Connect September 2016 by Statesboro Herald

September 2016

THE ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, & LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE OF STATESBORO

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mirth & Matter Editor’s letter

So — what do you think? This is the first issue marking our long-awaited switch to a full-gloss magazine, and not to sway your opinion or anything, but we think it’s looking pretty swanky. Ace art director Hunter McCumber has reinvigorated our pages with a total redesign, and while we’re still testing layouts and other visual elements, we’re very happy with the direction we have taken for the new magazine. We hope you’re as excited about it as we are. This transition lets us make more explicit a shift that I have been quietly implementing since I took the editor’s seat. When Connect was pitched to me as a job opportunity, I was told it was mostly studentcentric. But as I got to know Statesboro and talked to folks in the community, I realized that — while that might have been true at one point — our readers are considerably more diverse. People who had come to know Connect while they were undergraduates were still picking it up as young professionals, and readers who had been settled adults well before we hit the stands 10 years ago were still flipping through its pages. Why? Because while bars and bands might be the domain of a younger crowd, there is no age limit for curiosity. The artistic impulse doesn’t expire when you turn 30 or after you have a kid. A healthy mind is constantly searching for new ideas to entertain. Here at Connect, we are in the business of ideas, whether those ideas come to you in the form of local news stories or through our coverage of the arts scene. After all, art — whether it’s music of any kind, fixed media in an exhibit, theatre or the written word — is just another word for ideas on display. If we can entertain you or make you laugh, that’s great. But if we can make you think or, better yet, inspire you to a sense of wonder, then we’ll consider our jobs well done. Connect is not just for college students, nor is it exclusively for theatergoers and movie buffs. We write for the kind of people who get excited, who are curious and who care very deeply about the Statesboro community. Those qualities can’t be tied to an age demographic. We hope you enjoy this new issue and the issues to come. Thanks for reading.

Behind the Scenes People who make it happen

Brittani howell, EDITOR 912.489.9405 | bhowell@connectstatesboro.com Stephanie Childs, MARKETING MANAGER 912.531.0786 | schilds@connectstatesboro.com Hunter McCUMBER, ART DIRECTOR 912.489.9491 | hmccumber@statesboromagazine.com Pam pollard, classifieds manager 912.489.9420 | ppollard@statesboroherald.com Tim Webb, Multimedia twebb@statesboroherald.com Darrell Elliot, Distribution 912.489.9425 | delliot@statesboroherald.com Jim Healy, Operations manager 912.489.9402 | jhealy@statesboroherald.com Connect Statesboro is published monthly (12 issues a year). The cover and contents of Connect Statesboro are fully protected by copyright laws of the United States and may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of Connect Statesboro. We are not responsible for loss of unsolicited inquiries, manuscripts, photographs, transparencies or other materials. Such materials will not be returned unless accompanied by return postage. Address letters and editorial contributions to Connect Statesboro, Brittani Howell, 1 Proctor Street, Statesboro, GA 30458, bhowell@connectstatesboro.com.Copyright © 2016 by Statesboro Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

BRITTANI HOWELL Connect Editor

Table of Contents September Edition

Calendar of Events ��4-5 Dining Guide �� 7 GATA Nation: Your Eagle Football Crash Course �� 8-11 Tailgate Tattler �� 12-13 Business in the Boro �� 14 ‘Lewis Grizzard, In His Own Words’ �� 15 Local Music �� 16 Overthinking It �� 18 On the Verge with the Da Capo Chamber Players �� 21 At the CAT: ‘Crumbs from the Table of Joy’ �� 22 Downtown Development �� 23 Day Trippin’ �� 24 Horoscopes �� 26 Vampin’ Gamer �� 27 Classifieds �� 28 September 2016 • 3

Calendar

Things to do in September

MUSIC Friday, Sept. 9 Muscadine Bloodline Gnat’s Landing, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 17 Porch 40 Dingus Magee’s, 9:30 p.m.

Little Raine Band Dingus Magee’s, 9:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 20 On the Verge featuring the Da Capo Chamber Players For full story, see page 21. GSU Foy Building, Carter Recital Hall, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 10 Down Home Days Featuring hometown musician Trea Landon and other regional musicians, this farm party concert will also include favorite tailgating activities. Reynold Farms (6248 Green Cypress Road, Claxton), 4 p.m. Tickets: $10 in advance, $20 at gate Thursday, Sept. 15 Funk You Dingus Magee’s, 10 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 22 The Band Piano. Dingus Magee’s, 9:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23 Amy Taylor Eagle Creek Brewing Co., 7 p.m. Ben & The Kind Band Dingus Magee’s, 9:30 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 16 RoshambeauX Dingus Magee’s, 9 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 24 Chyann Rose Eagle Creek Brewing Co., 7 p.m.

Dylan Bragg Wild Wing Café, 9 p.m.

Laughlin Gnat’s Landing, 10 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 9 Roxie Remley Center for Fine Arts Grand Opening Weekend This tour of the new facility includes an evening of music, food and dancing. Tickets: $60 per couple/ $30 per person For full story, see page 23

ART

Saturday, Sept. 10 Community Arts Market & Art Sampler Experience sampler classes and wander the new art center throughout the morning and early afternoon. Roxie Remley Center for Fine Arts, 31 E. Vine Street 9 a.m.–2 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 27 GSU Wind Ensemble GSU Performing Arts Center, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28 Georgia Southern Symphony GSU Performing Arts Center, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29 GSU Wind Ensemble GSU Performing Arts Center, 7:30 p.m. The Southern Belles Dingus Magee’s, 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30 Guitar Solo Recital GSU Carter Recital Hall, 7:30 p.m. Jason White Band Wild Wing Café, 9 p.m. The Reality Dingus Magee’s, 9:30 p.m.

Through Sept. 16 BFoSDA Faculty Exhibit Exhibition showcases works of art, design and research from faculty of the Georgia Southern University Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art. Center for Art & Theatre, Contemporary and University Galleries

Theater

Through Oct. 22 Juan Granados: In Time/En Tiempo Through earthy ceramics, Juan Granados explores his childhood and family legacy as migrant farm workers. Averitt Center for the Arts Main Gallery

BULLOCH DUI BULLOCH RECOVERY BULLOCH DEFENSIVE DRIVING Vern and Cindy Howard & Staff

18 Simmons Center Statesboro, GA 30458 Phone: (912) 489-8401 | Fax: (912) 489-4313 Program #2070, 2050 vernh@nctv.com Vern & Cindy Howard cindybohler@ nctv.com CLINICAL EVALUATORS www.bullochdui.com

Sept. 21-28 Crumbs from the Table of Joy GSU Center for Art & Theatre For full story, see page 22 7:30 p.m. weeknights; 2 p.m. Sunday matinee; no show Monday, Sept. 26 Tickets: $6 for students, $12 for general admission Sept. 23-24 Lewis Grizzard, In His Own Words Averitt Center for the Arts For full story, see page 15 Tickets: $20 for general admission; $10 for youth

Q: Is a clinical evaluation the same as an alcohol/drug evaluation? Is an alcohol/drug evaluation the same as an alcohol/drug assessment? Are all clinical evaluators on a state registry? A: Evaluations and assessments are usually interchangeable terms; however, clinical evaluations are mandatory by DBHDD for all first and subsequent DUI offenders. Both alcohol and drug assessments and clinical evaluations require a face-to-face interview with a clinician. DUI offenders can only be...

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FILM Tuesday, Sept. 13 Movie Night: Sister Act When lively lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier (Whoopi Goldberg) sees her mobster beau (Harvey Keitel) commit murder, she is relocated for her protection. Set up in a California convent, Deloris proceeds to upend the quiet lives of the resident sisters. Statesboro Bulloch County Public Library, 6 p.m. Southern Circuit: Agents of Change This documentary, screened by the independent filmmakers of the Southern Circuit, evokes the Black Lives Matter movement in a call for social progress. A Q&A with producers Abby Ginzberg and Frank Dawson will follow the screening. Sanford Hall, Room 1002, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 14 Immigration Film Series: At Home and Abroad — Welcome A Kurdish teen wants to get to London, find his girlfriend and play football — but when he gets to England, he finds himself stranded in the refugee camps of Calais. GSU Russell Union, 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15 History Fall Film Series — The Black Robe A young Jesuit priest goes on a treacherous trek through the Canadian wilderness. Sanford Hall, Room 1002, 6 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 16 UPB Outdoor Movie: Finding Dory Everyone’s favorite blue tang embarks on a journey to find her long-lost family. GSU Sweetheart Circle, 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22 Immigration Film Series: At Home and Abroad — Documented Award-winning journalist and activist Jose Antonio Vargas recounts the moment he discovered he was an undocumented immigrant as a teenager, and opens a conversation about a “broken immigration system [that] leads to broken families and broken lives.” GSU Russell Union, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 27 Movie Night: Ghostbusters The paranormal classic gets a free screening at the local library. Who you gonna call? Statesboro Bulloch County Public Library, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28 Immigration Film Series: At Home and Abroad — “Immigration: Legality vs. Humanity with Jose Antonio Vargas” Watch a recorded version of the lecture Vargas delivered at Georgia Southern in February 2016. GSU Russell Union, 6 p.m.

OTHER Sept. 9 Fab Lab and Innovation Incubator Grand Opening The event will feature guest speakers, tours of the facility and demonstrations of different machinery and programs offered in the makerspace and incubator. City Campus, 4:30 p.m.

Author Talk with Elbert Alberson Mr. Alberson has written about his life growing up in Memphis and has penned several books of fiction. Come hear him discuss his 10 — soon to be 11 — published works at this library lecture. Statesboro Bulloch County Public Library, 2 p.m.

Sept. 10 Step Into Statesboro Students meet community representatives and take a guided walking tour through downtown Statesboro, learning about the challenges the community faces and ways to get involved. GSU Russell Union, all day

Thursday, Sept. 15 Meet Bestselling Novelist Joshilyn Jackson Joshilyn Jackson will read from her new novel, The Opposite of Everyone. Information Technology Building, Room 1005, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 16 Harbuck Scholarship Award Ceremony & Reception The winners of the 2016 Harbuck Scholarship Reception will read excerpts from their winning works of prose and poetry. Author Joshilyn Jackson will give opening remarks and a fully catered reception will follow. Information Technology Building, Room 1005, 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17 Sip & Sketch Relax and enjoy some special refreshments while painting your own gorgeous work of art! Limited to adults.

Statesboro Bulloch County Public Library, 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23 Second Annual Night at the Brewery Join the Statesboro Stars in their second annual fundraising event for Safe Haven. Admission includes brews from Eagle Creek, Hunter Cattle sausages, live music and a silent auction. Eagle Creek Brewing Co., 7 p.m. Tickets: $25; please purchase at Party Impressions on South Main Street

Q: Is bleaching with these “over the counter” teeth bleaching systems really effective?

LARRY G. HUBBARD, DDS, PC 912-764-9891 4 Lester Road | Statesboro, Ga www.statesborodentist.com

A: Over-the-counter bleaching products are not as good as what you would get in a dental office. OTC bleaching products cannot be concentrated enough to actually change the color of teeth. There are two types of stain on teeth - intrinsic and...

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Daily Specials

Dining Guide Section Millhouse

1601 Statesboro Place Circle 912.871.6474

Happy Mondays: Happy Hour all day! Half off all alcohol and select appetizers Trivia Tuesdays: Trivia at 7 p.m. with cash prizes; $10 buckets of beer, $7.99 shrimp and grits Wicked Wednesdays: Karaoke and live DJ at 9 p.m.; $13 buckets (imports), $8 buckets (domestics), $3 doubles all day Thirsty Thursdays: $10 buckets of beer, $3 doubles, $3 bombs, $3 Newcastle all day Fridays & Saturdays: Live music; $10 buckets of beer Sunday Funday: Happy Hour all day! Karaoke and live DJ at 8 p.m.; 45¢ wings Everyday Lunch Specials: $7 lunches with a drink, 7 days a week!

Monday Pint Night: $2 pints (all draft beers), trivia at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday: $3.99 Titos, $3.99 Jim Beam Wine & Whisky Wednesday: $10 off any bottle of wine, $4.99 Crown Thirsty Thursday: $3.99 Titos, $3.99 Jim Beam Friday, Saturday & Sunday: $10 domestic buckets, $15 import buckets

Millhouse is one of the most popular restaurants in the Statesboro scene. With its extensive menu options and award-winning service, Millhouse makes the best place for dining or happy hour. Serving Happy Days, Millhouse offers $1.99 domestic drafts and mixed cocktails all day, every day. Many menu items start at less than $10, and the food is award-winning in Statesboro! The extensive patio and deck area make the restaurant a great place to hang out with friends and enjoy good food and drinks. Millhouse also has live music every Thursday through Saturday. Open daily at 4 p.m.

22 W. Vine St. 912.764.2444

Vandy’s

718 Northside Dr. E. 912.764.3033

Since 1929, Vandy’s downtown location has tantalized the Boro with the aroma of smoked barbecue. Twice, Statesboro’s longest-standing barbecue joint has been named the best barbecue in the state and received national accolades. At the downtown location, dine in or carry out chicken and pork barbecue with Vandy’s famous Brunswick stew and sides. A full lunch and dinner menu is available at the Statesboro Mall location, which is a larger family-style restaurant. The award-winning barbecue is still the main attraction, but the mall location also offers chicken, burgers and a kids’ menu. Georgia Southern students will be glad to know that the mall location also accepts Eagle Express. If you’re planning an event or get-together, make it delicious with Vandy’s catering services, a popular barbecue-themed menu.

Holiday Pizza 406 Fair Road 912.764.7669

Holiday Pizza has been a Statesboro favorite since 1991. A family business owned and run by Dia, Nick and Johnny Kalloniatis, this much-loved eatery features Greek and Italian dishes including grinders, gyros, pastas, desserts, a borderline famous salad bar and — of course — pizzas, available as full pies or by the slice. With Holiday’s build-your-own menu, customers can have their lunch or dinner exactly the way they want it: custom-made with fresh ingredients, including pizza dough rolled right there in the restaurant. Holiday Pizza advertises their daily specials on their Facebook page, and they offer both delivery and catering services. Stop by their location in the El Sombrero shopping complex near South Main Street for a taste of the Mediterranean and a slice of Statesboro tradition.

Monday night: $1.99 Kids’ Night Wednesday: $1 off a glass of wine; $4 martinis Friday: Live music Saturday: Live music Sunday: $3 Bloody Marys and $3 Mimosas

Your specials here!

To claim your place in Connect Statesboro,

call 912.531.0786

September 2016 • 7

Photos by Scott Bryant

GATA NATI By MIKE ANTHONY | Statesboro Herald Sports Editor, Special to Connect

1924 Georgia Southern — then known as Georgia Normal School — fields the first football team in school history.

1941 The United States enters World War II shortly after the completion of football season. The program is shut down indefinitely.

Sept. 29,

1984

Georgia Southern plays its firstever game at Allen E. Paulson Stadium — a 48-11 win over Liberty.

8 • CONNECT Statesboro

April 9,

May 23,

Sept. 11,

Former school president Dale Lick announces that Georgia Southern College will restart football beginning in the fall of 1981.

Georgia Southern announces the hiring of Erk Russell as head coach.

Eagles play their first game of the modern era, defeating Central Florida 16-8 at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.

1981 1981 1982 Oct. 5,

1985 The Eagles set an FCS record, winning their 38th consecutive home game.

Dec. 21,

1985

Georgia Southern wins its first national championship, coming back from a 28-6 deficit to clinch a 44-42 victory over Furman in the closing seconds of play.

or everyone new to Statesboro this fall, know that you got to town at the perfect time. There is no shortage of great stuff about Statesboro and Georgia Southern University, but Eagle football is right at the top of the list. For four months spanning September to December, Saturdays are spent cheering on the Blue and White. After reviving the program in 1981, Georgia Southern Football hit the ground running and has never looked back. The Eagles racked up a record six Division I-AA — now Football Championship Subdivision — national championships from 1985-2000, and made the jump up to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2014. Even the leap to college football’s highest level hasn’t slowed the Eagles, who have gone 18-7 the last two years, including a 2014 Sun Belt Conference championship and the school’s first-ever bowl victory last December. New students and new fans are sure to enjoy what Georgia Southern Football has to offer. And while you’ll learn plenty about the program along the way, here’s a cheat sheet to get you started.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS When you think of Division I football, some things that immediately come to mind are palatial stadiums, multi-million dollar weight rooms and round-the-clock television coverage. Georgia Southern is slowly inching forward with recent renovations and additions to Paulson Stadium and a growing booster base, but the early days of the modern football program were meager, to say the least. The Eagles hit the jackpot when — despite not actually having a team yet — former UGA defensive coordinator Erk Russell accepted the job as head coach of the upstart program. Erk may have been a popular and appreciated coach in Athens, but he became a legend in Statesboro. There wasn’t much to work with at first. Early team practices were held on the university’s tennis courts, and Russell and his coaching staff turned construction trailers into makeshift offices. But Russell was all about making the most of what he had. That’s how a runoff drainage ditch became “Beautiful Eagle Creek,” and how Georgia Southern went from a school without a football team to a national powerhouse in less than five years.

TRADITIONS APLENTY Russell’s naming of Beautiful Eagle Creek was just the first of many quirks that have stuck around and are now celebrated staples of Georgia Southern. The Eagles may have chartered flights to their away games nowadays, but home games still provide a flashback to the early days. Back in the 80s, the new team couldn’t afford fancy touring buses to get from one game to the next. Bulloch County offered up a pair of old school buses, and the Eagles officially had their new means of transportation. Home games at Paulson Stadium still begin hours before kickoff as the Eagles roll into the tailgate on yellow buses. The tradition once again made it to a road game last season

Dec. 19,

1986 Georgia Southern repeats as national champs, crushing Arkansas State — which is now a Sun Belt Conference rival — by a score of 48-21.

Sept. 21,

1989

Dec. 16,

Georgia Southern defeats Middle Tennessee State 26-0 in a game nationally televised by ESPN. The game is played through the pouring rains of Hurricane Hugo, which was making landfall near Charleston, S.C. The “Hugo Bowl” is celebrated by a few thousand brave Georgia Southern fans, and a canoe makes an appearance on the soaked field at Paulson Stadium.

Dec. 15,

1990 Georgia Southern — now a university instead of a college — defeats Nevada to win its fourth national championship. The title game is once again held at Paulson Stadium.

1989

Georgia Southern wins its third national championship in front of a Paulson Stadium record crowd of 25,725. The Eagles’ win over Stephen F. Austin clinches the first 15-0 season in NCAA history.

Dec. 16,

1990 Georgia Southern wins its third national championship in front of a Paulson Stadium record crowd of 25,725. The Eagles’ win over Stephen F. Austin clinches the first 15-0 season in NCAA history. September 2016 • 9

as, before the Eagles’ GoDaddy Bowl victory, boosters arranged to rent school buses from the city of Mobile, Alabama, to get the team from its hotel to the stadium. Players headbutting a bust of Russell before each game, a pregame flight by Freedom — Georgia Southern’s live bald eagle mascot — and simple jerseys that have barely changed in three decades are another handful of things that make the program stand out and that the community prides itself on each season. NEW BOSS IN TOWN The Eagles’ FCS dominance largely coincided with long coaching tenures by Russell and Paul Johnson. Since then, Georgia Southern has seen coaches come and go with far more frequency. A rough patch in the mid-2000s saw a pair of coaches leave town. Two more have passed through since then, but Jeff Monken, now at Army, and Willie Fritz (Tulane) were courted away from Statesboro thanks to the success they enjoyed while heading up the Eagles. That brings Tyson Summers to town as the program’s ninth head coach of the modern era. Summers was an assistant on the Eagles’ coaching staff in 2006 before making stops at Alabama-Birmingham, Central Florida and Colorado State over the last decade. THE GAME PLAN One constant in the Eagles’ game plan throughout the years has been the running

game. Using varying versions of the option and triple-option, Georgia Southern has almost always utilized a powerful and exciting rushing attack. The most dominant seasons in the program’s history have coincided with times that its running game was at its best. Summers has repeatedly said that he wants the Eagles to be a more efficient passing team, but also knows where the Eagles make their money. Georgia Southern has led the nation in rushing yards in each of the last two seasons.

WHO’S WHO That potent rushing attack figures to be just as strong this season as returning Eagle players accounted for 99 percent of the total offense last season. Senior running back Matt Breida is once again on the watch list for the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation’s most outstanding running back each season. Calling the shots at quarterback will be seniors Kevin Ellison and Favian Upshaw. The normal joke that goes around about dual-quarterback systems is that “if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one,” but

Nov. 21,

Sept. 27,

December

Nov. 6,

The Eagles cap off a Southern Conference championship during their first year in the league. Prior to 1993, the Eagles had competed as a Division I-AA independent.

Under head coach Paul Johnson, Georgia Southern begins a streak of 39 consecutive home victories to break its own record.

2000

Adrian Peterson becomes the first Eagle player to earn the Walter Payton Award — presented to Division I-AA’s most outstanding player. A week later, Peterson unleashes “The Run” as Georgia Southern tops Youngstown State for its fifth national title.

After four years of abandoning its traditional triple-option offense, the Eagles’ ground game returns in full force under head coach Jeff Monken. The Eagles officially announce their return as an FCS power with a 21-14 home victory over top-ranked Appalachian State.

1993 1997 1999

Dec. 16,

2000 The Eagles come from behind on a cold and muddy day to defeat Montana for their record sixth FCS national championship. No other team at the level has one consecutive championships on more than one occasion. The Eagles’ 2000 title marked their third back-to-back championship win.

10 • CONNECT Statesboro

Dec. 13,

2007

Georgia Southern quarterback Jayson Foster becomes the second Eagle player to win the Walter Payton Award.

the Eagles’ duo has been the exception to that rule. Both are accomplished runners in the option game and have been working throughout the summer to fulfill Summers’ wishes for a more dangerous passing attack. Most of the press clippings go to the Eagles’ offense, but the Georgia Southern defense could be just as good in 2016. The squad ranked 21st out of 128 FBS teams last season and returns the majority of its biggest playmakers. Learning the roster is a challenge with so many Eagles filling up the media guide, but

a few players should be easy to remember. Names like Ironhead Gallon, Younghoe Koo and Vegas Harley never fail to turn heads of opposing fan bases. THE GREATEST TRADITION OF ALL Buses, bald eagles and creek water aside, true Eagle fans all agree that one tradition trumps all others. From the earliest days of the modern era — back when Georgia Southern was playing against teams from army bases and the JV squads of Division I-A schools — the Eagles have been winners. Dating back to

the program’s earliest days in the 1900s, Georgia Southern is 374-199-10 on the football field. Things have only been better in the modern era, and the Eagles’ 312-122 mark ranks as one of the best in the nation throughout all divisions. The Eagles also take their home field advantage seriously, amassing a stellar 186-36 mark at Paulson Stadium. Armed with a veteran roster and bolstered by some of the loudest and craziest fans in the nation, the Eagles are poised to keep their winning tradition going strong through another season.

Nov. 6,

Nov. 23,

July 1,

May 10,

2014

Playing in its final game as an FCS member, Georgia Southern notches its first-ever victory over an FBS opponent with a 26-20 victory over Florida at “The Swamp.”

Georgia Southern becomes an official member of the Sun Belt Conference as the football team prepares for its first season of FBS competition.

A newly-expanded Paulson Stadium is unveiled for Georgia Southern’s spring commencement ceremonies. The stadium now seats 25,000.

2013 2014 2014

Nov. 29,

2014 Georgia Southern defeats UL-Monroe to complete a perfect run through the Sun Belt. The Eagles become the first team in history to post an undefeated conference record in their first season playing in the new conference.

Dec 23,

Dec 20,

The Eagles win their first bowl game, demolishing Mid-American Conference champion Bowling Green 58-27 in the GoDaddy Bowl.

Tyson Summers is announced as the ninth modern-era head coach of Georgia Southern.

2015 2015 September 2016 • 11

Tailgate Tattler By alex brown

Our Tailgate Tattler has a few ideas about the breakdown of each game this season. Take a look at his Tattler predictions and keep track of his accuracy through the rest of the season!

South Alabama Sept. 10 7 p.m. Mobile, AL Last time Georgia Southern took the field at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, the Eagles were boat-racing Bowling Green in the GoDaddy Bowl in front of a national television audience. Last year, the Jaguars came to Statesboro on Thanksgiving weekend and got run out of Paulson Stadium in a 55-17 rout. USA finished last season 5-7, but lost its last three games to Georgia State, Georgia Southern and Appalachian State to close out the regular season. One win in those three would have likely sent them bowling. They are picked to finish seventh this year and open against Mississippi State before hosting the Eagles. The Jaguar losing streak will be at five after this one. Eagles 31, Jaguars 14 UL-Monroe Sept. 17 6 p.m. Statesboro, GA Georgia Southern pounded UL-Monroe on the road last season to the tune of a 5131 beatdown that wasn’t as close as that score. The Eagles were up 31-3 just before halftime when they put it in cruise control. The Warhawks had cut the deficit to seven early in the fourth quarter when Southern stepped on the gas again. That game was the second loss of a 10-game losing streak for the Warhawks, who finished the season 2-11. UL-Monroe isn’t expected to do much better this season. The league’s coaches picked them to finish dead last in the preseason poll. Eagles roll. Eagles 38, Warhawks 13 Western Michigan Sept. 24 Time TBA Kalamazoo, MI Even though you never want to take conference opponents lightly, Georgia Southern opens up the season with what should be three fairly easy wins — but the light schedule stops here. The Eagles may have handled the Broncos last season, but this talented team will be playing with a chip on its shoulder after last season’s 43-17 Eagle win in Statesboro. It’s a long trip and Western Michigan will keep this one much closer, but Southern’s team speed and athleticism will be too much. Eagles 24, Broncos 16

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Arkansas State Oct. 5 8 p.m. (ESPN2) Jonesboro, AR This matchup between the last two Sun Belt champions will, without a doubt, be the toughest game of the season to date for the Eagles. The Red Wolves welcome Georgia Southern to town for a nationally televised Wednesday-night game. This will also be the first matchup between these two programs since their first and only meeting in the 1986 I-AA National Championship, when Southern smacked the (then-named) Indians 48-21. Not that any of the players from 1986 will be on the field to seek payback, but I have a feeling Arkansas State is chomping at the bit to finally get their first shot at the conference newcomer who won the league title in its first season two years ago. I hate to say it, but this one just feels like one that won’t be much fun for the boys in blue. I would love to be wrong. Red Wolves 28, Eagles 20 Georgia Tech Oct. 15 Time TBA Atlanta, GA As much as I’d love to believe the Eagles will finish the job they started two years ago — when Georgia Southern, quite frankly, was robbed of a huge upset at Georgia Tech — I just can’t envision Paul Johnson not having his troops ready. The Yellow Jackets were nearly knocked off by what they view as an inferior in-state opponent. They won’t allow that again. On the other hand, Southern has extra time to prepare while Tech will be in the meat of its ACC schedule. I don’t expect a blowout, but I’m not holding my breath for an upset either. Jackets 33, Eagles 21 New Mexico State Oct. 22 8 p.m. Las Cruces, NM In the fourth consecutive road game for the Eagles — and quite possibly the first of the four where the Eagles are actually favored — Southern finally has one that looks like an easy win on paper. But not so fast: A crosscountry trip after two huge road games, with archrival App State looming five days later, will be no cakewalk. Eagles win, but it’s closer than Southern fans will like. Eagles 27, Aggies 17

Appalachian State Oct. 27 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU) Statesboro, GA After nearly six weeks without a home game, the Eagles finally return to Paulson for a nationally televised Thursday-night showdown against Appalachian State. This series hasn’t been close in the last three years, with App winning in 2013 (38-14) and 2015 (3113) and Georgia Southern in 2014 (34-14). Since 2005, the Mountaineers have gotten the better of the Eagles with an 8-3, head-to-head record against Southern. App leads the overall series 17-13-1. Historically, the home team has had the advantage, and Georgia Southern will be fired up to play in front of the home crowd. This one will be a classic. Eagles 27, Mountaineers 26 Ole Miss Nov. 5 Time TBA Oxford, MS The last two SEC opponents to welcome Georgia Southern to town ended up wishing they hadn’t. I’d be surprised if UGA ever schedules Southern again after barely escaping last year’s meeting in overtime, and we all remember the Eagles’ 2013 win over Florida in the Swamp. That either means Ole Miss is the next SEC opponent to regret putting Georgia Southern on the schedule, or it means the Eagles aren’t going to be able to sneak up on anybody else. I say somewhere in between. Rebels 34, Eagles 17 UL-Lafayette Nov. 10 (Homecoming) 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU) Statesboro, GA When Georgia Southern joined the Sun Belt, UL-Lafayette and Arkansas State were the class of the league. ULL finished 2014 as runner-up to Georgia Southern’s conference championship team, but it has since had some NCAA sanctions placed on the program and had to vacate some wins from the last few years. The Ragin’ Cajuns finished last season 4-8, and this year’s preseason coaches’ poll has them picked to finish fifth, but this is still a team full of talent with a head coach that turned the program around quickly upon his arrival in 2010. This will be the first meeting between the two programs, and it will be a battle. Eagles 31, Cajuns 20

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Georgia State Nov. 19 Time TBA Atlanta, GA This will essentially be a home game in the Georgia Dome as Southern fans will outnumber State by a lot. Again. And let’s see: Last season, Southern mailed it in and coaching staff was on the way out the door. This year, State won’t have quarterback Nick Arbuckle, and the Eagles have plenty of motivation to put the hammer down and keep it there. State is much improved from the perennial 0-12/1-11 program it was a few years ago, but this one will still get pretty ugly. Eagles 49, Panthers 20 Troy Dec. 3 1 p.m. Statesboro, GA Trivia question: Who is the only other Sun Belt program (aside from App State) to have an all-time winning record against Georgia Southern? If you guessed Troy (10-5), you’d be right. Of course, most of that damage was done prior to WWII. In the modern era (since 1982), Georgia Southern leads the series 3-2, and since joining the Sun Belt, Southern has beaten the Trojans by a combined score of 87-20 in the programs’ two meetings. I expect that trend to continue as the Eagles improve to 6-10 all-time against Troy. Eagles 42, Trojans 16

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September 2016 • 13

Business Roundup By DEWAYNE GRICE

Photos by Scott Bryant

The Boro has been through plenty of changes while you were out for the summer, and the Connect team asked me to put together a roundup of some of those changes: particularly, new businesses coming to town and other updates that would be of interest to you. Many of these are hiring college students, if you’re looking for some work experience and extra cash on the side. Here is a summary of what you may have missed: • Construction is underway for a Panda Express restaurant at 101 Brampton Avenue beside the McDonalds, in front of the Walmart Neighborhood Marketplace on Fair Road. Panda Express is a fast, casual Chinese restaurant chain based out of Rosemont, California. www.pandacareers.com. • “Hot Now” is getting closer to a reality. The new Krispy Kreme is being built between I Save More Furniture and Taco Bell on Northside Drive East, across from the mall. It is projected to open in late September. www.krispykreme.com/careers/info • R.J.’s Grill on the Blue Mile has sold to Stacy Underwood, the owner of Uncle Shug’s Chicken Barn and Uncle Shug’s Bar B Q Place. R.J.’s has been a popular eatery with GSU students for the past 35 years. It will continue operating with no changes to the menu. www.rjsgrill.com 14 • CONNECT Statesboro

• The legendary Little Italy Pizzeria of Athens, Georgia, is constructing a new location at 450 South Main, between Waffle House and Yates-Astro. The 3,000-squarefoot restaurant is projected to open in early 2017. They will be open until 3 a.m. daily and will offer a full Italian menu, including pizza by the slice, beer and wine. www.facebook.com/Little-Italy-PizzaStatesboro-Ga • Coconut Thai Cuisine, located at 7 College Plaza near 180 Fitness, sold to Amy and Kevin Kawpunna, who have completely renovated the restaurant. Most of the favorites have remained on the menu, but the new owners have also have added an express lunch and online ordering. www.coconutthaistatesboro.com • New York natives Brianne and Corey Ackerly opened Primos Italian Pizza Kitchen, located at 609-9 Brannen Street beside SNAP Fitness. Their menu includes popular Italian dishes and pizza by the slice. www.primosstatesboro.com

• Dunham’s Sports, one of the nation’s largest sporting goods chains, is opening at 430 Northside Drive East, Suite 154, near K-Mart. Dunham’s specializes in athletic equipment, clothing, guns and other sportsrelated items. www.dunhamssports.com/careers • Cheeky Bliss, a women’s retail store in the Statesboro Mall, has moved across the hall beside Beall’s Outlet to a larger location that gives the store parking lot access. Cheeky Bliss started as an intimate apparel ladies’ store and now has expanded to carry a full line of ladies’ clothing, shoes and accessories. www.goshopcheeky.com. • Rue 21 will be expanding their store in the Statesboro Mall into the old Cheeky location. The $95,000 expansion and renovation will nearly double the size of the current Rue 21 store. www.careers.rue21.com

‘Lewis Grizzard, In His Own Words’

by Brittani howell

he Averitt Center for the Arts is well known for stuffing its seasons with Elvis impersonators and tribute bands, but at the end of this month, it will kick off its 2016-17 performance season with a tribute artist taking on the role of a much-loved Southern figure: Lewis Grizzard, a chicken-fried comedian famous for his standup routines and humorous columns. Grizzard (Oct. 20, 1946– March 20, 1994), a graduate of the University of Georgia, was a sports editor at the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. His claim to fame was the humor columns he ran three days a week, in which he wrote about life with a Southern perspective and a wry twist. Enormously prolific, Grizzard published 20 books — many of them full of his columns — and was syndicated in 450 newspapers, running stories under titles such as If I Ever Get Back to Georgia, I’m Gonna Nail My Feet to the Ground; My Daddy Was a Pistol and I’m a Son of a Gun; and Elvis is Dead and I Don’t Feel So Good Myself. In his 2004 obituary in the AJC, Grizzard’s fellow staff writers said “he played redneck humor to the hilt.” In a more laudatory comment, New York Times journalist Peter Applebome once called him “the patron saint of the new suburban South,” and the Los Angeles Times hailed him as “a Mark Twain for our generation.” Portraying the late Grizzard is Bill Oberst Jr., an American stage, film and television actor, mainly in the horror genre. Oberst has appeared in several dozen flicks and short films,

in addition to an episode of Criminal Minds and the 2011 short Take This Lollipop, which was both an interactive film and Facebook app. He is a master of impersonation, having worn the mantles of Jesus, Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. Grizzard’s stage manager Steve Enoch and his fourth wife and widow, Dedra Grizzard, chose Oberst to portray Grizzard in a one-man show called A Tribute to Lewis Grizzard. That show, under various different titles, has been running since 1999. Oberst, donning Grizzard’s trademark wide-frame glasses, moustache and Gucci loafers (worn without socks, as Grizzard preferred), and a costume that once belonged to Grizzard himself, channels the late humorist to uncanny effect, evoking with him a generational nostalgia for a South gone by. He draws on the printed columns, books and interviews with Grizzard’s friends to paint an accurate picture of the late humorist. Oberst’s show, like Grizzard himself, doesn’t shy from material some audience members might find objectionable. The columnist was notoriously antifeminist and drew accusations of — Special to Connect being racist and discriminatory of the gay and lesbian community. Oberst represents those aspects of the columnist in the second half of his two-act show, but he also dwells on the more emotional side of Grizzard’s personality, and the humorist’s love of life and the South of his childhood. The result is a faithful portrayal of a mixed-bag human being who — while certainly out of touch with the inclusivity and social justice lexicon of today — was once a beloved staple of Southern culture.

Oberst’s show, Lewis Grizzard: In His Own Words, will run Sept. 23–24 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to the show are $20 for adults and $10 for youth, and can be purchased at the box office in person or by calling (912) 212-2787. September 2016 • 15

Muscadine Bloodline

by Kenneth Lee

wo is always better than one for Gary Stanton and Charlie Muncaster, a pair of country artists who decided to pool their talents to form Muscadine Bloodline: a backroads, bootstrap band with Southern grit. Stanton and Muncaster — both natives of Mobile, Alabama — performed separately at various bars and watering holes with their own respective sound before choosing to share the stage for the first time in 2014. In June of 2015, the duo formed Muscadine Bloodline. After their partnership was solidified, the country collective relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, in pursuit of bigger crowds and better stages. With three singles under their belts and a solid partnership between them, the Alabama duo is ready to show the nation what they’re capable of when they’re handed a guitar and a mic. In the middle of their coast-to-coast tour, Muscadine Bloodline will be stopping here in Statesboro at Gnat’s Landing on Sept. 9, from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Although Muscadine Bloodline only has three original songs available for streaming on Spotify and iTunes, each piece exemplifies and celebrates different facets of Southern spirit and country culture. The mood-lightening track “Southern Boy Cure” is a rowdy, foot-tapping rural-rock song about how the right woman can help overcome working-class blues and other worldly

worries. Stanton and Muncaster croon and serenade in “Porch Swing Angel,” a love ballad constructed from the simple but sweet imagery of a front porch swing. The song “Shut Your Mouth” is a grungy, guitar-heavy and unapologetic power anthem about their love of Southern small towns and America. Muscadine Bloodline may have a unique stage presence, but they also have a warm familiarity that country fans and music lovers will likely enjoy.

Special to connect

Laughlin by Kenneth Lee

SPECIAL TO CONNECT tatesboro may hold a grudge against Athens when it comes to sports, but no one in the Boro can deny that Athens has a booming music scene. UGA’s college town has been able to produce some great musicians, and Laughlin, a country duo featuring husband-wife duo Zach and Allison Laughlin, is

16 • CONNECT Statesboro

one of the more recent bands to get their start in Athens. The couple met during their freshman-year orientation at the University of Georgia. Their early gigs started with playing cover songs at several college bars; however, like most musicians, they soon expanded into writing their own original songs. Zach and Allison graduated from the College of Education in 2013 and the College of Journalism in 2012, respectively. Despite both finding employment in their fields after graduation, the two decided to move to Nashville and start their music careers. Laughlin will be making a stop here in Statesboro, at Gnat’s Landing, on Sept. 24, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. The natural chemistry and vocal harmonies between Zach and Allison can be heard on their first album, The Run Around, which is available on iTunes. The songs featured in their debut album seamlessly transition back and forth between flirtatious to wistful. In the eponymous track, “The Run Around,” Zach and Allison display an equal sum of playfulness and melancholia. Their single, “Summer Song,” features a lighthearted, catchy beat that effortlessly takes you back to summer days that ended too quickly. Like the title alludes, “In Love Tonight” is a country-pop song that captures the butterflies-in-your-stomach, heart-fluttering feeling of falling in love. Laughlin has a lot of things going for them — a knack for creating catchy beats, strong lyrical content and an undeniably authentic and natural chemistry between its two lead vocals. Don’t miss these married musicians at Gnat’s Landing on Sept. 24!

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Thoughts from the Edge

ast fall, my partner let me know that she was planning a summer trip to the Grand Canyon for us. We got a room in a small motel at the North Rim from which we could walk, within minutes, to the canyon’s edge. We were less than a mile from Bright Angel Point, which was the first stop we made upon arrival last month, and would prove, after days, to remain my favorite. On the short, steep hike up to Bright Angel Point, the view changes rapidly: Through one clearing of the brush around the trail is a pale, chalky, flat wall of rock, barely sloped, plummeting deeply toward the unseen Colorado River. Moments later, at another clearing, the rocks grow silvery gray and appear close enough to touch. By the next clearing, they are a muted orange. Bright Angel Point allows a view of the vista that reveals not only the dizzying magnitude of the place but also the diversity of the canyon. From there, each series of peaks looks like it belongs on a different planet than the peaks around it. It’s a little like looking at a model of a sci-fi landscape, with each distinct section of the canyon imaginatively inhabited by different sentient species. Some are neatly flat along the top, like a grand table, seemingly unbroken to the horizon’s edge. Some are rust-red and peppered with shrubs that look, from the rim, like spots of algae. Some peaks

18 • CONNECT Statesboro

seem to have emerged violently and fully formed from the earth, and some more patiently, with dramatic layers exhibiting stark climatic and geological shifts across time — reminders of the relative brevity of human history. The Grand Canyon is teeming with life. On hikes, we encountered birds, lizards, insects and mule deer. Our trail was even diverted to account for an aggressive spruce grouse, protecting her nest. But from Bright Angel Point, staring out into the abyss of the canyon, no life can be seen. The scale is too grand. Living things are swallowed by the earth’s dramatic formations. It was difficult for me to understand the magnitude of the Grand Canyon, so I did some research. It is longer than the distance between here and Atlanta. In places, it is as wide as the distance between here and Metter. The plumb bob from the rim to the Colorado River measures over a mile. It is incomprehensible that something could be so large, but the more familiar with it I became, the grander the canyon grew in my mind. Rocky mountainside surfaces that at first seemed flat revealed themselves to be a series of foothills, sharp abutments or buttes. Seeking out different vantage points on different trails unlocked even more understanding, as did visiting the rim at different times of day. As shadows stretched languidly across each peak, the entire landscape changed. Sometimes the rocks appeared to be swelling, or to have a pulse. We were the only ones at Bright Angel

Point on our last day there, a few minutes after sunrise. Sitting quietly on a bench at the head of the trail, we watched as morning sunlight began to lick the San Francisco Peaks, which were my favorite part of the unfathomable ravine. I felt calmer, sitting on that bench, than I have in years. We had gone to see something spectacular and humbling, to feel engaged. We went so that we might gain perspective about the minor daily stressors we encounter, and even the heavier burdens of grief and melancholy. With the canyon before me, I felt that we had been successful, and hoped that we would be forever changed. Our reentry into the real world was swift and brutal, with a drive to the maddening maze of Las Vegas and then two connecting flights to land us back in Savannah. It took me no time at all to get so distracted by minutiae, and I all but forgot the perspective I had gained standing on the cliff’s edge. Everything is always moving so quickly, so bright and heavy with the noise of industry and human relations — but since returning, I am sometimes able to access that perspective. I call upon those memories to ground myself within the melee of modern life. I felt released in the canyon, blissfully unmoored. At times, I am able to imagine myself there again, and remember, in a good way, just how small I am. How small everything is around me. How still the chasm was, until, out of nowhere, it seemed to breathe.

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music

by brittani howell

On the Verge with Da Capo

etween its performance arts and music departments, Georgia Southern University is a major provider of local entertainment across the spectrum, but Dr. Martín Gendelman has noticed a void in the scene: Nowhere in Statesboro — or even within easy driving distance in the Southeast — presents contemporary music. So he created the On the Verge concert series to fill the gap. On the Verge strives to bring contemporary artists to Georgia Southern University and the Statesboro community. Gendelman, a composer and Head of Music Theory and Composition in Georgia Southern’s music department, proposed the concert series in 2011 and arranged the first event in 2013. In addition to the music department’s Channel Noise series, which focuses on music using electronic elements, On the Verge is one of the few outlets for contemporary music in the region. “When I say ‘contemporary,’ I’m thinking of earlier 20th-century, like from the 1940s, 1950s,” Gendelman said. Past On the Verge artists have included internationally renowned musicians including pianist Jenny Q Chai, flute and percussion duo Dancing Heart and clarinetist Jorge Variego. Last year, Gendelman helped music technology director Dr. John Thompson bring the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States Conference to Georgia Southern, where it held installations and free concerts for both the student community and city of Statesboro. He also presents the New Music at Southern concert series, where music students perform the interdisciplinary musical

pieces they develop as part of their senior studies. This year, the stars of On the Verge are the Da Capo Chamber Players, a six-person Pierrot ensemble. The term refers to a chamber group consisting of a flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano, with the optional addition of a vocalist or percussionist. Featuring a rotating roster of musicians (excluding flutist Patricia Spencer, the only remaining founding member of the players), the ensemble has existed since 1970 and has been in residence at Bard College, in New York, for three decades. “This is definitely the group with the most reputation we’ve had (in the series) so far,” Gendelman said. During their time in Statesboro, Gendelman said the ensemble would perform in a free concert on Tuesday, Sept. 20. They will be playing five songs, including a new arrangement of one of Gendelman’s own pieces: “Shapes of the Wind.” In addition to conducting master classes and open rehearsals at GSU, Da Capo will also present a lecture at Statesboro High School at 2 p.m. on Sept. 21. For music students, these master classes provide invaluable opportunity to observe, perform for and receive feedback from practicing musicians. Though On the Verge has been running successfully for almost four years, Gendelman said he is still in a constant search for sponsorship for the series and for his other contemporary series. Past sponsors have included the Department of Music, the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and the Campus Life Enrichment Committee, who have contributed invaluable grant funding to the series. However, grants have deadlines and are not always guaranteed, and Gendelman, who is a fulltime professor

and still performs and composes, is limited in the time he can devote to securing funding. This, he said, is a problem for a series that requires considerable forethought and planning to be executed on time each year. “These groups generally need to know one year in advance or more, and if you’re going to reserve a concert hall, you need to do that at least six months in advance or more,” Gendelman said. “The funding is important to give a little bit of stability to the programming.” Part of the difficulty in securing sponsorship stems from the very issue he is trying to address by bringing contemporary classical musicians to Statesboro. “This is pretty unknown music and repertory around here,” he said. But when he can get people to come through the door and experience something new, he said, the results are usually very positive. “(The concert series) is not just about presenting,” Gendelman added. “It’s also humbly educating the audience, which I think is important too — showing what it is and why it’s important to do.” And when these artists come, he said, they hold open workshops for student and community musicians. He hopes to extend the series activities to visits in the county’s elementary, middle and high schools to introduce developing performers and audience members to the world of contemporary classical music. But for that, Gendelman said, “We need a stable budget.” This year’s free On the Verge concert will be held in the Carter Recital Hall in the Foy Building on GSU’s campus, at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 20. For the dates and times of master classes with the Da Capo Chamber Players, please check the Connect Statesboro website closer to the date of the event.

Those interested in supporting the series are encouraged to reach out to Dr. Martín Gendelman in the music department at Georgia Southern by emailing jmgendelman@georgiasouthern.edu. September 2016 • 21

Crumbs from the Table of Joy by Brittani Howell

father and two daughters recently bereaved of their mother. An apartment in Brooklyn in the 1950s. And an eccentric, charismatic preacher who calls himself God. These are the elements of Crumbs from the Table of Joy, the season-opening play at Georgia Southern’s Center for Art and Theatre, written by MacArthur Genius and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. The New York Post has hailed Nottage’s play as “a pairing … between Tennessee Williams and Lorraine Hansberry,” both prominent African-American playwrights of the 20th century. But as Hansberry, who once insisted that a play has to be about something, might ask: What is Crumbs about? “The about is sometimes a dangerous thing,” said Mical Whitaker, professor emeritus at GSU and director of Crumbs. Though he retired in 2005, Whitaker returns to the CAT every other year to direct a play, usually by an African-American

playwright. His most recent CAT production was Pearl Cleage’s Flyin’ West during the 2013-14 season, a play that told the story of a black family migrating westward in the wake of the Civil War. “Do you get a theme here?” Whitaker asked, laughing. “I really love plays to be about individual families — the little common everyday folks — against the backdrop of bigger pictures.” In Crumbs, the historical backdrop prominently features a “wonderfully strange” figure called Father Divine, an African-American spiritual leader in the Depression-era U.S. Founder of the International Peace Mission, Father Divine was the head of a small but dedicated religious following. Challenging economic norms and gender roles while firmly refuting worldly pleasures like sex and substances, Father Divine attracted followers widely and became a popular religious icon — or, as Whitaker equivocates, a cult leader. In the play, Godfrey Crump becomes one of Divine’s enthusiastic followers, and his two teenage daughters are having none of it. “I think, in black lives, Father Divine and Daddy Grace are pretty familiar and

historic, iconic figures,” Whitaker said. “I, of course, like to base my work on historical fact. This play explores that particular period when my people were being taken advantage of by cult leaders like Father Divine.” This is not Whitaker’s first exploration of Nottage. In recent years, he has seen her Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Ruined, in New York; he also directed her show Intimate Apparel, which he says is the “best-looking” play he has done at GSU. “I’m privileged that in these golden years of mine I’m meeting this new voice,” Whitaker said. “She captures that beautiful poeticism of Williams and the immediacy of Lorraine — not letting Art, capital ‘A,’ get in the way of social consciousness.” Even though Whitaker cast the show at the very beginning of GSU’s fall semester, Crumbs has had a very tight turnaround, with a little more than a month to pull everything together. The cast of five student actors has been meeting almost nightly to rehearse for the weeklong run, which will open Sept. 21. As to what the play is about, that is up for the audience to decide as they watch. Whitaker sees it as an invitation to look into a period phenomenon with which many might be unfamiliar, and to see the way people struggle to find answers in the challenges history puts in their lives — but then, as he well knows, a play does not have to mean only one thing. “My view of life is rather holistic: It’s never really about one thing,” Whitaker said. “I like plays which really aren’t about one thing — they’re about a lot of things, and the job is to make people have discussions.”

Crumbs from the Table of Joy When? Sept. 21–28, 7:30 p.m. 2 p.m. Sunday matinee No show Monday, Sept. 26 Tickets: $6 for students, $12 for general admission

22 • CONNECT Statesboro

boro news

From staff reports

Photo by Scott Bryant

New Incubation Space for Arts Downtown

n the second stage of their Creative Growth Capital Campaign, which began with the Center for Performing Arts on West Main Street, the Averitt Center just held the grand opening for the Roxie Remley Center for Fine Arts. Commemorated with a ribboncutting ceremony, a grand opening celebration and a Saturday Morning Arts Market, the new Roxie Remley Center complements Georgia Southern’s businesscentric City Campus with an arts incubation and showcase space. The first floor of the new facility houses a 3D art studio dedicated to ceramics, equipped with necessary equipment such as pottery wheels and glazing areas, and a 2D studio with easels and spaces for drawing and painting. The second floor is home to eight private studios, which can be — and have been — rented out for artists to have dedicated space to work, in privacy or among fellows as they desire.

The center bears the name of a longtime supporter of the Averitt Center and past professor at Georgia Southern. Roxie Remley, formerly of Indiana, came to Statesboro after serving as a captain in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps in WWII. She was stationed in London during the Blitz in 1944; during that period, she met Queen Elizabeth II. She also volunteered for a topsecret, anti-aircraft gun battery experiment to test whether women could handle the same equipment men were using in battle. (Spoiler alert: They could.) Remley holds bachelors and master’s degrees in art education and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Pratt Institute of Arts. In 1950, she came to teach at what was then called the Georgia Teachers College and helped form what would become Georgia Southern’s art department. She taught for 26 years before retiring in 1976. Since she began painting, she has shown her work in close to 100 exhibitions,

at least 20 of which were solo shows. She produced her most recent exhibition at the age of 90: “Beethoven’s Eroica,” inspired by the German composer’s third symphony. In 2011, she was the fourth artist to be inducted as a Legend in the Arts at the Averitt Center. Now, at 96, she is still a dedicated volunteer. “This extension of the Averitt Center allows for the specialization of our visual arts programs, including more teaching space and classes for our young artists,” Sheila Stewart, artistic curator at the Averitt Center, told MOMents Magazine in April. The facility, located at 31 West Vine Street behind Statesboro’s City Hall, has been funded in part by a $1.1 million grant given to the university by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The third stage of the Averitt Center’s capital campaign, the Thurman Lanier Building for Arts Education, will house chorale and strings programs and does not yet have an intended site. September 2016 • 23

dAY tRIPPIN’ by Kenley Alligood

Discovering Skidaway

very good travel story really begins with the words “I’ve never been,” or better yet, “why not?” If you’re anything like me, either of those statements make you want to get in the car and head somewhere new right now. You’ve never been? Well, let’s go. That’s the (very) short version of how I ended up at Skidaway Island State Park on a blazing Sunday afternoon. I was in the Savannah area with a friend, running some errands, when we happened to pass a sign for the state park. A few more tell-tale brown signs and a little bit of online research later, we decided that yes, we did in fact need to see the 20-foot-tall giant ground sloth replica. The park is sort of squeezed between more developed areas, so it almost seems like you’re going the wrong way. In fact, the park entrance is sandwiched between a church and a brand-new apartment complex. It’s a little disconcerting, because once you pass the park gates you won’t be seeing much of anyone. I think we saw eight other visitors the whole time we were there. The heat was probably a factor in this meager attendance, because Skidaway is quite beautiful. It is bordered by the Skidaway Narrows and the trees open up to wide open vistas of water, green marsh grass and sky. These views of the marsh and surrounding waterways are even more striking because most of the paths on the island are narrow trails through the maritime forest, with towering trees covered in Spanish

24 • CONNECT Statesboro

moss and underbrush dominated by sawtooth palmetto. The island is very popular with birdwatchers, who can borrow binoculars at the Interpretive Center. The Center, home to the aforementioned ground sloth replica, also houses a reptile room and several cases of artifacts discovered on the island, ranging from fossils to Civil War buttons. The displays detail a brief history of the island and its inhabitants, evidence of which is still visible along the island’s trails. The trail we took actually crossed over a huge shell midden left by Native Americans, and brought us right up next to the massive earthworks dug during the Civil War in an effort to keep the Union out of Savannah. They would look like they were put there a decade ago rather than 150-plus years, if it weren’t for the huge trees growing along their tops. Weirdly, there is something much more modern on the top of the earthworks: a Pokemon gym. There are actually two gyms on the island and a few Pokestops as well. I checked on a whim, not even expecting to have service, and there they were. It was a strange moment, a clash of nature and history with the modern world of technology. Games like Pokemon Go prove that we haven’t lost our sense of adventure and the excitement of finding something new around every corner. Skidaway ended up being just the adventure I needed that day, an unplanned “what if” moment in the midst of my hectic schedule. If I have any life advice to give, it’s this: Follow the signs and see where they take you, and wear closedtoed shoes.

EAGLE NATION

MEDICAL