSLOE: KEEPING AN ICONIC SITE GROWING FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

HER JOURNEY FROM THE WORLD STAGE TO SAVANNAH

MIDDAY CHEERS! FIRST-EVER FESTIVAL WILL CELEBRATE LOCAL BREWS & BOOZE

Many of our readers who don’t have access to our FREE printed editions have asked for a way to receive Connect Savannah by mail. We are now able to deliver*!

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THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING US TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH THE BEST NEWS, ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE IN THE COASTAL EMPIRE!

YOU ASKED, SO WE’LL DELIVER! ACROSS 1 George Eliot’s “___ Marner” 6 Intellect 9 Window framework 13 Opposite of obtuse 14 Turn towards 15 Nickname for the president of Mexico (based on his monogram) 16 Get gone, colloquially 19 Fiji-to-Samoa dir. 20 Voicemail noise 21 Capital of French Flanders (and birthplace of de Gaulle) 22 Burger King offering on the smaller side 26 Laundry challenges 28 First-string athletic groups 29 “The Christmas Song” composer Mel 30 “Gently worn,” really 33 30-Down, e.g. 34 Onetime seller of onesies 37 Electric guitar hookup 40 Jay who hosts a new revival of “You Bet Your Life” 41 Very slow tempo 43 ‘40s pinup Betty 48 Clan of hip-hop notoriety 49 Fast asleep 53 Forename in fragrances 54 Remove with absorbent material 55 “Game of Thrones” airer 58 Right about now (and a hint to the closing word of

each theme answer) 62 Poker holding 63 Part of a whole 64 ‘50s White House name 65 Airport postings, for short 66 Red No. 5, e.g. 67 Tiffs DOWN 1 Fill up 2 Confident affirmation 3 Tepid 4 Chewed on some cheese 5 Black or Red 6 Batman, really 7 More inhospitable 8 “Dancing With the Stars” perfection 9 Contacts wearer’s solution 10 Earhart who shows up in the latter half of “American Horror Story: Double Feature” 11 Ski race with gates 12 Optimistic types 14 Producer’s nightmare 17 Uploads or downloads, in obsolete internet usage 18 Oversupply 23 She & ___ (Zooey Deschanel’s band) 24 Ground floor apartment number, perhaps 25 Actress Pinkett Smith 26 Place for a snort nap? 27 “Ode ___ Nightingale” 30 Purple base of some Filipino desserts 31 Roget’s entry (abbr.)

32 One of a Freudian trio 35 “Madonna: Truth or Dare” director Keshishian 36 Bathtub stopper 37 Object of loathing 38 ___ Dew 39 Fad disc from the ‘90s 42 It’s E. of S. Sudan 43 “Faust” dramatist 44 Charge towards 45 Show up to 46 Runs over the edge, as ink 47 Lender’s attachment 48 “Dances ___ Wolves” 50 Sister magazine of Jet 51 ‘60s role for Michael Caine 52 Former Senate majority leader Trent 56 Fishing supply 57 Mineral museum displays 59 Bomb of a bomb 60 Dashes longer than hyphens 61 Talk nonstop

CROSSWORD ANSWERS

find the leader in you. an immersive 2-day leadership experience right here in savannah.

An immersive, 2-day leadership experience. FEB. 28 & March1 Trustees’ Garden

The Southeast Georgia Leadership Forum is a two-day event that brings together more than 400 leaders representing neighborhoods, non-profits, civic groups, government, businesses and the up and comers. The FIRST EVER Southeast Georgia Leadership Forum will bethe a two-day event Organized by Morris Multimedia Inc., with generous support of Georgia Southern University, the Georgia Ports Authority, that brings togeherGeorgia more than 400and leaders representing neighborhoods, Power Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, the first ever forum is taking place on February 28 & March 1 2021 non-profits, civic groups, government, and up-and-comers. at Trustees’ Garden businesses in Savannah, Georgia. To help our communities succeed in an ever changing and fast paced society, the

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Margarita Monday $4 teremana margs

Wine wednesday

tree-fifty tuesday

Half off Bottles

$3.50 beer, titos, RBV, jameson

Margarita Monday $4 teremana margs

thursdays & Sunday thursdays & Sunday

tree-fifty tuesday

$3.50 beer, titos, RBV, jameson

Live MUSIC | 6-9 pm Drink specials

Wine wednesday

Half off Bottles

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