NCM Sept/Oct_2020

Coweta and COVID-19 Where we’ve been, where we’re headed

Calm in CRISIS

relax, and breathe

PUMPKIN TIME

Grantville patch is ripe for the pickin’

SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2020 COMPLIMENTARY COPY

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HOME. BUT NOT ALONE.

Living at Wesley Woods of Newnan comes complete with friends.

In these difficult times it is easy to feel isolated, especially if you live alone. Happily, that’s not something our residents have to face. They are literally surrounded by companions and fun. Enjoying everything from movie nights to card games and exercise classes (taking all necessary safety precautions, of course).

Sound appealing? Now is a great time to act.

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Special Offer: Move into a onebedroom apartment and get 10% off your monthly fee for a full year. ***

To schedule a private, onsite tour, contact Beth Tripp at 770.683.6859. (Virtual tours also available.)

Remember, there are a bunch of friends waiting to say, “Welcome home.”

2280 North Highway 29 | Newnan, GA 30265 wesleywoods.org/newnan | 770.683.6859

Wesley Woods is the only Life Plan Community in the Newnan area – offering independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing.

To all of our front line essential workers and for all they are doing to keep us safe.

Advanced Chiropractic

Family Patterns Matter

We are open and supporting our patients’ health and well-being

Reaching people where they are to help keep children safe, families strong and our community supportive of all citizens.

2 Lee Street, Ste. C • Newnan 770-253-5040 • www.newnanwellness.com

www.familypattersmatter.org familypatternsmatter@gmail.com

Carriage House Antiques

7412 Highway 16 • Senoia 770-599-6321 • carriagehousesenoia.com

Christian City

Providing life changing hope through faith, community and care.

7345 Red Oak Road • Union City 770-964-3301

Coldwell Banker Bullard Realty

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16 Market Square Road • Newnan 770-254-0079 • cbbullard.com

Coweta Cities & County

770-252-8314 • shawnjacks@gbsoe.com

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Georgia Bone & Joint

Promise Cares Private In-Home Healthcare Agency

Call 770-502-2175 for appointments. georgiaboneandjoint.org

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Insignia Senior Living

Representative Lynn Smith

Maw & Paw Kettyle Auto Rebuilder and Sales

6675 East Highway 16 • Senoia www.cowetacharter.org

Serving Newnan, Peachtree City, Fayette, Tyrone, Fulton, Henry, Cobb & Muscogee

Georgia House of Representatives HD70 Serving parts of Coweta and Carroll Counties

Rosenzweig Law

10 McBride Street • Newnan 770-304-8102

75 Jackson Street • Newnan 470-347-3651 • www.rosenzweig.law

McClinton ENT of Newnan

Smallcakes Cupcakery

43 Jefferson Parkway • Newnan, GA 770-253-2273 • www.cccefcu.org

2301 Newnan Crossing Blvd., Ste. 120 • Newnan 770 683-2155 • www.newnanent.com

Finley’s Boutique

Morgan’s Jewelers

7 Jefferson Street • Newnan 770-683-1996 • www.shopfinleys.com

Newnan United Methodist Church

33 Greenville Street • Newnan 770-253-7400 • www.newnanfumc.org

27 Belt Road Newnan 770-251-6639 • www.insigniaseniorliving.com

K-8 Tuition-Free School

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GBS Office Equipment

We are open to serve your immediate orthopedic needs.

Coweta Charter Academy

Nature Link LLC

14 North Court Square • Newnan 770-253-2720 • morganjewelersnewnan.com

113 Newnan Crossing Bypass • Newnan 770-252-1400 • smallcakesnewnan.com

White Oak Golden K Kiwanis Newnan

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WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS.

6 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

Safe and Social CALL MIRNA TODAY! 770-461-0039 105 Autumn Glen Circle • Fayetteville

“I never thought I would move into an Assisted Living Community. When the time came my daughter and I visited 5 different places and when I walked into Azalea Estates I fell in love with it. Everyone is so good to me here and I love my apartment.”

-Wilda C. (Resident since 2014)

The Trusted Source For Taking Care of Your Loved Ones AzaleaEstates.com

Hey Newnan, Say Hello to Your Good Hair Day

A Publication of The Newnan Times-Herald

President

Vice President

Publishers

William W. Thomasson Marianne C. Thomasson C. Clayton Neely and

Elizabeth C. Neely

Editor

Jackie Kennedy

Creative Directors

Production Director

Contributing Writers

Sandy Hiser, Sonya Studt Debby Dye Rachel Adams

Susan Mayer Davis

Jennifer Dziedzic

Jenny Enderlin

Marty Hohmann

Frances Kidd

Matthew Strother

Jeffrey Ward

Jill Whitley

Chris Martin

Photography

Sara Moore

Advertising Manager

Bonnie Pratt

Multimedia Sales Specialists

Misha Benson Jill Whitley

Newnan-Coweta Magazine 2020 Advisory Board Julie Brown, Carol Chancey, Blue Cole, John Daviston, Carol Glover, Marc Guy, Rochelle Jabaley, Bernard Knox, Neil Monroe, Brigette Smiley, Casey Smith and Cathy Wright

FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION call 770.253.1576 or email advertising@newnan.com

Newnan-Coweta Magazine is published bi-monthly by The Newnan Times-Herald, Inc., 16 Jefferson Street, Newnan, GA 30263.

14 JEFFERSON STREET NEWNAN, GA 30263 DOW NTOW N

NEWNAN

770.301.8797 @JAMESMALONEBEAUTY JAMESMALONE.COM

Newnan-Coweta Magazine is distributed in home-delivery copies of The Newnan Times-Herald and at businesses and offices throughout Coweta County.

On the Web: newnancowetamagazine.com @newnancowetamag @newnancowetamagazine

© 2020 by The Newnan Times-Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

8 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

J . J . T h o ma s s o n I V RealtorÂŽ Broker 770-362-9307 770-683-663 jjthomasson @7 ja kson. om

Gain a different perspective on commercial real estate 75JACKSON.COM

CONTENTS SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2020 ISSUE

38 10 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

55

Photo by Chris Martin

60

We are here for you!

26 22 | Georgia’s Top Teen Country Singer

28

Meet Hunter Flanagan, Georgia’s reigning top teen country artist.

By Matthew Strother

26 | Wargo’s Pumpkin Patch Grantville patch invites family fun this fall. By Jackie Kennedy

34 | Coweta and COVID-19

Our writers fill you in on what’s happened through the pandemic, and what’s ahead. By Sue Davis, Jennifer Dziedzic, Jenny Enderlin, Marty Hohmann, Frances Kidd, Jeffrey Ward and Jill Whitley.

45 | Calm in Crisis Take a deep breath, and face the health crisis with renewed calm.

By Jennifer Dziedzic

in this issue 12 | From the Editor 14 | Roll Call 15 | Readers Write 16 | Behind the Shot 17 | Caption This 18 | Book Review 20 | Coweta to Me 30 | Ask A Mom 32 | #NCM Style 66 | Nonprofit Spotlight 70 | Coweta Garden 74 | Coweta Cooks 78 | Coweta Kids Care 80 | Blacktop 82 | The Wrap-Up ➤ Cover Photo by Chris Martin

SERVING OUR COMMUNITY FOR MORE THAN 35 YEARS Our Doctors George Ballantyne, MD Michael Cushing, MD Michael Gruber, MD David Heinsch, MD Chad Kessler, MD Jayson McMath, MD Trevor Turner, MD David Love, MD Clark Walker, MD Our Physician Assistants Darron Baham, PA-C Dianna Bureau, PA-C Beth Fleming, PA-C Jared Shafer, PA-C Rusty Smith, PA-C

At Georgia Bone and Joint, we are open and are here to serve you and your family for all your immediate orthopedic needs.

• Our Georgia Bone and Joint Surgery Center (ASC) is the only Coweta County ambulatory surgical center providing same-day total joint replacement procedures for patients.

• Our Georgia Bone & Joint Physical Therapy is not only the largest practice in our area but our physical therapists’ have direct lines of communication with our Georgia Bone & Joint orthopedists while offering one-on-one therapy protocol to our patients providing the highest quality of care.

• Our Georgia Bone & Joint’s Orthobiologics Center provides regenerative medicine options for our patients.

• In addition, we have our Georgia Bone and Joint AfterHours Clinic to help our services fit your schedule.

Your safety is our top priority. We follow CDC infection-

prevention guidelines to keep you safe by rigorous cleaning and disinfecting of our clinics, ambulatory surgery center, physical therapy and MRI department. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Georgia Bone and Joint is offering telemedicine virtual medical visits so you can see a provider from the privacy and safety of your own home or office.

NEWNAN

PEACHTREE CITY

1755 Hwy. 34 E. Suite 2200 Newnan, GA 30265 (770) 502-2175

4000 Shakerag Hill Suite 100 Peachtree City, GA 30269 (770) 626-5340

Ankle | Back | Elbow | Foot | Hand | Hip | Joint Replacement | Knee | Neck | Osteoporosis Care Pediatric Orthopedics | Orthobiologics | Shoulder | Spine | Sports Medicine | Wrist

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Normal, Not Normal W

hen this magazine publishes on Sept. 12, it will be six months since the COVID-19 pandemic led to broad swaths of the nation shutting down, six months since life as we knew it came to a grinding halt.

Only six months? It seems like a decade.

They say time flies when you’re having fun. Well, time’s not flying these days.

I typically avoid cliches like the plague, but this pandemic calls for them. It hasn’t been a bed of roses. I feel like I’ve been stuck between a rock and a hard place for half a year now.

As if there weren’t enough cliches to choke a mule running like wildfire through the English language, perhaps the most prolific one since the pandemic began is “the new normal.”

Please, oh please, don’t let that enter the lexicon. Please don’t let it become part of our language because, once it does, it may become our reality. This “new normal” is not a reality I want to face from now on. This “new normal” is simply not normal.

Driving through once-bustling small cities that look like ghost towns when that week’s number of reported COVID-19 cases goes up – is not normal.

Not knowing until August if your child will attend school in person or online – is not normal.

Walking through a grocery store in the South without speaking to or being spoken to by almost every stranger you encounter – is not normal.

Sure, some things since March have been good. Our family is among the many who planted a garden this spring. We figured it was best to grow our own vegetables in case the supply chain that left grocery shelves bare in April didn’t recover. We’ve pulled enough squash to fill the bathtub and our homegrown watermelons are the sweetest I’ve eaten in years.

So, the garden’s a win.

The extra family time is a win, too. Stores and theaters being closed meant I didn’t lose my daughter to the mall and movies as much as usual. In fact, she and I stumbled into a new tradition soon after the pandemic began: binge-watching TV series. That’s served a double purpose for me. Along with spending time dissecting storylines with Rachel, it’s spared me from an overload of national news, which has been set on a wash-rinse-repeat cycle since spring.

There have been other wins, but let’s not make light of the losses. For every life lost since this pandemic began, there are family and friends still in mourning. For every business shuttered since the shutdown, there’s a staff left to start over, and some won’t fare with new beginnings as well as others. For every normal part of daily life that’s been disrupted, there’s a “not normal” alternative that could be liberating or imposing, better or worse, depending on one’s personal circumstances.

Let’s don’t settle for a “new normal” that’s less than what our normal used to be.

In this issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine, we revisit the onset of the pandemic as we try to project where this not-normal situation is headed, see page 34. And we hope you’ll enjoy our stories on what’s extraordinarily normal: Wargo’s Pumpkin Patch, see page 26; good music from Hunter Flanagan, see page 22; and fall planting tips for folks who, like me, have taken their COVID cares to the garden, see page 70.

Jackie Kennedy, Editor As always, thanks for reading. magazine@newnan.com

12 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

Altogether welcomi n g

Looking to get away without going too far? Visit Carrollton. Come for the day or stay and enjoy a room with a different view. Local eats, artisan beverages and craft brews are on the menu in our charming downtown.

Find live music, art exhibits, theatre performances, historic landmarks and boutique shopping around every turn. Love the outdoors? Bike or walk our 18-mile GreenBelt or enjoy a round of disc golf. With so many options to explore, Carrollton is a short journey away from adventure.

c a r r o l lt o n g a . c o m

Our Contributors

Jennifer Dziedzic lives in Newnan with her husband and daughter and works as a massage therapist. In her free time, she loves to take her daughter kayaking, swimming and checking out books at their favorite library, the Carnegie.

Jeffrey Ward is a native San Franciscan, Vietnam vet and University of Washington communications grad with a 50-year career in aviation. He’s been married 47 years, has two adult children and six grandchildren, and is a foodie and Facebook junkie.

Matthew Strother holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Auburn University and has more than 10 years of experience in reporting and news writing in the West Georgia area.

Jenny Enderlin is a freelance writer and Marine Corps spouse who lives in downtown Newnan. She enjoys her involvement with One Roof, Newnan-Coweta Historical Society, Saint Mary Magdalene Catholic Church, Coweta County Democrat Party, and Backstreet Community Arts.

Chris Martin has photographed Major League Baseball, NCAA football, bull riding, air shows, space launches and international swim meets featuring Michael Phelps.

He shoots action sports for The Heritage School in Newnan and for The Newnan Times-Herald.

Susan Mayer Davis lives with husband Larry and golden retriever Mariah. What she enjoys most about writing for NCM is meeting great people when she researches articles and then sharing their stories.

“It’s fun,” she says, “but it’s also a privilege.”

Rachel Adams is a native of Newnan and a recent graduate of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. She is a contributing writer for The Newnan Times-Herald.

14 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

Sara Moore’s warm and welcoming nature influences her photography by putting her subjects at ease. She enjoys living the quiet country life while residing in Newnan with her husband, horses, dogs, chickens and ducks.

ROLL CALL

OUR READERS WRITE Dear Editor,

I want to thank you – and Sue Davis – sincerely for the article profiling me in the July-August issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine. It was such a pleasant surprise. I am honored by the inclusion, and I will treasure this experience. Again, thank you.

Marty Hohmann is a career journalist whose sweet spot is in good, old-fashioned storytelling. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys cooking, gardening and making her home a place where people want to gather around the dinner table and share a tale or two.

Frances Kidd is a Newnan native who spent most of her adult years working as a nonprofit and marketing consultant.

Although she’s an avid traveler, she never lost her Southern accent.

If she’s not in Georgia, you can find her out in the country in Italy.

Regards, Rae Duncan Dear Editor,

I’m just now reading the newest issue of NewnanCoweta Magazine (July-August). To be honest, I had forgotten that the “Taste of Georgia” article was to be in this issue. In light of the pandemic, our meetings and photo session seem like years ago.

A friend texted me to say how much she enjoyed the cookbook article. I sat down to read it, but I got so caught up in the “Best of Coweta 2020” stories, then the “25 in 2020: Coweta’s Top Influencers,” that it is now over an hour later that I’ve finally come to the cookbook article. (You made us look good!)

This whole issue of the magazine is top-notch and so well written. You all do an amazing job. The magazine is definitely THE feather in Newnan/ Coweta County’s cap.

Thank you for what you do for our community.

Pam Lee Dear Editor,

Jill Whitley works in sales and marketing at The Newnan TimesHerald and wants to be a writer when she grows up. She lives in Coweta County with her incredibly patient husband and two kind-hearted, hilarious children.

Let Us Hear From You...

Send thoughts, ideas and suggestions to magazine@newnan.com

I enjoyed the (July-August) magazine’s myriad of articles. Thank you for including me among the 25 Top Influencers. I plan to display the magazines at the Capital along with the “Taste of Georgia” cookbook.

Lynn Smith Dear Editor,

Just had the chance this weekend to pick up the latest Newnan-Coweta Magazine (July-August) and wanted to thank you for the wonderful treatment of my poetry. The full two pages of presentation was simply terrific.

Plus, loved the interview with Jennifer Key (chief nursing officer for Piedmont Newnan Hospital, featured in NCM Q&A), just the person we’d most want in this critical role.

Best, David Fox SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 15

BEHIND THE SHOT

Creating a Calm Cover

Coweta and COVID-19 Where we’ve been, where we’re headed

Calm in CRISIS

relax, and breathe

PUMPKIN TIME

Grantville patch is ripe for the pickin’

Written by JACKIE KENNEDY

COMPLIMENTARY COPY

his issue’s cover originated with an idea from Misha Benson, one

Photo by Sand

y Hiser

of our multimedia sales specialists. A landscape painter whose art inspires, she can be counted on for creativity that routinely works its way into our magazine, either through story subjects she recommends, ideas for ad layouts or, as in this case, a photo concept for our cover.

Dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic this year has been chaotic as old routines have been upended and replaced by new ways of doing things. For many, the crisis has brought heartache at worst, jangled nerves at best. In this, our issue devoted to Coweta and COVID-19, we hoped our cover to reflect calm in the face of crisis.

keeps co Emily Walker

ol while taking

photos.

16 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

Cover model Morgan Crumbly and assistant photographer Emily Walker take a break during the shoot .

With this goal in mind, Misha offered the idea: “How about we have someone doing yoga while wearing a mask? ” Ah, calm and crisis depicted in one photo, yes!

After making a few calls around town in search of a model, we found the perfect candidate in our own building.

A 2019 graduate of East Coweta High School, Morgan Crumbly served as summer intern for The Newnan TimesHerald. Now she’s back at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University where she majors in mass media production with a minor in theater.

We chose to do the shoot at Dunaway Gardens, one of the most beautiful natural settings in Coweta County.

With a plethora of gorgeous backgrounds to choose from, we asked Morgan to do a variety of poses in spots throughout the gardens. A newcomer to yoga, her theater background, youth and stamina helped her hold poses she was trying for the first time.

The dynamic photographer duo of Chris Martin and his apprentice, Emily Walker, captured a pleasantly calm

Photo by Chris Martin

T

SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2020

“I’m sure if I lay here long enough, this tiny blonde ball of massive energy will leave me alone.”

Caption This!

Photo by Jack

ie Kennedy

BEHIND THE SHOT

's Chris Mar tin y Hiser review nd Sa d an t Sonya Stud progresses. as the shoot photographs

Morgan in front of waterfalls, flowers, hanging ivy and moss-covered rocks. Dunaway’s owner, Jennifer Bigham, dropped by to check on us, and we thanked her for sharing the wonder of these gardens.

Our creative directors Sandy Hiser and Sonya Studt were on hand to check lighting, backgrounds and dimensions. Sandy, our resident yogi, assisted Morgan with poses, and we all came away from the shoot enlightened with our own toolkit of poses to try when calm is required.

The biggest trouble with this shoot was coming away with so many cover-worthy photos – and then narrowing it down to one. We hope the cover we selected provides you a sense of calm in this crisis.

In July, we asked our Newnan-Coweta Magazine readers and Facebook friends to caption this photo. We received 65 entries, a record number for our Caption This contest.

The winning caption, above, was submitted

by Greg Hashimoto, of Pine Mountain, who will receive an NCM 25th Anniversary T-shirt. In September, we’ll post another photo for our readers to caption. Visit newnancowetamagazine.com or follow us on Facebook and submit yours.

Emily Walker, left, assists as San dy Hiser, right, demonstrates a yoga pose for model Morgan Crumbly.

Photo by Chris Mar tin

NCM

@newnancowetamag SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 |

17

BOOK REVIEW

‘In the Hands of the People’ Thomas Jefferson: Man of Principal or Politician?

“I

A Book Review by DAVID FOX

n the Hands of the People: Thomas Jefferson on Equality, Faith, Freedom, Compromise, and the Art of Citizenship” provides a fascinating overview of Jefferson’s famous quotes. In this slim volume, edited

by Jon Meacham, we see the words of a man who many believe epitomizes the best values of our country.

Meacham narrates this collection, organizing Jefferson’s thoughts thematically. For example, the first chapter is titled “The Ongoing Quest for Equality” while the fifth chapter is “The Role of Education.”

The publication includes an Afterword by Annette Gordon-Reed, the Charles Warren professor of American legal history at Harvard Law School and a professor of history at Harvard University. Meacham may have included her because she’s the author of “Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy,” a book some criticized for its inoffensive attitude regarding Jefferson’s illicit affair with a slave. GordonReed’s treatment of Jefferson and Hemings stirred a hornet’s nest of opposition from those who believed Jefferson’s behavior – so at odds with his professed beliefs – deserved a less forgiving approach.

And that gets to the heart of the challenge Meacham’s volume presents. Do we judge men like Jefferson by the contradictory gap between their words and actions, or do we give them the benefit of the doubt and factor in the reality of the time they lived?

Anyone who reads Jefferson’s words in Meacham’s tribute will recognize his sterling intellect, his eloquent and aspirational words. Meacham acknowledges the schism between his lofty, philosophical musings and his more base, everyday behavior, prompting the question: What explains this enormous gap between his inspirational visions and the reality of his life as a man whose world revolved around his plantation and the hundreds of slaves he owned?

18 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

Many suggest it is complicated. They say there are a plentitude of factors to evaluate.

Recently, I heard an interview on NPR that featured Gordon-Reed discussing her thoughts about Jefferson, which were formed after exhaustive research. When asked what she makes of the founding father’s contradictions, she addressed the question directly and, I believe, hit the nail squarely on the head when she called Jefferson the consummate politician.

Gordon-Reed concludes that Jefferson was the most adroit politician of his time, the Ronald Reagan of his generation. She firmly believes there was no way he could have scaled the political peaks he strode upon if his “all men are created equal” refrain embraced African Americans.

Read “In the Hands of the People” and listen to Jefferson’s words. Hear the bells of freedom. View his deeds, and a different image manifests. Which is more accurate?

I’d suggest both coexist, uncomfortably, beside one another.

I’d recommend that you read Meacham’s book and decide for yourself.

Edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham, the 112-page book was published by Random House in June 2020. ★★★★ David Fox has settled in Senoia after a 13-year stint in Anchorage, Alaska, where he worked as a marketing executive and book reviewer for the Anchorage Press. NCM

Read a good book lately?

Share your favorite new read with NewnanCoweta Magazine by writing a book review for possible publication in an upcoming issue.

Keep your review at 350-450 words and please include the author’s name, page count and date of publication as well as any awards the book may have won.

Be sure to give the book your rating of 1 star=You’ll never miss it; 2 stars=Okay; 3 stars=Pretty good; 4 stars=Read it; or 5 stars=Best. Book. Ever.

Send your review with your contact information to magazine@newnan.com or mail to Newnan-Coweta Magazine, 16 Jefferson Street, Newnan, GA. 30263.

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COWETA TO ME

Newnan Siblings and Goat Man Memories

I

Carol Screws Yarri

What is Coweta to You? 20 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

tell people I grew up in a small town and it grew up with me.

My name is Carol Screws Yarri, and I own C&C Cleaners, a housecleaning service in Newnan. I tell everyone I’ve been here all my life, but that isn’t exactly true. I was born in Hogansville but didn’t find that out until grade school. I was doing an autobiography and wrote that I was born in Newnan, and Mom said, “No, you were born in Hogansville.” But we moved to Newnan when I was a baby, so I consider it my hometown.

My mom and dad both worked at the cotton mill

Whether you’ve lived here all your life or only a year, we want to hear your personal Coweta story. Keep your word count at 350-450 words, please. Email your “Coweta to Me” story to magazine@newnan.com or mail to 16 Jefferson St., Newnan, GA 30263. We look forward to hearing from you.

COWETA TO ME

at Sargent, and we lived in the Sargent community.

I am one of nine children. My oldest sibling and youngest have the same birthday, June 5. When my brother Bill was born, my parents put in the paper that he was “even Steven” because he evened out the family with three boys and three girls. Later, Mom had two more girls and another boy.

It was great growing up in a small town with many siblings. The only part I didn’t like much was wearing hand-me-downs.

Newnan only had about three hamburger places back then, in the 1960s and ’70s. My brother-in-law used to let all us kids pile in the back of his truck and he’d take us to Perry’s Burger Basket on Temple Avenue for a huge ice cream cone.

Those were the days. Now you can’t ride in the back of a pickup truck.

We used to go down to the rock hole between Sargent and Arnco to fish or just throw rocks. One time my baby brother, Johnny, fell and busted his head on a rock and had to have stitches.

When we were growing up, one of our biggest thrills was when we would be outside at recess and the Goat Man would come by. You could hear him before you could see him because of the clanging of scrap metal banging against his iron-wheeled wagon.

We would run down to the highway just to say hello. We would often see the Goat Man when we traveled up and down Highway 27, including in Bremen and in Rome.

I started a cleaning business here in 1995 and have met a lot of nice people – some who have lived here most of their lives and some transplants, as I call them, who have moved here from all over.

I love this town and wouldn’t want to have grown up anywhere else. NCM

LEFT PAGE, TOP Carol Screws Yarri recalls seeing the Goat Man, Charles McCartney, walking through town with his goat-led wagon. McCartney is shown here with his wife and son.

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CLOSER LOOK

Meet Hunter Flanagan: Georgia’s Country Artist of the Year Written by MATTHEW STROTHER

G

eorgia’s reigning country artist of the year is an 19-year-old guitarist/singer/songwriter from Bowdon, Hunter Flanagan. The recent honor is one in a list of accolades the hard-working young man has received.

Flanagan was named Overall Artist of the Year in November at the 2019 Georgia Country Awards (GCA) ceremony in Macon.

The GCA Panel, which consists of Georgia music industry leaders, agreed the teenager deserved the organization’s top honor because he “had the best year performing and had done the most to further his career.” Winners are chosen based on GCA and fan votes.

Flanagan has performed across the Southeast, including opening act gigs for Confederate Railroad, Marks Will, Gene Watson and Rhonda Vincent. Onstage, he’s sure to play guitar and may pick up the banjo or ukelele, too.

In 2018, Flanagan was named Best Overall Act, Best Live Act, Best Country Act and Best Vocalist in Creative Loafing’s Best of Atlanta issue. In November 2018, Georgia Country Awards honored him as Teen Artist of the Year.

Music has always been central to Flanagan’s existence.

22 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

Hunter Flanagan was named Georgia Country Awards’ Overall Artist of the Year in November and will hold that title through most of 2020.

“I’ve sang my entire life,” he says. “When I

was 16 months old, I knew all the songs and

danced to ‘Wizard of Oz,’ so I knew this was what I wanted to do.”

His mom, Heidi, serves as his manager,

and dad, Bill, joins them on the road for gigs

as much as possible. The artist of the year has

Photos courtesy of Hunter Flanagan.

Georgia Country Award’s reigning Overall Artist of the Year is Hunter Flanagan, an 19-year-old country singer/songwriter from Bowdon.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 23

Hunter Flanagan performed more than 200 gigs last year, playing across Georgia and throughout the Southeast.

spent half of his life performing professionally and all of his life with music in his heart.

“I come from a musical family,” says Flanagan. “My grandmother sang with a 1960s pop group, Spanky and Our Gang, and mom was in ‘Annie.’ When I was a kid, we all sang in the car, and singing was just part of what I was.

I don’t think there was a time when I didn’t want to sing.”

After some local success, the teen got his first professional singing opportunity at Six Flags Over Georgia when he was 9 years old. Although he is now primarily considered a country artist, his young voice wasn’t low enough for country then, so he sang pop songs from artists like Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars.

“I’ve made a total 180 [degree turn] since then,” he says, noting he has influences from country and classic rock to 1980s hair bands and bluegrass.

Despite his lifelong relationship with music, it was a tragic event when he was 10 that led Flanagan to find his own voice and style. His older brother, Josh, was in a serious four-wheeler accident and spent 29 days in a coma.

“They said he would never walk or talk again,” the singer recalls. “They had to remove part of the frontal lobe of his brain, and they said if he did survive – and he had less than a one percent chance – that he’d just lie there.”

Flanagan accompanied his brother to physical rehabilitation and sang his favorite songs during his long road to recovery. The family feels it made a difference.

24 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

“Now, he walks, he talks, he dates, he drives,” says Flanagan. “If you met him, you wouldn’t even know anything was different about him.”

His brother’s recovery showed the young singer how his music could inspire. His first original song was about his brother, and it set the tone for his style. Although he describes his sound as “kind of a country feel,” it was the result of finding what came from within.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to sing, but when I started writing, it just kind of fell into place,” he says. “I started out with pop, but eventually I found myself.”

He still brings in a mix of influences to his shows.

“My setlist for when I do shows, it’s a lot of classic rock, a lot of Eagles, some Queen and stuff like that,” says Flanagan. “I’m known for country, but people go to my shows and say, ‘I don’t know why they call you a country singer.’ I love to mix it up for people to keep them guessing.”

While his voice has been his instrument, he began playing drums when he joined his school’s jazz band in the sixth grade. Taking up the instrument quickly, he found it easier than he anticipated. He started teaching himself other instruments in his spare time and he now plays guitar, ukulele, banjo, violin, concertina, tin whistle and harp – and he’s working on the harmonica.

The young artist’s talents aren’t only in the musical realm. He has been performing as an actor almost as long as a musician, going back to his first professional job at Six Flags. To prepare for the show, he went to a small acting studio to learn improvisation so he could talk with the audience between performances. His acting coach was impressed by his ability.

“She said, ‘You’ve got a real knack for this,’” Flanagan recalls. “So my family pulled me in for a short film. I did the audition, she helped film it, and I got it. Ever since then, I love acting.”

He worked with Matthew McConaughey in the movie “White Boy Rick” and recently finished filming an upcoming episode of the Netflix series, “Outer Banks.”

He also has a starring role as Thomas in “The Shocklosers’ Odyssey” mini-series and its associated spinoffs, which are coming to Amazon Prime with a new movie, “Camp Analog Blues.”

Even in acting, music still follows Flanagan who spends his downtime on set playing the guitar or banjo. It’s a pastime, no matter where he is.

CLOSER LOOK

“There will be days for 12 hours that I’ll just be sitting in the living room playing guitar,” he says. “I love the feel of playing. Even if no one is there or no one is really listening, I just sit and strum and play for myself. I know I’m doing what I’m meant to be doing.”

Although he travels across the country for acting parts and has performed up to 200 shows a year around the Southeast, Georgia’s teen country artist still finds time for other interests. He’s a beekeeper and is training to become a rescue diver. He attended Bowdon High School and graduated from Georgia Cyber Academy in 2017 at the age of 15. He credits his success to family, both related and extended.

“My family is very supportive, and I use the term family

loosely because there are a lot of people whom I have met throughout this journey whom I consider family now,” says Flanagan. “I’m just honored to have so many people who help me and see something in me.”

Already an experienced performer at a young age, he admits to still getting nervous.

“People say, ‘I guess that feeling in your stomach goes away,’” he says. “I say, if you ever stop feeling the butterflies in your stomach when you get onstage, then you shouldn’t be performing.”

Evidently, this award-winning up-and-comer is where he belongs.

“I live for that feeling, that feeling you have being nervous right when you get up, but then after the first song, everybody loves you – hopefully,” he says. “I’ve had bad experiences, and that’s rough, but when everybody’s cheering and clapping, it’s such a great feeling.”

The singer/songwriter is happy with the trajectory in which his young life is headed.

“As long as singing is in my life in the future, I’ll be happy,” he says. “Where I am right now is pretty great.”

NCM

Follow the young singer at thehunterflanagan.com or on Facebook or Instagram.

Hunter Flanagan plays several musical instruments, including banjo.

Here, he hangs out on his porch in Bowdon with his pet possum, Crowley.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 25

Arnold the Goose is star of the show at Wargo's Pumpkin Patch in Grantville.

26 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

PICK YOUR

Perfect Pumpkin Patch Plans Opening Fall and Christmas Written and Photographed by JACKIE KENNEDY

ABOVE Ethan Hall, right, introduces Arnold the Goose to Amanda Kennedy and her daughter, Avery.

W

hile the coronavirus has canceled numerous events and kept many area businesses only partially open, Wargo’s Pumpkin Patch, in Grantville, plans for a pumpkin-good time this fall.

Owners Cory and Monica Wargofcak opened their family business in 2013 at the farm where Monica grew up. Located at 2041 Lone Oak Road, the autumnthemed pumpkin patch features hayrides, a petting zoo, corn maze, barn shop and pumpkins – lots and lots of pumpkins.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 27

ABOVE The Wargofcak’s extended family and friends celebrate autumn at Wargo Pumpkin Patch in Grantville, from left, front: Kathryn Andrews; Emma, Wyatt and Cade Wargofcak. Second row/seated and kneeling: Billy and Michelle Andrews, Cory and Monica Wargofcak, and Alex Dombrowsky with Cabella the dog. Third row/standing: Kaleigh and Michael McCray, Savanna and Landon Comeans, Craig and Shelia Simpson, Debra Wargofcak, Jill Murphy, Madison Draper, Lisa Nelson, Jack Murphy and Julianna Dombrowsky. In back: Mike Wargofcak.

BELOW Pumpkins make the perfect backdrop for autumn photos, as 2-year-old Avery Kennedy proves.

At their shop, the Wargofcaks offer handmade soaps, jellies, cider, pumpkin butters, old-fashioned candies, hot dogs, drinks and more. While there’s no admission cost, a $10 fee covers the petting zoo, corn maze and hayride; kids 5 and under are admitted for free.

“As long as there are no COVID-19 restrictions on us, we’re good,” says Monica. “If we have to change something up, we will.”

The patch closes after October and the Wargofcak family spends the next few weeks switching from autumn to a holiday theme. They reopen on Thanksgiving Day for the holiday season with Christmas trees for sale and Santa visits on the weekends. NCM

➤ Wargo’s Pumpkin Patch opens weekends from the third weekend in September through October. From Thanksgiving through Christmas, the patch opens every day from 4 to 8 p.m.

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ASK A MOM @ newnan.com

Home Alone?

Compiled and Edited by JILL WHITLEY

No matter which side you find yourself on in the Mommy Wars, we can all agree that parenting is the most difficult job on earth.

Whether you’re single or married, working or staying at home, there’s no easy path to raising a happy, healthy child.

Newnan-Coweta Magazine has you covered with a feature tailored just for parents – Ask a Mom at Newnan.com. We have partnered with some amazing Coweta-area moms who are experts in fields ranging from pediatrics and obstetrics to education and psychology, to first responders and regular, everyday moms.

Some are moms-made-superheroes by raising medically fragile children and caring for aging parents as they do. They are all available to answer readers’ questions about parenting, kids and family life in general.

Send your concerns to askamom@newnan. com. It really does take a village, and we are here to be your village with judgment-free, reallife answers.

This issue's Ask a Mom experts: Dr. Megan Boyd is director of Training and Professional Development for a local behavioral health management company. She has experience as a counselor, educator and behavioral health clinic director, and her clinical background includes working with children, adolescents, adults and families experiencing trauma and other behavioral health concerns.

Her family moved to Newnan four years ago.

Jill Whitley is a former court-appointed child advocate for Coweta CASA and has navigated widowhood, single parenting and blending a family. She lives in Coweta County with her incredibly patient husband and two kind-hearted, hilarious children.

This month’s question was submitted

by A Worried Single Mom: Dear Mom,

I am terrified of sending my kids back to school this fall, but I have to keep working. Our family can’t survive without my income. How do I decide what’s safer: leaving them alone at home or sending them back to possibly catch and/or spread COVID-19?

Sincerely, A Worried Single Mom Dr. Megan Boyd: With the reopening of Georgia businesses, parents and caregivers have made the decision to return to work if they are unable to tele-work and can follow social distancing guidelines.

This has left questions about childcare, specifically: When can a child be left home alone?

The Georgia Department of Human Services “Lack of Supervision Guidelines” present the following parameters for parents and guardians: children 8 and younger should not be left alone; children ages 9-12, based on their maturity, may be left alone for no more than two hours; and mature children 13 and older may be left alone and babysit others for up to 12 hours.

Children 13 years and older, who are at an adequate level of maturity, may be left alone and may perform the role of babysitter, as authorized by the parent, for up to 12 hours. "Maturity" can be objective. It is intended for the parent or caregiver to be mindful of the child’s developmental level. Children who meet these age guidelines are not necessarily developmentally or emotionally ready to face the responsibilities of being home without adult supervision.

It is my recommendation that the following areas should be assessed prior to making the decision to allow your child to remain home without supervision: your child’s personality, developmental progress, home environment, emotional maturity, ability to accomplish activities, ability to follow directions and rules, understanding of emergency situations, and access to emergency contacts.

Ask yourself the following questions: •

Should there be an emergency in the home, will my child know what to do?

ASK A MOM

•

Does my child understand to keep doors locked and not answer the door for strangers?

• Is my child able to get a snack, clean up, and take care of the home when I am away?

• Can my child take care of siblings while I am away?

If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, your child, regardless of age, is not ready to be left at home without supervision.

Jill Whitley: As the working mom of a wonderfully bright, incredibly impulsive 13-year-old, I felt this question in my very soul. My son is more than capable of being left to his own devices while I run quick errands, but any longer than an hour or two spells trouble. Not all kids are created equal, and mine runs on the kind of pure, skateboard-off-the-roof-type mischief that will get him killed if I’m not watching closely.

Unfortunately, in the time of the novel coronavirus, I don’t think the criteria Dr. Boyd listed is enough to comfortably decide whether your child is ready to be left alone for an entire day. Nowadays we have to add one more important question to the list: “Can I trust my child to log in to her synchronous instruction hours without supervision?”

If the answer to that question is “no,” don’t despair.

You still have some options. It’s time to expand your bubble and incorporate your (small and socially distanced) village into your routine. In our family, we’ve been able to quarantine enough that a grandparent can safely check in on our child from six feet away for a few hours several days per week.

If you find yourself without a village, get creative and forge one. Approach a parent you trust and ask if he or she is up for a temporary childcare job.

The months ahead will be filled with difficult decisions.

As parents, we now are tasked with making a life-anddeath choice for our children – in isolation, no less – with too little information. For many of us, it’s the most confusing, frightening experience we might ever face.

I have no doubt that with hope, cooperation and enough wine (alcohol is antibacterial), we will make it through this nightmare, and a new normal will prevail.

You know your children better than anyone and are best equipped to make the right decision. Trust your intuition, and be kind to yourself and your village, and the kids will be alright. NCM

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 31

SHOP COWETA

#NCMstyle

Many of us have had to change the way we do almost everything this year. We are working from home, teaching our children, keeping our households functioning at a semi-normal pace, while staying healthy and fit at the same time! Newnan-Coweta Magazine has a few locally-sourced recommendations for you and your family as we attempt to get back to our regular way of life.

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When you can’t hug in person, send a personalized “Happy Healthy Hugbox!”

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When working and schooling from home leaves you too tired to cook, Lepoma’s is a super tasty treat!

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Cycling is the best of both worlds: fitness and fun for the entire family.

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Coweta & COVID-19:

Where we've been and where we're headed Written by JACKIE KENNEDY • Photographed by SARA MOORE

S

The Mad Mexican was one of many downtown Newnan businesses that used outside signage to keep business going through the pandemic.

34 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

ince January, we’ve been hearing about the novel coronavirus breaking out in nations throughout the world. In mid-March, the spread of the virus in the United States led to shutdowns of businesses, schools and churches across the nation.

Now most of us frequently employ words and phrases we rarely, if ever, used before 2020: coronavirus, COVID-19, the pandemic, shelter-in-place, essential employees, nonessential businesses, face coverings.

In half a year, daily life has dramatically changed as the virus has impacted every state in the nation and almost every community in each state, including those in Coweta County.

To protect the public from catching the new virus, public officials in March urged families to stay at home. Businesses not deemed “essential” were shut down, and “nonessential” employees were sent home. Grocery stores were flooded with patrons who cleared the shelves of toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Toilet paper made a quick comeback, but still in September, the supply chain is not back up to 100% on all items.

Schools were closed in mid-March with students switching to online learning to finish out their school term. Overnight, parents became teachers as they helped their children understand online lessons. Working parents had to go home or find childcare for their kids. Teachers were tasked with shifting to instructing students solely online. And for teachers with children of their own, juggling kids at home and kids in their virtual classrooms became a monumental balancing act.

In the early weeks of the crisis, some local restaurants locked their doors while others stayed open, transitioning from indoor dining to curbside pickup. Lines at fast food restaurants grew longer and longer as dining rooms closed. Families sheltering in place at home started cooking again, and many began growing their own food, planting gardens for the first time. While some businesses suffered, like mom and pop shops that closed for several weeks or even months, others experienced booming business, like garden supply centers that catered to avid and newbie gardeners.

Through it all, masks were introduced as a way to slow the spread of the

virus. When N95 masks became hard to find, seamstresses put their skills to work making masks. For some, the facewear has become an essential part of their wardrobe, while others believe masks are not effective enough at preventing sickness to merit the discomfort caused by wearing them.

By mid-summer, many businesses were back up and running, only to slow the pace again when a new surge of coronavirus cases was announced. Debate over whether the uptick in cases was due to more sickness or increased testing continues into the fall. In late July, even though the number of COVID-19 cases continued to climb in Georgia, the increase in deaths, thankfully, did not climb at the same rate.

In September, the stop and go effect brought on by the pandemic continues.

Businesses reopen, and then close again when an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19. Churches open for service, and then close again when the number of cases starts to rise. Schools reopened with both in-class and virtual options.

What comes next?

Newnan-Coweta Magazine asked seven of our best freelance writers to study the subject, to share with readers where we’ve been – and what the near future might hold. The one thing for certain about this pandemic, the one thing that each of them came across was this: uncertainty.

While information in the following stories was accurate at presstime, it’s subject to change as COVID-19 continues to ebb and flow through the fall and winter. NCM

Signs help tell the COVID-19 story.

TOP FOUR PHOTOS: Masks became part of everyday attire during the pandemic. Sometimes, they're mandated.

BOTTOM: Closed for business as usual, the Coweta County Fairgrounds served as a COVID-19 testing site last spring.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 35

Coweta & COVID-19:

Emergency Response Local Government’s Response to the Pandemic Written by JENNY ENDERLIN

36 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

Photo courtesy of The Newnan Times-Herald

S

ince spring, local, state and national governments have grappled with how to best address something they’d never dealt with: a world-wide pandemic.

It is fall now. And since COVID-19 continues to ebb and flow, elected officials are still faced with figuring out the best way to handle these uncharted waters.

Who leads the fight against the pandemic that’s killing hundreds of Georgians? Which jurisdictions make the decisions? How are citizens impacted?

Dr. Olugbenga Obasanjo, former director of the District 4 Public Health Department, worked closely with County Commissioner Paul Poole on Coweta's pandemic response until the doctor's resignation in July.

Local Government Local Government Action

Photo courtesy of The Newnan Times-Herald

Palmer says that although the participants represent vastly different entities, they have benefited from one When Coweta’s first confirmed coronavirus case another. Burgess and Terrell continue to address issues was announced March 13, there was a flurry of in the community and are responsible for actions such activity. Major adjustments had to be made in both as obtaining 10 additional ventilators for Piedmont Coweta County and the City of Newnan's day-to-day Hospital, coordinating with the National Guard to deep operations. Departments rethought how to interact clean a local nursing home, arranging for a coronaviruswith one another and with the public. Face-to-face specific EMS vehicle at Newnan Fire Station #1, and meetings were minimized in favor of going virtual, establishing coronavirus testing for first responders at more services became available online or by mail, and Coweta County Fairgrounds, which was later expanded allowances were made to ease the pandemic’s effects on local businesses. to the general public.

Newnan City Additionally, Council held an County Commissioner emergency meeting Paul Poole worked March 18 to adopt closely with Dr. its Planned Response Olugbenga Obasanjo to the Coronavirus at the District Pandemic for City 4 Public Health Employees. The Department until the resolution outlined doctor’s resignation adjustments that in July. As part of might be necessary, its wide-ranging depending on the responsibilities, the pandemic’s level of health department severity, in order to has been responsible support businesses, Commission Chairman Paul Poole, left, urged Cowetans and visitors for much of Coweta’s reduce spread of to the county to wear masks or face coverings in public. At right is Commissioner Bob Blackburn. coronavirus testing. disease among staff, and maintain the On March 25, the myriad services Newnan City Council provided by the City without interruption. The City called its second special meeting and unanimously credits the Georgia Municipal Association for helping passed an order to close non-essential businesses and connect Georgia city administrators and keeping them limit public gatherings. Members cited concerns about informed. the local hospital’s capacity and the fact that employees At the county government level, the Emergency might have difficulty obtaining unemployment if Management Agency (EMA) jumped into action. workplaces were not closed by official ordinance.

Patricia Palmer, director of Community and Human On April 3, Governor Brian Kemp’s statewide shelterResources, says Coweta’s Director of 911 and in-place order went into effect.

Emergency Management Michael Terrell and "As cases were increasing across the nation, but Emergency Management Coordinator Nic Burgess specifically Coweta County, without any overarching facilitated daily group phone calls with hospitals, stateside rule, cities were beginning to put in place schools, state representatives, utilities, public different guidelines, and they were specific to each city," health departments, government municipalities and says Newnan Assistant City Manager Hasco Craver. rehabilitation centers. The calls focused on questions "The governor was trying to create a uniform set of like: “Do you have enough PPE?” “What challenges are you facing?” “What resources do you have to offer?” guidelines."

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 37

Coweta & COVID-19:

Photo by Sara Moore

“When he put out the codifying executive order, I think it did make things simpler," says Sharpsburg Mayor Blue Cole.

Kemp’s emergency executive order prohibited area municipalities in Georgia from doing any more or any less in response to the pandemic than what he specified. On April 24, the governor allowed churches, tattoo parlors, salons, gyms, bowling alleys and restaurants to reopen. On May 1, the shelter-in-place order ended with few remaining limitations. Masks continued to be optional.

As COVID-19 cases soared at the summer’s beginning, Georgia mayors, city councils, and county commissions across the state began taking action to save lives and their local economies.

While several municipalities across the state mandated that masks be worn in public, the City of Newnan had not as of mid-August. Mayor Keith Brady says he cannot identify a threshold he felt would merit such an action.

On July 15, the governor released an executive order suspending any rules that mandate public face coverings. The next day, he sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the Atlanta City Council. The Georgia Municipal Association in turn filed its own brief to protect the right of cities that adopted a policy regarding mask wearing. The court ordered mediation between the governor and the mayor of Atlanta.

On Aug. 15, Kemp issued a new executive order allowing municipalities to issue a Local Option Face Covering Requirement, though private businesses as well as individuals claiming religious violation are exempt.

Despite coronavirus rate spikes, the City of Newnan appears unlikely to introduce a public mask mandate.

Poole previously indicated that he does not anticipate the county commission passing a public mask mandate.

Should the County and City later adopt opposite directives, however, county ordinances would apply only outside city limits.

“If the County passed a mask ordinance, we would follow suit,” says Cole, noting that the relatively small size of Sharpsburg necessitates synchronization with the County.

Newly elected Senoia Mayor Dub Pearman

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Photo courtesy Coweta County EMA

Masks or No Masks?

TOP: Wearing a mask and armed with hand sanitizer, Mark Puckett welcomes visitors back to the Coweta County Convention and Visitor's Bureau in the historic courthouse in downtown Newnan.

BOTTOM: Coweta County Emergency Management Coordinator Nic Burgess, left, and Sharpsburg Mayor Blue Cole, right, model masks donated by members of the Sharpsburg Piecemakers and the Common Threads Quilt Guild.

Local Government indicated he and the city council would certainly take legalities into consideration before deliberating on a public mask resolution, but ultimately he wants leaders to think about the health of their citizens first, not the political ramifications a decision like this would have.

“We should always be focused on what will benefit or protect our community members above and beyond any personal fallout,” says Pearman.

Though Georgia politicians possess diverse opinions about public mask mandates, it appears that most local officials urge citizens to cover their face.

“I strongly encourage the members of this community to do that – to wear a mask – because it is a proven fact that wearing a mask stops the spread,” says Brady. “The virus doesn’t care whether you’re a liberal or a conservative or what you are. It’s going to seek out that host, and if you’re making yourself available to be that host, you will test positive.”

“If I’m in public and I’m indoors, I’m masked,” says Cole. “This thing ain’t no joke. I know that some people think it’s no more than the flu.

I tend to disagree based on the data.”

“I’m concerned about inundating our hospitals and exceeding their capacities,” says Pearman, noting the primary factor influencing Senoia City Council’s decisions. “What I’m not concerned about is the resolve of our citizens. We have a generous and caring population that is willing to accept a duty or responsibility to help protect each other.”

Communicating with the Community With the goal of contacting the most vulnerable citizens in rural areas and ensuring they had personal protective equipment (PPE), grocery deliveries, and information about the virus and social distancing, State Representative Phillip Singleton established the East Coweta Community Response Team. The Sharpsburg Community Center served as the hub.

“I partnered with the mayors of Sharpsburg, Moreland and Turin as well as some local volunteers,” says Singleton, naming Barbara Smith and Karen Youger as active participants. “We reached out to the 8,000-plus constituents we identified as being the most at-risk and were able to make contact with more than 2,500 of them.”

The team formed in mid-March and dissolved in June as requests dwindled.

Cole expresses gratitude to two sewing groups, Sharpsburg Piecemakers and the Newnan Quilting Guild, who stepped up when it was apparent there was going to be a shortage of PPE. They sewed more than 2,000 masks for the EMA to distribute to local, state and federal agencies so that medical-grade PPE could be reserved for first responders.

“It was a community response to a community problem,” says Cole.

“The virus doesn’t care whether you’re a liberal or a conservative or what you are.

It’s going to seek out that host, and if you’re making yourself available to be that host, you will test positive.”

– Newnan Mayor Keith Brady

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 39

Photo courtesy of The Newnan Times-Herald

Coweta & COVID-19:

Voting During the Pandemic Director of the Board of Elections and Registration Jane Scoggins has been busy implementing new state guidelines to ensure this year’s November election runs safely and efficiently.

Due to social distancing, voters will be spaced out down the street so Scoggins warns that “lines will look longer.” All poll workers will have their temperatures checked prior to entering and are asked to wear masks. Everything from chairs to styluses will be wiped clean, and masks and hand sanitizer will be available for voters. Those who are showing COVID-19 symptoms will not be denied the right to vote, but they will be assigned a specific booth that is sanitized afterward.

Voters who are either handicapped or age 65 or older – and noted such on their application for a primary election mail-in ballot – will automatically receive a mailed ballot for the general election. Anyone else who wants an absentee ballot may request one. Ballots can be returned by emailed photo, fax, mail or in person at 22 East Broad Street. A secure outdoor drop box has been placed beside the Coweta County Administration Building handicap ramp for additional convenience and safety during the pandemic, according to Scoggins.

“If you think you’re going to vote by mail, don’t wait to the last minute to request a ballot,” she advises. While absentee ballots will be mailed out as late as Oct. 30, the last day of early voting, all ballots must arrive back by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3.

Voters who request an absentee ballot can later decide to vote in person, but they should bring their ballot with them if they want to avoid additional paperwork and lengthy wait times.

“I think it’s going to be much better to vote early,” Scoggins recommends, noting that citizens can cast their ballots as early as October 12.

Changes to City-Sponsored Activities The Public Health State of Emergency preventing large gatherings remained in effect in late August, and the Newnan Cultural Arts Commission (NCAC) had suspended Jazz in the Park and the annual outdoor Shakespeare Shakes in

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County employees, including Assistant County Clerk Fran Collins, left, and Accounting Manager Jennifer Davis, pitched in after the June primary election to help open thousands of absentee ballot envelopes.

the Park. The commission hopes that October’s “Dracula” and December’s “The Nutcracker” can go on as usual but says that, ultimately, everything depends on the pandemic.

“We’re not going to have anything at the Wadsworth unless it’s safe,” assures NCAC Chair Phyllis Graham.

Main Street Newnan Special Events Coordinator Abigail Strickland says her department is reviewing events on a monthly basis. As of presstime, the Fall Art Walk is still on for Sept. 18. Oktoberfest has been canceled but Forward Friday will take its place on Oct. 2. Plans for upcoming fall and holiday events will be made at September and October Downtown Development Authority meetings.

The trolley route and the Carnegie Library reopened June 15 when the city’s other programs, departments, services and municipal court resumed. Leisure Services has opened the Howard Warner Community Center and Gym and the Wesley Street Gym with strict restrictions on the number of occupants. NCM

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Photo by Sara Moore

Local Government

From left, customers Martha Welch and Lucy Welch purchase fresh vegetables from Andy Hemphill at the Farmer's Market at Asa Powell Sr. Expo Center in the Temple Avenue Sports Complex in downtown Newnan.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 41

Coweta & COVID-19:

Partnering in a Pandemic Medical community meets the crisis Written by JENNIFER DZIEDZIC Photographed by SARA MOORE

S

The sign at Insignia Assisted Living speaks for many Cowetans who have expressed gratitude for health care workers since the onset of COVID-19.

ince the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in midMarch, immense strain has been placed on the health care industry as spread of the illness has intensified.

Scientists around the world have been researching the novel coronavirus, trying to find treatments along with potential cures. Ultimately, the goal is to determine if immune protection will occur.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website, the spread of coronavirus via asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infections is not known. It is unprecedented territory for all, but the impact has been especially hard-hitting for those in health care. These factors are guiding medical staff to stay up-to-date on current CDC guidelines and government orders and are affecting patients who have to cope with new practices, rules, and restrictions that threaten their everyday life.

“It’s clear that COVID-19 is part of our collective day-to-day reality and we have incorporated the

treatment of these patients into our ongoing approach, while also meeting the health care needs of our much larger patient base,” says Mike Robertson, CEO of Piedmont Newnan Hospital, where Coweta County’s first COVID-19 patient and more have been treated. He urges residents to continue taking precautions to battle off the threat of catching the virus.

“Importantly, we urge everyone to continue to keep themselves and loved ones safe and wear a mask, wash your hands and watch your distance, but equally to seek health care when needed,” says Robertson. “It’s alarming that we continue to see people in our communities unnecessarily avoiding needed health care, even emergency care when it’s a life-threatening situation like stroke or heart attack where every minute counts.”

Appointments, essential surgeries and procedures have been occurring at Piedmont since April, while restrictions on visiting are still in place, according to Robertson.

Pediatrics and Telemedicine

without exposure to COVID,” Dr. Akey says, noting that due to his extensive number of newborn clients, infant visits were conducted virtually with examinations done online “Because we don’t know the future of the coronavirus, telemedicine is important to keep families safe.”

Telemedicine can work with well checks, newborn visits, and even in coaching new mothers on lactation issues, according to the pediatrician. He says he can do nearly everything via telemedicine except for things

Dr. Kenneth Akey runs a pediatrics practice in Newnan along with his wife and office manager, Laurie Akey. Certain that an evolution would be required in their pediatric practice, the couple started shifting to telemedicine in January after witnessing development of the COVID-19 pandemic. By the time things escalated in March, their Anytime Pediatrics telemedicine system was ready to go.

“Parents were thankful to be seeing their pediatrician

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Health Care Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Zinc and probiotics.

“This is all an unknown piece of territory and we’re all navigating it,” the doctor concludes. “We’ll see what COVID decides to do because it’s really not up to us.”

Close-up on Dentistry

Amazing Smiles Family Dentistry Office Manager Markeshia Wilkins takes the temperature of coworker Nadesia Doute before allowing her to enter the building.

like heart checks, which are performed by doctors or midwives in the hospital before discharge.

An important tool for keeping the youngest patients safe and well, telemedicine also can be utilized to provide mental health assessments and potentially detect signs of abuse in children. If a child suffers with depression, Dr. Akey refers them to a specialist for online counseling.

The pandemic and resulting social distancing have been traumatic, and if it has been challenging for adults it is equally as hard for children, according to Akey.

“If we’re feeling stressed, think of the little ones,” he says. “They’re really stressed, too. So, we’re all going through it, I don’t care what the age is. They need some semblance of normal in an abnormal world. For parents: keep them safe, really be mindful of who they are and what they are going through.”

As businesses started opening up, Dr. Akey encouraged families to take precautions and wear masks in public places. “It may get to a point that it lessens up a lot, and then again it may not. We just don’t know what the new normal is going to be and for right now this is too new and still out there.”

His key advice for parents: “Have a healthy diet, take those supplements, get plenty of rest and try to ease the stress at this time the best you can.” He recommends supplements for strong immune system health including

Like dentists across the nation, local physicians have had to become strategic and knowledgeable regarding COVID-19.

“This field is definitely one of the top fields that comes in close contact with people,” says Markeshia Wilkins, office manager for Amazing Smiles Family Dentistry in Newnan. “We literally work inside the mouth where COVID-19 can be transferred due to saliva.”

Health guidelines call for more layers of personal protective equipment (PPE) to be worn now due to aerosols that flow when cleanings or dental treatments are performed.

“We have improved our strategies to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission during patient visits,” says Wilkins. “It has been a stressful but much-needed journey trying to locate these items that are needed such as N95 masks, face shields and disposable lab coats.”

Wilkins applauds the response of Cowetans who have visited the dentist in recent months.

“I love how our community has been so understanding and motivating during this time,” she says. “Patience has truly been our virtue during COVID-19. Through all of this, our goal is to ensure that everyone has a healthy smile.”

Sheltering in Place for the Elderly The concept of “normal” has been significantly altered for those housebound due to health issues. For the elderly – and their caregivers – sheltering in place means no outings to the park or the grocery store.

Coweta County resident Lauren Russell has been her grandmother’s full-time caregiver for the past six years.

“The scariest thing about being a caregiver is having to be extra cautious about washing your hands and exposing yourself because you don’t want to transmit anything to your patient,” Russell says. “The worst thing for both of us is not being able to see loved ones and friends.”

In caring for her grandmother, Russell and her family utilize online grocery delivery, pick-up services and pharmacy drive-thrus as well as an online portal to communicate with their physicians.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 43

Coweta & COVID-19:

Remaining Vigilant in Nursing Home Care

Local historian and Insignia resident Elizabeth Beers, left, visits on the porch with Susan Corbett.

“This has been a very trying time for our residents. Some don’t even know COVID exists.”

– Brenda Mitchell

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Brenda H. Mitchell, executive director of Insignia Assisted Living in Newnan, has recognized that her industry must explore uncharted waters in order to serve the most vulnerable group – the elderly – during the pandemic.

“Fortunately for us, we were ahead of the game,” says Mitchell. “We went on lockdown with our residents a week before the governor ordered lockdown.”

While extra cleaning is the norm, according to Mitchell, the assisted living facility benefited from deep cleaning provided by the National Guard last spring.

“We were fortunate to have them come in four weeks straight and sanitize our building,” she recalls.

As restaurants and businesses opened up slowly over the summer, Insignia began allowing families to visit outside on their porches. Social distancing is practiced and wearing masks is essential. Virtual tours are being conducted for new residents.

With no communal dining or activities permitted, the staff serves in-room meals and conducts one-on-one visits with the seniors.

“This has been a very trying time for our residents,” Mitchell says. “Some don’t even know COVID exists.

They don’t realize that we’re in a lockdown.”

Mitchell expresses gratitude for support the assisted living facility has received from the community, fire department and police department. Donations for their book mobile have provided a boom of books, magazines and newspapers for the residents. Mitchell believes that giving seniors something to look forward to is important.

“We don’t focus on the virus all the time,” she says.

“Our focus is daily and what kind of fun can they have.

We have a wonderful group of people who work for us, and I cannot praise them enough. They love the residents, and it shows in the care they give them.”

Mitchell advises the general public to take the same precautions that have made life at Insignia safe and free from COVID-19.

“The thing that’s most important – and I’ve seen it work here – is hand washing, wearing the mask when you’re out in public, disinfecting items that you touch, and just being aware. It’s not so much to protect yourself but to protect the elderly and those most vulnerable.”

NCM

Health Care

Calm in Crisis Written by JENNIFER DZIEDZIC Photographed by CHRIS MARTIN

A

To achieve calm in the COVID-19 crisis, Morgan Crumbly is learning yoga, practicing various poses and breathing techniques that promote wellness.

s we push on through our daily lives with the coronavirus elevating our stress levels, we need to ensure that we've adapted our coping skills to maintain a healthy mental and physical wellbeing.

Relaxation techniques can be valuable tools for combating stress. Aromatherapy and hydrotherapy can offer immediate comfort for calming and also boosting the immune system.

Yoga is another powerful tool for stress relief. With an emphasis on proper breathing, it can aid in coping, calming and resetting the nervous system as it reduces tension and improves strength and flexibility. Yoga can be modified to suit nearly anyone and can be done at home with free classes available for children and adults at online sites like YouTube.

At Sea Glass Therapy in Newnan, Owner and Clinical Coordinator Jennifer Yaeger is trained in trauma-informed yoga, which she offers to her clients.

"In terms of anxiety management – even depression symptoms management and especially for people who struggle with trauma and PTSD – yoga is absolutely one of the best things you can do along with talk therapy," says Yaeger.

She notes that the most crucial element of yoga is breathing.

"When we are having thoughts or emotions that are scary or when we're feeling anxiety, the first thing we try to do is calm ourselves down by having a thought process, but it doesn’t work that way,” says Yaeger. "What you have to do first is address your body. You have to calm your body down first through breathing.”

Yoga Director Rachel Murell teaches many yoga styles to her clients, online and in person, and encourages people to get out in nature and ground themselves.

“Finding that inner peace and connecting to yourself really helps you stay calm,” she says. "Nobody is impervious to stress, fear or anger. We all go through stuff. Whatever you’re feeling is OK. One step at a time, one breath at a time.”

NCM

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 45

Coweta & COVID-19:

Business NOT as Usual Written by FRANCES KIDD • Photographed by SARA MOORE

Anderson & Associates posted a Small Business Bingo card on their Facebook page to promote shopping local during the early weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak.

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F

or most, 2020 started out like any other year with families storing Christmas decorations, getting kids back to school and resuming preholiday routines. However, 2020 would not be a normal year. By mid-March, businesses were closed and employees were working from home.

On March 25, the Newnan City Council held a special meeting to declare a local state of emergency due to COVID-19. The order recommended that people stay at home, restricted gatherings of more than 10 people outside of a family unit, and closed dine-in service at eating establishments; restaurants could continue take-out and begin curbside pickup service. Coweta County, Senoia and Sharpsburg governments simultaneously declared states of emergency.

In early April, Gov. Brian Kemp issued a statewide order requiring nonessential businesses like bowling alleys, gyms and hair salons to close, along with bars and restaurants.

In Coweta, businesses’ responses to the restrictions were as diverse as the businesses themselves. For everyone, adaptability was the key.

Local real estate firm Anderson & Associates posted a Small Business Bingo Card on their Facebook page to urge people to support local business. The card features Bingo squares that read “Donated to Newnan’s Little Free Pantry” and “Purchased grocery items at Ace Beer Growlers.”

Others found ways to serve the community. While Summit YMCA was closed, it made emergency childcare available to first responders and frontline workers. The staff also sponsored a food drive for the Salvation Army.

In late April, the owners of Finley’s Boutique and Knox Furniture, along with attorney Ryan Brown, reached out to Piedmont Newnan to ask what the hospital needed. When they answered “food,” the group ordered 100 meals from Redneck Gourmet, their purchase benefitting not only the hospital but supporting the restaurant, too.

While some restaurants suspended operations at the onset of the crisis, the majority adapted to takeout and curbside service. Some had started making changes before the shutdown orders, including Redneck Gourmet, which removed tables to open

Business up more space inside. When inside dining was shut down, they continued take-out and added curbside pickup.

The owners of the Huddle House on Highway 29 were already planning to close in August after serving food here for almost 50 years. When they closed down for the pandemic, they decided to shut the doors for good rather than reopen for a few more weeks.

Garlic Thai in Newnan continued take-out and added curbside service, and the owners also took advantage of the downtime to do interior renovations.

Local governments helped downtown businesses by providing signs designating curbside pickup parking spots and allowing restaurants already serving unopened bottles of beer and wine as part of their on-site service to include it with take-out orders.

When the state allowed businesses and restaurants to reopen on April 27, many chose to reopen slowly or delay reopening to ensure they could comply with the 39 requirements in the government’s guidelines aimed at keeping staff and customers safe.

Businesses throughout the county reopened to different degrees. Redneck Gourmet resumed dinein and take-out services in late spring. Sprayberry’s Barbecue reopened its dining room on May 18 but continues to offer curbside pickup.

To help local entrepreneurs return to business, the Newnan City Council approved a temporary ordinance allowing businesses to use public spaces like sidewalks, alleys and parking spaces to extend their retail business with outdoor displays or seating.

In front of Redneck Gourmet, a parking space was transitioned into an attractive spot for outdoor dining, complete with AstroTurf.

The city’s ordinance also makes way for a “sip and stroll” district, which allows open containers within the central business district.

In some cases, customers responded so positively to changes brought on by the pandemic that the businesses may make those changes permanent.

Five weeks after they closed on March 20, Goldens on the Square slowly reopened with

Redneck Gourmet visitors enjoy al fresco dining in a parking space converted into a dining patio in front of the downtown Newnan restaurant.

In Coweta, businesses’ responses to the restrictions were as diverse as the businesses themselves. For everyone, adaptability was the key.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 47

Coweta & COVID-19:

Coweta County may not yet be back to normal, but the community continues to turn out to support local businesses.

Evans Rogers, left, prepares to process a payment for a customer of Garlic Thai, in Newnan, where a credit card machine was set up to facilitate curbside service.

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take-out and curbside pickup, opening their dining room in early May. The family-owned business plans to continue curbside pickup.

“People seem to really like it,” says Marceil WiseOusley, operations manager. “It’s a way we can help our older customers and those whose health is compromised. We’ll keep doing it as long as the city will allow it.”

In one of the more unique new twists on doing business, Senoia Coffee & Café added toilet paper to their repertoire. While indoor dining was closed, they opened a small market selling local products along with other grocery items.

“We’d been talking about a provisions-type concept with local goods and products we use, but the timing hadn’t been right,” says April Anderson, who owns the business with her husband Brent. “We have a heart to serve the community, and since many folks were afraid to go to the grocery, this seemed to be the time.”

Since reopening the dining room, the downtown Senoia café continues to operate the market, although mostly online. They do, however, continue curbside pickup for market orders.

The Georgia Tour Company, in Senoia, is probably best-known for its Walking Dead tours. Owner Julie Brown says they suspended tours and closed their shop on March 21, although fans continued to send online requests. Tours started back in mid-June but with smaller groups to ensure sufficient distance between guests.

Brown recently expanded her Senoia business, opening the Coweta Movie Park for Park Under the Stars Movie Nights. Different movies will screen on Saturday nights with the audience watching from inside their cars.

“We have to adjust,” says Brown. “We are operating the movie park fitting all the COVID-19 standards. It will help us and, we hope, the community.”

This period of time is sometimes called the “new normal,” suggesting our way of life may never return to what it was before the pandemic began. National Public Radio has even started publishing a new online newsletter, “The New Normal,” with information about coronavirus and what may come next.

In August, people were still shopping and going out

Business

ABOVE: Maxfield Anderson, son of Brent and April Anderson, dons a mask to work at his parents' restaurant, Senoia Coffee and Café.

RIGHT: When toilet paper was in short supply at grocery and department stores across the nation, Senoia Coffee and Café added it to their provisions offering.

to eat again. Coweta County may not yet be back to normal, but the community continues to turn out to support local businesses.

One popular food item that won’t be available this year, though, is a corn dog at the Coweta County Fair. The Kiwanis Club of Newnan has sponsored the fair every year but one since 1947. Citing concerns over the rise of COVID-19 cases in late summer, they chose to cancel the 2020 fair.

Let’s hope this is one part of the new normal that won’t stay normal for long. NCM

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 49

Coweta & COVID-19:

Photo courtesy of The Newnan Times-Herald

Education in Flux Shifting models to meet the crisis Written by JILL WHITLEY

Coweta Schools Superintendent Evan Horton.

W

hile Evan Horton, Steve Barker’s replacement as superintendent for Coweta County School System, was eager to accept the job back in February, he readily admits his first year has been quite a challenge so far: “I kind of jumped into the fire,” he says.

Shortly after being named as the incoming superintendent, Horton watched as COVID-19 forced Coweta County to pivot to a virtual learning model when rapid community spread made it unsafe for students and teachers to engage in face-to-face instruction. Working closely with Barker as assistant superintendent, Horton learned from the frustrations and successes of teaching via online instruction.

When the board of education voted at the end of July for all students to start the 2020-2021 school year virtually due to substantial spread of coronavirus, Horton rushed to assure stakeholders that the previous spring’s technological trial by fire had been worth the trouble.

“What we did in March was not full virtual instruction,” says Horton. “It was crisis teaching.”

Built from the feedback of Coweta families who chose to engage in optional online education during spring semester, Empower is Coweta County’s virtual learning platform. And it was prepared to serve the entire student

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population when they returned to class, albeit virtually, on Aug. 13.

To meet the needs of students, Coweta Schools has purchased Chromebooks and examined concerns of student connectivity issues in rural areas where access to affordable and/or reliable internet service is often limited.

“We’re installing outdoor wireless access points on seven elementary schools around the county,” says Horton.

“This solution will provide the option for parents to drive to the school and download assignments in the parking lot.”

The system has requested 31 bus Wi-Fi hotspots through a grant with the Georgia Department of Education. The first round of hotspots will be deployed at the beginning of the school year, and additional units will continue to be deployed through the end of September.

“They would like for us to deploy the buses with Wi-Fi to various locations at various days and times in affected areas,” says Horton. “The Wi-Fi manufacturer says the antennas on the hotspots are stronger than on a phone, so they typically get a signal where a phone may not.”

Days and times the bus Wi-Fi is available will be posted on school websites, according to Horton, who says the school system also ordered 100 personal Wi-Fi hotspots that will be offered for use to families without home internet.

Education The new superintendent hopes for students to return to the classroom as soon and safely as possible.

“Our kids deserve to be in school,” he says. “We want them to have the most normal experience we can safely provide them.”

He also feels for parents who may be panicked as they adapt to their new role as teaching assistants, reassuring them that school personnel are working toward a safe and healthy school year.

“We don’t know yet what that might look like,’’ says Horton, “but we want to give students and parents the educational experience they have become accustomed to – even in this unprecedented time.”

Horton praises the efforts of school personnel who worked to meet the needs of students from the start of the pandemic.

“Our staff has been incredible,” he says. “From administrators to teachers to food service providers, they have gone above and beyond to meet the needs of our students from the very beginning of this crisis, and I can’t say enough about what a great job they are doing.”

As the new school year approached, many questions remained unanswered, with solutions to be determined only by the path and intensity of the novel coronavirus.

“I keep wishing that I would wake up and open my eyes one day and the virus would just be gone,” Horton says. “But the reality is that this is a year where we will have to exert maximum flexibility and maximum grace. We’re working as hard as we can to provide the best experience we can for your whole family, and we humbly ask that you allow us to provide that flexibility, and that you allow us some of that grace in return.” NCM

From Daycare to Schoolhouse Child care center shifts focus to teach school Written by JILL WHITLEY

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hen Coweta County schools had to go virtual in March, Cokes Chapel Child Care Center, in Newnan, quickly adapted to the world of online learning.

“Our after-school kids quickly became all-day kids,” says Director Kristen McCoy. “We were pulling them from their rooms to come to the office to use computers and tablets our teachers brought from home for Zoom lessons. There were hiccups as our kids are in many different classes, grades and schools, but we quickly made a change from an early learning center to a full-fledged, little schoolhouse.”

Subsequently, McCoy and her assistant director, Amber Moore, noticed an uptick in reservations for fall childcare spots after local schools opted for online learning in the fall. McCoy and Moore hatched a plan. The center, which had been serving meals inside classrooms to avoid community spread of the coronavirus, would turn its unused cafeteria and gym into two supervised, socially distanced classrooms for kindergarten to fifth grade students of working parents.

“What we have going in our favor is the benefit of hindsight and experience,” says Moore. “Because daycare providers have been deemed essential workers, we’ve been in the trenches with this virus since it first hit Georgia. We’ve learned what works in real time.”

According to McCoy and Moore, what works is keeping kids in cohorts, or pods, based on age, grade and school with the same statecertified teacher throughout the day. This way, different groups of kids don’t intermingle, so germs are less likely to be spread, they say.

Each student has his or her own seat six feet away from the closest student, according to McCoy, who says distance learners will have their own entrance into school, and daily temperature checks and health questionnaires will be conducted for students and staff. Students will be asked to bring their own computer or Chromebook, and sharing supplies will not be permitted.

McCoy says the goal is to provide a ministry to working parents, to keep the service as affordable as possible, and to accommodate as many kids as they safely can.

“Not every parent can afford to just quit their job or work from home,” says McCoy. “We’re here to give them peace of mind while they put food on the table.” NCM

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 51

Coweta & COVID-19: THE NCM Q&A

Teaching is the New Parenting F

or many parents, sending our children to school was one of the few choices we never agonized about. We simply took it for granted that we could load up their backpacks and send them off, hopeful and happy, on the first day.

However, in March, our outsourcing arrangements ended suddenly, leaving our children bathing in the glow of blue-lit screens as we tried to figure out how to educate them in the wake of COVID-19: Do we continue fully online? Or do we attempt to re-enter school in a hybrid, socially distanced model? Should we homeschool independently or use a pre-written curriculum?

To help us make these difficult decisions, NCM spoke with local occupational therapist Ashley Thompson, who serves as director of Foundations and Essentials for a Classical Conversations homeschool community in Newnan. The mom of five children, she and her husband Patrick have homeschooled for six years.

NCM: How do we, as parents, set realistic expectations for ourselves and our kids in this constantly changing environment?

Thompson: I don’t know how well I can speak to this because homeschooling is different from public schooling at home. My expectations for myself and my children will be different because I set those expectations for us. If you’re public schooling at home, those expectations are set by someone else and they have to be met at home.

What I can say is give yourself and your kids a lot of grace. You will all need it. Whatever public and private schools decide to do, you will be at the mercy of the officials who are leading and making decisions to the best of their ability. Give them grace, too. This is new for everyone. I do not envy anyone in leadership right now trying to make decisions. This entire thing is polarized

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A conversation with Ashley Thompson Written by JILL WHITLEY Photos courtesy of ASHLEY THOMPSON

and there will be no way to make everyone happy.

The best leadership can do is try to make decisions for everyone’s best interest with the ever-changing information that’s coming in. Teach your kids that this issue is polarized and that we should respect others.

If there is one thing we can all 100% say, it’s that SARS-CoV-2 is well-researched by everyone. You won’t meet a person who says, “COVID-what?” Everyone will have an opinion about this and they will all be different.

Put aside the need to be right, and be humble. It helps you ride the waves of this ever-changing environment.

NCM: Are you getting more calls or emails from nervous parents these days?

Thompson: I am seeing a tenfold increase in homeschooling interest from new families. I would say the overarching driver for them seems to be wanting

a different environment for their child. Most of these families were already considering homeschool as an option, but the current climate of things has really pushed them over the line on which they were teetering.

NCM: How do you set reluctant learners up for successful home or virtual schooling?

Thompson: First, create a schedule and set your expectations. I would encourage a schedule that will set you up for success. When do you want your child(ren) to wake up? What time should breakfast be done?

Next, dress for success. While doing school in pajamas is definitely an option, as adults we are historically less productive if we are lounging around and not dressed for the part. Have everyone dressed for the day and out of PJs by a certain time. Your morning routine can set the pace for the day.

Finally, make expectations clear before beginning.

Make it known that you are expecting the best from your students even if the work is hard. You expect diligence in work, even if they don’t like it. School is not always fun. Likewise, adults have to do things that aren’t fun. One of the beauties of homeschooling your children, or public schooling at home, is that you are able to address any character struggles you see along the way.

NCM: How can parents combat feelings of apathy, boredom or loneliness while adhering to social distance and requests to stay at home during the virtual schooling process?

Thompson: Start by turning off the screens. Limit movies, shows and gaming. Turn up the opportunity for creative fun. This may be difficult at first, as screen time is a go-to for these negative feelings. But screen time is mind-numbing in nature. It’s OK for children to feel things. It is good to feel these things and learn to be creative in how to fill this time. Turning off the screens allows us to sit in these feelings and then pull ourselves out of them.

Play a board game, color something, create a LEGO city without instructions, make paper airplanes and see how far they fly. Write letters to all your friends and ask them to be penpals, especially during times when we are asked to stay home.

Take up new hobbies. Do read-alouds as a family or

Photo by Tanya Raine Photography

Education

Ashley and Patrick Thompson enjoy a relaxed moment with their children, from left: Judah, Annalee, Adeline, Gabriel and Lucas.

borrow audiobooks from the library. With your library card, you can borrow three audiobooks monthly for free from the public library system in Coweta.

NCM: What encouragement can you offer parents who feel they aren’t qualified to act as their child’s teacher?

Thompson: My encouragement is that you absolutely can do this. This is temporary. Even if this is hard, you can still do it. Aim to do it with messy excellence. There are going to be mistakes by everyone. This is new territory. Have grace for your leaders, teachers, your children and yourself.

Also, understand this logic: Here you are with a high school diploma and potentially higher degrees after that. Are you not equipped to teach third grade math?

You have a high school diploma that clearly states you have accomplished the requirements through 12th grade. Dispel the lie that you are not able to accomplish this. Research shows us that one-to-one instruction from a dedicated caregiver produces children who succeed.

Homeschooling isn’t easy. Public schooling at home isn’t easy. Yet it is doable and there are many fruits to be had from it. Find the joy in the everyday moments that you would otherwise miss. In a split second, your children will be grown and out of the house. Count it as an opportunity from which to glean.

Show your children the art of perseverance by pulling yourselves up and dredging on. Approach this uncertainty and newness with resolve. Your children will see this, and they will learn from you. They will learn from you to turn their faces to the wind and walk uphill when they face difficulties later in life. NCM

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Coweta & COVID-19:

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic Written by MARTY M. HOHMANN • Photographed by SARA MOORE

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Photo courtesy of B.J. Bowers

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OVID-19 descended upon America like a thief in the night, stealing away what many consider one of our nation’s most sacred liberties: the right to gather and worship without persecution.

That way of life was dramatically altered as Americans were bombarded with frightening messages to quarantine, distance from family and friends, stay home and stay safe.

Faith leaders throughout the state were tasked with a new reality: How could they continue to offer services provided by the church during a public health emergency?

Some opted to utilize technology and meet via Zoom, Skype or Facebook Live. Others experimented with drive-in church services. Some had to be a bit more creative.

Rev. B.J. Bowers, of Moreland, pastors two United Methodist churches in Troup County and says it’s been a balancing act between ministering and being mindful of the health of the congregants. Her last in-sanctuary meetings before the shutdown were on March 8, and her congregations didn’t meet again inside the church until late June. In the interim, drive-in services were held in May and June.

“Before we were told we could have drive-in services, I typed out scriptures, prayers and reflections and added links to music as a living worship document, and each week I forwarded them by email or text to each member,” says Bowers, noting that she adhered to guidance provided by the North Georgia United Methodist Conference.

Since June, both of her congregations continued to meet in person with attendance close to normal, according to Bowers.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, Rev. B.J. Bowers held "drive-in" church services last spring with congregants sitting in their cars as she preached from the church yard.

Church and Faith “People are consciously maintaining distance and wearing masks,” she says. “They are very respectful of personal space. During ‘Passing the Peace,’ they wave and shout to each other instead of the normal handshake or hug.”

Unlike many of the nation’s governors, Gov. Brian Kemp avoided issuing a directive to close places of worship but strongly urged against attendance. At the beginning of the pandemic, he limited public gatherings to 10 people.

The governor’s original shelter-in-place order was issued April 2 and was subsequently extended multiple times for several months. As of late August, the governor remained steady with regard to churches, continuing to refuse to consider closing them, and he had not made statements about how congregations choose to meet.

Presenting an especially difficult scenario for churchgoers was the fact that Easter and Passover fell during the height of the pandemic, leading the governor to issue a statement that doubled as a warning plea: “To all Georgians celebrating Easter this weekend, I am pleading with you not to attend any services in person. If you attend worship services in person, you risk exposure to coronavirus – potentially endangering your life, the lives of your neighbors and your loved ones.”

Priests, pastors and rabbis were left scrambling to determine how to meet the needs of those who felt vulnerable, fearful and lonely.

Beau Brezina, director of Discipleship Counseling for Christian Families Today, a counseling service in Ashley Park, says he heard from a lot of believers in those early weeks of the crisis.

Beau Brezina, director of Discipleship Counseling for Christian Families Today, counsels from his offices in Ashley Park, in Newnan.

“Anxiety in times like these is what you would expect.

People of faith are not immune from those same concerns.”

– Beau Brezina

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Coweta & COVID-19: “Anxiety in times like these is what you would expect,” he says, adding that hopelessness and grief also figure into the equation. “People of faith are not immune from those same concerns.”

“It has been a learning experience,” adds Bowers.

“It’s heartbreaking when I can’t visit a member when they are hospitalized and even their families can’t be with them. At times, it’s a top-of-the-mountain experience when I look into the windshield of a vehicle at a drive-in service and witness a dear saint raising her hands in praise to God.” Face-to-face counseling and visitation haven’t been easy, according to Bowers. “Most have been over the phone,” she says, noting that twice she’s met with a person at a public park.

For Pastor Debra Harris and the Ignite the Fire Movement, COVID-19 and the fear that came with it presented the ideal opportunity to show the power of prayer. She called on her cadre of prayer warriors

to meet in front of the old courthouse in Newnan in March to pray.

Armed with the shofar (a ram’s horn trumpet used by the ancient Israelites as a battle signal), a group of about 30 people called on the Lord to hear their cry for mercy and justice. The video of the prayer gathering was shared to Facebook, reaching hundreds.

Harris says her church, Kingdom Connected International Ministries in Newnan, continued to meet but was always mindful of social distancing and the guidelines issued by the governor. “We didn’t miss a beat,” she says.

Catholic churches in the area were given targeted direction to suspend Mass by the Most Reverend Joel Konzen of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. The Archdiocese held off on reopening churches for daily Mass until May 25 with strict guidelines accompanying the reopening: “Parishes may use a reservation system or first-come, first-admitted procedure. Outdoor

For Pastor Debra Harris and the Ignite the Fire Movement, COVID-19 and the fear that came with it presented the ideal opportunity to show the power of prayer.

Debra Harris invited her congregants and the community to join for prayer at the courthouse square in downtown Newnan in the spring.

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Church and Faith

Photo by Debra Harris

Masses allowing for greater attendance are permitted, have already answered that question. and social distancing measures are to be observed “This ‘new normal’ will continue for the foreseeable outdoors. If people attend outdoor Masses in their future until there is a breakthrough regarding a cars, they are to get out and stand to receive Holy vaccine,” reads a statement from the North Georgia Communion.”

United Methodist Conference. “Churches should Though many places of worship opened their doors continue to offer online worship and discipleship and for in-person fellowship over the summer, some be prepared for resuming online-only worship should congregants decided against attending services that there be a resurgence of COVID-19.” restricted handshakes and hugs, singing and receiving At First Baptist Church of Newnan, congregants communion. Several expressed concern that the “new remained in Phase Two of their reopening plan in normal” was not what they had hoped for when they August, according to the Rev. Jimmy Patterson, senior returned to worship services and that the fellowship pastor, who says Southern Baptist churches are they had long been denied was going to be forever autonomous and therefore at liberty to do whatever changed by the they think is virus as the elderly best for their and infirm are still congregation. unable to have “We have a visitors, last rites ‘masks required’ are not being service at 8:15 administered, and a.m. and a other hallmarks ‘masks strongly so integral to their encouraged’ faith are missing. service at 11 In New York a.m. in four state, which closed simultaneous places of worship venues,” he says. indefinitely during “Our current the pandemic, Phase Two A late-July rally in downtown Newnan brought people together to pray for racial reconciliation and relief from COVID-19.

Christians and Jews operation limits joined together to attendees in sue for their First Amendment right and won a decisive different venues as we practice social distancing victory. On June 26, a federal judge said that New York by blocking every other row. We have no handouts Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Letitia James, or books in use. Our facilities are receiving weekly and New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio “exceeded” deep-cleaning and sanitization. Temperatures are their executive powers by limiting worship services checked at the door. Masks are made available at the while condoning mass protests following the death of door by masked volunteers. Ushers seat attendees.

George Floyd.

The worship service is 45 minutes long. At the end of “Government cannot discriminate by protecting free the service, our staff sequentially dismisses attendees speech and the right to assemble while threatening or from the rear to the front of the auditorium. People are limiting religious exercise — it must protect all rights encouraged to go directly to their cars.” guaranteed under the First Amendment,” Assistant In-person services are held in the church’s main Attorney General Eric Dreiband said. sanctuary, a live video-feed with in-person worship As autumn began, Cowetans were left wondering if leaders is set up in the historic sanctuary and the the practice of their faith will forever be altered by the warehouse, and services are live streamed from the ravages of COVID-19, although some denominations church website and Facebook page. NCM

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Coweta & COVID-19:

Rising to the Challenge Outreach groups find new ways to meet great need Written by JEFFREY WARD Photographed by SARA MOORE

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n the best of times, nonprofit outreach organizations in our community fly largely under the public radar as they help the underprivileged and under-served by providing food, shelter, clothing and financial assistance. Many of these agencies are underfunded and short-staffed.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has seemingly thrown the earth off-kilter, how has this crisis affected local nonprofits that have scrambled to help others since spring? How have they adapted and coped as job losses and unemployment have soared?

Many nonprofits keenly felt the loss of volunteers in the 65-plus at-risk group. Add the challenges of social distancing, deep sanitary cleaning, and severe restrictions on group gatherings, and you’d expect the nonprofits may be foundering. Not so. Considering the circumstances, most are doing well as they continue to do the most good for those less fortunate.

It is gratifying that most local nonprofits don’t compete with each other. Instead, they network together, helping pool resources and needs in a collaborative effort. Residents throughout Coweta County make this possible by donating to and/or volunteering with these organizations.

When the least among us are served, the entire community benefits. That’s true in normal times — and in a pandemic year when everything is far from normal.

Volunteers at Bridging the Gap pack food boxes to share with those who found it difficult to secure food when the health crisis prompted breaks in the supply chain.

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Nonprofits Bridging the Gap Community Outreach “Anyone who comes here is helped.

Lead with food, then serve and restore.”

– Kelli Yeager-Nelson Executive Director, Bridging the Gap

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ounded in 2009, Bridging the Gap’s major thrust is providing emergency food and children’s lunches, the latter critical when Coweta County schools — and their free meals program — closed last spring.

Executive Director Kelli Yeager-Nelson says that in 2019, their client base was 65% children, the elderly and the disabled. Now it’s closer to 77% for these most vulnerable segments of the population.

Bridging the Gap, in downtown Newnan, offers showers and lockers so the community’s homeless can tidy up and store their valuables. The director says it may be surprising that homeless residents often work two and sometimes three jobs to make ends meet. Many are college students.

Since the pandemic, boxes of food are delivered from Bridging the Gap’s warehouse to cars in Saturday morning drive-thru food distributions. In March, when Governor Brian Kemp closed the state down, Bridging the Gap sent their truck out to glean surplus food from various supermarkets.

“For several days, there was no food to pick up because the stores were also out and the situation became desperate,” Yeager-Nelson recalls.

Bridging the Gap participated in a collaborative effort involving most of the local outreach nonprofits to see what could be done. She says that’s when an amazing turn of events began: Two churches, Foundation Christian Church and Community Christian Church, each raised $10,000 in a single day for emergency food purchases.

The Atlanta Food Bank offered food at a steep discount and, with the donated money, Bridging the Gap was able to purchase discounted produce,

Viviana Rojas mans a cart of fresh baked goods used to fill food boxes.

meat and perishables from B.J.’s Warehouse. Also, U.S. Foods, which provides food for restaurants, donated unused food since most eating establishments were closed.

Almost overnight, in what appeared to be an act of divine providence, Bridging the Gap’s pantry was restocked.

“The key here is collaboration with the other nonprofits,” says Yeager-Nelson. “What one lacks, the others pitch in to help. Everyone wins.”

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Coweta & COVID-19: Coweta Samaritan Clinic “The word ‘gratitude’ comes to mind for how this community continues to support our mission.”

– Kelly Hines Executive Director, Coweta Samaritan Clinic

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hen the pandemic hit full-force in March, the Coweta Samaritan Clinic shut its doors to all walk-in patients and was not processing new patients. Instead, it transitioned to provide telemedicine services for its established clients. Patients called in for a specific time slot, and a clinic physician saw them virtually in an online appointment. Along with providing social distancing for all, telemedicine eases the burden of many clients who have transportation difficulties.

The clinic opened back up to new patients in early July with “a safe and effective protocol in place to protect our patients and staff,” says Executive Director Kelly Hines.

Due to the success of the new telemedicine services, the clinic will continue offering them as well as in-person visits.

Raquel Hanna, medical assistant and patient assistance program coordinator at Coweta Samaritan Clinic, screens patient Martha Brownlee for COVID-19.

Most clients served by Coweta Samaritan Clinic simply lack health insurance or have underlying chronic health conditions, which makes it difficult for them to stay employed, according to Executive Director Kelly Hines, who says all of the clinic’s services are free to those who qualify.

Hines heaps praise on the local medical community, which generously supports the clinic with free medical procedures and more complex treatments that their clinic cannot perform.

Coweta Samaritan Clinic will hold its annual fundraiser, Bluegrass and Barbecue, on Oct. 4 to celebrate their 10th anniversary. The fundraiser will be modified as a drive-thru or drop-by event.

Kelly Hines, executive director at Coweta Samaritan Clinic, is grateful for the medical community's support of the nonprofit clinic.

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Nonprofits Ten-year-old volunteer Mary Clayton Almand helps sort and organize food items at I-58 Mission Outreach.

I-58 Mission Outreach “Food is the donkey that Christ rides in on.”

– Anthony Novak, husband of Kharma Novak, Operations Director, I-58 Mission Outreach

T

he I-58 Mission Outreach began in the garage of Anthony and Kharma Novak six years ago as a result of their witnessing what they viewed as deplorable living conditions in the Senoia area.

Kharma, an English teacher who serves as the ministry’s operations director, remembers: “I was in disbelief that such grinding poverty existed right in our community. We saw actual rat holes and squalor. My easygoing husband got riled up and we knew something had to be done.”

Before the pandemic hit, I-58 Mission Outreach kept a list of 50 volunteers, according to Kharma. When they had to lock up and self-quarantine, the list dwindled down to 17.

Before COVID-19, I-58 Mission Outreach served 50 to 70 families per week. By July, they were serving more than 150 families, a testament to the devastating effects of unemployment, which resulted from measures taken to stem the spread of the virus.

Whereas the mission used to invite clients inside their

One Roof Ecumenical Alliance Outreach “The generous spirit of this community continually amazes me.”

– Ann Kerlin, Executive Director, One Roof

headquarters to pick and choose the staples they needed, now clients stay in their cars and are given a box of basic items.

As the number of families needing food increased dramatically, the amount of food coming in also increased to meet the demand, according to Kharma. She attributes the abundance to God’s miraculous provision in times of desperate need.

“The boxes of food we assemble inside our facility and bring out to our clients are now of a better quality and quantity,” she says, noting that while the ministry has never asked for money, needed provisions keep coming in to meet the demand. “Our clients are like family here. We bless them and they bless us back.”

T

he pandemic brought challenges, and ways to meet them, to One Roof Ecumenical Alliance Outreach.

Measures were needed to provide the necessary social distancing it takes to prevent spread of the coronavirus. With help from volunteers, physical barriers were installed inside The Lodge, One Roof's home for at-risk women and children, to accommodate social distancing, according to One Roof Executive Director Ann Kerlin. (For more, see Nonprofit Spotlight on page 66.)

Local Boy Scouts stepped up to help One Roof provide masks to clients by organizing a project to make 200 masks. Another Scout raised money and helped build better shelving for the thrift store. (For more on the Scouts, see Coweta Kids Care, page 78.)

Kerlin praises the community for helping nonprofits meet needs produced by the pandemic.

“The community has really pulled together to handle this crisis well,” she says.

Kerlin extends a special shoutout to Pam Gabel, an American Red Cross recovery specialist, who hosted twice-weekly online meetings for nonprofits and community leaders to keep them up-to-date on needs in the community and resources available for the nonprofits. NCM

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Coweta & COVID-19:

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Art in Adversity

Photo courtesy of Backstreet Arts

Written by SUSAN MAYER DAVIS

Backstreet Arts provided free supplies to quarantined artists during the early weeks of the pandemic.

“Art bypasses our brain and goes straight to our heart.”

– Kim Ramey, Backstreet Arts

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oweta is known for its artistic community. Even though group meetings and one-on-one lessons have been mostly canceled since March, creative people who work to encourage artists have been making strides to keep art alive.

It’s not surprising that art, in its many forms, has been a central focus for many during the pandemic.

After all, sheltering in place can create uncomfortable feelings: boredom, sadness, fear, depression and loneliness. Art allows the artist to express feelings or to create something that brings joy and happiness. More than ever, it can be a helpful diversion that quashes unpleasant emotions.

“The global pandemic has turned a spotlight on the immense value of the Arts and artists,” says Kim Ramey, founder and director of Backstreet Arts in Newnan.

“When the pandemic hit, artists were the first to jump up and share their art and talents to help us cope with the grief and anxiety in the universe. Musicians are performing from their living rooms, authors read books aloud, illustrators doodle online and give classes, museums hold virtual tours so we can view exquisite creations. Artists understand the importance of art in all its forms and the impact it has on our overall well-being.

Art bypasses our brain and goes straight to our heart.”

With her doors closed to clients during much of the pandemic, Ramey says that being “paused” in her endeavors has been difficult.

“Backstreet Arts is not just about the art but also about the community that happens inside the studio,” she says. “Backstreet has been forced to think outside the box even more than we normally do. Although most of the artist volunteers like to stay in the background and teach in small groups, we have pushed ourselves to get in front of the camera and make videos to stay connected with our participants and the community.”

The nonprofit even created a YouTube channel.

“If nothing else, watching some of the videos will make you chortle,” says Ramey.

Thanks to donors who generously supported Backstreet Arts in recent months, the organization was able to purchase more than 125 art kits containing everything from watercolor sets and paper to ukuleles and instruction books.

“These have been freely given out to our community, and our Little Lending Library has become a community sharing spot,” Ramey said in July. “Not only are books

The Arts

ABOVE: The artists at Backstreet created a heart wall "because we wanted to spread some love," says owner Kim Ramey.

Photos courtesy of Backstreet Arts

RIGHT: Spencer Wadsworth taught an online puppet class for Backstreet Arts, taking art instruction to students who couldn't come in for classes.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 63

and art kits inside for the taking, but neighbors are leaving art supplies inside to share, too.”

According to Ramey, art is at the very core of human beings.

“The shelter-in-place order has helped some of us rekindle that inner creativity,” she says. “Flour is sold out at the grocery stores because we are baking again. Organic seed packs are sold out all over the country because we are remembering the joy of gardening. Fabric and elastic are scarce because we started sewing masks – and not just utilitarian masks but masks that reflect our sense of humor and individuality.”

Ramey feels certain that the global crisis brought by COVID-19 has emphasized the importance of art – and the work that Backstreet does.

“Many people who have never been to Backstreet have picked up art supplies from us, and they are stunned that it is free,” she says. “We have received emails and messages from people who have tried new art forms because of the supplies we’ve offered. When you find a hand-written thank you note slipped under the door telling you how much a family is using the art supplies we provided and now they are learning to play the ukulele together, well, that gives you the energy to keep on for a little while longer.”

In downtown Newnan, Jenny Jones closed Corner Arts Gallery for six weeks due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The closure had a substantial financial impact on Jones and other locally owned businesses whose owners had to develop inventive ways to keep money coming in.

Jones posted on social media that sales of items and gift cards were available for purchase online, and she developed virtual art classes on the Zoom app. Although her shop doors were closed, she kept up her monthly class commitment to the Cancer Treatment Center using Zoom to instruct participants.

After the initial shutdown, Jones reopened her store four days a week for four hours a day with a limit of five people inside at one time and classes limited to four students, all wearing masks while they created works of art.

“I can’t wait to get back to some sort of normal,” Jones said in the summer. “I still have a lot of catching up to do, and I know this community needs us to offer their local handmade art for sale as well as teach art classes. We serve an important function in downtown Newnan, and we can’t wait to be able to fulfill that for our neighbors. We appreciate all the support we have received from them and want to reciprocate.”

Bette Hickman has been teaching art to children since 1979. The pandemic put a halt to her weekly lessons at the

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Photos by Susan Mayer Davis

Coweta & COVID-19:

TOP: Brenda Morrison, left, and Marie Dingler work on a quilting project after Corner Arts Gallery reopened in late spring.

ABOVE: Owner Jenny Jones kept classes going virtually while Corner Arts Gallery was closed during the early weeks of the pandemic. Here, she stands by her own paintings and distinctive pottery.

Photos courtesy of Bette Hickman

The Arts

Harriet Alexander Art House, but Hickman and her fellow teacher, Teri Lewis, came up with plans to keep their students virtually engaged in both art and the environment.

“Teri and I have worked together virtually to create lessons for our students,” says Hickman.

“The first lesson encouraged them to explore their own yards to discover beauty there. We then asked for sketches to be sent back to us.”

The next lesson requested that students search their closets to find a special shoe to draw and to write a story about. During the Easter season, students drew bunnies and partnered with the ChildrenConnect Museum to place the drawings in their windows. In July, children created a cartoon earthworm named Walter.

“In my years of teaching, I have learned how important fantasy is for children of all ages,” says Hickman. “If there has ever been a time when our children need to dream and be creative, it is now.”

Hickman says her soapbox has always been that each individual can create art in some form.

“It is time and passion to create that makes an artist,” she says. “I hope more people have discovered this doorway and may walk through it.” NCM

“If there has ever been a time when our children need to dream and be creative, it is now.”

– Bette Hickman

TOP: Students in Bette Hickman's art classes were asked to draw and write a story about their favorite shoe.

ABOVE: Walter the Worm was a spring mascot for young art students in Newnan.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 65

NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT: One Roof

Community Outreach under

One Roof S Written by JEFFREY WARD • Photographed by SARA MOORE

ir Winston Churchill once said: “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.”

Especially during recent months, this quote can appropriately be applied to the staff and volunteers laboring to serve their neighbors through One Roof Ecumenical Alliance Outreach.

In many ways, the Coronavirus pandemic has decimated the economy, corporations, small businesses and the workforce. Among the most seriously affected have been nonprofits, like One Roof, which operate on a shoestring budget to begin with and rely heavily on a workforce of volunteer retirees. These seniors, aged 65 and up, were deemed “at-risk” and not permitted to contribute as they had done in the past.

Yet One Roof presses on.

One Roof began in 2007 in partnership with the Coweta County Food Pantry and, as befitting their name, have since gathered

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diverse social service outreach programs under one roof to improve their efficiency in reaching impoverished residents of Coweta County. The nonprofit runs a food pantry, offers financial crisis assistance to qualified individuals, and provides a home for at-risk women and children, The Lodge.

To support their mission, One Roof operates a thrift shop that provides operating funds.

Also, they partner with and receive help from national organizations such as the Salvation Army and United Way to better serve the underprivileged.

President/Executive Director Ann Kerlin oversees operations at One Roof with three other full-time employees: Office Manager Sharlene Washington, Board Treasurer Jim Churchill and Food Manager Brian Shelton.

At One Roof ’s website, oneroofoutreach.org, the list of the nonprofit’s benefactors and supporters reads like a Newnan “Who’s Who.” The majority of contributions to One Roof come from individuals, and Kerlin gratefully

Volunteer Pamela Gray stocks the shelves.

The nonprofit runs a food pantry, offers financial crisis assistance to qualified individuals, and provides a home for at-risk women and children, The Lodge.

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NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT: One Roof

recognizes volunteers with Newnan Junior Service League who keep the nonprofit’s food reserves well-stocked.

“They do this by organizing and managing their annual Can-A-Thon, bringing in enormous quantities of canned goods, which directly benefit the Coweta Community Food Pantry at One Roof,” she says.

Last spring, a longtime wish of One Roof was fulfilled when they purchased a large van from a construction company to aid in moving food and donated items to and from their thrift store and food distribution center.

After being shut down for about two months, the One Roof thrift shop, which generates $11,000 to $12,000 a month, reopened on June 1.

Kerlin is happy to report that while the pandemic brought challenges, it also proved that Cowetans are ready and willing to rise to any emergency occasion.

“Despite this pandemic and everybody having their own individual concerns, God has moved in the hearts of people,” she says. “We have a wonderful community 68 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

with churches and people whose generosity has been amazing. It has been a joy seeing the goodness of people just showing up.

They have donated masks for our staff because we had none.”

One lady pulled up and gave the organization a $2,000 check.

“It just keeps coming in like every day is Christmas. We have felt useful during this crisis handing it back out.” NCM

OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP: Volunteer Katherine Cleveland assembles food boxes.

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OPPOSITE PAGE, BOTTOM: Office Manager Sharlene Washington and volunteer Woodrow Geter sort food boxes.

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ABOVE: Volunteer Deirdre Hood shelves canned goods.

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COWETA GARDEN

Fall Gardens Keep your Garden Growing

Written by DEBERAH WILLIAMS, COWETA COUNTY MGEV Photos Courtesy of Coweta County Master Gardener Extension Volunteers

I

f you went to a local business where gardening supplies were sold during the COVID-19 outbreak, the busiest part of the store was probably the garden section.

The benefits of working outdoors, planting a garden, and making your outside spaces more livable were a huge part of the shelter-in-place experience for furloughed employees, those working from home, and children stuck at home after schools closed.

Many homeowners are now wishing they could keep their gardens growing all year round rather than just in Peas the spring and summer.

What University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and Coweta County Master Gardener Extension Volunteers (Coweta MGEVs) would like local homeowners to know is this: After you finish with your spring/summer garden, you can start fresh with dozens of fall gardening projects that will help you reap great gardening rewards all year long.

Fall is not only the best time to plant pansies. It’s also the perfect time to plant trees, shrubs, cool-season vegetables, spring bulbs, cool-season grass and perennials.

Plus, it’s the perfect time to get ready for next spring.

“Many think they should start gardening in March or April when, in reality, their gardening calendar should begin in September,” says Coweta MGEV Allen Summerlin. “March and April are better months for fine-tuning perennials and planting annuals; however, perennials of any kind will do better when planted in the moderate months of September and early October.”

That’s because plants need eight to 10 weeks for their roots to develop and to become established, according to Summerlin.

Perennials “If you plant them in the spring, it doesn’t take long before it’s 95 degrees outside and too hot for a plant to fully develop before it becomes stressed,” he adds.

Extension experts have found that in the fall, when the weather is milder, the upper parts of trees, shrubs and perennials don’t need as much energy, so the plant concentrates energy on the root system, giving it time to develop and grow without subjecting it to the

70 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

COWETA GARDEN

Fall is not only the best time to plant pansies. It’s also the perfect time to plant trees, shrubs, cool-season vegetables, spring bulbs, cool-season grass and perennials.

Foster plants

harsh temperatures and humidity of Georgia springs and summers. Trees, shrubs and perennials planted in the fall will be stronger and healthier when spring arrives – and better able to survive the heat of summer.

Cool season vegetables like broccoli, carrots, collards, lettuce, onions, spinach and turnips can be planted in spring and fall. Many of these can be planted in August and early September but will still need to be watered regularly.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 71

COWETA GARDEN

Sept - Oct Gardening Tips From Coweta MGEVs’ 2020 Calendar

Cabbage

SEPTEMBER: • • • •

•

Buy spring-flowering bulbs but wait to plant until soil temperatures are cooler.

Divide daylilies and irises.

Cut back dead flowers and brown foliage on perennials.

Check vegetable garden calendar to plant seedlings for cool-season vegetables and schedule plantings according to frost date.

Replace mulch under rose bushes to prevent diseases next year.

OCTOBER: • • • • • • •

Prepare composting areas for fall leaves.

Move patio plants into shade for two weeks before bringing indoors.

Cut brown flower stems of hosta back to ground level.

Leave seed heads of coneflowers and blackeyed Susans on plants for birds.

Plant spring-flowering bulbs; divide bulbs in old beds and replant.

Add native shrubs and trees.

Irrigate; newly planted shrubs and trees need to be watered until established.

72 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

Coneflowers

Brussels sprouts

Cool season vegetables that need more time to reach maturity, like Brussels sprouts, can be hard to grow if subjected too soon to warm weather.

Planting in early spring, or in late summer or early fall, gives them time to fully develop. Plant collards in late summer or early fall and they’ll usually grow through New Year’s Day. They survive some frost, but be sure to harvest them before an extended period of below-freezing temperatures. Garlic gets a better start if planted in late fall or early winter.

Spring-flowering bulbs put on a beautiful show in late winter and early spring, but they must be planted in fall. If planted in spring, they usually don’t come up.

Coweta MGEV Melanie Landrum shared this great tip for early spring annuals: “Fall is the best time to direct-sow [plant seeds in the ground rather than potting and then transplanting] spring annual seeds. Old-fashioned flowers such as poppies, larkspur and bachelor buttons should be direct-sown in the garden

COWETA GARDEN

Customers form lines early at the 2019 Spring Plant Sale.

Visitors shop at the 2019 MGEV Plant Sale.

around Thanksgiving as they need winter’s cooler temperatures to germinate. You’ll be rewarded with an abundance of blooms in early spring.”

Coweta MGEV C.R. Phillips adds: “In the fall, I do a good bit of maintenance to put our garden to bed for the winter – see what plants need, prune, get everything ready for the spring surge. Most of our shrubs, except roses, are on a three-year cycle.

All the loropetalum, cleyrea, some holly varieties and barberries are pruned to half their size every three years, then the cycle repeats. It’s important to keep it all straight.”

You’ll get better gardening results if you have your soil tested every two years. Get soil sample bags from the Coweta UGA Extension office with instructions on how to do the test. Tests are $9 each and you’ll receive recommendations for soil amendments. NCM

Fall Plant Sale The Coweta County Master Gardener Extension Volunteers (MGEVs) will hold their annual fall plant sale in a unique manner this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Beginning in late August, MGEVs will sell plants each Wednesday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Coweta County Farmers Market held at the Expo Center at 197 Temple Avenue in Newnan. The market opens for senior citizens to shop between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., and others may shop between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Volunteers will be onsite to answer questions about the plants.

Trees, shrubs and perennials will be available with different varieties each week due to limited space at the market. Social distancing is required and face masks are requested.

For information, visit ugaextension.org/Coweta, email karen. mansour@uga.edu, or call 770.254.2620, Ext. 8308.

➤ For more on fall gardening, download free publications at extension.uga.edu.

Pomegranate

COWETA COOKS

Deep-fried Oreos

Fair Food Straight from Your Kitchen Written by RACHEL ADAMS First appeared in THE NEWNAN TIMES-HERALD

T

he Kiwanis Coweta County Fair, routinely held in September, has been canceled this year. But fair food doesn't have to be.

Kiwanis officials called off the 2020 edition of the popular fair due to community health and wellbeing concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Newnan Kiwanis Club has sponsored the local fair every year since 1947, save for one year.

Whether or not the show goes on, it’s possible to bring a little bit of the fair into your home by making these three fair staples: corn dogs, funnel cakes and deep-fried Oreos.

According to gmpopcorn.com, corn dogs were created between 1920 and 1940. Several sources say Carl and Neil Fletcher were the official inventors, though others have also laid claim to the tasty creation.

The Fletchers introduced their corn dog at the Texas State Fair in 1942, where it rose 74 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

COWETA COOKS to popularity as a staple fair food because of its simplicity and low cost to make.

Funnel cakes came along much earlier, with some being made as far back as medieval times, though they didn’t become popular at American fairs until the 1950s.

According to airfungames.com, the first appearance of a funnel cake at a fair was in 1990 during the Kutztown Folk Festival, which was started in Kutztown, Penn., to celebrate Pennsylvania Dutch culture.

Funnel cakes can be served with a number of toppings, including fruit, chocolate and the classic sprinkling of sugar.

The most recent creation of the three, deep-fried Oreos were invented by Charlie Boghosian in the mid-1990s. According to an interview from Forbes, Boghosian came up with the sweet treat not long after he bought his first food stand in 1996. Today, deep-fried Oreos are sold everywhere from county fairs to restaurants across the country.

All three recipes are simple and don’t take much time. All you need is a large skillet, a little heat and a lot of frying oil.

Deep-fried Oreos This recipe makes 30 Oreos.

8

cups vegetable oil for frying

1

large egg

1

cup milk

2

teaspoons vegetable oil

1

cup pancake mix

1

package of Oreos

Heat oil in a deep-fryer or heavy

Funnel Cakes This recipe makes three large cakes.

8

cups vegetable oil for frying

1½ cups milk 2

eggs

2

cups all-purpose flour

1

teaspoon baking powder

½

teaspoon ground cinnamon

½

teaspoon salt

plastic bag to use as piping funnel

¾

cup powdered sugar

Heat oil in a deep-fryer or heavy skillet on medium heat. In a large bowl, beat milk and eggs together. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt with the mixture and stir until smooth.

Spoon 1 cup of mixture into the plastic bag,

skillet on medium heat. Combine

seal and snip a hole in one corner of the bag. Start

egg, milk and vegetable oil in bowl

in the center of the skillet and move in a swirling

and stir until smooth. Stir in pancake

pattern until the cake is 6 to 7 inches across. Fry

mix and continue until smooth.

on both sides until golden brown. Repeat the

Dip and cover cookies in batter, one at a time, and then place battered cookies into hot oil. Fry

process until all batter is gone.

Drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle cakes with powdered sugar and serve warm.

4 to 5 at a time until golden brown (about 2 minutes). Drain on a paper towel and serve warm.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 75

COWETA COOKS

“All you need is a large skillet, a little heat and a lot of frying oil.”

Corn Dogs This recipe makes 8 corn dogs. ½

cup yellow cornmeal

½

cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

pinch of black pepper

2

tablespoons white sugar

2

teaspoons baking powder

½

egg

½

cup milk

2

cups vegetable oil for frying

8

hot dogs

8

wooden skewers

Combine cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, sugar and baking powder in a medium bowl. Stir in eggs and milk.

Preheat oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Insert skewers into hot dogs and roll in batter until well-coated.

Fry two or three corn dogs at a time until lightly browned (about three minutes). Drain on paper towels and enjoy.

NCM

76 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

Share Your Community Cookbook Help Newnan-Coweta Magazine celebrate our 25th anniversary by becoming part of Coweta Cooks in 2020.

Has your church, school or civic group produced a cookbook as a fundraiser in recent years? If so, we’d love to share your recipes with our readers.

Send information about your group and cookbook to magazine@newnan. com, call 770.253.1576, or drop by our office at 16 Jefferson Street in Newnan. Be sure to include a contact name and daytime telephone number, email address, and brief info about your organization, cookbook, and what project(s) benefit from your cookbook sales.

We look forward to hearing from you and sharing your recipes.

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COWETA KIDS CARE

SCOUT’S W HONOR Prepared Teens Help

hat do former President Gerald Ford, Astronaut Neil Armstrong and movie mogul Steven Spielberg have in

common? They were all Eagle Scouts.

The list of Eagle Scouts covers the gamut of

successful men in all areas of life, and now that women can join the leadership program, they’re sure to make

Out in Pandemic Written by JEFFREY WARD

ABOVE Boy Scouts, from left, Josiah Jorek, Joseph Ashley and Joshua Soberano volunteered with One Roof Ecumenical Outreach during the first weeks of the pandemic.

Know a Kid Who Cares?

78 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

the rank, too.

Meet three local teens – two Eagle Scouts and one

on the way – who evidently take to heart the Boy Scout

motto of “Be Prepared.” The trio dedicated their time

Help Newnan-Coweta Magazine give a shout-out to children and teens in Coweta County who demonstrate their care for others through volunteer work or charitable giving. Nominate a child age 5 to 18 who has put forth time and effort to help someone outside his or her own family. Send a 50-100 word nomination to magazine@newnan.com and be sure to include the child’s name, age, parents’ name(s) and contact information as well as your own phone number and/or email address. We look forward to hearing about the impact caring kids have in our communities.

COWETA KIDS CARE

and talents to help One Roof Ecumenical Outreach, in Newnan, serve those in need during the early weeks of

the pandemic.

JOSHUA SOBERANO, 16, of Tyrone organized a

project in conjunction with his church, St. Matthew

Catholic Church, in Tyrone, to produce masks for One

Bake Your Best Christmas Cookie Contest Coming Soon

Roof. After his church asked parishioners to volunteer

during the pandemic, he and friends fashioned 100

masks that were delivered to One Roof in May. The son of Norman and Arlene Soberano and a student at The

Heritage School, the Eagle Scout made 100 more masks

that were delivered to Bridging the Gap in Newnan.

JOSEPH ASHLEY, 18, is an Eagle Scout and member

of The Order of the Arrow, which consists of Boy Scouts who best reflect the ideals of Scouting service and

leadership. The son of Ken and Olive Ashley, of Newnan,

and a senior at East Coweta High School, Joseph teamed up with fellow Scout Josiah Jorek to build partitions

at One Roof ’s dormitory to provide privacy and social

distancing for at-risk women and their children. Joseph

and Jorek also raised funds for and installed durable shelving at One Roof ’s thrift store.

JOSIAH JOREK, 17, of Newnan, hopes to achieve his

Eagle Scout rank next year. The son of Olaf and Misty

Jorek, Josiah and his four siblings were home-schooled,

and Josiah now takes advanced classes at the University

of West Georgia. Along with building privacy partitions

and installing shelving at One Roof last spring, Josiah and Joseph also sorted thousands of used books into

easily accessed categories at the One Roof thrift store.

NCM

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Newnan-Coweta Magazine will hold its third annual

Bake Your Best Christmas Cookie Contest in September with winners and their recipes featured in our November-December 2020 Holiday issue.

Get a jumpstart on the holidays by trying out your favorite cookie recipes – or coming up with recipes of your own – and submitting your best to compete for prizes in contest categories: Traditional Cookies and Decorated Cookies. Prizes will be awarded to the top three winners in each category after a panel of independent judges rates cookies on taste and appearance. A Grand Prize winner will be chosen from the top entries.

Contest entrants must submit six to 12 cookies and the recipe in order to qualify for judging. All entries must be delivered to Newnan-Coweta Magazine’s office at The Newnan Times-Herald at 16 Jefferson Street, Newnan, between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17, or between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 18. Judging will take place on the afternoon of Sept. 18 and winners will be announced in the magazine’s November-December issue.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | 79

ALL ROADS LEAD TO COWETA

Blacktop Photos by Ron Ron Schuck capt Schuck ured the night lig ht s of Newnan in win at the roundabo ut by Newnan Ce ter ntre...

Photo by Ron

Maciejewski

ind the sunroom w to s g in cl th o auty m A Tulip Tree Be for this photograph.

ow

...and Bullsboro Drive near Shenandoah Boulevar

submit your

photos

d.

Email us your photos of life in and around Coweta County and we may choose yours for a future edition of Blacktop!

Photos must be original, high-resolution (300 DPI) digital photos in .jpg format, at least 3”x 5” size.

Please include your name so that we can give you credit for your photo in the magazine!

Photo by Gary Wilson

Spending a sunny day at Chattah hee Bend State Park is a great way to escape theooc pandemic blues.

Email your photos with the subject “Blacktop” to the address below.

magazine@newnan.com

n is a n w n Ne w o t Down

Photo by Laurie M

attingly

s home kitchen counter in hi Gimli the dog at thicke study in shades of brown. makes for a qu

Terri Smith caught the

N E OP FOR

!

S S E N BUSI

Photo by Terri Smith

October sun setting in

this stunning shot.

Photo by Gary Wilson Coweta Tabay scouts for critters amidst the ferns at his

County home.

Check out our website for a list of businesses! www.mainstreetnewnan.com

THE WRAP-UP/TOBY NIX

‘Paint Me on Velvet’ L

egend has it that my mother once met Elvis Presley... kind of.

My parents were at a concert and Elvis reached down and handed my mother a bandana.

She always said she thought he handed it to her because he felt sorry for her for being so short.

She also said that his arms, from his elbows to his hands, were scratched up from women clawing at him as he’d reach down into the crowd.

My father worked for Turtles back in his younger days. Because of his connections through the record store, my parents saw everyone and anyone who came to Atlanta, and apparently they had pretty good seats to boot.

My father once threw a hat on stage at Willie Nelson, who proceeded to wear it for a song and throw it back into the crowd. The hat landed with some fella who hadn’t thrown it, but my father and my uncle were both pretty big and pretty crazy, so my father left the show that night with his hat in tow.

I hadn’t thought much of it over the last few decades, but as I’ve recently found myself looking through what was left by my parents when they bid their adieu to this world, I’ve resumed my search for the Elvis bandana.

So far, no luck.

I’ve never seen the Elvis bandana. I remember where it was supposed to be when I was a kid. I trust it existed because everyone in my family told me it did.

No one had any reason to make up such a story – not my parents or my older brothers, who all confirmed the bandana’s existence.

Even if I never find it, I will never doubt it’s there somewhere.

Much is the same as how I don’t have to see my parents to know they’re here.

Nothing has been good since they died. I frequently have dreams they’re alive, then I have to wake up and remember they aren’t. It’s not a fun start to the morning.

But I know they are here. Maybe I’ll get a reminder sooner or later that they aren’t far away and I’ll see them again.

Maybe my mom will be holding a bandana when that happens.

I can’t think of many things more sad than an old velvet painting sitting out for sale at a yard sale. So I’ll end by stealing some lines from an old Geezinslaw Brothers’ song and mixing in a few edits to make it more personal: “Paint me on velvet, and do not disguise The bright silver tear drops, that you brought to my eyes Hang me out by the roadside, for the whole world to see Jesus and Elvis, the elusive bandana, my mother and me.” …

I wrote this column a couple of months ago, as per magazine deadlines, and it ended with the "Paint Me on Velvet" lyrics. My oldest brother died a few weeks later.

The sad velvet painting sitting for sale at the sad yard sale just got a little sadder.

I hope the painter uses a lot of dark gray for the skies.

NCM

Southern-born and Southern-bred, Toby Nix is a local writer who works in law enforcement.

82 | WWW.NEWNANCOWETAMAGAZINE.COM

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