2023 Fall Issue

PUBLISHERS

Meredith & Scott Tredeau

678-852-2715 info@thenewtoncommunity.com

SALES

Heather Bowman 404-583-2179 bowmanh23@aol.com

Maree Taylor 770-530-7837 sales@thenewtoncommunity.com

EDITORS

Kari Apted

Brian Knapp

PHOTOGRAPHER

Michie Turpin

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Robert Crawford

Michelle Floyd

Nat Harwell

Avril Occilien-Similien

David Roten

Gabriel Stovall

ILLUSTRATOR

Scott Fuss

The NEWTON Community Magazine is published quarterly. All contents are copyrighted by The NEWTON Community Magazine. Reproduction, in whole or part, without permission is prohibited. The NEWTON Community Magazine reserves liability in error to a printed correction.

I CAN STILL HEAR THE BELL

by BRIAN KNAPP

Nothing spurs nostalgia quite like the human nose. As Helen Keller once said, “Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived.” She would certainly know.

I was blessed with fantastic grandparents as a kid, but I feel somewhat cursed by the reality that nearly 650 miles separated us for most of my life. Whereas many of my closest friends could see their grandparents on an almost daily basis, I was limited to once—maybe twice— a year. It brought new meaning to the idea of separation anxiety every time I had to say goodbye to them.

Christmas was always my favorite season growing up, and that remains true to this day. The sense of wonder never left me, and in fact, it has only been enhanced since I started a family of my own. For all “The Polar Express” fans out there, I’m 45, and I can still hear the bell. When I was young, a great deal of the

magic revolved around my grandfather, who moonlighted as Santa Claus, and my God-fearing grandmother. Every December, she went through the trouble of baking Christmas cookies—the gingerbread men, which had raisins for eyes and chewy red peppermints for buttons, were always my favorite—and shipped them to us overnight from Miami to Covington so they reached our doorstep while they were fresh. Thank goodness the UPS guys never knew what were in those boxes. I can still smell the smells wafting through our house on Old Monticello Street, and I revisit them in my memories every year.

My grandmother will have been gone 14 years this December. She was my biggest fan. I miss her smile, her zest for life, the games of Frogger on Atari, her unflinching positivity, the contagious laughter and her love for Jesus. And yes, I miss those gingerbread men, too.

PUBLISHERS’ NOTE

Well, here we are at the last installment in Volume 1 of the Tredeau family story. To catch you up in case you’ve missed some chapters, we’ve covered our days as a new couple, as newlyweds and as new parents—the good, the bad and the sometimes ugly. This October, we’ll celebrate our 20th anniversary. A lot has changed in two decades. After our daughter Fern was born, we packed up and left Decatur behind to put down roots in Newton County. Since then, we’ve grown to be a family of five, plus two fluffy, furry buddies. We’ve changed jobs, churches, schools, cars and dentists multiple times. We now have two teenagers at Eastside High School, and our youngest, Wyatt, is in his last year at Mansfield Elementary. Life continues to keep us on our toes as we help the kids navigate their new worlds of recreation baseball, high school cheerleading, AP classes and driving, all while balancing work, the home front and the occasional date night (grocery shopping counts, right?).

We imagine some of your stories are similar to ours, and some are very different. You’ll probably see parts of yourselves in this issue’s stories of love and loss, triumph and tragedy. That’s what we love about the power of storytelling. Being able to put ourselves in the shoes of the characters and feeling emotionally connected to them helps us understand ourselves and the world around us. All of our stories are still being written, of course. The cast of characters and setting will probably change and we can all expect a plot twist or two, but we’re excited to turn the page and see what’s next.

May the Lord bless and keep you.

Scott and Meredith Tredeau

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A FORCE FOR LEARNING AND JUSTICE

Dr. Annise Mabry has a wall full of diplomas. Those degrees have opened dozens of doors throughout her life, but her innate ability to find solutions to insurmountable problems drives all she does. Her passion and persistence now work together to help at-risk individuals live their best lives.

by KARI APTED

Few doctors become police officers, but Dr. Annise Mabry has been a Georgia certified peace officer since 1995. As head of the Dr. Annise Mabry Foundation, she credits her family for her interest in criminal justice.

“We are a law enforcement family,” she said. “My sister, Patricia Barber, was the first female deputy in Tift County. She was 15 years older than me, and I lived with her growing up. Our dream was that one day we would be like Cagney and Lacey.” To fulfill her dream of becoming half of a dynamic deputy duo, Mabry went through the police academy and got assigned to East Point Police Department. “I was done,” she said with a laugh. “None of this was working out like it did on TV. These people were really mean.”

Although Mabry’s street beat was short-lived, her sister’s career in law enforcement continued until a fateful day in November 2016 changed everything. Barber and her work partner of 17 years, Patrick Sondron, were called to respond to a neighborhood noise disturbance. Because it was the end of the day, Sondron told Barber to clock out and took a new deputy, Daryl Smallwood, along for the ride.

Scan to read more stories by Kari Apted.

DR. ANNISE MABRY AND SISTER PATRICIA BARBER

Minutes after arriving on the scene, Sondron and Smallwood were ambushed and shot dead at close range. Barber struggled emotionally after the incident and retired from the force a year later.

“That gunman actually killed three deputies that night,” Mabry said. “The sister I knew stopped existing that day.”

Mabry felt a burden to create something new for her sister’s sake, something that merged their shared passions for law enforcement and education. The Chiefs’ Diploma Program and the Rural Community Policing Resource Center (RCPRC) were born out of her efforts. The Chiefs’ Diploma Program launched in Macon County to enable small law enforcement agencies in rural communities to offer an alternative diploma program to high school dropouts, especially those re-entering society after incarceration.

What made the difference in police-community interactions was the number of high school dropouts in the area. Macon County was an ideal place to launch the Chiefs’ Diploma Program because of its small city of Oglethorpe. About the size of Porterdale—the city where Mabry’s foundation is based— Oglethorpe had an unusually high number of dropouts and a high crime level. In fact, five gangs managed one neighborhood where police officers could not even patrol the streets without having cinder blocks thrown at their heads. Just 18 months after the Chief’s Diploma Program launched, the crime rate in Oglethorpe miraculously dropped from 69% to 16%.

“When a community’s dropout rate falls below 20%, that’s when everything changes for law enforcement,” Mabry said. It was not just the diplomas that changed the situation in Oglethorpe but the document's power to qualify people for better jobs. “First, we got people diplomas. Then we helped them get jobs at Tyson making $18 to $30 an hour. The people we couldn’t get into jobs, we got them into technical college to earn certifications. People started pouring into the program,” Mabry said. “Everyone kept saying, ‘This can’t be real.’”

So far, the diploma program has turned over 150 high school dropouts into graduates. In December, Porterdale will have a ceremony to honor its first class of Chief’s Diploma Program graduates. Porterdale Police Chief Jason Cripps will host the ceremony.

“Porterdale is the seventh city in Georgia to join our program and the first in the Metro Atlanta area to do it,” Mabry said. “The program’s not about starting over but restarting where you stopped. It makes use of Georgia’s homeschooling law to help people get their high school diploma.” The online classes are easy to work around other commitments, and the program has enjoyed a higher success rate than traditional GED programs. “Only 20% of the people who take the GED pass it,” Mabry said. “Eighty percent of them fail, and [most] never come back to retake it.”

Mabry is determined to block all paths that could lead to dropping out of high school. The Rural Community Policing Resource Center was born when she made the connection between student absenteeism and a lack of school supplies. Mabry, her sister and other friends in law enforcement noticed an increase in juvenile mischief calls during the first two weeks of school.

Mabry’s foundation worked with Georgia Tech interns in studying how community demographics influence law enforcement interactions. Mabry played around with the data, looking for factors that contribute to negative experiences with peace officers. To her surprise, it was not race that had the biggest impact, nor was it the income level of the people in the community. Additionally, an officer’s level of education made little difference. Law enforcement officers with two- or four-year degrees experienced similar outcomes to those who never went to college.

“I needed to figure out why they weren’t in school, why their parents weren’t taking their kids the first couple of weeks,” Mabry said. She realized that it was often due to a lack of money to buy the required school supplies. “I talk a lot about privilege,” Mabry said. “All of us have it in different ways, where we can’t understand other people’s choices, why they do what they do. I don’t know what it’s like to not have money to buy school supplies, but I learned that those parents’ thought process was, ‘I don’t want anyone to know I don’t have money, so I’ll keep my kid at home until I save up enough for supplies and then I’ll send them.’ That meant their kids were falling behind right at the start of the year.”

Homeschool, Not Alone School

by KARI APTED

Dr. Annise Mabry’s children were the driving forces behind her development of Tiers Free Academy Homeschool Cooperative. As an LGBTQ-identifying individual, her daughter, Ally, was the victim of severe bullying in school. She was also diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a complex mental condition that includes schizophrenia and mood disorder symptoms.

“She had been pushing me for a long time to homeschool her,” Mabry said. “Everything fell apart in middle school.” Ally was bullied to such a degree that she attempted suicide multiple times. “I spent a year trying to keep her alive,” Mabry said. “Around the same time, I was diagnosed with a genetic progressive muscle disease, and I was a new single parent.”

Mabry appeared on an Oprah Network show called “Trouble Next Door” that showcased families with various struggles and encouraged neighbors to help one another out. Through the show, Ally was awarded a scholarship to a private school. The family hoped it would be a good fit for her. Unfortunately, it was not, and Mabry was left trying to figure out the next best step for her children. Her younger son, Niles, had been diagnosed with autism, and the public school he attended failed to deliver on its promise that he would receive “tiers of intervention.” Mabry admits she felt pigeonholed into a school system not designed for her children. As she considered other private school and homeschool cooperatives, all fell short of Mabry’s ideals.

“That’s when I started deep diving into homeschool,” she said. “‘Am I doing the right thing,’ I wondered? But I knew that whatever I gave them was better than what they were getting.”

The first step was to try to buy a certain curriculum, but the supplier could only sell it to schools and nonprofits. As a result, Mabry contacted her lawyer, and the Dr. Annise Mabry Foundation was born. That allowed Mabry to purchase a curriculum license for her son and give the other 24 licenses to other homeschooling families. She began writing corporate grants to fund homeschooling curriculum for families in need and created a blueprint for parents to homeschool their children through high school. Most local homeschooling families are familiar with Mabry and her foundation. Jessica Hembree, director

of the Newton County Homeschool Co-op, met her through a mutual friend.

“Years later, I’m so glad to have met Dr. Mabry. She’s an inspiration,” Hembree said. “She and her organization are opening doors for people who didn’t think that they had a future. She’s using education to help give hope for a better life. I’m blessed to call her a friend.”

Tiers Free Academy remains the state’s only trauma-informed nonprofit alternative high school diploma program. It is open to learners from difficult backgrounds, including sex trafficking survivors, homeless LBGTQ youth and high school dropouts. “We believe that all parents deserve to see their children graduate,” Mabry said. To date, Tiers Free Academy has helped 523 parents and guardians issue high school diplomas.

Because catching up on schoolwork can be so daunting, it was yet another factor that eventually led to disadvantaged rural students dropping out. Mabry’s Rural Community Policing Resource Center began the Backpack with a Cop program to provide school supplies to kids at the end of summer break. It also launched a Christmas with a Cop program to bring holiday joy to disadvantaged children each December. These programs do more than just place resources into families who need them; they connect citizens to the law enforcement officers who vow to protect and serve them.

“These programs and partnerships demonstrate the power of prevention-focused community policing,” Mabry states on her foundation’s website. “When law enforcement agencies and community members work together, they can proactively address the root causes of crime and build safer, more vibrant communities for all.”

Mabry remains grateful for the individuals and corporations that enable her foundation to continue doing good works. The community policing programs are largely funded by grants from the Walmart Foundation, the International Paper Foundation, the DG Literacy Foundation, the United Way of Metro Atlanta, the General Mills Community Foundation and the State Farm Communities Foundation. The RCPRC has also partnered with five different Walmart stores, along with Burlington and Office Depot locations, to acquire school supplies for some of the poorest communities in Georgia.

“A lot of small law enforcement agencies wanted to do more community policing but lacked the resources to do so,” Mabry said. “I’m so excited now that my sister has retired because she coordinates all of that. I love it when we bring a program into a community and they adopt it. As of now, we serve in 78 out of 158 counties in Georgia.”

Mabry also builds bridges between communities and law enforcement officers by teaching workshops on community policing and deescalating.

“The State of Georgia requires officers to have two hours of training in community policing and four hours of de-escalation training,” she said. “We go into agencies and teach them not just deescalating techniques but also how to do it in marginalized communities. Officers have to understand why LGBT and black people won’t report crimes or talk to police and learn how to interact with people with mental illnesses.”

Mabry revealed a running joke at the foundation that demonstrates her resolve.

“It’s from that Vanilla Ice song, ‘Ice, Ice Baby.’ If there’s a problem, I’ll solve it,” she said with a laugh. “I also say if I’m going to be on a sinking ship, I’m going to be the captain, so at least I can determine how it’s going down, because you are not going to sink my ship.”

For information on the Dr. Annise Mabry Foundation, visit www.drannisemabry.com.

“

When a community’s dropout rate falls below 20%, that’s when everything changes for law enforcement.”

Dr. Annise Mabry

“The work is never done.”

Courtney Farrow

SILENT NO MORE

by AVRIL OCCILIEN-SIMILIEN

Courtney Farrow wanted to live a life that would help others for as long as she can remember. One of her fondest childhood memories is with her mother, Mandy, as they completed a painting to decorate the space that would house Newton County’s new advocacy center for children: A Child’s Voice. The center made its debut in 2008 with a mission to strengthen the coordinated community response to situations of child maltreatment.

To this day, the painting that depicts colorful fish and a treasure chest still sits in the medical examination room of the facility. Farrow experiences the satisfaction of seeing it daily as she enters the building to fulfill her lifelong dream of helping people as a family advocate with A Child’s Voice.

“I’ve always wanted my life to be of service to others,” Farrow said, “and I am thankful I get to do that by being a voice for the voiceless.”

Farrow’s journey to this rewarding role at the center was not a straight line but one filled with sharp turns and detours. Since her mother was a founding board member, Farrow was allowed to use her “limited skills” to create the center’s first website as a middle schooler. “Websites were a lot simpler then,” she said with a chuckle.

As she ventured into high school, her desire to help others sparked her interest in pursuing a career as a doctor; advocacy work took a backseat to medicine. However, as she began her college adventure at the University of Georgia, her yearning to advocate for others grew more persistent, so Farrow shifted gears and pursued a bachelor’s degree in social work.

“In my junior year of college, I had the opportunity to complete an internship with the center, which solidified my desire to pursue this type of work after graduation,” she said. Unfortunately for Farrow, there were no job openings at

Courtney Farrow always wanted to live a life of service to others. Through childhood experiences and expert training, she now gets to fulfill that dream through advocacy for the most vulnerable: the children of our community.

Scan to read more stories by Avril Occilien-Similien.

A Child’s Voice when she completed college. “I thought, ‘What now?’ That’s when I decided to pursue a master’s degree in social work, which I completed in 2021. Fortunately, by then, a family advocate position became available at the center, and as they say, the rest is history.”

Dull moments at the center are few and far between.

“Each day is different, and that’s one of the things I love about this role,” Farrow said. “A typical day may begin with a phone intake—a conversation with the non-offending caregiver of the child to schedule and prepare them for the in-person visit. Next, I may have up to two in-person visits from families needing our services. Often, accompanying caregivers are frazzled and nervous, and my first priority is calming them down and allowing them to see the big picture.”

“While the child is being interviewed by a trained professional, I provide support and encouragement,” she added. “This support may include conducting a family needs assessment, providing resources and education, referrals to relevant community programs and, most importantly, a listening ear and reassuring words. I may end my day by following up on the families from previous visits or attending a monthly case review meeting. The work is never done.”

As an accredited agency, A Child’s Voice strives to live up to its mission to strengthen the coordinated community response to situations of child maltreatment. Through a collaborative effort between Walton and Newton County schools, the Alcovy Judicial Circuit, the Department of Family and Children Services, local law enforcement and various counseling and community programs, the center serves at least 150 new families per year and carries approximately a 300-count ongoing caseload.

“Our goal is to get families back to a stable place with hope, healing and one step toward their future,” Farrow said. “I love what I do, getting to work with people from all walks of life. It is refreshing when there is a supportive caregiver and I can help them walk through their feelings of guilt and shame and see them transition to a state of hope and empowerment.”

Farrow was quick to respond when asked what important message she would send to others regarding the issue of maltreatment of children.

“Abuse does not discriminate,” she said. “It affects everyone. Don’t stay silent. If you notice something, say something. We are all here to protect each other.”

For information about A Child’s Voice, visit www.achildsvoicecac.org.

“We can do it with a simple smile that brightens their day, by cooking them a meal and by sharing resources like time and money.”

Robert Crawford

What Does It Mean to Be a Blessing to Others?

by ROBERT CRAWFORD

I sometimes get asked this question as a pastor: What is a blessing? It is defined in the dictionary as a “special favor that gives a benefit.” If someone benefits from something done for them, it may be considered a blessing. With that in mind, what does it mean to bless someone else? We can do it with a simple smile that brightens their day, by cooking them a meal and by sharing resources like time and money.

We are Abraham’s descendants, spiritually speaking, and we inherit this promise from Galatians 3:29: If you belong to Christ, then you are true children of Abraham.

From a spiritual standpoint, a blessing usually means that it comes from God. That’s why we say phrases like “God bless you,” which means we desire that He takes care of that person and works in their best interests, according to His will. God blesses us so that we can be His channels of blessing to the world, and He blesses us so that we can be a blessing to those around us. There are many ways we can be a blessing to others.

Romans 12:6–8 tells us: “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”

We bless others by serving them and helping them in practical ways. When we serve people—at home, at church or elsewhere—we do it to bless their lives. As you serve your employer, customers or others at your workplace, do it with the motivation of being a blessing to their lives.

We also bless others through kindness, by being an encouragement to them and showing them compassion. We demonstrate care and concern. We identify and engage with people. Romans 12:15 tells us to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”

In addition, we bless others through generosity. Acts 20:35 tells us: “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” However, we need to be careful in what ways we give and to whom we give. In some situations, it is better to give in kindness rather than in cash, in case people do not know how to manage money given to them.

Finally, we bless others when we take on problems and bring potential solutions. Some problems we solve can literally bless thousands of people. Always remember, we are blessed to be a blessing.

Rev. Dr. Robert Lee Crawford Sr. is the pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Covington. For information, visit www.graceunitedmethodistchurch.net.

Scripture tells us we can reach out to people through serving them in practical ways, by showing kindness, compassion and generosity and through providing Biblical solutions to their problems.

Scan to read more from Grace & Truth.

Inner Strength

by NAT HARWELL

holistic approach to healthy living through acupuncture, yoga and chiropractic treatment. Local citizens familiar with the Newton County Community Band, which was formed decades ago by the late T.K. Adams, are likely aware of longtime commentator Latrelle Oliver. Laurie, an Oxford native, and her brother Erik are the children of Latrelle and the late Hoyt Oliver. After high school, Laurie matriculated to Oxford College of Emory University and later the Academy of Somatic Healing Arts.

After Oliver graduated and while working for three years in the hospitality industry, her interest was piqued by an advertisement of an unusual nature.

“I ran across an ad calling for Americans to teach English in South Korea,” she said, “but I was a little worried, as one stipulation was that the candidate must not have a heavy accent, so I spent some time trying to lose my Southern accent.”

There is courage, and there is the John Wayne kind of courage. In either case, it is a beautiful thing to see. When it is packaged in a remarkable person like massage therapist Laurie Oliver, courage seemingly possesses even more of the ineffable quality that calls us all to ponder in wonderment.

Laurie partners with Dr. David Pellington at the Life Dance Wellness Center, located just north of Mamie’s Kitchen in Covington. A licensed massage therapist, she also brings a

Oliver was located not far south of the Demilitarized Zone in a village near Seoul, where she taught English for a time before returning home. She was intrigued by the idea of a holistic approach to wellness and headed back to the United States in 1996, just before the Summer Olympics came to Atlanta. She met Pellington, who was practicing in Roswell at the time and seeking to move to a less congested area than Metro Atlanta could offer.

Massage therapist Laurie Oliver made her way in the world by meeting challenges head-on. Breast cancer was no different.

They began a co-ownership practice in Covington in 1997, first in an upstairs office at Emory and Clark streets. Finding that stairs were difficult for patients to navigate, they moved to “The Patrick House” across from the current central offices for Newton County Schools. However, Oliver and Pellington eventually needed more space and relocated to Industrial Boulevard, where they remain to this day.

At that point in her life, Oliver had already exhibited plenty of courage by answering a call to a foreign land where “The Forgotten War” has never been ended by any peace treaty. If that was not enough, she then ventured out into a world of entrepreneurship and service to her fellow man through holistic medicine. However, little did Oliver know that the biggest

“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”

John Wayne

challenge she would face was yet to come and would require some of that John Wayne courage “The Duke” personified in so many of his films. It came in the form of a word nobody ever wants to hear: cancer.

The picture of a beautiful, healthy young lady, Oliver and the disease came face-to-face in 2018, with a triple positive breast cancer diagnosis—which means cancer cells grow in response to estrogen, progesterone and a growth-promoting protein on the outside of all breast cells known as HER2. Treatment would involve all the tools traditional medicine had at the time: chemotherapy first, then a double mastectomy, followed by a drug regimen with Herceptin to attack the components of the cancer. Oliver speaks of her life-altering journey in a disarmingly honest manner.

“I underwent the double mastectomy,” she said, “and I lost quite a number of lymph glands. It was difficult, because despite whatever necessity comes along, in so many ways the breasts define ‘womanhood.’ It takes making quite an adjustment in the way you think about things.”

Oliver is currently free of the cancer that once threatened her life. Exhaustive research has taught her what nutrients and vitamins are helpful, and she continues to take supplements. Perhaps best of all, she has continued her work as a massage therapist—a field for which she has an undeniable passion—and contributing to the efforts of the Life Dance Wellness Center. Countless Newton County residents have found a way to healthier living through the services provided there. Inside the building are rooms for massage therapy and chiropractic treatment, a conference office and an atmosphere that soothes the souls of those who walk through the door.

Yes, there is courage, and there is John Wayne courage. Oliver has exhibited both and continues to exemplify the latter. For the unfamiliar who might ask about the origins of John Wayne courage, the actor once said, “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”

Oliver strives to make life better for her patients and does all she can to brighten the world with her presence. She has indeed saddled up and continues to do so every day.

Gabriel Stovall.

hook, line and sinker

by GABRIEL STOVALL

Mike Sellers’ array of life experiences, interests, talents and abilities is as diverse and plenteous as the number of fish in the sea, which might explain how he settled on his current career.

Sellers serves as the Community Fishing Coordinator for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. In that role, he helps students—particularly those in urban areas—see the possibilities in working with wildlife in natural habitats. He is fueled by giving young people an opportunity to see a future in something vastly different than what may be immediately in front of them. In so doing, Sellers presents to others some of the same types of opportunities that helped direct his life.

“The work I do for the Georgia DNR, that passion comes from people,” he said. “It comes from wanting to help and give back and teach others. So many people gave back to me and looked out for me. I think it’s only right—and kind of contagious— to do the same for someone else.”

Sellers’ passion for young people began in Covington, stretched to Decatur and now impacts the entire state. However, that initial love for the Newton County area was ignited when he

Mike Sellers was once a football star at Newton High School who took his talents to East Carolina University and eventually the Canadian Football League, but a desire to impact young people brought him back to Covington to help spearhead community outreach at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

left behind a nomadic lifestyle in some of Atlanta’s toughest projects, where he was born and raised, in order to get a fresh start at Newton High School as a freshman. Sellers excelled in football, basketball, baseball and track and field at Newton, but over time, he started to see more for his life—even beyond sports—than what a difficult upbringing showed him.

“I was just born a natural athlete,” he said. “Deion Sanders was one of my early idols growing up, and that inspired me to do baseball and track in the same season. I saw guys like Dale Carter and Jake Reed, who came from right here in Newton, and coach Harold Johnson, who was the head football coach then, and they all—just that whole experience—gave me the confidence to say I can get to the next level.”

Sellers did so and more. After graduating from Newton in 1994, he went on to play football at East Carolina University on a scholarship, and like many young athletes, Sellers had NFL aspirations.

“I left school early in my junior year because things were so bad for my family, and I wanted to try and provide for them,” he said. “I went on to play for the Montreal Alouettes in [the Canadian Football League], and I thought I was going to make football my career, but God said, ‘Not so fast.’”

Plans changed when injury cut short his playing career. Sellers returned to ECU, paid for his final year of college out of his own pocket and finished his degree. Shortly after, he founded a record label called 50-Deep Records. He later realized his once indescribable love for music was genetic. Sellers met his father for this first time in November 2022 and found out his dad was a singer and a musician who now lives in Germany.

“He did it all throughout his life, then got caught up in some bad stuff and did 26 years in prison,” he said. “I couldn’t find him, and I always wondered where I got that music thing from, and when I met him, I found out.”

Sellers also discovered he had a deep appreciation for the outdoors. The impetus for his 13-year career at the DNR began when he and some other athletes at ECU began volunteering to scratch their itch to make an impact beyond the football field. “We were just athletes trying to give back to our communities in various ways,” Sellers said. Fishing was one of those outlets. Sellers creates experiences, like his Wildlife Day events, that expose youth and their families to fishing and the outdoors. Sellers and his team execute almost 50 of these free events a year across 49 lakes in Georgia between March and October. The events attract anywhere from about 75 people to one recent event at Sweetwater Park in the Douglas County area that saw 3,000 in attendance.

“The events are fun and educational,” he said. “We have our own hatcheries, and we have our fish managers and our team stock the lakes with fish during the winter time, so that way, when we have these events, we can guarantee that people who come out are going to catch some fish.”

Sellers’ efforts and those of his colleagues have inspired some young students to pursue careers in wildlife. That is the most rewarding part of the job.

“Oh, it means the world to me when kids come back and say, ‘Mr. Mike, you saved my life,’” he said. “That’s the goal, to make them say that life is precious. That’s my million-dollar ticket right now. That’s my way to reach kids, even those with behavior problems.” Sellers loves the ability to expand students’ career horizons: “We don’t give kids enough opportunities to understand that, yes, you can do things like teach people to fish and get paid for it.”

Though his work with the DNR allows him to touch virtually every corner of Georgia, Sellers decided to come back to Covington to settle down for the long haul.

“That’s how much I believe in this area,” he said. “My roots are here now in this Covington community. It’s one of the fastest-rising cities around, with Conyers right behind it. There’s such an influx of different people here, and that shows how people are seeing the beauty and value Covington has to offer. Not only did [Covington] start to change my life around as a young kid, but it’s where I first started working to teach people about fishing, wildlife and outdoors.”

Meanwhile, Sellers wants to do all he can to help find more people who can perhaps pick up his passion and run with it for years to come.

“I get them around the lake, I maintain relationships with them, be a good friend,” he said. “You never know what kids may need an internship, and you never know which one of our youth could be the next conservationist or wildlife biologist.”

“So many people gave back to me and looked out for me. I think it’s only right—and kind of contagious—to do the same for someone else.”

Mike Sellers

Joy Ride

by BRIAN KNAPP

There are virtually no limits to where man can go with a piece of concaved plywood, four polyurethane wheels and a little imagination. Skateboarding has weaved in and out of the human experience for nearly three quarters of a century now, and the sport remains as timeless today as it was when it first debuted as a means for California surfers to amuse themselves on days when waves were flat. From their Pacific Coast ingenuity

grew an entire subculture that branched out to other areas and eventually reached all corners of the globe. They brought terms like “ollie,” “kickflip” and “boardslide” into the human lexicon and made household names out of skaters like Tony Hawk and Rob Dyrdek.

Inside that world, Jesse Aaron forged his identity. He was introduced to skating by his stepfather in 1993 while still in the beginning stages of adolescence.

“He encouraged it. My mom? Not so much,” Aaron said. “She actually told me that I would never skateboard as long as I lived in her house, and I do attribute her telling me that to me going into it—100%.” Aaron’s mother had reasons to be cautious. “She had a friend who had a son back when jump ramps were really popular, and he was trying to show out and got all jacked up,” Aaron said. “He was in a body cast and everything, so she was like, ‘No, that’s not happening to you.’ But my dad’s boards were there, so I would just go skate on them.”

Aaron’s mother, like so many others, had to bite the boys-willbe-boys bullet.

“She knew I was doing it,” he said. “She just didn’t approve of it. She wouldn’t stop me from doing it, but she would be like, ‘You know you’re going to get hurt.’” It was not long before those words proved prophetic. “Funny story,” Aaron said. “I was in seventh grade, and I went up the hill from my mom’s house

Skateboarding serves as an outlet for millions across the world and can often bridge gaps between generations, races, nationalities and religions. Recognized as an Olympic sport in 2020, its impact extends into almost every community, no matter how small.

Scan to read more stories by Brian Knapp.

JESSE AARON

(L TO R) KAMEREN KEELE, SONNY ROBERTS, ZAC ALONZO, AIDEN URLA, JESSE AARON AND JAY JAY

and rode down. Well, I didn’t know at the time that you better make sure your trucks are tight to the board. So I’m bombing the hill—I’m 12, maybe 13—and I get a speed wobble and break my collarbone.” Aaron walked home to find his mother on the phone talking to the very same friend whose son wound up in a body cast. “I said, ‘Mom, I think I broke my arm,’ and she’s like, ‘Haha, yeah.’ I sit down on the floor and the pain really starts to kick in, and I’m like, ‘Get off the phone. I broke my arm.’ She told the friend, ‘Let me call you back.’”

It marked the start of Aaron’s love-hate relationship with the pavement. He put aside his chosen pastime when his youngest son, Kaydon, was born, but it was never far from his heart. “I’ve always had a board,” Aaron said. “There’s never been a time in my life since I’ve started that I didn’t have a board in my possession.” Fate intervened, as it often does. Aaron’s oldest son, Daniel, started to show an interest in skating around the age of 13. The video game life had grown stale, and the kid inside Aaron was reborn—or reawakened. Within three months, he had ramps, rails and boxes in his driveway, and off they went. Now in his 40s, Aaron opened Born Again Board Shop in Conyers in October 2022. His clientele could not be more diverse.

“Man, I get them all,” Aaron said. “I get the beginner kid all the way up to … I have a buddy I skate with who’s 56.”

Newton County, meanwhile, jumped on the bandwagon a few years ago with the opening of a new skatepark—a ramp and rails were only the beginning—at Denny Dobbs Park on Ga. 212. It has since been expanded to include a drop pool and draws enthusiasts of all ages and all walks of life. Aiden Urla, a 16-year-old junior at Alcovy High School, pays the park frequent visits.

“I skate to hang with my friends,” Urla said. “I like doing what I do. It makes me happy.”

Justin Montgomery, 30, can relate.

“I enjoy the freedom of it,” said the Covington native and married father of one, with another on the way. “There aren’t really any rules to how you need to go about it. Everybody has their own style. One of the best things about it is when you try a trick for hours and finally land it. It’s one of the best feelings you will ever get; and you can’t forget about the friendships you make. They will last a lifetime.”

A plumber by trade, Aaron skates as a form of release.

“If I have a really bad day, I can go skate and it’s going to be all right,” he said. “Even if I go out there and get wrecked, it’s going to be all right because that lets me know I’m still alive. It’s just you and this piece of wood with wheels on it, and it’s just peace.”

“I enjoy the freedom of it.”

Justin Montgomery

DOG DAZE

School media

by KARI APTED

Booker T. Pug, a short, chunky, greying star who hails from Ohio, has been featured on “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” Disney Plus and National Geographic. “He is a celebrity,” Meghen Bassel said. “I’m just his owner.” Every school day, the 7½-yearold pug accompanies Bassel to East Newton Elementary School, where she works as a media specialist. Booker serves as the school’s mascot and service dog, and by all accounts, he was made for the job. He delights in the adoration he receives from the hundreds of people who filter in and out of the media center on any given day. Bassel had specific requirements when searching for a school therapy dog.

“The great thing about purebreds is that you know what you’re going to get. I wanted to combine my love of working in schools with working with dogs,” Bassel said. “I researched breeds to find out which ones would fit what I was looking for, which was a small, sturdy and non-threatening breed; and of course, the dog had to be good around children and comfortable in new places.”

All of those standards led Bassel to a reputable breeder in Ohio.

“Booker has been perfect for the job,” she said. “The whole dog show community was looking out for me to find the right dog. He loves going to work and being around kids. He’s so quiet and calm.”

Bassel has had a lifelong connection to the dog show community. She is a second-generation dog show judge with parents who actively showed and judged dogs from the 1970s to the 1990s. Being immersed in the field made her a natural at following in her parents’ footsteps.

East Newton Elementary

specialist Meghen Bassel serves as pet parent to beloved support dog Booker T. Pug. However, her canine expertise extends far beyond the library’s walls—all the way to the Westminster Kennell Club Dog Show in New York.

Scan to read more stories by Kari Apted.

“Most people don’t start judging dog shows until they’re in their early 60s,” Bassel said. “I started in my early 20s.”

Bassel admits that most people are unaware of the level of education required to be a dog show judge. Many assume dog shows are the canine equivalent of beauty pageants, but nothing could be further from the truth. According to the American Kennel Club, show dogs are measured by how closely they conform to the standard of their breed. Why? Because dogs whose appearances meet the breed’s standard are most likely to produce puppies that also meet the standard. As dogs are given points that add up to show titles, judges must know specific breeds well enough to recognize which dogs exhibit exceptional qualities in each category. There are more than 190 breeds and varieties of dogs recognized by the AKC. Therefore, judges usually concentrate on learning all they can about one breed category or just one specific breed.

“I have a dog judge friend who is also a brain surgeon,” Bassel said. “He told me that it took him longer to learn about dog judging than it did to learn how to operate on human brains.”

Bassel is an expert on dogs in the sporting group, which includes pointers, retrievers and spaniels. She has also studied several breeds of hounds and terriers. In May, she had the opportunity to put her expertise to work judging at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Westminster remains the most famous dog show worldwide and also represents one of America’s oldest sporting events, second only to the Kentucky Derby. “At Westminster, I judged all the spaniel breeds,” Bassel said. “It was quite an honor to judge there.” Because the event was broadcast live during the day, many teachers at East Newton Elementary paused classes to let the students observe Bassel’s judging skills.

Juggling two careers and a family can be a challenge. “I’ll often leave work on a Friday, fly somewhere, judge all day on Saturday, fly home Sunday and go back to work on Monday,” Bassel said. In October, she will make a return trip to the United Kingdom to judge at the Gundog Society of Wales show. Bassel has also judged dog shows in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and Finland. When scheduling permits, Bassel enjoys bringing her 11-year-old son, Greer, along on her dog show adventures. In the summer of 2022, the pair traveled through several states, including Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Missouri, visiting museums and other fun places.

As for Booker T. Pug, he always greets his favorite people with happiness when they return home, even if it means competing for attention with the family’s five award-winning Welsh springer spaniels. One of Britain’s oldest breeds, these dogs are medium-sized, with floppy ears and longish white and brown fur. Like pugs, Welsh springer spaniels have a friendly disposition and are highly people-oriented.

The same can be said of Bassel. When asked what she loves most about judging dog shows, she pointed to the relationships and bonds that are formed. “I love meeting people who are brand new to showing. Some are terribly nervous; their hands will be trembling,” Bassel said. “I love being able to talk to them and put them at ease. I love being able to calm them down.”

Booker T. Pug would probably agree with spreading contentment being the best part of his job, too.

“Most people don’t start judging dog shows until they’re in their early 60s. I started in my early 20s.”

Meghen Bassel

BUSINESS HIGHLIGHT

Frio Rolled Ice Cream

by MICHELLE FLOYD

Never ask Alicia Sanders for a scoop of ice cream. That is not how she rolls. The Covington resident runs a specialized ice cream shop—something many may have never seen before.

“During the pandemic, I kept seeing videos on TikTok of these rolled ice creams,” said Sanders, who also works as a real estate agent. “I’d never seen it, and I couldn’t find it nearby.”

The possibilities seemed endless, and the intrigue grew exponentially over time. Sanders worked countless hours to turn her burgeoning hobby into a vision and eventual business.

“My love for ice cream came from my mom, Catherine,” said Sanders, who moved to Covington in 2016. “We always had ice cream—almost daily—in our home.”

After some extensive research and trial-and-error practice, she and her husband, Warren, opened a spot in Covington they hoped would become be a unique visit for many.

“It’s more than ice cream; it’s an experience,” Sanders said. “People like it because it’s made right in front of you, and kids like it because they can be creative.”

Frio Rolled Ice Cream operates on Carlin Drive, near the Covington Bypass Road and Ga. 36. In addition to rolled ice creams, the store sells milkshakes, smoothies and coffees. Frio also is available for parties and private events, and Sanders often frequents area festivals with a mobile unit.

“Once people find out we are here, they keep coming back,” Sanders said. “It’s really addictive.”

The concept originated in Thailand. Frio Rolled Ice Cream uses a specialized machine topped with a cold plate that is set at negative 20 degrees. A base liquid is used to create rolled ice cream. Customers can choose one mix-in, like brownies or a variety of cereals, then three toppings, like candy pieces and syrups.

“We have over 40 flavors,” said Sanders, a mother of three children: Zaryah, Brittan and Duke Lee Jr. “You can make anything you want, then we roll it up.”

Frio has signature mixes like peach passion—a vanilla base with peaches, waffle cone, gold sprinkles, caramel drizzle and whipped cream—as well as creations named after the family: Great Brittan and The Duke. However, Sanders revealed their most popular item is the Maw Maw Nana Pudding—a vanilla base with banana, vanilla wafer, caramel drizzle and whipped cream. The recipe comes from her husband Warren’s grandmother—they call her “Maw Maw”—from Little Rock, Arkansas.

“She makes an amazing banana pudding,” Sanders said. Customers can create their own Frio roll or choose from other signature items.

“I love the taste. I’m just so tickled we have something like this here,” said Oxford resident Angela Ballard, who frequents Frio weekly, often bringing new friends and family to visit each time. “It’s thin, and you don’t have to eat a big scoop; and [with] the atmosphere and how welcoming it is, we love it.”

For information on Frio Rolled Ice Cream, visit www.facebook.com/friorolledicecream.

Alicia and Warren Sanders turned a TikTok trend into a thriving business that offers members of the community a new, delectable way to tame their sweet tooth.

“Once people find out we are here, they keep coming back.”

Alicia Sanders

Scan to read about more local businesses.

Creative Heart

Newton Countians walking down the sidewalk who come across a piece of wire or broken glass might want to think twice before they toss it aside. Carol Veliotis could use it in one of her creations.

Oftentimes when she returns home or opens her door to walk outside, she discovers that friends have left her something that others might consider trash. Veliotis was born to be an artist.

“Every day, I find something,” she said. “One day, a long time ago, I saw a twisted piece of metal on the ground and I thought it was like a sculpture, so I started picking them up.”

Veliotis uses broken jewelry, wood pieces and glass—she once utilized an antique copper toilet float—to create sculptures and pieces. Some she sells. Others she enters in contests.

“I work on art every day—something,” said Veliotis, whose home is filled with pieces she has made over the years. “My whole life has been about art.”

A 1965 graduate of Newton High School, she was always interested in art but never could find much in which to partake

around Covington in her younger years. She took some private lessons and drew for her high school newspaper. That was the extent of her pursuits.

“Growing up here in Covington,” Veliotis said, “there was nothing, no culture.”

Lack of opportunity drove her to look elsewhere. Eventually, she majored in art at a college in North Carolina, then moved to New York to work for an art book publisher. There, she met famous artists like Norman Rockwell and Howard Finster and drew pieces as a graphic designer. Later, Veliotis moved to Greece for 15 years and spent time inspiring and mentoring her nephew, who now has an art gallery there.

“Their house was an art hub and I didn’t realize it then, but it had a big impact to my world afterwards. I still remember their [Saul] Steinberg painting that shaped my mind and style,” said Socrates “Sox” Argitis, who took in Veliotis’ art books, work and supplies after she moved back oversees. “Carol is a born artist and gave me—without even us both knowing then—an art seed.”

Carol Veliotis has spent a lifetime in pursuit of her passion for the arts. She continues to enrich the fabric of her hometown through sharing her unique vision, supplying one-of-a-kind handiwork and mentoring countless others who see the world as a canvas.

by MICHELLE FLOYD

Scan to read more stories by Michelle Floyd.

“My whole life has been about art.”

Carol Veliotis

The two lost touch over the years but have now reconnected virtually, sharing their work and passion. Art, they learned, builds bridges.

“Whenever we were making a new piece, we were showing it to each other [and] getting feedback, and that was a super creative new perspective and [presented] new possibilities for evolving our art,” Argitis said. “Carol doesn’t just do art. She lives through art, and that’s the only way to live if you are a born artist. We have that in common and we can get into any topic that seems non-artistic, but eventually, it’s connected.”

In the late 1980s until around 2000, Veliotis ran an art studio in an upstairs building on The Square in downtown Covington, where she taught hundreds of children and adults over the years about drawing, pastels, watercolor, acrylics and various other art forms. Of those she taught, one now manages a children’s art museum, two are art teachers, one works as an international arts salesperson and one became a brain surgeon.

In the early 2000s, she managed her own gallery on Floyd Street, representing nearly 100 artists, and created a mural for the City of Covington Welcome Center. Veliotis’ fingerprints are all over her hometown.

“She’s an amazing creative spirit and very open to conversation and sharing ideas,” said local artist Brenda Bostian. “I find inspiration in our conversations. Our work is different from each other, but a common element for us is our passion for the arts.”

Veliotis currently teaches private art lessons from her home for a few students and takes on some commissioned pieces from time to time. She continues to create projects, her favorite being sculptures. She also works on paintings and cards, either to enter into contests or to sell at Southern Heartland Art Gallery on The Square and the Monroe-Walton Center for the Arts.

“It feels really good to make art,” Veliotis said. “It feels good to have somebody love it and want it.”

WHEN MERCY REIGNS

by KARI APTED

Nick Howard told his family he was heading home. When his mother, Lillian, saw his empty bed the next morning, she knew something was wrong. It was Feb. 5, 1997, and the 18-year-old high school graduate still lived at home with his parents in Sacramento, California. Unlike many peers his age, Nick kept his parents updated on his whereabouts via pagers and answering machine messages. It was completely out of character for him to just vanish.

“Nick loved us,” Lillian said. “He would always let us know where he was.”

Lillian and her husband, Dan, contacted the sheriff’s department to report Nick missing. Officers did not seem too alarmed initially, as 18-year-old males are notoriously impulsive. The Howards were close-knit and even worked together at the family’s auto repair shop, where Nick was a mechanic. They began searching for him along his usual route home on a road beside the Sacramento River. Police soon joined the search, on land and in the water.

Dan and Lillian Howard moved to Georgia a few years ago, bringing an incredible story of sorrow and forgiveness with them.

When their 18-year-old son was brutally murdered by someone they knew in 1997, faith was the only rock left on which to stand.

Volunteers discovered tire tracks leading into the river two days into the search. It did not take long to find Nick’s Mazda resting on the riverbed 18 feet below. However, he was not inside. His bent and broken eyeglasses were there, along with his wallet. A weird film of oil covered every interior surface. Forensics revealed that a plastic engine oil bottle cap had been wedged into the throttle—a clue that someone had rigged the engine to run without a driver behind the wheel.

The Howards held out hope that Nick was somehow still alive. Rumors were circulating that he had been duped into faking his death as part of an insurance fraud scheme. On the surface, it sounded preposterous that a man so young could be part of such a plot, but the other name attached to the rumors made it seem plausible.

Ralph Marcus had been obsessed with Lillian since high school, even though she never returned the admiration. Despite her telling him she just wanted to be friends—and even after she married Dan—Marcus stuck around, befriending Lillian’s mother and later, self-imposing into Nick’s life. He always lurked in the background but was cunning enough to retreat at times. He worked hard to convince everyone he only had the best intentions for the Howard family.

The Howards warned Nick not to associate with Ralph, but he often did so anyway. Lillian thinks her son spent time with Marcus out of sympathy. “Nick was the type who would befriend outcasts,” she said. “He was so generous. If you needed something, he would help you get it.” Therefore, it was not initially odd that Marcus was one of the volunteers who

pointed out the tracks that led searchers to Nick’s immersed car. Suspicions arose when it was discovered that Marcus was listed as the beneficiary on an $850,000 life insurance policy bearing Nick’s name. The Howards never believed Nick had plans to fake his own death.

“Nick was empathetic, but he wasn’t stupid,” Lillian said. “He was making plans to visit his grandparents, had scheduled lunch with his friends, was getting flowers for his girl. He was not planning to disappear.”

The Howards were devastated when Nick’s body was found in the river three weeks later. Their pain only deepened after the autopsy revealed his death was not accidental. Ligature marks around his neck indicated strangulation. His face and abdomen bore signs of blunt force trauma, and water in his lungs proved he was still alive when someone dumped his

unconscious body into the river. Further forensic investigation linked Marcus to the crime, and he was arrested for first-degree murder. Testimonies during the trial revealed Marcus was a lifelong fraudster, repeatedly destroying property to receive insurance payouts, dealing cocaine and gambling heavily. Though he was a skilled carpenter, he never held a job for long, preferring to scam people instead.

The Howards believe Marcus’ real motive for murdering Nick was to get back at Lillian for years of unrequited love. He had told people, including Lillian’s sister, that the only way she could understand his pain was by losing a child. When police searched Marcus’ home, they found photos of Lillian, evidence of the life insurance fraud plan and indications he planned to harm other members of the Howard family. On Jan. 13, 2000, Marcus was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The television series “Forensic Files” found the case details gripping enough to film an episode about it. What it—and other published accounts— failed to reveal is the emotional and spiritual side of the story.

The Howards have fielded accusations of not doing enough to keep Marcus out of their lives. “Everyone doesn’t understand dealing with toxic people,” said Lillian, who describes him as a sociopathic liar. Over the years, it became more evident that Marcus had completely duped Nick. They learned more about his evil deeds against others, including elder abuse of his stepfather and burning down his own home for insurance money.

“God has given me little pieces of truth along the way to be able to stop feeling guilty,” Lillian said. “Sometimes you have to wait until the other side to know the whole truth.”

Although the death of a child is perhaps the most traumatic loss a person can endure, Lillian, a Christian, remains determined to honor her son and God through telling Nick’s story. People are often amazed to hear she has been able to forgive Marcus.

“God demands it,” she said. “He gave everything for the sake of forgiveness. The Bible says that when we don’t forgive, it’s like we’re holding that other person in bondage. Would you want to stand before God and explain why you held someone else in bondage? We have to let go.” Lillian’s healing process has included three visions in which she feels God let her see Nick fully restored in Heaven. “He’s more alive than I am,” she said. “He came to me when I was in twilight sleep. There was no conversation, but he held me and I knew it was him. He looked so beautiful. His skin was almost like this translucent bronze. The first time, I started crying and woke myself up. The second time, I also cried. The third time, I just thanked God for letting me see him again, and I thought about how it was three times—the progression of healing.”

Lillian believes God will restore joy after tragedy, if we will let Him.

“When he gave us our granddaughter, she is a lot like Nick,” she said. “She is a joy. I believe He wants us to move forward.”

“God has given me little pieces of truth along the way to be able to stop feeling guilty.”

Lillian Howard

BLAST FROM THE PAST

by DAVID ROTEN

Walking through the door is like taking a step back in time. A haunting musical score plays softly in the background, its melody beckoning from an old yet familiar place. Cursory glances around the room confirm the destination. This is Tara, or at least closer than I have been in many years to that fictional plantation made famous in the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Gone with the Wind” and epic film of the same name.

If the setting were a bit larger, perhaps, Vanessa Dameron might well be called the curator of a museum. As it is, she is delighted to guide visitors through her GWTW “gallery”—a re-purposed garage set behind her house on Dearing Street, not far from The Square. Hundreds of GWTW mementos and artifacts, collected by Dameron over the last 45 years, line carefully arranged shelves and bookcases and hang securely from each of the room’s four walls. Even the bathroom is aptly decorated.

“There’s a little bit of everything here,” Dameron said of the extensive display. Most of the items are related in some way to the “Gone with the Wind” book, movie or its actors. There are commemorative plate collections, postage stamps and Christmas ornaments, collectible dolls and figurines, music boxes, paintings, autographed programs and letters and tons of books, to name just a few.

Dameron, a retired respiratory therapist, is a treasure trove of interesting and often little-known facts related to “Gone with the Wind” and serves as a helpful guide through the maze of curios. She attributes her extensive knowledge of the subject to many years of collecting and learning. Special events such as movie re-premieres, exhibits, destinations like The Road to Tara Museum in Jonesboro or the Margaret Mitchell House in

Vanessa Dameron has spent decades building a ‘Gone with the Wind’ collection that would have made Margaret Mitchell, Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh proud, and it all started with a part-time job at the University of Georgia library.

Scan to read more stories by David Roten.

Atlanta, and, of course, the books and artifacts that make up the gallery have all enriched Dameron’s understanding of and love for GWTW.

When Dameron received a Madame Alexander Scarlett doll as a gift from her mom as a 10-year-old, she was already looking like the collector she would become more than 50 years later.

“I always treasured [the doll] and took really good care of her,” she said, “keeping her in the original box and just taking her out every so often to look at.”

Though Dameron remembers going to see the movie a couple of times with her family as a child, it was not until she was a University of Georgia student that her passion for GWTW awakened. A part-time job at the UGA library led to her seeing an exhibit in the Rare Books section featuring GWTW author Margaret Mitchell, as well as a script from the movie.

“Somehow, seeing that [exhibit] just kind of sparked how much I really did love the movie,” she said. “That’s when the collecting bug bit me.”

Since then, Dameron has found her treasures in a variety of places. “Before computers, my mom and I would just go to antique places and flea markets,” she said. Dameron has also procured new collectibles as they have been released at various

movie anniversary events. In addition, she now utilizes eBay in her search for the old and unique. These days, with a large collection and limited space, she is more selective. “I want to add things that reflect how I feel about [GWTW] and that I really like,” she said.

Sometimes, Dameron finds the collectible. Sometimes, it finds her. “I have my family and friends to thank for helping to add large chunks to my collection,” she said. The donations have come in many forms: books, newspaper clippings, commemorative plates, even a brick and ashes that were recovered from Margaret Mitchell’s house after it burned. Other items have been handmade by the donors themselves, including “Gone with the Wind”-themed paintings, curtains and throw

“It’s really hard to pick one thing, but the Scarlett doll my mom gave me as my first piece will alwaysbe special.”

Vanessa Dameron

pillows. Taking her entire collection into account, Dameron is hard-pressed to choose a favorite.

“It’s really hard to pick one thing,” she said, “but the Scarlett doll my mom gave me as my first piece will always be special.”

An original movie program from the GWTW World Premiere, which was held in Atlanta in 1939, along with newspaper clippings covering the event—given by her godmother, who was present at the premiere parade—are close runners-up. Attending the 50th Anniversary “re-premiere” and related special events, held in Atlanta in 1989, was an exciting highlight for Dameron, as well as some family members. “My mom, sister, godmother and I also got to meet some of the stars from the movie that were still alive,” she said.

Today, there are no surviving, credited cast members from “Gone with the Wind.” There is the book and the movie, along with artifacts and mementos like those found in Dameron’s gallery that continue to enliven the memory of both. Dameron explained the passion fueling her unusual hobby. “I do really enjoy collecting it all,” she said, “and I like to share it with people who have a love for GWTW.” Dameron acknowledged the tragedy of slavery depicted in the story and its flawed characters but finds redemption in the “determined spirit”

of its protagonist. “It’s about Scarlett’s will to survive through a war and through poverty and how she came out on the other side,” she said. It is a theme that continues to resonate with readers and viewers nearly a century after Margaret Mitchell typed out the last word of her 1,000-plus-page Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

For information on or to schedule a free-admission visit to the “Gone with the Wind” gallery, contact Vanessa Dameron via email at dawglover1981@gmail.com.

CHECK YOUR RETIREMENT PLAN WITH THIS EASY TO USE CALCULATION

by MARK S. REAGAN - FINANCIAL ADVISOR

While we all think about our eventual retirement, it can be difficult to gauge how well we are planning financially. Saving 10 to 15% of our gross income and investing it properly should provide for a comfortable retirement. But, it would still be nice to know where we stand at certain points in our life. A good “rule-of-thumb” when checking your progress is to calculate how much you have accumulated currently compared to your household income and age at the time of calculation.

A good basis to use for these calculations is to measure your progress on your 30th, 40th, 50th, and 60th birthdays. So where should your retirement savings and investments be at these specific ages, with the goal of retiring at age 65?

By age 30 you should have approximately one-half of your household income saved. At ages 40 and 50 the figures should be close to two times and five times your gross income. By age 60, you should have roughly nine times your household income. Meeting these mile markers set you up to cross the “finish line” with the household income target that most financial planners suggest that you have set aside prior to retirement.

If you are reading this article and you have calculated that you are on track with your figures, congratulations. Your existing plan is paying huge “dividends”. If based on your age, your figures are falling short, it may be time to seek advice for suggestions on how best to get your retirement savings back on track. And do not delay in putting a plan of action into place, as time is typically your largest asset when it comes to achieving your financial goals.

WHAT’S COOKING Audrey Faye’s Fudge

by NITA CLARK

My daughter Cassie and I run a home-based baking business called Clark’s Cookies and Cakes. She specializes in creating beautifully decorated sugar cookies, while I mainly focus on cakes. My favorite cakes to bake are more traditional in nature, like red velvet and pound cake. Since the holidays are on the way, I want to share a recipe for one of our family’s favorite confections. It is a tradition for us to make it for every holiday, especially at Christmas. I got the recipe from my great-great aunt, who brought it back to the United States in the 1940s or 1950s after being stationed with her husband in Germany. It is called “fudge,” but it is not really the same type of fudge we usually eat here in the south. Expect it to come out with a different texture than the fudge you would buy somewhere like Buc-ee’s. It is firmer and more candylike than ordinary fudge, and it is absolutely delicious. You probably already have most of what you need on hand.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of sugar

• 4 tablespoons of butter

• 5 tablespoons of cocoa powder

• ⅔ of a cup of hot water

• 1 tablespoon of vanilla

• chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare a dish for the fudge by buttering a deep plate or small, shallow dish.

2. Place all ingredients, except the vanilla, into a medium pot on the stovetop. Bring mixture to a rolling boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Turn the mixture down to medium to medium-low heat, but be sure to keep the mixture boiling. Stir the mixture occasionally, especially on the sides of the pot, to prevent build-up.

3. Continue to cook until mixture reaches soft ball stage, or 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. (Test for soft ball stage by dropping a small amount in very cold water. It should form a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water.) It may take up to 45 minutes to reach the soft ball stage.

4. Once the mixture is at soft ball stage, remove from heat, then add vanilla and nuts, if using. Stir well and pour the mixture into the prepared dish. The fudge will begin to harden almost immediately.

5. When the fudge is set completely but still warm, cut into squares.

Note: Similar to divinity or pralines, do not make Audrey Faye’s Fudge if the humidity is extremely high or it is raining outside. The extra moisture in the air can cause the sugar to crystallize, creating a grainy texture. The fudge may also fail to set properly.

“It is called ‘fudge,’ but it is not really the same type of fudge we usually eat here in the south.”

Nita Clark