Travel Tales: Summer Vacation Now!

By Pam Walker

“Where shall we go?” Lastminute vacation? That is the question that many families are asking, knowing that the world is full of people traveling right now. This means long lines at airports, crowded parks and highways, and crowded beaches.

What better way to start planning than with a travel professional? These folks know where to send you that are not as crowded nor as pricy as places you find on the internet. Whether here in the US or worldwide, they can help plan a super vacation with only a little effort on your behalf.

This summer, our National Parks are full and some require timed entries. There is an excellent website, www.nps.gov, in case you want to check some of these out. Again, rely on a travel professional to locate places to stay nearby your favorite park.

A word about those websites that offer homes away from home: what could be worse than booking a rental home on the beach, loading the car with kids, suitcases, toys, and the family pet, and then arriving at the rental location to find someone else in the home? Or worse, the place you rented is a dump! It happens.

If you fly, give yourself plenty of time at the airports before your flights. Nothing could be worse than arriving one hour ahead of time to see those vast lines at the check-in counter and the TSA checkpoint. Get to the airport at least two hours in advance of your flight if not more. Now too, with weather delays daily, be sure and book connections with at least one hour or more between your flights. Always check the website of your carrier as well to make sure that you won’t be left behind.

If you are planning an extensive overseas vacation, start early. If you haven’t done so, again your travel professional can help. There are so many websites offering last-minute “deals” these days, but it is better to have a professional help plan your trip rather than take chances on the internet!

So have a wonderful summer vacation. Have fun, and enjoy being with family and friends before school starts again!

Pam Walker is a Virtuoso Travel Advisor. More information at pam@ walkeradventures.com

Shakespeare in the Park Presents Twelfth Night Summer 2023

By Tana Poncsak

If left up to the Kenyon family, residents of Grayson will all know William Shakespeare and his works. Since 2019, the Kenyon family has brought Shakespeare in the Park to Grayson and this year is no exception. The next performance will be Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, held July 21-23 at the Grayson City Park amphitheater.

Tyler Kenyon and his family have been a theater family for longer than he’s been alive, and from the time his brother Drew came up with the idea to bring Shakespeare to the park, the family was all in. Whether it was performing, directing, or costumes or lighting, in the beginning it was all done in-house, and by that Tyler means quite literally – his parents’ house.

“We all have different things we do, and every once in a while one of us will hop on stage,” he says. “But for the most part, all the backstage work is done entirely by the family.”

But why Shakespeare? With all the “thee(s)” and “thou(s),” it’s easy to think of Shakespeare’s work as highbrow, and perhaps, even irrelevant to today’s audiences. But Tyler says, quite the contrary. And that’s the beauty of bringing Shakespeare to the Park.

“In the ninth grade, most everyone reads Romeo and Juliet,” he explains. “That may be the most exposure some will ever get to Shakespeare in their entire life. That’s one of the reasons we wanted to bring it back – to reintroduce people to the stories they already know and love.”

Tyler points out that Shakespeare is completely relevant in today’s world. His case in point being that the majority of movies are modern day adaptations of Shakespeare’s work. For example, The Lion King is just a version of Hamlet 10 Things I Hate About You is a version of The Taming of the Shrew Westside Story is Romeo and Juliet

“And even the show we’re doing this year, Twelfth Night, was made into a movie, She’s the Man, and they don’t even bother to change the names in the movie,” Tyler adds. “They are the stories without all the funny language, but still the stories we all know and love.”

In addition to the family’s theater background, education runs strong in the Kenyon household. Tyler is a teacher at Lanier High School in Buford. His mother is a longtime teacher at Grayson High School. His brothers are either teaching or in school earning a degree to teach. And his father was in public safety but has a history in performing. Along with being entertaining, if someone learns a thing or two while performing or watching the play in the audience, then the Kenyon family has

Tyler says when they hear someone say, “If it weren’t for this performance, I would’ve never seen a Shakespeare play,” or “That was the first time I understood what Shakespeare was saying,” or “I understood the joke or the story,” they are happy. This is why they love bringing

SMOKE RISE BAPTIST CHURCH, TUCKER GA

Continued on page 22

Fall classes start August 8!

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Drama Productions: Phantom of the Opera, Aug 24-26 / Finding Nemo, JR, Sept 22-24

SRAA Holiday Showcase - Saturday, December 10 at 1pm - Free to the public!