The Best of The North Georgia Mountains 13

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Bingo! Monday nights At Shanes at 6:30, Ellijay - Happy 6th Anniversary Steve & Staff at Shane’s Rib Shack!

Kiwanis Spring Fair-Kiwanis Fairgrounds, Blue Ridge Tues-Fri 5 pm- 11 pm Sat 1-11

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We are moving on up, to McCaysville this issue! Five new bright and shiny red paper boxes will be delivered along with our Chicken issue into our newest town! We are very excited to hear what the wonderful folks here think of our paper. Along with this addition, we have decided that it’s time for a more fitting (and easier to say!) name! We are now The Best of… The North Georgia Mountains!

This issue is our best yet, full of stories on Paying It Forward, we hope to create many “Ripples! While we are hopefully creating ripples of kindness, we’d like to also ask for some ripples of spreading the word about our paper. A very smart person said to me recently “you have to remind people how valuable you are sometimes.” She is very right. We hope you find this paper valuable to you, as fun, as information, as interesting and as a great source to learn about our area. Remember, our paper is FREE to you. The advertisers are the ones that pay to keep this going. Please let them know you appreciate it, because they are who keeps us going!

Please let us know if we inspire you to do any “Paying it Forward”, because Ripples Rock!

Thank you for reading. XO Thia & Robb

I am writing this on February 24, there is a couple inches of snow on the ground, and there is supposed to be several more coming tomorrow. The schools are closed, the courthouse is closed, the roads are slippery and everyone that can, is staying home. We had to miss one of our Two Forks Up dinners because we could not get to the Last Catch

in Jasper. They have a whole beautiful brand new building on Church St and I can’t wait to eat there, but I guess it will have to wait until everything thaws out. So here are some flowers to help you remember what is right around the corner. I can’t wait for Spring! Thia

Gilmer Arts’ B.E.S.T. Series - John Jorgenson Quintet March 28th 7:30pm gilmerarts.org Get Your Tickets NOW!

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Story by Thia Newman Photos by Robb Newman

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obb and I have always done “Pay It Forwards” (PIF) , but we really didn’t say much about it, except to close friends. If you tell someone about a good deed you do, it almost feels like you are bragging about it. At least that was how I felt until recently, when I rethought my thinking! I now feel that by telling people about your PIF, you are inspiring and reminding them to do some of their own!

So this New Year, I took a deep breath and decided to do a rather public (and possibly embarrassing) PIF of my own, that would do two things, one- give happiness to others, and twomake me do something I’ve always wanted to do.

Here is my initial post on Facebook about itFREE PAINTINGS! To work on myself and my bucket list… I have always wanted to paint. I am creative, but not artistic. Which means I can envision something amazing in my brain, but I can’t necessarily put it on canvas. I have decided that I will work on that in 2015. I’m guessing most of my paintings will be abstract and colorful, but the meaning will be up to you. If you would like one, I’m happy to make one for you! The more I have out there, the more motivated I will be to keep working on them. Please let me know. If you will hang it…

I will paint it. Feel free to tell me what colors you enjoy. Thia Newman After I posted this I quickly received ten replies from people ( all women!) who wanted my paintings! Some were people I knew, some were Facebook friends I’d never met, including my online scrabble playing buddy, Marie, who lives in Australia! (It’s great to have a friend in Australia when you are a night owl like me, because they are 12 hours different. Their noon is our midnight) So now I had ten painting to make. Scary, very scary, since I didn’t know the first thing about painting and had only painted once on a canvas before! ( Story on www.thebestofebrj.com/2014/10/04/painting-class/) What was really cool to find, when I woke up the next day, was that already several peo-

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“I hope the fruits of my labor are ripe for many generations to come.” - Donovan Nichols

ple had copied my idea and were also doing art to giveaway! And the Pickens Arts and Cultural Alliance put up a post about my idea! This made me feel really good! I hadn’t even started to paint yet, but I was already causing ripples with my idea! Yah! Then I got to work. Here’s my next post on Facebook-So I have been painting for about 3 hours per night for a month now, and I have paintings. Are they good? Well, I would say some of them are okay. I know I have improved.

When I started I would put myself at a second graders level, and I am up to at least 6th grade now. ( Hope I’m not insulting any elementary students!) I would say some of them are good, and well, there were some not so good ones, but those I painted black and started over, so there are no longer any bad ones. I feel somewhat accomplished. The intimidating part is now, when I put up pictures of the painting and ask the people that wanted one which ones they like. What if no one likes any of them?

That wouldn’t be much of a PIF, would it!?

Well I put up the pictures of my paintings and asked my PIF friends which ones they liked. I was happy and relived, when people on the list actually wanted my paintings. And even more happy and surprised when, even though I did not tell them which one I painted for whom, many of the ten picked their own painting! So far I’ve had some lunch dates and some get togethers to give out my paintings. Four of the ten are already at their new homes. And five more will be delivered as soon as it is possible. The one going to Australia will be mailed as soon as this issue comes out, so Marie will get to see her new painting and the story. It’s really fun to have this wonderful group of people tell me where they will be hanging my painting and many are doing their own Pay it Forward.

Some are volunteering, some are knitting, some are donating money and some are doing paintings just like me!

I’ve even already gotten some beautiful handmade items in return! All because I swallowed my fear, put it out there and Painted It Forward. If you do your own PIF because you are inspired by my story, please let me know. I can’t wait to hear about all the ripples!

Facebook.com/bestof.funpaper

Always “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. But sometimes, do more, because you can.

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“You know anyone that wants a puppy? I got a picture.”

I know I was being set-up as I’m universally known as someone who has a warm spot in their heart for all four- legged furry creatures - dogs particularly. And, I knew that when I saw the picture of this undisciplined, furniture chewing, carpet pooping, havoc wreaking little bundle of cute and cuddly energy I’d immediately fall in love.

“Uh, let me talk to my wife” Me asking my wife was nothing more than a respectful formality. See, we’re “Dog People.” We’re the people that will talk to you – to anyone, incessantly about our dogs. Our dogs are just as much a part of our family as kids and cousins and in-laws and, generally, are better behaved and more pleasurable to be around. Our four-legged furry family members get birthday presents too, participate in the holidays, eat leftovers from dinner plates and have as much a right to be on the couch as we do. Back at home, the respectful formalities begin. “Patti, there’s this puppy that’s going to go to doggy jail if we can’t ‘rescue’ it.”

Now, I know this isn’t exactly the truth as there was no impending threat of doggy jail. I was asked if we knew of “anyone” that wanted a puppy but I knew that “anyone” meant “my wife and I”. Plus, I’d already seen the picture and fallen in love.

So, the formalities continue.

“What does it look like?” Personally, I don’t know why she asks this as it doesn’t matter. To say we have a menagerie of curious looking critters – some more visually appealing than others, is an understatement. “Here’s a picture.” I handed it to her and waited. And waited some more.

Clearly not getting the bubbly excited enthusiasm I’d expected, I ask, “What’s wrong.” Almost tearing up, she says, “That’s just the cutest little puppy I’ve ever seen.”

Enter Lucy – named after the late, great and absolutely hilarious, Lucille Ball. Aside from the training, socializing, vet visits and all the other things responsible dog owners do with their dogs, I make sure my dogs get to enjoy and appreciate the outdoors….

At 4 months of age, bursts of energy are followed by periods of intense napping.

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Overflowing enthusiasm followed by immense boredom. She’s a puppy and, as any puppy, is prone to “squirrel syndrome”. Quickly darting back and forth, intently looking in all directions before darting back and forth again. Then there’s “shiny object syndrome.” Anything, I mean anything, catches her immediate, undivided attention until the very next thing comes along and catches her immediate, undivided attention.

Oh, and this dog can jump. Lucy is an American Staffordshire Terrier and if any of you have ever had one of these wonderful breeds, you know that somewhere in their lineage has to be a kangaroo on steroids with spring loaded legs.

Our first hike was the Gahuti Trail at Fort Mountain. This is a longer hike with some tough terrain but the temperatures were cool, there’s lots of scenic spots for resting, snacks are packed and we have all day – just me and my little pup Lucy enjoying the beautiful mountains of NW Georgia.

“This day was going to be GREAT!” Before any mountain hike, there’s the attachment of the red bear bell. Bear bells are tiny bells fitted to a dog’s collar to help keep track of them when in the outdoors and, if a bear is in the area, hopefully spook them enough so they run off before anyone – meaning myself and Lucy, get into one of those oh-so uncomfortable face-to-face with a bear situations. Plus, at Lucy’s size, she’s nothing more than a tasty little biscuit to a hungry black bear.

So let me tell you, attaching a jingly bell to an already rambunctious 4 month old puppy with spring loaded kangaroo legs is something to behold. Boing! Boing!

Straight up! It’s as if this jingly bell provided some type of invigorating, energizing powers – resembling the Tasmanian Devil in the old Bugs Bunny cartoons. Wildly spinning, snarling, a blur of a puppy Terrier Tornado wreaking havoc to anything in its path – accompanied, though, by a rather pleasant jingle. I attach this Terrier Twister to a leash and off we go…”This day was going to be GREAT!” Barely a mile into the hike, any hopes of greatness had been forgotten. Holding the trail wasn’t a skill set she yet possessed, so much of the hike was spent untangling her from bushes, being wrapped around trees, spontaneously jerking me into random directions where “shiny objects” were spot-

PLEASE! Make sure you tell our advertisers, the sponsors of this publication "I Saw You In The "FUNpaper"!!! - Thanks!

ted. Everything accompanied by the pleasant happy jingling of a little red bear bell.

Then there was the first creek crossing. This is where my Tasmanian Terrier experienced her first bit of trepidation. The creek was no more than a couple inches deep and a few feet wide with rocks throughout for easy crossing.

But, I suppose to Lucy, this might as well have been the mighty Mississippi. I wanted my precocious pup to cross this hazardous watery obstacle on her own. She would gain confidence, I would be proud and the day could be great again. I hop to the other side, kneel and say, “Come here girl, you can do it.”

Her tiny front paws tap danced at the creek bank, she let out a squeaky little puppy bark then almost jumped. Almost. Over and over again. Almost.

Twenty minutes later, me sitting in the trail and her sitting on the other side – literally five feet apart, we have a stare off. Her head tilted, my head tilted, she whines. Pleading, I say “You can do this. You have spring loaded kangaroo legs.” Thinking this may be a good time to take a break and regroup, I unzip my backpack and begin rummaging around for treats.

Boing, boing launch! I never heard the splash of water and I think I remember hearing the little red bear bell just before

being tackled in such a way that even the great Chicago Bears Linebacker Dick Butkus would’ve been proud. Apparently, the rustling sound of cracker wrappers was all the encouragement needed for Lucy to take flight.

As I tumble backwards, Lucy in my arms, we roll off the trail and into the thick mountain laurel where backpack, leash, dog and myself all become hopelessly tangled. Trying to gather my faculties, I look up and see Lucy eating a pack of Toasted Cheese Crackers, wrapper and all. She sees me, and makes her way over – crackers still in mouth, and begins licking me. Red bear bell still jingling of course. I smile.

Although the day didn’t go exactly as planned, it was still a great day and one I’ll never forget.

There’s been hikes since then and with each one, she’s getting better on the trail – and I make sure to bring only Toasted Cheese Crackers for trail treats.

“A life lived for others, is the only life worth living.” - Albert Einstein

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“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.” - Mother Teresa

Congratulations to MiKayla Taylor, who won a $5000 scholarship from Boys & Girls Clubs of North Georgia's Youth of the Year!

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E finally cracked “The Safe”! After running our safe promotion for about a year, and giving out all the numbers to the combination, still no one had gotten it open. SO, we decided to open it up and just in time for Christmas, give away all the prizes inside. We had cash, gift certificates, toys, t-shirts and so much more! We even gave out a vacation at Coosawattee River Resort! Shane’s Rib Shack was packed with a line to the door, but we found everyone a seat and got to work raffling off prizes. We all ate delicious food and just kept handing out gifts!

By the end of the night, every single person there had gotten a prize. It was a wonderful way to give back to our Community from Robb & I and all our advertisers & Safe Sponsors. Hope you had a wonderful holiday season!

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“Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” - Anne Herbert

2015 Blue Ridge Writers' Conference April 10 & 11 http://www.blueridgewritersconference.com

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ope. We’re not doing reruns. If you thought you read one of our 2 Forks Up reviews of Serenity Gardens in a previous issue, you are correct.

We reviewed Serenity Gardens Cafe in Blue Ridge. (View review, see photos here: www.thebestofebrj.com/serenity-garden-cafe) Starting with this issue we have expanded our paper into McCaysville and when we got there guess what was there waiting for us….yep… another Serenity Garden Cafe! So we figured “What a great way to introduce McCaysville into our paper!” Whether you take the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway to the McCaysville train depot, or drive there or even if you take a hike from Blue Ridge, Ellijay or Jasper this town is a very nice destination. There’s lot’s of great shops and restaurants. Actually it’s two towns, McCaysville, Georgia and Copperhill, Tennessee. It’s weird! You can actually stand at the State line with one foot in each state, each town. Fortunately it’s not two different time zones or that would get REAL crazy!

You know the old adage in business it’s “Location! Location!

Location!, well the first thing you’ll notice when you come upon The Serenity Garden Cafe Riverside is… well, its location.

Right on the river! A beautiful setting. I have to wonder, with all the restaurants and all the beautiful rivers around here isn’t it a bit shocking, when you think about it, how few of them offer river front dining, what’s up with that? Are the great majority of members in the North Georgia Restaurant Association aquaphobics or something? Unfortunately the day we visited was quite

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chilly and we had to dine inside, not that that was bad, but give me food and a river to look at and I’m a happy camper. The manager of the restaurant is Sarah. She told us that in the warm months when you sit outside on the deck you can feed the ducks, which sounds very enjoyable and relaxing. The first sunny spring day I’m on my way, headed back to The Serenity Garden Cafe Riverside!

Inside the cafe is bright and cheery and like the Blue Ridge location decorated with knick knacks, collectibles and paintings that are all for sale. Here in McCaysville they actually opened a gift shop right next door in the “River’s Crossing” mini mall.

There’s so much to look at it’s almost like dinner and a show.

Okay, so on to our dinner… for the appetizer we ordered the fried zucchini, mozzarella sticks and a side salad. I especially liked the dipping sauce that came with the zucchini. It was creamy and tasty, sort of like a buttermilk-y, ranch-y, yummy for your tummy dressing for squash.

For dinner I ordered the golden fried shrimp, french fries and green beans, Thia ordered the hamburger steak with mashed potatoes and green beans. We knew from visiting the Blue Ridge location that their green beans were great and glad to find out that the quality is carried over to this location as well.

Just like the Blue Ridge location the portions are sizable and delicious. I enjoyed the crunchy butterfly shrimp and the apparently homemade cocktail sauce, it was quite different, very good.

Thia’s dinner was definitely comfort food. A huge hamburger steak smothered in onions and

“If we all do random acts of kindness daily, we might just set the world in the right direction.” - Unknown

mushrooms with fresh mashed potatoes and gravy, and those green beans…. Mmmm Mmmmm good!

(Thia here- lots of gravy, I love gravy! And of course REAL mashed potatoes. It was a BIG plate of food, I barely ate half of it. Which means I had it for lunch the next day!)

We were sitting there, stuffed, when Sarah came over to the table and asked “Would you like dessert?” Well, would you like and can you fit it in are two different questions.

But then she described the the fresh, homemade special of the day awaiting us, banana cake, hot chocolate brownie, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and drizzled chocolate syrup, all we had do do was say yes. “Yes!” I mean we HAVE to have dessert in order to write a complete review, right? That dessert was a “Wow!” Absolutely delicious.

The banana cake was so moist.

It was perfect, not too sweet, just really banana-y! Sarah explained that what’s available for dessert changes, because it is homemade by the owner Ben so you never know what delicious concoction he has had made. Just ask!

We came, we tried, we liked, we’ll be back! 2 Forks Up! Serenity Garden Cafe Riverside McCaysville (706)964-4949 100 Bridge Street McCaysville, GA 30555 To view their menu go to: www.thebestofebrj.com/serenity-garden-cafe And don’t forget......

Serenity Garden Cafe Blue Ridge (706) 258-4949 657 E Main St, Blue Ridge, GA 30513

March 27 & April 24 - Classic Cars Cruise In Dairy Queen Parking Lot On Blue Ridge Highway (GA 5) 6 p.m. to dark. 15

Story by Thia • Photos by Robb who also chimes in on the story a bit

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o Robb and I decided we needed a vacation, well a working vacation, as in we go somewhere fun and then do a story to tell you all about it. We know many of you have been to Pigeon Forge, because you were nice enough to give us advice on where to go and what to see. We took your suggestions to heart and here’s what we came up with… We decided to rent a cabin, so Lexi could have her own quiet space while we were out seeing and doing. (Hotels make her nervous, and there’s lots of noise she has to bark at) So we found a place, that looked good online, just a couple miles from the main drag. We made a plan ahead of time to do one fun thing a day.

We left Ellijay on a beautiful balmy 65 degree day, with the sun shining and took a very scenic drive through mostly small towns and mountains. It took us about three hours to get there, which is perfect if you ask me. Far enough away to be a vacation, but not long enough to make me tired of riding in the car. We arrived near dusk and decided to find our cabin before it got too dark. Well it was in a small community of twisty, scary dirt roads, but we are used to that.

Problem was after driving around the area three times, we couldn’t find the house with the number we rented! We though maybe we took the wrong turn so we went back and started over with the directions from the rental agent. Nope, still no house. We did find one that had no number that we thought it might be, but the door wouldn’t open with our code. We kept trying to get it opened until a red light started flashing in the house. That scared us. So we called the rental place and found out it was NOT the right house. Good thing no one was around, they would have thought we were breaking in! It was now dark outside and getting colder. After one more trip around, we noticed a small turn off we hadn’t seen before and took it. Phew, there it was! Finally! And the code opened the door, and we were inside to relax! Turned on the fireplace, turned on the TV ( a treat for us, because we don’t have cable), had some snacks and watched the Food Channel, while we planned out what we wanted to see over the next few days in PF. First up, lunch at the Old Mill. (Thank you to those that suggested this!) We had a delicious meal. I had a hot turkey sandwich with a yummy mashed taters, gravy and green beans. Robb had the same except chicken fingers instead of turkey. The restaurant is beautiful, the service is fast and the food was good and well priced for a tourist area ( about $10 a meal) I would definitely eat there again. You get a a generous helping and can be in and out in a half an hour. We had good timing though as there is often a wait to get in. After dinner, we went shopping in the Old Mill District. Lots of fun little stores, and some artists shops too. One of our granddaughters loves taffy, so we bought her about three pounds of homemade, handmade filling pulling candy, that I got to pick out from at least 20 different flavors. The general store there had lots of really neat stuff. (plus the normal tourist souvenirs) I bought an Old Mill flour sack for about $5. No, I have no idea what I am going to do with it, but It was too interesting and low priced to pass up. We also walked around in the Old Forge Distillery where they make “moonshine” type whiskey. They were giving out free samples, but we passed on that! You can also watch them grinding flour through that windows at the old mill, and they do tours if you book it ahead of time. It was rainy, so after a couple hours we went back to riding around in the heated car, instead of walking.

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PLEASE! Make sure you tell our advertisers, the sponsors of this publication, "I Saw You In The "FUNpaper"!!! - Thanks!

“Random acts of kindness are not random. They are actions of people holding themselves to a higher standard.� - Unknown

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e knew we wanted to see a dinner show while we were in PF and there were several to choose from.

We read the different brochures and the one that stood out to Robb as the most “fun” sounding was the Hatfields & McCoys. When we took a trip by in the afternoon to buy our tickets, we knew we made

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the right decision. Just pulling up to the outside, we knew we were in hillbilly heaven! There were chickens and goats, and even live actors to talk to. Robb got out of the car ( in his usual t-shirt and jean coveralls) and one of the actors said to him, “Hey do you work here? You’d fit right in!” We had a good time looking

around at all the interesting stuff outside and chatting with the actors. Then I went inside and saw the gift shop… I’m not a big shopper, but this place was packed with over the top funny, great stuff. I could have spent an hour just looking around in there. Robb & I actually bought ourselves souvenir T-shirts with “bullet holes” in

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

them. And the aquarium? Oh my goodness.

This beautiful aquarium is built into what looks like a moonshine still. It is huge and gorgeous! If you have ever watched the show “Tanked” They did an episode on building this aquarium! Okay, all this is going on BEFORE we even see the show!

I’m excited and can’t wait until dinner time!

So we arrived back at the Hatfields & McCoys dinner show a little early and were seated in a huge auditorium. It was all individual dinner tables. We had a little table for two on the third level and could see everything perfectly. This place was well thought out. There was not a bad seat in the house. As we were served dinner (by

our adorable cousin, everybody here is your cousin), the huge movie screens showed funny sayings and pictures that cracked us up. We had a table full of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, pulled pork, coleslaw, and corn on the cob. Also soup, bread, and soda or tea came with your meal. If you wanted some “lemonade Moonshine” there was an extra charge. The food was excellent. And if you want seconds, you just ask. After our table was cleared, we were served some chocolate pudding with whipped cream for dessert and the show began. Dancing and singing, and playful fighting and beautiful sets, and lighting and a perfect view made this so enjoyable. The play was about family and

coming together with love, and in the end, the Hatfields & McCoys… Oh wait. I can’t tell you the ending, you might want to see if for yourself! During the show there was an intermission and a kissing cam, and jokes and comedy, and musicians. It was just a perfect evening. Well worth the price (of about $50 for an adult, $20 for a kid) and I would certainly do it again! It’s just two and a half hours of fun, and you leave with a full belly and a happy feeling.

Spring Fest Arts and Crafts Sale, Summit and East 1st Street directly beside the Swan Drive-In Apr 25 & 26 9- 5 423-761-9985

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Pay It Forward Kindness Project - Random Acts of Kindness www.randomactsofkindness.org

Pickin' in Horseshoe Bend Park - every Thurs 6:00 to dusk, May through September. McCaysville, GA 706-632-7696

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ou may have seen the upside down building on TV or in billboards, or maybe you have driven by it in Pigeon Forge, or one of the other five locations. That building is called WonderWorks, and it’s a super cool interactive playground. When you first walk in, your world turns upside down, or perhaps it’s supposed to be right side up? Hard to decide because if the building is upside down, that would make you… Never mind, you walk into a mindblowing inversion tunnel that is spinning with lights and designs, you feel like you are turning and dizzy. When you step through the other

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side, you have entered WonderWorks! There are so many displays to check out! Fun stuff for kids and adults, and all of it is also educational.

After reading about the Titanic, you plunge your hand into a container of icy water that is the same temperature as the water the boat capsizing victims fell into, and you time yourself to see how long you can keep your hand in the water. I think mine was about twenty seconds, and Robb lasted a minute. We went for a “ride” in the Earthquake Cafe, checked out the Google Earth display, played in the bubble lab, and made some art on the 3-D wall.

There is a bed of nails, and yes I laid on it. It didn’t hurt at all! I tried out the Virtual Army Experience, which meant riding in a Humvee and shooting the enemies on the surrounding screen. I think my favorite part of the museum was the “Light & Sound” section. I danced to the music and made gorgeous colorful art on the mirrored wall, jumped around to beat the clock on the speed of light display and struck a pose to make my shadow glow on the wall.

There is a whole section on space, including trying on the astronaut’s suit, which Robb did, while I stomped on aliens.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” —John F. Kennedy

There are some more extreme things you can try, like riding in a four person gyroscope, climbing ropes on the ceiling and riding in a virtual roller coaster. They also have a huge balloon outside you can ride up in, if the weather is right. There is a big wall of Lite-Brite to play with. ( I wrote, I

love you Robb on it) Can I get an Awwwwww. Robb played around with the Tesla Coil where 100,000 volts of electricity touches your armored hand. After all that fun, we ended with the Far Out Art Gallery. The paintings and illustrations were made to trick your brain. Some

looked flat when they were really 3-D, some had hidden images, one display made shadows on the wall, and the shadow was the art. So many interesting things to see and do at Wonderworld. There are fun exhibits you will enjoy whether you are eight or eighty-eight.

Blue Ridge Mountains Wine and Jazz Festival May 16, 12-9pm facebook.com/blueridgewineandjazzfestival

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nside the WonderWorks building is a magic museum. Terry Evanswood, the resident illusionist, has shared his collection of photos and magical artifacts. You can explore this museum for no charge. After seeing the magic collection, I wanted to see the show! So we bought tickets to The Wonders of Magic, and sat down to enjoy Terry’s show! We couldn’t take pictures during it, but it was a really fun and amazing theatrical experience. People appeared out of no where, and disappeared.

Someone changed into a someone else, and a woman floated in the air. Terry escaped an unescapable locked box and a rope came alive. Terry and his crew made the audience laugh and astounded us with their prestidigitation! (big word for magic) After the show, Robb wanted Terry’s dvd, the rope trick and an autographed poster. While we were waiting

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to purchase these, we were lucky enough to get to meet and chat with Terry and his assistants. He is such a warm, friendly person, that made me love our magical experience even more. If you visit PF, Terry Evanswood’s The Wonders of Magic is a must see performance.

And if you see Robb, ask him to show you his rope trick. He’s been practicing.

After such a spectacular day, we decided to relax. We stopped for some groceries. At the store I asked the deli clerk where the wine was. I meant, what aisle in the store. She answered Gatlinburg and laughed. I laughed too, and bought a six pack of beer. We then headed back to our cabin. Upon arrival, we tried our code to unlock the door, and guess what? It wouldn’t open. I tried it. Robb tried it. I tried it again. I tried it a different way.

Robb tried several more times. We couldn’t

get it open. The door was just not unlocking!

We called the cabin rental company. ( Can you imagine what goofballs they thought we were? First we can’t FIND our cabin, and then a day later we can’t OPEN our cabin.) I knew there was something wrong with the lock, so they had to send the guy on call over with the key. While we were waiting, we decided this was a perfect cool evening full of beautiful stars to sit on the porch and have a beer! When Maintenance Man Steve arrived, I wanted him to first try to open the door with the code, instead of the key, to prove to him that it was not working. He punched in the code, and guess what? The door opened!

We were putting the code in backwards! We gave Steve a ten dollar “we are idiots” tip, and went in to enjoy the rest of the night in our cabin.

“To do more for the world than the world does for you, that is success.” —Henry Ford

Italian Road Bike Festival- April 4th 9-6 facebook.com/ItalianRoadBikeFestival

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i! Robb here… my turn to talk. I’m 60 years old and never have been to a Wax Museum, can you believe that?!

Well, now was my chance to scratch one off my bucket list.

Let me say these photos don’t do this building justice. It’s huge! The “Mount Rushmore” faces are probably about as big as the original, King Kong is probably as big as… well….

King Kong!

Inside we got to get up close and personal with the big ape, not to mention a parade of all our favorite movie stars. What a great source for “selfie” mate-

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rial. Speaking of getting up close and personal, as we rounded the corner and Thia laid eyes on Jason Statham she went berserk! I was about to ask the security guard for a bucket of ice water before she remembered he’s only wax, came to her senses and regained her composure. They look so real it’s easy to forget they’re not. Ok, I wasn’t really teleporting out of the U.S.S. Enterprise, I admit it, there’s a little photoshop going on but it was fun to play. Here’s a great birthday present idea for a man who has everything, a life-size Angelina Jolie candle!

How much that would cost I have no idea. But, as they say, if you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it. As you can see by the pics we had a great time.

But then we have no shame and are embarrassed infrequently, which makes us great tourists.

Thia back.... We had a great time in Pigeon Forge. There is so much to do there! Many things we didn’t get to this time; Dollywood for one, indoor skydiving, Nascar Speedpark and the Island were on our list. And don’t forget, Gatlinburg is right down the road! Maybe we’ll go there on our next vacation!

GILMER ARTS SPRING CLASSES SCHEDULE - www.thebestofebrj.com/gilmer-arts 0r GilmerArts.org 706-635-5605

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” —Mahatma Gandhi

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P

aying it Forward takes many forms.

Sharing your gifts with others certainly is one of the best. At Gilmer Arts, they share so much with our community; music, art, theater and more.

Funding these programs is expensive, so they hold a special auction every year to raise money. This year the theme is Carnival, an Evening in Venice. Arriving for the evening, you will be awed by the beautiful decorations, fountains, live music, hors d’oeuvres and drinks. Then it’s on to some delicious Northern Italian Cuisine and dessert. You will walk around and enjoy deciding which of the beautiful items, and gift certificates you want to bid on. Up for auction you will find handmade pieces donated by local artists, unique items donated by G.A’s members and the community, and lots of gift certificates donated by our local businesses.

I’ve been to several of the auctions, and they just get better every year. Attending allows you to see the items in person and place your bids. There is also a yummy meal and friends to enjoy it all with. Robb and I have both contributed items to the auction, and purchased items. One year, I bid on and won a gift certificate to get my yearly eye check up at Walmart. I also fell in love with a hand painted map of our area and kept being outbid on it. Later at a friend’s house, I saw “MY” map painting hanging on his wall. So he was the one who out bid me at the auction! Every year is packed with amazing items to bid on, and lots of fun to be had.

This year the auction committee is really bringing it into the cyber age. In previous years you wrote your bid on a list in front of each item, but this year you can bid on your cell phone or on your computer! So If you can’t attend in person, you can still enjoy the fun of bidding on items you want, by bidding from home! And of course the best thing of all about the party, the auction, the bidding, the winning, the prizes, and the “Carnival” is that you are Paying it Forward to Gilmer Arts!

Mark it on your calendars, March 15th this site goes live, go to- www.biddingforgood.com/gilmerarts so you can see all the goodies and place your bids, and May 2nd is the Auction. Buy your tickets early. It’s going to be a sell-out!

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This Just In! Guess who is going to be in attendance at the auction!? The one and only Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, who will be acting as Honorary Chair person.

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” —Charles Dickens

Taste of Ellijay May 21, 2015

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’ve seen Willaye play several times with a variety of bands.

His washboard and chicken coop sure do make the show more interesting. He is a very talented percussionist, and lots of fun to watch! I wanted to learn more about him and his engaging choice of instruments.

I

Where did your name and the odd spelling of it come from?

Well friends that I have jammed with over the years gave me the name and it sort of stuck. There already were a couple players by the names Washboard Willy and Washboard Willie. Since the traditional spellings were taken I chose Washboard Willaye, the ‘aye’ sort of being taken from the southern Louisiana saying ‘Ayeee!’ which means wow down there in rubboard country. One distinction is that the Louisiana rubboards are typically made out of pure metal and are used usually in zydeco music, while the traditional washboards like the ones I play are metal with a wooden frame and are more often used in roots and blues music.

How did you find out you liked to pound on things when you were little?

When I was a young chap I had one of those Playskool pounding benches. My folks say I was pretty much attached to that thing for a while.

When did you start playing percussion on things around the house? And what were your first Instruments?

I was always tapping on things whether it be the kitchen table or the car dashboard. My first instrument was actually the Xylophone which I played for one recital in junior high. The Xylophone is in the percussion family made of wooden bars that you beat with a mallet, so not too far off from what I am playing today.

You are a talented musician, how do you describe what you do and what you play?

I call it Appalachian Percussion. My style of play is rooted in roots, blues, and bluegrass music but I am influenced by all genres of music including gospel, folk, country, funk, and reggae. The instruments I play are the washboard and chicken coop. The washboards I play are either the Sunnyland and MaidRite family size washboards both made by Columbus Washboard Company, the only remaining American washboard company. The chicken coop I play is constructed out of 100% wood and from an actual chicken farm. It is the transporter type of coop that you see nowadays made out of metal stacked on top of each other carrying chickens on tractor trailers. I usually play the washboard with spoons and play the chicken coop with drumsticks. My chicken coop has a couple cowbells attached and on the Sunnyland washboard I have added a wood block, steel bowl, tin cup, and metal poultry feeder.

Either instrument can make probably a dozen or more different sounds.

Have you had any formal training?

No, my training really happened over several Wednesdays over several years at the Northside Tavern in Atlanta where my good friend Mudcat would let me sit in and play. At first I was really bad and eventually I guess I got the hang of it. By the way Mudcat is a member of the great nonprofit organization Music Maker Relief Foundation which was founded to promote the musical traditions of the South by directly supporting the musicians who make it, so check out these great musicians at musicmaker.org if you enjoy great music. That Tavern is also where the great Donnie McCormick played the chicken coop for as long as I can remember. I learned the basics of the chicken coop by hanging out and watching him many a night. My approach to playing these instruments is simply to play the heck out of them, enhance the rhythm of the music, and have lots of fun. My philosophy with both instruments

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“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. ” —Aesop

is you have to sort of dance or move around to the rhythm of the music to play them.

When and where did you first appear on stage, and what was it like?

Well that would be back when I was about 8 years old I played Buzz the Bee in the church youth group musical. Far as I remember it went off without a hitch.

What bands do you play with?

I am fortunate to play with some great musicians and songwriters. Currently playing with the Mike Ellis Band in the Ellijay area. I also play with Todd Cecil & Back South out of Asheville, NC which can best be described Southern Roots Swamp Rock. Have started a new Appalachian Bluesgrass project currently called Chicken Coop Willaye & The Boys which includes Michael Bonham and Christopher “OMB” Blaylock just over the mountain in Murphy, NC. I also occasionally play in the Georgia area with my Italian friend Tito Esposito & The Chicken Raiders when Tito is in the country. This music is rooted in traditional Blues with a little Soul and Reggae mixed in. And I also play percussion with my friend Josh Jakubowski, an old-time Piedmont Blues musician out of Asheville, NC. What is your favorite thing to play?

I thoroughly enjoy playing both the washboard and the chicken coop. To me they are both great jam instruments that allow you to play along with almost any genre of music.

Do you have a “day job”? What do you do?

I work in the culinary field. Guess you can say food is my other passion.

Do you have a funny story about playing?

Lots of folks have never seen a chicken coop so there is one funny response I get fairly often, ‘What the heck is that thing’?

What would be your musical dream come true?

Well this is hard to narrow down to one thing. But it would be cool to play the chicken coop in front of an audience at somewhere like the Grand Ole Opry or the CMT Music Awards with one of my current bands or would also be cool to play with someone like Eric Church whose Country music style is influenced by Southern Rock and Blues.

Facebook: Chicken Coop Willaye

Easter Egg Hunt Talking Rock Park 3/28/2015 11:00 AM- 12 noon

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“Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference.” —Helen James

Gilmer vs. Pickens Alumni Football Game Huff-Mosley Stadium, Ellijay, GA 3/28/2015 7:00 PM

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Niki Fieser This is my baby John Fieser and that is his aunt who is 17 days older than him, her name is Macie Davis.

Sweet babies couldn't fall asleep unless they were holding hands Devin Spivey Aaron David is playing traffic stop. He just chased his toy truck down and said "Out of the car ma'am... Bend over..." Haha

Annie Oakley When I told my 3 yr old grand niece she could grow up to be anything she wanted she replied "I want to be purple!" (that picture is NOT actually Annie’s niece! lol)

Heather Thomas Oh my child!!!! He is six years old.

Ian: Mom, my back is hurting.

Me: I'm sorry buddy. Maybe once you get some sleep you will feel better.

Ian: Nah Mom. I won't. I feel like a 28 year old man!!

Pickens Sheriff’s Office Sheriff Craig would like to thank a member of our community for donating our new jail vacancy sign. We always have room for one more.

Amanda Stover SnelgroveJada asked me to roll the window down earlier because she was "having a hot flash.” I asked her if she knew what a hot flash was and she said "Yes, Ms. Cheryl has them all the time!”

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Elizabeth Ran Godfrey I was cleaning the jeep and girls were cleaning the car then Danika starts yelling "mom I'm stuck" lol, only my child!

Celeste Harshbarger Earley I come home from work to find my son Dalton Earley and his friend washing his dirt bike in my kitchen, boys will be boys....

Tiffany Camp Watson I heard Sam in the kitchen. I walked in and he said...

"Oops mama."

Angela Dale Hensley feeling amused Totally distracted trying to hurry & get things done before I have to go to work today...got my boots on & grabbed my phone heading toward the door I realized I forgot something pretty important. MY PANTS!!

I'm crazy!! (For some reason Angela wouldn’t give us a picture of this one! We had to use clip art lol) Pickens Sheriff’s Office On January 29th, Sergeant Heath Watson and Deputy Travis Gibson with the Pickens County Sheriff's Office encountered something you don't see everyday. Blocking traffic in the middle of a busy highway was a Blue Heron. Deputy Gibson, then loaded the bird up in the rear of his patrol car and transported him to jail. Fortunately the bird was not booked in as a criminal but was released to the Ellijay Georgia Wildlife Rehabilitation Sanctuary. Deputy Gibson and Sergeant Watson did a great job rescuing the bird and reopening traffic.

“Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.” —Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Want To Reach Over 30,000 Readers - Advertise In The Best Of The North Georgia Mountains www.TheBestOfEBRJ.com/Advertise 35

Nancy

M

Sarah

y Dad has been a hunter his whole life, so he taught me the basics of guns and safety. Then last year I got to go shoot clay targets up at Noontootla Creek Farms. While I plan on using my gun for protection, after these learning and shooting experiences, I’ve got to say guns can be fun! Today I added to that fun when I went to target practice at the North Georgia (Indoor) Gun Range! I brought my friend Nancy and we are two women with weapons.

Tony Arbucci is the owner of Ellijay’s North Georgia Gun Range and store.

He has decades of experience with all types of weapons and I felt so safe with him. He spent a lot of time teaching me and Nancy. We brought Robb’s 38 to shoot. (They clean guns here too and we got Robb’s cleaned) I got advice on my new shot gun. I found out what kind of ammo to buy, how far my shot would go. Tony told me to have the magazine loaded, but none in the chamber. That way I would do the “shik shik” of loading the barrel and that alone would scare most intruders away, if they were human anyway. He said to keep the shotgun in my bedroom and if you hear an intruder, “shik shik” and fire in their general direction. He said my gun was ideal home defense and just the right size for me (Thanks Dad) Tony told me- “If bb o R y b you have a guy coming in s to hia Pho Story by T the door, and you fire five shots at the door, the door will go away and so will the guy.” Great advice!

Now we put on the eye and ear protection and moved into the actual shooting range. Tony

Thia

gave me exact, second by second instruction until I knew how to load the gun, was comfortable holding the gun and holding it properly. Then he put his hand on my back (such a gentleman!) so that if the gun kicked a little I wouldn’t fall over. I pulled the trigger back, (It took two thumbs), got the target in my sights and fired. I realized I closed my eyes when I did it. After a few more shots I finally got my eyes to stay open and that shot hit the center orange part of the target! When we brought the target back up, I had actually hit it every time! I was very impressed with myself!

Then it was Nancy’s turn, and she managed to do a great job also! Better than me to tell the truth! Bad guys beware! While we were at the range/store we met so many nice people. A Gilmer Sheriff who works at the Courthouse named Lee was there and was nice enough to give me some quick tips. He said he likes hanging around at the gun shop and talking with people. We also spoke with employees Jake, Travis and Sarah. OMG, Guys - you have got to see Sarah, she is drop dead gorgeous and knows how to handle a weapon!

You can buy guns, weapons, ammo and much more in the store. They have a huge collection of all of that. But the really fun part? That’s shooting your gun at the range. Nancy says she had a blast, and “Silly Boys, guns are for girls!” Imagine bringing a bunch of your girlfriends and going shooting.

You can have your own Ladies’ Night at the Gun Range! Call the store for details. Tony and the rest of the staff are wonderful and there to help you if you need it!

(706) 635-3473 Located in Ellijay, on 123 Maddox Circle, near Taco Bell.

36 “No act of kindness is too small.The gift of kindness may start as a small ripple that over time can turn into a tidal wave affecting the lives of many.” — Kevin Heath

Sassafras Literary Exchange Open to all writers 2nd Monday at 7 pm Sharptop Art Association.org

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I

’m not sure if this is a spring issue or not. I should be sure, because I’m writing this column, but I’m not sure and that’s why I called my column “random thoughts.” This way I can write about anything at any time. Right now it’s the first week in January and I’m in Florida and I’m looking at the weather on my new “smart phone” a Samsung Galaxy 5 which I bought this past Nov. 2014. I was going to wait until spring 2015 and then get the new Galaxy 12, but I bought this soon to be old one instead. So I’m sitting on the beach by the ocean and looking at the weather on my phone and it’s 88 here and the low will be 72. In Ellijay, the high will be 27 and the low will be 9. In New Jersey (where I am originally from) the high will be 23 and the low will be 7. In Fargo, North Dakota, the high is 1 and the low is minus 9. Why am I pointing this out to you? Because it’s good to laugh every now and then. Everything is relative, I can laugh about not being in Ellijay right now, and you and New Jersey people can laugh about not being in Fargo this time of the year. Fargo’s only hope to laugh is at the people in the North Pole. An old saying “the grass is always greener” that may be true, but right now in January, the grass is only green in Florida.

While I’m on the cell phone subject, I want to pass on this helpful piece of information to you. Don’t ever mess with the settings that will change your phone to another language.

Want to know what happens when you do? IT CHANGES IT TO ANOTHER LANGUAGE! When that happens, you are looking at another language you better know how to read. I did this by mistake. I changed it to Japanese. Not knowing what the Japanese word for English is and not having many Japanese friends I could call upon for help. Ok I don’t have any Japanese friends. So I had to call Samsung.

After the laughter on the other end of the phone subsided, I was walked through the process of changing it back to English, and all is well again.

No I am not going to tell you how to do it. But if it happens to you, call me I always like to laugh.

Last week I went to the doctor for

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a routine checkup. I had to fill out some forms. I always get a kick out of the questions they ask. I like to have fun, so I mess with the answers a bit. An example. Religion: I answer: yes. Who to call in case of an emergency? Most people would say their spouse. I put down a Doctor. I love my wife, but I would rather have a doctor called in case of an emergency. Any way I got my results of the blood test and the doctor went over them with me. He said, “All your numbers are good. However after talking with you, I see you have an elevated ego.” He asked me what I did and I told him I was a musician who played the guitar. He said that explains the elevated ego. He said he could bring the number down and wrote me a prescription to buy a banjo or a mandolin.

It seems I always have something to say about restaurants. So here I go again. I have finally realized why you never see a Chinese restaurant go out of business.

They always have and will always have a steady flow of clientele. Other ethnic restaurants come and go. The answer is quite simple. We don’t know how to cook Chinese food. We can only eat it at a Chinese restaurant. Think about it. Did you ever hear your mother or wife say, I think I’ll make some Moo Goo Gai Pan for dinner tonight. I’ll bet she can make at least a dozen ethnic food dishes. But when it comes to wanting Chinese, you are eating out.

Speaking of restaurants. At a restaurant the waiter or waitress will almost always say, whether or not there is a guy and a girl or a guy and two girls, “can I get you guys something to drink?” Or let me know when “you guys” are ready to order. Something to that nature. It will always be “you guys.” My wife gets annoyed by this. She is not a “guy” and doesn’t like being referred to as a “guy”, but never says anything.

Me? It doesn’t bother me a bit. Not only restaurants do this, it has become an accepted phrase. “you guys.” I say it a lot.

Not sure how it started or why it’s become accepted. It’s clearly wrong. I guess it’s because a girl doesn’t say anything when referred to as a “guy”. My intention is to not make a big deal about it. But I do have one question I would like the guys out there to answer, and answer it truthfully.

What if? Just what if? When you were out to eat at a restaurant with your wife and a waitress or waiter came to the table and asked, What would “you girls” like to drink? What would be your reaction?

Would you say anything? Would you mind being called a girl?

PLEASE! Make sure you tell our advertisers, the sponsors of this publication "I Saw You In The "FUNpaper"!!! - Thanks!

“Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.” — Eric Hoffer

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C

ora Gates Hill and John Hill had a daughter, on May 3, 1907. They named her Katherine and called her Kate, She was one of four siblings, two girls and two boys. She had Rheumatic Fever as a child and was told to never have babies, as the fever had damaged her lungs and heart. Kate married Bill Sawyer. When Bill went to Kate’s father to ask for her hand, Papa said, “She ain’t much fer keepin’ house nor cookin’ neither. But she’s the best little hoer in Gilmer County.” It was true. She loved to be in the garden or yard. I do believe she loved to mow better than any human I’ve ever met. She became pregnant, but miscarried after a man attacked her while she was alone, tending the restaurant she and my grandfather owned. She escaped from him before he could harm her, but the trauma caused the miscarriage.

My grandfather as well as some other men went after him, but the man escaped to the mountains and was never seen again. Kate became pregnant again and had my mother, Mary Coleeta Sawyer Harper, on August 27, 1929. Kate almost died after the birth, and she and my granddaddy never had any more children.

Kate did many jobs in her life. She and my granddaddy ran more than one restaurant, she worked in stores waiting on folks, and she was a teacher’s aide for many years. In her retirement years, she worked at Riverside Drugstore every Saturday up until the year before her death.

Kate loved to talk. It caused many a burned supper, too. More than once I came to their house to find green beans stuck in the ceiling of the kitchen because she got “busy” and forgot about the pressure cooker until it did whatever pressure cookers do that can make a big bean go through a teeny hole.

I won’t use a pressure cooker to this day!

Whenever it snowed, I got an early morning call from her, from the time I could talk on a phone until

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her last winter here . We always made snow cream together. Sometimes she would faint out of the clear blue sky! I don’t know if this was the damage from the Rheumatic Fever or something else.

And if you were faint of heart, you did not need to ride with her in a car. She drove on the wrong side more than once. I was very sick and living in Marietta. She came to get me, and I promised God if I got out of the car alive, I’d never ride with her again. She’d hit the gas until she’d get up to about eighty, then take her foot off the pedal until she was at a crawl, then she’d hit the gas again!

She liked to take up hobbies. She painted china for a while, but then she took up crocheting and that was what she found she loved. I still have a comforter she crocheted for me. In fact, it’s on my bed right now. In the winter all we need is a flannel sheet, the comforter, and a quilt and we are as warm as toast.

The night she got so “bad”, my mother called the ambulance. The EMT’s talked through their tears about it. She queried each of them about who their people were, connecting herself to their lives every time, all the way to the hospital. She was doing so well, the fellas convinced themselves she’d be fine. She died just a few hours later, that old heart of hers finally giving up. By the time I got to the hospital, not just my family was there crying, but staff at the hospital and the EMT’s were all standing around, tearful, too.

Kate Hill Sawyer was one of those people everybody loved, and to this day when folks talk about her, their faces light up.

She died on May 1, 1991. As Mother was making the funeral arrangements, she realized the usual third day for a funeral would fall on Kate’s 84th birthday.

“Oh, horrors!” my mother exclaimed.

“We can’t do that!” “Are you kidding?

She’d love it! Can’t you just hear her if that happened to her friend?” I asked. I can. After going over what happened to whom in fine detail, Kate would end it triumphantly with, “And they buried her on her birthday!”

And that’s exactly what we did.

“If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.” — Lucy Larcom (1824-1893)

“One kind word can warm three winter months.” - Japanese proverb

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elissa Waddell had mentioned to Sheriff Nicholson that if he ever had an opening to let her know. Luckily for everybody a job for Administrative Assistant opened up at the Sheriff’s office, and Melissa got it. That was nine years ago, and a lot has happened since then.

First of all she has shown how valuable she is by winning the award for Civilian Employee Of The Year, TWICE! She is also involved in promoting and supporting a wonderful program called Citizens Law Enforcement Academy (CLEA), that allows regular Gilmer County people to take a class that teaches them all you ever wanted to know about law enforcement and our local Sheriff’s Office. Melissa also has another job that might surprise you.

She is the Deputy Coroner of Gilmer County! Quite an exciting job!

Melissa is such an interesting person, we decided to take her out to dinner and do an interview with her, while we were having a delicious meal at River Street Tavern. Heather & Brad Simmons took over Jilly’s Tavern last year and in January officially renamed it River Street Tavern.

They have a really cool logo, and T-shirts that will make you laugh. (“A quaint Little Drinking Town with an Antique Problem) The menu has been updated, but the old favorites are still there, including the famous Maui Rueben. They have added lots more specialty burgers and some lighter, on the healthy side items too. At lunch and dinner time, there are always food and drink specials. During our couple hour conversation, we had many visitors to our table. Melissa has lived in Ellijay just about her whole life, she knows everybody! We often go to RST on Friday night because there is live music and the place is packed with friends!

But tonight is Wednesday and we had wings because it’s wing night. I also got my favorite, the patty melt with onion rings, which is always delicious. Robb had wings and mozzarella sticks and a turkey club, which is stacked a mile high and doesn’t fit in your mouth unless you hold it sideways, or have a really big mouth, just sayin’ Robb. Melissa got some wings and they smelled so good. Some had lemon pepper, some had garlic and all were topped with parmesan. While we were eating and visiting, I asked some questions, and Robb joined in to add some silliness.

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Thia: So is the head of the Sheriffs, the Chief?

Melissa: The Chief deputy is second in command. The Sheriff is the head; the main man.

Mm hmm. Make sure you get that right, that I

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said that. Then we have Captains over several divisions. They have lieutenants, sergeants and then we have our slick sleeves.

Thia: Sort of like the military. So you are also the Coroner.

Melissa: I am Deputy Coroner.

Thia: I don't know what that is, like a person that goes and finds dead people or is it like the show Quincy? How did you get that job?

Melissa: I knew the coroner. I've known him for a long time. I've been with the Sheriff's office for nine years; and I had told Jerry Hensley, the coroner, several years ago that I was interested in doing that if a position ever became available and when it did, he said, "you can come out on a few calls with me to make sure that you can handle it” and I did and he swore me in as Deputy Coroner in April of 2011 so, I've been doing it for 4 years.

Robb: How do you decide you want to be a coroner? Did you like really enjoy dissecting frogs in high school or something?

Melissa: No. (Laughs) Robb: What led you to want to be a coroner?

Melissa: I went to court reporting school a few years ago and I've always liked to read true crime books and stuff like that so I think just a combination of all that together and you know people look at me weird like, “really?”

You like to look at dead bodies? But somebody's got to do it. Somebody's got to have the interest. And that a coroner's job Robb: So what does a coroner do?

Melissa: A coroner's job is to determine cause and manner of death. We typically work with law enforcement. When you go to a death scene, law enforcement has jurisdiction over the area and the coroner has jurisdiction over the body. We work together to see if we do or don't see any kind of foul play and then the coroner's job is to get the background on the person; their medical history, their medications, their illnesses and most of the time we have to call the GBI crime lab, give them all

“I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” — Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

that information and they're the ones that determine whether the person goes to the lab for an autopsy or not. They make that determination; we do not. That's not my call.

Robb: How true to Quincy are you?

Melissa: I remember Quincy, but I don't remember the show.

Thia: I actually think Quincy was a medical examiner.

Not a coroner. What show do you watch that's sort of like your job? You must watch all those crime shows.

Melissa: Friends! No just kidding.

Thia: How do you get to be Deputy Coroner?

Melissa: The school is a forty hour class that you take at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth, Ga; the police academy. And each year we have to do twenty-four hours to keep up our training to work, so we actually go back, once a year, for three days.

Thia: What do they teach you? How to determine the cause of death?

Melissa: Sort of. I mean, we talk about photography.

We talk about the Title 45; the death investigation act.

I've got a whole folder full of stuff.

Thia: Do you want to be the head coroner?

Melissa: I have been asked that before and that means I would have to run for office. It is an elected position Robb: How does one coroner run against another coroner? I mean, what is the platform like? I do a better job of cutting people open?

Melissa: We don't do that part. That's what the medical examiner does.

Thia: You determine cause of death at the scene.

Robb: I was thinking that you were the one cutting up the bodies.

Melissa: No, no. Not that I wouldn’t… Not that that wouldn't interest me too. I actually have not been to an autopsy before, but I want to go to one and watch.

Thia: Our bucket list, right? I want to go to Disneyland.

You want to go to an autopsy. Tell me about the class you offer at the Sheriff’s Department.

Melissa: We are the Sheriff’s OFFICE. That's one of the first things you'll learn in class is about the office versus the department thing. We started the CLEA class in 2011, I believe. So, you will hear the Sheriff talk for the first couple of weeks. You will hear slick sleeve deputies and they teach about traffic. There is two weeks where they talk about evidence and search warrants. There's a courthouse tour, a jail tour, a SWAT demonstration. You hear from the Chief Deputy. You get a K9 demonstration. The Sheriff talks about budget. It's completely transparent and that was the Sheriff's deal when he talked about doing this class. He said, "look, if we're going to do it, I want it to be transparent." Oh, and you do ride-alongs with deputies.

Thia: That all sounds interesting. But I’d like to send Robb on a ride along with a deputy.

Robb: Sounds like trouble to me!

Melissa: And you can even ride with a detective.

Once you've taken the class, you'll hear them say “You're part of our family.”

Thia: How much does it cost?

Melissa: Nothing. It's completely free. They do a background check on you. You have to be, I think, 21 and

it's first come, first serve.

Thia: So, what do you do as an administrative assistant?

Melissa: There's just so much involved. But right now, we're trying to go completely paperless in our division so I am actually scanning in all of our old files.

Thia: That sounds like a lot of work. But basically you run the Sheriff's office. I’m not going to let you answer to that. What do you think of River Street Tavern?

Melissa: I LOVE the wings and I love Heather.

Thia: And you love the french fries.

Melissa: I love the french fries and the french fries love me. I love all of the people here; they’re awesome.

Thia: They are, and I can’t wait until it warms up again so we can sit and people watch on the patio.

Robb: Ok, so, you’re more actually like Dexter with the blood splatters and all, correct?

Melissa: Nothing like Dexter, but I wish I was.

Robb: So, if someone wanted to get away with murder, do you have like the top ten tips you could give them?

Melissa: No! Robb: No? Melissa: No Robb: Alright. So, if there is a crime, do you deal with crimes or just homicides?

Melissa: As deputy coroner? Basically any unattended death or possibly suspicious one.

Robb: So accidents too, right?

Melissa: Yes. I haven’t done a lot of them, but I’ve done about two car accidents. If there’s ever a car accident, the coroner always gets called for that.

Robb: So you have to determine whether it was an accident or if it was a crime?

Melissa: Yes Robb: That’s pretty interesting. So, if he did want to make it look like an accident, what would you do?

Melissa: I don’t have any idea. I’m not answering that.

I plead the 5th.

Thia: I’m sorry Melissa, I just don’t think Robb gets your job. (Laughs) Robb: Okay, what else do you do as an administrator at the Sheriff’s?

Melissa: Greeting the public, answering the phones, all the filing stuff and of course I constantly have the Facebook page open on my computer and I’ve always got access to it with the phone too. (www.facebook.com/gilmersheriff) Thia: You have a lot of responsibility. Do you like your job?

Melissa: I love my job. I love all my guys. I love it.

Thia: And we loved getting to know you better and getting to have a wonderful dinner at River Street Tavern! You have to take the wings to go Melissa.

Melissa: Y’all don’t eat garlic?

Thia: I love garlic, but it doesn’t love me. And I might want to kiss Robb later! But I love this place.

Melissa: Yeah, you can tell that I love all the wait staff in here and we love the wings, the atmosphere, everything. You always see somebody you know in here. Always. Thanks so much for asking me out to dinner and to do this story y’all. I’m honored!

Thia: And we are honored that you said yes!

Pickens Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy Jail & Bail Old Jail on Main St Apr 28 11am-1pm

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“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

- Mother Teresa “Pay it forward” is an amazing concept and as the story in this edition resounds it can have effects that continue on far beyond the initial gesture or thought. As we go throughout our day, everything we say – and more so – everything we do (or refrain from doing) can create ripples around us - ripples in energy, physicality, and in each other. If you have ever gotten up on the proverbial wrong side of the bed, you know the difference a smile from a loved one, tail wagging and wet kisses from a furball or even a coworker bringing you coffee can make – resetting the opportunity to enjoy the day.

Our world is in such a state, most think it will take something really big to change it for the better – I disagree – I think the change we need is within each one of us as individuals and it takes only being kind (technically a small thing) to effect a positive change in the world. The ripple effect of being kind, no matter how it is manifested can be enormous. Think of the impact someone has made in your life with their presence, a small gift of thoughtfulness or even just a well-timed smile that has changed how you feel. Sometimes being silent, or showing patience in a situation can change the whole course for someone. We are here for a finite time, let us spend it inspiring each other with kindness – one ripple at a time.

“When we focus our energy towards constructing a passionate meaningful life, we are tossing a pebble into the world, creating a beautiful ripple effect of inspiration. When one person follows a dream, tries something new or takes a daring leap, everyone nearby feels that energy and before too long they are making their own daring leaps and inspiring yet another circle.” – Christine Mason Miller Go forth and make ripples! Here is hoping you are able to find something everyday to be thankful for….grateful for you, enjoy your day!

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“Happiness never decreases by being shared.” — The 14th Dalai Lama

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e’ve been featuring a lot of musicians in the paper over the past two years, two of our columnists are professional published authors. We realized… Hey! We should feature more artists! Who should we do, we thought.

Coincidently I had started painting again over the Christmas break after a quite long dry spell. I thought… “Why not me?!” Maybe that will help keep my muse hanging around a bit longer? Unfortunately, she tends to come and go. Let’s do it! I’ve asked our UnReal News Desk reporter Martin Tomelson to do the honors as my interviewer.

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Martin: You mentioned you recently started painting again; what prompted that?

Robb: “Pay It Forward With Your Art”. What a great idea! Thia came up with it and got it going on FaceBook. Do good and make people happy via your art. Last issue we told you about the beginner’s acrylic art class Thia took at Gilmer Arts. She’s gone painting mad! Popping out canvases now and getting better with each one. And she’s giving them away! It’s such a nice, happy gesture. It had an affect on me as well, it seems. It inspired me to start painting again too. I wondered what good I could do for the community via my art. But I needed to make sure I still remembered how to do it! The images on these pages are what came out of my “systems check.” I’m hoping everyone thinks all systems are go!

Martin: So you were a professional artist once? You’re not a fine artist…

Robb: Whoa! I don’t consider myself wholly unattractive either! Step back bucko!

Martin: No, I mean you were a commercial artist rather than a gallery artist.

Robb: Oh, heh… heh…. Yes, I used to be a freelance airbrush illustrator. A painter for hire, mostly corporate stuff, advertising, marketing materials and internal things, weekly alternative newspapers and some magazines. Also private commissions for high end caricatures and regular portraits.

But along with the internet came “STOCK”… stock photographs, stock illustrations and graphics. Art directors could now just pick from a catalog of work already done. It sold much cheaper because it’s used many times.

Not custom but close enough to get the job done. Freelance illustration became a very, very tough business. I was forced to go on to other things within the publishing industry to make a living.

Martin: When did you start painting? Did you draw a lot as a child?

Robb: Yes, I remember I started drawing a

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lot when I got my first MAD Magazine, I guess at 8 or 9 years old. I would copy the caricatures with a pencil in a big pad. It’s funny how that love of caricature has always been with me. Then, remember those ads in the Sunday paper or in the

back of magazines “DRAW ME!”? The ad was for an Art Instruction School. They had many drawings that you had to copy and send in to qualify for a scholarship. I did “Binki.”

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” — Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

Binki was sort of like a Bambi drawing. I also remember a guy smoking a pipe. I nailed it! Nailed them both and sent them in. The package came back several weeks later. I got a “C.” Basically, Very Good, as the instructor’s note said on the returned application, but not good enough to win a scholarship. I now wonder, did anyone really ever win a scholarship? I never did take that correspondence course but I did eventually go to art school.

Martin: How did you decide to go to art school?

Robb: Many years ago, after selling our business, I needed a change. “What am I going to do now?” Thia said “Why don’t you go to art school?” Actually, she signed me up! Yep, that’s my wife! We visited the school and as we walked down the halls I saw all the students’ fantastic work on the walls and I said to Thia “No way! I can’t do that! Let’s get out of here!” Well, thanks to Thia I ended up going and ended up doing really well after all. I even won some scholarships (take THAT correspondence school!

“C”?… how dare you!) and graduated with honors. How do you like that? I know… I shocked myself too. You see, up until going to school I had always been limited, or limited myself actually, to drawing cartoons and sketches, like out of MAD magazine, I

never actually painted. Art school was a fantastic, challenging experience. It definitely brings out the best in you. I did work I never dreamed I could do.

Inspiration was everywhere.

Martin: How did you start using an airbrush as your medium of choice?

Robb: Well, to begin with at school there were several air brush classes. But beyond that, while there, among many others, I was tremendously inspired by an airbrush illustrator named Mark Fredrickson. His work is amazing. I followed his career in “Airbrush Action” magazine. It was because of him I began to paint with an airbrush. A few years later, for my birthday, Thia surprised me by having my “Airbrush Idol” call me on my birthday. That was quite a surprise! More surprising was that he told me “I will never pick up an airbrush again.”

WHAT?!!!! He had just started doing covers for MAD Magazine” (slightly ironic, isn’t it?) and to my surprise they were done, not with an airbrush, but on the computer. He told me anything he could do with an airbrush on board (canvas) before, he could do on the computer only better and most importantly, faster. The only thing he regretted, he told me, was that there was no longer an “original.” He missed having that piece of artwork that wasn’t a print.

But said the trade off was well worth that loss. Soon after he also announced that bombshell in “Airbrush Action magazine,” as you can imagine they weren’t thrilled with the news. He had been their star artist for years.

I was already familiar with Photoshop from all the photo retouching work I had done, but Fredrickson suggested that I get a Wacom Pen and Tablet and try painting on the computer. (Wacom Pen is a stylus that you “write” on a plastic board with that simulates an airbrush spray or any other paint brush for that matter.) “You’ll see!” he said. He was right. That changed everything. I too never picked up my airbrush again. No more messy paints, cleaning out the air brush after every color, hours of listen-

ing to the maddening sound of the air compressor, no more time spent cutting out frisket, (sticky plastic film used for masking the paint spray from areas of your painting) no more struggle to fix boo boos. One time I was on deadline working on a really big board. It was an illustration of a huge pile of office furniture. It was at the end and figured I could save time by carefully spraying the background a bit darker without masking the rest of the painting. BAD idea! I soon paid the price for my haste. Pfffffsssssttttt!

The airbrush spit out drops of paint all over the painting. A huge splatter I had to painstakingly repair. I sure do wish I had a computer and Wacom tablet years earlier when I was freelancing. Instead of ten hours of repair work all I would have had to have done was hit “Apple Z” (UnDo)!

Martin: Do you ever miss not having an original? Do you ever want to go back and paint traditionally?

Robb: I did. Often really. I would see canvases in galleries and elsewhere and feel that tug. I really did want to paint on real canvas with real paint, still do actually, but that was pretty much cured once and for all recently when I was

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“A kind and compassionate act is often its own reward.” —William John Bennett (1943)

showing Thia how to paint with her acrylics. It was the first time in so many years that I actually picked up a real brush and squeezed real paint out of a tube. It was hilarious! I was like a bull in a china shop, a genuine painting klutz! Within minutes I was covered in paint, my arm was hurting from holding the brush up for so long, I had paint dripped, splattered everywhere. It was a disaster! Mixing the colors, washing off brushes…..I almost drank a red Solo cup full of orange water by accident thinking it was Diet Sunkist! Nope, I’ll stick with my computer. I respect all those that paint “traditionally”, as they say, tremendously, but for me, I realize I spent half my time dealing with the mess, not actually creating.

Martin: What about those that say digital painting isn’t really painting?

Robb: That’s absolute nonsense. It’s just another medium basically the same as any other.

You put color where there wasn’t any before and eventually have a painting or an image.

Charcoal from a smoking stick in an ancient cave to oil paints to acrylics all the way to “paint” from a digital “pen”, it’s all the same.

Martin: Some say it’s cheating.

Robb: That’s what some artists said when artists started using photographs rather than live models, still life etc. There’s always “purists” and that’s fine for them. Everyone gets to choose their medium, their methods.

Norman Rockwell used to hire models and set up a scene, exactly as he saw the painting in his head and took a photograph of it. But the big horror, to him, wasn’t that he photographed a scene that would eventually be the painting, but that he used a projector to shine that photo onto the canvas which he could then trace rather than actually drawing it. Rockwell would hide the projector in the closet anytime someone would visit his studio. Today that is about as common a way of doing things as it gets. Norman Rockwell a “cheat”? I’d say thank goodness he “cheated” so he had more time to do more paintings that we wouldn’t otherwise have.

People forget Norman Rockwell was not a “fine artist” he was a commercial artist, and in the world of commercial art time is money and the one who is paying you always needs that work done FAST! In commercial art deadlines are always tight. For most of those magazine covers with illustrations you see on the newsstands the artist

often gets only one or two days to complete the project. You have to really be at the top of your game to pull that off. That’s why even illustrators that prefer traditional painting techniques personally, have switched to digital for their commercial projects. There’s one very well known, published caricaturist, Rodney Pike, that simply manipulates a photo in Photoshop to create all his caricatures, almost zero actual illustration going on. Needless to say there’s many “traditional” caricaturists that hate him, professionally speaking anyway, for doing that. Like it’s a line that shouldn’t have been crossed. But you know what?

Some of his work is really pretty fantastic.

He’s not even painting! But, who says there’s not a lot of talent there?

Check out a movie called “Tim’s Vermeer.”

(Some of it is on YouTube.) It’s about the Dutch master painter whose paintings are so amazing that through the years many have wondered if he used something called a “camera obscura” (basically a lightless projector, precursor to the camera) or some other aid to be able to pull off such incredibly accurate, detailed paintings. On Wikipedia - Vermeer “Theories of mechanical aid” - it explains that many renowned “Old Masters” including Hans Holbein and Diego Velázquez are thought to have used optics, or some combination of curved mirrors, a camera obscura or camera lucida to get the job done. Or, like with the pyramids, it could have been aliens from outer space that helped them, who knows?

Are they no longer the “Old Masters”?

Martin: Do you use the new technology to speed up your process?

Robb: Of course! These aren’t the kind of caricatures that you have done at theme parks that are done in ten minutes. These are painstakingly done portraits that take many hours, sometimes days to complete even with any technical assistance that may be used.

Let’s face it, I’m no spring chicken, I’m 60 years old headed for the big 61. My illustrating days are numbered, I don’t have a lot of time to waste. I want to paint more paintings. Sure I can, I could, paint

Acoustic Blends 3rd Friday of each month 7-10pm March 20 & April 17

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trated, the restaurant is a photo. My daughter-in-law got a cool entertainment center and I Illustrated the Rat Pack with a photo of it because it so belongs to that era. I painted Einstein but that’s a real MAD Magazine cover from 1953, while Einstein was still alive.

Denzel is a ditto. You can see Morgan Freeman in the making on the next page.

Martin: So you want to “Pay it forward” with your art too?

Robb: Yes! I love Thia’s idea. “Paint It Forward”. How many smiles can come from gifts of art. How many dollars can be raised for worthy causes by the sale of donated art? Or pro bono artwork for non-profits doing good work for the community? I want to pay it forward with my art. Well, I already do really. I’ve done the Gilmer Arts B.E.S.T. Series Playbill covers the past two seasons. And a few other projects. But I’d like to see if there are any other non-profit organizations that might have interesting projects going that can benefit from my work and I in turn benefit from by helping the community and giving me a good reason to paint. Of course if some person or company wants to hire me for a project or a portrait, cash is always good too! I have been known to accept that as well. Either way, if anybody has an interesting project please call me 706-889-5851or email me at TheBestOfEBRJ@Gmail.com.

Martin: Great Robb, now how about you pay it forward and buy me lunch?

every little thing, but, why? With my photo real style I don’t really have to. All that matters is the final image, not necessarily how I got there. I seem to have naturally landed on a 50/50 rule. Somewhere around 50% Illustration and 50% photo compositing, and manipulations as my “style”.

When it comes to the main part of the image, the main character(s) I illustrate or paint them fully, but, when it comes to the background or less significant parts of the work, it depends. Sometimes, like Rodney Pike, I composite and manipulate photos, like for our joke ads. I have decided I am happy with that. It works for me, and it works well with my style, my finite supply of “senior years” and with my ever-present, seemingly getting worse, attention deficit disorder that after 2 or 3 days of working on a painting causes my brain to revolt and demand to be done with the darned thing already.For instance, I, obviously didn’t paint the Mona Lisa to get the “Mona Lea” (our daughter and her doggies Max and Lola) I just painted Lea, Max and Lola over the Mona Lisa. I took that picture of John Rathbone at a Gilmer Arts event and for some reason, in my mind, I saw him with the open coat selling tickets. John’s a humble guy, very anti-self promotion, he didn’t ask me to do it, but I just had to paint that. And I had to beg him to let me print it here. You may notice the background was one I used for this year’s B.E.S.T. cover.

John is fully illustrated, the rest to varying degrees. The full page ad for the Back Porch Bistro here is actually also part of this story.. Michael and the Brat person are illus-

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““Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” — Oprah Winfrey

Drumming Second Tuesday 6 – 7 pm Sharptop Art Association.org

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hat do you get when a chicken lays an egg on top of the barn? An egg roll!

Keeping chickens is like living in your own comedy show sometimes. Yes, they are entertainers and I can't get enough of them. We don't have one of those magazine showcase coops for our birds. We have one barn that houses all of our animals and the chickens have a nice corner where they roost and share with our guineas. They have their laying nests, some wooden boxes made by my husband, but a favorite of theirs is my ingenious creation out of an old filing cabinet drawer. We do have a couple of chickens that love to make me work for the eggs and hunt for them. Every day is like my very own Easter egg hunt as I search for my prize. I have two chickens that lovingly lay their eggs right next to the front door. I love that they think so much of me that I don't have to walk far to have breakfast. One of our chickens likes to stop by and visit. She will peck at the front door and when you open it, she struts in to say hello. And, one of my favorite hens will fly up on my shoulder and perch like a parrot while I feed the animals and give everyone fresh water. Living here on my hobby farm is never dull and there is always a moment of laughter when I interact with the animals.

I had always wanted to have chickens, but for some reason they are frowned upon in the suburban neighborhoods. Although, it seems more and more communities are allowing families to have backyard chickens, I'm glad I live in a place that I can have all the chickens, goats, ducks and other animals that I want. I love being able to sit outside and spend time with the animals and enjoy our hobby farm lifestyle. I love how the animals communicate and interact with each other and they never fail to put a smile on your face. I feed my chickens kitchen scraps and they are very keen to the sound of the front door opening and will run to the side of the porch whether you have treats or not. I get picked on by some of my friends that have called while I'm chopping up veggies in the food processor, so my chickens don't choke on big pieces. I get a giggle from my other chicken keeping friends when I'm making chicken popsicles to keep the girls cool in the summer and I know I'm the talk of the circle about my bathroom and how you never know if there is a farm animal recuperating in it or not. I don't mind bringing a little humor to other lives with my farming habits. I definitely make myself laugh sometimes too. Have you ever tried to take a shower with a hen pecking on the shower door?

I have more than once!

Keeping chickens is a positive experience.

They provide eggs and can be a meat resource for small farms. They are an amazing pesticide

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without ever needing harsh chemicals and they help our gardens flourish with their never ending supply of fertilizer. Why not have chickens when they do so much for the farm? Chickens are the best animal for beginning farmers and are easy to care for and keep. The one downfall to keeping chickens is living with predators. We do free range our chickens, so predators are always a concern. Chickens are a tasty meal for hawks, foxes, racoons, possums and other animals seeking a place to find food. I have had a few run ins with a hawk swooping around trying to snatch up one of my young pullets. Our visiting hawk and I have had quite a few interactions where I am outside with my fist up in the air yelling at the sky. I am sure I would be a prime candidate for a crazy reality show sometimes with my way of doing things. We have dogs, and they are the best protectors for our birds. They will chase off anything that comes around looking to bother our girls. Our Guineas are another protection level for our chickens and ducks.

Nothing gets past the Guineas and they are quite the alarm system with their loud chattering when something isn't right in the yard. Our chickens seem pretty content with who is watching over them and don't seem afraid to wander around pecking and scratching and looking for all their yummy treats during the day. We lock them up at night and all the animals are happily tucked in each night where they are safe and sound.

So far we have kept our chickens for eggs and bug eating and fertilizer and have had a wonderful experience learning about raising chickens. We are going to branch out this spring with a hundred meat chicks and raise them for our freezer. That should be quite the experience and will be sure to bring many memories and stories when we begin this adventure. I am excited to add to our farm and watch our dreams of being self sustainable become more of a reality. Before I know it, I may just have the farm I've always wanted and maybe even a “hospital” room in the barn and not in my bathroom.

Can You Beat Live Music... FREE?!!! - Gilmer Arts’ “Acoustic Blends” Every 3rd Friday Of The Month

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y father was a very tough, blue collar type who was described by his friends on the job as ‘Sweet Jim”, due to his somewhat ornery disposition. Dad really liked to fish.

For a while, I think it was his number one passion. He studied it. He amassed a collection of equipment that would make any sportsman drool. The first time he came to visit me in North Georgia, it was all about fishing of course.

Not just for him, but also for me. I had recently bought a boat, a sixteen foot bass boat. Not real big, but it was a good little fishing boat. It had two of everything that you would need for fishing. Two seats to ride in, two seats to fish from, one on the front and one on the back of the boat. It also had two livewells. One livewell for bait, one for the fish. When Dad saw the boat he nodded his approval to me. “This will do.”

I told Dad to put his gear in the boat and I gathered mine. I put in two poles, a net, a cooler, a bait bucket, and a tackle box. A pretty standard set of gear you would see anyone put in the boat for a fishing trip, but even those few things took up a bit of space. I hooked up the trailer and lights as Dad began to load his gear in the boat. After he figured a way to put six poles in the boat, he put in five small tackle boxes. I didn't have to ask what any of them were for, because he was telling me about each item he stowed. "This is full of my lead sinkers. I made them from the old lead left over from the phone company." Dad was a telephone man in the city, and molten lead was used in his day to seal cable splices in the manholes. Any scraps peeled off of his boots and clothes wound up as

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sinkers or lead soldiers. (Yes, I played with lead soldiers when I was small, so it probably explains a few things about my personality) "This box has my floating lures.

Look at this... That's a Deadly Dudley. You can't find 'em anymore..." He had a box for plastic worms, another for diving lures, and one each for spoons and spinner baits. Each pole was for specific things too. He had a stiff rod for fishing worms, an ultra-light for pan fishing, another called a "noodle rod" that was incredibly long and flexible for casting light lures a mile. And of course he had a big saltwater rod for some reason, even though our destination was Carter’s Lake. And all of this was just a small part of his collection.

I was looking at all the stuff in the boat, thinking to myself that we were going to be tripping all over the gear. There was only one clear spot left on the floor next to the steering console, and as I looked at it he put in the biggest tackle box I ever saw in my life right there. It was at least 3 feet high. "So what's in the big box there, Dad?" I was about to ask if we really needed it but he was telling me about all the lures inside that he never got a chance to use and he wanted to try some of them out. Dad had been buying and collecting the lures for years, but living in a city by the coast, he was fishing more with saltwater outfits than freshwater, so the freshwater rigs just kept on piling up.

I would dare to say he had every single lure you could buy.

The first stop was for bait at a place that un-

fortunately is now closed on Highway 382. As I pulled into the bait shop parking lot, I was trying to reiterate that it was prime panfish season, and that we should get some minnows to use as bait. He was agreeable to this in spite of all the stuff he brought. I got out of my truck and grabbed the bait bucket. We went into the store and Dad took the bucket from me. "I'll get the killies." "Killies" is an old school term for minnows used in other parts of the country.

Kind of like how a “sub” sandwich is known as a “hero” or “grinder” elsewhere. So, Dad puts the bucket up on the counter and says, "I’ll take two dozen killies." The guy behind the counter didn't have a clue what a "killie" was. So the puzzled man, clearly a local fellow says, "Never heard of a 'killie', is that some kind of "shiner"?

A "Shiner" is a minnow too, so at least the "Shiner" was a term they both understood. The bait man points to some of the larger shiners.

Dad realized they were too large for panfish.

"No, those are too big. I'm looking for smaller ones.” The man smiles and says, "Oh, I know what you mean now. C'mon over here." He points to another batch of small baitfish and says, "Here's where we keep the crappie minnows. You want two dozen did you say?" Dad

“We rise by lifting others.” - Robert Ingersoll

looks at him suspiciously and says in a low voice, "We don't want the CRAPPY minnows, where's the good ones?"

Finally we got our bait and after a while arrived at the boat ramp. When it was our turn to launch, I backed the boat down the ramp and then got out to check that the plug was in and all the straps were off before putting it in the water. As I did this I could see the next person waiting to launch starting to look annoyed. I gave Dad instructions about how to back the boat trailer slowly into the water till he saw the boat float off, and I would signal with a wave.

Then he could pull away to park. I got into the boat and Dad backed me in, doing a pretty good job… NOT… sinking the trailer into the water till the tailgate of the truck was almost submerged. My signal wave turned into a frantic yell of “STOP !!!” He heard me and luckily was able to pull out. By this time Mr. “Next in line” was yelling out his window about how we were “tying up the boat ramp” and so forth. As soon as Dad cleared the ramp, Mr. Next dropped his truck into gear and like a pro, swung it around and backed his boat down the ramp into the water flawlessly. He was still yelling something about “This is how it’s done” when his partner in the boat started waving and yelling frantically. “PULL IT BACK OUT! PULL IT BACK OUT!” Dad parked and was walking to the dock where I was waiting. As he passed the now freaking Mr. Next he saw what their problem was. And, in his typical dry style of eloquence shouted to me as he laughed, “He forgot to put the plug in the boat, Ha ha ha...

See? There is a God!” I rounded up my father, who was still laughing and pointing, and off we went out into the lake. First we fished in the deeper, open water so Dad could cast his deep water rigs. He picked up his salt water rod and winked at me. “Watch this…” He reared back and flung a huge heavy lure that looked bigger than most of the fish in the lake. The reel screamed as the lure rocketed

away, eventually splashing into the water at what looked to be a couple of hundred feet away. Then he cranked his reel for quite some time to get it back to the boat. “You don’t really expect to catch anything with that here, right?”

He smiled. “Nah, just wanted to try it.” I looked over at a man in a small john boat nearby that was staring at us in disbelief. Dad saw him too and seemed to enjoy the man’s expression.

Next we went into the tributaries and used the trolling motor. Dad pointed and told me to troll near some older logs that were extending into the water under some overhanging trees.

“This is a good spot. We can throw rubber worms around those logs. The fish will think it’s coming off the trees. I read about it in a fishing magazine. I looked at him with a smile. “What if the fish aren’t reading the same magazines?”

“Ok wise guy. We’ll see who gets the most fish at the end of the day.” We each caught a small fish, nothing to brag about but threw them in the live well anyway, since this was now a contest. The one I caught wasn’t much bigger than the minnows in our bait bucket, but I held it up by the lip like it was a monster for fun.

Things were going pretty smooth but Dad was having a little trouble with a new casting reel he was using. He was trying to cast under the low hanging trees by the bank, but kept getting his worm caught up in the trees. Somewhere around the fifth snag, I couldn’t help laughing a little. He glared at me. “Well what do ya expect? You’re operatin’ the trolling motor! You’re front-ending me!” The term my father just coined was his way of blaming me for his snags by saying I was hogging the good angles since I was operating the trolling motor. As he yanked and yanked at the last snag, an old timer in small wooden boat cruised by slowly.

He looked at my father who was still tugging away, pulled his pipe out of his mouth and said, “Ain’t never seen anybody catch one up there before.” I tried not to laugh as Dad turned his

glare to the old man. I was just happy I was off the hook… If you’ll pardon the pun.

After a while we trolled back out to the mouth of the tributary. By then Dad had four of his six poles baited and hanging over the side.

I was happy to continue casting my rubber worm around for a bit longer. I motioned to all the poles, “You better watch those rods, a big fish might hit one of those lines and maybe pull the whole thing overboard.” “Nah. I got a foot on each one of these two and I can grab either of the other two quickly.” He reached down and grabbed the thermos and began to pour himself some coffee. I saw one of the lines starting to go and I warned him, “Hey, watch that pole by the motor…” I no sooner said it than the rod end bent sharply. He spilled some of his coffee as he set it down quickly, and just as he reached for the rod, it bent sharply to the side and popped straight up into the air. His eyes widened as he jumped up and tried to catch it. It was like a cartoon scene. As he tried to grab the pole, it shot straight out into the water. “NO! NO! NO! You no good lousy @#$% fish!” We tried to snag it by casting our other poles with lures at the spot the pole went under.

Dad saw my “I told you so” look and started cussing and yelling at the long gone fish again.

He was mad as a hornet. “That was my favorite pole you slimy no good %$#@*& !” Then, just when I thought he was calming down, “Sweet Jim” took over and he started grabbing one after another of his tackle boxes and threw them overboard, still yelling. “TAKE IT ALL YOU $@#%&!... TAKE IT ALL!!!” In a move that got me the silent treatment for a while I said, “Dad! What are you doing? Now you scared away the other fish.” He stewed for about an hour more but finally we caught a few more fish, and he caught two more than I did, so he won our contest. That made him happy, and it saved me from an awkward evening. And by the time we got home, he was smiling and we laughed about the experience. I miss you Dad.

DSCWrestling March 20th 8pm DSCW arena in Blue Ridge, GA

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hile spending the holidays in our North Georgia cabin, my hubby decided we would host an intimate gourmet dinner to ring in the new year. It is always a culinary adventure when my husband cooks for our friends and family. He is not only a gracious host but a professionally trained chef. After my husband Marty created his menu, off to market we went. I was thrilled to find out that my favorite pesto sauce made it onto his New Years Eve menu. I told him I would pick out the freshest basil from the produce department. Oh no! I cannot find any fresh cut basil. I ran over to where the potted herb plants are displayed and they were all shriveled up and way past their prime. The best I could find was dried basil in the spice aisle or basil paste that looked like a tube of toothpaste. Sadly, my favorite pesto sauce might be taken off our special dinner menu.

Later that day, I was thinking that I should just grow my own herb garden. Why not? And while I am thinking about planting an herb garden, I think I will try to grow my very first flower garden as well.

Last spring, I had the opportunity to write a story about Gibbs Garden’s Daffodil Festival. While visiting the garden with my neighbor Kathy who at that time was studying to be a master gardener, I was in awe and inspired

by Mr. Gibbs’ beautiful gardens. The garden was covered by a blanket of yellow Daffodils. I figured I could plant a few daffodils in my cabin’s front yard. How hard could that possibly be? So, I immediately called my neighbor Kathy, who is now a master gardner, for some quick gardening advice. Sadly, she told me that I was too late for planting daffodils. She explained that in order to have a daffodil garden, I would have had to plant bulbs back in October when the ground was easier to dig up. I truly had no idea that one needed to prepare a garden so many months in advance. I thought I could buy a bag of potting soil and throw some daffodil seeds or herb plants into the pile of dirt and I would soon be enjoying my flower and herb gardens.

Story & Photography

by Amy Kratish Boy, was I wrong about this whole gardening process!!

Kathy, was very patient and took her time and educated me on planting gardens in our North Georgia zone. Here are some of her tips she shared with me: The first thing she asked me was where I wanted to plant my garden. Keeping in mind that plants need sun! So, I guess my woodsy back yard is out of the question. Whether you choose to plant flowers or vegetable gardens you will need to have full or partial sun. Also, she strongly suggested I take a sample of the dirt over to “The Extension Center” a free program run by the University Of Georgia agriculture department located on Progress St. They will test your soil and recommend what plants will grow healthy in your environment. The center may suggest you add nutrients to your dirt in order for your plants to thrive and be bug free as well as they can also arrange a master gardner to consult on the best plants based on the conditions at your home.

Since I always admire Kathy’s beautiful gardens at her home and we are neighbors, I asked what she suggested I try growing. She thought I could still plant a few bulbs as well as flowering shrubs and hydrangeas ( my favorite wedding flowers) as well as day lilies. Since we have so many deer roaming around the neighborhood, Kathy's recommendations was to plant a flower called Hostas. Apparently, deer do not like dining on that particular flowering plant.

Otherwise, I might need to consider picking up deer repellant to ward off the deers from eating my garden. This is a bit of a dilemma since I love photographing the neighborhood deer. I guess I will need to scrap the corn feeder I was planning to buy this year.

I reminded Kathy that I also want to grow a vegetable garden since I love picking fruits and veggies from the local area's U pic farms. She said that I could try growing seedlings in my cabin and then replant them into my garden. Tomatoes, herbs, lettuce, swiss chard, broccoli, radishes and kale would all thrive in our zone.

She kept emphasizing that I should plant what I love and pick my plants and flowers based on watering, sunlight and fertilizing schedules. Since I live up here only part time, I should consider looking for hardy drought resistant plants. She also reminded me not to plant my flowers or veggies too close together since many plants spread out.

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“Be the reason someone smiles today.” - Unknown

Kathy certainly is a wealth of knowledge and taught me that most plants need to have 6-8 hours of sunlight and I may need to clear some of my trees to allow for more sunlight. Finally and most importantly, I asked her about my need to grow fresh basil for Marty’s delicious pesto sauce.

Kathy said that would be easy and all I needed to do is pick up a few window boxes or containers that can be moved around on my porch or deck railings and I will be growing herbs in no time. I really must research and do my homework and fall in love with hardier plants that more disease tolerant just in case I do not have a green thumb! I would strongly suggest checking out Gilmer’s Library to view the demonstration gardens and pick up a few books about gardening. They do offer gardening classes as well.

I believe with all my new understanding and respect for gardening, I may want to look into becoming a member of the local garden club. You must be invited to attend a meeting and then after three meetings you will have the opportunity to join. It is only $30.00 for the membership dues.

They meet the first Wednesday of the month at the Gilmer Library.

The Garden Club of Ellijay has a very successful plant sale the Saturday before mother’s day. Their members donate plants from their gardens for the club to sell. You will surely find the most beautiful plants that are already adapted and specifically grown in our counties planting zone. I will definitely make it a point to buy some great plants from the local gardeners.

That is a no brainer!

So, for those who are expert gardeners, I will truly enjoy looking at your beautiful gardens and appreciate all your hard work and vigilance that went into it. As for me, I am hoping that I can at least grow a few basil plants this spring! Feel free to submit some photos of your plants and flowers to the paper! I’d love to see them!

Best of luck with your gardens!

Raise the Roof - A Cause for Paws March 14th Animal Shelter of Pickens County, 3563 Camp Road, 9a-3p Low-Cost Vaccines at 9:00 a.m. Live Auction and Cake Auction at 10:00 a.m. 706-253-8983 59

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At what age did you first sing and /or pick up an instrument? What was it? Where was your first show?

Paige: I honestly don't ever remember not singing at home, in church or road tripping in our mom’s VW van as a little girl. I was never shy at home but it wasn't until years later, and MUCH convincing from Charles that I joined him on stage. My first public gig was a stage fright nightmare.

Charles: I do not recall the exact age it all began for me personally because there's no memory of my childhood that doesn't inspire something musical. I recall my first gig playing a house party for some high school friends..

Paige: Years ago I attempted to play both the flute and the violin for a while but quickly learned I would much rather be singing. I'm extremely lacking in instrumental abilities.

I’m guessing most people think you two are married?

Paige: We get that a lot. We've been close all of our lives. We grew up always "having each other’s back" no matter what came our way. We still do. We're blessed to have what many siblings do not, we're great friends!

Charles:: Many times we've been mistaken for a spousal duo, but have learned to put the disclaimer out early and often!!

How did you decide to have a brother and sister act? Do you ever get in fights?

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Paige: Well the brother sister act is very natural for us.

Music was our entertainment as kids and we wanted to imitate it. We sang and acted out every song we learned. It's all we knew. Charles taught himself guitar very young, as he was playing, I was singing. Ours was a home full of music all the time.

Charles: I can't remember Paige and I ever getting into a fight.

We fell naturally into performing together. I've been in a few bands and had decided to do acoustic stuff and it seemed perfectly natural for Paige to join me. I love to hear her sing!!

Paige: Well, it's hard to fight with a practical joker who makes you laugh your face off all the time. Fighting is not in our DNA. I could write a best seller on some of the practical jokes Charles has played on me. He had me convinced as a child that he found me at the 7-11 convenience store and begged mom to keep me. True story. And thus the fun began...

How do you decide what songs to play?

Paige: We are constantly giving each other song suggestions. If one of us doesn't care to sing or play it, we just don't. However, if Charles really wants me to sing a song that I don't initially care to sing, he'll learn it and just start playing it while we're on stage. He'll put me on the spot and look at me like "What are you waiting on?" He's clever like that. He also knows what my strengths are and he knows how to push me to be better.

PLEASE! Make sure you tell our advertisers, the sponsors of this publication "I Saw You In The "FUNpaper"!!! - Thanks!

Charles: Our song-list varies from venue to venue. We typically have the first 4 or 5 songs picked out and wing it from there Do you have originals?

Paige: Yes, Charles has a plethora of fantastic originals which are actually some of my favorites of all.

Charles: I have a number of originals to put out there but usually opt for covers based on what the audience is into.

What do you like best about performing in our area?

Paige: Performing in our area is like playing on grandma’s back porch. It does a soul good to watch the local folks come together and have a good time. Music is a remedy. And we're very grateful to have establishments supporting local musicians.

Charles: We LOVE to play around here because it's a really great area for live music. Everywhere we play the folks are interactive and we tend to feed off their energy.

Do you have a funny story about something that happened during a gig?

Paige: Last summer at Rocco's Pub, while I'm in the middle of singing, Charles walks straight up to me, looks at me very wide eyed, and while never missing a lick on the guitar, he says "Don't move, I'll get it!" He said I had a huge bug crawling up my back. I kept singing but could not stay still. After I at-

tempted to shake off the bug and looking like a complete idiot, he just starts laughing, keeps right on playing, and says "Ha, I'm just kidding!" I couldn't help but crack up and even the crowd laughed. It's truly never a dull moment.

Charles: Too many funny stories to count, but every time we play we make more great memories Who is the most famous person you ever met, and how did you meet him/her?

Charles: Robert Plant is the most famous person I've met... I was working for a local production company as a stage tech when he came through Atlanta on tour and I met him backstage.

Tell us your musical dream come true.

Paige: For me, what C&P are doing is a dream come true.

We're blessed to get to do what we love and to continue to be invited back. Although it would be cool, I don't need a shelf full of Grammys. Giving up the day job would be nice though.

Charles: My musical dreams are being lived as we speak. I have so much fun playing and entertaining with Paige How can we find out where you are playing?

Our upcoming schedule is always posted on our facebook page C&P The Low Dough Show....check us out!! https://www.facebook.com/charlesandpaige

“You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never pay you.” - Unknown

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“Keep Calm and Pay It Forward…..”

Want to Advertise in The “FUNpaper”? Go To: www.TheBestOfEBRJ.com/advertise

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Charlee

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omebody should have warned me about these things! I’m really trying hard to allow my nine-year-old to explore the kitchen and cooking much further than my comfort zone expands. I must admit she does pretty well, but she has no fear factor! I have to repeatedly ask her to slow down, be careful, and warn her that (whatever it is) is hot! Mom always said, “You can’t cook it cold.” Charlee is the youngest of my three children—with twelve and fifteen years between her and her siblings—and the one with the least concern.

She has always tackled things head-on, and loves getting in there and getting dirty to get things done. I think she gets so anxious to try new things that she misses the instruction part and just dives in and before I have the chance to say WAIT! But the wonderful thing about it is the kitchen conversation. We chat about so many things, but her favorite is for me to tell her stories of things that have happened in the kitchen. I can tell her the same stories and she just giggles and laughs like it’s the first time she’s heard them. She loves to hear blunder stories! I have tried to remember some of them to share as we venture into the new world of Charlee’s cooking, and she has encouraged me to share them.

Charlee has had a crush on a little boy for a while now. We chat about that while cooking, and about my crushes when I was young. She loves to hear me tell about when a boy came home with my brother. I was just giddy and trying so hard to help my mom in the kitchen while proudly displaying my culinary skills (or severe lack thereof). My mom asked me to make Kool-Aid. Looking back, I now wonder if it was so she could finish cooking by making me busy elsewhere. My first solo task! It was only Kool-Aid, so how could this go wrong?

When it was finally time to eat, I watched intently as my crush took his first sip of the black cherry refreshment I had made just for him. He was so kind as he took that sip and managed somehow to swallow with only small tears seeping from his now-closed eyelids. My brother wasn’t as kind as he spewed it back

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out and yelled that I forgot the sugar! Come to think about it, I don’t think my crush ever came to eat with us again.

Kool-Aid—now that’s a powerful packet of powder! I remember the dares in high school of seeing how much unsweetened torture we could survive! I still remember that horrible, intense twang on my taste buds, the bitterness causing my eyes and nose to burn! It reminds me of one of my favorite stories of how a simple recipe can go wrong. My friend had asked me about some grapes I had made for a shower, and wanted to know how to make them. It’s very simple: just get some white grapes and wash them well. When they are still wet, pour a pack of strawberry Jell-O all over them to coat them well. They dry quickly and are a very good finger food for showers and such. My friend called me in a panic and asked what she did wrong to the Kool-Aid grapes.

She was anticipating that first delicious bite and popped the grape into her mouth—only to be jolted to reality when something went wrong! She was twitching from the disgusting taste in her mouth, which she couldn’t escape!

She told me exactly what she had done: that she used white grapes and strawberry KoolAid. “Wait…Kool-Aid? NO! Jell-O! You are supposed to use Jell-O, not Kool-Aid!” Even though she was still repulsed by the nasty acidity burning a hole in her tongue, we both laughed until we had tears streaming down our faces!

Charlee delights in hearing stories of her siblings. One story I am almost afraid to tell her is that of when her sister, Chelci, learned to cook spaghetti. She never knew when they were done. One day I made the mistake of telling her that when spaghetti noodles are done, they will stick if you fling them on a wall.

Shortly afterwards, just enough time had lapsed that I forgot telling her that, I came home to find my kitchen almost completely wallpapered with noodles! She got carried away with all the different patterns the noodles made as they landed on the wall! When Chelci was little, she was more of a “closet

Chelci

cook,” shall we say. She never seemed to have much interest in the kitchen when I was cooking, but I noticed that some of my cookware had gone missing. The disappearances were subtle—a bowl here, a pan there, spoons, whisks. One day I came home and there was a repulsive smell in the house. I searched and searched and couldn’t find it. Finally, as I was about to give up, I went to put Chelci’s clothes away and there were all the missing items— and the source of the awful odor! She had mixed flour, eggs, milk, and all sorts of seasonings in all sorts of ways, and (for some unknown reason) hid them in her drawers! ALL of her drawers seemed to have something hidden inside them. For days. I had to re-wash everything in them, and replace some of the plastic bowls, but at least I found the missing items!

One last story I would like to share is about Charlee. About two years ago, we were going to dye some Easter eggs. She was beside herself with excitement! I was cooking the traditional dinner, and she was growing more anxious as time wore on. She wanted to get started on the eggs. I told her, if she wanted to help, to fill the pan with water and put the eggs in to boil. She enthusiastically went about her chore as I continued to cook. I knew the task wouldn’t take long at all, so, after a few minutes, I checked on her. She had a twisted look on her face as she was messing with something inside the pan. I asked her what was wrong, and she said she had dropped some shell in there. I asked where the shell came from, and went to assist my little chef. I couldn’t help but laugh when I looked into the pan and saw almost two dozen eggs in the water—sunny side up! She had cracked open every single egg and dropped it delicately into the pan of water! Sometimes it’s a good thing that grocery stores are open on holidays!

After writing this story, I am actually looking forward to helping Charlee learn to cook. I will try to work on my patience as we go! I so enjoy making memories with my kids, and they usually end up teaching me a few things, or at least giving me some funny stories to share!

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” - Winston Churchill

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he smell of fresh dough, the sound of families enjoying their meals, the warm smiles of the staff, this is what my family and I where greeted with when we walked in to the the Papas Pizza in Blue Ridge, GA. We were warmly welcomed, then my children, husband, brother, cousin and I got our pizza and after much debating picked a seat. As we enjoyed our delicious pizza we talked and laughed, the kids got pepperoni, Travis and Jordan loaded baked potato and Mechelle and I had the chicken fiesta pizza (which is now my new favorite). They also have a great salad bar that is fresh everyday with so many veggies to choose from. The atmosphere is so inviting it is the next best thing to home. They also have a game room that the kids could not wait to get into. Like all kids, they politely encouraged me "to eat up" while we were trying to enjoy our food. But, before heading to the game room, we all HAD to have dessert.

We tried the peanut butter and chocolate pizza. (Mmmm Mmmm) Tastes like a Reese's

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peanut butter cup, but its even better because its a pizza!

The game room was a steady flow of children playing and having fun. With tokens in hand, my kiddos proceeded to the games. Tokens are 25 cents a piece and most of the games are one to two tokens each, which is great, the kids can play to their heart’s content and you can feel good that you are not breaking the bank. My children's favorite games was the captains wheel and the basketball toss. After you play the game there is another treat, you get to take your tickets that you collected from the games and go to the prize desk. Here a staff member will count your tickets and you can pick out some pretty cool prizes. They have so much to choose from it was a tough decision for the kids, But in the end they picked out some great toys.

The lovely Manager, Jessica Ware gave me a personal tour of the restaurant. I got to see first hand how they make the dough, which is hand-made daily. I met Daniel, who walked

me through the art of dough making. They also make their sauce fresh everyday. (I wonder If there is a secret recipe?) They will make any pizza on the menu for you upon request.

They make gluten free pizzas, pizza without cheese, any thing you can think of. They are always there to help and make sure everyone gets what they need.

I have long had a great love for pizza. It is one of my favorite foods. I’m so impressed by Papas Pizza. They take great pride in their pizza with fresh dough, sauce, and toppings made right there everyday. Pride in their staff is obvious with everyone happy and enjoying their work. My family and i enjoyed ourselves so much we most definitely will be going back. Thank you for having us.

Make sure to stop in and have lunch or dinner at Papas Pizza. You will leave full, happy and with great memories. Both the Blue Ridge and the Ellijay locations have the buffet pizza bar and the kid’s game rooms. There is also a carryout Papa’s Pizza in McCaysville.

“Kindness come in many forms but always from the heart.” - Unknown

I

love the craft we chose for spring! We decided to recycle and use household products that would normally be thrown away along with some craft items we have here to make beautiful spring butterflies. The kids that are doing this craft are my son Tristan who is 8 years old and my nephew Draven who is 4 years old. Now these two boys are full of character and silliness so in true fashion to their personalities they demand to make this craft for spring shirtless. You read that correctly two wild little boys crafting and making demands. We have the most fun when I let their creative juices flow so I give in to their demands and we get started with our creations.

I saved toilet paper rolls so we decided to use those for the body of our butterflies. I have lots of paper lying around that are pieces that can be used further or reused so we cut the wings for the butterflies from pieces of paper left over from other crafts we had done. The two boys are gathering supplies and laughing as they talk about the different color ideas they have for their butterflies as well as the accessories they plan to use to enhance the beauty of their project.

To begin the project we lay out old newspaper to cover the areas where we will be painting and glueing to protect the furniture.

Since the boys have decided not to wear a shirt we don’t have to worry about paint getting onto their clothes. They choose their paint colors for their butterfly bodies and begin to paint the recycled toilet paper rolls a solid color of their choosing. Tristan chose to paint his black and Draven wanted to paint his dark blue so I chose a navy blue for him.

Neither of them will tell me their plans for a theme or decoration idea for their butterflies.

They giggle as they keep their secret so they can surprise me. Draven is painting away as he begins to make up a song about painting and sings it until he is finished. It goes mostly “I’m painting and I love painting” repeated over and over again.

We set the rolls to the side to let them dry and clean up the paint and other materials used. The next part of the project is to cut out the wings to decorate so we take the paper out and make the cuts for our wings.

The boys had a discussion on the best way to cut paper as well as a debate about who is better at cutting. Tristan is older and more experienced and decides this makes him more of the cutting expert.

After the cutting is finished the decorating can begin. We are using crayons, googly eyes, stickers, and buttons to make our butterflies look their best. Tristan begins coloring his wings and I notice that one of the wings is solid black but I don’t ask any questions as I

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don’t want to interrupt his hard work.

He works very focused on his coloring and moves to the second wing which he colors red while leaving the middle area blank. Last he takes the black crayon and draws a capital “G” in the middle and colors it in. He then announces that his butterfly is in the theme of University of Georgia.

This child loves the Ga Dawgs. Draven is coloring away during this time as well. He loves the color blue so he has colored his wings mostly different shades of blue.

The last part is to place the eyes, buttons and stickers on to complete the look. Draven decided to use buttons down the middle of the body of his butterfly. I am sure you can guess the color he chose but just for reading purposes I will tell you that it was blue of course. The eyes and buttons have to be placed on with hot glue so as the adult I glue them on for the boys but I have them to tell me where each one needs to be placed. Tristan says that he doesn’t want to use buttons and stays with stickers only. Tristan’s stickers are even chosen with a theme. He chooses sports balls such as footballs, basketballs, soccer, and gold ball raised stickers to show case the sports of the team he loves.

Draven chooses the mixed batch of stickers that have trucks, sports, and much more and places some on the wings to finish his butterfly.

Once all the craft supplies are cleaned up and everything is put away the boys spent almost an hour running around making their butterflies fly and play together. I think that is one of my favorite parts of crafting with kids is not only watching their minds come alive as they think of ideas for their project and then create those thoughts into actual art but to also see them playing and enjoying their creations. Imagination is a wonderful thing and these boys definitely both have big imaginations.

At the end of the day I suppose the lesson I was reminded of today is that you don’t have to go out and buy anything new to make a special craft and spend precious time with your children. We took common household items and recycled them into beautiful creations that we had a lot of fun making and then got to play with them for additional entertainment and excitement. I hope you enjoy reading about the two youngest boys in my family and their fun day of spring crafting without a shirt. They are silly and fun and I am blessed to have them both ready and willing to craft with me anytime. We have already started planning for our summer craft so you will have to come back next time to read all about our next project!

“The highest form of wisdom is kindness.” - The Talmud

Kiwanis Spring Fair-Kiwanis Fairgrounds, Blue Ridge Tues-Fri 5 pm- 11 pm Sat 1-11

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ife has a way of throwing some doozy curve balls. For instance, an illness or emergency of some sort. When those things happen...it tends to change ANY plans you have whether it be a date night, family get together or writing your brand new column for The Best of…

On that note, I was talking with my husband a month ago about how family time has become non existent. Our two girls would practically beg us to play a board game, play kick the can or just watch a movie-practically every day. Then it just suddenly stopped. Why? Well we were too busy. I mean yes we would go out to eat from time to time, take them to buy a toy etc, and that would suffice I am sure. But they just stopped asking for the more “one on one” time. We had become "too busy", to watch a movie; when I am sure we could take an hour or so to do that on the weekend. We had become "too busy" to play a board game because, they take too long (our girls like monopoly!) So, as my husband and I were lying in bed ready to call it a night, I asked him if he had noticed that they have stopped asking. He said yes, but put it off that they are getting older. I said no, I believe it is because we just stopped doing it, we always have an excuse. So we vowed then, to try and do better.

Our plan was to surprise them with a weekend packed full of whatever they chose, but remember how I said life throws curve balls? Yeah..that happened. Did I mention I was pregnant? I ended up in the hospital for a week, came home on a Saturday evening and continued to be ill for the next 5 days. So our plans? Pfft… Out the window! So instead of taking the girls "out", we stayed in. I awoke from a nap, to find my three loves at the kitchen table playing a board game. It warmed my heart! My dear wonderful husband had listened and did care that our kiddos had stopped wanting to spend time with us. So I joined in and it was fantastic!

Over the next few days, we watched movies, and Natalie and Lacey played dress up. I followed them around snapping shots of a time in their life when they can be carefree, innocent and have good ole fashioned fun. It reminded me of my youth, going out in the woods with neighbors and pretending to be what ever we could possibly think of. It reminded me that you do not have to spend tons of money to have quality time with your family. It reminded me that, our girls are only this age once, we will never get this time back.

Before I knew it the end of the year was upon us! The start of a new year always brings about the reflection of the one that just ended. What did I do to grow as an individual? Did I do anything that helped better someone else other than myself? What can I do differently this new year? It is also a time to think about the loss or addition to your family/friends. For us it was an addition! Remember life throws us doozies? Well we gave birth to a doozy named Emma Gail, she came five weeks early! It seems whenever you try to plan anything, well life has other plans for you. But we seem to endure and still find a way to have quality family time. The birth of Emma, so early, was not planned! So the past few weeks have been filled with learning the routine of a newborn, juggling house work with feedings, running the other two girls to school and back home, cooking dinner and trying to slip a few quiet moments in with my wonderful husband. Did I mention trying to find some time to get a nap? No matter how many sleepless nights, it is all worth it when I see our girls smile.

When I look into their eyes, I am one lucky Mommy! I may not get to take them everywhere they wish to go, but I do strive to give them a very happy childhood.

Children these days are growing up way too fast. We are always in such a rush! It is time to slow down and hug-kiss our kids, our spouse. Sit down to a family dinner. I am talking about a home cooked meal people! To cherish every moment we have with one another.

That my friends, is my goal for this new year. I want to strive to spend less time watching TV, less time on the internet; things that are not important. I want to work on spending more time with my family, whether it be going somewhere new to eat, bowling, or even playing at the park. Playing dress up, reading a chapter book we all enjoy, playing a very long board game, going out and exploring our area! So hopefully, my doozies this year will all be good, and I’ll be able to write this column with no more curve balls. I’ll be telling you all about family fun at affordable prices!

So I challenge you this month: give your child/ren the opportunity to plan a whole day or even a few hours. It will make them light up! Then when they are older and grown and don't want anything more to do with us, because they will "know" everything, you will have these precious memories of when they could not get enough of some “one on one” time with mommy and daddy. (Even if when they are older they do not want to admit it! )Tell me what your child chose and tell me all the wonderful details! I would love to hear your memories in the making! And next issue, I’ll tell you all about mine! tnelson0321@gmail.com

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“Do one act of kindness each day of the year and change 365 lives.” - Anthony Douglas Williams

Thia Says, “This is the stuff that Jerry puts on his FaceBook page, and it cracks me up!”

They are saying it's supposed to rain tonight. I’m leaving my sham wow in my driveway.

My neighbor said I suffered from being crazy. I really don't. I enjoy it.

I’m not fat ! I’m just allergic to food. It makes me swell up in places.

Just woke up from the craziest dream. I dreamed I ate the biggest marshmallow in the world. My stomach is hurting so bad. Oh, and I can't find my pillow.

NOTE TO MYSELF: you can't change channels with your phone.

I figured it's time to clean the refrigerator when something closes the door from the inside.

Laughter is a natural tranquilizer with no side effects!

I just finished my new book. It has taken me over a year to do 300 pages. Now I need more crayons.

I was at my daughter's house last week. My granddaughter answered the door. She told my daughter there was someone at the door wanting donations for the old folks home. She asked, should I give them grandpa?

Can't understand why I’m not losing weight. I’m on a light diet, candle light, daylight, lamp light. sometimes refrigerator light.

I was in the doctor's office this morning. A guy came in and sat down beside me. He told the nurse that he felt invisible and he needed to see the doctor right away. The nurse came back and said the doctor can't see you today.

One of my best friends told me she felt stupid. So to cheer her up, I told her she was smart. She could spell Mississippi for me. She asked "river or state" ?

WARNING! children left unattended at my house will be sold to the circus.

Humpty Dumpty had it coming. He was a bad egg.

I always loved mushrooms. I found some in the pasture yesterday.

I tried them. They taste like crap, and I keep seeing these little blue people!

THOUGHT OF TODAY: If a clown passes gas, does it smell funny?

My friend has a kleptomania problem. But he said he was going to take something for it.

I heard a knock at my door this morning. I answered it. It was my neighbor’s dog. The dog said, “If you can hear me talking to you, you probably forgot to take your meds this morning.

Looking for a place to eat? www.thebestofebrj.com/restaurant-reviews

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ooking back to my childhood, I realize I have always been creative. I can remember as a little girl, my father bringing home a load of colorfully coated telephone wire from work and giving it to me. I was in crafter’s heaven! I swirled and coiled and bent that wire into every shape imaginable, making rings, necklaces, and figurines. If I could imagine it I could do it, and if it didn’t come easy, I would just try harder until it resembled what I saw in my mind’s eye. At 17, I bought out some jewelry making inventory from someone who was no longer using it.

There were beads and shells and shell carvings in lots of colors, shapes and styles, and although I had never worked with jewelry findings before, I found myself creating wonderful works of art, and actually selling them wholesale to a company who was exhibiting for two weekends at the boat show at The Commonwealth Pier exhibition hall in Boston, Massachusetts. They sold out the first weekend and reordered! Why am I telling you this? Because, I never KNEW, I had a gift. It was something in me that lay dormant until the time came to use it and develop it.

So many people I have met throughout the years have told me that they have no gift, or that they “do not have a creative bone in their body” and I have to reply “How do you know?” “Have you tried everything there is?” Maybe you just haven’t found your gift yet. There are so many people who go through life believing that they have no “Gift” or special talent only to take up painting, writing, or a musical instrument in their later years and opening up to a whole new world.

Creativity comes in all different shapes and sizes.

Some people paint, while others cook, some act, some dance, some have the gift of compassion. And while all of these gifts can be diverse they all have one common quality. They are meant to be shared.

It is in the creating, that the artist finds comfort and in the sharing, that the artist spreads joy!

It is my sincere hope that by sharing this column with you, I am igniting a small spark of imagination and inspiring you to reach out and explore your creativity. Perhaps through the feel of the wire between your fingers, the vision of the rainbows refraction from the crystals or the sound of the chimes of the keys as they dance in the breeze, you will be inspired to further explore your creative Gifts.

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Spring is Here! And if you’re like me you can’t wait to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and beautiful weather. In honor of spring we will be creating a Crystal Key Chime. You can hang it outside in your garden, on your porch, or inside in front of a window. Wherever you decide to hang it, it will give you Rainbows in the sunlight, and sweet chimes in the breeze. Happy Spring!

Time to make: 1 to 2 hours Supplies I Used: 1 BBQ Skewer (10-12 inches) 5 split (key) rings 4- 15” pieces of fish line (to be used for the 3 and 4 inch strands) A 13.5” piece of chain (approx.)

28 bead caps (not necessary but adds a nice finishing touch) 10 med. crystal beads 5 keys 2 lamp crystals 1- 20” piece of fish line (for the 5 inch middle strand) 69- 5mm silver beads 7 shell bells (optional) 1 lg. and 3 med crackle beads: Feel free to use whatever beads you have on hand. You can vary the sizes and colors as desired.

1 swivel (optional) Directions: 1: Bend each end of the skewer into a ring shape. Mine was 10 inches long after bending 2: Fold chain in half, be sure it is even and attach a split ring to the center.

3: Attach another split ring to each end of chain and connect to each end of skewer.

4: Starting with center strand, fold the 20” piece of fish line in half, loop end around skewer and pull the double ends through the loop (referred to as a larks head knot) 5: Starting with a small silver bead at top, string beads onto double fish line until they reach 5 inches in length. 6: Securely tie key onto end of beads. Be sure to thread fish line through key hole several times.

7: Follow the same instructions for the four 15 inch pieces of fish line, making the next 2 on either side 4 inches long, and the outer 2 strands, 3 inches long. I like to make one pattern for the center strand and create similar but different patterns for each “set” of the other strands. You may choose to forego the patterns and just randomly string the beads for a more BoHo or natural effect.

8: Attach remaining split rings to skewer on outer edge on either side. Attach crystal to split rings. 9: Evenly arrange strands.

10: I added a drop of super glue to the top of the split rings that the crystals are on to keep them in place. (Be sure not to drip the glue onto the crystal) I also put a small drop of glue on each of the knots where the keys are tied to help ensure they do not untie) 11. Because I like a lot of movement in my pieces, I slid a fishing swivel onto the top split ring. I attach my wire or s- hook through the swivel to hang. If you are hanging your Crystal Key Chime outdoors, make sure to hang securely in case of high wind, or hang indoors in front of a window for rainbows and a sweet chime from spring breezes.

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. - Dali Lama

March 27 & April 24 - Classic Cars Cruise In Dairy Queen Parking Lot On Blue Ridge Highway (GA 5) 6 p.m. to dark.

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s I lay here, looking at all the beautiful stars in the early morning sky and the moon slowly creeping behind the trees, I am amazed at my surroundings. This little patch of heaven on earth is where I call home. I think how lucky I am to have this view as often as I want. Suddenly, I hear something rustling in the distance.

My mind snaps back from the beauty that surrounds me. Why am I hurting so bad? What made that noise? Why is everything upside down? Bear! Could it be that big old mama bear and her two cubs we saw yesterday? She wasn’t happy with us being around her cubs.

I had a flashlight, where is it?

My rifle? That too is missing. What am I doing with this stick? Oh my back hurts so bad. Is this a rock I’m laying on? How did I get here?

There’s nobody around. Nobody knows where I am. What have I done? Maybe I should back up and fill y’all in on my predicament.

It was just another Friday. Some friends and I had decided to take off for the weekend for some camping and deer hunting. We arrived at the campsite high up in the mountains early Friday afternoon. We wanted to scout out the area and find the best spots to hunt from. After getting the tents set up and getting the camp organized, we set out to locate our spots.

Not far from the camp we came across a really bad odor. After some finger pointing, we realized it wasn’t any of us. It was probably the largest bear I had ever seen with two small cubs. The mama bear reared up on her back legs and let us know real quick not to mess with her babies. We politely turned and evacuated the area as quickly as we could, stopping only to make sure she hadn’t decided to

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follow us. We all agreed it was best to find another route to our hunting sites. After all, this was their home, we were just visiting.

As each of us made our way to what we hoped would be the perfect spot, I saw a trail going up the mountain. I knew this trail was well used and should afford me a good chance of seeing some deer.

As I walked up the trail, the area opened up into what can only be explained as the perfect hunting spot. It was like God had made this spot just for me. I stopped and admired it for a few minutes, letting it all sink in. This was my spot, no doubt about it. Now to find that perfect location to sit and wait for my prize. Looking up the side of the hill, I noticed one lone tree growing out over the opening.

This was odd but I figured this too had been placed here for a reason.

I made my way up to the tree and decided this is where I would set up.

I got back to camp a little later than my buddies and as we sat around the campfire, I informed them I had found the most perfect spot to hunt and maybe one day I would share it with them. They tried their best to get me to divulge the location but I wouldn’t budge. It was mine and mine alone.

We turned in early because we wanted to get to our spots before daylight so we would be ready when the sun came up. During the night, we could hear movement in the woods around us and we just knew it was that mama bear and her cubs checking us out.

I got up early this morning, got some beef jerky and grabbed my rifle and flashlight. I made my way back to the spot in about 45 minutes. I crawled up the hill and got to the tree. I sat there resting for a few minutes, listening for anything moving. It was dead calm. Then I had a brilliant idea. I thought, if I can slide out on this tree a little ways, I would have an even better view of the clearing.

“Today I will do a Random Act Of Kindness.” - You

So with my rifle slung over my shoulder and my flashlight in one hand, I began to work my way out on the tree. The hill was pretty steep and I was about ten feet off the ground. I saw a broken limb in front of me and I knew if I could pull myself just a little bit farther out, I would be able to see the entire clearing. So, with my free hand, I got me a good grip on that old limb and started pulling.

Suddenly, the loud pop that limb made sliced through the stillness and there I sat. Rifle over my shoulder, my flashlight in one hand, and what was left of that old limb in the other. Now mind you, it didn’t happen quickly. I had time to study my situation and determined I was in a world of trouble.

Every so slowly, I found myself tilting to one side, the side my rifle was on. So much for being balanced. I swear if felt like I fell for twenty or thirty seconds but when I hit…….ouch!

I was no longer holding the flashlight. My rifle found its way off my shoulder. Here I lay, on top of a broken piece of tree limb, looking at the stars and listening to what I can only imagine is that mama bear and her cubs coming to pay me a visit. I laid there for a few minutes trying to compose myself. Those noises slowly went away. By the time the sun had come up, I had managed to sit up.

I found my flashlight, and picked up my rifle. I slowly made my way back to the camp bruised and humbled.

When my buddies came in, it took me a while to own up to everything that had happened to me that morning. They knew something happened because I could barely move. Needless to say, they still rag me about it every chance they get. Treasure each day you are given and take time to enjoy the view. Just don’t try to improve on the view. Some things were not meant to be viewed from an old dead tree.

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ammy Holloway and her team of volunteers work very hard to feed kids, in a program called Snack in a Backpack(SIAB). Tammy explains the program, “It was designed to feed kids throughout the school year by delivering bags of nutritious food on Friday’s to the schools. School counselors help in recognizing where the need is by targeting children on free and reduced meal programs in the school system. We currently serve close to 400 children every week.”

For some students who get their meals at school, weekends mean little or nothing to eat. SIAB solves that need. A bag is filled with non-perishable, healthy food items and delivered to their schools for the children to take home over the weekend. This food may help feed other family members as well.

But this is only during the school year.

What do those hungry children do in the summer? Seamless Summer is an organization that provides hot meals to children a couple days per week, when the children come to a designated location.

Tammy and Snack in a Backpack want to add to that by giving the children Snack in a Backpack, so they have food on the days between the Seamless Summer meals. These two organizations are working together to make sure kids in Fannin County don’t go hungry whether it is the school year, or this upcoming summer.

Tammy says, “When I was approached about the program it was a “no brainer.” Our mission is to feed these kids first and ask for help from the community to help fund this operation.” Tammy works very hard as the Director of SIAB. I asked her why she took the job. “Why did I do it?

Because it's the right thing to do. I have never been so fulfilled in all my life as I am now. I have a wonderfully supportive husband and a super sweet 2 year old. I am a very lucky woman and I couldn't be happier serving the community. Nathan and I do it as a team and our son Eian is learning valuable lessons that we hope he too will carry on in his future.”

Snack in a Backpack needs your help to feed kids now, and this summer. Please take a look at their website http://snackinabackpack.org and if you can, click the donate button. For more information, or if you have questions, visit their Facebook page www.facebook.com/SnackinaBackpack

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“Share a smile. Be kind. Pass it on.” - www.spreadkindness.org

When my children were young I didn't like the boxed tuna casserole. The whole family liked all the ingredients, especially tuna. I looked for a “from scratch� recipe and found this one. I made a few changes, like adding mushrooms and my family loved it. You can make this ahead keep in the fridge for up to three days. I serve it with a salad. Makes a great week night meal, leftovers are good to take to work the next day for lunch.

1/2 c. Butter, divided 1 8oz. Egg noodles 1 clove garlic, minced 8oz. Button mushrooms 1/4 c. flour 2 c. milk Salt and pepper to taste 2 5oz. cans of tuna in water, drained and flaked 1 c frozen peas, thawed 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1/2 c Parmesan Preheat oven 375 degrees. Butter a medium baking dish.

Cook egg noodles, 8-10 minutes, until al dente and drain. You can add olive oil to noodles to keep them from sticking together.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter, add garlic, cook for 5 minutes over lowmedium heat. Increase heat to medium high heat and add sliced mushrooms. Cook until most of liquid has evaporated.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in medium sauce pan, whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually whisk in milk cooking for 5 minutes, until slightly thickened. Salt and pepper, stir in tuna, peas, mushrooms and noodles.

Top with Parmesan. Bake 25 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Enjoy!

Nan U-Pick Strawberries at Mercier Orchards starts May 2

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