Newnan-Coweta Magazine, January/February 2012

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MAGAZINE

A Times-Herald Publication

Cowetans and their Chad Ramey

Flying Saucers, Nuclear Fusion, Robots & More Get Fit & Stay Organized in 2012 Enter Our Second Annual Photo Contest January/February 2012 | $3.95

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FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION, call 770.683.6397 or e-mail colleen@newnan.com. Newnan-Coweta Magazine is published bi-monthly by The Times-Herald, Inc., 16 Jefferson St., Newnan, GA 30263. Subscriptions: Newnan-Coweta Magazine is distributed in homedelivery copies of The Times-Herald and at businesses and offices throughout Coweta County. Individual mailed subscriptions are also available for $23.75 in Coweta County, $30.00 outside Coweta County. To subscribe, call 770.304.3373. Submissions: We welcome submissions. Query letters and published clips may be addressed to the Editor, Newnan-Coweta Magazine at P.O. Box 1052, Newnan, Georgia 30264. On the Web: www.newnancowetamag.com Š 2012 by The Newnan Times-Herald, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

Georgia Tech student Chad Ramey built his nuclear fusion reactor while a student at Northgate High School. — Photo by Bob Fraley 6 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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FEATURES 14 STAR-IN-A-JAR Newnan’s Chad Ramey is changing the way scientific research is done, using one of the world’s smallest nuclear reactors.

22 THE GEOBAT Jack Jones grew up near Ft. Rucker watching the airplanes and helicopters overhead. As an adult, he designed a flying saucer that’s gathered attention from some pretty impressive quarters.

30 MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE Local students learn leadership and problemsolving skills through robotics team competitions.

36 SERVING IN AFGHANISTAN Newnan contractor Scott Hartz is one of thousands of civilian contractors working handin-hand with the military to bring an end to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

42 GETTING THEIR HANDS DIRTY A Grantville-based youth science and technology center is the oldest in the state.

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PHOTO CONTEST Amateur photographers are welcome to enter our 2012 Newnan-Coweta Magazine Photography Contest.

DEPARTMENTS 48 COWETA COOKS In today’s fast-paced world, take time out to savor a hearty winter meal inspired by the Slow Food Movement.

52 LOCAL HERITAGE Technical education in Coweta County is not exactly a new phenomenon, since both Newnan and Senoia were home to telegraphy schools in the early 1900s.

66 THE THOUGHTFUL GARDENER Tussie-mussies convey a special meaning to a friend or relative using the language of flowers.

72 TINA’S TIPS Getting organized is a goal of many artists and crafters, and two local women share how they successfully transformed their creative spaces.

56 GET FIT! A dad who became a runner and a mom who started counting calories tell how lifestyle changes helped them lose weight and get fit.

62 BORN TO PLAY THE GOSPEL WAY Gospel pianist Mark Fuller grew up in Newnan and returns occasionally to share his gifts with local audiences.

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{ From the Editor }

On Bright Ideas hen the great Steve Jobs left us last fall, one fact about the man was mentioned time and again: he simply didn’t think like everybody else. Or like anybody else, for that matter. I have long admired people who are willing to go against the flow, think outside the box, those willing to be risk-takers and entrepreneurs. One quality these folks seem to share is that, like Steve Jobs, they don’t think like everyone else around them, and I suspect that is key. We’re kicking off a new year of the magazine by looking at some of the Bright Ideas the thinkers of Coweta County have to offer. Here are some of their comments: • “I was instantly regarded as crazy.” (Chad Ramey, who built his own nuclear reactor) • “Behind my back they were saying … that thing will never fly. I knew better.” (Jack Jones, who successfully designed a flying saucer) • “I said to myself, this is the best it’s ever going to be if something doesn’t change. I’ve either got to come to terms with that, or do something different.” (Angie Lovell, who decided to lose weight and get fit) I like the way they think! And updating our thinking strikes me as a great goal for the new year. For instance, I want to: Up my speed on the treadmill. Finish my novel. Complete a quilt. Create some art. Learn to can tomatoes. For many years I’ve added, “Read through the Bible.” This year

I’ve updated that to, “Read through the Bible and live like it.” (Part A I’m pretty good at. Part B could use some work.) I have other goals, too. It’s an election year, so I have to remember not to take my presidential politics too seriously. (Even though commentators are already warning that this is The Most Important Election of My Lifetime. Just as it was four years ago.) I also want to start my spring seeds earlier. And speaking of seeds, the brilliant Ann Voskamp planted one in my head bigtime with her challenging book One Thousand Gifts, which is all about her journey to live a life filled with gratitude. Is there anyone who couldn’t use a bit more of that kind of thinking? I want to live a more grateful life, always. And I’d like to encourage you to consider one especially Bright Idea for the new year: Why not enter our 2012 Photo Contest? It might inspire you to get those 2011 photos organized (for more on that topic, see page 78) and win a nice cash prize at the same time. Happy New Year,

Angela McRae, Editor angela@newnan.com

To find out more about our 2012 Photo Contest, please see page 78.

12 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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Chad Ramey’s homemade nuclear reactor changes science By Kenneth R. Wilson | Photos by Bob Fraley

t’s a warm autumn day in Newnan’s White Oak neighborhood where 3,000-square-foot homes stand on postage stamp lots and mature trees give the feeling of privacy. Chad Ramey, an 18-year-old Georgia Tech freshman, backs a golf cart out of the garage and into the driveway. He parks it and beelines toward a plywood workbench where he keeps his homemade nuclear reactor. His small frame sports casual black loafers, a hip sweater over a collared buttondown shirt, and Gucci eyeglasses sans tape. He quickly flips switches, connects wires, and pushes buttons with energetic determination. A loud SQUEAKKKK erupts as he twists a knob on a contraption called a high-vacuum oil diffusion pump. Referring to the noise, he quips, “That’s what happens when you buy cheap nuclear 14 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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Chad Ramey shows the core from his old nuclear reactor. Above, a video camera mounted by the new reactor allows Ramey to see the radiation he is creating while another machine monitors the radiation level. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 | 15

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Unlike fission reactors used to generate power, Ramey’s fusion reactor can’t melt down and its tiny size produces less radiation than an x-ray machine.

equipment.” Within minutes, Ramey’s star-in-a-jar ignites, giving off a pinkish purple heavenly hue, glowing beneath the bicycles hanging from the ceiling. Ramey is changing the way scientific research is done, using one of the world’s smallest nuclear reactors. By studying nuclear physics 16 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

in his garage, he can bypass the constraints of universities where experiments are conducted by committee and equipment costs millions. On this smaller scale, he can experiment faster and collect more data. Fewer than 40 individuals have built similar reactors, but Ramey would like to see more.

Ramey built his nuclear fusion reactor over the course of three years while a student at Northgate High School. As a seventh grader at Arnall Middle School, he discovered a book called The World’s Simplest Fusion Reactor, And How to Make It Work by Tom Ligon. Ramey read the text multiple times, determined to one

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Take the cross everywhere.

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Georgia Tech student Chad Ramey built his nuclear fusion reactor over the course of three years while a student at Northgate High School.

18 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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“We’re probably the only neighborhood in the world with two nuclear reactors.� —Chad Ramey day build his own. Like many great minds in history, Ramey’s peers discounted his ambition. He says, “I was instantly regarded as crazy.� Anyone familiar with teenagers understands the ridicule they’re capable of, but while they popped bubble gum and played video games, Ramey kept his nose in the book. Peer pressure is enough to deter most lads, but Ramey also needed to convince his parents the project was safe. He enlisted the help of a nuclear engineering graduate student to answer his parents’ questions and safety concerns. Unlike fission

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reactors used to generate power, Ramey’s fusion reactor can’t melt down and its tiny size produces less radiation than an x-ray machine. After Ramey’s parents agreed to support the project, the next step involved getting the parts. Craigslist, eBay, Home Depot and a junkyard in Los Alamos, New Mexico were fertile ground for picking parts. However, Ramey’s ingenuity and a creative imagination were the most important tools in the garage. After all, no one had ever built a reactor this small. Neon sign transformers from Craigslist supplied the reactor’s

power. Early on, he used a spark plug in the reactor. He also scavenged, or “reclaimed� parts from the swimming pool in the back yard, and plugged the vacuum chamber with corks to get the first flicker of light that would become his star-in-a-jar. Over time, Ramey replaced makeshift parts with better ones and registered with seven federal agencies so he could purchase fuel in the form of deuterium, a hydrogen isotope found in ocean water. Now the reactor works so well, he takes it with him to speak at conventions. Last year, the organizers

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Chad Ramey shows a larger model of the core, here and above, that is in his nuclear fusion reactor. The machine at left monitors radiation levels.

of Atlanta-based Dragon*Con, the world’s largest pop culture convention, asked Ramey to bring his reactor and talk about his work. In one session titled “Evil Geniuses Doing Good Things,” he was the only panelist without a Ph.D., or bachelor’s degree for that matter. But, scientists and engineers giggle and stare like everyone else in the room when Ramey fires up the 20 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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reactor and projects a video image of the star onto the wall. It’s difficult to get your mind around the fact that a star is burning in a ballroom of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis hotel. It’s the 21st century equivalent of cavemen gazing with amazement into a clear night sky. There’s a feeling that something special is happening without understanding quite what it is. Ramey describes the project as open-source science, meaning that fusor sources and findings are in the public domain. The community of at-home physicists share information via the fusor.net forum and on Facebook where those with experience help others interested in building similar reactors. Recently, Harris Tidwell, an East Coweta High School student who’s also building a reactor, contacted Ramey for help. Using Ramey’s vacuum pump, the two produced a plasma in Tidwell’s reactor, a big step toward achieving fusion. Proud of the accomplishment, Ramey says, “We’re probably the only neighborhood in the world with two nuclear reactors.� Two hours pass and clouds roll across the sky dumping rain outside the garage door. There’s not a star in the sky, but one still burns brightly in Ramey’s garage until he clicks a few switches, turns a few knobs, and extinguishes his star-in-a-jar. Tonight he packs the reactor before driving to Nashville where he’ll speak at another convention—a trip he’s happy to make. “I can’t think of anything better than positively influencing someone else to do science.� After a thoughtful pause, he adds, “and hopefully contribute something to the world.� NCM

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Jack Jones hopes to ride in his own flying saucer one day By Alex McRae | Photos by Bob Fraley

22 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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s soon as a mysterious disc-shaped flying object fell from the skies over Roswell, New Mexico in 1947, flying saucers became a cottage industry, spawning countless movies, books, TV shows and not a few myths about little green men. UFOs are now a common topic of conversation. But Coweta’s Jack Jones doesn’t talk about flying saucers. He builds them. And with any luck, you may soon be riding in one. Jones says people are amazed that a man credited with creating a whole new category of aircraft studied art and music instead of aeronautics and engineering. But Jones believes he has a gift some scientists lack. “I’m a futuristic thinker,” he says. “I’ve always been able to see a little bit ahead.” Jones grew up in Enterprise, Alabama and loved to watch the planes and helicopters based at nearby Ft. Rucker. Once his father sprung for a telescope, Jones scoured the heavens for unseen planets, distant stars and maybe even UFOs piloted by little green men. “I loved watching the planets and stars,” Jones says, “but that telescope also taught me to use my imagination.” Jones headed to Auburn University to study pharmacy, but wound up with a degree in commercial illustration and design.

Jack Jones, above and opposite, has quite a few models of his Geobat flying saucer. At top is the extraterrestrial figure Jones keeps in the basement workshop where his original Geobats were designed and built. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 | 23

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Inventor Jack Jones of Newnan painted this artwork featured on the cover of the book Flying Saucer Technology by Bill Rose. Jones’ Geobat is also featured in the book.

After graduation, Jones and his brand-new bride, Karen Reavis, dashed off to Atlanta for jobs at a design firm whose corporate clients included Coca-Cola and Gallo Wines. In 1986 Jack and Karen moved 24 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

to north Coweta, glad to endure the daily commute to Atlanta in exchange for a more leisurely lifestyle … and one more rural amenity. “I wanted to be far enough from Atlanta to have a clear view of the stars without any light pollution

from the city,” Jones said. “We found it right here.” Jones promptly built an observatory on the property and equipped it with a nice telescope, then threw himself into making and flying radio-controlled model

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A LIVING LEGACY N

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airplanes. But Jones was never quite satisfied with conventional model aircraft. “I wanted to build a radiocontrolled flying saucer,� Jones says. “There weren’t any good plans out there so I decided to design my own.�

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“Behind my back they were saying, ‘Jack doesn’t know it, but that thing will never fly.’ I knew better.” —Jack Jones

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Jones began with circular cardboard cutouts he flew across the family room. Once he realized a ring-shaped design worked best, he got busy building a model. As Jones worked, friends came by to check his progress. “Behind my back they were saying, ‘Jack doesn’t know it, but that thing will never fly,’” Jones says. “I knew better.” In mid-1991, Jones finally finished a powered model of his ringshaped craft and to everyone’s amazement, the flying saucer soared through the skies like a dream.

Jones videotaped the first flight and had it documented by witnesses, then started building improved models of the aircraft he called the Geobat. “I just thought it was a nice toy,”

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he says. “I spent several years just playing with it and having fun.” In late 1997 someone suggested the military might be interested. Jones sent them some information and a flight demonstration videotape. It was the perfect bait. On April 26, 1998, three engineers from the Naval Research Lab came to Coweta County to see if Jones had really built a flying saucer. After watching the Geobat fly for only a few minutes the Navy team

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Inventor Jack Jones also has a degree in commercial illustration and design. His artwork graces the cover of the book Flying Saucer Technology. 28 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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ended the tests, convinced Jones’ demonstration video was not a hoax. They said it appeared he had created the first new aircraft design in 40 years. While the Navy continued to study his aircraft, Jones displayed the Geobat at air shows and hobby fairs and the Geobat team grew to include Mark Murdock and Randy Pollard, who had extensive experience in aircraft construction, flight operations and radiocontrolled flight. A 2007 feature segment on the Discovery Channel’s Australian edition made the Geobat a global phenomenon that led to over 650,00 viewings on YouTube and countless inquiries from interested investors. Business boomed and Jones and his partners are currently planning to construct a full-scale, 24-foot-diameter non-working model of a Geobat capable of carrying a pilot. “We figure once people see the full-scale model, things will really take off,” Jones says. He also believes that once the manned Geobat flies, the interest won’t be totally local. “I have a feeling once that thing starts flying, something will show up to eyeball it,” Jones says. Maybe something that looks like the extraterrestrial figure Jones keeps in the basement workshop where the original Geobats were designed and built. Today, the skies over Coweta County are crowded with commercial airliners. Jones hopes that one day his radical new ride will join the local air show. “My dream is to crawl inside a saucer aircraft and fly before I die,” he says. “Right now, I’m pretty hopeful it might happen.” NCM

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Robotics isn’t all about science By Kenneth R. Wilson | Photos by Bob Fraley t’s a chilly and drippy morning at the Central Educational Center (CEC) on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Newnan. Jesse Stearns stands beneath the glow of overhead fluorescent lights and 30 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

behind a wooden table, like those found in any high school biology or chemistry lab. But he’s not dissecting a frog, and the table isn’t covered in glass beakers. Instead, a fourwheeled robot sits on the table and plastic

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Jesse Stearns will compete in eight tournaments before the end of the school year. He and his teammates construct each robot to complete a specific task.

Jesse Stearns, at left, and teammate Justin Jennings are among the students on the CEC Robotics team.

bins filled with bolts, wires, rubber wheels, gears and batteries are stacked on the floor. The robot, with a badge identifying it as “95,” looks like it was built using an Erector Set, the timeless children’s construction toy. As Stearns thumbs a remote control, the robot clicks

and whines, making an awful, winceinducing sound. Stearns captains the TriBots, the CEC’s competitive robotics team. He and his teammates design, build and program robots using skills they learn in Scott Brown’s robotics classes. Many of JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 | 31

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Justin Jennings and Jesse Stearns work on programming a bot for competition.

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them want to make a career of this. Stearns already plans on studying robotics in college at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta when he graduates, but that’s months away. Right now, he’s thinking about tomorrow, when the TriBots travel to Gwinnett County with their four custom-designed robots to compete against 14 schools in a regional tournament. Stearns will compete in eight tournaments before the end of the school year. He and his teammates construct each robot to complete a specific task. At tomorrow’s competition the robots must pick up plastic balls and barrels, both slightly larger in diameter than a grapefruit, and deposit them into 30-inch-tall receptacles to score points. From beginning to end, Stearns flexes his creative, problem-solving and leadership muscles to get the job done. Until a few months ago, Stearns never thought of himself as a leader. “I’ve always been a follower,� he says. There weren’t many students with robotics experience when the school year began. So as a senior with two years of robotics training under his belt, it was up to Stearns to take the reigns. He says, “It was really hard for me at first.� Not only did he have to lead younger students, but he needed to recruit new ones. He spent three weeks going to other classes, getting other students interested. It paid off. Two freshmen and a sophomore joined the TriBots and built their own robot, known as 95S. Three of the four robots have a similar design, but 95S is different. Stearns says, “they’re going bold. I’m thinking they’re going to do the best at the competition.�

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Now accepting applications for the 2012-2013 academic year * Competitive athletics, AA division, GISA * Individualized college counseling program * Extended day services * Bus service to selected areas * Foreign language instruction K-12: French, Spanish, and Latin * Performing and visual arts programs * Classroom Smartboards and computer labs * 16 Advanced Placement courses offered

Call for a personal tour today! The Heritage School is an independent, college preparatory school serving students ages 3 through twelfth grade. We are dually accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS).

2093 Highway 29 North Newnan, Georgia 30263 770.253.9898 www.heritagehawks.org JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 | 33

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Justin Jennings, Jesse Stearns and the other members of the robotics team construct each robot to complete a specific task.

34 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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Stearns engineered the robot on the table, labeled 95, to work like a forklift. After it grabs a ball, a series of sprockets and chains extend sections of the lift into the air before plastic tracks, which look like they were found on a toy tank or bulldozer, eject the ball or barrel, hopefully into a receptacle. Unfortunately, Stearns has a problem. As the robot’s lift extends, there’s too much friction putting strain on the motors. He decides to lubricate the lift’s moving parts. Rules of the competition dictate that no aerosol greases like WD-40 can be used, but Stearns found an alternative lubricant at home. “It’s actually for foosball tables,� he says. He applies it, grabs the robot’s remote control again, and gives it a try. The motors still click and whine, and the lifting mechanism raises and lowers slowly. It should be faster, and it’s obvious the motors shouldn’t be making that grinding sound. “The motors are working against each other,� he says. They need reprogrammed. A few minutes later, Justin Jennings walks into the room. He’s holding a black notebook computer and sits down next to Stearns, connects computer and robot, and goes to work. He makes quick keystrokes across the laptop as Stearns troubleshoots a few different combinations between the four motors. After a few attempts, they find the right combination. Then Jennings moves to another table and begins working on another robot. In addition to programmers and designers, each robot also has a driver who controls the robot during the event. The driver uses a remote conveniently similar to an XBox controller to direct as many as 10 motors on a single robot. Stearns and the TriBots stay at school until almost 9 p.m. working on their robots. They arrive the next morning at 6 a.m. with rheumy eyes, lug their equipment onto the bus, and travel to Peachtree Ridge High School. At the event, 95 struggles in the qualifying rounds, but manages its way into the semi-finals before being eliminated. As Stearns predicted, the bot built and operated by the newbies racks up win after win before inexperience catches up to them. They’re knocked out in the quarter-finals but there will be more opportunities. Stearns acknowledges these competitions are a matter of trial and error, and problem-solving as the season progresses. And, he’s confident his team will get better over time. “It was more of a learning experience for all of the guys, and a great start to our season,� he says. NCM

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PLEASE CALL Coweta Medical Center at (770) 251-5597.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 | 35

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Robotics isn’t all about science By Kenneth R. Wilson | Photos by Bob Fraley t’s a chilly and drippy morning at the Central Educational Center (CEC) on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Newnan. Jesse Stearns stands beneath the glow of overhead fluorescent lights and 30 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

behind a wooden table, like those found in any high school biology or chemistry lab. But he’s not dissecting a frog, and the table isn’t covered in glass beakers. Instead, a fourwheeled robot sits on the table and plastic

NCOM_30-35

12/15/11

12:43 PM

Page 31

Jesse Stearns will compete in eight tournaments before the end of the school year. He and his teammates construct each robot to complete a specific task.

Jesse Stearns, at left, and teammate Justin Jennings are among the students on the CEC Robotics team.

bins filled with bolts, wires, rubber wheels, gears and batteries are stacked on the floor. The robot, with a badge identifying it as “95,” looks like it was built using an Erector Set, the timeless children’s construction toy. As Stearns thumbs a remote control, the robot clicks

and whines, making an awful, winceinducing sound. Stearns captains the TriBots, the CEC’s competitive robotics team. He and his teammates design, build and program robots using skills they learn in Scott Brown’s robotics classes. Many of JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 | 31

NCOM_30-35

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Page 32

Justin Jennings and Jesse Stearns work on programming a bot for competition.

32 |

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Page 33

them want to make a career of this. Stearns already plans on studying robotics in college at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta when he graduates, but that’s months away. Right now, he’s thinking about tomorrow, when the TriBots travel to Gwinnett County with their four custom-designed robots to compete against 14 schools in a regional tournament. Stearns will compete in eight tournaments before the end of the school year. He and his teammates construct each robot to complete a specific task. At tomorrow’s competition the robots must pick up plastic balls and barrels, both slightly larger in diameter than a grapefruit, and deposit them into 30-inch-tall receptacles to score points. From beginning to end, Stearns flexes his creative, problem-solving and leadership muscles to get the job done. Until a few months ago, Stearns never thought of himself as a leader. “I’ve always been a follower,� he says. There weren’t many students with robotics experience when the school year began. So as a senior with two years of robotics training under his belt, it was up to Stearns to take the reigns. He says, “It was really hard for me at first.� Not only did he have to lead younger students, but he needed to recruit new ones. He spent three weeks going to other classes, getting other students interested. It paid off. Two freshmen and a sophomore joined the TriBots and built their own robot, known as 95S. Three of the four robots have a similar design, but 95S is different. Stearns says, “they’re going bold. I’m thinking they’re going to do the best at the competition.�

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Now accepting applications for the 2012-2013 academic year * Competitive athletics, AA division, GISA * Individualized college counseling program * Extended day services * Bus service to selected areas * Foreign language instruction K-12: French, Spanish, and Latin * Performing and visual arts programs * Classroom Smartboards and computer labs * 16 Advanced Placement courses offered

Call for a personal tour today! The Heritage School is an independent, college preparatory school serving students ages 3 through twelfth grade. We are dually accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS).

2093 Highway 29 North Newnan, Georgia 30263 770.253.9898 www.heritagehawks.org JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 | 33

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Page 34

Justin Jennings and Jesse Stearns construct each robot to complete a specific task. This one is designed to work like a forklift.

34 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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Page 35

Stearns engineered the robot on the table, labeled 95, to work like a forklift. After it grabs a ball, a series of sprockets and chains extend sections of the lift into the air before plastic tracks, which look like they were found on a toy tank or bulldozer, eject the ball or barrel, hopefully into a receptacle. Unfortunately, Stearns has a problem. As the robot’s lift extends, there’s too much friction putting strain on the motors. He decides to lubricate the lift’s moving parts. Rules of the competition dictate that no aerosol greases like WD-40 can be used, but Stearns found an alternative lubricant at home. “It’s actually for foosball tables,� he says. He applies it, grabs the robot’s remote control again, and gives it a try. The motors still click and whine, and the lifting mechanism raises and lowers slowly. It should be faster, and it’s obvious the motors shouldn’t be making that grinding sound. “The motors are working against each other,� he says. They need reprogrammed. A few minutes later, Justin Jennings walks into the room. He’s holding a black notebook computer and sits down next to Stearns, connects computer and robot, and goes to work. He makes quick keystrokes across the laptop as Stearns troubleshoots a few different combinations between the four motors. After a few attempts, they find the right combination. Then Jennings moves to another table and begins working on another robot. In addition to programmers and designers, each robot also has a driver who controls the robot during the event. The driver uses a remote conveniently similar to an XBox controller to direct as many as 10 motors on a single robot. Stearns and the TriBots stay at school until almost 9 p.m. working on their robots. They arrive the next morning at 6 a.m. with rheumy eyes, lug their equipment onto the bus, and travel to Peachtree Ridge High School. At the event, 95 struggles in the qualifying rounds, but manages its way into the semi-finals before being eliminated. As Stearns predicted, the bot built and operated by the newbies racks up win after win before inexperience catches up to them. They’re knocked out in the quarter-finals but there will be more opportunities. Stearns acknowledges these competitions are a matter of trial and error, and problem-solving as the season progresses. And, he’s confident his team will get better over time. “It was more of a learning experience for all of the guys, and a great start to our season,� he says. NCM

COWETA MEDICAL CENTER N<@>?K CFJJ :<EK<I G_pj`Z`Xe Jlg\im`j\[

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*ACKSON 3TREET s .EWNAN 'EORGIA

(770) 251-5597 4HERE S GROWING SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE DOCUMENTING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN HEALTH AND NUTRITION EXERCISE MENTAL ATTITUDE RELAXATION AND OTHER LIFESTYLE HABITS &OR A LIFESTYLE THAT INVOLVES THESE RELATIONSHIPS CALL AND ENROLL IN A PROGRAM UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF A PHYSICIAN THAT WILL ENABLE YOU TO REACH AND MAINTAIN YOUR IDEAL BODY WEIGHT EXERCISE YOUR CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM AND HELP PREVENT SUCH DISEASES AS DIABETES HEART ATTACK STROKES HYPERTENSION AND CANCER Coweta Medical Center OFFERS A QUALITY WEIGHT REDUCTION PROGRAM THAT IS SUPERVISED BY F. Donald Bass, M.D.

FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION OR AN APPOINTMENT

PLEASE CALL Coweta Medical Center at (770) 251-5597.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 | 35

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Alexandra Gaffney and Tyla Ingram perform the "Sink or Float" experiment at a GYSTC science and technology fair.

Sara Folsom is joined by her dad Sam Folsom at a local science and technology fair sponsored by the Georgia Youth Science and Technology Center. 42 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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Local students learn about science and technology—and have fun doing it! Story and photos by Jeff Bishop cience and technology seem to be all the rage in schools these days. That’s a good thing, according to Debbie Stuckey, regional coordinator of the Georgia Youth Science and Technology Center (GYSTC), based in Grantville. She just wonders why it took everyone so long to come around.

“Here in Coweta County, we have the oldest GYSTC in the state,” Stuckey said. The center was founded in 1989 thanks to start-up funding by Georgia Power. “Our mission has always been to motivate students and teachers to become more involved in science and math technology.” A big way GYSTC does that is through the annual West Georgia Technology Fair, which is coming up on

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Student GYSTC volunteer Jessica Pfliger demonstrates kinetic energy through "Energy on the Move" to students at Thomas Crossroads Elementary School.

Northgate High student Jessi Westbrook helps students understand the science behind shadows with "Shadow Trackers." 44 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. The GYSTC also sponsors Family Science and Math Nights at schools throughout the year, as well as classroom presentations and teacher workshops. “We really like doing the teacher workshops, because we feel like we can really reach a lot of students by giving the teachers the tools they need,� said Stuckey. “That helps extend the reach of what we do here.� GYSTC is a non-profit educational organization designed to promote interest in and enthusiasm for science and technology. Teachers use GYSTC to learn hands-on activities to introduce students to science and technology in the classroom. Lessons include learning about the physical attributes of rocks, the parts of a plant, the relationships between the sun and the moon, the mysteries of microorganisms, and the power of kinetic energy. GYSTC’s newest tool will be a Digitalis Planetarium, which is expected to arrive any day now. “We’re really excited about that,� said Stuckey. “It’s always been the case before that if you wanted your students to visit the planetarium, you had to load them up on a bus and take them to Atlanta. Not anymore.� Now kids will be able to look at the stars at their own schools, since the planetarium is portable. “Now we can have it right here in Coweta County. And astronomy is something that everyone can appreciate,� she said. “Looking up at the stars is something everybody does.� Dr. Donald White, science content coordinator for the Coweta County School System, said that understanding science and technology requires students to employ their “higher-order thinking skills.�

University of West Georgia nursing student Suzanne H. Smith gives Thomas Crossroads Elementary student Sam Waldron a health check to demonstrate health technology at a recent GYSTC science fair.

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Monique McMahon and Michael McMahon assist with a static electricity demonstration for a Thomas Crossroads student at a GYSTC science and technology fair.

Femi Ogunbunmi and Erica Swansbrough enjoy the "Energy on the Move" kinetic energy demonstration presented by GYSTC at Thomas Crossroads Elementary.

Alexandra Gaffney and Tyla Ingram enjoy the GYSTC science and technology fair. 46 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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“I know kids are enjoying the content we provide, because they tell me so,� he said. One program he does involves dressing up as a “mad scientist,� he said. It’s become an instant hit. “I get it all the time. ‘You’re the mad scientist! You’re the mad scientist!’� he said. “Science is messy. Science is dirty. Kids love that. They love to do science and technology. We know they’re engaged, because you can always tell by how many kids take trips to the nurse. When we come in and do our programs, there are no trips to the nurse.�

“Science is messy. Science is dirty. Kids love that.� —Dr. Donald White Science Content Coordinator, Coweta County School System

Besides the West Georgia Technology Fair, other upcoming events include the Elementary Science Fair and a number of Science Day events. “We’ve got two of those coming up this month,� said Stuckey. She said the main lesson GYSTC wants to instill is that it’s important for kids not just to talk about science and technology but to, as White said, “get their hands dirty.� “We do it,� she said. “We’re cutting PVC pipe. We’re making rockets.� “It’s a lot of fun,� said White. “We want these kids to get excited about science. And we’ve developed a lot of activities to help them do just that.� NCM

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{Coweta Cooks }

Embrace

the

Slow Food

Movement

with Winter Short Ribs By Amelia Adams | Photos by Bob Fraley

ow many times have we pronounced, “If you can read, you can cook?” Nowadays, a more appropriate rejoinder might be, “If you can Google, you can cook.” Although quite a few of us find comfort in worn cookbooks or new hands-on reads, the digital world holds sway. Most of us find our world peopled by digital devices ... our stoves, microwaves, thermostats. One wall device cleverly stores or accesses recipes as well as serving as a weighing scale. A friend has a device which easily activates by her voice to record a store item, then prints the list for ease of shopping. Quite recently, a friend emailed me a mesmerizing video produced by Corning Glass Works. Most cooks

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Amidst this quickened pace has emerged a strong desire to retain that which is not instantaneous but life at a snail’s pace, which is the emblem of the Slow Food Movement. have that charming blue-flowered baking ware from our trousseau or handed down from our mamas. However, nowadays this vision of the future has nary an old faithful white dish in sight. The plot of the offering takes a new age couple from dawn to dusk in an ordinary day made easy with the company’s diverse glass offerings. Of course, Dad now mans the glass topped stove in preparing breakfast by merely rotating his finger to turn the dials. From drives to work to shopping to business meetings, everything is screen-on. Even the 50 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

day’s last image allows a mere touch of the finger to put the electronic world to sleep. Amidst this quickened pace has emerged a strong desire to retain that which is not instantaneous but life at a snail’s pace, which is the emblem of the Slow Food Movement. Begun in 1986 in Italy’s Piedmont region, Carlo Petrini did not wish merely a world of fast food to overcome the beauty of heritage dishes. Thus, in the midst of fast food and lifestyle is a counteractive movement, in the words of its manifesto to refuse to be “enslaved by speed.”

Often school children come home for lunch to insure healthful, seasonal offerings. On Dec. 10 the group supports Terra Madre Day worldwide in supporting small farmers, fishers, breeders and food artisans to share their products. Although I do not grow my own food, I am admiring of those who do. I buy seasonal items as much as possible, and I do seek to rely on my own kitchen for most all of my meals. This laboratory bids healthier eating as I control the elements. In my self-imposed frugality, nothing goes to waste; recycling creates

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interesting concoctions. One of my oldest friends in Monroe often jokes, “We know not from whence the original meal came.â€? One of my thrifty, slow-paced favorites numbers beef short ribs, preferably the boneless variety. The recipe is easily adjusted to suit a mood or preference. By changing the liquid, from beer to wine to stock, and varying the warm spices to simpler additions of just the basics, a new dish emerges. Served with rice, potatoes, noodles or grits, the entree is complete. Winter Short Ribs 3 pounds boneless beef short ribs 1 teaspoon each salt, freshly ground pepper, paprika Flour for dusting 2 tablespoons canola oil 1 large onion, chopped coarsely 6 cloves garlic or less, finely chopped 1 teaspoon brown sugar 1 tablespoon chipotle chili sauce 1 chopped chipotle chile (optional) 1 teaspoon dry mustard 1 cup beef broth 1 cup dark beer or broth 1/4 cup strongly brewed coffee 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 tablespoon lime juice at end of cooking Dust the ribs with seasonings and flour lightly. Brown the ribs on all sides in canola oil. Remove and sautĂŠ the onion until transparent, adding the garlic toward the end of the cooking. Add the rest of the ingredients slowly and carefully stir the bottom of the pan to release all the particles from the browning. Place in a 325 degree oven for 2-1/2 hours, checking several times to make sure the meat is covered with liquid. If it begins to dry add more broth or water. Finish the dish with the lime juice. Serve with chosen compliment and sprinkle with chopped parsley. The ribs are better the second day and freeze beautifully. While the digital world moves quickly with often the use of a single finger, ease of time advocate Carl Honore advises in his text, In Praise of Slowness: “The time has come to challenge our obsession with doing everything more quickly.â€? We might just put down our iPads and iPhones and head for the kitchen for a slow sautĂŠ. NCM

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{

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Local Heritage }

This image of the operators room at the great telegraph exchange in Paris originally appeared in Popular Science magazine in 1893.

Newnan and Senoia had telegraphy schools in early 1900s By W. Winston Skinner

roponents of technical education in schools in Coweta County once encouraged students from the local area—and across the nation—to study a trade and promised them financial success. While Coweta County has Central Educational Center and West Georgia Technical College today, the trends and promotion of technical education have changed little during the last century. In the early 1900s, telegraphy was the new wave that was creating opportunity. Telegraphy schools in both Newnan and Senoia attracted students. The Southern School of Telegraphy was located in the Reese 52 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

Opera House in downtown Newnan, now the home of Bank of Coweta. Senoia claimed the Georgia Telegraph and Railroad Business College. Both advertised widely and drew students from a broad geographical area. Telegraphy schools tended to bring students from elsewhere, who studied for a few months and then went to work far away. Mark Miner, who maintains a website on Marshall Ellsworth Rowan spent most of his life in Pennsylvania and worked 40 years as a telegrapher – using skills he learned in Newnan. —Courtesy Minerd.com Archives, www.minerd.com

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perhaps even until early in the World War II era. The brick building was constructed as an “opera house” for performances of various kinds. It is thought the third floor was added to serve the needs of the telegraphy school. It is not surprising that the Newnan institution would attract students from Pennsylvania and send them to work in Maryland. The April 1906 issue of Watson’s Magazine has an ad for the school. Though the magazine’s founder was Georgia politician Thomas Watson, the periodical was published in New York City. The advertisement proclaimed the school in Newnan as the only one “that has niain line Railroad wires.” These wires—used for telegraph lines—minimized electrostatic charges and thereby helped ensure accurate transmission of messages. The niain line wires were an inducement similar to today’s proclamations of the most up-to-date computers

This sign on the Bank of Coweta building in downtown Newnan gives evidence of its former role as the Reese Opera House—and the one-time home of the Southern School of Telegraphy, shown at back in inset photo.

the Miner/Minerd family, has written about Marshall Ellsworth Rowan, a relative who was a graduate of Southern School of Telegraphy. Ellsworth Rowan (1885-1953) was from Pennsylvania. Completing his high school education in 1903, Rowan came to Newnan in 1904 to study at Southern School of Telegraphy. “By the following June, he had completed his schooling and was working in South Cumberland, Maryland,” Miner wrote. Before 1905 ended, Rowan was back in his home state. He married in 1906, had four daughters and spent four decades as a telegraph operator—working for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. A telegraphy worksheet from his Newnan days has been passed down in his family. The telegraphy school in Newnan was begun in the early 1900s and operated for years,

This worksheet from the Southern School of Telegraphy was passed down in the family of student Ellsworth Rowan. —Courtesy Minerd.com Archives, www.minerd.com JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 | 53

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“Dots and Dashes” promoted the field of telegraphy as offering superior opportunities for farming, clerking or teaching school. The flier concluded farming “is poor business” and clerking was a job where “the pay is poor” and the worker “knows there is no promotion ahead.”

Watson's Magazine in April 1906 includes a page of advertisements for a tack puller, a handheld "adding machine," a hair remover, a face wash guaranteed to prevent wrinkles and an ad for Newnan's Southern School of Telegraphy.

54 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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or broadcast equipment or health care apparatus by schools offering training—and trying to attract students. The Georgia Telegraph School may not have had niain line wires, but it was a going concern with students, curriculum and a plan for attracting students. The March 1898 edition of “Dots and Dashes,� a flier created by the school, has been preserved in the University of Alabama Libraries. The four-page leaflet was sent to John Cocke, presumably a prospective student, who lived in Greensboro, Ala. The flier touted the school’s “equipment for teaching� as well as a “method of instruction� that was “far ahead of any so-called telegraph school anywhere.� There also was a sentence about Georgia Telegraph’s “facilities for placing our graduates.� “Dots and Dashes� promoted the field of telegraphy as offering superior opportunities for farming, clerking or teaching school. The flier concluded farming “is poor business� and clerking was a job where “the pay is poor� and the worker “knows there is no promotion ahead.� As for teaching, one of Georgia Telegraph’s selling points was that telegraphy was a year-round occupation. Unlike today, when teacher salaries are divided into 12 monthly payments, teachers in 1898 often received all their pay during the school term. The Senoia school probably was just getting started when a copy of “Dots and Dashes� was sent to John Cocke. The flier noted the school’s articles of incorporation had been granted at “the last term of Superior Court� and that the school had been chartered with $25,000 stock. The flier also indicated the institution was “the only Telegraph School in the South,� which likely means the Newnan school had not yet begun. From its early days, Georgia Telegraph welcomed both male and female students, though women were encouraged to study shorthand and typewriting because “railroads prefer to have males� as telegraphers. In 1898, for $100 a male student could get four months of schooling along with board and railroad fare from his home to Senoia. In the Senoia City Cemetery is the tombstone of Eugene Row, the Mississippi native who started Georgia Telegraph. He married into Coweta’s Linch family and died in 1903 while his school was still in operation. Technology and the jobs it creates are ever changing. Eugene Row’s tombstone and the Reese Opera House are reminders of the era when the telegraph was transforming America. NCM

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Get Fit! Two Cowetans share their fitness success stories By Elizabeth Melville | Photos by Bob Fraley ewnan’s Business Development Director, Hasco Craver, is an avid runner. And, somewhere along the open road over the past five years, Craver dropped 50 pounds. “Weight loss wasn’t really a motivator for running, it was a joyous byproduct of it,” admits Craver. Like many others, his motivation for running started with a girl. Craver met Rebecca—“the most beautiful girl on the planet”—at the University of Georgia in 2002 while he was a graduate student. Before Rebecca, Craver saw running as a chore.

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“It’s me against the road.” —Hasco Craver

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Rebecca, however, enjoyed running as part of an active lifestyle. “I thought, if I wanted to impress her, maybe I should, too,” said Craver. Craver started running to spend time with Rebecca, who is now his wife. He started small, first tackling a 1.5-mile loop in downtown Athens. He graduated to his first 5k road race and, before he knew it, was running 10-15 races a year. “It just kind of became a part of me,” he said. In the summer of 2010, at the suggestion of his wife, the two decided to train for and run a half marathon. Rebecca prefers communal running while Hasco enjoys running alone. “It’s me against the road,” he said. Craver enjoys running in an urban environment as a byproduct of growing up in Philadelphia. “Stop lights, cars, sidewalks, people, parks, houses, street signs, horns—they’re all comforting to me.” The Cravers ran their first half marathon, 13.1 miles, on Thanksgiving Day 2010. Hasco participated in his fourth half marathon this past Thanksgiving and set a personal record for time (1 hour 31 minutes). Craver took a laddered approach to training, constantly increasing his miles leading up to a race. Just before his second half marathon, Hasco was running about 40 miles per week, which breaks down to four “maintenance runs” during the week and a 12-mile, long run on Sundays. And, since races are rain or shine, his training is also rain or shine. “Running at that distance—at that level—I started to see real health benefits,” he said. During a race, Craver sets personal goals depending on the route

Runner Hasco Craver also serves as Newnan’s Business Development Director.

and distance. He studies the course extensively and breaks the race into different splits and sets time goals. “I set multiple goals during a race because I don’t want it to be all or nothing,” he said. “In my mind, it has to be fun.” Running now influences his eating habits. He eats a well balanced diet with more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. His snacks are frequent and healthy. “Running 40 miles a week, you have to replenish what you’re losing,” said Craver. “My wife jokes that the grocery bill increases 30-40 percent when I’m training for a race.” At this point in his life, Craver says he feels healthy, strong and confident about his aerobic abilities. “I’ve had such supportive people around me,” he said. Craver also stresses that he’s always “felt secure” being himself—whether 200 pounds or 160. “My weight is something I’ve had issues with,” he said. “But, I’ve never cried about it. I never felt fat— was never made to feel gross.” Even now, Craver doesn’t own a scale. “I’m not a scale guy.” Running will likely be part of Craver’s life going forward. Distance running is a time commitment,

though, and can be difficult with a 2year-old daughter and another child on the way. Craver justifies his pastime to himself because he knows he’s demonstrating a healthy lifestyle for his family. Running also continues to be something he shares with Rebecca. “Some people share a love of film or art or photography—our thing has always been running.” Craver has sound advice for others attempting to get healthy: “Don’t do it for the scale or the mirror or for a wedding or for anybody else. Do it because it is for you—and it’s not just for today, it’s for tomorrow. “Don’t forget to congratulate yourself every now and then,” he added. “You can enjoy weight loss while still giving yourself those treats that we all need.” Newnan’s Angie Lovell took a different road to fitness. Lovell is wife to Jeff, mother to toddlers Olivia and Isabel, and stepmother to Kyle, 15. She’s also the first to admit that she’s “kind of vain.” On Oct. 15, 2010, she found herself standing in front of a mirror staring at her post-baby body. “I said to myself, this is the best JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 | 57

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Angie Lovell says she has more energy now. She feels healthy and strong and she’s proud that she can keep up with daughters Isabel, at left, and Olivia.

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it’s ever going to be if something doesn’t change,” said Lovell. “I’ve either got to come to terms with that, or do something different.” But Lovell was exhausted. She had no time or energy left to exercise. She discovered a free, online resource—caloriecount.com—that allowed her to track her food intake by recording it in an online database. The Web site has inspirational weight loss stories, recipes and the ability to analyze the healthiness of your meal plan. Lovell was instantly hooked. “I didn’t have room in my life for anything else,” she said. “I understood that weight loss is simply expending more than you take in. I didn’t have anything else to expend, so I decided to control what I was taking in.” Lovell purchased a scale and got to work. By Dec. 15, 2010, she’d already lost about 20 pounds through diet alone. Six months later, she’d lost a total of 25 pounds—and she’s kept it off. Lovell is content with how she looks in a mirror now. At the sixmonth mark, she stopped tracking her food consumption. “I don’t think you can track calories forever,” she said. Lovell used the site as a learning tool to better understand what she was eating in hopes of making nutrition a life-long commitment. Lovell’s family now eats a lot of “whole foods.” She eats nothing processed. “If it has more than five ingredients, I don’t eat it.” If an ingredient sounds like a chemical, she doesn’t buy it for her family. She also limits the amount of meat in her diet. “I eat a lot of vegetables and fruits and try to fill up on that,” she said. She’s also a fan of peanut butter. Lovell has since taken her fitness to another level. Inspired by the weight loss of her sister, who is now a

A double stroller for Isabel and Olivia helps mom Angie Lovell keep personal fitness a priority.

runner, Lovell started exercising. She tries to run about four times a week either on a treadmill at the house while her children are napping, or by taking her girls outside for a run in the double stroller. To mark the anniversary of her decision to get fit, Lovell ran her first 15k road race—9.6 miles—on Oct. 15, 2011. “I’m a runner now, and I love it,” said Lovell. “Running is an opportunity for me to disconnect. It gives me something I’m in charge of for me.” Lovell says she has more energy now. She feels healthy and strong and

she’s proud that she can keep up with her active children. Her daughters now attend gymnastics once a week. Playtime is very much encouraged at the Lovell household. “I’m trying to teach the same things to my kids,” said Lovell. “I’m a big fan of running around the house. I want them to be mobile and active.” As icing on the cake, Lovell says being active has given her a newfound sense of community—and she encourages others to take advantage of the resources out there to find their own inspiration. “You have to remember that you’re not doing it alone.” NCM JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 | 59

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Personal trainer Beth Pike suggests setting small goals which can be reached over time.

Tips from a Fitness Expert By Elizabeth Melville | Photos by Bob Fraley eth Pike, owner of Revive Fitness and a personal trainer at Atlanta Fitness, has helped many clients turn their New Year’s resolutions into weight loss realities. Pike offers professional advice to others hoping to get fit this New Year. • “I tell my clients that it is a lifestyle change, and it starts with your mindset,” said Pike. “Before you get in the gym, you have to start training your mind.” A person must immediately recognize any negative, self-defeating thoughts—i.e. “my thighs are too big”—and turn them into what Pike calls “positive aggression.” • Once you’ve changed your mind, it’s time to change your 60 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

pantry. A healthy lifestyle starts at home. That means junk food should gradually be replaced with nutritious options. “A diet and your diet are two different things,” Pike said. “Beware the fad diet. It will only take you so far. Your diet involves a lifestyle change—and it involves basic science.” All foods should be eaten in moderation, including fats and carbohydrates (opt for whole grains and unsaturated fats). Monitor the calories you consume. “It’s okay to reward yourself with a hot fudge sundae once in a while,” Pike stressed. “Unless your diet is sustainable, don’t do it, it’s not realistic.” • When setting fitness goals, “do not overwhelm yourself,” Pike

cautions. “Don’t set huge, unattainable goals, and don’t change everything at once.” If your ultimate goal is to lose 60 pounds, set small weight loss goals over time. If you indulge in soft drinks, give yourself a period of two months to reduce or eliminate your intake. “Aim to get on track within 2-3 months,” said Pike. “It takes 21 days to make something a habit.” • Pike believes it’s the little things that can help motivate a person to stay on target. “Don’t feel silly putting an inspirational quote on the mirror,” she said. Music can also be a motivator, according to Pike. Make song play lists that you’ll look forward to hearing during a workout. Also, accountability partners can keep each other on track when the going gets tough. • While you’re getting fit, Pike urges you to “put your scale in your closet” and don’t weigh more than once a month. “Pay more attention to how your body feels and how clothes fit,” she said. “Weight redistributes before you lose a pound.” It’s important to also remember that fat weighs less than muscle, according to Pike. • While everyone can benefit from cardiovascular activity, weightbearing exercises ultimately help a person drop pounds faster. “Building lean muscle mass has the greatest effect on body fat,” said Pike. With a lot of determination and a little time, you can get and stay fit this year. “Be hard on yourself in the right ways,” said Pike. “It’s okay to ask yourself, ‘Do I want pizza, or to see my abs?’” But always be reasonable with your expectations. “You can fight genetics, but you can’t change them.” NCM

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Mark Fuller

Born to play the Gospel way By Cathy Lee Phillips | Photos courtesy of Mark Fuller

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he distance between the old Newnan Hospital and downtown Newnan can be measured in less than a mile. For Mark Fuller, born in the old Newnan Hospital, the distance to playing piano for churches around the Newnan area has to be measured in years. Born Feb. 24, 1961, Mark entered a Newnan very different from the one where traffic lights pack Bullsboro Drive, Ashley Park offers everything from food to frocks to frozen yogurt, and subdivisions now occupy once peaceful forests and pastures. When Mark left Newnan Hospital, Kessler’s occupied the building where Golden’s serves lunch, the Alamo was the only movie theater around, and the Newnan Seed Store sold pastel-dyed chicks every Easter. This was long before Newnan churches discussed traditional vs. contemporary worship services. The time was the early 1960s and Southern Gospel was the music of the day. Mark’s favorite place on Sunday morning was in his wooden rocker parked in front of the black and white TV. It was tuned to Channel 5, Atlanta’s WAGA-TV, for the LeFevre Gospel Hour. The harmonies of the

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Mark Fuller had admired gospel music legend Eva Mae LeFevre for years before he got the opportunity to serve as her pianist.

group were beautiful. But what captivated Mark was the woman everyone recognized as leader of the group, Eva Mae LeFevre. Her energetic pounding of all 88 keys on the piano captivated four-year-old Mark. He rocked to the rhythm of the LeFevres on Sunday morning. On Sunday afternoons he returned to his chair for the WNEA Gospel Quartet Hour, broadcast weekly from Newnan, Ga. He seemed to come by his love of Gospel music genetically because his mother frequented AllNight Singings that were popular at the time. Some singings were held in Newnan at what Mark remembers as the Co-Op. According to his mother, whenever Mark heard Gospel music, Mark took to his chair. He once rocked with such gusto he rubbed a blister on his back. It never had time to heal because Mark irritated it each Sunday when he resumed his musical routine. “When I grow up, I am going to play piano just like Eva Mae LeFevre,” Mark shared with his mother. She somehow believed he would and vowed to buy a piano for her son. This seemed an impossible purchase for parents who worked in the Hogansville cotton mills. They found a used upright piano when Mark was seven years old. He was playing for church by the time he was 13. He took piano lessons in LaGrange, but couldn’t forget Eva Mae’s music. He spent hours at the upright trying to copy and perfect her style. If you hear Mark play now,

Mark Fuller’s parents found a used upright piano when he was 7, and he was playing for church by the time he was 13. 64 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

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you will know he succeeded. Today Mark is an occasional performer with the Bill Gaither Homecoming Concerts. When asked by Gaither to perform in the signature Eva Mae style, audiences cheer and applaud with delight. Following high school graduation, Mark moved to Atlanta where he was introduced to Eva Mae through a mutual friend. They became friends and Mark became her full-time pianist when Eva Mae, by then, had been christened The First Lady of Gospel Music and inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Eva Mae LeFevre passed away in May 2009 at the age of 91, but audiences today are treated to the brand of music she created thanks to the talent of Mark Fuller. Mark is more than just a mirror-reflection of a Gospel

Newnan native Mark Fuller will be in concert at Line Creek Baptist Church in Sharpsburg on Jan. 29.

legend. He has five CDs to his credit with more on the way. With a rich baritone voice, Mark sings more often in his concerts. He asks his audiences to sing along with the old hymns that wrap around them like warm, wonderful memories. Today he performs for church events, revivals and senior citizen luncheons. He also entertains for community, corporate or private events. Audiences feel as though they have been invited to gather around the piano and enjoy good music with old friends. In addition to performing, Mark works fulltime as an IT professional in Atlanta and is pianist for Central Baptist Church in Marietta. Somehow he still finds time to practice and spend time in the recording studio. Mark’s early memories of Newnan include visits to the Dairy Bar, Tastee Freez and Dairy Queen. He must have loved ice cream as much as Gospel music! As a child, he saw Dr. Howard Glover when he was ill and had his adenoids removed at the new Newnan Hospital. He enjoyed fried chicken at Wishbone, shopped at Gibson’s, and visited his grandmother in Beaulieu Nursing Home. More recent memories of Newnan involve playing for a variety of churches, including multiple engagements at Newnan First Baptist Church and Bethlehem Baptist Church. Cowetans can enjoy his music again on Jan. 29, 2012 at Line Creek Baptist Church in Sharpsburg. For more information, visit Mark’s website at MarkFullerMusic.com. NCM

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{ TheThoughtful Gardener }

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Story and photos by Katherine McCall

eandering down the trail of the years, I pause at certain places—some poignant and worth lingering over like good conversation and wine; others bare-faced and ugly so I hurry by. A few of the pauses that cause me to linger are a childhood happily running barefoot through the sandy roads of South Georgia and memorable teenage years wheeling my parents’ Grand Safari around the courthouse in downtown Newnan. Then, there were certain things we always came into town for— books from Mrs. Jonesy at the Carnegie Library, a Cherry Coke at Lee King’s counter, Levi’s from Mansour’s, and a Mother’s Day corsage from Murphy’s. It was a red rose if your mother was living and a white if she had passed. A simple declaration of love, honor and remembrance that proudly graced many lapels and dresses on Sunday morning.

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Flowers have been wrought with symbolism and meaning since humans have inhabited the earth. Throughout history, many cultures have assigned meanings to certain flowers and plants. Since the Victorian era there has been an actual language of flowers through which friends and lovers could send specific and secret messages. According to Geraldine Adamich Laufer in her book Tussie-Mussies, floral communication got its beginning from two separate traditions and cultures. The first was the western tradition of floral symbolism handed down from Greek and Roman myths, Christianity and medicine. The second originated from the Turks. In 68 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

the early 1700s the intrepid Lady Mary Wortley Montagu accompanied her husband, the English ambassador,

to Constantinople. While there, she wrote of the customs and culture including the Turkish language of objects, the Selam. Her letters were published and sparked an interest in floral expression which would reach its height in the Victorian era. Numerous books began to be published on the grammar of this language in the late 1800s. Fashionable ladies and gentlemen became conversant in a way that could beautifully and artfully convey secret and meaningful messages to the object of their affection. The tussie-mussie was the vehicle of this floral language. It was a nosegay that held small sprays of certain flowers, herbs, berries and leaves to convey

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special messages with each plant representative of a single sentiment. In Garden Flower Folklore, Laura C. Martin gives an extensive list of flowers and their meanings. She states, “Tussie-mussies made marvelous gifts then, and they still do. They are easy to make and, accompanied by a card explaining the meanings of the flowers used, make a uniquely personal present.” Geraldine Adamich Laufer’s book Tussie-Mussies provides a wonderful resource for a variety of bouquets for holidays, special remembrances, congratulations and celebrations. Her book also includes an index arranged by sentiment and by flower. Laufer states, “Relatively inexpensive, ephemeral yet beautiful, the gift of flowers is understood to be an exclamation point in a relationship; a congratulations; amends for an

argument; a welcome; a get well note; a general expression of love.” An example of a special tussiemussie Laufer would assemble is one to celebrate and commemorate an engagement: Sweetheart rose: grace, beauty, love Azalea: love, romance Statice: never ceasing remembrance Mint: warmth of feeling Ivy: constancy, friendship Verbena: marriage, faithfulness Rue: grace, clear vision, virtue Scented geranium: preference, conjugal affection As I retrace my steps on my winding path of memories, I can’t help but wonder how many messages and opportunities I missed because of ignorance of the language of flowers. Likewise, in thinking back over

literature, music and art I have encountered, how many meanings and symbols I have nonchalantly passed over. For example, certainly when Mrs. Dubose sent her prized Snow-on-the-Mountain, carefully nestled in the candy box, to Jem in To Kill a Mockingbird, she knew that a camellia meant ‘perfected loveliness’ and ‘contentment.’ After assembling a tussie-mussie to celebrate my sister-in-law’s engagement, I realized the truth of Mrs. Laufer’s statement. It really was an exclamation point to commemorate and revel in the happiness of her and her fiancé. A beautiful note to mark a beautiful occasion. Now I am noticing new opportunities every day to share a special note of celebration, encouragement or beauty with someone. NCM

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A Small List of Floral Meanings (Compiled from Tussie-Mussies and Garden Flower Folklore)

For a step-by-step lesson in how to make a tussie-mussie, visit newnancowetamag.com.

70 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

Alcea, Hollyhock: ambition, fecundity Amaryllis: pride Anemone, Windflower: forsaken Antirrhinum, Snapdragon: presumption Aquilegia, Columbine: folly Aster, Michaelmas daisy: afterthought Begonia: Beware! I am fanciful Bellis perennis, English daisy: innocence Campanula, Bellflower: constancy Cheiranthus, wallflower: fidelity in adversity Chrysanthemum: white-truth, red-I love, yellow-slighted love Cistus, Rock rose: popular favor Clematis: mental beauty Cockscomb: affectation Coreopsis: always cheerful Convallaria, Lily of the Valley: return of happiness Crocus: abuse not Cyclamen: diffidence Dahlia: instability Dianthus, Pink: boldness Dianthus barbatus, Sweet William: gallantry Dianthus caryophyllus, Carnation: woman’s love Fuchsia: taste Galanthus, Snowdrop: hope Geranium, Cranesbill: steadfast piety Gladiolus: you pierce my heart Hedera, Ivy: fidelity, marriage Helianthus, Sunflower: haughtiness Heliotrope: devotion Hibiscus: delicate beauty Hyacinth: sport, game, play Hyacinthoides, Bluebell: constancy Impatiens: refusal and severed ties Iris: message

Jasminum, Jasmine: amiability Lathyrus odoratus, Sweet Pea: delicate pleasures Lilium, White Lily: purity, sweetness Lilium, Field lily: humility Lonicera, honeysuckle: generous and devoted affection Magnolia: love of nature Myosotis, Forget-me-not: true love Narcissus, Daffodil: regard Nasturtium: conquest and victory in battle Orchis, Orchid: a belle Paeonia, Peony: shame, bashfulness Pansy: thoughtful recollection Papaver, Scarlet Poppy: fantastic extravagance Papaver, White Poppy: sleep, my bane, my antidote Passiflora, Passion Flower: religious superstition Phlox: sweet dreams and proposal of love Primula vulgaris, Primrose: early youth Ranunculus, Buttercup: ingratitude, childishness Rosa, Rose: Thy smile I aspire to Rosa eglanteria, Sweet Briar: I wound to heal Sedum: lover’s wreath Solidago, Golden Rod: precaution Syringa, Lilac: humility Tulipa, Variegated Tulip: beautiful eyes Tulipa, tulip: fame Verbena: may you get your wish Viola, Violet: watchfulness Vinca White, Periwinkle: pleasures of memory Yarrow: disputes and quarrels Zinnia: thoughts of absent friends

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{ Tina’s Tips} Cyndi Winslett enjoys documenting her family’s life through scrapbooking. She has a well-organized craft room in her basement where machinery, embellishments and tools, below, all have their own spot.

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By Tina Neely | Photos by Bob Fraley t’s January. A new year, a fresh start. The hustle and bustle of the Christmas season is behind us, the parties are over, the decorations are put away and the kids are back in school. Now what? Use that extra time and energy to do something fun, something creative and get organized. I know a lot of you are like me: you’re crafty, you’re creative and you’re a mess! Now, with the social calendar and the house empty, sit down and get it all together. Whether it’s a closet or an entire room dedicated to your pastime, there are lots of ways you can make it organized and inspiring at the same time!

Two of my friends, Susan Hester and Cyndi Winslett, have rooms in their basement dedicated to their love of their craft. For Cyndi it’s scrapbooking, and for Susan it’s art. Cyndi has been scrapbooking for almost 16 years. With more than 18 albums documenting family time, Christmas and school, she’s a scrapbooking expert. Although she doesn’t get to do it as often as she likes, she scrapbooks at least every couple of weeks to keep up to date as much as possible. Cyndi has lots of great supplies and a great space to boot. Her basement room is organized to a “T” with everything she needs. She has furniture ordered from scrapbook magazines that’s made specifically for scrapbooking. The 12 x 12 drawers are the JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 | 73

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Small storage boxes and storage boxes with drawers are her major organizational tool. Before she organized her crafts, she researched other scrapbook rooms online and in magazines. “There are lots of great ideas out there if you’ll just look online,” she says. Occasionally she reorganizes everything and purges what she doesn’t need any more. What a great way to be creative, organized and make wonderful treasures while recalling great family memories!

perfect size for album paper. She uses slat wall on the room’s walls and also on the inside of cabinet doors which allows her to put in pegs, boxes, hooks and racks to organize and sort supplies— scissors, markers, stickers, you name it. Small storage boxes and storage boxes with drawers are her major organizational tool. These help her sort precut letters, stickers and other embellishments. Turntables of scissors and colored pens keep essentials organized and right at hand when she needs them. Cyndi even keeps her pictures organized. How? She prints them right after the event (Christmas, a birthday party or ball game) and tucks them into the appropriate slots labeled by month in photo boxes labeled by year and stacked in the closet so she doesn’t get behind. 74 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

Cyndi Winslett keeps up to date with her family photos by printing them out right after each event.

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WALK INTO SUSAN HESTER’S art room and you’re struck by what a fun, festive place it is. This basement room oozes creativity from every nook and cranny. Her room was created to give her a place to do her artwork and also to have a fun place to teach art to students. Everything is made to be kid friendly and easy to reach for little hands. A preschool teacher and private art lesson teacher, Susan likes to teach children the basic elements of art—but to her and the children the most important part is the experience. They experience using all different types of techniques and media to help build confidence in creating great art. The room is creatively organized. Walls of shelves are key, with containers and boxes to store supplies. Paints sorted by color and all other sorts of media—students painted with shaving cream and glue recently—are stored there. To hide what might look like clutter to some,

and to give the room vibrant color, shelves are covered by bright, fun curtains. Frames of cork board hang on the wall as well as lots of artwork for visual interest and inspiration. Buckets on racks are filled with paint brushes, pencils, and all the essentials to create the masterpieces. One of Susan’s favorite pieces in the room, a chest of drawers painted to match the décor, holds children’s artwork. Each class has a different drawer, so they know where to put their work if they don’t finish and can go straight to their drawer to retrieve it the next week. She created this room by finding and saving idea photos, furniture and storage containers. She added hardwood floors and went from there. It’s now a beautiful place, and her number one rule for the entire room: it’s all washable— because in her art room you’re allowed to get messy. NCM

Rachel Douglas, Hannah Smith and Lindy Scarborough enjoy an art lesson with Susan Hester. Hester’s colorful basement art room is well-organized, and her shelving, below, is covered by bright, fun curtains.

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Susan Hester’s art room is colorful and attractive, and it is also designed with the needs of creative youngsters in mind.

Craft Room Organization Tips 1. Hang up the art and crafty stuff you’ve been working on instead of tucking it away somewhere for display later. It can be a great way to add visual interest to your room.

3. Put up a wall of peg board or slat board to hang buckets, racks, shelves and rods for easy and changeable organization. 76 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

2. Get a freestanding paper towel holder and place rolls of ribbon on it.

4. Gather mason jars or various clear glass jars to store odds and ends.

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Wednesday’ a s fire at a vacant home on East Hill Street is being investigated as possible arson. It is the sixth fire that has occurred in vacant homes on and around that street since November 2008, according to Coweta County Fire Department Assistant Chief Mitch Coggin. The fire occurred Wednesda W y afternoon at 34 East Hill Street. Firefighters arrived within minutes to f find the approximately 950-square-foot f home fully involved in flames. The structure — which belonged to W Woody W Wood — was deemed a total loss. On Thursday, Coggin said the incident is being investigated as “an intentionally l set fire.� “There was no electrical power or gas service connected to the structure,� said Coggin. The string of suspected arson fires began on April 8, 2008, with a fire at 25 East Hill Street. The subsequent fires occurred: Aug. 6, 2008, at 23 East Hill Street; Nov. 20, 2008, at 33 East Hill Street; and July 4, 2009, at 2 East Murphy Street — located in close proximity to East Hill. The home at 25 East Hill Street was targeted a second time on June 28, 2010, according to Coggin. Anyone who may have seen any suspicious activi ty at or near 34 East Hill Street on Wednesda W y is

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Newnan Fire Department personnel work to put out hot spots following a house fire on First Street in Newnan Thursday morning.

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The cause off a fir f e Thursday morning that heavily damaged a home on First Street near downtown Newnan remains under investigation. The fire occurred at 12 First Street around 8:40 a.m., according to Newnan Fire Marshal Ricky Ayers. The property was a rental home belonging to Bobby Orr. r The renters were reportedly not at home when the fire started. The fire erupted in an upstairs bedroom, according to Ayers. Newnan Fire Department Station One on Jefferson f Street and Station Three on Temple T Avenue responded to the scene. Firefighters confined f the flames to the upstairs. The department remained on the scene for about an hour and a half, according to Ayers. No one was injured in the fire, but Ayers esti mates that more than half the home was dam aged or destroyed. He estimated the damages between $50,000 and $65,000.

There will be alcohol served at one upcoming wedding reception at the Moreland Mill, but it is not clear whether there will ever be another champagne toast in the historic building. The Moreland Town Council has been discussing ways to ramp up use of the mill’s meet ing room, but 2010 is drawing to a close with no resolution off the alcohol issue. “It seems like the more we Moreland Mayor Josh Evans, left, and City Attorney Mark Mitchell listen to discussion about possibilities for the historic talk about it, the more ques- Moreland Mill during a December meeting of city leaders. tions we have,� Mayor Josh Evans reflected recently. l There has been much discussion in recent months about whether or not to allow alcohol w to be served at the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. R The town has offe f red a room in the former f textile mill as a R of Historic Sales Tax dollars to do the work and on the National Register By W. WINSTON SKINNER leased meeting space for f years. seek a grant that could pay a back the Places, began as a drygoods store winston@newnan.com Some council members have funds Evans said a Rural Business d d th suggested ll i h

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As Georgians prepare for f New Year Y ’s Eve, experts urge consumers to consider safety f as they ring in 2011 and bid ffarewell to 2010. Nationally, fir f eworks consumption increased 635 percent between 1976 and 2008, while fire works-related injuries decreased dramatically from 38.3 injuries to 3.3 injuries per 100,000 pounds off fireworks during that same time period, according to the most recent data available from the American Pyrotechnics Association. John Conkling, a spokesman for f the American Pyrotechnics Association, attributes the steep decline in injuries over the years to the fire works industry’s consumer safety and education initiativ i es during the last three decades. “Fireworks can provide hours off wholesome, f famil y entertainment, but they must be used by adults carefully and safely,� said Newnan Fire Marshal Ricky Aye A rs. Ayers warned adults against allowing children to handle any type off fireworks. Also, alcohol and fireworks do not mix. Despite the decline in fireworks-related injuries, consumers should resolve to use only devices permitted by state law while adhering to safety warnings and instructions that appear on product packaging. In Georgia, no one younger than 18 can purchase ffireworks. Off ffi i l rn consumers to take precautions.

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utions to for their the Richar d the arts at Vision ary Brooks Distin ction Award s of Thursday progra mf night. The Centre and Visual for Perform Arts and ing Patrons of the Centre the nized humori recogand author st, column Lewis Grizzarist, author d; Barnes, Marga ret Anne who in Cowet wrote “Murde r recent ly a County �; and retired County Cowet s during his stop Schools Superi ntende nt a with Mckenz Blake Bass. off Dr. Marc ie Comer Guy and at Madras Cowet a former Educat County Board ion membe off Sumner introduced r Mike only living Bass, the “Look at award recipient. this facilit f at the progre y. Look the activitie ss. Look at all k off place here,� s that have taken Many of said Guy. those things the most made possibl were ng? Was e by having man like Blake it a Coweta Bass, recentl ney? Tim helm, said Blake Bass at the school County superinty retired Guy. ackson? “Mr. Bass Or s, endent of t right here leaders was honore d supporter has been a hip and of the arts,� big arts. le School, suppor t for his Guy. of the said on?� said Sumne r said that turbul ent Sumne after a few years d Jackson though r said “flood waters the artist he may notthat even andreau’s recede � began to tion himself, Bass be a great Schools in Coweta County to the local contrib when Bass tor told arts cannot uhelm in took the called into questio 2004. be our cann. “I don’t “Conf even know carry e what restored idence w I was doubt a tune,� said if he can ,� Sumner this.’ He are all for said. “We if he knows Sumner. “I f ever W from a bass e?’ And a treble Bass’ leadersgrateful.� clef clef, or from a Monet. hip style been to d him, a Picassof But I do carry a “speak softly, has what he’s rt off a know and here big stick,� done quipped in Coweta for the arts Sumne r . County.� As Bass akings He said he admire he said he accepted the straigh tforw song, d Bass award, f ard approa credit thandeserved a bit and the more instille d conf idence ch, ing to give. Sumner was willomehe “Mike sells worked in everyo ne who has with me said, him. said he short,� launching Sumne the rememb into a soliloquhe ered a num-r from William ber of And times he Shakes peare’sy “Hamlet.� phone calls receiv ed rite “I learne ing “alarmi from Bass, relatd that Parrott’s “desperate ng news� of some in situation.� School,� class at Newnan Mrs. “Th act play he said. “I was in High oneI

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portt il 15 hingto n-bas ct Judge ed Senio r U.S. Thom Camp as Hoga had and denig“disgraced n his rated diciary the f y� action Hogan also feds had etter onto “chise said led a his forehe est of his life. ad f � ition to enten prison time, ced year on Camp to probatio his prison 0 hours sentence,n ce, pay off commu unde rgoa fine off regul w while he contin ar eatme nt progr ues s ago. am ncing Courtroom ichard J. Russe ll

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2011 First Place Winner

Inside a Sunflower by Oliver Albrecht

Announcing our Second Annual Photo Contest If you're like most of us, you spent part of your holidays looking at pictures taken over the past year and resolving to organize them better. We'd like to help! Instead of merely organizing your old

78 | NEWNAN – COWETA MAGAZINE

photos, how about entering one of them in our Newnan-Coweta Magazine Photo Contest? Winners will receive a cash prize ($100 for first place, $50 second, $25 third) and publication in the March/April 2012 issue of the magazine.

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Other winning entries in last year’s photo contest included, clockwise from top left, Asheville’s Black Balsam Bald by Kevin Smith; Flower & Bee by Dave Sodko; Cowboy Cousins by Shana M. Cooper; and Humming In by Marie Umbach.

2012 Photo Contest Rules • Each entry must be taken by a current Coweta County resident who is not a professional photographer, defined as someone who makes more than half their income by taking photos. The person entering the contest must have personally taken the photo and cannot submit a photo someone else has taken. All ages are welcome to enter. (Employees of The Times-Herald and NewnanCoweta Magazine and their immediate family members, as well as freelancers who have worked for either publication, are not eligible.) • Each person may submit one photo on any subject of their choosing. People, pets, landscapes and vacation spots are all ideal subjects for photos.

Please include the title of your image. • Photos may be submitted by several methods. High-quality print copies or images on CD may be mailed to “Photo Contest, c/o Newnan-Coweta Magazine, P.O. Box 1052, Newnan, GA 30264” or delivered to our offices at 16 Jefferson St. in downtown Newnan. High resolution images may also be e-mailed to ncmagnews@newnan.com. All should be identified as entries for the Newnan-Coweta Magazine Photo Contest and include the photographer’s name, address, phone number and/or e-mail address. Photographs will not be returned. • Entries must be received at our offices by 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. NCM

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Bookshelf }

Coming Up for Air By Patti Callahan Henry St. Martin’s Press, $24.99 Reviewed by Holly Jones Lillian “Ellie” Calvin is having an amazing night. To celebrate her 48th birthday, she is finally having an art show, “a ten-year culmination of (her) work.” Her family and friends are there and it’s one of the few times Ellie has ever felt her mother Lillian is proud of her. The next morning Ellie receives a phone call that Lillian is dead. These are just the first 14 pages of Patti Callahan Henry’s novel Coming Up for Air. Lillian’s funeral and Ellie’s show start the novel, but they are also the beginning of the kaleidoscope Ellie’s life is about to become. She isn’t complaining. Except for painting, the last few years of Ellie’s life have been colorless. Her daughter is away at college; Ellie and Lillian have never been close; and Ellie’s marriage is an endless routine— everything looks pleasing on the outside, like one of Ellie’s floral paintings, but emotionally Ellie feels like a blank canvas. During the show Ellie learns the real

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reason for her mother’s sudden support. Lillian is to be honored as part of an Atlanta History Center exhibit. And, Lillian nonchalantly mentions, Ellie’s college ex-boyfriend Hutch O’Brien will be interviewing the honorees. After Lillian’s death, Hutch asks Ellie for information on Lillian’s tribute. Ellie agrees to meet, but she’s amazed to learn her mother isn’t being honored for philanthropy but for her work within the civil rights movement. No one in Ellie’s family seems to know about Lillian’s involvement with civil rights— or they simply refuse to discuss it. Ellie also finds her mother’s journal. While reading it, Ellie notices her mother wrote in the leather-bound book only on New Year’s Eve of each year, beginning when Lillian was 12 years old and continuing until her death. Most of the journal contains plans for that year, which Ellie notices are more like to-do lists than hopes or dreams. Ellie knew her mother had a controlling side, but there are a few years when Lillian’s aspirations are about more than social climbing. During these entries Lillian writes about a mysterious Him—the love of her life. While investigating her mother’s past, Ellie discovers things are not always as black and white as they appear on a page, even a handwritten diary page. It takes reading about her mother’s mistakes to help Ellie realize her own regrets, and to discover how she can paint a brighter future for herself.

Yankee Doodle Dixie By Lisa Patton Thomas Dunne Books, $24.99 Reviewed by Holly Jones “Who says you can’t go home? There’s only one place they call me one of their own.” Leelee Satterfield—like Bon Jovi— knows where home is; she can’t wait to go back. Fans of Lisa Patton’s Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter will remember in her debut novel Leelee followed her husband to rural Vermont to help him pursue his dreams of owning an inn. When Leelee’s husband decided to pursue a ski instructor instead, Leelee was left alone with her

two daughters and a business being undermined by its previous owners and a particularly nasty New England winter. In Patton’s latest novel, Yankee Doodle Dixie, Leelee is recently divorced, has sold the inn, and is moving home to Memphis as quickly as speed limits allow. The problem is what to do when she gets home. LeeLee knows her friends will accept her back into their lives, but what will other people say? When Leelee left Memphis she had the perfect cheerleader-marries-quarterback, picket fence life. Being fodder for gossips isn’t exactly in the coming-home plan. Finding a new home and a job are high priorities. Leelee and her girls find a rental home with a next door neighbor who has cornered the market on athome sales but has no sense of personal boundaries. Leelee has to sneak in and out of her house just to avoid the guy. The job front isn’t much better. Leelee’s friends get her a job at a radio station. It sounds great, but her boss is a hypocrite who won’t let Leelee talk to anyone. He, however, schmoozes any guest who walks through the door. Then there is the DJ who won’t stop hitting on Leelee while simultaneously trying to get her fired. Was Leelee really so sure coming home was a good idea?

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{ Index In Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter Leelee learned what she was made of, and that steel magnolias can survive in snow. In Yankee Doodle Dixie Leelee learns a new lesson—home isn’t about putting the past back together but taking the pieces and building a new future, no matter where you are. Or, as Bon Jovi’s song says: “It doesn’t matter where you are, it doesn’t matter where you go—if it’s a million miles away or just a mile up the road. Take it in; take it with you when you go. Who says you can’t go home.”

Changó’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes By William Kennedy Viking, $26.95 Reviewed by Kenneth R. Wilson Changó’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes is William Kennedy’s eighth novel in a cycle of books centered in Albany, New York that began in 1975 with Legs. The third book, Ironweed, won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1984. Like Ernest Hemingway, a minor character in the current book, Kennedy spent the dawn of his writing career as a journalist. In 1957, he covered the Cuban revolution for the Miami Herald and has met Fidel Castro several times since then. He draws from these experiences to weave a

complicated story about reflection, revolution and redemption. Changó’s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes is divided into three sections covering three different time periods. It opens in 1936 with Daniel Quinn, the protagonist as a child, waking up in his Albany home to the sound of music and changing times. Downstairs, Bing Crosby sings Shine with a local black piano player named Cody who tells Quinn, “Shine isn’t just a song.” Crosby then adds, “It’s an insult. A bad word but a great song. The song turns the insult inside out.” Part two begins in 1957 as Castro’s rebels battle President Fulgencio Batista’s forces for control of the country. Quinn lands in Cuba intent on locating and interviewing Castro. He also relishes an opportunity to meet his literary idol, Hemingway, whom he finds in the Florida bar. While chatting with the author, Quinn experiences love at first sight when he meets Renata, a revolutionary gunrunner who uses her connections to get Quinn an interview with Castro. The book’s third section takes place in Albany 11 years later, the day Bobby Kennedy is assassinated. Racial tensions run high, and Albany’s political machine uses vengeance and retribution as tools for maintaining control in the city, much like Batista’s desperate attempt to maintain power in Cuba. The book swirls to an end as Cody transforms Shine into a booming fast-paced free-for-all on the piano while clashes between blacks and the white establishment rage outside. As a whole, Kennedy’s Albany cycle of books capture the American experience and narrative unlike anything else. This particular novel is an energetic journey into the jungles of Cuba and the streets of America with a cast of marginalized and vivid heroes leading the way. It illustrates the fine line between villain and hero, traitor and martyr, and reflects on the past to show how revolution is perpetual, justice is cyclical, and redemption is possible. NCM

of Advertisers }

America Grading and Landclearing, Inc. . .65 Ankle & Foot Centers of Georgia . . . . . . . . .29 Arlington Christian School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Artisan Jewelry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Bank of Coweta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 BB&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 Bowdon Denture Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Center For Allergy & Asthma . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Charter Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Chin Chin Newnan Chinese Restaurant . . .51 Communites in Schools, Troup County . . . .21 Coweta-Fayette EMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 Coweta Medical Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Design House at the Vintage Flea . . . . . . . .41 Farm Bureau Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Geeslin Group, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 GMC Community College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Heritage Retirement Homes of Peachtree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 The Heritage School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Hollberg's Fine Furniture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Home Helpers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Lee-King and Lee-Goodrum Pharmacies . . .47 Main Street Newnan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 Mercer University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 The Newnan Times-Herald . . . . . . . . . . .61, 77 NG Turf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 NuLink Digital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Oak Mountain Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Point University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Palmetto Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Piedmont Heartburn Treatment Center . . . . .2 Phillips Dental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Radiation Oncology Services . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 R. DuBose Jewelers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Savannah Court of Newnan . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Southern Crescent Equine Services . . . . . .71 Southern Orthopaedic Specialists, LLC . . . .13 SouthTowne Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Spoon Sisters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 StoneBridge Early Learning Center . . . . . . .55 Table Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Uniglobe McIntosh Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Wesley Woods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Wedowee Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 West Georgia Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

March/April 2012 Ad Deadlines Published: March 2, 2012; Contract Ads: January 25, 2012; New Ads: February 3, 2012. Call 770.683.6397 for details and advertising information.

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{ I am Coweta }

Edith Byrd-Parks By Nichole Golden | Photo by Bob Fraley Edith Byrd-Parks, a Columbus native who was raised in California, moved to Newnan in August 2005. Byrd-Parks holds a master’s degree in professional counseling and is a licensed therapist. She is married and the mother of three children, 23, 22, and 12. Having overcome kidney disease through dialysis, prayer and a transplant, Byrd-Parks is now the executive director of B.Y.R.D. House, a non-profit providing valuable support to at-risk youth and children. When did the B.Y.R.D. House get started and what types of programs does it offer? We broke off from the African American Task Force and applied for our own non-profit (status) in December of 2009 in Georgia. B.Y.R.D. House was created to help reduce risk factors associated with poverty, family dynamics, school stresses, individual and peer structure and substance abuse. B.Y.R.D. House has several programs. Beat the Street, our outpatient program, is a life skills after-school program for boys and girls 6-21. Youth are referred to the program through different agencies. We assist participants in developing skills that will enhance their ability to reach independence, understanding of self sufficiency and financial independence, master tools needed to reach greater potential and enhance social skills, self esteem and life skills. Byrd House is a home for adolescent females 11-17 with an independent living component for females 18-21. The girls are taught how to love and respect themselves and others. Our slogan is “In A Baby, Out A Lady.” The minimum length of stay for a resident is 90 days with a maximum of one year. We provide services for runaway girls, girls on probation, girls in youth corrections, girls in Division of Child and Family Services, and girls being referred by parents or school officials. Are there ways for the community to get involved at B.Y.R.D. House? We are always in need of volunteers, foster parents and financial support. We ask that the community take a look at our website where we post needs at www.thebyrdhouse.org. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? Going to church, spending time with my family and traveling. Since this is the first issue of 2012, can you share your New Year’s Resolutions? As I begin the new year my focus would be to continue to be able to show up and be an advocate for kids and families. Sometimes we are their last hope. As the economy is today we now have to find creative ways to continue to motivate, be innovative, and be integrative with our programs. We have come up against many obstacles this past year and through them all God was at the center. I pray that B.Y.R.D. House will continue making a difference in the lives of families in Coweta County. NCM

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WHO KNEW A FRESH LAYER OF INSULATION WOULD HELP ME WEATHER THE ECONOMY? There was money hiding in my attic. Not anymore. I’m saving $240 a year just by adding insulation. What can you do? Find out how the little changes add up by visiting www.utility.org, and clicking on “Energy Saving Tips under the “For My Home”tab.

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Left - Right: Jena Parks- Branch Manager, Lakeside Branch Theresa Davis- Branch Manager, Temple Avenue Branch Pam Clemons- Branch Manager, Court Square Branch Anne Bell- President Cindy Smith- Branch Manager, Jefferson Street Branch Kim Resmondo- Branch Manager, Senoia Janette Morrison- Branch Manager, Thomas Crossroads Branch

THE POWER OF

MOBILE BANKING At Bank of Coweta, we employ the best and the brightest to help you accomplish more than you thought possible. Come meet with the Bank of Coweta team to become MOBILE! We now offer mobile banking for virtually any mobile device* with free apps for iPhone®, AndroidTM and Blackberry® devices. Visit us online or stop by any of our conveniently located branches to learn more. Jefferson Street 110 Jefferson Street Newnan, GA 30263 770.253.1340

Lakeside 37 Lakeside Way Newnan, GA 30265 770.254.7979

Temple Avenue 192 Temple Avenue Newnan, GA 30263 770.253.9600

Court Square 36 South Court Square Newnan, GA 30263 770.253.9400

Senoia 7817 Wells Street Senoia, GA 30276 770.599.8400

Thomas Crossroads 3130 East Highway 34 Newnan, GA 30265 770.254.7722

www.bankofcoweta.com You must be registered in OnLine Access before you enroll in Synovus Mobile Banking. * Requires mobile service provider’s data plan or texting capability, for which charges may apply. See our website for complete details. “iPhone”, “Android”, “Blackberry”, Android® robot and the Apple® apple are all registered trademarks of their respective owners. Bank of Coweta is a division of Synovus Bank. Synovus Bank, Member FDIC, is chartered in the state of Georgia and operates under multiple trade names across the southeast. Divisions of Synovus Bank are not separately FDIC-insured banks. The FDIC coverage extended to deposit customers is that of one insured bank.

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