West Georgia Living May-June 2018

West Georgia

LiVing May / June 2018

WOMEN

Life . Art . Music . People

of west Georgia

$3.95

Vol. 8/Issue 3

2 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

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3 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Features 18

14

Women and their struggles for equality in the workplace. What keeps holding them back?

PLUS The greatest women you’ve never heard of - 8 West Georgia Women out front - 29-45 Dr. Romona Jackson Jones, Sharon Sewell, Betty Cason, Judge Cynthia Adams, Emily Lightner, Tara Nichols, Kelly Meigs, Julia Curran, Amy Brown, Jamie Brown, Tara Chapman, Julie Cain, Emily Felton, Beverly Dillard and Dr. Dianne Hoff 4 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

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Accepting your body means ignoring society’s rules

From politics to trailblazers, area women are taking their place as leaders

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A #MeToo moment in the glamorous business of high fashion

The Hydrangea Festival in Douglasville is an annual showcase of floral beauty.

On the Cover: Dr. Allison Key, Villa Rica Police Sgt. Meredith Ivey, caterer LaToya Gamble Photo by Jessica Gallagher.

Southern Home & Ranch Garden Center “is your kind of place!”

We have a wide and varied assortment of healthy, well-maintained shrubs, trees, perennials, annuals, in-home tropicals, edibles, and of course your favorite garden vegetable plants. The majority of our plants are from nearby local nurseries and growers, acclimated to this growing area – our way of helping make sure your selection has the best possible chance for long-term success.

Whether you are working on your lawn, in your garden, revitalizing your flower or shrubbery beds, putting out fertilizer, or fighting off pests and stubborn diseases, we can help. We carry a complete selection of all the right products to help you keep your lawn and garden in the best possible shape and looking good. Be sure to come by and check our NEW Bonide Analysis Center, bring in a sample of your pest or plant problem, we will give it a close look and hopefully find a solution.

Our friendly and knowledgeable Garden Center staff, including our own local expert, Carl Brack, are ready to help you find the perfect plant or to try to help solve a problem. If we don’t have what you are looking for, let us know and we will do our best to find it for you.

For those of you with even bigger yards, fields or pastures, we are your local SOUTHERN STATES BRAND dealer, carrying feed, seed, fertilizer, animal health products and field and farm products.

At Southern Home & Ranch, you will find our Outdoor Living area has expanded to include even more pottery, plants, fountains, furniture, benches, swings, rockers, statuary, chimes, bird baths, fire pits. We are all about outdoor living and entertaining. But that’s not all, there’s way more “IN STORE,” we are full of surprises with something new most everyday.

Here is a small sample of products available at Southern Home and Ranch Ace Hardware.

•Ben Moore Paints the Best in Quality and color, •Amy Howard at Home •Rescue-Restore-Re-Decorate, •White River Design •Lifetime Candles •USA Made, Trapp Candle • Fragrance filled fashion •Janet’s “Goat Milk Soap,” a Carrollton favorite, • Soulmate Socks - proudly made in the USA, • Naked Bee - all the good stuff! USA made, •Clyde Cook “Local Honey” Ephesus, • Georgia. Dot’s “ Home Style Pretzels - pride of N. Dakota. • Georgia Olive Farms-extra virgin - chef’s blend, • Olivia Marie’s - Homemade -“Local” Preserves. •Kinlock Pecan Oil - 100% Natural, •Mrs. Wages “All Natural” Pickling/Seasoning, • NAPA Soap Co. - Home Made Fragrance, • Music of the Spheres wind chimes USA made, • North Country Wind Bell’s •Boy Scout and Girl Scout “Headquarters” PRIMO ceramic Grills, & Accessories, • Little Giant Bee Keeping Supplies “Head Quarters,” • Rusty Mountain Rustic Ducks & Fish.

The list can go on, but instead of telling you more, why not just come on by and see for yourself! Our sales folks are friendly and eager to help you find what you need and help you with your project or problem. Southern Home & Ranch, your one stop shopping for most anything and everything you might need, locally owned and operated, easy to get to, a fun place to visit, with help from folks you might even know. If you haven’t been here, you really do need to come on by! Hope to see you soon ...

Southern Home & Ranch

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West Georgia

Li Ving Volume 8 . Issue 3 May / June 2018 Publisher Marvin Enderle publisher@times-georgian.com

Editor Ken Denney ken@times-georgian.com

Advertising Melissa Wilson melissa@times-georgian.com

Photographer Jessica Gallagher jgallagher@times-georgian.com

ABOUT THIS ISSUE W

ith this issue of West Georgia Living, we focus on the many remarkable women in our region.

We start off with looking at the women in each of our three counties who hold the highest elective offices.

The counties of Douglas, Carroll and Haralson are a microcosm of the nation, where women have come to the forefront of leadership and responsibility - and where they contend with ongoing issues of pay parity and social stereotypes.

Next, we have selected nine out of the many women in each of the counties who represent high qualities of leadership and service to our area.

Taylor Boltz starts us off with a look of how women have evolved in the workplace, and examines some of those questions. Mimi Gentry, a former high fashion model, has a #MeToo story of the danger that lurks in that industry. And Sunny Kirby examines how society’s judgments of female bodies affect women and how they think of themselves.

We also takea look at some of the women who are filling leadership roles in our community.

And we look at three women who have answered the call to educate future generations of women in west Georgia.

Also in this issue, we take a look at the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival, Douglasville’s premiere springtime event. Our resident chefs bring new life to that Southern favorite comfort food: shrimp and grits.

And we tell the story of an artist in Tallapoosa who believes everyone has artistic talent.

We hope you enjoy this issue. We think it is one of the most important we’ve ever produced. WGL

Design Richard Swihart rswihart@messenger-inquirer.com

Contributors Taylor Boltz, Melanie Boyd, Robert C. Covel, Nancy Dombrowski, Mimi Gentry, Richard Grant, Russell Ives, Sunny Kirby, Liz Marino, Erin McSwain-Davis, Joyce McArthur, Josh Sewell, Molly Stassfort, Ricky Stilley, Leigh Thornton, Haisten Willis

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

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

Submissions will not be returned unless requested and accompanied with a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

West Georgia Living reserves the right to edit any submission.

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

Copyright 2018 by the Times-Georgian

6 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Albright believes that everyone is an artist

47

Southern Comfort — with shrimp and grits

61

Georgia women continue gardening traditions

9

Women are shaping today’s film industry

64

“The Last Ballad” — a view of textile mill life

FOOD

To advertise in West Georgia Living, call Melissa Wilson at 470-729-3237.

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

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COOLSCULPTING OR LIPOSUCTION: Which is right to get you beach-ready?

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the desired aesthetic from CoolSculpting, since the size of the

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GeorgiaCosmetic.org.

The greatest woman you never heard of

T

o m Brokaw said the “Greatest Generation” was the people who lived in America during the time of the Great Depression, World War II and the postwar boom.

Inevitably – and that word means something in this case – when people of latter, lesser generations are asked to think about WWII, they speak of the men who slogged ashore at Normandie and Anzio and Okinawa. They never talk about the women who also lived in that era. Any generation, great or otherwise, includes men and women.

The women of the Greatest Generation were no slouches. They took up the heavy lifting when the menfolk were swatting bullets in the forests of Europe or the jungles of the South Pacific. It was women who built the engines of war that took the men into and out of the fight; it was women who kept the factories humming, and it was women who did all of that and raised the batch of kids who became the post-Greatest Generation.

So, when people think only of the fighting men of that era, it is more than a disservice to the women who were fighting there alongside them. It’s a commentary on a society that values the contributions of men over women. If it is inevitable that people think of G.I. Joe when people talk of World War II, it only means that Rosie the Riveter is forgotten, disregarded and rejected.

I was born 12 years after the end of World War II, so when I was young I was surrounded by the men and women of that generation. Two of them raised me, and the uncles and aunts of my extended family were all involved in the war, whether in battle or on the homefront.

Certainly we know about the women who worked at the factories or who built (and flew) warplanes, but our society considers them at best “helpers.” Well, if you think running a riveter or pounding sheet metal is sub-grade work, then maybe you don’t really know what “helping” means.

Maybe you think you are “helping” to wash the dishes while a woman has her hands 8 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

in the sink filled with knifes and pointy tines and all you are doing is standing by with a drying towel. Maybe you think a woman is “helping” to run a household by multitasking at home while you are struggling at your desk to decide what’s for lunch.

No generation, I think, has until recently been particularly kind toward the women who made up half of their generation.

“Woman’s work” has traditionally been considered menial and not worthy in comparison to that of hunter-gatherers who forage for a living in the concrete jungles of retail and investment. I don’t know much more to say about such attitudes except that they are fast becoming extinct.

I have spent my entire professional life working alongside women, as workers and as supervisors. If you have too – and if you are honest – you know what they have gone through. I have seen women be harassed and objectified. I have seen these same women struggle through these obstacles and persevere.

“Nevertheless, she persisted” may be a new phrase, but it is expressive of the countless women across the decades who have put up with a lot of crap to earn their own way in life.

Which brings me back to that “Greatest Generation” and the women of that time.

The woman who raised me, who was of that era, put up with obstacles and daily reminders of the place she had been allocated in the hierarchy of postwar society.

While my dad was off at the factory, she had to work so that there would be enough money coming into the house to raise two small boys. She worked over the figures and accounts of people too rich to have such worries, and she cut paychecks to men who made more than she did, though she was smarter and more experienced.

And when she came home, she was expected to keep the house and feed everybody, and

KEN DENNEY

pay the bills, and wash the dishes, and discipline kids too young and ignorant to know what was happening inside that house. She had to do it all, without any help from the males focused on the black and white TV set that cost her full year’s salary.

She took my brother and me to and from kindergarten, and later school, getting up in the predawn hours to do so. She went straight afterward to work and got home as it was getting dark, then she had to start dinner, because the men in the house would rather starve than cook it themselves.

She went without new clothes and bought lesser quality goods to save and scrimp for the day when those kids would go to college.

She sacrificed her dignity more than once to ask for an extra dollar or two per week, and she had to close her ears to the gruff, obscene talk of the men who lazed about the office as she worked the phone and tabulated assets and debits.

Times have changed, and of course women are on a much more equal footing now, both at home and in the workplace. I am grateful that she got to see the beginning of that, but I am mindful that the growing respect she earned ended so cruely and unexpectedly.

She became so good at what she did for other people that she was never allowed to retire. When she tried, she would be called back to work for someone needing to get their books in order. She would never say no to new work; it was an affirmation of her qualities, something she never got at home.

She worked until she got sick, and when she got sick, she died. And she never saw how her sacrifices had made her boys into men, and she never got to take that trip to Hawaii she had always wanted.

If you want to talk about the Greatest Generation, then I think you should include the women who never did anything noteworthy. Their greatness is that, through grace, patience and foresight, they became an inspiration simply by being loving, kind and decent.

They were ladies, every single one. WGL

CINEMA Gal Gadot stars in “Wonder Woman,” Warner Bros. Pictures, 2017. Clay Enos/DC Comics.

A change in direction Women directors shaping the film industry

P

eople have been calling attention to the film industry’s lack of women directors and screenwriters for decades. However, recent social movements like #MeToo and Time’s Up have shed even more light on the widespread prevalence of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace, as well as inequality in representation and pay. As a result, the industry is (hopefully) beginning to take serious steps toward equal treatment, both behind the scenes and in bank accounts.

This added focus has many movie fans intentionally seeking out women filmmakers. Here are just a few of my favorite directors, as well as some of their most memorable films. This isn’t a

comprehensive list by any means; instead, think of it as a starting point.

Kathryn Bigelow

that category), “Zero Dark Thirty” and last year’s “Detroit.”

Ava DuVernay

Arguably the most famous female director working today, Bigelow got her start elevating pulp material, like 1987’s vampire thriller “Near Dark” and 1991’s gloriously cheesy “Point Break.” However, in the last decade, she has focused on tense, politically themed thrillers like “The Hurt Locker,” which led her to an Oscar for Best Director (in the Academy’s 90-year history, she remains the first and only woman to win in

Although DuVernay wrote and directed her first film back in 2010 (“I Will Follow”), the former journalist and PR rep gained widespread acclaim for 2014’s brilliant “Selma.” The story chronicles Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic march from Selma to Montgomery, which ultimately played a role in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The film was nominated for Best Picture (the first time a movie directed by an African American woman made the cut), although it ultimately lost to the inferior “Birdman.”

JOSH SEWELL

West Georgia Living May-June 2018 9

Oprah Winfrey is Mrs. Which and Storm Reid is Meg Murry in “A Wrinkle in Time,” Walt Disney Pictures, 2018.

Demonstrating her range, DuVernay jumped from directing “13th,” the timely and infuriating Netflix documentary about the U.S. prison system, to Disney’s recent mega-budget adaptation of Madeline L’Engle’s classic “A Wrinkle in Time.”

Look no further than that sci-fi tale’s cast for proof of how respected she is in the industry. Actors as varied as Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine and Zach Galifianakis are lining up to work with her.

And that’s without mentioning the cast she recently assembled (in secret!) for Jay-Z’s “Family Feud” music video: Michael B. Jordan, Thandie Newton, Jessica Chastain, Brie Larson, Rosario Dawson, Rashida Jones, Beyoncé (of course), and a host of others. It’s like IMDb exploded on her set.

10 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Patty Jenkins Jenkins is perhaps the most glaring example of how women directors tend to be treated differently than their male counterparts.

Her first feature was 2003’s indie drama “Monster” (which she also wrote), the true story of prostitute-turned-serial killer Aileen Wuornos. The film was a success both critically and financially, and it earned Charlize Theron – who dramatically transformed herself for the title role – a Best Actress Oscar. What was Jenkins’ follow up to this impressive debut? 2017’s blockbuster smash “Wonder Woman.”

You read that right: after her Oscar-winning debut made $60 million dollars worldwide on an $8 million budget, it took her almost 15 years to get another job. It’s baffling.

Fortunately, becoming the only director to

make a genuinely good DC Comics movie (in its current incarnation) granted her some leverage. She quickly inked a killer deal to return for “Wonder Woman 2,” which is currently in preproduction and is based on a treatment she wrote herself. At press time, Kristen Wiig is in talks to play the villain, which sounds intriguing.

Dee Rees Although Rees has directed several shorts, documentaries, features and television episodes over the last 13 years, her big breakthrough came last year with the incredible “Mudbound.” Currently streaming on Netflix, the World War II-era drama (which Rees co-wrote with Virgil Williams, based on Hillary Jordan’s book) tells the story of two sharecropping families in rural Mississippi – one white, one black

Jessica Chastain stars in “Zero Dark Thirty,” Columbia Pictures, 2012

– who face much different realities, despite working the same land.

Although the film’s subject matter is bleak, it exhibits a stark beauty (thanks to Rachel Morrison’s incredible cinematography) and features a host of powerful performances from actors like Jason Mitchell, Garrett Hedlund, Carey Mulligan, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Rob Morgan and Jonathan Banks. It’s the rare film that captures the wonderful feeling of reading a rich, complex novel. The film didn’t get the Oscar love it deserved (I blame the Academy’s snobby attitude toward Netflix), but Rees already has her next project lined up: she’s reuniting with Mulligan for “An Uncivil War,” a biopic about journalist and feminist icon Gloria Steinem.

Greta Gerwig Gerwig has been an indie darling for a decade, thanks to her performance in quirky, improv-heavy films like “Baghead,” “Greenberg” and “Frances Ha.” But 2017 was the year she landed on the map for mainstream moviegoers. “Lady Bird,” her debut as a solo director (she co-directed 2008’s “Nights and Weekends”), which she also wrote, is a legit masterpiece. Her deeply personal coming-of-age dramedy – about a high school senior (Saoirse Ronan) who clashes with her mother (Laurie Metcalf) and can’t wait to leave Sacramento for a

Joe Swanberg and Greta Gerwig in “Nights and Weekends,” IFC Films, 2008 college in New York City – somehow avoids the clichés and pitfalls that frequently cause other teen films to stumble.

The film racked up five Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Director, making Gerwig only the fifth woman to receive such an honor. However, she’s the first woman to be nominated in the category for her debut film. She has a couple of acting projects lined up over the next couple of years, but nothing on deck as a writer or director. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us.

Zoe Lister-Jones Full disclosure: I didn’t know who Zoe Lister-Jones was until last year, even though she’s been working steadily in small

roles on both the big screen and television since 2008. But last fall, my friend April told me to check out the CBS sitcom “Life in Pieces,” which had recently uploaded its first season to Netflix. A couple of episodes in, I was hooked – mostly because of ListerJones’ distinctive look and dry, razor-sharp humor. Fortuitously, a couple of weeks later I received a screener for “Band Aid,” her directorial debut (which she also co-wrote).

If I wasn’t a fan before, I was a full-on convert after watching the romantic dramedy about a struggling married couple who work through their issues by forming a band and turning their fights into songs.

That might sound like a cheesy premise, but Lister-Jones’ wit elevates the material, as do the surprisingly great songs and poignant performances. It was this close to making my Top 10 list last year. Like West Georgia Living May-June 2018 11

Gerwig, she doesn’t seem to have any projects currently in the pipeline, but I’ll be first in line to buy a ticket to her next movie.

Michelle MacLaren I’m cheating a little with this one, since MacLaren technically hasn’t yet directed a movie. However, the astonishingly talented television director – who has

helmed episodes of iconic series like “Breaking Bad,” “The Walking Dead,” “Game of Thrones” and “Better Call Saul” – has been in talks for several high-profile projects (including “Wonder Woman,” before Patty Jenkins came on board).

Fortunately, she’s in pre-production on two big screen projects. The first one is “The Nightingale,” based on Kristin Hannah’s novel about two French sisters

leading different lives during World War II. The second one is “Cowboy Ninja Viking,” based on the graphic novel about a super solider with multiple personality disorder that takes on the titular attributes. Chris Pratt is on board to star.

Something tells me that his charisma, and with MacLaren’s directorial instincts, could result in something special. I guess we’ll see in 2019. WGL

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Women in the wo

WHAT’S HOLDING US BACK AS WE MOVE FORWARD 14 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

T

hink about your workplace. What is the ratio of women to men? How many women are in a position of power? How are women treated?

Hopefully the answers are positive: that women are equal to men; that they are not limited to departments traditionally staffed by women, such as customer service, human resources or marketing. Hopefully, there are at least one or two women in positions of power, whether on the board of TAYLOR directors or senior

level management, and that people respect and listen to what those women have to say.

It’s more likely, however, that there are not many women in power. In most workplaces, the female-to-male management ratio is quite small, and women in those BOLTZ positions are most

orkplace

Women are starting to surpass men in terms of their education, (more women hold bachelor’s degrees than men), but they are not expected to see increases in workforce participation later in the decade.

likely ignored and not taken as seriously as men.

Yet there is a revolution happening in America’s workforce. A new women’s rights movement that is building on the social and economic gains of the 20th century and creating new avenues for personal and economic accomplishment. Getting there, however, means clearing away old barriers of bias.

Acting identical but treated differently

Bias, as defined by the Harvard Business Review, “occurs when two groups of people act identically but are treated differently.”

Unfairness against women runs rampant in the workspace because of how women write, speak, look, and choose to spend their off hours. Male hiring managers, sometimes unintentionally, choose women candidates based on whom they envision for friends

or romantic relationships. And female managers and senior staff sometimes bully other women in what has been described as “Queen Bee” behavior.

Joyce Benenson, who has done extensive research on the way women treat each other in the workspace, writes that women have always had to compete, so this “Queen Bee” mentality can be considered almost natural.

But this bias spawns from deeper-seated issues, among them an outdated notion – even among women – of what women should be doing in life.

Despite the fact that there are 65 million women in the workforce, 53% of them are focused on three areas: education and health services; trade, transportation and utility; and local government. There is mass overrepresentation in fields that are deemed “female,” such as health, social services, and education.

At the same time, there is gross underrepresentation in fields deemed more “male,” like scientific, technical, and

construction. Women are starting to surpass men in terms of their education, (more women hold bachelor’s degrees than men), but they are not expected to see increases in workforce participation later in the decade.

Workplace shifted Stereotypes, lowered expectations and presumed biases still hold women back in the workforce. Yet things have improved with the dawn of the new women’s rights revolution.

Before the 20th century, when farming and agriculture were the basis of most homes, women and men pitched in together and there was little distinction between “home” and “work.” But as the workplace shifted from the home, there were conflicts. Men were expected to leave the home to work, and women were supposed to stay at the house and care for that space.

Women did find employment outside the home, in domestic or in industrial settings, May-June 2018 West Georgia Living 15

especially in textile mills. But they were not always thanked for the income they brought into the home; in fact, at the time of the Great Depression, women in the workforce were blamed for unemployment of men.

Similar arguments against working women continued after World War II and the Korean War. This time, it was presumed women would be unstable workers because they would eventually leave the job to raise children.

The issue of women in the workforce became such a widely debated topic that in 1961, President Kennedy created a presidential commission to discuss these and other issues. Out of this commission came the Equal Pay Act of 1963 as well as the 1964 Title VII addition to the Civil Rights Act, forbidding “discrimination based on race, skin color, religion and sex.”

This was the first time discrimination was actually broken down into specifics.

Obstacles of expectations The biggest obstacle for women trying to climb the ladder, despite biases and gender norms, is the expectation – even among their sisters – is that women

should play a central, nurturing role in the family.

A Harvard Business Review study on workplace gender equality says “women end up carrying nearly all caregiving responsibilities … (and) put more hours into household activities than men,” which puts women at a huge disadvantage in the working world. Women have to shift time around— not taking away any requirements or demands, but simply jostling them.

For those women trying to juggle both a family and work, time is not on their side.

Finding a job with flexible scheduling is difficult, forcing women to make difficult choices that similarly situated men are not expected to make.

When women with families and other time commitments are in lower positions within a business, a male boss might not fully understand their struggle. The same Harvard Business Review study concluded “men are perceived as more responsible when they have children, and women are seen as less committed to work,” resulting in a bias that prevents them from a level playing field.

Lolly Daskal, a leadership coach, calls this concern about balancing work and family

the “Mommy Track,” or a second tier for advancement in the workplace which shuts women out of major responsibilities should they choose parental leave.

The fight for power Women have fought for power. Women have fought for equality. Women have even fought for the ability to choose to stay out of the working world all together and raise a family.

There are many issues for women in the workplace: biases from male coworkers, different biases from women coworkers, stereotyping, and judgment about other responsibilities. But whether male or female, holding a full time job requires one thing: Sacrifice.

For a woman in the workplace, that sacrifice is held to a higher societal standard, as that sacrifice could be a family or social life. These artificial concepts, based on bias or wrongheadedness, seem to be the final obstacle to winning the new revolution in women’s rights. It will be up to women in the workplace to further the struggle; to pave new roads and break down the last barrier. WGL

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Erin Guerra, mother of three daughters

Latasha Cammon, real estate agent

Kaitlyn Smith, nutritionist 18 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Jacqueline Dost, skincare consultant

Dana Harman, educator

Sage Jackson, athlete

LOVE THE SKIN YOU’RE IN Defining the ideal female body is up to us - not society

T

his is the modern woman’s daily ritual: standing in front of a mirror, hurling insults at herself:

“I look so fat.”

“My legs are stumpy.”

“I wish I had perkier breasts.”

Her hair is too thin, her knees too knobby, and her C-section scar is jagged and ugly.

From head to toe, and back again, she can pinpoint each supposed flaw.

Yet many women appear to have no extrasensory perception of their attributes.

Having a healthy body image can seem like an unattainable goal when a particular brand of “sexy” is society’s ideal.

thinking, “That’s not what I look like. I need to change.”

Where is perfect beauty?

There is no such thing as the perfect beauty, no matter what the media is praising and pushing. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes, and this includes the shapes seen on runways and magazine covers. Models are certainly lovely, but their beauty is not the only beauty.

The problem is that our culture teaches women that potential partners are seeking a nearly impossible standard of beauty. Sometimes that’s true, of course, but not often. Not to prospective love interests, peers, or even the general public.

In movies and on television, even the ‘girls next door’ are a slender, sultry size two. Females in every stage of life, from childhood to old age, are exposed tothe same cultural norm. Even some women considered paragons of flawless beauty are shamed on talk shows and social media for hypothetical flaws.

It’s no wonder, then, that many women are left questioning themselves and

In looking past media icons, all types of women can find inspiration. There is true beauty in all shapes, sizes, abilities, and colors of skin. It is not only one type of woman who is romantically pursued, or made love to, or wedded. Nor is it only one type of woman who is admired and cherished. Also, it is not only one type of woman who has been immortalized STORY BY SUNNY KIRBY in paintings, and PHOTOS BY JESSICA GALLAGHER other forms of arts,

May-June 2018 West Georgia Living 19

Front row, sitting, left to right: Shannon Couvreur, Latasha Cammon, Sarah Parris; Back row, standing, left to right: Emily Norton, Sage Jackson, Jacqueline Dost, Dana Harman, Stephanie Jenkins, Vaidehi Paliwal, Erin Guerra.

throughout the centuries.

beauty and purpose in their bodies.

experiences I have had along the way.

Further still - think of female war heroes, women with disabilities, survivors of illness and abuse, and so on. These are only a few of the innumerable examples of ‘beautiful bodies’.

Remind them to “love the skin you’re in, and for yourself remember that’s not just a platitude; it’s the truth.

Perhaps the most beautiful feature that anyone, woman – or man – can have is confidence. Knowing that they are good enough ensures they carry themselves accordingly. These are the people who are admired and followed. Not for how thin they are, or how glossy their hair is, but for their heart and drive, and for what they do.

Just as we must uplift ourselves, we must also lift up each other. These women from the west Georgia area were willing to share what they’ve come to know and love about their bodies, relate a few of their personal struggles, and send some positive messages for those who are currently battling with their own self-image.

Kaitlyn Smith, age 27, nutritionist and proprietor of Change wiTHIN Meals: Most of the time, we see women crash diet or (go on a) bad diet, whenever they are not happy with the way they look. So in order to maintain good eating habits, it’s important to have a positive self-image.

In an ideal world, all women would know their worth and beauty. They would sing it from the rooftops.

Jacqueline Dost, age 55, Rodan and Fields consultant and retired director of Keep Carroll Beautiful: In my 20’s, I viewed my body image as part of my identity. I was skinny and thought that I needed to be skinny to be attractive.

Now, as a woman in my 50’s, I consider my curves as my badges of honor. Quite frankly, I love my body so much more now than I did back then. It is a reflection of the

But since this world is less than perfect, we have to help each other sing. Find the love in yourself, look for the love around you, and pass it onto others – to those worrying about their wide hips, or crooked nose and to the ones who haven’t yet found the 20 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Uplift each other

Dr. Shannon Couvreur, age 37, OBGYN with West Georgia Healthcare for Women (on losing weight, postpregnancy): We are in such a rush to get back. There is no getting back. There is only going forward. For instance, while breastfeeding, we need extra calories to support our body’s job to make milk, to feed our child. We need that extra fat to make good milk to grow our babies. We can lose some of that extra weight, but it takes time. We didn’t gain all (of the weight) in a month, but over a progression of 10 months. We need to allow just as much time to adjust to our new body image.

Dana Harman, age 50, educator: For as long as I can remember, I defined my positive body image by the number on the scale and the size tag on my pants.

However, over the last year of my life, I have focused more on my body being healthy and strong - physically, mentally, and emotionally. This new mindset prepared me to face my most challenging life’s obstacle to date. In October, when my body was getting stronger and stronger, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The journey has been and will be difficult at times, but I believe God’s grace and His leading me to prepare my body – physically, mentally, and emotionally – over this past year has made the difference in my journey.

Erin Guerra, age 35, mother of three daughters: Everywhere I look, society is giving this false advertising as to what the perfect body should look and feel like. I see pictures in magazines and movies and sometimes get caught up and say, ‘Wow, she is so thin’ or ‘her skin is perfect.’ The

image I am seeing is not a true image of the person in front of the camera. They make the woman flawless to sell a product. The truth is, there is no such thing as flawless.

Everyone is flawed, and knowing and accepting this allows me to put the middle finger up to all the pressure and demands society puts on me. I am not meant to fit in to society’s standards of perfection. I am meant to be unapologetically me.

Sage Jackson, age 19, athlete: The media and society as a whole has placed enormous amounts of pressure to be a certain way, or look a certain way.

I’ve dealt with this, personally, since the beginning of junior high. That’s an awkward age already, and the pressure of becoming a teenager and internal struggles of still being a little girl got overwhelming. I’ve struggled personally and also outwardly with peers. I’ve had the support of my mom and sister, but there were still times when I felt alone because I was pegged as being different.”

Latasha Cammon, age 31, realtor: I am a plus size woman, and I will never look like the models in the swimsuit catalogs.

Not even the plus sized models. However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t put on a swimsuit and feel just as beautiful and confident as they do. One thing I would like all women to know about body image is something I have learned through my life.

I have never been the smallest woman and I have never had my ‘dream body.’ In my life, I have gotten to know many different women with many different body types.

And, to my surprise, almost every one of them had something they didn’t like about their body. Even the women that had a shape I would have killed for. This taught me that I had to be comfortable in my own skin no matter what, because I would always be able to find something that I was unhappy with on my body, no matter my size or shape. It has taught me to look to myself for happiness with the way I look, and not to others. WGL

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BEHIND the

GLAMOUR One woman’s #MeToo story from the world of fashion

I

n the 1980’s, Claude Haddad was one of the top four most powerful modeling agents – up there with John Casablancas and Jean Luc Brunel. Back in the day, they called them “playboys” and Haddad was the king of excess in an age defined by excess.

He was also, as 60 Minutes later proved, a king of sleaze.

I didn’t know any of this when I first met him on a late afternoon in the fall of 1983.

** The day had been a long one, with a cattlecar flight across the Atlantic. I had been warned against thieves, so on the train to Brussels I was being extra careful about my luggage. Luggage might be overstating it. It was a single duffel bag, in 80’s neon green.

It weighed, I’m guessing, 100 pounds and

The author featured in a print advertisement from the 1980s.

MIMI GENTRY West Georgia Living May-June 2018 23

Uncertain how to proceed, I knocked but got no answer. I waited, sitting on my giant bag, hoping some other tall girl would walk by and go in. But minutes passed, and nothing happened. I sat there, literally fresh off the farm and more than a little overwhelmed by the busy, beautiful international city that swirled around me.

I fell in love with Paris at first sight. It was like walking into an art history book, only with fresh baguettes. There were sidewalk flower markets and old men in berets. The modelling agency – the people I had come to see – was housed in a block of historic buildings with only the street number posted on the castle-like door.

Eventually, I got more bored and less afraid, so I pushed the tall door open and ventured in. As my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I saw on one side what seemed to be a never-ending flight of chipped marble

stairs. On the other hung a brass plate adorned with rows and rows of doorbell buttons. An intercom. I hadn’t used one before. After careful inspection, I located

was stuffed with all the things I couldn’t possibly live without for the next three months: a backup pair of long johns, bluegrass tapes and my favorite pillow.

I fell in love with Paris at first sight. It was like walking into an art history book, only with fresh baguettes. There were sidewalk flower markets and old men in berets. The modelling agency – the people I had come to see – was housed in a block of historic buildings with only the street number posted on the castle-like door.

24 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

a business card with the agency’s name on it. Prestige (the name that had been on the contract that I’d signed.) And “quatrième étage” - fourth floor.

I pressed the button beside the card and waited. A woman spoke merrily in French, which I didn’t understand. Then she hung up. So, I buzzed again, hoping for an English voice. More laughing. More French.

I sat at the bottom of the stairs for a long time, hoping for a leggy girl to come swinging through the big doors and offer to help with my bag. But that didn’t happen.

I hid my bag behind the trashcans (wary hillbilly) and dashed up the steps, two at a time, until I finally found the Prestige sign. Breathless, I burst into the office where table full of agents turned to me in surprise. I blurted, “Can somebody help me with my bag?”

I was answered with a barrage of French and German. “My god you didn’t leave it down there?” Two of the guys ran down the stairs, with me in hot pursuit. We

discovered my bag had disappeared.

It turned out that the concierge of the building called in a gang of thieves whenever a model showed up and left a human-sized bag at the bottom of the stairs.

I still wonder which gang had scored mine, and what they thought as they rifled through my Bill Monroe cassette tapes and five-yearold Walkman. At least they didn’t get my Liberty overalls; I was wearing them.

We all returned to the agency office. I was stunned and empty-handed. That’s when I met Claude Haddad. I honestly don’t remember how he looked, other than having the impression that he was old. But I do remember exactly what he said: “You stupid Americans.”

His tirade lasted a few long minutes, focused on how “only a stupid (expletive) would leave her bag for somebody to steal.”

He next looked at me suspiciously and asked, “How old are you?” I answered, “21.”

Then he started yelling again, this time about me being a liar. It turned out that the agency where I’d been scouted in Georgia had told Prestige I was 19. Haddad made

me show him my passport, then raged some more about me being too old.

Just at that moment, my Southern grandmother Hattie Lou manifested inside of me, and I spoke with a calmness that I wasn’t feeling, “If I’m too old, send me home. I’m happy to go.”

But they didn’t send me home. I became Girl #43 at Prestige Modeling Agency. “... go sleep in the gutter.”

When I first got to Paris, I was assigned a crazy roommate. Her name was Leza and she had mood swings like pendulums, from bluebird sunshine (and bringing home kittens) to furious storm (as when she put her hand through the pane of our kitchen window). She also entertained at night and my door didn’t have a lock. After I woke one evening to find one of her guests was standing in the dark watching me, I decided it was time to get find some new digs.

That was the second time I spoke with Claude Haddad. He was sitting behind a

large desk in a surprisingly small office.

The walls were lined with cover photos of models, each more beautiful than the first. I tried to convince him that Leza and I weren’t compatible and asked him if I could get another roommate. I don’t remember much about him; just gray hair, coarse and long. But I do remember exactly his response. He laughed. “You think I’m a (expletive) travel agent? If you don’t like it, go sleep in the gutter.”

By now I had started to suspect Haddad enjoyed making girls cry. I’d seen him at it, day after day. Dissolving a teenager into tears really seemed to snap his suspenders.

So, early on, I swore, by gum, he wasn’t going to make me cry. Sure, I’d shed some tears – but only later, on the Metro or at home, behind my lockless door.

That night I asked God: “It doesn’t seem like anybody wants me here. If you want me to stay, I’m going to need a sign.”

Next day, I was in a “go see.” That’s where girls as tall and taller than me wore solid black, smoked lots of cigarettes and sat waiting to meet a photographer. They had West Georgia Living May-June 2018 25

Bible-sized portfolios on their laps, filled with all manner of astonishing photographs.

I sat there in my Liberties with a few Polaroids.

A man moved down the line and looked at girls’ portfolios. He was the photographer’s assistant, or gatekeeper. He stopped by me and smiled. “Hi, my name is Diderot. How do you like Paris?” I answered, “I hate it.”

He laughed, surprised and asked me why? I told him my tale of woe. “Lost luggage, no clothes. Crazy roommate.” He asked: “What size do you wear?”

It turned out his ex-girlfriend had returned to the states, leaving a bunch of clothes at his house. They were all my size. Including her shoes. Fancy ones, like models wore.

He gave them to me. That’s not where the miracle stopped, though. Then he revealed, “My aunt has a small apartment and she’s looking for a renter. One hundred fifty bucks a month – cash in an envelope under the door on the first day of the month.”

“Deal,” I said.

But I had to charm the aunt first. She invited me for tea. With tiny sugared cakes. And beautiful china. We sat in her living room, which looked exactly as you might imagine, stuffed with tasseled

plushness. I sat, well postured, on the edge of my chair. Of course, she didn’t speak English, so I used my horrifying French to converse. She, thankfully, thought it was charming and let me live there, on a hallway with six people and one toilet. I can still see it, to this day, sun streaming through lace curtains and a big window looking over the Seine.

Whispers from the older girls I moved in quickly (since my duffel had been stolen, it didn’t long to pack) and this brings me to the third time that I met Claude Haddad. When I was safely tucked into to my new apartment (with my locking door), I walked in and threw the model apartment key on his desk. I smiled and said, “If you need me, I’ll be in the gutter.”

Surprisingly, that insubordination didn’t get me fired. But it did get his attention. He started homing in on me with his bullying.

But I never cried, not a tear. Even when he took me into his office where three suited men sat, and, without introduction, spun me around, pulled up my skirt and said, “Now this is a great (expletive).” Then he shoved me, mute with anger, out the door and into the lobby of the agency.

All the while, I saw things. Mothers

bringing their daughters to model young girls, like 14 and15. I heard whisperings from the older girls about parties at Claude’s house. Nights filled with bacchanal celebration; parties where girls couldn’t remember everything that happened.

One day, at the agency, I saw a young girl sitting in the lobby, waiting as her mother talked to Claude in his office. The mother had been in there for a while, and he was really pouring on the charm. I realized later that this is what he did: flatter the mothers, dazzle them with the promise of celebrity and riches, and convince them to leave their children with him. “They don’t need to understand the money or speak French.

They can stay at my house. It’s like a big slumber party.”

The girl sat alone outside, waiting. On impulse, I wrote my name and number on a card and whispered to her that she didn’t have to do anything against her will to make it in the fashion business. And I told her that if she were scared or needed to get home, to call me and I would come and get her, no matter how late it was. I never got a call from her. Which makes me hope she got through it safely.

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I like to think that I evaded Claude’s ultimate snare because of my hillbilly wariness, passed on to me by my grandmother. Or because I had my mama’s second sense about people and their intentions. But honestly, I think it was because I was too old. After all, 21 is long in the tooth for a model and he was probably repelled by my advanced age.

For years, I never told anybody about my time there. I felt badly that I stayed, putting up with abuse and humiliation. I’d like to say that I threw my portfolio in his face and said, “I quit” in righteous indignation, but honestly, I ate myself out of a job. With baguettes and pastries and creamy sauces, I gained 20 pounds in three months and had almost outgrown my Liberties by the time I left Paris.

Could I have done more?

The other day, I Googled the old agency and Claude Haddad’s name and was horrified to find article after article, reporting what had really been going on behind the glamorous

curtain. It chilled me to think of how close I’d been to that sexual predator. 60 Minutes reported that he not just harassed, but molested hundreds of young women, some of them 14 and 15 years old. “The ugly business of beautiful girls.”

I felt weird and weightless, like I was looking at a 30-year-old picture of myself swimming in the warm ocean and only now noticing the shadow of the great white shark that swam beneath my feet. I thought about how young and silly and susceptible to flattery I had been, and how I could have easily been a victim.

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I think about the rest of the girls. The ones that were drugged and molested and shamed. And I carry a little of that shame with me. If I had been braver and stood up to Claude, could I have saved any of them?

They’re mothers now. And grandmothers.

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My hope for them is that they can move out of the darkness of their past and teach their children to value themselves, to beware of charming strangers and not trade innocence for celebrity and fame. WGL

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WEST GEORGIA’S

WOMEN IN POWER Women serve at the highest levels of elected leadership across west Georgia, from judgeships, to mayors to seats on county commissions and city councils. Here are the highest elected officials in Douglas, Carroll and Haralson counties who make decisions affecting all of us, and our future.

STORIES BY LIZ MARINO & KEN DENNEY PHOTOS BY JESSICA GALLAGHER West Georgia Living May-June 2018 29

Chairman, Douglas County Board of Commissoners Dr. Romona Jackson Jones

H

aving grown up in Memphis, Romona Jackson Jones says her parents were a major influence who helped carve out the person she has become, and who laid the foundation that prepared her to serve as chairman of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners.

She said that her first introduction into leadership was in elementary school, when she was elected president of her fifth grade class.

“That was the turning point in my life,” Jones said. “I feel like I was born to lead.”

A career in the health field started during her three years in the United States Army where she completed basic training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. She then attended the Academy of Health Sciences, where she became certified as a medical specialist and operating room specialist.

Jones accumulated nine years of clinical

30 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

patient care in surgical technology, before spending 31 years in healthcare management. In that time, she gained leadership, budget and policy experience.

Jones moved to Georgia — specifically Douglas County—in 2002, and finished her healthcare care career in 2016 as operations manager of surgery at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. This was the longest job she ever held, she said.

“What I was taught in life is that you want to leave the stage while they’re still clapping,” she said.

But settling into retirement was not in her plans. She still had a lot of things she wanted to accomplish, and being elected to public office was one of them..

In 2010, Jones first dipped her toe into the political pool, campaigning against Republican Mike Mulcare for the District

3 County Commission seat. While she did not win that race, the experience honed her ambition to become an elected official.

In 2012, she was urged to extend her reach and run for the top leadership spot in Douglas County as commission chairman against Tom Worthan, the incumbent.

Worthan narrowly defeated Jones to retain his seat for another four years, but Jones was back again for a second round in 2016.

This time, she easily won the election against the three-term incumbent.

“I believe a setback is a setup for a comeback,” Jones said. “I believe your destiny is set when you are born.”

“I look forward to doing great things in the county,” said Jones. “I listen very well and have a phenomenal memory. I believe I can bring people together and build bridges.”

WGL

Mayor, City of Bremen Sharon Sewell

S

haron Sewell has been mayor of Bremen for the past 16 years – a job she never expected to have, but she is proud of how the city has changed in that time.

She is a member of a family who helped make Bremen the “clothing center of the South.” Her father started the Ray Sewell Co. in 1955, and other ancestors started a clothing and textile dynasty that dominated the west Georgia economy for decades. It was especially beneficial for Bremen, where the family’s philanthropy helped build the community.

“I had grown up in a Bremen that was thriving, with a lot of industry,” she said. “The factories supported everything. The school had no needs, because they could call Mr. Hubbard (Hubbard Slacks) or one of the Sewells and get it.”

“That was a good and a bad thing,” Sewell said. “But then when the businesses started going down, we had to learn how to live a

different way.”

Sewell had earned a degree in speech pathology and was working with the Haralson County school system when the textile industry went on a decline. And as the factories closed due to foreign competition, Bremen also went on a decline.

“And I kept thinking somebody’s got to do something or we’re going to lose this town,” Sewell said.

It eventually became clear to her that that “somebody” was her. In 2001, she ran without opposition – and has not been opposed in any election since.

In an odd way, Sewell said, Bremen benefitted from the economic downturn of the last decade. It gave the town a chance to breathe; to plan for its future without being “designed by the sprawl” that has affected other communities.

“It has given us time to build a foundation

that I can feel good about handing over to the next generation.”

For a time, she said, the city was forced to turn away potential businesses because the town did not have the water infrastructure to support them. But over time, and through her leadership, the city has been able to do what other cities have not: grown a financial and physical foundation for future growth.

“We’re financially solvent; everything’s good,” she said. “All our bills are paid up to date and we have been able to regain some cash reserve, which we had zero soon after I became mayor.”

As she starts her fifth term, Sewell is unsure about her future in politics, but confident in the future of her town.

“I don’t know if I will run after this or not, but we’ve developed a great team. We have some incredible city support. Our community partners are all on board.” WGL West Georgia Living May-June 2018 31

Judge, Carroll County Court of Probate Betty Cason

A

s judge for Probate Court, Betty Cason deals with many subjects that are unpleasant for most people. But Cason carries out her responsibilities with care and compassion.

“Probate” is an old term that basically means “proof”; it’s a legal process by which a last will and testament is proven to be the last wishes of someone who has died. But the responsibilities of the Probate Court are far wider, extending to the appointment of guardians. That is, someone who can watch over – and make decisions for – someone else. And this includes both children and adults.

Judge Cason has held her position for 22 years and has been re-elected without opposition time and again.

Born and raised in Carroll County, she started working for the City of Bowdon just out of high school. She continued to work for that city when she attended what was then called West Georgia College, working during the days and attending classes at night.

32 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Eventually, she became city clerk for Bowdon, but after a friend who also served elsewhere as a city clerk was elected a probate judge, Cason said she was encouraged to do the same in Carroll County. During that first election in 1996, she faced opposition. She has run unopposed in every election since.

Most citizens of the county will see her at one time another, usually because of a death in their immediate family. That’s when a person’s last will and testaments must either be probated or filed with the court.

But Judge Cason must also occasionally act for those who cannot responsibly make decisions for themselves; either because they are too young, or because of diminished mental capacity. In such cases, it is her responsibility to appoint a legal guardian to look out for their interest.

And while such decisions made on behalf of children tug at her heartstrings, Cason is especially moved by those in mental distress.

“I guess one of my passions is to help people with mental illness,” she said. “And it seems like in the last few years it has really gotten worse.”

Cason has become one of Carroll County’s strongest advocates for the mentally ill, many of whom, unfortunately come to her attention because of some contact with law enforcement.

“I send people for evaluations, but once they get evaluated – if they don’t have money, there’s very few treatment facilities that’s available for them. So, it’s kind of like a revolving door.”

She works with Carroll County Mental Health Advocates, which helps to connect those with mental illness with services available within the community. One focus of the project, Cason said, is to help people get out of the county jail, which serves as the de facto “biggest treatment center” in the county.

Mental illness, she said, “knows no socioeconomic group; it’s widespread.” WGL

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Shot Spot 970 Hays Mill Road Carrollton, GA 30117 678-664-0610 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

WEST GEORGIA’S

TRAILBLAZING WOMEN Women fill many leadership roles in Douglas, Carroll and Haralson counties. We could have picked dozens of them, but had to settle on just nine. These women, like their sisters elsewhere in west Georgia, are blazing new trails and setting new goals for future leaders in our community.

STORY BY MOLLY STASSFORT PHOTOS BY MELANIE BOYD West Georgia Living May-June 2018 35

DOUGLAS COUNTY Judge Cynthia Adams Douglas County Superior Court

A

s the first female Superior Court Judge in Douglas County, Judge Cynthia Adams is pioneering a movement and hoping to instill the same drive in a younger generation.

Although originally from Nassau, Bahamas, Judge Adams considers herself a Georgia girl, having moved to the state with her family as a child. At age 16, Adams knew law was her future.

“I positioned myself in different immersive experiences to take as much advantage of all options in the legal field.” This included participating in the inaugural year of the Atlanta Bar Association’s Summer Law Internship Program in 1993.

She went on to earn her undergraduate degree from Oakwood College and her law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law. After graduation, she served as a solicitor in Fulton

36 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

County then as a prosecutor in Dekalb, working in the crimes against children unit.

Adams opened her own law firm in 2008.

She ran this practice for almost a decade and served as Judge Pro Tempore in the Douglas County Juvenile Court. She was appointed to the Superior Court by Governor Nathan Deal on January 31, 2017, becoming first woman to take this seat.

An avid reader, Adams credits much of her success to books and wants to extend the same motivation to kids. One of her proudest accomplishments has been the creation of a reading room at the Douglas County Juvenile Court.

“I really wanted to pass on my love for reading to inspire this same love to the kids in the Juvenile Court system, to transform them and open their minds to the possibilities that are out there for them.”

WGL

Emily Lightner Cultural Arts Council Douglasville/Douglas County

“T

he arts has so many benefits to offer to the community,” says Emily Lightner, Interim Director of the Cultural Arts Council in Douglas County.

Lightner was born and raised in Douglas County.

As a child, art was always an active influence in her life, and she won her first art award at age five. After graduating from Lithia Springs High Schools, she moved to Alabama and received her Bachelor’s in Management and Human Resources from Jacksonville State University.

She returned to Douglasville after completing school to help manage her family’s business in Austell. Lightner had been a member of the Cultural Arts Council in Douglasville from a young age and served as Gallery and Programs Coordinator.

the Arts Council in 2015. She was then promoted to Deputy Director and now fills the role of Interim Director for the Council.

“My goal is to get the face of the Cultural Arts Council out to the community; we have so much to offer to the residents of Douglas County, from free concerts to art camps.”

One of her biggest achievements was the implementation of Artportunity Knocks in Douglas County, a program within the Douglas County school system. This program offers scholarships to art camps for kids in the area.

With over 10 years of arts education, gallery and management experience, Lightner strives to nurture, guide and stimulate the enjoyment of and participation in the arts among residents and visitors to Douglas County.

“Our council has exciting plans lined up for the next five years to really unleash the power of the arts in Douglas County.” WGL

Lightner began working as the Office Manager for

Tara Nichols

The Nichols Center seeks out resources to help people struggling to find recovery, especially those without financial means of their own.

F

The center also offers support groups surrounding kinship care and grief and loss, as well as offering homeless outreach and career recovery support.

The Nichols Center amily drives Tara Nichols; whether it’s her own or counseling someone else’s, she strives to make a positive impact for those struggling with mental illness, addiction and other forms of trauma.

Although she is originally from Oklahoma, Nichols and her family moved to Fort McPherson after her father was stationed there.

Nichols studied at Clayton State University and received a bachelor’s degree in Integrative Studies, as well as a Bachelor’s in Psychology and Human Resources.

In 2013, following the tragic loss of her husband’s youngest brother to an accidental drug overdose, she and her family created the Nichols Center, a nonprofit community resource center in Douglas County. The Center is dedicated to building support for those in the area struggling with addiction or mental illness.

She now works as Licensed Associate Professional Counselor and Mental Health Counselor at Recovery Unlimited, specializing in children’s and women’s services, specifically those who have been through major trauma or have mental health disorders.

“I get to experience amazing stories of recovery and see our work change lives.” WGL

“Substance abuse and addiction affects everyone in a family,” she said. “One of our goals at the center is to create awareness for those struggling while offering a community for recovery.”

West Georgia Living May-June 2018 37

CARROLL COUNTY Kelly Meigs

Tanner Health System

C

arrollton is not just a home for Kelly Meigs; it is a passion. As the Director of Marketing Strategy and Planning for Tanner Health System, Meigs has honed her leadership abilities in the workplace and extends them across Carroll County.

Originally from Stockbridge, Meigs has lived in Carrollton for almost 20 years. She began working at Tanner in 2002, and has previously been Creative Services Manager and Assistant Director of Marketing and Public Relations. In her current role as Marketing Director, she oversees all community outreach activities, all advertising plans for the hospital, manages the employee wellness department and presides over the marketing department for Tanner.

Meigs strives to make an impact outside of Tanner. She has served as secretary, PR chair and

38 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

fundraising chair for the Carrollton Dawnbreakers Rotary club, as well as the chair for the casino night fundraiser, one of the club’s biggest fundraising projects each year.

She has also served in a diverse number of roles in the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce, including the Leadership Academy Chair from 2010 to 2012, board member from 2013 to 2016, Chair of Business Development Committee since 2015 and a board member for the Women’s Business Alliance since 2011.

“The Chamber of commerce is great proponent for community; our goal is making Carrollton a great place to work, live and play and getting to help make that happen for my home, the place I love has been beyond rewarding.” WGL

Julia Curran Shot Spot

E

mpowering women throughout Carroll County is just the start of Julia Paulk Curran’s mission.

Curran was born and raised in Carrollton, where she attended Carrollton High School. She then attended the University of Alabama and majored in English.

Upon moving back to Carrollton, Curran started working part time at Shot Spot, her family’s firearms store and shooting range, running the business’ social media accounts.

Curran’s role shortly moved to full time, becoming the business’s Marketing and Event Coordinator.

joining Shot Spot, I have watched the industry shift to very female friendly and more female orientated.”

Curran has participated in of many community organizations. She is a member of Sertoma, a committee member for the Magnolia Ball, a committee member and volunteer for Fashion Ferst, and a past board member of Keep Carroll Beautiful.

One of Curran’s biggest triumphs is being a cochapter lead of a female-only shooters group called “Hot Shots.” The group meets at Shot Spot once a month to go over firearm training, try new firearms and learn firearm technique and specs. These meetings are free and open to women in the community.

“My goal (for Hot Shots) is for women to come into an open and welcoming environment in the store and feel empowered, to not feel intimidated; we want the women in Carroll County to feel safer.” WGL

“Being in the firearm industry and being a female has been very empowering; since

Amy Brown

State Farm Insurance

A

on the Executive Committee, she is finishing up the final year of her five-year term.

She began working with State Farm in 1997 and took a short break while studying at the University of West Georgia.

“We have a phenomenal chamber staff in Carroll County, and it’s an honor to be a member, to get to be a face for the Chamber and the community of Carroll County.”

my Brown virtually defines leadership by the example of her everyday life.

After receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Brown originally wanted to pursue work in hospital management. But after she got an offer from a local insurance agent, she switched careers. She started in Carrollton in 2001 and became an agent intern at a State Farm office in 2007. In January 2008, Brown opened her own agency in Villa Rica.

“I started with no customers and have since been able to build my agency and make connections throughout the community through my business.”

In 2017, Brown became chairman of the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce. She also served as a member of the Business Development Committee for three years. Now

She has also helped organize the Villa Rica Rise-N-Shine, a networking and education event hosted in downtown Villa Rica on the third Wednesday of every month.

“For Rise-N-Shine, we work to find speakers and promote the event throughout the county. It’s grown from around 15 people to about 65.”

Brown also serves as the Sunday school director at Bowdon Baptist Church, extending her leadership and community-first mindset to every aspect of her life. WGL West Georgia Living May-June 2018 39

HARALSON COUNTY Jamie Brown

Haralson County Board of Commissioners

J

amie Brown is turning dreams into a reality, creating landmark moments for women in Haralson County.

After graduating from Haralson County High School, Brown attended the University of West Georgia, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications and a minor in Sociology and began working as broadcast journalist for television stations in Georgia and Alabama.

Brown decided to switch career paths and begin working in social services with troubled youths. In 2012, Brown found an opportunity to begin working for the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, where she initiated a recycling program and received a $500,000 grant to create a new senior center for the elderly residents of the community.

Brown served on the board for five years and decided to run for the District 2 seat on the Haralson County Board of Commissioners. In 2013 became the first woman to serve on the

40 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

commission board.

Brown is also an outspoken advocate for senior citizens, from her work in Douglas County creating the senior center and through her role as commissioner, pushing for tax breaks for senior citizens. While in office, she has endorsed two Special Local Options Sales Tax (SPLOST) votes: one to fund a new Law Enforcement Center and another for county road improvements.

Last year, she earned her Master’s Degree in counseling at the University of West Georgia and works as a Licensed Associate Professional Counselor at Haralson Behavioral Health in Bremen.

“I’m a dreamer at heart and that’s what I want to pass onto others: I want to inspire and encourage other women to let their voice be heard in the community.” WGL

Tara Chapman

Haralson County Chamber of Commerce

H

aralson has always been home for Tara Chapman; that’s the primary reason she works so diligently to make it a great home for all residents.

Chapman was born and grew up in Buchanan.

She graduated from Haralson County High School in 2002 and from the University of West Georgia in 2006 with an Accounting degree.

After college, Chapman was offered a job with the development authority, located next to the Chamber of Commerce.

In 2013, she received a grant from Georgia Power for a strategic plan for the community, which allowed the Chamber and development authority to merge.

where she helped implement the Grow Haralson movement.

“My focus is on workforce development and growing the local workforce, which is one of my biggest passions for Haralson - bringing more jobs to the county. Through the Grow Haralson movement, the Chamber has helped bring business and community leaders together with a goal of being less dependent on government funds.”

Her largest current undertaking is the YouScience program, a high school aptitude test that links students to opportunities within the local area, helping to grow the Haralson workforce. In July, Chapman will take on the role of President of the Bremen Rotary Club.

WGL

“Our goal was to unify as one voice for businesses and the community, and by early 2014 we were able to accomplish that.”

She currently serves the Vice President of the Economic Development for the Haralson Chamber of Commerce,

Julie Cain Attorney

“M

y priority is ‘how can I help?’ That’s my first thought with everything I do,” said Julie Williams Cain, who has practiced law in the west Georgia area for over 26 years and continues to prioritize her community.

Cain’s family moved to Haralson when she was a child; she graduated from Haralson County High School and returned to her hometown in the early 1990s after her children attended college.

Cain received an undergraduate degree in Education, but decided a degree in law would allow her more flexibility in her career field.

“I thought a degree in law would make me more well-rounded and give me more advantages in any work environment.”

Garner in Bremen; in 1995, after five years in Bremen, Cain began a private practice in the west Georgia area. She came to Tallapoosa in 2014. In her career she has practiced in different arenas, including family law, criminal defense and juvenile representation.

Cain strives to remain an active part of her community outside of her legal practice. She serves on the Board of Directors for Tallapoosa for the Haralson County Chamber of Commerce, as well as on the Downtown Development Authority, and in various local civic groups.

“I’ve always appreciated how diverse Haralson county has been over the years. I’m committed to this area and establishing resources in this community for the residents. This community has always made me feel appreciated and accepted as a female.” WGL

She first practiced with Murphy, Murphy and

West Georgia Living May-June 2018 41

WOMEN TEACHING WOMEN From elementary schools to universities, women across west Georgia have dedicated themselves to the education of our young. Here are three inspiring stories of women who have made a point of educating younger women, creating a new generation of leaders, thinkers and teachers.

STORY BY ERIN MCSWAIN-DAVIS PHOTOS BY JESSICA GALLAGHER 42 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Dr. Emily Felton, Superintendent, Sweetwater Elementary School

E

Teaching by example

mily Felton enjoys her job as principal of Sweetwater Elementary School.

She can both open children’s minds to education and inspire many young girls.

“I love what I do,” said Felton. “I have worked in the high school, middle school and now elementary, so I am able to influence and inspire the youngest age group.”

Felton began her career path in business, and she stayed in that world for 10 years until she realized something was missing.

“I wanted to make a bigger impact,” said Felton. “So, then I looked into counseling, (like) my sisters. I felt that I could make more of a difference.”

Felton said that during her career, she has seen many changes in women’s roles.

“Even 21 years ago, I have seen more women in leadership positions - now more than ever. Even when I was in school myself, I saw many men in those roles but now I see more women. This is a good thing for young children to see that they can amount to greatness, especially women of color.”

Felton said it makes a difference to young girls to see women who look like them in leadership positions. This school year, Felton incorporated a student council to give her students the chance to seek leadership roles and to make a difference.

“This student council was the first time we

did it this year and the students have loved it,” said Felton. “We even have a young girl who was selected as president. That was one way that I wanted to encourage young women. To encourage them to step out and let their voice be heard.”

During the entire month of March, which was Women’s History Month, Felton asked one of the school’s gifted students to choose a woman role model, then discuss how that woman had inspired the student.

“Even acknowledging women’s history month, we may see it as something simple, but it leaves an impact on our young students,” said Felton. “I want to continue to help women step out of their comfort levels and build a strong platform.” WGL West Georgia Living May-June 2018 43

The Tynker Belles, Whitesburg Elementary School

W

Leading to the future

hitesburg Elementary School teacher Beverly Dillard is not just inspiring her students to be successful, she’s helping them put their skills to work through computer science.

She leads the Tynker Belles, an all-girl club of students who learn programming and who teach computer coding to others.

Dillard never wanted her students to hear they were “too young” to code. She started the club to prove naysayers wrong and to teach others that women can do whatever men can.

“This is the second year for the club and I have been here since the beginning,” she said. “I decided to do this because I knew it was something we had to have at the school.”

44 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Dillard taught herself how to code before she taught the Tynker Belles. Dillard said that the young girls are “pros” and can tackle any project Dillard throws at them.

opportunities are web-based. She wants her students prepared for future careers in tech, no matter what directions computer sciences take.

“Coding and computer skills are not just for the boys,” said Dillard. “I want this club to continue to fight the stereotype that computer coding is a ‘guy thing’ and that the young girls can learn how to code too, and have fun with it.”

Tynker Belles Daisy Yates, Janae Dukes and Courtney Carroll work with teacher Beverly Dillard.

The Tynker Belles have learned to debug programs and fix programs.

They have learned machine commands and enhance their problem-solving skills through coding.

She wants to teach the girls at a young age so, as technology advances, they will be prepared. Nowadays, many skills and learning

“I hope to continue to inspire the students to continue to work with computers and grow their passion for learning,” said Dillard. WGL

Dr. Dianne Hoff, Dean of Education, UWG

D

Inspiration 101

r. Dianne Hoff is the Dean of College of Education at the University of West Georgia. Her goal in life is to help women find long-term careers.

are being heard more, she says. When her education career began, women were often the teachers – but most of the school leaders and superintendents were men.

“There has been a change over the years for women,” said Hoff. “For me, I have noticed the change in the choices that women have open to them. When I began teaching, there were only a few career choices for women, but now they have the entire world open to them.”

“Our role is to prepare women to create long-term career goals,” said Hoff.

“Whereas the College of Education in the past has thought to focus on preparing just teachers, now we can encourage women to be more, such as a superintendent, a speech-language pathologist or school counselors.”

Hoff said she has also seen a change in the voices of women over the years. Women

Hoff said that women can now enter politics

and to influence educational policy in a bigger arena. Hoff said that the key for women to be successful is to start their career planning in education early. Then, they can reach those goals for a world now more open to them.

“Give women the knowledge, confidence, and voice, as well as career planning, to give those women the ability to reach those high aspirations,” said Hoff. “I always say, when you leave the College of Business you don’t wish to be a salesperson for the rest of your life - and we are trying to open the world for women on how they can advance in their career.” WGL West Georgia Living May-June 2018

45

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47

FOOD

Shrimp ‘n’ grits wit

A classic shrimp’n’grits fo I

have a confession to make. I’m a Yankee transplant and grew up in Pittsburgh.

Now before everyone grabs their pitchforks and ttries to chase me out of town, please understand: I’m in recovery!

basil martini. The flavor combinations may seem a little different, but they work amazingly well. Let’s start with that – because it’s never a bad idea to have a drink in hand while cooking.

Shell on shrimp is not necessary, but it will let you add even more of the shrimp flavor to the dish. Even better (if you can find them) would be shrimp with the heads on.

The Southern drawl has crept into my everyday speech, I’ve heartily adopted the word “y’all,”and Southern-style comfort food has become my favorite. I still can’t do sweet tea, but nobody’s perfect, right?

Grapefruit Basil Martini 1.5 ounces vodka 1.5 ounces grapefruit juice Quarter ounce simple syrup Three basil leaves

This time around, Leigh and I decided to bring our readers a recipe for one of my all-time favorite Southern classics – the venerable shrimp ‘n’ grits. Some people may call it by the more proper “shrimp and grits,” but I think it sounds better as one word: Shrimpngrits. Yes, much better.

Muddle the basil leaves in the bottom of a martini shaker. Add vodka, grapefruit juice, simple syrup, and ice. Shake thoroughly. Pour through a strainer into a chilled martini glass.

Garnish with ice.

Start by peeling and deveining your shrimp.

If your shrimp still have the heads, tear them off and then move to legs and the shells. For a better presentation, leave the last segment of shell on, along with the tails.

To devein the shrimp, run a sharp paring knife down the back of the shrimp about a half inch deep. Use either your knife or your fingers to remove the vein from the back of the shrimp. Whatever you do, do not discard the shells and heads!

Like any meal, shrimpngrits at the very least requires a beverage. Leigh is providing a recipe for a refreshing and crisp grapefruit 48 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Now, with glass in hand, let’s set about preparing our shrimp.

For four people, we’ve found that three pounds of shrimp is just about perfect.

Shrimp Stock Shrimp shells One large onion cut in half One stalk of celery cut into quarters

th grapefruit basil martini.

or warm Southern nights One carrot cut into quarters One bunch of parsley Half a lemon Cheese cloth If you haven’t tried making your own stock, this is the perfect opportunity to try. Stock is incredibly simple to make and tastes much better than anything you can buy from the store. You can also add whatever vegetables or flavors you choose.

Parsley and lemon are always classic flavors to combine with seafood. Onions, celery, and carrots are the three components of mirepoix (meer-uh-pwah), which is the foundation for most French dishes and creates a beautiful bouquet of flavors.

Place all your stock ingredients in a bag made of cheese cloth and wrap tightly. Ideally, none of the components will come out of the bag while cooking.

Once your water has come to a boil, submerge the bag in the water and reduce to a light boil.

Allow the stock to cook for at least an hour (more is better), or until the water has reduced by about half. Add salt at the end but be careful not to add too much. It’s usually better to salt your dish afterwards than to have an already salty stock.

Cheesy & Buttery Grits One cup of old fashioned grits Either four cups or two cups of 2 percent milk (depending on your preference) Two cups of shrimp stock Four to eight ounces of shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese Four tablespoons of butter Salt and pepper Grits can be cooked in a variety of different liquids. Water is the easiest and cheapest,

but it’s also going to be the least flavorful.

Pure milk is an option and will give the grits an amazingly creamy texture. Leigh prefers her grits this way. I like the combination of milk and stock as you get the creaminess from the milk but also a more intense shrimp flavor.

Bring your liquids (whatever you go with) to a boil in either a large sauce pan or dutch oven.

Once your liquid is boiling, add the grits. Stir gently, reduce your heat to medium low and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add cheese, butter, salt, and pepper. The amount of cheese you add is up to you, but we’re of the mind that more cheese is never a bad idea.

Grits are also something that can be made the day before and reheated. Some might say they even benefit from a little bit of marinating.

Now let’s make use of that shrimp we May-June 2018 West Georgia Living 49

Once all the shrimp are cooked, remove and deglaze the pan with the shrimp stock. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to lift all the crispy carmelized remnants (fond) and incorporate it into your sauce. Add the rest of the ingredients while stirring vigorously (reserve half of the green onions and parsley for garnish).

prepared earlier.

Shrimp Three pounds of peeled and deveined shrimp Six ounces pancetta or bacon One cup of shrimp (or chicken stock) Half cup of room temperature cream Half cup of finely chopped parsley Half cup of thinly sliced green onion One teaspoon of crushed garlic One tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce Juice of one quarter lemon Half stick of butter Crushed red pepper Salt & pepper to taste Start by cutting the pancetta or bacon into small pieces and place in a large, non-stick skillet on medium heat. Fry while stirring constantly, about 5-8 minutes. You want your bacon bits crispy but not falling apart. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towelcovered plate to cool and drain. Reserve fat.

Keeping the pan on medium heat, dust your shrimp with a light coating of salt and pepper.

Place them in the skillet, leaving about an inch

After all ingredients are added, reduce until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Toss your shrimp in the sauce and warm through.

of space between each. Watch them carefully because they will fry up very quickly! After about a minute, flip your shrimp and fry for another minute on the other side.

Depending on the size of your skillet, you may need to do the shrimp in batches. If your pan is looking a little dry, add some butter to help in the frying process.

For plating, we decided to present two different options.

One is a more traditional approach in a bowl. This is the classic style and will always look fantastic. As an alternate, we spread the grits using a spoon and placed the shrimp in the channel left over. Either way, garnish your dish with parsley, green onion, and bacon. WGL Leigh Thornton is Shot Spot’s head chef and catering chef. Russell Ives is one of the managers at the store. Both are self-described food nerds.

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The HYDRANGEA

FESTIVAL Douglasville’s premier event begins in June

T

he Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival, Douglasville’s annual celebration of one of America’s favorite ornamental plant, will spread out in various locations in the city over the weekend of June 2-3.

The purpose of the festival, according to the organizers, is “to beautify the community; preserve our history, historic places and heirloom plants; and display the community to the world.”

And that, indeed is what happens, because the annual end-of-springtime event draws flower lovers from all over to Douglas County PENNY McHENRY AND THE FESTIVAL The Festival is named in memory of Penny McHenry, founder of the American Hydrangea Society, who died in 2006.

McHenry had two daughters and two sons.

When one of her daughters passed away in 1975, a friend sent her a hydrangea that intrigued her. So, she began propagating them. McHenry went on to become world famous as “The Hydrangea Lady.”

By her own account: “In 1975, I was given a gift of a blue hydrangea. It was love at first sight. As I explored the genus, my passion grew. A few years later, I learned I was not alone; many

Kay Diplacido, left, and Jan Hohenstein found just the plant they were looking for at the 2017 Hydrangea Festival.

STORY BY RICHARD GRANT PHOTOS BY RICKY STILLEY West Georgia Living May-June 2018 51

Gary and Ann Jeffers pick out the perfect plant at last year’s plant sale.

gardeners share my addiction. By 1994, I was convinced that the world’s perfect shrub deserved a plant society to celebrate and explore its versatility.”

Penny McHenry

The American Hydrangea Society was founded in Atlanta by McHenry in 1994. It is befitting that the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival, Garden Tour and Flower Show is held in Douglas County in her honor and memory.

Both the “Penny Mac” and “Mini Penny” hydrangea varieties are named in her honor.

52 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

The hydrangea is an inexpensive plant that is easily grown, is very beautiful and matures quickly. It’s adaptable in both sun and shade and is an heirloom plant.

Jeri Farmer and Susanne Hudson are CoFounders of the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival, Garden Tour and Flower Show.

When Hudson started her garden, she looked up hydrangeas and discovered Penny and her passion for them. From that point on, the women became good friends.

Ms. McHenry has been featured in countless articles and publications. Steve Bender, Senior Garden Writer for Southern Living, paid tribute to her in the July 2006 issue after she passed away.

Ryan Gainey, world renowned garden designer, affectionately referred to her as “Ms. Mophead” because the pink and blue hydrangeas are called “mopheads.”

An adaptable plant

McHenry’s family has given the Festival permission to dedicate the Festival to her memory.

An exhibit honoring her is on display at the Douglas County Museum of History and Art, which helped to create the annual event.

The Festival has many events and exhibits, many of which are free, and are executed mostly by volunteers.

According to Ms. Farmer, the Festival was very successful from the beginning, and has attracted visitors from dozens of Georgia cities and towns, every state in the Southeastern United States, and multiple

James and Audrey Sharpe admire a miniature.

Clara Montemoino of Tainos Hidden Treasures gets her necklaces ready for customers.

foreign countries.

A few facts: • The Festival has hosted guests from over 156 Georgia cities, 17 states and 3 foreign countries.

• Over 300 volunteers work diligently to execute logistics for the Festival.

• Civic and business groups participating in the Festival include, but not limited to: Douglas County Garden Clubs, Master Gardeners, Boy Scouts, Chamber of Commerce, Woodie Fite Center, Cultural Arts Council, Keep Douglasville Beautiful, garden owners, Douglas County High School, local artists painting in the gardens, and six garden sites listed on the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail.

• For nine consecutive years, the Flower Show has won the top state and national award for a flower show in its category.

Events for 2018 In addition to the following events, a great

deal of work goes into creating a visually festive welcome to visitors. Free shuttles are provided for in-town events. Free parking is provided at Douglas County High School, the Courthouse located on Hospital Drive, and the downtown parking garage. Food and drinks are available for purchase in an outdoor café located on the grounds of the Courthouse, as well as several restaurants in the downtown area.

Pre-Event Wine-Tasting $25 per person 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Friday, June 1, 2018 Location: Douglas County Museum of History and Art, 6754 Broad St., Douglasville This fun evening includes tasting wine, previewing the miniature gardens displays and the art exhibits. Guests also can see all the other interesting exhibits during this fundraiser for the Museum. Tickets may be purchased at the Douglas County Museum of History and Art, 6754 Broad St., Douglasville, Georgia, 30134 on Tuesday,

May 1 thru Friday, June 1, 10 a.m - 5 p.m. and at the door on the day of the event.

Artists’, Flower, Home and Garden Market – Free Admission 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 2 and 3 Location: Courthouse, 8700 Hospital Drive, Douglasville The Festival Market is a juried market which features beautiful art by local artists, handmade jewelry, garden statuary, iron works, plants, (including hydrangeas), handcrafted soaps and candles, and much more. The Market also includes a sidewalk café where visitors can enjoy lunch. Free shuttle provided to this location.

Garden Tours Featuring Nationally Recognized Gardens $25.00 per person 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 2 and 3 West Georgia Living May-June 2018 53

Judge Brenda Brettschneider, right, is greeted by Linda Wilson, left.

Bill and Ann Brimm, left, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, visit with Jack Yancey at his garden.

Free shuttle provided to all in-town gardens.

Visitors must drive to gardens outside the downtown area. Maps provided on your purchased ticket. Location: Various Tickets may be purchased at the Douglas County Museum of History and Art, 6754 Broad St., Douglasville, from Tuesday, May 1 thru Friday, June 1, 10 a.m - 5 p.m. and Saturday June 2 thru Sunday, June 3, 8 a.m - 4 p..m. at the Douglas County Courthouse, 8700 Hospital Drive, Douglasville, on Saturday, June 2, and Sunday, June 3, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Each year, the Garden Tour Committee selects several gardens to showcase. Several chosen gardens have been featured in national magazines, one of which has been featured in over 25 publications, including the most recent one, an international magazine from New Zealand.One has also been presented on HGTV. Some of the garden locations feature porches, ponds, sheds and even a tree 54 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

house. You will enjoy spectacular color with hundreds of hydrangeas throughout these gardens. The Committee makes an effort to feature gardens in the downtown Douglasville area, and in the outlying County. Each garden is different in style, size, and features different approaches to gardening.

As an added experience, you will enjoy seeing artists painting in each garden. The Garden Tour requires extensive walking and the gardens are not disabled-accessible.

“Art in the Garden” Exhibit – Free Admission 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 2 and 3 Location: Douglas County Museum of History and Art, 6754 Broad St., Douglasville This exhibit features paintings, sculptures, photos and more.

Miniature Garden – Free Admission

9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 2 and 3 Location: Douglas County Museum of History and Art, 6754 Broad St., Douglasville Miniature gardens in small containers including wheelbarrows, pots, and a multitude of other creative containers. The miniature gardens include plants, miniature garden furniture and structures and more.

This exhibit is one of the Festival favorites.

Free shuttle provided to this location.

Visit the website to download rules for participation.

Plant-a-Row Vegetable Garden and Scarecrow Exhibit – Free Admission 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 2 and 3 Location: 6770 Selman Drive, Douglasville (adjacent to Douglas Public Health and Library) Each year the Douglas County Master Gardeners spend countless hours working

The small cottage at Benny and Jeri Farmer’s.

hard to create this beautiful vegetable garden to feed members of our community.

In addition to seeing the vegetable garden, you will enjoy the artistic creations of themed scarecrows. Free shuttle provided to this location.

Designer Gardens – Free Admission 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 2 and 3 Location: Douglas County High School, 8705 Campbellton St., Douglasville Designers and landscape architects design and install self-contained gardens utilizing the latest in design concepts. These gardens are designed to give visitors ideas for their own gardens while thinking “out of the box.”

Free shuttle provided to this location.

Hat Parade – Free Admission 9:45 a.m. – 10 a.m. Saturday, June 2 and 3 Location: Douglas County

Courthouse, 8700 Hospital Drive, Douglasville Members of the Woodie Fite Senior Center Tea Group design their own hats to be worn as a part of the Hat Parade. Also participating in the Hat Parade are several Red Hatter groups. The Hat Parade occurs on the front steps of the Courthouse as the Hat Parade participants create a welcoming entrance for the Judges.

Festival Centerpiece: Standard Flower Show – Free Admission 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday, June 2 and 9 a.m. - -5 p.m. on Sunday, June 3 Location: Douglas County Courthouse, 8700 Hospital Drive, Douglasville Each year, a lead hydrangea is chosen for the Flower Show and the Festival. For 2018, there are several lead hydrangeas and the theme is: “Passport to Cityline,” which will take us around the world and beyond through these beautiful flowers. The

Benny and Jeri Farmer’s front porch, decorated for the festival.

Frances Florist – Family Owned & Operated – Remember Those Cherished People For Motherʼs Day & All Special Occasions!

7020 West Broad Street Douglasville, Ga 30134 • 770-949-8711

www.francesflorist.net West Georgia Living May-June 2018

55

Flower Show is a Standard Flower Show and the Show is judged by State Garden Club Judges. The Flower Show has won top state and national awards in its category and this year should be no exception.

It is executed by Douglas County Garden Clubs (Ama Kanasta, Town and Country, and Sweetwater), as well as through the support of the Douglas County Master Gardeners. The show includes a multitude of horticulture entries from local residents.

In previous years, there have been over 500 entries creating a vision for all visitors to enjoy. There are also design table settings, bed trays, educational exhibits and more, all of which are breathtaking.

All in all, the flower show is something not to miss. As a suggestion, attendees might allow 1-2 hours to make sure they’re able to see and absorb all the elements of the Flower Show. Free shuttle provided to this location. Note that the Flower Show opens at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday due to state judging. It opens at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. WGL

Visit us at the Hydrangea Festival!

Accent Nursery & Landscaping 4448 Highway 92, Douglasville, GA 30135 Follow us on 770-949-4144 facebook

www.accentnursery.com • accentnursery@bellsouth.net

McPlants .com

Smarter Landscapes That Work Since 1985

770-920-2100 Visit our 10th Festival Garden at Douglas County High School Greenhouse 8705 Campbellton St, Douglasville, GA 56 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Craig McManus Principle Designer See 500+ Landscape photos at McPlants.com

11th Annual

&HOHåDWH ëH ë $QQXDO Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival

&

Saturday June 2

Sunday June 3

Kick off event – Wine Tasting - $25.00 per person Friday evening, June 1, 7pm-9pm Limited tickets available – check website for on sale date and location Proceeds benefit the Douglas County Museum of History and Art Garden Tour $25.00 per person - Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 am-5:00pm ( check website for on sale dates and locations) • Featuring nationally recognized private gardens- gardens are not handicapped accessible.

• Free shuttle for in town gardens.

Events held at Douglas County Courthouse 8700 Hospital Drive, Douglasville, GA 30134 • Free admission • Artists’, Flower, Home, and Garden Markets – Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 am-5:00 pm • “The Hat Parade” – welcoming the Standard Flower Show Judges Saturday, 9:45 am-10:00 am – on the steps of the courthouse • Standard Flower Show- “PASSPORT TO CITYLINE” featuring Cityline Series of Hydrangeas: Paris, Rio, Berlin, Mars, Vienna, Venice hydrangeas Saturday 1:00pm-5:00 pm, and Sunday, 9:00 am-5:00pm Note: the flower show has won top state and national awards … a must see horticulture, table designs, educational exhibit and more…

• Butterfly Garden* and Nature Trail

Events held at Douglas County Museum of History and Art 6754 Bankhead Highway, Douglasville, GA 30134 - Free admission Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 am-5:00 pm • Miniature Gardens in wheelbarrows, pots, wagons, etc • Art in the Garden Exhibit in the Gallery • Tourism Information and Welcome Center • Butterfly Garden Events held at Master Gardeners’ Vegetable Garden 6770 Selman Drive, Douglasville, GA 30134 – Free admission Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 am-5:00 pm • Master Gardeners’ Vegetable Garden • Themed Scarecrow Exhibit • Butterfly Garden* Events held at Cultural Arts Center sion 8652 Campbellton Street, Douglasville, GA 30134 – Free admission Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 am-5:00 pm • Display Gardens – small self-contained gardens where you can get ideas and inspiration for your own garden • Other special exhibits and events – check website for details • Butterfly Garden*

Hydrangeafest.org Festival presented by Douglas County Museum of History and Art, Supported by Douglas County and the City of Douglasville, Georgia *The Douglas County Butterfly Gardens registered with Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail * Events, locations, prices subject to change without notice

Everyone is an a

ARTIST’S CORNER

A

ngie Albright is what you might call an old soul. Or you might just call her a hippie.

“I was born in 1960, but I should have been a teenager in the 1960s,” said Albright, of Tallapoosa.

She doesn’t have any formal training as an artist, yet she has had a long and varied career creating works that include downtown murals, portraits, and art classes that often include tie-dyed T-shirts.

for ourselves.”

She’s a self-described eccentric, and she’s not the only one to use that description.

Mary Tolleson, a retired art teacher who works with the Tallapoosa Historical Society, says Albright is both very talented and very eclectic, and Tolleson particularly admires the murals she’s done in town.

“Angie would fit in if she was living in the 1960s,” said Tolleson. “She’s different, but talented.”

“I paint on everything and teach others to Albright proudly says she paints “everything paint on everything,” that doesn’t reads a caption on her STORY BY HAISTEN WILLIS bite,” including website. “Everyone is an walls, portraits, PHOTOS BY JESSICA GALLAGHER artist; we each define art paintings of 58 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

artist

Tallapoosa’s Angie Albright believes anyone can create art.

And she’ll prove it if you let her.

Those murals, along with realistic portraits, are where she gets most of her income.

And Albright can also be found each year at Tallapoosa’s Dogwood Festival.

Albright picked up the Festival gig when her son was in kindergarten. Her son is now 38.

The downtown mural was partially due to Tolleson. She approached Albright after receiving money from the city to improve the aesthetics of the area. Albright had more or less complete artistic control over the project, and decided to create scenes from Tallapoosa’s history – including an 18-wheeler, city hall, the water tower, and depictions of the local wine industry.

children and dogs, papier-mâché, furniture and whatever else captures her imagination.

Early experience It’s hard to say exactly when Albright became interested in art, because she can’t remember a time when she wasn’t drawing. It wasn’t always a blessing either, because she used to draw on the walls of her home, and her dresser, on school supplies and whatever else looked interesting at the time. Her parents, not surprisingly, didn’t always share her artistic vision.

Nonetheless, Albright sold her first piece, a doll, at age eight.

She didn’t participate in art classes all that much during her time at Pebblebrook High School in Cobb County; she describes herself as a troubled teenager. She did enter craft shows and continued creating as a young adult, while working gigs at restaurants, truck stops, retail stores and warehouses.

Painting became more than a hobby after Albright went through a terrible experience in 1993. She was robbed while working at a truck stop in Hogansville, and for years afterward she was afraid to leave her house.

Instead, she filled her hours by painting on canvas.

There was a possum at one point, an homage to “Spencer,” a stuffed oppossum who is the mascot for the town’s annual New Year’s Eve Possum Drop, but the window has since been broken.

“I had to paint all that out,” she said. “Those paintings were dark, and full of pain.

But they’ve evolved over time to be the whimsical items they mostly are now.”

Mural artist For the mural she created in downtown Tallapoosa, Albright reverse-painted on the back of windows, which sometimes meant she had to trace letters on the front side of the glass to ensure the letters came out correctly.

“It was challenging, but I like challenges,” said Albright.

The gig was well-received, and led to other mural works inside homes and businesses.

May-June 2018 West Georgia Living 59

Everyone is an Artist At first, Albright was reluctant to teach art classes to others, especially because she hadn’t taken any classes herself. But she eventually gave in to popular demand.

“People kept saying, ‘teach me how to do that,’” Albright said. “I was still reluctant. Then I went with a friend to a painting party. We all sat and made brush strokes; everyone was supposed to paint the same thing. I said, ‘I can do this.’”

She now hosts art classes for both kids and adults out of her home studio near downtown Tallapoosa. A key to teaching, she says, is making sure class participants aren’t nervous. Albright intends that her participants have fun, laugh, and let go of whatever inhibitions they showed up with.

It’s easier to do with kids than adults.

“With kids, by the time I start telling them what to do, they’re done!” Albright said. “Adults will say, ‘Okay, you mean this brush?

In that paint? We’re doing what with it?’”

Albright firmly believes that everyone is an artist, and that everyone decides for themselves what “art” is. Perhaps not surprisingly, one of her favorite artists in Pablo Picasso, famous for Surrealist works that appear to bend reality. Albright likes to refer to a Picasso quote, in which he claimed it took him years to paint like the masters – but a lifetime to learn how paint like a child.

Albright’s studio is located her Albright’s 126-year-old home, which is rather large with 4,000 square feet on each of its two floors. The studio is located in the basement, an area that at different times in the life of house has served as a cafe, a bar and a bus stop. Albright and her family moved into the home in 2000.

She hosts art parties where everyone paints the same thing, classes where kids place colored sand inside bottles, some acrylics and some tie-dyed T-shirts, among other things. It’s a role she hopes to continue as long as she can.

“I’ve done everything,” said Albright. “I’ve shined shoes in Atlanta. I’ve worked at warehouses on Fulton Industrial Boulevard. I managed two trucks stops. I did portraits for a Sears studio years ago. I was a waitress.

I’ve been a full-time artist for three years now, and it’s like not having a real job. The rest of that stuff was jobs. This is just fun.” WGL 60 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Why will you Go West?

WHY WILL YOU FINALLY EARN YOUR BACHELOR’S DEGREE? For a new career path? A promotion? To inspire your kids? To fulfill your dreams?

At the University of West Georgia, we’ll help you blaze a new trail. Think flexible schedules with in-person and online courses, more than 85 programs to choose from, inspiring professors, and all the support you need to be successful.

Go West and finish your degree. Take the first step at westga.edu/goback.

Everything changes when you GoWest.

GARDEN

West Georgia

Women in Gardening

G

ardens have always played in important part in Americans’ daily lives. A field of cultivated land, yielding a reliable supply of food for the family, has always meant a degree of household security and economic independence.

Photo of Ida Fuller portrait courtesy of the Callaway Foundation.

Kitchen gardens lost their importance in the 19th century as the United States developed from an agrarian republic to an industrialized society. But they remain an important element in American culture. There were the “victory gardens” of the First and Second World Wars, and in the suburban boom since 1945, gardens are the haven of heirloom vegetables and a manifestation of the good life.

Following Mrs. Callaway’s death in 1936, their oldest son, Cason Jewel Callaway, went on the establish Callaway Gardens, another national garden treasure in our area. His younger brother, Fuller Jr. and wife Alice Hand Callaway, inherited the Hills and Dales Estate. They moved in with their two children and Alice responded to the land just as the two women before her.

In many cases, the woman of the house oversaw these gardens, providing fresh herbs and pesticide-free vegetables for her family. In west Georgia, we have been blessed with a succession of women that have provided us with a world class garden to enjoy.

In 1841, 24-year-old Sarah Coleman Ferrell started what is now Hills and Dales Estate, in LaGrange. For the next 50 years, Sarah expanded the garden to include six terraced gardens. She brought in native and exotic plants from nurseries far and wide. Ida Callaway described Sarah as “a woman of unusual grace and intelligence with a love of all things beautiful dwelling in her heart.”

It is said that Sarah planted her faith. The Church Garden includes a harp or lyre sculpted from boxwood. The garden also includes a circular bed that symbolizes an offering plate, pews and an organ. She planted boxwoods in the spelling the name of God near the original entrance to the gardens. She also used boxwoods to form a bunch of grapes symbolizing the Promised Land.

Estate for its sunny hills and shady dales. Ida Cason Callaway nurtured the gardens until her death in 1936. She created a rockery, built new greenhouses, and established a rose garden.

The Callaways also added statuary and stone benches to the gardens.

Alice devoted much of her time to restoration of her home and the upkeep of her gardens. Under her care, the rose garden was replaced with a large herb garden, the greenhouse was renovated and the “Bird Gate” was installed. She also designed a ray garden filled with seasonal flowers. By the time she passed away in 1998, she had nurtured and cared for Sarah Ferrell’s garden for 62 years — as long as Sarah herself.

Until Sarah’s death in 1903, Ferrell Gardens’gate was open to anyone who wished to enjoy it.

One of the town’s children, Fuller E. Callaway spent time with “Miss Sarah” learning about the gardens and caring for them as deeply as she. In 1911, he purchased the property with his wife, Ida Cason Callaway. They then set about redesigning Sarah’s house to complement the gardens.

The Callaways named the home Hills & Dales

JOYCE MCARTHUR & NANCY DOMBROWSKY

Just as Fuller Jr. and Alice had envisioned, the estate in LaGrange is now open for the education and enjoyment of the community.

As you stroll through these beautiful gardens and view the magnificent home, remember you are in the presence of three remarkable women. Thank them for making Hills & Dales and its gardens a Georgia treasure as well as a national treasure. Thank them also for inspiring generations of women to design and care for gardens of their own.

West Georgia Living May-June 2018 61

Southern Magnolia Magnolia grandiflora.

Photos by Dorothy Rothbart.

Why women garden today West Georgia women from all walks of life often come to gardening through the influence of the women (and some men) in their family. But their paths are not always the same as their forebears.

We asked several west Georgia gardeners all about their gardening heritage, traditions and dreams. Some enjoy all types of gardening.

Others, not so much!

Q: How long have you been gardening, and who were the women who have influenced you most in your gardening interests?

Marilyn Van Pelt (Carroll County Master Gardener): I have been planting things most of my life. My grandmother guided me by enlisting my help with vegetable gardening.

Her landscaping style was to plant favorite oldfashioned plants randomly around the yard.

Janice Barrow (local resident): I started gardening as a child under the loving influence of both grandmothers. My mom inherited the love (of gardening), but she was the only person I ever knew who could kill mother-in-law’s tongue.

Susan Thomas (Carroll County Master Gardener): My first gardening experience was early … don’t remember my age. I used an old, long kitchen spoon to plant some potato eyes from a grocery store potato. Those potato eyes gave us “baby potatoes.” My mother cooked them on top of a pot of green beans from my parent’s garden. I felt proud to contribute to the family meal.

Stacy Deline (Art Guild): I started helping 62 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Wisteria macrostachya ‘Blue Moon.’

with both floral and vegetable gardens from a very young age. My Grandma Betty had the most magnificent flower gardens when I was young, and my Grandpa Don and my Dad had a communal vegetable garden at my house. I loved helping to plant; then eating the peas from the pods in the garden.

Elaine DeMarce (Carroll County Master Gardener): I flirted with gardening since I was a child when my parents worked our widowed neighbor’s garden for a time. But I think my interest grew under the influence of my husband’s grandmother. She always had the most varied and lush beds I’d ever seen.

Louise Gentry (Art Guild): Gardening was a major part of my life growing up. My dad planted a garden big enough to feed us for three years and would plant an equally big garden the next year.

Anita Wright (Plantation Planters Garden Club): I started gardening at five years old in my Grandma and Grandpa’s garden in Rushden, Essex, England in WWII. They were avid gardeners and my inspiration.

Cindy Keesee ((Plantation Planters Garden Club): I’ve been gardening at least 50 years. I helped my mother at home with the garden and have always had flowers everywhere I’ve lived. My grandmother was a huge influence.

She lived across the street from us and her yard was spectacular.

Q: Do you prefer growing flowers or vegetables? Why? Marilyn Van Pelt: I prefer flower gardening because of the joy of collecting trees, shrubs and

flowers that delight the eye for four seasons. I don’t have much space for veggie gardening, but I love my tomatoes, peppers, kale, cabbage, cucumbers and a few herbs.

Janice Barrow: I love the joy of serving a meal from the garden, but due to the lack of sunlight, I am limited in my choices.

Susan Thomas: I like them equally. With vegetable gardening, it’s rewarding to cook and eat what you’ve grown.

Trina Lee (Art Guild): Most of my prior gardening experience has been with container gardens. I’ve grown tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, berries and herbs in containers successfully. This year I will have an inground garden, and I’m very excited about the possibilities.

Stacy Deline: Both. It’s rewarding no matter what. For flowers- I pick and enjoy some in the house, and vegetables – they taste so much better if they are home grown.

Elaine DeMarce: My favorites have always been flowers and shrubs. We grew vegetables when we moved to Carroll County, but have learned we have issues with our soil (root-knot nematodes) that can’t be overcome. Kind of puts a damper on most visions of fresh produce.

Louise Gentry: Planting (perennial) flowers and plants, once, I can do. They come back every year and are very low maintenance. Picking peas, beans and whatever else was growing in my dad’s vegetable garden was how I came to loathe gardening. In the south Georgia heat of summer was where this loathing originated!

Shellie Eldred (local resident): All I can say is I LOVE VEGETABLE gardening. I love walking out to my garden to see what is growing and what I can cook for dinner that night. My garden is my sanctuary. There is no stress, no drama, no money problems, no schedules in my garden. And all my fruits and vegetables taste so much better than those from the grocery store.

Anita Wright: I love flowers, especially bulbs that come up each spring as a renewal of life.

Cindy Keesee: I prefer flowers. My parents had a huge (vegetable) garden and it was a lot of work. I now have an occasional tomato plant.

Latha Narayan (Plantation Planters Garden Club): I prefer flower gardening. I just love to go and cut some fresh flowers – love the color and textures of flowers.

Q: If you could choose one tree, what would it be, and why?

Marilyn Van Pelt: After choosing trees over the years, I love the strong long-lived ones. I am partial to Japanese maples.

Susan Thomas: If I could only plant one tree, it would be the Red Oak for its longevity, size, shade, benefit to wildlife, autumn color and its general beauty. Oaks are also natives.

Trina Lee: If I could have only one tree in my yard, it would be a (Southern) magnolia, because they remind me of my grandmother. She had a beautiful magnolia tree in her front yard, and during the summer she would use blossoms in floral arrangements that made the entire house smell wonderful. At Christmas time, she would decorate the house with small branches and leaves from the magnolia.

climb. It’s reliable.

Cindy Keesee: Blue spruce, my grandmother’s favorite tree. It would remind me of her.

Latha Narayan: Flowering cherry. I like when it blooms in spring.

Q: What does your dream garden look like? Will you ever have that garden?

Marilyn Van Pelt: I am pleased with my garden because it has good bones; it was planned from the beginning. However, all gardens evolve and change. Mother Nature sees to that.

Janice Barrow: I will never be able to have the roses and iris that I love unless I clear 30 or 40 trees that I also love. Shade rules in my little corner of the world. I adore native plants and have cultivated what nature provides. Native azaleas, mountain laurel, rhododendron and pink lady slippers dot the landscape. When God gives you shade, you plant hostas. They come back every year, resilient and determined despite being munched by the deer all summer. I take great pleasure in serving venison every chance I get.

Elaine DeMarce: My ideal would be more along the lines of an English garden (thoroughly unkempt, mind you) with strolling pathways and points of interest along the way. I might get it someday … probably at a new address where my husband isn’t allowed to throw grass seed everywhere!

Stacy Deline: I agree with Trina. I would pick magnolia, as well. I love decorating with magnolia around Christmas time.

Anita Wright: A green lawn with paths meandering through, and flowers all alongside with a fish pond at the end, and flowering decorative trees around it is a delight to my eyes. I have managed to reproduce some of this, though Georgia clay is very difficult to dig and grow with. Keeping up with my garden and landscaping is a full-time job, and my main work in it is caring for plants and flowers and planting new ones.

Louise Gentry: An oak tree would be my one tree. It’s strong, sturdy, with lots of limbs to

Cindy Keesee: If I could have a dream garden, it would be like what my grandmother had. As

soon as one plant was done blooming, and other plant was replacing it. Always color. Maybe (I’ll have it), but on a much smaller scale.

Latha Narayan: My dream garden will be where flowers are blooming all year long. I did not and now do not live in a zone where that is possible.

Q: Finally, what flower represents you, and what does it say about you?

Marilyn Van Pelt: I could never have a favorite flower, but I guess I am a hydrangea – truly Southern, hardy, not real formal and is still useful when it dries up.

Susan Thomas: My favorite flower is the bearded iris. I love its beauty, variety of colors, delicate flower petals. What it says about me is I like gardening without a lot of fuss.

Louise Gentry: A sunflower. It doesn’t require a lot of upkeep, and it has a nice solid center.

Anita Wright: One of my favorite flowers is pansy. They are so pretty, colorful and yet hardy through cold weather.

Cindy Keesee: I love cleome. I loved them as a child at home, their different colors – and they reseed themselves. They are strong, but delicate.

Latha Narayan: Rose. The many colors of roses invoke a different passion, and I have been passionate about different things throughout my life. ** Throughout the history of West Georgia, women have tended their home landscapes and vegetable plots with love, skill, and perseverance.

Few of us have rolling estates like the Callaway family, but we make what we have beautiful and bountiful for our friends and family to enjoy.

WGL Joyce McArthur and Nancy Dombrowsky are Carroll County Master Gardener Volunteers.

Come By and Visit Us!

“Helping Families and Friends Honor Their Loved One” Phone: 770-258-7239 Fax: (770) 258-7230 rainwaterfuneralhome.com 63 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Southern Home & Ranch Garden Center 1110 NORTH PARK STREET • CARROLLTON, GEORGIA • 770-832-0114 HOURS: MONDAY-SATURDAY 8AM-7PM • SUNDAY 12PM-5PM VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT: WWW.SHRCENTER.COM

readers’°choice°winner

times-georgian°°I°°2017

BOOKS

Shredding the social fabric “The Last Ballad”

By Wiley Cash.

William Morrow, 2017

I

n 1776, the country’s great democratic experiment began with the promise of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for all Americans. The quest for those inalienable rights has encountered great challenges, including a civil war and other social and economic upheavals that have threatened the culture’s stability.

Wiley Cash’s novel, based on a fictionalized account of the textile mill strike in North Carolina in 1929 exposes the social conflicts that erupted into violence across all socio-economic and racial strata of society, pitting groups of people against one another in a struggle for dominance.

This powerful novel begins with the touching plight of Ella May Wiggins, a desperate mother of four who works 72 hours a week at a textile mill in Bessemer City, North Carolina. When Ella misses a day of work because of a sick child, her job is threatened; a catastrophe that would plunge her desperation into desolation.

She finds a spark of hope from a pamphlet promoting a textile mill workers’ union. She joins the movement, hoping for better conditions for herself and her starving children, a seemingly innocuous choice that plunges her into a whirlwind of threats, chaos, and violence.

Because she has written a song about the struggles of working in the mills, she becomes a voice for the movement, vaulting her unwillingly to the forefront of the conflict. According to Cash’s afterword, the real-life Ella May Wiggins wrote working-man ballads that were performed Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and others.

From Ella May’s humble story, Cash develops a panoramic tale that slashes across socio-economic and racial lines. Even across time, as Ella’s granddaughter in 2005 discovers the truth about her family’s past.

The novel is first told through Ella May’s perspective, as the reader develops an appreciation for her struggles.

Cash then introduces the lives of the mill owners and

ROBERT C. COVEL 64 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

their families. While some of the more affluent characters (such as Claire McAdam) are sympathetic to the workers in their mills, others regard the strikers as threats to their lifestyles – even as Communist sympathizers who would destroy American society.

The conflicts in the novel made more

complex because of the mistrust of black and white characters. White workers oppose black participation in the union, despite the common need for better working conditions and higher wages. As Cash explores the social kaleidoscope of black, white, and “green,” he shows that each group’s lack of empathy for one another leads to mistrust and anger

up and down the social order, leading to the novel’s tragic ending.

One of the most effective uses of language occurs late in the novel, as two drunk white men challenge a black man, using vulgar and racist words. James, the black man, is splitting firewood with an axe, while the two men have a gun. As the men question him, James responds carefully, aware of the explosive potential of the encounter. He calls the two men “sir” and answers their insults with cautious courtesy. The contrast in James’ polite words to the insults used by the other men more powerfully underscores the tension of the moment than the presence of the axe and the gun.

Cash’s novel reflects in its plot and characters some of the ideas discussed in the classic 1941 study of Southern culture

by W. J. Cash (no relation), “The Mind of the South.” It considers the effects of race, money, and socio-economic level on the relationships of lower and upper classes, as well as the racial relationships as they

existed in the South at that time.

These same interconnections among upper and lower classes, black and white, as well as their status in a stratified, segregated society, are evident in Wiley Cash’s novel, expressed vividly in the context of the mill workers’ strike, which gives the interactions a powerful reality for the reader.

“The Last Ballad” tells a gripping story that leads the reader from chapter to chapter, from level to level, showing the chaos that results when people fail to understand or to empathize with those much different from themselves.

The characters’ search for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is complicated by forces beyond their control. Using Ella May Wiggins as the novel’s protagonist and center of consciousness, Cash gives his readers a sympathetic character, sensitive and intelligent. She is a poor white woman who lives in a predominantly black neighborhood and who works with those

neighbors in the mill; she serves therefore as a focal point for the racial relationships in the book.

The plot follows as she moves from obscurity to reluctant prominence in the union’s activities. Beneath the surface of the novel lurks always the fact that these events took place in 1929, on the eve of the stock market crash that spawned the Great Depression. The social and economic turmoil of the book’s plot almost echoes the economic disaster that would occur in October of that year.

“The Last Ballad” does serve as a sad ballad about the life of Ella May Wiggins, as her life revolves around the songs she creates.

Cash weaves a complicated tale about the textile mill strike and the lives it affects.

He examines how the fabric of culture is shredded by social and economic forces that led to that strike, the thread of the plot woven through the warp and woof of Southern life. WGL

Tammie Pero-Lyle (770) 832-0911 102 Trojan Drive, Suite A Carrollton tammiepero@allstate.com tperolyle@allstate.com

© 2011 Allstate Insurance Company

619 Dixie Street • Carrollton, GA 30117 • (770)834-0212

CARROLLTON/BREMEN 770.214.2800 VILLA RICA 770.456.3786

Dr. Howard Seeman Dr. Thelma Lucas Dr. John Arledge Dr. Prashanl Sharma Dr. Peter Ojuro Susan Prescott, NP Corie Price, NP

West Georgia Living May-June 2018 65

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West Georgia businesses answer consumer questions

Local Business Supports Business of Saving Lives Scott & Ellen Wynn McBrayer/ Jones Wynn Funeral Home......

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The ladies of NG Turf NG Turf ...... 68

66 West Georgia Living May-June 2018

Robotic Arm Assisted Hip and Knee Replacement Tanner Heath System...... 69 Traveling with Your Pets Carroll County Animal Hospital ...... 70

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West Georgia businesses answer consumer questions

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

Qualifications Scott & Ellen McBrayer are both licensed funeral directors and embalmers. Jones-Wynn Funeral Homes & Crematory has served our community since 1950. We keep our funeral home & crematory synonymous with its name & reputation of serving & caring for families. We are three generations carrying on one tradition. We offer Peace of Mind with the highest quality of service and affordable options. Our funeral home family is always available to help you clarify or answer questions you might need help with.

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LOCAL BUSINESS SUPPORTS BUSINESS OF SAVING LIVES Our family funeral home began in 1950, and now we are only three years shy of having served our community for 70 years under the care and guidance of three generations. When my grandparents started the funeral home, they also were one of the only ambulance service providers in our quaint community. My grandfather drove the funeral coach as an ambulance for many, many years, as funeral homes often did in small towns around Georgia. The medical world, ambulances, and funeral service have all changed greatly since then. One thing we are grateful that has continued to grow stronger throughout the years at our family business is our love for others. Our company was grounded in our faith to serve others as we would want to be served. We still offer services to others based on our company’s foundation of giving back, loving our community, and helping others during some of the hardest days in their lives. We are glad to announce that we are partnering with a company that allows us to highlight our foundation, not only for helping families, but also to recognize and respect the humble beginnings of our founder, Clyde Jones. He dedicated many years to serving others in the lifesaving world of first responders. When Clyde Jones drove the funeral home’s funeral coach/ambulance on emergency calls, all he had available to him was an oxygen tank. The main route available to take to reach an Atlanta Hospital was Highway 78, as it was before the days of I-20. After the ambulance service faded from being part of the service our funeral home provided, we still enjoyed riding with Papa Clyde because he still drove like he was at the wheel of an ambulance, not as fast but always with both his feet and on alert. Our hearts in funeral service break with each and every loved one who passes away, our purpose in life is for families, friends, and our community to turn to us in trust when death strikes their family. Our dedication to serving others and our reputation of 70 years of service is a blessing as it’s evidenced that our hearts are molded to helping.

With the history of our foundation and the roots that began almost 70 years ago, we are blessed to be able to graciously invest back into the community in order to promote the saving of lives, just as Papa Clyde did with the ambulance service as part of the services we provided in this community. We are partnering with a company who develop an amazing life-saving app called Vital ICE (In Case of Emergency) app (code 3694 or 2189). We recognized a unique opportunity to assist our local first responders through a simple initiative that could help save lives. In the event of an emergency, first responders can use the Vital ICE app to retrieve the user’s vital information. This information can then be easily taken on the ambulance to the hospital, or sent directly to the hospital from the Vital ICE app, where ER staff can further assess this critical information. Remember you can never do too much when saving lives.

Our family funeral home encourages you to take advantage of this free service we are offering. Download the Vital ICE (In Case of Emergency) app now, from either the Apple App Store or Google Play, for your smartphone and enter one of our codes: #3694 for the Villa Rica area and #2189 for Douglasville area. JonesWynn Funeral Homes & Crematory is making this potentially life-saving app available for free to download in the community as a way of showing their gratitude for allowing them to serve you. We ask that you please take just a few minutes to download the Vital ICE app and fill in the information so that you are prepared in case of an emergency. This app is available to the entire community, regardless of age, so do not pass up this valuable life-saving opportunity. Your information will only be used by you in case of an emergency by the first responders. Questions about the app can be answered at www.vitalboards.com/vitalice <http://www. vitalbo> and or by calling our funeral homes at 770-4593694 or 770-942-2311.

Your Trustworthy Local Family

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Nicky Stacey Scheduling Manager & Marketing

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NG TURF BRINGS YOU THE BEST OF THE BEST THE LADIES OF NG TURF

Sydney Tripp – Sales “Talking with customers is my favorite part of working at NG Turf. Every day is different and challenging, giving me the opportunity to learn something new and share that with our customers. I enjoy speaking with homeowners and helping them understand the differences between the types of sod we grow so they get the best sod for their projects.”

Certified Turfgrass Professional (in progress) Christy O’Tinger - Sales “NG Turf is hands down the most interesting job I have ever had! I find the whole process from raw land to healthy sod absolutely fascinating. I really enjoy getting to know our customers and helping them fulfill their dreams of a beautiful yard.”

Amanda Shea – Sales “Working in sales is very rewarding for me. My background in customer service helps me to stay focused on the Joined the NG Turf team in 2011. While customer’s needs and asking the right questions to help being the Senior Sales Representative she is them get exactly what they are looking for. There is a real also the Scheduling Manager and oversees sense of teamwork at NG Turf. It is a very satisfying place marketing for NG Turf. She became a to be.”

Qualifications

Certified Turfgrass Professional in 2012.

Nicky Stacey – Scheduling Manager / Marketing “It is important to me that our customers feel like we are part of their team and not just a supplier. The camaraderie we have as a team here at NG Turf flows out to our customers as we keep in touch before, during, and after their installs. Everyone here is committed to staying on top of the latest in turfgrass research and best practices – and then passing that great information along to our customers through our website and newsletters.”

Principles of Turfgrass Management Merett Alexander – VP of Golf Course Sales “Building friendships among the golf community has been an incredible part of my work with NG Turf. The course superintendents I’ve met over the years are a great group of people. Since I am representing a product I believe in with all my heart, it is easy to get them excited about the sod we produce. My goal is to help make their jobs easier because they know our sod is the healthiest and highest quality they’ll find anywhere else.”

BS in Agribusiness, Minor in Turfgrass Management

Michelle McDonald – Sales Manager “I encourage my team to go above and beyond to get our customers what they need, when they need it. Syncing our Have questions about how adding new delivery schedule is challenging, but I love how it all fits sod to your yard can help beautify your together. I’ve learned a lot over the 13 years I’ve been with NG Turf to help us be more efficient and responsive. We are backyard health oasis? Give us a call… our turf experts would love to be part of your on a continuous journey of education and improvement.” green space transformation!

Certified Turfgrass Professional

770-431-1348 • NGTurf.com

Go Outside and Play Beautiful green spaces bring balance to the stress of life.

• Convenient Delivery or Farm Pickup • Multiple Varieties to Meet Your p g Needs Landscaping

LUXURY LAWN YEAR ROUND

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What every West Georgian should know about Robotic arm-assisted hip and knee replacement

Gregory Slappey, MD Orthopedic Surgeon Carrollton Orthopedic Clinic

Qualifications: Dr. Slappey is a board-certitfied orthopedic surgeon with Carrollton Orthopaedic Clinic. He earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia and completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at Georgia Baptist Medical Center in Atlanta and a fellowship in sports medicine at Southern California Orthopaedic Institute in Van Nuys, Calif.

Q. Who needs a hip or knee replacement?

A. Hip and knee replacement procedures involve the replacement of a joint that’s causing pain from excessive wear or damage. The patient may have developed

traumatic arthritis as the result of an injury; a degenerative joint disease known as osteoarthritis, which causes the breakdown of cartilage in the hip and knee joints; rheumatoid arthritis, which causes inflammation in the synovial lining of the joint leading to retention of fluid on the joint; or other traumatic or degenerative conditions.

anatomy. Using that model and the robotic arm, orthopedic surgeons can perform hip, knee and partial knee replacement procedures with unprecedented accuracy — removing the diseased bone and preserving healthy bone — and make smaller incisions, leading to more consistent outcomes and a more comfortable recovery for the patient.

Q. When should hip or knee replacement be considered?

Q. Are there other considerations in choosing robotic arm-assisted hip or knee surgery?

A. Historically, orthopedic surgeons encouraged patients to wait until later in life before exploring joint replacement procedures. Often, this was due to concerns about the durability of the replacement joints; if the artificial joint wears out, the patient is back to square one. Advancements in recent years have led to better alloys and composite materials, however, leading to artificial joints that last much longer than previous versions. This, coupled with the clinical advancements in joint replacement surgery like robotic arm-assisted surgery, has allowed younger and younger patients to take advantage of the benefits of joint replacement surgery.

A. Joint replacement surgery isn’t the best approach for everyone, and not everyone who needs a hip or knee replacement is a candidate for robotic armassisted surgery. Your orthopedic surgeon can offer more insight into the best approach to alleviating the symptoms that necessitate a joint replacement. If it’s determined that a joint replacement procedure is the right course of treatment, consider the credentials of the surgical facility you’re considering for the procedure. For instance, Tanner Ortho and Spine Center has earned the gold seal of accreditation from The Joint Commission’s Disease-specific Care Certification program for knee and hip replacement, certifying the center’s comprehensive approach to patient care and the staff ’s commitment to using evidence-based practices and providing patient satisfaction. The center is also recognized as a Blue Distinction Specialty Care provider for hip and knee replacement surgery

by Blue Cross, Blue Shield.

Q. What’s the advantage to choosing robotic arm-assisted hip or knee surgery?

A. With robotic arm-assisted surgery platforms like the Stryker Mako system at Tanner Ortho and Spine Center, hip replacement, knee replacement and partial knee replacement begins with a CT scan of the patient’s affected joint. The CT uses a series of rapidly captured X-ray images to create a three-dimensional model of the patient’s individual hip

For more information, visit TannerOrtho.org. To find an orthopedic specialist on staff with Tanner Ortho and Spine Center, call 770.214.CARE (2273).

Take a step toward pain-free mobility.

At Tanner Ortho and Spine Center, our board-certified team of orthopedic surgeons can help you get back on the go with the innovative Stryker Mako robotic-arm assisted surgical system.

The Stryker Mako system offers a more precise approach to hip and knee replacement surgery, using pre-surgical plans based on your individual anatomy to ensure a more comfortable recovery and a natural-fitting, longer-lasting replacement that moves in every way you do. And Tanner is the only orthopedics provider in the region offering this state-of-the-art approach to care.

When it comes to orthopedic care beyond measure, you have options — make the precise choice.

To find an orthopedic specialist on staff at Tanner, call 678.582.2278. To learn more about the advanced orthopedic services and joint pain treatments available at Tanner, visit Tanner-Orthocare.org/makoprecision.

Advancing Health WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART HIP AND KNEE CARE.

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Ask the Ex ert Q A

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What every West Georgian needs to know Traveling With Your Pets.

We are getting ready to go on our spring and summer vacations and were wondering, what we should do to prepare our pets for this?

Vacations are wonderful but preparing for them can be hectic. Just as you would prepare to travel with your kids, you need to prepare to travel with your pets.

1) If your pets are taking any medication be sure to have a list of these medications (ideally in your phone) in case you lose a bottle, canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t remember the name, and need a prescription called in.

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.

2) If you are traveling by plane and are taking your pet with you find out the airlines policy on pet travel prior to booking, including where your pet will be kept and is it pressurized and temperature controlled.

Some breed have a difficult time cooling themselves during the summer months and can overheat quickly.

If you are taking your pet on the airplane, find out the airlines policy regarding having your pet in a carrier.

20-30 minutes and see if they get sick or begin to drool excessively. If so, let your veterinarian know and have them get your medications to prevent this. There are newer medications that can help ease your pets symptoms for 24 hours.

4) Make sure to pack your pets food or find a location where you can buy their brand. Unless you have a dietary restriction we normally donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think about packing food for vacation, but if they change diets abruptly it can upset their stomach.

Try and keep your pet on the same brand of food and if they are on a medicated food make sure to bring enough.

5) Ask your veterinarian to help you locate an emergency animal hospital close to your destination, just in case your pet needs medical attention.

A little preparation will go a long way to ensure your entire family has a wonderful and memorable time. Have a great trip!

If you have any questions, feel free to visit either one of our locations or give us a call.

3) If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t already know, find out prior to leaving whether your pet get car sick. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nothing worse than having to listen to kids arguing or a pet vomiting in the back seat. If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know, take them for a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sunday driveâ&#x20AC;? for

LEARN MORE: 770.812.5381

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

NOW SERVING YOU FROM TWO LOCATIONS

(770) 832-2475

635 Columbia Dr. 1155 Stripling Chapel Rd. Carrollton, Ga. 30117 Carrollton, Ga. 30116 #OLUMBIA $R s #ARROLLTON 'A (770) 832-2475 Across from Sony(770) Music834-1000

SAT

April 28th, 2018 4PM-10PM

The Sofia Goodman Group

The Serenata Band

David Pippin and Martini Caliente’

e h T

LINEUP

The MILL Amphitheater

106 Temple Street Downtown Villa Rica For more info call 678.840.1160 or visit www.downtownvillarica.com VIP seating will be available for $5 per seat.

Please visit www.downtownvillarica.com to register for VIP seating.

Southern Art Music Ensemble

The Stooges Brass Band

4:00 PM

The Sofia Goodman Group (Nashville, TN)

5:15 PM

The Serenata Band (Atlanta, GA)

6:30 PM

David Pippin and Martini Caliente’ (Carrollton, GA)

7:45 PM

Southern Art Music Ensemble (Albany, GA)

9:00 PM

The Stooges Brass Band (New Orleans, LA)

Villa Rica

West Georgia Living May-June 2018 71

Advancing Health with specialized urology care in west Georgia and east Alabama.

Waking to “go” several times a night or having difficulty “going” when you need to? Pain in your pelvis, kidneys or bladder? Frequent urinary tract infections?

Specialized care and advanced clinical treatments are closer than you think.

The patient care team at Tanner Urology Care offers compassionate, discreet care for men and women living with urological problems, helping residents of west Georgia and east Alabama regain control of their urologic health with locations in Carrollton, Villa Rica, Bremen and in Wedowee, Ala. The board-certified team of urologists on staff at Tanner offer advanced clinical solutions for a host of urologic issues — from fecal and urinary incontinence to kidney stones, bladder cancer and more — with specialized services like minimally invasive and robotic-assisted surgery, pelvic reconstructive surgery and pelvic floor stimulation, vasectomy and others.

At Tanner Urology Care, we can get to the root of your urologic issues — and treat them — close to home.

Tanner Urology Care Carrollton | Villa Rica | Bremen | Wedowee For more information or to make an appointment, call 770.214.CARE. TannerUrologyCare.org

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