Choosing Albany

Prints of this Katie Bacon original painting, featured on the 2020 cover of the Chamber's "Albany" magazine, are available for sale at the Albany Area Chamber. Call (229) 434-8700 for details.

The narrative of Albany all too often is one that focuses on the negative: What Albany doesn’t have, what it needs, why young people are leaving. With “Choosing Albany,” we are flipping the narrative, showcasing why people have moved to Albany from other communities, or why they're coming home. We want to show why people have moved from other communities or come back to Albany after a short (or long) hiatus. In short, we want to tell the stories of why people choose to call Albany their home.

We're kicking off the series with WALB News Channel 10 Anchor Karla Heath-Sands, a familiar face to Albanians and Southwest Georgians for years. Her decision to make Albany home was a conscious one, one that she and her husband made together very early. A decision that only made more sense as the years went on, and as they saw how the community rallied together, how people supported each other.

Throughout the series, you will get an in depth look at other Albanians and what led them here, or what led them back. We will feature a variety of people — some you may know well and others less — as we highlight what Albany has to offer, what Albany gets right, and what brings incredibly talented people here.

Choosing Albany

KARLA HEATH-SANDS

WHILE KARLA HEATH-SANDS HAS BECOME WELL KNOWN TO THE Albany community and a staple in many Southwest Georgia homes as an anchor on WALB News Channel 10, she didn’t always call Albany home. In fact, she didn’t even imagine herself working in television initially.

After graduating with an English degree from Mercer University in Macon, Heath-Sands worked in the school system coordinating volunteers.

“I coordinated the Bibb County Schools’ volunteer program, which was Partners in Education,” says Heath-Sands. “ ... It was just about coordinating volunteers to go into the public school system.”

But while everyone who watches on WALB might not know that she has a “God-given talent” for singing, she has always had a passion for singing and performing. Because of her schedule with the school system, she had the summers off, and in the summer of 1989, she auditioned with Six Flags Over Georgia and was chosen as a performer for the Crystal Pistol.

“I tell young people this all the time: You never know who’s watching you,” says Heath-Sands about what happened next. “People at WMAZ had been watching my (performance) career, my pageant career, school volunteer career. I came home one day during the summer, and I had a message from WMAZ.”

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“They called me and asked me if I’d be willing to come aboard as a weathercaster/ community service director. The woman who had been doing that for 30 something years was retiring. (I told them) I can do the community service piece, but I was an English major, not science. I’m not a weather person, and then they said they’d train me. ... That is how I got into television. God sent that to me.”

While in Macon, and through singing, too coincidentally, Heath-Sands met her now husband, the Honorable W. Louis Sands.

“He was our Minister of Music at the church in Macon,” says Heath-Sands. I had been invited to sing on a program at his church.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

When her husband was offered a spot on the federal bench, a move that would take them to Albany, they agreed to make Albany their home.

“Albany was welcoming to us, and his position was for Albany,” says HeathSands. “We agreed that this would be home. This was where our children were raised, went to school here, graduated from here, and I became active in the community. This became our home. People always ask me, ‘Well why didn’t you move to a larger market or why don’t you go to a larger market?’” (It’s) because we established our home here.”

Since making Albany home, Heath-Sands has become a fixture here. Aside from anchoring WALB-TV's noon and 4 p.m. news and co-anchoring the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts, Heath-Sands has enmeshed herself into the fabric of Albany through her community involvement.

She has worked as a former trustee for Girls Inc. of Albany and as a former board member for Albany Technical College. She’s also a member of the Albany Chapter of Links, a former Board of Advisors member for the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, a current board member for the Board of Directors for the Georgia Humanities Council, and a member of Bethel A.M.E. Church.

“(Being involved in your community) gives you insight into the needs of the community,” says Heath-Sands. “It also gives you insight into strengths and weaknesses of your community. The very positive thing about working with Girls Inc. is that it was a successful program in terms of addressing teen pregnancy. (The girls) were smart, strong, and bold, and it was about learning STEM and learning about business. The focus for these young people was about being successful, and the program was successful.

“Also, in terms of working on the board for the technical college, we were (recruiting students) not only here in Albany, but we also drew students from surrounding communities. (Working with them) was helping to improve our workforce. ... Companies would come to Albany Tech and say these are our needs, and Albany Tech would step up and help train to meet those needs. You got insight into what the needs, strengths, and weaknesses were for your community.”

And through her time in Albany, Heath-Sands says one of the things she has always noticed is how the community rallied together. “We moved here right after the first flood,” Heath-Sands says. “It would have been in ‘94, and I saw how the community came together then. Of course we’ve been here in the two storms and additional floods and all of that, and that is one of the things that I think is so telling about Albany. When the times are tough, the citizens rally together to help each other out. I think that’s something we all should be happy and proud of. We work to make sure that everybody is okay.”

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THE ANNUAL MEETING CELEBRATION

The Albany Area Chamber's 111th annual meeting will continue its tradition of celebrating the previous year's accomplishments, sharing how the Chamber will continue to move businesses forward throughout the year ahead, and shine the light on the Chamber's most engaged leaders and those who have worked to make a positive impact on Albany and the Albany Area.

The 2021 event has been reimagined and will be held outdoors on April 29 on the Bricks at Thronateeska in downtown Albany. Music by the Evergreen Family Band, taste of Albany food vendors, and a unique atmosphere will complement the celebration.

The 2021 annual meeting, presented by Georgia CEO and Colony Bank, will include the transfer of the chairman's gavel; honor the Chamber's Lifetime Service Award recipient; recognize the 2020 Small Business of the Year and the 2020 Nonprofit of the Year; and announce the 2020 Albany Under 40 Young Professional of the Year.

This event, typically hosted in January, is one of the most important events of the year for the Albany Area Chamber. You can expect the annual meeting to adhere to COVID-19 safety guidelines, implementing high standards for an experience that is safe for networking.

THE ALBANY AREA CHAMBER LED A DIVERSE

delegation of local leaders from the public and private sectors to Atlanta as part of the Chamber’s long-standing Albany-Dougherty Day, a government affairs advocacy program that uniquely positions the community’s opportunities and partnerships and showcases the impact of its leadership and innovation. Discussions with key state decision-makers and partners − including the office of Governor Brian Kemp, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Georgia Department of Economic Development, Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and the Albany Area Legislative Delegation − noted the community’s exemplary and decisive response to managing the pandemic and its resiliency in the face of adversity; its role as a leader in rural innovation and rural health care; and its economic opportunities in the growing areas of manufacturing, logistics, and health care services.

“Through vision and action, Albany has positioned itself as a statewide leader in collaborative partnerships, resiliency, and innovation. Our present is exciting; our future more so,” said Barbara Rivera Holmes, president & CEO of the Albany Area Chamber, the region’s largest business advocacy organization. “The Albany Area Chamber will continue to accelerate impact by leveraging partnerships and opportunities, convening and connecting stakeholders and leaders, and driving transformational change for Albany and the Albany Area.”

The Albany Area Chamber’s 2021 pro-business legislative priorities were discussed; among them are investing in rural broadband and rural innovation, which is critical to supporting educational attainment, economic growth, and utilization of telehealth services; the expansion of the health care professional pipeline to ensure Georgia has the workforce to provide the care and services citizens need and supporting telemedicine to increase access to care for rural Georgians; small business liability protections; support incentives and initiatives that remove barriers for small businesses, that expand access to resources and that have proven to assist companies in investing and expanding their footprint in Georgia, ranked the No. 1 state for business eight years in a row.

HOW DO YOU ART BALL?

That was the question posed to the Albany Museum of Art supporters for the 2021 Art Ball, the organization's largest annual fundraiser. Held on March 13, the event was transformed into a fun collection of events to allow for a safe social experience.

In a quick pivot of creativity, the Art Ball organizers created a hybrid of the annual fundraiser that allowed its attendees to choose from two options. "Art Ball in a Box" – a beautifully curated box that included everything needed to celebrate from the comfort of home - equipped individuals to host their own private, in-home event, which also allowed kids the opportunity to participate. Other attendees chose to be in person at one of four locations, including the Director's Dinner, Henry Campbell's, The Catch, and Manor House.

The funds raised from the Albany Museum of Art's Annual Art Ball keeps admission to the museum free, supports the "Art from the Start" program for Head Start families, and provides scholarships to art camps and classes. From left, Andy Wulf, Dr. Gloria Esoimeme, Hope Campbell, Puddin Bass, Jim Womack and Mallory Black. (Puddin and Mallory co-chaired the Art Ball committee.)

From left, Annie Vanoteghem, Elinor Saragoussi and Max Boyd. (Eli created the Escape Plan installation in the West Gallery and her music partner Max created the background soundtrack for the installation. Annie is the AMA director of education and public programming.)