WGL January-February 2016 by Times-Georgian

West Georgia

LiVing January / February 2016

Life . Art . Music . People

Memories of Douglas, Carroll and Haralson counties Plus ... The Reluctant Sailor Beautiful Seascapes The Garden in Winter

$3.95

Vol. 6/Issue 1

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January-February

Features 18

Every generation has their good ol' days - 8 Beautiful Places: McIntosh Reserve Park - 14 Keeping traditions alive in Tallapoosa - 46 A rare chance to fly on a WWII warbird - 50

West Georgia Living

Memories of Haralson County: when going to town was a big event

Scrapbooks of a writer's musical memories contain remembrances of some first things.

PLUS

Looking back to a childhood in Douglas County from an adult's perspective.

2016

January/February 2016

Jesse Bell recalls his service during World War II

A lot has changed in Carroll County, but some things stay the same

On the Cover: A 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, owned by Billy Glover of Villa Rica. Photograph by Ricky Stilley at Little Tallapoosa Park, Carroll County

Come By and Visit Us!

Well, It’s been another cold winter, here for just a little while longer they say, but Spring is really coming, so let’s get our yard and garden ready now that spring is on its way!

Whether you vegetable garden, flower garden, or just love having a beautiful yard, it starts with good soil. The # 1 secret to successful growing is knowing if the PH level is correct and you are providing the proper nutrients. • Have your soil tested to determine what’s needed, lime, fertilizer or specific nutrients, Test your soil at least once a year, ideally in the fall or at least two months before any planting. • Observe the location conditions, morning or afternoon sun, full sun, partial shade, ease of watering, well drained but not too dry, free of rocks, and sunny. There’s nothing like the satisfaction of growing fresh vegetables in your own backyard. • The fun part is deciding what vegetables you would like to grow and eat! Use the vegetable chart below to help decide type, when, and how to plant. Keep this chart for future reference Vegetable type Asparagus Beans, Bush Beans, Pole Beans, Lima Beets Broccoli Cabbage Cantaloupe Carrots Cauliflower Collard Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Kale Lettuce Mustard Okra Onions Peas, Garden Peas, Southern Peppers Potatoes, Irish Potatoes, Sweet Radishes Spinach Squash (Bush) Squash (Winter) Tomatoes Turnip Watermelons

When to plant vegetable seed

Distance in ft. between rows (garden tractor cultivation)

Distance in ft. between rows (hand cultivation)

Distance in inches between plants or hills in row

January 15 to March 15 4-5 3-4 April 1 to May 1 3 2 April 1 to May 1 4 4 April 1 to June 1 3-3 1/2 2-2 1/2 February 15 to April 1 2 1/2 -3 1-2 February 15 to March 15 2 1/2-3 2-3 January 15 to March 15 3 2-2 1/2 March 25 - April 20 5 3-4 January 15 - March 20 2 1/2 -3 1-2 March 1 to April 1 3 2 - 2 1/2 February 1 to March 10 3 2-3 March 12 - June 1 3 2-3 April 1 to May 15 5 3-4 April 1 to May 15 3 2-3 February 1 to March 10 3 1 1/2 -2 January 15 to March 1 2-3 1 1/2 January 15 to April 1 2-3 1-2 April 1 to June 1 3 2-3 January 1 to March 15 2-3 1-2 January 15 to February 15 3 2-3 April 1 to August 1 3 2-3 April 1 to June 1 3 2-3 January 1 to March 1 3 2 1/2 -3 April 15 to June 15 3 2 1/2 -3 January 15 to April 1 2-3 1-1 1/2 January 15 to March 15 2-3 1 1/2 -2 April 1 to May 15 5 3-5 April 1 to August 1 5 3-5 March 25 to May 1 3-5 2 1/2 -3 January 15 to April 1 2 1/2 - 3 1 1/2 - 2 March 20 to May 1 6 4-5 Note: Planting Dates in this chart are appropriate for MIDDLE Georgia.

18 3-6 36-48 12-18 4-6 15-18 18 36-48 3-4 18 18-24 8-9 36-48 24 8-10 8-10 4-6 18-24 3-4 1-3 1-3 18 12 12 2-3 4-8 36-60 36-60 30-36 4-6 36-72

Southern Home & R Ranch Garden Center is getting ready for a wonderful year of gardening and growing, in addition we are now w your local re and pasture Southern States brand independent dealer. We carry a wide selection of the best lawn and garden products along with pond care products, from names you know and trust. Come on by, we can help, talk with our knowledgeable staff, bring your ideas and questions, they will be happy to help you with your gardening, yard, pasture and farming needs, hope to see you soon, your friends at Southern Home & Ranch Garden Center.

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West Georgia

Li Ving Volume 6 . Issue 1 January/February 2016 Publisher Marvin Enderle publisher@times-georgian.com

Editor Ken Denney ken@times-georgian.com

Advertising Melissa Wilson melissa@times-georgian.com

Photographer Ricky Stilley rstilley@times-georgian.com

Design Richard Swihart rswihart@messenger-inquirer.com

Contributors Kitty Barr, Melanie Boyd, Jamie Brown, Bob Coval, Rob Duvé, Mimi Gentry, Josh Sewell, Bob Smith, Molly Stassfort, Mary Tolleson, Marilyn Van Pelt

ABOUT THIS ISSUE Happy New Year! This issue, we’ve asked our writers to take a nostalgic look back to the past; to share with us the kinds of memories we all cherish, times in which we all felt centered and grounded in our lives. Bob Smith revisits the Douglasville and Douglas County of his youth, when downtown was the center of business and Interstate 20 only stretched from Atlanta to Lithia Springs. Jamie Brown recalls some very pleasant memories of growing up in Haralson County, when the most important things was simply being with loved ones. And we return to the Carroll County of the 1960s and early ‘70s, when there was a four-story building on Adamson Square, and downtown was bustling with the kinds of stores that have now moved to the outskirts of town. Mimi Gentry fondly recalls her early

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

FOOD

Tom Nielsen creates 41 beautiful seascapes in his west Georgia studio

Just because it's winter, there's no reason not to have a beautiful garden

TAKE 5 57

Greg Towler, lead pastor of Crossroads Church

Making a memorable event even more so

CINEMA

GARDEN

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We hope you’ll make a resolution to make West Georgia Living part of your lives during this New Year!

A R T I S T' S C O R N E R

West Georgia Living is a bi-monthly publication of the Newspapers of West Georgia.

Direct mail subscriptions to West Georgia Living are available for $24 a year.

But there’s more in this issue. We take a look at the incredible seascapes that painter Tom Neilsen creates in his Carrollton studio. Our resident garden experts tells us how to keep a garden "alive” during the winter, and photographer Ricky Stilley takes us on a photographic tour of McIntosh State Park.

Departments

To advertise in West Georgia Living, call Melissa Wilson at 770-834-6631.

Submissions, photography and ideas may be submitted to Ken Denney c/o The Times-Georgian, 901 Hays Mill Rd., Carrollton, GA 30117.

musical education, when she learned as much about life as how to sing in harmony. And we take a moment to honor Jesse Bell, both for his service to our country during World War II, and for the many memories he has to share of west Georgia. And Rob Duvé takes us back into his own past, with some recipes that evoke some of his fondest food memories.

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Every Generation Has 'Good ol' Days'

henever folks of my generation hear a Bee Gees song, or “Dancing Queen” by Abba, we are nostalgically whisked back to our disco-era high school days. Slightly younger people, hearing cuts from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album, or Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill,” experience the same thing.

when we talk about “nostalgia.” We’re talking about that strange feeling that comes over us when we are looking over old photographs, or reminiscing with old friends. It’s a feeling that’s a mixture of happiness, touched with a bit of regret; a sense of something which is leaving us, eluding our grasp.

Memories of our past make us sigh. They remind us that time is always widening the gulf between then and now. We look into the mirror and see fewer traces of the young person we once were. We long for a return to the days when we were less jaded, less cynical – less knowledgeable – about the world of adulthood.

Nostalgia can be such a strong feeling that we can feel embarrassed, and sometimes make a joke of it.

We complain about fashion standards of today, yet some of us are perfectly aware that we used to go out in public dressed in polyester leisure suits, balanced atop platform shoes. We laugh There’s an old joke that nostalgia isn’t what it with our friends about the music of today, but used to be. Every generation has thought its past we remember that we used to gyrate like Trawas more idyllic than its present, and I’m certain volta under strobe lights. that, years from now, the kids of today will get misty eyed over their childhood back in 2016. We tend to look at our past as through a fog; not seeing things as distinctly as we did then. That’s Sometimes, we look upon the state of the world, nostalgia at work, filtering out those events that and despair. Suddenly we become a caricature made our past so difficult, leaving behind only of an old geezer, haranguing anyone in earshot those memories of when things at least seemed about how things were so much better back in to have been better. our day: You kids don’t appreciate anything. Also, get off my lawn. We forget about the geeky clothes we used to wear, and the way we flummoxed our way Most people are sensible enough not to take through our first date. We don’t remember how remembrances of things past to extremes. Oththings were sometimes tense around the house, ers, however, seem to dwell forever in the past, or the thousands of embarrassments we encounor, more precisely, to seal themselves in a senti- tered learning life’s lessons. What’s left is a hazy, mentalized, ideal past that never existed. pleasant memory of our past. If the harsher realities are remembered at all, they are suffused People who blame modern problems on a genand much less distinct. eralized devolution from old-time standards should, perhaps, re-think their position. Those Nostalgia is a lifeline in an ocean of time which “good old days” they remember weren’t free of seems only to rise and deepen as we get older. problems. There never has been a time when The shoreline of our youth gets ever harder to there weren’t problems in our culture. But that’s not really what we’re talking about 8

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

KEN DENNEY

see, and we strive for glimpses of something familiar in the present. Nostalgia links us to a certain time that may not have been truly ideal, but at least remains forever fixed in our minds. There is a delicate, unknown line between nostalgia and regret. There are always things we should have done, paths we should have taken. But there is no guarantee those untaken paths would have led us to other, better destinations. Regret is an endless circle of ‘what ifs’; nostalgia is a constant home in time. A place that never changes. When I was growing up, I was surrounded by people older than me; folks whose stories of their childhood were fascinating because it seemed to me impossible that they were ever children. The events they talked about were less interesting to me than the fact that they had lived other lives. Now, by some odd process, I have switched places with them. I am now the older person in a sea of younger people. The generation has changed without my knowing it, or even my being aware of it, and there seems fewer people around who share my memory of the past. Instead, there are a lot of young faces out there. They wear stupid clothes and listen to crappy music; they have smart-aleck attitudes and no appreciation for what life has just handed them on a silver platter. Kids today! Well, so be it. They will, someday, be the beneficiaries of a lifetime of memories they have stored, ready to be reviewed in the cold, rainy days of the future. I am pretty sure they will feel as strongly about their past as I do, as my parents did. And they will worry about the kids of their day. Some things, after all, never change. WGL

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Remembering a past t

Despite the incredible set design and visual appeal, "Blade Runner" doesn't hold up on a second viewing. Photo from Warner Bros.

“T

he World’s End,” Edgar Wright’s fantastic sci-fi comedy (which made my Top 10 in 2013), managed to smuggle an important, subversive message within its ostensibly lightweight “high school pals reunite and fight off an alien invasion” plot. A story that begins with a has-been trying to relieve his glory days, ultimately proves to be a cautionary tale about the dangers of nostalgia. Wright’s film argues there’s nothing wrong with holding on to fond memories of the past. What gets us into trouble is when we concoct a rosy version of history that never happened. But all of us are guilty of doing that in some way.

There’s the high school quarterback who still talks about how close his team was to winning the state championship three 10

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

decades ago. Or the sweet, well-meaning aunt who believes there was more family togetherness during Thanksgiving dinners when grandma was still alive. Or the kindly, white-haired neighbor who wishes we still lived in a Mayberry-esque era when we didn’t have to lock our front doors. Of course, the measurements in that football story change by a yard or two every time the quarterback tells it. And that aunt conveniently forgets about all those stressful arguments revolving around politics, burned casseroles, or a cousin who showed up three sheets to the wind. And spending just a couple of minutes researching crime statistics on Google reveals that you were much more likely to get murdered or robbed

STORY BY JOSH SEWELL

in the 1950s than you are today. However, pointing out those inconsistencies destroys illusions that many of us spent a great deal of time constructing for ourselves. Therein lies the problem with nostalgia: we remember something that didn’t exist, and get upset when our current lives can’t match that magical time. Even film critics aren’t immune from this kind of selective amnesia. Like a lot of people, I often think about movies I watched as a kid and wonder why “they don’t make ’em like they used to.” The only problem with that line of thinking? You guessed it: watching some of those movies decades later is a bad idea. Many of them turn out to be downright terrible. So, just in case I haven’t made enough

that never happened Sometimes those movies you thought were great just aren’t worth a second viewing

people mad already, I conducted an experiment: I spent a little time with movies I remember adoring back in the 1980s and 1990s. The good news is that some of them hold up really well. But there are also some cringe-worthy pieces of cinematic nostalgia that fall apart when exposed to the light of present day.

NOT AS GREAT AS I REMEMBERED: “Blade Runner” (1982) Ridley Scott’s bleak sci-fi noir is clearly an important genre work from a visual standpoint, but it’s also not very good. It may be interesting to look at, but the characters are thinly drawn, the plot barely makes sense, and the never-ending stream of new director’s cuts suggests Scott still

doesn’t know what kind of movie he was making.

“Mannequin” (1987) Look, I can’t really defend a movie about an ancient Egyptian princess who gets reincarnated as a department store mannequin and the struggling artist who falls in love with her. All I can say is that, even as a six-year-old boy, I knew Kim Cattrall was a knockout. She’s honestly charming; the late Meshach Taylor is gloriously over-the-top; and there’s some terrific cheesy ’80s pop. Other than that? Yikes. Why the heck is James Spader in this?

“Jumanji” (1995) I think enough time has passed since

Robin Williams’ tragic death that we can remind ourselves he made a lot of bad movies. This was one of them. He’s not bad in it, even though he recycles a lot of the man-child stuff he incorporated into “Hook” a few years earlier (another movie that hasn’t aged well). But he doesn’t show up until almost the halfway point, and then he’s constantly upstaged by terrible CGI. The two kids barely have any character traits and the story is far darker that you may remember. Worst of all, it has one of those annoying endings that completely invalidates everything you just sat through. “Independence Day” (1996) Yes, it made Will Smith a gigantic movie star. But the story is nonsensical, the special effects are painfully dated and the bloated running time could be drastically shortened January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

"Gremlins" are just as cute and cuddly 31 years later. Photo from Warner Bros. "Now that's what I call a close encounter." Awesome quotes don't make an awesome movie. Photo from 20th Century Fox by eliminating a handful of unnecessary characters.

“Space Jam” (1996) I know that this one is revered by millennials, and I get it. Watching history’s greatest basketball player team up with Bugs Bunny and pals must sound like heaven to a kid. Even I had the VHS tape. But have you watched it lately? There’s a reason Michael Jordan wasn’t in more movies after this. It’s fun to watch Bill Murray ham it up with animated greats for a while, but it gets old sooner than you’d expect. When rumors surfaced that Warner Bros. was interested in updating the movie with LeBron James, many twenty-somethings acted like they were remaking “Casablanca.” I say bring it on. At least “Trainwreck” proved James can act.

HOLDS UP: “Gremlins” (1984) The day before Halloween, my 12

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

five-year-old daughter was home sick from school and asked to watch a creepy movie. I popped in Joe Dante’s devilish tribute to old-school monster movies and we both had a blast. It’s easy to tell the creatures are puppets in this era of photorealistic CGI, but that contributes to the movie’s charm. Howie Mandel’s voice work and Jerry Goldsmith’s classic

theme song add to its staying power. You know what else holds up? The movie’s underrated 1990 sequel, which is basically a live-action cartoon.

“The Terminator” (1984) You’d never know it from the increasingly

"Big Trouble in Little China" has attained a cult status. Photo from 20th Century Fox

terrible sequels, but James Cameron’s time-travel horror flick – which transformed Arnold Schwarzenegger into the world’s biggest action star – still works like gangbusters. It’s scary, sad and boasts terrific performances across the board. Want to get depressed? Watch this and last summer’s abysmal “Terminator Genisys” back-to-back. How the mighty have fallen.

“Big Trouble in Little China” (1986) I unabashedly love John Carpenter’s genre-defying comedy. Even though it bombed at the box office, the movie has developed a cult following over the last 20 years. It’s smart, hilarious and sly in how it reveals that main character Jack Burton

isn’t the hero, even though he’s played by Kurt Russell. Instead, he’s the hero’s goofy sidekick with delusions of grandeur. Want proof? Check out how Russell spends the entire movie doing a glorious John Wayne impression.

“The Sandlot” (1993) Most movies about kids seem like they’re written by people who’ve never met a child in their entire lives. Not this one. The characters talk, act and think like real preteen boys, particularly the way they naively believe they’re almost adults. Throw in the baseball narrative, the 1960s time period and a terrific soundtrack, and this is one childhood favorite I’m not ashamed to admit I still love.

“Clueless” (1995) Amy Heckerling’s modern update of Jane Austen’s “Emma” boasts one of those casts that looks astounding in hindsight. Like “The Outsiders,” “Dazed and Confused” or “10 Years,” practically everyone in the movie went on to become a big star. Even though the fashion, technology and slang might be outdated, the story, memorable characters and witty social commentary keeps the comedy watchable two decades later. The film also serves as indisputable proof that Paul Rudd is a vampire. There’s no way a normal human being still looks exactly the same in 2016 as he did in 1995. WGL

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West Georgia Living

McIntosh

RESERVE PARK

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

Named for the Creek leader William McIntosh, this 527-acre park in southern Carroll County is set alongside the Chattahoohee River. The park is a favorite of hikers and equestrian riders, and is open year round, except for major holidays. The park can be reached by US Alternative 27 from Carrollton and Newnan, or Georgia Highway 5 from Douglasville.

PHOTOS BY RICKY STILLEY January/February January/February2016 2016 West WestGeorgia GeorgiaLiving Living 15 15

There are a number of trails and paths in the park that would satisfy most any hiker. The Chattahoochee River winds its way along the edge of the park, marking the border between Carroll and Coweta counties.

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

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Christmas time, 1960, at the Economy Auto store in Douglasville.

Growing up in

Douglas County 18

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

A Slower Time, A Smaller Town A

nyone who was living in Douglasville in January 1956 remembers the day that I was born. Not because of me – but because it was the day the old county courthouse burned to the ground.

As my mom told the story, she woke in the wee hours of the morning to hear the sound of a wailing siren. Back then, the city’s volunteer fire department was called to action from an air raid-like alarm mounted on the roof of the old police station at the corner of Church and Bowden streets. My parent’s next door neighbor was a volunteer firefighter, and Mother said when she heard his car door slam and then race off up Campbellton Street, she knew he was headed to fight a fire. At that moment, she went into labor. Dad and Mother got up, loaded into their car and began heading for Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta. Along the way, they drove up town to see what was going on. According to her description, the multi-story, turn-of-thecentury Douglas County Courthouse was engulfed in flames and was falling to the ground. I was born later that day. In the 18 months that followed, a new building replaced the courthouse. Today, that same building is known as the Old Courthouse Museum, and the county’s new center of government is located away from downtown, on Hospital Drive. My remembrances of growing up in Douglasville are the memories of both a child, and as an adult approaching 60 years of age. I am sure those who have lived here longer can tell more interesting stories, but it’s interesting how a person’s perspective on the past changes over time. I realized that when I read how Harper Lee’s new-found novel, “Go Set a Watchman,” complements her earlier book, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” An adult’s reckoning of his or her past can

The Hamrick family opened a great hamburger drive in restaurant named the “Tiger's Den.” To us, it was hamburger and french fry heaven and a real American story of a restaurant being named after high school football champions. Where else does that happen today? contrast with the purest memories created through a child’s eye. One of my first memories is from around 1960; I don’t know exactly. But I remember when the community was called to come to the Health Department to take the new polio vaccine. I'd never seen that many people lined up at one time. O'Neal Drug Co. pharmacist, Glenn Boggs, was saturating sugar cubes with a drop of Jonas Salk's miracle vaccine from an eye dropper. Being a little kid, I thought it was great to stand in line for a sugar cube. I didn't have any understanding that I was about to be saved from one of the world's most infamous diseases. My dad was a business owner in downtown Douglasville. In those days, downtown was the mercantile center of the world for many Douglas County residents. His business had a couple of different names, but through the

STORY AND PHOTOS BY BOB SMITH

1950s and into the 1960s, he sold General Electric appliances. During the Christmas season, he would stock the store with all kinds of toys, including tricycles, and bicycles. He would stay open on certain nights for families to come in and look over all the Christmas merchandise. Back in the 50's and 60's, almost all Douglasville merchants closed for a half day on Wednesday and opened a half day on Saturday mornings. Those business hours were based on the old farming traditions. To make a full, 40-hour week, stores opened on Saturday mornings so farmers could come into downtown to get their shopping done. Compare that to today's retail giants that are almost on 24/7 cycle, and doing business on Thanksgiving. I have fond memories of business people in downtown during this era. Dr. W. S. O'Neal was a gem of a man. During the Christmas season, Dr. O'Neal hired a sidewalk Santa to stand on the corner of Price Avenue and Bankhead Highway. Santa was a fixture on the corner for many years. At one time, my dad's Economy Auto store was next to O'Neal Drug Store. On the other side was Mansour's Clothing. The owner, Mike Mansour, was also a wonderful person. He was of Lebanese- Christian descent and when I visited my dad's store on Saturday mornings, Mike always gave me a piece of candy and asked me if I was going to Sunday school the next morning. Mike and his brother, Abe, lived in the Grant Park community of Atlanta. They drove to Douglasville every day, and since Interstate 20 wasn't complete, I have to wonder what their commute was like. To get to Atlanta, folks would have to take either Bankhead Highway or Highway 166. The Highway 166 route went to West End, and my parents always went that way because my mom had January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

A Douglas County road crew works on the driveway of the Douglas County High School, circa 1964

family in that part of Atlanta. For a long time, I-20 didn’t reach all the way to the Alabama line; it ended at Highway 5. On the west side of the Highway 5 bridge, there was a wall of dirt as high – if not higher – than the road surface of the bridge. Maybe I should call it a cliff. In the years that followed, that cliff became the spot for weekend motorcycle hill climbing competitions. You could drive by most any Saturday afternoon and watch people trying to climb this mammoth wall of earth on their machines; a real sight to behold.

Just as today, high School football was king, and that year the Tigers were poised to take it all. When the team’s championship drive ended with taking the state high school title, it was a cultural phenomenon; a reason for the Douglas County community to rally together and take pride in the team.

The author's father, R.L. Smith, in a 1960 advertisement photo.

Our family attended the First Methodist Church. Back then, the First Methodist Church was located on the site of the new Douglasville Conference Center.

down, and along with it went a piece of paradise.

The old church building was a wonderful turn-of-the-century piece of architecture. I would have liked for it to have been preserved, but in the early 1970s the city bought the property for a city parking lot. The old church. The old church was torn

The big sporting news for Douglas County in 1964 was the Douglas County High School Tiger football team. Douglas County High was the county's only high school built, and it had opened back in 1936 under President Roosevelt's WPA program.

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

It was around then that the Hamrick family opened a great hamburger drive in restaurant named the “Tiger's Den.” To us, it was hamburger and french fry heaven and a real American story of a restaurant being named after high school football champions. Where else does that happen today? July 4th in 1960's was a holiday celebration like no other – at least from a child’s perspective. The parade rolled slowly through downtown along Bankhead Highway, with an armada of clowns, flowery floats, politicians in convertibles (some things never change) and National Guard tanks. The end of the parade was always Mr. Mac Abercrombie and his cavalry of horses

and riders. The parade would turn left at Rose Avenue, then take a right on Pinecrest Drive straight into Hunter Memorial Park. In those days, the Gurly Road entrance didn’t exist, so the Pinecrest entrance was the main entrance into the park. Once at Hunter Park, the next round of celebration started with a plate of barbecue and a real glass, 6 ½ ounce bottle of Coca Cola. There was really something about the taste of the barbecue, and I really don't think I have tasted any like it since those days. The next part of the celebration was taking a ride on the miniature steam train that traveled around the lake. It was an actual coal-fired steam engine that rolled around a track that is still in place at Hunter Park. As a young boy who loved trains, it was an extraordinary experience to ride around the lake, listening to the chug of the steam engine, and the whistle blowing. The whole celebration was an iconic piece of Americana.

••• When I was growing up in Douglasville, it was just a small dot of a community in the Atlanta area. Most Atlanta residents had never heard of Douglasville in those days, and I don't remember ever hearing the town included in what everyone described as the “metro area.” Douglasville was like many other surrounding communities, like Bremen and Carrollton; islands unto themselves. Being so isolated, it seems to us now that there was a mystique about the place, like some fictional dream world. In fact, my sister and I joke about “our years in Mayberry.” Mayberry was fictional, but it seemed like a good place. So was Douglasville. WGL

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Growing up in

Haralson County

Historic Haralson County Courthouse with Aunt Bonnie's Plymouth Fury parked outside.

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

When life was all about going uptown and listening in on the party line

can still remember the smell of homemade biscuits and meat cooking on the grill at the Corner Café in Buchanan.

we would then stop by Howard Carroll’s service station to pick up a little something.

It was a treat to stop by for breakfast and to Going to Town see all our friends and neighbors. Afterward, my family and I always went next door to Ms. Ruby Perry’s Aunt Bonnie and Aunt Sue with their dime store. What more could homemade dresses and crocheted a girl ask than a home-cooked boggins, or hats. meal and a trip to the dime store? Growing up on the outskirts of Buchanan, a “trip to town” could be an all-day adventure, especially since my Aunt Bonnie Dean only drove her shiny, black Plymouth Fury about 30 miles an hour. I can still see the trail of cars behind us as Aunt Bonnie held tight to the steering wheel. Uncle Bud and I just took it all in. He was blind and couldn’t see the line of cars that had backed-up down Highway 120, but I bet he knew why those horns were beeping. Aunt Bonnie didn’t believe in breaking the speed limit, and she really didn’t have a reason to. As long as we got home by 6 p.m. to catch the weather update, life was good. Our trip to town always included the grocery store and the feed store; that’s what we called the place where we bought the feed for our chickens, dogs, and cats. It’s where Salon 27 is located now. I can remember Tab Wills or Louis Garner loading up the trunk of the car before we headed off; chances are

STORY AND PHOTOS BY JAMIE BROWN

Living in the county sometimes meant you had to make your own fun. Pa was good at that; he and Filmore Poole were the best coon-hunting buddies; a perfect Friday or Saturday night was spent listening to the dogs run. The prize was seeing them tree a coon, and I remember how sad it was to lose a good coon dog. It was like losing your best friend.

Sometimes we would circle back to town for Uncle Bud to visit Forest Kiser at the Barber Shop. I heard his nickname was “Slingblade.” Uncle Bud would sit in the big barber chair in the middle of the shop, and I would sit on a long wooden bench and watch Mr. Kiser trim Uncle Bud’s hair. It was a good place to hear a lot of chatter; it’s surprising how much guys talk at the barber shop. By the time we got done with all this it was nearly lunchtime. We would sometimes venture on to Tallapoosa to get something at the Burger Chick, and that usually also meant a stop at Lipham’s Department Store. This was the only place close to us that sold SAS shoes, and Aunt Bonnie said those were the best shoes for her tired feet. I can still see them now: black leather shoes with laces, nothing fancy like we have today. But back in the 1970’s those were something special. As we made the journey back home, I sat in the back of the car, but I leaned forward, putting my head right between Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Bud. The Fury had an AM radio, and we kept it tuned in to the local stations and we always listened to the “Tradeline” radio show. Our favorite part of the show was the giveaways. When a caller got a free turkey, or two tickets to Six Flags, it was like winning the lottery. You might have called dozens of times, getting a busy signal each time. But all that effort finally paid off when you were the right caller. Then there was the WKNG birthday club. Uncle Bud, although he was blind, was handy with the phone. He won more than a few prizes, and it seemed someone in my family always won the birthday club. We would anxiously wait to hear our name called out on the radio. Just the sound of my January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

good. It reminded me of chicken.

Bud put in their order for a few things. Everyone also had a gas man, too. When Scott Treadwell pulled up in the big gas truck, he would always say hello to me as I was playing in the yard. That’s the same yard I still blame for a scar on my right knee. I should really blame my father; the training wheels he had put on my new Blue Bonnet Bike suddenly come off. For some reason, he had chosen Aunt Bonnie’s dirt driveway as a training ground for me. Guess he was trying to make me tough. If so, he did a good job, because it worked!

Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw in their Sunday best, with the author. name and knowing I had won the birthday club was the grandest thing to me.

In the Summertime Life was simple back then. Our summertime fun was found just up the road at the Buchanan City Park, which is now known as Veteran’s Park. It was the place to be when I was growing up in the 70’s. I can remember the cars parked across the grass, and on the weekends there was not an empty spot to be found I remember taking swimming lessons there for years. My best memory is winning a dance contest when I was about 10 years-old and the prize that day was a Sunkist T-Shirt. I had a big smile when I put on that big shirt – the free ones were never my size. The pool was always full, and the diving board! Oh, it looked like you were jumping from the sky. I took a fall from it one time when I was on a Girl Scout field trip. All I remember was looking back to talk to a friend, and the next thing I knew I was laid out on the deck, mom standing over me. I know she was a nervous wreck when she got the call I had fallen. I bet Aunt Bonnie put the Fury in the wind that day. In those days, everyone had a milk man. Summertime was special, because I would get chocolate milk while Aunt Bonnie and 24

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

I sure loved that bike. It had a little basket on the front and I thought that little basket could hold the world. I bet a lot of the other kids I saw riding up and down the road felt the same way about their bikes. It was a time when you could let your kids run free. I certainly felt like a free bird riding in my grandpa T-Dean’s old Ford Truck. A trip to the store at Corinth was something I looked forward to. He used to tell my mom, if you spent too much time with Jamie, you will have to buy all three meals. That holds true today. Pa’s beat-up Ford took him a many a miles, and I bet a lot of you rode along with him.

Cooked Squirrel and the Party Line Living in the county sometimes meant you had to make your own fun. Pa was good at that; he and Filmore Poole were the best coon-hunting buddies; a perfect Friday or Saturday night was spent listening to the dogs run. The prize was seeing them tree a coon, and I remember how sad it was to lose a good coon dog. It was like losing your best friend. My grandpa taught many young men, including my father, all there ever was to know about coon-hunting. My grandma (he called her Shorty) knew how to cook everything he caught, and that included squirrel and rabbit. I remember sitting down to a table full of biscuits and gravy with a little squirrel or rabbit on the side. People would probably go hungry these days if that was on the table, and I can only imagine what they would say about possum or turtle. I remember possum was pretty greasy, but turtle tasted

Uncle Bud in his signature black glasses, Liberty overalls, and black hat.

and said we’ll get him.

Fishing was another favorite pasttime. I remember how I cried when a giant catfish took my rod and reel – and nearly me – in the lake. My daddy just smiled

Time spent with family was the best recreation we had. You sure didn’t have to worry about missing a phone call. But if you wanted to make a call, you would have to wait your turn if you had a party line. The party line was my Aunt Sue’s idea of a fun-filled Friday night. She would pick up the phone to listen to all the latest gossip. I must admit I was pretty anxious to hear it too. At Christmas, I would sing carols on the square and I remember my Maw-Maw Brown would always be there to see me, her hair fixed just right. Those were the days when women went to the beauty shop once a week to get their hair set. I think my Aunt Jean still does. I can still remember seeing Maw-Maw wrap her hair up with toilet paper at night so it wouldn’t get messed up as she slept. PawPaw Brown always had his hair slicked back and his Florsheim shoes on. I don’t ever remember him and Maw-Maw not looking like they weren’t dressed for Sunday dinner. ••• I could spend all day talking about Sunday dinners, or weekday suppers at Uncle Ray, Aunt Jean, and cousin Gary’s house. I was always up for a free meal. My favorite saying has always been “leave a place better than you found it.” That’s the lesson taught to me by all these wonderful people, a legacy that lives on today - and into tomorrow. WGL

A shoe shop in TALLAPOOSA

In this photo, dated 1918, C.F. Johnson, left, works with his son, H.T. Johnson. Photo courtesy of the Johnson family.

Keeping a tradition for 115 years When Tallapoosa was a

booming city in 1896, Carl Fritz Johnson brought his young family south for a better life and to grow grapes.

A 1942 photo showing H.T. Johnson, left, with his father, C.F. Johnson. Photo courtesy of the Johnson family.

The town in Haralson County was the subject of something of a land rush at the end of the 19th Century. Promoters in the town ran advertisements in many northern newspapers, touting Tallapoosa as an ideal place for those who wanted to create a new future for themselves in the post-Civil War South. Johnson, who had immigrated to America from Sweden in 1886, had settled in Worcester, Mass., and had found work in a shoemaking factory. The boom town of Tallapoosa offered a new life for him, so he bought a vineyard – sight unseen – from the Georgia Fruit Growers and Winery association of Tallapoosa.

complete. In the meantime, Johnson had to make a living for his family – so he returned to his old trade of shoemaking. He opened Johnson’s Shoe Shop in 1900, located downstairs in a building at the corner of what is now Highway 78 and Alewine Avenue. Johnson’s oldest son, Helmer, joined his father in the business and together they ran the shop until the senior Johnson’s death in 1956. Helmer continued the business until his own death in 1962.

But when the train pulled into the station, there were no vineyards. Mostly there was only red clay hills. Still, Johnson and his family were prepared to make a go of things. They planted some grapevine cuttings and began to cultivate them, a process that would take years to

STORY BY MARY TOLLESON

Helmer’s son, David, had learned the trade with his father and grandfather, but chose not to pursue shoemaking as his main career. When the shop closed, however, he moved the machinery to a small shop on his property and continues fixing shoes, but only on a limited basis. Today, a replica of Johnson’s Shoe Shop can be seen at the West Georgia Museum in Tallapoosa. WGL January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

Cathy Fontenot

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Growing up in

Carroll County

Aerial view of Newnan Street in Carrollton during the 1940s shows several buildings that no longer exist, including the Carroll Theater (second building right of the old courthouse) and the Crape Myrtle Hotel (right of First Baptist Church.) Photo courtesy of the Carroll County Historical Society. January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

Southwestern quadrant of Adamson Square in the 1960s. The Beall Building, center, is now home to Gallery Row Coffee. Photo courtesy Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections, Ingram Library, University of West Georgia

The Carroll County you remember is still there, if you look hard enough

was born the year that the Braves won the World Series. Not those Braves, and not that World Series; it was the team from Milwaukee that beat the Yankees in October, 1957.

clear in memory. I am not alone; a good many of us living here remember buildings and places that have long since given way to “progress.” For us, the old Carroll County is still there, if only in shadow; a ghost that only we can see.

Eisenhower was president, Sputnik was orbiting the earth, and the United States flag had only 48 stars. The population of Carroll Same old buildings, different names County was only 36,000, less than a third of what it is today. There was no McDonalds. If you go up to the square in Carrollton, you People had to get out of their chair to answer will see a lot of nice shops and restaurants. the phone, or to change channels on the TV. When I’m there, I see the same things – but I also see stores and businesses that are no It was a long, long time ago. longer there; places that used to exist in those same buildings. Events in the wide world outside Carroll County were barely perceptible to those When I was growing up, the square seemed who grew up here in the 1960s and 1970s. much busier than it is today. This was before We vicariously experienced the cataclysmic the shopping centers and the big-box stores deaths of two Kennedys and Martin Luther that now exist on the edge of town. Back King Jr. (the equivalent of three 9-11s within then, the only place to shop was either on a five-year period.) Television brought us the the square, or the four streets that radiate jowly face of Richard Nixon and the drawn from its center. out Watergate saga. Family members were in harm’s way in Vietnam, but other world Alabama Street has completely changed. events were far removed from the small Most of my generation remember the bus rural community we knew. depot and Coca-Cola bottling plant that once I lived in a different Carroll County than exists today, yet that older version remains 28

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

STORY BY KEN DENNEY

stood on the site of the Carrollton Cultural Arts Center. Across the street, in the triangle formed by Maple and Alabama streets, was a block of buildings dominated by Griffin’s Department Store. Not far away, on the north side of Alabama, was the original site of the Belk-Rhodes Department store, and, right beside that, the long gone Empire Five-and-Ten Cent store. There’s a parking garage there now. But the biggest change on the square is what everyone used to call the People’s Bank building. Today, it is the well-appointed offices of West Georgia Technical College; a two-story building at the northwest corner of Alabama Street. But when it was the People’s Bank, it was four stories. Before structural issues caused it to be whittled down in the early 1980s, it was the tallest building downtown. Each Christmas season, it was the scene of Carrollton’s version of the “Lighting of the Great Tree” – which actually was only a metal pole with strings of lights attached. Elsewhere on the square was the Carrollton Hardware Company, now the site of Elle Salon on the Square. McGee’s Bakery was on the southwest corner of Bradley Street, now Plates restaurant. And there was the

department stores: The Leader, The Hub and The Globe. My memories of these places are frozen from the late 60s and early 70s; other people remember other stores that preceded these.

The earlier generation Most of the people who grew up in Carroll County are descended from farm families; that’s no surprise, since it has only been the past few decades that the county has transitioned from an agricultural economy to one based on commerce and industry. That transition was more than a shift in how people earned money; it provided a stable source of income. In my grandparents’ day, a family’s income depended on unpredictable farming seasons. A steady, reliable income meant that my generation could afford a better education. None of my grandparents had much in the way of formal education.

would take my brother and me around to see relatives or friends of theirs. These older people had lived a life I could not comprehend. I was used to watching TV and going to school; these grey-haired people had known very little but hard work and living at the whim of the seasons. I wish that I had paid more attention during those visits. I wish that I had paid more attention, period.

Growing up in Rocky Mount I was raised in a part of Carroll County that thankfully has not changed much in over a century. It is so rural that it still has a dirt road. It is a place steeped with my family’s personal history; so much so, that all my memories of growing up here are focused on that place. It’s where I live today.

It was my grandfather’s land, located in a community then known as Rocky Mount, near My mother’s parents, Archie Emmaus Primitive Baptist The four-story former People's Bank Building is now the Church. My father, his three and Annie Truitt, were both two-story office for West Georgia Technical College. Photo brothers and two sisters born in what was then called the Mandeville community, were raised there, part of an courtesy of Carrollton Main Street. extended family of uncles just south of Bowdon Junction. and aunts that still today When the Truitts married in My father’s parents, Lewis Garvey Denney 1922, she was four years older than he. For range across most of the southern part of and Susie Mae Shadinger were married in a long time, he was a sharecropper, farming the county; over time, we have become 1914. They had six children who survived other people’s land. Then he got a job with intertwined with dozens of other families. to adulthood. Another boy drowned in an Sewell in Bremen. They had a son, but he accident on the farm; another son died lived only one day after birth. My mom was My mom was from the northwestern part a month after being born – four days, in born in 1926. of the county, and her family lived in the fact, after my grandmother, who died of area centered on Pleasant View Church. complications from that birth. She was only For much of her teenage years, she and Families tended to be large in those days, 34 years old. my Truitt grandparents lived in Bowdon not only because help was needed on the Junction. When I was young, both my grandfathers farm, but also because children died early.

From left, Annie and Archie Truitt, L.G. and Susie Mae Denney, G.M. Denney, Doris Truitt Denney January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

My mom graduated from Mount Zion high school just at the end of World War II. My father served in the Navy during the war; in fact, all my uncles went to sea, a strange branch of service for farm boys. All the Denney brothers came back from the war safe and sound, and Navy life shaped my father’s personal philosophy thereafter.

Carrollton of today began to evolve. During those years, both the West Georgia Shopping Center came into existence, as did First Tuesday Mall, out past Lake Carroll. It was then that chain stores and restaurants began to appear alongside the businesses of local merchants. Some old stores and eating places began to disappear, but there are plenty of people who have fond memories centered on those establishments that came after.

My parents met on a blind date at the Green Front restaurant, which used to stand on Bradley Street across from the railroad depot. They married in January 1951. My dad worked at Lawler Hosiery mill on Bradley, then got a job at a new thing in town called Southwire. My mom was a bookkeeper and worked at many places, many of them car dealerships. When I and my brother were born, we lived in Bowdon Junction. In 1962, however, we moved down to the farm where my father grew up and built a house on some of my grandfather’s land. Not long after, my mother’s parents bought the adjacent farm. For my brother and I, this only meant that we had the biggest backyard we could have imagined.

No video games, no remote controls

••• The trap about nostalgia for the past is that it creates a sanitized remembrance of the past. I am very much aware that when I was growing up in Carroll County, racial segregation was very much in force. And I know that there were other people who suffered indignities from the mores of the time, including women, whose choice of careers were limited to those of nursing, being a secretary or being a housewife. The past was not perfect. The Carroll Theater stood on the south side of Newnan Street near the square, just west of where the new county courthouse stands today. This is an image from 1937. Photo courtesy Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections, Ingram Library, University of West Georgia

It seems to me that my brother and I lived an idyllic, Tom Sawyer-like existence, running through the woods, building forts, playing baseball, etc. In many ways, that lifestyle seems anachronistic now, devoid as it was from what kids do today: playing video games and being immersed in the tiny screens of smartphones. Many of my childhood adventures were in partnership with a mixed breed dog named Snoopy, who had been born on the farm. She was a very loyal dog and put up with a lot of indignities imposed on her by a rambunctious boy. 30

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

I went to Central High School, back when it was a combined elementary, junior high and high school. When I graduated in 1975, I had spent my entire education in that one building, and almost none of the original structure is left today. I sincerely appreciate all the work my teachers put into educating me, even the mean ones. They had a lot to do, with a lot fewer resources than are available today. The Carrollton I knew as a teenager has all but disappeared. When Park Street was widened from near Southwire northward, we referred to it as “the four-lane,” and it was along that stretch of road that the

But the gratifying part of my nostalgic reveries is that much of the best parts of my past remain. Highway 27 is wider now, but it still meanders south down past Roopville. The countryside is still there with its many trees, rolling pastures and open skies. After living away from Carrollton for so many years, the town that I have returned to is still pretty much intact, still pretty much the same. When I was growing up here, I felt impatient to get away. Now I realize that I never feel nostalgic about all the other places I have lived, or all the other things I have done. Only Carroll County can make me feel this way. WGL

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January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

Remembrances of

FIRST THINGS

rdinarily, I don’t dwell too much on the past. As I travel through life, I’d rather look out the windshield than in the rearview mirror. But when it comes to music, I must admit that I like to drift back. And it’s not hard to do. Music is like a powerful time machine that takes me back to my own treasure trove of “firsts.” They’re all there – in my scrapbooks. I started compiling them in the 6th grade when I first joined concert choir. Every artifact of my musical history was squirreled away: concert programs, photos of musicals, brightly colored All State medals. All of these are encased in brittle plastic covers, as fragile as dragonfly wings. Turning the pages reveals many firsts:

First Time Moved to Tears by Beauty Mr. Kicklighter was our choir director from grades 6-12. It was his personal mission to expose his students to a wide range of musical experiences, so he was always pulling out wonderful music, like rabbits out of a hat. One day he handed out “O Magnum Mysterium.” It was a piece written in the 1500’s by Thomas Luis Victoria about the miracle of the birth of Christ. We began to sight-read through it. It was haunting and dark, like the time before the dawn. It was in Latin, so I didn’t understand the words. I just floated on the sound. And

STORY BY MIMI GENTRY PHOTOS BY RICKY SILLEY

as our pure young voices sang those ancient harmonies, it raised the hair on the back of my neck. I wept, moved to tears by the sheer beauty of it.

First Pursuit of Excellence Mr. Kicklighter was a hard taskmaster and only accepted our best efforts. Laziness sent him into a fury, and he was known to stomp out of the room if we were giving it less than our best. His kids responded to this, though; we watched his hands in rapt attention as he moved us together through the musical landscapes of Bach, Faure, and Copeland. Some of the students worked hard enough to make it to All State Choir. Then it got really January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

“Sound of Music.” Mr. Kicklighter imported a professional director, Susan King, to wrestle the unruly mob of teenagers into placid nuns. Susan made notes for everybody. The other day, I read mine for the first time since 1981. She spoke to me like I was an adult – no sugar coating. I was surprised, as I made my way through the spidery handwriting and yellowed pages, at just how frank she had been with me. And I’m glad she was. I recognize now that was the beginning of stagecraft that would serve me for the rest of my life

excellent – singing with the best choral singers in the state, singing best choral works of all times. Working like that gave me a thirst for excellence that I carry with me to this day.

First Time Scared To Death During performances, I’ve learned to maintain a calm exterior. But I assure you, standing up in front of people and singing never gets easy. Underneath, I have a thundering herd of butterflies wreaking havoc on my digestive system. This is nothing new, but I remember clearly the first time it happened. It was at All State Choir auditions. I’d never auditioned before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I remember waiting in the hallway with the rest of the Carrollton kids. I remember the smell of Pine-Sol disinfectant coming from the freshly mopped floor. I remember feeling completely at ease, wondering what the big deal was all about – until I stepped inside the classroom and was standing in front of the judges. Then it felt like I’d hit the first hill of the Scream Machine. My stomach dropped, leaving me defenseless before them.

First Nemesis Her name was Phyllis. She was in drama (not a Kicklighter Kid). She was a great singer and I was naturally jealous. But ordinarily we moved in different worlds, so she didn’t pose a threat to me. Then came the Kiwanis Scholarship Competition. She beat me fair and square and I was

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

First Kiss

devastated. Turns out, the Kiwanis were right. Phyllis went on to be a pro singer in New York City. After nursing that grudge many years, I met her again at our 30th reunion. Turns out she’s a lovely person and my nemesis has become my good friend.

First Constructive Criticism Our senior year, we performed the

Here’s the thing. In the “Sound of Music,” Maria kisses Captain von Trapp. That meant I had to kiss somebody. I was petrified. I had prior physical contact with boys; I had slugged plenty of them (only when duly provoked). But I had never kissed a boy. I went from that no-starter to kissing the Senior Quarterback of Carrollton High School – he was playing von Trapp in the show). After opening night, I actually had two girls ask me (you know who you are) what it was like to kiss him. I can’t remember what I told them, but I do recall that kissing a boy for the first time was surprisingly soft, like the velvet of a pony’s lips. Music has given me so much- and continues to do so to this day. I am eternally grateful to Mr. Kicklighter and to the school board that had the insight of creating a music program that would challenge all of us, making us better students, better musicians – and, ultimately, better kissers. WGL

Tanner Health System

Get Healthy, Live Well is Battling Back Against Diabetes

and classes to help residents keep their disease under control. One of the largest programs is Living Well with Diabetes, which was developed by Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., to help people with diabetes live healthier, happier lives.

he way we live is killing us.

West Georgia continues to experience higher rates than the rest of the nation of residents who are obese and report sedentary lifestyles, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. Both of these factors raise the risk of developing diabetes — but both are also within our means to control.

“It gives people a new perspective on their diagnosis and helps them realize that it’s not the worst thing that can happen,” said Jamie Brandenburg, a chronic disease outreach coordinator at Tanner. “It’s all about learning to manage the disease and still being able to live the life you want to live.”

Beginning in January and running throughout the year, Tanner Health System’s Get Healthy, Live Well initiative is working to take diabetes head-on, with a range of programs designed to teach people to control their diabetes and reduce their risk of potentially catastrophic complications from the disease — and better to avoid developing it altogether. “Most of the risks for developing diabetes are linked to lifestyle behaviors that can be changed to prevent the onset of the disease or help people live healthy, active lives despite the disease,” said Denise Taylor, senior vice president of community health and chief brand officer for Tanner. “We’ve seen firsthand that you can really have an impact on diabetes and on people’s lives through efforts that help them live a healthier life.” Diabetes is one of a sundry of chronic diseases that Get Healthy, Live Well is working to address, but it’s also one that carries special importance because of its prevalence, and the potentially devastating effects it can have on an individual’s health if not properly controlled. Without proper management, diabetes increases the risk for blindness, amputation, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke and more.

The program teaches participants about what diabetes means for their bodies and explores various treatment options. It also covers the importance of healthy eating and exercise — behaviors that are essential not only to preventing type 2 diabetes, but to controlling it as well.

the disease. The events also helped screen for other health problems, such as hypertension. Another step Get Healthy, Live Well is taking to fight back against diabetes is through the Diabetes Prevention Program. An estimated 79 million Americans — including nearly 40,000 adults in Carroll, Haralson and Heard counties — have pre-diabetes, a dangerous condition that puts them at elevated risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The evidence-based lifestyle change program was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and One way Get Healthy, Live Well is working against Prevention (CDC) to help people cut their risk of developing type 2 diabetes in half. Participants — the effects of diabetes is by reaching out to many of whom are pre-diabetic or at high risk for residents who are at greater risk for developing developing diabetes — strive to lose 7 percent of diabetes, such as African-Americans, who studies their body weight and get 150 minutes of physical show are genetically inclined toward developing diabetes. Research has shown that African-Americans activity a week. are also more like to suffer complications from Get Healthy, Live Well brought the Diabetes diabetes than other groups. Prevention Program to west Georgia in January 2014. Since then, the program has helped almost Get Healthy, Live Well has built partnerships with 230 residents from Carroll, Haralson and Heard a number of area churches. Antioch Missionary counties lose almost 2,000 pounds of weight, Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Bowdon, slashing their risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, Piney Another 44 participants lost between 5 to 7 Grove Missionary Baptist Church and Word of percent of their body weight and 15 have lost Truth Christian Church have all hosted health events with Get Healthy, Live Well to help educate more than 10 percent. parishioners. These events provide information And for residents who do have diabetes, Tanner on the risk factors for type 2 diabetes and offer and Get Healthy, Live Well offer a host of programs education to reduce the likelihood of developing

“Not only do you learn the importance of controlling and monitoring blood glucose levels, but you also learn how to detect and treat certain complications,” said Brandenburg, who has traveled to Stanford and been certified as an instructor and master trainer for the course. According to Taylor, helping residents control chronic diseases such as diabetes is going to become the focus of even more healthcare organizations in the years to come. “What we’re doing in west Georgia is truly unique, and we’re monitoring our outcomes closely because we expect it to serve as a model for other rural hospitals throughout the country,” said Taylor. “We’re going to be able to impact countless lives with what we’re developing here in collaboration with our community partners.” Get Healthy, Live Well is a comprehensive community health collaborative, working to promote a healthy lifestyle and prevent chronic disease for residents of west Georgia. This will be accomplished by decreasing health disparities, reducing obesity rates, eliminating tobacco use, increasing physical activity and improving nutrition. Get Healthy, Live Well is funded in part by a Partnership in Community Health (PICH) grant from the CDC. More information on these programs and efforts — including a calendar of classes and online registration — is available through www.GetHealthyLiveWell.org. - Paid advertisement January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

ARTIST'S CORNER

The CARROLLTON

Seaside “I decided to join the Navy, instead of subjecting myself to the kind of art I didn’t want to pursue. That was the greatest turning point in my entire life; it’s affected everything I’ve done since.” — Tom Nielsen

Carrolton artist

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

il and water: two of nature’s biggest enemies. No matter how you try to mix them, they still separate. Does it take a magician to find harmony in the two? On the contrary, it takes a painter like Tom Nielsen. “Oil paint, for me, is a medium that allows time to work with,” he said. “It’s a very forgiving medium. You can mix it, and brush it, and brush into it and it stays wet for a period that you can work with it. I

like the extended working time that oil gives you. The richness of the color of oil is important to me. I can get some wonderful effects with oil.” Although he began as a portrait artist, Nielsen now specializes in marine and seascape paintings. Finding his niche in that genre was not difficult for Nielsen. His entire life had been built around water, and he let it inspire him towards a greater path. The third child of Earl and Betty Nielsen, Nielsen was born on March 16, 1948. He

STORY BY MOLLY STASSFORT PHOTOS BY RICKY STILLEY

was raised on the banks of the Mississippi River, in the town of Clinton, Iowa, in what he describes as a Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer childhood. His father grew up in Minnesota, and developed a marine passion himself, including rowing, sailing and ice boating. While river life was Nielsen’s joy, he soon discovered another: painting. Yearly visits to his maternal grandmother, Clarinda Mason in Wichita, Kansas, were a special treat for Nielsen. “My grandmother was a pastel painter and I would always want lessons from her; so I have been an artist, in my mind, since I was four years old.”

He continued his training and decided he wanted professional instruction. “The class I wanted to enroll in was adults only. I had my parents beg and show my portfolio to the teacher, Mrs. Bach, and she let me in. It’s due to Mrs. Bach that I started oil painting when I was 10 years old, and from that day I’ve mainly been an oil painter.” High school brought the opportunity for Nielsen’s formal art education to be nurtured. He took three art courses his senior year of high school. The intensive training he received inspired Nielsen to

pursue a career as an art teacher. Nielsen decided to enroll at the local state teacher’s college, but to his dismay, the art program offered was not what he was hoping for. “I started looking through the work the student’s were doing. I was so disappointed; it was not the kind of art I wanted to do. It was all nonobjective, abstract painting. It was not who I was.” At this same time, the Vietnam War was at its height, Nielsen was reaching the end of his high school career, and a decision needed to be made. July/August 2016 2014 January/February

West Georgia Living

"Into The Night"

“I decided to join the Navy, instead of subjecting myself to the kind of art I didn’t want to pursue. That was the greatest turning point in my entire life; it’s affected everything I’ve done since.” Nielsen took his love of the sea to a career in the Navy. He spent the next four years touring Vietnam, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines and Hong Kong before returning to what he knew. “The (Mississippi) River was a place to return home to.”

"Last Light Return"

Nielsen bought a refurbished derelict houseboat, turning it into his mobile home and studio. He and his new bride, Yolanda, spent time traveling the river before Nielsen got a job in Washington D.C. as a “cub-level graphic designer” at the Department of Veteran Affairs. He and Yolanda moved to D.C. in 1973 where Nielsen spent the next 21 years. During those years, he painted portraits of 38

West Georgia Living

Washington notables, including Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, the youngest Chief of Naval Operations in the Navy’s History, South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, and Robert C. Byrd, the longest-serving Senator in American history. His regular gig at the VA included graphic budget charts and event posters. He eventually worked his way up the ranks to being an art director for the presentations division at the VA.

January/February 2016

“I wore two hats in Washington; I did the graphic designing, but also I was an artist in my own studio at home; that was the exciting part. I would go home and paint portraits. I had several patrons that kept my easel busy.” Also in his years at the VA, Nielsen and his wife had two daughters: Maria and Erica. After 21 years at the VA, he opted for retirement. Just as his job came to an end, so did his marriage. Nielsen was ready for a fresh start. He decided that the South, with its abundance of coastlines, was a good place to find inspiration and a new beginning. He moved to Augusta in 2000 and promptly found a church community to call home. During the change and uncertainty, Nielsen found another new beginning: Jan Walters. Jan was a Delta flight attendant and an artistic spirit herself. She was stationed at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The two married and

"North Shore" began scouting the surrounding Atlanta area for a home. On a visit to Carrollton in 2001, the couple thought they had found a match for their artistic needs. “Our whole life is about our faith and we pray about everything. We were led to Carrollton and thank God we were. It has been the most wonderful blessing.” With the Cultural Arts Center in the midst of being finished, the couple knew this town was special. They signed the papers on their new home/studio on September 11, 2001. Throughout his work, he has found a distinguished spot in the painting community. Nielsen is not only on the board of directors of the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA), but was elected as a signature member in 2012 as recognition of the level of art he had achieved. “(They are) great people who love traditional painting. I’m old school; I love the classical, traditional forms of painting. They love marine subjects and they love classical painting, so we were a good fit.” His Carrollton studio doubles as a workspace and home for himself and Jan.

history courses ignored; contemporary art was popular and a lot of traditional artists were ignored. I have a passion to discover some of these artists that weren’t spoken of much in art history courses. This space is the culmination of decades and decades of developing a place to paint.” Because he is located right off Adamson Square, his studio is a frequent spot for other local artists and students to pop in for a visit every now and then.

Everything in his studio has a purpose, and that’s the way he likes it. “I like to have a rather clean studio; absolutely functional. There isn’t anything here that isn’t important to getting the art done.” All of his easels and supplies rest on wheeled platforms, allowing Nielsen to rearrange the studio to his liking for every new project. On the wall behind his studio desk is a white bookshelf, spanning almost the entire length of the studio. Each shelf is an inspiration, holding model boats and marine décor. Stacked throughout are what seem to be countless books, mostly of artists Nielsen feel have been overlooked in the art society. “There were a lot of artists that art

“I get a lot of student visitors asking for advice. I tell them experience is the key to any medium. When I’m going after a particular paint color, I more or less know how the colors react to each other and mix because I’ve been doing it for so long. “I also tell them your best work will be what you’re passionate about, including the medium you’re working in, and the subject matter you’re painting. That continues with learning: Learn what you can; gain all of the knowledge the (professors) can offer. Art is also about self-education. Learn what you can at every opportunity. Never stop being a student.” Nielsen’s passion is clearly in the marine realm, but he knows that every artist is seeking a different path. “Paint your passion. Be true to yourself; January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

"Low Country Winter Day" that’s where you best work will be. Always keep your goals in mind and be the artist that you are!” As he continues work on his latest project, the St. Simon’s east beach at sunrise, Nielsen says he is never short on inspiration or enjoyment. “It is amazing how incredibly different every sky, every wave is; since the beginning of time the waves have come to the shore, but there’s not a single on that is exactly identical; they’re similar, but they’re not identical. “My painting life is moving more and more toward the seascapes,” says Nielsen as he puts new layers on his current endeavor. With a pink sky in the upper and the light, soft waves breaking across the bottom, it is apparent that Nielsen’s ability is much more than something a magician could conjure. For him, the ability comes from spiritual inspiration. “My biggest achievement is learning to depend on God for everything; everything else has just fallen into place because of that. The creative part of me is just really enhanced by the comfort I have in my faith. My work is a praise of God’s creation.” WGL

"Willie"

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January/February 2016

FOODries o m e M January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

FOOD

Great food makes the time day, it keeps a body warm through those chilly winter days:

o we remember a great event in our lives better if food was involved? And, if so, is it the food - or the event itself - that evokes the stronger memory?

5 large Russet potatoes, cut to ½ inch cubes 1 yellow onion, finely diced 5 ribs celery, finely diced 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch medallions 3 cloves garlic, finely diced 6 tablespoons bacon drippings or butter ¼ cup all-purpose flour 3 cups whole milk, heated 2 cups light vegetable broth 1 cup ham broth 2 tablespoons Louisiana hot sauce 2 cups diced ham 1 cup smoked pulled pork Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste ½ pound bacon, fried and chopped into bits Sliced green onions Oil for frying

Renowned chefs and psychologists have debated that question for years. Whatever they ultimately decide, it remains a central fact that tastes and smells are closely tied to the memories of our childhoods, travels, personal milestones, and so on. For some of us, it’s as simple as remembering a meal that went along with a certain event or a holiday. For others, myself included, it’s more complex. Looking back into the halls of memory, I can see my father choosing from among his old and battered cookware and, just by the pot he chose, knowing that something special was headed for the table. Being the young culinarian that I was, I could barely wait for what was about to happen.

Pig & Potato Soup

As time passed, and I figured out how to adjust that recipe that I so fondly remember, the soup grew into something much sturdier. This version not only stays with you all

To those who are like me, seeing a mother, a father, or a grandparent pull out a special piece of cookware, then get to work on something that may take all day – or just a few minutes – to prepare, is just as important as whatever event the meal is for.

Pig & Potato Soup There were certain Sundays in my youth that were just too cold to go run through the woods with my friends, or to do anything outside for that matter. That was the time for working on model airplanes, or one of the other things I used to occupy my time. It was usually on those days that my mother would get out a large, heavy-bottom pot and start building potato soup, one step at a time. 42

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

Fry potato cubes until golden brown and set aside to drain and cool. In a large, heavy bottom pot, sauté onions, celery, carrots, and garlic in bacon drippings over medium high heat until the onions are just translucent. Add flour and whisk into bacon drippings. You may need a little more bacon drippings to make the roux more fluid. Continue to whisk over medium high heat for about two minutes, then add warmed milk, whisking quickly to ensure a smooth consistency. Add remaining stocks and hot sauce, and bring to a slow boil over medium heat making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to prevent sticking or burning. Add bacon, smoked pork, and potatoes. The potatoes will float at first, but when they begin to sink the soup is done. Top with crisp bacon pieces and green onion.

Chocolate Gravy

Rob Duvé

Being a food writer, I get approached quite a bit by folks asking me if I have heard of some recipe that they remember from childhood. The recipes or dishes are usually

es of our lives more special pretty common, and we begin to discuss how to alter either that particular recipe, or the version of it that’s familiar to me. But every so often, I get caught off guard with a dish that I hadn’t heard of before – and an example is Chocolate Gravy. Since that first person asked me about that dish, I have had more than a few ask me the same thing. I would be remiss if I didn’t include their memories here as well:

Chocolate Gravy, Pig & Potato Soup, and Honey Seared Salmon

2 large salmon fillet portions, pin bones removed 2 tablespoon smoked paprika 1 tablespoon fine sea salt 1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper 1 tablespoon granulated garlic 1 teaspoon dry thyme leaves, crushed 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons local honey

¼ cup organic cane sugar 2 tablespoon quality, Dutch process cocoa 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour ½ cup whole milk ¼ cup heavy cream 4 teaspoons butter ½ teaspoon vanilla or orange liqueur

In a medium saucepan, add sugar, cocoa, and flour and whisk until completely combined. Next, whisk in milk and cream. Place pan over medium heat and stir until thickened. Adjust consistency with additional milk until the desired thickness is reached, then, while still quite hot, whisk in butter and vanilla or liqueur until the butter is completely melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy in appearance. When I heard of this recipe, I had been told of the gravy being served over biscuits. However, when I made the gravy, I found that it works just as well when served over ice cream, or to dip pretzels in, or just about anything you would add a warm, smooth chocolate flavor to. Also, If you’re one of those people (and I am) that saves “The Good Cocoa” for very special recipes, this is the recipe you’ve been saving it for.

Honey Seared Salmon I know what people reading this are thinking and, yes, salmon is very much a cherished memory of my youth. Not only did I grow up near the Great Lakes, but I

probably spent as much time on the water as I did on dry land. This meant that there was usually a steady supply of brown trout, steelhead, and more than one type of salmon. My father would spend endless days smoking huge fillets that he traded for venison or other game with friends. But, when he would get back off the lakes, this is one of the meals he would make with the freshest fish we could get:

*Quick Tip*

almon, being an oily and fatty fish, should be treated like a good cut of beef. That means you should allow it to come to room temperature before cooking. It can be cooked to any desired temperature, from rare to medium well, and, just like a good cut of beef, if it is cooked to well done, it will be dry. When cooked to medium, it will be quite moist and tender, and so that is my preferred temperature. **

PHOTOS BY RICKY STILLEY

Mix all the spices and blend very well. Remove salmon from the refrigerator and coat liberally with the spice blend, while allowing the salmon to come close to room temperature. In a medium nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium heat and place salmon flesh side down to begin to sear. When the salmon is cooked almost half way through, lift from the skillet and place one tablespoon of honey on each piece. Allow the honey to spread out just a bit, then place portions back in the skillet on the bubbling honey, then allow to cook for another 23 minutes. Flip salmon and cook until desired level of doneness. I suggest medium to medium well, but don’t overcook it. One thing to note is that there will be a bit of smoke involved as the honey sears, but not so much that you won’t want to try this recipe again. I spend a great deal of time remembering the recipes from my past, and, if I can’t recreate them, I can at least sit back with my eyes closed and imagine where I was when I first enjoyed them, recalling my surroundings as I reminisce over the flavors in my mind. Sometimes, this helps me find my way to some step or ingredient that I may have January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

e P eacock P erch h T

Fresh Flowers & Silks

missed in the recipe. More often, though, it reminds me of two very fundamental points: The first is that these memories drive me to keep finding my culinary past simply because those are memories worth preserving. The second is that, if I spend that much time rethinking those glorious tastes and flavors, someone else might be paying that much attention to my food, so Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d better prepare my best, every time!

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January/February 2016

WellStar and Mayo Clinic. Working together. Working for you. Achieving our vision of world-class healthcare is even closer now that we are a proud new member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, an innovative collaboration which brings the expertise of Mayo to our patients. As the ďŹ rst and only member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network in metro Atlanta, our depth of specialty care will be enhanced with new resources and tools while keeping patient care right here at home. Innovation. World-class care. WellStar. For more information, please visit wellstar.org/mayo. For physician referral, please call 770-956-STAR (7827).

The vision of WellStar Health System is to deliver world-class healthcare through our hospitals, physicians and services. Our not-for-proďŹ t health system includes WellStar Kennestone Regional Medical Center (anchored by WellStar Kennestone Hospital) and WellStar Cobb, Douglas, Paulding and Windy Hill hospitals; WellStar Medical Group; Urgent Care Centers; Health Parks; Pediatric Center; Health Place; Homecare; Hospice; Atherton Place; Paulding Nursing and Rehabilitation Center; and the WellStar Foundation.

We believe in life well-lived.

The Reluctant

SAILOR Jesse Bell wanted to join the Navy and become an aviator. Instead, he got a close up view of war in the Pacific.

efore history

is written down in books, it is experienced by people. Their memories provide living links to the past; tangible proof of events that sometimes are so epic, so sweeping, they continue to shape the world of today.

The Second World War, which raged between 1939 and 1945, was the most pivotal event of the 20th Century, so grand that it affected virtually every person then alive. It reached into every corner of the globe, even places far away from the battle fronts, including west Georgia, and the tiny farm communities of Carroll County. Some 16 million Americans served in all branches of the military during WWII; today, there are less than 855,000 of them left, all of whom have unique memories â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not only of the war, but of what life was like before and

afterward. There are quite a few still around west Georgia who can provide living testimony to how the region was transformed by the war. Their memories make dry history come alive. Jesse Bell was not even 18 years old in February 1944, when he enlisted to serve in the U.S. Navy. He was from Roopville, even then a tiny dot in the southern part of Carroll County, and already he knew that the world was changing. His familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s income had been based on running a grist mill and farming. But Jesse wanted to fly airplanes

Off to War Before enlisting, Bell had taken a job at Brookley Army Air Field near Mobile, to be near aircraft. He also was very interested in the war, and kept a map on which he tracked what was going on, as reported in the newspapers. He joined the Civil Air Patrol with the hope of learning to fly, and of joining in CAP

STORY BY KEN DENNEY / PHOTOS BY RICKY STILLEY

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

patrols for German U-boats off the Alabama coast.

Jesse Bell and his wife Doris will be married 69 years this spring. They live just outside Roopville, on the Carroll / Heard county border.

Realizing he was about to get drafted, Bell said he made a decision about joining the military. “I liked airplanes so well, I said I’m going to get in the Navy and go to aviation school and see if I can get in it some way. It didn’t turn out that way.” He went to boot camp where he saw all his fellow enlistees signing up for various schools to learn specialized skills for their Navy service. Bell completed his training, then came home on leave with the expectation that he would go back and start aviation school. But when he returned, “they had canceled every school up there.” Instead, Bell found himself on a troop train headed for California, where he was soon on board a Navy cruiser – a reluctant seaman, on his way to a base on Enewetak Atoll in the South Pacific, 7,000 miles from Roopville. There, Bell was assigned to the USS Case, a Navy destroyer, a ship designed for maneuverability and meant to travel with other ships to protect them from enemy attack. In 1944, the Case was less than 10 years old and had survived the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor. She was already a three-year veteran of the Pacific War. Bell was not happy about his situation – after all, he had only enlisted because of his interest in aviation, and he didn’t mind letting his shipboard superiors know he was unhappy. “I wouldn’t volunteer for nothing,” Bell said. “I was mad. I talked to my skipper and tried to get him to get me a transfer to a carrier USS Case (DD-370)

base, air base or whatever. He said ‘once a destroyer boy, always a destroyer boy.’ He didn’t like it and I didn’t like it.”

But Bell became used to the ship, and to his commanding officer, who, as it turned out, was from Prichard, Ala., a town very close to Mobile and with which Bell was familiar. Soon, Bell and the skipper became good friends. It was a good thing, because for more than the next two years, the Case was to be Bell’s home. Together, Bell, his shipmates, and the ship itself would see considerable action.

Battle on the High Seas At the end of 1944, American forces in the Pacific had won significant victories, pushing closer to the Japanese mainland. January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

In defense, the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy fortified bases they had established on Iwo Jima and nearby Chichi Jima. American forces established bases in the Marshall and Caroline islands, preparing for a new offensive against the Japanese Home Islands.

attack run on the American vessel.

After three years of hard fighting, the Japanese had suffered irreplaceable losses in men and equipment, and had to resort to desperate measures, including suicide missions against US ships. Along with kamikaze aircraft, the Japanese developed manned torpedoes nicknamed “Kaiten.” On Nov. 20, 1944, two such suicide craft entered the harbor at Ulithi Atoll in the Carolines, where the Case, with Bell on board, was guarding a Navy task force. “The water was pretty, the sun was shining – prettiest day you ever saw – then they called down and said ‘get your headset on, get the lookouts posted; there’s been a sub reported in the area.’”

waters around Iwo Jima to prevent such attacks. On Christmas Eve, 1944, an American aircraft spotted two Japanese vessels headed away from the area, and the Case, along with another destroyer, the USS Roe, were ordered to give pursuit. “This was about the crack of dawn and we chased them till about one or two o’clock that afternoon,” Bell said. The two ships the Americans were chasing were the No. 101-Class Landing Ship 157, and the No. 1 Class Fast Transport T8, which had a profile similar to that of a destroyer. Bell said the Case fired at one of the ships, scored a hit, then the crew watched as the ship turned back for an

One of the subs attacked and destroyed an oil tanker in the lagoon, sending black smoke roiling into the blue sky. The other ships in the harbor were now on the lookout for other attackers. A Navy light cruiser near the Case had spotted a periscope in the water and her captain had tried to ram the small sub, but missed. Now it was up to the Case to stop the craft.

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

Picking up American survivors was part of the Case’s mission at sea, since it was usually part of a large task force centered on a large aircraft carrier, or one or more light carriers. Pilots returning to those floating bases sometimes ran out of fuel waiting to land, and would have to ditch their planes to be rescued by the task force ships. Bell said the Case rescued many pilots.

Finally, a Pilot After the war, Bell returned to Roopville and took over the family grist mill, enjoying success with the post-war demand for ground corn. He also resumed his social life. In 1947, Bell went on a double date to the movies in downtown Carrollton. He had persuaded a friend to go out with a girl he knew named Doris Walker. But it turned out that both the friend and Bell’s date that night had seen the movie, so the friends swapped partners and Bell and Walker went to see a second movie, one neither of them had seen.

“We almost sideswiped him, but the skipper turned around again, came back, and hit him broadside,” Bell said. Afterward, the Case and other vessels dropped depth charges in the water in case other subs were in the water. Weeks later, as the Americans planned an offensive against the Japanese home island of Okinawa, taking out enemy bases around Iwo Jima had become critically important. That small island provided a base for Japanese aircraft to intercept American bombers. Ships like the Case patrolled the

Suddenly, one of Bell’s crewmates spotted a torpedo in the water and the Case’s quick-thinking skipper swerved the 341-foot long ship, just barely avoiding destruction. The Case then fired at the enemy vessel, causing catastrophic damage. The Japanese crew abandoned their vessel, but Bell said that even though the Case stopped to pick up survivors, none of the Japanese accepted the offer.

That was the end of the double dates, because from that point on Bell and Walker began dating. They married on June 5 of that year, and this spring will celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary.

Bell in 1944

In 1952, the man who had joined the Navy to learn to fly finally got his wish and became a pilot. By then, he was also part of the aviation industry. He and his wife moved to Marietta where Bell worked at Lockheed, helping to assemble all the

military aircraft produced there for the next 33 years. Although he retired in 1985, Bell is still a registered aircraft inspector and routinely helps certify the airworthiness of aircraft in the area. As he nears his 90th birthday, he still enjoys being in the air. Aviation is, and always has been, Bell’s great love. But he is also enormously proud of his service in the military, and often wears a cap declaring that he is part of that elite corps of old soldiers rightly called the Greatest Generation. Last May, Bell and his son Don were among 187 people, more than half of them veterans, who were flown to Washington, D.C., as part of the “Honor Flight” program, which is sponsored by various non-profit organizations to provide free air veterans who wish to visit war memorials. Bell was one of 80 veterans of World War II given the chance to tour war monuments. Today, Bell lives on a farm just south of Roopville, not far from where he was raised as a boy, and very far from the scenes of battle long ago. But he doesn’t mind recounting those events for visitors. His memories are sharp and clear. WGL

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Warbird West Georgians get a rare chance to take a ride on one of World War II's last B-25s PHOTOS BY MELANIE BOYD 50

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January/February 2016

War World II veteran pilots Frank Sea surprised with an opportunity to fly

Last October, a group of west Georgia veterans - and a few non-veterans got the chance to fly in one of the last remaining flyable B-29 aircraft from World War II when it made a stop at the West Georgia Regional Airport. The fully-restored "Panchito," named for a Walt Disney character, is a sort of flying exhibit for the Delaware Aviation Museum, and regularly tours the country offering rides. In April 1942, 16 modified B-25s similar to this one were launched in a strike against Japan led by then-Lt. Col. "Jimmy" Doolittle. This particular aircraft is one of only 32 survivors of the war that are still capable of being flown.

arcy and Pat Stayton were the aircraft.

WWII veteran Pat Stayton,91, sits behind the pilots after he finished flying theJanuary/February B-25 WWII Bomber. July/August 2014 West Georgia Living 2016

Left: The nose of the B-25 bomber is equipped with an original machine gun and ammunition belt. MIddle left: War World II veteran Pat Stayton had no trouble remembering how to operate an aircraft when he climbed into the pilot seat of the B-25 Bomber. Stayton flew over Carrollton for about 30 minutes. Middle right: Pilots Matt Jolley and Tim Rowley gaze out of the windows of the B-25 during the flight. Bottom: WWII veteran pilot Frank Searcy, 91, and daughter Alice Searcy are strapped in the front of the B-25 Bomber during the beginning of their flight.

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

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GARDEN

Mahonia berries

T he Garden in winter

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

Mahonia in bloom

Keep your garden visually appealing even through the season of cold

he phrase “dead of winter” has a special, sometimes sad, meaning for all plant lovers. When you look out the window on these cold, frosty mornings, all you see is brown. Dried grass, crumbling leaves, and bare limbs are everywhere. It seems a long time until spring.

10 feet tall, with an upright rounded shape, and “Maryland Beauty” grows to about 5 feet tall. Both must have a male pollinator and need a sunny location for good berry production. Ilex x attenuate “Sunny Foster,” is an evergreen with variegated butter-yellow and dark green leaves. The bright red berries are especially attractive against the yellow leaves. It is cold-hardy through zone 7 and does best in sun.

But not always. There are ways of maintaining the visual appeal of your garden, even during wintertime. When everything else is dull and bland, the sudden appearance of color – any color – is noticeable, and one source of color can be evergreens and berries. Two different nandinas, (Nandina domestica), Heavenly Bamboo and “Fire Power,” are commonly used in landscapes because they are so hardy and easy to grow. Both are broad-leaved evergreens. Heavenly Bamboo, which can be moderately invasive if not controlled, grows to 3-4 feet tall with medium leaves and red berries. The smaller “Fire Power” does not have berries, but has larger, multicolored chartreuse and red leaves that are attractive all winter. Aucuba ‘Rozannie’ is another choice. It too is a broad-leaved evergreen, and flourishes in cold hardiness zones 6-10. It will get about 3 feet tall and wide; has dark green

Nandina domestica "Fire Power" glossy leaves; and likes dry shade or part shade. Evergreen conifers add a variety of colors besides green. Many are shades of blues and yellows. Some even have a bronze cast and some junipers have a purple cast. There are a wide variety of hollies, both evergreen and deciduous, that are available. Ilex verticillata “Winter Red,” and “Maryland Beauty,” both lose their leaves in the fall, but have large clusters of red berries in the winter. “Winter Red” grows to about

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARILYN VAN PELT & KITTY BARR

Mahonia also has beautiful blue berries that the birds love. Winter jasmine’s (Jasminum nudiflorum) yellow flowers are beautiful along the arching branches of this 6-10 foot shrub. The winter-flowering cherry “Autumnalis” (Prunus subhirtella), which blooms sporadically during the winter, is one of the best cherries to cut branches for winter forcing of blooms. The Japanese flowering apricot (Prunus mume) has fragrant white, pink or rose blooms. Winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) is another fragrant winter bloomer. Witch hazels have yellow, orange or red blooms with a unique clean, spicy scent. Wax myrtles, aronia, viburnums and beautyberries are a few of the other shrubs that have colorful orange, red, gray, yellow, white, purple or blue berries, most of which attract a variety of songbirds that add their

Forsythia January/February 2016

West Georgia Living

own color and music to the garden. Although we don’t think about shrubs blooming in the winter, many do. Camellias, mahonias, wintersweet, and one of my favorite’s, the fragrant daphne, all bloom in the winter. Rose hips and southern magnolia seedpods are bright and colorful. Various hollies have berries which range in color from orange and red to yellow and black. Other shrubs with showy berries include pyracantha, Aucuba japonica, cotoneaster and chokeberry.

bark become more important. Stewartia shows patches of cinnamon, mauve and silver, while river birch has peeling buckskin-tan bark. Other trees with attractive bark include eucalyptus, paperbark maple, lace bark pine and crape myrtle.

Lenten Rose

And that raises another point: it’s not plants alone that make for a great garden. In winter, details that give the basic structure to a garden become more noticeable. The shape of a tree or shrub becomes the star of the show. Features like rocks, steps, walls, gates, fences, sculpture, trellises, benches and even birdhouses also add visual interest.

Boxwood and other evergreen shrubs can be pruned into all kinds of interesting shapes, offering a pleasing garden feature. Herbs, such as germander and santolina, can be clipped into low hedges to create a knot garden. A parterre garden offers old-fashioned formality which is especially beautiful when seen from above.

And there are other plants that have unusual shapes that stand in contrast to dull surroundings.

Stick (contorted filbert) and corkscrew willow with their squiggly, contorted shapes. There are other naturally twisted trees and shrubs available. These bare branches are used in many trendy flower arrangements. Dogwoods and Japanese maples add grace. Japanese black pine has a striking irregular growth habit.

Some interesting plants for the winter landscape include Harry Lauder's Walking

When the bones of the garden are fully exposed, tree shapes, twig color and

If you are not pleased with your winter garden because it looks dead and brown, add some life with color, form, texture, shape and good design. Also, don’t forget neatness. When the garden fades, it should be cleaned up and readied for the next growing season. Mulch and pruning keep the design pleasing to behold—even without “make-up,” because beauty is more than flower deep. WGL Tommie Munro and Marilyn Van Pelt are Carroll County Master Gardener Extension volunteers.

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January/February 2016

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TAKE 5

Greg Towler Lead Pastor Crossroads Church, Douglasville I never dreamed I’d... Be a pastor. When I was a kid, I thought I might become a dentist, but becoming a pastor (much less the pastor of a large church that is changing the world) was never on my radar. I am blown away every time I think of all the amazing things God has done. My best friend is... My wife. We have been through so many challenges and victories together. I would not be the man I am apart from her being my faithful partner and friend. If stranded on a desert island, I'd want this book with me ... I know it might sound like the canned answer, but for me it would certainly be the Bible. God’s word inspires me, comforts me and gives me a future hope. I'd love to share a cup of coffee with... My dad, who passed away 20 years ago. My hero is... This one’s easy, Jesus. Anyone who could save me from the life I was living has to be my hero. People probably don't know that I... Love to hunt deer. It’s because it gives me a chance to just be still and have time alone – so I can slow down! When I have 10 minutes alone I like to... Talk with God My parents taught me... To work hard and give 100%. My personal motto is... Start where you are, do what you can and trust God with the rest! My favorite childhood memory is... Having family holiday gatherings at my grandmother’s, with homemade ice cream and cherry cobbler. WGL

Photo by Ricky Stilley

BOOKS

Tell about the South:

Nostalgic Reflections and Humor of a Complex Region Rick Bragg. “My Southern Journey: True Stories from the Heart of the South.” Oxmoor House, 2015.

images and language put the reader in the middle of the story. The story “Cotton,” for example, evokes the hardscrabble existence of his family as they worked in the cotton fields to earn money and put food on the table to feed the children. He describes an all-night Gospel meeting of his Congregational Holiness church, remembering the gospel songs and the preaching that gave his mother some hope of a better world. He recalls being a small boy who looks across the cotton field as his mother is picking up and down the rows. For him, the field seems to stretch on forever.

n William Faulkner’s novel “Absalom, Absalom,” a character, who is Canadian, is grasping to understand a Southern friend and his world of “rain and steamy heat.”

His essay “Armadillo” provides a thoughtful and humorous meditation of that oddly fascinating cultural import. His stories of bass fishing, carpentry and farming (including a chapter on dead mules) are at once hilarious, thought-provoking, and satisfying.

“Tell about the South,” the Canadian wants to know. “What’s it like there. What do they do there. Why do they live there?” Pulitzer-Prize winning author Rick Bragg offers a collection of stories and reflections that could serve as an answer to that question. Primarily collected from “Southern Living” and other publications, these essays provide an in-depth, thoughtful, and humorous overview of the South - its culture, history, food, and most of all, its people. In the process, Bragg entertains the reader with his delightful sense of humor as he creates a 58

West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

collage of all things Southern. Many of Bragg’s stories spring from his childhood in the rural South; of red dirt and cotton patches, of sweet tea and porch-sitting. He tells about working class people and their lives, their passions, and the joys and pains they experience. His vivid

Some of the most engaging stories are of Southern food. The section in the entitled “Table” is a delicious literary buffet of traditional Southern food, Cajun food, and every savory morsel in between. Bragg’s descriptions of his family’s Thanksgiving dinners are so vivid that the reader can smell the scrumptious feast. The catalog of foods, the turkey and cornbread dressing

(Bragg includes a funny short essay on dressing versus stuffing), the pinto beans, the cranberry sauce, the biscuits, and slaw evoke the iconic Norman Rockwell painting with a Southern accent. Bragg also evokes Cajun culture with his descriptions of New Orleans gumbo, po'boy sandwiches, and oysters on the half shell. Rick Bragg’s descriptions of food give the reader a flavor, not just of the cuisine but of the cultures that created it. Some of Bragg’s essays touch on more thoughtful topics, especially the tragedies of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The essay “What Stands in the Storm” depicts the effects of Katrina on people whose lives were devastated. Bragg describes vividly the hurricane’s brutal effects, but he also celebrates the spirits of the people who, despite their own tragedies, helped others in ways that were sometimes heroic, and sometimes humble. He shows how human need superseded issues of politics, religion, and race. Likewise, his two essays on the Gulf oil spill, “The Eternal Gulf and “The Lost Gulf,” are at once wistfully nostalgic and helplessly angry over the cultural and environmental impact of the manmade disaster. The lost incomes and livelihoods of the fishermen, shrimpers, and hotel and resort workers provide a sense of the real human tragedy. Bragg describes the “oil-slimed pelicans” and the poisoned fish, shrimp and other creatures, and his emotional response, “I wanted to beat the water with my fists,” vividly shows his helpless anger.

Many of Bragg’s stories spring from his childhood in the rural South; of red dirt and cotton patches, of sweet tea and porch-sitting. He tells about working class people and their lives, their passions, and the joys and pains they experience. reminiscences, and essays takes the reader on a Southern journey. The writing is vivid, thoughtful, and humorous, all at once. He celebrates the sensual tastes of Southern cooking, the nuances of language and dialect, and important historical and cultural events. The book is a literary smorgasbord, allowing the readers to browse and taste the flavors of Southern culture. Rick Bragg’s feast of all things Southern will satisfy, but not satiate any reader who wants to delve into, and comprehend, the unique place we call the South. WGL

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Robert C. Covel, a retired university and high school English teacher, received his Ph.D. in English from Georgia State University. He has published two books of poetry and he is also writing a novel. When not reading and writing, he enjoys playing trivia. He lives with his wife Deloris and his dog Monet in West Georgia.

Toward the end of the book, Bragg includes several essays devoted to college football. His essay “Down Here” celebrates the gridiron culture of the South. He relates the impact on college football of such historical and cultural events as the civil rights movement. The essay “Long Time Coming” delves into the hiring of Sylvester Croom as the football coach at Mississippi State University, one of the first black players for the University of Alabama, and the first African-American football coach in the SEC. Bragg’s comments about Croom, SEC football – and about Paul “Bear” Bryant and other coaches – celebrate celebrate the Southern passion for football as an essential element of the culture. The sports fan will enjoy those essays for their insights into the game of football as well as for the deeper cultural significance of football in the Deep South. Rick Bragg’s collection of stories,

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West Georgia Living

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West Georgia Living

January/February 2016

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Greg Towler, Pastor Crossroads Church

Pastor Greg has a Doctor of Ministry degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and has been the Lead Pastor of Crossroads Church in Douglasville, GA for over 15 years.

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What every West Georgian should know about... Breaking Free Q: 1. How do I break free from clutter in my life? A: The first thing we have to do is decide what will drive us this year. We need to determine what we will live for the most. This helps us to prioritize our focus in our lives. If you don’t decide, someone else will decide for you! When we discover how to say yes to the things that are most important to us, it allows us to say no to the things that hold us back from living our lives to the fullest. Q: How do I break free from failure in 2016? A: When it comes to avoiding failures in our lives, we have to first define what success is before we can begin to pursue it. It is my belief that God wants nothing but success for us. The key to our success doesn’t rely on our own doing, but instead if we are seeking and trusting in God’s will, He will direct our path to success (Proverbs 3:5-8). If we follow the right path in 2016, we will avoid failure and find success! Q: How do I break free from destructive habits? A: Every New Year, we all find ourselves making resolutions to quit our bad habits. Some of these habits are harmless, but others are destructive to our

bodies, our minds, our relationships, and our lives. The best way to break free from a destructive habit is to kill our unhealthy desires. The habits we feed will become the habits that control us. We kill unhealthy desires by starving them and not allowing them to grow into even unhealthier actions. Breaking Free: A New Message Series What if there was a way for you to finally break free from all the things that are holding you back in life? What if you could discover how to be satisfied with your life, how to get where you want to be, how to have enough, how to profit from your mistakes, and even how to make a positive impact on others? We think there is! We invite you discover how to break free this year, so that you can have the best year of your life. Jan. 3rd & 6th – You are here! (So how do I get there?) Jan. 10th & 13th – Free from a Cluttered Life Jan. 17th & 20th – Free to Succeed Jan. 24th & 27th – Free from Destructive Habits Jan. 31st & Feb. 3rd – Free from Controlling People

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What every west Georgian should know about... Is Phone Use an Addiction? think my child may be â&#x20AC;&#x153;addicted to Q Ihis phone. Is this possible?

some students experienced symptoms similar to addicts when they were not able to get to their phones. Feeling anxious or fidgety, many compared it to going â&#x20AC;&#x153;cold turkeyâ&#x20AC;? when not able to use their phones. Indeed, todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s use of phones has changed us and our world. Finally, students who are more focused on getting to the unanswered text or email than concentrating in class or completing homework may find their grades eventually suffering. All of this considered, it may be time to consider if your childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s phone use is problematic.

to a recent article by Carolyn Gregoire, A According todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s young people are connected through the use of their phones an average of 10 hours each day. Whether they are texting as they fall asleep at night or checking emails as soon as they wake up each morning, many kids today are dependent upon their phones almost to the point of addiction, adding stress to their lives.

Paula Gillispie

Head of School Oak Mountain Academy, Carroll Countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only independent, college-preparatory, faith-based, day school

Qualifications Earning her graduate degree in Educational Leadership and Administration from The George Washington University in Washington, DC, Paula is a lifetime educator in her fifth year as Head of School at Oak Mountain Academy. Professionally, she chairs Accreditation Teams for the Southern Association of Independent Schools, is a member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, National Council of Teachers of English, the International Reading Association, and Phi Delta Kappa. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Independent School Association. Paula is a member of the Carrollton Dawnbreakers Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, and she serves on the Workforce and Education Committee and the Board of Trustees of the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce.

are some of the signs of this Q What stress or addiction?

Gregoire notes several signs that your childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s phone

A use may have become addictive and stressful. First,

if unanswered texts, emails, and phone messages are causing him or her to be anxious, then the phone use can be stressful rather than useful. Additionally, if the phone use is interrupting family or study time, perhaps it is time to put the phone away rather than keeping it within armâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reach at all times â&#x20AC;&#x201C; day or night. Next, if your child is constantly thinking about what others are doing and feels the need to check the phone, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;fear of missing outâ&#x20AC;? or FOMO may be adding unnecessary stress. It may be time to rethink phone use if your child is giving only partial attention to conversations and activities because of interrupted phone use. Further, in research conducted by the University of Maryland,

As a parent, what should I do? Monitor your childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s phone use carefully. If it has become problematic, it is time to seriously consider the impact on the quality of life and adjust the use of the phone. Unplug, recharge, and reconnect without the phone â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the old fashioned way â&#x20AC;&#x201C; talking face-toface. Put the phone out of sight and mind for a while.

Learn more at: www.oakmountain.us 770-834-6651 paulagillispie@oakmountain.us

O M A C A D E M Y

A I P - K 3 12 G C -P S

At Oak Mountain Academy we encourage our students to dream big! We strong students deserve be develop their gifts. OMA combines academic At Oak Mountain Academy we encourage our students to dream big! We believe strong students deserve tobelieve be challenged in order to to fully challenged in order to fully develop their gifts. OMA combines academic and athletic rigor, along with a strong and athletic rigor, along with a strong commitment to the fi ne and performing arts, to encourage our students to strive to succeed. Oak Mountain Academy students grow into confident commitment to the fine and performing arts, to encourage our students to strive to succeed. Oak Mountain Academy young adults who are ready to take on the world andconfident becomeyoung everything they Weworld invite to visit our campus see for yourself what OMA is all about. students grow into adults who are ever readydreamed! to take on the andyou become everything they everand dreamed! We invite you to visit our campus and see for yourself what OMA is all about.

Please call today to schedule a personal tour of Please our beautiful campus, meet our students and faculty, and experience what it means to be a Warrior! call today to schedule a personal tour of our beautiful campus, meet our students and faculty, and experience what it means to be a Warrior!

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What every West Georgian should know about... Leasing an Automobile

Q A

Shannon Cheatwood

What is the #1 reason people lease? With a lease you are only paying for the use of the vehicle while you have it. Sometimes you end up with a much lower monthly payment. Often, this allows people to buy more vehicle than they otherwise would be able to afford. Some people who want a new vehicle more often use leasing as a way to trade sooner.

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Finance Manager

Qualifications Shannon, a local Carroll County native, has been in the automotive industry for 13 years and has also been a small business owner. He joined the team at Walker Cadillac Buick GMC, Inc in late 2013.

Q A

Can I buy my car at lease end? Yes! On the lease contract, the lease end purchase price is printed so the lessee knows how much it will cost at end of lease. That amount can then be refinanced if necessary.

Does a lease require a down payment? It depends on the lessee’s residency and the terms of that specific lease. Many leases are available with nothing or just the first month’s payment due at signing.

How many miles can I drive per year? As few or as much as you need. Low mileage leases start at 10,000 miles per year and a standard lease is 15,000 miles per year. Ally, our leasing company, allows customers to buy more miles up front if they know they will need more.

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What every West Georgian needs to know About their limping pet One of the most common conditions that we see at Carroll County Animal Hospital is a dog that is limping.Â Owners often present their pets for limping and want to find out why. Â The first question we are asked is, â&#x20AC;&#x153;My dog is limping, should I bring him in?â&#x20AC;? Â

Jason P. Harden, DVM

Veterinarian at Carroll County Animal Hospital

Qualifications Dr. Jason Harden is a native of Carrollton, GA. He graduated from Oak Mountain Academy and continued on to the University of Georgia where he received his degree in Biology and his doctorate in veterinary medicine. His interests in veterinary medicine include surgery, exotic medicine, and ophthalmology. Dr. Harden is married to Chloe Harden, and they have 2 children, Maggie and Reese. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Georgia Veterinary Medical Association, and the American Animal Hospital Association. He is the chairman of the Oak Mountain Academy school board, a member of the Carrollton Lions Club, and on the board of directors of the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce.

Any time that your pet canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t put any weight on a leg, it is something we would want to see. If they are unable to bear any weight on the limb, the problem is generally serious. Â Some dogs, especially small breeds, have exceptionally low pain tolerances and those may not be as serious. However, as a general rule, it is something we would want to see immediately. If your pet is able to bear some weight, then we generally recommend the owner allow them two days to recover. Â If it resolves itself, the problem was likely a sprain or strain. However, if the problem persists, we should evaluate it. Â One of the most common injuries we see causing limping in rear legs is a cranial cruciate ligament (ACL) tear.Â Also known as a ACL tear in humans. Dogs have the exact same ligaments in their knee, and while the cause is

a little different the treatment is the same. Dogs that have ACL tears will be in pain upon initial injury and then will be able to walk on the leg. They normally do not bear a normal amount of weight but are not vocal in their pain. Once we have taken x-rays of the knee while the pet is sedated, we are usually able to manipulate the knee to produce a certain instability consistent with an ACL tear. We would then take the pet to surgery where we have the ability to remove the torn ligament and build them a new ACL. The post operative recovery time is approximately three to six months before returning to normal activity. During this time, they are resting and building up any muscle that they have lost in the injured leg. After this initial post-op recovery time, they generally make a full recovery. If your pet has been limping, our doctors will be happy to help guide you through the process to recovery. LEARN MORE www.carrollcountyah.com 770-832-2475

Carroll County

Animal Hospital Sometimes your petâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health care canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be scheduled Office Hours: Mon. - Sun. 8am - Midnight Regular Office Hours: Mon. - Sun. 8am - 6pm

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What every West Georgian should know about Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging

Q A Q A

Timothy Albert, MD

Cardiologist, Tanner Heart & Vascular Specialists

Qualifications: Dr. Albert is board-certified in cardiology. He earned his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, and completed his internship and residency at the University of Washington Department of Medicine in Seattle. He then completed a fellowship in cardiology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., where he pursued additional training in advanced cardiovascular imaging. Dr. Albert has published widely in the field of cardiac imaging and frequently speaks nationally and internationally on these topics. He has come to Tanner to work on further enhancing the region’s advanced imaging capabilities.

What is advanced cardiovascular imaging? Advanced cardiovascular imaging relies on the principles of using sophisticated advanced imaging technologies — such as MRI, CT and PET — to diagnose and guide the treatment of cardiovascular disease in a safer, faster and more accurate way than in the past. Are there advantages to one technology over the other for heart disease evaluation? No one size fits all. This is especially true in medicine where different people have different problems. The beauty of a program that has multiple available technologies is that we can tailor our care to the individual. Can you give me some examples of how these different technologies can be used? There are several different advanced technologies that can be used to assess the function and structure of the heart: • Cardiac CT – Cardiac computed tomography uses X-rays with or without iodinebased contrast to gain information on the anatomical structure of the heart with a specific focus on the heart’s arteries. It is a powerful tool that can be used in preventive cardiology to diagnose heart disease in its early stages and in some cases to replace the need for more invasive studies. • Cardiac PET – Cardiac positron emission tomography (PET) uses X-rays and

Q A

radioactive tracers to capture images of the heart in three dimensions, helping to diagnose areas where blood flow through the heart might be impeded, as well as heart tissue that is injured or dead as a consequence of coronary artery disease (CAD). Advanced “stress testing” can be done using this technology. • Cardiac MRI – Unlike CT and PET, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses high-powered magnets rather than X-rays to generate highly detailed still and moving images of the heart. Cardiac MRI has revolutionized our ability to look at the heart valves, heart function and structure and care for people after a heart attack. At Tanner, we are pioneering methods to further expand on the role of cardiac MRI in the care of our heart patients. What is the benefit of having access to technologies such as these in our community? By bringing advanced imaging technologies — which have traditionally resided in a university setting — to our community, we are able to combine the strengths of community level care without compromising quality.

LEARN MORE: TANNERHEARTCARE.ORG OR CALL 770.214.CARE

Advancing Health WITH HEART IMAGING BEYOND MEASURE. What’s a picture worth? The detailed images we create of your heart have value beyond measure. Advanced imaging tests such as PET/CT, cardiac ultrasound, catheterizations and MRI give us the information we need to assess the health of your heart muscle, its function and the blood vessels that supply it. With an accurate diagnosis, we can make a plan to improve your heart health and your life. You don’t have to travel far from home to ﬁnd heart imaging beyond measure.

To ﬁnd a heart specialist, call 770.214.CARE or learn more at TannerHeartCare.org. MEDICINE BEYOND MEASURE

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Bekki Farish Smith

Associate Broker - Relocation Director Farish Realty & Associates Licensed in 1981, Bekki has been a member of the Top Producer’s Club for most of the years since then. Elected President of the West Metro Board of Realtors for the year 2015, she has been instrumental in upgrading the appearance of the Board office on Bankhead Ave. She has worked alongside her mother, Jo Farish, in building Farish Realty and Associates, and listing and managing Freddie Mac foreclosure properties, as well as listing and selling residential and commercial resale properties, and farms and land.

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What every West Georgian should know about... Staging Your Home - Is It Necessary in Today’s Market? How often have you entered a home and wanted to turn right around and leave because of the smell or look of the house? Your house-hunting clients are no different. We Realtors are more than Listing and Selling Sales Associates. Did you know that we are “Educators” also? Along with teaching about the process of buying or selling a house, advising about financing and having Home Inspections, we have to be very honest and upfront in pointing out “turn-offs” in our Sellers’ homes. You might not want to hurt their feelings by telling them that their precious cat leaves an unpleasant odor that greets visitors at the front door. You could soften it by asking if they had tried the new air freshener by Fabreze or suggest some new cat-litter product that they could use in the cat’s box. We used to be able to tell the owner to bake cookies or have a roast in the crock pot and that would be enough. Not so much these days. Buyers have become more sophisticated. Staging, as it is called, really does help. Why? Because buyers need to be able to picture themselves in a home and see whether the overall home will be a good fit for them and their family, whether it’s filling an empty home with a few furnishings to give it a more homey feeling or de-cluttering and depersonalizing a home, it gives buyers an opportunity to see past small details and see the bigger picture.

Your budget will determine how much Staging you will be able to do, but remember, the money spent is an investment. It will allow you to ask more for the home in the long run. If you’re on a limited budget, it’s best to focus on big-picture improvements. These include the exterior and entryway. The “curb appeal” is important. I have had clients refuse to go in the house when the front yard was a mess. Furnishings used in Staging do not have to be expensive, but they do have to be clean. Here are some inexpensive tips - S - Store personal pictures, toys, knickknacks and clutter out of sight T - Trim bushes, mow the lawn and plant flowers A - Arrange furniture in an attractive setting G - Garages need to be neat and organized I - Install enough bulbs so rooms will be bright and cheery N - Neat and clean – can’t say it enough G - Go the extra mile to make your home welcoming Potential Buyers aren’t just looking for a structure to inhabit - they’re looking to fulfill their dreams and improve their family’s lifestyle. This is why we educate our Sellers in the art of “Staging” their homes.

YOUR FULL SERVICE REAL ESTATE COMPANY Residential ∙ Commercial ∙ Land ∙ Industrial ∙ Rentals 736 Bankhead Hwy, Carrollton, GA 30117 (770) 832.1196 www.farishrealty.com

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What every West Georgian should know about... Permission to Grieve Permission to Grieve

Inspired by the book, “Don’t take my grief away from me” by Doug Manning

Doug Manning is an amazing man who retired as a pastor and became the “spokesperson for grief ”. He once told me that he understands how painful grief can be, and that’s why he doesn’t exercise. He said he didn’t want to exercise so that he wouldn’t be in better shape than his wife because he didn’t want to outlive her. He didn’t want to be forced to survive the grief journey. He said it as a joke, and we all laughed, but as I really began to think about what he said, it became clear to me that he made some good points.

Ellen Wynn McBrayer

Jones-Wynn Funeral Home & Crematory and Meadowbrook Memory Gardens As always, we remain “A Family Serving Families®....Since 1950”

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Jones-Wynn Funeral Homes & Crematory has served our community for over 65 years. We keep our funeral home synonymous with its name & reputation of serving & caring for families. We are three generations carrying on one tradition. We offer the highest quality service with the most affordable options.

Today I am reminded of a book that helped give me permission to grieve. In fact, most of this article will reference this book. The book is entitled, “Don’t Take My Grief Away From Me” by Doug Manning. The book starts with a quote, “Grief is bad enough. To experience it and not know what to expect or how you should feel makes the experience worse - much worse.” Th is is simply the truth! Plus, once someone survives grief, they don’t want to look back and remember the pain. Instead most people want to lock it away. I’m not sure if the world we live in feels this way, but my experience is that to most, other people’s tears are scary. I learned from reading Doug’s book that when someone is crying, we often want to stop the tears. Th is gives us the feeling that if we can “stop the tears”, then we have helped them feel better. However, in reality we have only made ourselves feel better. Tears are as natural to death as a runny nose is to a cold. Th is summer we watched the Disney Movie, “Inside Out”. What a deep and emotional movie it was. During the journey, they realized that “sadness” does play a very important role in someone’s life. One of the characters, Joy, kept trying to keep “sadness” away and only have the emotion of joy. Over the span of the movie, they realized that sometimes we have to cry and let our emotions flow before we can fi nd our way by to true joy again.

As you may already know, the grief journey has many different stages. I was once told that if grief hit us all at one time, then it would be more powerful than a bolt of lightning. Our loved one has died and we now have to learn to live and carry on without them. During this grief journey, we often ask, “Why?”, or “What if?” But even if God himself could stand beside us and explain “the why” in words in a way that we could clearly understand, our hurt would still be the same. Grief and death isn’t based on circumstances. Sure, if someone we love has suffered for a very very long time, we can find peace that once they pass away they are no longer hurting. But the pain of them not being with us still damages our soul. There is no such thing as getting over your grief, but hope is found in being able to turn the corner and live again, turning all

the memories that are strictly sad into memories that are at least sad and happy memories. One day I remembered a story about Dad that usually made me cry, but then one day I realized that I was at a place in my grief journey that the same memory gave my soul a peaceful joy! While it was sad that he wasn’t with us, a sense of peace and joy began to fi ll my soul concerning all of the precious memories that we shared.

People who have never been through grief and the grief journey have no idea how deeply it hurts or how long it lasts. These same people will often try to tell you how to grieve. When my dad passed away, someone told us we needed to clean his closet out asap. But each person’s grief journey is unique, and instead of telling others how they should do it, maybe learn to listen to their needs. It seems when people offer suggestions, it’s coming from a place of how they imagine they would try to handle their grief journey. You can’t practice what you would do; you can only learn to do it as you go. Learn to do things differently, and allow yourself permission to do grief your way. Is there a right way to grieve? The answer to this question is that there is no right way to grieve. You might not understand people’s actions in grief, and that’s okay. But it’s important to love them through it! I once saw a lady look at her family and say, “Once we survive this grief journey, I know we will all still love each other, but I hope we all still like each other”. The answer isn’t set in stone. Allow others to grieve and help guide each other into a more positive place. How long will it last? The grief journey is different for everyone; however, often times people assume that after 6 months you are fi ne. But it truly all depends on each individual situation. If I needed to give an average time frame, I might say around 2 years. The fi rst year is the year that everything happens for the fi rst time without our loved one. Our fi rst birthday, their fi rst birthday, and the fi rst holidays are just a few of the “fi rsts”. The 2nd year is the year that we begin to realize it’s fi nal and our loved one isn’t coming back to us. Don’t let others take your grief away from you. Feel what you feel. If you are able, help others know how to help you and what you are needing in that moment.

Remember that pain is the price we pay for love, but we should focus on the great love and always remember! My dad used to say, “When you have gone as far as you think you can go, stop and look back at how far you have already come”.

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Peyton Stallings, Owner PKS Paving & Concrete Construction

PKS Paving has been providing construction related services for contractors, commercial properties and home owners in Atlanta and the surrounding cities for more than 20 years, specializing in asphalt paving and concrete construction services. http://www.pksasphaltpavingatlanta. com/

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What every West Georgian should know about... Asphalt Paving Q: My parking lot has cracks and imperfections. Do I have to get it replaced or are there other options? A: There are certainly other options. PKS can cut out and remove the damaged asphalt, compact the base and finally, pave with new asphalt. Â The cut out repair is more economical than tearing out and repaving the entire parking lot or driveway. Another economical option of repair is an asphalt overlay. Â If your asphalt driveway or parking lot is showing large areas of distress but still has a good base, an asphalt overlay is the way to go. Using your already existing asphalt, the asphalt overlay is not as expensive because this processÂ alleviates the need to demolish and dispose of existing materials. Q: What are the pros and cons of using asphalt versus concrete for my drive? A: Asphalt is a flexible surface that has the ability to flex with use and slight movements of the base. Concrete relies on

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its own internal strength to absorb loads and bridge weaknesses in the sub-base. Concrete costs significantly more than an asphalt surface of comparable strength. Q: What is the importance of sealcoating? A: Asphalt sealcoating not only makes your parking lot or driveway look brand new again, but when correctly applied, helps protect against harmful elements such as gas and oil leaks and the sunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ultraviolet rays. Sealcoating material is normally applied in two coats and allowed to cure for 24 hours before the asphalt striping paint is applied. Sealcoating should be applied as the surface shows signs of graying out or every two years. Sealcoating is much less expensive than complete removal and replacement of pavement.

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www.pcgofwestga.com

Jeff Reid, M.D. Joseph Jellicorse, M.D. Mandi Del Pozo, PA-C Lindsey Roenigk, M.D. Shawna Berg, NP-C Hermogenes Pagsisihan, M.D.

Advancing Health WITH HEART EXPERTS BEYOND MEASURE.

When it comes to your heart, you expect the most expert care. What you might not expect is to find it so close to home. The team of board-certified cardiologists and vascular specialists at Tanner are at the top of their fields, nationally recognized for advancing patient care at one of Truven Health Analytics’ 15 Top Health Systems for 2015. And they practice throughout west Georgia and east Alabama. So whether you’re near Carrollton, Villa Rica, Bremen or Wedowee, you’ll find a highly skilled specialist nearby to help you reduce your risk for a heart attack or stroke so you can live a longer more active life. Exceptional care, close to home — that’s how Tanner delivers heart care beyond measure.

To ﬁnd a heart specialist, call 770.214.CARE or learn more at TannerHeartCare.org. MEDICINE BEYOND MEASURE