Cobb Life Magazine August 2012

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Cobb Life

August/September 2012 Volume 8, Issue 6 EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER

Otis A. Brumby, Jr. EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

Otis Brumby III V.P. ADVERTISING Wade Stephens

Hearing Evaluations • Hearing Aids Hearing Aid Repair • Assistive Listening Devices Batteries • & MORE!

FREE Zephyr

(from Dry and Store)

Not valid on prior purchases.

Expires 10-31-2012.

Jay Whorton E D I T O R I A L S TA F F DIRECTOR OF MAGAZINES

Mark Wallace Maguire

75-Day Trial Period on Hearing Aids

Hearing Aid Dehumidifier with purchase of any pair of hearing aids.

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

LAYOUT AND DESIGN

Stacey L. Evans, Mark Wallace Maguire CONTRIBUTORS

Allen Bell, Joan Durbin, Stacey L. Evans, Davia Mosley, Michael Pallerino, Meredith Pruden, Michael Venezia

DR. LAURIE NELSON Audiologist

PHOTOGRAPHER

Reid Traylor PHOTOGRAPHY

990 Whitlock Ave, Ste D • Marietta, GA 30064

Jennifer Carter, Nathan Self

Under Sophie’s Bar & Grill (formerly Whitlock’s Grill)

PROOFREADERS

770-427-3033 • MariettaHearing.com

Caroline Brannen, Beth Poirier, Jennifer Hall A D V E R T I S I N G S TA F F

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS 404 Gold & Coin Acorn Home & Garden Age Less You Atlanta Kubota Atlanta Lyric Theatre BBQ Grill Blackwell's Jewelers Book Signing Carpet Dry Tech Center Academy Center For Allergy & Asthma Children's Health Care of Atlanta Children's Health Care of Atlanta - Kohl's City of Smyrna Cobb Arts Ball Cobb EMC Cobb Hardware Cobb Restaurant Week Compassionate Care Ministries Cumberland Diamond Exchange Dermatology Consultants East Cobb Rotary Expert Carmedics Fleming Carpet Fresh N Fit Gaines Park Assisted Living Home Gas South Broadway Series Georgia Memorial Park Harry Norman Henry's Louisiana Grill Heywood's Provisions Hutcheson Horticulture Johnson Ferry Baptist Church Junior League of Cobb-Marietta Kids R Kids KSU Continuing ED Life Grocery Liz Heleneck

14 10 11 68 69 79 11 79 78 6 3 5 32 45 67 2 80 81 46 61 77 55 75 44 76 78 31 50 72 19 69 75 12 18 51 35 74 74

Magnolia Room Marietta Funeral Home Marietta Hearing Marietta Welcome Center Marlowe's Tavern Mayes Ward - Dobbins Funeral Home Mt. Bethel Christian New Life Chiropractic North Georgia State Fair Northside Hospital Northside Hospital Spine Center Parc @ Piedmont Pinnacle Orthopaedics Plastic Surgery Center of the South Private Gallery R & D Mechanical Resurgens Roswell Street Baptist Sawyer Bailey Salon Sterling Senior Living Sue Hilton Sundial Plumbing Superior Plumbing The Bottoms Group The Framery The Georgia Ballet The Historic Marietta Branding Project The Wild Wing Café Thornton - Mellars - Milestone Three - 13 Salon & Spa Wellstar West Cobb Funeral Home White Rabbit Whole Hawg Happen Winnwood Retirement Woodstock Antiques

COBB ADVERTISING MANAGER

27 23 4 14 54 83 62 63 15 9 60 13 29 34 10 72 66 46 50 39 76 71 41 7 27 73 22 18 70 26 84 47 38 81 28 77

Becky Opitz ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Stephanie deJarnette, Carole Johnson, Dawne Edge, Paula Milton, Tamara Heil, Melinda Young, Candace Hallford, Tara Guest, Katelyn Ledford, Liz Ridley GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

Caroline Brannen, Beth Poirier, Jennifer Hall PRODUCTION CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Leigh Hall CIRCULATION DIRECTOR

Matt Heck I N F O R M AT I O N

Cobb Life magazine is published nine times a year by the Marietta Daily Journal and distributed to more than 33,500 homes and businesses.

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

To request a copy or to subscribe, visit our website at www.cobblifemagazine.com ADVERTISING

To advertise, contact Wade Stephens at 770.795.4001 SUBMISSIONS

Please send all editorial correspondence to mmaguire@cobblifemagazine.com Follow us on facebook

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W H AT

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I N S I D E

departments 16 SPICE Happy Belly is Cobb’s first food truck 24 EYE ON BUSINESS Community a vital part of growth for Marietta 30 STYLE Fall fashion preview full of dark glamour

20 56

64 WINE Summer libations abound for your delight

features 20 QUEEN OF LAUGHTER Powder Springs author Lauretta Hannon gets ready to party 32 FROM COBB TO CSI Local artisan’s jewelry catches the eyes of the stars 36 MUST LOVE COBB Noted ‘Must Love Dogs’ author explains why she moved to East Cobb 40 FAIR PLAY North Georgia State Fair gears up for 80th year 42 EYE ON THE SKY West Cobb’s Jen Carfagno talks about life on The Weather Channel 48 SIZZLING SOLUTIONS Inside a cooking class at KSU 52 TAKE FIVE Reflecting on the first five years of the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

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56 HISTORY IN STITCHES Discover heritage on the Southern Quilt Trail

HAPPY. SECURE. INSPIRED. • Since 1968 • SACS Accredited • ADHD & LD • Grades 5-12

Smyrna 770-333-1616 Georgia Special Needs Scholarship

www.CenterAcademy.com

in every issue FROM THE DIRECTOR

08

NEWS & NOTEWORTHY 10 HIGHLIGHTS

68

SCENE

71

REFLECTIONS

82

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FROM THE DIRECTOR

Re-discovering the joy of weather A wind soared high above us, knocking a trio of pine trees together, their hollow banging sounding like a strange woodland incantation.

Around us, pale winter sun left dappled patches of opaque light on the forest floor, lending a translucent light to the pine straw, the dead, matted patches of grass, the half-frozen mud.

It was a frigid afternoon and my son Patrick, then five, and I were on a hike. Before we left the confines of our heater-fed home, the Weather Channel reported the windchill factor at 11 degrees, a temperature that had most of our community huddled indoors. For me, the temperature meant one thing - ideal conditions for a hike.

Clear.

Crisp.

Pure.

It took some convincing for my wife to let Patrick accompany me. But after a brief discussion that humans had been living in conditions colder than this for many a millennia, she acquiesced and bundled Patrick in so many layers he resembled the visage of Randy in “A Christmas Story.” (It was a feat of strength itself to strap his bundled body into the car seat).

I have always relished a winter hike and wanted to share the experience with him. The nippy air, the stark trees, the lack of humidity and perhaps, even selfishly, the absence of other people.

I explained this to Patrick, noting how everyone else was “afraid of the cold, but we weren’t.”

He laughed.

“No, daddy,” he replied. “The weather is not scary.”

We walked a brisk mile and a half before he told me he was getting cold.

“Of course,” I said. “Let’s go home and get a nice cup of hot chocolate for you.”

Less than ten minutes later, he had his back to a roaring blaze in our fireplace, a steaming cup of hot chocolate cradled in his hand and a smile on his face. His mother kept pinching his fingers and marveling at how chilly they were and how red his cheeks were. Patrick said he was fine and happy.

I smiled.

He was not afraid of the cold.

Winter hikes are just one of many types of weather adventures I have introduced my two sons to. I have always held a deep affinity for almost all things weather related – the fierce winds of March, the whispering breezes of September, the punishing

rains of spring and the untamed thunderstorms of summer, to name a few.

In fact, I can’t recall ever not liking the weather.

As an adult, I see that same affinity in other children, especially boys.

Boys like to jump in mud puddles. Boys like to play in the rain. Boys can ignore the heat if a good basketball game is being played or a sandbox war is at bay. Boys like to run outside on a windy day and try to fly a kite. In fact, my youngest son Andrew takes a Zen-like delight in being outside on windy days. He will sit on my lap, halfclose his eyes and reach a level of contentment I envy. (I have seen few visions of God as pure as the simple smile on his face when the wind tousles his hair.)

Maybe I am just a washed-up transcendentalist bohemian naturalist, but I do hold fast that being outdoors in the weather is a pure, good medicine that is a stronger sedative than the television, the internet or any self-help book.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, by the time we reach adulthood, most of us have lost that fascination with weather. Instead of wonder, we have complaints.

It is too cold.

It is too hot.

It is too windy.

It is too… everything.

We have become conditioned to our ‘steady as she goes’ homes and want our weather tailor-made like the rest of our lives. We want our weather on demand and scold it when it does not cooperate with our plans - as if we have any right to admonish a natural phenomena that has been part of the earth long before our ancestors were born.

I know I am the exception to the rule. I know because I do not see many of you out on winter hikes. I know because I have seen you peer out from behind your shades with a slight shock written on your faces as I played in the rain with my children. But, as we are on the cusp of entering a new season, I do encourage you to take a step back and re-examine weather. No longer see it as a nuisance, but an opportunity.

It is more than green and red blurbs on a television screen. It is more than a gauge that determines which day to wash you car.

It is a living, untamed beautiful thing.

Get out. Have fun. Reach out. Maybe you’ll rediscover something you haven’t felt since you were a child. If nothing else, you will have a justification for an extra cup of hot chocolate or a cold Popsicle at the end of the day.

Best,

Mark Wallace Maguire

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[community]

Originality, personality, serenity, whimsy… whatever your interior design goals, we’d love to roll up our sleeves, roll out our drawing boards, and bring your visions to fruition.

• • • • •

Interiors Weddings Florals Accessories Furnishings

3870 Due West Road NW • Marietta, GA 30064 770.426.9840 • www.acornhomeandgarden.com • Open Tues. - Sat. 10am - 6pm • Sun. 12:30pm - 5:30pm

Log Cabin Church celebrates 100 years

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August/September 2012

COBB LIFE

Log Cabin Community Church, a small non-denominational church in Smyrna, recently celebrated its 100th birthday.

Log Cabin celebrated its centennial with many old members and a special worship service on June 3 at the church, at 2699 Log Cabin Drive off Woodland Brook Drive near Interstate 285.

The church was formed by area residents, many of whom were recent arrivals from Atlanta, as Cobb County began to suburbanize along the trolley line that ran from nearby Atlanta to Marietta Square. The migrants, less than thrilled about making the long journey back to Atlanta for church on unpaved roads, formed Log Cabin in 1912.

The church was chartered by 44 members in a log cabin and was known as Log Cabin Community Sunday School.

Members soon had to build a larger facility as the church’s reputation grew. It also began attracting highprofile guest speakers of various denominations.

The church now receives most of its revenue from weddings, according to members. For some couples, getting married at Log Cabin has become a family tradition, as generations of people have tied the knot at the stone chapel, with its trademark bright red exterior doors and rustic interior that seats 150 people.

At least 60 weddings take place at Log Cabin each year.

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news & noteworthy [arts & culture]

Springsteen, Pearl Jam producer at helm of new Third Day project Cobb’s favorite musical sons Third Day have devoted a large portion of this year to recording a new album. For their 17th album, the Christian rock band has enlisted the producing genius of Brendan O’Brien. O’Brien has achieved a status of excellence in the musical arena making a name for himself by producing Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and the Fray among others. He has credits on 14 albums that are on the Billboard 200 sales charts.

“When we were getting together as a band to talk about starting work on this project, we did an exercise where each member named his top five albums of all time. Brendan O’Brien had at least one record on all of our lists,” offers bassist Tai Anderson.

Mac Powell, the band’s frontman, shares, “Our time with Brendan has been nothing less than an amazing experience. He is one of my favorite producers. Having made so many great records with so many amazing artists through the years, I consider it such an honor to be working with him. Brendan has definitely stretched me as a songwriter and vocalist more than any other producer ever has.”

The new project follows a stellar 2011 for Third Day, which included being the first Christian artist ever to receive ASCAP’s coveted Vanguard Award, as well as wrapping up its highly successful spring/fall “Make Your Move Tour” which saw numerous sell-out performances.

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[food and dining] Chill out during the dog days of summer with this shake Chocolate and cherry are a classic combination that really stand out in this milkshake. But what really sets this recipe apart is the buttermilk, which adds a delicate tang that really enhances the cherry flavor. Add the cookies at the end and just stir it together if you like bigger chunks, or puree until smooth if you want to drink it through a straw.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY BUTTERMILK SHAKE

Start to finish: 10 minutes Servings: 2 1 cup chocolate ice cream 1 cup frozen, pitted dark cherries 1 cup buttermilk 6 coarsely chopped chocolate sandwich cookies In a blender, combine the chocolate ice cream, frozen cherries and buttermilk. Blend until smooth. Add the chocolate sandwich cookies and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 390 calories; 140 calories from fat (36 percent of total calories); 16 g fat (7 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 30 mg cholesterol; 55 g carbohydrate; 10 g protein; 4 g fiber; 270 mg sodium.

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[food and dining]

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[food and dining]

Rhinoceros opens in East Cobb

Zoës Kitchen Opens its Doors in East Cobb

Rhinoceros, the boutique formerly located in Shops Around Lenox, has relocated to Merchant's Walk in East Cobb.

Rhinoceros is a West Coast meets Paris-inspired women’s boutique offering chic and relaxed designer fashions and accessories, originally opened in the Buckhead community of Atlanta in 2008 by French-American fashionista Nathalie Welch.

The 1,500 square foot airy space offers a clean, sleek design with an inviting, cozy ambience. Vignettes of well-known and upand-coming designers adorn the store, with elegant displays of meticulously curated collections of jewelry and accessories.

Information: 1311 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 528 www.rhinocerosboutique.com.

Popular Mediterranean-inspired restaurant Zoës Kitchen has now expanded to four locations in Georgia, including their latest one in East Cobb at 4400 Roswell Road.

Founder Zoë Cassimus originated healthy, flavorful recipes that draw on her Greek heritage.

Food is freshly prepared from scratch each day and includes many vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Pitas, hummus and classic and grilled sandwiches as well as full entrees like shrimp kabobs, tri-tip steak roll-ups with Swiss cheese and sautéed mushrooms, and Greek chicken marinara are available from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. dally.

Side dishes run the gamut from Greek salad and slaw marinated in a light vinaigrette with feta and scallions to roasted fresh veggies or white beans braised with fresh rosemary.

Pressed for time? Call ahead or go online and order up one of Zoë’s dinners for four to go.

For information, call (770) 509-5743 or go to www.zoeskitchen.com.

[community] Cobb Life’s Maguire honored

Mark Wallace Maguire, director of Cobb Life magazine, was awarded third place Green Eyeshade award for Humorous Commentary from the Society for Professional Journalists.

Conducted by the Atlanta chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Green Eyeshade awards recognizes outstanding journalism produced by newspapers, magazines and other media in an 11-state Southern region.

Maguire's column, "Not home, just the garden please" appeared in Cobb Life last March.

Cobb Life competes in a category which includes city magazines from across the region including Miami, Memphis and Charlotte.

The Society for Professional Journalists is the nation's most broadbased journalism organization.

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[food and dining] New drinks add flavor to popsicles, cocktails

To really beat the heat, making your own popsicles is an easy and fun way to control the calories, create unique flavors and always have something on hand to satisfy that sweet craving.

Two products recently on the market, Sparkling ICE and CASCAL soft drinks, offer refreshing new tastes to help cool off in the summer heat.

CASCAL is crafted with natural juices fermented for a unique taste. The bubbly soft drink has no added sugar and no more than 80 calories per can.

Sparkling ICE touts zero calories. The fruit-flavored mountain water drinks are pumped with Vitamins D and B and antioxidants.

CASCAL’S flavors are Crisp White with notes of pear, apricot, and magnolia; Ripe Rouge with notes of cherry, chocolate, and rose; Bright Citrus with notes of lemongrass, tangerine, and pineapple; Berry Cassis with notes of blackcurrant, tangerine, and lemon; a Fresh Tropical with notes of mango, jasmine, and kaffir lime. Of the five, the Crisp White is especially pleasing to the palate. It has a refined taste — smooth, velvety, and delicate, yet each layer of flavor is well defined.

Sparkling ICE’s collection includes Coconut Pineapple, Lemon Lime, Kiwi Strawberry, Lemonade, Orange Mango, Pomegranate Berry, Pink Grapefruit, and Black Raspberry — flavors that scream summer refreshment. Our favorite of the bunch is Black Raspberry, which is a sweet, fruity concoction with just the right amount of carbonation.

If cocktails are more your style, try these recipes from Sparkling ICE : Island Time 1 oz. Mango Rum, 1oz Pineapple Rum Splash of Pineapple juice 3 oz Pineapple Coconut Sparkling ICE Topped with 1oz of Grand Mariner >>Serve in a chilled martini glass with pineapple chuck Summer Lovin’ 1oz Pineapple Rum 1 oz Vodka 1oz Pineapple Juice Finish with Grapefruit ICE >>Stir gently and garnish with lime

Firecracker 1 oz. Makers Mark Bourbon ½ oz. Dry Vermouth 2 Bourbon Cherries Top off with Black Raspberry Sparkling ICE >>Stir gently and garnish with blackberries

CASCAL sodas are available at Whole Foods.

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This One for the Kipper dish is a salad that includes smoked trout and pink lady peas.

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AND

driving dining HAPPY BELLY BRINGS TASTY FOOD TRUCK TREND TO COBB

By Joan Durbin Photography by Reid Traylor

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It’s 8 a.m. and in most restaurant kitchens a flurry of activity heralds the start of another day of food service.

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Prep cooks busy themselves washing, peeling, chopping, slicing and searing ingredients for dishes on that day’s menu. In a spotlessly clean, well-equipped commissary in Smyrna that scene is in full swing as crew members of Happy Belly Curbside Kitchen go about their tasks with an eye on the clock. The bright green truck has to be fully provisioned and ready to roll by 10 a.m. in order to make it to their first stop.

Today it will be lunch at the Galleria Gardens, where Happy Belly will set up in front of the tall water feature that graces the common area of the upscale office park.

Their special of the day, a sandwich of smoky pulled pork topped with Napa cabbage coleslaw and grilled peach barbecue sauce with a side of hand cut fries with truffle dipping sauce, sells out.

Peaches will be showing up in a variety of culinary incarnations while they are at their seasonal peak, confirmed Happy Belly’s owner, Terry Hall. “Mother Nature dictates our menu.”

And what a menu it is. The creative sandwiches, salads and sides would be right at home on the bill of fare at any chic café. Ingredients are local, natural and organic and everything except the breads is made by Happy Belly Chef John McGuire and his team of enthusiastic cooks-in-training.

On the day I caught up with the truck, I couldn’t resist the One for the Kipper salad. McGuire cures 20 pounds of line-caught Alaskan salmon every few days in a process known as kippering. The fish filets are cloaked in a mix of salt and brown sugar and stay in the walk in cooler for two days before being air dried and then smoked over applewood.

The flaked fish adorns a kale Waldorf salad, which has become one of Happy Belly’s signatures. The pleasantly crisp bitterness of the kale is offset by candied and smoked pecans, apple cider honey, lemon juice and diced Granny Smith apples, with grace notes of blue cheese and applewood-smoked bacon. “We don’t want salads like everyone else, we wanted something unique,” Hall said.

Happy Belly’s signature burger is a particularly brisk seller. Grilled to order on the Big Green Egg installed inside the truck, it’s a beefy mix of fresh ground short ribs and brisket, made even more luxurious with Vidalia onion chutney, ancho chile dressing and cheddar cheese.

Turkey smoked on the BGE with a special rub has been hand-pulled for the Jive Turkey sandwich with Napa cabbage apple slaw, blue cheese, toasted pecans and lingonberry coulis on organic wheat bread.

For the intriguingly named Go Paleo, zucchini is thinly sliced then julienned, salt cured, rinsed and pan

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sautéed. The veggie “noodles” are dressed with pine nuts, basil and chilies and support slices of succulent chicken breast hot from the BGE. This dish is a hit even with those who normally are poultry averse.

“Happy Belly even makes boneless chicken taste good. The chicken and zucchini dish is almost too good to be considered healthy,” said Roswell resident Joe Duffy, who makes it a point to order from the truck whenever he can. “They've pleased the entire family, which is no easy task. The middle child rates their mac ‘n ‘cheese among his favorites.”

The truck was the first of its kind to be based in Cobb County when it first hit the streets in April 2011, according to Hall. It serves customers in both Cobb and Fulton counties, with some stops part of its weekly routines and other venues popping up as they come along.

The Atlanta area is a tad late to the food truck party.

Several metropolitan regions across the country have enjoyed a well-established mobile vendor scene for a couple of years. Happy Belly debuted just as the concept started to become embedded in our collective foodie consciousness.

“When Atlanta catches up, it will be one of the most viable markets in the country for this type of dining,” Hall said.

A man whose former career managing golf and private country clubs in North Carolina, Atlanta, Minnesota and Texas, Hall, now 39, met his wife Dawn on the job and they married in 2003. When their daughter Mayer, now almost four years old, was born, the couple began to improve their eating habits and provide their daughter a healthy, fresh and natural diet.

Back in Georgia in 2011, where his in-laws live, Hall wanted to make a change in his working life. He and his wife put their heads together came up with the food truck concept. What they would serve would mirror their own food preferences of natural and fresh but with a decidedly gourmet twist.

Mayer inspired the truck’s name, Hall said. “She’s always asking me daddy, are you happy? That’s really what I wanted to ask people after they ate our food.

So Happy Belly it was.”

Curbside Kitchen was added as a subtitle “because we want it to be a full service kitchen on wheels,” Hall said.

Chef Todd Mussman of Muss & Turner’s, a friend of the Halls, created about half of the first HB menu. “I took that and ran with it,” Hall said.

Happy Belly Chef John McGuire now works the dayto-day magic. A veteran of the Capstone and Trump hotel groups as well as Copeland’s, McGuire had tired of the mega-corporate structure and the opportunity to helm a gourmet food truck came just at the right time.

A hallmark of the Happy Belly operation is the Halls’ desire to give back to their community. “We’re not in business simply to put money in our pockets, we wanted to do good, too. So part of the profits go to the Boys and Girls Club,” he said.

To view Happy Belly’s menu or find out where the truck will be, go to www.happybellytruck.com or happybellytruck on Facebook.

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Brett Bowen gets to work in the truck’s kitchen.

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Claire Cook at East Cobb Park.

The best-selling author of “Must Love Dogs” and “Wildflower in Bloom” recently moved to the area with her husband and dog .

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in Bloom

East Cobb with ar rival of best-selling author Claire Cook’s sunny disposition and seeds of wisdom

by stacey l. evans photography by reid traylor

Wallflower in Bloom, Claire Cook’s latest, follows a heroine — who is a personal assistant to her famous brother — as she attempts to get her own 15 minutes of fame as a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars.” The idea arose from a GalleyCat poll, in which readers voted Cook the author they would most love to see on the TV show.

Claire Cook will be at the Decatur Book Festival on Aug. 31 from 4 to 6 p.m. hosting a free writing workshop and on Sept. 1 she will be featured on the panel discussion “Women on the Verge of a New Discovery” from 11:15 to noon.

She will be signing books afterwards.

For more information, visit www.decaturbookfestival.com.

Though she has published nine books in just over a decade, one of which was made into a Hollywood movie, best-selling author Claire Cook is just as downto-earth as the characters she writes about. She’s friendly and has a genuine zest for life.

“I think who I am and what I write are really in sync and I think there is a lot of power in that. I hope there is a spirit of fun in both,” she said. “Life is here, we might as well enjoy it.”

Cook’s novels, from Must Love Dogs, which was made into a movie starring John Cusack and Diane Lane, to her latest, Wallflower in Bloom (published in June), are perhaps best categorized as Chick Lit, mostly lighthearted stories about everyday women reinventing themselves.

“I think there is enough pain and suffering in the world without me adding to it,” she said. “I get to write the fun books, the books that people sit out by the pool or take to the beach on vacation and read.”

Cook and her husband, Jake Jacobucci, recently moved to East Cobb from a small beach town in Massachusetts, to be closer to her daughter, Garet Green, who lives in the same neighborhood, and two sisters and a stepmother who live in metro Atlanta.

Her son, Kaden Jacobucci, also moved to the area shortly after Cook.

“I absolutely love living in East Cobb,” she said. “The people are friendly, practically everybody I meet is in a book club, and the gardening is fabulous. It feels like home already, and it's great to be so close to family.”

For Cook, who was raised with seven siblings, family is important.

“Holidays are wonderful but to me there is nothing like that walk after dinner or the spontaneous times to just be able to get together and trade things from your garden or fun things like that.

It’s those day-to-day things that I think are most important,” she said.

Maybe it’s her Irish roots, but Cook repeats how lucky she is, not only in regards to her success, but in having two adult children that she enjoys spending time with.

“They are two of my favorite people in the whole world to hang out with.

They are just great. I can’t imagine being luckier — you put your time in when you’re parents and suddenly it all comes back and it’s pretty great.

Nothing beats bringing two cool people into the world and having them turn out well.”

Family plays a pivotal role in her novels as well.

“I really think what I’m capturing in my books is a slice of real women’s lives and I think our lives are important enough to celebrate,” she said. “We live our lives as family, so [the novels] are always multigenerational and the narrator is usually that middle generation.”

Cook’s writing is so well in tune with the everyday lives of women because she draws from her own life, as well as her readers. The outgoing personality stays conntected to her fans through Facebook, Twitter and a blog on her own website, www.clairecook.com, often asking them for feedback or to answer questions that pertain to the

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“The two things I hear the most are

‘oh my God, you’re writing my life’ and ‘I can’t remember the last

laughed out loud.’

time I

Those are the reasons I write.”

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novel she is writing at the moment.

“Those authentic details make your work come alive,” she said. “When my readers get to be a part of it they are so thrilled. I just love that. The two things I hear the most are ‘oh my God, you’re writing my life’ and ‘I can’t remember the last time I laughed out loud.’ Those are the reasons I write.”

Cook’s novels always have a healthy dose of comedy, ripe with mishaps, quirky characters and typically a protagonist whose self-deprecating attitude is both relatable and humorous.

“I think in all of us is this insecure person just hoping we don’t trip and fall,” Cook said.

But along with the humor are very real, sometimes emotional, stories.

“Sometimes something that’s sad or embarrassing, if you tweak it just a little bit it becomes funny. Throwing things a little off balance is often what makes it funny.

It’s just how I view the world—I choose to look at the world that way. And that’s what I want to bring to the world [through my novels]. I get so many emails from people saying ‘this book got me through something really tough.’”

So many of her stories are about reinvention because that is the story of her own life.

Now that she’s pumping out about a novel a year, it’s hard to imagine Claire Cook suffering from writer’s block. But although she knew she wanted to be a writer since elementary school, it wasn’t until her early 40s that she began writing her first novel, Ready to Fall.

“I was absolutely hiding from the thing I wanted to do most in my life but was afraid to go for,” she said. “And then suddenly decades had passed and I found myself sitting outside my daughter’s swim practice at 5:30 in the morning, and it just hit me like a ton of bricks that I might just live my whole life and never try. So one cold New England winter I sat in the minivan and wrote the first draft and it ended up selling to the first publisher who asked to read it.

So decades of procrastination, and I was the only one standing in my way.”

That theme resonates with many in her fan base—following those “buried dreams” is often the topic of discussion at Cook’s lectures and book signings. She was featured on a Today Show segment in 2009 about reinvention. Cook is delighted to be a motivator, using her life as an example.

“This is the career I almost didn’t have, so I feel so lucky to have it. You go through life and you’re taking care of families and you just put [those dreams] aside and then you ask ‘can I still do this?’ I like to be able to tell people ‘yes, you absolutely can.’”

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By Michael Pallerino

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Photography by Reid Traylor

OPPORTUNITIES In Marietta Business growth continues strong in Cobb’s county seat

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M A R I E T T A

Marietta Mayor Steve ‘Thunder’ Tumlin, right. Tumlin and other officials credit a variety of factors in boosting the city’s growth, including the city’s ability to continue its identity, low tax rates and strong infrastructure.

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Wendy Bunch likes business in Marietta. How much?

She’s run a successful business in the area for more than 15 years and recently relocated to the Square.

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sk Mitzi Moore what it means to be a chapter in the ongoing success story that is the Marietta small business community, and she’ll tell you about her father. In 1999, Moore and her dad, Jack Smith, a former engineer at Lockheed Martin and long-time plumber, founded Sundial Plumbing Services.

The father and daughter team quickly built a strong following in and around the Marietta area. Nearly 13 years later, Moore, Sundial’s owner and president, says her family’s story is an ideal snapshot of the people and businesses that make the Marietta business community one of the area’s most unique.

Moore may be one of Marietta’s biggest cheerleaders.

As head of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Development group and board chair for Chattahoochee Technical College, she continues to give back to the community that gave her an opportunity to be successful.

“The people of Marietta are so friendly,” Moore says.

“There is such a strong sense of community for a big city.

Our consumers are educated and progressive. They demand value from the business community and local government. They’re very discriminating too, which, as a small business owner, I think is very good. They’re used to a good quality of life. If your business survives, you are going to know what makes them happy.”

Low tax rates. A fiscally cooperative and responsive government. Good infrastructure. A strong water and sewer system. And let’s not forget all that history. When you look at what Marietta offers, you can see why local

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merchants love to call it home.

Take the city’s opportunity and military zone programs, which encourage new businesses to locate to Marietta and existing businesses to expand there. Under the program, when two or more jobs are created, businesses may be eligible to receive $3,500 in state employee tax credits for each new job. Businesses may claim the tax credits for every new job created for five years, beginning in their first year of eligibility.

The opportunity zones include portions of Fairground Street, Roswell Street, Powder Springs Street, the South Loop, Franklin Road, and industrial and heavy commercial locations throughout Marietta, while the military zone includes portions of Roswell Street, Cobb Parkway (Highway 41), South Cobb Drive and Atlanta Street.

“It’s the biggest economic development tool we’ve ever had,” says city manager Bill Bruton.

One of the companies that took advantage of the program was First Data, which in turn created some 350 jobs.

“We welcome and support small businesses by offering a variety of locations, pricing and resources to suit most needs,” says Beth Sessoms, the city’s economic development manager. “If an entrepreneur is thinking of starting a business – whether in Marietta’s historic downtown Square or any other part – it’s important they first do their homework and treat it as a business.”

Sessoms says there are many resources available to help.

Take Kennesaw State University’s Small Business Development Center, which can help develop a business plan and identify potential cash flow concerns up front.

“Once the business is found to be financially sound, the entrepreneur is more confident in opening a new business,” Sessoms says.

Where Shopping is an Experience You Will Remember!

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Mark Morgan, president of the Marietta Business Association, touts community involvement as a plus to the area.

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For more than two-and-half years, Steve “Thunder” Tumlin has served as Marietta’s mayor. Even today, the native is in awe of the changes that impact the city.

“When I was raised here, we were a small outlying community, as opposed to being purely suburban,” says Tumlin, who also is an attorney with Smith, Tumlin, McCurley, Patrick. “Most of the people I saw on a day-to-day basis were in their shops. Most people lived and worked here.

Today, a lot live here and work in Atlanta.”

Tumlin says that one of Marietta’s most redeeming qualities is its ability to change with the changing times, yet still keep its identity. “Growth has been the biggest change. But even so, Marietta has been able to maintain its small-town flavor. My family had a business next to Lockheed.

When our county was a third of the size, Lockheed had 30,000 people. We were so dependent on them and it helped our community.”

Shifting from mostly manufacturing to a more service-oriented economy continues to strengthen the Marietta economy. “A lot of things have stayed the same; we’ve just gotten bigger,” Tumlin says.

As a small business owner and president of the Marietta Business Association, Mark Morgan knows a thing or two about

how the city is entwined with the community. “Simply driving around Marietta you can see small businesses everywhere,” says Morgan, who also is VP of sales and marketing for 360cobb.com, a website that promotes Cobb County businesses and events.

“The ones who are most successful are those who get involved in their community. People like doing business with people they know and businesses that give back.

That’s Marietta.”

Wendy Bunch-Heyer knows this.

After 15 years of selling real estate in Cobb County, a couple of friends suggested she move her office to the Square a year ago. “It took a lot of time, a lot of thinking and trying to process the ‘what if I do this?’ scenario,” says BunchHeyer, an associate broker for The Wendy Bunch Team, RE/MAX. “One year later my company was nominated as a Cobb Chamber Small Business of the Year. A real estate office nominated for something like that in this economy? It shows you the true power of what a community can do to support a small business owner.”

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FALL FASHION PREVIEW GUCCI EXPLORES ITS DARK,

GLAMOROUS SIDE

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BY DANIELA PETROFF

The latest Gucci woman is an enigma, combining rigor and romance in the same wisp of a body.

coats were paired with demure velvet skirts and embroidered seethrough equestrian pants.

Night wear is dreamy and feminine with long dresses in wrinkled tulle or velvet, embroidered with hand-sewn floral patterns.

The new stirrup bag, roomy as well as classy, has a revisited metallic spur closure. Gucci offers a more

structured version of the saddle bag for eveningwear in de rigeur black crocodile.

Footwear is either flat and masculine, or slipper-like with a sharp high heel.

The models wore their hair long and pulled back, but sported glasses to give the collection a brainy accent.

One thing is sure — the lady is dark, as underlined by the chiaroscuro lighting effect at the Wednesday show that opened Milan Fashion Week for the fall-winter 2012 season.

"This is a modern-day romanticism, a dramatic sensuality, a dark glamour, with subtle games of provocative intellect," creative director Frida Giannini wrote about her latest collection.

The collection mixes military accents with ultra-feminine styles complete with sequins and slits. The basic Gucci silhouette has a tiny waist and straight skirt with uneven hemline, long in back, shorter in front with subtle draping.

On a strictly dark background, Gucci brightens up the look with tapestry textiles, floral prints and embroidery.

Colors are never garish but rather dark shades of green, plum and indigo blue.

Velvet and silk or brocades and leather created an opulent look, highlighted by over-the-top feathered creations.

Crocodile riding boots and oversized

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Brenda Smith finds international success in second career by therra gwyn photography by reid traylor

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Smith does her work from a studio in East Cobb, but her work is popular nationwide.

Just check out the shot, opposite page, of Ella Thomas, actress and producer (CSI New York, All My Children) trying on Brenda Smith's earrings, which she ended up wearing to the Oscars.

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To call jewelry designer Brenda Smith a late bloomer would not be accurate.

However, to say that the 63-year-old artist has created a surprise second career — and become a stunning overnight success in a field where accomplished artisans can toil for decades without garnering notice - would be accurate.

Just five short years ago Smith had never created a single piece of jewelry in her life. These days the Woodstock resident — who has a studio in East Cobb — enjoys national prominence, including the thrill of seeing earrings she created worn at the Academy Awards and having her unique designs featured in the premier jewelry gallery on one of the premier shopping avenues in the United States, Aaron Faber Gallery, located on 5th Avenue in New York. She also enjoys international renown, having received a prize commendation in the International Pearl Design competition. As an American, she beat out contestants from nine other nations for that honor. Earlier this year she received a nod from a celebrity judge when outspoken TV personality Sharon Osbourne decided to wear Smith’s “Celebration” earrings this season on “America’s Got Talent.”

And to think none of this would have happened but for a life event that many people would consider disheartening if not downright catastrophic.

Just a few years ago Smith was enjoying a solid and accomplished career as a creative director when the company she worked for was sold and they downsized her right out of a job. Unemployed after many decades and not sure what to do next, one thing was certain for Smith – doing nothing was out of the question.

“When you’re creative, you can’t just stop,” she insists.

She certainly didn’t stop. While looking for something interesting to dabble in, her friend Cecila Gettemy (owner of Gettemy’s Jewelers in Woodstock) prompted her to consider learning to make jewelry. Smith had never considered using her artistic talents to fashion necklaces, earrings or rings but was willing to give it a try.

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She set out to study the basics. She learned about crafting pieces using precious metal clay and beads, she took classes on how to work with silver and gold.

Before she knew it there was no turning back.

“I was a sponge,” she says of her time learning about materials and techniques, “It was so fulfilling.”

Fast forward after a few years of classes and workshops and Smith not only found herself teaching jewelry design at Young Harris college, but incredibly she also found herself on the fast track to a brand new second act, one that was both intensely creative and very profitable.

“It evolved very quickly,” she says simply of her meteoric rise in a career she had not even considered a few years before, “I really do attribute it to God.” While much of her one-of-a-kind art jewelry contains precious stones and metals and is priced accordingly (one 18K gold necklace entitled “Introspective” sells for an impressive $11,000) Smith still wants her designs to be accessible and is willing to craft custom pieces for as little as a few hundred dollars. She also continues to find inspiration almost everywhere she goes.

“I’m not interested in doing what someone else has already done,” Smith says of her creative process and designs, “What I do is an extension of me. It’s who I am.”

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of If you feel the earth trembling on the Marietta Square Sept. 29, don’t be alarmed. Lauretta Hannon, aka the Cracker Queen, and her tribe of fellow queens are known for laughing so hard the walls shake.

Lauretta, who was deemed the ‘funniest woman in Georgia’ by Southern Living, will read excerpts from her upcoming book during the gathering at the Marietta Museum of History— laughter is a guarantee.

I meet Lauretta on a sultry late afternoon at Judith Ann Photography studio in Powder Springs. As I wait for her arrival, close friend Judith Ann asks if I’ve met Lauretta before.

“You’re in for a treat,” she says.

“She’s a pistol.”

During our interview, I soon find Lauretta lives up to her reputation and practices what she preaches. Not that she is the preachy type. But the last few chapters of her 2009 memoir The Cracker Queen advises how to live the life of a Cracker Queen. “It’s just an attitude toward the tough times in life and how you move forward,” she said.

Humor plays a big role. “Trust me, she who laughs, lasts,” she writes in her memoir. Our talk is filled with

by Stacey L. Evans photography by Reid Traylor laughter. Not the smile and politely chuckle kind, but the throw-your-headback and feel the rumbles in your belly kind. I imagine her laughter reverberates through the entire town of Powder Springs, where she resides with husband Jim. Laughter is what got her through the difficult times. And growing up poor in a dysfunctional family in several small towns in Georgia, tough times were numerous. Lauretta doesn’t hold back in her memoir, detailing her mother’s drinking, her dad’s death, antics of her Crazy Aunt Carrie and things that haunted her in Savannah.

“That was our number one coping skill when I was young, keeping our wits about us,” she said. “I believe there is a deep spiritual dimension to humor that has not really been thoroughly explored. To me, humor is deadly serious business. It breaks down barriers between people, it breaks your own preconceived notions down and opens you up to something that otherwise you wouldn’t have been receptive to. So much of humor has some kind of tragedy buried somewhere underneath it or some kind of taboo or pain, that’s why I say it’s serious.”

After The Cracker Queen, readers kept asking her for more of the “selfhelp” part of the book. But instead of writing a 12-step manual, Lauretta shares advice through rich stories. Her upcoming book, tentatively titled Sermons for Twisted Sisters, will explore her spiritual journey.

“It’s something of a spiritual memoir. [In this book] I’m going to delve more into the spiritual aspect of what being a Cracker Queen means. And really what that means is living a life full of joy, humor and gratitude. And when the dark days come, it’s about looking for the lesson or the gift hidden within the disaster and moving forward. Of course you have to have a wicked sense of humor along the way and be a warrior. The premise of this book is that we are supposed to be happy—our natural state should be one of joy—so we have to identify the things that are keeping us from the great riches of life.”

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In 2000 Lauretta Hannon, who was a commentator on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, began telling stories on Georgia Public Radio.

Cra a is at h ..w . o S

Lauretta Hannon poses in the outdoor studio of Judith Ann Photography in Powder Springs.

r cke

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“Listeners responded the most to stories that featured very strong, outrageously flawed yet wonderful female relatives,” she said. “I thought about what kind of person some of the relatives represent.

They are certainly southern, but the model for southern femininity seems to be either the southern belle or the hillbilly caricature. It seems to be two extremes.

My people were so poor and came up so hard on my mother’s side we couldn’t relate to the southern belle.

My mother’s people were so poor they worked for the sharecroppers.

I thought, this is a person of great inner beauty and strength, but this is not the belle, this is the cracker.

It’s a loaded word and I love that about it.

I like that it has different meanings for different people and it’s really opened up a lot of discussion across racial lines that’s been really healthy. Anyone can be a Cracker Queen—it’s not defined by race, gender, age, geography or anything. It’s an attitude.”

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Lauretta jokes that she is no guru or cult leader, but she is often asked what’s the secret to being so happy. While her skeptical nature makes her resistant to any kind of “self-help,” Lauretta says living the way of the Cracker Queen has made her life rich. Her advice: TELL YOUR STORY, EVEN IF IT’S KEPT IN A LOCKED JOURNAL: I had a recurring nightmare for many years where I’d be expelling gruesome things out of my mouth and never realized that was me trying to get out some of the painful, ugly stuff in my story. Once I started writing the book, I never had that nightmare again. Whatever kind of writing you do, it’s never wasted. You get so much perspective on things that you wouldn’t get otherwise. I think writing is like an active prayer in some ways.

LISTEN: Disconnect yourself from the noise of

ALL LIT UP

the world. Turn off your technology and remove yourself, even if it’s for five minutes a day. Find your place, be still and listen and you will start figuring out what you need to do to have a better life.

BRING THE FUN BACK: If you’re feeling disjointed, like you have too much going on in your world, think about a time in your life when you felt most alive — it could be when you were 8 years old and rode horses for the first time — and then try to bring aspects of that into your current life. It’s going to make you feel better.

Sept. 29

2 p.m. at the Marietta Museum of History, 1 Depot Street, Marietta

Lauretta ensures there will be lots of cackling, but there is also a more serious focus.

“It’s a literary event, it’s not just a wild party. I’m calling it All Lit Up for two reasons: the literary nature of the event and the fact that the next book will try to show folks how to have a brighter, lighter life. In conjunction with that, I’ll be inviting attendees to “get their glow on” and “glam it up” at the event — just meaning they are welcome to wear glittery/ luminous things as a symbol of the radiance they have on the inside. The goal will be to light up the room on Sept. 29!” said Lauretta. $10 admission. All proceeds benefit the museum.

For more information, call 770.794.5710

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Lauretta said discarding her fears to tell her story was difficult, but necessary.

“The burden of carrying [my story] just kept growing as I got older and I wasn’t releasing it. That story had to come out one way or another and I had reached a point where I said I don’t care if my publisher is Kinko’s and I’m that quirky little lady selling books out of the back of her car—this is going to come on out of me because it needs to. And so I released any fears around it, because I knew I would shortchange the reader if I worried too much ‘what are my family members going to think, what if I revealed I was really ashamed of such and such happening.’ But you know what, I’m not the only one, I’m sure of that and maybe it will touch someone out there in a good way. I decided it was more important to release the story than try to be safe and just keep holding it in.”

Hearing readers’ response to her story has enriched her life tremendously, she said. Through her writing seminars, she encourages others to share their stories as well. One of Lauretta’s favorite quotes is “The universe is made of stories, not of atoms” by the poet Muriel Rukeyser.

“I love that. That’s why I love history and why I’m doing the event at Marietta Museum of History to support them. Our personal narratives are based on stories. I think story is very sacred,” she said.

That love of story and history is part of what attracted her to Powder Springs. She and Jim bought the house his mother was raised in, but hadn’t been in the family’s possession since 1939.

“It’s a very old, crickety but charming house and we love it,” she said.

The sense of community was also what drew her to downtown Powder Springs.

She is active with the Seven Springs Historical Society and in 2004 she documented the city’s history in her first published work, Images of America: Powder Springs.

“I’m fascinated with our history and history of the town. I like places where I can breathe. I like community. I like to put roots down in a place. I wanted to learn about Powder Springs, I wanted to know about the 150 year old tree that lives in my driveway. I wanted to know the stories of people who live in this town. Where I grew up we weren’t moored to the community in any way. My family was dysfunctional, we didn’t belong to a church, we didn’t have anything that grounded us.

I think since I missed out on that, that I’m extra hungry now for it as an adult. I’m naturally curious. There’s always a story.”

Read more about Lauretta Hannon, register for a workshop and purchase her book at www.thecrackerqueen.com.

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Cracker Queen Cocktail Niki Fox Gardiner, a foodie blogger and former coworker of Lauretta Hannon’s, created a drink to represent the Cracker Queen.

“This is a butt-kickin’ cocktail masquerading as a pretty pink girly drink. Like any self-respecting Cracker Queen, it’s a little sweet, a little sour, and it packs a punch when it needs to,” she said.

Ingredients 1 oz. of moonshine 2 oz. of rhubarb-ginger simple syrup juice of half of a lemon dash of rhubarb bitters ice for shaking 1 12-oz. can of PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) lemon slices for garnish Combine the moonshine, simple syrup, lemon juice, bitters and ice in a cocktail shaker (or pint-sized mason jar). Cover and shake to combine and chill. Strain into a clean glass (I like to use another pint jar). Top with the PBR. It might foam quite a bit because of the sugar in the syrup, so I will sometimes pour the beer over the back of a spoon to direct it down the side of the glass - this helps

to avoid a giant head on the beer.

Stir to combine. Garnish with a slice of lemon.

Rhubarb-ginger simple syrup 2-3 stalks of rhubarb, cut into 1inch pieces (you need enough for about a cup of rhubarb) 1 thumb-sized finger of fresh ginger, sliced (you don’t have to peel it or anything) 1 cup of sugar 1 cup of water Combine everything in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the water turns pink and the rhubarb softens/breaks down. Strain into a sealable container and refrigerate. Should keep in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.

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The SMELL OF COTTON CANDY and hot dogs, squeals of delight coming from

BRIGHTLY LIT FERRIS WHEELS rows and rows of plush, colorful stuffed animals – yep, it’s time again for the

North Georgia State Fair Superior Plumbing will present the 80th annual Georgia State Fair from Sept. 20 to 30 at Jim R. Miller at 2245 Callaway Road in Marietta. This event, the largest fair in metro Atlanta, attracts nearly 300,000 people each year, locally and from neighboring states. The fair features live music, free attractions and shows, farm animals, flower shows, blue ribbon competitions, local entertainment, and a variety of food.

But don’t forget about the rides on the Great James H. Drew Exposition midway! It is one of the largest carnival midways in the nation and features the Wildcat Rollercoaster.

The Georgia Lottery concert series is open to fair attendees.

Newsboys, Building 429 and Luminate are the headliners and will perform Sept. 21, followed by Steve Holy on Sept. 22, Sara Evans on Sept. 26, Thompson Square on Sept. 27, Colt Ford on Sept. 28 and Mark Wills on Sept. 29.

Concerts will take place in a covered arena at 8 p.m. They are free with fair admission.

Lisa Dufresne and her horse show is among the new attractions this year. With three horses and nine American miniatures, she will guide them in five acts, including a comedy show. Peter Hart will bring his puppet show to the fairgrounds, which is appropriate for all ages. Al the Artist will also make his debut at the fair in his brightly-colored, bicycle-powered “cartoon car,” creating art for patrons.

Fair admission is $7 daily. Children 10 and younger will be admitted free. Ride tickets are $1 each or $20 for 22 tickets and $50 for 55 tickets. Parking is $3. ATMs will be available on the midway.

Discount tickets will be available at all metro Atlanta Walgreens stores from Aug. 20 to Sept. 21. Prices are $3.50 for adults and $11 for 22 ride tickets.

Advance tickets can be purchased for $5 for adults and $11 for a book of 22 tickets. There will be a $1 fee for postage and handling. They are on sale now at www.northgeorgiastate fair.com. Tickets are also available by sending a check or money order to North Georgia State Fair, P.O. Box 777, Kennesaw, GA 30156.

There will also be ride specials. The “Pay-One-Price” ride special is Sept. 24 ($15), Sept. 20, 25 and 26 ($18), and Sept.

22 and 29 ($25) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Fair hours are Monday to Thursday from 4 to 11 p.m., Fridays from 4 p.m. to midnight, Saturday from 10 a.m to midnight, and Sundays from 12:30 to 10 p.m. >>>>For more information, call (770) 423-1330 or (770) 528-8989 after Sept. 3 www.northgeorgiastatefair.com, email tod.miller@northgeorgiastatefair.com or mmkromer@northgeorgiastatefair.com or visit www.facebook.com/thenorthgeorgiastatefair.

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By Meredith Pruden Photography by R e i d Tr a y l o r

For The Weather Channel anchor and West Cobb resident Jen Carfagno, a love of all things weather led to a successful and, ultimately, very fulfilling meteorology career.

“I always liked the outdoors,” Carfagno said. “As a kid, I loved going to the pool and watching the weather. I never had that one quintessential event you hear meteorologists talk about, but I was always into it and it was just happenstance I fell into meteorology.”

Whether happenstance or fate, a high school math teacher with a pilot’s

license helped fuel Carfagno’s passion for the elements. “I really loved math and also wanted to be a pilot,” Carfagno said. “He gave me a book on flying that was full of weather.” She was hooked.

“One thing I love about math is that there’s an exact answer to a problem,” she said. “But, meteorology is a puzzle to put together. There’s math involved, but why do cows fly through the air during a tornado? There’s not an exact answer, so trying to figure it out is exciting. People think all weather is the same but there are no two events alike.”

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“Meteorology is a puzzle to put together.

There’s math involved, but why do cows fly through the air during a tornado? There’s not an exact answer, so trying to figure it out is exciting.”

Spurred by a longstanding enthusiasm for weather, and that welltimed gift from her teacher, Carfagno set off for Penn State, where she received her degree in meteorology. After graduation, she reached out to contacts at The Weather Channel, where she previously had interned, and landed her first job placing labels on weather maps and ensuring severe weather warnings were filed. It wasn’t long before she moved up the ranks to forecaster and began an apprenticeship program, working on air for a couple of hours a week in her spare time. During those years, Carfagno began working as a meteorology strategist, developing new product ideas, and she applied to Emory’s business school.

Just as she was about to start her MBA program, she landed the job of her dreams at The Weather Channel.

“I was accepted at Emory’s Goizueta Business School for the Executive MBA Program, and that meant I was going to have to stop my apprenticeship. As soon as I put in my school deposit, The Weather Channel offered me the full-time job, and I chose this because I had worked so hard to get there.”

Now, 14 years since she first started at The Weather Channel, Carfagno works as a Weekend View anchor and also fills in on Weather Today. “It’s really fun to talk about weather,” she said. “I could talk about it all day. It’s a conversation starter, so I feel like it’s a very social thing. We always work in the weather but try to tie it to things people are doing. We’re looking at hour-by-hour forecasts and gearing it to what you’re doing on weekends. Plus, providing safety information to people when severe weather strikes is really rewarding because we’re making a difference.”

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Above, Jen Carfagno films a segment for The Weather Channel.

You gotta wear

SHADES

The Weather Channel, with offices located in Cobb County, is celebrating its 30-year anniversary in 2012. The most-distributed cable network on air and the number two most popular app across smartphones and tablets, TWC has become one of the most trusted and widely known media companies today, as well as an industry and technology leader reaching 163 million consumers each month.

Although TWC is an industry leader with an international direction, it still remains highly engaged with audiences through its unique brand of localized storytelling. On May 2 of this year, The Weather Channel team celebrated its industry leading innovation and three-decade long tradition, with its first broadcast taking place May 2, 1982, with an ‘80s-themed employee party complete with Atlanta-based band Yacht Rock and food trucks.

For TWC fans, the team celebrated with on-air segments looking back at the first 30 years, as well as the launch of an all-new web site at www.weather.com.

For The Weather Channel, if the last 30 years are any indication, the future’s so bright, they gotta wear shades.

COBB LIFE August/September

2012

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It’s no surprise that Carfagno, who has two girls, Kelly, 5, and Natalie, 3, with her husband Neil, loves outdoor activities like running, gardening, going to the beach, and attending outdoor concerts, as much as she loves weather. “We really like living in Cobb County,” she said. “There are a ton of running trails, and there’s easy access to dining, shopping and festivals. Plus, we have a great group of friends here.”

Whether she’s hanging with family and friends, gardening in her backyard, running the mountain trails, or anchoring Weekend View, Jen Carfagno has always got an eye to the sky, preparing to deliver the most engaging, up-to-date news to her audience. Check her out weekends on The Weather Channel.

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WEST COBB’S FUNERAL HOME OF CHOICE

Proudly Serving Cobb County and Surrounding Communities for the past 17 years

FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED On-Site Crematory

David W. Roach, Owner

At West Cobb Funeral Home, we are committed to providing the most complete services available to the families of this community.

See why more families are choosing our home, our services and our facilities.

Chris Messina, General Manager

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Whitney Thomas puts the finishing touches on Coca-Cola Infused Brownies with Whip Cream in a Caramel Sauce inside the KSU Center kitchen.Opposite page: shrimp and grits prepared by Powder Springs resident Margaret Karidza.

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KSU COOKING CLASSES

By Joan Durbin Photography by Reid Traylor

I

n just two hours they had to be ready to serve a very special dinner to families, friends and distinguished guests. Yet none of the eight student chefs betrayed any signs of the jitters.

Primus Jones, Jr. calmly checked the pans of ribs he had just pulled from the oven to see if they were ready for a glaze of his Coca-Cola barbecue sauce.

Jones, who with Darlene Kerr, a friend from Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Roswell, has been cooking for crowds “for a long, long time,” said some chefs he knows had been asking him why he never got a professional license.

It was the impetus for him to enroll in the nine-month Culinary Apprenticeship Certificate Program at Kennesaw State University. Tonight’s Chef’s Table dinner marks the end of the program for Jones and his seven fellow student chefs.

Unlike more classroom-based programs, the CAC program adopts the

European method of placing the student with an experienced chef to provide them with direct, real-world training.

It was exactly the kind of instruction Jones said he needed. “You thought you knew a lot until you start seeing chefs and other people involved in a professional kitchen. It takes what you know to a whole new level.”

Brittney Byrd of Acworth works at a payroll company but loves to cook and dreams of having her own cooking show. She’s making fried chicken for the dinner.

“My kids are ages 7 and 9 and they love this,” she said as she dredges buttermilk-soaked chicken parts in a mix of panko, cornmeal, flour, rosemary, garlic and cayenne before pan frying it.

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Brittney Byrd of Acworth dredges buttermilk-soaked chicken parts in a mix of panko, cornmeal, flour, rosemary, garlic and cayenne before pan frying it.

Georgia Memorial Park Funeral Home & Cemetery, serving the metro area for over fifty years, is devoted to delivering the highest level of service and satisfaction possible to families. We are committed to excellence daily by each member of our staff. As an honored Dignity Memorial™ provider, we are empowered to create a meaningful service.

Contact us to find out how a Dignity Memorial Provider can be of benefit to your family and receive a valuable Personal Planning Guide.

2000 Cobb Pkwy SE • Marietta, GA 30060 770.432.0771 • 770.952.4478 www.georgiamemorialpark.com Al Harris - General Manager

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Paula Kirchhofer - Sales Manager

COBB LIFE

Waleska resident Jacob Doss is preparing watermelon gazpacho, a play on Southern cucumber, tomato and onion salad. A big Ball jar of pickled watermelon rind he made at home sits nearby waiting to garnish the dish.

“I have 13 years doing just about everything in professional kitchens, but I haven’t been certified. Now I’m legitimate,” Doss said as he worked. The world of a chef is “a hard thing to break into without formal training.

This program is the most reasonable for what it is.

Believe me. I looked into others and you go into big debt.”

The CAC program is part of KSU’s College of Continuing and Professional Education. Students receive instruction weekly at KSU Center from Instructor Chef Frazer Breckenridge and in the kitchens of Atlanta’s top restaurants through apprenticeships.

Locations include Endive Catering, Elevation Chophouse, Park 75 at Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta and Villa Christina at Perimeter Summit.

Pam Moss, the CAC program manager, said students in the fledgling program have appreciated its hands-on approach. “The unique part is instead of learning theory, they get down to the actual food prep and cooking and baking.”

Elevation Chophouse owner Michael Bowman’s restaurant has already hired two of this class’s graduates. The commitment level of all of the students he has mentored is laudatory, Bowman said.

“They’re choosing to do it. They don’t have to do it, but they do because they love it,” he said.

For more information about the program, visit ksuculinary.com.

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marking a MILESTONE

5

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre celebrates

YEARS

By Stacey L. Evans Photography by Reid Traylor

From opera to zombies, much has happened in the gleaming, robust Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre that looms over I-75 since its opening in 2007.

Blow-up dolls packed the seats in the theatre, filling in as audience members for a scene in Tyler Perry’s “For Colored Girls” movie.

Billy Crystal set up his own gym to work out in during his five-day string of performances there.

Twyla Tharp’s “The Princess and the Goblin” made its world premiere on its stage with the Atlanta Ballet.

Smyrna resident Alexandria Payne accepted the award for Best Leading Actress at the Shuler Hensley Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theatre, paving the way for her win at the National High School Musical Theater Awards (or Jimmys) in New York City.

Yanni, Justin Bieber, Alice Cooper and Chaka Khan filled its chamber with music.

Its doors blew open when a tornado touched down

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nearby right before a performance.

And after it became overrun with zombies, it was blown up.

OK, the last part was only on television. The Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center was rented by The Walking Dead, a locally-filmed AMC television show about a group of people trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. In the episode (Season one, episode 6), the facility doubles as the Centers for Disease Control headquarters, which detonates in the end. When filming the show, the producers tried to keep it secret so as to not attract onlookers. But it didn’t get past the Secret Service, who were traveling with President Obama to nearby Dobbins Air Reserve Base.

“We had tanks and dead bodies all out here on the

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Managing Director Michael Taormina reflects on the venue’s successes

plaza,” said Michael Taormina, the managing director.

“Of course the Secret Service is in helicopters saying ‘what is going on down there?’ That was funny.”

Taormina, a New Orleans native, moved to Cobb in 2007 when he was hired to open and run the center.

“When I came here, it was for me to figure out what this building was going to be about,” Taormina said.

The Atlanta Ballet and the The Atlanta Opera came on board as resident companies, along with the Gas South Broadway Series. But to be financially stable, the facility also has to have commercial acts, said Taormina. To date, the venue has had over 650 performances on its stage.

In the past five years, the center has come to be the venue of choice for many acts. The main draw is the size of its 2,750-seat theatre, which Taormina calls the ‘sweet spot’ that many artists like to play at — it’s not too small or too large. In addition, the easy access, onsite parking, a physical plan that’s easy to navigate, amenities offered and a first-class backstage makes it a winner for promoters and talent.

“We’re fulfilling a very important function in this community regionally and also locally and nationally,” said Taormina. “Prior to [the facility opening] we had the Fox Theatre at 4,700 seats and Symphony Hall had 1,700.

[Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre] complements the market, therefore providing more opportunities for promoters and artists to bring their talent through. Prior to that, if the dates were booked at larger venues they probably skipped Atlanta. On the national scene, we have made a very important footprint for ourselves in this region.”

But Taormina wanted the venue to be about more than just the tickets it sells.What’s unique about the facility is the role it plays in community outreach with educational programming for students throughout Georgia.

The Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Foundation established ArtsBridge, which includes field trips, master classes, workshops, artists in schools and the Shuler Hensley Awards (now named the Georgia High School Musical Theater Awards). The program’s mission is to inspire creativity and foster the next generation of artists and art supporters. It has served over 185,000 students and educators from over 26 school districts since 2007.

Among all the accomplishments at the arts centre, what Taormina is the most proud of is the creation of the awards.

“It’s made a huge difference and I see the difference in the faces of the kids and the parents. Another part of [what I love about it] is working with exceptional, consistent, strong leadership through the foundation,” he said.

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Taormina was involved with a similar student musical awards program in Pittsburgh and wanted to bring it to Georgia. The show has been highly successful in Atlanta and it’s become a national model for other cities growing their programs. Atlanta was the first to broadcast the production on local television, and the first to produce a live show for TV. The 2011 show was nominated for a Southeast Emmy Award.

“That’s the show I sit through the most. I sit through every moment of that show,” said Taormina, who attends about a third of all the shows at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

“Not everyone can be a cheerleader or be in the band or play football. But being part of the the high school musical—whether it’s backstage, onstage, or whatever—recognizes their talent and abilities. Many careers have started because of [a student’s] involvement in a high school musical. As a matter of fact, the choreographer for Kristen Chenowith’s show is a Pebblebrook graduate.”

Not only has Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre made an impact through its educational programming, but the impact the center has made in the Cumberland area is evident in the surge of new retailers, restaurants, and other businesses, as well as the improvements in building facades.

“The economic impact we’ve had on the Cobb Galleria area has been tremendous,” said Taormina. “We contribute to the economic base of Cobb County through sales tax and all this revenue, people eating out, buying clothes, buying tickets.”

There have been so many highlights through the years, Taormina can’t choose a favorite.

“There’s not one moment I can pick out. I enjoy meeting folks and working with them and making sure they receive the highest level of service when here,” he said. “Every audience is unique and every show is unique. After all these years I’ve been doing it you’d think it’d be a piece of cake but there is always something different. Having a lot of these creative geniuses in your building is very rewarding because they are creating on your stage, literally. And then you are presenting them in your venue, and that memory stays with [audience members] forever.”

The venue has hosted over 650 performances since its opening.

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ROTARY

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www.eastcobbrotary.com

WHAT’S ROTARY Rotary International is a volunteer organization of business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian service, and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. There are approximately 1.2 million Rotary club members belonging to 34,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas.

Founded in Chicago in 1905, Rotary celebrated 100 years of service in 2005. The Rotary Foundation has awarded more than US $2.1 billion in grants, which are administered at the local level by Rotary clubs.

What is the purpose of Rotary?

Rotary clubs exist to improve communities through a range of humanitarian, intercultural and educational activities. Clubs advise international understanding by partnering with clubs in other countries. Rotary also encourages high ethical stands in all vocations.

What do Rotary clubs do?

Rotary clubs address critical issues at home and abroad by providing health care and medical supplies, clean water, food, job training, youth development, and education to millions of people in need. Examples of Rotary’s focus areas include: Polio Eradication - In 1985, Rotary International created PolioPlus - a program to immunize all the world’s children against polio. To date, Rotary has contributed more than US $1 billion and countless volunteer hours to the protection of more than two billion children in 122 countries. Rotary is currently working to raise an additional US $200 million toward a US $355 million challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These efforts are providing much needed polio vaccine, operational support, medical personnel, laboratory equipment and education materials for health workers and parents. In addition, Rotary has played a major role in decisions by donor governments to contribute over $66 billion to the effort. With its community-based network worldwide, Rotary is the volunteer arm of the global partnership dedicated to eradicating polio.

Rotary volunteers assist in vaccine delivery, social mobilization and logistical help in cooperation with the national health ministries, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Peace - In an effort to educate tomorrow’s peacemakers and ambassadors, up to 110 Rotary World Peace Fellows are sponsored each year to study at one of the eight universities for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution. Since 2002, 431 fellows from over 75 countries have participated at a cost of more than $23 million.

International Education - Rotary is the world’s largest privately-funded source of international scholarships. Each year, about 1,000 university students receive Rotary scholarships to study abroad. Rotary clubs also coordinate a high school age student exchange program that has sent nearly 8,000 students abroad for three months to a year.

Literacy - Rotary clubs work to improve literacy rates worldwide. A unique, Rotary-pioneered approach called the Concentrated Language Encounter (CLE) has proven very effective in resource-strapped developing countries. It was also successful in Thailand, that the Thai government adopted the program nationwide.

Water Management - Recognizing the importance of clean water, many Rotary clubs help to install wells and develop water treatment and distribution systems to increase access to fresh drinking water for communities in need, especially in developing countries.

Come check out the Rotary Club of East Cobb. We meet every Wednesday from 7:00 - 8:00 A.M. at the Indian Hills Country Club.

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BEHIND THE SCENES at the Cobb Energy Per forming Ar ts Centre You see the final product, but what really happens in the preparation for it?

We’ve got your answer here. Cobb Life photographer Reid Traylor was given exclusive backstage access to the performance of “Young Frankenstein” which was featured at the centre earlier this year.

Above, one minute till showtime. Left, the crew prepares to hang the set. Top, cast members prepare to rehearse.

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Above, steel rigging and more steel rigging. Right, Cory English applies makeup for his role as Frankenstein. Below, Matthew Bell, Head of Audio for the Young Frankenstein National Tour, runs a sound check.

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photography by reid traylor and mark wallace maguire

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by stacey l. evans

atchwork in owder Springs

Southern Quilt Trail spreads through area

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uilts have always held a special place in 73-yearold Gloria Hildebrand’s heart. She has over 300 quilts in her Austell home, her bounty from 45 years of scouring antique stores and shows. A few are quilts crafted by her mother and grandmother.

It’s that sense of nostalgia that draws her to them.

“When I say the word quilt I get a warm, fuzzy feeling because it’s just a comfort to crawl under one. I can remember when I was little, spending the night with my grandmother in their old farmhouse. If it was the least bit cool it was cold because it was so big and airy and they didn’t have central heat. She would pile quilts on and I would just snuggle under them. It was just a good feeling.”

So several years ago when Powder Springs Florist & Gift Shop owner Joe Sutton burst into the Country Store of Seven Springs with his latest idea, Hildebrand was intrigued. Sutton was always trying to persuade Country Store co-owners Hildebrand and Diane Reese to join him in his ventures.

[Note: Country Store has since closed its doors; Kiwiquilts is slated to open in the location in October].

“He threw a stack of papers at us and said ‘OK girls, this is our next project.’ We thought ‘uh-oh, what has Joe got for us to do today,” said Hildebrand.

Sutton had read an article about the Appalachian Quilt Trail. The trail started in 2001 in Ohio by Donna Sue Groves, who painted a quilt on her barn to honor her mother and the heritage of quilting. The idea caught fire, and 8-foot by 8-foot painted quilts began appearing on barns and historic buildings in the area. Since then, quilt trails have been established in 29 states and Canada, with over 3,000 quilts documented as part of organized trails, according to the book Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail Movement by Suzi Parron.

Q

The Double Wedding Ring pattern is above the back entrance to Powder Springs Florist & Gift Shop.

On the east side of the shop the Star in a Square quilt pattern was installed as a tribute to store owner Joe Suttons’ mother.

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Hildebrand and Reese thought a quilt trail would be a great fit for the quaint downtown of Powder Springs.

They presented the idea to the Seven Springs Historical Society, and soon the first quilt was painted on the side of the Country Store of Seven Springs, a building that dates back to the mid-1800s and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Reese and Hildebrand’s husband, Bill, painted the Star of Bethlehem, one of Hildebrand’s favorite quilt patterns. Next was Sutton’s store. He chose a pattern once quilted by his mother as a gift for his daughter.

Soon, other main street retailers began requesting quilts on their buildings. A ladies’ Bible study group painted the Floral Basket on Tea at Seven Springs, where they meet weekly.

Hillgrove High School art students painted several designs for local businesses, including Sunbonnet Sue on the barn of Frank and Mary Jo Boyd, located behind Marilyn’s Salon on Marietta Street. Grandmother’s Flower Garden was mounted on the side of The Book Worm to honor Estie Norris, a Powder Springs quilter. The 97-yearold Norris has donated one of her handmade quilts yearly since 1987 to the Seven Springs Society Musuem as part of a fundraiser.

Much like quilting circles, the trail fostered a sense of kinship among neighbors as it weaved through the small town.

“It’s something that can get the whole community involved,” said Hildebrand.

So far, the quilts total 13 in downtown Powder Springs area. As the project grew in Powder Springs, Hildebrand envisioned more—a trail that stretched beyond Cobb, winding its way through the southeast. Reese and Hildebrand dedicated many hours to visiting neighboring cities to encourage them to join. Currently, more than six counties are part of the trail.

Before a quilt can become part of the trail, it must be approved by Hildebrand. While the visual aspect plays a role in the purpose of the trail—the quilts in downtown Powder Springs do enliven the city with color—the historical aspect is just as important. All of the quilts have a story behind them, which is summarized in the plaques hung beside each one. The mission is to preserve and promote the history of traditional Folk Art quilt patterns.

“They have to send us the history of the building, a picture of the building and a picture of the quilt and if it has

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Gloria Hildebrand and Diane Reese started the Southern Quilt Trail. One of Hildebrand’s favorite patterns, the Star of Bethlehem, was the first quilt square painted for the trail. It is on the east side of the former Country Store of Seven Springs.

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history or not,” said Hildebrand. “If you have a quilt that has a special meaning we would like to do that. If not we would like to do one that has something to do with your business.”

Among the criteria for getting approval is the building have some historical significance.

Hildebrand fields calls almost daily from people inquiring about the trail, and those wanting advice on how to start their own. For Hildebrand, who is not a quilter but an avid collector, the trail is a way to promote something she’s passionate about while also benefitting the community she’s been a part of all her life.

“The point is to get people off of the interstates and traveling through the rural towns,” said Hildebrand. “It’s staggering to me how many tourists go through Georgia every year, just straight through. Some will stop in Atlanta but other than that it’s few places. Towns like this suffer when we could be attracting those tourists.”

She thinks quilts have wide appeal because almost everyone has snuggled underneath one at some point.

“I think quilts are something that we all have memories of. They used to be for comfort and some of my favorite quilts were made for comfort and warmth instead of the beauty of it. It was a necessity that every house had to have then, from the richest down to the poorest. I think it’s just something you need.”

Information: 404.218.0718; www.southernquilttrail.org Brochures detailing the trail in Powder Springs can be picked up at the Book Worm Bookstore, and at Kiwiquilts when it is open for business.

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Attention Sciatica and Low Back Pain Sufferers…

Could one hour with our doctors give you the answer to your disc pain?

Now, in Acworth, Dr. Erin Arnold, D.C. and Dr. Amy Valente, D.C. have what may be the most important breakthrough in non-surgical back pain treatment. Before and after MRI studies have shown disc bulges shrink in size – even with the most painful cases of L4-L5 & L5S1 herniations.

If you’ve had disc problems for years, recently injured your back, or you’re suffering with sciatica, you must hear about these new studies.

How “good”discs become “bad”discs:

Scientific studies tell us that spinal discs are responsible for most of the aches and pains people suffer from. Discs act like a cushion between our backbones and allow for a space at each level so the nerves can exit the spinal column.When these discs get injured or wear out from bad posture, they begin to degenerate and cause pain. Bulging and herniations begin to form, pressing on the nerve roots. If the herniations occur at L4-L5, they can severely compromise the large sciatic nerve, causing muscle weakness, tingling, and severe pain.

Over time,the discs in your back tend to get squashed or compressed, especially if you played certain sports when younger or have a job that requires lots of sitting or standing in one place for long periods of time.Car accidents,lifting things,very physical jobs just to name a few.

It’s kind of like a cookie with cream filling – the cream filling will start to ooze out from between the sides of the cookie if pressure is applied on top of the cookie (like gravity on our spines). Eventually this happens to a lot of us. Statistics show over 80% of Americans will suffer with back pain some time in their life.

The most common invasive treatment for disc herniations is surgery.

This costs quite a bit of money.Even with health insurance the patient is left with their own portion of the bill, in excess of $10,000-$15,000, and sometimes more.The recovery time and missed work can be anywhere from 3 to 6 months, not to mention the obvious severe risks associated with all surgery.But here’s the biggest problem… there is a high failure rate of back surgery. One medical study found that on average, 53% of L5-S1 back surgeries fail to produce relief of symptoms (International Orthop 1987).

How does this machine work?

You should seriously consider a less invasive approach called spinal decompression. Non-surgical spinal decompression is a new technology that has been proven to reverse disc herniations. It creates a vacuum effect on the disc, which pulls the disc back into its normal position and brings in a fresh blood supply to promote healing.

Haven’t you ever had the thought… “Gosh,if somebody could just pull me apart… I would feel a whole lot better.” Yeah, we know you have.

And it kind of makes a bit of sense. Well, someone else – actually a medical manufacturer, back pain specialists, neurosurgeons and engineers – have come up with just that: a machine that gently pulls you apart, stretches the disc to a certain point that causes a drop in pressure inside the disc (like a little vacuum in the middle of the cream filling) causing the cream filling to suck back in! You’ll simply lie on your stomach or back,whichever is comfortable,and then a specialized belt is gently put around your waist.We’ll set the machine to focus on your problem area – then the advanced decompression computer system will do the rest. Most patients feel better with just a few treatments, and best of all there will be no dangerous drugs, no invasive procedures, and no painful exercises. Spinal decompression treatments are very gentle. In fact, every once in a while I even catch a patient sleeping during treatment!

Do you have a disc problem?

Does decompression really work?

If you experience any of the following in your back or neck, chances are your pain is due to a disc bulge, herniation or degeneration: • A vise-like squeezing feeling in your back • Sitting causes back or leg pain • Stabbing pain at the belt line or in your neck • Can’t turn over in bed without hurting • Numbness in your toes or fingers • Fire down your legs • Searing pain radiates into your arm • Prickling in your leg or toes

Absolutely! When you come in we will provide you with studies that show why decompression is a preferred method of treatment. But what provides the best “proof” on how well decompression works is what patients say about it:

Before you opt for spinal surgery and go under the knife …

Finally, some good news…

If you’ve been suffering with back pain or arm/leg pain caused by a disc bulge, disc herniation or squashed or compressed discs. Until recently, the only advice for many of you suffering in pain was to try what you’ve been told: • Try exercising • Try physical therapy • Try pain medications,muscle relaxers or pain shots • Try dangerous back surgery • Just live with it If you’re like most,none of these have worked for you or you are afraid of what could happen if you do try some of these. Exercising makes you hurt more, pain medications and muscle relaxers cover up the problem and give you side effects. Pain shots can cause more pain, don’t work or don’t last very long or FIX the problem, back surgery doesn’t work or makes you worse.Or maybe you were one of the lucky ones that back surgery actually helped, but now the problem is back with a vengeance.

Whatever your situation, you owe it to yourself to check into a breakthrough Computerized Non-Surgical Treatment for back pain and sciatic or leg pain caused by a bulging, herniated or squashed disc or discs. It has helped hundreds of people who were suffering just like you. This new treatment machine we are calling the “squashed disc machine.”

PA I D A DV E RT I S I N G

Just listen to what our patients had to say: “I came into the office with neck, low back and knee pain.I had been suffering with this pain for 33 years.The pain had gotten so bad I could hardly move.When I came to the office my neck pain was a 9 on a 1-10 scale (10 being the worse) and now is a 0.My back pain was a 10/10 and is now a 1. I am so happy with the success I have had with my treatment. I now have more self approval and I am more confident.”

– Thanks, Dennis Duckworth “I had been suffering with back pain for years when I first started treatment.I had sharp pain that would shoot up my spine and to into my right shoulder.It hurt to walk or lift anything.I can now stand for longer periods of time, walk without much pain at all and have more mobility. I already feel 70% better and have not even finished my treatments yet. =The staff here is very friendly and they care about my well being. I would recommend people in pain to just come into the office and do it.”

– Your friend, Marilyn Godwin “Before I started getting spinal decompression therapy I had severe pain in my low back and numbness down my leg constantly.I had been suffering with this for 3 years. I had two nerve abrasions, multiple steroid shots in my back, pain killers, PT and water therapy and nothing worked. After the first spinal decompression treatment I could stand up straight with very little pain.I can now sleep through the night and exercise again.I am 90-100% better and I am so thankful I found this office.”

– Thanks, John Ratledge As you can see, spinal decompression has a high success rate with helping disc herniations, sciatica, and back pain. In just a matter of weeks you could be playing golf, enjoying your love life, or traveling again.

Feel the improvement and say “yes”to life again!

With my “Decompression Evaluation”we’ll be able to find the problem and then get to work on it.Think of how you’ll feel in just a few short weeks. See and feel your life change for the better. Start your body on the way to pain-free, normal living, feel tight joints rest, relax, free up, muscles tied in knots will become more supple and strength in your muscles may increase. You’re able to live life like a normal person again,without back pain – able to play with your kids,enjoy time with friends, and finally get a good night’s rest.

The single most important solution to your sciatica and back pain...

It’s time for you to find out if spinal decompression will be your sciatic and back pain solution. For a limited time only, we’re running a very special offer where you can find out if you are a candidate for spinal decompression.

What does this offer include?

Everything we normally do in our new patient evaluation. Just call before September 10, 2012, and here’s what you’ll get…

• An in-depth consultation about your health and well-being where the doctor will listen…really listen…to the details of your case.

• A complete neuromuscular examination.

• A full set of specialized x-rays to determine if a spinal problem is contributing to your pain or symptoms.

• A thorough analysis of your exam and x-ray findings so we can start mapping out your plan to being pain free.

• An extensive review of your MRI. • You’ll get to see everything first hand and find out if this amazing treatment will be your pain solution,like is has been for so many other patients.

Until September 10, you can get everything listed here for $20.The normal price for this type of evaluation including x-rays is $250, so you’re saving a considerable amount by taking us up on this offer.

Here’s what to do now: Due to the expected demand for this treatment, we suggest calling our office at once at 678-574-5678.

CALL TODAY!

678-574-5678 North Cobb Spine & Nerve Institute 3451 Cobb Pkwy, Ste 4 • Acworth

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B y M i c h a e l Ve n e z i a P h o t o g r a p h y b y Re i d Tr a y l o r

It’s summer and if you are like me you will need a few cases of light bodied, refreshing, crisp tasting whites, roses and several bottles of fruity reds for your picnics, concerts, patio sipping and the barbecue grill, which gets prime attention during our sultry Southern summers.

Here are several suggested wine styles and some popular brands which will deliver maximum pleasure and value. They are widely distributed and easy on the pocket book.

C LO S E E N C O U N T E R S

OF THE

WHITE KIND

Riesling – Whether it is dry or touched with subtle sweetness, the refreshing character of this grape varietal always pleases. Usually low in alcohol with a citrus flavor, the finest are produced in the Mosel and Rhine River regions of Germany. In addition, Washington State’s Columbia Valley also produces fine examples of this varietal. Two of my favorites are St. M from the Pfalz region of Germany and Chateau Ste. Michelle from the Columbia Valley in Eastern Washington.

Chenin Blanc – This varietal has its origins in the Loire Valley in France, the most acclaimed are labeled Vouvray. Look for the words “Demi-Sec,” which means delicately sweet or half dry.

Chateau Moncontour has a long history and is quite delicious. Fine examples of this variety can be found grown in South Africa with Ken Forrester’s Petite Chenin scoring high points on the pleasure scale.

Orvieto – This is an Italian wine produced in the high altitude region of Umbria from native grapes called Gracchetto and Procanico. Traditional grapes, a classic dry wine fermented in stainless steel. Look for the most recent vintages 2010 and 2011.

Apple and pear tree fruit flavors with some mineral characteristics of slate and stone. Santa Christina is my choice.

Vinho Verde – From the north of Portugal the famous “green wine” is very subtle, with a touch of effervescence. It is named green because of its pleasurable character when very young. It is in reality a very pale silver color with a Granny Smith apple flavors.

Castel Garcia is a consistent label widely available. Hera has just entered the market and is worth the price.

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Rose Color, Rose Aroma, Rose Flavors Cotes de Provence Rose - Provence in the south of France has the chic image and rarely disappoints. Usually a blend of several red grapes including grenache, syrah and other varietals from the region of Mediterranean France. The pale pink color, ripe red fruits and dry character make this the ultimate food wine. Try it with a salad nicoise and you will experience the flavors of Cotes d’Azur. The market has many examples such as Chateau Le Cengle. For the ultimate rose experience enjoy Domaine Ott. Moscato Rose or Pink Moscato - If you enjoy sweet wines with a refreshing sparking accent, try Emeri from Australia.

American brands such as Beringer and Sutter Home are very appealing. Serve very well chilled.

SEEING RED Our Friends the Blends - Enjoy one of the many blends that are now gaining consumer trial. The combination of 4 or 5 compatible varietals make these wines multi-dimensional and very delicious. Hot to Trot from Washington State over-delivers in the aroma and flavor department. A Cote du Rhone Rouge from France adds a touch of spice. Look for Les Violettes at Kroger and Publix.

Chianti – From the Tuscan region of Italy, it accents a ruby red color, with ripe fruit flavors and some noble earthy overtones. The Sangiovese grape’s high acidity makes it the perfect wine with pizza, subtle pasta with chopped tomatoes and basil or grilled sausages and chicken. Gabbiano is a standard and is found in all Publix and Kroger stores.

Beaujolais – The French grape called gamay is grown in southern Burgundy and has enjoyed a long history. The perfect picnic wine is often served with cheese, a crispy baguette and charcuterie. It will also benefit from a slight chill in an ice bath or cooler. Try Jadot or Dubeouf.

I hope you add a few of these selections to your summer sipping adventures.

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ig h lights A closer look at events and activities throughout Cobb County in August and September

SWORDSMAN’S BALL>>The American Cancer Society’s 39th Annual Swordsman’s Ball will be held Aug. 11 at the Cobb Galleria Centre. The chairs for the elegant black-tie optional gala, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. to midnight, are Al and Christina Martin and Mazi Mazloom. The presenting sponsor for the gala is WellStar Health System.

The theme is “Warriors of the Fight,” focusing on people who surround patients during their cancer battles such as family, friends, nurses and doctors.

The event brings together corporations, philanthropic leaders and community leaders all for the cause of fighting cancer. Proceeds from the gala benefit the American Cancer Society and its fight against cancer.

The gala will feature a silent auction as well as fine food and beverages, and there will be a musical performance by local favorite Prime. The program will also feature a video with cancer survivors and their “warriors” with them in the fight.

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For more information on the Swordsman’s Ball or to sign up to sponsor the event, contact Jessica Sweeney at (770) 429-0089 or jessica.sweeney@cancer.org.

FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK ON THE MARIETTA SQUARE>>The season of First Friday Art Walks on the Marietta Square continues Aug. 3, Sept. 7, and Oct. 5.

The Art Walk is a free self-guided tour of the Marietta Square’s eclectic art scene. Galleries, museums, cultural venues, restaurants and boutiques host artists within their businesses from 5 to 9 p.m. on the first Friday of every month, rain or shine. Look for an official Art Walk banner in the window to identify participating venues.

Choose your own route, or begin from Artists' Alley at Dupre's Antique Market at 17 Whitlock Ave. Art Walk informational maps are provided at each participating location. There is no admission charge.

Information: 770.429.1115 or www.artwalkmarietta.com

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MARIETTA/COBB MUSEUM OF ART>>Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art presents an exhibit entitled “Homes and Heroes of the Civil War” through Sept. 9. The Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art is located in downtown Marietta at 30 Atlanta Street.

Museum hours are Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, free for children younger than six years and free for members.

Information: 770.528.1444 or www.mariettacobbartmuseum.org LEGALLY BLONDE – THE MUSICAL>>The hilarious MGM film and Broadway smash hit “Legally Blonde – The Musical” is making its local premiere on The Lyric stage. “Legally Blonde” follows sorority star Elle Woods, an underestimated blonde who doesn’t take no for an answer. When her boyfriend dumps her for someone more serious, Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before: Harvard Law School. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to oneself never goes out of style. Atlanta Lyric Theatre presents “Legally Blonde – The Musical” through Aug. 12 at The Earl Smith Strand Theatre on the Marietta Square. Performance times vary.

Ticket prices range from $30 to $45. This show is not part of the season subscription package.

Information: 404.377.9948 or www.atlantalyrictheatre.com SILENT COMEDY SHORTS >>The Earl Smith Strand Theatre hosts a program of four 25-minute silent comedy shorts featuring Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, and Harold Lloyd.

These films highlight the greatest silent film comedians of all time and each short will be accompanied by a theatre organist, with a different approach to their music. Live organ accompaniment is by Ron Carter on the Mighty Allen Theater Organ. “Silent Comedy Shorts” are projected August 26 at 3 p.m. at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre on the Marietta Square. Tickets are $8 for adults, $7 for students, seniors, and active-duty military.

Information: 770.293.0080 or www.earlsmithstrand.org Information: 770.528.1444 or www.mariettacobbartmuseum.org DEAD CAN DANCE >>In 2012, Dead Can Dance will embark on their first world tour since 2005 and will release their first album since “Spiritchaser,” produced in 1996. Dead Can Dance will perform on Sept. 5 at 8 p.m. in the John A. Williams Theatre at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Ticket prices range from $48 to $98.

Information: 770.916.2808 or www.cobbenergycentre.com

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>>MAJOR WORKS BY BRONISLAW BAK Through Aug.

>>MARTY STUART Country artist Marty Stuart performs

26, Gallery 4463 in Acworth Georgia will be holding a special exhibit of works by the late artist Bronislaw Bak. Included are paintings from the Minnesota collection of Elisabeth Paper, a former student of Bak's and are are among the artist's signature works. This original show of 50 works by the late Georgia artist and educator is part of a decade long traveling retrospective that will be housed in Gallery 4463's Annex Special Exhibits Gallery.

Bronislaw Bak and his wife Hedi were internationally recognized artists who settled in Georgia in the 1970s. He taught two and three dimensional design at Georgia Southern and maintained a studio and workshop in Statesboro, Georgia until his death in 1981. Bronislaw was a talented multi-media artist who designed and executed major public art sculpture, stained glass windows as well as paintings and hand pulled graphic arts. Gallery 4463's director, Clemens Bak, has been involved in efforts to preserve the works of his parents for over two decades.

Information: www.gallery4463.com/

on August 11 at 8 p.m. at the Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre, at 5329 Floyd Road in Mableton. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. Ticket prices range from $15 for lawn seats, $35 and $48 for reserved seats, and tables for six for $402. Only blankets and pillows are allowed on the lawn area. No lawn chairs are permitted.

Information: 770.819.7765 or www.mablehouse.org

>>JETHRO TULL’S IAN ANDERSON As Jethro Tull’s singer, flautist, and composer, Ian Anderson performs the band’s characteristic progressive rock, inspired by the music from their ground-breaking album, “Thick as a Brick.”

Ian Anderson performs Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. in the John A. Williams Theatre at Cobb Energy Per-forming Arts Centre. Ticket prices range from $43 to $83.

Information: 770.916.2808 or www.cobbenergycentre.com

>>LITTLE TEXAS & RESTLESS HEART Country bands Little Texas and Restless Heart will perform on August 24 at 8:00 p.m. at the Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre, at 5329 Floyd Road in Mableton. Ticket prices range from $15 for lawn seats, $35 and $48 for reserved seats, and tables for 6 for $402. Only blankets and pillows are allowed on the lawn area. No lawn chairs are permitted.

Information: 770.819.7765 or www.mablehouse.org

>>ATLANTA SMOOTH MUSIC FESTIVAL The Atlanta Smooth Music Festival is the metro area’s only all-day outdoor smooth jazz music experience, where you can bring food and beverages, and enjoy great music under the sun and stars. Artists for the 2012 concert include Kevin Griffin, Jeanette Harris, Matt Marshak, Marc Antoine, Jeff Golub, Brian Simpson, Jeff Kashiwa, Steve Cole, and Marcus Anderson. The Atlanta Smooth Music Festival is Sept. 15 and begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre, at 5329 Floyd Road in Mableton. Ticket prices range from $37 to $93. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. Only blankets and pillows are allowed on the lawn area. No lawn chairs are permitted.

Information: 770.819.7765 or smoothjazzgrooves.com

Milestones CELEBRATING Engagements • Weddings • Anniversaries Thornton~Mellars Jane (Thornton) IntVeldt and Robert IntVeldt of Kennesaw announce the engagement of their daughter, Sara Jane Thornton to James Andrew Mellars, son of Michael and Kelly Mellars of Marietta.

The bride-elect is a 2009 graduate of Mount Paran Christian School where the groom-to-be also attended. Sara attended Kennesaw State University for Performance Studies and is currently completing her degree in Culinary Arts from Chattahoochee Technical College.

James Andrew Mellars, from London, England is a 2011 graduate from Chattahoochee Technical College with a degree in Entertainment Technology & Film/TV Production. He is currently employed as a production technician at The Weather Channel.

An August 2012 wedding is planned.

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MUST Ministries annual gala

SCENE

MUST Ministries, a nonprofit Christian ministry serving those in need, held its annual gala in May at the Cobb Galleria Centre.

Funds from the event went to aid the ministry. 1. From left, Greg and Lucia Poole with Reuben Green, all of Marietta. 2. Dave and Lisa Person of Marietta. 3. Stu and Samantha Ehrlich of Atlanta. 4. Brent and Ann Purcell of Marietta.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JENNIFER CARTER

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5 5. Tom and Dawn McEachern with Reuben Green, all of Marietta.

6. Rodney and Ruby Swann of Snellville. 7. Mark Doyle of Acworth and Knikkolette Church of Woodstock.

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MUST Ministries annual gala

SCENE

8. Dan and Sarah Styf of East Cobb. 9. Lane and Sam Henderson of Marietta. 10. Matt Schechter and Bonnie Beck, both of Smyrna.

11. Andy and Karen Crow of Kennesaw.

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12 14 12. Charles and Krista Wagner of Atlanta.

13. An auction item.

14. Holly Casey of Smyrna, Beth Ray of Kennesaw, Kim Loesing of Woodstock and Keya Hillman of Kennesaw. 15. Nurdan Cornelius of Kennesaw, Pauline Cornelius of Kennesaw, Itrellus Raus of Dallas and Judy Skeel of Marietta.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JENNIFER CARTER

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SCENE Award-Winning Landscapes Since 1989

Cobb-based Chattahoochee Technical College recently introduced its new president Dr. Ron Newcomb at an event at The Earl Smith Strand Theatre. Dozens of residents attended the event to welcome Newcomb to the community. 1. Darren Kendall of Marietta and Jennifer Nelson of Woodstock. 2. Eunice Reger of Marietta and Michelle Earley of Acworth 3. Brian J. McAulay of East Cobb and Michael Quinlan of Kennesaw.

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4. From left, Hugh Mackay of Marietta, Cheryl Forrester of Cartersville and Stephanie Hubbell of Powder Springs. 5. From left, Greta Samnels of Marietta, Joyette Holmes of Kennesaw, Deane Bonner of Marietta, new Chattahoochee Tech President Dr. Ron Newcomb of Smyrna and Trisha Gambleton of Mableton. 6. Andrew Johnson and Beth Sessoms, both of Marietta.

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7. Debbie Abernathy of Roswell and Faye DiMassimo of West Cobb. 8. Alice Summerour of East Cobb and Randy Reece of West Cobb. 9. From left, Becky Cameron, Andy Tatnall and Melinda Ashcraft, all of Marietta.

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Blue Skies Ministries Concert

Leadership Cobb Class of 2012 and Blue Skies Minstries held a concert fundraiser at the Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre in May. The event benefitted Blue Skies Ministries, a nonprofit that provides aid and rest to families facing the challenges of cancer. 1. Beth and Will Collier of Smyrna. 2. Bill Helbig and Serena Lund, both of Kennesaw.

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4. Cobb Juvenille Court Judge Greg Poole with wife, Lucia, alongside Sara and Chuck Clay of Marietta.

5. Matthew and Ericson Bullock of Mableton. 6.

Tracey and Matt Waddell of Mableton.

4 Are you ready to get ALL LIT UP? Let's get our glow on as Lauretta Hannon reads from her upcoming book in a festive get-together to benefit the Marietta Museum of History.

a literary talk & reading by Lauretta Hannon

Sat., Sept. 29th - 2pm Marietta Museum of History 1 Depot Street, Suite 200 Marietta, GA 30060

Your job is to glam it up and ham it up wear something that sparkles and glitters and represents your light within.

Admission is $10 and includes access to all museum exhibits. Every shiny penny goes to the museum.

No reservations required. The first 20 luminaries will receive a special gift. Sponsored by Cobb Life Magazine and the Marietta Museum of History.

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Swan House Ball

The 27th annual Swan House Ball, themed the Roaring Twenties, recently took place at the Swan House, located on the Atlanta History Center’s grounds in Buckhead. The event benefited the center and its education programs. 1. Melodie and Bill Howard of West Cobb. 2. Jerry and Cheryl Nix of East Cobb.

3. Bob Pruitt with wife Jenny Pruitt, CEO and Founder of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, of Vinings.

4. Former Governor Roy Barnes with his wife Marie of Marietta.

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reflections

Life lessons from the dark side

of the clouds The worst of the evening started with a low rumble and distant crackle. My seven-year-old daughter, Abi, asked me to lay in her bed with her. I told her there’s nothing to be afraid of. That lightning is awesome and beautiful.

Then BOOM! The house seemed to explode brightly.

My reassuring words and confidence both were leveled by the reality that the lightning doesn’t care that somebody put a house here with children and their fairytales and a father who wants to keep them all intact.

None of us ever thinks the storm will come to our home, that distant far off rumble and flash, but then it does with such sudden force that every rumble after makes us duck a bit (as

By Adam Miller though that might help).

It left my heart pounding.

Then I smelled the smoke. Seconds later I peered among the downy insulation in our attic searching for smoke or flames. I found nothing, but noticed a fire truck circling our cul-de-sac.

The next day my neighbor showed me the lightningstreaked pine and maple between our yards. I’m hoping it’s true that lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice, or anywhere nearby. But weather, like reality, doesn’t hold to truisms. Its beauty is its unpredictability, and that is its terror.

This could not have happened at a better time, though.

Fried appliances and circuits and a new belief about the danger of bad weather can all now play into this column that had originally centered on downy flakes, distant clouds brewing offshore and a rain storm back over a dozen years

ago when I got my passport picture made for a school trip to Eastern Europe.

“I stepped off a curb, espresso in hand, into the downpour and a new life.”

That is a sentence, or something like it, I’ve always wanted to see in print.

But that is airy and ethereal and nothing like the real weather. The cosmos likes you to believe that its past will tell you what its future will be, or else we like to think we can read such things into it.

In my writing career I’ve covered all kinds of weather. Hurricanes in Louisiana, flooding along the Mississippi, tornadoes that ravaged Alabama, and, more locally, the flooding in Austell. I've heard harrowing stories of lives touched deeply by the dark side of the clouds.

Writing about it, I learned, is nothing.

While that split second of electric air we experienced a few weeks ago fell far short of devastating our lives, it did show us how little we know about things out of our control.

Beautiful, terrifying things that reminded our senses and souls how little we actually do control, if anything at all.

What a lesson about life in general, you know? It’s so easy to be heavy on theory and speculation and plenty of thoughts on the way the world and weather really work. But have you actually tried reassuring your frightened daughter only to be silenced by a shaking house? And that was just lightning!

That electric moment taught us there are bigger things at play in any given moment than we can hope to see or understand. They come and go and sometimes rattle us regardless of our opinions about them. Sometimes it’s just best to listen, pull close the people we love and learn a little more about what we can’t possibly comprehend.

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FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED

We take the time...

when you need it the most.

Terry Pendley, owner; Darlene Pendley, Jason Pendley, Shane Pendley and Chad Pendley of Mayes Ward-Dobbins are available to take care of your every need.

It’s all about you... your life...your memories...your family ...and now another location to serve you!

The Pendley family is pleased to announce the Opening of the

Macland Chapel

Now Open!

3940 Macland Road, Powder Springs • Serving families of all faiths • On premise crematory • Accessible entrance - no stairs • Licensed, full-time professional staff attending to every detail • Make knowledgable cost comparisons • Large elevator • Large off-street parking lot • Pre-need plans • Active in all civic organizations

MACLAND CHAPEL - (770) 943-1511

MARIETTA - (770) 428-1511

3940 MACLAND RD. • POWDER SPRINGS, GA

180 CHURCH STREET NE • MARIETTA, GA

www.MayesWardDobbins.com

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