Lee Magazine - October / November 2012 by Lee Magazine

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WHEN THERE’S A WILL … Will Herring Does It All

VOLUME 5 • NUMBER 5

October/November 2012 FREE

The Place to Find

Your Healthy Balance

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For the smart, savvy Alabama woman Publisher: Beth Snipes Editor: Jenni Laidman Design and Photography: Beth Snipes Marketing Consultants: Regina Lynn Duck Judy Simon Kolayah KeeVan Web Designer: Brock Burgess Distribution: John Snipes

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Contributors Food: Health: Brawn: Garden: Home: Momitude:

Heida Olin Dr. Lee Sharma Lisa Gallagher Patti Householder Jacquelyn Dixon Kelly Frick

334-332-2961

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219 S. 8th Street Opelika, Alabama 334-332-2961

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A G A

October/November 2012 6

Food

Quick Treats for Every Tailgate

8 Garden Prepping for the Spring Color Explosion

10 Brawn

Good for What Ails You

12 Special Feature Tula's lessons

14 Momitude

Never the Same

16 Health Putting Myths to Rest

18 Home

A Dash of Flash!

20 COVER

Meet Will Herring!

27 Calendar

12 8

Plenty to do in Lee County

Cover by Beth

Snipes

Waiting Made Wonderful

Photo by Beth Snipes

Super tailgate treats make game day a winner By Heida Olin

ow! Tailgate season came up fast this year. We’re well into football season and I’ve tracked down some new recipes that make waiting for the game as memorable as the game itself. I’ve asked a few folks to help me out, and I’m blown away by their great recipes. I couldn’t help myself. I had to try these. I can’t wait to use them at my own tailgate parties. If you’re looking for something new to add to your tailgate menus, make these part of your game plan.

BLOOMIN’ BACON RANCH BREAD My daughter, Karilyn Newell, loves to make this for breakfast tailgates. It goes great with steaming coffee. 1 round loaf of sourdough or similar rustic bread 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded 1 pound bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled 1 stick butter, melted 1 tablespoon dry ranch dressing mix

6 LEE MAGAZINE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a sharp bread knife cut a crisscross pattern through the bread; don’t cut all the way to the bottom. Each square in the resulting checkerboard should be about an inch. Center your bread on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap it. Gently separate the squares so ingredients can go in between the cuts. Sprinkle the bread with shredded cheese and pack it between the slices. Add the crumbled bacon making sure some goes between the squares. Stir the ranch dressing into the melted butter and spoon it over the bread. Wrap the loaf in foil and place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Open the foil and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

MEXICAN DIP Kim Trupp is director of housing at Auburn University. She brings some seriously yummy food to her tailgate parties, including this addictive dip. Kim suggests you eat it with big scoop-style tortilla chips. 1 5-ounce package yellow rice 1 pound ground beef

ipes

F O O D 1 cup onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 1 package taco seasoning 1 pound Velveeta cheese, cubed 1 10-ounce can Rotel tomatoes 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes

Cook the rice according to package directions; brown the ground beef, draining the grease. Add onions and garlic to the beef, cooking until the onion is softened slightly. Sprinkle meat with taco seasoning and place into a slow cooker. Stir cheese into rice until the cheese melts. Add cheese-and-rice mixture to the meat with the Rotel and diced tomatoes. Cook on high about an hour until heated through. Keep warm and serve with tortilla chips.

TAMEKA’S BUFFALO DIP Tameka Floyd is an executive secretary at the Auburn City Schools central office. This is one of her specialty dishes and a requested tailgate item. It’s sinfully good. I added an extra half-cup of mozzarella cheese when it came out of the oven. My crew ate it up. 1 pound chicken tenders Black pepper Dry basil Worcestershire sauce 1 8-ounce package cream cheese 1 cup Kraft Grated Italian Cheese 1 1-ounce package Hidden Valley Dry Ranch Dressing ¼ cup creamy Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing ¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce (add more if you like it hot) 1 1.5-ounce bottle Red Hot hot sauce 1½ cup mozzarella cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350. Bring a quart of water to a boil in a brassier or a deep-sided frying pan. Add chicken tenders, black pepper, dry basil, and Worcestershire sauce to taste. Cook about 10 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken from liquid, and discard the liquid. Shred the chicken. To create the sauce, thoroughly mix cream cheese, Italian cheese, ranch dressings, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and Red Hot sauce in a saucepan, simmering at low heat. Mix the chicken with the sauce and pour the mixture into a casserole dish. Top with the mozzarella cheese. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until bubbling.

CARROT AND CABBAGE SLAW This colorful delicious salad is another one of Tameka’s go-to dishes. With two athletic teenagers, she has her hands full on game days. This salad goes together fast and holds up well if it’s made the night before. 2 large carrots, grated, or 2 bags of julienned carrots 2-3 cups red cabbage, finely grated ¼ cup dried cranberries ¼ cup parsley, minced

¼ cup chives, chopped 1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced, or 1 teaspoon dried dill weed ¼ teaspoon lime zest Juice of 1 lime 1 tablespoon balsamic or red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Mix carrots and cabbage in a large bowl. Add the cranberries, parsley, chives, dill, and lime zest. Toss well. Sprinkle with lime juice, vinegar, and olive oil. Toss again and refrigerate for an hour before serving.

ZINGERS My friend Debbie Folkerts tailgates with her graduate students from the AU biology department, her daughter, Molly, and Molly’s friends. Debbie says these scrumptious chicken fingers are better than wings and are gone in a flash. They’re fast and easy to make, too. 1 bag pre-cooked breaded chicken fingers 1 bottle Franks Wing Sauce 1 bag of cheddar cheese, shredded Sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken fingers in a single layer on a jelly roll pan. Cover with the wing sauce and then the cheddar cheese. Bake until chicken is heated through, about 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream.

CHOCOLATE PARTY BARS The simplicity of this recipe makes it a tailgate delight. Our son Greg’s fiancé, Cathryn Glisson, likes to add M&Ms and small marshmallows, and sometimes even toffee chips, to the top of this great dessert. 2 cups milk 1 3.4-ounce package Cook & Serve Chocolate Pudding Mix (do not use instant) 1 18.5-ounce package chocolate cake mix 1 cup or more semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 cup or more chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13-x-9-inch baking dish. In a medium saucepan, cook the milk and pudding mix until it begins to thicken — it should cover the back of a spoon dipped into the mixture. Turn off the heat and stir in the dry cake mix until combined. Spread batter into baking pan. Sprinkle top with generous amounts of chocolate chips, nuts, and anything else you’re using. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top springs back with a light touch. Cool and cut into squares. Makes about 2 dozen.

Heida Olin is a local caterer and educator. You can reach her at heida@lee-magazine.com.. Please visit her blog at www.lee-magazine.com LEE MAGAZINE 7

G A R D E N

Investing in Spring Bulbs Bring Color to Late Winter Chill

Investing in Spring

Bulbs Bring Color to Late Winter Chill

By Patti Householder

hen the trees are still bare and the weather is still chilly, my fifteen hundred daffodils of many colors begin to bloom, and I know spring is around the corner. Now through December is the perfect time to plant bulbs for a beautiful display of flowers from February to April. Daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips are the most common bulbs, but narcissus, crocuses, and Dutch iris are great choices too and available in most garden centers. Others that do well in east Alabama are alliums, fritillaria, glanthus, and scillas. You can find these online. We love our local garden centers, but it’s hard to beat the variety sold by such online companies as the Michigan Bulb Company and Breck’s Nurseries. I have 8 LEE MAGAZINE

purchased from both companies and have been very satisfied with the quality. All of the abovementioned bulbs except tulips will multiply each year. Tulips are considered annual in our area because our winters do not have enough hours of cold. You may get some green in a second year, but don’t expect a flower. When buying bulbs, select those that are firm, and not cracked, shriveled, or moldy. If you’re choosing between two bulbs of the same species, the larger one will produce more flowers. Buy bulbs early for the best selection. If you cannot plant your new bulbs right away, keep them cool, at fifty to sixty degrees. Bulbs require good drainage. Add peat moss or compost to the soil to improve fertility. Peat moss and compost also

improves the water-holding capability of sandy soils and enhances drainage in clay soils. To amend poor soil, replace half of it with compost. When you plant bulbs, incorporate a slow-release complete fertilizer. Each season thereafter mulch with two to three inches of organic matter. And have your soil tested. You want to maintain a pH of around six or seven. If your bulbs have fewer blooms each year or stop blooming altogether, they’re probably too crowded. Dig them up, break off some of the bulbs, and plant them somewhere else. As a rule, a one-inch tall bulb should be planted four inches to five inches deep, and two inches away from other bulbs. Bulbs of two inches or more should be planted six to

eight inches deep and three to six inches from the next bulb. A bulb planter can help you determine the right height. Most have inch marks indicating the soil depth. If I just prepared a bulb bed, I will plant the bulbs by hand because the soil is easy to work. But if I am planting in the wooded areas around my house, then I use my bulb planter. I love to “naturalize” daffodils in my landscape, which means the bulb grows more tiny bulbs and form clumps. Bulbs have been doing this for centuries and, in the wild, their flowers can cover huge areas. I love all kinds of spring flowers, but my favorites are the daffodils. They remind me of my grandmother’s yard. While she had mostly the simple yellow variety, I have yellow, pink, white, orange, and various combinations of these colors, as well as those with ruffled edges and multiple petals like a rose. Go plant some bulbs. They’ll warm your heart as they pop their heads up in spring. -lm

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B R A W N

Well I won’t say it but these people have: Wayne Westcott, PhD, and nationally recognized strength-training consultant; William Evans, PhD, a researcher in nutrition and exercise at Duke University Medical Center; and, Ben Hurley, PhD, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. The word — and you’ve already guessed it — is exercise. These researchers have provided a wealth of data on the positive effects of a basic strength exercise programs. Based on available research they say strength training will: • Add muscle tissue • Increase your resting metabolic rate • Decrease body fat • Reduce lower back pain • Decrease arthritic discomfort • Increase functional independence

Vitamin E! Take the Exercise Cure

• Improve glucose metabolism • Help you resist diabetes • Reduce resting blood pressure • Improve your blood-cholesterol profile • Enhance your vascular condition • Increase bone density • Help food move through the gut efficiently

By Lisa Gallagher

• Improve cognitive function • Increase self-esteem

y Dad looked at me and said, “Honey, I think I’m going to join the Y and start walking in the water.” He ran this idea by me because I was the most avid exerciser of his nine children. At this point, I was twentysomething group fitness instructor and he was relying on an oxygen tank. He couldn’t walk ten feet without it. Of course, I was 10 LEE MAGAZINE

very supportive, but I was sad, too. Why couldn’t he have made time for exercise ten, or even five years ago? It is a wonderful thing that for almost every ailment there is a pill or pills that will help. It is even more amazing that there is one activity that helps most — if not all — ailments. For many this eight letter word is more like a four letter word. Don’t say it!

• Decrease depression • Reverse aging in skeletal muscle.

In addition to the very good news that strength training improves that long list of conditions we can add that exercise helps at any age. There is no “too late,” and it will take less than one hour, two times

per week, to have an impact. You’ve got to admit that with prescription prices what they are today — that’s a bargain. According to the 1995 American College of Sports Medicine recommendations, we

Large muscle groups should be used before small muscles and multiple joint exercises before single. What do I mean? When a new exerciser comes into the weight room and begins her routine with a bicep curl that is an example of what not to do. It’s a single joint exercise using a smaller muscle. Beginning her routine on the rowing machine would use the large latissimus dorsi muscles, biceps and shoulders, incorporating multiple joints. From my experience, consistency is the key, and the secret to gaining consistency is focusing on how you feel after you exercise. Runners don’t think, “Yea, I’m going to get breathless and sweaty!” Avid runners love how it feels after they run. My Dad didn’t get to walk in the water. After his diagnosis of sarcoidosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the lungs

From my experience, consistency is the key, and the secret to gaining consistency is focusing on how you feel after you exercise. need to train the major muscle groups by performing eight to ten exercises with eight to twelve repetitions until our muscles are fatigued. You have to use proper technique, with full range of motion under your control. In 2002, the college of sports medicine advised that healthy adults should make sure to do both single and multiple joint exercises using concentric (shortening) and eccentric (lengthening) muscle actions.

and joints, his doctor cautioned him to avoid public places. A simple cold could end his life. Although his left us at the early age of 67, he gave all his children a strong work ethic and provided us with a college education. Back when Dad sported a fedora it was cool to smoke and commonplace to have a two-martini lunch. We didn’t know the tremendous risks of smoking, and runners were just beginning to pound the pavement. I don’t know if exercise would have lengthened my dad’s life, but I would hate for any of my family members or friends to gamble on life without it. We know things today he could not have known. Be grateful for the knowledge. Now, let’s use it. -lm

Lisa Gallagher, director of the Fitness Center at the Opelika Sportsplex, is a wellness coach, personal trainer, and group fitness instructor. You can contact her at lisa@lee-magazine.com.

DEAR RHONDA, I am 35 and have several issues with my skin that just seem to have come out of nowhere this summer. I read your article each month and hope you might have some words of wisdom for me. My face seems to stay red all the time, with several broken vessels on my cheeks and nose, I also have much more sun damage this year than in summers past. I have read a lot about chemical peels but am not sure a peel would be good with my sensitive skin type. Signed, Sensitive

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The Tao of Tula

into her chest cavity. Trapped there, the air compressed her lungs to the size of paperback novels. The vets put in chest tubes so the air could escape and waited for her to heal. Every day they would measure the air in her chest cavity. Each day there was a little less. She was getting better. I was glad she was in good hands, but leaving her in the hospital was wrenching. She wanted the family together at all times. I called her our Family Values Dog. If I left her food bowl in the living room, and Joey and I were in our offices, she would run out to the living room, grab a mouthful of food, and pick an office to chew in. She didn’t like the separate offices. I am an early riser, and my husband sleeps later. So she’d get up with me, and when she heard sounds of stirring from the bedroom, she’d stand at the door to be let in to see Joey. If I didn’t go in with her, she’d stand in the bedroom and stare back at me in my office until I got the message. A week into her hospital stay, the

PAY ATTENTION You never know who has a lesson to teach you By Jenni Laidman

ula was a black standard poodle who knew the meaning of irrational exuberance. For her, everything was exciting and worthy of comment. A ride in the car was the most fun thing in the whole world. A walk in the neighborhood was the most fun thing in the whole world. The chance to catch a tennis ball was the most fun thing in the whole world. You get the picture. If I had her out for a walk, and she saw someone she knew, it was pointless to try to hang onto her. I’d let her leash go and she would race to her friend and greet them like the last time she saw them they were dying and she had not expected them to make it. She loved our neighbors. She knew our names and if I said, “Go get Joey,” she knew to run to my husband. “Go get Gramma” sent her to my mother-in-law. We took her on trips and she would 12 12 LEE LEEMAGAZINE MAGAZINE

spend five, six hours or more standing in the back of the SUV, looking out the window to see what was coming next. She greeted cows with a lowing sound. Horses too brought an excited moo. She loved to make noise. No salesman ever remained on our front stoop when she answered the door, with her deep bark and long white canines. Had the visitor simply stepped inside, she would have brought him a tennis ball. But she looked intimidating. Her only enemy was UPS, and she would sound the alarm not only when the brown van came to the house, but when we passed a UPS van in the car. When I noticed a funny wheeze in her breath at the end of July, I figured I was over-reacting. Still, I took her to her vet. He sent us straight to the animal hospital. There Tula stayed, the victim of a hole in her lung that allowed the air to leak out

air stopped escaping. When no air accumulated two days in a row, they let us take Tula home. I had to keep her quiet, so I kept her in the office was me, where she couldn’t see out the window. One day she started barking and growling, begging to get out. Puzzled, we walked to the front door together. Parked two doors down? The UPS truck. She had heard her enemy approaching. No question, I thought, she’s getting better. ut by the end of the week, she was wheezing again. This time our vet withdrew the air with a syringe. “Take her home,” he said. “Maybe this will do the trick.” In a day, I could tell it wasn’t working. The next morning, when I didn’t follow her into the bedroom to wake Joey, she came back to my office, grabbed me by the wrist, and led me to the bedroom. We should be together, she said. Two days later, the wheeze was back.

That evening we took her for a ride in the country to see the horses and cows. At bedtime we put couch cushions on the floor and slept beside her. I called the vet in the morning, but before we took her in, we went to the park where she and I spent so many Saturdays and played a little fetch. She still wanted to play. Nothing could stop her. Then we took her to the vet and said goodbye. She would have been eight last week. We are still grieving. But I’m also conscious of the lessons this large-hearted dog taught me with her unmatched joie di vive. I want to share them with you.

You won't believe your

eyes!

TULA’S LESSONS FOR LIVING 1. Everything is funner when everyone is together. • Making someone else very happy is the best way to make yourself very happy. • Each morning, remind everyone around you how special they are to you. • Greet all friends with great enthusiasm. • Sometimes, when everyone else is busy, it’s nice to just sit and feel the sun on your back. • Drop everything if you might catch a bunny. • When you love someone, you can say anything with just a few gestures and sounds. • When choosing between toys, always select the one that makes the most noise. Everyone will want to hear you enjoy yourself. • Running is better than walking. Walking is better than sitting. • Don’t miss an opportunity to play. • Now is everything. About a month ago we adopted fouryear-old Phoebe from Carolina Poodle Rescue. Like Tula, she’s a black standard, but a good fifteen pounds smaller. Unlike Tula, she is quiet, and loves to wind her body around my legs like a cat. She has her own spirit, her own rules for living, her own lessons to teach us. I just hope we’re smart enough to learn them quickly. We’re working on it. I’ll let you know. -lm

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M O M I T U D E

The Stages of Parenthood DREADING THE DAWN OF A NEW AGE By Kelly Frick Parenting comes in phases, I’ve learned. There is that adorable, but late night, infant stage. You nuzzle that sweet smelling baby and just pray he’ll let you sleep. There’s the terrible toddler years, when you realize no amount of “baby proofing” could have saved your pearl earrings from being flushed down the toilet by your potty-training girl. Then preschool years, when you can finally celebrate life without a diaper bag. I remember vividly the day I threw out our last sippy cup. Hello, sit-down restaurants! We missed you so! This is followed by your early school 14 LEE MAGAZINE

years, when you convince yourself your child is super smart. I don’t know why this happens, but I think if you poll most parents of first-graders, they’ll tell you their child is gifted. I know mine were, for that brief shining moment in first grade… And then you come to the phase my husband and I have entered: middle school. Or as my husband calls it, purgatory. This is when you pay for the sins of your own youth, apparently. We have a pre-teen and a newly minted teen. The combo is lethal. They dislike each other. They dislike us. They take great

pleasure in finding ways to make us look dumb, which according to them, happens all the time. Our house is either filled with chatter and giggles, or crying and shouting. There is no in between. Silence only happens when everyone is too angry to speak. Two nights ago, this miracle happened. First our daughter was upset we wouldn’t let her stay up past her bedtime so she stomped off to her room, slammed the door and stayed there. Ten minutes later, our son threw a tantrum because he couldn’t find his iPod. When I didn’t jump up to help him look, he stomped off

H Our house is either filled with chatter and giggles, or crying and shouting. There is no in between. Silence only happens when everyone is too angry to speak.

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Kelly Frick is a writer and mother of two.

VOLUME 4 • NUMBER 5

too. Everything went quiet. My husband and I looked at each other. Then he walked to the fridge, grabbed two beers and said, “Let’s celebrate. We may not get a moment like again. But instead of clinking bottles, I turned sad. “It will happen again,” I told him. “In five years, Emma will leave be in college. John will be able to drive and be out with his friends. And we’ll be here alone.” So the beers went back in the fridge. We walked upstairs to tuck in our almost-butnot-totally-grown-up kids. Emma hugged me and asked if I’d braid her hair in the morning. John kissed my cheek and said he would love me forever. As we walked back downstairs, I turned to my husband and told him to go get those beers. After all, our babies stay in our grasp for such a short time we need to remember to celebrate every phase. Even the ones that make us crazy. -lm

H E A L T H

Contraception Misconceptions

Sort fact from falsehood when you consider The Pill By Dr. Lee Sharma

The combination estrogen-progesterone oral contraceptive, commonly called “The Pill,” is the most widely prescribed contraceptive in the United States. Since its approval by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in 1957 — initially for severe menstrual disorders, not birth control — there have been many popular misconceptions about The Pill.

MISCONCEPTIONS

1. The Pill causes cancer. FALSE 16 LEE MAGAZINE

The widely used low-dose oral contraceptive is actually associated with some decreased cancer risk. For every year a woman takes oral contraceptives, there is an associated decline in the risk of ovarian cancer and uterine cancer. Once a woman has taken the pill for four years, her chances of developing ovarian cancer decrease by forty-five percent. At ten years of use, her risk of endometrial cancer drops to almost zero. When you look at breast cancer alone, there are no

significant data associating long-term oral contraceptive use with either an increased breast cancer risk or a decreased risk.

2. The Pill causes infertility. FALSE Many young women hesitate to take oral contraceptives because they fear it will hamper their chance of pregnancy later in life. That is not the case. Using the pill can actually preserve fertility by reducing the risk of certain infections. Because the pill

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reduces the volume of menstrual flow and decreases the amount of time the cervix is open, there is less time for bacteria to enter the uterus. That associates with lower incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease, a source of infertility. The pill suppresses endometriosis, in which cells of the uterine lining end up in the abdomen. Thus there is less inflammation from endometriosis, so less endometriosis-related infertility.

3. The Pill is associated with an increase in the risk of deep venous thrombosis — blood clots in the legs. TRUE, but... One of the most common concerns with oral contraceptives is the risk of deep venous thrombosis — blood clots in the

legs that can block blood flow. When a clot breaks off it can form life-threatening blockages elsewhere in the body, such as the brain, lungs, and heart. Starting any hormone medication causes a temporary increase in the proteins that produce clotting. But that risk is small — about one in ten thousand. Most of the women who develop deep vein thrombosis — often referred to as DVT — have a genetic predisposition caused by a deficiency in the proteins that would protect them. If you can, find out if any of the women in your family had a problem with deep vein thrombosis in pregnancy or when taking hormones. Such a history suggests the need for a test to see if you’re missing the proteins

that make you vulnerable to DVTs. But there is a balance to strike here, even among women with a family history of these clots: Deep vein thrombosis are also more likely during pregnancy and delivery, and research shows as many as twelve DVT incidents for every ten thousand women. The risk remains elevated until six weeks after deliver. So women worried about DVT may be better served by decreasing their risk of unplanned pregnancy and being aware of their personal risk. -lm

Dr. Lee Sharma is a board-certified gynecologist in private practice. Trained at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, she lives in Opelika with her husband Shash, children Sam and Rachel, and her puppy Ryker.

H O M E

By Jacquelyn Dixon

Table Top Home Fashions

Bring in a new look with a little imagination By Jacquelyn Dixon

hether you’re celebrating fall or welcoming the holidays, use your tables to add a bit of seasonal dash. We have tables all over our homes, from the dining table to the coffee table, square, round, short tall. I have them in all sizes and colors. Why not take advantage of this perfect display space? Let’s start with what guests to your home see first — the foyer. A long, tall entrance table needs items with some height at one end. An unusual lamp next to a glass bowl holding mini pumpkins (orange is a great pop of color for fall) next to a stack of books works well. Place a small tray or dish, even 18 LEE MAGAZINE

an unusual vintage pail filled with leaves beside them. Or try placing magnolia leaves into a rustic bucket, using florist’s foam to keep the arrangement in place. Place tall leaves in the back and shorter leaves in front, turning them so that you see the front of some leaves and the backs of others. Add a few twigs for interest. Make a statement about you and your home from the start. On the dining room table, no matter its shape or style, let your imagination run wild. Place a runner down its length as a base. A mixed collection of

glass cylinders or vases of various shapes can be perfect for fall leaves, candles, and Christmas balls. Add tiny vessels or glasses for sprigs of crabapple berries, miniature orange roses, and chartreuse chrysanthemums. Weave grapevine all around the tabletop decorations to bring the outdoors in, but leave eighteen inches open as a border from edge of table to your decorative accents. Don’t forget the dining room sideboard. Take at least one element from the dining table and incorporate it there. In the den, coffee tables and end tables are the easiest to accent. This is where

size and scale matters. Keep the design clean — don’t busy it up with too many items. Lamps are a necessity on end tables — and they don’t have to match. A stack of magazines, photos of the family, and coasters are staples on the end table. The coffee table is a great place to have a pop of color. You could use a birdcage from your local hobby store, spray paint it red, and fill it with painted white gourds or miniature burlap wrapped Christmas trees. Have one interesting piece on your coffee tables all year round.

ave some fun with your beside tables. Purchase a colorful lamp or paint your shade for a new look. Create an interesting pattern using painter’s tape in vertical stripes of different widths. Use a bold color. Brush on with fabric paint, let it dry to the touch, and pull off the tape. Never neglect books and photos. Stack the books and top with a beautiful framed photo. A small decorative catch-all tray is a useful item when you empty your pockets in the evening. And consider adding a plant to the outside edge of the table. When it comes to the kitchen table and island, I love, love, love serving trays of all shapes, sizes, and finishes. Set several

on your table, keeping them close to one another in a tight arrangement — sort of a jigsaw puzzle. Fill the center tray with candles or a vase holding a small branch from your yard. Gather acorns and paint the nut part with fall colors. Hot glue twine in a loop on the cap and hang on the branches. You can do the same thing with mini pinecones. Lay fruit around the base within the tray. Treat your kitchen islands like another table. I recommend trays again, a beautiful way to show off a collection of gourds painted to match your decor. Or use

ceramic pots of all sizes, add seasonal flowers, and throw in a clear water pitcher filled with ornaments. Serving trays are a beautiful way to show off wine glasses and a decanter. Think about placing appetizers on mini dishes within a tray. It’s a wonderful way to use a utilitarian item. Savvy table tops begin with imagination.

Jacquelyn Dixon is a licensed contractor with fifteen years of experience, who builds custom homes and reinvents existing ones in the Auburn/Opelika area. Jacquelyn can be reached at: reallifebuilders@gmail.com

Photo By Beth Snipes

WILL TO WIN

Will, Ashley, and Madilyn Herring

Linebacker, restaurateur, fitness club owner, father: Herring Tackles It All By Christian Becraft

hey wait. Like spectators in the final moments of a tied game, with the ball soaring to a striding receiver, they wait. Time stops. The ball hangs motionless. No one exhales. Today, it’s not a ball they’re watching, but the television. The question? Where will Auburn University linebacker Will Herring land? It’s April 2007. A clutch of family and friends gather at the home of Will’s parents, Libba and Ronny Herring, watching the thirty-two teams of the National Football League make their draft choices from Radio City Music Hall. For any college player with hopes 20 LEE MAGAZINE

It starts

Opelika High School

of turning pro, this ordeal determines everything. The first round in 2007 was already the longest drafting round ever, and Herring’s family cannot help noticing the fourteen linebackers already drafted, then fifteen, then sixteen. The ball hangs in the air. The phone rings. The voice on the other end belongs to a woman. “I figured this must not be the team,” Will remembers. “But sure enough, she said she was with the (Seattle) Seahawks and asked if I’d like to play for them,” he says. “I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’” She is not kidding. Still, until he sees his draft announced on ESPN, sees that he is the twenty-first linebacker drafted in 2007, it does not seem real. He hears his name. The receiver hooks the ball from the air. The crowd explodes.

“We just erupted. We were just going crazy,” Will remembers. Family and friends are in an uproar. His brother Rusty flies down the driveway executing a perfect Seahawk swoop. “It was quite remarkable,” Will says. “It was one of those moments you wish you had on tape.” Now, Will is a linebacker for the New Orleans Saints. It’s August, and Herring’s sitting in The Auburn University Club, a small crowd gathered round him. It’s a smaller group than the one five years ago, and not quite as boisterous, but once again, everyone’s attention lasers on one person. This time, it’s the four-month-old girl gumming her fingers in Will’s arms, Madilyn Grace Herring. The 6-foot-3 Herring looks down at little Madi. “She has discovered the human

finger,” he says. “She loves chewing on it.” Taking Madi’s raised finger in hand, Herring coos, “That little finger ain’t gonna hurt nobody, is it?” Since Will accepted the Seahawks’ offer, everything has changed. He has launched two business ventures — The Auburn University Club and Herring Fitness. He is playing his second year for the Saints. And he is adjusting to his role as dad. All this requires splitting time between Auburn and Louisiana, where he moved after four years with the Seahawks. Herring had moved to Seattle in May 2007, returned to Opelika for two to three months of the offseason, married Ashley in March 2008, and returned to Seattle with his new bride just in time for his summer training. After four years with the Seahawks, Will became a free agent, just in time for the

Auburn University

Seattle Seahawks

New Orleans Saints

NFL lockout in March 2011. Suddenly, he had plenty of time to focus on something besides football, and opened Herring Fitness at Auburn Airport Plaza using the workout equipment he purchased from BFGoodrich when it closed its Opelika tire manufacturing plant in 2009. arly this year, he entered another venture, this time joining business partners Mike Poole of Lafayette, Louisiana, and Mike Thompson, Will’s father-in-law. Thompson and Poole, bought the Auburn University Club and 227 acres of surrounding undeveloped land at the end of last year. Before the new owners took over in March, the club hosted Auburn University’s men and women’s golf team. Now the leadership hopes to strengthen ties with the university. “When you come to the club, he (Thompson) wants it to be Auburn,” Will says. “Any way we could get involved, or get the university involved, we wanted to.” They engaged students from the university’s interior design program to redecorate portions of the club, starting with the restaurant, Clubhouse. This fall, the interior design program’s seniors will rework the rest of the club. “I wanted people when they entered the Auburn University Club to really understand that it was the Auburn University Club, it was Auburn, it was part of the Auburn experience,” Thompson says. The restaurant, which is open to the public, recruited David Bancroft, previously of the Amsterdam Café, as chef. And yes, his “Shrimp and Grits Savannah” came with him. The owners have additional renovations on the way, with plans to build a nicer, larger pool and a new fitness center by spring 2013. The new fitness center will be three times the size Herring Fitness is now. Moving closer to family meant Will and Ashley could launch another venture, and they began the adoption process and settled in for what they were told would be a long wait. But things fell into place a little quicker than anticipated. The couple was told to tell physician offices and nurseries that they were looking to adopt. Two days after they notified one doctor’s office, they got a call. A baby girl would be looking for a home in three weeks. “We were like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ ” Ashley says. “We had nothing! We had nothing! Toys, crib, clothes, diapers, nothing.” On April 6, 2012, Madilyn Grace Herring was born. “She was born on Good Friday, and we took her home on Easter,” Will says. It would seem with Will Herring everything hits fast, or unexpectedly.

22 LEE MAGAZINE

The Herrings prepare to ride the course the Auburn University Club

Madilyn feels the love

As an athletic kid, football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and swimming divided Will’s attention. Something had to give, and he was walking away from football. But an Opelika coach had another plan. “We kind of saw Will coming up and knew what kind of athlete he was and what kind of person he was,” says Spence McCracken, then-head coach of the Opelika High School Bulldogs. “We (coaches) try to get every male that we can find to play ball, and Will was one of those special guys that clearly had a lot of talent. “It all worked out. He bought into us and we bought into him.”

Will in action during an Auburn game

ill was quarterback his freshman year and the following year joined the varsity squad as starting quarterback, a position he would hold throughout high school. “It’s hard to start as a tenth grader in 6A football,” McCracken says. Will’s first varsity game was against his mother’s alma mater, Vigor High School in Prichard, north of Mobile. The teams Will was drafted by the played in Mobile’s Ladd-Peebles Seahawks in 2007 Stadium in front of nearly twenty thousand fans. It was Will’s sixteenth birthday. About thirty of Will’s mother’s relatives sat with the family, all cheering for Opelika, “As the preacher said the next day, ‘The old O-Town express came to town,’” Ronny, Will’s father, says. “We beat them 38 to 8. And Vigor was the number two team in the state the year before, so it was a real good start.” And it just got better and better. “He (Will) ran a ninety-five-yard touchdown run against Central Tuscaloosa, and that happened to be the night that I Gene Chizik was the defensive coordinator during Will's time at AU

LEE MAGAZINE 23

That's my dad

coached my two hundredth victory, and that was a very special run,” McCracken remembers. “It was beautiful. It was the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

fter the Bulldogs, Will became an Auburn Tiger, only this time playing on the defensive side. Gene Chizik was the defensive coordinator at the time, and he helped Will make the transition from quarterback to safety. Will was redshirted as a freshman, practicing with the team, but not playing until his sophomore year, when he started fortynine of the fifty-three games he played. He was as tough as they come, Chizik says. “He’s the guy that would go out there, and he’d be playing when his body is beat up and tired. That’s why he is still playing today, because his mentality of a football player is exactly what you want in your locker room.” In Will’s final year playing for Auburn, Will Muschamp took over as defensive coordinator. He proposed making Herring a linebacker. A couple of linebackers had graduated the year before. Will went for it. “If you think I’d be a good fit, and you think I could help the team (and) help our defense, then let’s go.” 24 LEE MAGAZINE

This was the move that got Will to the pros. As a linebacker, he totaled seventytwo tackles, forty-five of them solo efforts. In 2007, he won the Felix McKnight Trophy for Outstanding Defensive Player at the Cotton Bowl Classic. Despite his athletic record, Will worried he might not be drafted. The Seattle offer surprised him because he hadn’t heard from the Seahawks since Auburn’s Pro Day, when NFL scouts come to campus to evaluate the players. While Will began life in Seattle, 2,686 miles away, Ashley finished her senior year at Auburn. When she joined him in March, she found that her husband’s teammates, including quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and running back Shaun Alexander, acted as mentors, taking the newlyweds in. “They become your family because your family is literally across the country,” Ashley says. “We spent holidays together.” In the meantime, Will was learning to be a linebacker in the NFL. When Will was drafted, he said, he was still “raw and not really polished” as a linebacker. “I ran a ton that last year at Auburn, but I really didn’t fully understand the position or even (come) close to start

understanding the position until my first year (and) second year at Seattle,” he says. “You know, it takes about two or three years to really master something.” his fall, Will, Ashley and Madi are in Louisiana, along with the Herring’s four-year-old dachshund, Turner, who Will’s mom, Libba, deems “Madi’s older brother.” And it’s back to football. To coaches, he’s the never-tardy player who leads by example and never has to be told anything twice. But he’s far more than that, and even his coaches say so. “Everybody would want to be like Will Herring because he is an NFL football player,” Chizik says. “But everybody should want to be like Will Herring because of what he does other than football. He is exactly what, as my son grows up, my own who is twelve right now — he is exactly what I would want my son to turn out like, with or without the football. So when I say he is definitely a role model for any of the younger kids that look up to him, when I say that if my own son turns out like him, then we’ve done a great job, then I think that pretty much says it all.” -lm Christian Becaft is a recent graduate of Auburn University in the journalism program. She lives in Auburn and works for the university.

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calendar

October/November

AUBURN CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY, 479 East

LOUISE KREHER FOREST ECOLOGY PRESERVE,

Thach Avenue, Auburn. Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 2-6 p.m. Information: 501-3190.

3100 Highway 147 North, Auburn. Hours: 8

JAN DEMPSEY COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER GALLERY, 222 East Drake Avenue, Auburn.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission: free. Information: 501-2963.

a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission: free. Information: 707-6512. TELFAIR PEET THEATRE, at the corner of

Samford and Duncan avenues. Tickets: 8444154 or http://goo.gl/Osvn. Information: 844-4748 or theatre@auburn.edu.

JULE COLLINS SMITH MUSEUM OF FINE ART,

AUBURN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

901 South College Street, Auburn. Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 4:45 p .m. Saturday. Admission: free. Information: 844-1484.

714 East Glenn Avenue; Auburn 334-887-7011 auburnchamber.com OPELIKA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

LEE COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY, 1140 Ware

Drive, Auburn. Adoption hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Drop offs strays or pick up found pets: Tuesday through Sunday, 8:30 to 5 p.m.; Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Information: 821-3222; lchs@leecountyhumane.org.

601 Avenue A, Opelika 334-745-4861 www.opelika.com EVENT CENTER DOWNTOWN 614 North Railroad Avenue, Opelika 334-705-5466 www.eventcenterdowntown.net

200 South Sixth Street, Opelika. Hours: Monday and Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Information: 705-5380 LEE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 6500

Stage Road (Highway 14), Loachapoka. Hours: Second Saturday of every month, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Information: 887-3007, webmaster@leecountyhistoricalsociety.org.

LEWIS COOPER JUNIOR MEMORIAL LIBRARY,

WHEN

WHERE

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ONGOING for each Auburn University home game Friday: Football Fans & Feathers. Southeastern Raptor Center hosts birds-in-flight raptor program, 4 p.m., Edgar B. Carter Educational Amphitheater , Raptor Road. Admission: $5. For school groups of 25 or more, $3 per person. Information: 844-9999.

ONGOING first Friday of each month: Opelika Unplugged. Performance platform for songwriters and musicians. Event Center Downtown Opelika, Upstairs Lounge, doors open 4 p.m., music starts 7 p.m. Admission: Free. Information: 705-5466. OCTOBER 15: Joshua Pifer, Faculty Piano Recital with guest artist Beth Goode, Flute, 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., Goodwin Recital Hall. Admission: $10, $5 for students. Tickets available at the door forty-five minutes before performance. OCTOBER 16: Young-Hyuan Cho, guest artist Piano Recital, 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Goodwin Recital Hall. Admission: $10, $5 for students. Tickets available at door fortyfive minutes before performance. OCTOBER 17: Housing Lee County, City of Auburn and GEMS Empowered seminar to discuss housing opportunities in the area. First session at 4 p.m., second session at 5 p.m. Goodwill meeting room at Midway Plaza on Pepperell Parkway. Information: 705-5155, 501-7277, or 251-554-0031. OCTOBER 18: Susan Gibson performs in the Sundilla Acoustic Concert Series, 7:30 p.m. ,Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 405 East Thach. Admission: $12 at the door, $10 advance at The Gnu’s Room. OCTOBER 18: Third Thursday: Lecture by Serge Guilbaut, “The Pleasure of Failure: The Saga of the Advancing American Art Exhibition,” 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Admission: Free.

continued next page

OCTOBER 18: Multicultural Center Special Event. Dr. S. Amjad Hussain, thoracic cardiovascular surgeon at the University of Toledo, discusses medical ethics in the United States and abroad, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., AU Hotel and Conference Center Auditorium. OCTOBER 18: Sounds of Auburn Concert. Ensembles to perform include: AU Symphonic Band, AU Chamber Choice, AU Percussion Ensemble, AU Gospel Choir, AU Singers, AU Jazz Band, and AU Marching Band. Admission: $10, $5 for students. Tickets available at the door forty-five minutes before the performance. OCTOBER 19: On The Tracks, a biannual food and wine festival, 6 p.m. to midnight, Downtown Opelika. Information, registration: Pam Powers-Smith, 737-1474. OCTOBER 20: The Forty-first Annual Syrup Sopping Day at Loachapoka features weaving demonstrations, music, herb gardens, bread making, homemade foods, and other old-timey crafts, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Pioneer Park, Highway 14, Loachapoka. Recreational vehicle parking and camping sites available. Information: 887-2255. Admission: $5 for adults; children 12 and under, free. OCTOBER 20: 5th Annual Run to Read benefiting Jean Dean RIF (Reading is Fundamental). 10k and 5k races, prizes, kids activities, 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Floral Park, 600 Floral Street in Opelika. To register: jdrruntoread.wix.com/run-to-read tor call 663-2197. OCTOBER 20 THROUGH NOVEMBER 17: Maya Angelou, Extraordinary Woman: A Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper by Undergraduate Art Students. Art by Auburn University students, inspired by the literature of Dr. Maya Angelou. Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Admission: Free. OCTOBER 25: Sundown Concert, Kiesel Park on Chadwick Lane. 6 p.m. Admission: Free. Information: 501-2930.

28 LEE MAGAZINE

OCTOBER 25: Red Tails screening and discussion, 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p .m., Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Information: Sunny Stalter, 917-873-3901. OCTOBER 25: Dr. Tony Evans will be the featured speaker at Women’s Hope Medical Clinic’s 30th annual fundraising banquet, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Auburn University Arena. Evans, pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, is also a well-known radio minister, heard on more than 600 stations around the world. Reservations required. Information: 821-2112.

An Evening of Art, Dance, and Theater, in honor of Maya Angelou, who will deliver the 2012 Women’s Leadership Institute of Extraordinary Women Lecture this fall. The Evening of Art, Dance, and Theater takes place 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. It includes a juried art exhibition, a performance by the Mosaic Theatre Company, and a dance performance, and a presentation by Diane Edison, professor of art at the University of Georgia. There will be a drawing for tickets to the sold-out Angelou lecture.

OCTOBER 25: A Little Lunch Music, AU vocal instructor Matthew Hoch with pianist Laurelie Gheesling at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Noon to 1:00 p.m. Admission: Free OCTOBER 26: Game Day Lecture Series with JoEllen Sefton, Serving Those that Serve Us: AU Warrior Research Center, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., Goodwin Room, Auburn Alumni Center, 317 South College Street.

OCTOBER 30: Fall Festival – Children’s Carnival. Costumed children, twelve and under, enjoy activities, prizes, hay rides, and the company of local mascots. Music by Route 66. 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Opelika Sportsplex, 1001 Andrews Road in Opelika. Information: call 705-5560. OCTOBER 31: Opelika City-Wide Halloween. Trick-or-treat in Opelika. Children must be accompanied by adult, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Information: 705-5560.

OCTOBER 29: 6th Annual Howl-oween Dog Costume Contest. Bring your pooch in its best-dressed costume, donations support Rescue K911. Registration from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.; pre-registration beginning October 1 at Taylor Made Designs, 120 South 8th Street. Supporter donation of $10 to participate in parade. Contest begins at 6 p.m. Information: Pam Powers-Smith, 745-5464. OCTOBER 29: “Angelou and the Arts,”

OCTOBER 31: City of Auburn Halloween Activities. Auburn Parks and Recreation and Auburn Downtown Merchants will partner for 12th Annual Downtown Trick-or-Treat, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., downtown Auburn. Information: 501-2930. November 1: A Little Lunch Music, Cellist Laura Usiskin at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Noon to 1:00 p.m. Admission: Free NOVEMBER 1: Kiss Me Deadly screening and discussion, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.,

Jule Collins Smith Museum. Information: 917-873-3901.

alities,” 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., Dudley Hall, B6, Auburn University campus. Admission: Free.

NOVEMBER 1: National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, Pride of Havana, embarks on its first tour of North America with orchestral favorites, 7:30 p.m., The Opelika Center for the Performing Arts, 1032 South Railroad Avenue in Opelika. Pre-order tickets online at www.eastalabamaarts.org.

NOVEMBER 7 AND 8: Tickets go on sale for December 1 for the 7th Annual Polar Express Holiday Celebration. The “train” leaves at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Kiesel Park on Chadwick Lane. Activities include crafts, treats, holiday games, and a performance by East Alabama Community Ballet. Train rides for children five and older. Information: 5012963.

NOVEMBER 2: Auburn Homecoming Benefit Concert featuring Dierks Bentley, Craig Morgan, and Easton Corbin, 6 p.m., Auburn Arena. Tickets vary from $30, $40, and $50. For order on www.ticketmaster.com. NOVEMBER 2: Game Day Lecture Series with Dwayne Cox, Auburn v. Alabama: The Origin of the Rivalry, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., Goodwin Room, Auburn Alumni Center, 317 South College Street.

NOVEMBER 5: AU Campus Band Concert, 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Goodwin Band Hall, Room 134. Admission: Free. NOVEMBER 5: Low Brass Ensemble Concert, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Goodwin Recital Hall. Admission: $10, $5 for students. Tickets sold at door forty-five minutes prior to performance.

NOVEMBER 3: Art Club: American Ideas, for kindergartners through high school seniors, to work on posters about our melting pot culture, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Admission: Free. Pre-registration required, 844-3486. NOVEMBER 4: Christmas Open House. Opelika’s downtown merchants showcase their new holiday items, door prizes offered, noon to 5 p.m., downtown Opelika. Information: Pam Powers-Smith, 745-0466. NOVEMBER 5: Landscape Architecture and Planning Fall Lecture, “Love & Hate: Points of View, Perspectives & Person-

NOVEMBER 5: Trumpet Ensemble/ Dean’s Brass Quintet Concert, 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., Goodwin Recital Hall. Admission: $10, $5 for students. Tickets available at door beginning forty-five minutes prior to performance. NOVEMBER 7: Lisa Caravan, Faculty Cello Recital with Jeremy Samolesky, piano, 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., Goodwin Recital Hall. Admission: $10, $5 for students. Sold at door beginning forty-five minutes prior to performance.

corder player Mary Olson with pianist Laurelie Gheesling at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Noon to 1:00 p.m. Admission: Free NOVEMBER 9: Game Day Lecture Series with Terry Fischer, Training the Auburn Dog, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., Goodwin Room, Auburn Alumni Center, 317 South College Street. NOVEMBER 11: AU Fall Choral Concert, 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., Auburn United Methodist Church, 137 South Gay Street. Admission: $10, $5 for students. Sold at door beginning forty-five minutes prior to performance. NOVEMBER 13: Signature Chefs of East Alabama, cuisine sampling, wine tasting and silent auction, 6p.m. The Auburn University Club, cocktail/business Attire. Information on sponsorhip, tables and more: 513-7381 or e-mail, lgross@marchofdimes. com. NOVEMBER 14: AU Jazz Band Concert, 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., Goodwin Band Hall, Room 134. Admission: $10, $5 for students. Sold at door beginning forty-five minutes prior to performance. NOVEMBER 15: A Little Lunch Music, AU student pianist Thomas Harbin at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Noon to 1:00 p.m. Admission: Free NOVEMBER 15: Third Thursday – Music and Theatre inspired by Art Interrupted, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art.

NOVEMBER 8: AU Opera Workshop Concert, 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., Goodwin Recital Hall. Admission: $10, $5 for students. Sold at door beginning forty-five minutes prior to performance.

NOVEMBER 15, 16: Lysistrata, a classic comedy in a contemporary translation by Ellen McLaughlin, 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., Telfair Peet Theatre. Admission: $15, $10 for faculty and staff of Auburn University and non-AU students, free for AU students.

NOVEMBER 8: A Little Lunch Music, Re-

NOVEMBER 16: Game Day Lecture Series

continued next page

LEE MAGAZINE 29

with Craig Guyer, COSAM Reptile Show, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., Goodwin Room, Auburn Alumni Center, 317 South College Street.

chestra Concert. 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., Telfair Peet Theatre. Admission: $10, $5 for students. Sold at door forty-five minutes prior to performance.

ipate. Cost: $20 per wreath. Call 844-8091 or e-mail preserve@auburn.edu to register. Limited to first twenty-five. Registration: begins in November.

NOVEMBER 16: Downtown Autumn Nights, live music by Aubie, Auburn University band, and cheerleaders, 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Toomerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Corner.

DECEMBER 1: Opelika Christmas Parade, begins at 10 a.m., downtown Opelika. Information: 745-4861.

ONGOING DECEMBER 5 THROUGH 9: Victorian Front Porch Christmas Tour. Self-directed driving or walking tour of over sixty historical homes adorned with life-size Santas, angels, toys, teddy bears, and other figures. Opelika Historic District, 8th and 9th Streets.

NOVEMBER 17 THROUGH JANUARY 26: 1072 Society Exhibition, a varied selection of art under consideration for purchase by the museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1072 Society, Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Information: 844-7945

DECEMBER 7: 18th Annual Christmas in a Railroad Town. Victorian-era foods plus kids write letters to Santa and enjoy pony rides, caroling, and more, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Downtown Opelika. For information call Pam Powers-Smith, 745-0466.

NOVEMBER 26: AU Indian Music Ensemble Concert, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Goodwin Recital Hall. Admission: $10, $5 for students. Sold at door forty-five minutes prior to performance. NOVEMBER 28: AU Percussion Ensemble Concert. 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Telfair Peet Theatre. Admission: $10 for public, $5 for students. Sold at door forty-five minutes prior to performance. NOVEMBER 28: Jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves presents Christmas Time is Here, 7:30 p.m., Opelika Center for the Performing Arts. Pre-order tickets online at www. eastalabamaarts.org.

DECEMBER 1: Lee County Christmas Cookie Walk for Habitat. Walk down aisles of goodies, pick what you want, and pay by the pound! Giveaways, photos with Santa, and more, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Grace Methodist Church near GlennDean behind Kroger. DECEMBER 1: Art Club: Cubes: Using paints to create cubist works of art, for students kindergarten through twelfth grade, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Pre-registration required: 844-3486.

NOVEMBER 29, 30: Rocky Brook Rocket Reindeer Express. Food, hot chocolate, entertainment, and train rides through the lights for children in second grade and younger, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Municipal Park on Park Road in Opelika. NOVEMBER 29: A Little Lunch Music, CSU student duo with flutist Stephanie Erdman and guitarist Jacob Brown at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts. Noon to 1:00 p.m. Admission: Free NOVEMBER 30: AU Community Or-

30 LEE MAGAZINE

DECEMBER 1: Holiday Wreath Workshop. Create wreaths with natural elements. Music and snacks provided, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Ham Wilson Arena. Children six and older can accompany a parent to partic-

DECEMBER 8: Holiday Art Sale. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center. Free and open to public. ONGOING DECEMBER 8 AND 9: 6th Annual Loveliest Village Christmas Tour of Homes, a peek inside ten Auburn homes and buildings. Tickets $20, available 10 a.m. to 4p.m., December 8 and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. December 9. Hosted by the Auburn Preservation League. Information: 844-1134 or e-mail shawdeb@auburn.edu DECEMBER 10: No More Wasted Lives Annual Fundraiser begins. Director of the Lee County Humane Society will remain locked in a dog kennel until fundraising goal is reached to create awareness for the animals cared for at the shelter, beginning at noon, Kroger parking lot on Dean Road. DECEMBER 15: Downtown Auburn Christmas Parade begins 10 a.m. Downtown Auburn, 100 N College Street. Information: 887-7011.

Send calendar info to: editor@lee-magazine.com

Opelika Sportsplex & Aquatics Center The Opelika Sportsplex is more than just a gym. So much more! Maybe we should call it a “Life Enhancement Center”. From work-outs to performances to sports, swimming, activities and so much more, our state-of-the-art complex truly does offer something for every body. Join now and be part of the Opelika Sportsplex family. Unsurpassed Features & Services: • Splash Park (Wet Playground) •2 Racquetball Courts •Indoor Aquatics Center – Heated Pool, Jacuzzi, Steam Rooms •Youth Game Room •Concession Area •Outdoor Walking Trail •Gymnasium with Large Stage •Resilient, Rubber Indoor Walking Track •Three Large Meeting Rooms with AV Equipment •Warming Kitchen •EAMC Cardiovascular Area •Cal James Weight Room •Group Fitness Room •Outdoor Amphitheater •Tot Watch •W. James Samford Jr. Soccer Complex

Opelika Sportsplex and Aquatics Center 1001 Andrews Road Opelika, Alabama 36801 p . 3 3 4 .7 0 5 . 5 5 6 0 f . 3 3 4 .7 0 5 . 5 5 6 8 For more information and facility rental details, visit

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