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contents VOLUME II ISSUE II

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14

A Lifetime Student of Art

We look at how one local artist is working to make sure the world around her is left a better place than when she found it.

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Traditional, Classic Style

Local designer Al Woods takes Warthen Lane Interiors all across the southeast.

8

20 A Caring & Sharing Congregation

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Union Hill Baptist Church celebrates 160 years of worship.

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26 Herb’s Fish Place Where the best folks gather for the best seafood.

30

The Good Ole Days

Old Warthen school still holds cherished memories for many residents.

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30

Preserving History & Community

Women of Warthen Community Club add value to community through their legacy.

In Every issue 6 Editor’s Note 6 Readers’ Letters 25 Worship Guide 36 Arts & Entertainment 40 Photo Galleries 46 A Picture Worth 1,000 Words

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Visit THE CITY OF SANDERSVILLE 141 W. Haynes Street • P.O. Box 71 • Sandersville, Ga 31082 • 478-552-2525 • www.Sandersville.net Sandersville Scene.

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sandersville scene

Established 2008 Volume 2 No. 2 Publisher Keith Barlow

E d i to r N A T A L I E D AV I S

Writers N a t a l i e D av i s J o n at h a n J ac ks o n Stephanie Miller

A dv e r t i s i n g D i r e c t o r Erin Simmons

A dv e r t i s i n g S a l e s M a nag e r K a r e n M e rt z

“An artist is always a student of art — it’s just that we are all at different levels in our learning.”

T

onia Marynell contends she’s just as much a student of art as she is a teacher. The local talent who spreads her gift like King Midas’ touch, enlightens and inspires her students each day, but she seems as equally content learning from their gifts as they do in discovering hers. This relationship, or so it seems, is one of the many paradoxes of the arts. An artist, as Marynell puts it, is always a student of art, and we all are constant learners.

There are many who contend that art, particularly the fine arts and a greater appreciation for them, is exclusive to particular parts of the world — parts unseen by many of us and worlds away from Washington County. But Marynell, a homegrown artist, is proof positive that art and a culture and appreciation of it, has no geographic bounds. It’s not restricted to the metropolitan regions of the globe or to grandiose marble galleries.

We all possess personal passions, though not all of our individual gifts and interests require the stroke of a brush. We are all students in some form or variety each of us with gifts to share. It would be a shame for any of us to bind those unique passions and limit our gifts’ exposure.

Through our sharing, we cultivate learning and inspire others, and in turn discover new possibilities and potentials ourselves.

With each issue of Sandersville Scene, we aim to share and inspire in some form through the stories of local folks — some more widely recognizable, others little known and undiscovered — each with gifts they so graciously share with us and you our readers.

Marynell and the local faces and places we feature here on the pages of our magazine are proof positive of the diamonds in the rough that reside in our region. Inside this edition, we hope you’ll not only be inspired by Marynell’s story, but the stories of Union Baptist Church, one of the oldest African-American congregations in Washington County; Herb’s Fish Place and its down-home goodness; the Warthen Community Club and the old Warthen school their good works helped to restore; and designer Al Woods, who shares his talents and keen eye for design throughout the region.

We appreciate their stories and we celebrate their gifts — and we certainly hope you do as well.

We’d love to hear and share even more of your stories, so continue giving us feedback. Email us at ndavis@unionrecorder.com and tell us what you think of this edition and what other stories you’d like to see featured.

Thank you, Sandersville and Washington County, for allowing our magazine to be an avenue for local stories to shape and hopefully inspire. By sharing these inspirational gems with you, our readers, we can all leave a lasting positive impact for generations to come.

C i rc u l at i o n D i r e c t o r M i c h a e l E va n s

C r e at i v e M a n ag e r

MANAGING EDITOR

B ro o ks H i n to n

Graphic Designer Hamp jones

READERS’ LETTERS

COVER PHOTO J o n at h a n J ac ks o n Sandersville Scene magazine is published by The Union-Recorder biannually at 165 Garrett Way Milledgeville, GA 31061 For more information on submitting stories or to advertise in Sandersville Scene, call (478)453-1436 6.Sandersville Scene

Congratulations on a very fine Sandersville Scene Vol. 2, Issue 1. Just a minor correction on Mr. Jackson's article on the Brown House Museum. The patent models are not on loan from the Patent Office, the models are on loan from the personal collection of Jim and Diane Davie.

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I Love, love, love the magazine for our county! Y’all are doing a great job on something that is so dear to all of us — our county!

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8.Sandersville Scene

feature story

a

lifetime student of

ART

story and photos by JONATHAN JACKSON

T

onia Marynell won't tell you she is a fine artist. She prefers the term illustrator. Anyone who knows her will tell you that not only is she in fact an artist, but one of the good ones. She is passionate about art, its reach and the ability of art to appeal to everyone, but she is also in possession of a secret that the world sometimes loses sight of; artists rule the world.

“If you stop and think about it, almost everything you see, touch, smell, eat or hear was created by an artist,” she said recently. “Artists truly do rule the world and have for centuries.”

Her reach in the Sandersville community is wider than most realize and her abilities to create great art stretches into the international realm through another one of her passions — horses.

She has spent her life dedicated to the animals and has honed her efforts into painting them, drawing, riding and caring for them. The late Sandersville Progress Publisher Bob Garrett called her horse Flash the most famous horse in Washington County, even running an obituary with a photo in the newspaper when Flash succumbed to pneumonia in 1999. Today, Marynell operates a horse rescue with two horses with famous bloodlines that once spent time on the race track.

Though she is hesitant to admit it, the touch of this master artist's hand is all over her community.

Tonia is one of four daughters born to the late Frank and Edith Marynell. Frank was an Italian immigrant and master musician who spent his early days as a performer playing piano in Chicago during some of the city’s jazz heyday. Edith was a creative dress designer and seamstress.

“My father never took me shopping for toys or clothes,” Marynell said. “But twice a year he would take me to the art store and let me get anything I wanted. My mother taught me about color and design.”

As a child, Tonia says her sisters could never bring books home that had pictures of horses in them because she would color them. Her first drawings were of horses and she longed to have one of her own. Then at age 15, Frank Marynell gifted Tonia with Flash, a beautiful paint that many area residents may remember seeing at the Marynell home on Church Street.

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Marynell rode Flash in the “To Be an American” July 4 celebration in Sandersville following Operation Desert Storm. Flash was with her for 25 years.

After high school, Marynell attended the prestigious Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla. “Ringling College of Art and Design is the number one art school in North America and one of the top three in the world,” she said. “It is the only art school that in 2009 to ever be listed on the U.S. World and News list of top colleges in the U.S.” Her passion for art, at times fueled by her love for horses, results in a symbiotic relationship that originated through years of dedication and excellence with both. After college, she took that drive and created a masterpiece that evidenced a strong love for two of the most dominant influences in her life. The portrait of young Frank and Edith Marynell hangs in her sister's home and shows a dapper Frank in white dinner jacket, standing next to Edith, seated and wearing one of the dresses she designed. The piano, chair and lamp appearing in the portrait all sit in the room with the obvious absence of her parents.

“They knew the value of the arts and knew that one could earn a living with the arts,” Marynell said.

As an artist, influence is found in many places. Two influential artists weigh heavily on her work, one at Ringling and one almost in her backyard.

“Mr. Vernon Layton from Riddleville was a world famous portrait artist and was my mentor in high school and while I was at college,” Marynell said. “His greatest compliment was he told me 'I had the best color sense of anyone he had ever seen' and 'We were part of the brotherhood.' That was the greatest compliment as an artist anyone has ever given me. Mr. Joe Knox was my college mentor. He taught me magazine and book design and illustration. His pushing me and pushing to achieve the highest goals drove my talent to a superior level and I have never looked back.”

Always maintaining a faith in the ability to provide for herself through art, Tonia made a name for herself especially in the equine community.

Through her sign business, she creates signs for Old Friends equine rescue where racing stallions retire. The farm contacted her recently about creating signs for another farm in Saratoga, N.Y. When the farm was recently in the news, her work was seen around the world on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, the RFD Channel and HRTV. The carved and gilded signs will mark the new Old Friend's facility named after horse trainer Bobby Frankel who recently passed away from lymphoma.

“He was very respected and loved and known worldwide in the racing and sporting community,” she said. “He was one of the

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Above: Mayrnell honored her parents with a portrait, combining seperate photos of each of them, along with a piano, lamp and chair that remain in the family today. Marynell’s mother made the dress in the photo herself and Tonia took a photo of herself in the dress to use to paint the portrait.

Bottom: Marynell’s equine art finds frequent use in the world of horses.

greatest trainers to ever live.”

Old Friends will eventually welcome another famous horse as LavaMan, the offspring of Seattle Slew will retire to the stallion retirement facility.

Marynell's love for the equine is rooted in her love for the famous Man o' War, a racehorse so beloved and admired that he was embalmed and given a televised funeral. Man o' War was the father of War Admiral and the grandfather of Seabiscuit of cinematic and worldwide racing fame. The Man o' War line continues to appear in racing today and eventually led to Marynell's acquisition of a direct descendant.

“The first time I saw Frank he left the herd and just ran up to see me as if to say 'where have you been — I've been waiting for you',” Marynell said. “He rubbed his head all over me — like something out of a movie. His foster family said many people had wanted him and they had turned everyone away — but when they saw that they said, 'he needs to go home with you — he has been waiting for you to come get him.' His foster family turned him over to me as a free adoption and they brought him to me along with his little paint buddy Doodlebug. He has been with me nearly a year.”

Frank, also known as Grumpo or Harvey, is a retired racehorse and

is the son of 1986 Breeder's Cup Classic Champion Skywalker, who took the title in 1986. As Marynell got to know the horse's personality, she was reminded of her father. She changed his name and Frank joined the herd along with Bud's Jessi, another retired racehorse, once owned

by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

“Frank is sweet and loving but has a cantankerous side to him and he can have a temper if you don't do what he wants and get it done quick enough,” she said. “He does not realize how big he is at 17 hands and follows me around like a puppy dog.”

Marynell's art covers many subjects and media and horses frequently appear. She was requested a few years ago to paint a mural on a friend's daughter's bedroom wall. The mural features the friend's eight horses in a pasture.

“Horses have inspired artists since the beginning of time,” Marynell said. “The oldest known drawings are of horses in the Lascaux caves in France.”

Marynell's art has made it all the way to the U.S. capitol. In 2004, she illustrated a book entitled “Buck's Heroes.” The picture book tells the story of dogs used by U.S. military forces during the Vietnam war.

The book was honored by Congress, marking the service of the dogs Sandersville Scene.

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Above: Marynell recently completed a series of murals at Washington Co. High School including this one that allows the school’s theatre department to advertise upcoming shows.

At Right: Bill Phillips, along with companion and frequent art subject Charlie, discuss technique with Marynell. Phillips is one of Marynell’s art students.

in the war.

“Those dogs were not allowed to come home,” Marynell said. “They either stayed or were destroyed.”

Most recently, Marynell has turned her love for art into another outreach — teaching art classes to aspiring local artists.

After giving some classes through the county recreation department, an interest grew in the community. She received permission from the local Presbyterian church to use Sunday School space to give classes, and now the classes meet several times per week with small classes of four to eight students.

One of those students is finding a new passion and is a budding artist himself — at age 85.

Bill Phillips started taking art classes in January and already, Mary Nell says, is the class pet.

“He just inspires the whole class,” she said. Phillips started out as all students do, drawing eggs, shapes, then progressing to buildings and perspectives. Phillips recently drew the Thiele Kaolin 7W drag line in class and sold several prints at the Kaolin Festival on the square.

“She's got a lot of talented students. I'm not one of them,” Phillips said with a smile. “The classes keep me busy and out of trouble. She's an outstanding teacher, too.”

Phillips has drawn the Washington County Courthouse and his granddaughter's first home. Once members of the family saw that sketch, Phillips had to do more. He even drew a dogwood tree that a friend had growing in his front yard. The piece is titled “Mr. Lever's Graft.” His neighbor, Mr. Lever, grafted a white dogwood branch onto a pink dogwood branch, producing white and pink blooms on the same tree in the spring.

One of his favorite subjects, though, rarely leaves his side. His canine companion Charlie “has his ways,” as Phillips puts it, but apparently doesn't mind being the subject of Phillips's art.

Two acrylic pieces are portraits of Charlie, whom Phillips rescued.

“We think he may have been abused,” Phillips said of the older Labrador

12.Sandersville Scene

mix. “But he found a home.”

Charlie sometimes attends classes with Phillips and is as much of a community pet to the class as he is to Phillips. He sits patiently as Mary Nell helps students see the world in shapes and colors.

“One of the biggest challenges is teaching the students to see. If you can learn to see in shapes, you can learn to see proportions,” Marynell said. “I figure out how I can help each of them. I love my students and all of them have talent. They are motivated and really enjoy learning art. For me, I love watching them grow and progress and seeing the confidence and joy it brings them. They look at me as their teacher but really, an artist is always a student of art — it’s just that we are all at different levels in our learning.”

If Marynell, her students and a growing community consortium have their way, there may one day be a permanent home for art classes, theater performances and other cultural events. A grassroots movement is underway to transform the old Sandersville Elementary School into a cultural arts center that could house creative space as well as a number of government entities. Classrooms could be used for any type of classes ranging from adult education to watercolor painting.

Colleges could use space as satellite campuses. The former cafeteria could be used for culinary arts, the auditorium for performance and much of the space could be utilized for special events. The possibilities are endless, according to Marynell.

Sandersville City Council and Washington County Commission have been charged with exploring the idea of transforming the school building on the mostly empty campus. Members of the community have asked government entities to get involved with the concept and following models in nearby Eatonton and Swainsboro may pave the way, although it will take more than government to make the center a reality.

“I am so glad the city council and the commissioners have been so open-minded and receptive,” Marynell said. “Now other businesses need to partner with them and the arts community needs to get organized.”

The first step on behalf of the arts community is the creation of an artist's guild that Marynell says has already gained traction from within her group of arts students. The remaining work will be the task of a community that Marynell hopes is organized as well as motivated.

For now, art classes continue at the church.

“I would not be able to teach my classes without the generosity of the First Presbyterian Church,” Marynell said.

In addition to her art classes, community involvement and horse rescue, Marynell operates her own gallery.

“I decided to name my freelance business after my father's Italian heritage and for my white horse, Flash,” she said. “My father was an Italian who came to this country from Sicily as a young boy. He played the violin. My friend in Italy, Salvatore Antonacci, helped me correctly translate 'white horse' into Italian, hence the name Cavallo Bianco Gallery.”

Marynell's loves are evident in her passion for horses, a passion she says is embedded in her DNA and her love for art that she nurtures in students and her own work, but her greatest accomplishment, she says is following in her footsteps.

Gable Marynell is a gifted musician and gives private music lessons at his home, just like his grandfather. He is a gifted artist and creates artwork in multiple media, and he is attending Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, just like his mother.

“My son Gable is my life,” she said with obvious pride.

Marynell is thankful for the Lions Club for helping her obtain surgery to remove toxic cataracts from her eyes. The club also paid for two operations for her son.

“Without their help in paying for my eye operations after being diagnosed with toxic cataracts I would not be working as an artist and would have lost my eyesight,” she said. “They paid for two of Gable's eye operations as a child and he would not be attending The Ringling College of Art now, majoring in computer animation if not for their help.”

The artist spends a lifetime doing good work, and while balancing a passion for horses, a love for art and being a dedicated mother to a third generation artist, Marynell is working to make sure the world around her is left a better place than when she found it.

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Local designer Al Woods takes Warthen Lane Interiors all across the southeast. story and photos by JONATHAN JACKSON

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A

visit to Warthen Lane Interiors in Sandersville will almost bowl patrons over as a spectra of color and endless textures, shapes and products all demand the attention while at the same time point to a singular theme — traditional, classic design. Owner Al Woods credits an attention to detail and a tasteful approach to classic decorating as secrets to the success of his design business. As far as the business goes, he said he almost came to it accidentally.

“Grandmother Woods thought everybody in the town of Warthen should have plastic flower arrangements for graves in cemeteries,” Woods said. “She would fix them and I would help.”

Woods went to college and earned a degree in adolescent psychology and found that the job was not a good match.

“It just wasn’t fun,” he said of his previous career. “In 1999 I opened Warthen Lane Interiors in Warthen. For the past twoand-a-half years, we’ve been open in Sandersville and living by our motto, ‘Let’s do something fun’.”

The scope of the business ranges from antiques to flowers, gifts and interior design.

Woods has a network of antique selectors who scour estate sales, antique stores and other locations throughout the southeast who find pieces for him. He said he doesn’t buy any antique that can’t go right into someone’s home. Finishing, repair work and restoration are activities that the busy designer doesn’t engage in, but the search for the perfect piece is always something that he is up for and when decorating a home, he works to sometimes match the right piece to the right home.

Many people aren’t aware that Warthen Lane Interiors is also a full-service florist.

“We love to do events, corporate, personal from small dinner parties to huge weddings,” he said.

“For the larger events, I call in every friend I have.”

Warthen Lane performs a great deal of sympathy, wedding and special

16.Sandersville Scene

occasion work with flowers.

Inside the store, gifts and home interior items abound. A fabric selection area, antique silver, candles, high-end gourmet gifts and small decorative pieces blend flawlessly with each other as everything offered in the store is meticulously displayed.

Woods said that a customer can come in with inspiration and leave with items and better yet, ideas.

Interior design is Woods’ strong suit and the loyalty of repeat customers speaks to a rapport developed through years of interaction.

“We have beautiful items for homes and we do many client homes, as well as corporate work, from the ground up,” he said.

Consulting a designer early in a project’s phase will save money in the long-run and will increase satisfaction with the final result, whether it be a sitting room or an entire home or business.

“If you work with a designer from the ground up, you’ll get better results with the aesthetics,” he said. “We’ve had good success and have even had people come in with blueprints to select paint and fabrics, wallpaper and custom drapes at the beginning of a project. Custom, custom, custom. That’s what we’re kind of known for.”

Woods’ approach doesn’t vary far from the classic, but within classic decorating, he said, the elements are present to gauge what a customer wants.

“One of the biggest challenges is this; I have my own taste. The biggest challenge is to figure out what you like,” he said. “I’ll have several meetings to discuss elements, styles, customs and furniture to try to get a big feel for what a customer likes.”

Following those meetings, Woods moves ahead with design work that regular customers come back for again and again.

With clients all over the southeast United States, Woods spends a good deal of time traveling for design jobs.

Competency in historical design has landed Woods in several jobs that require a special touch with an awareness of maintaining the Sandersville Scene.

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Above: Christmas decor fills the showroom of Warthen Lane Interiors along with traditional, classic offerings that punctuate and capture Woods’ theme.

Above right: A recent decorating job at Dr. Rick Halvorsen’s dental practice welcomes patients into a calming, aesthetically pleasing atmosphere.

18.Sandersville Scene

integrity of the historic home or business.

He has renovated four historical buildings and each time took them back as close to original as possible. An historic preservation degree compliments his design work. The aptitude to work on historic structures is something that is beneficial in a town like Sandersville, which has an abundance of historic structures.

For the past three years, and since the renovation of the Old Governor’s Mansion on the campus of Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Woods has turned his attention to historic design into the reintroduction of period Christmas decorations at the historic mansion. In addition, he decorates Lockerly Hall at the Lockerly Arboretum, another Milledgeville site and what many call Baldwin County’s best kept secret. The planning phase begins during summer months and Woods, along with community liaison for the mansion decorating, Dr. Harriett Whipple, are ready to begin on the Monday following Thanksgiving each year.

From spending time in cities like Williamsburg and Charleston, Woods has developed a good feel for the south and all things southern when it comes to decorating, especially traditional work.

“Overall, our success has been based on traditional design,” he said. “We steer toward classic design and away from trends. I like to put things in peoples’ homes that they are going to enjoy for years to come.”

Two facets of Warthen Lane Interiors that keep Woods busy many weekends throughout the year are weddings and events. “We do a great deal of wedding and event planning from the ground up,” he said. “We’ll do as much or as little as you want us to.”

A network of caterers and wedding services providers are utilized by Warthen Lane as the business serves as a one-stop wedding or event shop.

“We can really turn a wedding from a ceremony into an event,” he said.

Recently, Woods provided a wedding in the Atlanta area for a bride whose mother told him “I do not want to do anything.” Woods handled the wedding from announcements to invitations to reception, and the event took place without any complications.

A recent high-profile wedding in Atlanta for a professional football player landed Woods and Warthen Lane Interiors in the pages of a magazine. The wedding for pro football player Keith Brookins and bride Holly Ingram took place at St. Mark’s Methodist Church in Atlanta with a reception at the Biltmore Hotel.

“We coordinated all aspects of the wedding,” Woods said. “I Do for Brides featured the wedding as the cover story.”

To date, that wedding is the biggest nuptial event that Woods has handled. Commercially, a recent renovation and interior design job at a doctor’s office is the biggest undertaking the company has completed.

With a non-stop work schedule surrounding the holidays, a loyal Repeat customer base and one-of-a-kind offerings to the Sandersville community, the future appears bright for this designer looking for just the right touch.

“Whether you are decorating for Christmas or for interior design,” Woods said, “it just needs to be the ‘right’ thing.”

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story by NAtalie Davis photos by jONATHAN JACKSON

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T

he road to Union Hill Baptist Church may be off the beaten path both literally and figuratively, but for members who worship among this small Tennille congregation, the journey and its rewards are great.

Just a stretch up Deep Cut Road from the white congregation that offshot its establishment, Union Hill Baptist’s journey to the present is storied, as one of the oldest African-American congregations in Washington County.

The church’s founding dates back 160 years, but its roots actually lie in joint worship services of both black and white congregants in the area.

While the original church minutes have been lost through the years, an abstraction of the minutes from Ohoopee Baptist Church, indicates how Union Baptist was established back during in the 1800s.

“The first church where the older members worshipped on their own without being among the white people, was located a quarter of a mile from this church and it was located on the same ground. The church was called ‘Hoopie, which is the nickname of Union Baptist Church,” church historical records read.

According to church history, the first worshippers were not only workers, but laborers for their church. Led by the pastor and deacons, the church moved and rebuilt three times, and in 1860 a new sanctuary was constructed. In this 40 by 60 foot house, both blacks and whites worshipped.

In 1849, the only period that indicates a total for the number of black members, there were 16.

Later on, an arrangement was made where black worshippers acquired land to establish their own house of worship.

“They organized themselves and built a church,” the church history indicates, “which they called Union Hill Baptist Church.”

In the years since the separate African-American church’s founding, many developments have been made. Through it all, the biblical word sustains this church’s shepherd and his flock.

“The membership is a very friendly, welcoming group of people,” said present pastor, the Rev. Benjamin Martin, the 22nd pastor in Union Hill’s history. “We’re still pretty much family oriented.”

Present membership stands at around 200, mostly among families whose names have been longstanding in the church’s history family

“Understanding Othe rs’ E.K. May • Deborah M. May • Jeffery T. Smith

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Sandersville Scene.

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names such as those on the branches of Enoch Walters’ family tree.

Walters has been an active member of the church for more than 50 years. He can still look back on a time when the church had no functioning kitchen or air conditioning.

Homecoming services, as Walters can recall, were held each August as they are today, and baptismals were held.

“My grandmamma, my great-grandmamma, my great uncle … that was just the thing to do,” he said of attending Union Hill.

Central heat and air, wall to wall carpet, a new roof as well as several other amenities were added during the 1970s under the leadership of pastor J.L. Baker, the church history denotes.

“It was traditional that we would baptize every Friday night after Homecoming,” said Walters, adding that while much of the foundational traditions have come and gone, some elements of old still remain at Union Hill.

“It still has its flare of an old time Baptist church.”

As members trickle in for a recent Wednesday evening Bible study, they describe their church much as their pastor does, while the church theme and mission prominently displayed on facing walls indicates the same type of warm and friendly atmosphere to which all of the members present say congregants ascribe.

“Developing a Caring Sharing Fruit-bearing Church,” reads the mission statement that banners the walls.

“Touching Families and Changing Lives.”

For Eugenia Kay, it was that giving and caring spirit that touched her own family.

When she and her husband James moved to the area they sought a church home that would be in close proximity to where they lived. They soon realized they had found just the right fit at Union Hill.

“He [James] just fell in love with this church,” recalls Eugenia, adding that both she and her husband, parents of two, were particularly impressed with the church’s youth programs. “They sold me. It just felt like home.”

Wanda Pierce was also moved and inspired upon her family’s first visit to Union Hill as well.

“The worship service was very inspiring and spiritual,” she said. “It’s really been a learning experience for me.”

Added Kay: “You had the word — the [biblical] word was here. When you have a good shepherd, that really entices you to stay.”

Members say the word from the Bible trickles down through example from the leader of their flock — Rev. Martin.

“It’s not always in the number [of members],” said member James Pierce, who calls Martin a preacher and teacher who makes a concerted effort to not leave his membership behind and sets a strong example for others in the church to follow.

“If you’re looking for a church where you can be taught the word of God,” said Pierce, “come visit and you might like it.”

Services are held at Union Hill Baptist on second Sundays at 11:15 in the morning and fourth Sundays at 8:30 a.m. Bible study is held on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. for adults and Wednesdays at 6 p.m. for youth members. The church has an active youth membership and is actively involved in the 2nd Washington Baptist Association, the 12th District Baptist Convention and the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia, all aspects that Pierce says keeps members in close fellowship with other churches and helps to strengthen the bonds within.

“We’re just a big happy family, sharing and enjoying one another.”

24.Sandersville Scene

WHERE WE WORSHIP Harrison Springs Baptist Church 127 Mills St. Harrison, GA 31035 (478) 552-8967 Bay Springs Baptist Church 319 Bay Springs Road Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-3545 Bold Spring Baptist Church 3177 Poole Road Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-0464 Camp Spring Baptist Church 9919 Old Savannah Road Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-8511 Church Of Christ 101 E 2nd Ave. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-0356 Church Of The Nazarene 619 S Harris St. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-5300 Deepstep United Methodist Church 9744 Deepstep Road Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-6825 Deliverance Center Of Jesus Christ 401 Hall St. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-1030 Faith Temple Holiness Church 334 Railroad Ave. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-8965 First Baptist Church 316 Mathis Lane Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-2371 First Christian Church of Sandersville 166 E Church St. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-3495

First Presbyterian Church Of Sandersville 521 N Harris St. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-1842 First Southern Methodist Church 5998 Ga. Highway 24 West Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-5442 Gardner Church of God & Christ 450 Grand St. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 553-0331 Gideons International 118 S Smith St. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-5075 Gordy Grove Church of God In Christ 10466 Ga. Highway 272 Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 240-0092 Grace Episcopal Church 114 E 2nd Ave. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-5295 Green Grove Baptist Church 5030 Highway 242 Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-0260 Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall of Sandersville 1567 Ridge Road Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-6789 Kendall Heights Church Of God 829 Jordan Mill Road Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-5483 Mount Zion A.M.E. Church 379 Suburban Drive Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 348-6514

New Baptist Church 941 Yank Brown Road Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 553-0515 Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church 45 Oak Grove Road Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-0330 Pine Hill Baptist Church P.O. Box 6014 Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 348-5223 Poplar Springs Baptist Church 14139 Ga. Highway 24 West Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-7450

Second Washington Baptist Association 402 Evans St. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-1313 Sisters Baptist Church 1807 E McCarty St. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-2473 Springfield Baptist Church 415 W Church St. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-5317 Saint Galilee Baptist Church 316 Augusta Ally Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 553-9220 Saint Williams Catholic Church Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-3352

Poplar Springs Christian Church 13580 Ga. Highway 24 West Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-4747

Bethany Baptist Church 1132 Hartsford Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-7563

Ridgeland Heights Baptist Church 305 Ridgeland Drive Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-3171

Bethesda Christian Church 2740 Buckeye Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-4166

Robin Springs Baptist Church 3178 Deepstep Road Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-5612 Saint Galilee Holy Felowship Church 613 Temple Drive Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-8280 Sandersville United Methodist Church 202 W Church St. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-3374 Second Community Baptist Church 511 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. Sandersville, GA 31082 (478) 552-7738

Bethesda Christian Church 720 Hurst Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-0063

Georgia Grove Baptist Church 4574 Old Savannah Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-1605 Good Shepherd Church of the Nazarene 316 E South Central Ave Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-2424 Hubbard Chapel Church 22 Old Watermelon Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 864-2015 Mount Gilead Primitive Baptist Church 154 Mount Gilead Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-1013 Mount Moriah Baptist Church 1183 Mount Moriah Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-1942 Piney Mount United Methodist Church 3065 Old Savannah Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-5394 Samuel Grove Baptist Church 11651 Ga. Highway 68 South Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 553-9955

Burnett Grove A.M.E. Church 157 Hurst Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 553-0510

Smith Grove Baptist Church 3659 Tennille Harrison Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 553-1990

Faith Apostolic 140 Knight Lane Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-8911

Saint James Christian Fellowship Church 210 Chaloux Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-3451

Genesis New Life Apostolic Faith Church 4573 Grady Mertz Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 553-9555

Saint John Church of God And Christ 320 E. 3rd Ave. Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 240-9713

Swint Spring Baptist Church 6623 Tennille Oconee Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 553-9811 Tennille Baptist Church SBC 203 N Main St Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-7350 Tennille Christian Church 402 N Main St Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-5557 Tennille Grove Baptist Church Greta St Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-0083 Tennille United Methodist Church 297 W Adams St Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-7883 Union Hill Baptist Church 2389 Deepcut Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-9578 Victory Central Church 320 N Main St Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 553-0891 Zion Hope Baptist Church 4507 Watermelon Road Tennille, GA 31089 (478) 552-5838

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Sandersville Scene.25

26.Sandersville Scene

Food and fellowship keeps customers coming back to second generation eatery story and photos by

A

s sure as Thursday night rolls around Doyle and Nellie Brown of Dudley will be driving the 45-minute trip to Herb’s Fish Place located near Oconee at 1625 Highway 272, Tennille.

“We have had something else come up, but we still came on Friday night,” said Nellie, who prefers the catfish filets at Herb’s. The Browns have kept their Thursday night tradition for at least three years.

“It’s the best fish I’ve eaten,” said Nellie, adding the meal is worth the drive.

As the doors of Herb’s open at 4 o’clock on Thursday through Saturday like they’ve done since 1971, the Browns are not the only regulars who come each week to eat.

“I’ve been coming since they opened,” said Annie Loyd of McIntyre, who was there on a recent evening with her husband, Bo. “It’s good food,” said Bo. The couple also prefers the catfish, only they like small whole catfish.

Robert Fountain and his mother, Bettie, of Adrian said they make the drive to Herb’s on average about two times a month.

“It’s consistently good,” said Robert, adding he likes the “nice, family environment.”

Jerry Meadows, his wife Bobbie, and Martha Tomlinson, all of Milledgeville, travel to Herb’s every third Thursday. They also like the catfish.

“It’s the best we’ve found,” said Martha.

Such patrons are just a sample of the draw Herb’s has from across Georgia. Owner Bess Bailey said it’s not unusual for people to drive from Atlanta, Macon or other places across the state just to eat supper at the restaurant her parents, Herbert and Belinda Johnson, started in a one-room gas station.

“It was 20 by 24 (feet),” she said of the gas station her dad decided to close so he could cook and sell fish out of it. “We had three six-foot long tables that would seat about 30.”

Bailey said her father never intended to have a “sit down” restaurant. He originally intended to cook the fish and sell them from a fast food window that is still today operational. And, he didn’t intend to have such a thriving family restaurant. He just loved to fish and talk to people. He thought he would just cook the fish he caught each week and that would be enough to meet the local demand. But, it turned out that this loving country preacher and his wife made people feel at home when they stopped in to eat. To top that off, the cooking was pretty good too.

“Actually he was going to have just take-outs, but that didn’t work out,” said Bailey.

“He always fished. He thought he could catch enough fish, but it didn’t take long before he had to start buying fish.”

Her mother helped with the process by making the accompaniments such as homemade slaw, good ole’ country grits cooked to perfection, French fries, onion rings and hush puppies. Today all the food is still cooked using Belinda’s recipes. Bailey takes pride in making the hush puppies herself each day.

Sandersville Scene.

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Bailey estimated the restaurant now buys about 400 pounds of fish a week in addition to the shrimp, oysters, crab and other seafood sold at the restaurant. She believes about 500 people visit the restaurant each three-day weekend of Thursday through Saturday.

The restaurant is never open on Sundays.

“Daddy was a minister — that’s the reason we couldn’t be open on Sunday,” she said.

Although both her parents are now gone, the restaurant is still run the way her parents intended. It’s a family operation with each child in the family having taken their turn in the kitchen and in the dining area serving customers. Bailey’s 16-year-old grandson, Justin, has just taken over the job of frying the fish after his older brother, Ashley, earned his nursing degree

and took a job at a hospital. Then there are Bailey’s children, Michelle Willis, Nikki Bailey and Jonathan Bailey, who have all worked at the restaurant. The family believes in starting the children off early learning about the business. On a recent evening, Bailey had her granddaughter, Meghan, 5 1/2 months old, at the restaurant going from table to table with her meeting and speaking to guests.

It’s a very important part of the restaurant’s atmosphere.

“Mama and Daddy would always come speak to the customers,” she said. “That was an extension of their ministry.”

She said people came to cherish the love her parents showed their customers.

“I can’t tell you the number of people who literally got out of their death bed because this was the last place they wanted to go,” she said, adding there is a secret as to why people love the place so much.

“They dedicated it to God the first weekend they opened and that’s been the secret all these years,” said Bailey.

When her parents died some customers believed the restaurant would close because surely the children could not keep it the way Herbert and Belinda had.

“My daddy would come out of his grave if we closed it,” said Bailey. “We couldn’t change a thing.”

She said customers soon learned the family would be preserving the recipes and atmosphere, and they came right on back.

“We had to regain their trust. They had to see we could do it,” Bailey said, explaining the loyal customers still come. “Some of the same people who came that first weekend are still coming.”

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She believes the food is only part of the reason they still come.

“They come here for the food and for the fellowship,” she said.

As the crowd poured in early on a recent Thursday night the sounds of soft, happy chatter could be heard throughout the restaurant. The aroma of fresh fish frying drifted from the kitchen. And, the restaurant that bears the slogan “Where the best folk gather to eat the best seafood” began one more weekend of feeding middle Georgia.

The restaurant is open Thursday through Saturday from 4 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. and can be reached by calling 478-552-0226.

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30.Sandersville Scene

story and photos by Stephanie Miller

Sandersville Scene.

31

W

arthen School may have changed a lot over the last seven decades, but Donald Walker, 74, can still describe every detail of how the old building was when he started school there as a first-grader.

“I went through nine years here,” said Walker, on a recent sunny day as he, his wife, Elizabeth and neighbor, Betty Kicklighter, walked around the old school talking about the repairs that are needed to its roof.

Walker pointed out where the children used to line up to start the day by marching into the school to have devotion, a morning prayer, a pledge to the flag and then sing the national anthem and popular children’s songs. He could also point out where the boys met under an old tree to pick sides for game of basketball and tag. The memories came spilling forth as though they had happened yesterday, not 60-plus years ago.

Walker described every detail of the old school from the location of the principal’s office, to the library, to the classroom shared by at least two grades with one teacher.

“Those were the good ole days,” said Walker.

Despite its many changes the old Warthen School is still loved by the community and serves a purpose no other local building could serve. It has been used as a community house for various meetings, festivals, family reunions, weddings and even a funeral.

Although the city of Warthen is well known as the location of the oldest jail in Georgia, the Warthen School is not the first school that was built in the area. The original school for the community appears to have been a one-room building of hand-hewn logs that originally was placed at Keg Creek and moved to Warthen around 1787 to be placed

32.Sandersville Scene

on land donated by Robert Wicker, according to an old newspaper article. The re-location placed the school in a scenic spot between Warthen Methodist Church and Bethlehem Baptist Church a few hundred yards off the main roadway. That building burned around 1904 and was replaced with a two-room, two-story structure in 1905 with the auditorium upstairs. Through the years the Washington County Board of Education added onto the building, moved the auditorium downstairs and added a fully functional kitchen. Today the three white-washed buildings still present a picturesque scene of a bygone era.

Yet, the old school was not through undergoing changes. After it was deemed a junior high by the board of education, the top floor of the building was removed and the roofline changed.

“Why they tore it off I don’t know,” said Kicklighter, a local historian who has done extensive research about the school and is responsible for having preserved its historical records for future generations.

Kicklighter moved to the Warthen area in 1955. Her children started school at there and were attending school when the board of education closed the building. She remembers as a young wife going to local homes for monthly visits by the county home demonstration agent, now called extension agent or home economist, to learn how to do things such as properly preserving food. The group of ladies who attended those meetings soon officially organized and became known as the Town and Country Club of Warthen. Their meetings were moved to the old school. Other groups such as the Warthen Farm Bureau used the building for its monthly meetings.

“Back then the Farm Bureau meetings were the thing,” she said.

After the school closed the women continued meeting there while Farm Bureau moved to another location. But the monthly women’s meetings revealed something else to the ladies. They soon began to

notice the building was slowly showing its age.

“When the school discontinued there were five men who bought it for $25 to be administrators over it,” said Kicklighter, adding at the time it was believed the men owned the building.

“We began to notice different things that needed to be fixed up,” she said, adding the women’s club decided to try to get things repaired.

The Town and Country Club, which changed its name to the Warthen Community Group in the early 1990s, began to research ownership of the building and soon learned the board of education still owned it. The men who had paid $5 each to oversee the building had all died and no one was actually caring for the building at all, except the Town and Country Club, and because of that, the building needed lots of work. The women were up for the challenge. The board of education gave the club a quick claim deed to the property in 2002 believing the women would care for the building as well as could be done, and also knowing the club had cared for the building for years without ownership.

“We had to have all kinds of sales,” said Kickligher, who talked about some of the work done on the building before it even belonged to the group.

Repairing and keeping up the old building was a big job.

“This is a big building. In 1987 it needed a new roof. It cost us $4,500. That was a lot of money back then.”

She said the women set out to raise the funds and while doing so it was learned the building could possibly be eligible for a designation on the National Register of Historic Places as the Warthen area had been deemed a historic site with the old jail. That designation could place the club in the position to get grants for the building’s upkeep and restoration.

The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997 to the delight of the women. It meant now the building was as important to the history of the nation as it was to the history of Warthen. Fundraisers and grants have provided the money needed to

The school as it was when it was a two-story. This picture rests on the fireplace mantle in the dining area of the old school. upkeep the building all these years. The kitchen was updated to handle large events. An access ramp was added to the side for those with disabilities.

Now the Warthen Community Club faces another challenge. The building is once again in need of a new roof. Kicklighter cringed when she quoted the latest bid of $16,000 to replace the roof.

“We haven’t made enough money yet, but we will,” she said, adding the group has saved $12,000 thus far.

She hopes more money will come in from the rental of the building for various events.

“We don’t discriminate,” she said, adding the building is available to anyone who will agree to the rental contract.

And, she hopes those who care about the old school will send donations. The last alumni dinner at the school was attended by more than 300 people. She said some came from as far away as California.

The old school is alma mater for such graduates as former United States District Court Judge B. Evans; Mell Duggan, former state school superintendent; and Ivy W. Duggan, former president of Shorter College, according to old newspaper archives.

Those who would like to make donations toward the upkeep of the old Warthen School may do so by mailing them to Warthen Community Club President Elizabeth Walker, 560 Walker Road, Warthen, GA 31094.

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In 1967 when 28 young women began to meet with the Washington County Extension Agent to learn how to preserve food, they probably never dreamed that they would create a legacy that would preserve so much more for the community than a few jars of canned beans or jellies.

While the women of Warthen, who officially organized March 27, 1967, worked at learning to be better homemakers by mastering the tasks of sewing, preserving vegetables, understanding nutrition and developing their skills at arts and crafts, they also laid the foundation for historic preservation.

Warthen Community Club records show the group met each month in different homes under the name Town and Country Club of Warthen. The aim of the club was to grow on three levels — personally, intellectually and spiritually — while working to improve the home and community.

“We had a home demonstration agent come once a month to talk to us,” said Betty Kicklighter, a charter club member who compiled a book of the history of Warthen. “We finally developed into a club.”

While the club eventually grew to include as many as 40 members and then to fell back down to its current membership of 20, the ladies have never backed away from a challenge whether big or small. The club set out to save the old Warthen School and leaves the preservation of the school for the community as its legacy.

“As the building began to need repairs, the ladies would sell note cards, have spaghetti suppers, make quilts for sale, organize yard sales and many other ways to keep up the building,” wrote Kicklighter in her book.

After all the years of hard work it would seem there could be no one in Washington County who would not know about the Warthen Community Club and its work, but Kicklighter said that is not the case.

“A lot of people don’t know we’re here,” she said. “We need them to know the building is still here and we’re trying to take care of it.”

The club is also open to new members.

“We charge $10 a year dues,” she said.

34.Sandersville Scene

While the Warthen Community Club may have started for the purpose of bettering home life, the women believe a better home life starts with a better community life. A visit to the community makes one think of a step back in time as the historic beauty of the old school and two nearby churches create a scene that seems frozen in time.

The memories of children who passed through the doors of old Warthen School just seem to add to its importance in the community.

Kicklighter said things that happened at the school long ago have not been forgotten.

“There are people 70 and 80 years old who remember all those things.

They don’t forget things like that,” she said of their school days.

She has tried to save all those events in a book she compiled on the history of the area. One page from the book names the charter members of the Warthen Community Club: Mrs. Kathryn (Josh) Akridge, Mrs. Freddie (Lamar) Brown, Mrs. Bulah (A.R.) Burgamy, Mrs. Murrel (T.C.) Burrell, Mrs. Della (Bolton) Cobb, Mrs. Elizabeth (T.R.) Duggan, Mrs. Stella (Earnest) Hawkins, Mrs. Edna (Ed) Holton, Mrs. Mary Johnson, Mrs. Betty (Dwight) Kicklighter, Mrs. Mary Sallie King, Mrs.Vera (W.O.) Cummings. Mrs. Inez Johnson, Mrs. Elizabeth Ann (John) Barker, Mrs. Pansy (J.A.) Marsh, Mrs. Annie Mary (Hubert Sr.) May, Mrs. Pinkie (Tom) May, Mrs. Sammie Lou (Kinch) May, Mrs. Bessie (A.J.) Mincey, Mrs. Blanche (Loyd) McDonald, Mrs. Bertie M. (Lonnie) McDonald, Mrs. Evelyn (James) McCullum, Mrs. Virgie Mae (A.A.) Sargent, Mrs. Sallie (Herman) Snider, Mrs. Vinice, (Joe) Sparks, Mrs. Bessie (Jewell Sr.) Turner, Mrs. Elizabeth (Donald) Walker and Mrs. Adeline (Ralph Sr.) Walker.

While Kicklighter considers the old Warthen School valuable to the community, her words also apply well to the value of the Warthen Community Club to the area.

“Although it’s old and has gone through the ages, it’s still of real value to the community.”

Sandersville Scene.

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Arts & Entertainment CALENDAR

Arts & Entertainment December December 17 Town & Gown Garden Club Christmas Decorations Contest Judging. 6 to 10 p.m. Ribbons awarded the following morning.

Please leave lights on until 10 p.m. to be considered for judging.

December 17 Santa Claus visits Geo. D. Warthen Bank (Main Office).

North Harris Street.

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

December 17 Candlelight Memorial Service.

Early Sunset Grief Support Group. Ridgeland Heights Baptist Church, 305 Ridgeland Dr., Sandersville. 7 p.m. A special service to remember loved ones who have passed on. All are welcome. Contact Cynde McLester (478) 552-3790.

December 20 Christmas Cantata. “Come, Let Us Worship the King.” Pleasant Grove Church, 8287 Linton Road, Sandersville. 11 a.m.

Created by Sue C. Smith and Russell Mauldin.

36.Sandersville Scene

December 20 Christmas Cantata. Ridgeland Heights Baptist Church, 305 Ridgeland Dr., Sandersville. 6 p.m. Christmas music by RHBC Choir. Contact Rev. L.T. Logue (478) 232-1992.

December 23 Special Candlelight Communion Service. Ridgeland Heights Baptist Church, 305 Ridgeland Dr., Sandersville. 7 p.m. Contact Rev. L.T. Logue (478) 232-1992.

December 24 Christmas Eve Holy Communion Service.

Sandersville United Methodist Church, 202 W. Church St., Sandersville. 5:30 p.m. Carol singing, special music, Christmas sermon, communion and candle lighting.

December 24 Christmas Eve Candlelight Observance. Pleasant Grove Church, 8287 Linton Road, Sandersville.

December 31 New Year's Eve Celebration.

Ridgeland Heights Baptist Church, 305 Ridgeland Dr., Sandersville. 7 p.m. Come celebrate the coming year with singing, eating and fellowship.

Contact Rev. L.T. Logue (478) 232-1992.

January 2010 January 4 Annual Breakfast. Washington County Chamber of Commerce.

Washington EMC Civic Room, 258 N. Harris St. 7:30 a.m.

Guest speakers, Rep. Mack Jackson and Sen. J.B. Powell.

Chamber members, $15. Nonmembers, $20. RSVP (478) 552-3288.

March 2010 March 17 2nd Annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration. Family Eye Care, 203 Medical Arts Drive.

April 2010

December 24 Christmas Eve Annual Candlelight Communion Service. First Baptist Church of Sandersville, 316 Mathis Circle.

6 p.m.

April 29 Annual Education Meeting.

Washington County Chamber of Commerce. WCHS Cafeteria.

7 p.m. (478) 552-3288.

September 2010 September 18 Harvest Festival. Hamburg State Park. Arts, crafts, mill tours, games and more.

(478) 552-2393.

October 2010 October 9 Kaolin Festival on the Sandersville Square. Featuring arts, crafts, antiques, food and live music. Sponsored by the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. For more information, call (478) 552-3288.

October 9 Kaolin Festival Parade.

Downtown Sandersville. TBA. Attractions Old City Cemetery First documented burial in 1831. Located on the corner of West Church Street and Virginia Avenue in Sandersville, the site is on the National Register of Historic Places for its significant Civil War history. Features federal era, Greek Revival and Victorian grave markings.

Historical figures buried at the

site include former Ga. Lt. Gov. Thomas W. Hardwick, worldrenowned surgeon William Rawlings, Central of Georgia Railroad president Benjamin James Tarbutton, the Rev. J.D. Anthony and Coleman R. Pringle, known as the Father of Prohibition in Georgia. For more information, visit www.sandersville.net or call (478)552-6965.

County Chamber of Commerce, 131 W. Haynes St., Sandersville. For more information call (478) 552-3288.

Oldest Jail Visit Georgia’s Oldest Jail on state Route 15 North in Warthen. For more information, call (478) 552-3288.

Brown House Museum A private residence during the Hamburg State Park Civil War where Gen. Sherman With modern-day facilities spent the night of Nov. 26, amidst reminders of days gone 1864, 268 N. Harris Street in by, Hamburg State Park offers a Sandersville. For more informamix of history and outdoor tion, call (478) 552-3288. recreation. Anglers can enjoy lake fishing for largemouth Revolutionary War Park bass, crappie and bream, as Visit the Revolutionary War well as boat ramps and a fishPark on state Route 15 South of ing pier. Campers will find Tennille. For more information, shaded campsites along the call (478) 552-3288. edge of quiet Hamburg Lake fed by the Little Ogeechee Genealogy Research Center River. A restored 1921 waterVisit the Genealogy Research powered grist mill is still opera- Center, 129 Jones Street, tional. The 741-acre park also Sandersville. For more informafeatures a country store and tion, call (478) 552-6965. museum.

SEND US YOUR Charles E. Choate Exhibit A look at the life and work of the architect and builder and the official Georgia Historical Plates Display. Washington

Events

Community events you would like published in the calendar may be emailed to ndavis@unionrecorder.com Sandersville Scene.

37

Personal & Commercial Insurance

We want your photos Sandersville Scene showcases all about Sandersville and we would like readers to submit photos for consideration in this publication. Please submit your photos in digital format to bhinton@unionrecorder.com or drop off a disk at our offices located at 165 Garrett Way NE. Please include the type of camera the photo was taken with, a brief description of the subject and if persons are featured in the photo include the names of the persons.

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PHOTO GALLERIES

KAOLIN FESTIVAL 2009 Images from Sandersville’s annual fall industry celebration

Kaolin Festival 2009 Grand Marshals Hugh Tarbutton and Ben Tarbutton Jr. make their way through the downtown streets of Sandersville during the annual festival held in October.

The Brentwood High cheerleading squad gets into the parade spirit as they ride along on their float during the 2009 parade.

40.Sandersville Scene

KAOLIN FESTIVAL 2009 Images from Sandersville’s annual fall industry celebration

faces

The Washington County High School Football and Competition Cheerleaders make their way through the streets of Sandersville.

The Te n n i l l e Tigers r i d e along on t h e i r parade f l o a t entry.

Sandersville Scene.

41

Hamburg State Park Scenes from the annual Hamburg Harvest Festival

faces

As September rolls around each year, Hamburg Sate Park transforms for its annual Harvest Festival, featuring music, arts and crafts and fun and enjoyment for the whole family. Pictured, visitors peruse some of the handmade crafts for sale during the 2009 festival.

42.Sandersville Scene

Hamburg State Park visitors examine handmade jewelry during the annual Harvest Festival in September.

faces

HAMBURG STATE PARK Scenes from the annual Hamburg Harvest Festival

The day also provided an opportunity to park visitors to see the grist mill in action during the annual Harvest Festival.

Music filled the air at Hamburg during the weekend Harvest Festival as area bands and musicians performed.

Sandersville Scene.

43

Trick or Treat on the Square Images from the fall downtown Halloween event on the square

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Some of the area’s smallest Trick-or-Treaters line up downtown to fill their bags with goodies during the Trick-orTreat on the Square event. The event was sponsored by the Downtown Development Authority, the Downtown Merchants Association and the City of Sandersville.

Far right: A Georgia Bulldog joins Alice in Wonderland, a UGA cheerleader and a bedeviled Trick-orTreater get on the fun as a pirate (left) prepares to devour her candy loot.

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CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Scenes from recent Washington County Chamber of Commerce events and programs

Washington County ushered in the opening of one of its newest facilities and efforts to support local education with a Chamber-sponsored ribbon cutting ceremony at Ridge Road School. The new facility houses Ridge Road Primary and Ridge Road Elementary schools. Pictured alongside local Chamber representatives is Carla Hutchings (front row, left), principal of Ridge Road Elementary School and Dexter Wansley (front row, right), principal of Ridge Road Primary School and Ridge Road students.

The Washington County Chamber of Commerce held its annual Adopt-A-School luncheon in September. Pictured (right), Dr. Lloyd Horadan, president of Sandersville Technical College, speaks to the audience. Above, guests help themselves at the event buffet.

Sandersville Scene.

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Photo By Luanne Brookers

We want your pictures We accept e-mail submissions of digital photographs for this feature. Photos need to be at least 300 DPI. We also accept digital submissions on cd. Please include your name with a brief description of your photographic background, daytime phone number, the type of camera used and the location and or subject of the photo(s).

E-mail photos and information to bhinton@unionrecorder.com.

Mail photos to Milledgeville Scene, 165 Garrett Way, Milledgeville GA 31061 46.Sandersville Scene

Advertiser Index Citizens Bank of Washington County ..........................2 City of Sandersville ......................................................5 Country Buffet ..........................................................38 Emily Merche Interiors ..............................................39 Farm Bureau Insurance ..............................................38 Georgia Military College..............................................2 Geo’s Quarters .............................................................7 Herb’s Fish Place ........................................................39 Karol’s ........................................................................29 May & Smith Funeral Home .....................................23 North Pointe Pharmacy & Gifts ..................................7 Queensboro National Bank..........................................5 Sandersville Technical College....................................48 Studio Designs Printing .............................................39 Sturgis Studio.............................................................38 The Hair Palace .........................................................39 Warthen Lane Interiors ................................................7 Washington County Chamber of Commerce.............35 Wells Fargo ................................................................33 Please be sure to thank the advertisers for supporting this publication!

Sandersville Scene.

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