Home: Living in North Georgia December 2018

DORCAS PLACE: BERONICA NASH AND A CALLING TO HELP KIDS PICKING THE RIGHT CHRISTMAS TREE FOR YOUR HOME A NEW SNOW ISLAND AT MARGARITAVILLE $

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Nicole Columbo 678-858-0265 Cindy Ballard 770-355-6777 Stephanie Gillespie 770-654-4161 Michelle Sparks 404-379-5798

DECEMBER 2018 8 14 22 28 34 38 42

DORCAS PLACE A family crisis started Beronica Nash down a path helping children.

ON THE COVER: Andy Kinsey by Austin Steele

CHRISTMAS TREES How to pick the right one for your home at Kinsey Family Farm.

GET TO KNOW The guys making Braselton Brewing possible.

WINE AND CHEESE Take a tour of Europe through the wines and cheeses at this local shop.

SNOW ISLAND Get out for some new winter fun at Margaritaville at Lanier Islands.

AROUND TOWN

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Photos and recaps of some of the biggest happenings.

CALENDAR Plan your weekends around your favorite events.

34 8 4 | HOME | December 2018

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DIRECTOR OF CONTENT Shannon Casas FEATURES EDITOR Nick Bowman GENERAL MANAGER Norman Baggs DIRECTOR OF REVENUE Leah Nelson ADVERTISING SALES Bernadette Mastracchio Jenna Wellborn Megan Lewis Trent Sexton Debra Cates

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CREATIVE SERVICES Kerri Ivie, Manager Katerina Laskowski, Magazine Design Indigo Whatley, Ad Design Allie Nunnally, Ad Design PHOTOGRAPHY Scott Rogers Austin Steele CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Joshua Silavent Pamela A. Keene Amber Tyner Layne Saliba

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ne load of laundry at a time, Beronica Nash is making Gainesville a kinder place.

Rustling up donated turkeys for a Thanksgiving dinner at LAMP Ministries in Gainesville, helping outfit the homeless with bags of essentials from her car, tracking down donations of diapers or formula for mothers in need — Nash’s service has lifted the spirits of hundreds in Gainesville, each act a small piece of a journey to spread joy in North Georgia.

The mother and former Hall County Superior Court employee has embarked on another mission this year: Dorcas Place Inc., a mobile, nonprofit children’s clothing closet that received its freshly minted nonprofit status this summer.

Dorcas Place is run from Nash’s garage, her car and her Facebook page. The name comes from the Bible, and is the Greek version of the name Tabitha, which appears in the book of Acts.

Tabitha, or Dorcas, is raised from the dead by Peter, who describes her as too essential to the fledgling Christian community in Joppa to be left for dead. He prays over her body and she is returned to life.

Beronica Nash spends a Friday morning at the Townview Coin Laundrey washing more than 100 pounds of donated clothing items that she will distibute to needy families through her start up non-profit Dorcas Place.

“A lot of donors just want to be anonymous — and I call them angels. All the angels that God has sent that have just been willing to help, and I don’t have a grant. I don’t have any type of funding — I don’t know how it operates.”

— Beronica Nash These days, Nash can often be found at Townview Laundry at the corner of Main Street and College Avenue, washing clothes 10 | HOME | December 2018

ABOVE: Beronica Nash adds detergent to one of the heavy duty commercial washing machines at the Townview Coin Laundrey as she begins washing the bags of donated clothing items she will distibute to needy families through her startup non-profit Dorcas Place.

that will eventually make it into the hands of children and parents who need them, turning donations and quarters into a clean set of school clothes for a fifth-grader or a new coat for a freshman — and peace of mind for a parent.

“She volunteers with anything that has to be done,” said Mary Mauricio, executive director of LAMP Ministries. “We’re just blessed to have her volunteering here, and we wish her well.”

She’s built up a collection of supplies and clothes for children at her Gainesville home. Other than two events distributing goods each year, one held before the start of school and another before Christmas, Nash does most of her work from her car.

“I had a teacher yesterday tell me that one of her students, she noticed that he had his shoes duct taped together. The kids can’t help it,” Nash said in early November.

Acting as a catalyst for good one person at a time — helping to connect donors with people in need through social media and some old-fashioned legwork — is the primary work of Dorcas Place. Nash will hear of a need or get asked for help and will then broadcast that need to her networks.

“A lot of donors just want to be anonymous — and I call them angels. All the angels that God has sent that have just been willing to help, and I don’t have a grant. I don’t have any type of funding — I don’t know how it operates,” Nash said, breaking into laughter. “I can’t really explain it, but if someone needs an item, it just shows up. Someone just happens to have it, and they’ll just donate it.”

Throughout her life, Nash has been prompted to chip in to help fill a need that may seem small but means the world to the person in need. In 2016, before

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LEFT: Beronica Nash prepares to launder donated clothing items at the Townview Coin Laundrey that will distibute to needy families through her startup non-profit Dorcas Place.

Dorcas Place had a name or a refined mission, Nash would pack essentials for the homeless and fill her trunk with bags she could distribute when needed.

“It would have a tarp, some scissors, duct tape, food, hygiene items,” Nash said, pausing to think and each time adding a few more items to her list. “Just some of the things you would need if you were on the streets — socks, gloves, flashlight, a blanket, poncho.

I would just have items like that in bags and keep them in my car at all times.”

Dorcas Place began to take shape that year when she saw a post on Facebook 12 | HOME | December 2018

from a desperate new mother.

“She had a newborn and she was in need of items. You could just tell from the post that she was just very afraid and she needed help,” Nash said. “I made a post saying, ‘Hey, you guys, this lady needs help. I don’t have a baby, but does anyone have some items they can donate?’”

People stepped up to fill the request, and Nash would go on to find more mothers in need and, again and again, cast a net for donations.

“My goal is to pretty much have everything on hand that I can for a child, but it makes it difficult because I don’t have a

physical location,” Nash said. “I may have a mom that needs a baby bed, and I may have a donor who wants to donate a baby bed, but I have nowhere to store the items.”

Children are where Nash feels she can make the most difference in Gainesville, and while Dorcas Place is officially a clothing closet, it deals in all manner of goods — from cribs to diapers to shoes — for kids.

That may be because it was children that inspired her volunteer work in the first place — starting in 2011 with her own vulnerable, bloodied and desperately ill son, Jeremiah.

“I woke up on Christmas morning and there was blood — it looked like a murder scene in my house,” she said.

Jeremiah was just a 6-month-old baby then.

The Times wrote about Jeremiah’s case in 2017. He has Bernard-Soulier syndrome, a rare disorder that affects his platelets and prevents his blood from clotting. He still receives regular treatments at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

“It could be me,” Nash said of the parents she helps. “I had to quit my job at the courthouse to be my son’s caregiver. It’s just by the grace of God that I even kept my head above water and that we had food and all that. I just put myself in that place, and was like, ‘Really, this actually could have been me — us — because I was a single mom.’”

Nash has since married and can dedicate herself both to her son’s care and her nonprofit. She hopes to one day have her own space to offer a “one-stop shop” for kids in need, expanding from clothes to other goods and even scholarships to fund after-school activities for children Anything that would help her spread a little joy in the face of hardship.

“I just need to meet the need. Nobody wakes up and expects their child to be covered in blood on the floor, and that’s exactly how my child was,” she said. “Nobody wakes up and says, ‘Oh, I think I’m going to have cancer today, and I’m prepared for it.’ You can’t prepare for things like that.” H

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HOME & GARDEN

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s a m t s i r Ch Tr

MakeL aIt st

STORY BY LAYNE SALIBA  PHOTOS BY NICK BOWMAN & AUSTIN STEELE

W

hen it comes to Christmas trees, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who knows more about the holiday symbol than Andy Kinsey. As co-owner of Kinsey Family Farm, Kinsey helps oversee everything that goes on at the farm, and around this time of year, it’s all about Christmas trees.

OPPOSITE PAGE: Andy Kinsey is a second-generation farmer at the Kinsey Family Farm on Jot Em Down Road in north Forsyth County

December 2018 | HOME | 15

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t r si T r TOP: Kinsey Family Farm on Jot-em Down Road offers a variety of Christmas trees for sale that customers can cut themselves or buy pre-cut.

They also sell living trees than can be purchased and planted after the holiday season.

eka M BOTTOM: Christmas tree balers are ready for the busy Christmas tree season at Kinsey Family Farm on Jot-em Down Road.

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Kinsey said people were already calling the farm during the first week of November, asking if trees were available. Since Thanksgiving came early this year, he said people were eager to get their trees in their homes.

But from his point of view, that just means people will have to take better care of their trees this year.

“The long and the short of it is, we al16 | HOME | December 2018

ways tell people, ‘Listen, you just cut the tree off from the roots, it’s dead,’” said Kinsey, whose farm is in its 15th year off Jot Em Down Road in north Forsyth County.

“They can just preserve the death process for as long as they can get away with.”

That’s why Kinsey said the Kinsey Family Farm has its trees in water or in the ground almost at all times. And that’s his first bit of advice he gives to people, too.

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“Get them off your car and get them in water. You can either put them in a bucket of water and leave them outside or you can bring them inside and get them standing up, but you have to get them back in water.”

— Andy Kinsey

December 2018 | HOME | 17

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“Get them off your car and get them in water.” Kinsey said. “You can either put them in a bucket of water and leave them outside or you can bring them inside and get them standing up, but you have to get them back in water.”

Kinsey’s pre-cut trees come from North Carolina and Virginia. As soon as they arrive at the farm, Kinsey said they cut about an inch off the bottom and then put them in what they call “the swamp.” It’s a holding area, covered by a roof and surrounded by a black screen, both of which keep wind

“It’s got that nostalgic look. It’s got the deep green, strong branches that are super fragrant, it fills in beautifully, it tapers perfectly.”

— Andy Kinsey

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and sun off the trees.

As soon as “the swamp” is filled with about 700 trees, they fill it with about 6 inches of water, and it stays that way at all times. Kinsey said “you’d be amazed how much water they drink.”

The most popular tree every year is the Fraser fir, which is what Kinsey keeps in “the swamp.”

t s

i r r T TOP: Chance Reeves, of Kinsey Family Farm on Jotem Down Road, unravels live spruce trees for sale that can be purchased and planted after the holiday season.

BOTTOM: Living spruce Christmas trees can be purchased at Kinsey Family Farm on Jot-em Down Road and planted after the holiday season.

e k a M

“Fraser firs, that’s the No. 1 seller by far nationwide,” Kinsey said. “It’s got that nostalgic look. It’s got the deep green, strong branches that are super fragrant, it fills in beautifully, it tapers perfectly.”

In the field, the Kinsey Family Farm has choose-and-cut trees. There are Leyland cypress, which oftentimes aren’t thought of as Christmas trees, and Carolina sapphires.

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TOP: A field of cypress trees for sale at Kinsey Family Farm.

BOTTOM: Andy Kinsey stands in the field of trees on his family farm.

“Hands-down, people who come to get trees buy Frasers,” Kinsey said. “The first big wave is always Fraser firs. And then after that, the next big weekend wave is out of the field.”

Kinsey said he’d probably have a Leyland cypress in his home this year. He likes them because of the way they decorate.

Although he said you have to use lighter ornaments because the branches aren’t as strong, the lights can be tucked inside the tree easily, giving it a “gorgeous” glow.

The Carolina sapphires are favorites for the same reasons. They’re the first ones to sell out each year, he said. They have more of a blue-green color as opposed to the Leyland cypress or Fraser firs.

“People who get these are furious with us when we sell out,” Kinsey said.

One of the major reasons Kinsey grows and carries these trees is because of the taper he’s able to give them. That’s one of the most important things people look at when choosing a tree, he said. The second most important aspect is the fullness. Kinsey said he trains a few people to help him go around the farm and taper the trees each year to make sure they all have the iconic Christmas tree shape.

“You want that sort of cone-shape look,” Kinsey said. “People seem to really navigate toward taper first... After that, it really is just personal preference — or what I really should say is it’s whatever your child picks out.”

Once you get your tree home, Kinsey said apart from making sure it has water at all times, you need to make sure it’s set up in a place that has minimal sunlight. He said it’s also important to close any vents pointing toward the tree as heat will cause dehydration.

Kinsey’s first load of trees came on Nov. 15 and more trucks have been coming every week since. He said the biggest weekend used to be the first weekend in December, but over the years, that has changed. That same weekend is when they start slowing down now, so if you still don’t have your tree, now might be the time to go grab one.

“The first weekend in December, it’s done,” Kinsey said. “You’ve sold 80 percent of your trees.” H 20 | HOME | December 2018

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GET TO KNOW

MEET HARRIS CLARK JOEL FONTAINE THE MEN MAKING IT HAPPEN AT BRASELTON BREWING STORY BY NICK BOWMAN  PHOTOS BY AUSTIN STEELE

22 | HOME | December 2018

TOP: Harrison Clark is head brewer at Braselton Brewing.

BOTTOM: Joel Fontaine, head chef at Braselton Brewing Company, stands in the kitchen on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.

F

our years ago, Harrison Clark was a National Guardsman making lousy beer while working behind the bar at Gold City Growlers in Dahlonega.

“The owner there was a homebrewer,” Clark said. “He kind of got me into it, so that was in 2014, 2013. I did that and essentially got into craft beer — and realized it was really expensive to buy craft beer. I tried brewing it. I sucked. I was so bad at brewing beer.”

But he wanted to learn, so he made the trip up to Brevard, North Carolina, to attend Blue Ridge Community College’s craft beer academy, developed in partnership with Colorado-based Oskar Blues’ East Coast brewery in North Carolina.

TOP: Braselton Brewing will feature a few IPAs, stouts and an amber that has its roots in the pecan trees of head brewer Harrison Clark’s family home in Moultrie.

CENTER: Stairs lead up to the second floor at Braselton Brewing, which is housed in the shell of an old cotton gin.

BOTTOM: Brasleton Brewing is set to open in early December at 9859 Davis St.

“I just worked in the taproom there and got to learn about what customers like... And try to figure out, if they don’t drink beer, what kind of beer they would like.”

— Harrison Clark December 2018 | HOME | 23

Chip Dale, owner of Brasleton Brewing Company, stands at the bar on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.

After wrapping up his courses, he noticed an “immediate difference” in his homebrewing while still working for Gold City. And it was at the growler store that he met Jason Ford, head brewer of Left Nut Brewing in Gainesville.

At that time, the brewery had not yet opened — and Clark got in on the ground floor.

“I essentially volunteered myself to go up there and learn some stuff from here,” he said. “I helped him put some chalk lines down and helped him clean some stuff before they officially moved in to where Left Nut is now.”

But he wouldn’t go to work at Left Nut until some time later. After graduating college, Clark left his job at the store and headed off to work for Gate City Brewing in Roswell.

24 | HOME | December 2018

“I just worked in the taproom there and got to learn about what customers like, how they work and essentially how to talk to drunk people,” Clark said, chuckling.

“And try to figure out, if they don’t drink beer, what kind of beer they would like.”

Eventually, he would return to the Gainesville area and apprentice under Ford at Left Nut Brewing.

And today, just four years after starting his journey into the world of craft beer, Clark is the head brewer at Braselton Brewing, the newest entrant to Georgia’s craft beer scene and one of the state’s few brew pubs — restaurants following the European model and brewing their own beer in-house.

He’s working with head chef Joel Fontaine and owner Chip Dale to bring the business to life in downtown Braselton us-

ing the shell of the old Braselton cotton gin, a historic building from the early 1900s.

With Dale, who is also a homebrewer, Clark is making better beer these days. The brewpub will be churning out a few IPAs, stouts and an amber that has its roots in the pecan trees of Clark’s family home in Moultrie in Southwest Georgia.

“Moultrie Mash was the original name of it. A lot of my family is from Moultrie, so I went down there and got pecans from my family’s property and brought back about 20 gallons of water from our well there and began brewing that. I’ve been tweaking it ever since, and it’s by far one of my favorite beers to make,” Clark said in early November, standing next to the rows of steel drums that will eventually hold the beer being brewed in Braselton. “My mom also really liked pecan beers, so I had to find something that she would drink if she ever came and hung out.”

Along with the amber beer, there’s a Belgian wit in development at Braselton Brewing that holds a special place with Clark: Weston’s Wit, a Belgian wit beer named for 1st Lt. Weston C. Lee, an Army Ranger and a friend of Clark’s who was killed in Iraq in 2017.

“He used to drink my beer all the time whenever we were at parties,” Clark said.

He was a good guy.”

Initially nervous when he got the job of head brewer — and he was recommended

by Ford, showing that while Braselton is booming, North Georgia remains a small world — Clark said he’s ready to get to

“I take an idea of how something is done over and over again and I turn it and make it different in a way that no one else is doing it.”

— Joel Fontaine

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TOP: Brasleton Brewing is located in the old Braselton cotton gin, a historic building from the early 1900s.

CENTER & BOTTOM: Whether you are planning for a romantic date night or a fun family gathering Braselton Brewing features plenty of indoor and outdoor seating options perfect for any occasion.

26 | HOME | December 2018

work at the pub.

And Fontaine is with him, with 10 years of cooking experience under his belt around the state.

“I graduated high school a year early in 2007 and went straight into culinary school. I graduated that in 2008 and have been cooking ever since. I just got out of school and started working,” Clark said at the pub. “I’ve been head chef a couple of different places, sous chef a couple of different places. I was a sous chef before here at the TPC Sugarloaf Country Club. Before that I was the kitchen manager at Tannery Row Ale House.”

While he lives in Commerce now, Fontaine was raised in Hollis, New Hampshire, where most of his family on his dad’s side still lives. His parents relocated to Georgia when he was young.

“I’ve moved back and forth my whole life from New Hampshire to here,” he said.

“I love both worlds, I guess.”

And he loves craft cooking — an inventive style that keeps diners surprised.

“I take an idea of how something is done over and over again and I turn it and make it different in a way that no one else is doing it,” he said. “It makes it my own.”

As evidence, see his veggie burger.

Time-intensive and particular, veggie burgers are often bought premade and frozen, but at Braselton Brewing the meatless burger will be made using some unexpected inspiration.

“I’ve actually found a new way to stabilize it that I’ve not seen anyone else do before,” Fontaine said. “I’m using masa, which is how you make tamales. It’s that same kind of texture, so it gives it a really awesome burger bite, but it’s all gluten free because it’s made with corn. It’s a cool way of doing it, and it’s a lot healthier.”

But for Fontaine the most exciting thing that will appear on the menu at the pub is its macaroni bowls.

“I’m making beer cheese and adding several different cheeses to it and changing them around. One, we’re probably going to do a hamburger mac and cheese, where I take hamburger and all different toppings and we’ll make it here and serve it hot,” he said. “It’s a big bowl of awesome things that you want to eat with macaroni and cheese.

We’re going to have a lot of fun with it.”

Look for Braselton Brewing to open in early December at 9859 Davis St. H

Look:Literacy The Gainesville-Hall County AllianceQuickfor Hall County

BUILDING AN EDUCATED WORKFORCE IN HALL Population:COUNTY Adults 18+ The Gainesville/Hall County Alliance for Literacy was formed in 1989 and serves as the umbrella agency for all literacy concerns in our community.

The Alliance partners with Lanier Technical College’s Adult Education Center to garner community support. The Alliance provides funds for instruction, materials/curriculum, and GED and continuing education scholarships.

The Center provides free educational programs for adults 16 years and up who have not graduated from high school or whose native language is not English.

Population: Adults 18+ 137,426 Adult Education Students Served 458 Adult Education students enrolled in 2017. 1,192 Students served by the Adult Education Centers in 2017.

Jobs in Georgia By 2024, 90% of the fastest growing jobs in Georgia will require at least a high school diploma or equivalent (such as the GED credential).

Educational Attainment: Adults 18+ Bachelors degree and up

20% 29%

Some college

22%

Less than a high school diploma

29%

High school diploma

Since the Alliance joined the CLCP* Since the in Alliance’s establishment program 1994, the percentage in of1994, the percentage adults without a highhas adults without aofhigh school diploma decreased fromhas decreased from school diploma

35% to 22% Adult Education Students Served

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates; Georgia Department of Labor; The Gainesville/Hall County Alliance for Literacy Annual Report, 2017.

458 Adult Education students

The Gainesville/Hall County for Literacy enrolled Alliance in 2017

(770) 531-3358 | all4lit@bellsouth.net | www.allianceforliteracy.org 719 Woodsmill Road, Gainseville, GA 30501

+

458Community Program 734 * A member of the Certified Literate

1,192 Students served by the Adult Education Centers in 2017

Jobs in Georgia By 2024, 90% of the fastest growing jobs in Georgia will require at least a high school diploma or equivalent (such as the GED credential).

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates; Georgia Department of Labor; The Gainesville/ Hall County Alliance for Literacy Annual Report, 2017.

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December 2018 | HOME | 27

TASTE OF HOME

A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD OF

WINE & CHEESE

I

t’s wetter, it’s colder, it’s darker these days in Georgia. Maybe it’s time for a trip to Europe. Or California.

But you’ve been saving up for that new boat or hiding cash under your mattress to finally replace those kitchen counters you’ve grown to loathe, and you couldn’t even get the time off anyway.

So forget the airfare — and the nine hours spent crammed into one of those trans-Atlantic tin cans — and do some olfactory and epicurean travel instead aboard ships of cheese and seas of wine.

28 | HOME | December 2018

STORY AND PHOTOS BY NICK BOWMAN

On this boat your captain is Don Waara, who for the past 25 years has been guiding locals into the world of European wines and cheeses through his business on Thompson Bridge Road in Gainesville.

Born into a Finnish home in Chicago, the proprietor of Vine and Cheese was raised around a kitchen table overflowing with soups, stews and flavors from across the sea — flavors that lend themselves to fall, winter and, of course, wine.

Waara cut his teeth in the early 1980s working in one of the Atlanta wine shops

owned by James Sanders, called the “father of wine” in Georgia’s capital who even sold wine to Martin Luther King Jr. Waara has picked out a few European reds that, with the right cheese, will bring a little magic to the dinner table this season.

“There was always somebody who knew more about it than the rest of us,” Waara said of his days working for Sanders in Ansley Park and, later, Paces Ferry.

“That’s where I really had my ‘aha’ moment that there’s something neat here — there’s something really neat.”

“The reason I got into the business is because I got a taste of just how good red wine and cheese can be, and it’s an eyeopener at the very least when it works right.”

Bleus from France, bries from Germany, French mimolette, farmer’s cheese, hard cheese aged by Italian riversides: Combinations of flavors give the taster a little peek at cultures and flavors that have developed through centuries of practice — and there’s a wide world to explore on the old continent.

“The acidity in the wine cuts through the fat and it just — it’s like a little bit of magic,” Waara said in between chopping at blocks and wheels of cheese at his shop on a sunny, cool November day. “A lot of this is kind of magical.”

For those who don’t put much stock in magic, dull though they may be, the success of pairing wine and cheese often comes down to salt in cheese, which dulls

“...I got a taste of just how good red wine and cheese can be, and it’s an eye-opener at the very least when it works right.”

— Don Waara bitter and acrid flavors while enhancing our ability to detect the sweet and earthy.

Whether magical or chemical, wine and cheese were a pair meant to be — so let’s get on with the tour.

Andiamo a Piave From the Veneto region of northern Italy, along the Piave River, comes Piave vecchio (vecchio meaning old or aged). The hard cheese has a strong, nutty flavor and

will draw up comparisons to parmigianoreggiano.

It makes a classic companion for another Italian product: Barbera d’Asti. Throwing some more Italian at you: Barbera refers to the type of grape, while d’Asti means the wine is from Asti in the Piemonte region — the Italian piedmont, a wine region becoming increasingly popular in the United States.

“Everybody talks about French wine and French food, but I think the Italians do it as well as anybody,” Waara said, pausing a moment to add, “with the appropriate food.”

Barbera is a less expensive alternative to the other Bs grown in Piemonte: Barbaresco and Barolo, which use the Nebbiolo grape — a finicky, demanding grape that makes for a pricier bottle.

At Vine and Cheese, Waara has a Barbera from Carlin de Paolo called Cvrsvs

ABOVE: Head off to Italy with a classic combination: A rich Barbera red and Piave vecchio, an aged, nutty cheese named for the Piave River and produced in the Veneto region of northern Italy. OPPOSITE PAGE: Don Waara, owner of Vine and Cheese on Thompson Bridge Road, has run his fine wine and cheese shop in Gainesville for 25 years and has developed a reputation around town for offering solid advice on pairings, flavors and the experience of enjoying wine and cheese.

December 2018 | HOME | 29

Vitae. The fruity, acidic wine pairs well Piave, its neighbor from the Veneto.

The family-owned winery also recommends the wine with game meat or beef.

“That’s what the people in the wine industry drink because they can’t afford the Nebbiolos,” Waara said.

Willkommen, dude!

This next trip is a bit of a haul: Waara set up a wedge of Champignon mushroom from Germany — a brie-like, triple-cream cheese — with Briarstone, a cabernet sauvignon from Hill Family Estates in California.

“My cheese customers are more fanatical than my wine customers,” he said. “I got everybody on a list, and I’ll call these people when certain cheese come in — and they come running. It’s really something.”

A little piece of mushroomy cheese was just the thing to bring a few people hustling to the store, it turns out.

From the Allgäu region of Bavaria in southern Germany, the Champignon mushroom cheese is made by combining chopped mushrooms — called white or button mushrooms in the States — in the early

“I got everybody on a list, and I’ll call these people when certain cheese come in — and they come running.

It’s really something.”

— Don Waara stages of the cheese-making process, giving the whole wheel a strong, earthy flavor.

And strong cheeses need strong wines.

Cabernet is a heavy red wine grape that is most often eaten with steak or other salty red meat. Briarstone is produced in Yountville, California, in the center of Napa Valley.

Waara recommends opening the bottle and airing the wine for a while before eating to improve its flavor.

Bonjour fermier From the Rhône region of southern France, the cheesemonger pulled a bottle of Côtes du Rhône, the name for the regulated wine region of Rhône, produced by the Saint Andeol winery.

The region sits within the wider Provence area in the southeast corner of France near its border with Italy. Wines produced with the Côtes du Rhône label are a blend usually dominated by the Grenache grape, and the bottle from Saint Andeol has a fruity, acidic flavor that Waara said is best paired with a high-fat cheese — especially farmer’s cheese.

In the United States, farmer’s cheese is often made by pressing cottage cheese and adding rennet — you don’t want to know what this is — and bacteria to solidify and give flavor to the cheese.

The result is something akin to cream cheese but with more texture and flavor.

“When you get either a fatty cheese, like a brie, or a strong cheese with a good acidic bite to it, those are the kind of cheese that seem to work for me,” Waara said.

In the case of the already-acidic bottle of Côtes du Rhône, opt for fatty goudas or — if you want to stick to France, as gouda is traditionally Dutch — look for Neufchâtel or Camembert.

The mold-ripened cheeses produced in Normandy are some of the oldest in France.

ABOVE: One foot in California, the other in Germany: The earthy, creamy Champignon mushroom is a brie-like, triple-cream cheese that pairs well with Hill Family Estate’s Briarstone, a big-bodied cabernet sauvignon from Napa Valley.

30 | HOME | December 2018

LEFT: From Cairanne, France, this Côtes du Rhône produced by the Saint Andeol winery in the southern Rhône Valley has a light, acidic flavor that pairs well with fatty cheeses, Waara said. Opt for European farmer’s cheese or any other heavy fat cheese when uncorking a bottle of this red.

Neufchâtel has a saltier, more earthy flavor than the lighter Camembert, but both have the high fat quantities that complement the fruity bottle of Saint Andeol.

Portugal a cabra To end the journey, it’s off to Portugal and the Alto Douro wine region to hit the Herdade do Esporão winery. The hills and valleys of gravel soils of the area, which sits in eastern Portugal near its border with Spain, have been used to cultivate wine for centuries.

And Esporão has used them to produce its Reserva Red, a big, powerful wine that should be opened and left to air for a good while before tasting.

All of the wines and cheese pitched

by Waara benefit from having some time to get acquainted with a room — meaning you should open both and give them a bit

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of time to air out and warm up — but this pairing would especially benefit from having some time to relax together.

Waara had a bottle from 2014, a popular year that won high praise from the wine community. Following his advice, the strong, spicy wine needs a strong cheese — try it with room-temperature goat cheese on crackers or crusty bread.

“I want long, winey flavors and I want them to linger after I’ve swallowed and exhaled,” he said. “I want to be able to have a pleasant memory of all that came before.

That’s the way I am with red wine and with cheese, also.”

The details Like jewelry, wine can be as expensive as you want. There are plenty of wineries in California to pocket your $85 per bottle, and there’s a well-fed winemaker in Burgundy who’s waiting on three times that if you want to visit.

And, if you have the money to spend, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy the pricey stuff.

“When I got into this business 40 years ago, there was this assumption that

“I love it when I see that on a customer’s face — when I can tell that this is it, this is the one, this is where his life changes.”

— Don Waara you had to work your way up; you had to drink the drek before you could appreciate the great wines,” Waara said. “I don’t think that’s true anymore — you can jump in anywhere if you have an open mind and if you have the desire to like these things.”

But he reckons the best money you can spend is between $12 and $20, after which most wine drinkers will begin to see diminishing returns.

“That’s where most people live,” he said.

Waara’s personal favorites are Swiss gruyere cheese and pinot noir wine — a lighter wine that goes from light and fruity to earthy and more complex as it ages.

But why all the fuss — the research and the care — when anyone could get a nice buzz and some flavor from a Miller and

a burger? (Not to say that both of those choices don’t have their places).

More than most foods, wine and cheese capture the spirits of the land and the people who made them.

The slightest changes in soil — from how it drains to its mineral content to even subtle slopes in the earth — affect the finished product of the wine. The diets of the cows or goats who produced the milk, and even the elevation at which they live, have huge consequence on the cheese eventually produced.

Both are often the result of centuries of embedded knowledge learned through trial and error that can better tell the story of the culture that produced it than any written history.

And the enormous variation in the world of wine and cheese give the taster near-endless opportunities to find something magical.

“It’s primal,” Waara said, lifting a crumb of cheese from the granite countertop.

“You just know right away, ‘Oh, that’s it!’

I love it when I see that on a customer’s face — when I can tell that this is it, this is the one, this is where his life changes.” H

ABOVE: A big, powerful red from Portugal near its border with Spain, the Esporão Reserva Red 2014 is best with a sour, strong cheese like goat cheese.

32 | HOME | December 2018

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RECREATION

From Lakeshore Beaches to

SNOW ISLAND

STORY BY LAYNE SALIBA  PHOTOS BY AUSTIN STEELE

W

hat used to be a relaxing wave pool with guests laid back in the shallow end or jumping in the deep end as waves crashed nearby has turned into the landing pad for a massive snow tube hill.

It’s part of the new License to Chill Snow Island at Margaritaville at Lanier Islands in Buford.

“This is a really cool project,” said John Lush, chief operating officer of Safe Harbor Development, which has been the driving force behind the creation of Margaritaville.

In early November, snow was blasting out of pipes to cover the hill by the wave pool before the attraction’s opening Nov. 16.

“It’s actually powdered snow,” Lush said. “If you’ve been here before, it was chipped ice... we have six machines going right now, and it’s

34 | HOME | December 2018

literally fluffy snow. It’s not ice.”

Guests have room to slide tubes down 10 lanes, each one about 6 feet wide, on the snowy hill. Snow is piled up between each lane, creating berms so riders don’t bump into each other.

As riders make their way down the hill, scaffolding at the bottom has created an incline to slow the tubes down as the hill turns to white turf and riders land in the empty wave pool.

With 420 feet of snow for guests to slide down, Lush said Margaritaville’s snow tube hill is “as long as or longer than any of our competitors.”

“The company who built it said it’s going to be the fastest,” Lush said. “That was important to us.”

He’s not sure exactly how fast it is, but when asked, he laughed and said, “I think too fast, but I don’t know.”

ABOVE: Margaritaville at Lanier Islands.

OPPOSITE PAGE: TOP: John Lush, chief operating officer of Safe Harbor Development, leads a tour of Margaritaville’s new snow island on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018.

BOTTOM: Snow is made from snow machines in preparation for Margaritaville’s new License to Chill Snow Island.

“If you’ve been here before, it was chipped ice... we have six machines going right now, and it’s literally fluffy snow. It’s not ice.”

— John Lush

December 2018 | HOME | 35

License to Chill Snow Island ABOVE: Margaritaville at Lanier Islands will feature a snow tubing hill this winter at its License to Chill Snow Island attraction.

36 | HOME | December 2018

WHERE: 7650 Lanier Islands Parkway, Buford WHEN: Nov. 16 through Feb. 24, hours vary HOW MUCH: All-access passes, $39.99 for adults, $29.99 for children, seniors, military and groups of 15 or more; evening passes for snow tube hill, $24.99 through Nov. 16, then price increases More info: www.lanierislands.com/margaritaville

Margaritaville has three people who share work around the clock, 24 hours each day, making sure there is fresh snow on the hill.

But visitors won’t have to work too hard.

They can skip hiking up a mountain to ride their tube back down the slopes.

“There’s a magic sidewalk, and it’s really just like a conveyor system you’d see in an airport,” Lush said. “It just takes you straight to the top.”

Lush said he’s not worried about much when it comes to the snow tube hill. He’s made sure it’s safe and has all the logistics worked out. It’s all up to Mother Nature now.

“The only thing that would really hurt you is if you get a summer weekend in December with rain,” Lush said. “If we get two or three days in the 60s or 70s, no big deal because we’re

making enough snow everyday where that melt off wouldn’t bother us. But if you’ve got three or four days days of warm rain, what happens then is you start combining snow.”

Remaining snow would be combined into fewer lanes, creating longer wait times and potentially upset guests.

When summer really does come, though, Lush said he still has plans for that hill. When it’s not covered in snow, he’d like to bring in bubble balls that guests climb inside of and roll down the hill.

“We’ll certainly do something,” Lush said.

“If nothing else, we’ll do some sort of a slide up there, but I just think (bubble balls) are so unique right now.”

Throughout the rest of the park this winter,

There will be warming stations throughout the park. There will be fire pits, too, available for families to gather around and roast marshmallows together. water and sand will be replaced with snow. Over on the other end of Margaritaville, Santa Claus will be visiting for photos under the Fin Dunker and across the way on the shore of Lake Lanier will be an area filled with snow and targets for guests to throw snowballs at.

If it gets too cold, Margaritaville has you covered, well, heated, too. There will be warming stations throughout the park. There will be fire pits, too, available for families to gather around and roast marshmallows together.

Tickets to License to Chill Snow Island begin at $24.99 and can be purchased online at lanierislands.com/margaritaville. The attraction will be open through Feb. 24. H

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AROUND TOWN HARVEST BALLOONS

The community gathered Oct. 27 at the annual Harvest Balloon Festival at Sterling on the Lake subdivision in Flowery Branch.

38 | HOME | December 2018

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AROUND TOWN BEST OF HALL NOMINEES

Nominees to The Times’ Best of Hall contest were available to meet the voting public at a Nov. 5 event at the Gainesville Civic Center. Voting concluded Nov. 30. Award winners will be announced February 1, 2019.

40 | HOME | December 2018

QUALITY OF LIFE

Times co-founder Lessie Smithgall, 107, was given the Annual Quality of Life Award at a ceremony Nov. 8 at the First Baptist Church of Gainesville.

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TOYS FOR TOTS DROP SITE LOCATIONS FOR HALL COUNTY $20 Chiropractic

250 Dawsonville Hwy Gainesville, GA 5 Below

1154 Dawsonville Hwy Gainesville, GA 5 Below

1600 Mall of Georgia Blvd Suite 1120 Buford, GA A&R Flooring

PLACES TO GIVE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON: Salvation Army Angel Tree: Lakeshore Mall 150 Pearl Nix Pkwy, Gainesville, GA Hall County Sherriff’s Christmas Bicycle Program: 2859 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA 770-531-7090 Edmondson Telford Child Advocacy Center and Hall-Dawson CASA’s new Giving Tree at The Little House: 603 Washington St., Gainesville, GA Hall County Animal Shelter: 1688 Barber Rd, Gainesville, GA 678-450-1587

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Empty Stocking Fund with the Gainesville Jaycees Will hold a raffle on Dec. 16 to fund the program P.O. Box 126, Gainesville, GA 770-712-9378 Georgia Mountain Food Bank: Christmas Food Donations 1642 Calvary Industrial Dr SW, Gainesville, GA 770-534-4111 Humane Society of Northeast Georgia Welcomes Pet Toy Donations 845 W Ridge Rd Gainesville, GA 770-532-6617

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Salvation Army Angel Tree at the Lakeshore Mall. Photo by David Cook.

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Sosebee & Britt Orthodontics

4204 Mundy Mill Rd Oakwood, GA Sterling on the Lake

7005 Lake Sterling Blvd Flowery Branch, GA Subway

Thompson Bridge Rd Gainesville, GA Tattoo Envy

3150 Atlanta Hwy Gainesville, GA Tattoo Underground Ink

4316 Mundy Mill Rd Oakwood, GA

The Cellular Connection Verizon

1943 Jesse Jewell Pkwy Suite 500 Gainesville, GA

5989 Spout Springs Rd Flowery Branch, GA 4421 Hugh Howell Rd Tucker, GA 4441 Roswell Rd NE Atlanta, GA

2358 Hosea Williams Drive Atlanta, GA 1522 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd Gainesville, GA Title Bucks

1507 Browns Bridge Rd Gainesville, GA Title Max

537 Shallowford Rd Gainesville, GA Tractor Supply

3640 Mundy Mill/College Sq Oakwood, GA UPS - Shipping Center

2254 Centennial Drive Gainesville, GA Vera Bradley

Mall of GA Buford, GA

Verizon - Cellular Connection

1943 Jesse Jewell Pkwy Suite 500 Gainesville, GA Waffle House

5536 McEver Rd Flowery Branch, GA Wendy's

3825 Mundy Mill Rd Oakwood, GA Wild Wings Café

311 Jesse Jewell Pkwy Gainesville, GA Winnford Academy

5796 Hog Mountain Rd Flowery Branch, GA Woodruff Med Training & Testing

675 EE Butler Pkwy Gainesville, GA

The Cook & Company

3120 Frontage Rd Gainesville, GA

December 2018 | HOME | 43

DECEMBER/JANUARY

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

2

Christmas on Green Street

2

“The Nutcracker” Presented by Gainesville Ballet

6

Lego Club

6

Three Perfect Gift Projects in One Day — Christmas Paintings with Joan Darflinger

7

Appalachian Culture: Myths, Realities and Musical Traditions

4:30-7:15 p.m. Downtown Gainesville, 830 Green St., Gainesville. Free.

2 p.m. Brenau University’s Pearce Auditorium, 202 Boulevard, Gainesville. $14-28. 770-532-4241.

5-6 p.m. Hall County Library System, Murrayville Branch, 4796 Thompson Bridge Road, Gainesville.

770-532-3311, ext. 171, bhood@hallcountylibrary.org. Free.

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Quinlan Visual Arts Center, 514 Green St. NE, Gainesville. 770-536-2575, info@qvac.org. $125-150.

4-5 p.m. Hall County Library System, Murrayville Branch, 4796 Thompson Bridge Road, Gainesville.

770-532-3311, ext. 171, bhood@hallcountylibrary.org. Free.

“Mamma Mia!”

11-13

7:30-9:30 p.m. Gainesville High School, Pam Ware Performing Arts Center, 830 Century Place, Gainesville. lettsani@gmail.com. $5-10.

18

Christmas Songs & Stories with John Berry

20

Holiday Craft Day

7:30-9:30 p.m. Brenau University’s Pearce Auditorium, 202 Boulevard, Gainesville. $25-45. johnberry2018.brownpapertickets.com.

10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Hall County Library System, Murrayville Branch, 4796 Thompson Bridge Road, Gainesville.

770-532-3311, ext. 171, bhood@hallcountylibrary.org. Free.

15

Rivers, Rock and Reflections with Judy Bynum George

17

Studio Workshop in Oils or Pastels

19

New Year New You Expo

27

North Georgia Bridal Expo

Jan. 15, Jan. 22 and Jan. 29. 5-7 p.m. Quinlan Visual Arts Center, 514 Green St. NE, Gainesville.

770-536-2575, paula.lindner@quinlanartscenter.org. $50-145.

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Quinlan Visual Arts Center, 514 Green St. NE, Gainesville. 770-536-2575, paula@qvac.org. $350.

Lakeshore Mall, Gainesville 9:30 AM – 12:00 noon Gainesville Civic Center 12:30 PM – 4:00 PM

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Braselton Event Center Your Wedding Should be a Lasting Memory...

Free Limousine Service

Chapel for Indoor Weddings

Free Houseboat for Engagement Party

Reception Space for 200

Outdoor Wedding Area

We Can Make It Come True!

Charming and elegant…describes the historic Braselton Event Center located in downtown Braselton, Georgia, built in 1916.

This space combines old Southern charm with today’s conveniences, perfectly conceived and designed for not only the modern bride, but also for corporate functions, business meetings, and special events.

Southern Splendor At Its Finest...

Braselton Chapel • 5257 Hwy 53 • Braselton, GA • 706-654-5405

December 2018 | HOME | 45

Your Source for Property in North Georgia.

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Honestly Local 46 | HOME | December 2018

$250 OFF* Braces or

FREE Consultation with X-rays *Just bring this coupon or show us a photo of it! *New patients only. May not be combined with any other offer or discount.

Some restrictions may apply.

Clermont • Cleveland • Dahlonega Dawsonville • Flowery Branch • Gainesville

770-536-0882

WilsonBraces.com

Ron Wilson, DMD Dana Fender, DMD

Same Day Braces 0% Interest Se habla Español

Owned and operated by Dana Fender DMD | Dana Fender PC.