Here are links to some of my recent articles from the Athens Banner-Herald and local-only community websites under the helm of Patch.
Athens Banner Herald:
Senior center plans may hit funding snag
Council weighs raises vs. library
Winterville ponders next move for building
Libraries hit by cutbacks
Big plans taking shape at Sandy Creek
Food bank starts fight with fans
Text-to-give new option for donation
Pet Food Bank's namesake dies
Masada owner thrilled that it's the right weather for leather
Oconee Patch:
Proposed Epps Bridge Centre might grow
Lawrenceville Patch:
Bridges over 316 planned for Collins Hill, Hwy 20
Dec 28, 2010
Sep 29, 2010
Council weighs raises vs. library
By Jennifer L. Johnson - jennifer.johnson@onlineathens.com
Published Wednesday, September 29, 2010
WINTERVILLE - City councilmen are considering whether to provide annual raises for city employees or allocate more money to the local library, a hotly debated question that came up after they'd already adopted next year's budget.
Under the current economic conditions, the council's two-member finance committee opted not to give 4 percent raises, a perk that's not based on performance but had become customary for the past several years, Councilman Mark Farmer told colleagues at a meeting last week.
Doing away with the raises doesn't mean that city employees aren't doing a good job, according to Councilman Rob McNiff.
But some council members were angry that the changes made to the budget were not discussed earlier this month, when city leaders voted to accept the budget.
"In the 10 years that I've been on (the) City Council, we've discussed every comma and semicolon that's been changed," said Councilman Kenneth Tweedell. "I can't believe nobody brought this to our attention."
The $4,000 that would have gone to raises instead was allocated to the Winterville Library, part of the Athens Regional Library System, which is absorbing a $53,000 drop in state funding this year and anticipates another $50,000 budget cut next year.
"I'm on the (Winterville) library board of directors. I know we need money at the library," said Bob White. "But not at the expense of city employees. These people work their hearts out for the city, and we need to pay them fairly."
The council reviewed what the city already contributes to the library - including the $18,000 that's already budgeted, electricity costs and insurance - to figure out if the city should contribute more money.
Although Winterville can't legally amend the $513,757 operating budget after it has been adopted, line items and dollar amounts within the budget can be adjusted, meaning city leaders could cut library funding and reinstate the raises.
The council will revisit the issue at an agenda workshop set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Published Wednesday, September 29, 2010
WINTERVILLE - City councilmen are considering whether to provide annual raises for city employees or allocate more money to the local library, a hotly debated question that came up after they'd already adopted next year's budget.
Under the current economic conditions, the council's two-member finance committee opted not to give 4 percent raises, a perk that's not based on performance but had become customary for the past several years, Councilman Mark Farmer told colleagues at a meeting last week.
Doing away with the raises doesn't mean that city employees aren't doing a good job, according to Councilman Rob McNiff.
But some council members were angry that the changes made to the budget were not discussed earlier this month, when city leaders voted to accept the budget.
"In the 10 years that I've been on (the) City Council, we've discussed every comma and semicolon that's been changed," said Councilman Kenneth Tweedell. "I can't believe nobody brought this to our attention."
The $4,000 that would have gone to raises instead was allocated to the Winterville Library, part of the Athens Regional Library System, which is absorbing a $53,000 drop in state funding this year and anticipates another $50,000 budget cut next year.
"I'm on the (Winterville) library board of directors. I know we need money at the library," said Bob White. "But not at the expense of city employees. These people work their hearts out for the city, and we need to pay them fairly."
The council reviewed what the city already contributes to the library - including the $18,000 that's already budgeted, electricity costs and insurance - to figure out if the city should contribute more money.
Although Winterville can't legally amend the $513,757 operating budget after it has been adopted, line items and dollar amounts within the budget can be adjusted, meaning city leaders could cut library funding and reinstate the raises.
The council will revisit the issue at an agenda workshop set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Kids, officer talk about who not to talk to
Officer Jimmy Fulcher talks to kids at the Winterville Library's Stranger Danger presentation. Photograph by David Manning.
By Jennifer L. Johnson - jennifer.johnson@onlineathens.com
Published Thursday, September 23, 2010
WINTERVILLE - Nine-year-old Beatrice Carrillos and her sisters didn't come to the local library to talk to a police officer.
But when they arrived at the Winterville Library after school Tuesday, they ran into Officer Jimmy Fulcher, there to teach children age-old lessons about avoiding strangers and finding a police officer for help.
"I thought police officers were only there to arrest bad guys," said Beatrice, who came with sisters Elena, 10, and Rosie, 6, to use the computers at the library. "I didn't know that the police can help you with people you don't want to talk to."
Invited to talk by library branch manager Julie Carnes, Fulcher, a 31-year veteran officer, delivered the half-hour "Stranger Danger" presentation to a dozen preschoolers last week and to Winterville's older kids this week.
"Learning about strangers was one of my mom's biggest things," said Carnes, who organized the presentation with the Winterville Police Department a few weeks ago. "Kids should have this information and know what to do, from toddlers right on up to more mature kids."
Fulcher answered questions about his uniform and let some kids touch his badge, just so they'd know what a real one looks like.
Librarian Julie Carnes reads a book to kids about police officers before introducing Officer Fulcher at the Winterville Library. Photo by David Manning.
All the kids knew that they aren't supposed to speak to strangers, but most couldn't define one.
"If you've never seen anybody before, they're a stranger," Fulcher said. "Even your librarian was a stranger to you at one time. Yes, you know her now and know that she's here to help you, but when you first met her, she was a stranger."
Eight-year-old Hope Painter has a clever answer if a stranger asks where she lives, she said.
"I wouldn't tell him (the truth). I'd say 'Michigan,' " she said.
"Well, now, there's an idea," Fulcher said. "It would take them a really long time to get to Michigan, wouldn't it? But you don't want to tell them anything. Remember, we don't talk to strangers."
It's a lesson that Hope's mother, Deborah Painter, has taught her two daughters since they were old enough to talk. Painter brought Hope and Emma, 11, back to Winterville after seeing a flyer for the "Stranger Danger" talk at the library the day before.
"I wanted the girls to hear the presentation, just in case there's anything I missed or didn't think about before," Painter said.
Emma and Hope stay close to their mom in public, but also aren't allowed to answer the front door at home.
That's a good practice, according to Fulcher. He recommends kids tell their parent or guardian whenever someone knocks on the door, even if they know who it is.
"If they're not supposed to be there, don't open the door," Fulcher said. "If you're home alone and you get scared, call the police. We never have a problem coming to help scared boys and girls."
When police officers respond to 911 calls, they always arrive in patrol cars and wear badges, Fulcher said. It's OK to ask to see the badge before opening the door, he added.
Like adults who contemplate how they would respond in a perilous situation - like a mugging - Fulcher had the children run through their own danger scenario: A stranger tempting them with the trinket all kids want these days.
"You've got your own Silly Bandz at home and you should tell strangers that," Fulcher said. "That way you can be safe and get more Silly Bandz from your parents."
The library hasn't yet scheduled another "Stranger Danger" talk, but will if program planners find interest.
For more information about free programs at your local library, visit the website www.clarke.public.lib.ga.us.
Photo by David Manning.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Thursday, September 23, 2010
Winterville ponders next move for building
By Jennifer L. Johnson - jennifer.johnson@onlineathens.com
Published Thursday, September 16, 2010
The committee charged with restoring the Winterville High School building and turning it into a senior center will hold a workshop with city officials later this month to figure out how to proceed now that they've won a $500,000 state grant for the project.
The grant money awarded last week is roughly one-third of what it would take to complete the project, according to committee members.
In applying for the grant, city leaders agreed to spend sales tax money to extend a sanitary sewer to the school building and its adjacent 450-seat auditorium. Some officials now want to wait until November - when they will know whether voters agree to extend a 1 percent sales tax - before they accept the grant.
The city could reject the grant and not build the sewer, but even with the $500,000, Winterville still would need about $174,000 to finish the senior center in the school building.
To close that funding gap, the restoration committee may form an official nonprofit to apply for grants and solicit donations. The nonprofit foundation also could oversee community resources such as the school and auditorium, Carter-Coile Country Doctors' Museum and the Winterville Depot.
"Right now, we're looking into models of how other small communities function under umbrella nonprofit foundations to manage their civic programs," said Jo Mercer, who sits on the restoration committee. "Nothing is certain. We're simply exploring the options - and there are many."
Citizens may attend the workshop, which will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 27 in the Winterville Depot.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Thursday, September 16, 2010
Published Thursday, September 16, 2010
The committee charged with restoring the Winterville High School building and turning it into a senior center will hold a workshop with city officials later this month to figure out how to proceed now that they've won a $500,000 state grant for the project.
The grant money awarded last week is roughly one-third of what it would take to complete the project, according to committee members.
In applying for the grant, city leaders agreed to spend sales tax money to extend a sanitary sewer to the school building and its adjacent 450-seat auditorium. Some officials now want to wait until November - when they will know whether voters agree to extend a 1 percent sales tax - before they accept the grant.
The city could reject the grant and not build the sewer, but even with the $500,000, Winterville still would need about $174,000 to finish the senior center in the school building.
To close that funding gap, the restoration committee may form an official nonprofit to apply for grants and solicit donations. The nonprofit foundation also could oversee community resources such as the school and auditorium, Carter-Coile Country Doctors' Museum and the Winterville Depot.
"Right now, we're looking into models of how other small communities function under umbrella nonprofit foundations to manage their civic programs," said Jo Mercer, who sits on the restoration committee. "Nothing is certain. We're simply exploring the options - and there are many."
Citizens may attend the workshop, which will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 27 in the Winterville Depot.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Thursday, September 16, 2010
Aug 23, 2010
Scouts expanding girls' horizons
By Jennifer L. Johnson - t.jennifer.johnson@onlineathens.com
Published Monday, August 23, 2010
From left, Inkeria Harris, 13; Perrin Aycock, 13; Ilaina Burns, 15; and Lizzy Ratajczak, 13, pose outside Buckingham Palace during a 12-day trip to England through the Girl Scout Destinations program.
Perrin Aycock gets grief from some of her guy friends about being a Girl Scout, but that hasn't deterred the 13-year-old.
Through Girls Scouts, she meets new people, serves her community, learns interesting stuff and - best of all - travels.
"Girl Scouts do way more than just sell cookies," Perrin said. "That's just how we raise money to do cool stuff."
Perrin and three other local Girl Scouts just returned from England, where they toured London and celebrated the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts' 100-year anniversary at a weeklong camp in Yorkshire.
The trip was part of Girl Scout Destinations, a program that hosts trips in this country and abroad to show girls ages 11 to 17 different cultures, experiences and people. The trips range from two-day jaunts to three-week excursions, but each is designed to develop leadership skills, build confidence and teach girls about themselves and the world around them.
After attending the centennial celebration with 7,000 other Girl Scouts from all over the world, Perrin and her friends will help to plan for the U.S. Centennial Celebration in Savannah in 2012.
"It's not only about going to the camp, it is about bringing the centennial back here," said Lizzy Ratajczak, 13. "We didn't know anything about what we would be doing before we got there. We'll be able to help plan some things better now that we've done them."
While at Harewood House in Yorkshire, the girls did some traditional camping - swimming, horseback riding and fencing - but they also snowboarded indoors, shopped in nearby Leeds and tried their hands at tai chi.
"We met people from Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan and Bangladesh," Lizzy said. "I now know people from like 30 different countries. That's really, really cool."
Not all destinations are rugged. Some trips are for girls interested in science, space, social activism, business, education or filmmaking. No matter the focus of the trip, each program helps girls build leadership skills, learn valuable lessons and prepare for their future.
Although Columbus State University freshman Emily Rose Cochran, 18, is going off to college, she hasn't left her scouting days behind. Cochran is hoping to apply what she learned this summer at the Oxford Leadership Youth Program, a weeklong self-development course for Girl and Boy Scouts at Oxford University in England, as an adult member on her campus.
"The leadership program was awesome," Cochran said. "I would like to return to Oxford in the future through a study abroad program in college."
The travel opportunities Cochran had this summer- including a trip to Brazil last week - will help shape her future, said her mom, Jency Showker.
"When they go to something like this, the girls have a physical goal, a place where she can see her future," said Showker. "Emily now has something to strive for. That's priceless."
The experience is invaluable, but the trips can cost anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars.
Local Girl Scout councils may provide financial help, and the national organization gives tips on how individual girls can raise money to help pay for their travels.
"If this is something very important to you, then you need to be a part of making that happen," said Jen Cole, Perrin's mom and troop leader.
Both Perrin and Lizzy raised money for their England trip on their own by baby-sitting and selling cookies.
Ilaina Burns sold 8,000 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies - more than any other girl in the state - which paid for her trip to England.
"It could have been a lot more expensive, but she really earned it," said Ilaina's mom, Aymie.
When the girls were younger, their activities were planned for them. Now troop members - not their adult leaders - make the plans for most of the projects they do.
"You want to gradually release responsibility to the girls because the goal is for the girls to lead themselves," Cole said.
"Just the self-confidence they get from being prepared for the world is invaluable," Burns said. "Whether it's planning a trip to Build-a-Bear or England, it gets them prepared and makes them realize that they can do things."
To participate in the Girl Scout Destinations program, a girl has to be a Scout, but she need not belong to a troop. Girls can participate in scouting on their own online, and attend Girl Scout functions on their own.
"The whole community benefits from Girl Scouts," said Betsy Connell, assistant program director for the older girls of Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia. "The Girl Scout Destinations especially introduce the girls to new experiences, new places, new girls and new leadership skills. It is so beneficial to the girls and everyone they touch."
Find out more about the program at www.studio2b.org/escape.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, August 23, 2010
Published Monday, August 23, 2010
From left, Inkeria Harris, 13; Perrin Aycock, 13; Ilaina Burns, 15; and Lizzy Ratajczak, 13, pose outside Buckingham Palace during a 12-day trip to England through the Girl Scout Destinations program.
Perrin Aycock gets grief from some of her guy friends about being a Girl Scout, but that hasn't deterred the 13-year-old.
Through Girls Scouts, she meets new people, serves her community, learns interesting stuff and - best of all - travels.
"Girl Scouts do way more than just sell cookies," Perrin said. "That's just how we raise money to do cool stuff."
Perrin and three other local Girl Scouts just returned from England, where they toured London and celebrated the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts' 100-year anniversary at a weeklong camp in Yorkshire.
The trip was part of Girl Scout Destinations, a program that hosts trips in this country and abroad to show girls ages 11 to 17 different cultures, experiences and people. The trips range from two-day jaunts to three-week excursions, but each is designed to develop leadership skills, build confidence and teach girls about themselves and the world around them.
After attending the centennial celebration with 7,000 other Girl Scouts from all over the world, Perrin and her friends will help to plan for the U.S. Centennial Celebration in Savannah in 2012.
"It's not only about going to the camp, it is about bringing the centennial back here," said Lizzy Ratajczak, 13. "We didn't know anything about what we would be doing before we got there. We'll be able to help plan some things better now that we've done them."
While at Harewood House in Yorkshire, the girls did some traditional camping - swimming, horseback riding and fencing - but they also snowboarded indoors, shopped in nearby Leeds and tried their hands at tai chi.
"We met people from Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan and Bangladesh," Lizzy said. "I now know people from like 30 different countries. That's really, really cool."
Not all destinations are rugged. Some trips are for girls interested in science, space, social activism, business, education or filmmaking. No matter the focus of the trip, each program helps girls build leadership skills, learn valuable lessons and prepare for their future.
Although Columbus State University freshman Emily Rose Cochran, 18, is going off to college, she hasn't left her scouting days behind. Cochran is hoping to apply what she learned this summer at the Oxford Leadership Youth Program, a weeklong self-development course for Girl and Boy Scouts at Oxford University in England, as an adult member on her campus.
"The leadership program was awesome," Cochran said. "I would like to return to Oxford in the future through a study abroad program in college."
The travel opportunities Cochran had this summer- including a trip to Brazil last week - will help shape her future, said her mom, Jency Showker.
"When they go to something like this, the girls have a physical goal, a place where she can see her future," said Showker. "Emily now has something to strive for. That's priceless."
The experience is invaluable, but the trips can cost anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars.
Local Girl Scout councils may provide financial help, and the national organization gives tips on how individual girls can raise money to help pay for their travels.
"If this is something very important to you, then you need to be a part of making that happen," said Jen Cole, Perrin's mom and troop leader.
Both Perrin and Lizzy raised money for their England trip on their own by baby-sitting and selling cookies.
Ilaina Burns sold 8,000 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies - more than any other girl in the state - which paid for her trip to England.
"It could have been a lot more expensive, but she really earned it," said Ilaina's mom, Aymie.
When the girls were younger, their activities were planned for them. Now troop members - not their adult leaders - make the plans for most of the projects they do.
"You want to gradually release responsibility to the girls because the goal is for the girls to lead themselves," Cole said.
"Just the self-confidence they get from being prepared for the world is invaluable," Burns said. "Whether it's planning a trip to Build-a-Bear or England, it gets them prepared and makes them realize that they can do things."
To participate in the Girl Scout Destinations program, a girl has to be a Scout, but she need not belong to a troop. Girls can participate in scouting on their own online, and attend Girl Scout functions on their own.
"The whole community benefits from Girl Scouts," said Betsy Connell, assistant program director for the older girls of Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia. "The Girl Scout Destinations especially introduce the girls to new experiences, new places, new girls and new leadership skills. It is so beneficial to the girls and everyone they touch."
Find out more about the program at www.studio2b.org/escape.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, August 23, 2010
Jul 6, 2010
Engaged!
As any first grader will tell you, the Fourth of July is Independence Day, a day when Americans celebrate the beginning of our great democracy.
This year, I celebrated the beginning of a freedom the likes of which I've never know. I truly feel like I can fly, because a man that I'm madly in love with asked me to start a life with him by asking one very important question.
I said yes, of course! (Dropped my coffee cup and everything!)
On the morning of July 4, Jeffrey and I got breakfast at Big City Bread here in Athens, got coffee at Jittery Joe's and headed down to Bear Hollow Trail, a free zoo-ish nature walk in ACC Leisure Service's Memorial Park. After taking in a few black bear cubs, owls, deer, a woodchuck, and two American Bald Eagles (perfect on Independence Day!), Jeffrey and I stopped above the adult Black Bear enclosure. There, after some sweet kisses and even sweeter words, Jeffrey got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
I couldn't be any happier!
Jun 22, 2010
200,000 blows against hunger
By Jennifer L. Johnson - news@onlineathens.com
Published Friday, June 18, 2010
Hundreds of volunteers work Thursday to pack enough food for 200,000 meals at the Classic Center during the annual Methodist conference. Photo by Richard Hamm.
The crash of a gong reverberated through the Classic Center every 15 minutes Thursday, causing the crowd to cheer.
They knew the sound meant another 5,000 children would be fed.
In town for the annual meeting of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, volunteers from across the state worked to package 200,000 meals for hungry children Thursday.
Sponsored with an anonymous $50,000 donation to the feeding group Stop Hunger Now, teens and adults crowded around long tables and worked in an assembly line to measure and package dehydrated meals that will go next week to feed school children in Nicaragua.
"It's a tremendously efficient way to carry out our mission to God's hurting people," said Lance Sligar, a convention delegate from Norcross.
Sligar participated in one of five two-hour packing sessions when 100 to 300 volunteers at a time boxed up 40,000 meals each session.
The prepackaged meals of rice, vegetables, soy protein and chicken flavoring include 21 essential vitamins and minerals chosen especially for malnourished people.
Each reusable plastic bag provides servings for six people, has a shelf life of three to five years and costs about 25 cents to make.
Each time a pallet of 5,000 meals was ready to be carted to a waiting truck, event organizers banged a gong, but volunteers' cheers quickly drowned out the sound.
"Each time I hear the gong, it makes me want to do more, go faster," said Ariana Allison, 15, who came with an enrichment program at her Atlanta high school to participate.
Stop Hunger Now tried to inspire that kind of enthusiasm.
"What we're trying to do here is create a sense of excitement," said founder and President Ray Buchanan. "When these people go back to their church, they'll want to work to end hunger abroad and in their own communities, and that's how we're going to change the world."
About 90 percent of the meals Stop Hunger Now packages go to schools, while the remaining 10 percent gets distributed in disaster areas. The organization already had more than 1.5 million packaged meals on the ground in schools in Haiti before the country's devastating earthquake in January. Those meals were immediately distributed to victims, along with 4.5 million more the group was able to send in the first few weeks following the disaster.
Each organization that receives meals from Stop Hunger Now is vetted by the group in a four-month process that ensures shipments will reach the people the group has agreed to feed, according to program coordinator Mickey Horner. Adequate storage and access to clean water also is necessary because the food is dehydrated.
The Methodist conference gave the opportunity for a massive Stop Hunger Now project, but local people and churches already work to feed people here.
"There are several churches and organizations here in Athens that feed the hungry in their own backyard," said John Page, associate pastor at Athens First United Methodist Church. Page worked over the past six months to pull together volunteers and resources for the event. "Hopefully, this will help connect them to the need to feed the hungry internationally, too."
While the Methodists packed meal boxes for three of Thursday's sessions, Athens locals manned the other two shifts.
Betty King, 64, learned about the project from HandsOn Northeast Georgia and drove to Athens from her home in Lexington.
"I was thinking of how many thousands of meals we were making, and it's just amazing," King said. "I packaged food before in Oglethorpe County, but I've never seen anything like this."
Holly Haynes, 32, came with 30 volunteers from Grove Level Baptist Church in Maysville after her youth pastor told her about the event.
"There are a lot of children that are going to be fed now," said Haynes, who has two young daughters at home in Baldwin. "As a mother, that's a good feeling."
Thursday's event was the largest that the Raleigh, N.C.-based hunger relief group has hosted in Georgia in its 12-year history. Smaller events at churches and Rotary clubs with around 40 volunteers have sent 10,000 meals to schools and disaster areas across the world. Stop Hunger Now plans to open an Atlanta facility by summer's end that will help local groups raise the money for the packaged meals.
"We could package a lot more meals mechanically, but the only way we're going to end hunger is to create a movement," Buchanan said. "These volunteers now have the beginnings of an education that can make a big difference at home and abroad."
Stop Hunger Now plans to hold another packaging event at next year's conference in Athens, though it may be the last for the Methodist conference if organizers determine the Classic Center isn't big enough for the group.
Roughly 2,800 people attend the conference each year, and organizers are using every available space in the Classic Center and its adjacent building.
"We're happy to be in Athens for this conference. The city is so receptive, and we hope in some small way we can be a blessing back to the community," Page said.
Information about organizing your own Stop Hunger Now event can be found at www.stophungernow.org/Atlanta.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, June 18, 2010
Published Friday, June 18, 2010
Hundreds of volunteers work Thursday to pack enough food for 200,000 meals at the Classic Center during the annual Methodist conference. Photo by Richard Hamm.
The crash of a gong reverberated through the Classic Center every 15 minutes Thursday, causing the crowd to cheer.
They knew the sound meant another 5,000 children would be fed.
In town for the annual meeting of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, volunteers from across the state worked to package 200,000 meals for hungry children Thursday.
Sponsored with an anonymous $50,000 donation to the feeding group Stop Hunger Now, teens and adults crowded around long tables and worked in an assembly line to measure and package dehydrated meals that will go next week to feed school children in Nicaragua.
"It's a tremendously efficient way to carry out our mission to God's hurting people," said Lance Sligar, a convention delegate from Norcross.
Sligar participated in one of five two-hour packing sessions when 100 to 300 volunteers at a time boxed up 40,000 meals each session.
The prepackaged meals of rice, vegetables, soy protein and chicken flavoring include 21 essential vitamins and minerals chosen especially for malnourished people.
Each reusable plastic bag provides servings for six people, has a shelf life of three to five years and costs about 25 cents to make.
Each time a pallet of 5,000 meals was ready to be carted to a waiting truck, event organizers banged a gong, but volunteers' cheers quickly drowned out the sound.
"Each time I hear the gong, it makes me want to do more, go faster," said Ariana Allison, 15, who came with an enrichment program at her Atlanta high school to participate.
Stop Hunger Now tried to inspire that kind of enthusiasm.
"What we're trying to do here is create a sense of excitement," said founder and President Ray Buchanan. "When these people go back to their church, they'll want to work to end hunger abroad and in their own communities, and that's how we're going to change the world."
About 90 percent of the meals Stop Hunger Now packages go to schools, while the remaining 10 percent gets distributed in disaster areas. The organization already had more than 1.5 million packaged meals on the ground in schools in Haiti before the country's devastating earthquake in January. Those meals were immediately distributed to victims, along with 4.5 million more the group was able to send in the first few weeks following the disaster.
Each organization that receives meals from Stop Hunger Now is vetted by the group in a four-month process that ensures shipments will reach the people the group has agreed to feed, according to program coordinator Mickey Horner. Adequate storage and access to clean water also is necessary because the food is dehydrated.
The Methodist conference gave the opportunity for a massive Stop Hunger Now project, but local people and churches already work to feed people here.
"There are several churches and organizations here in Athens that feed the hungry in their own backyard," said John Page, associate pastor at Athens First United Methodist Church. Page worked over the past six months to pull together volunteers and resources for the event. "Hopefully, this will help connect them to the need to feed the hungry internationally, too."
While the Methodists packed meal boxes for three of Thursday's sessions, Athens locals manned the other two shifts.
Betty King, 64, learned about the project from HandsOn Northeast Georgia and drove to Athens from her home in Lexington.
"I was thinking of how many thousands of meals we were making, and it's just amazing," King said. "I packaged food before in Oglethorpe County, but I've never seen anything like this."
Holly Haynes, 32, came with 30 volunteers from Grove Level Baptist Church in Maysville after her youth pastor told her about the event.
"There are a lot of children that are going to be fed now," said Haynes, who has two young daughters at home in Baldwin. "As a mother, that's a good feeling."
Thursday's event was the largest that the Raleigh, N.C.-based hunger relief group has hosted in Georgia in its 12-year history. Smaller events at churches and Rotary clubs with around 40 volunteers have sent 10,000 meals to schools and disaster areas across the world. Stop Hunger Now plans to open an Atlanta facility by summer's end that will help local groups raise the money for the packaged meals.
"We could package a lot more meals mechanically, but the only way we're going to end hunger is to create a movement," Buchanan said. "These volunteers now have the beginnings of an education that can make a big difference at home and abroad."
Stop Hunger Now plans to hold another packaging event at next year's conference in Athens, though it may be the last for the Methodist conference if organizers determine the Classic Center isn't big enough for the group.
Roughly 2,800 people attend the conference each year, and organizers are using every available space in the Classic Center and its adjacent building.
"We're happy to be in Athens for this conference. The city is so receptive, and we hope in some small way we can be a blessing back to the community," Page said.
Information about organizing your own Stop Hunger Now event can be found at www.stophungernow.org/Atlanta.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, June 18, 2010
Jun 2, 2010
Good grades earn swims
By Jennifer L. Johnson
news@onlineathens.com
Published Saturday, May 29, 2010
The last local students walked out of the schoolhouse doors this week, but they shouldn't put away their report cards just yet.
Those good grades still can make a big splash at local pools.
The Athens-Clarke Leisure Services Department rewards students in kindergarten through 12th grade for their school-year work by giving them free swimming passes for the community pools opening this weekend.
The pools at Bishop Park and Memorial Park will open for Memorial Day weekend starting today. The East Athens Community Center, Lay Park and Rocksprings Park pools will open Tuesday for the regular summer season.
Admission costs $1 per person, and individual season passes cost $20.
Leisure Services' good grades reward program has been around since 2006, but not many people know about it, according to Myla Neal, administrator of the department's recreation division.
"We don't usually have as many kids as should be taking advantage of this," said Neal, who supervises all the pools' operations. "The most we've ever had taking advantage of the program is about 25 kids a year."
All children who live in Clarke County - whether they go to public or private school - can earn swim cards. Even home-schoolers can get in on the action.
"Because home-schoolers don't have the grades that public school kids have, their parents have to call us so we can work something out," Neal said. "We want all the kids who want to swim to be able to use the swim cards."
Getting a swim card is easy. All kids have to do is bring their final report card to one of the five pools in Clarke County on the first day they want to swim. The pool clerk will review the grades, determine how many free swims kids get and give each student a punch card. Kids swim for free until their swim card is punched out.
Figuring out how grades translate into free swims is a little trickier this summer, because the Clarke County School District changed its grading system in the past year. Instead of A's, B's and C's, some report cards have their equivalent - E's, M's, and P's.
A report card with all A's or E's gets a free summer pool pass with unlimited swims. A report card with all A's and B's (or all E's and M's) is good for 16 free swims, and a report card with all A's, B's and no more than two C's (or P's) is good for eight free swims for the summer.
Kids can bring their report cards at any time during the summer season for their free swim card.
For more information about the report card reward program, visit the website www.accleisureservices.com/aquatics.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, May 29, 2010
news@onlineathens.com
Published Saturday, May 29, 2010
The last local students walked out of the schoolhouse doors this week, but they shouldn't put away their report cards just yet.
Those good grades still can make a big splash at local pools.
The Athens-Clarke Leisure Services Department rewards students in kindergarten through 12th grade for their school-year work by giving them free swimming passes for the community pools opening this weekend.
The pools at Bishop Park and Memorial Park will open for Memorial Day weekend starting today. The East Athens Community Center, Lay Park and Rocksprings Park pools will open Tuesday for the regular summer season.
Admission costs $1 per person, and individual season passes cost $20.
Leisure Services' good grades reward program has been around since 2006, but not many people know about it, according to Myla Neal, administrator of the department's recreation division.
"We don't usually have as many kids as should be taking advantage of this," said Neal, who supervises all the pools' operations. "The most we've ever had taking advantage of the program is about 25 kids a year."
All children who live in Clarke County - whether they go to public or private school - can earn swim cards. Even home-schoolers can get in on the action.
"Because home-schoolers don't have the grades that public school kids have, their parents have to call us so we can work something out," Neal said. "We want all the kids who want to swim to be able to use the swim cards."
Getting a swim card is easy. All kids have to do is bring their final report card to one of the five pools in Clarke County on the first day they want to swim. The pool clerk will review the grades, determine how many free swims kids get and give each student a punch card. Kids swim for free until their swim card is punched out.
Figuring out how grades translate into free swims is a little trickier this summer, because the Clarke County School District changed its grading system in the past year. Instead of A's, B's and C's, some report cards have their equivalent - E's, M's, and P's.
A report card with all A's or E's gets a free summer pool pass with unlimited swims. A report card with all A's and B's (or all E's and M's) is good for 16 free swims, and a report card with all A's, B's and no more than two C's (or P's) is good for eight free swims for the summer.
Kids can bring their report cards at any time during the summer season for their free swim card.
For more information about the report card reward program, visit the website www.accleisureservices.com/aquatics.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, May 29, 2010
Cycling safety course created
A cyclist with Clarke Central High School’s cycling team rides last month in Athens. Photo by David Manning.
by Jennifer L. Johnson
news@onlineathens.com
Published Monday, May 31, 2010
Lots of people learn to get around on two wheels by the time they're 6 years old, but that doesn't mean their bicycling education should end there.
A group of University of Georgia graduate students have created an online bike safety course for BikeAthens, a group that advocates for alternate transportation.
"Bikes are different than cars because they're human-powered and small, but they're vehicles under Georgia state law, and they need to operate under the same traffic laws cars do," said BikeAthens co-chairman Brent Buice.
A spring semester project brought together three grad students in the university's learning, design and technology program, where students are expected to create Web-based instructional materials for real-world clients.
A BikeAthens board member had heard about the project requirement and thought the work could meet a BikeAthens need.
"A bike-safety module seemed the most valuable thing for the community, because there was nothing out there that we could find, even on a national level," Buice said.
The free safety course - 36 slides of biking do's and don'ts - incorporates videos, text and interactive quizzes to teach viewers about situations they might encounter while riding in urban areas like Athens.
"Essentially, these are defensive-driving techniques for cyclists," Buice said.
The online course teaches riders how to do a 30-second safety check of a bike before riding, how to turn left in risky conditions and how to navigate safely around parallel-parked cars.
Students Clayton Shaw, Nicole Goddard and Julius Gantt polled riders on BikeAthens' e-mail listserv and Facebook page about trouble spots around town, places they find difficult to navigate.
"What we did was give them some ideas about the sort of things we were interested in, in general," said BikeAthens board member Jason Perry. "After that, the students came up with a lot of the safety information on their own."
The two groups got together to film riders in several locations over a two-day shoot, and BikeAthens helped tweak some of the information before the students turned in the project.
The students got an A, and the community got a good safety resource, Perry said. The safety course now is available for free on the BikeAthens' website, blog and Facebook page.
"I think this has been a win-win situation, because the students are getting real- world, résumé-ready, portfolio-ready work, and we're certainly getting a product that we couldn't have afforded had we paid for it in the market," Buice said.
The group plans to advertise the course in a UGA publication that is given to all incoming freshmen and transfer students at summer orientations.
"Athens tends to be a much more bike-friendly place than where these kids are coming from," Buice said. "Because Athens is so dense geographically, and because there are so many destinations that can be reached by foot or by bicycle, you see a lot more students using bikes. We want to be sure that all these new bikers use them safely and legally."
Buice would like to see the online course incorporated into a larger bike safety class for kids and adults that the nonprofit could hold at its permanent location. BikeAthens houses its bike repair and recycle program at its Chase Street warehouse, but the group needs more room, and is looking for an in-town spot with plenty of space to fix up bikes and become a teaching facility for new and experienced riders.
To take the free online bike safety course, visit www.bikeathens.com.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, May 31, 2010
May 2, 2010
Spring Chicken
The morning light jittered on my knees as if it too were nervous about what my father would say. I expected his booming voice to carry bad news, bad news about Mom and yesterday’s doctor’s appointment. Even I knew that your lips are only supposed to turn blue when you’re cold. I expected Dad’s brisk, so-what attitude he seemed to share only with his family. I didn’t expect him to speak so softly. So… tentatively.
“Your mom’s gonna have to go on a diet,” I heard him say. We turned onto the road that would wind through the rich people’s neighborhood where I was daily deposited. “1200 calories. 1200 for the entire day,” he said as he thrust the car forward. I didn’t have more than a moment to process his dismissive, “You and I can go through that in a sitting,” remark before words, louder, more staccato, burst from his lips. “It’s because of her heart.”
I’d heard my father fling the phrase “heart for shit” during a fight they’d had about disciplining us kids, but thought it was probably a new insult Dad had conjured up for the week, right along-side “bitch-face.”
“Your Mom’s no spring chicken,” Dad said in his usual abrupt manner. “She was old when she had you.” Mom was a full decade younger when she’d had me, and yet, I knew that most kids my age didn’t cling to porcelain sinks to watch their parents apply Rogain to the roots of graying locks. But my mother wasn’t in a wheel chair. She didn’t have aging spots or deep creases in her skin. She was six or seven years older than Dad, but she wasn’t old.
Dad took my silence as his cue to drive his point home and prompted me to imagine what my life would be like if she died. The very thought made me depressed and panicky, and I, for once, considered it a blessing to have arrived at school. I can still hear the screeching of the window scraping the metal casing as it was forced down and his loud voice calling out to me after the car door snapped shut, “She’s old enough that she could kick it before you even get out of high school.”
I don’t remember what school was like, or if I hugged my mom particularly hard that night when she came through the back door in a flurry of commotion that I always associated with her. What I do remember was waking up in a fright in the middle of the night after dreaming of her death.
I softly crept down the hall, avoiding the noisy planks of wood far older than my mother would ever be, if what my father said was right. I eased open the door to my parent’s room, flooding light into the inky blackness, tensely waiting for the rise and fall of my mother’s chest. I clenched my teeth from the force of my silent plea, willing my mother to awaken so that I could confess to her my worry. The possibility that my father would wake up instead manifested itself as the aching chill that settled in just above my shoulder blades, pressure worse than any book bag crammed with school books could ever have been.
It was, of course, my father who stirred. His rumble in the darkness made me start, and the floorboards beneath my soles screeched in time to his words. Though he’d asked me what I was doing, and I knew the question would come, I only replied, “Nothing,” and scurried back into my room, praying that Dad wouldn’t lumber the few feet to the open door. I can still hear the wood bend under his weight, and see the shadow that was cast on the wall. My father’s frame filled the doorway, casting an even more intimidating shadow. He halted only a moment before coming in and settling himself at the end of the bed, repeating his question only after flicking the tip of his nose with his curled index finger.
“Why?” he asked, anger rising in his voice when I admitted I was checking on her. Even though it was too dark to see, I thought I could feel his face redden from the force of holding back his first response. He didn’t immediately speak, and that wasn’t like my father. When he got upset, he exploded. This, I knew, was something different. He jerked his hands back from his knees as if he wanted to wrap them around something, somebody. I saw my father do that in arguments when my mother made a point he couldn’t deny and baited him to disagree.
“If she dies, she dies.” He said it harshly, as if he wanted to beat the meaning into me, but knew it would do no good. “She’s old and there’s nothing you can do… there’s nothing we can do.”
I might as well have seen him sobbing for all the clarity I found there in the darkness. In that one moment, I understood his anger and frustration. My father was afraid—afraid she would die. He had tried to talk about it, tried to share with the wrong person. Suddenly, my strong, aggressive father was stripped away and, in his place, was left a man weak and flawed. When I crawled out from the covers and wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders, I could almost swear he shook.
“Your mom’s gonna have to go on a diet,” I heard him say. We turned onto the road that would wind through the rich people’s neighborhood where I was daily deposited. “1200 calories. 1200 for the entire day,” he said as he thrust the car forward. I didn’t have more than a moment to process his dismissive, “You and I can go through that in a sitting,” remark before words, louder, more staccato, burst from his lips. “It’s because of her heart.”
I’d heard my father fling the phrase “heart for shit” during a fight they’d had about disciplining us kids, but thought it was probably a new insult Dad had conjured up for the week, right along-side “bitch-face.”
“Your Mom’s no spring chicken,” Dad said in his usual abrupt manner. “She was old when she had you.” Mom was a full decade younger when she’d had me, and yet, I knew that most kids my age didn’t cling to porcelain sinks to watch their parents apply Rogain to the roots of graying locks. But my mother wasn’t in a wheel chair. She didn’t have aging spots or deep creases in her skin. She was six or seven years older than Dad, but she wasn’t old.
Dad took my silence as his cue to drive his point home and prompted me to imagine what my life would be like if she died. The very thought made me depressed and panicky, and I, for once, considered it a blessing to have arrived at school. I can still hear the screeching of the window scraping the metal casing as it was forced down and his loud voice calling out to me after the car door snapped shut, “She’s old enough that she could kick it before you even get out of high school.”
I don’t remember what school was like, or if I hugged my mom particularly hard that night when she came through the back door in a flurry of commotion that I always associated with her. What I do remember was waking up in a fright in the middle of the night after dreaming of her death.
I softly crept down the hall, avoiding the noisy planks of wood far older than my mother would ever be, if what my father said was right. I eased open the door to my parent’s room, flooding light into the inky blackness, tensely waiting for the rise and fall of my mother’s chest. I clenched my teeth from the force of my silent plea, willing my mother to awaken so that I could confess to her my worry. The possibility that my father would wake up instead manifested itself as the aching chill that settled in just above my shoulder blades, pressure worse than any book bag crammed with school books could ever have been.
It was, of course, my father who stirred. His rumble in the darkness made me start, and the floorboards beneath my soles screeched in time to his words. Though he’d asked me what I was doing, and I knew the question would come, I only replied, “Nothing,” and scurried back into my room, praying that Dad wouldn’t lumber the few feet to the open door. I can still hear the wood bend under his weight, and see the shadow that was cast on the wall. My father’s frame filled the doorway, casting an even more intimidating shadow. He halted only a moment before coming in and settling himself at the end of the bed, repeating his question only after flicking the tip of his nose with his curled index finger.
“Why?” he asked, anger rising in his voice when I admitted I was checking on her. Even though it was too dark to see, I thought I could feel his face redden from the force of holding back his first response. He didn’t immediately speak, and that wasn’t like my father. When he got upset, he exploded. This, I knew, was something different. He jerked his hands back from his knees as if he wanted to wrap them around something, somebody. I saw my father do that in arguments when my mother made a point he couldn’t deny and baited him to disagree.
“If she dies, she dies.” He said it harshly, as if he wanted to beat the meaning into me, but knew it would do no good. “She’s old and there’s nothing you can do… there’s nothing we can do.”
I might as well have seen him sobbing for all the clarity I found there in the darkness. In that one moment, I understood his anger and frustration. My father was afraid—afraid she would die. He had tried to talk about it, tried to share with the wrong person. Suddenly, my strong, aggressive father was stripped away and, in his place, was left a man weak and flawed. When I crawled out from the covers and wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders, I could almost swear he shook.
And Jesus Said “Hey Dad”
Melba Smith failed to see the irony
In the carpenter’s house aflame.
She wept and glared,
Alternately, as you laughed
And blamed you for damage
Probably caused by an aged hand
Sending too many prayers.
You rocked on your heels,
Fingertips sheathed in denim,
And looked across the parking lot—
Past the red trucks and church buses—
Shaking your head at thoughts
Only you would share at the scene.
Your lips to God’s ears,
And everyone in-between,
“And Jesus said, ‘Hey Dad,
I can fix this.
It’s what I do.’
And as you know,
Through Christ,
All things are possible.”
Published in Creative License, 2008.
In the carpenter’s house aflame.
She wept and glared,
Alternately, as you laughed
And blamed you for damage
Probably caused by an aged hand
Sending too many prayers.
You rocked on your heels,
Fingertips sheathed in denim,
And looked across the parking lot—
Past the red trucks and church buses—
Shaking your head at thoughts
Only you would share at the scene.
Your lips to God’s ears,
And everyone in-between,
“And Jesus said, ‘Hey Dad,
I can fix this.
It’s what I do.’
And as you know,
Through Christ,
All things are possible.”
Published in Creative License, 2008.
Waiting
A sea of brown uniforms swallowed her whole,
And Grace drowned in memories of Johnny.
The band seemed inches from her,
But no sound could mask the pounding in her ears.
Before she had the time to flee, a solider—
A ladies man, Giraulo—fixed his gaze on her.
He stopped her, called her his fire-haired fox
And smiled with deep brown eyes that
Didn’t remind her of Johnny’s blues,
The color of the hydrangeas in the orphanage yard.
Joe didn’t know of Johnny. He didn’t know
Her pain. He might have been a solider, Grace knew,
But he’d not be her hero.
Joe’s olive skin was too dark to be her angel’s.
Johnny, who fell from the sky
Along with the rest of his unit.
She had walked into Johnny’s arms the day she turned 18
And left the orphanage behind.
She walked into Joe’s arms the day she tried to let go.
Joe rode the bus, four hours to, four hours from, Tacoa
To see her nose freckle in the sunlight if only for an hour.
Four Sundays later, Joe came back to Ft. Bragg,
New Mrs. Grace Giraulo in tow.
On the eve of Joe’s deployment,
She lay in her marriage bed, and dreamed of fair-haired Johnny.
Joe would be in the wilds of the Philippines,
His only comfort the thought
of returning to the wife he’d left at home.
Grace tossed and turned, sick with the thought,
Sick with herself.
In the winter months, when the sweltering Filipino jungle
Was the only thought that kept her warm, Grace tread
On swollen feet, pacing at the gate of his family’s home.
Early Christmas mornings, after the orange and hard candy
That were her only presents,
My grandmother had paced before the gates of the orphanage,
Waiting for the man who’d abandoned her
And her siblings and promised to return.
Months gone from the oppression and despair of
that place, Grace stood at gates,
Waiting for Johnny to return from war.
Waiting to be wed.
Hers was a life defined by waiting. Waiting
For her father, for Johnny, for Joe.
The spring came and went, and Grace
Found something to live for.
She thought of Johnny and thought of Joe
While gazing at cotton fields she did not have to pick.
For the first time in her years, her life began,
Slowly. Though I believe to this day,
Grace, Long dead, still waits,
Disappointment and rejection did not meet her
At the gates when Joe returned.
And the husband found
Not only the wife he’d left behind,
But the child he would call his own,
Fair-hair, blue eyes and all.
2008
And Grace drowned in memories of Johnny.
The band seemed inches from her,
But no sound could mask the pounding in her ears.
Before she had the time to flee, a solider—
A ladies man, Giraulo—fixed his gaze on her.
He stopped her, called her his fire-haired fox
And smiled with deep brown eyes that
Didn’t remind her of Johnny’s blues,
The color of the hydrangeas in the orphanage yard.
Joe didn’t know of Johnny. He didn’t know
Her pain. He might have been a solider, Grace knew,
But he’d not be her hero.
Joe’s olive skin was too dark to be her angel’s.
Johnny, who fell from the sky
Along with the rest of his unit.
She had walked into Johnny’s arms the day she turned 18
And left the orphanage behind.
She walked into Joe’s arms the day she tried to let go.
Joe rode the bus, four hours to, four hours from, Tacoa
To see her nose freckle in the sunlight if only for an hour.
Four Sundays later, Joe came back to Ft. Bragg,
New Mrs. Grace Giraulo in tow.
On the eve of Joe’s deployment,
She lay in her marriage bed, and dreamed of fair-haired Johnny.
Joe would be in the wilds of the Philippines,
His only comfort the thought
of returning to the wife he’d left at home.
Grace tossed and turned, sick with the thought,
Sick with herself.
In the winter months, when the sweltering Filipino jungle
Was the only thought that kept her warm, Grace tread
On swollen feet, pacing at the gate of his family’s home.
Early Christmas mornings, after the orange and hard candy
That were her only presents,
My grandmother had paced before the gates of the orphanage,
Waiting for the man who’d abandoned her
And her siblings and promised to return.
Months gone from the oppression and despair of
that place, Grace stood at gates,
Waiting for Johnny to return from war.
Waiting to be wed.
Hers was a life defined by waiting. Waiting
For her father, for Johnny, for Joe.
The spring came and went, and Grace
Found something to live for.
She thought of Johnny and thought of Joe
While gazing at cotton fields she did not have to pick.
For the first time in her years, her life began,
Slowly. Though I believe to this day,
Grace, Long dead, still waits,
Disappointment and rejection did not meet her
At the gates when Joe returned.
And the husband found
Not only the wife he’d left behind,
But the child he would call his own,
Fair-hair, blue eyes and all.
2008
The Little Mermaid Dates On-Line
First off, my name is Ariel, and I
Have friends who say I’ve got a lovely voice.
I’m looking for a ‘friend’ to make me sigh.
When I find him, the kingdom will rejoice.
I don’t go shoe-shopping or eat sushi,
And, man, am I sick of the color blue.
Slow walks along the beach are not for me,
but there are lots of things I like to do—
like scavenging for old knick-knacks, swimming,
singing with my sisters when dad’s not there.
Honest, what I want more than anything
is a strong man with mussels and dark hair.
So remember, before you give a ring—
for some, having crabs is not a bad thing.
Creative Writing class assignment 2007.
I just like it.
Have friends who say I’ve got a lovely voice.
I’m looking for a ‘friend’ to make me sigh.
When I find him, the kingdom will rejoice.
I don’t go shoe-shopping or eat sushi,
And, man, am I sick of the color blue.
Slow walks along the beach are not for me,
but there are lots of things I like to do—
like scavenging for old knick-knacks, swimming,
singing with my sisters when dad’s not there.
Honest, what I want more than anything
is a strong man with mussels and dark hair.
So remember, before you give a ring—
for some, having crabs is not a bad thing.
Creative Writing class assignment 2007.
I just like it.
Go Put Some Pants On
I can’t fight with you when you’re naked.
It’s hard to explain the idea
That when you’re shrouded,
My words sink in,
Deeper.
Deeper,
To where you can feel them
As I feel them.
Maybe its that your comments
Can be biting.
Likely,
It’s that I’m crazy, like you tell me,
And insecure.
When we fight, I feel
As exposed as you truly are.
I pull on pants and shirts and sweaters,
But I still feel without armor.
Vulnerable.
I don’t know why
I hate it when you aren’t
Covered,
Donned,
Protected.
When you’re bare, it’s like
I’m not getting beneath your skin.
Where I want my words,
My perspective,
To reside.
Published in Creative License, 2007.
It’s hard to explain the idea
That when you’re shrouded,
My words sink in,
Deeper.
Deeper,
To where you can feel them
As I feel them.
Maybe its that your comments
Can be biting.
Likely,
It’s that I’m crazy, like you tell me,
And insecure.
When we fight, I feel
As exposed as you truly are.
I pull on pants and shirts and sweaters,
But I still feel without armor.
Vulnerable.
I don’t know why
I hate it when you aren’t
Covered,
Donned,
Protected.
When you’re bare, it’s like
I’m not getting beneath your skin.
Where I want my words,
My perspective,
To reside.
Published in Creative License, 2007.
The crazy person
Every once in a while
You go into a place
Where you cannot avoid
The crazy person.
I wonder why it shocks us,
Even momentarily,
When the crazy person
Isn’t dressed in ragged clothes
And smells like sweat and street.
Debating in grocery aisles,
Fuming in teller lines,
Teaching classrooms full
Of unsuspecting,
Cornered you’s and me’s.
Do you smile at the crazy person?
Or look up, down, away?
Do you nodd at their left/right/out there phrases
Or pretend not to hear them?
What would be worse?
Engaging them or having them repeat their
There statements?
Sometimes there is
No lesser evil.
2007
You go into a place
Where you cannot avoid
The crazy person.
I wonder why it shocks us,
Even momentarily,
When the crazy person
Isn’t dressed in ragged clothes
And smells like sweat and street.
Debating in grocery aisles,
Fuming in teller lines,
Teaching classrooms full
Of unsuspecting,
Cornered you’s and me’s.
Do you smile at the crazy person?
Or look up, down, away?
Do you nodd at their left/right/out there phrases
Or pretend not to hear them?
What would be worse?
Engaging them or having them repeat their
There statements?
Sometimes there is
No lesser evil.
2007
When Kids Go To Wal-Mart
They run around like banshees,
Lurching, clawing,
For that decibel
Only dogs can hear,
Arguing over Faded Glory
And begging for Sam’s Choice sweet things.
Their parents follow them,
Or leave them in their wake,
As if,
As if, I too
Had birthed beasts
And left them un-caged,
Uncouth,
And as if I had no hearing left.
When I go to Wal-Mart,
I can feel my fallopian tubes
Tie themselves in knots
Taking my body’s instruction,
Preservation of eardrum and patience alike.
It’s no wonder the linoleum
Is scuffed and dirty,
For the wildebeests have had
Their sodas and candies
And, hey—better here than at your house.
Better here,
Where you can share
The wonder that is children
With the rest of us.
2007
Lurching, clawing,
For that decibel
Only dogs can hear,
Arguing over Faded Glory
And begging for Sam’s Choice sweet things.
Their parents follow them,
Or leave them in their wake,
As if,
As if, I too
Had birthed beasts
And left them un-caged,
Uncouth,
And as if I had no hearing left.
When I go to Wal-Mart,
I can feel my fallopian tubes
Tie themselves in knots
Taking my body’s instruction,
Preservation of eardrum and patience alike.
It’s no wonder the linoleum
Is scuffed and dirty,
For the wildebeests have had
Their sodas and candies
And, hey—better here than at your house.
Better here,
Where you can share
The wonder that is children
With the rest of us.
2007
Apr 13, 2010
Planters eager for Marigold Festival to blossom
Rick Marucci and children Noah, 9, and Jamie, 13, plant marigolds Saturday on North Main Street in Winterville. Volunteers helped plant 4,000 marigolds all over Winterville in preparation for the festival May 15. This is the second year of the festival following a seven-year hiatus. The marigolds were grown from seed by Thyme After Thyme of Winterville.
Photograph by Melissa Williamson.
Published Sunday, April 11, 2010
By Jennifer L. Johnson
WINTERVILLE - Last year, a group of citizens longing for the small town's signature event revived the Winterville Marigold Festival, and now they want to leave no doubt that the town really is the City of Marigolds.
Volunteers gathered Saturday to plant 4,000 of the small flowers - some blooming, others not yet showing their color - along Main Street, near the historic train depot, country doctor's museum and in Pittard Park in preparation for this year's festival May 15.
In 2003, a group of long-time volunteers closed the festival after repeatedly asking for new residents to step forward to organize and run the event.
After a seven-year hiatus, some of those new residents joined with longtime locals to stage a comeback festival last year, drawing 4,000 people, a little more than half the number the festival drew in its peak years.
"When we quit doing it, everyone got on the bandwagon to do it again," said Brenda Mercer, who is on the board of the group planning the festival. "We knew they loved the festival, but we needed the volunteers to really do it."
While Marigold Festival organizers lamented a few years ago that they couldn't get new volunteers, a strong sense of community swelled in the festival's absence, making people long for the old days. After last year's successful festival, more volunteers are working to make the event possible this year.
"A lot of my volunteers' parents were volunteers a few years ago," said festival organizer Emily Eisenman. "We've got the second generation - maybe even the third generation - helping out this year."
Nine-year-old Elizabeth Dutch is a third-generation volunteer. She came out to help plant flowers and talk about the coming festival.
"I want to go to the festival this year," Elizabeth said. "I went last year and liked the parade the best."
In its heyday, the marigold tradition was as much about preparing for the festival as staging the one-day event. Residents planted batches of marigolds on city property and in their own yards to make sure the yellow and orange blooms were everywhere on festival day. Dorothy Heintz, Elizabeth's grandmother, moved to the area in 1982 and liked that aspect of the tradition.
"This is my favorite job," Heintz said. "Gardening is what I do best."
With the rebirth of the festival last year, volunteers had to plant the flowers twice - once in spring and again after a hard freeze killed the first batch, according to 68-year-old volunteer Randall Covington.
Heintz saw a sign on the Winterville Depot marquee about this year's planting and got details from her neighbor Jack Eisenman, the chairman of the landscape committee for the festival.
Ashley Conner, 23, learned about the planting from a friend at church, and came out to help plant, even though she's never been to the Marigold Festival before.
"It's one of those things where I always wanted to go, but never did make it," Conner said. "Planting the flowers today will keep the festival in my mind."
Conner has lived in the city for 14 years, but you don't have to be from Winterville to love the official symbol.
Athens resident and Master Gardener Jean Colquett has been to several Marigold Festivals in the past, but she's never lent her love of gardening to getting ready for it.
"Marigolds are wonderful flowers because they have very few pests that bother them," Colquett said. "The marigolds we're planting have buds now. They should be beautiful in five weeks, just in time for the festival."
While the Marigold Festival brings the small town together, organizers hope to draw people from outside the community, too.
To help make it easy for outsiders to get there, the city has arranged a free shuttle service through Athens Transit that will take people from Walmart on Lexington Road to the festival and back. Buses will run all day so people don't need to worry about driving to the city, finding a parking spot down the street from the square and walking back.
Although organizers hope for good weather, Eisenman hasn't found that a few dark clouds deter most people on event day.
"The interesting thing is that, even though we threatened rain and we had one shower during the festival last year, it didn't seem to dampen the enthusiasm at all," she said. "The city really loves this festival."
Volunteers interested in helping Winterville prepare for the festival can sign up at www.cityofwinterville.com/ marigold.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, April 11, 2010
Apr 5, 2010
Winterville Library fundraiser to put pets on parade
Oakley is used to dressing up for special occasions. The dachshund wore his tux last Halloween to the PetSmart in Fayetteville, where owner Ben Mazzucco showed him off. Mazzucco will bring Oakley to the Winterville Doggie Parade on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Ron Wetherbee
By Jennifer L. Johnson - news@onlineathens.com
Published Monday, April 05, 2010
Fido and the family will get the chance to strut their stuff in Winterville - just don't call the parade a "catwalk."
The Friends of the Winterville Library, a nonprofit group working to raise money for the public library, is hosting the Winterville Doggie Parade on Saturday. Dogs and their owners can participate in a costume parade - even without paying - and those who pay an entry fee can compete for prizes.
The $5 contest registration fee and all proceeds from the event will be donated to the Winterville Library.
The fundraiser is the first big event for the Friends of the Winterville Library since the opening of its Front Porch Bookstore in December. The used books sold at the store are modestly priced, from a quarter for mass-market paperbacks to $3 for hardbacks. Things like audio books, DVDs and special collections cost a little more, depending on the item. All the proceeds from sales are donated to the library.
The bookstore - staffed entirely by Friends volunteers - will be open until 4 p.m. the day of the parade.
"Every day, I see tons of people walking by the store with their dogs," said Front Porch manager Ron Wetherbee, who came up with the idea for the doggie costume contest. "We really wanted to get people involved in coming out, enjoying themselves and at the same time, let everyone know that the bookstore is here."
Athens-Clarke Animal Control will have pets available for adoption after the parade, and Athens-based Lucky Dog Agility will let dogs try running an agility course next to the bookstore.
Two-legged family members can get in on the action, too. The folks at Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful will hold a "Scoop-the-Poop Relay," in which contestants of all ages will race to pick up plastic props that look like the real thing.
The Friends will provide plastic bags for poop - the real kind - as well as bowls of water for the visiting dogs.
The event is meant to be low-key and fun, and the costume contest really isn't competitive, according to Friends board member Deborah Goldberg. There will be several prizes in other categories, like the dog who travels the farthest for the event or one for the pooch that's older than the other tail-wagging contestants.
"That way, everybody gets a shot at helping the Winterville Library," Goldberg said. "We're not dog experts. This is a day that's about having fun."
Register for the contest at 9 a.m. Saturday at Front Porch Bookstore on Marigold Lane. The pet parade will make its loop around Winterville Square at 10 a.m.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, April 05, 2010
Mar 15, 2010
Open letter to my classmates
Dear classmates, fellow bus-riders and hall-dwellers,
I know that Spring Break has only just ended, but I would really appreciate it if you would be so good as to stop talking about the past week.
You might find this hard to believe, but the folks around you don't want to hear about how painful every step you take is thanks to that stellar hide-tanning sunburn you fostered in Florida or Mexico. Some of us don't want to watch you carefully inspect your arms and legs in the middle of lectures, and certainly don't want to sit next to you as you peel off strips of your skin and carelessly flick them onto the floor of the bus.
Personally, when you recount your drunken exploits with that guy that Keeli went tailgating with, but Tameka was talking to for a minute——you know, the one with that bleached emo haircut you saw that time at the tanning salon——and how you couldn't remember his name the next morning 'cause you were so "wasted", all I think of is how trashy that sounds.
I don't want to know about how many hot girls you slept with last week, how many beers you drank, or how wild the parties you went to were. I don't want to hear about how sick it was, or how sick you got, and I certainly don't want to hear about the "nasty rash thing on her expletive so dirty I refuse to type it" and how your friend can't pronounce gonorrhea correctly.
Please save these conversations for dorm rooms, facebook posts and text messages. Those of us who don't enjoy getting hammered, buck naked, crazy wild or horizontal with strangers would really prefer to quietly wallow in the misery that the post-Spring Break return to school brings out in all of us.
Thank you,
Jennifer
P.S.—— You should really get that rash checked. Seriously.
I know that Spring Break has only just ended, but I would really appreciate it if you would be so good as to stop talking about the past week.
You might find this hard to believe, but the folks around you don't want to hear about how painful every step you take is thanks to that stellar hide-tanning sunburn you fostered in Florida or Mexico. Some of us don't want to watch you carefully inspect your arms and legs in the middle of lectures, and certainly don't want to sit next to you as you peel off strips of your skin and carelessly flick them onto the floor of the bus.
Personally, when you recount your drunken exploits with that guy that Keeli went tailgating with, but Tameka was talking to for a minute——you know, the one with that bleached emo haircut you saw that time at the tanning salon——and how you couldn't remember his name the next morning 'cause you were so "wasted", all I think of is how trashy that sounds.
I don't want to know about how many hot girls you slept with last week, how many beers you drank, or how wild the parties you went to were. I don't want to hear about how sick it was, or how sick you got, and I certainly don't want to hear about the "nasty rash thing on her expletive so dirty I refuse to type it" and how your friend can't pronounce gonorrhea correctly.
Please save these conversations for dorm rooms, facebook posts and text messages. Those of us who don't enjoy getting hammered, buck naked, crazy wild or horizontal with strangers would really prefer to quietly wallow in the misery that the post-Spring Break return to school brings out in all of us.
Thank you,
Jennifer
P.S.—— You should really get that rash checked. Seriously.
Locals put in their time for Million Minute Read
Photo courtesy of Shona Foster, JLA
By Jennifer L. Johnson - news@onlineathens.com
Published Monday, March 15, 2010
The kids weren't as curious about what Morgan Carden was doing in their prekindergarten classroom as they were about the story she was going to tell.
"They were 4 and 5 years old, and mostly they just wanted to hear me read," Carden said.
Junior League members across the state are going into prekindergarten classrooms to try to read 1 million minutes by April to celebrate Georgia enrolling its millionth child in lottery-funded pre-K programs.
The local women started logging minutes at the beginning of the year and contributed to the state Junior League groups reaching their Million Minute Read program goal.
"I think that it was an attainable goal, with all 12 Junior Leagues (in Georgia) going for it," said Shona Foster, president of the Junior League of Athens and a media specialist at Whitehead Road Elementary School.
Foster helped arrange some of the readings by talking to librarian friends and working with pre-K teachers to schedule volunteer readers.
The U.S. Department of Education recommends that parents read to their children at least 20 minutes a day, but some parents might not have that kind of time, according to Foster. She's hoping the volunteer readers can help fill in for busy parents.
"We're going to keep reading because it's so important," Foster said.
The group is focusing specifically on youngsters in Athens-Clarke, where more than 700 children are enrolled in pre-K.
About 90 percent of brain development takes place before age 5, and being read to frequently prepares the child for kindergarten, according to Brigham Young University's School of Education.
"I think that reading to children is one of the most important things that allow their brains to develop," said Carden, a former teacher and the director of Champions for Children childhood development center in Athens. "To me, reading to kids in the community was just one other way to support that."
Carden read Dr. Seuss books to students at Howard Stroud Elementary and Winterville Elementary schools before the late author's birthday March 2.
The kids talked after the stories about rhyming words, which tied into teachers' lesson plans.
The readers also demonstrated other valuable lessons.
Barrow Elementary pre-K teacher Kelly Hocking had been talking to her students about helping other people, so when Junior League member Jo Boling came into the classroom to read, she told the kids about how her group volunteers its time.
"It really made a connection to them about what we'd been talking about," Hocking said. "The kids get excited when anybody steps into our room, but it's that much more important when they can say, 'Wow, this visitor has come to read to us.' It makes the kids want to be readers."
Studies show children who are read to learn to read earlier than those who are not, according to the National Literacy Trust.
Junior Leaguers may continue to read in classrooms as a long-term community service project, according to Foster. The group also is working to provide age-appropriate books for each child in pre-K classes in Athens - roughly 750 books. So far, the group has reached about 25 percent of its goal.
The league posted a book wish list on its Web site, www.juniorleagueofathens.org, and collects book donations at its headquarters at the Taylor-Grady House on Prince Avenue. The group also is taking monetary donations online, which will help pay for books from weRead.com for students in Clarke County schools.
Mar 1, 2010
Simple products for simple tasks
When my beloved little mp3 player finally died this weekend, I took to the internet to search for the best prices on comparable devices...only to discover that there really aren't any machines quite so simple anymore.
When did every single product venture into the all-in-one market?
I want a simple little device that plays songs with a one-line readout of the tune blaring through my ear buds, not some high-tech, video-playing, internet-surfing, four-star-rated system with eight to fourteen buttons, a camera function, global positioning system software, a microwave, language-translator that allows me to do my banking in Croatia and Laos all in a bright-pink skin with wrap-around, ignore-the-world headphones that scream, "I'm so cool and aloof, there's no way you can approach me on the bus and ask me to move my book bag so you could possibly sit down."
And can I forgo all of that stuff that'll cost me more than half my rent this month? Nope—not really.
In this high-speed, on-the-go culture, products with only one function seem to be forced out of the market at major retailers, and have been replaced by the consolidation gadget. Printers no longer run off a home-work assignment; they scan, fax and, in some cases, hop on the internet for quick, targeted printing. Cell phones no longer just make calls; they conference, photograph, play music, watch television, play games, surf the web, morph into keyboards, tune guitars, translates documents, projects movie trailers onto a wall, and run hundreds of available programs or applications ("apps" is a terrible word, by the way. Shall I just start calling them "progs" just to mess with people and see how many correct me?), all designed to make your life easier.
I understand this concept——maximizing the utility of certain objects or products is a good marketing/business move. It's nifty having a camera that also takes brief video clips. It's convenient to be able to find your way out of the boonies when you're lost. But don't do this all-in-one dance with every product.
I want a home phone that rings and dials. I want a stapler that just links two pieces of paper together. I want a can-opener that only opens cans. And I want an mp3 player that just plays music.
Senior center plan may help land grant
The Historic Winterville School Building
By Jennifer L. Johnson - news@onlineathens.com
Originally Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, March 01, 2010
WINTERVILLE - City leaders continue to make plans to renovate the historic Winterville school building for a senior center and have agreed to apply for a $500,000 block grant that could pay for part of the restoration.
Applying for the Community Development Block Grant from the state Department of Community Affairs requires the city to get building inspections, conceptual designs and a tentative floor plan. That work will cost $8,500, but much of the work would have to be done anyway, according to Bob White, chairman of the school restoration committee.
The city acquired the school building and an opera-style auditorium last year from the Clarke County School District.
The restoration committee has been working to find a use for the school building and money to restore it.
Athens Community Council on Aging officials continue to talk with restoration committee members about becoming a long-term tenant in one section of the school building.
"The (Council on Aging) is essential as a partner to the validity of the grant," said Jo Mercer, who sits on the restoration committee. "They're a viable, established community eager to work with us to bring these programs and services to Winterville."
Council on Aging leaders are ready to start selecting existing programs that would work well in Winterville, according to Mercer.
Although the restoration committee and Council on Aging leaders haven't figured out which programs Wintervillians would like at the satellite location, the grant application doesn't require that information.
The senior center won't take up all of the two-story, 9,000-square-foot building, and the grant money only will go toward restoring the sections that house senior programs. If the city receives the grant, restoration of those parts of the building could be completed in as little as two years, according to Mercer.
Finishing the entire building could cost the city up to $1 million based on estimates by city engineer George Chandler, also a committee member.
The grant recipients won't be determined until October, according to Charlie Armentrout, the civil engineer who is assisting Winterville in the application.
"It will be a lot of additional work to pull this thing together," Armentrout said.
In public hearings about the building, Winterville residents said they wanted to use the buildings for senior programs. Other popular ideas included a health center, a space for Winterville's overloaded library and the relocation of city hall.
Programs for other age groups may benefit from the restoration.
"Our grant just has to focus on senior citizens to qualify," Mercer said. "The Athens Community Council on Aging has many programs that they could bring to Winterville."
The grant application requires a conceptual floor plan, not a detailed design, according to Armentrout. The Council on Aging still will have the flexibility to change programs.
"I don't think that anything that we would be doing would be cast in stone," said architectural consultant David Matheny. "It's fluid and flexible enough that we're going to be able to react to the citizens' feelings about this facility."
A public forum for citizens to provide input about the partnership and discuss which Council on Aging programs and services would work best in Winterville will be held at 7 tonight in the Winterville Depot.
House provides sanctuary for missionaries
Bogart-based ministry celebrating 10 years
House provides sanctuary for missionaries
By Jennifer L. Johnson - news@onlineathens.com
Originally Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, March 01, 2010
Missionaries spend their lives sharing the message of God with other people, but sometimes, they might need a little ministering themselves.
"I tell everybody about God's love, but deep down, I had thought that all of that was not for me," said Marlene Huyler, a missionary who operates a Christian school in her native Bahamas. "I had started to question how much God loved me because of all the bad things that had happened to me."
That was before she came to unwind at a special place for missionaries in Bogart.
"Being here with these selfless people gave me evidence that God had not forgotten about me," she said.
That special place - Missionary Care Ministry, which celebrated its 10th anniversary Saturday with a banquet - provides a free place for missionaries to rest and relax after serving abroad. Over the years, the ministry has opened the doors of its seven-bedroom home on Snows Mill Road to 1,752 guests from 68 countries.
"We feel that this is still one of Athens' best-kept secrets," said Celia Stockamp, chairwoman of the board that manages Missionary Care Ministry. "God's had the doors to this place open (for) 10 years, and it is truly a time to celebrate God's faithfulness to this ministry."
Laura Keil, who founded the nondenominational Christian home here a decade ago, had been a missionary to Africa and stayed at a similar house in Europe before she returned home to the rush of friends and family.
Memories of her stay prompted her to search for similar places in the United States for missionaries working in foreign countries. When she discovered that there weren't any, she approached friends of the family Bill and Sudie Hanger, a couple now in their 90s, to help her fund the project. The Hangers gave the house and its 10-acre property to the organization in 1999, and after extensive renovations, the house had its first guests in 2000, Stockamp said.
"It is a much-needed haven of rest for missionaries," she said. "And it fulfills a desperate need for rest and relaxation."
Because of factors like burn-out and feeling discouraged, some 21,000 people a month leave their ministry work, according to Huyler. The guesthouse - or sometimes just knowing that it's there - has helped some missionaries remain in their assignments, she said.
"(Missionaries) do want to be with their friends and family when they come home, but sometimes you need a day off," Huyler said. "Having a place to stop and heal emotionally gives you hope."
Huyler learned about the Bogart home seven years ago, though she didn't get there for another four years.
She's stayed at the house on three occasions, each time in the same room, giving her a warm familiarity with the place.
Missionaries can spend three to four years out of the country, working in missions that often are under-staffed and leave them little personal time away from work, Huyler said. The ministry house can give them a sense of place - a home away from home if they don't have one in the United States.
For some families, the best part about coming to Missionary Care Ministry is having their own bed, a backyard full of grass and a stream to play in.
"As soon as the kids come, they run right out to the swings," Huyler said.
Everything in the seven-bedroom home - from the pictures on the wall to the children's toys in the closet - was donated.
Twenty-year-old Kati Braswell donates her time at the office in the house. The University of Georgia student learned about the ministry from a church group.
"I'm here because this is what I've always wanted to do," Braswell said. "These people need a place to rest, and I had no idea it existed until now."
Learn more about the ministry at www.missionarycareministry.org.
House provides sanctuary for missionaries
By Jennifer L. Johnson - news@onlineathens.com
Originally Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, March 01, 2010
Missionaries spend their lives sharing the message of God with other people, but sometimes, they might need a little ministering themselves.
"I tell everybody about God's love, but deep down, I had thought that all of that was not for me," said Marlene Huyler, a missionary who operates a Christian school in her native Bahamas. "I had started to question how much God loved me because of all the bad things that had happened to me."
That was before she came to unwind at a special place for missionaries in Bogart.
"Being here with these selfless people gave me evidence that God had not forgotten about me," she said.
That special place - Missionary Care Ministry, which celebrated its 10th anniversary Saturday with a banquet - provides a free place for missionaries to rest and relax after serving abroad. Over the years, the ministry has opened the doors of its seven-bedroom home on Snows Mill Road to 1,752 guests from 68 countries.
"We feel that this is still one of Athens' best-kept secrets," said Celia Stockamp, chairwoman of the board that manages Missionary Care Ministry. "God's had the doors to this place open (for) 10 years, and it is truly a time to celebrate God's faithfulness to this ministry."
Laura Keil, who founded the nondenominational Christian home here a decade ago, had been a missionary to Africa and stayed at a similar house in Europe before she returned home to the rush of friends and family.
Memories of her stay prompted her to search for similar places in the United States for missionaries working in foreign countries. When she discovered that there weren't any, she approached friends of the family Bill and Sudie Hanger, a couple now in their 90s, to help her fund the project. The Hangers gave the house and its 10-acre property to the organization in 1999, and after extensive renovations, the house had its first guests in 2000, Stockamp said.
"It is a much-needed haven of rest for missionaries," she said. "And it fulfills a desperate need for rest and relaxation."
Because of factors like burn-out and feeling discouraged, some 21,000 people a month leave their ministry work, according to Huyler. The guesthouse - or sometimes just knowing that it's there - has helped some missionaries remain in their assignments, she said.
"(Missionaries) do want to be with their friends and family when they come home, but sometimes you need a day off," Huyler said. "Having a place to stop and heal emotionally gives you hope."
Huyler learned about the Bogart home seven years ago, though she didn't get there for another four years.
She's stayed at the house on three occasions, each time in the same room, giving her a warm familiarity with the place.
Missionaries can spend three to four years out of the country, working in missions that often are under-staffed and leave them little personal time away from work, Huyler said. The ministry house can give them a sense of place - a home away from home if they don't have one in the United States.
For some families, the best part about coming to Missionary Care Ministry is having their own bed, a backyard full of grass and a stream to play in.
"As soon as the kids come, they run right out to the swings," Huyler said.
Everything in the seven-bedroom home - from the pictures on the wall to the children's toys in the closet - was donated.
Twenty-year-old Kati Braswell donates her time at the office in the house. The University of Georgia student learned about the ministry from a church group.
"I'm here because this is what I've always wanted to do," Braswell said. "These people need a place to rest, and I had no idea it existed until now."
Learn more about the ministry at www.missionarycareministry.org.
Feb 10, 2010
Workers lift GED obstacles
By Jennifer L. Johnson - news@onlineathens.com
Published Sunday, February 07, 2010
Erin Barger often shares job openings with the visitors of Our Daily Bread soup kitchen at the Oconee Street United Methodist Church.
But for many, jobs that could help them get back on their feet are out of reach.
"The problem was that for many of the advertised jobs, my clients were often under-qualified for them because they didn't have high school diplomas or GEDs," Barger said. "We're working to help them fix that."
Athens Urban Ministries, which runs the soup kitchen, is offering free GED classes twice a week in the same place that 150-200 people a week are fed.
Many of them never finished high school, and the two-hour classes Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoons are easy for them to get to.
Though there are other GED-prep programs in the area, most are affiliated with a school program, offered to families with children in the public school system or too hard for the homeless or working poor to get to by bus, Barger said.
Barger, who became director of Athens Urban Ministries in June, saw almost immediately how much the people who rely on Our Daily Bread could use a GED program. She approached the Economic Justice Coalition, a group that promotes fair employment practices, which helped her connect with Caryl Sundland at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens.
"The classes are doing something important in the community," Sundland said. "They're changing people's lives, and we want to support that."
Sundland's church pays for an instructor and classroom supplies through a Unitarian church grant. So far, five members of the congregation have tutored.
Cathie Bigman, who taught GED sessions at Alps Road Elementary School until a grant ran out, was hired to teach the classes.
"I'm ecstatic to go into work every day," Bigman said. "My students are very dedicated, and I think it's a joy for them to learn - they're excited when they realize they know something that they didn't think they did before."
The students range from their mid-20s to their mid-50s. Some are only a few months away from taking the GED test; others are tackling subjects they might not have seen in 30 years, according to Bigman, who sets up study plans for each student to work at his own pace.
"We're not rushing people through," Barger said. "We're trying to meet people where they are and encourage that and help them accomplish their goals as soon as is reasonable for their life."
When one of the students gets ready to take the test, Urban Ministries will help him apply for an Athens-Clarke County Literacy Council scholarship that covers 75 percent of the fee and help with transportation to the testing site.
"We do everything we can to take the student from the starting line to the finish line of the GED testing process," Barger said.
Athens Urban Ministries is looking for volunteers and tutors for its GED program - especially in math - and previous experience isn't necessary. Call (706) 353-6647 for more information about volunteering your time, or visit athens.actionministries.net.
Athens Urban Ministries is hosting its 20th anniversary celebration and fundraiser at 6:30 p.m. March 25 at the First United Methodist Church of Athens; former University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley will be the keynote speaker. Tickets cost $40, with proceeds going to support Urban Ministries programs like the GED classes.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, February 07, 2010
Published Sunday, February 07, 2010
Erin Barger often shares job openings with the visitors of Our Daily Bread soup kitchen at the Oconee Street United Methodist Church.
But for many, jobs that could help them get back on their feet are out of reach.
"The problem was that for many of the advertised jobs, my clients were often under-qualified for them because they didn't have high school diplomas or GEDs," Barger said. "We're working to help them fix that."
Athens Urban Ministries, which runs the soup kitchen, is offering free GED classes twice a week in the same place that 150-200 people a week are fed.
Many of them never finished high school, and the two-hour classes Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoons are easy for them to get to.
Though there are other GED-prep programs in the area, most are affiliated with a school program, offered to families with children in the public school system or too hard for the homeless or working poor to get to by bus, Barger said.
Barger, who became director of Athens Urban Ministries in June, saw almost immediately how much the people who rely on Our Daily Bread could use a GED program. She approached the Economic Justice Coalition, a group that promotes fair employment practices, which helped her connect with Caryl Sundland at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens.
"The classes are doing something important in the community," Sundland said. "They're changing people's lives, and we want to support that."
Sundland's church pays for an instructor and classroom supplies through a Unitarian church grant. So far, five members of the congregation have tutored.
Cathie Bigman, who taught GED sessions at Alps Road Elementary School until a grant ran out, was hired to teach the classes.
"I'm ecstatic to go into work every day," Bigman said. "My students are very dedicated, and I think it's a joy for them to learn - they're excited when they realize they know something that they didn't think they did before."
The students range from their mid-20s to their mid-50s. Some are only a few months away from taking the GED test; others are tackling subjects they might not have seen in 30 years, according to Bigman, who sets up study plans for each student to work at his own pace.
"We're not rushing people through," Barger said. "We're trying to meet people where they are and encourage that and help them accomplish their goals as soon as is reasonable for their life."
When one of the students gets ready to take the test, Urban Ministries will help him apply for an Athens-Clarke County Literacy Council scholarship that covers 75 percent of the fee and help with transportation to the testing site.
"We do everything we can to take the student from the starting line to the finish line of the GED testing process," Barger said.
Athens Urban Ministries is looking for volunteers and tutors for its GED program - especially in math - and previous experience isn't necessary. Call (706) 353-6647 for more information about volunteering your time, or visit athens.actionministries.net.
Athens Urban Ministries is hosting its 20th anniversary celebration and fundraiser at 6:30 p.m. March 25 at the First United Methodist Church of Athens; former University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley will be the keynote speaker. Tickets cost $40, with proceeds going to support Urban Ministries programs like the GED classes.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, February 07, 2010
Jan 27, 2010
Jan 17, 2010
Art teachers show off their work
By Jennifer L. Johnson - news@onlineathens.com
Published Saturday, January 16, 2010
WATKINSVILLE - Hannah Chapman can't remember the last time she saw one of her mother's pieces on an art gallery wall.
The 18-year-old college freshman made the trip down from Virginia to see an exhibit of works by area art teachers in the Myers Gallery at Athens Academy.
Twenty-four teachers from public and private schools in Clarke and Oconee counties are participating in the Art Teachers Invitational, conceived after Athens Academy art teacher Lawrence Stueck saw an exhibit at the University of Georgia of Clarke County students and thought it was time for a show of their teachers' work.
The exhibition features teachers from 20 schools, including Clarke Central High School, Oconee County High School, Athens Montessori School and Athens Academy. Steuck subtitled the exhibit "February 24, 1875" - the day before Oconee County became separate from Clarke County - to emphasize the participation of schools from both sides of the county line.
"We're kind of putting these counties back together in a way," Stueck said. "Teachers from both counties are coming together and showing art they've made in the last year, or maybe years ago, back before they got so busy teaching."
Chapman's mother was one of those teachers whose job made it hard to produce work outside of the classroom.
"I really wish my mom had more time to do this," Chapman said at an artists' reception Thursday. "Since she's had kids and gotten real busy with teaching school, it's been hard for her."
Frances Chapman taught kindergarten through eighth grade at St. Joseph Catholic School for 25 years and was excited about the opportunity to have her own work on display.
"It feels good to be creating again, and I think it's good for my students to see that," Chapman said. "It sets a good example for my kids - especially the older ones - to see me making and having my art outside the classroom."
Michael Spronck, 85, began painting 10 years ago after retiring from a career in management consulting, and visited the exhibition to see what Athens art teachers were creating in their own time.
"I've always been a strong supporter of art, especially in the schools," Spronck said. "I like to attend every opening I can, and I think it's also important to support art of all types."
Spronck especially liked "Neanderthal Man" by Athens Academy art teacher Mary Presnell, who used mosaic-like scraps of paper in layers to give the face of a primitive man a kind of 3-D effect.
"Neanderthal Man" also was a favorite of University of Georgia art student Camille Hayes, a 2007 Athens Academy graduate who came back to see her former teachers' work.
"I feel like you can really tell who was an elementary, middle and high school teacher through their art, and that just means they're well-suited to what they're teaching," Hayes said. "I'm really glad that I came because people here had different types of work to see."
Stueck was pleased with how the show turned out.
"It's a nice range of work from a lot of talented people," he said. "As a teacher, we're so used to dragging our kids' work around, it's a nice change of pace to have ours exhibited."
In fact, one teacher was so used to showing her students' work that she initially brought their work instead of her own, he said.
The exhibit gives teachers an opportunity to show students that there are other career paths out there for art teachers, though many of the artists really enjoy their jobs.
"One of the kids just asked me today why I wanted to be a teacher," said Dan Smith of Gaines Elementary School. "You get to do art every day."
Seeing their work exhibited is a rare occurrence for some teachers.
"I think the last time I worked a show was maybe eight years ago," said Jeff Barnett, an art teacher at Clarke Central High School.
Barnett is a single father and has been working as a teacher for 14 years, and hasn't had much of an opportunity to do charcoal sketches like the one he contributed to the exhibit.
"I like to say that there's an artist that lies inside of all of us, and you just need someone to dig it out of you," he said. "That's why I love teaching, so I get to inspire my students and let them have experiences like this one."
The Myers Gallery at Athens Academy is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and the exhibition will remain open through Feb. 12. Call (706) 549-9225 for more information.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, January 16, 2010
Published Saturday, January 16, 2010
WATKINSVILLE - Hannah Chapman can't remember the last time she saw one of her mother's pieces on an art gallery wall.
The 18-year-old college freshman made the trip down from Virginia to see an exhibit of works by area art teachers in the Myers Gallery at Athens Academy.
Twenty-four teachers from public and private schools in Clarke and Oconee counties are participating in the Art Teachers Invitational, conceived after Athens Academy art teacher Lawrence Stueck saw an exhibit at the University of Georgia of Clarke County students and thought it was time for a show of their teachers' work.
The exhibition features teachers from 20 schools, including Clarke Central High School, Oconee County High School, Athens Montessori School and Athens Academy. Steuck subtitled the exhibit "February 24, 1875" - the day before Oconee County became separate from Clarke County - to emphasize the participation of schools from both sides of the county line.
"We're kind of putting these counties back together in a way," Stueck said. "Teachers from both counties are coming together and showing art they've made in the last year, or maybe years ago, back before they got so busy teaching."
Chapman's mother was one of those teachers whose job made it hard to produce work outside of the classroom.
"I really wish my mom had more time to do this," Chapman said at an artists' reception Thursday. "Since she's had kids and gotten real busy with teaching school, it's been hard for her."
Frances Chapman taught kindergarten through eighth grade at St. Joseph Catholic School for 25 years and was excited about the opportunity to have her own work on display.
"It feels good to be creating again, and I think it's good for my students to see that," Chapman said. "It sets a good example for my kids - especially the older ones - to see me making and having my art outside the classroom."
Michael Spronck, 85, began painting 10 years ago after retiring from a career in management consulting, and visited the exhibition to see what Athens art teachers were creating in their own time.
"I've always been a strong supporter of art, especially in the schools," Spronck said. "I like to attend every opening I can, and I think it's also important to support art of all types."
Spronck especially liked "Neanderthal Man" by Athens Academy art teacher Mary Presnell, who used mosaic-like scraps of paper in layers to give the face of a primitive man a kind of 3-D effect.
"Neanderthal Man" also was a favorite of University of Georgia art student Camille Hayes, a 2007 Athens Academy graduate who came back to see her former teachers' work.
"I feel like you can really tell who was an elementary, middle and high school teacher through their art, and that just means they're well-suited to what they're teaching," Hayes said. "I'm really glad that I came because people here had different types of work to see."
Stueck was pleased with how the show turned out.
"It's a nice range of work from a lot of talented people," he said. "As a teacher, we're so used to dragging our kids' work around, it's a nice change of pace to have ours exhibited."
In fact, one teacher was so used to showing her students' work that she initially brought their work instead of her own, he said.
The exhibit gives teachers an opportunity to show students that there are other career paths out there for art teachers, though many of the artists really enjoy their jobs.
"One of the kids just asked me today why I wanted to be a teacher," said Dan Smith of Gaines Elementary School. "You get to do art every day."
Seeing their work exhibited is a rare occurrence for some teachers.
"I think the last time I worked a show was maybe eight years ago," said Jeff Barnett, an art teacher at Clarke Central High School.
Barnett is a single father and has been working as a teacher for 14 years, and hasn't had much of an opportunity to do charcoal sketches like the one he contributed to the exhibit.
"I like to say that there's an artist that lies inside of all of us, and you just need someone to dig it out of you," he said. "That's why I love teaching, so I get to inspire my students and let them have experiences like this one."
The Myers Gallery at Athens Academy is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and the exhibition will remain open through Feb. 12. Call (706) 549-9225 for more information.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, January 16, 2010
Vegan food healthy for you and flavorful, too
By Jennifer L. Johnson - news@onlineathens.com
Published Wednesday, January 13, 2010
If you've ever had an Oreo cookie, drank a Red Bull or made pancakes with Bisquick, you've had vegan food.
"I love to point that out to people," said Angell Darvalics, a volunteer with Athens Vegetarians, a group that is working to debunk the myth that all vegan food tastes like cardboard.
"We're not here to force people into our lifestyle, but just to let them know that this food is good and it can be delicious."
The veggie-eaters wanted to introduce vegan food to new people and decided to start by showing their thanks to volunteers giving back to the Athens community.
In November, they dished out soups, breads and desserts to Athens Area Habitat for Humanity workers building a house on Redfern Circle in Athens.
"We targeted Athens Area Habitat for Humanity because they have a great mission and we wanted to let them know how much we appreciate it," Darvalics said. "They also work very hard, and if anyone's going to appreciate a hot meal, it will be some construction workers."
Habitat always is looking for people to volunteer to feed the workers at construction sites on Saturdays, Darvalics said.
"Thank you so much for thinking of us," said Beau Harvey, the construction manager at the site.
Harvey waited until most of the crew had eaten before he filled his own bowl.
"I like to make sure that all my workers get food first," Harvey said. "Even if I don't eat, these people are my food - they fill me up and keep me going."
The food included a no-meat chili made by Darvalics' husband, Keith; a split pea soup made her mother, Mary; a lentil soup made by Mary Fox; and a tarragon "beef" and barley stew made by Pat Priest.
Priest's husband is a physician at St. Mary's Hospital. They've enjoyed a vegetarian diet since 1991, when they saw a truck on the highway crammed with chickens.
"Since we went vegan (last) January, my husband's been evangelical about this lifestyle," Priest said. "It's so much healthier and I eat so much of a broader palette than most people do."
Shelia McAlister - whose roller derby team, the Classic City Roller Girls, helped build the Redfern Circle house - understands why some people might be turned off by vegetarians.
"I think there's nothing worse in the world than a self-righteous vegetarian, so I don't like to explain to people when they ask why I'm a vegan," McAlister said. "But it's so nice to come to something and be able to choose whatever I want."
Winterville's Artie Alford, also with the Classic City Roller Girls, wasn't surprised that the split pea soup she sampled was tasty, since she used to work at Earth Fare.
"The soup is really good," Alford said. "We volunteered a few years ago building a house out in Madison County, but they didn't feed us like this."
After lunch, Harvey - who is a meat-eater - pocketed the recipes that the vegan group offered.
"The experience was greater than the anticipation," Harvey said.
The Athens Vegetarians have about 150 people members and welcome anyone interested in vegetarian or vegan cooking to join.
"I didn't see a single full bowl thrown away," Darvalics said. "That's what these type of events are all about - getting people to see how good vegan food actually is."
The group's Web site is www.meetup.com/AthensVegetarians.
Awesome Vegan Chili
(Keith Darvalics)
3 cans red kidney beans (or a mix of kidney and red beans), drained
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 large can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 large yellow onion, chopped in large pieces
4 bell peppers, a mix of green, red and yellow, cut into large pieces
2 portabella mushrooms, cut into large pieces
1 package of regular mushrooms or portabella mushrooms, cut into large pieces
Chili powder (equivalent of 2 packages) or 2 packages of chili seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 cup vegetable oil
In a large pot, warm the vegetable oil. Add the chopped yellow onion to the oil and begin to sauté. With the onion sautéing add the salt, pepper and paprika. Mix routinely and cook long enough to allow the onion and seasoning to reduce into and flavor the oil (approximately 15 minutes).
Mix in the can of diced tomatoes and let simmer for 10 minutes. Mix in the kidney and pinto beans, add and mix in half the chili powder/seasoning. Cover the pot and let mixture cook on medium for 10 minutes.
Mix in the bell peppers, add and mix in the remainder of the chili powder/seasoning. Cover pot, and let mixture cook for 20 minutes.
Mix in all mushrooms. Cover pot and cook for 15 minutes.
► Note, at this point, you will want to determine if the amount of seasoning is satisfactory to your taste. If it seems to be a little light, add more at this time.
Throughout the cooking process, the goal is to get the ingredients to blend and cook down leaving all ingredients, except the mushrooms, cooked well. You want the mushrooms to be cooked, but not over cooked, leaving them firm enough not to break into too many pieces.
Variations: To spice it up, add 2 or 3 chopped jalape os. Season with chili powder to your preference.
Tarragon 'Beef' and Barley Stew
(Pat Priest)
2 tablespoons canola or olive oil
About two cups diced onion
4 or 5 cloves of garlic, diced or pressed
1 bay leaf
1 stalk of diced celery
4 carrots, cut into rounds
6 potatoes, cubed
1 1/2 cups of chopped mushrooms (stems removed)
28-ounce can of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Veggie broth or bouillon to make about 4 cups
1 cup pearled barley
1 cup cubed, dried textured vegetable protein (dark-colored works great)
2 cups frozen corn
1 can garbanzos
2 teaspoons or more fresh-frozen tarragon
1 teaspoons or more oregano
1 sprig of rosemary
Add green vegetables you have on hand for color (such as spinach or lima beans or green peas)
Season with salt and pepper and chopped chives.
Sauté onions and garlic in oil until translucent. Add bay leaf, carrots, celery and potatoes and cook about 10 minutes. Add a little water if the mixture sticks to the pan. Add mushrooms and cook until tender. Stir in tomatoes and their juice, vegetable broth and tomato paste. Add barley and TVP cubes and bring mixture to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer, adding tarragon and other spices. Cook until everything is just about tender. Add frozen corn, garbanzo beans and peas or spinach about 5 minutes before serving. Add salt and pepper. Season with chives or other fresh herbs you have on hand.
Lentil Vegetable Soup
(Mary Fox)
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 potato, diced
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon basil
2 tablespoons parsley
1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cup dry lentils (cleaned and rinsed)
7 cups liquid (vegetable broth and water)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar added before serving
Mix all ingredients together in a slow cooker. Cook eight to 12 hours. Variations: Any vegetable may be added.
Split Pea Soup
(Mary Darvalics)
1 small onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 large carrots, diced
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
8 cups vegetable broth
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups split peas
Salt and pepper to your taste
Sauté onions in oil until tender, approximately five minutes. Add garlic and sauté one to two minutes. Add vegetable broth; bring to boil. Add spices, split peas and vegetables. Cover, reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally for at least four hours.
Published Wednesday, January 13, 2010
If you've ever had an Oreo cookie, drank a Red Bull or made pancakes with Bisquick, you've had vegan food.
"I love to point that out to people," said Angell Darvalics, a volunteer with Athens Vegetarians, a group that is working to debunk the myth that all vegan food tastes like cardboard.
"We're not here to force people into our lifestyle, but just to let them know that this food is good and it can be delicious."
The veggie-eaters wanted to introduce vegan food to new people and decided to start by showing their thanks to volunteers giving back to the Athens community.
In November, they dished out soups, breads and desserts to Athens Area Habitat for Humanity workers building a house on Redfern Circle in Athens.
"We targeted Athens Area Habitat for Humanity because they have a great mission and we wanted to let them know how much we appreciate it," Darvalics said. "They also work very hard, and if anyone's going to appreciate a hot meal, it will be some construction workers."
Habitat always is looking for people to volunteer to feed the workers at construction sites on Saturdays, Darvalics said.
"Thank you so much for thinking of us," said Beau Harvey, the construction manager at the site.
Harvey waited until most of the crew had eaten before he filled his own bowl.
"I like to make sure that all my workers get food first," Harvey said. "Even if I don't eat, these people are my food - they fill me up and keep me going."
The food included a no-meat chili made by Darvalics' husband, Keith; a split pea soup made her mother, Mary; a lentil soup made by Mary Fox; and a tarragon "beef" and barley stew made by Pat Priest.
Priest's husband is a physician at St. Mary's Hospital. They've enjoyed a vegetarian diet since 1991, when they saw a truck on the highway crammed with chickens.
"Since we went vegan (last) January, my husband's been evangelical about this lifestyle," Priest said. "It's so much healthier and I eat so much of a broader palette than most people do."
Shelia McAlister - whose roller derby team, the Classic City Roller Girls, helped build the Redfern Circle house - understands why some people might be turned off by vegetarians.
"I think there's nothing worse in the world than a self-righteous vegetarian, so I don't like to explain to people when they ask why I'm a vegan," McAlister said. "But it's so nice to come to something and be able to choose whatever I want."
Winterville's Artie Alford, also with the Classic City Roller Girls, wasn't surprised that the split pea soup she sampled was tasty, since she used to work at Earth Fare.
"The soup is really good," Alford said. "We volunteered a few years ago building a house out in Madison County, but they didn't feed us like this."
After lunch, Harvey - who is a meat-eater - pocketed the recipes that the vegan group offered.
"The experience was greater than the anticipation," Harvey said.
The Athens Vegetarians have about 150 people members and welcome anyone interested in vegetarian or vegan cooking to join.
"I didn't see a single full bowl thrown away," Darvalics said. "That's what these type of events are all about - getting people to see how good vegan food actually is."
The group's Web site is www.meetup.com/AthensVegetarians.
Awesome Vegan Chili
(Keith Darvalics)
3 cans red kidney beans (or a mix of kidney and red beans), drained
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 large can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 large yellow onion, chopped in large pieces
4 bell peppers, a mix of green, red and yellow, cut into large pieces
2 portabella mushrooms, cut into large pieces
1 package of regular mushrooms or portabella mushrooms, cut into large pieces
Chili powder (equivalent of 2 packages) or 2 packages of chili seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 cup vegetable oil
In a large pot, warm the vegetable oil. Add the chopped yellow onion to the oil and begin to sauté. With the onion sautéing add the salt, pepper and paprika. Mix routinely and cook long enough to allow the onion and seasoning to reduce into and flavor the oil (approximately 15 minutes).
Mix in the can of diced tomatoes and let simmer for 10 minutes. Mix in the kidney and pinto beans, add and mix in half the chili powder/seasoning. Cover the pot and let mixture cook on medium for 10 minutes.
Mix in the bell peppers, add and mix in the remainder of the chili powder/seasoning. Cover pot, and let mixture cook for 20 minutes.
Mix in all mushrooms. Cover pot and cook for 15 minutes.
► Note, at this point, you will want to determine if the amount of seasoning is satisfactory to your taste. If it seems to be a little light, add more at this time.
Throughout the cooking process, the goal is to get the ingredients to blend and cook down leaving all ingredients, except the mushrooms, cooked well. You want the mushrooms to be cooked, but not over cooked, leaving them firm enough not to break into too many pieces.
Variations: To spice it up, add 2 or 3 chopped jalape os. Season with chili powder to your preference.
Tarragon 'Beef' and Barley Stew
(Pat Priest)
2 tablespoons canola or olive oil
About two cups diced onion
4 or 5 cloves of garlic, diced or pressed
1 bay leaf
1 stalk of diced celery
4 carrots, cut into rounds
6 potatoes, cubed
1 1/2 cups of chopped mushrooms (stems removed)
28-ounce can of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Veggie broth or bouillon to make about 4 cups
1 cup pearled barley
1 cup cubed, dried textured vegetable protein (dark-colored works great)
2 cups frozen corn
1 can garbanzos
2 teaspoons or more fresh-frozen tarragon
1 teaspoons or more oregano
1 sprig of rosemary
Add green vegetables you have on hand for color (such as spinach or lima beans or green peas)
Season with salt and pepper and chopped chives.
Sauté onions and garlic in oil until translucent. Add bay leaf, carrots, celery and potatoes and cook about 10 minutes. Add a little water if the mixture sticks to the pan. Add mushrooms and cook until tender. Stir in tomatoes and their juice, vegetable broth and tomato paste. Add barley and TVP cubes and bring mixture to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer, adding tarragon and other spices. Cook until everything is just about tender. Add frozen corn, garbanzo beans and peas or spinach about 5 minutes before serving. Add salt and pepper. Season with chives or other fresh herbs you have on hand.
Lentil Vegetable Soup
(Mary Fox)
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 potato, diced
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon basil
2 tablespoons parsley
1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cup dry lentils (cleaned and rinsed)
7 cups liquid (vegetable broth and water)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar added before serving
Mix all ingredients together in a slow cooker. Cook eight to 12 hours. Variations: Any vegetable may be added.
Split Pea Soup
(Mary Darvalics)
1 small onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 large carrots, diced
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
8 cups vegetable broth
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups split peas
Salt and pepper to your taste
Sauté onions in oil until tender, approximately five minutes. Add garlic and sauté one to two minutes. Add vegetable broth; bring to boil. Add spices, split peas and vegetables. Cover, reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally for at least four hours.
Jan 12, 2010
Recyclers ready to chip away at trees
By Jennifer L. Johnson
Published Saturday, January 09, 2010 Athens Banner-Herald
Now that New Year's Day has come and gone, most people are packing up their holiday decorations and taking down the Christmas trees.
Keep Georgia Beautiful organizations across the state will hold "Bring One for the Chipper" events today to give locals a place to recycle their trees into useful mulch - and give them an incentive to do it.
While Chipper donors often get a free seedling, anyone who drops off a tree at one of the seven sites set up in Athens this year will get a packet of yellow poplar and dogwood seeds donated by Ferry Morse Seed Co. to plant in their own yards.
In Athens-Clarke, volunteers expected to collect about 500 Christmas trees, about the same number that came in during last year's event.
The drop-off locations include Barrow Elementary School, Chase Street Elementary School, the Clarke County Tag Office on Lexington Road, Cofer's Home and Garden Showplace on Mitchell Bridge Road, the Georgia Square Mall theater parking lot, Sandy Creek Nature Center and the Winterville Public Works Building, and are open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Volunteers gave away more than 830 seedlings in Athens last year, when the campaign collected 18 tons of Christmas trees.
"We hope that people will plant these trees to replace the ones that they had in their homes over the holiday," said Stacee Farrell, executive director of Keep Athens Clarke-County Beautiful. "Lots of volunteers come out every year and help make this possible."
Donated trees will make the trip out to the Athens-Clarke Landfill on Lexington Road, where they'll be ground up into mulch.
In the past, homeowners could buy the mulch to use in their yards, but the county has plans for it this year.
The Christmas tree mulch will be used for school gardens, community gardens and improvement projects like those planned Jan. 18 for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service hosted by HandsOn Northeast Georgia.
After today's Bring One for the Chipper, a handful of places still will accept trees for recycling. The tag office, Winterville Public Works building and the Georgia Square Mall parking lot will have bins marked "Christmas trees only" until Tuesday night.
After that, the landfill, located at 3700 Lexington Road, will accept trees free of charge.
Log on to www.keepathensbeautiful.org or visit www.keepgeorgiabeautiful.org to find a recycling location in your community.
Published Saturday, January 09, 2010 Athens Banner-Herald
Now that New Year's Day has come and gone, most people are packing up their holiday decorations and taking down the Christmas trees.
Keep Georgia Beautiful organizations across the state will hold "Bring One for the Chipper" events today to give locals a place to recycle their trees into useful mulch - and give them an incentive to do it.
While Chipper donors often get a free seedling, anyone who drops off a tree at one of the seven sites set up in Athens this year will get a packet of yellow poplar and dogwood seeds donated by Ferry Morse Seed Co. to plant in their own yards.
In Athens-Clarke, volunteers expected to collect about 500 Christmas trees, about the same number that came in during last year's event.
The drop-off locations include Barrow Elementary School, Chase Street Elementary School, the Clarke County Tag Office on Lexington Road, Cofer's Home and Garden Showplace on Mitchell Bridge Road, the Georgia Square Mall theater parking lot, Sandy Creek Nature Center and the Winterville Public Works Building, and are open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Volunteers gave away more than 830 seedlings in Athens last year, when the campaign collected 18 tons of Christmas trees.
"We hope that people will plant these trees to replace the ones that they had in their homes over the holiday," said Stacee Farrell, executive director of Keep Athens Clarke-County Beautiful. "Lots of volunteers come out every year and help make this possible."
Donated trees will make the trip out to the Athens-Clarke Landfill on Lexington Road, where they'll be ground up into mulch.
In the past, homeowners could buy the mulch to use in their yards, but the county has plans for it this year.
The Christmas tree mulch will be used for school gardens, community gardens and improvement projects like those planned Jan. 18 for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service hosted by HandsOn Northeast Georgia.
After today's Bring One for the Chipper, a handful of places still will accept trees for recycling. The tag office, Winterville Public Works building and the Georgia Square Mall parking lot will have bins marked "Christmas trees only" until Tuesday night.
After that, the landfill, located at 3700 Lexington Road, will accept trees free of charge.
Log on to www.keepathensbeautiful.org or visit www.keepgeorgiabeautiful.org to find a recycling location in your community.
Jan 2, 2010
300 military dogs have care packages coming
After-Christmas treats for Iraq deployed
300 military dogs have care packages coming
By Jennifer L. Johnson
Published Saturday, January 02, 2010
Especially during the holidays, people remember soldiers far from home and try to get them some creature comforts that will make the time away from their families a little more bearable.
So when Tom Wargo learned that hundreds of four-legged soldiers might need some supplies, too, he decided to help.
As a thank-you to the canine soldiers this holiday season, Daffy's Pet Soup Kitchen is sending more than 1,000 pounds of dog food, treats and brushes to U.S. military dogs deployed to Iraq.
Daffy's is a volunteer and donation-run pet food bank in Lawrenceville that has redistributed pet food donated by community members, pet food manufacturers and retails stores to pet owners in need.
"Years ago, I was handing stuff out of the back of my truck," said Wargo, who founded Daffy's and handles 30,000-40,000 pounds of dog food through his warehouse each month. "I knew there was a big need, but not that big a need."
Wargo turned his attention to the pups overseas after he received an e-mail from the Humane Association of Georgia - a coalition of humane societies, animal control and rescue groups - about Girl Scout Troop 60667 in Macon, which was sending care packages to dog-handlers in Iraq.
Wargo had just received a donation of dog brushes designed to attract dirt while combing through dog coats, and thought they'd be perfect for animals in the dusty Middle East.
The Girl Scout troop was sending about 50 pounds of dog paraphernalia, said Wargo, and weren't able to handle the 1,000 brushes and 500 pounds of dog food Daffy's was offering. They referred him to the U.S. War Dogs Association, a group of retired dog-handlers in New Jersey who could get the packages directly to the dog kennels at bases in Iraq.
"We know they're not going to get them there for Christmas anyway, since it can take three weeks to get stuff over there," Wargo said. "But we're still including all the Christmas cards and letters and pictures that people were sending for the handlers and soldiers in Iraq."
More than 700 dogs are working with the military in Iraq, according to Wargo, whose group is shipping items to about 300 of those dogs in 45 kennels on military bases. As the dogs rotate into the war zone, handlers will be able to select items for their furry friends.
Daffy's will continue to send treats and brushes to canine soldiers, but Wargo is looking forward to sending other gear that handlers say their dogs really need.
"You start out thinking, 'Oh wow - this is really going to help out,' " Wargo said. "And then you find out that there are 700 dogs in Iraq, and they need things like eye goggles and bulletproof jackets that are going to help them survive over there."
Once the War Dogs Association sends Wargo its wish list, he'll post it on the group's Web site, www.daffyspetsoupkitchen.com.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, January 02, 2010
300 military dogs have care packages coming
By Jennifer L. Johnson
Published Saturday, January 02, 2010
Especially during the holidays, people remember soldiers far from home and try to get them some creature comforts that will make the time away from their families a little more bearable.
So when Tom Wargo learned that hundreds of four-legged soldiers might need some supplies, too, he decided to help.
As a thank-you to the canine soldiers this holiday season, Daffy's Pet Soup Kitchen is sending more than 1,000 pounds of dog food, treats and brushes to U.S. military dogs deployed to Iraq.
Daffy's is a volunteer and donation-run pet food bank in Lawrenceville that has redistributed pet food donated by community members, pet food manufacturers and retails stores to pet owners in need.
"Years ago, I was handing stuff out of the back of my truck," said Wargo, who founded Daffy's and handles 30,000-40,000 pounds of dog food through his warehouse each month. "I knew there was a big need, but not that big a need."
Wargo turned his attention to the pups overseas after he received an e-mail from the Humane Association of Georgia - a coalition of humane societies, animal control and rescue groups - about Girl Scout Troop 60667 in Macon, which was sending care packages to dog-handlers in Iraq.
Wargo had just received a donation of dog brushes designed to attract dirt while combing through dog coats, and thought they'd be perfect for animals in the dusty Middle East.
The Girl Scout troop was sending about 50 pounds of dog paraphernalia, said Wargo, and weren't able to handle the 1,000 brushes and 500 pounds of dog food Daffy's was offering. They referred him to the U.S. War Dogs Association, a group of retired dog-handlers in New Jersey who could get the packages directly to the dog kennels at bases in Iraq.
"We know they're not going to get them there for Christmas anyway, since it can take three weeks to get stuff over there," Wargo said. "But we're still including all the Christmas cards and letters and pictures that people were sending for the handlers and soldiers in Iraq."
More than 700 dogs are working with the military in Iraq, according to Wargo, whose group is shipping items to about 300 of those dogs in 45 kennels on military bases. As the dogs rotate into the war zone, handlers will be able to select items for their furry friends.
Daffy's will continue to send treats and brushes to canine soldiers, but Wargo is looking forward to sending other gear that handlers say their dogs really need.
"You start out thinking, 'Oh wow - this is really going to help out,' " Wargo said. "And then you find out that there are 700 dogs in Iraq, and they need things like eye goggles and bulletproof jackets that are going to help them survive over there."
Once the War Dogs Association sends Wargo its wish list, he'll post it on the group's Web site, www.daffyspetsoupkitchen.com.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, January 02, 2010
Jan 1, 2010
Releasing the helm of The Ark
By Jennifer L. Johnson
Published Friday, January 01, 2010
After more than two decades directing The Ark, a faith-based help agency, Laura MacArthur begins the New Year as a retiree.
The mother of five children, MacArthur looks forward to getting a chance to do all the things she never had the time to do. Even so, she will miss coming into work, she said.
"I'm leaving not because there's anything wrong or because I'm unhappy, but just because it's time," said MacArthur, 64. "I don't think there are a lot of people who can say that they truly love their job and wake up each morning happy to come in to work."
MacArthur helped found The Ark, a cooperative effort of 35 local church congregations offering support to people who need assistance with basic needs like rent and utilities.
"We're not all things to all people, but what we do is fantastic in the sense of these short-term needs," MacArthur said.
Anyone who comes to the organization can get some kind of help, even if it's not financial. Most of the financial help goes to working people.
More than just money, The Ark gives people knowledge, a referral to another agency like the Athens Area Emergency Food Bank or information about how to cut a telephone or cable bill.
Most of The Ark's clients - or "neighbors" - are single women with children.
"It's how we do things here that matters," MacArthur said. "We do it with care and with respect - even when we say no."
MacArthur helped form The Ark while working as outreach director at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, where she saw requests for help triple in the first six months she worked there. MacArthur saw how local churches struggled to coordinate services and how families applied to church after church for assistance.
"As part of my job at Emmanuel, I looked into the possibility of creating a place for these people to go and get help from all of these congregations," MacArthur said.
Founders worked for nine months to set up The Ark and establish its first headquarters on property owned by Emmanuel, which also paid MacArthur's salary at first. After a year, the nonprofit began renting space from the Athens Area Emergency Food Bank on Barber Street, where The Ark is still located.
MacArthur, a native of Bethesda, Md., with a background in social work, moved to Athens in 1983 so her husband could work at the Navy Supply Corps School.
MacArthur will stay in Athens and focus on her two dogs, spend time outdoors and continue going to the book club started by friends at The Ark.
"The nature of this job is that you create friends. I'll continue to be friends with all the employees and volunteers here," she said. "There have been such great people who have come through The Ark that have made it what it is."
The volunteers are the reason MacArthur never felt burned out at work, she said. Laughing together helped boost their spirits even in the face of the tough situations they handle every day.
Over the years, MacArthur was most satisfied when The Ark came together with other organizations for a project, like helping the Clarke County School District provide clothes for a child in need.
"Yes, we might just be the money part, but what if they didn't have that?" MacArthur said. "We don't get funding from the government so we can do what we think our religious congregations would want us to do in those situations."
MacArthur will be replaced as executive director by Lucy Hudgens, a Rome native returning to the state after spending eight years at Outward Bound, where she was program director of operations in South Carolina.
"Laura has been a wonderful teacher, who has really been able to give me a strong foundation and a background about why we do what we do for this community," said Hudgens. "We will continue to do what The Ark has been able to do for the last 20 years."
The Ark will celebrate its 21st anniversary on Jan. 15 while MacArthur enjoys a late Christmas with her five children and seven grandchildren in a rented eight-bedroom house on Fripp Island, S.C., far from The Ark's Barber Street home.
After devoting two decades to The Ark, MacArthur doesn't plan on checking in on the organization to see how it's faring.
"I have never considered the Ark to be about me because we have so many different committed people," MacArthur said. "The Ark is going to stand on its own - it doesn't need me checking in. I would have failed if it did."
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, January 01, 2010
Published Friday, January 01, 2010
After more than two decades directing The Ark, a faith-based help agency, Laura MacArthur begins the New Year as a retiree.
The mother of five children, MacArthur looks forward to getting a chance to do all the things she never had the time to do. Even so, she will miss coming into work, she said.
"I'm leaving not because there's anything wrong or because I'm unhappy, but just because it's time," said MacArthur, 64. "I don't think there are a lot of people who can say that they truly love their job and wake up each morning happy to come in to work."
MacArthur helped found The Ark, a cooperative effort of 35 local church congregations offering support to people who need assistance with basic needs like rent and utilities.
"We're not all things to all people, but what we do is fantastic in the sense of these short-term needs," MacArthur said.
Anyone who comes to the organization can get some kind of help, even if it's not financial. Most of the financial help goes to working people.
More than just money, The Ark gives people knowledge, a referral to another agency like the Athens Area Emergency Food Bank or information about how to cut a telephone or cable bill.
Most of The Ark's clients - or "neighbors" - are single women with children.
"It's how we do things here that matters," MacArthur said. "We do it with care and with respect - even when we say no."
MacArthur helped form The Ark while working as outreach director at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, where she saw requests for help triple in the first six months she worked there. MacArthur saw how local churches struggled to coordinate services and how families applied to church after church for assistance.
"As part of my job at Emmanuel, I looked into the possibility of creating a place for these people to go and get help from all of these congregations," MacArthur said.
Founders worked for nine months to set up The Ark and establish its first headquarters on property owned by Emmanuel, which also paid MacArthur's salary at first. After a year, the nonprofit began renting space from the Athens Area Emergency Food Bank on Barber Street, where The Ark is still located.
MacArthur, a native of Bethesda, Md., with a background in social work, moved to Athens in 1983 so her husband could work at the Navy Supply Corps School.
MacArthur will stay in Athens and focus on her two dogs, spend time outdoors and continue going to the book club started by friends at The Ark.
"The nature of this job is that you create friends. I'll continue to be friends with all the employees and volunteers here," she said. "There have been such great people who have come through The Ark that have made it what it is."
The volunteers are the reason MacArthur never felt burned out at work, she said. Laughing together helped boost their spirits even in the face of the tough situations they handle every day.
Over the years, MacArthur was most satisfied when The Ark came together with other organizations for a project, like helping the Clarke County School District provide clothes for a child in need.
"Yes, we might just be the money part, but what if they didn't have that?" MacArthur said. "We don't get funding from the government so we can do what we think our religious congregations would want us to do in those situations."
MacArthur will be replaced as executive director by Lucy Hudgens, a Rome native returning to the state after spending eight years at Outward Bound, where she was program director of operations in South Carolina.
"Laura has been a wonderful teacher, who has really been able to give me a strong foundation and a background about why we do what we do for this community," said Hudgens. "We will continue to do what The Ark has been able to do for the last 20 years."
The Ark will celebrate its 21st anniversary on Jan. 15 while MacArthur enjoys a late Christmas with her five children and seven grandchildren in a rented eight-bedroom house on Fripp Island, S.C., far from The Ark's Barber Street home.
After devoting two decades to The Ark, MacArthur doesn't plan on checking in on the organization to see how it's faring.
"I have never considered the Ark to be about me because we have so many different committed people," MacArthur said. "The Ark is going to stand on its own - it doesn't need me checking in. I would have failed if it did."
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, January 01, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)