tra X
AUGUST 8 - AUGUST 14, 2018
TIMES-HERALD
➤
e e r f
your weekly connection to local news & entertainment
calendar of events inside ➤ page 4
Seven years serving the community, ➤ page 3
Falcons chaplain speaks at annual Coweta FCA kickoff banquet
PHOTO BY CHRIS GOLTERMANN/COWETASCORE
Newnan senior center Carson Knight (left) plays rock-paper-scissors with Heritage School junior Brandon Scruggs as part of a tiebreaker after a series of games between players from four area high school programs during Tuesday’s annual Coweta FCA Kickoff Banquet at Southcrest. Read the story on page 2.
The Comeback kid:
CANCER CAUGHT JIM QUALLS OFF-GUARD, BUT HE’S DETERMINED TO BEAT THE DISEASE
COURTESY OF RACHEL SHOEMAKE
Rachel Shoemake, center, performs on stage at the 14th annual GRAMMY Camp.
Dream confirmed for local singer after GRAMMY Camp BY TAYLOR ROBINS
taylor@newnan.com Singer Rachel Shoemake of Newnan says she has solidified her singing drea ms a fter attending the 14th annual GRAMMY Camp program. “It was probably one of the best weeks of my life, honestly,” said Shoemake. The teenage singer attended the camp, held at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles, from July 17-21. Program support is provided by the Bruno Mars Scholarship Fund, the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Fund and the Recording Academy. E i g h t y- s e ve n h i g h school students across the country were picked for the program. “It was so much fun,” said the singer. “Throughout the week it was so cool to meet
everyone from so many different parts of the music industry. During the week we would meet up with the songwriters to write songs, which was cool for me because I’ve never written with anyone before. So the process was different. But it was so cool experiencing that. I had to be vulnerable with people I’ve never met before, and that was interesting. Telling my story and then writing about it.” At the end of the week, select students got to perform in the program’s open house, where family and friends could see what the students had been working on all week. Shoemake, who followed the vocal performance career track during the program, was one of the select students. “It was a really cool experience because I feel like I had a huge break-
through as a performing artist,” she said. Shoemake, who goes by the stage name “Echo Lynn,” shared that when she got on stage to perform her new song, “Better Off,” she completely let loose. The song is about how life is better without a boy. She performed with a band directed by Earth, Wind & Fire’s Leslie Drayton. The annual program feat u res eig ht music career tracks, including audio engineering, electronic music production, music business, music journalism, songwriting, video production and motion graphics, vocal performance and instrumental performance. While at camp, Shoemake worked with Jeffrey Allen, a professor at USC
GRAMMY, page 3
COURTESY OF JIM QUALLS
Jim and Janna Qualls celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary in 2013 with a ride through the Virginia Creeper Trail.
BY MELANIE RUBERTI
melanie@newnan.com Everyone likes a good comeback story, including Berkshire Hathaway realtor Jim Qualls. He just never thought his life would turn into one. Qualls, 55, and his wife Janna call Peachtree City home. It’s where the couple raised their two daughters, Ellen and Betsy. The town is also home base for Qualls’ career and provides a scenic, peaceful ride for the avid cyclist. Qualls said his passion for cycling was ignited 20 years ago. Since then, he and Janna have pedaled along some of the most beautiful countryside in the nation, sometimes riding more than 115 miles per day. T he exercise kept Qualls active. “Riding bikes is my passion,” he said. “Cycling changed my life. The dis-
ciplines of cycling are about having grit, determination and perseverance so you can ride and then pedal yourself back from 100 miles.” Q ua l ls sa id he wa s in tip-top shape when a routine doctor’s exam slammed on the brakes of his life and left him with an uncertain future.
An unexpected diagnosis
Qualls’ gastroenterologist was the first to notice a small abnormality during an annual exam in October 2017. Tests confirmed Qualls had a rare, aggressive form of cancer called mantle cell lymphoma, or MCL. “I had zero symptoms at all,” Qualls said. “But the cancer was found early and had not spread to any of my lymph nodes. Doctors told me normally it is found in stage 3 or 4. My cancer was found in early
stage 1. Doctors said it was miniscule.” Accordi ng to w w w. lymphoma.org , mantle cell is a rare, fast-growing form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that most often begins in the gastrointestinal tract and/or bone marrow. MCL accounts for 6 percent of all non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases. Fortunately, in Qualls’ case, doctors felt they caught the cancer early enough and had a positive prognosis, he said. While the diagnosis came as a shock, Qualls sa id he wa s ready to switch gears and fight the disease head-on. A fter h is doctors consulted with oncologists at t he M D A nder son Cancer Center in Houston, Qualls started ora l a nd i nt ravenou s chemotherapy. He said he
QUAILS, page 2