Atlanta Senior Life - December 2018

Photo by Phil Mosier

Photo by Brand of Beautiful Photography by Jenna Wade

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By Donna Williams Lewis

Spencer Wood, 5, of Auburn, climbed up on Santa’s lap like a champ. He’s been on that lap before. He smiled for the camera.

“Tell Santa what you want for Christmas,” called out photographer Lindsey Vander Iest, of Lovi Blush photography, who had Rick “Santa Rick” Rosenthal lined up with appointments for the day.

Spencer turned to Santa and gave him a real challenge, saying he wants a “Thinga-ma-jigger.”

(That’s the flying machine from PBS’s “The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That.”) Santa made no promises, just chatted with Spencer about flying for a happy minute or two.

Then he was on to an even tougher challenge: Teagan Bastecki, 3, and her brother, JR Bastecki, 1, of Suwanee, whose howling made it clear they wanted nothing to do with him. Santa Rick waited until they thought he was gone and snuck up behind the unaware, still crying children, peeking over their heads for a photo their parents loved. Christmas photo — Done.

50 years as Santa

Now in his 50th year of being Santa Claus, Santa Rick has lots of tricks up his sleeve and a lap with

The Santa School

Mere

Over the years, he’s mentored other Santas and been an instructor at Santa schools, teaching others how to follow in his bootsteps.

In 2016, he opened his own school, the Northern Lights Santa Academy, billed as the largest Santa school in the Southeast. In three years, more than 600 students have attended the school’s two- or three-day sessions, held at local hotels in spring and fall. Its stated mission: “To help you be the best Santa, Mrs. Claus or Elf you can be.”

“Being Santa is the biggest responsibility anybody could have,” said Rosenthal, 66, who’s been Santa for the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Falcons since 2013. “People who aren’t huggers hug Santa. They tell you stuff they wouldn’t tell anybody else.”

For Rosenthal — or “Mr. Frozenthal” as kids in his Toco Hills neighborhood like to call him — the Santa life is serious business.

“There’s a Santa industry now,” said Rosenthal, who is a Santa agent, deploying Santas, Mrs. Santas and Elves across the country for jobs throughout the year. “Santas have been around for hundreds of years but it was just anybody in a red suit. A professionally trained Santa is a different animal.”

Rosenthal’s Santa consulting work has attracted an international clientele. In mid-November, he was headed to Hong Kong for the opening of the IFC Mall’s experiential Santa Academy: “Bringing out the Santa in you.” He helped curate and develop the seasonal installation at the high-end mall, part of the International Finance Centre.

In his Northern Lights classes, Santas and professionals from outside the Santa community share their expertise in areas ranging from storytelling, improvisation and magic to social media, makeup and hair, developmental disabilities, contracts and law.

Speaking of law, Santa Rick’s bio mentions that he has an independent background check conducted annually and that he carries a $4 million Santa liability insurance policy.

“We live in a very litigious society,” Rosenthal said. “If a child asks you to pray with him, you could get sued.”

Santa’s life has gotten complicated, but some things never change, such as the impact Santa Claus can have on people. Ansley Johnson, special events coordinator at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA), has worked with Santa Rick and other volunteers from his team such as Joe “Santa Jeaux” Pridgen, of Buford, for the three years she’s been on the job.

“They’re some of the most generous, kindhearted people, very quick to say yes and quick to give of themselves,” she said. On a typical Christmas Day, CHOA’s Egleston Hospital will have about 200 to 220 patients in its beds, including about 60 babies, she said. Santa helps create a sense of normalcy for families at that time, she said.

Rosenthal would agree. “For centuries, society has relied on Santa to create the magic of Christmas,” he says on his school’s website.

“Santa makes you smile, brings out the best in people,” he said. “Santa provides hope, inspiration and goodwill in the spirit of Christmas — and you don’t have to be Christian to do that.”

A rare breed of Santa

Santa Rick is a rather unusual Santa. He happens to be an Orthodox Jew. Rosenthal said people find that “fascinating for the most part, whether they’re fellow Santas or clients.”

“I’m not going to say that there hasn’t been someone that was not sure how to handle that,” he said. “But for the most part, people think

mortals learn to become professional Santas

TRACY ROSENTHAL

Santa Rick Rosenthal pets one of the reindeer at the Rooftop Landing Reindeer Farm in Clare, Mich. after attending the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School in Midland, Mich. in October.

that’s really cool.”

It works for him because he doesn’t see Santa as a religious figure. “I’m a firm believer that Santa is a spiritual guy,” Rosenthal said. “I don’t believe he’s a religious figure. If he was, he would be Catholic, Protestant or Methodist and he would go to that church.”

He has just landed his first ever booking for a Jewish event. A family has hired him to light the Hanukkah menorah. The parents are Russian immigrants who have experienced religious persecution and want their children to be familiar not only with Judaism, but with other religions, Rosenthal said.

“They were thrilled to find out that I was Jewish,” he said.

Rosenthal was a 16-year-old kid at Atlanta’s Briarcliff High School when he decided it would be fun to be Santa. He started by taking bags of little bagels to hang on his friends’ Christmas trees. Over the

years, he continued to find opportunities to be Santa while pursuing a life of entrepreneurship that started when he was 6 years old, and raced to help women in his apartment complex carry their groceries.

Seven years ago, after letting his beard grow out, he was in a Home Depot store, near a child who was screaming at his father, who was ignoring him. He looked at the boy and when he saw the way he stared back, he knew the boy was wondering if he was Santa.

Rosenthal seized the opportunity, saying, “Shh, don’t tell anybody you saw Santa at Home Depot buying tools for the elves to make toys.”

“After that, the boy froze,” Rosenthal said, “like he’d had an encounter with an alien.” He decided then that he would make being Santa his full-time career.

A tiny trampoline

One of the most critical topics of class discussion at Northern Lights is communication skills — how to interact with people of all ages and how to “deflect and redirect” when someone makes a tough request.

“You will be asked every horrible thing in life,

be totally nonjudgmental.”

He recalled a four-year-old who wanted nothing for himself for Christmas. All he asked Santa Rick for was a tiny trampoline — forming a little circle with one hand to show the size — for his baby brother, who had passed away.

“I told him I would have my elves make a trampoline for his brother…and if we could find heaven, I’d take it to him,”

Continued on page 6

Santa Rick’s scheduled public appearances

■ Sundays, Dec. 2, Dec. 9, Dec. 16 and Dec. 23, varying hours. The Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta, 915 Ridgewalk Parkway, in Woodstock. Info: theoutletshoppesatatlanta.com.

■ Sunday, Dec. 1, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Seed Factory, in the Westside Provisions District. 1100 Howell Mill Road N.W., Atlanta. Info: seedfactoryatlanta.com.

‘Santa doesn’t scratch himself’

Santa do’s and don’ts, from Santa Rick

By Donna Williams Lewis

Rick “Santa Rick” Rosenthal, founder and dean of Atlanta’s Northern Lights Santa Academy, is a big-time stickler about Santas, whom he believes should be “regal and pristine.”

“You have to know how to be Santa, inside and outside and all around him,” he said. For example, “Santa doesn’t scratch himself wherever he itches,” Rosenthal said. “He doesn’t drink anything but water or milk, except in America he can have a Coke.”

Santa’s suit should be “luxurious,” he said, adding that quality suits typically run from $800 to $1,200 but can go for much higher. The belt should be of thick, high-grade leather “with a fantastic buckle,” he said.

In his ideal Santa world, the beard either needs to be real or look real and needs to be as white as snow and perfectly trimmed. Rosenthal said he spends plenty of “emasculating” time at a hair salon getting his own hair bleached.

“My hair has to be beautiful, like a 20-year-old model’s on a Clairol box,” he said.

Santa must also know his back story and be prepared to handle the kind of questions he might get from a 4-year-old who asks for an iPhone 7 for Christmas. That actually happens, he said.

“Children are getting smarter,” Rosenthal said. “You have to know how to answer their questions like, ‘If you’re Santa, what’s my name?’”

He likes to reply with something like “Peppermint,” and tell the child that’s their name in North Pole language. “You can’t break character, even with parents,” Rosenthal said.

Santa Rick says he doesn’t like to say he’s “Santa to the Stars,” but he is, sort of. His clients include some of Atlanta’s large law firms. He’s been Santa at Hollywood parties, and he’s become part of the holiday traditions being built at Buckhead’s The Whitley hotel, formerly the Ritz-Carlton, which issued this statement about Santa Rick:

“His presence and disposition really enhance the festive atmosphere at our Christmas events, and we’re excited he’ll be visiting us this year for our Children’s Tea with Santa as well as our Christmas Day brunch. Our team loves working with him, and we know he’ll be a holiday highlight for years to come as we create special memories and Whitley traditions for Atlantans and travelers.”

But whether he’s hobnobbing with the rich and famous or volunteering as Santa Rick for the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta or others in need, he’s still just Santa, he says.

“You don’t just wake up as Santa. When you put on the suit, it changes you. The suit magnifies the way you feel. You start to be, for me, anyway. You become Santa,” he said. “There’s nothing more challenging and more rewarding in the whole world.”

SPECIAL Joe “Santa Jeaux” Pridgen

PHIL MOSIER

Santa Rick Rosenthal takes a back route to score a photo with Teagan Bastecki, 3, and her brother JR Bastecki, 1, of Suwanee, during a photo shoot with Lindsey Vander Iest of Lovi Blush photography. The kids weren’t too thrilled about having a close encounter with the big guy in the red suit.

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Love: “You have to love people of all ages.”

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■ Acceptance: “Accept (almost) anything you hear. Santa’s a forgiving guy. People make mistakes. Things happen.”

■ Ability to think on your feet: “You have to know how to respond to situations. You usually just have two minutes with people.”

Economic awareness: The big bucks are only at the North Pole. “Everybody hears ‘Santas make great money,’ but that’s not true. Most make $5,000 to $15,000 a year at most. They usually supplement their pay with Social Security.”

■ Sacrifice: “Time, emotions and money.”

■ Education: “Constantly.”

■ Encourage innocence and imagination: “So children of all ages can see there’s a bright world out there. If you have those two things, you can survive and thrive.”

■ Stay current: “When somebody asks me for a widget, I may not know what it is, but I have to act like I know about it.”

NICK CARDELLO

Above: Newly graduated Santas, Mrs. Santas and Elves pose for a photo of the Northern Lights Santa Academy’s Class of Sept. 2018 at the Atlanta Marriott Evergreen Conference Resort in Stone Mountain Park.

Rosenthal said.

“I always say ‘Santa loves you,’ and you hug them if you can,” he said, of the people who come to visit with him. “You usually only have two to five minutes with each person. …In those two minutes you want to make someone feel they’ve been heard, they’ve been loved.”

To do that well, for Rosenthal, means education. Constant, yearround and life-long. That can be as simple, he said, as standing in front of a mirror and practicing a face laugh and a belly laugh or taking acting, juggling, magic or even modeling classes.

Or, of course, enrolling in a Santa school, something Rosenthal still does religiously. He attends several schools around the country as a student every year, despite his decades of experience.

He and his wife Tracy recently returned to Atlanta from their second trip to the 81-year-old Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School in Midland, Mich. “Charles Howard is a very inspiring and refreshing school. …They don’t talk business at all. It’s just about being Santa and having a good time,” Rosenthal said. “When you come out of there, you’re ready to take on the season.”

‘I

deal

with Santas all day long’

Tracy, who married Rosenthal in 2013 after a 20-year friendship, is no Mrs. Claus. “He’s much younger than me at heart,” she said.

She’s more of what she calls a

“restaurant widow,” stepping away or heading without him to the car when Rosenthal, even in plain clothes, is inevitably approached by children. She said she doesn’t want to ruin the Santa mystique or tarnish Santa’s reputation.

“I am not a Mrs. Claus, and I’m also about 15 years younger than him,” she said. “I don’t want any confusion about ‘why is Santa with this woman.’ ”

Formerly in the corporate world, Tracy runs their National Santa Agency, booking holiday characters for everything from studio photo shoots to birthdays, anniversaries and other private, community and corporate events. Their Santas deliver presents and cars and marriage proposals and visit with patients in hospitals and hospices.

“I deal with Santas all day long,” Tracy said. “It’s enjoyable and there’s never a dull moment.”

One of their Santas is Lawrenceville resident Larry Talbert, owner of Talbert Insurance Services in Duluth. Talbert enrolled at Northern Lights after Rosenthal was the third Santa he’d met who told him he ought to join their ranks.

Since 2016, he’s been “Santa Magic,” incorporating his amateur magic skills into his Santa work and teaching magic as a guest instructor at Northern Lights. His wife, Marjorie, who had also encouraged him to become Santa, joined him at Santa school and

is his Mrs. Claus. Talbert said she was an elf for the Atlanta Braves’ Christmas in July event last summer.

She said she enjoys telling children about Santa while they wait in line to see him, and “loves taking care of Santa and making sure that he stays healthy.”

“My favorite thing is the way the kids look at you,” said Talbert, 54. “They all love you. That happens continuously.”

“Santa Jeaux,” 70, is another Northern Lights alumnus and guest instructor. He said he became a Santa because he loves to bring laughter and joy to people of all ages.

He is one of the Santas who visits children every Christmas morning at Egleston Hospital. He also does live video chats with children there and at Scottish Rite Hospital twice in December.

Hospital visits can be difficult, Rosenthal said. “God forbid you have a child who’s dying,” he said.

“They wouldn’t invite a stranger in, but they’d invite Santa in, and he comes.”

Continued from page 5

Santa Snapshots

A few locals talk about being Santa Claus

By Donna Williams Lewis

Joe “Santa Jeaux” Pridgen, 70, Buford

■ Santa Claus since: The mid ‘70s, full-time since 2011. Northern Lights Santa Academy alumnus and guest instructor of “marketing, storytelling, improvisation and how to answer questions.” Holds a PhD from the International University of Santa Claus. Former church choir director. Georgia Tech grad. General building contractor.

■ Side note: He celebrates his 50th wedding anniversary on Dec. 28 with his wife Rebecca, an art teacher at the Roswell Senior Center. “We tell everybody it’s our 450th anniversary, because this Santa adds 400 years to everything.”

■ Most unusual gift request: Last year, a Sugar Hill family didn’t celebrate Christmas, too broken up over the death of their six-year-old son who was born with medical issues. This year, his little brother wants Santa to bring him a puppy, a collar and a bowl of water for Christmas. He didn’t just ask for a puppy. He wanted Santa to bring it. Santa Jeaux volunteered to make the delivery, an early one, in November.

■ When he’s not working, he’s: “Usually watching the Hallmark movie channel. I have found that most Santas are saps. We love a good Christmas movie. A couple of my friends said I need to turn in my man card.”

Scheduled public appearances:

■ Monday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m. Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Infinite Energy Center. He’ll be part of “The Light of Christmas” performance, and will be available for pictures before and after the show. 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth. Info: gwinnettsymphony.org.

■ Thursday, Dec. 15, 10 a.m. to noon The city of Duluth’s Cookies & Cocoa with Santa, Red Clay Music Foundry, 3116 Main Street, Duluth. Info: duluthga.net/community.

■ Friday, Dec. 23, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Mill Kitchen and Bar, 590 Mimosa Boulevard, Roswell. Info: themillkitchenandbar.com.

Dion “Santa Dee” Sinclair, 54, Conyers area

■ Santa Claus since: 2001. His company’s website, therealblacksanta.com, says he grew up on the south side of the North Pole and lists two numbers to reach him on: “Studio” and “Sleigh.” Holds an Advanced Master of Santa Clausology from the International School of Santa Claus. Volunteers with his church pantry several days a week.

■ Why he became a Santa: For the money, at first. “I was an insurance salesman years ago, and I was renewing my license, and the gentleman that was doing the insurance class was a Santa Claus. His phone just kept ringing. I asked him a question, ‘Is there a good income being Santa Claus?’ This was in May and he seemed extremely busy. He told me that previous season he made $28,000 as Santa Claus. He said black Santas are in demand. I let my gray beard grow out. I’m still doing the job and loving it intensely. I wouldn’t even call it a job. I think it’s the best thing I can do in life other than work for Christ.”

■ Side note: His Mrs. Claus is his 75-year-old mother, Veronica Brown. She’s been to Santa School as well. His wife doesn’t want to be in front of the camera. She handles the business.

■ Favorite Santa memory: An autistic boy who’s now about 11 years old who’s been coming to him since he was six months old. “I’m no longer a mall Santa. I started doing event centers, and it was hard to coordinate schedules with his mother. So, for the past two years, I’ve done home visits for him, just because he’s my favorite.”

■ Most unusual request: “It was 2012 and we were at Underground Atlanta and I had a young man about 10 or 11 years old that came in with his uncle. His request was that he wanted his Dad back. His Dad had

passed away. He was in a car chase with the police and crashed and died on the young man’s birthday. It still bothers me because I didn’t know how to respond to it then. At the time, I said, ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ To this day, I’m still bewildered on that.”

■ When he’s not being Santa, he’s: “Ubering or Lyfting, I’m in the gym or riding my bike. I’m very active. … My theory on life is you don’t have to be fat to be jolly.”

Scheduled public appearance:

■ Saturday, Dec. 15, 2-5 p.m. Christmas Hope for the Holidays. Santa Dee will appear for three hours at the daylong church event. Families from the community will pick up toys reserved for them. Discover Point Church, 1605 Ga. Hwy. 183, Conyers. Info: discoverpointchurch.com.

AMY TIMMS, SUSPENDED IN TIME PHOTOGRAPHY.

Joe “Santa Jeaux” Pridgen with Briley Timms, 6, daughter of photographer Amy Timms of Villa Rica.

Dion “Santa Dee” Sinclair poses with two of his children, from left, Amber Sinclair Watts and Gianna Sinclair, in a family photo.

Larry “Santa Magic” Talbert, 54, Lawrenceville

■ Santa Claus since: 2016. A graduate and guest instructor of Northern Lights Santa Academy. Produced an award-winning book, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas, a Magical Presentation,” that he sells with Santa Rick Rosenthal. The disappearing ink book is sold at his online store, santamagic.pro.

■ Why he’s a Santa: “When I was growing up, we always did big

Christmases. I have five kids of my own. Our house looks like the Griswolds’ (of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”) once all the lights are up. I love kids. I’m a big kid at heart.”

■ A favorite Santa memory: “I was out buying pumpkins for Halloween. I had bleached my beard. I’m sitting there wearing a T-shirt and shorts and my kid’s sitting with me and I had forgotten what I look like. A little girl asked her mom if she could give me a hug. The mother said yes and was so excited. She said this was great, that her kids were going to be great for the next three or four weeks.”

■ Most unusual gift request: “One little boy in an audience asked me to make it snow. Right there on the spot, I did it, with two cups that appeared from nowhere, magically.”

Scheduled public appearances:

■ Saturday, Dec. 8, 1-3 p.m. Atlanta Botanical Garden Gainesville, 1911 Sweetbay Drive, Gainesville. Info: atlantabg.org/gainesvillegarden.

■ Monday, Dec. 17, 5-8 p.m. Frida’s Mexican Restaurant, 706 Grayson Highway, Lawrenceville. Info: fridas-restaurant.com.

■ Wednesday, Dec. 19, 5-8 p.m. Frida’s Mexican Cuisine, 405 Peachtree Parkway, Cumming. Info: fridas-mexicancuisine.com.

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Larry “Santa Magic” Talbert and his wife, Marjorie “Mrs. Santa Claus” Talbert, pose for a Christmas shot with twins Caleb and Lane Sullivan.

There Is a Lot to Celebrate

By Judi Kanne

In Atlanta, we celebrate almost everything. If the holiday season is overwhelming for you, try to rejoice other ways. Perhaps Christmas is not your holiday. Why not take time to learn about Atlanta’s religious and racially diverse communities while sharing kindness in a city that’s “too busy to hate”?

With well over 60 languages spoken in the metro area, approximately 15 Hindu temples, over 30 Jewish synagogues and about 35 Muslim mosques, not all Atlantans observe Christmas.

“The religious landscape in Atlanta is similar to other metro areas around the country,” said Emory’s religion professor and writer Gary Laderman.

Candles May Be Required

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival

of Lights, comes early this year. Beginning Dec. 2, the lighting of menorah candles (one for each of eight days) commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and symbolizes a jar of oil that burned for eight days. Gifts, games and food are part of the Hanukkah tradition.

Candles, food and gifts are also part of Kwanza. Beginning Dec. 26 and ending on Jan. 1, 2019, Kwanza focuses on traditional African music and celebrates

seven African Nguzo Saba principles. Participants light a candle for each one. African history and values are discussed; it is not a religious holiday.

This year, Diwali began on Nov. 6 and continued until Nov. 10. Diwali lamps brightened Indian homes “as a sign of celebration and hope,” said Seema Shrikhande, a professor at Oglethorpe University.

The Shrikhande family celebrate Diwali, a major five-day Indian festival which has “special meals, decorations, new clothes for children and many lights,” she said.

“I know many Indian families who celebrate Christmas with a tree and presents, but without a religious component,” she said. “I’m one of those,” she added with a smile.

Make Your Own Traditions

The real action in Atlanta and other metro areas is among the faith demographic that’s identified in the press as ‘none’ — rather, those who don’t want to claim any one particular religious identity, said Laderman.

Conflicts can arise for blended families when all parties want to celebrate their holiday on the same day and at the same time.

Atlanta resident Judy McKinley has experience with that problem. “Christmas Day and Eve were already claimed by other branches of our family,” she said. “Fortunately, my older son Daniel came up with ‘Christmas Adam’ for us.”

McKinley said that her family gathers on Dec. 23. “After all, Adam came before Eve,” she explains with enthusiasm. “It works for us.”

Chinese food and a movie rank high among those looking for some place to go on Christmas. Asian restaurants rely on Christmas customers and remain open providing warmth — and wonderful nourishment — on a chilly day.

Some Middle Eastern restaurants stay open, too. Grains and flavorings that may be new

to you make up their traditional cuisines. Olives, pita, honey, chickpeas and a mint aroma add to many of their dishes. Try tasting kabobs or shawarma this holiday season.

A Time to Give

The holidays are a time to “eat, drink (responsibly) and be merry” — and perhaps a chance to give back too.

Since 1980, the Pinch Hitter Program has helped the Atlanta healthcare community at Christmas time.

Dunwoody resident Harry Lutz says, “It’s a special community service project.” It’s one time when people who do not celebrate Christmas give back to those who do, he said. “We go to bat” — hence the name pinch hitters — “for nonmedical personnel [as volunteers].”

Perhaps you’ve heard of Volunteer Match. Try placing your name and ZIP code online to see what’s happening right in your neighborhood. In addition, Hands On Atlanta has hundreds of affiliates to help you find the right place to offer your support at any time of the year.

Still not sure about rejoicing? This year’s winter solstice arrives on Dec. 21 for all of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Following a day with the fewest hours of sunlight, brighter days are guaranteed by our sun. Now that’s worth celebrating!

Where to find holiday volunteer opportunities

handsonatlanta.org

pinchhitters.org

volunteermatch.org

The Gift of Music

Positive Aging Icon Beverly “Guitar” Watkins keeps on playing for others

By Joe Earle

The way Beverly “Guitar” Watkins tells it, her association with the musical instrument that’s become a part of her name goes back to the 1940s.

She was a young girl then, living with her grandparents in a farming community outside Commerce, Ga. Watkins had been born in 1939 in Atlanta, a “Grady baby,” but after the death of her mother when Beverly was about 8, her grandparents took her in and “raised me down in the country.”

Her grandfather, like many of his neighbors, was a sharecropper. Beverly walked to school and remembers that the family hitched the “Sunday horse” to a wagon to go to church. “Everywhere my granddad would go, I’d go with him,” she said. “He’d go rabbit hunting, I’d be right there with him. Fishing. … I was like a tomboy because I was around my granddaddy all the time.”

Most of their neighbors kept some kind of musical instrument in their homes, whether a guitar or a fiddle or an old upright piano, and played for their own entertainment, she said. The community held dances. “Back then, we’d call it a ‘barn dance.’ We call it a party now,” she said.

Her grandfather played banjo. When Beverly was about 9, one of her aunts gave her a guitar for Christmas. Beverly learned some songs, mostly country songs, she said.

She returned to Atlanta as a teenager and lived with her aunt. Watkins enrolled in high school and learned to play trumpet and to play guitar as part of a band.

Her training paid off. She’s made a long career of playing blues and rhythm-and-blues in metro Atlanta, has toured internationally, recorded a CD and been honored as a “Georgia Music Legend” by the Atlanta Blues Society. And, at age 79, she’s still playing.

In November, during a ceremony at the Atlanta History Center, Watkins was named the 2018 recipient of the Positive Aging Icon Award from LeadingAge Georgia, an association of not-for-profit organizations focused on providing housing, healthcare and community-based services for seniors. She is the seventh recipient of the award. Past honorees have included former Atlanta mayors Andrew Young and Sam Massell, 1968 Olympian Dr. Mel Pender and Baseball Hall of Fame inductee and retired Atlanta Braves president John Schuerholz.

“Ms. Watkins’ talent, longevity and spirit is a shining example of positive aging. She sets the stage for others by showing that age doesn’t have to slow you down or keep you from doing what you love … and providing joy to others,” Jacquelyn Thornton, senior vice president of LeadingAge Georgia, said in a press release announcing the award.

2018 Profiles of Positive Living honorees

In addition to its Positive Aging Icon Award honoring Beverly “Guitar” Watkins, LeadingAge Georgia is spotlighting 18 other seniors for their contributions to the community. LeadingAge Georgia says its Profiles of Positive Aging Image Awards honor elders who have made and continue to make a difference and whose contributions “exemplify positive aging.”

The honorees and the organizations or institutions they represent are:

• Raymond Pattillo Sr., Asbury Harris Epworth Towers, Atlanta

• Rosa Smith, JenCare Neighborhood Medical Centers, Atlanta

• Victorine Solomon, Providence Manor Senior Center, Atlanta

• Frances Thrasher, A.G. Rhodes Health and Rehab, Atlanta

• Lynda Washington, Decatur Christian Towers, Decatur

• Jerry Waugh, Baptist Towers, Atlanta

• Marion White, Lutheran Towers, Atlanta

• Marguerite Wilkins, Alice Williams Towers, Lithonia

• Mary Baker Anderson-Hill, Presbyterian Village, Austell

• Bradley Currey Jr., Canterbury Court, Atlanta

• Creed W. Pannell Jr., LeadingAge Georgia, Atlanta

• Michael Halpern, Lenbrook, Atlanta

• Lou Geerlings, Carlyle Place, Macon

• Dorothy Heuslein, St. George Village, Roswell

• Frances Goodson, Wesley Woods of Newnan, Newnan

• Sondra Rhoades Johnson, AARP

• The Rev. Joyce Myers-Brown, Wesley Woods Towers, Atlanta

• Ruby Newsome, Altrus Inc., Atlanta

JOE EARLE

Beverly “Guitar” Watkins plays at Clairmont Oaks senior residence, accompanied by drummer Arthur Johnson.

Watkins’ electric guitar playing has made her a fixture on the Atlanta blues scene. She joined her first band while she was in high school, she said, and played in clubs around town. In the late 1950s and the 1960s, she performed with Willie “Piano Red” Perryman in several of his bands, playing with him on records including his hit, “Right String, But the Wrong Yo-Yo.”

One Perryman-led band she played in was called Dr. Feelgood and the Interns and the Nurse. Watkins says she was “The Nurse” in the group, which wore medical-themed clothing onstage. “I didn’t wear the shoes,” she said. “I wore the nurse’s suit, and the hat, but I wouldn’t wear those ugly shoes.”

Over the decades, Watkins has played in a string of different bands. She played for tips at Underground Atlanta during the entertainment district’s heyday and, in 1999, recorded her first CD, titled “Back in Business.”

And, as she likes to say, “things rock on” with her music. She still appears in clubs and now performs at senior centers, too. She said she also regularly performs gospel music in churches on Sunday mornings.

One rainy afternoon in November, Watkins showed a group at Clairmont Oaks, a senior residence in Decatur, that at 79, she’s still rolling along. Accompanied by drummer Arthur Johnson, she sang and played a string of familiar blues and rhythm-and-blues tunes during a luncheon marking the center director’s retirement. “We’re going to party, y’all,” Watkins told the crowd as she kicked off a set of songs that ranged from “Summertime” to “You Send Me” to “Rock Me, Baby.”

As Watkins played, Clairmont Oaks resident Gloria MonroeDrummond clapped along and danced in her seat. “I think she’s great. I love it,” Monroe-Drummond said. “I love the music and she’s a senior. That’s making it even better.”

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Watkins says she has no plans to slow down any time soon. Playing guitar is her gift, she said.

“It’s a gift from God,” she said. “This is my gift and I’m giving it back to the community. And I enjoy what I do. It’s hard, but God, he’s always there. I want to keep doing it until he says, ‘Well done, my child.’ It keeps me going. It’s something to look forward to. Maybe I’ll be playing in the heavenly band someday.”

Physicians/Providers:

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Zero Mile Post moves to Atlanta History Center

By John Ruch

The Zero Mile Post, a historic stone railroad marker of the city’s center since the 1850s, has been moved to the Atlanta History Center from its long-inaccessible downtown site. The marker joined the locomotive the “Texas” in its long-awaited debut in November as a display at the center.

Whether the Zero Mile Post will remain at the History Center permanently or return to its downtown spot is still an open question, according to the Georgia Building Authority, which owns the marker. Meanwhile, the agency is doing a swap with the History Center, loaning the original marker in exchange for a replica that will be installed at the downtown spot, which is being reconfigured for public accessibility.

“Some different things are in play, so we’ll see if it makes more sense for it to remain at the History Center,” said Building Authority spokesperson Morgan Smith-Williams.

But under the current five-year loan agreement, she said, the center “will do a great job of connecting [the Zero Mile Post] to the larger story” of Atlanta’s railroad past.

The Zero Mile Post move cements the History Center’s status as a repository for key artifacts left homeless by Atlanta’s redevelopment. The gigantic “Battle of Atlanta” cyclorama painting was moved from Grant Park to the center last year, and will go on display in a custom circular building starting on Feb. 22. The “Texas,” an 1856 locomotive, came from Grant Park, too. And recently the center acquired the Civil War-scarred Solomon Luckie lamppost, which long stood in Underground Atlanta downtown.

“These are the three great Atlanta icons, period,” Sheffield Hale, the History Center’s president and CEO, said in a press release. “The Zero Mile Post, the Solomon Luckie Lamppost and ‘Texas’ locomotive present a triad of iconic artifacts indicative of the founding of Atlanta and its expansion during the Civil War and beyond. At the Atlanta History Center, they will prompt a rich discussion for generations to come about the many facets of our collective history.”

Not everyone is happy with the move. Jeff Morrison, an architect who occasionally leads history tours in downtown, complained about the move’s secrecy and said that the marker did not need to be relocated to be saved, noting it survived the Civil War, among other massive changes.

“The Atlanta History Center has done more to damage the milepost than even General Sherman,” Morrison said in an email. “… If the Georgia Building Authority had made any effort to engage the

ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER

A publicity photo of how the Zero Mile Post, removed from the ground and laid on its side, will be displayed at the Atlanta History Center.

community for input, any number of better solutions could have been imagined. The fact that the Atlanta History Center insisted on keeping the agreement secret until the deed was done illustrates that they knew there would be significant criticism.”

The Zero Mile Post was a mile marker for the Western & Atlantic Railroad, the line that the city of Atlanta developed around. Specifically, it marked the start of the line, and was used to mark the city’s geographical center. The marker was moved a few times, but had been on its downtown spot since the 1850s, Smith-Williams said. Eventually it was shrouded by parking decks around 90 Central Avenue and the street’s bridge.

In the 1990s, the state constructed a building around it as part of its long-gone New Georgia Railroad, a tourist-trip train. The building later became a Georgia State Patrol precinct and then was vacant for many years. That left the Zero Mile Post virtually inaccessible, with the general public only being able to see it through a window.

The opportunity for a move has come as the state plans to demolish the building by year’s end. Moving the Zero Mile Post ensured its safety and preservation. The state and the History Center cut a deal earlier this year and dug up the marker last month under the signed agreement, which swore the state to secrecy until after the marker was moved.

At the History Center, the marker will be displayed alongside the “Texas,” also an artifact from the Western & Atlantic.

Back at the original Central Avenue spot, the replica Zero Mile Post will be set up around January. With the old building gone, it will be far more accessible, with sidewalks added to make it so. The replica marker — which the History Center will deliver once the site is ready — will be given some kind of protective cover and an official Georgia Historical Society explanatory sign, Smith-Williams said.

We call it home.

“I’ve been involved with the community since 1960 and I was on the very first board here at Saint Anne’s Terrace. It’s a beautiful part of town and the best part about living here is the wonderful family atmosphere in which everyone gets along.”

•

3100 Northside Parkway, NW Atlanta 30327 www.saintannesterrace.org • 404-238-9200

Apples vs. Pears

Body shapes give a clue to health risks

Today’s conversations about waists seem to center (no pun intended) around apples and pears. The discussion goes beyond their tasty appeal as fruit — it’s all about physical shapes.

“Body shape is critical,” said Dr. Marie Savard, author of “Apples and Pears: The Body Shape Solution for Weight Loss and Wellness.”

The shape of our bodies is affected by how much we have of the different types of fat and where it settles. Subcutaneous fat is commonly found throughout the body, but generally settles around a person’s hips and thighs, giving the body a pear shape.

Visceral fat, found deep in the abdomen, surrounds the organs. When there’s too much, it gives a rounded apple shape to the body, and that can lead to dangerous health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. What shape are you? Ask yourself this question: When you look in the mirror, do you resemble an apple (widest across the belly) or a pear (weight mostly below the waist)?

There are experts who suggest a pearshaped body is the healthier of the two. However, most medical professionals, including Dr. Savard, agree being overweight is not ideal for anyone. For the apple-shaped women, Dr. Savard suggests following the “get healthy and get rid of the visceral fat” program. “If you want to start with only one thing, get the partially hydrogenated foods out of your life. Plus, get moving,” she advised in a Library of Congress webcast. A sedentary or inactive lifestyle raises everyone’s risk of premature death, she added.

If you’re a pear, don’t get too pleased with yourself. A UC Davis Health research paper published in “The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism” notes, “The protective benefits of having a pear-body shape may be more myth than reality.”

According to the UC Davis study, “Pear-shaped people may be less likely to struggle with metabolic syndrome.” Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions — increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels — that occur together and increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

However, “no one is immune to heart disease or other health risks,” the study adds.

Can We Change Our Shapes?

For most of us, our bodies change shape as we age. “Our weight may remain constant, but unless one continues to exercise regularly, we will lose muscle mass and gain more fat,” said clinical dietitian, Alexandra (Sandy) Park, Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital.

“It’s interesting to look at MRI scans of bone and muscle for two people of the same weight but different ages,” said Park. “In the cross section we can see the decrease or change in muscle mass and the addition of fat.

She said that it’s especially noticeable in the amount of abdominal fat — the fat that’s most detrimental to our health — as we get older. She shared two important points.

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1. While aging, we tend to replace muscle mass with fat. Fat is not as metabolically active as muscle and therefore uses fewer calories. Simply put: muscle burns calories and fat does not.

2. The second factor to gaining weight as we age has to do with portions and the kind of foods we eat. We actually require fewer calories to maintain our current weight — “but not less nutrients,” Park said.

“After 65, either intentional or unintentional weight loss has similar results,” said Park. “It’s a loss of muscle mass.” Too much sitting (or lack of any physical activity) combined with excess weight are often considered important metabolic syndrome factors.

Park said she encourages patients to watch the amount of food they put on their plates and suggests adopting the diet nicknamed “DASH.” DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension and emphasizes eating a variety of food with the right amount of nutrients.

The need for nutrient dense foods is still important as we add years — try to plan meals that include whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products. “Make the most of the food

you eat,” said Park.

So go ahead and munch on an apple or pear. Why not add asparagus and zucchini to your A to Z vegetable snacks? “Those are the foods will leave less ‘room’ for those unhealthful empty calories,” said Park.

Most experts agree that having more than one of the following symptoms increases the risk of a serious disease:

■ Can you find that old cloth tape measure? Check to see if your waistline is more than 40 inches for men or more than 35 inches for women (measuring across the belly).

■ Is your fasting blood glucose (or sugar) level greater than 100 mg/dl, or are you currently taking any glucose lowering medications?

■ Is your triglyceride level above 150 mg/dl?

■ Check your blood pressure and make sure it’s less than 130/85. Are you already taking any blood pressure medications?

■ And lastly, check your high-density lipoprotein level (HDL is sometimes known as the “good” or “healthy” cholesterol.) It should be less than 40 mg/dl for men and under 50 mg/dl for women.

Get a regular check-up to check your numbers and get help with improving your shape and fitness.

Of course, always check with your healthcare provider before making major changes in your diet or adding exercise.

Ask Rusty: Medicare Late Enrollment Penalty

by AMAC Certified Social Security Advisor Russell Gloor

Dear Rusty:

I’ve never been a fan of socialized medicine, so wasn’t happy with that whole “Great Society” thing that happened back in the 1960s, where Medicare started. On principle, I refused to sign up for Medicare when I turned 65, but with age comes wisdom, so now I find that maybe I should have. I’m 68 and starting to develop some health issues. My insurance agent says that since I didn’t sign up for Medicare when I was 65, there will be penalties. We didn’t talk about how much, but I’m hoping you can give me some insight on what I’m up against.

Dear Wiser:

Drug coverage). Assuming you’re eligible for or collecting Social Security, your Part A (hospitalization) coverage should be free, even if you didn’t enroll during your “initial enrollment period” (IEP), which started three months before the month you turned 65 and lasted until three months after.

Signed:

Wiser Now than Before

While I always admire one who sticks to their principles, I also believe, to coin a phrase, that wisdom is the better part of valor. You’ve been lucky health-wise and avoided a major health crisis for the past several years, but with the wisdom gained by age now realize that the Medicare you paid into over your lifetime isn’t such a bad thing after all. The problem is, the law requires that you enroll in Medicare at age 65 unless you have other “creditable” coverage (e.g., from an employer or the VA). To have not done so does, indeed, mean that by enrolling now you’ll have to pay a “late enrollment penalty,” at least for Medicare Part B (doctors and outpatient services) and Part D (Prescription

The Part B penalty for late enrollment is applied as a supplement to the base Medicare Part B premium amount which, for 2018, is $134 per month if you earned less than $85,000 as a single-filer in 2016 (the premium is higher if you earned more than that). The late enrollment penalty for Part B is 10 percent additional for each full year after the end of your initial enrollment period,

so $134/month plus 30 percent means you’ll be paying $174/ month instead, and the penalty is recurring every year. In fact, if the Part B premium goes up (as it periodically does), so will your penalty because the base number is higher.

As for Medicare Part D, although it’s hard to justify paying for prescription drug coverage you may not currently need, the sticker shock for enrolling if you need to later is quite severe. Compared to the Part B penalty, the computation for late enrollment in Part D is complicated. You owe the penalty, again on top of your

regular Part D premium amount, if you go more than 63 days past your IEP without a creditable Medicare Part D drug plan, a Medicare Advantage (Part C) plan which includes drug coverage, or another healthcare plan (such as the VA), which includes creditable prescription drug coverage. Part D premiums are set by the insurance carrier which provides the coverage, but the penalty amount is set by Medicare, as follows: 1 percent of the “National Base Beneficiary Premium” ($32.02 for 2018), times the number of full months you didn’t have creditable Part D coverage (rounded to the nearest 10 cents). That amount is added to the Part D premium amount as determined by your insurance provider. And like Part B, the penalty for late enrollment in Part D coverage is recurring and may increase with changes to the National Base Beneficiary Premium as computed by Medicare.

It’s important to note that since you’re well past your IEP, your timing to enroll in Medicare is

now limited. You can only enroll in Part A & B during the annual “General Enrollment Period” which runs from Jan. 1 to Mar. 31 for coverage to begin on July 1. And you can only enroll in a Part D drug plan during the annual Open Enrollment Period which runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7.

This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question or learn more, visit amacfoundation. org/programs/social-securityadvisory).

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Cutting the Cord: Move Beyond Cable and Satellite

Those of us of a certain age remember walking across the room to change channels by turning the selector knob on the TV. Remember the “clicks” as you passed each channel?

Today, “click” has a totally different meaning. We click a mouse or tap a screen to get TV content on computers or devices or push buttons on our TV remotes to get hundreds of channels we mostly don’t watch.

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Or, we push a button or two to record a program, even a sporting event, to watch on our schedule. The whole idea of being someplace at a specific time to watch a TV show is breaking apart.

And watching it on a TV? That’s another idea that’s fading fast.

If you’ve made the journey from the 15-inchwide piece-of-furniture TV and test patterns to the 65-inch flat screen HDTV, you may think you’ve reached the final frontier. You haven’t, but the next step is closer than you think.

Today’s technology for delivering video content — we still call it TV — offers you greater selectivity from among more choices and a much better viewing experience. And the best part of it all is that it’s not that complicated. My goal is to help you better understand what you need to do if you want to cut the cord from your cable or satellite provider.

As you start to think about cutting the cord, you need to keep two things in mind:

1. You may not necessarily save money, but you will be able to align your “TV budget” with your viewing needs.

2. You are not going to replicate your cable/satellite experience. You will be moving on to something different and, hopefully, better.

What do you watch?

I don’t know anyone who watches half the channels offered by cable and satellite. You probably break your viewing choices along the following lines: news, weather, sports, network programming, special interests and movies. For that final category, you may turn to premium channels, such as HBO and Showtime, or programming not even associated with TV, such as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and a host of others.

In this age of technology, the first thing you might want to do is get a piece of paper and a pen and write down the channels or types of programming you watch. Your list could include “over-the-air” broadcast channels, such as the local affiliates of TV networks; sports programming; news, including business news and weather; foreign-language programming; special interest programming, etc.

Do you watch any of the premium programming for movies? Do you subscribe to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu or other services for movies and other programming? Do you use On-Demand from your cable provider for free or paid programming and movies?

Who will provide it?

After you compile your list, you can start to look at the streaming services to see who carries your programs. At this stage, we recommend that you put aside how they’ll deliver — or stream — the content. Your goal here is to see who offers the most content you want to watch and what packages you might be able to add to their offerings to give you all that you want.

This is where streaming will differ from cable or satellite. Each provider gives you choices and tiers of service that allow you to add more programming. With streaming, you can have more than one service to get the programming you want.

Feel free to mix and match. If you have cable and a Netflix, Amazon

or Hulu subscription, you’re already doing it. In the Atlanta metro area, there’s a good chance you can get your local network TV stations by over-the-air broadcast; that’s something you pay for with your cable and satellite and with some streaming services.

Here are seven streaming providers to help you with your research:

■ Sling: sling.com

■ YouTube TV: tv.youtube.com

■ Roku: roku.com

■ Apple TV: apple.com/tv

■ Hulu with Live TV: hulu.com/live-tv

■ DirecTV Now: directvnow.com

■ PlayStation Vue: playstation.com/en-us/network/vue

These are not the only ones, but one or more might work for you, based on their programming and pricing. You’ll be able to get premium channels and services, plus DVR capabilities, through most, if not all, of them. You can go beyond their websites to check out their customer reviews.

How will you watch it?

To be clear, you may cut the cable-TV cord from your cable provider, but you will still need an internet connection. Depending on where you live, that may be your current provider, but you’ll only buy internet

access. Netflix recommends a download speed of 5 megabits per second (MBPS) to watch a movie on HD-quality TVs and 25 MBPS for Ultra HD quality. The more TVs and devices you have and the higher the quality you want, the faster the connection you’ll need, and the more that will cost.

Also keep in mind that the more HD programming you stream, the more data you will use, and your internet provider will monitor that. They offer packages based on speed and your monthly data use, and you’ll need to take that into account.

If you have a Smart TV that’s connected to your in-home Wi-Fi network, you’re in business. If you don’t have a Wi-Fi network or have one that’s capable of delivering a strong signal to all the TVs, computers, phones and tablets in your home, you’ll need to have one installed. That’s a subject for another discussion.

With a Smart TV on your network, you just need your TV’s remote to access streaming. If you have a flat screen TV with HD capability and a HDMI port (most new TVs have multiple HDMI ports), you can connect boxes from the content provider. The box, known as the casting device, has an antenna to access your Wi-Fi network, and the HDMI connection is the best way to carry the content to your TV.

At this point, you’ll control your TV like you do now. Casting devices have their own remote-control systems, which can also control your TV on/off and sound volume, but you can also use universal remotes and remotes that run through your mobile devices. Any remote that works with your Wi-Fi can be programmed to control TVs in multiple rooms.

People who’ve cut the cord report a better viewing experience. They say they can change channels faster, access programming guides more easily and enjoy better quality (as long as they have the technology).

Finally, if you really want to cut your costs way down and are happy with over-the-air TV, you can buy HDTV antennae for your HDTV TVs. As long as you have good reception, you will get an exceptional picture — and a bonus; many HDTV broadcasters have side channels that can provide extra programming.

Whatever you decide to do, you’ll be taking advantage of the flexibility advancing technology offers to live life on your terms.

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Suet Treats for Neighborhood Birds

While everyone is gearing up for the holidays and spending more time indoors, don’t forget about our feathered friends outdoors. The winter season is harder for birds because there are less food choices for them. If you’d like to give your backyard birds something for the cooler weather, suet is one of their favorite treats.

Suet is important for birds in the winter because it has some fats that help keep them fed when nuts and berries are scarce. Making suet is pretty simple. It’s a fun activity that the whole family can do together. A good suet recipe includes:

• cornmeal

• Crisco

• peanut butter

• bird seed

• and shelled sunflower seeds. Stir the ingredients together until the mixture has a thick consistency. It should work with room temperature Crisco and peanut butter, but you can warm up those ingredients if you need to soften them.

For a standard square shape, use a flat cake pan and refrigerate the suet to harden it. Then you can cut it into squares. (Freeze any leftover suet to keep it fresh for later.)

You can get creative and spoon the suet mixture into cookie cutters before cooling it. The suet will keep the shape of the cookie cutter as long as it’s cold enough outside.

The best way to share the suet with your backyard birds is by putting it in a wire suet cage. This keeps the suet in the container and gives the birds some wire to stand on when eating it. Suet cages are easy to find at nature stores, pet shops and wherever bird seed is sold. Hang your suet shapes outside when it’s cold and enjoy watching your neighborhood birds as they gobble up the treat you’ve made for them.

Sarah E. Brodd is an Agriculture and Natural Resource Agent for UGA Extension in DeKalb County. She enjoys educating the community about horticulture and working with her great group of DeKalb Master Gardeners.

Pet PickS

Meet Princess! This beautiful girl is Atlanta Humane Society royalty. She lounges lazily on her throne to pass the time, and she asks her subjects for petting precisely when she wants it.

Princess is a 1½-year-old tabby sweetheart, and she’s curious, independent and charming. While she may be a little slow to warm up in the beginning, once Princess knows you’re trustworthy, she’ll assume her rightful place as the queen of your castle. She would be happiest in a home without young children, and she is spayed, microchipped and up-to-date on vaccinations.

Princess is available for adoption at the Atlanta Humane Society’s Howell Mill Campus, located at 981 Howell Mill Road, Atlanta 30318. You can email adoptions@atlantahumane.org to get more information. Visit atlantahumane.org to find more adoptable pets and to learn about becoming a volunteer.

The assisted living services at The Piedmont at Buckhead Senior Living Community are about the whole family and the whole YOU. Of course, we can help you with your daily needs. But did you know you will also have options for fitness, socializing, healthy fine dining, and more? And services are tailored to you, so you’ll get just the right amount of help you need, when you request it. But the best part? No matter if you need a little help or a lot, the difference you’ll feel will be amazing. Please call The Piedmont at Buckhead to schedule your complimentary lunch and tour.

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A Nutty, Fruity Holiday Tradition

Georgia’s own Claxton fruit cake

By Mark Woolsey

Make no bones about it; Dale Parker respects the fruit cake.

Yes, TV host Johnny Carson famously joked that there was only one fruit cake that was passed around endlessly. Sure, you can find internet videos of people flinging, stomping on or otherwise laying waste to the holiday…um…favorite?

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But also know this; the candied-and-dried fruit and nut creation has been a British royal family favorite for centuries, served at weddings and other celebrations. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of many satisfied customers.

That same tradition and enthusiasm shine through when you speak with the 65-year-old Parker, part of the family that owns the Claxton Bakery, Inc. in tiny Claxton, Georgia west of Savannah. They’ve been turning out the iconic fruit cake of the same name for decades.

As he put it, “I grew up in a family business where fruit cake is the product. We have enjoyed a long, rich tradition of making the world’s finest cakes, and I don’t really believe you can truly succeed in business without a high level of passion for the product you’re producing.”

As for Carson and those internet videos he said flatly, “we’re really too busy to make jokes.”

Extremely busy in fact. The operation turns out 5 million pounds of the specialty desert annually, 86 thousand pounds in an average day. The cakes are most prevalent in the Southeast and Atlantic Seaboard states, but they’re shipped to all 50 states — in fact all over the world.

It’s also a family affair. Parker runs the operation along with two brothers; a sister is partowner as well. Parker’s two sons are involved, as well as other relatives of various description. A year-round staff of 10 or 12 swells to more than 100 during the busy holiday season with good reason. Ninety-five percent of their sales come during October, November and December.

Parker is proud to note that some employees have been around for more than 50 years. He’s also frank. “A family business can be a struggle, but we’ve made it work because we put the focus on the customer. People ask us who our famous customers are; we consider every customer to be famous.”

The family connection dates back to 1945, when Albert Parker (Dale’s father) purchased the bakery from Italian immigrant and

Tos.

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pastry maker Saviano

Above: Left to right, Dale Parker, Mid Parker, Betty P. Smith and Paul Parker, owners and operators of Claxton Bakery, Inc.

Right: Albert Parker

Photos courtesy of Claxton Bakery, Inc.

Tos had wended his way down from New York, settling in Claxton in 1910 and spending decades turning out bread, baked goods and, particularly, specialty fruit cake.

Not long after taking over, Parker looked at how traditional bakery items were appearing in other places—bread in grocery stores and ice cream in service stations, to name a few examples. So he took a leap of faith and decided to specialize in fruit cakes. He developed his own recipe and a Georgia tradition was born.

That first year, the senior Parker baked 45,000 pounds of fruit cake. This year, said his son, they expect that number to be five million. He said their gourmet approach to the treat has served them — and their customers — well.

“When people buy our product, they’re going to get over 70 percent by weight fruits and nuts,” Parker said. “A run-of-themill fruit cake is 30 or 40 percent. In a supermarket or convenience store, you’ll typically see a pound cake with a few fruits and nuts sprinkled on top of it.”

The gourmet concoction’s ingredients are gathered from far and wide. Candied cherries from the Pacific Northwest and Michigan. Natural and golden raisins from California’s San Joaquin Valley. Pineapples from Mexican plantations. And don’t forget good old Georgia pecans, along with almonds and other nutty goodies.

Parker said they start with pound cake, “Just enough to hold

the fruit and nuts together,” in his words. Prepackaged ingredients are folded in (including those somewhatmysterious red and green candied pineapples) and it’s all whirled around in what looks like a cement mixer. Then it’s into the ovens. After a cooling process, the 11-pound loaves are cut into one, two and threepound increments.

The cakes do enjoy considerable popularity with older adults, Parker said, but he’s not sure why. Maybe it’s a taste acquired with time — that certainly does happen. “When I was growing up, I wouldn’t eat asparagus and now I can’t get enough of it,” he noted.

He said that they’ve experimented with chocolatecovered fruit cake and individually wrapped slices, looking to expand their base and appeal to the younger set. Energy-boost-seekers are apparently already sold on the treat.

“There was a book written by a guy named Ed Garvey, called ‘Appalachian Hiker,’ Parker said. “He contacted our company and had us deliver fruit cake to him at several stops along his way. I’m told other trail hikers also take us along as an energy source.”

And that source will stay as is; don’t look for any experimentation with the treasured formula pioneered in

the 1940s.

“We have made the same cake for many years,” he said. “We don’t change our recipe. In that, we’re kind of like Coke or any other iconic product. We feel it’s one reason our cakes have retained their popularity.”

Comic lines notwithstanding, Parker foresees a steady future. Long a mainstay in stores and supermarkets and a popular fundraising item for Citivan clubs and other service organizations, the dessert can now be found for sale on QVC and in Walmart stores in Canada under a French label. Sales are trending upward.

Parker plans to work a while longer and then pass the mantle on to his sons. And he has no regrets about spending virtually his entire adult life presiding over mixing, baking and shipping.

“My one regret,” he said, “is that I won’t get to work here another 45 years.”

Fruit cake, a much-loved delicacy for centuries, is a holiday highlight for many.

Where to Find the Cheer

By Joe Earle

The holidays offer a great time for grandparents to bond with their grandchildren, or with their children, for that matter. Here are some places and performances where families can enjoy the holidays together. What says it’s the holidays better than displays of brightly colored lights that drive away the darkness as the days grow short? Here are five places in and around metro Atlanta that promise spectacular shows of holiday lights.

Five special holiday light displays

Atlanta Botanical Garden

The garden’s eighth annual “Garden Lights, Holiday Nights” exhibition returns with new features, including a Skylights Lounge. The garden promises larger-than-life plant giants, a Tunnel of Light, model trains and other displays.

When: Through Jan. 6, 2019; 5 to 11 p.m.

Where: 1345 Piedmont Avenue NE, Atlanta 30309

Cost: Ticket prices vary depending on the night and on the ticket package. Discounts are offered for advance purchase. Prices range from $19.95 to $39.95 for adults and from $16.95 to $36.95 for children. General admission tickets are available

decorated gardens and through historic houses decorated to show holiday traditions from pioneer days, the Civil War and the 1930s. Musicians, actors and storytellers perform, and visitors will have a chance to check in with Santa Claus.

When: Dec. 14 and Dec. 21, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Where: 130 W. Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta 30305

Cost: $20 for adults, $10 for children, For more: atlantahistorycenter.com

When: Through Jan. 5, 2019, shows start at 6 p.m.; Christmas Village opens at 4 p.m. Where: 17800 U.S. 27, Pine Mountain 31822

Cost: Prices vary based on package. Individual tickets listed on the website vary from $21 to $30 for adults and $10.50 to $15 for children.

For more: callawaygardens.com

more.

Ticket prices increase to $59 for cars, $115 for vans and $270 for buses between Dec. 14 and Dec. 26.

Discounts offered for tickets purchase online.

For more: lakelanier.com; lanierislands.

Stone Mountain Park

Ride through millions of lights, an illuminated forest and visit a Christmas village as part of Callaway Garden’s annual “Fantasy in Lights.”

Atlanta History Center

The history center offers scenes of Christmases past with a candlelit stroll through

The garden calls its annual lightshow the most spectacular one in the South and says it has been named one of National Geographic Traveler’s Top 10 displays.

Lake Lanier

Lanier Islands staged its first light show in 1993. This year, Lanier Islands promises holiday displays spread through a meandering course seven miles long, carnival rides and s’mores around the campfire.

When: Through Jan. 6, 2019, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Where: 7650 Lanier Islands Parkway, Buford 30518

Cost: Annual pass to Lanier Islands or $49 per car that seats one to 10 passengers, $105 for vans seating 11 to 20 passengers or $260 for buses seating 21 or

Stone Mountain Park’s annual holiday event offers millions of lights, a nightly tree-lighting and parade, carolers, family-friendly holiday-themed live shows and a chance to meet Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer, Angelina the Snow Angel and Santa Claus.

When: Through Jan. 6, 2019

Where: U.S. 78 East, Exit 8, Stone Mountain 30083

Cost: At the gate, $34.95 for adults, $29.95 for children aged 3 through 11; online, $31.95 for adults, $29.95 for children aged 3 through 11.

For more: stonemountainpark. com

Four special holiday shows

Special performances by local arts groups also mark the holidays. Some are staged every year and watching “The Nutcracker” or “A Christmas Carol” onstage becomes a holiday tradition for some Atlanta families. Here are four classic holiday shows being staged this

year by long-established Atlanta arts groups.

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s holiday concerts

The orchestra plans a series of holiday concerts. They range

Continued on page 28

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from family shows to a performance of Handel’s “Messiah.”

“Christmas with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra”

■ Dec. 8 and 9, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

■ Atlanta Symphony Hall, Memorial Arts Building, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta 30309

■ Tickets: $20 to $79.

“Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Holiday Concert at North Avenue Presbyterian Church”

■ Dec. 13, 11:45 a.m.

■ North Avenue Presbyterian Church, 607 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta

■ Admission: free.

“Messiah with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Chorus”

■ Dec. 13 and 14, 8 p.m.

■ Atlanta Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta 30309

■ Tickets: $20 to $69.

“A Festive Family Holiday”

■ Dec. 16, 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

■ Atlanta Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta 30309

■ Tickets: $15 to $20.

“A Very Merry Holiday”

■ Dec. 20 and Dec. 21, 8 p.m.

■ Atlanta Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta 30309

■ Tickets: $20 to $69.

For more: aso.org/holidays

Atlanta Ballet’s “Nutcracker”

The Atlanta Ballet, founded in 1929, is offering its first new production of the classic Christmas ballet in 20 years. The show keeps the classic Tchaikovsky score, but features new choreography and elaborate sets, lighting and costumes. The ballet company calls this version a “‘Nutcracker’ for the Next Generation.”

When: Dec. 8 through 24

Where: Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree Street, Atlanta 30308

Cost: $31.25 to $136.25 for adults; $31.25 to $108.25 for students

For more: atlantaballet.com

Alliance Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol”

The Alliance presents its 29th annual staging of the holiday show based on Charles Dickens’ tale of a haunted miser who learns it’s never too late to change his ways. This year, the show is again being staged at Cobb’s performing arts center, as the Alliance performs its shows at various locations around the metro area while its home theater in Midtown is being renovated.

When: Dec. 12 through Dec. 24

Where: Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta 30339

Cost: Tickets cost $20 to $80 adults, $14 to $56 for younger than 17; parking costs $10. For more: alliancetheatre.org

Center for Puppetry Arts’ “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” Rudolph flies back to the

puppetry arts center’s Mainstage Theatre for the annual retelling of the story of how a reindeer’s glowing nose saved Christmas celebrations. The center recreates the 1964 animated television production of the story, complete with Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster and narrator Sam the Snowman.

When: Most days through Dec. 30, except Mondays and Christmas Day. Performance times vary daily, so check the website for specific shows.

Where: Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring Street NW, Atlanta 30309

Cost: Ticket prices vary but start at $12.50 for members and $25 for nonmembers. Ticket price includes admission to the museum and to the center’s Create-A-Puppet Workshop. For more: puppet.org

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►Out & about

Holiday Music and Shows

A Nice Family Christmas

Runs through Dec. 16. Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sunday matinees, 2:30 p.m. On Christmas Eve, a young newspaper reporter on the brink of being fired has been assigned a last-chance story about a typical family Christmas —his family’s Christmas. He goes home to his recently widowed mother, his crazy uncle, his eccentric grandmother and his battling siblings and their neurotic spouses, who provide no shortage of material. Tickets: seniors, $30; adults, $33; students, $22. Stage Door Players, 5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody 30338. Call the box office at 770-396-1726 for tickets and visit stagedoorplayers.net for more info.

Holiday Shows at Cumming Playhouse

Cumming Playhouse brightens the season with music.

■ “Christmas in Dixie The Musical” is presented through Dec. 16. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, at 8 p.m. on all three days, and Sundays, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $25 for seniors, veterans and ages 18 and under; $27.50 for adults.

■ The North Georgia Barbershop Singers perform their Christmas show on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for seniors, veterans and ages 18 and under; $20 for adults.

■ The Cumming Playhouse Singers appear on Thursday, Dec. 20, 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for seniors, veterans and ages 18 and under; $20 for adults.

■ Sounds of Suwanee Christmas Concert on Friday, Dec. 21, 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for seniors, veterans and ages 18 and under; $20 for adults.

The Cumming Playhouse, 101 School Street, Cumming 30041. Get tickets and more info at playhousecumming.com or call 770-781-9178.

Waffle Palace Christmas

Runs through Dec. 30. Wednesdays-Sundays, 8 p.m.; matinee performances on Dec.

Continued on page 30

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►Out & about

6,13 and 19 at 11 a.m. Heartfelt Southern humor is scattered, smothered and covered in a spicy holiday sauce. The charming characters from the sell-out show “Waffle Palace” are back in a long-awaited sequel. The show is full of fun, laughter and Christmas cheer. Tickets start at $30 for Wednesday-Fridays, and $35 on weekends. Horizon Theatre, 1083 Austin Avenue, Atlanta 30307. Get tickets and additional info at horizontheatre.com.

A Christmas Carol

Runs Dec. 7 through 23. Bulloch Hall and Kudzu Playhouse present Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” The classic Christmas tale follows Ebenezer Scrooge’s visitation from three ghosts who teach him the meaning of Christmas. The show is sure to sell out quickly, so get your tickets early. Tickets are $18. Bulloch Hall Osage Terrace Hall, 180 Bulloch Avenue, Roswell 30075. For tickets, call 770-992-1731 or visit bullochhall.org.

Free Christmas Concert

Saturday, Dec. 8, 3-4 p.m. Celebrate the holiday season with Cobb New Horizons Concert Band, directed by Dr. Charles Jackson. Members of the band range in age from their 50s to 90s, all dedicated to proving that making beautiful music can last a lifetime. McEachern High School Concert Hall, 2400 New MacLand Road, Powder Springs 30127.

Enchanted Woodland Wonders

Saturday, Dec. 9, 2-6 p.m. CNC’s most popular Family Fun Day is presented by Northside Hospital. This holiday highlight brings you and your family live reindeer, performances, winter crafts, face painting and more. Cost is included with general admission: $7 for

seniors 65+ and students ages 13-18; $10 for adults; $6 for children 3-12; and free to CNC members and children 2 and under. Chattahoochee Nature Center, 9135 Willeo Road, Roswell 30075. Find details and more events at chattnaturecenter.org.

Saint Nicholas

Tuesday, Dec. 11, 7:30 p.m. Celebrate the holidays with a concert performance of Benjamin Britten’s “Saint Nicholas,” a choral drama retelling the story of this renowned seasonal namesake. Admission is $12 for seniors and students, $12 for adults. Northside Drive Baptist Church, 3100 Northside Drive, Atlanta 30305. Visit cgatl.org for tickets and information.

Christmas Gala Holiday Pops

Saturday, Dec. 15. Doors open at 6:45, and young ticket holders may visit with Santa from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m., when the concert begins. The Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra celebrates the Most Wonderful Time of the Year with a variety of seasonal and sacred favorites at their annual Christmas Gala Holiday Pops concert. JCSO Music Director J. Wayne Baughman conducts, and guest artists include soprano Caitlin Hammon Moore, Johns Creek Chorale and Tapestry Women’s Ensemble. Tickets are: seniors, $27; adults, $32; students & children, $16. Johns Creek United Methodist Church, 11180 Medlock Bridge Road, Johns Creek 30097. Call 678-748-5802 or visit johnscreeksymphony.org for more info.

Christmas on Clairemont

Sunday, Dec. 16, 7 p.m. Christmas on Clairemont is a collaborative holiday spectacular hosted and produced by Daniel Solberg at First Baptist of Decatur with full orchestra, a symphonic organ solo and a festival chorus of a hundred local voices. Guest performers include Kamryn Loy, the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus and the Atlanta Young Singers. An offering taken during the concert will benefit Decatur Cooperative Ministry. First Baptist Church Decatur, 308 Clairemont Avenue, Decatur 30030. Get details at christmasonclairemont.com.

Classic Nashville Christmas ►

Saturday, Dec. 22, 8 p.m. Jason Petty and Katie Deal bring you the greatest collection of country Christmas songs

and the stories behind them. With hits like “Hard Candy Christmas,” bluegrass favorites and holiday gospel traditions, this show honors artists such as Grandpa Jones, Alan Jackson, Brenda Lee, Elvis Presley, Kenny Rogers and many more. Celebrate the season with this familyfriendly show. Tickets are $25 for seniors, students and military, $30 for adults. Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest Street, Roswell 30075. Call 770-594-6232 or visit RoswellCAC.com for details.

New Year’s Eve Royalty Show: A Tribute to Prince & Queen

Monday, Dec. 31, 9 p.m.-12 a.m. This New Year’s Eve concert is a tribute to the music of Prince and Queen, performed by the Georgia Player’s Guild. The guild will honor the incredible musical legacy of Prince and rock supergroup Queen in a concert that’s guaranteed to ring in the new year right. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 starting on December 25; this show has assigned seating. Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre, 117 North Park Square, Marietta 30060. To purchase tickets, get more info and learn about more shows, go to earlsmithstrand.org.

Holiday Home Tours

Grant Park Candlelight Tour of Homes

Saturday, Dec. 8 and Sunday, Dec. 9, 6-10 p.m. One of the season’s most anticipated events, the 38th Grant Park Candlelight Tour of Homes has become a fundraiser for three community organizations: St. Paul United Methodist Church, Grant Park Cooperative Preschool and Grant Park’s Parents Network. In addition to the home tour, there are other events, including an Artists’ Market, 4-9 p.m. on Saturday and 6-8 p.m. on Sunday at St. Paul UMC. Tour tickets are $20 in until Dec. 7 and $25 on tour weekend. St. Paul United Methodist Church, 501 Grant Street, Atlanta 30312. Get info and tickets at CandelightTourofHomes. com.

Christmas in Avondale Estates

Sunday, Dec. 9. Holiday Market & Cafe 12-6 p.m.; tour 3-8 p.m. The 26th annual Tour of Homes adds to everyone’s holiday cheer. Be sure to check out the Holiday Market & Cafe, which offers great foods and unique gifts. Along with the featured homes, points of interest

include the Avondale Baptist Church and Avondale Community Club. Advance tickets are $15 and are available at Avondale Estates City Hall. On the day of the tour, tickets can be purchased for $20 at Avondale Community Club, 52 Lakeshore Dr., Avondale Estates 30002. Additional info is at avondaletourofhomes.com.

Learn Something

Bird Walk

Saturday, Dec. 9, 8-10 a.m. Join the Atlanta Audubon Society at Chattahoochee Nature Center to look for summer resident birds of the river and forest, including warblers, sparrows, woodpeckers, raptors, waterfowl and waders. Admission is included with general admission, $10 for adults; $7 for seniors 65+ and students ages 13-18; $16 for children 3-12; and free to CNC members and children 2 and under. Chattahoochee Nature Center, 9135 Willeo Road, Roswell 30075. Go to chattnaturecenter.org to find out more.

Veterans Roundtable

Wednesday, Dec. 12, 1 p.m. The veterans group meets the second Wednesday of every month and is presented by Gwinnett County Public Library in partnership with Goodwill Industries of North Georgia. You can meet with experts on veterans’ resources and discuss your needs. Get real help on filing VA claims, medical care, housing and job resources. Newly discharged or senior retirees are welcome. Gwinnett County Public Library Buford Branch, 2100 Buford Highway, Buford 30518. For more information, email cwalker@ging.org. Visit gwinnettpl.org or call 770-978-5154 to find out about more GCPL activities.

Tips for Making the Holidays Healthier

Wednesday, Dec. 19, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Nutrition is important no matter what time of the year it is, but the flavors of our traditional holiday foods are just as important to us. Learn tips and tricks on how to add nutrients and reduce the calories in your favorite holiday treats without losing the flavor. Free; registration is required. North Cobb Senior Center, 3900 S. Main St., Acworth 30101. Call 770-975-7740 or visit cobbcounty.org to find out more.