REARVIEWS
By Jim Thompson
Stickers on a vehicle’s bumper drive home a message Ride along Athens’ streets for even a few minutes, and there’s no shortage of cars, trucks, scooters — and even bicycles — displaying one or more bumper stickers referencing everything from frequented vacation spots to favored political causes to favorite bands. One of the most floridly festooned vehicles on local streets is an otherwise unassuming 2006 Toyota Camry belonging to Rachel Watkins, events director for Avid Bookshop. Before Watkins got the Toyota, it had been a fleet vehicle, one of thousands of Camrys built that year for service with rental car companies, government agencies or any entity with a need for a staff vehicle or three, all painted in bland white. As a result, the first bumper stickers Watkins applied to her car came with a practical purpose. “I started putting bumper stickers on it to find it in a parking lot,” she said. Today, the back of the Toyota, from taillight to taillight between the topmost edge of the trunk and the rear bumper, is covered with bumper stickers, each with a purpose and a story. “There are things I believe in — and sometimes, I just want to make people think,” Watkins explained. There’s a “Complete Our Streets” sticker, a nod to the local effort to create local transportation infrastructure that considers pedestrians, bicyclists and transit options along with cars. There’s a “Public radio is my jam” sticker, and another urging people following Watkins to “Just be nice.” Watkins’ Toyota also asks people to “Support local music,” and it also reveals her support for downtown 8
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Athens move theater Ciné, as well as downtown’s Creature Comforts Brewing Company. “I like the logo,” Watkins said of the Creature Comforts sticker. But, she added, she’s also mindful of Creature Comforts’ importance to the local economy, especially now that the company has plans to build a second brewery in Athens, a decision motivated in part by the local government’s financial assistance for the expansion. “It’s important to have them here,” Watkins said. And then, there’s the sticker reading “freadom,” a straightforward statement from the American Booksellers for Free Expression, which bills itself as “the bookseller’s voice in the fight for free speech.” Along with the political and civic themes among her bumper stickers, Watkins has included some graphics with personal importance. A sticker reading “people are good” promotes the Cancer Card Xchange, www.cancercardxchange.org, a taxexempt charity started by Watkins’ college roommate, Emily Tickle Thomas. Thomas, diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2007, subsequently had successful surgery at Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center. She started the charity to spread a kind gesture to her and her family on their first trip to Houston, where friends had arranged for a gift card to be waiting for them at a popular Mexican restaurant. The Cancer Card Xchange provides a way for people to donate gift cards or make monetary donations to provide gift cards to other cancer
patients. Elsewhere on Watkins’ car, a worm sticker references her admiration for Jose Lucio, “a very talented Savannah artist.” Worms like the one on Watkins’ car are central characters in Lucio’s book “Heave Ho!,” which can be read at www.joselucio.com. The messages on the back of Watkins’ car, whether immediately apparent or not, do get reactions from other motorists. “I get people giving me a thumbsup,” she said. “I get people driving up close to see what’s on the car.” Interestingly, the bumper stickers that now populate the back of Watkins’ Camry have all been placed there within the last three years. They’re not the first bumper stickers on Watkins’ car, though. In 2014, Watkins had a full complement of bumper stickers on the Toyota. But when she decided to run for an intown seat on the Athens-Clarke County Commission, those stickers came off. “I paid $100 at the car wash to have them removed,” Watkins said. Watkins removed the stickers on the advice of longtime local political figure Gwen O’Looney, a former Athens-Clarke County mayor, who told Watkins that some of the stickers might, for various reasons, alienate some voters. Watkins would make it to a runoff in what started as a four-candidate race, but lost the contest to longtime local activist Melissa Link. And as it turns out, there is once again some question as to the future of the bumper stickers on Watkins’ Toyota, as she prepares to turn the
The Y factor Athens organization still a powerful force after 160 years By Joe Reisigl The year was 1857. Abraham Lincoln was merely an enthusiastic politician, three years away from being elected the 16th president of the United States and commanding the North through the Civil War’s bloody battles. The first organized game of football was still a decade on the horizon, with the Georgia Bulldogs another 35 years from taking form. Athens’ First United Methodist Church held a town meeting on March 26 of that year, with many people from the community attending, including a considerable number of students from the University of Georgia. A committee was appointed at that gathering to form what would become the nation’s third YMCA. Today — 160 years later — the Athens YMCA is still chugging. “Athens ought to be proud that we’ve got this YMCA here,” said James “Jimbo” Laboon Jr., a 75-year member of the organization. “It’s been so active and it’s still so viable today as it ever has been and I think we’ve got the willpower to keep it going strong for many more years.” Laboon joined the Athens YMCA as a 5-year-old in 1941. Now 80 and a member of the organization’s board, he’ll tell you immediately: “I loved it from the first day.” Since he’s been around for nearly half its existence, Laboon has seen the growth and some of the most 16
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ABOVE: The front entrance of the Athens YMCA in 2017. Joe Reisigl | Correspondent. BELOW: The Athens YMCA’s first building on the corner of Clayton and Lumpkin Street. Photos provided by the YMCA. important changes of the Athens YMCA. He’s played football alongside some of the game’s greats who got their start at the Athens YMCA, including Fran Tarkenton, a UGA quarterback from 1957-60 and a quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, and Andy Johnson, who started at the Athens YMCA when he was 6 before becoming a quarterback for Georgia from 1971-73 and eventually a running back for the New England Patriots. He witnessed the rebranding of the organization in 2010, when it dis-
tanced itself from the exclusionarysounding “Young Men’s Christian Association” to “the Y.” Laboon later watched as the Athens Y handed the reins to its first female CEO in 2014, Shae Wilson-Gregg. He was also around when the YMCA transformed in the 1960s. At first, it was little more than a religious group for young men, who would gather for Bible study at the First Presbyterian Church on East Hancock Avenue. In 1889, the YMCA moved to its first location on Clayton and Lumpkin streets — where the
Tending the Garden
By Lee Shearer
For new director, interest in conservation grew into a career The State Botanical Garden of Georgia has a new director, but Jenny CruseSanders is not exactly a newcomer to the garden, nor to the university and Athens. Cruse-Sanders took over for retiring director Wilf Nicholls on Feb. 15, leaving her job as vice president for science and conservation at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, where she had become the garden’s first Ph.D. scientist in 2008 as the Atlanta facility launched a conservation program. Before that, she had worked at California’s Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden as a research associate. Cruse-Sanders has both literal and figurative family in the Athens area. During her time in Atlanta, Cruse-Sanders worked closely with botanists and administrators at the State Botanical Garden on conservation projects, often through the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance, a groundbreaking consortium of botanical gardens, state and federal agencies, corporate members and 18
others that work together. The 21-year-old alliance recently won an unprecedented national honor from the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies — the first time the nation’s top wildlife agency gave its premier award to a plantfocused organization. Her work with the GPCA also helped her win an international award recently, when the Botanic Gardens Conservation International bestowed its Marsh Christian Award for conservation work in botanical gardens. But her connections to Athens and the State Botanical Garden began long before that. For one thing, she’s married to Darby Sanders, a professor of writing at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, who grew up in the Athens area. He’s the son of writer Sigrid Sanders and cinematographer/videographer Clate Sanders of Watkinsville. The couple actually met in Boston, when both were undergraduate students at Boston University.
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Jenny Cruse-Sanders brings lifelong interests in science and conservation to her new post as director of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. Lee Shearer | Athens Magazine After college, Cruse-Sanders found work at a federal Environmental Protection Agency laboratory in Athens, but soon found herself gravitating toward the University of Georgia’s botany department. Getting a firsthand look at one plant’s intricate structures, too small to see with the naked eye, did the trick. “We looked at a little mint under a dissecting scope and I have never looked back,” she said. “I have always been interested in conservation.” At first her focus was more on animals, but she realized you can’t really understand one without the other. She went on to get masters
and Ph.D. botany degrees from UGA, and in those years the garden in Athens became a place of study for her and more. “It was one of my favorite places when I lived in Athens,” she said. It was also where she found a conservation family, as she put it — people she considers mentors such as the garden’s Jennifer Ceska, the chief architect and coordinator of the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance; Jim Affolter, director of research at the garden and chairman of the GPCA; and UGA botany professor Jim Hamrick. GROW continued on page 24
Dance partners Lisa Mende and Christopher Weaver compete at the Dancing with the Athens Stars benefit in 2016. Sally Gustafson | Spotted® OnlineAthens PLANTAPALOOZA: 7th ANNUAL PLANT SALE Location: State Botanical Garden of Georgia Date: April 8 Time: 8 a.m.–2 p.m. Information: (706) 542 – 6014 CLASSIC CITY BREW FEST Location: Graduate Athens complex Date: April 9 Time: 2:30 p.m.–6 p.m. Information: www. classiccitybrew.com MADISON FEST Location: Madison Date: April 22 Time: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Information: madisonga.com TA-RAN-TULA 5 K Location: State Botanical Garden of Georgia Date: April 22 Time: 8:30 a.m. Information: http:// tarantula5k.wixsite.com/ ugainsectzoo
TWILIGHT CRITERIUM Location: downtown Athens Date: April 28–April 30 Information: athenstwilight.com
ATHENS TECH FOUNDATION 5TH ANNUAL LU-OWL Location: UGA State Botanical Gardens Date: May 12 Time: 6:30 p.m.
FLUKE MINI-COMICS AND ZINE FESTIVAL Location: 40 Watt, Downtown Athens Date: April 29 Information: flukeathens.com
BEST OF PREPS HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS BANQUET Location: The Classic Center, Athens Date: May 18 Time: 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Information: http:// onlineathens.com/bestof-preps
MAY 39th ANNUAL ATHENS HUMAN RIGHTS FESTIVAL Location: College Square, downtown Athens Date: May 6 – May 7 Information: www. athenshumanrightsfest. org (404) 895-7153 ATHENS COMMUNITY COUNCIL ON AGING RETRO PROM Location: Foundry Date: May 12, 2017 Information: accaging. org/prom
WINTERVILLE MARIGOLD FESTIVAL Location: Winterville Date: May 20 Information: marigoldfestival.com MEMORIAL DAY AT MEMORIAL PARK Location: Memorial Park, Athens Date: May 29 Time: 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. Information: (706)6133580
CRAFT Cont. There are many other beers — bottled and canned — to choose from, and the cocktail section of the menu also offers some inventive treats, including the Prickly Pear Mojito (with prickly pear perfect puree) and the Athena Shandy (with the Creature Comforts’ favorite, blood orange liqueur, tequila, pineapple juice and basil. “I always like having an herb component in cocktails like that,” Longstreet says. “And the Prickly Pear Mojito was inspired by a drink we had in Tucson, a margarita we had at my old restaurant; I made a mojito out of it.” Craft Public House also features a popular Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with shrimp and grits and made-to-order donuts proving to be sought-after staples. In terms of the near future, Kelly says the menu will change by late March, at which time a spring/summer menu will be launched. He plays to keep that intact until early September, at which time he plans a special new collection of dishes. “After Labor Day, we’ll have been open for a year and our idea is to take the greatest hits from all of our menus and create a core menu that will be around for a long time,” he says. “So people can always know they can always come to Craft and get the shrimp and grits with blackened catfish. And then we’ll focus heavily on doing specials, which we don’t currently do because our menu is changing.” “We do a good job of making normal things very, very special,” Longstreet says. “It’s all about care.” For more information on Craft Public House, located at 1040 Gaines School Road in the Ansonborough Athens complex near Cedar Shoals Drive, visit www.craftathens.com or call (706) 850-4363. 32
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ABOVE: Rob Longstreet, owner of Craft Public House, poses for a photo at his restaurant. BELOW: A chocolate flourless cake, speculose ice cream, pecan brittle, and marshmallow brulee is seen at Craft Public House restaurant. John Roark | Athens Magazine
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Planning Your TO DO BEFORE
“I DO”
Nine to 18 months before your wedding • Set an initial budget and determine how guests you will invite • Select a wedding date and time • Select and book your reception and ceremony locations • Hire a wedding planner/ coordinator • Select a caterer, florist, photographer/videographer, ceremony musicians and reception entertainment • Determine who will officiate your ceremony and invite him or her to do so • Set aside blocks of hotel rooms for out-of-town guests • Decide if you want a wedding party • Decide on a color scheme and select a bridal gown, bridesmaids’ dresses, groom’s and groomsmen’s wear • Select invitations and savethe-date cards • Determine if you want a website
Six to 12 months before your wedding 50 Athens Magazine | Spring 2017
• Complete a wedding gift registry • Compile the guest list and send save-the-date cards • Arrange for groomsmen to be measured and reserve tuxedos • Consider planning an engagement party • Select and order a cake
Four to eight months before your wedding • Have engagement portraits taken and submit your engagement announcement to your local newspaper • Set the date and time for the ceremony rehearsal and arrange the rehearsal dinner
Two to four months before your wedding • Confirm all details with your venue, caterer, florist, musicians and photographer/ videographer • Prepare all maps and directions for the ceremony and reception locations • Obtain a wedding license
Six to eight weeks before your wedding • Mail invitations, announcements and rehearsal dinner invitations
• Set appointments with any hair stylists and/or makeup artists • Hire a limousine service or set up other forms of transportation for the wedding party • Make sure all bridesmaids’ attire has been fitted • Buy a gift for your future spouse and parents • Write your own vows, if desired, and finalize ceremony programs
Two to six weeks before your wedding • Schedule a final fitting for the wedding gown, bridesmaids’ gowns and formal wear for groom and groomsmen • Pick up your wedding rings • Plan the seating for the reception • Choose the music for your ceremony and reception (processional, ceremony music, first dance, special dances and party music) • Prepare welcome baskets for hotel guests • Begin planning seating arrangements and start writing reception place cards • Begin writing thank-you notes as you receive gifts • Prepare a wedding announcement to submit to your local newspaper • Reconfirm guest
Wedding accommodations • Call any guests who have not yet responded
One week before your wedding • Finalize the seating arrangements and finish the place cards for the reception • Review all the final details with your photographer/ videographer, florist, entertainers, officiant, caterer, transportation services, ceremony location, reception venue and rehearsal dinner location • Delegate wedding day responsibilities
One day before your wedding • Deliver welcome baskets to the hotel • Get a manicure or massage to relax • Review and rehearse all the details with your participants for the ceremony and hold the rehearsal dinner
The day of your wedding • Allow yourself plenty of time to have hair and makeup done • Have juice, water, sodas, fruit, cheese and crackers as the wedding party dresses • Enjoy the day
The essential checklist to keeping your planning and budget on track
Budgeting for the
Big Day
Essentials Budget Actual Rings $ $ Invitations/stationery $ $ Ceremony location fee $ $ Marriage license $ $ Photography $ $ Videography $ $ Wedding gown $ $ Shoes $ $ Purse $ $ Gloves $ $ Jewelry/accessories $ $ Lingerie $ $ Flowers $ $ Wedding music $ $ Transportation $ $ Reception venue fee $ $ Decor $ $ Rental items $ $ Table linens $ $ Food and drink $ $ Cake $ $ Wedding party gifts $ $ Guest favors $ $ Miscellaneous items $ $ Wedding night and honeymoon $ $
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Anne’s boss, event planner and friend, Greg Boulus of Greg Boulus Events created a spectacular floral arbor for the ceremony that completed the picturesque imtimate setting amongst the tall Georgia pines. “It was truly magical,” says Anne. “To look out and see all of our family and friends was a moment I’ll never forget.” After the ceremony, everyone moved to the pavilion by the lake for dinner and to dance the night away. 54 Athens Magazine | Spring 2017
The
Details SEASON: Spring SETTING: Serenbe, Chattahoochee Hills, GA EVENT PLANNER AND FLORAL DESIGNS: Greg Boulus Events PLANNING TIME: 10 months THE DRESS: Anne Barge Buckhead Bridals in Atlanta PHOTOGRAPHY: Lauren Carnes Photography