WGL September-October 2012 by Times-Georgian

West Georgia

Li V ing Sept./Oct.

2012

Life . Art . Music . People

Bremen’s Mill Town Music Hall is drawing big names like

Bo Bice

Catch a train Series: How the railroad shaped our communities – next stop, Carrollton, p. 28

MeccaFest See what awaits you at this year’s event, p. 58

Norman Rockwell Ever wondered why that one painting looked so familiar? Find out why, p. 40

Spook up your Halloween party with some ghoulish treats, p. 52

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From the Editor

West Georgia

Li V ing Volume 2 . Issue 6 . Sept./Oct. 2012

www.westgaliving.com Publisher Leonard Woolsey leonard@westgaliving.com

Editor Amy K. Lavender-Buice amy@westgaliving.com

Advertising David Bragg david@times-georgian.com Melissa Wilson melissa@times-georgian.com

Photographer Ricky Stilley ricky@westgaliving.com

Contributors Ken Denney T.L. Gray Amanda Kramer Joyce McArthur Tommie Munro Katie Allen Ross

Dear Readers: Well folks, the frantic activity from summer vacations is winding down. So, of course, we can now all get back into our normal, quiet routines, right? I know, I’m laughing, too. The weather may be cooling down, but here in the South, things are just getting warmed up. We have a Taste of Carrollton, a Taste of Villa Rica, Waco Fest, the Douglasville annual Chili Cookoff and, oh yeah, football to look forward to! I don’t know about you all, but I sure am proud to live in such a vibrant region with such wonderfully kind and interesting people. We here at West Georgia Living continue to enjoy getting to know each and every one of you, and we hope you enjoy getting to know a few people we’ve featured in this month’s issue. First up: music sensation Bo Bice. We caught up with Bo while he was in town doing a show at the recently opened Mill Town Music Hall in Bremen. You may think seeing a former American Idol contestant in our area is odd. Well, he doesn’t. Find out what else he had to say about playing at cozy venues for his fans, page 32.

Also, you might have noticed that Norman Rockwell’s painting “Norman Rockwell Visits a Country School” looks a little familiar. Well, if you are familiar with the old one-room school house on Oak Mountain, it should look familiar. Rockwell came to the local school in 1946 on commission for the Saturday Evening Post. See if you recognize some old schoolmates, page 40. We’ve also laid out some fun treats to help you have a “spooktacular” party this Halloween, page 52; and the Carroll County Master Gardeners continue to keep us informed on all things green and growing, page 10. Also, don’t miss our article on the ever-changing, ever-growing University of West Georgia. In this article, we focused on changes within the College of Arts and Humanities and how the COAH is reaching out to the community while encouraging students to think and act outside the campus walls, page 18. Sincerely,

Amy K. Lavender-Buice To advertise in West Georgia Living, call 770-834-6631. Submissions, photography and ideas may be submitted to Amy K. Lavender-Buice c/o The Times-Georgian, 901 Hays Mill Rd., Carrollton, GA 30117.

Leonard Woolsey

Melissa Wilson

Ricky Stilley

David Bragg

West Georgia Living is a publication of the Times-Georgian. West Georgia Living is published bi-monthly. Direct mail subscriptions to West Georgia Living are available for $24 a year. Copyright 2012 by the Times-Georgian

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

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.

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Contents

Features

Photos and Cover Art by Ricky Stilley.

Mill Town Music Hall: This local music venue 18

For the Love of Art: The recently formed

Norman Rockwell: You may not know it,

MeccaFest: This year’s annual fine arts fair

has gotten off to a great start, drawing legendary names in bluegrass and country music.

but one of Norman Rockwell’s legendary paintings originated right here in Carrollton.

College of Arts and Humanities is reaching out to the community and broadening horizons.

promises to be as amazing as ever, with artists showcasing from across the region.

Departments Life

Garden 6

Series: On the Railroad Fourth of July Parade Skate the Night Away

28 22 46

Feature Flower: Hostas All About Peas

10 12

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

PeoPLe

Take 5: Dr. Tejal Kakade

art

Book Review: T.L. Gray reviews

food

“The Legend of Lupin Woods”

A Spooktacular Party

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Pub Notes From Publisher Leonard Woolsey

Global Warming, Ice Cream and Goblins

on’t let global warming fool you — autumn is coming. Summer in the South is always long. Sometimes, Mother Nature even seems to get preoccupied with changing the seasons up in those northern states and forgets about us, leaving us in West Georgia to bake in the hot sun until darn near Halloween. On the surface, this probably isn’t such a big deal. But to others, we remember when the seasons would change like clockwork. As soon as classrooms began to fill with students, we’d begin to itch for cooler weather and start digging around in our closets, looking for our favorite sweaters. 8

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

Well, so much for that practice. In the past several years, as autumn rolled into to town, I’ve found my inner clock conflicting with the weather report. I even remember this past Halloween sitting outside on the front steps, as Trick-or-Treaters came and went, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. All I needed was an ice cream cone to complete the summer experience. Thanks, Mother Nature. I recently visited with a friend over lunch when he mentioned he swears off wearing a tie in the summer and, due to “weather considerations,” is now extending his resistance. “I used to always go without a tie during the

summertime — at least until Labor Day,” he said. “But now I find it so warm for so long, I’ve pushed it off until Columbus Day.” For those of you at home keeping score, my friend can now avoid a tie for an extra month or so. I might be in the minority, but I enjoy rolling out fall clothes: sweaters, jeans and long-sleeve shirts. Fall is a, pardon the coming pun, a cool time. But with Mother Nature’s inattentive track record for getting around to changing seasons in west Georgia, I’m beginning to come around to my friend’s conclusion. Maybe sitting outside eating ice cream in late October isn’t such a crazy idea after all.

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Hostas: The Shade Garden’s No. 1 Plant

Garden Story by Joyce McArthur Photos by Ricky Stilley

f you have a shady garden and you don’t have at least a few hostas, you need to talk to me. This is a plant that needs no babying, lives through cold, drought or neglect, and thrives on being divided and transplanted. Hostas come in innumerable shades of green, shaded with the blue of a full moon, or tinted with the yellow of the summer sun. It has huge elephantine leaves or tiny delicate blades, fragrant white trumpet-like ﬂowers or soft lavender blooms with no aroma at all. In the shade, where many perennials make a wimpy display of a few leaves and blossoms, the hosta bursts its way into your view and says, “Look at me!” Why wouldn’t you want this all-forgiving, hard-wearing beautiful foliage plant in your own garden bed?

osta plantaginia is one of the earliest species of the genus Hosta and originated in China. Many species are found in Korea and Japan, as well, but naturally nowhere else in the world except these few countries. The hosta has been determined to be one of the younger of the plant genera on Earth, as no fossil evidence of this plant has been found. Though hostas have been grown and hy10

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

Hosta

bridized in Asia for thousands of years, they have really only been in the Western Hemisphere since the late 1700s. After having been imported and grown in Europe for more than half a century, hostas were brought to the Americas in the mid 1800s. Now, there are hundreds of species and thousands of hosta cultivars (cultivated varieties) in the United States. Hostas continue to grow in popularity, and each year the new introductions are tinier, or larger, or more blue or more yellow, or bordered or striped in a way that hasn’t been seen before.

Hosta Varieties for the South

or snails. “Elegans” has glaucous blue leaves that look like elephant skin and is happily tolerant of our dry shade here in the summer drought.

laced between your azaleas, hydrangeas and other shady ornamentals, hostas can provide a beautiful contrast in leaf size, color and texture against the deciduous shrubs. A few midsize cultivars to look for at the shade nursery should include “Gold Standard,” “Aureo-Marginata,” along with the species H. lancifolia. These varieties are recommended by the University of Georgia Horticulture department as reliably hardy in our area.

hough there are many varieties and cultivars of hosta, some are more dependably robust in our Southern climate. The best ones are derived from the species Hosta plantaginia, which has commonly been known as Plantain Lily.

Up at the front of the bed, as an edging or in eye-catching clumps, the smaller hostas fill the bill. Try “Blue Cadet,” “H. Decorata” or “Gold Edger.” All are under 18 inches wide and less than a foot high. “Blue Cadet” has 3-inch, heart shaped leaves of blue; h. Decorata sports a dark green, rounded leaf blade with white edging; and “Gold Edger” has fast growing, substantial leaves in sunny yellow.

For large, (36” wide) bold plants with a fragrant ﬂower, look for “Fragrant Bouquet,” “Guacamole,” “Fried Green Tomatoes,” or “Fried Bananas.” All have larger than usual tubular blooms and are hummingbird magnets to boot.

If you’re looking for a plant with a big personality that covers a lot of ground, you’ll want either “Sum and Substance” at 5 to 6 feet wide, or “Elegans” at a good 5 feet wide and more. “Sum and Substance” is a sunny chartreuse green that is rarely bothered by slugs

or a more extensive list of recommended hosta varieties, along with cultural requirements and care of hostas, take a look at UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences publication, HOSTAS C955. You can find it at their website: http://www. caes.uga.edu/Publications (McArthur is a Carroll County Master Gardener and University of Georgia Extension Volunteer.)

Sept./Oct. 2012

West Georgia Living

A crop of “Big Boy” crowder peas in a local garden.

Garden Story by Tommie Munro Photos by Ricky Stilley

All About Southern Peas

he term “peas” means different things to people depending on where they live. To a Southerner, it usually means Southern peas not English peas. Southern peas, known through the world as cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata ssp. Unguiculata) were probably first discovered in prehistoric India; came to the United States by way of Africa in colonial times; and quickly became a staple in the Southeast. Southern peas are known by more than 50 common names, including black-eyed peas, field peas, cowpeas, protopeas, lady peas, crowders, creams, pinkeyes, purple hulls and silver skins. They are members of the legume family and considered to be beans and not peas. Most varieties make their own nitrogen in the root-nodules that give legumes their name, so they are good soil-building summer crops. They grow on both vines and bushes and come in a huge variety of pod and seed colors, sizes, shapes and flavors. Four main bush types of Southern peas are grown in Georgia: black-eyed peas, cream peas, purple-hull and Crowder peas. These versatile, highprotein peas can be cooked right out of the garden, canned, or dried and stored. They are commonly cooked fresh and served with corn bread soaked in their delicious and nutritious broth, or “pot liqueur.” 12

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

As you have heard so many times before about so many things, you should do a soil test before planting peas. Southern peas prefer full sun, well drained soil and a pH of 5.8-6.3. They will produce an acceptable crop in most soils, but do better in medium fertility soils. Soils that are too rich often result in large, lush plants, but few peas.

eas do not like to have wet roots, so organic material should be added to heavy or excessively moist soils to improve drainage. Avoid soils known to have root-knot nematodes unless you use resistant varieties of peas. The addition of the proper pea-strain of Rhozobium, a nitrogen fixing bacteria, will improve nodule formation, which improves the crop yield – especially in areas where Southern peas have not been grown before. They can be planted in the spring two weeks after the last frost or once the soil-temperature reaches 60 degrees F at a depth of 4 inches and until 80 days before the average first frost. As with most summer crops, planting too early will result in a poor yield and pests and diseases are often more of a problem. Seeds need to be planted ½ to 1 inch deep with four to six bush variety seeds per row-foot and one to two vining type seeds per row-foot. Rows

should be 20 to 42 inches apart, depending on how you are cultivating your garden. Thin seedlings to 6 to 12 inches apart.

arly in the season, weeds can be controlled by cultivation and later the peas will shade out most of them. Avoid cultivation after the plants begin to bloom. Avoid spraying for insect pests because good insects are needed to help fertilize these self-pollinating plants. For fertilizing, follow your soil test result recommendations. If you did not do a soil test, as a general rule you should fertilize Southern peas lightly with 2 to 3 pounds of 5-10-10 or 10-10-10 per 100 feet of row. You can fertilize 7 to 10 days before planting by broadcasting or add a band 3 to 4 inches deep in the soil and 2 to 3 inches away from the seed. Too much nitrogen will result in lush plants with a poor pea crop. Southern peas are known for their ability to survive harsh conditions. They usually require irrigation only under drought conditions. Adequate water is most important when they are blooming. Most varieties will mature in 65 to 70 days, but can be picked three to four times a season. They are ready to be harvested as soon as they can be shelled easily. This is when the seeds swell in the pod, but before the color begins to lighten and the pods start to dry out. When they are picked, the pods need to be immediately moved to a shady area and spread out to avoid spoilage by the heat. Shell and process the peas quickly after harvesting.

outhern peas are susceptible to a number of problems, including diseases and insects. Most of the diseases can by avoided by planting them at the proper time, and feeding and watering them properly. Fusarium wilt and root-knot nematode damage can be avoided by planting resistant varieties. Southern stem blight, Sclerotium rolfsii, which can be recognized by the prominent white mold near the base of the plant, often causes the death of individual plants. Downey and powdery mildew and some leaf blights can also infect Southern peas. Several insects enjoy Southern peas, including stinkbugs, aphids and the cowpea curculio. An aphid infestation can lead to a

poor yield, as well as the transmission of viral diseases. Stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs usually cause problems late in the season. The lesser cornstalk borer can devastate a stand of peas that are planted late in the season, especially during dry weather, by boring into the stems of young seedlings, thus causing a loss of the crop. One of our biggest problems in Georgia is the curculio weevil, which has caused many Georgia farmers to stop growing Southern peas. In 1951, Georgia grew 86,500 acres of Southern peas and only 4,311 in 1997.

avid Riley, a vegetable entomologist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, says that â&#x20AC;&#x153;The cowpea curculio is to Southern peas what

the boll weevil is to cotton.â&#x20AC;? Curculio damage resulted in a 40 percent loss of the crop value in 1995 alone. As farmers reduced their plantings of Southern peas, the curculio appeared to wane; however, when the farmers increased their plantings it became more of a problem again. The adults lay eggs inside the pea pods where the grubs feed on the peas as they develop. Unfortunately, it is adept at developing resistance to pesticides, including the standard pyrethroid treatments. For more information on these interesting pests and Southern peas in general, contact The Carroll County Office of the University of Georgia Extension Service (770-836-8546). (Munro is a Carroll County Master Gardener and UGA Extension Volunteer.) Sept./Oct. 2012

West Georgia Living

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Life Story by Amanda Kramer Photos by Ricky Stilley

Karlee Demmer, from left, Sarah Pennington, and Kota Aranda are students of the music department, which is now under the COAH.

Taking it to the Streets A newly formed UWG department focuses on the community

OAH isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exactly an acronym that rolls off the tongue, but it is something that is helping the University of West Georgia expand the arts and humanities beyond its campus gates. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a new department with a new name looking to capitalize on local thriving arts to create a symbiotic relationship between the college and the rest of the region. The west Georgia region has become an active arts community with many local theater productions, musical performances, and art festivals. Univer18

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

sity officials say continued collaboration between the university and the community will help foster this local hub of artistry while at the same time benefiting students. And collaboration is definitely on the menu as a new school year gets under way. Last fall, the College of Arts and Humanities, or COAH, was born to house the art, English and philosophy, foreign languages, history, music and theater departments after separating from the 16-department College of Arts and Sciences.

Since the restructuring was finalized, Dr. Randy Hendricks, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, said the more streamlined college has had many new opportunities to engage with the community.

Life

“We have a lot of exciting things occurring,” Hendricks said. “The students are getting more engaged in taking their research to the public.” He said many first-time developments and events are planned this year with the local community and region in mind.

ne new event and fundraiser, Eclectic Live!, will transform last Spring’s annual student-produced and studentedited literary art magazine “Eclectic” into a live stage show for a public audience at The Amp in downtown Carrollton on Sept. 15. The event will involve displays of student art, as well as musical and theatrical performances that will turn previously printed and recorded art into a live presentation. Event-goers can expect to see a showcase of talent from a variety of artistic disciplines, such as theater, poetry, music, singing, two-dimensional art, sculpture, even improvisational comedy! During the performance, which starts at 7 p.m., audience members will also be encouraged to support the arts by donating to the UWG Foundation or the College of Arts and Humanities to help offset the severe austerity cuts the college has had to endure from the state in recent years. Donations will help fund student scholarships, travel expenses so students can present their work at conferences, study abroad programs, guest speakers and visiting artists.

owever, Eclectic Live! isn’t the end of the department’s outreach efforts. Hendricks said the university has entered a three-year partnership with the Georgia Humanities Council that will involve connecting

Judy Jones of Villa Rica gets her painting ready for an end-of-course evaluation for an advanced art class. students and faculty from numerous academic disciplines with projects that have a statewide impact. Some of these projects include updating the New Georgia Online Encyclopedia, archiving and cataloguing the contents of the Georgia Governor’s Mansion and working toward a publication on the history of the Mansion.

“The whole purpose of a public university is to serve the community.” – Dr. Randy Hendricks

Another agreement with the Georgia Humanities Council will make the COAH’s history department the statewide sponsor of National History Day in Georgia. “Our engagement in this project will put us in contact over the next year with some 5,000 talented Georgia students from 6th through 12th grades, and we’ll have a presence at the national competition in Washington, D.C., as well,” Hendricks said. The university has also begun other outside partnerships, including one with the National Parks Services. A free symposium, open to the Sept./Oct. 2012

West Georgia Living

public, “The Shape of the Humanities ife in Higher Education,” is in the works to provide selected panelists the platform to spotlight the humanities.

“The whole purpose of a public university is to serve the community,” he said. “For students, it is something they can add to their resume besides just ‘I took these classes and made these grades.’ It is important for students to be engaged in the community.”

t’s not just the students who are gaining something from the college’s partnership with the community; Hendricks said the community benefits from a constant influx of information and cultural enhancement that encourages life-long learning. “The goal is to take the show on the road into the community,” Hendricks said. “We go to service clubs. People can come here, too, and attend concerts, theater performances and lectures.” Tommy Cox, director of the COAH’s School of Arts, which was started in August 2011 following the creation of the COAH, said one of his goals since he came on board as director in January is to seek out additional avenues to allow his students to interact with the public. “One of my goals is help find ways to collaborate with one another with new projects with the community and expose what we do with the Carroll County community,” Cox said. “The arts are so vibrant already in Carrollton. “A project like Eclectic Live! is a fundraiser, but it is also a bridge to the community. It is important to increase our presence on and around the square. The arts make the community vibrant and healthy. People can go to a gallery and see art or forget their troubles when they listen to classical music and feel soothed,” he said.

ortunately, there is no shortage of opportunities for interaction between the COAH and the public, Cox said, as events are scheduled throughout the year. 20

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

The COAH’s main gallery, the Bruce Bobick Art Gallery, is booked for the academic year with student and local art displays, along with numerous theatrical productions and approximately 20 concerts on campus. The college will also host a grand opening on Aug. 28 for the public to tour the new Visual Arts Building. “One of my future goals for the School of Arts is to continue to develop a strong patron base for the arts and have a place where people can

get the arts, theater, musical performances and poetry readings under one package in a cohesive arts calendar available to the public,” Cox said.

WG Associate Professor in the College of Arts Clint Samples said the college’s split from the College of Arts and Sciences has worked toward facilitating this goal because it has streamlined the college’s programs and helped promote making research and activities within the college more available to the public.

“People are seeing the great creative aspects of the different things happening here, and people are starting to notice the creative things we do in the arts, music and theater,” Samples said. “We have a lot of steam behind the creative areas.” Samples said some students at the School of Arts are sharing their talents by competing in design contests for the annual AJC Peachtree Road Race T-shirt design. This year, the school had three finalists in the competition.

nother fundraiser, Howl for UWG, spearheaded by Samples and the Office of Development and Alumni Relations, incorporates the university’s wolf mascot into a showcase of creativity by the students and local artists. Samples said this fall more than 20 life-sized statues carefully painted by area artists and UWG students will be displayed on campus as well as within the community. He said the wolves will not only raise money but also show the level of creative talent that exists in the region locally and at the university. He said that while the COAH is still new, he has noticed a positive impact within the past year at the college in terms of an even stronger sense of unification within the departments. People in the community are also noticing the great creative talents at the university. “We are in the transition period going from where we were to where we want to be, but the results are there,” he said. “We can use art as a bridge into the community and as a way of doing good in the community.” wgl

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Life Story by Ken Denney Photos by Ricky Stilley

A train rolls under Carrollton’s iconic wooden bridge.

OLD DEPOT, NEW PROSPECTS HOW

THE RAIL INFLUENCED

CARROLLTON’S

PAST AND IS CUTTING A PATH INTO THE

(Editor’s Note: The following story is a continuation of our series on how the railroad shaped the towns and communities in our region.)

FUTURE

he train track rises from the south through Newnan, crosses the Chattahoochee below Whitesburg, then curves and twists through Carroll County in an inexorably diagonal line – on into Haralson, then Bremen and points north.

The railroad contributes mightily to the local community. Yet, Carrollton, unlike other towns, such as Douglasville or Villa Rica, does not owe its existence to the railroad. And also unlike these cities, the leaders of Carrollton are not faced with redefining the town in an era of interstate highways and jet travel. One gets the sense that the city appreciates the railroad, would feel its absence; yet, Carrollton would easily survive if it were gone.

The cars that trundle through every day are switched and shunted at various points, sent off to sidings to pick up finished goods or unload coal or other raw materials; feeding the companies that keep Carroll’s homes lit, or shipping the goods that keep west Georgia industry humming.

Perhaps that’s true – after all, Carrollton became a thriving town in the 48 years between its settlement and the arrival of the railroad. But in the 138 years the railroad has been here, it has shaped the community’s character, its history and its political destiny.

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

A Railroad Legacy In the era before the Civil War, railroads were the fastest way to ship goods to the big markets. For a long time, many communities in west Georgia had no such access – but that changed after the state built the Western & Atlantic Railroad and made Atlanta the connecting point for four main lines. Every town those railroads passed through became an instant inland port, with local economies no longer at the mercy of the ups and downs of agricultural prices. In 1852, Carrollton decided to get in on the action. Area leaders formed the Carrollton Railroad Company and made a bid to run a line down to the Atlanta and West Point Railroad, which was under construction at the time. When that effort failed, the mission was taken over by a second company: the Savannah, Griffin and North Alabama Railroad.

et, when the route for that rail line was surveyed, it was planned to bypass Carrollton. Folks in Carrollton began talking about filing lawsuits, and when the contract for grading the route was let in 1860, there was still a question as to whether the town would ever get its railroad. The Civil War stopped the project, and the economic upheaval caused by the war delayed its restart. When work did resume in 1871, it was the eastern part – West Point to Newnan – that was worked on first while the dispute over whether Carrollton would be the western terminus raged on. When that was finally resolved in Carrollton’s favor by 1873, the railroad ran (literally) into a roadblock. While excavating the grade west of the Chattahoochee, work crews came across a huge rock shelf that halted all work. For more than a year, according to historian James Bonner, a crew of 30 men using primitive tools, wheelbarrows and mules cut their way through the rock. In the meantime, a small community named Whitesburg sprung up and became the de facto western end of the line, and for a while the boomtown threatened to outgrow Carrollton.

Before the days of air conditioning, the train depot in Carrollton was cooled by ceiling fans, all of which were turned by this single motor. But that didn’t happen. The line was completed, and the first train chugged into Carrollton in 1874. Within a very short time, Carrollton began to reap the economic benefits. “Economically, the railroad provided area farmers with greater access to markets to sell their cotton and other farm goods while helping obtain critical fertilizers and other supplies faster and cheaper than previously,” according to Dr. Keith Hébert, an expert in local history at the

University of West Georgia. “Trains also helped Carrollton attract textile mills and other businesses to the area.”

t was fertilizer, however, that caused the town to prosper. The chief fertilizer of the day was guano, and it was considered vital to growing cotton, which was – even after the Civil War – the state’s leading cash crop. Suddenly, Carrollton had easy access to tons and Sept./Oct. 2012

West Georgia Living

Antique-style lanterns have been added to the train depot’s platform as renovations continue to return the building to its former splendor.

tons of guano, allowing farmers in west Georgia to carve huge cotton farms out of their land.

istorian Wilber Caldwell says that not long after the railroad arrived, Carrollton was shipping 15,000 bales of cotton (7.5 million pounds) to markets across the South, and to the textile mills that were springing up around the countryside.

Historian Bonner says it was possible to leave Carrollton at 5 a.m., grab the Georgia Pacific rail at Bremen and ride to Atlanta to spend the day, before getting back to Carrollton by 8 p.m. “Socially, the railroad gave Carrollton residents opportunities to make day trips to Atlanta to visit relatives and a variety of the capital city’s theaters and other entertainment venues,” says UWG’s Hébert.

By the end of the 1880s, Carrollton’s rail reach had extended north to Rome and the chief rail hub of Tennessee when the railroad became part of the Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus Railroad. The Columbus part of the road, however, never happened, and by 1895 the railroad had been taken over by the Central of Georgia.

his urbanization of Carrollton, however, proved to be a two-edged sword. The community divided into business and farm interests, and as the two sides began to clash politically, the railroad proved to be the catalyst for much of the conflict.

As the 19th Century ended, the Central offered both freight and passenger service from its brick depot in Carrollton, which still stands across the intersection of Lee and Bradley Streets.

“For many, the railroad symbolized the New South’s economic progress, while others saw the railroad as an abusive corporate entity that supported racial segregation and victimized

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

farmers,” says Hébert.

onner says the rural farmers in Carroll County began to mistrust the railroad, which governed both the cost of shipping guano as well as cotton, and they grew increasingly wary of the businesses and industries that the railroad fostered. “Politically, while farmers gained some benefit from the railroad, many complained about the railroad company’s high transit costs and other fees that significantly undermined a farmer’s annual profits,” says Hébert. “Bands of farmers formed cooperatives, such as the Farmer’s Alliance, and supported upstart political parties, such as the Populists, in opposition to the railroad’s supposed abuses.” These organizations – especially the Populist Party – directly challenged the power of the dominate Democratic Party, which in those days

served the interests of political conservatives, by attracting both white farmers and African-American farmers who favored the Republican Party. Hébert says that the railroads even played a role in the battle for civil rights, both in Carroll County and across the state. “African-American passengers were segregated from white passengers while riding the train, often paying higher prices for substandard accommodations.”

Modern Day Rail In 1982, the Central of Georgia and its track through Carrollton was absorbed by Norfolk Southern. And while trains still run through the city, the railroad is no longer the economic force it once was, thanks to cars, trucks, the interstate highway system and the Atlanta airport. However, railroads have found a way to adapt by partnering with intermodal companies, which use the railroad infrastructure to ship product in standardized containers that can be trucked in to a rail access point, or offloaded onto ships or other trucks.

outhwire is one such company. Herb Forrister, vice president of transportation for the company, says that while intermodal shipping has not replaced the company’s signature fleet of trucks, it has helped the company save on shipping costs. Meanwhile, Forrister says, Southwire still relies on the railroad for delivery of much of its raw materials. So, while the railroad no longer exerts its previous influence, its importance to Carrollton is still felt – and some see a future in which rail plays an even bigger role in the local economy.

And while Carrollton is working to plan a future with railroads, the city is also interested in preserving its railroad legacy. The most visible example of that effort is the restoration of the old depot that the Central of Georgia built on Bradley Street almost 140 years ago.

ack in 1991, Carrollton residents were horrified when the new owners, Norfolk Southern, announced plans to demolish the building. That prompted a movement to save the depot, which has now culminated in a major renovation project to restore the depot back the way it was in 1910, when the cotton shipped there made Carroll County an economic powerhouse. But the depot will no longer be a rail freight and passenger center. Instead, Coleman said, it is being repurposed into a combination rail museum and events venue. He believes the project will be finished and opened to the public by early fall. “There’s a huge railroad interest (among) people here in the Carrollton area and countywide,” said Coleman, adding the depot has now been “brought back pretty close to its original luster. It’s just astonishing. It’s really beautiful.” Although Carrollton no longer needs the railroad for economic survival, it seems the city still needs a reminder of the railroad to serve as a link to the city’s history. A reminder to carry them into the future. wgl

“I think we’re seeing a swing back toward rail,” says Brian Dill, vice president of economic development and global commerce for Carroll Tomorrow. He says that because Carrollton remains a main-line access point, companies like Southwire, which require lots of raw materials, can find a home here. “We’ve got some opportunity to really re-visit the use of rail from an industrial and commercial standpoint and use it as a strength.” To hear Carrollton City Manger Casey Coleman tell it, this policy is already paying off. “We have a worldwide company looking at some acreage here in Carrollton and talking about the possibility of coming here. And one of their requirements is that this property be close enough to the rail line that they could build a spur.”

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Music By Ken Denney Photos by Ricky Stilley

Bo Bice performs at Mill Town

A Small Town that draws Big Crowds Newly opened Mill Town Music Hall waists no time in recruiting top talent for local shows

he road is both a metaphor and a reality for songwriters and performers; it is a symbol on which to build songs about life. But it is also the reality of venues, concert halls and arenas where these artists perform.

For many of those artists who shuttle along the road called Interstate 20, there is a new performance venue at the Bremen off-ramp: Mill Town Music Hall. This 1,000-seat facility has been open for less than a year, but it has already proved a great success in drawing big names and top acts. And, in the process, it is helping rebuild local economic prospects. 32

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

t is a hot, humid afternoon in June. People are gathering outside Mill Town, located near the corner of Alabama Avenue and Bremen/Mt. Zion Road where, just a short time earlier, the road crew for singersongwriter Bo Bice – a rising talent who placed second to Carrie Underwood on “American Idol” – arrived to load in. Here is where life intersects with art, because Bice is touring to promote his latest record project, “I Love the Road.” The title track, which he has been performing for several years, is about a performer torn between a desire to be home with his girl and his love for performing in venues like

this, before crowds like his fans in Bremen. “Being on the road … you’re either cut out for it or you’re really not,” Bice said. “Luckily, I really enjoy being out here. There’s not a lot of folks who can enjoy staying in different hotels every night, or sleeping on a bus.” Mill Town may be one of many stops on the road for him, but Bice – an amazingly polite man – is as unpretentious as they come when he arrives at the venue. “I make it a point to try to be, if not the first person to get off the bus, the second, and to walk in and thank your provider, and to thank the venue owners, and thank the people who showed up to do the lights and the sound,” says Bice. “That’s the first thing you do, because they spend a lot time, effort, energy and money – and you want to give them a good experience.”

ill Town is the creation of Randall Redding, a one-time music producer, sometime singer and owner of R.K. Redding Construction, Inc. Randall sees the theater as a means of restoring economic prosperity to Bremen and to Haralson County, a prosperity that was lost with the decline of the cotton mills and manufactured clothing plants that once powered the local economy.

Bo Bice, center, poses with Mill Town venue owner Randall Redding, right, and his wife, Tina. Amy Parrish, of CO&P Integrated Marketing, is the publicist for the venue and one of its more vocal supporters. “I happen to be from Bremen, so when I heard about this, I was, like, ‘please give me an opportunity.’ I live in Bremen; I love Bremen, and I want it to bounce back.”

I live in Bremen; I love Bremen, and I want it to bounce back.”

“There was a need for a theater on this side of Atlanta and this area of the country,” Redding said, “and we’ve found that’s the case. What people say when they travel here is that they’re amazed at how little traffic there is and how fast they got here. So, the next time we advertise their type of music, they’re here again.”

edding’s interest in creating a successful enterprise is shared by a small army of volunteers from the community. They are the brains and muscle behind getting the venue ready for Bice and the throng of fans who were soon coming through the doors.

– Amy Parrish

Parrish is pleased to give a tour of the facility even as volunteers in khakis and black shirts dart around on various errands.

The building that now houses Mill Town Music Hall is a former Ingles supermarket. Its cavernous interior has enough space for 1,000 people to comfortably sit, with room to spare for a good-sized stage – as well as a backstage area with green room, performer’s dining area, a holding room and other facilities that are sometimes absent from purpose-built performance halls. And there’s more. Parrish leads a visitor through

a side door inside the auditorium to reveal a part of the one-time grocery store which has not yet been converted. This, she says, is where a museum of sorts will showcase the musical heritage of Bremen and west Georgia. It will be named the Harold Shedd Music Gallery in honor of the former DJ and owner of WWCC (now WGMI), who has since become a major record producer in Nashville. “This,” Parrish says, indicating a wall still festooned with signage from the Ingles’ frozen food section, “Is going to be a video wall, and it’s going to be constantly running with video clips of the musicians and artists that we’re celebrating in this venue.” In addition, there will be many exhibits, and Shedd himself has seeded the collection with items of his own. In fact, a star-studded fundraising event was held in August at Mill Town to launch the project.

utside, Parrish and her guests encounter yet another volunteer who has made his own contribution to the facility. He is Jerome Olds, a singer-songwriter whose award-winning Gospel tunes have been widely performed. His contribution has been to help Redding create a state-of-the art audio system Sept./Oct. 2012

West Georgia Living

Music

that makes Mill Town truly stand out from other performance arenas.

Instead of the large, box-like horn amplifiers common to many venues, Mill Town has a ribbon speaker system that eliminates the ear-ringing unpleasantness that anyone who has ever sat close to horn amplifiers knows all too well. With a ribbon-type speaker, audience members in the front row can have a comfortable listening experience without being blasted by compression waves. The audio system has another benefit – it produces true fidelity sound that is appreciated by the performers. The engineers who installed the system worked out the intricate math of the ceiling heights, the wall coverings and the concrete floors to balance out the sound coming from the stage. “Artists come out of here saying that they’ve never sounded better,” said Redding. The legendary bluegrass performer JD Crowe was, Redding said, particularly pleased by the audio. The sound system is just another thing appreciated by artists and audiences alike. And when both have positive memories of a venue, it just keeps them coming back for more.

Bice talks to fans and poses for photos during his recent visit to Mill Town Music Hall in Bremen.

n a small reception room off the right side of the stage, Bice is surrounded by a group of fans chosen at random from the throng gathered outside. They are queuing up to have their photo made with the “American Idol” star, against the backdrop of a giant “Mill Town” sign.

veryone laughs and Bice tells the crowd that “one lady had a breakdown on me because I cut my hair.” But to those who are disappointed he has a ready answer: “My hair doesn’t play the guitar.”

Most of his fans, it seems, are young women who are snapping away with their cellphone cameras and furiously texting their friends.

The crowd disperses, and Bice is led through a secret passage (security for all performances is a prime concern) to the green room, where he will have a chance to decompress and prepare for the show.

“Anybody got any questions?” he calls out. “What made you cut all your hair off?” asks one young woman, possibly disappointed that Bice’s hair is now shoulder length and not below his shoulders, as it was in 2005 when he made it to the “American Idol” finals with Carrie Underwood. 34

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

But that rest is short lived. When Redding and his wife, Tina, arrive backstage, Bice is quickly out of the green room. He has insisted that the venue’s owner and his wife also have their photo made with him under the “Mill Town” sign, so the little group heads back that way, along the secret corridor.

As they walk, Redding and Parrish tell Bice about the history of the venue and their hopes for it. Redding tells Bice that the music hall was a former supermarket, and that the stage area was once the market’s meat section. Bice laughs. “That’s perfect,” he says, “because I’m full of bull!”

sense of quiet settles over backstage as Bice waits, secluded in the green room. Onstage, two young performers, winners of the same kind of talent show that launched Bice’s career, are revving up the audience for the main event. The amplified voice of one of the teen singers echoes through the backstage door, beyond which the audience is sitting in the darkened

arena. Parrish notes that each patron got their ticket, bought their concessions, received their program and were shown to their seat by the volunteers working to promote this “full service venue.” “We have everything from our own ticketing system that feeds into a bigger, online system, to our own catering,” she says. “We do everything in-house.” But there is more at work here than serving the audience; it’s a way of selling the venue to other acts and encouraging them to come here to play. “Being a full-service venue, we have more to offer an artist than the average venue. We treat them with the respect they deserve.”

he approach is paying off, Parrish says, because the venue has proved to be profitable since they day it opened. And its positive affects on the local economy are also becoming more evident. At a recent Bremen City Council meeting, City Manager Perry Hicks said that though it was too early to be sure, revenues from the hotel/motel tax seemed to be slightly rising. A successful venue certainly attracts performers, since it is a clear indicator that the music hall is working well and drawing large audiences, which of course increases the gate for the performer and everyone else involved. Yet Parrish, who is in charge of finding the artists based on a portfolio set by Redding, is leaving nothing to chance.

“We’ve been doing the politicking, and that’s part of it, too,” she says. “You’ve got to play usic the game in Nashville; you’ve got to play the game in L.A.; [...] and you’ve got to have the right connections, so luckily we do. If you have a successful show, and the word gets out, bringing that (artist) back the next year (means) you have twice the audience, less the overhead. That’s the business side of it.”

edding said that on a recent trip to the famed Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, birthplace of the Grand Ole Opry, he picked up a piece of promotional material for the Ryman’s upcoming bluegrass programs. He realized that all those groups had either already played at Mill Town, or were scheduled to. “We’re getting outstanding talent, and I think the community understands what we’re doing. It’s resonating. Not only in this community, it’s also reaching Atlanta and even beyond.” The goal of Mill Town’s management is to create a stable of regular performers who are pleased with the venue enough that they regularly return, bringing increasingly larger audiences who consistently receive great entertainment. In such a scenario, everybody wins – the venue, the performer, the audience and, eventually, the whole of Haralson County. “People are so excited because we are transitioning the town back to the

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Music successful place it used to be,â&#x20AC;? says Parrish. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are celebrating our history instead of being depressed about it.â&#x20AC;? For his part, Redding remains modest. He keeps his foot firmly in the construction business and gives credit for Mill Townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success to someone else. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I believe Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands are upon this thing, and I am just trying to walk out what His plan is,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going forth preparing the way, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no question in my mind.â&#x20AC;?

he crowd is standing, yelling and applauding as Bo Bice is introduced and brought to the stage. As he straps on his guitar, Bice asks that question all performers ask from the stage:

â&#x20AC;&#x153;You guys ready to rock and roll and have some fun tonight?â&#x20AC;? The answer roars back to him in cheers, whistles and a few whoops, indicating that, yes, the audience is ready to rock tonight. And so Bice launches into his first song of the evening, and the cheering continues, and Mill Town Music Hall logs another great evening for the community in the books. wgl

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Norman Rockwell

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West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

People Story by Ken Denney Photos by Ricky Stilley

t was the middle of the week and the middle of summer vacation when C.H. Gilley, age 12, reluctantly put on his Sunday best and went to join several classmates at the schoolhouse on Oak Mountain. Inside, waiting to greet them all, was one of the most famous men in the

United States – but they had never heard of him. It was Norman Rockwell, painter of some of the most iconic images of American life, a man who was at the height of his talents on that day in May of 1946; and he was here, at Oak Mountain School outside Carrollton, to put the school, its students and its beloved teacher on the pages of

the most influential magazine in the country. “He was quite a painter,” says Gilley, 66 years after the event. “But, you know, he was a small feller. He was thin and small.” Gilley, of Cross Plains, is one of a handful of surviving models for Rockwell’s artwork, and Sept./Oct. 2012

West Georgia Living

his succinct opinion might have pleased eople the flinty New England illustrator. On the day the two met, they were equally out of place: Gilley, a farm boy in the presence of one of the most famous artists of all time; and Rockwell, more than 1,000 miles from his home in Vermont, wearing a long-sleeved shirt inside a sweltering one-room Georgia schoolhouse.

The story of how this meeting came to be might have faded into memory. But in 1997, Helen Chambers, then a graduate student at the University of West Georgia, discovered a painting called “Norman Rockwell Visits a Country School” behind some bookcases. University officials quickly realized the painting commemorated that long-ago visit by Rockwell to Carroll County. Curious about that story, Chambers, now a degree program specialist at the University, devoted her master’s thesis to the painting’s history, significance and meaning.

like Picasso, Rockwell enjoyed more popularity. His nostalgic images of American life fit handin-glove with the values of the Post’s editors, who preferred an idealized view of the nation it covered. But in the 1940s, this romanticized view of the country had been shaken to its core. World War II and its aftermath had brought home the fact that the United States might disappear in an atomic mushroom cloud. What’s more, family life had been fundamentally altered. Farms were being abandoned for new suburbs, and postwar prosperity was fostering consumerism and a transformation of the economic system.

This, Chambers states in her thesis, had the effect of making Post readers even more nostalgic for the past – for the days when things were not so complicated and unsure, for the days when the magazine’s adult readers were children walking barefoot to rural one-room schoolhouses. Such schools were virtually extinct by that time, due to the Progressive-era school consolidation movement, which had wrested control of schools from small communities and put them under the control of professional teachers using standardized textbooks.

Along with the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis, it featured the illustrations of Norman Rockwell. Although not a “fine artist”

The Oak Mountain School was an exception. Located near the site of present-day Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church, the school was a one-room, white clapboard building in which a single teacher taught students in grades one through seven. Although it had electricity,

t its peak, The Saturday Evening Post magazine had a circulation of five million. That was when the U.S. population was 22 percent less than it is today and when the only mass media was radio. The magazine had a reach and influence that has no analog to the present day.

students were still summoned to (and dismissed from) class by a large bell pulled each day by a stout volunteer student. In 1946, students were still being dragooned to carry buckets of water from a spring to fill a metal water cooler from which the kids could drink or wash up. “We would tote water from that spring down there – that was a good little ways,” Gilley recently recalled. “But we would get nominated, two of us, (and) we’d have to do that every day for a week. And then two more would tote it, winter and summer.” In the wintertime, students and teacher alike would huddle around a giant cast-iron stove, called “Big Joe” by its manufacturer, the Hanks Stove & Range company of Rome, Ga. Again, students were volunteered to keep the stove fed with coal, which glowed so hot so often that its black paint flaked off, leaving bare metal behind.

et, for all these rustic touches, the school was in the midst of transformation thanks to its teacher, Mrs. Effie McGuire, known as Ms. Mac to all her students. Chambers said that when McGuire, a graduate of what was then called West Georgia College, first came to the school in 1940, it was pretty run down. But in short order, McGuire had marshaled the community to paint the building, fix up its grounds and otherwise pull the school somewhat into the 20th Century. The school became a laboratory school for the

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college, and McGuire would get some help from student teachers who would come out and get hands-on experience. The county also had a say in the running of the place. A nurse would be regularly sent out to check on the health of the students, and McGuire had to answer to the county school board.

C.H. Gilley

ut it was her work with the students that made Ms. Mac so beloved. To them, she became as much a substitute mother as an authority figure, alternately teaching lessons and patching skinned knees. She used innovative teaching methods, too. When the students created a play about the dastardly pirate Bluebeard, they got a lesson in both writing and dramatics. “I don’t see how she did it,” Gilley said. The students would clump together by grade inside the school, and McGuire would move around the circle, teaching each class in turn. “When she was teaching up in the 6th and 7th grades, the 5th (grade students) would get back there and teach the small ones how to read.” Ms. McGuire lived in the community and formed strong bonds with the students she taught, most of whom – like Gilley – were related to the other students. She, like the school itself, was the very model of the kind of teacher and school so well remembered by the readers of the Saturday Evening Post. In other words, Oak Mountain School was the perfect model for Norman Rockwell.

ockwell arrived at the Atlanta train station early on May 22, 1946. According to Chambers, he was soon joined by a photographer named W.C. Lane, who was one half of the well-known Atlanta firm, Lane Brothers Commercial Photographers. By 9 a.m., they were in the city of Carrollton. The Vermont artist seldom travelled from his home, but today he was on assignment. The Post had lately been criticized by its readers for being “too urban,” according to Venus Van Ness, the archivist for the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. To reconnect with its nostalgic readers, the Post editors assigned Rockwell to do a series of paintings to be called “This is America.” Two of the series had already been published. “Norman Rockwell Visits a Ration Board” appeared in 1944. Three days after his Carrollton visit, “Norman Rockwell Visits a Country Editor” would appear. The artist’s visit to Oak Mountain School was to be the third in what eventually would be five paintings. The school had been selected by pure coincidence, according to Chambers. To find a one-room school, Post editors sought the help of what was then the federal Office of Education. The call was handled by Dr. George Kerry Smith, who, it just so happened, had chaired the English department at West Georgia. Smith got in touch with the head of the college’s Teacher Education Program, Dr. Dagnal Folger, who knew right away that Effie McGuire’s school was perfect for the magazine.

To fulfill the Post’s request, Ms. Mac and her husband fanned out across their community looking for students to come back from summer break. They sat down with the families to explain what was happening. Most had never heard of Norman Rockwell – despite the fact that three years earlier his “Four Freedom” series of paintings had been used to sell war bonds. Yet, the McGuires explained that the school was receiving a great honor. And when Ms. Mac asked for something, she generally got it. All C.H. Gilley knew was that one day he was “plowing behind a mule” on his family farm, the next day he was wearing his Sunday best, headed back to the schoolhouse. “I didn’t know much about what to think; I was just 12 years old,” said Gilley. “It sounded kind of fun. They told us about Norman Rockwell being there, but I had not heard of him before. They just told us he was going to be doing some kind of write-up on the school. That’s all we knew.” When Gilley arrived, he and the other kids who had been brought to the school met the artist, who promptly divested Gilley of one part of his Sunday outfit: his shoes. Rockwell preferred all the students to be barefoot, Sept./Oct. 2012

West Georgia Living

People

as they usually were during school time. And Rockwell ruffled up Gilley’s combed hair to give him a more casual appearance.

Throughout the day, Gilley recalled, Rockwell and the photographer directed the children and Miz Mac, sitting them in various poses. The children, Mrs. McGuire and some other adults dutifully did as they were told, lining up for a staged spelling bee, or for a performance of the “Bluebeard” play and other scenes. Gilley – perhaps, as Mrs. Chambers says, because he was only one of three boys to show up at the school – appeared in several poses, including washing up at the water cooler or pulling the school bell.

fter the painting was rediscovered at UWG, a reunion was scheduled for the surviving students who posed for Rockwell that day. Since that 2007 event, many of those one-time girls and boys have passed away. An exhibit commemorating the event remains on the first floor of the Education Center. For Gilley, meeting Norman Rockwell was but one day out of a long life which included a stint as a professional musician and combat duty in Korea. But in coffee-table books and wherever copies of the painting are found across America, Gilley remains as he was then: a 12-year-old boy, wearing his Sunday best – minus his shoes.

hen the day was over, Rockwell took the photographs made by Lane back to Vermont and began to use them to create a large painting and a series of drawings that would accompany the main artwork. He drew Gilley into several scenes, altering his appearance sometimes to make him look younger.

When Effie McGuire died in 1976, she willed a copy of the magazine spread that Rockwell had sent her to Audy Causey, who had become a teacher at the school and was another woman Gilley considered a second mother. When Ms. Causey passed away, she willed McGuire’s copy to him. It is one of his prized possessions, hanging in his home in a place of prominence alongside his war decorations.

Rockwell’s paintings are so realistic that it is tempting to think of them as photographs. But he was not interested in a true, documentary depiction of the Oak Mountain School. When the magazine came out on Nov. 2, 1946, the adults who had been there back in May realized that Rockwell had altered reality in many ways.

Gilley says that although he did not know who Rockwell was at the time, he recognizes now the significance of the event, as do all his surviving schoolmates. Their memories, as memories do, are fading and sometimes contradict one another as to the details. But that doesn’t matter to them, and perhaps it shouldn’t matter at all.

For example, outside the realistically rendered windows of the school, Rockwell painted non-existent mountains, to suggest, perhaps, that the school is high in the Appalachians. Some of the girls appear twice, in different poses, and everyone is arranged differently around the tall woodburning stove than they had been in reality.

We all remember our past through a foggy haze of sentiment and wistfulness, whether we walked to school or rode a yellow bus. In that sense, the painting of the Oak Mountain School will always have meaning for any American who gazes at it. wgl

Rockwell had created what the Post editors wanted, and what he himself wanted: an idealistic view of a school that reflected post-war America’s nostalgic desire for community, family and security. In her master’s thesis, Chambers describes how those themes are shown in the painting. The idea of community is reflected in the children who are gathered around Mrs. McGuire, who is reading them a story. The theme of family is shown by the casual way in which they sit, listening intently to the woman they idealized as both teacher and mother. And the idea of warmth and security is realized by the “Big Joe” wood stove at the center of the artwork. Chambers points out, Rockwell’s eight drawings shows some signs of modernity at the school, including the visit of the school nurse (who was actually a school board employee drafted to act the part). But other pictures, such as that of Gilley pulling the school bell, are, Chambers says, meant to evoke memories of the Post readers who, as Oak Mountain students did, considered that “a prized chore.”

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

Now accepting applications for the 2012-2013 academic year * Competitive athletics, AAA division, GISA * Individualized college counseling program * Extended day services * Bus service to selected areas * Foreign language instruction K-12: French, Spanish, Latin, and Mandarin Chinese * Performing and visual arts programs * Classroom Smartboards and computer labs $GYDQFHG 3ODFHPHQW FRXUVHV R; HUHG

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treatment of:

Photos by Ricky Stilley

Some locals skated right through summer at Spinnerz Family Skate Center in Carrollton, enjoying music, lights, and even a friendly dance contest â&#x20AC;&#x201C; yes, on skates! Above, several area teens zip around the floor, which is illuminated by disco lights and black lights during an allskate. At left, Abby Cook teaches her little sister, Allison, how to skate.

Skating the Night Away!

Photos by Ricky Stilley

Dustin Brown, at right, competes in the skating break dance competition on a recent Saturday night at Spinnerz. Anyone willing and able is welcome to show their mettle center-ring. Below, Katelynn Payne helps patrons rent skates on a busy Saturday night.

Experience the Exceptional EMERGENCY, SURGICAL CARE COMING TO CARROLLTON

Each year, more than 100,000 visits are made to Tanner Health System’s three regional emergency departments. About half of those come to Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton, which has not seen a major expansion since the 1980s. Under construction for almost two years, a massive expansion to Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton is poised to provide residents with an entirely new emergency department and an expanded surgical services unit. The new emergency department at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton will be 32,000 square feet with 40 beds— roughly three times the size and twice the capacity as the hospital’s current emergency department. The unit’s state-of-the-art design will maximize efficiency and patient comfort, while new trauma rooms and a special area for minor emergencies will ensure patients are receiving the right care, quickly. The new emergency department also will incorporate a range of diagnostic services, including computed tomography (CT), ultrasound and digital X-ray.

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Ensuring that physicians on Tanner’s medical staff have the resources and capacity to continue providing the most advanced treatments and services available, Tanner also is expanding the hospital’s surgical services unit from six to 10 operating suites, including a new hybrid operating suite that will double as a catheterization lab to provide the latest vascular procedures. The new suites will feature the latest healthcare design elements, including high-definition screens for minimally invasive procedures, integrated anesthesia equipment and more. The short stay unit at the hospital is being expanded from 16 to 23 rooms, providing greater access to the sameday surgical procedures that account for up to 90 percent of all surgical cases at Tanner. In addition, the number of suites for gastroenterology procedures, such as colonoscopies, is growing from two to three. Loved ones and caregivers will enjoy expanded waiting rooms and family consultation spaces, as well as areas equipped with digital patient and

community education screens and more. The facility will boast other exceptional features as well, including a bistro serving Starbucks coffee and a 1,100 gallon, museum-quality freshwater aquarium and turtle habitat, featuring waterfalls, ferns, vines and other natural elements, along with a variety of unique, colorful and playful fish.

EXPERIENCE the EXCEPTIONAL for YOURSELF

Be among the first in the community to see the new emergency department and operating suites at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton during a public open house. Learn more about the upcoming open house and the expansion online at www.tanner.org.

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My parents taught me at a very young age to work hard and never give up on my dreams

Take

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when I have 10 minutes to myself, I like to put my iPod in and dance!

with

Dr. Tejal A. Kakade Owner and DMD of Personalized Dentistry in Carrollton

Most people would never guess that I have a shy and quiet side to me

Photo by Ricky Stilley

I’ve always wanted to have dinner with ... New York Times bestselling author and celebrity natural food chef Bethenny Frankel. I think I could learn a lot from her. The best book I have read this year is “The Alchemist.” Favorite music on my iPod is Postal service Early in life I learned that nothing in the world worth having comes easy. The best job I ever had as a kid was being a kid! Luckily, my parents didn’t believe in this; but, when it came to making good grades in school, they were very strict! My life would not be complete If it were not for my family. My parents, sister and dogs mean the world to me.

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

Near the top of my “bucket list” is to have a home by the ocean!

A Celebration of UWG Arts

SEPTEMBER 15

ART MUSIC College of Arts and Humanities School of the Arts

Eclectic Live! is a celebration of the arts offered by UWG to our community. While free and open to the public, it is a fundraiser for UWGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s COAH. Money raised will help fund scholarships, study abroad and research opportunities for our amazing students.

THEATRE

POETRY

The AMP at Adamson Square I Carrollton, GA I 7 p.m.

s It is an on-stage version of our award winning art and literary magazine. s Offerings will range from the Marching Band to poetry readings and everything in between. s A fifty dollar donation reserves a table for four at the event - number of tables is extremely limited! s Prizes will be awarded for Best-Dressed Table - so be creative! s Pre-show activities begin at 6:15.

For sponsorship information, or to reserve your table call 678-839-5450 or e-mail tcox@westga.edu.

Food Recipes by Amy K. Lavender-Buice Photos by Ricky Stilley

Spooktacular treats!

don’t know about y’all, but Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I absolutely love everything about it! I love dressing up in ridiculous costumes. I love handing out candy at the door and seeing what all the neighborhood kids dressed up as this year. I love the spooky songs and ghost stories. I love decorating the house in fake spider webs. I even love the marathon of horror movies on practically every television channel. But, honestly, I have the most fun with this holiday in the kitchen. Halloween is such a great excuse to play with food – especially food coloring! These recipes, for the most part, are just my excuse to play with food coloring, but I hope you enjoy them anyway! 52

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

goblin Treats 2 Table spoons of butter Roughly 4 cups of mini marshmallows or 10 oz. of whipped marshmallow 6 cups of crispy rice cereal Green food coloring Grease the bottom and sides of a 9X13 inch pan. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat, then pour in the marshmallow. As the marshmallow melts, drop in green food coloring a couple drops at a time until you have your desired shade of green. Once the marshmallows are melted, stir in the rice cereal until completely incorporated into the marshmellow.

Pour the mix into your greased pan. Then grease one side of a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil and use it to press (greased side down) the mix into the pan to form an even layer. Then slice and serve! Decorate with any number of things, such as craft spiders, gummie worms, sprinkles, even chocolate!

Bloody Mary Punch This punch is so easy and can be made with a variety of different juices to fit your taste buds. I simply used 1 part orange juice and 3 parts Tropicana raspberry juice with green tea and added a splash of lemonlime soda for bubbles. You can also use strawberry banana smoothie mix or any other redcolored juice you like. Orange juice gives it a little tang, and the soda adds a little carbonation. Just throw a gummie worm on the side for a garnish, and you’re done!

Pumpkin Cupcakes 1 box yellow cake mix Green decorating icing White buttercream icing Red and Yellow food coloring Tootsie rolls For this recipe, I used a special cupcake pan designed to make cupcakes shaped like pumpkins; however, if you don’t have one, you can use a regular cupcake or muffin pan. Whichever pan you use, follow the baking directions on the cake box for cupcakes. If desired, you can add red and yellow food coloring to the batter to make it orange, then

continue with the directions on the box. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, take two cupcakes and, using a sharp knife, slice off the tops to make a level surface. Then, turn one cupcake upside down and place it on top of the other.

You can then either leave them without icing, showing the orange color of the cake, or you can color the frosting orange and coat the entire “pumpkin” cupcake. If you aren’t using a pan that gives your cupcakes the shape of a pumpkin, you may want to ice the whole thing. Then you can decorate the top with your green decorating icing to give Sept./Oct. 2012

West Georgia Living

Food

the appearance of vines and leaves. The finishing touch: a Tootsie roll in the top for a stem. You can also buy cupcake decorating kits to help you add fun faces and characters to your cupcakes, as see on page 53. You can also use food coloring to make your icing any color you desire, or tint it to match your decorating kit. Either way, you’re bound to have fun with food coloring!

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

Spider Turtles 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup milk 2 Tblsp. butter 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 cup of crushed, toasted walnuts Twizzlers or liquorice strips First, cut liquorice or Twizzlers into 2-inch long pieces and arrange them in groups of six on a greased

cookie sheet or piece of parchment paper. You will pour your mix on top of them later, but you’ll want to have the legs in place now. They will stick to your praline mixture as it cools, forming a “spider.” Melt the butter in the pan. Add milk and both sugars and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Raise heat to medium and cook until mixture boils. (Be careful not

to burn yourself with splattering sugar! It leaves a nasty burn.) Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and continue cooking until it reaches the “softball stage” or you reach a temperature of 234 degrees F on a candy thermometer. (The softball stage is when you can drop a spoonfull of the sugar mix into cold water and it forms a ball, but it flattens out again when you lift it out of the water with your finger.) Remove from heat and add vanilla, chocolate and crushed pecans. Stir it quickly, then drop spoonfulls on top of your pre-arranged spider legs. If your mix becomes too thick to drop from a spoon – add one teaspoon of hot water at a time to thin it out a bit. Allow your spiders to cool completely before moving them. These treats are rich, but yummy!

Carrot Fingers Baby carrots Sliced almonds Cream cheese Dip (your choice) This ghoulish treat is easy to assemble and, unlike most Halloween goodies, mildly healthy. (At least you’re getting some veggies in your diet in between all that candy.) Simply wash and try some baby carrots, place a dab of cream cheese on one end, and press an almond slice into it. Buy or make your favorite dip and

place it in a shallow bowl. Then arrange four or five of your carrots along the inside of the bowl to look like a hand coming out of the dip. I generally make homemade Ranch dip, but the “fingers” would look particularly ghoulish coming out of green guacamole!

lollipop ghosts While these aren’t really a food,

they’re one of my favorite things to make for Trick or Treat bags on Halloween. Simply take a large sucker, center a tissue over it, cover the candy portion, tie the tissue around the neck of the sucker with string or ribbon (ribbon makes it prettier), then dot on eyes with a marker. It’s an easy, fun craft to do with children and grandchildren, plus they make great party favors and treats for Trick or Treat bags! wgl Sept./Oct. 2012

West Georgia Living

A Taste of Carrollton Photos by Ricky Stilley Bobianne Cowart, at left, of Sunset Hills Country Club prepares double tomato bruscheta during last year’s A Taste of Carrollton. This year’s event is set for Sept. 20 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. There is no admission, you only pay for tickets, which buy you samples of the best dishes Carrollton restaurants have to offer. Jeremy Mitchell, below, samples something from Mercedes Baldwin’s plate at last year’s A Taste of Carrollton. Proceeds from the 21st annual event will benefit Carrollton Main Street.

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

Where do our students go when they leave the Mountain?

ANYWHERE THEY WANT. STOP BY ANYTIME FOR A VISIT

Please visit us on the Mountain at your convenience to learn how we help our students make the most of their potential.

! s U isit

Now accepting class reservations for the 2012-2013 school year.

770-834-6651

www.oakmountain.us Financial Aid Available

Life Story by Katie Allen Ross Photos Contributed

MeccaFest A Mecca of Artistic Talent

hen the air starts cooling down, the leaves start changing colors, and pumpkins start showing up on doorsteps, you can bet that the Carrollton fine arts and crafts festival MeccaFest is about to roll into town. Each year, during the second weekend in October, the Carrollton Artist Guild, a program associated with the Carrollton Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department, hosts MeccaFest, a familyfriendly artist’s market that has been showcasing the fine works of artists from around the country for years.

This year’s MeccaFest, marking the ninth year of the festival, will take place on Saturday, Oct. 13 and Sunday, Oct. 14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; both admission to the festival and parking are free. For this crisp Fall weekend, artists, craft makers and entertainers will take over 58

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

Mark Abbatti of Joy Unspeakable Productions will be making a repeat appearance at this year’s MeccaFest with his living sculpture routine.

the entire city block where the Carrollton Cultural Arts Center sits, and they will immerse the Carrollton community into the beautiful, unique and fascinating world of fine arts and crafts.

year in advance, Carrollton Cultural Arts Center Manager Penny Lewis, along with members of the Carrollton Artist Guild, begin planning and preparing for MeccaFest: recruiting artists, inviting patrons, and scheduling various workshops and entertainment.

the Carrollton Artist Guild takes pride in the fact that they are creating such an “artist-friendly” festival. Beginning the Monday after the current festival has ended, the Artist Guild begins reviewing evaluation forms that are filled out by patrons, visiting artists and volunteers. A full year in advance,

they start working on how to improve the upcoming year’s festival and how to make each year’s experience even better than the last. Local pottery artist Don McWhorter, the festival chair, travels throughout the year to various fine arts festivals across the country, making note of fresh new

Formed in 2002, the Carrollton Artist Guild is one of the most active and participated-in programs of the Carrollton Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department. One of the very first missions of the Artist Guild was to bring an art festival to Carrollton that would allow both regional and national artists to showcase and sell their work. A year later, the Carrollton Fine Arts Mecca Festival, eventually shortened to MeccaFest, was born. According to Lewis, the name MeccaFest was selected because “[the word] ‘mecca’ is used to describe ‘the center of excellence’ and that is what we strive to achieve. The Carrollton Artist Guild works very hard [for MeccaFest] to be the friendliest art show in the country, while, at the same time, creating something wonderful for the community.” “Mecca” can also be used to describe a destination or location that draws large numbers of people, and in these two ways, MeccaFest has certainly lived up to its name.

ach year, a crowd of up to 5,000 enjoy the artwork and entertainment of MeccaFest, but despite the large crowds patronizing the festival, the number of artists participating is deliberately kept low, so that each artist has a better chance of doing well and selling their work. According to Lewis,

Artist Seth Fitts works on a drawing during last year’s MeccaFest.

ideas to bring back and apply to MeccaFest. McWhorter and most of the people who work to bring MeccaFest together are artists themselves, giving him and his various committee members and volunteers special insight on making MeccaFest a huge success for all involved.

nother important aspect of the preparation for MeccaFest is the selection of the participating artists. MeccaFest is open to artists 18 and older who create work of “original concept, design and execution.” Artists wishing to participate must fill out an application and submit three high-resolution photographs, two of their work and one of their booth. Applicants must also submit a $15 application fee, as well as a $95 booth fee. The application deadline for this year’s MeccaFest was June 30, and while late applications are accepted, they are automatically waitlisted. From each year’s group of applicants, a panel of jurors selects which artists participate. Artists from all mediums are considered, including but not limited to: painting, pottery, jewelry, fiber, sculpture and metals. According to Lewis, the jurors are looking specifically for artists with “unique or refined talent,” and they make their selections keeping in mind the importance of “maintaining a balance of a variety of mediums.”

New York artist Shawn McCann of Art for After Hours will be at this year’s MeccaFest to create a trompe l’oeil similar to the one seen here.

talented artists at the festival, so if you plan on attending MeccaFest don’t forget to come prepared in the likely case that something catches your eye.

catered Patron Purchase Reception and meet and greet with the artists, giving them a sneak peak what they can expect at MeccaFest.

isitors to MeccaFest will undoubtedly notice the hard work and detail put into the festival’s preparation. When they arrive, Lewis says that they can expect “an easily accessible, free festival to see unusual and exciting art and entertainment.” She goes on to assure visitors that “MeccaFest is guaranteed to make you smile!”

For the more dedicated patrons of MeccaFest and those who know they will make a purchase at the festival, the Patron Purchase Program offers a fun and unique experience to visitors. During the days, weeks and months leading up to MeccaFest, participants can purchase “meccabucks” in $50 increments, with no limit to the number you can purchase.

When MeccaFest begins the following Saturday morning, participants of the Patron Purchase Program can pick up their meccabucks at the festival information tent, where they will also receive an award ribbon for each meccabuck purchased.

In addition to making great memories, visitors can also purchase and take home a piece of artwork from one of the many

On the Friday night before the festival begins, participants are invited to a

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The meccabucks can then be used just like cash for the purchase of artwork at the festival. Artists proudly display these award ribbons in their booths, and at the close of MeccaFest, they can trade in the

meccabucks they earned for cash. On the MeccaFest website, a “Why We Do This” blurb on the Patron Purchase Program Application explains perfectly why this program works: “This is a fun win-win program that benefits the artists and the patrons equally. There are no commissions on these awards. However, knowing that a large sum of art is pre-sold through the Patron’s purchase program encourages the nation’s finest artists to participate in the MeccaFest Fine Arts Festival. It is why many artists call us the “most artist-friendly show in the country.” A Corporate Sponsorship program similar to the Patron Purchase Program is also available to companies wishing to support the arts. Companies donating $1,000 or more will get half of their proceeds back to purchase art from MeccaFest or to allow the Cultural Arts Center to purchase art in that company’s name.

n addition to programs like Patron Purchase and the approximately 60 artist booths available to browse, visitors to MeccaFest are also treated to artist demonstrations, entertainment and activity booths for children. The 2012 MeccaFest will feature New York artist Shawn McCann of Art for After Hours. Originally hailing from North Dakota, McCann discovered his love of art and of painting at the early age of four. Since then, he’s gone on to become a successful children’s book illustrator, as well as an accomplished street artist. At MeccaFest, McCann will be demonstrating street painting and creating a trompe l’oeil on the plaza in front of the Cultural Arts Center.

work on his 3D chalk masterpiece for the duration of MeccaFest, and Lewis encourages visitors to stop by the festival often to see what McCann creates for Carrollton, as well as to watch the artwork unfold before your eyes. McCann’s project and demonstration will be funded by the Alice H. Richards Foundation, a component fund of the Community Foundation of West Georgia, Inc. During the festival, ten other artists in addition to McCann will also be demonstrating their crafts, including: folk artist Maurice Cook, Chinese Watercolor painter Karen Chen, and ceramic artist Robert Roller.

ree and family-friendly entertainment is another important part of the MeccaFest scene. Most entertainers and performers at the festival are from local or regional performing groups. The MeccaFest Committee strives to book high-end entertainment. In the past, they’ve hosted the Georgia Ballet, Celtic musicians Listdoonvarna, award-winning country songwriter and vocalist George Britt, and the University of West Georgia Jazz Ensemble.

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A trompe l’oeil (deceive the eye) incorporates extremely realistic imagery to create a seemingly 3D image. McCann will

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erformance artist Mark Abbatti of Joy Unspeakable Productions will be making a repeat appearance at this year’s MeccaFest; on Sunday, Oct. 14, he will be entertaining crowds with his unique living sculpture performance. For those interested in written art, the Carrollton Creative Writers Club will present “Local Voices” in the Danny M. Mabry Theatre throughout the two days of the festival. During “Local Voices,” club members will take to the stage to read from their poetry, novels, essays and journals. Past year’s readings have also included a children’s story hour. As a part of each MeccaFest, five or more activity booths are set up specifically for children, giving kids a chance to create art with artists and visit with storytellers. Lewis points out that the entertainment of the festival is always family-friendly and that kids love the living bronze statue and fun entertainers, like the stilt-walkers. At the 2012 MeccaFest, SCRAPBin, a Carrollton business dedicated to the collection and recycling of artistic materials, will be providing entertainment for the crowds as well as they attempt to break a Guinness Book of World Records record by creating the largest sculpture ever made from plastic water bottles.

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Construction of the water bottle dragon began July 4 and will continue until Oct. 13 at MeccaFest. Volunteers and plastic bottles are needed from the community to help complete the dragon, so if you are interested in participating or donating bottles please call SCRAPBin at 770-666-5332 or e-mail at scrapbincarrollton@hotmail.com.

hat’s the icing on the cake? During MeccaFest, two jurors browse and visit every eligible booth at the festival. The jurors are typically brought in from outside of Carrollton and are either gallery owners or fine artists themselves. These two jurors issue awards for Best in Show, which wins a $1,000 prize, Best in Craft, with a $500 prize, Best in Art, with a $500 prize, and fifteen Merit Awards at $200 each. This adds up to $5,000 in cash awards for participating artists. The artists of MeccaFest are also treated to a Cocktail Party the Friday night before the festival, as well as extensive multimedia advertising, Friday set-up, a Saturday night Artists’ Dinner, hotel and restaurant discounts, and 24-hour security. “Most of all, we see to their every need,” Lewis says, “whether that means getting electricity to their booth (at no extra charge), repairing an artist’s broken tent, or sending hot

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ewis says the organizers and volunteers of MeccaFest are willing and ready to prove that this festival really is a “center of excellence” worthy of its many visitors and many talented artists. “The mission of the Mecca Fine Art and Fine Craft Festival is to highlight a community of artists and the historic city of Carrollton in a downtown festival,” she says. “The festival will accomplish this by showcasing the highest quality local and national artists within a setting of activities and entertainment for patrons of all ages.” Based on the success of past MeccaFests, this mission seems to have been accomplished. Come see for yourself! For more details about MeccaFest, please visit www.meccafest. com. wgl

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Art

Albert and Maggie Take the Plunge Original Short Fiction By Richard Anderson Author’s Note: I recently rediscovered this piece of fiction I wrote in 2001 or 2002, long before I or anyone else owned a smartphone. Now that I use my iPhone to surf the Internet, for text messaging, as a world atlas, a notebook, an encyclopedia, a stopwatch, a GPS, an emergency light, an HD digital camera, untold other uses and occasional phone calls, I am amazed by how prescient my vision was — more so because I acquired the iPhone primarily to make use of a dictation app to communicate with my deaf wife. I speak; the app prints my words on the display for her to read, but at times, with hilarious or damnably frustrating results. Now in 2012, Apple sells the iPhone 4(s). The (s) stands for Siri, a female genie that lives in the phone and responds with her gentle voice to your every wish and command.

female voice drifted from the audio port. “I am Maggie, your personal servant. Please, tell me your name.” Startled by the inquiry, he stumbled, “Al...Al...Albert!” “Hello Al, Al, Albert,” the soft voiced continued, “is that your full name?” “Well, no,” he said, “my full name is Albert Schleissweiger.” He detected a faint note of irritation when Maggie spoke again. “Please speak carefully and confirm your full name now.” “It’s Albert ... Albert Schleissweiger.” “Okay, then Albert Albert Slicefinger, let’s get started with the calibrations.” “Wait! It’s not Albert Albert, it’s just Albert, and it’s not Slicefinger. It’s Schleissweiger.”

–––––––––––––

lbert had resisted entering the world of computers through the rise and fall of Microsoft, through the final demise of high-tech manufacturing and marketing giants Dell, IBM and Intel and well into the brave new world of do-all computing controlled by Ultimate Electronics Corporation. UEC or “You-We Corp” as their ads proclaimed, had gained virtually immediate technical and marketing dominance with Maggie, displacing personal organizers, personal entertainment devices, personal computers, cellular telephones, and assorted other business electronics and game gizmos. Maggie was the brightest star in the cyber universe. Her diminutive heart was UEC’s MAGPIE (Miniature Advanced Gigabyte Positive Ion Ejector) universal coprocessor. SUCCESS software (Simple Unified Computing, Communications, and Entertainment System Syntax) was the hand-held device’s brain. Maggie did it all. Albert inspected the contents of the small package from You-We Corp. Maggie was an appealing little thing, soft and warm in his hand, though still without life. He inserted the single power cell into Maggie’s power port and watched the color CCD dawn into pale luminescence. A seductive 64

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

There was a long pause while Maggie’s display flickered like heat lightning and flashed “Mode Change.” Finally, she spoke again, without the warm, inviting intonations Albert had heard earlier. “Okay, Just Albert Slicewhiner. Is it permitted for me to call you Just?” Albert opened his mouth to protest, stopped and quietly nodded his head in compliance. In a few moments, Maggie spoke again, “I know you have me in your hand, Just. Please respond now.” Albert swallowed hard. “Okay, fine. Just is just fine. But I’m not a Whiner. I’m a Weiger — Schleissweiger.” Maggie’s voice rasped impatiently and her display throbbed. “It appears I need to start your calibration before we can proceed. I’ll call you Justfine for now.” Calibrate me? Albert thought, this blinking box is going to calibrate me! “This is quite simple, Justfine, I hope you can handle it without difficulty.” “Shoot!” said Albert, and the word conjured new, evil thoughts in his mind. “I will say a word. You will repeat the world. Understood, Justfine?” Maggie was all business now.

Art “I understand.” “Please answer, ‘yes’ or ‘no.’” “Yes, damn it!” “I take that to be ‘yes;’ ‘damit’ is not in my vocabulary.” Albert’s hand commenced to tremble. Maggie said, “There is instability in the handheld position. It is permissible to place me gently on a firm and stable surface, Justfine.” Albert complied, standing Maggie upright on his desk in order to easily view her display that faded now to a pale blue. “Thank you” said Maggie. “Now, I will speak a word, and you will repeat the word exactly. This is necessary for me to understand you. Ready?” She sounded a bit more cheerful now. “Let’s get it over with!” Albert did not try to hide his frustration. “Justfine,” Maggie groaned, “answer ‘yes’ or ‘no.’” “Yes,” he replied aloud, and under his breath added, “damn it.” “Repeat the word ‘albatross,’” Albert complied. “Good. Now repeat the word ‘Birmingham,’”

humiliated, like a young schoolboy called to the principal’s office and put on hold. He simmered until his patience boiled away. He shouted, “This is Justfine!” Maggie blinked awake immediately. “Hello, Justfine. Now we need to confirm your surname to use as your password. Please speak your name clearly.” “Schleissweiger.” “Slicewhiner,” Maggie repeated. “Schleissweiger!” Maggie’s display flashed “Corrupt PCF” in red letters. Maggie said, “Your PCF has been corrupted, Justfine. We will recalibrate now.” Albert screeched, “PCF! PCF? What do you mean corrupted PCF?” “That is your Pronunciation Calibration File.” Maggie’s voice was deadly calm, but her display twitched in variegated shades of purple. “Estimated time for recalibration is 60 minutes.”

Albert released the trembling little box, reached up with his cold, wet hand and flushed.

A digital clock appeared in Maggie’s CCD, ready for the countdown. “Now, I will speak a word and you will repeat the word exactly. This is necessary for me to understand you. Ready?”

He did, and his calibration proceeded through three alphabetic word lists with only three misses. Finally, 40 minutes after they started, Maggie prompted, “Your final word, Justfine. Repeat the word Zeitgeist.”

“Ready, you oversexed radio — I’ll show you ready!” Albert grasped Maggie tightly in his fist and shook her over his head.

Albert spit it out. “Zeitgeist, what the hell does that mean?” “Please be patient, Justfine. You can open my dictionary and all communication functions after you have successfully recorded your password. But I think we both deserve a short break now; my micro-circuits are very warm. You may awaken me after 5 minutes by saying ‘This is Justfine.’ Understood?” “Yes.” “Try it.” “This is Justfine.” “Excellent, Justfine, Goodbye.” Maggie’s display went dark.

“Put me down, Justfine. Calm yourself. Where are you going? What-what are you doing?”

Albert drummed his fingers on the desk, stood to stretch and glanced at his watch. He did 10 pushups and checked his watch again. He felt

“Schleissweiger has committed fatal error! Return Mag...gie...to UEC...for Ser...vice!”

Maggie’s display flashed “Alarm Mode.”

Photo of Richard Anderson by Ricky Stilley

Dr. Richard Anderson is a native of Wisconsin with degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and The Pennsylvania State University. Her Surreptitious Lens emerged surreptitiously, He and his wife, Shirley, have lived in and she recorded the horrifying scene in a series Georgia since 1983, the last seven years of digital photos stored deep in her megaas a resident of Carrollton. They have memory chips – Albert’s sweaty countenance, four adult children and eight grandchilteeth clenched in menacing grimace, the top of dren. Albert’s head, Albert’s straining fingertips, and suddenly the gleaming white, vitreous sarcopha- Richard retired from a career in Research and Development in 1995. He gus. now writes short fiction and nonfiction. Albert Justfine Slicefinger Schleissweiger He is also writing a family history and walked deliberately to the bathroom and plunged preparing a book of poetry for publicaMaggie into the cold, clear water of the comtion. mode. Maggie sparked once, then vibrated He has been a member of the Carrollton erratically in his hand. Her display scrolled one Creative Writers Club since 2005. final message.

Sept./Oct. 2012

West Georgia Living 65

Artist’s Corner

Book Review by T.L. Gray Novel by Mary Cunningham

Book Description: Cynthia and Gus have solved a lot of mysteries across time, but something is seriously wrong, and things are beginning to unravel. Aunt Belle is missing…again! Cynthia’s great-grandfather, Beau, was never found! And now they are wondering if Blackie is still making life miserable for Lilly and Annie? This time, the 12-year-old girls’ journey takes them into a strange woods full of frightening creatures and dark secrets in search of answers. From Aunt Belle’s cottage to a small village in France, they meet new friends and discover a connection to New Orleans that may lead to the devious source behind these alarming developments … or perhaps even bigger trouble. Book Review: I met Ms. Cunningham a few years ago, when I visited the Carrollton Creative Writer’s Club, not long after my first book was published in 2009. Upon meeting her, she introduced me to her tween series “Cynthia’s Attic,” and gave me a signed copy of the third book in the series, “Cynthia’s Attic – Curse of the Bayou.” It only took me a few hours to devour 66

West Georgia Living

Sept./Oct. 2012

the short book, but I absolutely fell in love with the two main characters, Cynthia and Gus. It reminded me a lot of my Nancy Drew days when I was in primary school, but in a more modern writing style and setting, even when jumping through time. So, needless to say, when I received my latest copy of “The Legend of Lupin Woods,” the fifth installment of the Cyn-

thia Attic series, I didn’t hesitate to jump right in. It felt like a splash of cool water on a hot summer day. What is Cynthia’s Attic? Well, the attic is where a steamer trunk lies. This just isn’t any old piece of luggage, but something very special. It is really a time machine that transports 1960s Cynthia and her best friend, Gus, to very important and crucial moments of their ances-

tor’s past, present and future. In the “Legend of Lupin Woods,” all efforts and salvations that Cynthia and Gus have managed up to this point (over the last four books) are in jeopardy of being unraveled. Their help is enlisted by their granddaughters, Niki and Leeza, who accidentally stumble upon the steamer in 2014 and are sent back to 1964 to meet their grandmothers, 12-year-olds Cynthia and Gus. Though that sounds a bit confusing, Mary Cunningham does a great job with the time transition, you will easily be able to keep up. After a short visit in 1964, the four girls discover missing events in their history, particular events that Cynthia and Gus had previously set right in the past. They decide they must travel together back to the year 1914 to visit their Aunt Belle in France. While Belle explains a lot of missing information and family history to Niki and Leeza, Cynthia and Gus realize they must travel to the earliest point of change in order to save their family history. Once they time-travel, they have no idea when or where they landed, at least not until they meet a young girl named, Veronika, and her mother, Amelia. They discover they have landed in the French countryside in the year 1924.

the story for yourself to find out those answers. Even if you haven’t read the first four books of this series, where Mary Cunningham touches on characters and events in this particular edition, you won’t be lost. However, I highly recommend that you do read the first four books (“The Missing Locket,” “The Magic Medallion,” “The Curse of the Bayou,” and “The Magician’s Castle”) to be introduced to and experience the great adventures of the other ancestors of Cynthia and Gus. Doing so will greatly enrich this adventure, having been familiar with the subsequent story lines, but it’s not necessary. This adventure stands on its own. The thing I really love most about this series is its simplicity and ease of storytelling. Mary Cunningham remembers her audience when writing. I think this series, particularly this book, embodies all the elements that make a story great and interesting, especially to a new or young reader.

gives her fingers a day away from the keyboard, she enjoys golf, swimming and exploring the mountains of west Georgia, where she makes her home with her husband and four-legged furry “daughter,” Lucy. Together they’ve raised three creative children and are crazy about their two granddaughters. About the Reviewer: T.L. Gray is a local author from Temple, Ga. Her first book, “The Blood of Cain,” was published in 2009 by Fireside Publications, released as a 2nd edition by Carrollton publisher, Vabella Publishing, June 2012. She has since then published two young adult novels “Keezy’s 10 Awesome Rules for Teenaged Dating” and “Milledgeville Misfit.” Her fourth novel, a sequel to “The Blood of Cain,” is “The Arcainians,” and is due for release this fall. Gray works as a full time novelist, editor, social media specialist and website manager. She is also active as a Contributing Writer for Impact Times Magazine and a member of the Carrollton Creative Writer’s Club. www. tlgray.net

For those us who’ve been reading for a long period of time, it reminds us of what we fell in love with when we were younger – a story filled with magic and adventure, and good characterization.

With Veronika’s help, the three girls rush off to help solve the clues that will set everything back on track. In search for a hidden passageway, Veronika tells the two travelers a story about a girl named Brigitte and her brother, Raoul, who is rumored to be a werewolf, when Cynthia falls through a portal into the dense terrain of Lupin woods.

About the Author: Mary Cunningham is the author of the award-winning ‘tween fantasy/mystery series, Cynthia’s Attic that was inspired by a recurring dream about a mysterious attic. After realizing that the dream took place in the home of her childhood friend, Cynthia, the dreams stopped and the writing began.

Does Cynthia make it safely out of Lupin Woods? Is Raoul really a werewolf? What happens to Gus and Veronika? What about Niki and Leeza and Aunt Belle? What about the fates of their families? Can everything be saved and set back right? I’m sorry to say that you’re just going to have to read

She is also co-writer of the humor-filled lifestyle book, “Women Only Over Fifty (WOOF),” along with a published short story, “Ghost Light.” Cunningham is a member of The Georgia Reading Association and the Carrollton Creative Writers Club. When she

T.L.Gray Sept./Oct. 2012

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Arts & Events ECLECTIC LIVE! Join the University of West Georgia’s College of Arts and Humanities as we celebrate student talent, creativity and ingenuity with Eclectic Live!, a live production of art published in UWG’s student-run literary and arts magazine. Audiences will see spectacular music, dance, comedy and theater performances, as well as a showcase of student art. Come join us for a night of amazing sights! INTRODUCTION TO DRAWING Bess Stober will give an intro to drawing at the S.C.R.A.P. Bin, 1111 Bankhead Highway, Lake Carroll Mall on Sept. 1 from 1 to 3 p.m. for ages 12-18. Cost is $20. Students will learn techniques for creating black and white drawings using graphite and/or charcoal. Must pre-register at SCRAP Bin or online. For information or to register call 770-666-5332 or www.scrapbin.org and scrapbincarrotlton@hotmail. com. WACO FEST Waco Fest will be Sept. 8 at Waco City Hall. Breakfast at 6 a.m., parade at 11 a.m., arts and crafts all day, and street dance at 8 p.m. There will be drawings, kids free games/inflatables, many give-aways, treasure hunt with a $50 prize and grand prize drawing of $200 cash. Parking available at Waco Baptist Church, Haralson County Chamber and West Georgia Technical College. Waco Baptist Church will run shuttles from the church to WGTC from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Shuttles will not run during the parade from 10:45 a.m. to noon. For applications call 770-550-4249 or wacosam@bellsouth. net. FOUNDER’S DAY The 2012 City of Temple Founder’s Day celebration will be Sept. 15. The Temple UMC pancake breakfast will be from 8 to 10 a.m. in the church dining hall on Carrollton Street. The parade will begin at 9 a.m. on Sage Street from Temple High School through downtown, crossing RR tracks at Sunco to end at the Sewell building. There 68

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Sept./Oct. 2012

will also be food and vendors, bouncy house and kids train and a dunking booth. For more information or for a vendor application or to register for the parade call 770-562-3369 or visit www.templega.us WASHER NECKLACES Adults and students will learn how to turn colored embroidery floss and metal washThe Greater Carrollton Area... Whatever you’re looking for, look here first. ers into gorgeous, contemporary jewSeptember 27-29, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. and Sometimes we forget how many great things there are to see, do and experience in our own hometown. Before you spend your elry on Sept. 8. Cost is $20. Materials are time and money somewhere else, why not look here first? You might be surprised some of the Tickets treasures in your own backyard! Sunday, September 30 at 2by p.m. are included. Must pre-register at SCRAP Bin is ahistoric play within is Books Explore the shops,$10. restaurantsNoises and galleries of Off Carroll County downtown districts. a Turnplay. a few pagesItat Horton’s Carrollton, the oldest bookstore in the state (and the county’s oldest business). Dine at one of our many restaurants, serving or online. For information or to register incall about an ambitious director and his troupe up an eclectic mix of mouth-watering cuisines. Attend or host a tournament at our award-winning recreation facilities. See a 770-666-5332. show or exhibit at of the Carrollton Cultural Arts Center, Townsend The Center or cast Copeland Hall. Shoot crew a hole-in-oneare at your choice of mediocre actors. and several championship quality golf courses. Swim off the largest sand beach in the GA State Park System at John Tanner State Park. Camp, picnic, hike or explore on horseback at McIntosh Reserve Park. Hold your business meeting, wedding or family reunion here. Cheer our home teams or learn a thing or two at the University of West Georgia or West Georgia Technical College.

putting together a silly comedy titled, Nothing On - a single-set farce in which lovers frollic, slam, are fortossed The Carrollton Area Convention doors and Visitors Bureau is yourclothes complete local resource planning and away, hosting groups and in the Greater Carrollton Area. Contact us at 770-214-9746 or visit us online at www.visitcarrollton.com and The Golden City Cruisers Car Club will individual holdvisitorsand embarrassing hi-jinks ensue. on Facebook. Come by the Log Cabin Visitor Center at 102 North Lakeshore Drive in Carrollton. a Cruise-In on Sept. 15 at 5 p.m., at “The Mill” amphitheater, 106 Temple Street, in WINTER PLAY downtown Villa Rica. Come enjoy the fun with 50/50 drawings, cakewalks, famCarroll County Community Theatre presily fun for all. Cars, motorcycles, rat rods, ents Irving Berlin’s White Christmas customs, etc. Public is invited. No admisAuditions will be Monday, Oct. 1 and Tuession charge. For information go to: www. day, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Theatre Regoldencitycruisers.com or call Danny at hearsal Room. Large cast includes parts for 770-328-9663. 5 women, 6 men, one nine year old girl, and CAR CRUISE-IN

DREAMCATCHERS Students ages 7 and up will learn how to make Dreamcatchers at a workshop at the S.C.R.A.P. Bin, 1111 Bankhead Highway, Lake Carroll Mall on Sept. 15 from 1 to 2 p.m. $10. All materials included. Must preregister at SCRAP Bin or online. For information or to register call 770-666-5332 or www.scrapbin.org. DIY PINATAS Teens through adults can learn how to make DIY Pinatas on Sept. 22 from 1 to 3 p.m. $15. Create your own imaginative pinata from every day materials. Must pre-register at SCRAP Bin or online. For information or to register call 770-666-5332 or www.scrapbin.org or scrapbincarrolton@ hotmail.com. NOISES OFF The Carroll County Community Theatre presents Noises Off. Production will be

extras. $15 fee due at first rehearsal. Production dates are Dec. 6-8 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10. SOUTHEASTERN QUILT AND TEXTILE MUSEUM West Georgia’s newest tourist attraction, the Southeastern Quilt and Textile Museum, will open at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 15. The Museum’s debut exhibit, “Celebrating 25 Years,” will feature quilts made by members of the West Georgia Quilt Guild, whose membership encompasses residents from Carroll, Haralson, Heard and Meriwether Counties. The museum, scheduled to be permanently housed in the red brick warehouse adjacent to 306 Bradley St., occupies a 20X24 foot space adequate to display 20 quilts. Long range plans for the museum include extensive interpretive exhibits, classrooms and a gift shop. Following the museum’s opening, the museum will observe regular hours Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. as of Sept. 20.

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Neighborhood Watch is a crime prevention program that stresses education and common sense. It teaches citizens how to help themselves by identifying and reporting suspicious activity in their neighborhoods. To organize a Neighborhood Watch in your area, please contact Deputy Scott Smith. 770-830-5916 or email ssmith@ carrollsheriff.com.

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In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fast paced world, there is no guarantee that you will not be a victim of identity theft/fraud. However, there are things that you can do to drastically reduce

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Every driver who transports a child under eight (8) years of age in a motor vehicle must restrain the child in a child passenger restraining system (car seat) appropriate for the childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s height and weight. If the child is over 4 feet 9 inches, a child may be restrained in a safety belt.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153; Working Together; We Will Make a Difference.â&#x20AC;? 1000 Newnan Road Billy Jiles Memorial Highway Carrollton, GA 30116

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What every West Georgian should know about... Common Legal Terms

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Tim MacMillan Attorney MacMillan Law Firm

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Tim MacMillan received his Juris Doctor in 1998. Tim practices in the legal areas of Family Law, Personal Injury, Workerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Compensation, and Wills. He is also a certified mediator. He has been practicing law in Carrollton since July 2001.

Q Q A A

doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t recognize the natural father as the childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;legal father.â&#x20AC;? The process of â&#x20AC;&#x153;legitimatingâ&#x20AC;? the child creates custodial and visitation rights to the child.

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Marital property is any property that is acquired during the course of a marriage. This includes real estate, vehicles, furniture and retirement accounts. Essentially, everything that is purchased during the course of a marriage, regardless of who actually purchased the property, or whether it was purchased as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;mutual decision,â&#x20AC;? is considered marital property.

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A male who fathers a child out of wedlock is known as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;natural father,â&#x20AC;? or â&#x20AC;&#x153;biological father.â&#x20AC;? Georgia is a state however that

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Having a Will is extremely important. There are many reasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why a Will is significant, none of which is more important than understanding the difference between a â&#x20AC;&#x153;beneficiaryâ&#x20AC;? and a â&#x20AC;&#x153;legal heir.â&#x20AC;? Beneficiaries are those individuals who YOU want to benefit from your estate where as Legal Heirs are relatives, legally entitled to benefit from you, whom YOU may not want your estate to benefit. /($51 025( Ĺ&#x2014; PDFPLOODQODZĂ&#x20AC;UP FRP Ĺ&#x2014;

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MacMillan L a w

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770-834-0871 418 Bradley St. - Carrollton

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Ken Barber graduated with a BBA in Economics from the University of West Georgia and earned a diploma from the University of Georgia Banking School. Ken has over 35 years as a banker including 25 years as a bank CEO. Ken chartered MetroBank, a business friendly community bank with offices in Carroll, Cobb and Douglas Counties in 2008.

Your search is over.

ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ Stability, experience and strength of management are always important. If success of the business relies on one o few individuals, the ban assignment of life insura case something happens er or owner. A well thoug plan for a new business or vital. The Burson Center in and the Small Business Dev Center of the University of W gia are great local resources f plan development. Collateral required to cover the loan bala being discounted for market flu and carrying costs.

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:KDW HYHU\ :HVW *HRUJLDQ VKRXOG NQRZ DERXW Allergy, Asthma and Sinus Problems

Dr. Eugene S. Hurwitz

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Dr. Hurwitz is a board certified allergist with the Center for Allergy and Asthma of Georgia. He has been in practice in West Georgia for over 10 years and sees both children and adult patients. He holds the distinction of fellowship in both the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) and the American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

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Most children and adults who have frequent sinus infections have underlying environmental allergies. When the

underlying allergies are treated and controlled, sinus infections can also be reduced by 80-90%.

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These symptoms can be treated and controlled so that children and adults with these problems can live a normal life with relatively few problems. Most of these problems are also related to allergies and the keys also include avoidance of allergens, uses of effective preventive medications, and allergy shots which can significantly reduce these asthma problems.

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770-459-0620

10 Locations to serve you! No wait for Appointments! Carrollton, Newnan, Villa Rica, Hiram, Bremen, Peachtree City, Smyrna, Atlanta, Cumming, Douglasville.

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What every West Georgian should know about... Air Conditioning Maintenance

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Danny Underwood

Think of your air conditioning unit as a car. Everyone knows their car needs regular maintenance. An air conditioning unit is the same. Regular maintenance can add years to its life. Depending on your make, some warranties will not even cover problems without proper maintenance.

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Residential Service Manager Addison Smith

Danny Underwood has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He has two Associate Degrees in Air Conditioning Technology (ACT) and Information Systems, a North American Technician Excellence (NATE) certification and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) license.

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Changing the filters on your unit is necessary, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not all the maintenance a unit requires. Trained technicians check the compressor, coil, drains and vital system pressures to ensure proper function. Our licensed technicians perform a 23 point inspection.

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home ? H O T

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IAQ stands for Indoor Air Quality. Nearly 72 trillion particles enter the home daily and a 1500 square foot home can generate 40 pounds of dust. One ounce of dust can contain up to 40,000 dust mites which cause asthma and allergies. The Trane CleanEffects was designed to help. It removes up to 99.98% of allergens from filtered air and traps particles as small as .1 micron. The Trane CleanEffects is up to 100 times more effective than a standard one inch filter and can reduce your dust by up to 50%!

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Call us to schedule your FREE home and comfort system evaluation! â&#x20AC;&#x153;Quality service for your Home and your Business since 1954.â&#x20AC;?

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ADDISON SMITH HEATING t COOLING t PLUMBING

Call (770) 832-9006

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What every West Georgian should know about... Detailing Car Wash Was &&Detailing

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Nate Smith

General Manager Cactus Car Wash

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Nate Smith has over 20 years experience in creating and managing real estate development projects and international entertainment events. With various high level executive positions under his belt, Nate’s musical acumen coupled with his business savvy and powerful negotiating ability makes him a coveted addition to the Cactus Car Wash Franchise.

Q A

Does Cactus Car Wash really have its own well?

Yes, in addition to its sophisticated recycled water filtration system, the Douglasville location houses its own well. Being mindful of water usage, we felt it to be the most practical way to conserve. Customers feel good about not wasting water and we feel good about being able to store and recycle it.

What brought about Cactus Cafe, the on-site coffee bar?

Honestly, because it hadn’t been done before! Cactus has always been known to exceed expectations. And we felt, why not “keep-the-ball rolling”. In fact, even our coffee is far from the norm. We carefully created custom blends that are just as unique as the new Douglasville location!

Is Cactus Car Wash really eco-friendly?

Absolutely! Cactus uses products that are free of chlorine bleach, phosphates, and EDTA which has been shown to pose a real environmental challenge. Even the plastic drums that house these products are recycled. Most are unaware that clean car results can be achieved without harsh chemicals. However Cactus continues to prove that it can be done, and done well. LEARN MORE ŗ cactuscarwash.com ŗ 770.726.7716

Full Service Car Wash & Detail Center Lowest Prices • Highest Quality Hand Wash Available too! Relax in our Southwestern Lounge Enioy Big Screen TVs, iPad Lounge with FREE Wi-Fi, Custom Coffee Available

Early Bird Special Monday - Friday 8am- I Oam

Full Service Wash

$11.95

(You Save $2)

2777 Chapel Hill Rd. • Douglasville • 770.726.7716 Hours: Mon-Sat 8am-7pm & Sun 8am-6pm www.cactuscarwash.com

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What every West Georgian should know about... Being the City Mayor

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Wayne Garner Mayor City of Carrollton

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Mayor Wayne Garner is currently serving his third consecutive term as Mayor of the City of Carrollton since taking office in January 2004.

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has served as my greatest challenge. I can tell you that the City will continue to search for improved methods to manage your tax dollars wisely to meet this challenge.

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Helping people. When you get the opportunity to help resolve a problem for someone, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a great feeling. I also enjoy seeing great ideas come to life, namely the Amphitheater which opened in late spring of this year. What a great venue for folks to gather together and be entertained.

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Maintaining and improving the quality of life for our citizens is of the utmost importance to me. I have discovered that providing Carrollton residents with the basic services without raising their property taxes during these economic times

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Carrollton is not immune to the economic difficulties that our nation is facing. Job loss, foreclosures, business closings, the issues go on and on. You can bet that we will continue to work hard to seek innovative and efficient ways to provide the very best public service to the citizens of Carrollton during these trying times.

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Pineapple Salmon Kabobs INGREDIENTS:

*1 garlic clove, minced *½ cup pineapple juice *3 cup light coconut milk *¼ cup fresh lime juice *2 tablespoons grapeseed oil *2 tablespoons honey *1½ pounds skinless salmon fillets, cut into 12-inch chunks *6 (10-inch) wooden skewers *1 red bell pepper, cut into 12-inch pieces *½ medium red onion, cut into 12-inch wedges, separated *2½ cups pineapple, cut into 12-inch chunks *Olive oil *2 tablespoons shredded coconut, toasted

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DIRECTIONS:

1: In medium bowl, whisk together garlic, pineapple juice, coconut milk, lime juice, grapeseed oil and honey. Place salmon in large zip-top plastic bag, pour marinade over salmon. Seal bag and refrigerate 30 minutes to marinate. 2: Soak skewers in water 20 minutes. Prepare outdoor grill for direct grilling over medium-high heat. Remove salmon from marinade; reserve ¼ cup marinade. Alternately thread salmon, bell pepper, onion and pineapple onto skewers. 3: Coat grill rack with olive oil; reduce grill heat to medium. Place kabobs on hot grill rack and cook 12 to 16 minutes, or until salmon turns opaque throughout and internal temperature of salmon reaches 145°, rotating kabobs ¼ turn every 3 to 4 minutes. Remove kabobs from grill and place on large serving plate; keep warm. 4: In small saucepan, heat reserved marinade over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes or until temperature reaches 165°. Drizzle marinade over kabobs and sprinkle with toasted coconut. Serve with a side of your favorite rice, if desired.