May/June 2013

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MAGAZINE A Times-Herald Publication

May/June 2013 | $3.95

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Š 2013 Piedmont Healthcare 03105-0313

piedmontnewnan.org

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Still Close to Home, Convenient, State-of-the-art he artt

Radiation Oncology Services (ROS), a leader in radiation therapy in the metropolitan Atlanta area since 1975, continues in its mission to provide quality care to all patients in need of radiation therapy. For over 20 years, our Newnan center specializes in combining compassionate care with individualized treatment plans for all our patients. Our treatment programs are designed in keeping with national standards. Under the medical direction of Diana Santiago, M.D., ROS-Newnan patients and their families can count on our expertise in all aspects of radiation therapy.

We are proud to continue to serve Newnan and surrounding areas‌ today and in the future!

Our services include: 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy Image Guided Radiation Therapy Palliative Care Partial Breast Radiation Therapy Stereotactic Radiation Therapy Prostate Seed Implants High Dose Rate Brachytherapy

Diana Santiago M.D.

Locations ROS-Administration

770. 994. 1650

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To learn more about ROS, our locations, our staff and our services, please visit:

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ROS-Piedmont Henry

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770. 719. 5850

ROS-Riverdale

770. 997. 8424

Accredited by the Joint Commission

www.radonc.com

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Newnan-Coweta Board of REALTORSÂŽ

"A Night With the Stars" Active Members

Frank H. Barron .KPFUG[Ă U +PE 4GCNVQTU

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Better Homes and Gardens Real Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers Estate Metro Brokers

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THANK YOU to our

SPONSORS

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Shahram Rezaiamiri, Jose Mathew, and Scott Linacre are men on a mission — one that provides the highest quality patient care to those suffering complex issues of the spine and brain.

Shahram Rezaiamiri, MD FACS has practiced at South Atlanta Neurosurgery for nearly 12 years. As a board certified Neurosurgeon specializing in minimally invasive procedures, he is well known for his treatments of Cervical Spinal Cord Compression and Laser/ Lumbar Spine Disc Procedures. He remains one of the preeminent neurosurgeons in the Atlanta area, particularly within the Southern Crescent community; offices in Stockbridge, Fayetteville, and Riverdale. Dr. Rezaiamiri holds the distinction of being selected as Lifestyles’ “Top Doc” for five years in a row. He also won the Patients’ Choice Award for four consecutive years. The annual award – based on more than 800,000 patient reviews nationwide – goes only to fewer than six percent of doctors.

Dr. Rezaiamiri holds the distinction of being selected as a Lifestyles’ “Top Doc” for five years in a row.

Dr. Rezaiamiri also won the Patients’ Choice Award for five consecutive years. The annual award – based on more than 800,000 patient reviews nationwide – goes only to fewer than six percent of doctors.

Jose Mathew, D.O. MPH is native of Dublin, Georgia and graduate of University of Georgia. He has spent years learning the latest in science and research relating to modern techniques for treating patients with pain-causing disorders. Additionally, he completed a fellowship in interventional spine and musculoskeletal medicine where he was trained extensively in the use of fluoroscopically- as well as ultrasound-guided interventions. Board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, he specializes in nonsurgical methods of restoring function to patients with total body pain including: joint, back and spine.

Scott Linacre, PA-C, MMSc, is a board certified Physician Assistant who has worked with AllSpine since 2009.

An honors graduate from Emory University’s Physician Assistant program, he also attended Emory for his undergraduate degree.

AllSpine Surgery Center is an 11,000+ square foot, state-of-the-art facility equipped with two operating rooms, top-of-the-line sterile processing unit, private recovery room and an incredible staff dedicated to latest minimally invasive spine surgery treatments and interventional spine and pain management techniques.

Minimally Invasive Cervical and Spine Procedures Appointments: 770-997-0600 Office Locations: Stockbridge, Fayetteville, and Riverdale Coming Soon to Newnan Hospital Affiliations: Piedmont Hospital, Piedmont Henry, and Southern Regional Medical Center Nominated 5 Years in a Row in Patients Choice Award.

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BARIATRICS

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A healthier self image, and a healthier body.

Your weight loss solution is right here in LaGrange. Severe health conditions can be greatly reduced, reversed or avoided by signiďŹ cant, and maintained, weight loss. Dr. Charles M. Ferguson, of Emory Clark-Holder Clinic, has vast experience in gastric bypass, gastric sleeve and LAP-BAND procedures.

A smaller dress or pant size can lessen your chance of developing chronic, and often life threatening, health conditions. Whether you’re just a little overweight, or if your condition is more critical, we offer Charles M. Ferguson, MD

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COME

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On Our Cover MAGAZINE Established 1995 A Times-Herald Publication President & Publisher Vice President Editor Art Director Contributing Writers

William W. Thomasson Marianne C. Thomasson Angela McRae Deberah Williams Amelia Adams, Tina Neely Brown, Holly Jones, Katherine McCall, Alex McRae, Cathy Lee Phillips, Ruth Simpson Schroeder, W. Winston Skinner, Martha A. Woodham

Photography

Jeffrey Leo, Angela McRae, Deberah Williams

Circulation Director Sales and Marketing Director Advertising Consultants

Naomi Jackson Colleen D. Mitchell Doug Cantrell, Mandy Inman, Candy Johnson, Norma Kelley

Advertising Design

Debby Dye, Graphics Manager Sandy Hiser, Sonya Studt

Controller

Diana Shellabarger

FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION, call 770.683.6397 or e-mail colleen@newnan.com.

Newnan-Coweta Magazine is published bi-monthly by The Newnan Times-Herald, Inc., 16 Jefferson St., Newnan, GA 30263.

Subscriptions: Newnan-Coweta Magazine is distributed in homedelivery copies of The Newnan Times-Herald and at businesses and offices throughout Coweta County. Individual mailed subscriptions are also available for $23.75 in Coweta County, $30.00 outside Coweta County. To subscribe, call 770.304.3373.

Submissions: We welcome submissions. Query letters and published clips may be addressed to the Editor, Newnan-Coweta Magazine at P.O. Box 1052, Newnan, Georgia 30264.

On the Web: www.newnancowetamag.com © 2013 by The Newnan Times-Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

Beginning in May, the Banks family’s magnificent sunflower fields in Turin get planted with a mix of corn and sunflowers.

— Photo by Angela Banks Tinsley 10 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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Table of Contents Departments

16

34 Tina’s Tips Meet the Banks family, whose beautiful fields of sunflowers in Turin have captured the attention of passersby along Highway 16.

58 The Thoughtful Gardener Although native to China, the gardenia is one of those plants that we Southerners so often adopt and make exclusively our own.

Features 16 Gardening as Art & Family History

64 Coweta Cooks

Splashes of color and the occasional nod to family are scattered throughout Tim Davis’ spectacularly whimsical garden.

Fans of homegrown tomatoes will want to try our delicious recipe for Roasted Tomato Soup.

70 Saddle Up

26 The Wonder of Worms The slimy, sloppy, yucky nightcrawling critters best known as fish bait are the new BFFs of farmers and backyard gardeners everywhere.

44 Next Stop: Chitwood Train Garden When Ken Chitwood was diagnosed with cancer, one of the things which motivated him to get better was an empty spot in the backyard begging for a garden.

52 The Hobbit Garden Ruth Schroeder’s Hobbit Garden was inspired by the characters in J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved tale.

34 70

Horsewoman Connie Woodward is also an artist, and she’s putting her own spin on horsemanship—and life.

76 Local Heritage The Erskine Caldwell Birthplace and Museum on the town square in Moreland pays tribute to one of the world’s bestknown writers.

In Every Issue 14 Editor’s Letter 80 The Bookshelf 81 Index of Advertisers 58

12 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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Tim Davis: Gardening As Art Family History Written by CATHY LEE PHILLIPS Photographed by ANGELA MCRAE &

DEBERAH WILLIAMS

May/June 2013 17

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ODDS ARE YOU’VE NEVER seen anything quite like it. Tim Davis has created more than a traditional garden with roses, pansies or even vegetables. His garden is eclectic, whimsical and a tribute to his family history. Instead of being confined to a small backyard area, this garden spills into every corner of his property. The work began when Tim first built his house near Cedar Creek Road 13 years ago.

Thirteen years from now, Tim, most likely, will still be adding, deleting and creating his grand and groovy garden.

As the third generation owner of Georgia Well Company, Tim is obviously experienced at digging in the dirt. When he was a child, he often accompanied his Dad to job sites. Tim, though, wasn’t fascinated with the elaborate machinery or the thrill of finding water. He was there for one

18 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

A waterfall, above, and whimsical garden art, below, accent the Cedar Creek Road home of Tim Davis.

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Clockwise from top left: Tim Davis’ blue metal puffer fish overlooks fountains and a waterfall; a colorful gate serves as an accent piece; a restful seating area overlooks the koi pond; and colorful glass bottles are staked along one area of the garden, a nod to the several large bottle trees in the garden.

May/June 2013 19

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Tim Davis enjoys spending time with his dog Miko while he gardens. A thirdgeneration owner of a well-drilling company, Davis has incorporated a few well-drilling artifacts into his landscape, including these lollipop-shaped bit gauges, below left, and a percussion bit, below right. At bottom are some of his koi.

20 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

reason only—MUD! “I loved getting dirty then and still love it now,” Tim smiles.

Combine that with his love of color, an amazing imagination, and a genetically gifted green thumb and you’ll recognize that Tim was born to plant and create. He, in fact, designed his home then sought plans that closely matched his dream. His house is adorned to reflect his love of colors. Most rooms are painted in simple tones.

Bright artwork and special mementos add the color that pops in every room.

Is there a theme to his indoor and outdoor décor?

“Yes,” Tim shares. “The theme is whatever is colorful, meaningful and makes me happy.”

A comfortable sunroom overlooks a beautiful front yard.

The garden area behind the house

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Meaningful artwork abounds in the garden of Tim Davis. Clockwise from top left: A sunflower created from an old water storage tank; garden art he created using pots made by his fellow students in a pottery class; and one of his many colorful bottle trees. Opposite, Davis shows some of the black bamboo he first discovered when he was on a drill rig one day.

22 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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is accessed through either the living room or bedroom. Designed to appeal to all the senses, you actually hear this garden before you see it. Guests are greeted by the peaceful whisper of water flowing from fountains and a tall, stacked stone waterfall.

Stepping inside, guests gasp at a unique collection of metal, sculpture, plants, flowers and “upcycled” pieces he has created and collected. A blue metal puffer fish is surrounded by painted tin mushrooms, gazing balls, mosaics and rocks of all shapes, sizes and colors. One of Tim’s prized pieces was created in a local pottery class he took years ago. As a final

project, each of the eight students in his class made eight pots. Each member of the class had a piece from every other student. Tim placed his eight pots on top of each other. This piece sits in his garden and stirs good memories of friends he made as he learned.

Tim has created multiple bottle trees that provide yearround color around his property.

Steeped in an African tradition of

keeping evil away, these lawn decorations are most often made from rebar welded together to resemble a tree trunk.

Colorful bottles representing tree leaves are turned upside-down and placed on the “limbs” of the bottle tree. Congo folklore says evil spirits are attracted to the bright bottles. If they come close enough, they are trapped. As the wind blows, the bottles make a moaning sound, representing spirits crying to be released.

Doesn’t hurt to trap a few evil spirits, does it?

The backyard garden features a koi pond populated by an abundance of orange, white, black and yellow residents. A few albino catfish keep them company. The

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Designed to appeal to all the senses, you actually hear Tim Davis’ garden before you see it. Guests are greeted by the peaceful whisper of water flowing from fountains and a tall, stacked stone waterfall. Flowers recently in bloom in the garden include an old-fashioned rose with golden blossoms the size of miniature pom-poms, below left, and Spanish bluebells, below right.

24 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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enormous pond is fed by water that tumbles over the scenic waterfall, drifts down a rocky creek and empties into the gigantic pool.

Multiple sitting areas feature tables and chairs painted in matching tones. These bright features bring color to the garden no matter what the season. Each area has its own personality and unique view of the rest of the garden. Collectively, they provide great space for entertainment.

The Davis garden also includes a black bamboo forest. While on a drill rig one day, Tim noticed a large growth of the bamboo.

Determined to transplant a piece to his yard, he busted one good shovel trying to reach the roots.

The four pieces of bamboo he originally transplanted have multiplied into a virtual jungle of the dark wood.

Tim honors his family history by displaying tools that belonged to his father and grandfather.

Many items unique to the welldrilling industry are shown throughout the yard. Bit gauges pressed into the ground look like giant lollipops. A percussion bit for drilling sits next to the lollipops. Tim recycled water storage tanks from a well pump by cutting them with a grinder, shaping and painting the pieces to look like seven-foot-tall sunflowers.

Who’s to say that only vegetables and flowers make a garden? Different people have different opinions. Most would agree that a garden should bring peace, pleasure and reflect the personality of the owner.

Tim Davis is happy, creative and unique. That’s how his garden grows. NCM

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Written by ALEX MCRAE Photographed by ANGELA MCRAE & DEBERAH WILLIAMS

THE BEST WAY TO IMPROVE your garden is to improve your soil. But not by adding fertilizer.

Mike and Justin Cunningham of Newnan’s Country Gardens Farm say nothing does the job better than a load of worms. Yes, worms. The slimy, sloppy, yucky night-crawling critters best known as fish bait are the new 26 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

BFFs of farmers and backyard gardeners looking to grow fabulous flowers and fresh veggies with a minimum of commercial fertilizer or supplements.

“People are looking to grow things more naturally and this is a great way to do it,” says Mike Cunningham. “You can’t get more

natural than worms.”

As worms dig, they increase the amount of air and water in the soil. They also go through leaf litter and other organic materials like regulars at an all-you-can-eat buffet. The by-product of worm digestion—called castings—is a totally organic fertilizer that can’t be beat.

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As worms dig, they increase the amount of air and water in the soil. They also go through leaf litter and other organic materials like regulars at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Justin Cunningham shows some of his worm castings, which resemble common potting soil. Below are some lettuce plants produced on the family farm with the help of the worm castings.

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Mike Cunningham tends to some spring crops at his Country Gardens Farm in Newnan.

28 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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Adding 10 to 20 percent worm castings to potting soil or a wellprepared garden plot increases yields and produces showcase-quality flowers and vegetables.

“The first time we added worm castings to the soil, it made a big difference,” says 26-yearold Justin Cunningham, who runs the family worm farm when he’s not on duty with the Newnan Fire Department. “Just mix it in and watch it work.”

Justin Cunningham shows an egg and a worm Speaking of work, separated from the worm castings. when it comes to worms In the Cunningham family, and chores, Mike says, “They that’s saying a mouthful. Mike has never stop eating and producing been working on his family’s farms castings. They’re the hardest since he was old enough to pull a working employees we’ve got.”

weed. After he finished his schooling Mike started Southern Perennial Growers and 30 years ago, with his wife Judy, opened Country Gardens, which kept local green thumb types happy until Mike downsized two years ago.

Mike is still a farmer, but now specializes in supplying his locally grown produce, eggs, milk and grass fed beef to the members of his Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group.

“I don’t have a John Deere tractor and 100 acres of soybeans,” Mike says, “but I’m feeding 50 families every week and giving them the freshest, highest-quality food available.

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May/June 2013 29

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Justin Cunningham, center, runs the worm farming operation at Country Gardens Farm, assisted by parents Judy and Mike Cunningham.

30 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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Worm castings

We’re all happy with it.”

Mike also supplies food to farmers markets just down the road and as far away as Atlanta.

The family businesses now involve all of Mike and Judy’s four sons. Justin runs the worm farming operation, Joseph handles the organic dairy, James specializes in hogs and landscaping, and the family’s second firefighter, John, helps with everything when he’s not on duty.

“I call on them to do a lot of different things,” Mike says.

“We’ve got lots going on here all the time.”

The Cunninghams are always looking for ways to improve their operation and learned the value and nutritional importance of worm castings while visiting a worm farm in Douglas, Ga. a couple of years ago. Since then, it’s been full speed ahead at what is admittedly a slow process.

It will take a few years to build up the worm supply needed to produce castings in large commercial quantities, and for now, the emphasis is on keeping

Adding 10 to 20 percent worm castings to potting soil or a wellprepared garden plot increases yields and produces showcasequality flowers and vegetables.

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Coweta’s Mike Cunningham, at top, is getting increased yields from his crops thanks to the addition of worm castings. Above is some of the Red Butterhead lettuce being grown, and at right, Judy Cunningham packages fresh produce destined for either an area farmers market or the farm’s sold-out Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

32 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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the worms happy and healthy so their tribe can grow and prosper.

Worms are relatively low maintenance, but Justin says the biggest problem is keeping predators away. And he doesn’t mean fishermen looking for free bait.

“Worms are low on the food chain and lots of critters like to eat them,” Justin says. “Possums, birds, armadillos, it’s always lunch for somebody.”

When it’s time to harvest castings the soil is gently removed and worms, castings and organic material are all dumped into a worm harvester, a rotating apparatus which gently separates worms from the castings, allowing the worms to go back to chewing while the castings are bagged up and offered for sale.

Justin and his wife Jessica, a teacher at Odyssey Charter School, have a baby on the way and can’t wait to teach their child to appreciate the wonder of worms. Justin knows worms don’t have a glamorous reputation, but he believes that once gardeners discover the value of worm castings, the family will have a hard time filling the orders.

“We’re small, but we’re learning and in a few years, we’ll have a good-sized operation,” Justin says. “I think it’s really going to take off.”

So, the next time you hear a gardener talk about castings, don’t assume they’re headed to the fishing hole.

“The castings are the ultimate prize,” says Mike. “There is nothing better for your garden soil. And I mean nothing.” NCM

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Tina’s Tips

Page 34

Legacy in Sunflowers Written by TINA NEELY BROWN Photographed by ANGELA BANKS TINSLEY

34 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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DURING THE MONTH OF JULY in nearby Turin, you will see the most beautiful sight. For more than 20 years, football-sized fields of sunflowers and corn have been planted along Highway 16 on the 200-plus acres of Banks family land, delighting family, friends and neighbors who stop by to take photos and pick bouquets of the beautiful blooms.

William Banks and his wife Edna were the second generation to farm the land and raised four children there.

Today their children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren are carrying on that tradition.

Granddaughter Angela Banks Tinsley, husband Geoff and their children are among the family members who now have a home on the Banks family farm. Tinsley gets a magnificent view of the sunflower

Betty and Bi lly Banks

sley nd Cub Tin Elizabeth a May/June 2013 35

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Evan Horton and Renee McNeil Horton are shown with daughters Addyson and Brooklyn. Renee is the daughter of Betty Banks and the granddaughter of Will and Edna Banks.

36 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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Billy Banks gets a field ready to plant with sunflowers.

The widest variety and in-stock supply in South Atlanta

Angela Banks Tinsley, shown here with husband Geoff, is passionate about her family’s sunflowers.

fields as her front yard every summer. She says it’s her favorite time of the year and considers herself very blessed—for the beautiful view, of course, but

mostly for the loving family that lives nearby.

The children, grandchildren and cousins all run, ride and play from house to house, whether it’s May/June 2013 37

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Billy Banks, who plants the sunflowers, and wife Reynie Ford Banks enjoy the sunflower crop.

38 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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on foot, bike, golf cart or gator.

All holidays are a big deal and a great reason for family gatherings. At Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and even sunflower season, all the brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, children and cousins gather ’round.

Tinsley’s brother, Billy Banks, and his Daddy Bill, affectionately known as “Diddy,� work very hard starting in May to plow and plant the fields with rows of

Normally, there are a couple of weeks in July that the family gets to enjoy those beautiful views of the sunflower blooms. sunflowers and rows of corn.

They buy the seeds every year and use their tractors to sow them. Even with the tractors and equipment, it still takes quite a while to plant all the seeds.

Tinsley loves it! She says they do it just for her, but the men of the family will tell you they plant all the sunflowers and corn in May so that it matures and seeds right about the time for dove season in September.

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The children, grandchildren and cousins all run, ride and play from house to house, whether it’s on foot, bike, golf cart or gator.

Addyson Horton, daughter of Renee McNeill Horton and Evan Horton, is among the Banks family great-grandchildren who enjoy playing in the sunflowers.

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Tips for Growing & Harvesting Sunflowers Inspired to grow some sunflowers at your house? Not a football field full like the Banks family has, but a few rows beside the garden vegetables? If you’d like to try your hand at growing some of these beauties, now—in early summer—is the time to start. Here are a few tips to help you along the way.

• If you want to

• Plant sunflower seeds in full sun

have some sunflower

where they will get

seeds for eating,

6-8 hours of direct

feeding the birds or

sunlight per day. The

saving to plant for the

more the better if

next year, check

you are trying to

flower heads for signs

grow them to their

of maturity in early

maximum potential.

fall. The reverse side turns from green to a

• Plant seeds 1 inch deep and 12

yellow-brown. Large

inches apart (or

heads will nod

according to

downward. A closer

package directions).

look will show that

Water well after

the tiny petals

planting. Seedlings

covering the

usually germinate

developing seeds

within a week or two

have dried and now

and take 80-90 days

fall out easily,

to reach maturity. To

exposing the tightly

grow smaller flowers

packed mature

for bouquets, space

seeds.

• Sunflower

plants much closer together, 4 to 6

seeds are rich in

inches apart. Skip

vitamins such as iron

fertilizing; it makes

and potassium, and

the plants much

they are full of

smaller, with fewer

proteins and

branches, but the

minerals, as well as

stems will be longer

linoleic acid which

and flower heads a good size for

soil. The better their diet, the larger

helps the body metabolize fats

arrangements.

the flowers. Do not overdo the

properly. Use the seeds for

nitrogen because that will delay

snacks, either alone or mixed

require fertilizing. However,

flowering. Spreading a 2- or 3-

with raisins, dried fruit chips and

because they grow vigorously,

inch mulch layer of some kind of

nuts. Add hulled sunflower seeds

sometimes easily growing 6 feet in

organic material on the soil will

to salads and use them in fruit or

just 3 months, it’s a good idea to

also reduce moisture loss through

vegetable recipes. Substitute

add some slow-acting granular

evaporation and discourage

sunflower seeds for nuts in

fertilizer to especially poor, thin

weeds.

baking.

• Sunflowers don’t really

42 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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Angela Banks Tinsley says they do it just for her, but the men of the family will tell you they plant all the sunflowers and corn in May so that it matures and seeds right about the time for dove season in September. get all the family and lots of friends out in the fields for family photos among the gorgeous backdrop. The ladies of the family and nearby neighbors also like to cut the lovely blooms to fill their homes and to decorate for parties.

Nearby folks come by sometimes too, to take a look and for a picture or two. The Banks

N

O L & SP

A

P

O

OVATI

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IN

After the sunflower seeds are planted in May, it takes a couple of months for them to grow and bloom. Normally, there are a couple of weeks in July that the family gets to enjoy those beautiful views of the sunflower blooms.

Tinsley—who has obviously been blessed with a talent for photography but promises she’s never had one lesson—likes to

3RROV E\ (ULF %URRNV

family has had at least 25 different families stop by during those couple of blooming weeks.

It’s a beautiful sight, and one the family always enjoys.

Beautiful land, beautiful families, and lots of love and laughter all rolled into one place.

The Banks family has their own piece of heaven on earth in Turin. NCM

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May/June 2013 43

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Next Stop: Chitwood Train Garden Written by CATHY LEE PHILLIPS Photographed by ANGELA MCRAE &

DEBERAH WILLIAMS

IT WAS 2008 when Ken Chitwood first heard of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. What began as an excruciating backache quickly evolved into something far more serious. This form of leukemia is aggressive and usually fatal within weeks of diagnosis.

Immediate treatment is crucial.

Ken was transferred via ambulance to Emory University Hospital where his life suddenly revolved around blood counts, oncologists and chemotherapy.

With only a 40 percent chance of survival, the odds were against him. Doctors, though, didn’t grasp Ken’s stubborn refusal to allow leukemia to end his life. He concentrated on his many reasons to live. His family topped the list.

He and wife Leslie had married when Ken was 19 and Leslie just 17. They had shared a lifetime, yet of course wanted more time together. They shared children and grandchildren. Ken and Leslie 44 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

Leslie and Ken Chitwood enjoy relaxing by the pond garden of their home off Franklin Highway in Newnan. At top, Ken shows one of the G-scale trains he will soon be installing to run through the garden.

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“You have a choice.

You can give up and die or get busy living.”

— Ken Chitwood

May/June 2013 45

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Slate from relatives Royce and Linda Chitwood accents the walkway surrounding the Chitwood garden. The statuary at top once belonged to Ken Chitwood’s parents.

Tanner Beigle helped his grandfather, Ken Chitwood, construct the pond garden. (Family photos courtesy of the Chitwood family) 46 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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Page 47

enjoyed the support of close friends and a loving church family.

Ken has a passion for music. He has played guitar and sung in this area for a long time, 15 years alone with the country band WildEyed Dream.

One other thing motivated Ken to get better—an empty spot in the backyard that was begging for a garden. Maybe he would include a water feature or a place to display the trains he had collected through the years. He wanted his garden to be a soothing place to gather with friends and family, and a private place to relax with Leslie at the end of a long day.

Ken’s condition grew worse before he got better. The powerful chemotherapy weakened him and he slept most of the time.

Occasionally he felt strong enough to play his guitar and sing for patients within earshot of his room. Some days Ken lay in bed and mentally planned his garden.

Developing a workable design was therapy for him.

Don’t you love a happy ending?

After five years, Ken is now cancer-free. And an incredible garden decorates Ken and Leslie’s backyard. In spring 2012, Ken put his design on paper. The work he accomplished in the last year is amazing!

It took five loads of dirt, 22 cross ties and 12 tons of rock to transform an empty space into Ken’s vision. A Bobcat delivered the dirt, but Ken did everything else himself. Determined to regain strength and muscle tone after his illness, he moved each shovelful of earth and every single rock himself. Parts of his original design were perfect. When something didn’t suit him, Ken sat near the

One other thing motivated Ken to get better—an empty spot in the backyard that was begging for a garden.

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May/June 2013 47

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The Chitwoods’ grandson, Tanner Beigle, enjoyed helping construct the pond garden. At left, he strides a pipe which will soon become a passageway for one of Ken Chitwood’s beloved trains.

48 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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work area, sipped a cup of coffee, and stared at the design until a better idea popped into his mind.

Leslie laughs, “I’m sure the garden will always be evolving because I still see Ken sipping and staring from time to time. That’s when I know changes are about to be made!�

This garden is a paradise just as it is. The highest point is called “Ken’s Mountain.� Seems appropriate. After all, Ken conquered a mountain to create his dream.

Water splashes over rock terraces of a six-foot-tall waterfall atop Ken’s Mountain. It meanders down a 35-foot curved, rockbottomed river. Various sedums and potted plants grow between rocks and in the soil. Three cedar trees that will grow about 12 feet tall form a natural wall separating the garden from a shed. His 3,200-

“I’m sure the garden will always be evolving because I still see Ken sipping and staring from time to time.

That’s when I know changes are about to be made!� — Leslie Chitwood

gallon koi pond houses four koi and one very shy bream donated by four-year-old grandson Tanner.

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ČŠ &RQYHUJHQFH ,QVXIË‹FLHQF\ Č&#x; 'LIË‹FXOW\ EULQJLQJ ERWK H\HV LQ WRZDUG WKH nose to look at near text. ČŠ $PEO\RSLD /D]\ (\H Č&#x; A healthy eye that doesn’t see very well even with glasses. ČŠ ([RWURSLD Č&#x; Outward eye turn; one eye drifts away from the nose. ČŠ 3RRU 7UDFNLQJ 6NLOOV Č&#x; 'LIË‹FXOW\ JHWWLQJ WKH H\HV WR VPRRWKO\ WUDFN while reading, causing frequent loss of place.

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Dr. Hopkins is a member of the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) and has been an investigator for the National Institutes of Health clinical research for the Amblyopia Treatment Studies DQG WKH &RQYHUJHQFH ,QVXIË‹FLHQF\ 7UHDWPHQW 7ULDO 'U +RSNLQV KDV EHHQ LQYROYHG LQ WKH SUHSDUDWLRQ DQG SXEOLFDWLRQ RI RYHU D GR]HQ PDQXVFULSWV UHODWHG WR WKH PDQDJHPHQW RI FRQYHUJHQFH LQVXIË‹FLHQF\ an eye teaming disorder that can cause blur, headaches and double vision while reading.

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‘Homestead Purple’ verbena, at top, and coral flowering quince were among the spring blossoms in the Chitwood garden this year. Volcanic rocks, seashells and driftwood collected on their travels also accent their new pond garden.

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Water splashes over rock terraces of a six-foottall waterfall atop Ken’s Mountain.

Train lanterns, including one that belonged to Ken’s father, twinkle at the garden entrances. Slate for a smooth gray walkway was donated by relatives Royce and Linda Chitwood.

One final touch remains. Ken is completing an elaborate track and large Depot for his G-Scale Garden Train. When complete, one

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Leslie and Ken Chitwood are always happy to collect eggs from the chickens behind their house.

of several grand steam engines will pull a colorful parade of passenger and freight cars around the mountain, beneath a tunnel, beside the waterfall and along the beauty of Ken’s visual marvel.

Spring is here. It is a time of new life. Ken and Leslie understand the joy of new life and will never forget the importance of spending quiet moments together.

They recognize the gift of

swinging, holding hands, and listening to the whisper of the trickling water and the puffing of a gleaming steam engine. Simple.

Profound. In a garden you can have your deepest conversations without saying a single word. This is the stuff of life.

It is what Ken dreamed of all along.

A five-year brush with death makes it all the more special. NCM

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Written by RUTH SIMPSON SCHROEDER Photographed by ANGELA MCRAE &

DEBERAH WILLIAMS

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WHAT ARE HOBBITS? I can tell you that I’ve never seen one. I hear some of them live in a hole in the ground. It’s not “a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it (is) a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort” (from The Hobbit,

54 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

by J.R.R. Tolkien).

If you see a Hobbit home, you will notice that the left-hand side of the home is where the windows are, and also the best rooms.

Hobbits are little people between two to four feet tall, the average height being three feet six inches, with short legs and slightly pointed ears. A Hobbit is not a

bearded dwarf but smaller than a dwarf. They’re not magical, yet they can disappear quietly and quickly when large people like us come around. They have very sharp hearing and can hear you from a mile away.

I am told they are a little round in the stomach and wear brightly colored clothes. A

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Hobbit’s feet have leather-like soles, which means they need no shoes. Hobbits have thick, curly brown hair, long fingers, and goodnatured faces. They eat dinner twice a day if they can.

In the story of the Hobbits, there is a wizard named Gandalf and a character named Bilbo

Hobbits have thick, curly brown hair, long fingers, and goodnatured faces. They eat dinner twice a day if they can.

Baggins who smoked a long pipe which reached almost down to his woolly toes. The tale of Gandalf and Bilbo is very adventurous to read, or you can view it on DVD. The Hobbit was written and illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien. After The Hobbit was published, Tolkien was asked for a sequel, and that is when he wrote his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings.

According to Tolkien, the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins’ home “had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without

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The mud room at Ruth Schroeder’s home in Newnan, center, as well as the landscape around her home, is in full bloom.

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It probably took about three weeks to really create it, and now I enjoy looking at it every day through my kitchen window. smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats— the hobbit was fond of visitors.

The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill—The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it—and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another.”

Bilbo Baggins did not go up stairs. His bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, dining rooms and all the other rooms were all on the

same floor.

The windows of this Hobbit home were deepset and round, looking out over the gardens.

After reading a newspaper article about someone who built a life-sized Hobbit house, I decided I would build a miniature one of my own. I just thought it was unique and it reminded me of the underground houses here in this country.

It probably took about three weeks to really create it, and now I enjoy looking at it every day through my kitchen window.

I built the structure out of old wooden fence pieces, and my husband Art helped with the doors and windows. Art also made the mailbox (“It has to be round,” he said), and I painted it.

I had the big “landscaping” rocks up there already, and I thought they would create the surroundings. I wanted to create a garden for the Hobbits. I also incorporated some small, smooth rocks from the coast of my home state of Maine into the landscaping.

Finally, I topped the Hobbit home with tufts of grass from my daughter’s garden. The grass and the moss have to be watered every day to keep them moist until the heat of the summer arrives. But then we’ll have a brown Hobbit house—I’m not going to move it! NCM

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T he T houghtful

Gardener

The Gardenia: A Sense of Time and Place Written and photographed by

KATHERINE MCCALL

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THE MEN LOITERED IN THE SHADOWS of the balcony while the women settled themselves none too quietly into the hard-backed pews. The creakings and groanings of the timeworn wood mingled with the rustle of starched dresses and pantyhose and murmured late greetings. I held tight to Mary’s hand as she shuffled me ahead, all the while nodding and whispering her soft “mawhnin.”

My black patent leathers clicked on the scrubbed pine floor, and the pew felt slick and cool as I slid into our spot and fluffed out my crinoline. She lowered herself next to me, and the fabric of our dresses flowed together like the wake from the boats on the Flint May/June 2013 59

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Like Eudora Welty’s or William Faulkner’s writing, the gardenia creates a sense of time and place that marks the memory indelibly.

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River—waves of dotted pink organdy melding into waves of starched white cotton. I had only seen Mary wear white, and on Sundays the white was extra special: dressed up, frilly, a hat perched on her dark curls, and in the summer a velvety gardenia pinned carefully to her collar.

Then the words welled from somewhere ancient; they rolled from the souls of the men and women and carried me with them.

As the deep voices rose around me I could see the words floating on the gardenia scent and rising like a slow burning fire to heaven.

I looked over Jordan, And WHAT did I see, Comin’ for to carry me home, A band of angels comin’ after me, Comin’ for to carry me home.

And in my mind I saw the band. The angels came quietly into the little white church. Their wings, lined with the creamy white blossoms, gently beat the air.

Fragrance enveloped and lifted me. The words and scent melded and bore us aloft on the sultry summer morning toward home.

It is arguable that the gardenia is the South. Although native to China, it is one of those plants, people, philosophies and/or traditions that we Southerners so often adopt and make exclusively our own. Like Eudora Welty’s or William Faulkner’s writing, the gardenia creates a sense of time and place that marks the memory indelibly.

Ironically, a plant we lovingly call our own was not named

after a true Southerner. Although Dr. Alexander Garden was a prominent Charleston doctor, he lived there only a short portion of his life, but he had an important impact on botany and natural science. Dr. Garden was a Scot and received his medical training at the University of Edinburgh. While there he became interested, through a mentor, in the medicinal properties of plants. This interest was to become a lifelong passion and extended to all natural history.

While a doctor in Charleston, he was instrumental in saving lives during the smallpox epidemic of 1760 and was also very active in the discovery of new flora and fauna. He sent many specimens to John Ellis

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Billie Holiday, “Lady Day,” the famous jazz singer of the 1940s and ’50s, often wore gardenias in her hair while performing.

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and Carolus Linnaeus. Margaret Denny in Linnaeus and His Disciple in Carolina: Alexander Garden reports a preponderance of references to him in Volumes 1 and 2 of Linnaeus’ Systema Naturae 12th edition. She also states, “By profession Garden was a physician, but his activities in other branches of science caused him to be known as a virtuoso. During the eighteenth century this word commonly denoted the amateur who pursued scientific investigation for its own sake and made contributions to the cooperative work being done at that time.”

Originally, the gardenia was thought to be a jasmine and was given the name cape jasmine.

When it was discovered it had been incorrectly classified, Linnaeus renamed the shrub after Dr. Garden. Specimens of the plant were sent to America in 1762 but did not survive.

Garden, an ardent Loyalist, fled the colonies at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War so it is unlikely he ever saw the sweet smelling bush named for him.

Eventually the gardenia was offered for American gardens in Bartram’s 1809 catalogue.

Since the mid-1800s, the Gardenia jasminoides has been a Southern garden favorite.

Blooming late spring to midsummer, the gardenia can reach 4 to 8 feet in height. It can be used as a specimen plant or a hedge and does best in moist, acidic soil with full sun to partial shade. The shrub is evergreen with vermillion colored leaves that have a sheen when the sun touches them. In contrast, the

flowers are soft and creamy white. The blooms can be found as single, semi double or double.

Although the blooms last only a few days, they are a favorite corsage flower. Billie Holiday, “Lady Day,” the famous jazz singer of the 1940s and ’50s, often wore gardenias in her hair while performing. When Holiday

first added the gardenia to her repertoire, it was to cover a burned area of her hair. It was a serendipitous addition; the gardenia became her iconic look, creating a distinct sense of time and place for Lady Day. Likewise, the gardenia does the same for us in our yards and gardens today. NCM

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Coweta Cooks

Written by AMELIA ADAMS Photographed by JEFFREY LEO,

ANGELA MCRAE & DEBERAH WILLIAMS

AFTER THANKSGIVING PASSES, the pursuit of the iconic evergreen for Christmas holidays begins. That seasonal symbol is surpassed in the Southern mind only with summer’s prized quest: homegrown tomatoes, pronounced thamatahs by native speakers.

In recent years, its nutritional merits have risen to new heights.

However, this enhanced view was not always its status. Most of us probably feel the tomato native to Italy, but it actually first grew in Central and South America, its 64 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

origin from the Aztecs.

Tradition places the tomato in the red family; however, the earliest ones were small and yellow, much like the cherry tomatoes we sometimes deem a pest. Because the fruit hails from the nightshade family, under the aegis of the deceptive yet lovely name belladonna, the tomato was often called the poisonous love apple. Indeed, its leaves can cause sickness.

When the tomato made its way to North America, early citizens

were advised in the famed household guide, Godey’s Lady’s Book, to boil them for three hours to remove any trace of tainting. In the early 1800s some ironically perceived it as a cause of cancer; today its antioxidant properties are thought a preventative of the disease.

The tomato did not truly come into popular use until after World War I when gardening became a friendlier endeavor, even for city dwellers. Nowadays, it is the most popular of all vegetables grown in

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Roasted Tomato Soup

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Presently, the cultivation of old varieties, considered heirloom, are all the rage. Their productivity as a rule is not as prolific as other strains, but their color and taste make them worth a try.

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household gardens. My take remains that fresh tomatoes are the finest condiment to summer vegetables. Appealing to our thrift, tomatoes can or freeze well, enabling the cook to enjoy their reduced excellence all year long.

In my lifetime, I never remember life without them on the table. My father and grandfather were very successful tomato gardeners; my Pa Jim preferred the Ponderosa variety as it was lower in acidity while I thought it interesting as it was considered a pink tomato.

Rutgers has always been my favorite because of its intense flavor.

My father, however, loved the very large ones and grew

“Big Boy” and “Better Boy” as he liked the idea of a slice as large as a salad plate before him. Daddy preferred them peeled and chilled to accompany his meal. For many years, he had a delightful correspondence with the late Dr. Jack Powell, who lived next door to me.

By correspondence, I mean delivery of a box of tomatoes. If he were coming to Newnan or I were returning from a summer visit, he would spend a week gathering and discarding to offer the finest of the crop to send to Dr. Jack. The recipient carried on as if they were the finest specimens possible, although I knew many of his patients sent magnificent ones.

Presently, the cultivation of old varieties, considered heirloom, are all the rage. Their productivity as a rule is not as prolific as other strains, but their color and taste make them worth a try. I never had any luck with tomato plants except the wild ones that would emerge from my compost. In my middle Georgia neck of the woods, my tomatoes are called

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Roasted tomatoes and garlic

“outhouse� for obvious reasons.

When my grandchildren were small, they loved to find and gather them as well as devour them on the spot. One year I had such a lovely plant that I let it grow in my formal bed of verbena. My neighbor was horrified that I let such a base plant have sway, but I loved the small fruits that graced the table until Thanksgiving.

Although supermarket varieties suffice without the superiority of the summer tomatoes, I have grown to find them praiseworthy. I particularly like the “Campari� offerings as I think their bright taste similar to Rutgers. I eat

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them most often roasted to augment just about any meal.

Combined with two other tomato presentations, the roasted Campari or cherry tomatoes make a fine soup all year long.

Roasted Tomato Soup 1 large onion, diced 2 tablespoons canola oil or butter 2 cloves (or more) minced garlic plus two cloves of smashed garlic 1 quart of home canned tomatoes, if possible, or similar grocery shelf variety 1 tablespoon tomato paste 4 finely diced freeze-dried tomatoes or packed in oil as alternative

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth 8 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes (yellow and red mixed preferred) 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 1/4 cup cream or half and half 2 tablespoons sliced basil leaves or chopped parsley

smashed garlic cloves. Roast until they are beginning to char.

Remove the paper from the cloves.

Add cream and garlic cloves to the cooked tomato mixture and puree if you like a smoother texture. Garnish each bowl with the roasted tomatoes and basil or parsley.

Sauté the onion in the oil or butter until limp; add the minced garlic and sauté a minute more. Pour in the canned tomatoes, paste, diced dried tomatoes and broth.

Simmer for an hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Toss the cherry or grape tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper as well as the

Presently, many of us who love our vegetables are questioning, “How are the tomatoes coming in South Georgia?” When the farmers’ markets open, the exclamations will begin. “You should see the tomatoes I got Saturday!” and Christmas will have come again. NCM

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Saddle Up

Horsewoman and artist

Connie Woodward

Putting her own spin on horsemanship—and life Written by MARTHA A. WOODHAM Photographed by JEFFREY LEO

70 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

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ALTHOUGH COWETA RESIDENT Connie Woodward adored horses as a child, most of her early saddle time was spent on a rocking horse.

“Ever since I was a little bitty girl, I had a rocking horse,” Woodward says, displaying a blackand-white snapshot of herself—in boots, cowgirl hat, fringed skirt and big smile—aboard her steed in her family’s 1950s living room. “I wore out three of them. I wanted a horse so-o-o bad. Every year, I

Connie Woodward’s love of horses is revealed in her pottery, above. She uses horse hair to burn designs into her raku style pots. At right, she enjoys playing with one of her border collies.

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Connie Woodward is also a potter who brings her love of horses into the pots she throws. She uses horse hair to burn designs into her pots fired in the ancient Japanese process of raku.

Five pygmy goats also make their home at Connie Woodward’s farm.

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Connie Woodward’s horse Cameron came into her life in 2004 when she visited an Arab horse farm. The newborn foal had a defect which prevented him from nursing, and Woodward volunteered to care for him to prevent the farm owner from putting him down.

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asked Santa for a horse.”

You can still hear the longing in her voice, even though as soon as she could afford it, she bought herself a horse. Now she shares her 15-acre Coweta farm with four horses, two border collies, cats, chickens and five rotund pygmy goats.

Getting up close and personal with horses for the first time brought a few surprises. Looking back on her early experiences as a horse owner, Woodward wishes that she could have taken a course in “Horse 101.”

“I didn’t know about feeding or anything,” says Woodward, a computer consultant who moved to Coweta in 2004 from Navasota, Texas. “I didn’t know what dressage was. I didn’t know horses had dentists. I kind of just jumped

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Connie Woodward has a special trick she does with her horses in which she blows in the horse’s nose and it smiles.

into it. And I was disappointed. I thought horses would be like dogs and interact with you and have a relationship with you.”

Then Woodward was inspired by seeing Cavalia, an entertaining show featuring equestrian and performing arts, when it first came to Atlanta several years ago.

“That was the first time I had seen people riding horses without bridles, without saddles, and I saw horses doing movements with the performers,” she adds. “I had no idea you could do that. Here I was 74 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

seeing people having as deep a relationship with their horses as I have with my dogs, where he wants to be with you and play with you and please you. It just blew my mind.”

Woodward bought a Tennessee Walking Horse mare in foal. This breed, which originated in Tennessee, is known for its calm temperament, versatility and easy gaits, including the famous “running walk” that makes it a natural for trail riding.

“I thought I would sell the foal

and make back some of the money,” she says with a rueful laugh. Today, she still owns the mare, whose registered name is Light of Fire, and her foal, Dakota, who is now Woodward’s riding horse.

Since buying Fire, Woodward has soaked up information from wherever she could—friends, riding instructors, vets. She subscribed to Giddy Up Flix, the Netflix for horse people, and frequently tunes in to RFD TV, the cable station for horse people. She

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bought books on training horses and attended clinics with “horse whisperers” and natural horsemanship trainers such as Pat Parelli, John Lyons, Clinton Anderson and her favorite, Buck Brannaman.

“I like to get different views from different trainers,” says Woodward, who recently put Dakota, now 9, through 10 hours of mounted police horse training where they learned to negotiate an obstacle course and walk through smoke and fire. “I am very much self-taught. A lot of it is reading and working and trying— if one thing doesn’t work one way, I try another approach from someone else. It’s all basic training, but each trainer puts his own spin on it.”

Now her goal is to ride Dakota without a bridle or saddle, totally at liberty like the riders in Cavalia. She is working on her riding skills to build her confidence. “I don’t think riding comes naturally to me like it does to some people,” she adds.

But riding is only part of the story for Woodward, who is also an artist. She is a potter who brings her love of horses into the pots she throws. She uses horse hair to burn designs into her pots fired in the ancient Japanese process of raku.

Woodward also enjoys just being around the four horses in her pasture as they interact with each other and the other animals sharing her farm.

Cameron, a striking Egyptian Arab, is her “special child,” Woodward says as she points him out. His flashy good looks can’t quite disguise his disfigured nose, turned to one side as if something has bashed his face. He has “wry

While Dakota’s training has progressed, Cameron will probably never be able to be ridden. Woodward’s vet, Dr. Larry Olsen, has helped her keep the now 8-year-old gelding healthy, but his breathing is compromised by his defective nose. When she first sent him off for training, the gelding had a panic attack and couldn’t breathe.

“He’ll be a ‘pasture ornament’ and companion,” Woodward says.

“He’s got personality.”

Woodward’s hunch that the two geldings would enjoy growing up together paid off: Cameron and Dakota are buddies who enjoy roughhousing like two rowdy boys, testament to the fact that Woodward, despite a slow start, now thinks like a horsewoman. NCM

nose syndrome,” a congenital defect that causes his upper jaw and nose to grow to the side.

Cameron came into Woodward’s life in 2004 when she visited an Arab horse farm. The newborn foal’s defect prevented him from nursing, and Woodward volunteered to care for him to prevent the farm owner from putting him down.

“I saw him and he just needed somebody. He needed a home,” said Woodward, who thought the pretty foal with the ugly nose would make a good companion for Dakota. She chose the name Cameron, a brave Scottish clan lord known as the Knight of the Wry Nose because the foal would need to be strong to overcome his disability.

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Local Heritage

Erskine Caldwell’s typewriter

Caldwell’s Birthplace tells story of famed author Written and photographed by W. WINSTON SKINNER

I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED VISITING MUSEUMS, and all the museums in Coweta County fascinate me.

Without any doubt, however, the local museum that is closest to my heart is the Erskine Caldwell Birthplace and Museum on the town square in Moreland. I have been involved with the museum as a board member and volunteer since before the house was moved from its original location on Haynie Road.

When I was a boy, the birthplace was just down the road from where we visited my mother’s maiden aunts. Caldwell’s father, Ira, was pastor of White Oak Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church at the turn of the last century when most of the people who sat in the pews had a place somewhere on my family tree.

As an aspiring writer growing up, it was amazing for me to realize that one of the world’s best-known 76 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

authors had been born just down the road from where my own grandmother was born and grew to womanhood.

With the passage of time, I learned that not everyone admired Erskine Caldwell or appreciated his stark, unyielding prose. My parents always encouraged me to read what I wanted, and I read some of Caldwell’s work and found it often thoughtprovoking and frequently amusing. As my friend, author Dot Moore, once said of Caldwell, “I thought what he wrote was funny.”

The museum has been a tribute to Caldwell since his widow, Virginia Caldwell Hibbs, and his oldest son, the late Erskine Caldwell Jr., cut the ribbon to officially open the museum some 20 years ago. There is a wonderful exhibit that explains Caldwell’s life

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The Erskine Caldwell Birthplace and Museum in Moreland

and legacy, photographs and items that belonged to Caldwell and members of his family. There also are books—dozens and dozens of them. They are in numerous languages and from countries around the world. There are many impressive bound volumes but also a truckload of paperbacks.

Caldwell was a pioneer in that arena—having his work published in paperback long before that became standard practice for “serious” authors.

Since Carol Chancey came to Moreland and offered her considerable talents to improve all the museums there, the Caldwell Museum has also taken on the ambience of a home from the era when the writer was a boy.

Dining room and kitchen tables, a pump organ and some other furniture from the Moreland Community Historical Society’s collection accent pieces that have a connection to Erskine Caldwell himself.

I have spent many hours at the Caldwell Museum—serving as a docent for tour groups or visitors who happened by, organizing exhibits, and planning and cleaning up after events. Visiting

Winston Skinner examines a collection of family photographs that have been placed on panes of glass in original windows from the house. Several of the photos are from Maine where Erskine wrote Tobacco Road and God’s Little Acre, probably his best known works.

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Items on display at the Erskine Caldwell museum in Moreland include, clockwise from top left, numerous Caldwell books; Kiana perfume, developed and sold by Caldwell’s granddaughter; planters once used at the Caldwell home in Tucson, Ariz.; and a 1930 datebook kept by Caldwell and his first wife.

Winston Skinner examines a copy of Trouble in July at the Erskine Caldwell Birthplace and Museum in Moreland. The rustic desk was used by Caldwell’s father, Ira, while he was a pastor in Coweta.

78 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

the museum offers visitors an opportunity to experience the genius of one of the leading figures of 20th century American literature. Some of my favorite treasures in the museum include: • A desk that was used by Ira Caldwell while he was a pastor in Coweta County. It is a rustic piece that is particularly interesting because the home where the Caldwells next lived—in Prosperity, S.C.—was destroyed in a fire. Thus the desk is one of the few things connected with the Caldwells from the time when they actually lived in Coweta County. Newnan antique dealers Manfred and June Benesch gave the desk to the museum several years ago.

• A small, portable pump organ given to the museum by the church Ira Caldwell pastored in a

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rural area outside Memphis, Tenn.

Erskine was still a youngster at the time Ira Caldwell would take the small organ with him to outlying schoolhouses for afternoon services.

• A 1930 datebook kept by Erskine Caldwell and his first wife, Helen.

Her notes include a list of items to be purchased for their young sons for Christmas. He carefully listed sales of small booklets featuring short stories by Caldwell. One of those little booklets, now extremely rare, is also in the museum’s collection.

•A collection of family photographs that have been placed on panes of glass in original windows from the house.

Several of the photos are from Maine where Erskine wrote Tobacco Road and God’s Little Acre, probably his best known works. There also are images from Caldwell’s stint as a Hollywood screenwriter. His granddaughter, Becky Laskody, was kind enough to share them with us a few years back.

•A set of green planters used in the Caldwell home in Tucson, Arizona. They are among the items given to the museum by June Caldwell Martin, the author’s third wife.

• A bottle of Kiana perfume, developed and sold by Caldwell’s enterprising granddaughter, Twyla, who is among several family members who have visited Moreland.

Erskine Caldwell’s prose continues to delight and challenge readers, and his birthplace in Moreland offers context and clues to the childhood experiences that shaped him and led him to write such unforgettable stories. NCM

This small, portable pump organ was given to the museum by the church Ira Caldwell pastored in a rural area outside Memphis, Tenn.

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T he Bookshelf

Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker

By Jennifer Chiaverini Dutton, $26.95 Reviewed by Holly Jones In Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, Elizabeth Keckley is played by Gloria Reuben. She is in several scenes with Sally Field’s Mary Todd Lincoln, often accompanying Mrs. Lincoln to the Capitol, where the future 13th Amendment is—let’s say—heatedly discussed.

In one scene, the President asks Mrs. Keckley’s advice, and her answer stops him with its direct simplicity.

She is not being disrespectful, simply honest, as Lincoln requested. It’s a touching scene, causing the moviegoer to wonder about Mrs. Keckley’s own history. Of course her background is not explained in detail since, after all, the movie is entitled and about Lincoln, but curiosities are piqued.

There is good news. Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, Jennifer Chiaverini’s historical novel, offers an in-depth look at the life of Elizabeth Keckley.

The book begins on Election Day 1860, with Mrs. Keckley living as a free woman in Washington, D.C. At the time, Mrs. Keckley is dressmaker to Varina Davis, wife of then-Senator Jefferson Davis. After Lincoln is elect-

80 Newnan–Coweta Magazine

ed, and the South secedes, Mrs. Davis begs Mrs. Keckley to accompany the Davis family to Mississippi. But after growing up a slave and buying her freedom, Mrs. Keckley is afraid to move so far South and chooses to remain in D.C. In the days surrounding Lincoln’s inauguration, Mrs. Keckley is summoned to meet Mrs. Lincoln, and a great friendship is born. Washington society is not always kind to Mrs. Lincoln, and Mrs. Keckley becomes the First Lady’s confidante, traveling companion, nurse and even Mr. Lincoln’s hairdresser.

The first two-thirds of the book is about Mrs. Keckley’s years with the Lincolns in the White House, but the novel continues through the President’s assassination, and Mrs. Lincoln’s difficulties with finances and depression after her husband’s death.

Mrs. Keckley struggles to continue helping the former First Lady, often putting aside her dressmaking business to live with Mrs. Lincoln and her sons in Chicago or to handle business for Mrs. Lincoln in New York. But in the end, Mrs. Keckley’s best intentions drive a wedge between her and her despairing friend.

Elizabeth Keckley is a controversial figure in American history. One historian argues the memoir she wrote in her later life is a fake; others claim she never existed. But thanks to Jennifer Chiaverini, Mrs. Keckley can be the star of her own story, not just a supporting character. And maybe, someday, a movie will be made of her life.

Looking For Me

By Beth Hoffman Pamela Dorman Books, $27.95 Reviewed by Holly Jones Teddi Overman was 10 years old when she found a dining room chair on the side of the road. It was falling apart, but Teddi saw a work of art. She restored it, sold it and knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life.

When Teddi was 23, her brother Josh vanished in the early morning after Thanksgiving 1977. He walked off into the woods outside their family’s

farm in Kentucky and never came back. Josh left a note telling Teddi not to look for him, and although search parties did comb the area for years, Josh has never been found. Years later, Teddi has no idea if her brother is dead or alive.

These two incidents define Teddi’s life. She feels she has found her calling with furniture restoration, but lost her heart with the mystery of her brother’s continued disappearance. Which is why Beth Hoffman’s novel is appropriately titled Looking for Me. Teddi lives in Charleston, S.C.— where she moved after graduating from high school. She now owns her own business, restoring and selling antiques; but she travels back to Kentucky to visit her mother and look for signs that Josh is still alive.

Teddi and her mother Franny have always had a troubled relationship.

Even before Josh’s disappearance, Franny complained about her miserable life and how she wanted to end it all. She has never approved of Teddi’s career or talent and has never been to Charleston to see Teddi’s new life. But when Franny dies from a stroke, Teddi starts going through the farmhouse where she grew up, and she begins to learn more about her mother—and her father who died a few years earlier.

She even begins to understand why her brother left.

The story flashes back and forth between Teddi’s current life and her childhood. It also flashes between the losses and the gains in her life. She

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loses her brother, her father, the boss who first gives her a job in Charleston and her mother. But Teddi also finds herself in Charleston, in her friends, her customers, even in love.

Teddi ultimately realizes that she can’t hold on to her past and she donates the farm to a young man who, like her brother, wants to protect and preserve wildlife. The gift helps her find herself, but it also gives her back something she thought she’d lost—hope.

The Elegant Garden

By Johann Kräftner Rizzoli, $60 Reviewed by Angela McRae Gardeners who love to travel, whether by plane or by armchair, have a treat in store with Johann Kräftner’s The Elegant Garden.

Ambitiously described as “the most comprehensive garden photo documentary ever undertaken by a single author,” the book lives up to that claim with a generous 432 colorful pages devoted to some of the world’s finest architecture, landscapes and gardens.

In his introduction, Kräftner makes the case that architecture and landscapes are as important to gardens as the gardens are to them.

“Throughout history,” he says, “gardens, architecture, and artifacts have been combined in a great variety of ways. It is not easy to determine which one of the conjoined elements

is the most important. In the ideal case, no part could exist or be complete without the other. The surrounding landscape gives a building its roots, anchors it to its place, and makes it seem immovable there.”

The book begins with a look at the garden as a place of eternal life and traces its history through the ages, with a special focus on the gardens of Italy, France, China, Japan and England. While the emphasis in this book is on the photographs and thus the chapter introductions are quite brief, they still manage to yield treasures such as the Frenchman d’Argenville’s four basic rules of gardening: “1.

Nature takes precedence over art. 2. A garden must not be made dark or dreary by too many shady elements. 3. A garden must not reveal its beauty all at once, and 4. A garden must always appear larger than it really is.”

Chapters are also devoted to some of the more decorative garden elements such as pavilions, orangeries and greenhouses, trellises, gazebos and pergolas.

The photographs, certainly, are the highlight of this book, and they are spectacular. From the Parterre de l’Orangerie at Versaille, France to the Oike-niwa Garden in the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, Japan, and from the Wörlitz Garden Realm in Wörlitz, Germany to the Palm House in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England, there are plenty of magnificent garden scenes to savor.

If you find yourself making a list of world gardens to visit, just keep in mind Kräftner’s thoughtful observation, “No matter how often one experiences a garden, one will hardly ever have the opportunity to experience it in exactly the same way twice.” NCM

Index of Advertisers AllSpine Laser and Surgery Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Amazon Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Ansley Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Bank of North Georgia . . . . . . . . . 84 BB&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Bedazzled Flower Shop & Garden Walk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 The Cellar Chophouse & Bar . . . . 69 Charter Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 ClearWater Academy . . . . . . . . . . 57 The Cosmetic Laser and Skin Care Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Coweta-Fayette EMC . . . . . . . . . . 83 Coweta Medical Center. . . . . . . . 41 Design House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Dixie Well Boring Co. . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Emory Clark-Holder Clinic . . . . . . . . 6 ENT of Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Eyecare Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Farm Bureau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Foot Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 GMC Junior College . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Goodwill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Heritage of Peachtree . . . . . . . . . 40 The Heritage School. . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Hills & Dales Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Hollberg’s Fine Furniture . . . . . . . . 55 Innovative Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 In Stitches too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Kids 4 Kompany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Lee-King and Lee-Goodrum Pharmacies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 MainStreet Newnan . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Massage Envy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Newnan-Coweta Board of Realtors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Newnan Times-Herald . . . . . . 11 NG Turf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 NuLink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Oak Mountain Academy . . . . . . . 75 Pain Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Peachtree Transcription Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Piedmont Newnan Hospital . . . . . . 2 Plum Southern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Radiation Oncology Services . . . . . 3 Savannah Court of Newnan . . . . 79 Southern Crescent Equine Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 StoneBridge Early Learning Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Tree People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 UGA—Griffin Campus . . . . . . . . . . 29 Towne Club, Peachtree City. . . . . 61 Uniglobe McIntosh Travel . . . . . . . 41 Vining Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Wesley Woods of Newnan . . . . . . . 7 West Georgia Health . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

July/August 2013 Ad Deadlines Published: June 28, 2013; Contract Ads: May 22, 2013; New Ads: May 31, 2013.

Call 770.683.6397 for details and advertising information.

May/June 2013 81

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Last Look

The kiss of the sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth, One is nearer God's heart in a garden Than anywhere else on earth. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Dorothy Frances Gurney Photo courtesy of Angela Banks Tinsley

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