The Best Of Ellijay, Blue Ridge & Jasper Issue12

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Bingo! Monday nights At Shanes at 6:30, Ellijay

Blue Ridge Community Theater Miracle on 34th St Nov 28- Dec 14

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Gilmer Arts’ B.E.S.T. Series - Della's Diner 7:30pm Feb. 28 gilmerarts.org Get Your Tickets NOW!

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rue Story: Behind me, I hear the loud, sharp “Crack!

Crack!” of branches snapping and shattering. I turn slowly, hoping to see a curious black bear was meandering my way – which normally would’ve evoked a fair amount of terror in its own right but, for some reason, this was my hope as my fear was that it was something else. Eyes closed as I turn, I opened my right eye first, then left. Nothing could’ve prepared me for this…

But, let me start from the beginning. Those that have lived around the Cohutta Mountains for a bit know of the Grassy Mountain Bearsquatch. It’s become a traditional part of the holiday season in these parts.

And, yes, it is half bear and half Sasquatch. I have no understanding of the logistics or operational processes involved in the genetic co-mingling of gene pools between a bear and Sasquatch or how such a beast would develop a peculiar affinity for the holiday season. I just know this creature exists. That said, on this day, the day of my encounter, I did not know of the legend.

Now, back to December, 2011. The sky is foreboding and grey – only a sky winter could offer. A slight breeze rattles the remaining crunchy brown leaves creating a scuffling sound throughout the ridgeline. The air is moist and wisps of fog and clouds dance along the mountain tops bringing adjacent peaks into view before disappearing again. The temperature is about 45 but the damp air and breeze makes if feel much

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colder. I shiver a bit – initially from the cold but, then, something else. I glance around, see nothing, and pass it off as just the cold. Then, in the distance, coming from atop the mountain, I hear –but, “No, it can’t be”, I say aloud. “Jingle jingle, jingle jingle.” Bells. Very faint, far off, but bells. Eyes squinting, I peer into the forest – because everyone knows squinting eyes improves hearing, and listen.

Perhaps I hear it again but, just out of disbelief if nothing else, I tell myself I didn’t. But, squinting once more and peering again, nothing.

Gus, my faithful hiking dog, is with me this day. I look down at him for reassurance and he has a look best described as uncertain. Head tilted. Eyes sullen.

Posture perplexed. “What’s wrong, boy?” I get a slight whimper – like the one made before he gets a bath. “Hmm.” Ignoring the pensive whimper as I do every bath time, I gather my pack and head up the Songbird Trail – Gus trailing behind, slowly.

As elevation increases, so does fog and cloud density. Visibility is about the length of a good hiking stick and the light grey mist turns dark. I shiver again. Not the cold this time but from a sense that I’m not alone and that, in the mist and just out of view, something is there. As I look around, shadows seem to move at the edge of my peripheral vision, as if something is hiding just as I turn. And, - and I’m certain this time, I hear bells. In the distance – still seemingly far away, but in the trail ahead. The oddly out of place yet delightful sounds of “Jingle jingle, jingle jingle” dance their way down the mountain.

I turn to Gus, now a good ten

feet behind, body facing down the trail and head turned looking back at me. In his eyes, I can see he’s gone about as far as he’s going to go. That’s when it happens. The sharp “Crack!” of breaking branches shatter the misty silence of the mountain.

Heavy steps thunder down the trail, “Grrrrrwwraaaawwllllll!”

Completely frozen and unable to run, I close my eyes. Because, you learn this as a child, closing your eyes makes monsters go away. Not so much as an adult though. Turning slowly, the right eye opens first, then the left. Through the mist, a form emerges. “Grrrrrwwraaaawwllllll!” Its ferocious roar echoes and the ground trembles.

Ahead, I see it. Not a bear, not a human, and its running towards me. With giant claws shredding trees and brush as it crashes down the trail, the beast tilts its head to howl again.

Through the chaos, I can make out a resemblance to a bear – but shorter snout and longer hair and, what I thought, was a Santa hat with golden bell on the tip. For a moment, fear became confusion. “A Santa hat?”

I mutter. “Grrrrrwwraaaawwllllll!!”

Confusion quickly back to fear again and I run. And, not surprisingly, Gus was already far ahead – tail tucked and kicking up dirt and rocks as he went. I made it a few feet before glancing behind me to see if the beast was giving chase. Silence.

Total silence – not even a leaf was rustling.

The beast, (now I know it to be the legendary Bearsquatch), had turned and was heading back up the SongBird trail towards the peak of Grassy Mountain. Clinched firmly in its giant paw, a downed cedar tree was

The Rotary Resolution Run in Blue Ridge December 31st, 2014 5K run www.facebook.com/TheRotaryResolutionRun

being dragged behind. As the fear of being eaten dwindled, I took a moment to process. The tree was about 6-7 feet tall, and shaped, well, like a Christmas tree. And, as the sounds of “Jingle jingle…jingle jingle” bounded through the forest, I see a golden bell bouncing merrily back and forth from the tip of a Santa hat perched atop the Bearsquatch’s head. And, “Jingle Bells”? Can’t be. But, the Bearsquatch – I’m sure of it, was whistling “Jingle Bells”. A joyful, exuberant “Jingle Bells”!

Gathering composure despite the extraordinary events unfold-

ing before me, I manage to raise my hand and wave. “Merry Christmas!”

Somehow, the spirit of the season had worked its way through my fear and confusion and I was able to give this simple offering of cheer and goodwill to the mighty Grassy Mountain Bearsquatch as it disappeared into the mist. As its told, each fall the Bearsquatch travels down from the mountains of the northeast to celebrate Christmas in the Cohuttas before moving on to the warm swamplands of Florida for the winter.

Sightings usually are of the typical kind; crossing a road at night, drinking from a stream, sneaking into Wal-mart late at night to purchase Christmas trees lights and a new Santa hat.

Why Grassy Mountain? No one knows. Perhaps, the Bearsquatch draws pleasure from watching atop its high perch there us human folk celebrating in the spirit of the holidays. Or, perhaps, it’s a sanctuary of sorts because as the once colorful foliage has fallen, many fall festivals concluded and temperatures turn cold, the mountains empty of hikers, bikers and campers until spring.

And, being a Bearsquatch, I imagine it has to appear terrifying to anyone who catches a glimpse of it just to keep us human folk away. Otherwise, it’d never get any peace during the holidays – and Christmas is the season for peace after all.

It’s said, on certain nights around Christmas, the faint glow of twinkling lights can be seen atop Grassy Mountain. Is it the Grassy Mountain Bearsquatch celebrating Christmas, Yule log in the campfire ring and chestnuts roasting or just the imagination taking hold of what could be up there? Me, I’m believing in Bearsquatch – I’ve seen it. And I’m believing its celebrating a peaceful, Merry Christmas up there in the hills.

New Year’s Eve Wine and Dessert Train. Departs at 10 p.m. Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad brscenic.com

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es Christmas shopping! I love shopping local. You can find so many original items that aren’t in the big stores or the malls or online. Antiques and artwork, handmade crafts and closeouts, bargains and one of a kind stuff. The cold is here, and that chill in the air, the lit up holiday windows and the decorated stores make the shopping experience so much fun! Half the fun is the interaction with other happy shoppers, owners and staff. If everyone in our three local counties of Gilmer, Fannin & Pickens spent $20 extra shopping local for Christmas, we would be putting more than a million dollars into our economy! Robb and I started out in Jasper and over several days, made our way through Ellijay & Blue Ridge. We got lots of shopping done and really had a blast, as you can see from the pictures! (My family and friends should skip reading this article if they want to be surprised with their presents!)

Mary’s Monogramming - This is Robb's attempt at modeling, as they say "don't quit your day job!" But make sure you check out his "Body scarf" because it is now MINE! We had so much fun visiting Mary's monogramming today. I really love getting to go to new shops and meet the people that work there. Plus hearing all about their business is fun. But to me the best part is SHOPPING for Christmas presents for our Shop Local story! Mary's has so many cool things and you can get them personalized, which makes a gift really special. There are all kinds of Team Spirit items, back packs, bags that you can have them personalized with embroidery for $8-10 per item. There is a huge 50% off sale that lasts until Christmas, but they may run out by then, so go visit while you can get these great bargains! I bought a lot of presents today! And Mary's will do a name or monogram on most items, on sale or not. The makeup bags I purchased were half off, so only $12 a piece. I got one with a name put on it, so the total cost for that one will be around twenty dollars. A bargain and a thoughtful, personalized gift! Mary is a little camera shy, but very friendly in person. She and Marla will take good care of you! (706) 253-6279 Gun Pro Shop - Robb here... Hunting for that perfrct gift for you favorite outdoors person? You’re guaranteed to find one here that will blow them away!

Thia here... Very funny! He cracks himself up. He’s right though, the perfect gift for the sportsman in your life awaits. Of course there are all kinds of guns, but also great accessories. I liked the pink camo shotgun carry bag the best. All I need is that and the shot gun to go in it! ( Hint hint!) My dad loves soap and hunting and this line of products, Scent Killer®, really made me think of him! 706-698-GUNS North Georgia Diamond - North Georgia Diamond carries all price ranges of jewelry. I was not surprised to find that you could buy a ring for $20,000. But I was surprised to find that NGD also carries sterling silver cubic zirconia rings that can be purchased for around $80! So they have beauties on both ends of the price scale and all prices in between. Gorgeous, aren't they? You can always finance the ring if you don't have the cash upfront. This is Tonya Smith Banks, my NGD tour guide. Behind her is original pottery

by Sheryl Holstein. With Christmas in the air and Valentine’s Day coming up, a perfect present for your girl is jewelry! Now I know that NGD is not only a beautiful store, but it's affordable no matter what your budget! If you are planning on an engagement this Christmas, New Year's or Valentine's Day, now is the time to stop in for a visit and advice. I also have to mention that they have gifts for guys too. How about a new watch for your man? (706) 515-1551 Appalachian Beverage - Wine is an easy yet thoughtful gift. If you want a great inexpensive bottle I recommend Homefront. Besides a great tasting fourteen dollar bottle of red wine, it has a beautiful label and fifty cents of each bottle goes to Operation Homefront.

Operation Homefront provides emergency and financial assistance to the families of service members and wounded warriors. I also buy some flavored spirits for friends who enjoy them. Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey is the biggest new hit, perfect for a warm up during the holidays, so a bottle of this will make the partiers happy! Ap Bev also has a large selection of individual interesting local and international beers, so you can buy one or a mix of many for your favorite beer buddy. You know every out-of-towner thinks Moonshine is awesome, so there are a ton of brands of this now on the market. You can find several Georgia based shines at ApBev. Prices are low, variety is huge and the staff is fun and friendly! (706) 515-9463huge fossil would be a wonderful Christmas present for your favorite girl! No, I don't mean Lexi! And of course they have lots of owls! 706/946-nest

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

Sharptop Arts Association- Holiday Member Show: "Spiritual Spaces and Holy Places thru 12-31

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Thia here- We are so lucky to have such wonderful local TV programs in our north Georgia Mountains. ETC has many shows to watch, including one hosted by local author (and our writer), Raland Patterson! He tells us all about it in his column below.

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his North Georgia farm boy was drafted into the Army in July of 1966. Recognizing a good thing when I saw it, I stayed for 22 years. After a rewarding career, I retired and became a financial planner. That was even better than before and after eighteen years, I retired from that and returned to the place where I was born and raised, Gravely Gap, which is located three miles north of Blue Ridge. Shortly after that I began to write fiction novels. I sometimes joke at book signings that I screwed up two careers so decided to start a third.

When I moved back home in late 2005, my Uncle Coy told me about Those Who Served. I just laughed it off thinking no one wanted to hear me talking about my Army life. Then one day in 2010, I was resupplying my books in Ingles when a man approached me and suggested I come on the show. This time I was more receptive. I still couldn’t believe anyone would be interested in hearing about my experiences in Vietnam, but it would be a great opportunity to talk about my books, Hogback, Hoverdown and Silver Bullets. So I left Russell Hood copies to read. A couple days later he called and made an appointment. After talking, he scheduled a taping of the show on the following Wednesday. I have to admit reminiscing and telling stories about my Army life was very therapeutic. In February, 2013 I sent Russell my latest book, Bear Cat, which is a fictional account of my personal story in Vietnam. A week later I got a call. I thought he’d thank me for the book and give me his review.

He did thank me, but went on to say he’d gotten promoted and hadn’t interviewed any new veterans in over a year. He asked if I would consider becoming the host of Those Who Served.

When I told my wife what he’d asked, Ann answered, “That’s a no brainer. Tell him you’ll do it.” With her reassurance, I began a new adventure. Being old doesn’t mean you’re not apprehensive about trying something new. I needed a friendly face across the table from me and my first thought was Tim Mercier. We’d grown up together and were in the Army at the same time. When we were Army Captains, I went to Vietnam and he went to Germany. Until the interview I hadn’t realized how similar our careers were. I knew he was an artillery officer

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like me, but I didn’t know he’d commanded a service battery, was an S4, and a mess officer.

He made the interview easy and fun and I will never be able to thank him enough.

Russell had interviewed over a hundred vets before he left the show. I’m only up to 60, but now I have a much higher goal. It’s an awesome opportunity. I get to pick the brains of men and women who witnessed and made history. Every interview is special and I enjoy them all. I have learned so much from the people who come on and tell their story. But like everything, some of them reach in and touch your soul. Tom Collins was in the Ellijay Nursing Home and Hannah, one of the ETC staffers had set up the interview with the help of her mom who worked at the home. Tom’s job in World War II was to fly over and take pictures of the islands so they could make maps to assist the ground commanders in taking the islands from the Japanese. Tom surprised me when he admitted he’d taken pictures of them loading the A Bomb used on Hiroshima. Two days later they flew him over the area to take pictures of the destruction. Later he said he was there with McArthur on the ship, The USS Missouri, when the Japanese surrendered. I had to ask if he still had copies of the pictures and he said, “No, the film was classified and sent directly back to DC to be processed.” He never did get to see the pictures he’d taken. I was so lucky and honored that I got his story on tape before he passed away a couple of months later.

Another that comes to mind is the interview with Joe Costello, who flew 35 B17 missions over Europe in WWII. Describing being in formation with one thousand B17’s was impressive considering the largest formation I’d ever flown in was 12 helicopters.

Peter Leaming was another memorable interview. He was from New Zealand and joined their Army in 1944 and went to Guadalcanal.

Later he jumped ship in New York just in time to join the American Army and go to Korea. He now lives in Dial, Georgia near Blue Ridge.

Bob Renneke made an impression by providing a film of him and three friends riding their motorcycle from Saigon to Hanoi forty years after the war. They returned to old battle sites and villages they’d seen during the war.

Some of the vets, like Noey Vineyard, told their experiences with humor and verify what a lot of people tell me – that things that scared them to death at the time are funny now. I can really identify with that.

One of the men I interviewed a few weeks ago summed up what the show, Those Who

“A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.” - Carl Reiner

Served, really achieves. Wendell Barnes told me how his mechanized unit was almost overrun by the NVA. The majority of his unit were killed or wounded. His Lieutenant Webb was shot in the temple while calling for artillery support, and killed instantly only yards from Wendell. Mr. Barnes had nightmares about his experiences. When he sought help from the VA, a psychiatrist told him to talk in detail about each battle and suggested writing down everything he could possibly remember about what had happened.

The doctor told him the more you talk about it, the better it will be. I asked him if it had worked and he smiled and said, “I haven’t had one of those dreams in years.” That reinforced everything I’d been feeling and I know my mission is to just get the guys I interview to talk.

I had Herschel Chapman on the show the day Robb came to take pictures for this story. Herschel is a true Southern gentleman. I knew that from the first time I met him in Arby's. I was delighted when I learned he'd been an Army mess sergeant in the fifties. It took some coaxing but his friends finally convinced him to come on Those Who Served. He was a pleasure to interview. He told the story of his first assignment out of cook's school. He was a PFC at the time and they were getting ready to have an IG (Inspector General) Inspection.

His boss, another PFC, asked if he knew how to make bread and Herschel agreed, saying he had a recipe book. So he dumped the dry ingredients into a large bowl, and then poured in the water. The dough was too wet. He put in more flour and it was too dry.

He kept adding water and flour until he got it to the consistency he thought was right.

However, he'd only needed a third of the dough he ended up

with after all the adjustments, so he took the other two thirds and placed it in the cleaned trash cans outside. When he took the bread out of the oven, he walked out to check the trash cans and by then the dough had risen so high the lid was a foot above the can. Herschel just grinned and said the Good Lord was looking after him that day as the IG's didn't check the cans outside!

Those are just a few of many great stories I’ve be privileged to hear as the host on Those Who Served. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank ETC-TV3 and their staff for making this show possible. It is a valuable service to the community and a special way to honor the local military veterans for their service. They produce and show more than twenty hours of Those Who Served every month, with the help of sponsors like Mercier’s Orchard. It is an honor to be part of the process and I encourage everyone to watch.

Potential guests always say the same thing, “I didn’t do anything special.” The one thing I’ve learned is there isn’t a single job in the military that isn’t important – if that job isn’t done correctly, someone will suffer. Let me end by saying if you know a veteran that you’d like to see on Those Who Served, call me at 706/2583438. Give me their name and phone number and I will call.

Thia back again- You will learn from “Those Who Served.” You will laugh at “Country Cam.” And you can find great bargains on “Trading Time.” Got a pain? Ask Dr. J! From music to sports to cooking and much more, you’ll be entertained by watching our hometown shows. You can watch ETC local programming on your Television, or on their website.

Check it all out here.....

“Be so good they can’t ignore you. “ - Steve Martin

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“Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store.” - Dr Seuss

Check Out All The Fall Festival Pictures At www.thebestofebrj.com/Fall-Festivals

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i, I’m Robb, “Have Fork, Will Travel” is on my calling card. I and Thia, my wife, eat out a lot. I guess you could call us “professional eater-outers”, especially since we started this paper. And surely watching every episode of Gordon Ramsay’s “Kitchen Nightmares” and Robert Irvine’s “Restaurant Impossible” is noteworthy towards some kind of credential. Not to mention my waistline boasts of my experience. Coming from a big city is also a helpful tool for the “professional foodie.” I’m from New York. It’s no secret that when it comes to food, New York City’s Little Italy, Chinatown etc. establish a benchmark for all great dining experiences. I know Italian food intimately. That said, I’ll ask, what’s Little Italy got that Ellijay hasn’t got? Nothing as long as we’ve got Charlie’s!

In general, if I had to, like say, if I were being tortured, (water boarding comes to mind) and I had to come up with one bad thing about Charlie’s Italian Restaurant, I’d have to make something up. I’d have to lie. Yep, it is THAT good.

The owners of Charlie’s Italian Restaurant are Charlie and Collette Perrone. Charlie was born in Italy, so he knows Italian food! The most important thing Charlie’s serves up is consistency. No matter how many times you dine there (and we’ve been there many times) it’s always equally good. To me that’s very important. Now let’s talk about “The Sauce”. I call it “THE” sauce because in my experience it stands out as superior to so many others I’ve sampled and because I can’t seem to get enough of it. I order everything with extra sauce. Take a piece of Charlie’s beautiful warm from the oven bread, smear on the butter and dip it in. I love it! Although it’s so good I could just drink “The Sauce”, all by itself.

Many times I order the Chicken Parmigiana. I guess this is my personal favorite at Charlie’s but it’s

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hard to tell, there’s a lot of close seconds. This isn’t a breast just breaded and plopped in the fryer, this is a carefully tenderized work of art. You can literally cut it with a fork. It’s delicately breaded and it somehow, seemingly magically, stays gently crispy despite my requested over saturation with “THE Sauce.” Just writing about it I’m drooling, no fooling! The pasta is always spot on, perfect on the “al dente-o-meter”, not under, not over, cooked perfectly every time.

Many times Thia orders the Gnocchi, it’s one of her personal favorites.

A perfectly prepared, plentiful portion of potato pasta. (Go ahead, say that 5 times, fast!) It’s been my experience that many places when you order gnocchi you get something chewy like pink pencil erasers and afterward you feel like you swallowed a plateful of lead musket balls. Not here! Thia says: “I have had gnocchi at over twenty restaurants in 3 or 4 states and I’m 100% sure these are the best I’ve ever tasted.” Thia here - while Robb has it right about my opinion of the gnocchi (Colette tells me how to pronounce it, starts with an N sound and rhymes with “Donkey.”) I also love the steak at Charlies. The Ribeye with a side of angel hair spaghetti and butter is probably my second favorite.

Robb back - Here’s a bit of a mystery…. Thia asked Colette, “How it’s possible that when Charlie cooks a simple plate of spaghetti with nothing but butter on it it tastes so much better than what I make at home?

After all, it’s just pasta and butter!” Collette let her in on the secret. I’d love to

When you go to Charlie’s Restaurant please tell them “I saw your review in “The FUNpaper”! - THANKS!

Linsey

tell you but, I think it would be unethical for me to divulge that to a mass readership. You’ll have to ask Colette or Charlie yourself.

Charlie’s has other items beside Italian dishes. As Thia mentioned they have great steaks, they also have seafood, like scallops, shrimp and salmon. They even recently had one of their new “Lobster Pot Boil” (or Lobster Steamer Pot Boil...or... whatever...) nights. You got a lobster, snowcrab legs, clams, mussels, sausage, potatoes and corn. Thia and I cooperatively eat.

We order two and then each gets what they like. Thia L-O-V-E-S lobster and crab legs. Me, not so much.

What’s a good husband to do? I ate corn, potatoes and sausage as Thia, quite remarkably, packed away two lobsters and almost all the crab legs! The place was PACKED with Lobster Boil lovers on a Monday night, and sold out long in advance.

Watch their FaceBook page for more special nights like these.

This visit I had the Lasagna. What can I say without sounding redundant? It was great. The slightlyspicy sausage juxtaposed against the creamy ricotta and that sauce….

THAT sauce! THE sauce!

Thia again - Charlie’s is also known for having awesome pizza and I have to mention something we just tried for the first time on our last visit, The Sicilian Pizza. Imagine to yourself, a fluffy, steaming, crispy thick crust, topped with lots of sauce, lots of cheese, plus pepperoni. Are you hungry yet? It was so delicious. And all we mentioned so far was dinner, we didn’t even talk about lunches yet. Maybe we have to do another review on lunch!

Back to Robb - And finally….. the Tiramisu. Seriously. What can I say. I have tears of joy in my eyes as I recall it, I am left speechless. If you want to hear what Charlie’s Tiramisu tastes like go to: http://soundfxnow.com/tag/angelssinging/ Think I’m exaggerating?

Try it, you’ll see.

FaceBook/charliesitalianrestaurant 15 West Cross St East Ellijay, Georgia (706) 635-2205

Why did Santa carry an umbrella? Because of the rain, dear!

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North Georgia Closeouts - We really enjoyed our visit to this newly opened store. So many brand new items, at garage sale prices. It's a fun shop, with friendly people, and amazing bargains! Robb & I found so many interesting things at phenomenal prices!

Here's a children's book with beautiful illustrations, written by a N.Y. Times Bestselling author. It is brand new and the price printed on the cover is 14.99. The price tag put on by N. Ga. Closeouts is $2.50! Yes I bought it. Maybe a present for the youngest grand, but I'm not sure yet. We do lots of shopping for the kids and seniors who need some joy at Christmas, so we might be wrapping it for a special kid that we haven't met yet. Any fishing pole (and there are ocean, stream & river poles) is $10! The stock is constantly changing, with new stuff added every week. You have to go see what they have for yourself! We'll be back! Often! Thanks Carmen! That's owner, Carmen Tinker and daughter Kaleigh in the picture. Husband Rick was hunting! (404) 509-1425 Unique Traders- Robb here... This place is every kids dream! That’s why I’m commenting. I’m just a big kid! I know exactly how your son or daughter will feel opening up that one really big box Christmas morning to find...... THIS!!!!! WOW! Imagine THAT smile! The hug may be so tight you’ll pass out but you’ll come to and find one of the happiest kids on the planet. Which one? Any one of these Kid-Sized beauties will do I guarantee you. 4 wheelers, dirt bikes, scooters, mini bikes. You will always find cool things with wheels at Unique Traders. Or... there’s guitars and all sorts of other things they’d love too, and all at really great prices! (706) 669-7757 Gilmer Arts- Special for the holidays you will find a display of beautiful handmade ornaments and decorations made by local members/artists for sale. But always available for sale are the striking works of art hanging and displayed. There is also a gift shop with jewelry and books by local authors. I’m a sucker for a good read. Plus I have a sister in law who doesn’t mind at all if I read her presents before gifting them to her.

Thanks Barb! This time I picked out a book called Snowbound Story Tellers by Richard V. Martin. Support your local arts. We are so lucky to have them! (706) 635-5605 Artisian Silver & Gifts - Owners, Claudia and David are sweethearts! Stop in and see all the unique items crafted in Peru. They have 100% Baby Alpaca jacquard sweaters & scarves What a beautiful and special gift for someone special. These are luxurious!

Most of the scarfs are less then $50. They also have Sterling Silver jewelry and frames, mahogany and silver keepsake boxes and platters. Right down the street from Cornertone Cafe. Stop in for a visit this holiday season! (706) 636-8880 Gunpowder & Lace - Adorable shop owner Cherie will show you around pointing out unique items. From handmade jewelry to the coolest of clothing items, you’ll find something you want for yourself, along with many on your gift list. I get a kick out of the funny southern slogan t-shirts she sells. When Cherie told us that the lacy boot socks were handmade by a couple of moms with special needs children, I knew I wanted some of those! She can’t keep them in stock. They are gorgeous and have a great story. I love handmade items with a back story. I know a couple of my kids that will really enjoy getting these to wear inside their cowboy boots! (706) 334-1111 Mountain Treasures - Has many items you won’t see anywhere else. I certainly never saw the handmade cow-skin lampshade before! It’s gorgeous and it’s for Griz, so don’t tell him! When I spotted this little barnwood cupboard I knew I had the perfect place for it. It’s amusing that when I Christmas shop I always end up buying something for myself. Maybe that’s part of the fun! Mountain Treasures has lots of beautiful clothes, art & jewelry, much of it handmade. They are also the only ones around here authorized to carry the really popular “Dang” line of shirts and gifts. My son & I love bacon, I mean REALLY love bacon. He can eat a pound for breakfast no problem. So these pillows just summed up part of our relationship! “I Love you more than Bacon.” Sherryl & Benny love helping their customers and you’ll always have a laugh when you visit. Not just beautiful items, but also great owners. (706) 635-5590 Tina Tie Dye - Tina’s Tie Dye is a home party that you can have where you invite all your friends to come and make their own Tie Dye items. Tina explains everything to you and makes it easy and fun to do! You all know I love Tie Dye since I wear it all the time. Now I can have a party and make my own Tie Dye creations with Tina’s help! She also does parties for kids! (706) 455-1152

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

A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.

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ummer and fall came and went. I hope winter does the same only faster. I know this is a winter column, but one of the reasons I call it Random Thoughts is so I can write about anything I want. This time I am going to write about what is bothering me. It seems lately I am bothered by a single word. I guess if that’s all that is bothering me, then I should just be happy and shut up. But then I would not have anything to write about for this column. So here it goes. There is always a new catch word that everyone uses. It comes and goes. There was the word “whatever.”

It’s still used, but not so much anymore. There was the word “totally”, same thing. The word “like” is still used over and over, but mostly by younger people or people that just “like” to use a word that is “in.” Good thing I don’t have any teenagers or I would scream.

If you listen to a conversation of teenagers, you almost have to laugh. For example: This may be a typical conversation between two girls. “I was like going to have a soda and I like asked my friend if she like wanted one and she’s like no. It’s like no good for you and I’m like saying what do you mean, and she’s like saying things and stuff and I’m like not believing it, and she’s like saying what am I like talking about, and I’m like I’m not really sure, but she like keeps saying stuff, and I’m like saying shut up, and she’s like saying no way, and I’m like saying way, and stuff like that, and I’m like going crazy.”

Are you going crazy?

What about the people who have to listen to that? What about the English teacher that has to grade your paper?

I guess that’s why English teachers drink so much. Ok, maybe they don’t drink so much, but I wouldn’t blame them if they did. The word that gets to me now is used by everyone, everywhere, every place too many times. Want to try to guess what it is before I tell you?

If you watch TV, it’s used by news people, talk shows, commentators, sitcoms and by numerous other people. Think you got the word? I’ll bet you have used this word today many times. My problem is not the word itself, it’s a good word. It’s how people use it that bothers me.

It has become the catch

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word of the day. I use it myself and try to catch myself before I use it but I still use it too much. I hate myself for that. But I can’t stop, I’m possessed.

Ready? The word is “amazing.” Once you are aware of that word, you will notice how often it is used. I hope you will be annoyed as much as I am. I don’t want to be alone on this. Misery loves company.

Here are some examples of the word. I had this amazing cupcake for desert yesterday. Really? I never had an amazing cupcake. Maybe I don’t get out enough, or maybe I don’t go to the right places. I’ve had a good cupcake, a delicious cupcake, but I never had an amazing cupcake.

The Pyramids are amazing. I have my doubts about a cupcake. I bought this amazing sweater.

This apple cobbler is amazing. How was the meatloaf? It was amazing. How was the BBQ? Amazing.

How can so many simple things be amazing? Is this your first day out of that cave you were living in all your life? GPS is amazing. OK well that one is amazing. It really is. There are a lot of amazing things out there. Medical science is amazing. Pictures from the Hubble telescope are amazing. But a cupcake? All I’m asking is to use a word that describes what you just experienced. A cupcake can be good, very good, tasty, delightful, wonderful, even exceptional, and many more adjectives. But if you just had a cupcake that was in your words amazing, I’m not so sure I would go to see a movie you said was amazing. The use of the word drives me crazy. Just listen to how many times it is used by so many people. I tell ya it’s amazing. And no I am not an English teacher. I’m just a person who is amazed how many times the word amazing is used.

It’s amazing. Maybe I could start a campaign like the ice bucket thing that when a person uses the word amazing, you playfully slapped that person. (like the three stooges did) I think getting slapped so many times in one day, would like stop people from using the word amazing totally. Now that would be amazing. Whatever!

Just one more random thought before I wrap this column up. I think we owe a lot to the people who are responsible for so many things we do today that we take for granted. True pioneers that did something that had never been done before that we now do because of them on a daily basis. Take eggs for instance. Most of us eat eggs. Some of us almost every day in one form or another. But just think about the very first person to eat an egg. We don’t know who he or she was, but you have to give them a lot of credit. There was one brave or crazy person. There’s a fine line there. The first eating of an egg may have gone something like this. Two people sitting around talking, when one says, “Hey I think I’m gonna eat the next thing that comes out of that chicken’s butt.” Now that was amazing! Also the fact that people actually read my column? That is like totally amazing!

“What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year.” ― Vern McLellan

What nationality is Santa Claus? North Polish.

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Fannin Brewing Company "Live Music - Scott James Stambaugh" Saturday, December 20 at 1:00pm

Megan Jean and the KFB The Martyn House In Towne Saturday, January 10, 2015 at 7:00pm

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ou know, life is full of surprises. One of the biggest for me was getting drafted into the Army over forty years ago. I wondered what on earth they were going to do with a farm boy from Blue Ridge, Georgia. Well guess what? They made a man out of me! They trained, inspired and motivated me into being a helicopter pilot. After leaving the farm and enjoying my career, it now scares me to think of all the surprises I would have missed if I hadn’t taken that path. I certainly wouldn’t have had the pleasure of becoming a financial planner after my military career, which enabled me to help so many deserving families and I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to visit thirty-two countries. When I returned home to Georgia, I wrote the novel “Hogback” and began to do book signings. I’ve had the joy and privilege of meeting some wonderful people at these signings and I love talking to each and every person I meet. I always walk away at the end of the day touched by their stories – be it a war story with a veteran or just a shared moment in the life of a person who stopped and chatted. I now view each signing I do as a package just waiting to be opened – one of life’s surprises.

Here are a few of the touching encounters I’ve had the honor of experiencing…

At Quinn’s Bookstore in Blue Ridge, a lady and her young daughter approached my table. When she saw one of my books, she wanted to buy it for her father who had been in Viet Nam. She asked if I could sign it and make it out to Neil. I wrote, “To Neil. Enjoy my trip to Nam.” As I was signing my name, her daughter commented, “Look mom, he’s doing oldtimey writing.” I laughed and responded, “That’s because I am an old timer.” Her mother explained I was writing cursive and that’s how it looked. I was speechless after that. When they walked away, I pondered what had happened. My first thought was, how do kids write now? Do they just print? Does that mean when she grows up and wants to write a note to her sweetheart she will just print it? Then I realized, no, she’ll just text it.

One morning while I was doing a book signing at Pat’s Country Kitchen I watched a son escort his mother into breakfast. Later when they were leaving, the son proudly announced it was his mother’s birthday. She appeared to be in her mid-eighties; but because I was curious, I asked how old she was. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he replied, “One hundred and one.” I smiled and wished her Happy Birthday. The son explained she was very hard of hearing and had not heard my comment.

So I just said it louder. She smiled and told me, “I’m 101, but don’t think I’ll make it to 102.” Her son shook his head, “Don’t pay any attention to her, she’s been saying that since she turned 90. She’s spent her whole life

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here in Copper Basin.” I used my military voice hoping she could hear me, and asked if she still read. She almost seemed offended as she replied, “Yeah, I can read.” It was obvious carrying on a conversation with her was going to be a little challenging, so I just wrote Happy Birthday and signed a copy of Sugar Creek. She took it when I handed it to her and gave me a sweet smile only an elderly lady can give.

Most gifts are unexpected, but this one blew me away. While doing a signing at Mercier’s, a middle-aged man stood to the side watching me sign books. When the table cleared he walked up in front of me, grinned and said, “Worry and fear are like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but you don’t get anywhere.” Then he just walked out the door. What he’d said was a quote from one of my books, “Bear Cat.” I’ve thought about that exchange a lot and decided that was one of the best compliments I’ve ever received on my writing – he read something I wrote and walked away with something to remember.

On another signing at Pat’s Country Kitchen, I watched an older man struggle to get out of the van that shuttles passengers back and forth to the train stop in Copperhill. He was leaning heavily on a cane. Over the years he had become so bent in posture that he only saw the ground directly in front of him. The other passengers rushed around him in order to get inside. I happened to notice the cap he was wearing. In bold letters it said WWII and had two white stars below it. Realizing he was a Major General in the Army, I respectfully stood when he was about ten feet away and asked, “General, how are you doing today?” Like magic his posture straightened as if he were reviewing a marching parade and he replied, “Good enough to lead more men through Italy.” He asked me if I served and I replied affirmatively and told him I’d served for twenty-two years. He looked me in the eye for a moment and said, “Good on you, son.” After he’d entered the restaurant, I wasn’t sure which had touched me more – his suddenly erect posture or his calling me son.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about these encounters. Thinking of stories like these are “warm fuzzies” to me and get me through tough times. I encourage you to take the time to talk and listen to the people you meet – you might just walk away feeling like you’ve received one of life’s little surprises.

Jasper Tater Patch Players- Farce of Nature Jan 23- Feb 8 http://taterpatchplayers.org/

Gilmer Arts Murder Mystery Dinner Theater TBA Feb 2015 gilmerarts.org

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Blue Ridge Mountain Arts Holiday Show & Sale Thru Jan 6

Engelheim Vineyard open thur/fri/sat/sun 770-714-5277 Ellijay Live music, great wine!

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uring the recent Halloween festivities in downtown Ellijay, Blue Ridge and Jasper the streets were filled with zombies (the most popular costume for the past few years). It’s all good fun, to be sure, however, Dr Earl Spivey a statistician and data analyst for the Homeland SecuArtist’s conceptual rendering rity Preparedness NOTE: NOT an actual zombie attack on Ellijay District Office in Atlanta has broken protocol and against the wishes of his superiors has released a report containing all pertinent data as well as his own warning to Gilmer, Fannin and Pickens counties illustrating exactly how far they have fallen behind other surrounding counties in preparing for a Zombie Apocalypse and other such catastrophies. “I simply had to do it.” he said, “The government simply has no plan!” He further stated “The government doesn’t even acknowledge the problem.

It’s up to the citizenry to ready and protect themselves.”

Dr. Spivey surmises that shows like “The Walking Dead” and movies like “World War Z” and even classics such as “The Night Of The Living Dead” have been more influential in other areas that are demonstrably more prepared. When it comes to asteroid impacts, alien invasions, zombie apocalypses it seems like the authorities in the areas of Ellijay, Blue Ridge and Jasper, more than others, poo poo the severity of the threat and downplay the necessity of preparedness. He admonished “The citizens should be outraged!”

Here are the facts: • There is currently no Zombie combat training whatsoever in either of the three counties for police, firemen or emergency responders.

• None of the law enforcement or emergency personnel have access to samurai swords or crossbows.

• Not one dollar of the budget for any of the three counties has been allocated for zombie defense or survival kits, zombie repellents or specialized zombie-killing firearms though they are readily available online at sites such as http://www.zombie-defense.com Dr. Spivey’s report also shows that very few, if any, civilians are prepared either. A random survey of 1200 Gilmer, Fannin and Pickens residents showed that not one had a zombie defense or survival kit, or can of zombie repellent in their home, office or car. The facts are clear, should this area be attacked by the walking dead we are sitting ducks! For now, Dr. Spivey is looking at spending some time in a jail cell, ironically the safest place to be, at least untill some power-mad mayor from another group of survivors breaches the compound wall and lets all the zombies in. It always something!

Dr. Spivey...Hero? Only time will tell.

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t’s no secret that parking congestion has been a longstanding problem for downtown Blue Ridge. Many possible solutions have been proposed.

Most recently parking meters were considered however a huge groundswell of protest, including those of many downtown business owners, resulted in a petition with 1,895 signatures against the plan and all but quashed any further consideration. Jeff Turner owner of Blue Ridge Fly Fishing told the “Chattanooga Times Free Press” ….” This is a nice, generous, sweet place," he said. "We don't want anyone to end up with a parking ticket on their car."

Shuttle buses and even a parking deck have been suggested but each of those have inherent, seemingly unsurmountable problems . For instance, a parking deck would cost (according to http://www.fixr.com/costs/build-parking-garage) $8.56 million for an average… rather ugly….. parking garage.

And this does not include acquisition of the land or any demolition costs!

Dena Martin, a member of the Blue Ridge Business Association, who gave council members the online petition was quoted in that same “Times Free Press” story obviously meant well but out of frustration seemed to be throwing the train under the bus as one of the causes of the problem "If the train takes 500 passengers, an average of three people per car, you're looking at 170 parking spaces taken up for up to eight hours a day. And some of those trains run twice a day," Martin said. "We love the train, but there should be another solution."

In fact, the team of aspiring city planners from Briggstown University think the train itself IS the solution to the problem. “Dude! It’s simple! Just turn the train around!” exclaimed

Douggie Matthews the student leading up the team assigned to the project by professor Eugene Mimms directory of City Planning studies and the Urban Conceptual Think Tank.

This reporter, at first taken aback at what he thought was a juvenile prank, suddenly realized the sheer genius of the plan. Matthews continued “Dude!

Everyday McCaysville is using downtown Blue Ridge as a parking lot for….

McCaysville, that’s crazy! There’s TONS of parking in McCaysville. Make the McCaysville Depot the point of origin and downtown Blue Ridge the destination point for the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway and use the train to bring in a thousand carless shoppers a day to downtown Blue Ridge and the “problem” goes away! The train is the “Blue Ridge Scenic Railway” as in “The Blue Ridge Mountains” dude! It’s not the “City of Blue Ridge’s Downtown Scenic Railway”…. you don’t even have to change the name, just change the address on the website! You can even keep the same phone number!” He asked ”What’s the worst that can happen? McCaysville will get mad? Have you been to McCaysville? They desperately NEED a parking problem over there!” He further offered “Hey, if you don’t believe us, just try it for a month and if it doesn’t work just switch the address on the website back! QED dude! Case closed!”

Hmmm… could it really be that easy?

On a side note: This reporter attempted to contact Jeff Turner owner of Blue Ridge Fly Fishing to ask him “What does one use for bait when fishing for flies? Little mini sugar cubes?” This reporter’s calls were not immediately returned. Of course, I may have had the number wrong, that's entirely possible.

Ellijay American Legion- New Years Eve party$5 cover charge. Southbound Band, party buffet, party favors,& champagne toast in the back hall.

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Gilmer Arts-Kids’ Painting Party ~ Fri. Dec. 12th, 5:30-8pm - $23/21 Kids from 5-17 Supplies included.

Spelunking!” With that we contacted Dr. Earldale Mitchkin, director of Earth crustological studies at the University of Arizona at Tempe who responded to our email query “This a most astonishing find!” he said… “The only explanation possible is that somehow at the time of formation or perhaps even later with the help of glacial forces this incredibly huge non-local limestone mass was transferred and embedded within the more indigenous geotype.

Think of it as a mountain-sized jelly donut.” as to the blue color of the cave Dr.Mitchkin quipped “Well, it’s the Blue Ridge Mountains, what’d ya’ expect they’d be? Purple?!”

The good news, for Jed anyway, is that the opening to this newly found cavern system is on his property. His kinfolk said “Jed…. cash in! Make a tourist trap out of it!” He’s not a millionaire….. yet…. but without any doubt he will be soon after he opens it up to the public next year as planned.

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et me tell you a story ‘bout a man named Jed, a poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed. Then one day as he was shooting’ at some food…… when the critter took off and ran into a hole in the ground. A rather large hole, that is.

Black hole. Texas big.

Well,the next thing you know ol’ Jed, Jed Garvey, a lifetime resident of the mountains of Blue Ridge Georgia is not one to give up so quickly.

He piled up some twigs inside the opening and lit a fire to smoke that critter out. But instead, what he was able to see by that fire’s light made him all but forget that critter! A huge cavern.

Evidently this opening in the mountainside that had been hidden for the ages was now revealed thanks to all the recent heavy rain and subsequent erosion which caused several large boulders to roll away. Jed reports “I hightailed it over to git a neighbor, my friend Chester Chastain and we came back with his flashlight. After we squeezed through the opening we was able to stand up in this huge, mall-sized cavern. Whoooooeeee! We could see it opened up even more, into other big caves.Theys all blue!”

ershel and Mildred Cummings attended the recent Apple Arts Festival in Ellijay. Hershel reOddly enough, the cavern is alported to the UnReal most completely BLUE! Scratching Newsdesk “We were his head, Jed quipped to this rehaving a great time and porter “Well, it’s the Blue Ridge then, suddenly, all hell Mountains, what’d ya’ expect they’d broke loose! My wife be? Purple?!”

Actually, those in the know would- seemed to think she caught me flirting with n’t think they even exist. This area one of the woman venbeing mostly metamorphic rock, dors there, which is dense and solid doesn’t have any ridiculous… I flirted caves other than crevices and some with ALL the woman glacial openings, like those in the vendors! But it’s all just Smokies, that just typically aren't harmless fun. But, I what it takes for cave formation. admit, after 82 years of Most caves are formed in limestone by dissolution. the formation of voids marriage to that hot tempered woman I deep with caused by the corrosive should’ve known betaction of naturally formed carbonic ter. Boy oh boy! Right acid in flowing ground water. It takes millions of years but eventually there in public she a cavern is formed. Unlike northwest started to give me the what for! The rage in Georgia that has limestone and many caves, northeast Georgia does that woman! I was not and does not have caves. Or so it pretty embarrassed. I thought quick, put on a shocked face, pointed behind her and gave was thought until now. her the old classic “HEY… LOOK AT THAT!” and as she turned around The geological community is to look I quickly ran away. I finally stopped across the street to find abuzz! Many extolling this as “A she had turned around and continued to ball out the scarecrow I was most astonishing find!” We atstanding in front of! Her eyesight, being what it is, she thought it was tempted to get in touch with the was still me! Luckily I had my camera. In almost a century of livin’ that Georgia branch of National Speleois without a doubt the funniest thing I have ever seen.” Hershel conlogical Society however arriving at tinued “I’m going to get me one of them there FaceBook things just their offices we found a note taped to pass that picture around.” to the door that read “Gone

Photos by Robb Newman Story by Thia Newman

he first time Robb saw The Loose Shoes Band was at Rocco's Pub, he came home and told me about this great duo he had heard there. He told me “Not only did they sound great, they looked like they were having so much fun I couldn’t help but feel that way too!”

Then Robb and I saw the whole band playing at The Eagle Mountain General Store outside of Coosawattee River Resort at Pickin’ on the Porch.

They were so good we knew we had to do a story on them. We saw them again at Rocco’s. Then Loose Shoes was back at Pickin’ on the Porch by popular demand! I had the honor of interviewing Pam, the lead singer in the band.

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When did you know that music was going to be your life?

Growing up in a musical family, I loved music for as long as I can remember. By

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the time I was discharged from the Air Force, I was deep into the music scene again and have never looked back.

Where did your band name came from?

Our first show in 2002 as the Loose Screws was videotaped. Our sound was a creative mix of tight harmonies and eclectic tunes. Ric and I looked like preppies, and our 3rd band member had on pitiful looking loose, funky shoes. When we watched the video, I could see that Loose Shoes "fit" us much better.

So you and Ric are married? Were you musicians before you met? How did you two get together and start the band?

Ric and I met over guitars in early 2001 and married in late 2002; deep love and musical bliss followed. Our ensuing musical journey included weekend jams with seven of his friends on weekends. He suggested that the two of us should be playing coffee houses, but my momma had brain cancer at the time, so I was unavail-

able. I suggested the best player/vocalist out of our group of friends join him instead. They started playing out, and I rehearsed with them weekly. After momma died, we began playing out as a threepiece band. As our popularity grew, bookings increased, and we added our fantastic band members, Dana McCarthy (bass, vocals), Ron Reiss (drums) and Dave Lamar James (keyboard, guitar, vocals).

Today, we play every weekend in clubs, private parties, conferences, festivals, and weddings in Georgia, Ohio and Florida.

How do you choose what music to play?

Do you play covers and originals? Who are the writers? Do you have a CDs out that we can buy? Where?

The musical selections at our shows combine our favorite songs and requests from the crowd. Our songs include originals and classic rock, blues, pop, and new song covers. Ric is the primary songwriter and I collaborate with him. Untied was CONTINUED ON PAGE 33

3 Monkeys Auction December 27 Preview at 5:00 p.m. Auction begins at 6:30 p.m - Blue Ridge (See Ad)

Jasper The 8th Annual Night of Lights - Parade of Lights Saturday, December 6, 2014 starts at 3pm, tree lighting at 550, parade at 6

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B.E.S.T. Series: John Jorgenson Quintet Mar 28, 2015 7:30 pm gilmerarts.org < Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss this one.... I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t! - Robb

our first CD, with six original tunes that are near and dear to our heart. Our latest CD is Lost and Found; thirteen originals packed with musical stories and a variety of styles. We have CD's available for sale at each show for $10 each.

Tell us a funny story about playing out.

We were playing at a club on Lake Allatoona and there was a birthday party going on. Every 15 minutes or so, the birthday girl would stand up in front of the stage and scream, “It's my birthday!”

Before we knew it, she stood up, fell backwards, and knocked over our keyboard. As she was escorted out, we never missed a beat and kept on playing. That was some birthday party...

Tell us about your favorite fans.

We have four couples that come to almost every show. Jim & Bobby, Carl & Sandy, Pete & Paula and Tim & Vicki. When any of these folks don't show we feel like we missed out. Then there are our friends

from Jasper to Blue Ridge that we love to have time with, such as Donna & Tom, Pat & Joel, Debbie & Randy, and MANY more.

Please tell us who are the members of your band, and what do they play?

Pam Cushenan Guitar & Vocals, Ric Cushenan Guitar & Vocals, Dana McCarthy Bass & Vocals, Ron Reiss Drums, Dave Lamar James Keyboards, Guitar & Vocals What is the most wonderful thing about playing music in the North Georgia Mountains?

Pam: I feel positive energy from the people and love being surrounded by such beautiful sights. We’re very tempted to buy a cabin and resettle in the North Georgia Mountains.

Ric: We meet so many amazing people from the area and those that are vacationing in the mountains.

Do you all work outside the band?

What do you do?

Ric is a Regional Internet Sales Manager @ YP (Yellow Pages Online), Pam is a Dental Hygiene instructor at Georgia Perimeter College, and is CEO of SOFT Smiles, LLC, which offers oral health education and training programs for caregivers of individuals that need assisted oral care, such as special patients and older adults.

Where do you see Loose Shoes in five years?

We’ll continue performing as often and for as many people as we can. We love creating good energy and fun times through our music for our fans. What’s not to love?

They have lots more shows coming up all over our area, so make sure you see them for yourselves. You can look up when and where The Loose Shoes Band is playing on their website www.loose-shoes.com/

Every weekend all winter! Swan Drive In movies!

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Lesson in Payback - Mechelle Ballew Sometimes, being a mother is more than the loving nourishment of a child; sometimes it can be a lesson…in payback. I remember a particular instance when I enjoyed payback a little more than I should. My son, Timothy, had heard the “If you get in trouble and go to jail, you will stay there” lecture his whole life. However, he was always a good kid, so when I got that call in the middle of the night, my heart dropped to my stomach! He had only been driving on his own for maybe a year, and I had a fear of those late night calls. As I tried to wipe sleep from my eyes, figure out where the jail is in that county, and wrap my brain around existence itself, that old speech went right out the window. I was hobbling around my dark bedroom trying to dress with one hand, as he was still on the phone telling me about his drag-racing-a-cop-gone-wrong experience leading to his arrest. My mind was swirling as I was thinking about his car getting impounded, my sleeping toddler, raising bail money… so many thoughts, but only one emotion--fear!

Then, my fear turned into something unrecognizable as he started laughing and said, “Just kidding, Mom! We’re at Waffle House, and I thought I would get you!” It wasn’t anger I felt; it was darker, and it would be more fun! I saw opportunity. My kids KNOW (I thought) not to mess with Mom! I didn’t have to plot; I knew to be patient, and opportunity would present itself. I probably could have let it go with his inability to sleep for days in fear of the aforementioned payback, but that wasn’t sweet enough. Just in case you are wondering, no, I was not beneath involving my teenaged daughter, Chelci, in my Mom-earned right to plot my revenge. One bright early Saturday morning, as the birds sang happily outside the window, I knew it was time. He was sleeping very soundly and looked so sweet and innocent. As I passed Chelci in the hallway, it all came together. I simply said, “Are you ready”? She, in turn, smiled a sinister smile. I went to the kitchen and retrieved a bamboo skewer, a lighter, and a gallon of ice water. I lit the skewer, and Chelci held it under the smoke detector in the hallway just outside his room. I paused, letting the detector sound its warning for a minute before I ran into his room and screamed “WAKE UP! WAKE UP! TIMOTHY! THERE COULD BE A FIRE!” This time it was his turn to try to hurriedly grasp reality, and as he sprang up in the bed in wide eyed bewilderment, I threw the entire gallon of ice water on him and exclaimed, “Never mind, the fire is out!” Quickly, I exited his room as he was scrambling out of his soaking bed like a cat trying to get out of a bath! He was hunched over to assure his now freezing clothes didn’t touch his once warm and cozy skin. Oddly enough, he never said a word or got upset! In fact, if I didn’t know better, I would think there was a “Well played, Mom” smirk on his face. I’m lucky he is such a good sport! Chelci and I high-fived each other, and I quieted the alarm as normalcy returned to my household. Nevertheless, as I write, I am thinking, “he hasn’t tricked me since that morning.” I hope he doesn’t plot a renewed revenge upon reading this story…

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Kathy Hill- Two conversations with my 3 year old great-nephew: 1. His DVD stops and he gets upset. "Mama, it stopped!" He scoots up right in front of the TV. Mama: "I have the remote and I can start it back, as soon as you move away from the TV. Are you listening to me?"

Sawyer: "Not right now."

2. He's looking at photos. He asks about one: "Who are they?"

"Well," I reply, "One is Granny Kate (who would be his great-great-grandmother), the man is Uncle Sam." (Kate's brother). "and you know who the little boy is in the middle."

He brightens. "That's me!"

"No, " I tell him. "That's your daddy."

He looks back at the photo, frowns at me and rolls his eyes, not believing me for a minute.

He looks a lot like his daddy!

Mechelle Ballew- Vick’s Vapor Rub v/s Dawn Dishwashing Detergent With an extremely curious and afraid-of-nothing three year-old, I thought I was prepared for most anything, until the scent of Vick’s Vapor Rub penetrated my nostrils. I quickly learned that a tot covered in Vick’s is much more powerful than three baths with Dawn dishwashing detergent, and more slippery than a greased pig! Handing her to her daddy to help her potty between baths to remove Vick’s may not be the best idea, either, as he let go and she slipped right in! I instantly saw nothing but arms, legs, and a startled face as her bottom touched the cold water and she was hopelessly stuck! She couldn’t even speak she was so surprised. A valuable lesson learned by all!

Shellie Holloway McDanielHormonal outburst number one for the day: Got my skin so soft, Millie is bathed and beautiful. Dried brushed and so soft and sweet smelling. Outside time while I prepare vegetable soup for dinner. Me not noticing when I let her back in, as I come back through the foyer area, I am noticing clops of mud on my newly mopped floor. I can feel the blood begin to warm down in my toes as I investigate, and what do I find sitting in the middle of my newly washed bed linens? Sure as heck isn’t my Millie. Nooooo this animal I cannot recognize, cause I cannot even see the eyes for mud, sticks and grass. What the @?$%!!!! I think Millie levitated off the bed and went straight to the bathtub, licking the air, before I could get the mashed monkeys out of my mouth.

As I am bathing her the second time, I am having a full blown conversation with the dog as such: JUST SO YOU KNOW, WE WILL BATHE 20 TIMES TODAY AND I DO NOT CARE IF YOU END UP BALD AS AN EAGLE BEFORE THIS NIGHT IS OVER, YOU JUST TRY ME SISTER!!! Her response back to me was: I am so sorry, mother dear. I will NOT even dane to get a paw dirty from this day forward. I am also rethinking the need to pooh or pee ever again. In the immortal words from the movie Frozen....LET IT GO!!!!!

Continued on Page 37

Acoustic Blends 3rd Friday (Dec 19, Jan 16, Feb 20, Mar 20) at Gilmer Arts 207 Dalton Street 7pm. Free

LOOKING FOR SOME FUN THINGS TO DO? www.TheBestOfEbrj.com/TIPS

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New Year’s - “An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” - Bill Vaughan

Continued From Page 34

Crystal Chumley- So this morning I went to put on my flip flops and couldn't find but one of them so I searched and searched still couldn't find the second flip flop, so Kristell just came home from school and said momma I have to show you something. Yes that would be my child who put one of her flip flops on and one of my flip flop. Hahahahaha we laughed till I thought our sides were going to bust.

Nicole LaBonte Crowe- After participating in his first communion at church today, Kota leans over and tells me, "God tastes like cardboard."

Kelly Hensler- Could someone please pass me the cat-chup? Or the kitten-chup, or whichever?

Matt Huffman-Today at work there was a guy out in his yard standing watching me on the bobcat. Days before I had put some dirt in his yard for him at a low spot. He walks over today and says that rain made that low spot again so I said I'll get you some good dirt and fix it up for you. He replied I don’t want you to get in trouble and I said I won’t get in trouble, its no big deal at all. Then we continued to talk he spoke about being a ground marine in the jungles of Vietnam and stuff. I had to continue working after we spoke. Then a little while later he comes back out with his baby grandson and says to me I wanna give you something young man.

Then he hands to me a bracelet that he has worn forever that states USMC LCPL Albert Brigham Dec 14 66 SVN Ga. I said thank you he replies I have worn this my whole life. He said the doctors gave me 2 years to live because of agent orange when I was overseas eating up my lungs, but now my health is getting along ok. At that moment I was covered in cold chills and almost cried and I said this bracelet is a honor to me. He replied you are a good young man very good. I was speechless it was a amazing moment that I will never forget.

Heather Chastain Simmons- Attention drivers on Hwy 382, could you please avoid running over skunks in the road in front of my house in the future cause oh my God it STINKS! Crystal Chumley- My Zander is something special. I just asked all the kids what is one thing they want for Christmas this year and he said I don't have to have anything as long as I have you. I cried a little. He is the best little boy in the whole world! I'm one lucky mom...

Julie Pritchett- Finally got the door closed with me and pup... y’all can leave now lol

Roccos Sunday: WYYZ radio, the CROC brings LIVE music starting at 2pm Jasper

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Story by Thia - Photos by Robb

W

hat a pleasant and creative afternoon we had today! I had a blast painting pottery with my friend Anna Junkins Taylor and her son, Tripp. We decided on Christmas ornaments. The owners of Talking Rock Pottery, Jason and Heather Poole joined us for conversation and painting along with their sons, Griffin and Fletcher. It was so relaxing. The kids loved it and so did the adults. Besides us each painting our own ornament, we also did an “all together” project where we took turns painting on a giant snowman cookie jar. When we all finished painting, we left the pieces to dry. Later Heather and Jason will place them in a kiln to be fired. They will be ready for us to pick up next week. We can’t wait to see the fin-

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ished products!

But you don’t have to do the kiln firing if you are from out of the area. If you want to do your piece in just one session, you can paint it with enamel paints. You can antique it, dry brush it, there are many techniques you can use to have come cool finishes. Then it doesn’t have to be fired. Heather says, “We will spray a clear sealant on it and you can take it home that day!”

Talking Rock Pottery is large and spacious and comfortable. There is room to move around.

They have so many paintable items to choose from. They even have many vintage molds where you can make items you saw at Grandma’s house when you were a kid. I’m glad

we had decided on Christmas ornaments ahead of time or I would have spent an hour just picking out a piece!

This place is so kid friendly! They even hold birthday parties. “Boys last about 45 minutes painting and then they want to do something else. Girls last a good hour and fifteen.” Jason said. He was so right! The boys with us enjoyed painting their ornaments, and helping with the snowman, but in about 45 minutes they moved to the next table and were thumb wrestling. But that was fine, everyone was having fun, and because of the great setup, you don’t feel like you’re kids are going to break something.

Another really cool “kid” thing they do at TR Pottery is they have children’s craft classes

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

where you can drop your kids off for three hours. (Date night for mommy & daddy?) The kids get to play games, make a craft, have a snack, and enjoy their fun time, while parents are enjoying theirs!

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at the pottery wheel and make a piece, yeah like the movie Ghost. Heather says that movie really sparked people’s interest and it’s always mentioned to her when people want to learn how to do pottery. She even has a recording of Unchained Melody that she switches on during class and everybody laughs. I think I’ll be taking an introductory class this winter. There are several different kinds of art classes offered, including painting. (While you drink wine if

you want to!) That sounds like another one right up my alley! They also have all kinds of pottery supplies.

You can see from the pictures that we really had fun! We have now gotten our finished pieces and they are just beautiful. Look at that snowman! Can you believe that was a cooperative effort between a table full of kids and adults? I asked Anna what she thought of the whole experience. She said, “We had a great time. Tripp can't wait to go for one of the kids craft nights, hopefully around a time my niece is visiting so she can go too! Talking Rock Pottery is great for all ages!” She is so right. I can’t wait to get this issue done so I can go back and paint some more pottery!

“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” - Benjamin Franklin

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Continued From Last Page raising. If I can be a positive influence to someone though, that will just make my day.

Who is your role model?

I would have to say my mom.

Yeah, ole Cletus is a momma's boy. Dang proud of it too. I couldn't have had a better mother. She never brought me down and always believed in me no matter what. She worked hard every day of her life and was still a great mother and wife. My only hope is that I have made her proud to be her son.

Do you get recognized out in public?

Yeah, quite a bit actually. It makes me feel good to hear a kid say, "Hey! That's Cuzin Cletus!" I'll just smile and do a little do-see-do with them.

Of course adults recognize me too but they usually won't dance with me.

How does it feel to be asked for you autograph?

That's a great feeling! A wise man once told a locker room full of guys: "When you walk through that curtain, you are a professional wrestler. To those kids that are watching out there, you are no different from John Cena, Hulk Hogan, HHH or anybody else." And you know, he's right. I consider it an honor for some body to ask me for an autograph.

Well Cletus, I feel it is an honor to know you and be one of your many fans. How can people get ahold of you?

I have a facebook page. facebook.com/cuzin.cletus.

But you can probably get to me through our website, dscw.org or on the Deep Southern Championship Wrestling Facebook. Y'all come see us at the shows!

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Fightingtown Tavern every Tuesday 7-9 - Trivia for Prizes! - Downtown Blue Ridge

I

was lucky enough to go see a play recently at Blue Ridge Community Theater. What a perfect thing to do, when you want to get out and have fun, but you want to do it inside! I attended with my mother and my cousin for a much needed girls night out. We could not have not picked a better thing to do. We laughed so much that are bellies hurt. At one point I thought my cousin was going to fall out of her chair. My mother loved it so much she was still laughing when it was over!

Let me tell you about Michael Parker’s “Whose Wives Are They Anyways.” Have you ever been in a situation that no matter what you did you could not get out of it?

Well that is what happens to David and John when they decided to spend a guys only weekend playing golf, only to find out their boss wants to meet their wives. So David and John must produce wives. The very unlucky receptionist Tina was recruited and has a little too much to drink which make things even more complicated.

There is Wilson, the innocent bystander, who is well over his prime and is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. And yes the “real” wives show up to surprise their husbands. They are the ones that get the surprise! The series of events that take place next are unexpected, random and hilarious.

The play is called a Farce. In theater, a farce is a comedy that aims at entertaining the audience through situations that are exaggerated, extravagant, and thus improbable. Timing is also a big factor in these plays, as soon as one actor walks off stage another one is immediately following, it is like a perfectly planned dance where everyone must be on queue.

The director Norma Bean, did a slapstick of a job, along with the actors and crew that put their time into this. I congratulate you all. I did not stop laughing for one moment! I’m laughing now as I recall it to tell you about it. Even though this play is over, there are many more upcoming plays at the Blue

Ridge Community Theater, including a very special one for Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street.

The theater was founded in 2000. It is a nonprofit organization that relies on donations. It has grown into a thriving theater. It is run by a volunteer board of directors. Volunteer being the key word here, all of these committed people use their time to make flyers, ads, pay bills, answer phones, the list goes on and on, and they still have time to make popcorn for us to enjoy during the play. You can also enjoy a glass of wine or a beer that is made from the local vineyard and local brewery. The volunteers hard work is evident when you walk through the door and their smiling faces greet you, hand you your play bill, and direct you to your seat. It’s a very calm, fun and laid back atmosphere.

I enjoyed talking with Gina Hawkins the production manager.

She is native to Fannin County and has been working with theaters for 10 plus years, not only in Blue Ridge, but as far as New York. She said this is a way to give back to her community. The BRCT does 110 shows and 8 concerts annually.

So gather your kids, get your tickets and have a family night out.

Winter is here, so to keep from getting cabin fever, go watch a performance! Whether you are wanting a good laugh, great music, or a heartwarming play to watch while the weather gets cold, The Blue Ridge Community Theater is the place to go. I have always loved the arts. I am so excited about the way our small towns are growing into their full potential. What I love the most about the BRCT is that it is a way to see captivating and enjoyable shows right in our own back yard!

I’m already making plans to go back to the BRCT and bring my family and friends. “The magic of theater awaits!”

Upcoming schedule is at BlueRidgeCommunityTheater.com 2591 East First St, Blue Ridge, GA 30513 - 706-632-9223

Ellijay American Legion Hall -TO Friday Steak Dinner & Karaoke LOOKING FOR SOME FUN THINGS DO?Nights, www.TheBestOfEbrj.com/TIPS

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W

illiam Blain Sawyer was born May 20, 1905, to Samintha (Mint) Abigail Mulky Sawyer and William Cicero Sawyer. He was born and raised in East Ellijay. His brother Raleigh, died at age two, his sister, Bertha, at age sixteen from a ruptured appendix, brother, Coke, at age twenty-nine from injuries sustained from working on the railroad, and his brother, Alba, at age sixty-two, from a head injury years previously, also working on the railroad. His mother called him Willie, which he hated, but as mamas do, she called him that anyway. He was Bill to everyone else, until I came along. Then he was Daddy Saw to me (as his father had been to my mother). My mother is the only child produced from this line. Daddy Saw was my grandfather.

His father ran the gristmill and repaired watches, his mother was a midwife. (I asked my mother who delivered her children, but she didn’t know.) My mother doesn’t know much about her father’s childhood. Nor does she remember anyone beyond his parents. She did love her Uncle Alba (Called Albie) and his wife, Velma.

He was the only other sibling to marry. Since Albie and Velma were unable to have children, they showered my mother with affection.

Daddy Saw mostly did two things for a living: he was a barber, and he helped run various restaurants with his wife, Kate. My mother relates that when she was a child, she rode all over the county with him for a time. Because folks out in the country were finally getting electricity; he saw this as opportunity to sell electrical appliances, such as Emerson radios, refrigerators, irons and electric churns, which was the thing the women purchased first! They chose refrigerators secondly. The brand name of the churns and refrigerators was “Norge”.

On more than one occasion, Daddy Saw barbered in Atlanta. He liked working at the Dinkler Plaza Hotel because it was where all the Congressmen and other politicians stayed, and he made really good tips. In fact, he saved his tip money and purchased himself a diamond ring, which he left to me when he died.

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When he worked in Atlanta, he and Granny Kate rented part of Ruth Boyd’s house. She was originally from Ellijay, so it worked out well.

He also had a barber shop on River Street in Ellijay, and Granny Kate ran a small restaurant next door, serving fast food, such as hamburgers. In the back of the restaurant, a Chinese person did ironing for people. Mother still has the big old iron that was used, and she also has the clock that was in the barber shop.

For a while, when my mother was a teenager in the 1940’s, my grandparents had a large restaurant located on the square. I believe it was called “The B&K”.

When I was a small baby, Daddy Saw became very ill with an intestinal blockage. He had been working on Main Street in Dalton as a barber when this happened. He was hospitalized there and surgery was performed. After the surgery, the family was told there was nothing the doctors could do; his intestines were full of blood clots. They had tried to wash his intestines out, but basically they just took all his abdominal cavity contents and tossed them back in and sewed him up. He survived. The doctors told him to never have surgery without first consulting them, for they had no idea where his innards were located, certainly not arranged as they should be!

He struggled to work after that, and would for short periods of time. But he really wasn’t able to do much, and this frustrated him a lot.

Many years later, he began to feel really ill, and doctors discovered it was cancer. He had smoked off and on, and it had caught up with him. The lung cancer spread to his bones, and he was in terrible pain. So for the last few months of his life, he was medicated so heavily he could not communicate. He died on June 1, 1971 at age sixty-six. I was seventeen years old.

I was very special to him, as I was the only grandchild until 1964, when my twin brothers were born. I remember riding in the car with him a lot, and he would play games with me.

He also made sure I had chewing gum. He played the juice harp, which I found fascinating. Mother was his ‘little girl’ always, of course. He loved her so much, and I think he loved me that way, too. My brothers weren’t quite seven when he passed away, so their memories are few. But we all loved him. He was our Daddy Saw.

River Street Tavern Wed night, Wing Night 4-9 “I Loooooove River Street Tavern Wings!” - Robb

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

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F

rom start to finish our meal, the entire experience, was a cut above (to steal a term from the hair styling industry) The bread with that chewy, bagel texture crust was amazing! (Sorry Jack! - see Jack’s Random Thoughts this issue) The butter with red pepper jelly mixed in started off the meal with an “Oh…mmmm!” Thia’s “Gerard’s salad” was an explosion of flavors.

Greens, cranberries, apples and the most incredible balsamic vinegar reduction dressing. It was thick, like maple syrup, it stuck to everything and the flavor added to all those other flavors, it’s like food science or something. The chef must have figured out how to excite each of my taste buds individually. It was crazy good I tell you!

For an appetizer we chose the Korean BBQ lettuce cups. I dove into that. Slightly spicy sausage topped with crunchy rice noodles, oh man! It took me a while to figure out the cups part. You’re supposed to use the lettuce as a wrap!

Or like a bowl. Or, ahem, a cup?

This dish should come with instructions. Amazingly when I did it properly the sum of the parts truly seemed even better than the whole.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, that’s ok, neither do I. What I mean, what I’m trying to say is it seems like the lettuce didn’t just add another flavor, it actually brought out the already excellent flavor of that BBQ. That dish is a “WOW!” I ordered the Filet Mignon with crabmeat. Hesitantly I must add.

For two reasons: 1) Because in all my years of ordering filets they never have seemed to live up to the hype. You know, everybody’s like “Ooooh I ordered “The Filet Mignon” (Speaking with a snooty air). I always think to myself “Sucker!” Mind you, I’ve eaten in some pretty high end steak restaurants and the filets have always left me feeling “What’s the big deal?”

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OK, this is no hype, this man-sized chunk of Filet Mignon was by far and away the best I’ve ever had in my entire life. Not just really good, but great, another WOW! Tasty, juicy, bursting with flavor (I know, that’s like tasty but it deserves a second mention) so tender, I had no idea meat could be like that! I’m talking magic meat here. “Like butter!” I know, you think maybe I’m exaggerating, but no.. trust me, this meat is spectacular. It was SO good I can’t even… all I can say is you have to try the filet, seriously. Neither the picture here or anything I say can possibly do it justice.

OK. Now for reason 2) I hate crab. I mean, if I happen to eat it by accident, hey, I’ll live, but I certainly don’t look forward to it. I figured I could just scrape it off the filet, maybe rinse it off with a splash of diet coke. Fortunately, since everything else was so good, I trusted, I went for it, I ate the crab.

Much to my surprise, I liked it. It was like that cereal commercial.

“Hey Mikey! He likes it! He likes it!”

Max, the server extraordinaire explained that it is fresh crab meat (not canned or some fish injected with Essence Of Crab), REAL crab. It had a surprisingly different texture, one I enjoyed and it had a wonderful, fresh taste.

Thia’s turn: I ordered as a vegetarian sympathizer for this meal. All my Veggie Head friends will love this place! I had a delicious Gerard Salad as a starter, which Robb already mentioned. And for my dinner I had the Grilled Vegetable Pasta with a white wine cream sauce. It was perfectly cooked angel hair pasta with a generous amount of eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini and spinach mixed in. The sauce was similar to an Alfredo, and very tasty!

Robb’s back: For dessert we ordered the creme brulee and a slice of peanut butter cake. Even though we were stuffed we knew we had to take pictures for our beloved read-

When you go to Madeline’s Restaurant please tell them “I saw your review in “The FUNpaper”! - THANKS!

ers. So we sucked it up and took the bullet for you, we had dessert. The creme brulee was magnificent. I wish that there was a way we could make it so you could lick this page and taste how good it is.

But we do not have the technology so you’ll have to get over to Madeline’s and give it a try yourself.

The peanut butter cake?

It’s hysterical. Excellent, but hysterical. This “slice” of cake was so huge. You can’t really see how small that fork is compared to the cake in the picture.

They had to have sliced this monster off some absurdly large cake with one of those tree limb pruners with a 10 foot pole handle.

Max told us he’s never seen anyone be able to finish it all. This thing, although delicious, moist and peanutty was endless. It’s like the “Clown Car of Cakes.” I swear it kept regenerating on my plate each time I looked away. Dear readers, I failed you. Try as I might, I merely added another uncompleted mission to Max’s list. I just could not finish the cake.

The service was perfect and the servers were very friendly. The restaurant is beautifully decorated and spotlessly clean.

(Yep… we did the Robert Irvine “Finger Test” and even though the place is under construction - new banquet room and gift shop - no dust in the dining room. That says a LOT!) As for Thia and I, we give it 2 Forks Up! www.madelinescafebakery.com FaceBook Madelines-Cafe-Bakery 1052 E Church St, Jasper (706) 253-1052

“Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” - Franklin P. Jones

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2

011 was a year I'll never forget! I was about to travel all over the country in just a matter of months and see some of the most beautiful places I'd ever seen! I called my friend, Diane, and excitedly told her I had got us front row tickets to see Taylor. After talking for several minutes, she finally asked me where the show was. I had no idea! It turned out to be in Pitman NJ. For Mothers Day, I got mom, granny and Emily the front table to see Taylor Hicks in Ogunquit, Maine. We stopped along the way at Hershey Park where he was doing a couple of shows. Emily loved that! The next day, we made it on to Ogunquit. After seeing the beautiful sights, it was time for our dinner and concert at Jonathan's.

On the drive up, granny, (who was 82 at the time), had talked about her brother being buried in Arlington National Cemetery. I decided to make a detour so she could visit his grave. It took a while, but we finally found it!

We got home the next evening and I headed out again to the airport in Newark NJ to pick up Diane. We saw Taylor in Pitman NJ, Akron OH, Greensburg PA, New York, NY, and ended it up in Shirley MA. That just gave me time to get home and rest up before flying to San Francisco where I would meet up with Diane and our friend Ana who lives in San Francisco. She gave us a quick tour of the city and the next morning we were on a road trip through the Redwood Forrest! It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been! We traveled alongside the ocean and drove through huge redwood trees. Finally, we made it to Coos Bay, Oregan, which was my 100th Taylor show. We drove back down to San Francisco, taking a different route this time. There was so much to do out there, I'll definitely have to plan another trip!

I was thrilled when I found out Taylor would be playing the

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Jazz Fest in Telluride Colorado! It wasn't long before we had a cross country family trip planned.

Mom had always wanted to go out west, so this was the perfect opportunity. I usually make reservation ahead of time, but since I had my family, I decided to just stay wherever we wound up. That first day, we couldn't resist driving through Nashville. None of us had ever been, so it was exciting seeing all the famous places we had always heard of. We wanted to get farther along, so we were quickly on our way. That first night we stayed just outside Oklahoma City.

The next day, as we were driving on I-40, I just had to get onto old route 66. We drove through several old towns that had been abandoned when the interstate was built. They looked like the towns in the old western movies. There were only a few people around, amongst all the run down and deserted buildings. That same day we drove through the northern part of Texas. We stopped at a rest area and took time to notice some of the scenery. We walked part way down a trail until I heard more rattlesnakes singing than I cared to hear!

After staying in Gallup NM the second night, we were on our way toward Telluride. I learned an important lesson that day; if you see a restaurant or a gas station, you better stop! We were lucky to find a gas station with a gas pump so old I was surprised it still worked!

We drove though some beautiful places when we crossed into Colorado. You definitely don't want to run off the road up in the mountains. A lot of the roads are built up on cliffs. We stopped in a little town called Silverton. Mom said she would like to live there. The town was off in a little valley with one store and a few little houses.

After driving through a few old coal mining

towns, we finally made it to Telluride! It was beautiful! The town sits in a valley with only one road going in. There's no hotels there, just condos. We were invited to join some friends who had a condo reserved. The only set back is that nothing in Telluride is handicap accessible. We had granny's wheelchair because she has Macular Degeneration and can't see very good. We had to lead her up all the steps, but she never complained. She was happy to be there!

The next day was the big festival! I wanted to get a good spot, so we headed down to the festival grounds early. Even though it was August, it's always cooler there, so the weather was perfect. Finally it was time for Taylor's show and just like always, it was great! It was well worth the drive out there!

We had decided since we were this close to the Grand Canyon, we weren't gonna miss the chance to go! We headed that way the next morning.

It wasn't long before we were at the Grand Canyon! We just went to the South Rim since it was closer. We stopped at several overlooks and took some pictures. Emily and I walked up to the top of an overlook tower. There's no hotels or restaurants close to where we were on the South Rim. The North Rim is where they have the glass bridge, but we decided not to go. It would have took another day to drive around and we had already saw the Canyon. We decided to head back.

We didn't want to go back the same way we had came, so we detoured up I-25 to Denver and hit I-80. It was a lot different scenery than we had saw before. School started earlier than usual that year, so we didn't do a lot of sightseeing on the way back home. That was one of the best summers ever, but certainly not the end of the musical journey!

Roxie Watson at the Crimson Moon Cafe in Dahlonega Feb 14 8pm Tickets: www.thecrimsonmoon.com

LOOKING FOR SOME FUN THINGS TO DO? www.TheBestOfEbrj.com/TIPS

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S

o, you want to start a hobby farm? We did too, and my husband and I are learning a lot about farming that we didn't know when we started. We have also learned a lot from our own mistakes along the way.

We had a romantic view of building a small farm with our three children, living alongside sprawling pastures and a large garden with everything homemade in our simple sustainable world. So far, we have had some of those romanticized moments but we also put in a lot of hard work to make those moments happen. We were suburban people with a dream, and we wanted to make that dream come true. We found land that would provide us with the space to raise animals and grow food. I remember the day my husband drove me out to see the eighteen acres he had found. We bumped up and down an old, poorly cared for dirt road until the trees opened up to a big, open parcel of land with rickety fencing.

We knew in that moment we had found our homestead.

Being eager and excited to jump head first into our dream we really bit off more than we could chew in the beginning. We have since learned to pace ourselves and have realized Rome was not built in a day. However, that first year we learned a lot about starting a farm that we didn't consider. I think back to our first year, and I have to laugh at the comedic experiences we shared. Naturally, the first thing I wanted was a big garden. In the past, I had enjoyed tinkering in my small tomato bed and grew a few cucumbers in my suburban back yard. I wanted a big, abundant garden like my grandfather had when I was a child. Of course, I was all in, and we tilled up about a half acre of our new land and I planted a variety of vegetables. The produce grew as fast as the weeds and the entire process turned out to be a full time job. We ended up with more food than we knew what to do with, and even after giving it away to anyone that would take it, still had plenty left over. The first thing I learned was to only grow what you need and what you actually like to eat. What can you do with bushel baskets full of eggplants when you only eat Eggplant Parmesan twice a year?

Any hobby farmer is going to want chickens for their eggs. I couldn't wait to get the birds and nagged my husband constantly. I found someone selling young chickens and sent my sons and husband off to pick them up. My husband, nor I, knew anything about different breeds, we just knew a chicken was a chicken. He came home with six Cochin chickens that were about three months old. The woman selling the chickens honed in on my husbands inexperience and his soft heart, and threw in a couple of handicapped chickens for free. Imagine my surprise when I had two pathetic chickens that couldn't walk or fend for themselves! I immediately had to learn a lot in a short time about raising chickens, healthy and handicapped. Hubby built a chicken tractor. It was a great concept that could be moved around the yard so that the chickens would be safely fenced in, but they would have access to fresh grass when we moved them.

I have found that hands-on learning has become our way of life. We have grand ideas and plans and tend to get started straight away without doing much research.

It's easy to tell someone to do their research, but when

you are one of those people that get excited easily and are impatient like I am, you start projects without much thought. This is why I call myself a “hands-on learner.” Our barn was created when I brought home two small goats while my husband was at work. I went to look at some goats for sale. I was just going to look and see if they were the kind of goats I wanted to buy. I laid eyes on two goats, one wether and one young buck, and of course my son knew immediately when he saw the look on my face that they were coming home with us. My husband came home that evening to two young goats that needed a house immediately. He and my sons quickly went to work finding scraps around the place to throw together a shelter for our new animals. Their shelter certainly wasn't the Hilton when it was finished, but it suited their Motel 6 lifestyle. Being able to recycle and re-purpose items laying around is a must for a hobby farm.

Especially when your wife is an impulse shopper! I am always looking for usable items that we can get inexpensively or better yet, free. There are great resources for usable items like Trading time on ETC, Craigslist and Facebook yard sale groups in our local area.

Fencing is a priority on a farm. No one wants to look out their kitchen window and see the neighbor's goats eating your prized petunias. When we bought our property, our fencing looked great. But in reality the posts were rotting and you could knock entire sections over by leaning on it. We have learned a lot about what fencing is best for our animals and what is not. Wire welded fencing works best with animals. It is sturdy and affordable and does its job well. We are in discussion right now about adding pigs to our farm. I have been banned from pig window shopping until we have the proper pen and fencing provided for them. I am obeying the ban because the last thing I want to do in the chill of the upcoming winter, is trudge through the woods with a feed bucket learning pig calls to gather my missing pigs.

When starting a farm it is a must to have the proper tools and equipment. Coming from our cookie cutter neighborhood, we had a riding lawn mower, a push mower and a weed eater. We bought a small garden tiller to plow up my first garden. We thought we had everything we needed. We learned quickly that you can't maintain your acres of land with neighborhood quality equipment. We had to quickly figure out how to get a tractor. As the thick grass and weeds began taking over our pastures, my husband realized he was spending more time mowing then he did anything else.

After my husband wore out his riding lawn mower, our small push mower and a couple of weed eaters, we finally invested in a small tractor that has made our life much easier.

We have gained a lot of experience and knowledge over the last few years and have learned about farming.

There is still so much to learn and I am researching and reading every day to learn more. It gets easier as the time goes by, but it's always a learning process, one that is worth all of the hard work when you see what you have accomplished. Next column- Chickens!

50 Rocco’s Pub Jasper - Monday: Open Mic Night with John Gardner 7:00 LIVE Music: Friday & Sat - Who’s Playing? www.facebook.com/roccospub

Mercier Orchards - Everytime I shop at Mercier’s it’s better than the last. They always have new things I haven’t seen before and now they have added a wine shop to their store! Besides fresh yummy bakery items, (like Robb’s favorite fried peach pies,) there are so many gift ideas to choose from. You will find kid’s toys, kitchen times, many unique food products and always fresh fruit and veggies. Mercier will make custom boxes and baskets full of the goodies you pick and ship them all over the country for you. There is a gift for every person on your list here. (800) 361-7731 Jerry’s Furniture- You had to have seen the handcrafted heavy duty wooden benches around town with Jerry’s name and phone number on them. What a great way to advertise his amazing furniture! Jerry has a store that showcases so many items handcrafted of beautiful types of wood. You can also work with the staff to design your own pieces and they will build and deliver them for you. I’ve gotten several pieces of furniture from Jerry’s and we just ordered more. Everything is gorgeous, well crafted and will last a long time. The furniture and accessories at Jerry’s go perfectly with the wooden cabins in our area, and anyone who lives in one who be floored by a gift from this store. If you’ve never been there, it’s a must shop for the holidays. (706) 632-6464 Taste of Amish- The ultimate in YUM. Food for presents? I think yes! My favorite items at this shop are the fresh roll butter and the ribeye steaks, but you can also easily buy cool gifts that aren’t perishable. How about the veggie chips? Not just the typical ones made from potatoes, but ones made from okra, carrots, green beans, squash and beets! I love these things. They are really colorful and you can put out an appetizer that is just the right amount of healthy and salty! Or you can buy them for your veggie loving friends like I do! Along with many things to chose from, there is a big selection of candy, and freshly packaged spices at low prices. I’ve found many unique items that would make great gifts, including a box of ingredients with instructions so you can make your own pretzels! (706) 632-8989 3 Monkees - Looks like fun from the outside and it IS fun on the inside, just like a barrel of monkeys! I'll never forget my 16th birthday when my wonderful father told me he bought me a vehicle, and proceeded to take me outside to show it to me. I was so excited! Until he pulled out the pedal fire engine! I should have saved it though, I bet it's worth a lot of money now! There are lots of vintage pedal cars at 3 Monkees and they bring back lots of memories. (good and bad, lol, thanks dad!) The store is jam-packed with all sorts of neat antiques! It's a lot bigger than it looks from the outside! There is THEE coolest paint if you like to redo old furniture. You don't have to do much prep work on the wood, and you can just paint it on! You would normally have to buy it and have it shipped. It's nice to find it here! It's called Rethunk Junk. I was also happy to find homemade candles! I have a sister in law who loves all the amazing scents I find in this area. So I picked up a Georgia Peach for her. And I have another friend who loves a certain dessert and they had that scent also! "Creme Brûlée " Now, once a month, Monkeys has auctions too. We do plan on attending this winter. Something fun to do where it's warm! (706) 632-6111 Design Re-find- What an amazing shopping experience! Inside this quaint house a couple blocks from the main drag in downtown Blue Ridge, you will find Design ReFind. I loved my visit! The staff is so fun and welcoming, and they have three pet dogs! Beautiful items, from art to antiques, to holiday decorations. This is a high end shop, with low end prices. I love shopping where I feel like I can pick out just about anything and it’s in my budget! Now, did you see the stuffed hog? Robb said I should get it for Griz’s room, and it was on sale too! But nope, sorry, not gonna do it! I love the shop’s darling and well behaved Corgis! They posed for pictures, just like their momma told them to do! I love the way this shop is decorated and furnished. I told the staff I wanted to move in! I love chicken art. This is a hand painted on wood original. The price was around $60. I told Robb he could buy it for me for Christmas!

There were lots of unique Christmas decorations, at great prices! Is it a paper towel holder? A toilet paper holder? I think it’s either. We bought it to use for paper towels on our dining room table. Go buy or sell at Design Re-find. You will be happy you did!

Did I mention I love this store? (706) 946-2030

Caroline Aiken at The Martyn House In Towne - Downtown Ellijay Saturday, January 31, 2015 at 7:00pm www.themartynhouse.com/in-towne 51

Story by Thia Photos by Robb

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here can you go, that the whole family can do a bunch of fun things at once?

The little kids do bouncy houses, the younger kids do bumper cars and the teenagers play laser tag? While the adults can bowl, have a beer or soda and play pool? All those things are available at The Alley.

It was Kam’s Birthday, (Remember Kam? Last year he had the biggest slice of pizza at Johnny’s for his birthday) and we decided it would be fun to go try out all the stuff to do at the Alley! We took Kam & his mom, Kelly and we met up with the owners of The Alley, Santa & Brad, and their grandchildren, AJ, Ethan & Aaliyah.

Kam made instant friends with Ethan, and we decided to try some bowling. I am not a good bowler. But lucky for me, they blocked off the gutters, so I could score some points! This works great with kids too, since they get to hit a lot of pins when there are no gutter balls! We had some

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fresh made pizza and drinks while we took turns throwing. We had a fun game. I won, but had help, since I let the better bowlers take some of my turns, and they were good, which raised my score.

Then I walked around to see all the things to do at the Alley. There are video games and laser tag. I talked to some young guys playing pool. I checked out the build a buddy shop. And by then, the kids decided they wanted a bumper car ride! I tried to get Brad & Santa to get in the cars, but they just laughed and waved me off. Kam hadn’t been in one of these before, but It only took a minute for him to figure out how it worked and he was off and driving. Kam, Ethan, AJ & Aaliyah had a blast bumping into each other and steering around.

After they got done with the bumper cars, Ethan & Kam were off to the bounce houses. There were three different ones for them to play on. And they chased each other, tumbled, jumped, rolled, hid,

and had so much fun on those things. It made me want to try it myself! If only I had the energy of those kids!

After a solid afternoon of hardcore fun, it was time for us to go home. We really had a hard time getting Kam to leave. He could have stayed there all day and night and played! And your kids will feel the same way. For the kids to play in the bounce house all day is only five dollars per kid. I know where I am bringing my live-wired three year old grand daughter next time she comes for a visit! Lainey can have some bouncy house fun, and use up all her energy while G-ma (me) has a some wine and relaxes!

I also want to mention that The Alley has cosmic bowling with great music on weekend nights, perfect for teenagers to have something fun and safe to do!

Facebook page-The Alley of Ellijay Call for details 706-889-7764

What do snowmen eat for breakfast? Frosted Flakes

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Winter is when people keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, when they complained about the heatâ&#x20AC;? - Unknown

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t was my uncle, with his profound interest in the paranormal, who first introduced me to the Mothman during my teenage years. At some point, he handed me a copy of John Keel's classic The Mothman Prophecies, and as with all other things mysterious, I was hooked. Keel's book chronicles the purportedly true events that shook the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia from November 1966 to December 1967. During this period of time, numerous eyewitnesses testified to having encountered a winged beast with the body of a man and hypnotic, glowing red eyes. Accompanied by other strange phenomena that seized the community, the Mothman, (as a newspaper reporter dubbed him), seized residents of the town with hysteria. The hysteria culminated when the Silver Bridge, a suspension bridge spanning the Ohio River, collapsed, killing 46 motorists. After this, the majority of the supernatural happenings in Point Pleasant ceased.

Almost two decades after I read Keel's book, I actually found myself in Point Pleasant. At the time, my best friend and I had gotten into bicycling and had biked various trails east of the Mississippi. When our travels took us to the New River Gorge and New River Trail, I capitalized on the opportunity to head on over to Point Pleasant for an afternoon. The next summer, I spent a week there interviewing many of the residents who had been alive during Mothman's reign of terror.

Of key assistance for information was Carolyn Harris.

Carolyn Harris has lived in Point Pleasant her entire life and runs the downtown Harris Steakhouse, a holein-the-wall diner with black-and-white tiled floors and an old-fashioned soda counter. She told many stories of residents' encounters with the Mothman, UFO's, strange phone calls, and interrogation of residents by seeming government officials who warned the citizens to keep their mouths shut about the ongoing weirdness. She would not, however, speak of the Silver Bridge disaster, for at the time, she had been Carolyn Meadows, and her husband and six-year-old son were killed when the bridge collapsed.

Leaving Point Pleasant, I returned to Georgia with a treasure trove of great interviews and a confidence that the folks of Point Pleasant were not merely making up stories but had experienced something legitimate and beyond the realms of human knowledge during those horrifying days now almost fifty years ago. Flash forward to present day and north Georgia, and you will find that the Mothman, or at least "a" Mothman, is still very much alive.

Lon Strickler is a man who is also fascinated by the paranormal, and he has recorded many people's stories of strange creatures in his book Phantoms and Monsters: Cryptid Encounters. One story hails from a woman who reported a Mothman encounter right here in our own "neck of the woods." The incident oc-

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curred late at night in December 2011 on a sparsely populated road. Something crashed into the grill of the woman's car as she drove. When she stopped the vehicle to check the damage, She observed that the grill was destroyed and the windshield cracked. As a truck pulled in behind her car, the woman and driver of the truck observed a winged manlike creature in the road, that they at first believed to be dead. The creature rose up from its prostrate position, spread its wings, and soared into the air. This recent encounter, however, is not the only possible Mothman encounter in north Georgia. There was an incident in the late 60’s that a good friend of mine recounted that happened to his sister and her friends.

The sister and her friends were heading home one night and cut onto the old dirt road that passes through the Antioch Baptist Church cemetery, near Talking Rock. Once through the cemetery, the road dips between high banks and towering trees. As the young women made their way just beyond the cemetery, something quite heavy landed on the roof of the vehicle as they were driving. Pounding began on the metal roof before it again lifted into the air as the sister attempted to right the swerving car. She and her passengers were in a near state of shock.

Elsewhere in Georgia, other possible Mothman visitations have taken place. One man, an Atlanta resident, even claims that the Mothman warned him of the disastrous 2014 snow and ice episode that left the city gridlocked and many motorists stranded on interstates and side roads. So, just what is a Mothman, and what is the purpose of these beings' existence?

According to John Keel, the Mothman is a type of harbinger or omen that begins appearing to groups or individuals at some point before a catastrophic event.

This would certainly make sense in the case of the Point Pleasant sightings as Mothman encounters all, but ceased once the Silver Bridge collapsed. Just what these beings' interest is in warning humans is unknown.

Whatever the reasons and wherever these creatures come from, the fact remains that those who encounter the Mothman are stricken with terror and often emotionally traumatized for months and years to come.

Marcella Bennet, another resident of Point Pleasant who had an up-close meeting with the winged man, experienced emotional distress similar to PTSD. To this day, she rarely gives interviews on the subject.

Obviously, however, the Mothman is not strictly indigenous to West Virginia. The sound of his flapping wings may be heard even now on lonely north Georgia back roads, and who knows what heart-wrenching tragedy his presence portends?

For more information on the Mothman, visit http://www.mothmanlives.com For fun, purchase or rent The Mothman Prophecies, starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney.

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

Help The Doggies.... Homeward Bound Pet Rescue www.facebook.com/HBPR30540

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ow that my wife Sheree and I are “empty nesters”, we decided to buy a travel trailer and get back into the camping scene. We want to travel to national parks, but there are also many great places to camp right here in North Georgia.

Camping locally will help us get some camping experience while we are still close to home.

Our first trip was to a campground right here in Ellijay. I hooked up our trailer and off we went. Things went smoothly for a while and then the road was getting a little hairy. There were tight curves on a winding road going up and down hills the whole way. My wife must have sensed my tension, “Everything all right?” she asked? “Oh yeah, sure.” I lied. “You do know how to drive this thing right?” I shot her a look as the tire went off the road for a moment.

I recovered quickly and after a few brushes on the trailer from overhanging trees, we entered the campground intact. \ We found our campsite and I pulled in carefully. We got out of the truck and noticed right away that the trailer was leaning to one side.

Sheree pointed, “It’s not level. Did you bring blocks to level it?” I shook my head. She put her hands on her hips. “They specifically told us that leveling blocks were an essential and basic necessity. I don’t think I can even get in the trailer right now. You better do something to fix it.” I stared at her and did my best Ralph Kramden imitation, Bang.. Zoom… She smiled so I was off the hook, for a while anyway.

I attempted to level it and heard a shout from

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inside the trailer, “Not level yet!” “I know! The site is just terribly uneven, we’ll have to live with it I guess.” I went inside the trailer, doing my best to try and make my entrance look easy.

“Not too bad, right?” Sheree looked at the bed.

“Well, the wall should hold us in the bed.”

Mumbling to myself, I went outside to attach the hookups. First, I plugged in the trailer’s electric cord. I yelled out, “Do we have lights?” after a moment I heard, “Yes!” Next I pulled out the water hose and attached it to the trailer, then unrolled it as I went to the water hookup. I got two feet from the hookup and it was short.

Rats! The camper next to me was an older fellow and he was relaxing in his chair. I waved to him because he was smiling at me, and also because I knew he was enjoying the show. “I’m a little short here I guess.” He just kept smiling and waved again.

I backed up the trailer about two feet, hooked up the hose successfully and reset the jacks. I turned on the water valve. I glanced over at my neighbor, who gave me the thumbs up. I yelled to Sheree, “Do we have water?”

“Yes!” Now I was feeling confident again. I went back in the trailer only to see Sheree’s annoyed expression. “What’s the matter?” “The air conditioner isn’t working. I’m not sleeping in an oven.” I tried to defend the situation for a moment. “But you sleep with a million quilts and an electric blanket!” She stared at me as if I’d lost my mind. “My body needs to be warm, but I like the air to be cool so my sinuses don’t

dry up. Besides, you’re the one who likes to sleep in a freezer.” “Ok let’s check everything.”

The lights all worked, the refrigerator was getting cold, and the radio was working. But the air conditioner would not come on and neither would the microwave. “Did you break the trailer?” “No, I didn’t break the trailer.” “Do you even know how to fix any of this? Maybe we should call someone.” No way was I going to let her call someone. That would be as bad for me as asking for directions. “No, I’ll get it.” We checked the fuses and they were all fine. I scratched my head. I went outside and looked around. She used her smartphone to google the situation. I unplugged the cord and plugged it back in, jiggling it, as if that would solve the problem. Sheree yells out, “It says here that the refrigerator can work on gas or electric.”

Now, I was suddenly punched in the face with an epiphany of awareness. There is a battery on the trailer that power the lights and radio without being hooked up to electricity. I dropped my head for a second as it hit me, then reached down and flipped the hookup breaker to “on”. “Try now!” and as expected, the resounding reply came, “It’s working, finally!” I took another glance at my neighbor, who raised his beverage as if he was toasting me. I just nodded, then bowed to him like a performer, and he spit his drink out laughing.

Soon my daughter arrived with our grandkids, who both pointed out that the trailer was

Open Mic Night! Pourhouse every Wed with Daisy Chain 8:30- Midnight & Wing Specials

not level. The youngest one, Sawyer, ran into the trailer and a minute later yelled to my granddaughter, “Hey Rylee, look, the ball rolls right down the table by itself!”

Sheree looked at me and yelled to them, “Yes Pop made it that way so you would have more fun!”

We built a campfire and had a good time cooking hotdogs, roasting marshmallows and campfire toasted pies. The hotdogs and marshmallows went as expected.

The campfire pies are made using a cast iron sandwich maker by putting two slices of bread on each side of the iron and filling the middle with pie filling or sandwich meat and cheese. Then you clamp them together and roast the iron in the fire. Basically, you have no way of knowing when it is done because you can’t see inside the sandwich maker. Needless to say, the first one came out burnt. Seeing the sad look on my grandson’s face, Sheree hugged him and said, “Don’t worry honey, that one is for Pop. He’ll make you a good one” I put the burnt one aside for myself, and everybody else’s came out okay.

The kids went home at eleven pm and we slept soundly until morning. I woke up feeling refreshed and made a cup of coffee while I set up our new camping stove. I put a griddle on top of the stove to heat up. I had one of those add-water-and-shake pancake mixes and was shaking the mix like Ricky Ricardo shook the maracas.

Just then Orville, another camper from a few sites down, strolled over and began talking about his passion, the Georgia Bulldogs. I was sort of hoping he would finish up so I could get to cooking breakfast. He was wiggling his nose a little while we talked, it looked like he was fighting off a sneeze. A vision of him seasoning my pancakes with a big “ah-choo” popped into my head. Finally I set the mix down for a minute. Suddenly Orville’s face contorted and he let out the biggest sneeze I’ve seen in a long time. “Gesundheit! - Hey by the way, I am a Notre Dame fan.” His face contorted and grew red.

“Well I’m heading over to the bathhouse now” I suppose the sneeze embarrassed him a little or maybe he was disappointed I wasn’t a Bulldog fan, because he excused himself abruptly. He hurried off walking like a penguin so I’m thinking we may have had a wet “snart” explosion in there.

I started pouring the mix into circles on the griddle, which was extremely hot by now. The pancakes cooked fast but I was impressing myself with my quick flipping technique. They came out good for the most part and I tried to hide the few overcooked ones at the bottom of the pile, not wanting to draw the wrath of my wife. I got the sausages done next and called out, “Breakfast is ready!” Sheree came out, looked at the food, and said, “I’ll take those two on the top that aren’t burnt…”

We enjoyed our breakfast and when we finished I began to clean the griddle. When I lifted it off the grill, we saw that the grate underneath had completely melted around the burner. “Wow, look at that!”

Sheree was stunned too. “What did you do? This is why I don’t let you near the stove at home.” I was at a loss. Of course, the camper who saw the “Jimmy Joe Hookup Show” walked past just then to see me holding the melted grill grate. Yes, he was smiling again. I turned to him, held up the grill, and bowed once more.

Festival of Trees Celebration Dec 1 6-8pm Gilmer County Library www.sequoyahregionallibrary.org

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o, here I sit all wrapped up in my favorite blanket with my two precious pups (Rascals and Jasmine) snuggled up beside me. We are enjoying a beautiful fire that my husband Marty made us earlier in the evening. We use every opportunity to light a fire and enjoy the ambiance it provides. I suggested making some hot cocoa and drinking in front of the fire or better yet drag our mattress out and perhaps sleep in front of the roaring fire. Well, it ends up my husband and I watched an episode of Seinfeld, played cards and off he went to bed with his dog, Snowy.

So, it occurred to me we could all add a little romance into are busy and hectic lives. I started to think about all the great places to find some romance within the North Georgia Mountains.

One of my favorite new romantic hot spots is located in Ellijay Georgia. I love the Engelheim Winery. The drive to the winery is absolutely stunning. The winery is enchanting and reminds me of a Gingerbread house. The owner and staff are so friendly and the wines are delicious. They also have a beautiful porch to sit on and sip your wines, (and in my case I love sipping on their wine slushies), while chatting with my special somebody and taking in the amazing views.

Next up, is a drive in the Cohutta Wilderness looking for Lake Conasauga. Although, we did not find the lake, we still had fun. I know it would be a very romantic place to take a walk and enjoy each others company. The 19 acre lake is the highest lake in Georgia and sits in a grassy mountain.

If you want to get spoiled and have a romantic couples get away close to home, you must check out Serenity In The Mountains in Blue Ridge Georgia. Not only is this a pampering spa that features couple massages but it also has the most amazing suites to stay in. I have had the opportunity to stay there twice. Not only will you enjoy the spa services but the bathrooms in their suites are incredible. You must see them to believe it. .

Just last weekend we enjoyed a drive to Brasstown Valley Resort and enjoyed feasting on their spectacular Sunday brunch. We brought our friends with us. Karen and Charlie who are newlyweds, married just a year. They know romance! While in the area we visited Brasstown Bald. This too makes my top North Georgia romantic list. The drive to the top of the mountain was gorgeous and the views overlooking four states and lakes were magical. I would suggest dressing warmly and snuggle up with your loved one.

Be sure to grab a few kisses in the higher elevation and take a selfie or two. You will certainly have a memorably, romantic day.

As the holiday season keep us quite busy shopping and socializing, be sure to set aside time for you and your special somebody. Take a walk, light a fire, look up at our beautiful night time sky and make a special wish together.

Remember Valentine's day is right around the corner.

S

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River Street Tavern Prohibition Party! Celebrating 81 years since the end of Prohibition, 30's Costume Contest! FRI DEC. 5 w /WADE SAPP!

Owl’s Nest- Such a well done store. Friendly, helpful staff. Artistic creations you won't find anywhere else. Many gorgeous handmade items. Lots of beautiful jewelry, high end materials, natural stones. A must shop when you are stopping in downtown Blue Ridge. Excellent helpful service combined with amazing pieces of art. Owner Jennifer and her staff will also tell you the interesting stories behind many of the items. I loved all the beautiful things made out of rock, including lights. Robb, this huge fossil would be a wonderful Christmas present for your favorite girl! No, I don't mean Lexi! And of course they have lots of owls! 706/946-nest Out of the Blue-I've loved every visit! Packed with the newest and most intriguing items for entertaining, plus delicious foods on the gourmet side ( cheese, sausage, wine etc...) there is a great find in every nook and cranny of this shop. The staff is fun.

The owner, Sarah is a text book of knowledge. You'll see the latest in kitchen accessories. You can buy some local beer, or the newest in wine. Today, I learned about the high end Coravin. Here's my simple explanation as to how it works- it's a device that lets you open an expensive bottle of wine, have one delicious glass and reseal it.

I also found a new favorite when I tasted a new wine product line called “MU.” I bought one for myself and Robb, (should of gotten more!) And one for a friend who happens to like all things CHAI. Bought a couple CD’s by my favorite group Roxie Watson. You will find all things RW here, because Sarah is a good friend of theirs, and actually some of their current CD was written on her back porch! Great store, you must stop in for a visit. (706) 258-2750 After shopping at all these stores I was tired, but happy! I found some terrific gifts, and I love the fact that we contributed to our local economy! Please shop with our local merchants, they deserve our support. And if you don’t know what to buy, consider gift certificates from them, and all the wonderful restaurants we have in the area. Let’s all have a wonderful holiday season, and keep the money local! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Thia & Robb

HEY! What’s Going On Around Here?!!! www.thebestofebrj.com/calendar

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am very creative, but not at all artistic. Which means I can write an imaginative story, or come up with a cool advertising campaign, but I can’t draw or paint anything that doesn’t look like it was done by a second grader. (Not to slam second graders, most of them are probably better artists than I am.) I have always wanted to be able to paint a picture worth hanging on the wall, but I was nervous to attend a painting class. I put it off for a long time, afraid mine would be the worst in the room and I would embarrass myself.

I always checked on what local art classes were being offered, read the descriptions and thought about going. Finally, I saw one at Gilmer Arts that spoke right to me- “For everyone that says, I can’t Paint.” I knew if I was ever going to take the plunge, this was the best fit for my first try. I signed up and told Robb about it. Of course he decided we would do a story on my attempt at painting. As if I wouldn’t be stressed enough!

I was the first to arrive to about twenty empty chairs around tables set up in a rectangle. Each place was set with a smock, a paint pallet, a bottle of water, a cup of snack mix, and a cup to clean your brushes. The instructor introduced herself as DeAnne Stenberg, and gave me reassurance that I’d have no problems making a piece of beautiful art. Of course I had my doubts, but she did make me feel better. The

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painting we were attempting was a white pumpkin with a quote of our choice. We could paint it the exact colors as it was shown, or do it in any colors we wanted to use. I choose to do mine a little different to match the colors in my living room.

The chairs filled up quickly and we had a full house. DeAnne gave us simple step by step instructions, like paint the top two-thirds of the canvas in the sky color you chose.

Add brown to the bottom third. Take the lighter brown and add streaks. As I did each step, I grew more confident. I really couldn’t believe that my painting actually looked like the example painting!

By the time two hours had passed everyone in the room had a beautiful painting that they were finishing up! And mine came out just great! With this first class under my belt, I do feel that I could attend more beginner classes and do just fine. And I will be doing exactly that!

So this winter when it’s cold outside and you are looking for something fun and creative to do, check out our local treasures, Gilmer Arts, Sharptop Arts, & Blue Ridge. They all have lots of fun and educational art classes. Maybe I’ll see you there! And my first painting, is now on the mantle of my fireplace.

GilmerArts.org SharptopArtsAssociation.org BlueRidgeArts.net

Original Song Writer’s Circle Every Thurs. Eve. at 7pm - Martyn House InTowne - Ellijay

North Georgia Art Ramble Dec 6th & 7th NGaArtRamble.com

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A

s we celebrate the winter holidays, we are reminded it is all about family. Blood or chosen, family is one of the greatest gifts we celebrate in the mountains.

How fitting that somewhere in this paper filled with joy and fun filled events that we take a moment to reflect on the blessings of family. Mother Nature shortens and cools the days sending us to gather together for warmth and sharing.

We gather around the fire with our loved ones, sharing time and stories of the events of the year and expressing gratitude to each other. Showing gratitude is one of the finest things to experience - as just in the sharing you are graced with love. My life in the mountains with my family and mother nature, makes me feel gratitude. I am grateful for so many things, here are a few..

Watching a sunrise over the mountains.

Witnessing deer, turkeys, bunnies and squirrels feeding side by side.

Seeing snow clouds release their fluffy contents onto the bare trees.

A babyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s laugh witnessing a butterfly.

A friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s smile across a crackling fire.

A homegrown tomato for a neighborâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s salad The serene sound of the river over the rocks.

The sound of the rain on a tin roof.

The cold nose of my furry friend when snuggling.

So many blessings to be grateful for. Regardless of your monetary status, so many things can be enjoyed just be looking around and sharing time with those we love. Here is hoping you are able to find something everyday to be thankful for!

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

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Getting one inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery.â&#x20AC;? Calvin & Hobbes - Bill Watterson

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Review by Thia (with Robb butting in) Photos by Robb

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mbiance is not a word I use often, but it is the first word I thought of when we were seated at the Black Sheep Restaurant. The room just glowed with soft light. The copper accented chandelier was gorgeous, and the chairs were plump and comfortable. Everything about this room, said THIS is a place for a romantic and relaxing dinner. We met the elegant and friendly manager, Carrie who offered an iPad with the wine list. You could scroll through and read descriptions of all the various kinds available. How cool!

We met our servers, Casey and Heather. Yes you get two servers, and it shows, service was beyond excellent! Casey told me about the yummy specials including a fresh raw bar, (Robb was off taking pictures somewhere), and I ordered a shrimp cocktail, a lobster roll and two glasses of wine to start with. Robb was very happy with my selection when he returned to the HUGE shrimp on his plate, and they were cooked perfectly.

My lobster roll was a generous portion of plump claws and knuckles. No mayonnaise here, just pure chunks of cooked lobster with some melted butter and spices. Yum! Robb here: I was taking pictures of the beautiful Raw Bar! The raw bar is located at the outside deck seating area. Now in the cold weather it’s enclosed and heated with beautiful six foot tall flames. The Raw Bar features fresh oysters and such. There’s a blackboard with that days offerings. This evening it was three varieties of oysters, gravlax rosettes (fresh cured salmon). U-12 Georgia shrimp (U-12 means very big, less than 12 to a pound!) and jumbo lump crab cocktail. Allow me to confirm, when I returned to the table I found a beautiful shrimp cocktail waiting, it was, shall I say, oversized. Do shrimp really come that big? Evidently they do! I tried Thia’s lobster roll too, delicious, buttery, overflowing with lobster.

Chef Bill came out to talk to us and told us about a delicious appetizer he was going to make for us with pork belly and scallops. Our expeditor, Jay brought us the dish a few minutes later under glass and steaming hot.

It was incredible! Decadent is the word that comes to mind. The pork was crispy on the edges with a touch of barbecue sauce and the scallops were plump and moist. It was rich and light at the same time.

Robb here: Fantastic comes to my mind. I LOVED the pork belly and that sauce was… well… fantastic! I’m personally not a big fan of scallops but I enjoyed these big puffy delights. I LOVED the presentation! Somehow they filled a big bell jar covering the dish with smoke that billowed out as our server Jay lifted the dome. Nice show!

For our main course, Robb ordered the meatloaf. I chose the Black Sheep Pasta, which is angel hair with fresh chopped tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil and fresh mozzarella. This is a vegetarian dish, and Black Sheep has many options on the menu for my veggie head friends!

My plate arrived with perfectly cooked pasta, an array of spices, olive oil, fresh tomatoes and dollops of fresh mozzarella (plus the mushrooms I asked them to add.) Although I had already eaten a lot of food, this smelled and looked so appetizing I couldn’t wait to dive in. This mixture was such a perfect blend of flavors and so light and delicate, that I had no problem finishing half of it. The word delicious doesn’t do it justice!

Robb here: I ordered the meatloaf out of curiosity if nothing else. I must admit, looking around at this obviously high -style restaurant I thought to myself “Meatloaf? Here?!” I was curious to see what a chef of this caliber could do with the time honored, ubiquitous dish. What arrived was a huge portion of delicious meatloaf, a mixture of ground pork, beef,

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When you dine at Black Sheep, please make sure to tell them “We saw your review in the “FUNpaper”! - THANKS!

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

I got a call this morning. They said the police wanted to interview me. I thought it was strange. I didn't even apply for a job there!

I use to date a magazine editor, but I broke up with her because she had too many issues!

Just because the voices in your head aren't real, doesn't mean they don't have good ideas sometimes. four cheeses, and fresh herbs. I know it’s meatloaf but they should give it some other fancier name. What do you call meatloaf that’s better than meatloaf? Uberloaf? My hunch was correct, the chef is definitely an important part of the recipe. My “Uberloaf” was served with mac & cheese.. but trust me it wasn’t your mama’s mac & cheese and a species away from the average. The plate was decorated with all different colored carrots (did you know there are purple carrots?) and asparagus. As always I tried Thia’s dish. I’ll just say ditto to what she says above and add that I liked how the chef mixed everything but kept it separate, it wasn’t just pasta drenched in sauce.

At this point I am stuffed and have half of my dinner to take home, but of course being that we are doing a food review, we HAVE to order dessert! It’s such a tough job, but thankfully Robb took the bullet and we got an amazing signature Peanut Butter-Banana Pie Chocolate Explosion. This pie is made from scratch in house and was actually designed by the owner (Steven Oyer) to contain his favorite dessert ingredients of peanut butter, chocolate, carmel, banana, pretzels, whip cream and more!

Robb here: At this point I too am SO stuffed and if you know me that takes quite a bit. But how could I not try the dessert here? I wasn’t disappointed.

“Explosion” says it all. Wow! Now THAT is a great dessert!

Steve was nice enough to visit our table and tell us about the history of the hundred year old house in which Black Sheep resides. And there is a resident ( and friendly) ghost named Fanny Butt! But that’s a story for another issue.

I’ve used many words to describe this amazing dining experience, but actually I can sum it all up in one - Extraordinary! Two forks way up!

480 W Main St, Blue Ridge, GA 30513 • (706) 946-3663 www.blacksheepblueridge.com/menu.html

Tall People = Less likely to die in floods. Just saying.

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it a little weird that candy bars makes your clothes shrink ?

Old and sneaky, beats out young and quick, every time.

Maybe we can't solve any of the world's problems today. But we can be careful not to add to them.. just saying..

I Just …turned water into coffee, yep, i'm that good..

Biting you tongue has a lot less calories than eating your words..

Just took a shower.. you got no idea how hard it was sneaking it out of Lowe's...

If my body was an old car, I’d trade it in for a new one. Cause here lately my radiator leaks and my exhaust backfires..

My parents told me that I could be anyone I wanted to when I grew up.. Who knew the police would call it identity theft ?

All the treasures I have in this old world have heartbeats...

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

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ell, we did it again. We successfully shadowed over so many smiling faces, beautiful artwork, puppy dogs and kids of all ages. This whole Arts in the Park thing has been fascinating to watch over.

It’s been exciting for us trees to see this thing come to life over the years. I remember many years ago, when the festival was made up of artwork from local students alone. It was fun and it kind of tickled as they displayed their creativity throughout our limbs. Each year, we waited to see if they returned and each year more and more people started participating and the event grew and grew, just like us. Now, there are thousands of guests and hundreds of artists and so much art.

There used to be one festival. Now there are two. When our leaves begin to change, we know it’s getting close to time for the 2nd one, like the one that just took place a couple of weeks ago. They call it Fall Arts in the Park, a suitable name considering the location and time of year. Sometimes the weather is cool; sometimes it’s sunny; this year it rained some. We had the privilege of providing protection to the attendees and sheltered them from the rain, a job we trees take very seriously.

But this article isn’t necessarily about us. It’s about the magic we get to witness time after time. We have gathered from our observations up high, that there are anywhere from 100-175 vendors who set up little white tents all throughout the park. Inside those tents are things such as fine art, photography, pottery, jewelry, woodworking (a somewhat taboo subject for trees to discuss), stained glass and more. It truly is beautiful.

There is a whole section of yummy food, although we don’t really have a sense of smell. From the looks on attendees’ faces, it must be pretty good though. And there are so many people, of all ages, who browse throughout these tents; kids, parents, teenagers, grandparents, and dogs.

There are lots of those too. It’s a very friendly environment all around.

Our leaves float to and fro, and then settle on the ground and the railroad tracks that run down the center of the City Park. What a sight as they gracefully make their way downward. I think sometimes people might come just to see us.

This is our peak time of year you know. Regardless, the park is our home and our home is a haven for artists. If you come next time, remember to look up. We will be smiling down on you!

From Jenn (who is not a tree) : Arts in the Park takes place twice a year at the Downtown City Park in Blue Ridge, GA. It is sponsored by the Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association (BRMAA), located in the historic courthouse in Blue Ridge. Proceeds from this festival go to BRMAA, a non-profit arts organization that hosts a variety of exhibits, classes and events throughout the year.

Come join us anytime, Tue-Sun, 10am-6pm. 706-632-2144.

Email any questions to blueridgeartsmarketing@gmail.com.

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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” - Winnie the Pooh

“The secret of having it all is believing you already do.”

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his craft was as much fun to eat as it was to make. We chose to make a food craft for winter! What is winter without snowmen? We turned Nutter Butter, Oreo, and sugar cookies into snowmen by using some of our other favorite sweet treats to decorate them. This craft does require some preparation steps in order to get all of your yummy decorating and toppings ready for you to begin making your cookies into snowmen.

Let me begin by introducing you to our kids that are participating in today’s craft. First you will recognize my now eight year old Tristan. He has brought along one of his friends Payton who is in his class at school. The third kid in the trio may look familiar as well because he participated in last year’s winter craft and that is my cute little four year old nephew Draven. They were all very excited to get started and I’m not sure if it was to do the decorating or the eating part but either way they were eager and having a lot of fun.

We purchased the pre-made sugar cookies in the refrigerator section and went ahead and cut them up and put those into the oven to bake per the instructions on the package. While they were baking, we mixed up different icing colors to decorate with. We used vanilla icing and food coloring to make four or five different colors. You will also need a bag of regular size marshmallows to decorate your cookies. Remember to keep some of your white icing since you are making snowmen. It is easy to get carried away making all the pretty colors of icing and use all of it before you realize you have no white left. If this sounds like I know this from experience, I do. That is exactly what I did and I had to get more stuff out to make more white icing at the last minute. What can I say? I really love mixing and making lots of pretty colors with my icing!

Once all the cookies are ready and the icing colors are all mixed, we place our cookies out on the table on paper towels and begin out craft. We covered the Nutter Butter and Oreo cookies with white icing placing the Oreo above the Nutter Butter.

The Oreo was the head of the snow man and the Nutter Butter was his body. Draven found this to be an odd looking snowman and kept making funny faces in a very serious way that made it hard to keep a straight face when giving them instructions. Needless to say there was a lot of giggling and talk about the way the cookies should go together to make the best possible snowman shape.

Once the tops were iced, the kids were free to choose the colors to make the eyes, nose, mouth and other decorations. Each one chose to make theirs in their own unique ways.

When the cookies were completely decorated, we decided to take pictures of each kid with their cookie. Payton and Tristan both turned out to be quite the hams, wanting several poses and faces being made with their cookies. This was a lot of fun and caused somewhat of a mess as the blue

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icing utensil ended up on the floor and blue icing was all over my carpet. Do not fear though, we got it cleaned up quickly and it did not stop the fun. Draven was still taking this quite serious and just wanted to get to the eating part of the craft. I decided it is cruel to do a craft with so many yummy cookies and not be able to eat any, so we took a break between cookies and they ate their snowman cookie before we moved on to making the second cookie.

Now that the boys have devoured their newly made cookies they are ready to move on to the next one. This one will be what you need your marshmallows for. I let the boys pick what color icing to use for the topping of the sugar cookie. Tristan and Draven wanted to use blue and Payton wanted to use white. The icing color is to mimic melted snow when the cookie is finished and both colors will work to make it look as if their snowman has began to melt.

Now that the top of the cookies is iced you place a marshmallow near the top of the cookies to complete the next step.

The final steps to making this cookie is just allowing the kids to put a face and decorations onto their marshmallow. The marshmallow is the head of the snowman and the icing topped cookie is the melted body of the snowman. The boys once again show their originality by making the decorations their own.

When we finish the cookie, we take pictures and the boys waste no time eating their newly finished melting snowman cookies.

We really enjoyed doing this food craft with family and friends and know you will enjoy doing it with your kids as well. The important thing to remember when crafting with kids on any project is not to take it too seriously or get caught up in all the rules. You have to relax and have fun because anything that goes wrong can always be fixed or cleaned up. Often times what goes wrong is what makes it the most memorable because it gives you the opportunity to turn something negative into a positive and to put you own spin into a craft. I always try to let things unfold the way that they do and not worry so much about following every step or recipe. We make it our own by improvising and going with whatever comes up. We really enjoyed making our snowmen. We hope you make some of your own!

Trivia! at Johnny’s Pizza call for details 706-253-0800 Jasper

Weekend in the Mountain Wine Country December 5, 6, and 7 Purchase a passport for $20 Taste wines at each of the 14 wineries & three days of fun. www.mountainwinecountry.com 71

wouldn't you say, 'almost in agony'?

Pat: Very much so in agony. You look like a crippled man when you walk in our doors.

Robb: It's amazing.

I'm usually youthful, virile and vibrant and then after delivering these stacks and stacks of papers, I'm like…..

Jen: It's just the sacrifice you make.

Robb: But, there's a physical toll.

Pat: There is a physical toll and as your caretakers, we are telling you that you've got to start taking better care of yourself.

Jen: If you don't take care of you, then you here’s a lot more to putting out a paper like this won't be able to dethan meets the eye. Success is a matter of teamliver the papers. work. There’s an extended group of people out Robb: I know, that’s there, behind the scenes, that help keep this ship afloat. very true. So, what do Allow me to introduce you to two experts in their field you guys (gals) do that do their part to hold this all (and me) together. when I come in here and I'm hurting, what Robb: Ok, so we're here at the Codo you actually do? hutta Healing Arts Institute With Pat: Well, the first thing we do is Pat Babin and Jen Houle. How get you to relax. about I give you a test to start with, Robb: True. This is like the most relet's see how much you guys really laxing place on the planet! know.

Pat: We put you in a room where Pat and Jen: Ok. you don't have your computer and Robb: The shin bone, is connected you don't have your phone and we to…. let all of the worries of the world Pat and Jen: The thigh bone! fall away behind the walls of that Robb: Which, in turn, is connected room so that you can concentrate to…….. only on your health and wellness Pat and Jen: The hip bone! and healing while you are in our Robb: Ok. I just wanted to check. treatment rooms. So, that's the first Alright. thing we do. We try to get your Pat: That's if you're going North. If mind to relax. you're going South, then it's conJen: Absolutely, slow you down to nected to the ankle bone and then the point where you can actually be the toe bones! present with your body so we can Robb: How many bones are in the make those changes. ankle?

Pat: Then, what I do as an acupresPat: Three! surist is I am helping to reestablish Robb: Just checking. the appropriate and healthy flow of Pat: I could've said sixteen and you chi, or energy, in your body so that wouldn't have known! once the flow of energy is going at Robb: True. All right, so I come in it's appropriate rate, your body can here in pain after every issue; bego ahead and do what it knows how cause, let's face it, I'm out there, to do and that is to heal and repair I’m delivering a lot of funpapers. itself. So, that is exactly what acuIt's a lot of lifting and I come in, pressure does….

T

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Robb: So, what I'm actually getting here is a combination of acupressure and therapeutic massage and between the two of you, getting a tag team effect going.

Jen: Absolutely. Therapeutic massage. What we're trying to do is we're trying to bring blood flow to areas that have been starved of blood flow as you've been overworking them and effectively underpaying them in your body as you've been sacrificing yourself for the paper. This includes everything from the physical lifting that you've been doing to also sitting in front of the computer for hours on end trying to get the paper to be ready for the print. All of those things take a physical toll on our bodies because we are not designed to do that as humans, so massage therapy offers a way to increase the blood flow, increase the nutrition and oxygen rich blood to those areas and help to remove wastes. Just moving the flow of blood in your body and that relaxes the muscles.

Robb: So, the acupressure and the massage, they work kind of hand in hand.

Pat: They work synergistically, absolutely.

Robb: I've had a real bad problem with tendonitis in my elbows and my shoulders killing me; my neck killing me, my lower back killing me. I've even experienced a few pains in my butt! But that’s another story. How do you tell what’s wrong with me? I mean… physically?

Jen: Basically there's an evaluation process that happens when you come in and we observe your posture and how you're carrying your body. We can determine, by process of elimination, which muscles are involved, which joints are involved, and I'm sure Pat can explain to you how she achieves an understanding of what energy flows are dysfunctional. It's all a process of evaluation and once we determine what's going on then we can tailor our sessions to work directly on those specific areas.

Pat: With acupressure, one of the things that I do in assessment is to take your pulses. At your wrist there are areas where I can assess the flow of energy running through all these meridians, or channels, and then I know which ones are out

of balance and which points to use to re-balance them again. There's also the fact that if it hurts then that's where you need attention. If you're hurting in your elbow and it hurts so badly that I can't touch your elbow; I know the meridians that run through that elbow so I'll use the acupoints above it and below it to re-establish that flow without further traumatizing the elbow itself. I also look at various patterns, in not only your physical life, how you show it physically, but emotionally and mentally. The traditional Chinese medicine perspective is that we are holistic beings and that if one area of your life is out of balance, probably something else is out of balance as well. Acupressure has this wonderful opportunity for body, mind processing; specifically the type of acupressure I do which is Jin Shin Do® BodyMind Acupressure®. Now Robb, you don't often go through that door of processing your emotions, but it is an amazing transformational opportunity for those that are willing to go through. And you're getting some of that, you just don't know it.

Robb: Well, I hide in my closet and scream and cry like a little girl.

Pat: How’s that working for you?

Robb: I come out and feel a little better.

Pat: There ya go. Well this room, though, can be your proverbial closet.

Jen: Safe space.

Robb: I see… You get into nutrition as well?

Pat: I'm a professional wellness expert is what my ad in your paper says and so I not only can do body work with you, from an Asian perspective and a massage therapy perspective, I can coach you on your nutrition. I'm a naturopath…

Robb: What.. What did you say?

You’re a sociopath?

Pat: Only a sociopath after I work with you! I am a n-a-t-u-r-o-p-a-t-h.

Which means that I help people to live healthier lifestyles using natural means. I'm also a yoga instructor and I often times give my clients homework to do in terms of exercises. I'll show them in this room what the yoga poses are they should be doing or I can also give private yoga instruction.

Jen: Now as a naturopath myself, in

“Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas.” – Johnny Carson

nutrition, I also deal with nutritional supplements and that sort of thing to help balance out, again, supporting what the body already knows how to do, which is to heal itself, so a lot of what I do in that regard is the education side which explains to you how your body works so you can make choices in your diet and in your supplements that work for you and that passion, of course, is what led us to the school.

Robb: Yeah, so tell me about the school. You're training other people to do this now.

Pat: We are. Jennifer approached me a few years ago with this vision that she had to open a massage therapy school. We recognize that we are each individuals and we can only work on one person at a time and in order to have a larger impact on the health of our community, we need to train other people. So, our passion after working with individuals, is to teach our students in the school of massage with the Cohutta Healing Arts Institute School of Massage, how to be facilitators of their clients so that the ripples continue to go out from our work. So, we opened the school in 2013. The school is housed right here in the Health and Wellness center of Ellijay. We are approved by the state of Georgia, by the National Certification Commission for Therapeutic Massage and Body Work, and the Georgia Non-public Post Secondary Education Commission.

Robb: HOLY SMOKES! How do you remember all that? Fish oil? Omega 3?!

Pat and Jen: And we're members of the AMTA and the ABMP. Robb: And the WWF! FBI? CNBC? Pat: A lot of initials in this. Look at all the certificates behind you back there.

Robb: Wow! And there's a lot of books around here too!

Pat: Yes, there are. So, here at the school we have a library for our students, a full kitchen, a break room.

We have all the things we need for audio and visual learning. We have Dr. McCoy, our skeleton. We have all the equipment for our students to practice on each other and to offer the public massages from our students at reduced rates.

Robb: Oh! That's something I wanted to ask about, student massages.

Pat: You know, it's amazing. It's a win win. $25 for an hour massage with one of our students and what has pleased me so much is to see how many people are coming to our student clinic that have never received professional massage before, so we're introducing all of these people to the wonderful benefits of massage. The clients are able to experience that without investing a tremendous amount of money just to see if they like it and we're creating this whole community of massage lovers. Not to mention the benefit to the student. They are having the opportunity to work on a variety of different bodies, conditions, age levels, everything. It gives them a learning opportunity that we couldn't provide without our community.

Robb: How long is the class for becoming a massage therapist?

Pat: It's a year long program. Our classes for the night time class meets Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5:00-10:00 and one Saturday a month from 11:00-5:30.

The daytime class meets also Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, but from 10:00 in the morning till 3:00 in the afternoon and also one Saturday per month, so we'll always have a class going.

Robb: When's the next class starting?

Pat: The next class is starting in April and it will be an evening class.

It's fabulous. Call for an appointment for a school tour!

Robb: Is there anything else?

Jen: Our students are learning in a building where we are actually practicing still on the front line of healing. All the instructors are active practitioners, that again work, for the most part, in this building so they are seeing what an operation looks like and they are learning from people that are actually still in the field, so that's a real plus.

Pat: So, here at the Health and Wellness center of Ellijay, as a building, we have professionals that have individual practices. I have my practice, the Patricia Babin Professional Wellness Expert. Jennifer Houle is owner of the Natural Wellness Center of Ellijay. Those are our personal practices. In addition, Dr. Jill Darling is at Back to Basics Chiropractic here in this building. We have a Psychotherapist that works out of this office.

We have a hypnotherapist that works here, as well as other professional massage therapists. So people can come to this building and have all their holistic and natural health and wellness needs met. And yoga, that's the other thing. We have yoga classes on Saturday mornings. As a school, many of the practitioners that are here, are also our instructors. So, Dr. Darling is an instructor here, Anna Junkins Taylor licensed massage therapist is our clinic director and instructor and we also have a licensed paramedic on staff among our teaching faculty.

Robb: So, would it be fair to make the analogy this is like Ellijay's version of Grey's Anatomy?

Pat: No, not quite. There is no hanky panky going on here! And the big difference is that in Grey's Anatomy that's a Western medical model in a hospital. We are not doctors, we are not Western medical people. We are natural and holistic wellness professionals.

Robb: But, they are training with the working staff?

Pat: Right. They are.

Robb: There lies the analogy.

Pat: True. What is true of us is that all of us have enough background in the medical field that we work in tandem with Western medical professionals, as a team, for our clients and we are training our students to do the same thing. More and more massage therapy is being recognized by Western medicine as a beneficial modality and can easily integrate with the Western modalities too and so more and more doctors are actually prescribing massage therapy for their clients and we're training, for their patients; our clients, so we're training our massage therapy students to be able to work within the Western medicine model including all the charting and the terminology and the reporting back, and even insurance billing we touch on. So, communication.

Robb: Excellent. So now I know and understand. You havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even touched me but I feel better just talking with you!

Jen: Yay! www.patbabin.com www.cohuttahealingarts.com

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

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DIY crafts are all the rage and I am totally caught up in it!

There are blogs and websites and social media avenues that are filled to the brim with creative designs to inspire your inner artist. Pinterest has become the go to place to share DIY crafting, home decor, wedding, party and special event ideas. Pins are posted and shared all over the world. Do It Yourself crafts have come a long way from the tissue paper and pipe-cleaner era. People are designing and sharing their artistic creations, recycling previously used objects and repurposing them into works of art resulting in a whole new level of crafting.

A dinner invitation, a party favor or festive décor can set the theme and the mood for your celebration and transform a simple gathering into a lasting memory. Let’s get excited about designing together, and exploring the joys of hands on, Do it yourself creativity where the magic is in the details.

Are you ready to jump in?

In thirty plus years as a decorator-party planner I have found that the only thing more memorable than receiving a hand crafted gift is making one to give and that the most beautiful décor is that which is created by hand, straight from the heart. I have created two Valentines designs to share with you.

One is a glass mini vase/card holder. It is made from bits and pieces and can be used throughout the year for any occasion. The other is a rustic burlap I Love You banner, embellished with buttons and a personalized message. I know you will love these designs and enjoy putting these pieces together for the special people in your life.

I am including step by step instructions for you to follow, but only as the seeds to get your own creative juices flowing and your imaginations growing. I hope my designs will spark your creativity and inspire you to take some of my ideas and turn them into your very own one of kind masterpieces.

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Creative Time: About an hour Supplies: Small Glass jar or Bottle, 4-5 foot piece of copper wire (14 gauge) Small piece of thin copper wire (20 gauge), Jewel (crystal or piece of vintage costume jewelry), Wooden Letter tile squares, 2 wooden spring clothespins, Clear drying glue 1. Select a small glass jar or bottle.

Choose one that is wide enough on the bottom to support the embellishments.

2. On one end of the 3 to 4 foot piece of 14 gauge wire, bend into a heart shape by starting on the bottom of one side, forming the heart bumps and coming down the other side, looping the wire one time around the base where you started.

3. Leave a straight piece of wire at the bottom of the heart shape (approximately 3 or 4 inches) to allow heart to telescope out over bottle and begin at that point to tightly wrap the wire around the opening of the jar. Repeat around the jar two or three times, leaving enough wire to form two or three loops at the end.

4. Form 2 or 3 loops with the remainder of the wire.

5. Glue two wooden spring clothespins together back to back. Let Dry. 6. Attach jewel- crystal embellishment to the center of the heart by using a small piece of (20 gauge) copper wire, and or glue.

7. Glue wooden tile letters (or other embellishments) onto wooden clothespins.

Let Dry. 8. Carefully clip clothespins onto each side of the heart as pictured.

My original design for this vase was made by gluing the wooden letter tiles to a microscope slide, attaching wire to the slide with copper foil tape and attaching the word to the heart by twisting the wire around the heart on each side. This version has been simplified to accommodate more easily available supplies.

“Christmas is the season when you buy this year’s gifts with next year’s money.” – Author Unknown

Creative Time: An afternoon Supplies: Burlap – 2 (or more) colors, about ½ yard, Wooden spring clothespins 2 for each section/letter, 1 Long piece of Jute, Twine, String or Yarn (my piece was 8 feet long), 1 piece of cardboard to use as your pattern, Embellishments: Buttons, Beads, Wooden letters, etc…

Any clear drying glue like Tacky Glue or Elmer’s Glue, For More Fun, add a Friend or two 1. Start by planning out your banner on paper. Figure out size, shape color and pattern.

2. Cut out your heart pattern from cardboard. (I used a recycled mailing box). To make the heart even- cut one side, fold in the middle, trace the cut side then cut out second side.

3. Trace your cardboard heart onto your Burlap fabric. I found for this project that red sharpie worked the best. Put something under your fabric to prevent leak through onto your work surface. Hold cardboard firm to prevent slippage.

4. Carefully cut out heart, repeat for all 8 hearts. (Do not discard your small scrap pieces of burlap; we will use them in a future project) 5. Run a line of clear drying glue around the entire edge, carefully pat with finger from the outside in to strengthen the border and prevent fraying. Repeat on each heart. Let dry.

6. Embellish each heart. I cut out letters from contrasting color burlap to add some visual appeal. I also created letters with buttons and wooden tile squares. Let dry.

7. Lay out your pieces side by side leaving some space between each heart and run your Jute along the top. Cut jute to desired size making sure to leave extra space on each side.

8. Loop and knot each end.

9. Position heart over jute overlapping just enough to clip your clothespin onto both. Clip one clothespin on each side.

10. Hang and Enjoy!

Be Creative; add your own style and taste.

Do you Bling? Add some glitter around the edges of the hearts. Embroider your letters. Not into the rustic look? Use a different fabric. Decorate the clothespins, I’ll show you how, on my blog.… Have Fun!

Congratulations to Thomas Fountain! 2014 Georgia Country Male Artist of the Year and Georgia Overall Artist of the Year!

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ell, winter is a comin.

Don’t matter what we do or say, it’s gonna be upon us before long. I’ve always said, the weather is like a woman. You can complain about it all you want and it ain’t gonna change what it is.

When I was growing up, my aunt and uncle seemed to plan their every move using the Almanac they picked up at a local hardware store. I tried to read it once and learn what they were seeing but I couldn’t get it. It talked about the location of the signs. Can’t plant that, it’s in the thighs, don’t do that, it’s in the feet.

Talk about confusing. All I wanted to do was help with their gardening and pick up a few tips. It did tell you if the area you lived would be above the normal temperature or below. It would also list if your area would be wetter or dryer than normal. Pretty much past that, I couldn’t tell you what everything in there meant but my family lived and farmed by it.

Over the years, there have been a lot of prognosticators of the weather.

Everything from that ground hog and his shadow to “rain men” who said they could conjure up rain in a dry town. I remember the story of one such man and one such promise.

He told the town folk, at 12 noon, everyone come out to witness the miracle. Well, noon came and he started his routine. Out of the whole town, only one person brought an umbrella. I guess that says a lot about how much faith they had in this guy. He explained that, because of some cosmic energy problems, his attempts did not work. He left town very soon after that, never to be seen again.

We’ve all heard about watching the animals and bees to divine what will happen. One side says watch the squirrels. If they build low, it’s gonna be a bad winter. Others say keep an eye on the bees and see how and where they build their nests.

This could indicate a bad winter. We

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have all heard of the blackberry winter. It’s that last little cold snap before everything starts warming up.

The other day I read where a guy is predicting a “black squirrel winter”, whatever the heck that is. Just from the sounds of the name, I can picture lots of snow and cold. But really, a black squirrel? I think we should go back to our roots and forget all this foolishness and these fly by night ideas.

Even the weathermen on TV rely on computer models to make their forecasts and if they miss it, yes it happens every once in a while. They just say whoops; we missed that one and just keep on predicting.

I heard a story of an old Indian chief who everyone in the tribe came to for answers. Here, I’ll just let you read the story and you can take it for what it’s worthSince he was a chief in a modern society he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky he couldn't tell what the winter was going to be like. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared. But being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the national weather service and asked, “Is the coming winter going to be cold?" “It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold," the meteorologist at the weather service responded. So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be prepared. A week later he called the national weather service again. “Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?"

The man at national weather service again replied, “Yes, it's going to be a very cold winter." The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find.

Two weeks later the chief called the national weather service again.

“Are you absolutely sure that the

winter is going to be very cold?"

“Absolutely," the man replied. “It's looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters we've ever seen." “How can you be so sure?" the chief asked. The weatherman replied, “The Indians are collecting firewood like crazy!”

Be careful how you ask a question. You might end up stacking wood all year and the need never comes up. Well, I’m gonna go out and find me one of them there Almanacs and see what’s going on.

I’ve got a feeling them signs is in the knees cause mine are about to kill me. I just don’t know what it is I’m not supposed to plant or dig up.

If anybody out there would like to teach an Almanac 101 class, sign me up. I bet we could get a bunch of people in that class. And as for that ground hog, with all those camera lights there, flashing and blinding him, how would he know if he saw his shadow or not?

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“Dogs have no money. They’re broke their entire lives. You know why dogs have no money? No pockets” – Jerry Seinfeld

Makes a 13x10 pizza 2 15oz. cans of black beans 1 pizza crust ( I use the one in the dairy case) 2-3 10in. Soft corn (or flour) tortillas 3/4 c. Canola oil 1 cup Queso Quesadilla cheese shredded 2 Medium tomatoes 1/2 t. Cumin 1/2 t. Garlic powder 1/2 t. Onion powder Cilantro Salt and pepper to taste Simmer black beans, cumin, garlic and onion on medium until liquid is reduced by 1/2. Once black beans are reduced, mash with a potato masher and spread on pizza crust. Add cheese.

Bake pizza. Cut corn or flour tortillas in strips. Heat oil and fry tortillas until crispy. Drain on paper towels. When pizza is done, add chopped tomatoes and cilantro. Cut pizza and serve immediately.

This is so tasty that no one will miss meat. Great for watching the game, dinner for your family, or during the holidays when you want something other than turkey.

Until next issue, enjoy Nan "The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for 30 years she served the family nothing but leftovers.The original meal has never been found."- Calvin Trillin 79

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you makeâ&#x20AC;? - The Beatles