Sumter County Living February 2018 by With You In Mind Publications

spring 2018

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To know Sherrill House is to love her.

When a House Becomes

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contents

38 About the Cover

The cover photo is of Sherrill House. Turn to page 68 and find out more about this matriarch and 1943 New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s baby of Sumter County. The photo was taken by David Parks. www.dparksphotography.com

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Rylander THEATRE 3 1 0 W L A M A R S T , A M E R I C U S , G A 3 1 7 0 9 | ( 2 2 9 ) 9 3 1 - 0 0 0 1 | W W W. R Y L A N D E R . O R G

in every issue 134

Local marketplace

You can find great retail shopping, restaurants, and services around each corner. If you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t done so lately, take the time to look around and discover all the wonderful things there are to find.

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A BETTER WAY TO BANK

FIRSTATE BANK

ESTABLISHED 1964

Meeting the financial needs of the community, First State Bank has been serving its citizens since 1964

From the Publisher

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P u b l i s h e r With You In Mind Publications E x e c u t i v e E d i to r s Landon and Mandi Spivey C r eat i v e | D e s i g n Stacey Nichols

Mandi Spivey

Our family just finished watching the movie “Love, Kennedy” and to say the least, we were captured. The overwhelming message of how every day is a gift, left us all teary through each moment. The legacy left behind in her short life showed us the impact of perspective. Despite a debilitating disease which could not be treated, she saw no obstacles. She saw life through the lens of positivity. Following this theme of positive perspective, Americus is in the top 10 contenders for Small Business Revolution! So many people are posting their lens of the beauty of life through #MyAmericus. During this exciting time, the snapshots of people sharing their stories and views of what makes up this incredible community warm the heart. The unique simplicity and grandeur stands tall and strong among our pride. Each one of the stories we are so honored to share with you in this issue only further echo the message of how amazing Sumter County truly is. From our cover feature, the lady who graced Americus with her presence as Sumter County’s 1943 New Year’s baby to the people like Russell Thomas who has led this town through many seasons of victories. They all share this love for not only a rich heritage and past but for rising futures through our children such as those featured in our story on the Furlow Charter School. As always, please continue to support the advertisers listed on page 136 and stop in for a visit with them when you shop. You can always pick up your own personal copy at no charge at any of those locations. Just another reason why we love #MyAmericus.

O f f i ce m a n age r Nikki Burkhalter P roo f Reade r s Gail Dixon

June Dixon

A s s i s ta n t

Ma n age r s Julie Braly

June Dixon

P h otog r ap h e r s David Parks Photography

Lisa Shiflett Shannan Blanchard C ov e r P h oto Sherrill House

Photo by David Parks Photography Sale s Patti Martin

Landon Spivey

Contributing Wri te r s Anita Theiss

Kate DeLoach

Sherri Martin

Virginia Hall

Sumter County Living© is published semi-annually by With You in Mind Publications. www.withyouinmindpublications.com P.O. Box 55 • Glennville, GA 30427 (912) 654-3045 All rights reserved. Copies or reproduction of this publication in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without expressed written authorization from the publisher. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein. Advertising is subject to omission, errors, and other changes without notice.

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Cousins Catering

Gatewood ’s Flower Shop

229.924.8126 • 304 West Lamar Street • Americus, GA 31709

Story by

Sherri Martin

Photos by

David Parks Photography

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens begins with the notable line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” A look back at the life and work of Russell Thomas, Jr. is an intertwining of some of the best and worst times in the life of one city…Americus, Georgia. Thomas has been at the forefront of many of the recent accomplishments and growing pains of the town, as mayor, a school board member, and a leading businessman. 10

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Hometown Living At Its Best

Whether it was saving the Windsor or helping the town through the devastation of the Flood of ’94, Thomas was there to make connections and make decisions. His life has been intertwined with Americus from the time he moved back to his father’s childhood home in 1939. “My paternal grandfather moved down here from Hall County in the 1880s. My father was born here. He was working for the government in the ‘30s, so I was born in Baltimore, Maryland. I never told anyone that when I was running for office; I was afraid they would think I was a Yankee,” he explains with a wink. Born in 1934, he was not even five years old yet when he came home to Americus and the family moved in with his grandmother. “Back in the ‘30s, no one had any money,” he remembers. Some time in 1942 or ’43, the family moved to a home “out on Leslie Road, where Walmart is now.” He and his three siblings progressed through the school system: he attended first through fifth grades at Furlow School on Jackson Street, then sixth through eighth grades at Rees Park. “In 1952, I graduated from Americus High School – the old one that burned down,” he says.

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Following family tradition, Thomas went to Emory University. After two years, he realized he did not want to be a doctor after all. Instead, he wanted to get a degree in agricultural administration, so he changed to Alabama Polytechnic Institute. (It is more commonly known these days as Auburn University.) Then he came back to Americus to farm. Along the way, Thomas got married “to a girl from Griffin” named Mary Ann. They had five children, two boys and three girls, but he explains that “things just didn’t work out” and they divorced. He has now been married to his wife, Andrea, for almost 42 years. “She’s from Ideal. My friends used to say she was the ‘ideal woman.’ If she’s not, she’s pretty close,” he says. She had three children when they married, and between them, they have 12 grandchildren and 10 greatgrandchildren. So, he came back to farm, but “farming is a tough go,” he says. He started a wood preserving business that he ran for several years, then sold that to go back to farming. When Procter and Gamble began to build a paper mill in Macon County, Thomas and a partner, Steve Hudson, started Georgia Forest Products, a pulpwood/timber business that would supply wood to the mill. That same year, Thomas decided to run for mayor for the first time. “I was always interested in politics,” he says. He was on the school board and had been on the Board of Tax Assessors. “I was a member of a men’s supper club,” he remembers about his decision to run. “Johnny Sheffield was mayor then, and he announced that he was resigning mid-term. A day or two later, we had supper club. I walked into the room and said, ‘Fellows, who are we going to get for mayor?’ And they said, ‘We’ve been thinking about it, and we want you to do it, and we’re all going to get behind you.’” He talked to Andrea about it and she agreed, so he ran and was elected in 1979, beginning his first

term in 1980. He would stay in office for the next nine years; it was during this time that Georgia Forest Products grew from a business of six to eight men to one employing 70 people. Thomas was the office manager, and life was busy. “I couldn’t keep up with everything,” he says. “I announced that I wasn’t going to run again.” However, within a few years, he had sold his half of the business to his partner. And the mayor at the time, Tom Gailey, had cancer. “He was a very close friend of mine, and he came to me and said, ‘I want you to run again,’” Thomas says. He went back into office in 1994 and served for eight more years.

Another iconic building he helped preserve is the Rylander Theatre. “Tom Gailey had gotten some work started on it and he asked me to finish it,” he says.

Hometown Living At Its Best

Along the way, he became involved in state politics to a degree. Joe Frank Harris, who was Georgia’s Governor from 1983-1991, is a friend, and Harris appointed him to some state positions. Through this, Thomas would make connections that would benefit his hometown. “I went to Atlanta at least one day a week,” he says. “I met some people who were very helpful to Americus.” During his two terms as mayor, those connections did prove helpful, as Americus faced some needed changes. “When I first got elected, I was told, ‘Black housing in Americus is deplorable,’ and it was,” he says. “There was a lot of federal money available if you wanted it. I met Millard Fuller and, with the aid of government 14

Sumter county Living

programs, we worked on improving low-income housing single-mindedly for five to six years.” He also worked to expand and improve the cemeteries in the city, whether they traditionally served whites or blacks. “I feel very strongly that everyone is a citizen and has equal treatment in the eyes of the law,” he says. Renovations on the Windsor Hotel were undertaken during his tenure. “It was in terrible shape. We were trying to decide whether to repair it or not. The alternative was to tear it down and have a big parking lot in downtown,” he recalls. After talking to a historic preservationist, who said that the building could not be torn down because of its historical value, they worked to find

Hometown Living At Its Best

While helping the town recover from the flood was difficult, it is perhaps the memory of those who lost their lives in the flood that bother him the most. “There’s a plaque at the Public Safety Building with the names on it of those who died,” he says. “That was certainly a traumatic thing.”

help and funding to restore it. Prison laborers were brought in to tear out all of the cracked plaster and take it down to the studs; the renovation work was then done. “It is the landmark of Americus,” Thomas says about the beautiful building that presides over the town. Another iconic building he helped preserve is the Rylander Theatre. “Tom Gailey had gotten some work started on it and he asked me to finish it,” he says. During his terms, he also spearheaded a muchneeded waste-water treatment plant and helped get the property for Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village. “You do a lot of things when you are mayor,” he says. One of the things mayors have to do is lead the way even when times are hard. Perhaps the worst of times was the Flood of ’94. “It was rough,” he remembers. As the floodwaters were rising, he was alerted in the middle of the night with a call. “They said, ‘Mayor, come down to the Fire Department. We need your help. We’re losing people.’” “I started calling industries and telling them to please call their people and tell them not to come to work. I hope we saved some lives doing that.”

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Water mains broke and roads washed away. “At one point, there were no roads in or out of Americus,” he says. “That was a terrible thing.” While helping the town recover from the flood was difficult, it is perhaps the memory of those who lost their lives in the flood that bother him the most. “There’s a plaque at the Public Safety Building with the names on it of those who died,” he says. “That was certainly a traumatic thing.” He does not mention that the Public Safety Building is named in his honor, and that honor is rightfully bestowed. He led the town through some of the best of times and the worst of times. “In public life, people know what to do, but don’t want to have to deal with the unpleasantness when decisions have to be made,” he says, and adds about his time as mayor, “You just decided what to do and you did it.” He continues, “I’m proud of what we accomplished. I say ‘we’ because I provided some of the leadership, but you don’t do anything alone. I had a wonderful relationship with city council, and we worked on things together. We tried to take the strengths Americus had – one of them is history – and build on them.” Russell Thomas, Jr. keeps an office downtown, in the historic building at the corner of Forsyth and Jackson Streets that he and Andrea bought in 1994 and restored. It now houses the Maze, which Andrea first started, and 10 residential apartments upstairs. They have recently sold the building to Chuck Smith, but Thomas still goes to his office there. He is still thinking about his hometown and its future. “I just love this town. I hope we can grow faster than we have been in the last period of time,” he says. “I think if we work on it, we can hold our own. I’m hopeful about Americus, but we have a lot of work to do. “This town has been here a long time, but it’s going to be here a long time.” Thanks to the leadership of people like Thomas, who has been through many of the seasons of the town’s life, Americus has a rich history and a strong future.  SCL

Hometown Living At Its Best

Experience The Magic

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Homegrown Products. World Renown Reputation. Sumter County Chamber of Commerce | 409 Elm Avenue Americus, GA 31709 229.924.2646 | www.sumtercountychamber.com

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Story by Kate Deloach Photos by David parks photography

When Harper Lee said, “You can choose your friends but not your family,” she obviously hadn’t met Karan Albritton. The longtime Americus resident and owner of Bison Valley Lodge did just that at the age of three months. The year was 1954 and Master Sargent William Kobs and his wife, Dixie, were stationed in Germany. They had been trying, unsuccessfully, to have children and decided to adopt. With permission from the German Consulate, they visited an orphanage in Frankfurt to choose a baby. Karan had been given up by her biological parents at birth and was one of six babies at the orphanage.

Hometown Living At Its Best

“They were looking at the babies,” says Karan, “and my mom skipped over me. I was scrawny, didn’t look clean and had bumps all over me. My dad luckily stopped to talk to me and I reached up and grabbed his pinky finger. So, they had to take me.” Over the next five years, the Kobs would adopt two more children from German orphanages, a girl and a boy, Becky and Billy. Karan has an older brother, Larry, as well, her mother’s son from a previous marriage. The Kobs’ marriage is a story in itself. Karan’s father, an Americus native, married his high school sweetheart. Early in their marriage they sought to have a child. Tragically, mother and infant died in childbirth. Karan’s mother, originally from Washington State, married a man who did not want children. When Dixie got pregnant, her husband left her. During the divorce process, she learned she had married a bigamist. As Kismet would have it, Karan’s father got stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, and Dixie’s aunt and uncle introduced them to one another. They married, and Karan’s father adopted Larry. Larry went to fight in Vietnam and Karan’s father received orders for the same. William had already served in WWII and Korea and had been wounded. Dixie put down her foot. It was time to retire rather than risk her losing a son and a husband. “We just knew we were going to settle down in California, where my mother’s parents were, but at the last minute Dad decided to come to Americus,” Karan says.

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At 14, Karan was in a car accident that left her with a broken femur and in a body cast for nine months. The profound lesson Karan took away from her ordeal would shape her professional future. Karan was house-bound and bed-bound in a body cast; her parents had to set up a hospital bed downstairs because her bedroom was upstairs. They cared for her for what would become a year. (When she got the cast off at nine months, she fell with crutches, breaking her knee, and going back into the body cast for another three months.) “I had been an ungrateful child; I was a teenager after all,” Karan laughs. “But this is when I knew

my parents loved me unconditionally. They took care of my every need, never complained, and never said ‘I told you so’. I learned at a young age that parents really do know what’s best for their children.” “I was bed-bound for so long,” Karan says, “my friends eventually stopped coming by. What teenager wants to sit around inside and talk?” Except for Ronnie Albritton. “Ronnie kept coming by, and when I was well, he asked me out,” Karan says. “I really didn’t like him much, but I wanted to get out of the house, and so I went. Then one night, he took me to see Gone

Hometown Living At Its Best

with the Wind at the Rylander Theatre. I came home and told my mother, ‘I act just like Scarlet! I am so mean to him, and he just keeps coming back.’ I realized he might not come back one day and I knew right then I didn’t want that to happen; I was in love with him.” In September, they celebrated their 46th anniversary. A volunteer position at Schley County Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) led Karan to a long career in child protective services, retiring as a supervisor in 2013. “I came home, slept twelve hours, got up and went back to work,” Karan jokes. She is now a court appointed special advocate (CASA) director at SOWEGA CASA in Americus. SOWEGA CASA serves 12 counties, three judicial circuits and 425 children, with a staff of four and volunteers. CASA is in extreme need of additional volunteers. If you or someone you know may be interested in finding out more, they can be reached at (229) 931-4488. “I think that my passion for social work,” says Karan, “is because of my parents’ unconditional love for me. It’s a way for me to give back and honor the love my parents gave to me.” Karan never had a desire to search for her biological parents. “I always knew I was adopted so I guess my parents started telling me when I was very young. They always told me I was ‘chosen’. My mom told me when I was a teen if I wanted to search for my biological parents she would help me, but I didn't need to, then or now. About six months before my daddy passed away, he asked me why I had never

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The lodge can accommodate approximately 250 guests inside and 400 utilizing the outside space as well. Karan often caters, but says renters may use their own caterer or do it themselves. They host weddings, showers, luncheons, parties, business meetings, reunions, and all manner of special events. They are located at 1085 Tallent Store Road in Americus.

Hometown Living At Its Best

Sumter county Living

searched and my reply was, ‘Why do I have to search for my parents when I'm looking at them?’” Ronnie and Karan have three children of their own: Jason, Becky, and Joey. They have five grandsons among them, and they all live in the vicinity. This is where the lodge comes in – it evolved from the need for space. “My mother had a heart attack and could no longer do holiday and family dinners, so we decided to add a big room onto our house for family functions,” Karan explains. “Our friends would use the space for showers and events, and then a wedding. Word got out.”

Ronnie and Karan have three children of their own: Jason, Becky, and Joey. They have five grandsons among them, and they all live in the vicinity. This is where the lodge comes in – it evolved from the need for space.

Hometown Living At Its Best

The Albrittons raise buffalo. Ronnie brought two home from a job in South Carolina many years ago as a gift to Karan. The herd grew, and they now own eight, after two babies were born in May. “I was standing on the porch one day looking at the herd and said, ‘The bison are in the valley.’ That was it. That was the name we had been searching for: Bison Valley Lodge.”

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The “compound” morphed over the years to now house a man cave, barbecue pit and grills, picnic tables, outdoor bathrooms, outdoor hot and cold food bar, a church facade, gazebo, and, of course, The Lodge. Originally an old barn, moved and left discarded for ten years, the lodge was resurrected, added onto and opened for events about eight years ago. Ronnie, a contractor, and his son, Jason, did the construction and woodwork in the beautiful, rustic venue. It has a wrap-around porch with a bar, a large commercial kitchen, bathrooms and a bride’s room with a shower and facilities. It is a family-run business. The Albrittons raise buffalo. Ronnie brought two home from a job in South Carolina many years ago as a gift to Karan. The herd grew, and they now own eight, after two babies were born in May. “I was standing on the porch one day looking at the herd and said, ‘The bison are in the valley.’ That was it. That was the name we had been searching for: Bison Valley Lodge.” The lodge can accommodate approximately 250 guests inside and 400 utilizing the outside space as well. Karan often caters, but says renters may use their own caterer or do it themselves. They host weddings, showers, luncheons, parties, business meetings, reunions, and all manner of special events. They are located at 1085 Tallent Store Road in Americus. For more information, you can check out their website at www. bisonvalleylodge.com or Bison Valley Lodge on Facebook.  SCL

Hometown Living At Its Best

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7752 Highway 129 Nashville, GA 31639 Phone 229-686-2031

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636 Fussell Road Leesburg, GA 31763 229-317-8051

Independent Living residents Pat Winter, Connie Elmore, Patsy Knotts

It’s about life,

it’s about living for our seniors Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people. (Ephesians 6:7)

If you’ve ever driven down South Lee Street, you’ve seen the campus. It’s beautiful and impressive. For over 50 years Magnolia Manor has been a part of the Americus landscape. While many in the area are well aware of the organization, there are that many more who are not familiar with its rich history and mission. In an effort to move forward and serve a new generation, changes are taking place. But the story of Magnolia Manor’s beginnings will forever remain the foundation for who they are. Kate Witte, a long-time resident of Americus, dreamed of a home for older adults. When she passed away in 1947, she left a bequest of 392 acres specifically designated to provide a home for the elderly. A group of Americus citizens honored her request and formed the Rock of Ages Foundation to create and operate such a place. Meanwhile, in the late 1950s, the South Georgia

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Conference of the Methodist Church commissioned an internal study on the needs of the elderly in South Georgia. That study identified the need for senior housing and long-term care. So, in 1959 the Rock of Ages Foundation deeded the land to The South Georgia Methodist Home for the Aging, known from its inception as Magnolia Manor. In 1963, Magnolia Manor began providing independent living and personal care at the Retirement Center in Americus. Shortly thereafter, a chapel was added, and the Nursing Center was created to provide skilled nursing care. Over the next fifty years, apartments, Ministerial Cottages, Villas, Alzheimer’s care, and a Wellness Center extended the care offered. In 1983, Magnolia Manor expanded its ministry to Macon. Since then, the ministry has grown to include locations in Richmond Hill, Moultrie, St. Marys, St. Simons Island, Columbus, and, Buena Vista. From the

time it was chartered through today, this charitable 501(c)(3) organization has been committed to the highest values of the Christian faith, serving persons of all faiths. The wonderful history of how Magonlia Manor came to be is just one part of the story. The other part is what is happening each and every day in the lives of the residents being served. In the past year, an updated Mission, Vision, and Values statement was rolled out. The Mission to “Serve through love and support for a lifetime” reflects the Wesleyan values deeply ingrained in all they do – To love as Christ first loved us. (1 John 4:19). They are led to serve not only the residents who live there but their families and friends, as well as the aging community here in Americus and beyond. Many of the employees believe they have a calling to work at Magnolia Manor; a calling to care for, pray with and lovingly support those who call Magnolia Manor home. One good way to gauge Magnolia Manor’s commitment to their mission is to talk with the residents themselves. Rachel Hurst has been living at Magnolia Manor Americus since 2014 and enjoys many things about living here – talking to people, her book club, and taking care of the many plants around the Retirement Center—but she especially finds great reward in her spiritual life here. “It’s not everywhere you go that you feel free to talk about God, but I have not felt this at all here,” Hurst shares. She finds great comfort in knowing there are people around to share her concerns, as well as being there to pray with them. “That’s been such a blessing to me because the staff and everyone is so accepting of this. I feel that’s one of the reasons why God blesses this place so. The chaplaincy has been very kind and helpful.” Striving to enrich and improve the lives of current and future residents, Magnolia Manor is undergoing major renovation and new construction on numerous campuses. “Renovation and construction mean improvement, and any time we can impact the lives of our residents in a positive way, we consider it a privilege to do so,” says Mark R. Todd, Magnolia Manor President and CEO. They are currently in Phase III of a four-phase, $11.5 million renovation and construction project at the Americus campus. With the help of many partners in the community, including the Phoebe Sumter Hospital Authority, Community Leaders, our Donors and Board of Trustees, as well as through careful planning, saving, and work over several years, Magnolia Manor is excited to be moving forward. Phase I encompassed improvements to the

Retirement Center resident Rachel Hurst

Creating The Future Striving to enrich and improve the lives of current and future residents, Magnolia Manor is undergoing major renovation and new construction on numerous campuses.

Hometown Living At Its Best

Part Of The Community Magnolia Manor, one of the largest employers in the area, is also a major contributor to our economy. The organization has been an integral part of Sumter County for more than fifty-five years. Staff live here and are major contributors to the lifestyle that makes our area one of the best places to live.

Lake Magnolia Cottage residents Roland and Gladys Heath

200 S Lee St, Americus, GA 31709 | (229) 924-9352

sumter county living

Retirement Center: several new multi-room suites; the reconfiguration of apartment closet space to include new closet doors; fresh paint, bathroom upgrades; refinished walls and hallway doors; the addition of energy efficient lighting; new carpet throughout the building and the installation of new hall handrails. Parlor areas and sunporches saw the addition of new cabinetry and other extras. A much-needed portico and dropoff area was added to the front of the building to protect residents and visitors from the elements. Pickle Construction from Americus oversaw this part of the project. Phase II was the demolition of Section One of the Retirement Center to make way for an entirely new, state of the art, Mattie H. Marshall Memory Care Center. The projected Phase II completion date is May 31, 2018. This new construction will enhance and improve the already outstanding service being provided at the current Mattie Marshall Center. The entire group of current residents, staff and services will be transferred to the new location upon completion. In Phases III and IV, the current Mattie Marshall building will undergo a complete transformation into a modern rehabilitation center. Following that, the existing Nursing Center will then undergo its own extensive improvements and renovations. This process will produce a substantial addition of private room space throughout the building. The entire Americus campus project is expected to be completed by July, 2019. Clark Nexsen Architects and Piedmont Construction Group, both from Macon, are in charge of this phase of the project. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth noting other nearby Magnolia Manor campuses are either in construction phases or have seen renovations as well. Those include Magnolia Manor South In Moultrie, Magnolia Manor of Marion County, and Magnolia Manor in Richmond Hill.

Magnolia Manor residents John Brodess and Guy Mathis with Brooks Partain

â&#x20AC;&#x153;As always, we cannot thank our donors and supporters enough for their generosity, says Todd. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Every amount, large or small has enormous impact on the work we do and the mission we strive to fulfill. We always strive to be good stewards of the resources we have and will always work hard to make every dollar count. These new projects will help everyone and allow Magnolia Manor to continue to have a positive impact on the communities we serve. Our communities are about life and living. Your donations and support go a long way in helping us fulfill that vision.â&#x20AC;? Magnolia Manor, one of the largest employers in the area, is also a major contributor to our economy. The organization has been an integral part of Sumter County for more than fifty-five years. Staff live here and are major contributors to the lifestyle that makes our area one of the best places to live. So the next time you drive by 2001 South Lee Street, take pride in OUR signature retirement community.

Retirement Center resident Rachel Hurst

Hometown Living At Its Best

Story by

Virginia Hall

Photos by

Jimmy Skipper says his daddy “laid it on the line” for him when he was young. “Some folks are gonna think your first name’s ‘Skipper’, some folks are gonna think your last name’s ‘Skipper’. But they are all gonna call you ‘Skipper.’ Get used to it.” And so the Americus attorney learned to roll with the punches early on. Jimmy Skipper is about as laid back and easy going as they come. He speaks slowly, deliberately, and with vast knowledge. His elephantlike memory is intimidating to us normal folks; he pulls up dates, events and names from decades ago like it was yesterday. Jimmy was born in Americus, in the old hospital on Dodson Street. He was educated in the city’s public schools and graduated from Americus High School in 1970. He attended Mercer University for two years, where he met his bride, Diana Keyer. The two of them married and moved to Americus, finishing college at Georgia Southwestern College. Jimmy earned a double major in political science and English, while Diana earned a nursing degree and became a registered nurse. “I wanted to be a teacher and a coach,” says Jimmy. “And then a minister.” Somehow those early plans morphed into a stint at the University of Georgia’s School of Law. “I thought I could help folks better [as a lawyer]; I enjoyed debates in high school. I enjoyed

David Parks Photography the English language and using it effectively to communicate. That’s what you do as a lawyer.” The move to Athens was an eye-opener. “I had never in my life been to Athens until the week law school started,” says Jimmy. “A lawyer friend and future law partner, Ben Easterlin, gave me some advice: ‘Treat law school as a six-day-a-week job, and you’ll succeed.’ So that first Saturday at school I was in the law library at 8:30 a.m. studying. All of these cars pulled up on the grass and people were setting up tents and grills. I had no idea what was going on!” It turns out that Jimmy was witnessing his first UGA football tailgate. While he was in law school, Jimmy was accepted into the prosecutorial clinic through the Clarke County District Attorney’s office. As a third-year law student, he was prosecuting actual felony criminal cases in Clarke County Superior Court under the supervision of an Assistant District Attorney. That experience led him to his first job as an Assistant DA in Athens. “That was in 1977 and I made $12,500 a year starting out. I thought it couldn’t get any better than that,” Jimmy jokes. Three years later, a call and invitation from Frank Myers and Mike Fennessy, members of an Americus law firm, brought Jimmy and Diana back to the area, where he has practiced ever since. “A small-town

The Americus attorney learned to roll with the punches early on. Jimmy Skipper is about as laid back and easy going as they come. He speaks slowly, deliberately, and with vast knowledge. His elephant-like memory is intimidating to us normal folks; he pulls up dates, events and names from decades ago like it was yesterday.

Sumter county Living

Hometown Living At Its Best

lawyer can’t really specialize in one field,” Jimmy says. “I don’t do domestic relations or criminal law,” he adds, “but I do a lot of real estate transactions, wills and estates, business law, and local government work.” Jimmy has served over the years as Attorney for the governments of Plains, Leslie, Schley County, Lee County and Terrell County. He is currently in

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his 31st year representing the City of Americus. Diana is a nursing instructor at South Georgia Technical College. “The interesting thing about law practice,” Jimmy says, “is that you never know what will come up that day.” Jimmy treats small claims with the same level of attention as the big ones.

In 1981, Diana gave Jimmy an introductory flying lesson for his birthday at Peterson Field in Plains. “I had never been in any kind of plane,” says Jimmy, “not a puddle-jumper, not Delta.” Next thing he knew, he was hooked on lessons and bought an airplane. His current model is a Beechcraft Bonanza. “Flying changes your concept of time,” Jimmy says.

Hometown Living At Its Best

Jimmy is currently with the firm Gatewood, Skipper and Rambo in Americus.

Sumter county Living

“All problems are big to the person who has one. I may be working on a $100 million contract and get a call about a property line dispute. I stop and handle that with the care it deserves.” Jimmy is currently with the firm Gatewood, Skipper and Rambo in Americus. Many local residents know Jimmy Skipper the politician. He served in the Georgia State House of Representatives from 1990 to 2004. “Small-town lawyers have a civic responsibility, I believe,” says Jimmy, who has served in various capacities in local civic clubs and church organizations. “In 1990, when thenRepresentative George Hooks ran for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Bud McKenzie, several folks called and asked me to run for George’s House seat representing Sumter County. I made some calls to see what some other folks thought

Hometown Living At Its Best

Jimmy will tell you he works too much to indulge in hobbies; then he’ll tell you how he climbs into his airplane, “The Bonanza,” and flies out of Souther Field for a relaxing jaunt around regional skies. Of course, he uses the aircraft for business purposes, too. In less than an hour, he can be in Atlanta on a business mission, or he and Diana can be visiting with the children and grandchildren in the big city. “I enjoy flying; I’m not thinking about business or anything but what I am supposed to be doing in that airplane,” Jimmy says.

about me running, and surprisingly no one fell out of their chair laughing at the prospect of me serving in the Legislature! I talked to Diana and prayed about it. On a Monday, Diana and I went up to Atlanta to qualify. That was the first time I’d ever been in the Capitol in my life!” Qualifying closed at noon that Friday. “At 2:00, Speaker Murphy’s office called and said, ‘Welcome to the House of Representatives!’ No one else had qualified,” says Jimmy. “During my 14 years of

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serving the public, only one time had there been another qualifier and that was Gerald Smith; he and his wife are the nicest folks you’d ever want to meet.” On winning the election to the House in 1990, Jimmy says, “I had no idea what I was getting into. I learned a huge amount of stuff in a short period of time and I was fortunate to be able to move up the hierarchy in the House quickly.” He was elected to serve as the House Majority Whip

Hometown Living At Its Best

in 1996 and held that position until 2001, when he was elected as the Majority Leader and he served in that position until he retired in 2004. When he decided not to seek reelection in 2004, Jimmy says it was because 14 years was enough and he needed to devote more time to his law practice. “The good thing [about serving in such leadership roles in the House] is that you’re sitting at the table and can help make decisions that positively affect the State and your people back home. The down side is it takes a huge amount of time away from your family and your business.” He lists all the close friends he made as one of the best parts of serving. While working for the public good, Jimmy was also serving in another important role – father. He and Diana have four children and five grandchildren: Wes (married to Kelly, with daughter Kenley, 5, and son Cade, 6 months); Natalie (daughter Harper, 7); Jason (married to Sarah, with daughters Haley, 9, and Maci, 5); and youngest son, Eric. Only Wes has remained in the Americus area; they reside in Schley County, where Wes is a firefighter and EMT. Jimmy will tell you he works too much to indulge in hobbies; then he’ll tell you how he climbs into his airplane, “The Bonanza,” and flies out of Souther Field for a relaxing jaunt around regional skies. Of course, he uses the aircraft for

Sumter county Living

business purposes, too. In less than an hour, he can be in Atlanta on a business mission, or he and Diana can be visiting with the children and grandchildren in the big city. “I enjoy flying; I’m not thinking about business or anything but what I am supposed to be doing in that airplane,” Jimmy says. In 1981, Diana gave Jimmy an introductory flying lesson for his birthday at Peterson Field in Plains. “I had never been in any kind of plane,” says Jimmy, “not a puddle-jumper, not Delta.” Next thing he knew, he was hooked on lessons and bought an airplane. His current model is a Beechcraft Bonanza. “Flying changes your concept of time,” Jimmy says. “And it’s not something you casually do; you’ve got to be all in. There’s a small fraternity of people who fly.” The man with no hobbies talks about his “local flights” over to Lake Eufaula, following the river a ways. Jimmy coached Little League baseball for the Americus-Sumter County Recreation Department all during the 1980s (before he headed to Atlanta). Jimmy and Diana are members of First Baptist Church, where Jimmy has been teaching Sunday School since the late 1980s. Teachercoach-minister…“Skipper”…really got to be everything he wanted to be, after all.  SCL

Louis A. Riccardi, DDS, PC N. Alexandra Riccardi, DMD

Dr. N. Alexandra Riccardi Dr. N. Alexandra Riccardi has been practicing dentistry in Americus with her father, Dr. Louis A. Riccardi, for two years and bringing new services to the dental practice. She completed the American Academy of Facial Esthetics (AAFE) hands on course and continuing education courses that the Georgia Board of Dentistry requires in March of 2016. Dr. Alex is a current member of the AAFE, and she offers expertise diagnosis, treatment planning, and treatment of Botox and Dermal Fillers, which includes Juvaderm XC, Juvaderm XC Plus, Belotero, and Vollure XC. Botox can be used to treat deep seated facial wrinkles, migraines, and temporomandibular disorder, also commonly known as TMD or TMJ. Dermal Fillers are used to treat facial areas in which a person may lose collagen, causing deep wrinkles and lines around the nose and mouth. Dr. Alex is eager to help her patients in any way possible, whether to boost your self-confidence by treating the face to smooth lines and wrinkles for a younger, more rested look, or by treating headaches, migraines and/or jaw pain by relaxing the facial muscles undergoing tension and stress. To set up an evaluation appointment please call the office at 229-924-2224.

1106 Fetner Dr | P.O. Box 336 | Americus, Ga 31709 | louriccardidds.com

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Orthopedic Disorders • Sports Injuries • Post Operative Surgeries • Neck and Back Disorders Workmen’s Compensation • Motor Vehicle Accidents • Neurological Injuries • Geriatric Rehabilitation Gait and Balance Disorders • Pelvic Floor Therapy

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THANKS SO MUCH

for everyone who participated in the 7th Annual Shamrock Jog & Jam!! It was a great success. Save the Date: March 24th, 2018 for the 8th annual Shamrock Jog & Jam

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LIVE IT LOVE IT LEARN IT

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Bren Dubay seems an unlikely candidate to be Koinonia Farm’s executive director. The Houston, Texas playwright is the first to admit it. “I wouldn’t have written this play,” she says wryly, speaking of her life story. But, then, whose life goes according to script? Bren’s eclectic life began in theater. “I was a big fish in a little pond,” she says. Then she moved into the management end of theater and then became a playwright…a quite successful one at that. What was supposed to be a one-year playwright-in-residence position at Rice University in Houston, turned into a seven-year gig. In addition to the arts and management, Bren has a graduate degree in Church history and is certified in spiritual direction. In 2003, Bren took a group of students from St. Catherine's Montessori School in Houston to Americus for a week (their Rite of Passage trip) to help Habitat for Humanity build their Global Village. While packing up her car to head back to Texas, Bren was approached by the volunteer coordinator who insisted she stop by Koinonia for a brief visit.

Koinonia Farm was founded in 1942 by Clarence and Florence Jordan and Martin and Mabel England as an experiment in Christian living. They bought farmland near Americus. Here, all people would be treated equally and those joining the community would share their possessions. The community existed peacefully for 10 years.

Hometown Living At Its Best

“I really just wanted to head home, but being a polite Texan I said yes.” That brief, 45-minute visit altered her life course. “It made such an impression on me that I went back to Texas and ordered all the books and tapes I could find about the farm.” On a subsequent trip to Costa Rica with the school children, she played for them one of her Koinonia Farm tapes…they were hooked too. They wanted to spend their next trip at the farm. So, for 11 days in November 2003, Bren found herself back at this place of intrigue. Only this time, the board of directors was searching for an executive director. A board member suggested she apply. Her husband, Jim, encouraged it and by early 2004, Bren was the new Koinonia ED. Koinonia History in a Nut Shell Koinonia Farm was founded in 1942 by Clarence and Florence Jordan and Martin and Mabel England as an experiment in Christian living. They bought farmland near Americus. Here, all people would be treated equally and those joining the community would share their possessions.

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Hometown Living At Its Best

main ministries

“There are three main ministries on our land,” says Bren. “One is hospitality, another is the internship program, and the third is sustainable farming. That last one is the hardest. Farming requires rootedness– people being here for the long haul.” Koinonia is praying that people will not only continue to visit the farm, but some will join the membership.

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The community existed peacefully for 10 years. The first signs of external stress came from the fact that Koinonia paid its laborers $4 per day â&#x20AC;&#x201C; more than twice what area farmers were paying â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and worse, they paid blacks and whites the same wage. This forced other farmers to raise their wages, as well. The next external tension came when Clarence took a visiting Indian student with him to Rehoboth Baptist Church, where the student was mistaken for a black man. Subsequently, Koinonia members were excluded from the church.

Hometown Living At Its Best

“Service is born out of our life together. Service takes place on and off the farm. Guests often join us in our work and service.”

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In May 1954, the Brown vs. Board of Education decision brought integration to the nation and racial tension was as high in Sumter County as anywhere in the Deep South. Koinonia children were forbidden to attend school in Sumter County and, in 1960, Koinonia took the Sumter County Board of Education to Federal District Court and won. However, it was no “win” for the Koinonia white kids who went to Americus schools – they were ostracized and bullied for their interracial lifestyle. One graduate of that era was quoted as saying, “We were the front line of our parents’ beliefs; we were really the soldiers on the battlefield.” Not that it was easy for the adults back on the farm. The town’s businesses had been boycotting Koinonia for several years by then, which depended on its pecan production and farming for sustenance. Not being able to buy supplies, nor sell locally, crippled the farm’s production and nearly closed it down. During this tumultuous period, there were two major Ku Klux Klan rallies and cross burnings on the property and multiple incidents of drive-by shootings (no one was injured). By 1968, the economic hardship and violence had reduced Koinonia to two families. It was that year that Millard and Linda Fuller stopped by the farm driving up from Florida to visit friends. They stayed on. In the late ’60s, Clarence Jordan introduced the idea of partnership farming, housing and businesses. To start, Clarence and Millard marked off 42 half-

smorgasbord The farm also produces grass-fed beef, pork, pecans, eggs, grapes and blueberries; the bakery turns out a smorgasbord of sweets from chocolate bars to cakes. Their mail order business is the primary source of revenue for the farm. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We earn most of our annual revenue in three months [during the holiday season],â&#x20AC;? Bren says.

Hometown Living At Its Best

acre plots on the northern edge of Koinonia and established the “Fund for Humanity.” The Fund would buy and hold land for families to build homes–a real need at the time…the first house was completed in 1969. While that first house was being built, Clarence died suddenly at the age of 57. After his death, Koinonia Partnership Housing, in particular, blossomed. Koinonia ultimately built 192 houses in Sumter County. Eventually, Koinonia members, Millard and Linda, saw the global significance of what the Koinonia community had started. Fellow members supported them and the partnership housing movement became known as Habitat for Humanity. For the first year, Habitat’s offices were in a chicken house on the farm. Today, the ensuing legacy of Habitat for Humanity is well known.

Sumter county Living

A New Start – and Restart In 1993, the Koinonia Board of Directors voted to dissolve the communal membership of the organization. This meant that instead of everything belonging to all members equally, members became employees and earned a wage and other people were hired as well. Gradually all the members who had been part of Koinonia’s communal vision left. Through mismanagement and embezzlement, Koinonia found itself $1 million in debt in 1999. The Board and friends of Koinonia eventually dissolved this debt by selling nearly half of its 1,400 acres. In 2005, under Bren’s leadership, Koinonia returned to the original communal vision. “When I came here,” Bren says, “I said, ‘let’s do two things: let’s pray together and let’s do the math together.’” It made economic sense to abandon the business model. “Our mission is rooted in the Gospel–especially the Sermon on the Mount. Our central ministry is hospitality.” Internships are a large part of that ministry. At any given time, there are 18 to 20 people living on the farm, many of them interns. “There are three main ministries on our land,” says Bren. “One is hospitality, another is the internship program, and the third is sustainable farming. That last one is the hardest. Farming requires rootedness–people being here for the long haul.” Koinonia is praying that people will not only continue to visit the farm, but some will join the membership. Of their life Bren offers, “We work to create an environment and a rhythm of life conducive to prayer and contemplation. We dedicate our lives to non-violence and to the pursuit of peace and reconciliation of all people.” “Service is born out of our life together. Service takes place on and off the farm. Guests often join us in our work and service,” she continues. In 2011, Koinonia enlisted the help of Betsy

Ross, a soil biology expert and founder of Sustainable Growth Texas. By January 2013, all of the farm’s pecan orchards were under biological management. They rotate livestock through the orchards in the off season. And in the insect-prone areas, they use chickens to scratch around the base of trees, eating the larvae of pests. The farm also produces grass-fed beef, pork, pecans, eggs, grapes and blueberries; the bakery turns out a smorgasbord of sweets from chocolate bars to cakes. Their mail order business is the primary source of revenue for the farm. “We earn most of our annual revenue in three months [during the holiday season],” Bren says.

Eventually, Koinonia members, Millard and Linda, saw the global significance of what the Koinonia community had started. Fellow members supported them and the partnership housing movement became known as Habitat for Humanity. For the first year, Habitat’s offices were in a chicken house on the farm. Today, the ensuing legacy of Habitat for Humanity is well known.

Hometown Living At Its Best

November 2017 marked Koinoniaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 75th anniversary. They are celebrating March 8-11, 2018, with the Clarence Jordan Symposium. There will be a series of workshops and keynote addresses led by the likes of Shane Claiborne and William Barber. Visit www.koinoniafarm.org for more information on the symposium, internships, the Peacebuilders Summer Camp or any other aspects of the farm operation. ď &#x2022; SCL

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1602A EAST FORSYTH STREET | AMERICUS, GEORGIA 31709 | (229) 924-9798

“Inspiring Minds to Lead for Tomorrow”

WHAT IS BEAUTIFUL MINDS CLUBHOUSE PROGRAM & OUR PURPOSE? A Resiliency Support Clubhouse Program that provides a comprehensive and unique set of services for youth and families ages 6-15 coping with the isolation, stigma, and other challenges of behavioral health disorders. Beautiful Minds Clubhouse services youth ages 12-15, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday’s (every 2nd and 4th Friday); youth ages 6-11 Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday’s (every 1st and 3rd Friday). Beautiful Minds Clubhouse is a place where youth can hang out, learn and socialize with others their age that share similar challenges. Youth participate in social outings, educational supports, group discussions, and other activities that help them build pro-social behavior and life skills. Beautiful Minds Clubhouse also offers Parent’s Alliance Meeting

to help parents learn, socialize with parents who may be facing similar challenges with their children. Parent’s Alliance meeting also offers parents a chance to discuss their needs, any issues/ problems they may be facing, or to share supportive interventions that may be working for their household. Our purpose is to provide a network of care that supports the families of children with diagnosed behavioral health conditions, to help them function better at home, in school, in the community, and throughout life. Beautiful Minds Clubhouse motto is, “Be yourself because everyone else is taken.” We strive to help youth, families, and the community to look beyond the diagnosed behavior and see the individual. Our purpose is, “Inspiring minds to lead for Tomorrow.”

CLUBHOUSE SERVICES

OUR GOALS

• Therapeutic Support • Positive Peer Support • Family Involvement/Engagement • Social Activities/Outings • Transportation to the Clubhouse and offsite activities • Aftercare • Positive peer mentoring • Healthy nutrition education and activities • Educational supports • Onsite counseling and learning • Structured recreational activities

• Increase Mental Health Functioning • Improve School Functioning • Decrease DJJ Involvement • Increase Youth Engagement • Increase Community Involvement • Increase Youth Satisfaction • Increase Community Collaboration

If you have any questions or wish to learn more information about Beautiful Minds Clubhouse, please feel free to contact us at 229-591-0465 or 229-591-0967 or come by and visit us at 209 Habitat Street, Americus, GA 31709 Hours of Operation: Monday-Thursday 11:00 am to 7:00 pm | Friday 11:00 am to 8:00 pm *Saturday’s Hours vary by activity

“Be Yourself Because Everyone Else is Taken”

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Plains, Peanuts,

& a President! Home of the 39th President of the United States of America and Nobel Peace Prize Winner

shop • stay • play

100 Main Street • Plains, GA • 31780 • 229.824.5373

plainsgeorgia.com

S t o r y by A n i ta T h e i s s P h ot o s by D a v i d Pa r k s P h ot o g r a p h y

What does it take to become an “institution” of a town? Does it mean that you have established roots? That you have a lot invested? That you have worked hard both in the community and for the community? Well, if so, then there is no institution of Sumter County, Georgia, quite like Sherrill House. Born Sherrill Murray in Plains, Georgia, she was the Sumter County New Year’s Baby of 1943 beating out a future classmate by just hours. She is the oldest of four children born to Drue and Sara Murray and grew up in Plains. In fact, she attended all 12 grades and graduated from Plains High School, one of just 21 graduates in the Class of 1960. Eleven of those 21 graduates started school and finished school together in Plains and still have class reunions all these 57 years later. Sherrill dated her high school sweetheart, Donnie Tyler, during all four years of high school and has just recently reconnected with him after five decades apart. Coincidentally, Sherrill’s younger sister, Evanne, dated Donnie’s twin brother, Ronnie, during high school as well. After her high school graduation, Sherrill attended Georgia Southwestern State University back when it was just Georgia Southwestern College—a two-year school.

Sumter county Living

Sherrill says “she did it all at GSW.” She was Chief Marshall, a Hurricane Honey, the president of her sorority, and was voted Miss Georgia Southwestern College 1962 just to name a few. Sherrill finally pried herself away from Sumter County when she decided to pursue her education at Georgia Southern University where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Education… and just so happened to meet her husband, Bob House, on her very first day at school. It’s a good thing he had the Ed 205 book she needed! She married Bob on March 20, 1965 and graduated college the same year. She and her new husband lived in Statesboro until June when they moved to Bob’s hometown of Albany, Georgia. Sherrill taught school for seven years in the Dougherty County School System beginning in the 1965-1966 school year, a crucial year in American history. This was the year the schools integrated. In spite of the tumultuous time, Sherrill remembers that year as being “a very good experience”. Sherrill and Bob’s first child, Angela, was born in 1968; Sherrill’s plan was to quit teaching to be at home with her new daughter. But, when her replacement was drafted into the Vietnam

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War, she returned to the classroom. Their second child, Allen, was born in 1972 and Sherrill was finally able to take that break from teaching to be at home with her children. In 1977, Sherrill and Bob attended the Inauguration of President Jimmy Carter in Washington, D.C. President Carter and Sherrill were both native “born and raised” citizens of Plains, Georgia, after all. Not to mention, they are related! Well, technically the relation is through President Carter’s wife, Rosalynn (her father and Sherrill’s maternal grandmother are brother and sister), but who’s counting, right? Sherrill also remembers attending a family reunion at the Governor’s Mansion in Atlanta during Carter’s term as Governor of Georgia. After 20+ years of separation from Sumter County, Sherrill finally “came home” in 1986 when Bob accepted a job at Woodgrain Millwork. They built a house that Bob designed himself…a home Sherrill still lives in today. Angela had already graduated from high school and was attending Valdosta State University when they moved to Americus, but their

So what does it take to become an institution? Fifty years of residence? Multiple levels of service to your community? Being one of at least five generations of first-born daughters to live in Sumter County? Surviving two natural disasters? I don’t know if official qualifications exist, but if they do, Sherrill House meets each one.

Sumter county Living

son, Allen, attended and graduated from Southland Academy, where Sherrill taught fifth grade from 1986-1992. Upon Allen’s graduation, Sherrill worked at Sumter Bank and Trust for a short time, and had a brief stint at the Americus Housing Authority as an Administrative Assistant. Then on July 5, 1994, Sherrill interviewed for a job at Sumter EMC. She remembers that date in particular because it was a landmark day for Americus and Sumter County…

it was the day of “The Flood of ‘94” as it is so commonly referred to by those of us who survived it. Sherrill remembers driving with her husband through deep water across the highway to pick up their daughter, Angela, and granddaughter, Kate, who was less than two months old. The dam at Statham Lake, near their home, had given way, and Angela and Kate were without electricity while the highways near their home were starting to wash away.

Hometown Living At Its Best

Since her retirement, Sherrill has kept up her hobby of playing the piano. She started taking lessons when she was just five-years-old, and has played at many local weddings and church services. She is also a member of the local musical group Jimmy and the Shades. Sherrill is a member of Cornerstone Church (which she has attended since moving to Americus in 1986) and is a part of the Worship Team there as a piano/keyboard player.

In spite of the treacherous weather conditions, Sherrill must have made a good impression because she was hired at Sumter EMC, where she worked for 13 years until her retirement in July 2007. She spent most of her time at Sumter EMC as the Customer Service Manager. Sherrill also served as an active member of the Chamber from 1993-2013 and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors during 20082009. She was part of the Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Club from 1998-2007 and she currently serves on the Americus and Sumter County Hospital Authority. After 13 years with Woodgrain Millwork, Bob went to South Georgia Technical College in 1999 as an Instructor for customer service classes. Bob served as the Project Manager for the Pope Center and worked at SGTC until his untimely death from cancer in July 2005. Bob was loved by his coworkers, cherished by the community, and adored by all who knew him. It wasn’t enough for Sherrill to have just one Sumter County natural disaster story. She got to make it two when she and her home narrowly escaped the disaster of the tornado that devastated Americus on March 1, 2007. In fact, Sherrill’s home was one of the only houses on her street to have no damage when the dust settled that night. Since her retirement, Sherrill has kept up her hobby of playing the piano. She

Sumter county Living

started taking lessons when she was just five years old, and has played at many local weddings and church services. She is also a member of the local musical group Jimmy and the Shades. Sherrill is a member of Cornerstone Church (which she has attended since moving to Americus in 1986 and was an active member of the worship team) and is currently playing the piano for Sunday morning services at Unadilla United Methodist Church where her friend Reverend James Aycock is the Pastor. (She began playing the

piano at age 5 and took lessons from Ms. Jean Monts in Americus during the third and fourth grade.) After her retirement, world travel became one of Sherrillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hobbies. With travel partner Sue Cone, a long-time friend from her years teaching at Dougherty High School over 50 years ago, Sherrill has visited China, Sicily, Italy, France, Greece, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Canadian Rockies, Prince Edward Island, and Alaska. She has cruised the Panama Canal, as well as around Cape Horn from Rio to Santiago, Chile. She

Hometown Living At Its Best

For those who know Sherrill well, they would say that one of her biggest passions is being a “good MeMom” to her six grandchildren. “MeMom and BeBob” earned their new titles when their daughter had their first grandchild, Kate, in 1994. Kate lives in Savannah with her husband Kev Jackson. Angela’s middle daughter, Sara Elizabeth Westra, has followed in her MeMom’s footsteps and attends Georgia Southern, while Angela’s youngest, Chance Westra, graduated from Southland in May. Angela, along with her husband, Rene Smith, still lives in Americus where she has been an active member of the community for over 20 years. Sherrill’s son, Allen, and his wife, Libby, live in Birmingham, Alabama with their children Robert (15), Thomas (13), and Celia (7).

Sumter county Living

was also in England for the Queens 90th birthday celebration and William Shakespeare’s 450th birthday. When asked what her passion for life is, she responded, “making the most of every moment I have.” But for those who know Sherrill well, they would say that one of her biggest passions is being a “good MeMom” to her six grandchildren. “MeMom” and “BeBob” earned their new titles when their daughter had their first grandchild, Kate, in 1994. Kate and her husband, Kev Jackson, live in Savannah. Angela’s middle daughter, Sara Elizabeth Westra, has followed in her MeMom’s footsteps and attends Georgia Southern while Angela’s youngest, Chance Westra, graduated from Southland Academy in May and is enrolled in the drafting program at South Georgia Technical College. Angela, along with her husband Rene Smith, still lives in Americus where she has been an active member of the community for over 20 years. Sherrill’s son, Allen, and his wife, Libby, live in Birmingham, Alabama with their children Robert (15), Thomas (13), and Celia (7). So what does it take to become an institution? 50 years of residence? Multiple levels of service to your community? Being one of at least five generations of first-born daughters to live in Sumter County? Surviving two natural disasters? I don’t know if official qualifications exist, but if they do, Sherrill House meets each one. For those who know and love her…those of us who have laughed with her, cried with her, enjoyed Bible studies in her home, and wiped her lipstick off of our cheeks after being greeted with hugs and kisses…we hope she is an institution for many years to come.  SCL

Hometown Living At Its Best

42nd

Annual

ANDERSONVILLE HISTORIC FAIR

O c t 6 - 7, 2 0 1 8

Join hundreds of reenactors at the 42nd Annual Andersonville Historic Fair on October 6-7, 2018 in the downtown area & Pioneer Park as they setup camps and stage two realistic Civil War mock battles. Gates open at 10 am both days, with the battles taking place on Saturday at 3pm and Sunday at 2pm as history comes alive in Andersonville, Georgia. The Andersonville Historic Fair takes place on the first full weekend each October. This is a family-friendly event, so bring everyone!

Civil War Village of Andersonville | 117 E. Church Street | Andersonville, GA, 31711 | For More Information: Call 229-924-2558

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Sumter county Living

Story by

Anita Theiss

Photos by

Shannan Blanchard

A charter school in Sumter County was definitely uncharted territory. How does one even go about starting a new school? The task seemed daunting, but a determined group of educators and parents took on the task with diligence; what became of it is a successful, thriving school in its third year in Americus, the Furlow Charter School. For many parents in the Americus-Sumter County area, when it came to schooling their children, they felt like there wasn’t a good option for them. They weren’t comfortable with enrolling their kids in the local public school system long-term, a private school option wasn’t in their budget, and homeschooling wouldn’t work with their family’s schedule or personal needs. Furlow Charter School has been a blessing for many families in our community for this reason alone.

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Sumter county Living

Several local businesses like Zaxby’s, Roman Oven, Monroe’s Hot Dogs, Waffle House, The 1800, Little Brother’s Bistro, and even the new Americus Snoball and Shaved Ice Company have partnered with FCS for fund raisers.

But this blessing came with challenges for those working to make it happen. Creating a charter school is a long process involving multiple steps…actually writing the charter, meetings in Atlanta with other charter schools to learn more about the process, and more. The new Principal of the school, Dr. Elizabeth Kuipers, stepped down as the Dean of the English Department at Georgia Southwestern State University to take an active role in writing the charter. With the help of Tami Peavy Owen, Allyson Drinnon, and others, the team worked for two years to get the charter written. They hit some bumps in the road when it came time for the local school board to approve the charter school, but it was finally approved and ready to get started. The local system was tasked with providing a building, and with the former Cherokee Elementary School building being empty, FCS set up for its first year on Cherokee Street. Newly hired FCS teachers (or should I say “advisors” since this is how they are referred to at FCS) worked tirelessly and spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars from their own pockets

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to paint classrooms, provide materials and even furniture to transform an empty school building into a bright, cheerful place for younger learners known as “scholars” on the FCS campus. After FCS’s first year, the Sara Cobb Elementary building became available and provided more space for the school to grow, so they relocated for their second year. For many of FCS’s advisors, taking this new job meant leaving a school they had been teaching in for many years. Advisor Cadie Dukes said, “When I decided to take a leap of faith and accept a position at FCS, it was not just for me to experience a new opportunity in our community, but for my children to have a different, more 21st century approach to learning. My children are thriving in the projectbased learning approach. As an advisor, it has been a learning experience for me to let go of certain areas

Sumter county Living

I controlled within the classroom and allow scholars to lead some of their learning through exploring and research. Also, I have really enjoyed a smaller school setting and “looping” with my class from second to third grade.” Starting a new school doesn’t just mean repurposing an old building; it also means creating from scratch a working curriculum that meets the standards set by the state. With minimal funding, the advisors worked together to create their own phonics program for the youngest scholars. They also received a reading program from a school in Macon that was closing and could no longer use it. But FCS offers more than just traditional schooling. The move to Sara Cobb wasn’t just for more classroom space…the property provided plenty of room for a gardening program the school has implemented. Teaching the scholars to garden not only teaches a wonderful life skill, but it also incorporates math, science, technology and even writing. And better yet, the school can eventually donate what they grow to feed others in the community. FCS doesn’t entirely

FCS joined the Georgia High School Association and already has in place a tennis team, cross country team, and middle school basketball. They will be starting their archery program in the fall, and golf will start in the spring. Coaches do not receive a supplement and many of their teams are coached by parent volunteers. The scholars themselves came up with the school mascot, and after narrowing down the choices to just 5, parents and scholars voted, and the Furlow Falcons were born.

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This community support is a two-way street as far as FCS is concerned. They have formed a wonderful partnership with Magnolia Manor where scholars go and read to the residents. This is sure to put a smile on some of the youngest and oldest faces in Sumter County. FCSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journalism scholars are also interviewing Magnolia Manor residents in order to write a biography of that resident that is sure to be a cherished gift to the recipient and his/her family.

Sumter county Living

operate as a traditional school as they use tools like gardening to incorporate project-based learning which immerses kids in real-life experiences that would teach the state-required standards and make it applicable to real life. Advisor Mandy Butler states, “Scholars are more active in their learning, which has been great for kids who aren’t pencil-paper learners. As a teacher, I’ve enjoyed more ‘out of the box’ teaching.” As a bonus, the project-based learning also has a community service component. And speaking of the community, “community supports have just been amazing” says former FCS Principal Valerie Duff. Their school library has been provided largely by donation. The Lake Blackshear Regional Library sold the school some of their

bookshelves for a very affordable price, and the Sigma Chi fraternity came up to the school and assembled the book shelves. Several local businesses like Zaxby’s, Roman Oven, Monroe’s Hot Dogs, Waffle House, The 1800, Little Brother’s Bistro, and even the new Americus Snoball and Shaved Ice Company have partnered with FCS for fund raisers. This community support is a two-way street as far as FCS is concerned. They have formed a wonderful partnership with Magnolia Manor where scholars go and read to the residents. This is sure to put a smile on some of the youngest and oldest faces in Sumter County. FCS’s journalism scholars are also interviewing Magnolia Manor residents in order to write a biography of that resident that is sure to be a Hometown Living At Its Best

The task seemed daunting, but a determined group of educators and parents took on the task with diligence; what became of it is a successful, thriving school in its third year in Americus, the Furlow Charter School.

Sumter county Living

cherished gift to the recipient and his/her family. The charter itself sets some difficult standards for the students and staff of Furlow Charter School. The school has a five-year charter, and by the end of the five years, Furlow Charter School must exceed the local district in both student achievement and attendance. The attendance rule alone means that less than 5% of the students can miss more than 6 days of school! One flu epidemic can hurt their attendance in a big way. So, obviously, this is no small task, but they have things in place to support both the parents and the scholars to achieve the necessary goals. They offer after-school tutorials for scholars who need some extra support and Saturday school for kids who have missed a lot of days and need to make up some time.

Another hurdle for FCS is providing athletics for their scholars. Being a new school means building your athletic program from the ground up as well. FCS joined the Georgia High School Association and already has in place a tennis team, cross country team, and middle school basketball. They will be starting their archery program in the fall, and golf will start in the spring. Coaches do not receive a supplement and many of their teams are coached by parent volunteers. The scholars themselves came up with the school mascot, and after narrowing down the choices to just

5, parents and scholars voted, and the Furlow Falcons were born. It's safe to say that both parents and students are excited about what’s going on at FCS. Parent Amy Hamrick had this to say about her 5-year-old daughter’s, Hadley, experience at FCS, “We absolutely love FCS! Hadley loves going to school every day! She's developed a budding passion for reading!” The future certainly looks bright for Furlow Charter School.  SCL

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Sumter county Living

We are living in a material world, and Pam Jones and Trudy Griffin are the material girls of Sumter County. Story by Kate DeLoach

Photos by David Parks Photography

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Sumter county Living

We are living in a material world, and Pam Jones and Trudy Griffin are the material girls of Sumter County. Pam owns F.Y.I., a fabric shop in downtown Americus; Trudy works with her fulltime as a seamstress. F.Y.I. represents For Your Interiors, although it hasn’t always. Call it kismet or divine providence, but ten years ago Pam found herself an unlikely entrepreneur. When Pam, a native of Hawkinsville, started out as a young woman with a marketing degree and a teaching credential, she never imagined she’d one day own her own business. Pam was teaching second grade in the early 2000s when her father became ill. She needed to spend time caring for him and so she quit her

teaching position and went to work part-time at Decorating Unlimited in Americus. Interior decorating had always come naturally to Pam and the sales/consulting work suited her; after her father’s health improved, she went to work fulltime. Then, the legendary 2007 tornado ripped through Americus and badly damaged the Decorating Unlimited structure and inventory. While the shop would eventually reopen, Pam decided to venture out on her own. She printed business cards with “F.Y.I.” at the top to let her clients know what she was up to. The “For Your Information” acronym would come to mean “For Your Interiors.” Pam needed a storefront and many of her

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Sumter county Living

Trudy and Pam carry their faith into the business. “We are genuinely interested in the people who come in here,” says Pam. “In 30 minutes you can learn so much about a person. They come in as strangers, and soon we know their life’s history; some people just come in to visit.”

decorating colleagues needed a textile shop in town. They suggested she open a shop and work her decorating consultant business from it. Pam did some calling around, established fabric vendors and a location upstairs in Minick Interiors’ store. After a year, Pam moved her fabric shop downstairs and continued to build a clientele and good reputation. But Mark Minick’s business was thriving too. He needed his space and so, in 2011, Pam moved to her current location at 223 W. Lamar Street in downtown Americus. She was designing interiors and selling fabrics, but she really wanted to learn to sew instead of farming out that work. “That was about the time the economy tanked and I really needed a way to make money beyond just selling fabric,” Pam explains. “Two girlfriends each gave me a sewing machine,” she says, “a new Brother and a used Singer; I still use them both.” She had approached Trudy Griffin, who was wellknown locally as an accomplished seamstress, about teaching

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her to sew but Trudy was busy with other things. Then one day about five years ago, Trudy was shopping for fabric in F.Y.I., and Pam asked again. “Trudy said she’d come by and teach me a few things,” Pam says. “She basically never left.” “I love my work here,” Trudy says. “I tell Pam, when she wants me to leave she’ll have to just put a note on the door. A subtle hint won’t do.” Trudy, originally from Michigan, moved to Americus with her parents when she was 16. “I was born with an interest in sewing,” Trudy says. “It was my grandmother’s influence. When I was eight years old I was making doll clothes.” Today, she owns 15 sewing machines. Trudy married Jim Griffin and moved around for ten years – to Texas, Tennessee and Atlanta – and back to Americus. Trudy calls herself a stay-

Pam and Trudy are masters at creating custom drapes, valences, bed coverings and crib ensembles. They do light upholstery work, too, but leave the bigger jobs to other professionals.

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Pam uses about a dozen fabric suppliers who each visit her twice a year. Between shop-stocking the newest designs, she will special order fabrics for customers she’s working with. “The business of fabric is really tricky. After 10 years, I finally feel I can pick out fabric accurately,” Pam says.

at-home mom (she has three children), but that’s an understatement. “I have enough college credits to have a Ph.D.,” she jokes, “just not in one area. I changed my major five times! All I ever really wanted to do was sew.” While she was at home sewing bridesmaids’ gowns and the like for friends and referrals, she and Jim started a Christian Counseling Ministry. “We originally worked out of Central Baptist Church,” Trudy says. “With advice from our pastor, and God confirming it in our hearts, we launched into this total faith ministry.” While the Griffins have worked the ministry for 35 years and owned two halfway houses, the counseling part has diminished, says Trudy. Her parents built a home next door and when their health began to decline, she found herself staying home with them more. Trudy and Jim still operate one halfway house

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in Americus, The House of Hope. “We minister to people of all denominations, but it is based on Biblical counseling,” she says. Trudy and Pam carry their faith into the business. “We are genuinely interested in the people who come in here,” says Pam. “In 30 minutes you can learn so much about a person. They come in as strangers, and soon we know their life’s history; some people just come in to visit.” The affable atmosphere is evident from the numerous projects laid across the large work table and sewing tables, to bolts of fabric stacked on most surfaces and every nook, to Laney greeting everyone who enters. (Laney is Pam’s daughter’s dog, a sheltie, who hangs out on a regular basis.) Pam is a dog lover. Ask her about her dogs and then pull up a chair. She has a menagerie of rescues.

There’s Andie, a stray named for the Andros ant poison she ate and got sick from, the ensuing guilt earning her a permanent residence. Then there’s Murphy, who was found wandering homeless on Murphy Mill Road. Honey, Ace and Blue are dachshunds ever underfoot in the yard. Pam found an old, abandoned house on Murphy Mill Road and astonished her realtor when she wanted to see it – and then to buy it. The designer in her could see past the peeling linoleum and cut-up floor plan. The quaint country house is now home to Pam and her husband, Jeffrey, also from Hawkinsville. Her personal decorating style is eclectic, she says. “I like clean lines. Less is more,” adds Trudy. “But Pam does all the decorating advice here.” “In this business, you might have your own style,” says Pam, “but you have to think outside that box; you have to conform to what your customer likes. You have to be flexible.” Pam uses about a dozen fabric suppliers who each visit her twice a year. Between shopstocking the newest designs, she will special order fabrics for customers she’s working with. “The business of fabric is really tricky. After 10 years, I finally feel I can pick out fabric accurately,” Pam says. Offering advice to the home owner who is decorating, Pam says, “People think they can paint something and come in here and match fabric to it. Pick your fabric first! You can mix paint any color; choosing fabric is not so easy.” Pam says that southerners’ tastes tend toward traditional styles. “This area [the Deep South] is about two-to-three years behind the rest of the country in trends,” Pam offers. Pam and Trudy are masters at creating custom drapes, valences, bed coverings and crib ensembles. They do light upholstery work, too, but leave the bigger jobs to other professionals. “We never tell anybody we can’t do something,” adds Trudy. “If we haven’t done it before, we just figure it out.” “I never knew I’d enjoy this work so much,” Pam says. “My granny would be so proud of the fact that I am sewing.” “I never thought I’d like working this much, either.” Trudy concurs.  SCL

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The first thing you notice about Mike Yerby, owner of The Staffing People in Americus and Albany, is his voice. He could have been a popular radio personality with his deep, inflectional tone and affable manner. Not that his gift goes to waste; he sings with his church choir – he’s a bass – and, in previous years, sang with quartets and bands…but more on that later. The Tuscaloosa, Alabama native is a man of many interests and much energy. Ask him about one of his passions – Shelby, his Maltese or his 1911 pistol – and out comes the iPhone photo log and the scrolling and viewing ensues. Mike attended the University of Alabama and Samford University, majoring in religion and history. He went on to manage a Radio Shack in Tuscaloosa in 1977 and from there went into the management of retail jewelry stores. Mike’s wife, Sandra (then Thomas), also attended Samford, getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and subsequently earning a Master’s in Education from the University of Alabama. While the couple dated briefly in their younger years, they went their separate ways, reuniting and marrying more than 20 years later.

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The company employs 11 people in its two locations and 440 contract employees; it has been affiliated with more than 200 businesses in a 50-60 mile range. Mike says 50-60 percent of the jobs he fills are in manufacturing, such as forklift operators, shipping and receiving clerks and machine operators. They also fill all types of office positions, food service, and custodial needs.

In the interim, Mike married and had two boys, Chris and Travis. “When my wife and I divorced, she gave me custody of the boys, then 13 and 9 [respectively].” Sandra had married and divorced also, but had no children. “We reconnected and were married in 1999,” says Mike. “Sandra came into this marriage with a ready-made family. I brought two boys; she brought two kitties.” Fortunately, it all worked out and now Chris has a wife and son of his own and works in his dad’s business. Travis and his wife live in Tuscaloosa where he attends college. Just in case there is any doubt, Mike wants you to know he is a diehard Alabama fan – he points to the logo he dons daily on his shirts. He says Sandra is an Auburn fan. “Whenever there is a game [between the two schools], one of us is very happy at the end of the day and one of us is very upset.” But don’t think Mike and Sandra rattle around in an empty nest now-a-days. Caesar is a seven-year-old Maltese who owns them. He is, admittedly, an adorable dog-child who commands attention and adulation. Photos confirm this. “He is a character,” Mike says. “He loves to always go; he’s never met a stranger, doesn’t bark, and never bites.” Caesar was rescued, literally, after a tornado hit Tuscaloosa in 2011. “He was found in a tree

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with insulation and glass stuck in his fur,” Mike says, “and after the dog was fostered for about a year, on Labor Day 2012, Caesar adopted us.” To this day, the little guy is terrified of storms. “Caesar loves big animals,” Mike says. “When we’re on the road and pass horses or cows, he looks out the window at them. Sometimes we stop and let him visit. It makes you wonder if he grew up on a farm. With a rescue, you never know.” Mike and Sandra like to travel with Caesar in their RV. (Dog owners understand this.) But you’ll see Mike tooling around town in one of his ultra-fast and flashy Ford Mustangs. “I’ve always loved cars,” Mike says. “In college I had a 1970 Mach I Mustang. I sold that one, but I have another one now, a winter blue metallic.” Parked out back of his office is his 50th Anniversary Shelby Super Snake (a Mustang, for the uninformed) in platinum white with a navy blue stripe and then there’s the ruby red metallic 2017 GT350. If the man is anything, he’s brand loyal – and understandably as the cars are head-turners. Photos confirm this.

Mike and Sandra like to travel with Caesar in their RV. (Dog owners understand this.) But you’ll see Mike tooling around town in one of his ultra-fast and flashy Ford Mustangs. “I’ve always loved cars,” Mike says. “In college I had a 1970 Mach I Mustang. I sold that one, but I have another one now, a winter blue metallic.” Parked out back of his office is his 50th Anniversary Shelby Super Snake (a Mustang, for the uninformed) in platinum white with a navy blue stripe and then there’s the ruby red metallic 2017 GT350.

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Speaking of brand loyalty, Mike, who also has a penchant for pistols, is partial to the 1911. He offers a bit of military history of the semiautomatic weapon followed by a personal story. “My mother and dad always gave us [adult kids] money at Christmastime. I always put mine up and didn’t spend it. Then, I used it to have a pistol customized.” It is a 1911, artfully coated with the American flag across the handle and barrel. “I wanted something special to

remind me of them,” he says. And it is. Photos confirm this. (Mike’s father is deceased and his mother recently celebrated her 90th birthday. Sandra orchestrated a surprise party for her in Tuscaloosa, where she lives.) Back to that MC-quality voice…“I grew up in church,” Mike says. “When I was four years old, my mother and dad became Christians. When I was six years old, I became a Christian. I learned to sing in church. I’d hold the songbook and sing the notes. I

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sang in the high school chorus, too. As a sophomore, I was a first tenor, but when I came back my junior year, I was a bass. The choral teacher couldn’t believe it; he was so disappointed!” In 1994, Mike moved to Albany with his retail management job, and a couple years later joined a churchaffiliated quartet, The Sounds of Faith. They traveled quite a bit and Mike sang with them for eight years. Later, he and Sandra joined another quartet, New Covenant, and performed with them for another eight years. Today, the couple just sings with the church choir at Friendship Baptist Church in Leesburg, where they are members. In the late 1990s, Mike felt the desire to get out of the retail sector and briefly worked at a staffing agency before opening The Staffing People in 2002. The first office was located in the bell tower of the Windsor Hotel in Americus. After the 2007 tornado toppled much of downtown Americus, the Chamber of Commerce moved out of their building on Lamar Street and into the newly renovated old high school building on Elm Avenue. Mike Denham purchased the old Chamber building, renovated it, and leased it to Mike and his business partner. In 2015, Mike bought out his partner and is now the sole owner of The Staffing People. The company employs 11 people in its two locations and 440 contract employees; it has been affiliated with more than 200 businesses in a 50-60 mile range. Mike says 50-60 percent of the jobs he fills are in manufacturing, such as forklift operators, shipping and receiving clerks and machine operators. They also fill all types of office positions, food service, and custodial needs. In 2013, Mike was slowed down slightly when he was diagnosed with kidney cancer. He had his right kidney removed in September and a portion of the left kidney taken out the next month. “I asked my doctor if he could make the scar on the left side match the one on the right,” Mike jokes, “so I could have matching racing stripes in my Speedos on the beach.” The stoic physician wouldn’t promise anything, but Mike says the scars do, indeed, match. There are no photos to confirm this. Sandra recently retired after teaching for 38 years, most recently in the Dougherty County School System. Mike says they are still adjusting to the different schedule and taking a few more opportunities to travel. So, for Mike Yerby, the office and open roads call, the speedways and pistol ranges beckon and Caesar still rules.  SCL

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HANCOCK FUNERAL HOME

50 Years Of Service

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Be Part of the Storm

For over a century, Georgia Southwestern State University has been providing quality education in Sumter County to heads of state and leaders in the courtroom, the boardroom, the operating room and the classroom. This remains true today as Georgia Southwestern is still the University of Choice for students, offering a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs both online and on campus taught by award-winning professors. Be part of our community. Be part of Southwestern. Be part of the storm.

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Story by Sherri Martin Photos by David Parks Photography

Wayne King looks over the beams of the log cabin he built by hand and his eyes shine. He cannot help but smile. “I had a grand old time,” he says about building the home that took him nine years, five months, and one day to complete, from the time the first logs were cut to the final inspection. Nestled way back in the woods, off the beaten path just southwest of Americus, the cabin is a simple, dog-trot design. The wide dog-run in the middle separates two large rooms on either side, one a living room and extra sleeping room and the other a kitchen with bathroom and utility room. On the other side of the kitchen, another bedroom has been added. A sleeping loft connects the two and overlooks the living room. Wide porches encircle the house. “I’ve got more porches than most folks in Americus,” King laughs. He cut all of the large, square logs from his land in Macon County, where he and his wife of 58 years, Ellen, lived while he was the Project Manager at the paper mill in Oglethorpe. He

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stored the logs on his son Shawn’s property in Sumter County, and built a shed where he could work on the house on Fridays and Saturdays. Of course, before he could build the house, he had to design it. He taught himself how to use AutoCAD on the computer and then designed the house using three-dimensional imaging. King has always been interested in building and designing, and learned through life to figure out how to do the things he wanted to do. Growing up in Greenville, South Carolina, he says he enjoyed math in school and took every upper level math course he could. After graduation from high school, he spent eight years in the Marine Reserves, but “never had to shoot nobody.” He was too young for Korea but was married with four children by the time the Vietnam Conflict started; he is very thankful he missed the fighting.

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He cut all of the large, square logs from his land in Macon County, where he and his wife of 58 years, Ellen, lived while he was the Project Manager at the paper mill in Oglethorpe. He stored the logs on his son Shawn’s property in Sumter County, and built a shed where he could work on the house on Fridays and Saturdays.

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Nestled way back in the woods, off the beaten path just southwest of Americus, the cabin is a simple, dog-trot design. The wide dog-run in the middle separates two large rooms on either side, one a living room and extra sleeping room and the other a kitchen with bathroom and utility room. On the other side of the kitchen, another bedroom has been added. A sleeping loft connects the two and overlooks the living room. Wide porches encircle the house.

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After the Marines, he attended Clemson University to pursue a degree in engineering. Working a summer job in industrial construction with his father-in-law, Blondie, he soon realized he did not want to become an engineer. Blondie “put up buildings all over the South” without having a high school education. “I got lots of training from my daddy-in-law,” King says. “I learned how to run machinery and how to weld. I loved construction work. I dearly loved it. It was a lot of fun.” King first started working with Procter and Gamble in Perry, Florida and then moved to their plant in Oglethorpe, where he worked for 27 years. He and Ellen raised their four children, sons Troy, Vince, and Shawn, and daughter Michelle, and also fostered two children for a time. During those busy years, King began going on short-term mission trips to Central America, mostly to Honduras and once or twice to Costa Rica. “I would go down and build churches with missionaries and would stay a week or two,” he explains. “I think I knew more about Honduras than I did about Georgia!” He recalls “one of the fun things” he did was take a monkey puppet to help communicate with the Honduran children. He found that the children would talk to the puppet when they would not talk to him. Sometime during all of this, he also became 126

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a pilot. Why? “Just because it’s fun!” He earned his single engine land license and mostly just flew locally. However, he grounded himself a few years ago. “I started having memory problems,” he explains. “If you forget something in a plane, that is serious times!” So, he stuck to the ground and turned his attention to the log cabin. He made the huge trusses that hold up the high ceiling in the living area and laid the tile backsplash that wraps around the kitchen. He gave his grandchildren markers and let them write all over the sub-floor of the loft before finishing it. “They had so much fun doing that!” he says. He filled the cabin with family heirlooms and photos, and neat touches that show that it is a one-of-a-kind home. Then three years ago, he had a stroke. “It was nothing but an aggravation,” he says. At 78 years old now, or “two years older than dirt,” he has had to learn how to adjust to doing things differently than before. He climbs the stairs to the loft as exercise and walks around the living room portion of the cabin. “Forty-four times around is a mile,” he says. “I have a counting system. The most I have done in a day is three miles.” Mainly, he has had to learn how to keep himself busy when he could not do what he was used to doing. “I don’t like not working,” he says, but for a while, he could not even type on his computer. However, his mind stayed busy, so he wrote a book. He says he wrote “because I couldn’t do anything else. After the stroke, I could just sit.” Using “talk to text” software, he began dictating his novel, Death of a Constitution: An American Jihad. “The book is about how we almost don’t have a Constitution anymore,” he explains. “How it’s been hacked up and ignored.” “I struggled to write two pages when I was in school, but I wrote 96,000 words in this book!” About halfway through, he was able to begin typing again. But he also came down with a case of writer’s block. “I got halfway through and couldn’t go any further,” he explains. “Then I realized God had to be in the middle of it or it was just a story. So I got the President and his two daughters saved and then finished it. I put lots of reasons to believe in God in it.”

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To have a conversation with King is to listen to someone who can quote scripture, but who can also share something he just realized from a verse he has been studying. His faith permeates his conversations as it does his life. Since publishing his first novel through Amazon, he has completed a second one, The Coat of Many Colors: JoJo and the Blind Man, which he is working to have vocally recorded by family and friends for Ellen, who can no longer see well enough to read. He is also writing a third novel, Rivers of Babylon, based on Psalm 127. Sitting in front of the gas logs, in the warm glow of his living room, he reminisces about family vacations and gatherings. With 11 grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and eight step-great-grandchildren, there are many opportunities for the fun he so enjoys. He talks about building projects at their church, Eastside Baptist, and remembers how he could play the piano, but only using the “shaped” notes found in old hymnals. He points out other aspects of the cabin he built, adding, “If I was going to do it now, I would do it different because I thought of a better way.” He talks about other projects he plans for the house, such as putting in a storm shelter. “I try to stay busy,” he says. His eyes twinkle again, because he knows that is an understatement. He has kept himself quite busy with many worthwhile pursuits throughout his life, and had plenty of fun in the process.  SCL

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Since publishing his first novel through Amazon, he has completed a second one, The Coat of Many Colors: JoJo and the Blind Man, which he is working to have vocally recorded by family and friends for Ellen, who can no longer see well enough to read. He is also writing a third novel, Rivers of Babylon, based on Psalm 127.

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Gatewood, Skipper & Rambo Attorneys at Law

A Professional Corporation 410 W. Lamar St. | Americus, GA 31709 | 229.924.9316

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Photo Restoration & Canvas Prints

229-928-2024 www.harteyecare.net

135 Ga. Highway 27 E. Americus

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Happy Pool. Happy Life. DeVane Pool Service & Supply

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Now is the time to get your pool Summer ready!

All creatures great & small, The Lord God made them all.

509 West Forsyth Street | Americus, GA 31709 (229) 928-3300 | harpersanimalclinic.com

412 W. LAMAR ST. AMERICUS, GA 31709 | 229-924-2924 THEHOOKSAGENCY.COM

Minick Interiors Interior design & Furnishings

From the renovation of historic homes, preserving the charm of Southern heritage, to the modern feel of a penthouse in Atlanta, our focus is eclectic but rooted in the traditional

229.931.0311 | Downtown Americus | minickinteriors.com

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The Sumter area is growing and steadily becoming a central marketplace. You can find great retail shopping, restaurants and services around each corner. If you haven’t done so lately, take the time to look around and discover all the wonderful things there are to find.

Scott’s Jewelry

210 W Lamar St, Americus, GA 31709 (229) 928-3630 www.scotts-jewelry.com

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Cavender’s Barber Shop

302 W Lamar St # B, Americus, GA 31709

(229) 924-4030

Roberts Jewelers 110 W Lamar St, Americus, GA 31709 (229) 924-5024

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Index of Advertisers Accelerated Physical Therapy ……………………............................ 50 Hooks Simmons Insurance ………...................................………. 133 Adams Exterminators …................................................………….. 90 Housing Authority of Americus …………….............................….. 116 AfterHours Care of Americus, Inc ………………........................... 107 Johnston Realty Group Inc ……………....................................…. 118 Allergy & Asthma Clinics of GA, PC ….........................……………. 78 Lake Blackshear Regional Library ……………............................. 106 Americus Apartment Homes ….................................……………. 105 Louis A. Riccardi, DDS, PC ………........................................…….. 47 Americus Dental …....................................…. 93, Inside Front Cover Magnolia Manor Senior Living ……........................…………… 34-37 Beautiful Minds Clubhouse ………..................................………… 64 Middle Flint Behavioral HealthCare …….......................………….. 64 Better Hometown Program …………….......................................... 67 Minick Interiors ……....................................................…………. 133 Bison Valley Lodge …………….................................................... 107 N. Alexandra Riccardi, DMD …….....................................………… 47 Cavender’s Barber Shop ……….............................................…. 134 Nutrien …..................................................................…………… 104 Chandler Morgan Eyeworks ………......................................…… 104 Paul Anderson Youth Home ……..…..............................………… 132 Citizens Bank of Americus ………….......................... 92, Back Cover Parker’s Heating & Air Conditioning …………..................………… 66 City of Andersonville …………..............................................……… 91 Plains Historic Inn & Antique Mall ………………..............…….. 18-19 City of Andersonville Historic Fair …………................................… 76 Pro-Tech Security Group, Inc …….……................................……. 118 Clinic Drug Store …....................................................…………… 106 Roberts Jewelers …………...............................................………. 134 Concrete Enterprises, LLC ………….................................……. 32-33 Rylander Theatre ………………...................................................….. 5 Cousins Catering ………........................................................……… 9 Scott’s Jewelry ………......................................................………. 134 Decorating Unlimited ……………........................................…….. 2-3 Shamrock Jog & Jam ……………............................................…... 50 DeVane Pool Service & Supply ……………..............................… 132 South Georgia Technical College ……........................…………… 131 Eaton Cooper Lighting ………….....................……. Inside Back Cover Southland Academy ……………...........................................…….. 51 Fast Copy & Blueprint ……............................................………… 130 Southland Heights Apartments ……............................………….. 116 First State Bank …................................................…………………… 7 Southwest Georgia Farm Credit ………….........................………. 105 Gatewood, Skipper, & Rambo Attorneys at Law …...............….. 130 Speed Shop & Truck Accessories ..........................……………… 130 Gatewood’s Flower Shop ………...............................................…… 9 State Farm Insurance ……………............................................…. 117 Georgia Dermatology & Skin Cancer Center ….......................... 133 Strickland Accounting LLC ……....................................…………. 116 Georgia Power ……......................................................…………… 65 Sumter County Chamber of Commerce ………….................... 20-21 Georgia Rural Telephone Museum ……….........................……… 117 Sumter County Living ………...........................................……….. 132 Georgia Southern University ……………........................................ 79 Sumter County Living Subscription ………............................….. 135 Georgia Southwestern State University ……………......………….. 119 Sunbelt Ford of Americus ……..........................................……….. 77 Hancock Funeral Home ……….........................................………. 119 The Local Marketplace …………….......................................…… 134 Harper’s Animal Clinic ..........................................………………. 133 The Staffing People ....................................................................... 1 Hart Eye Care ………......................................................………… 131 Three’s Company Too ……...........................................……………. 63 Harvey Well Drilling ……...................................………………… 48-49 Turton Properties …….....................................................………. 105

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To know Sherrill House is to love her.

When a House Becomes

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