Electonic's 'vampire loads' sucking us dry?

by Jennifer L. Johnson


To Adam Platto, conserving energy is as easy as opening a window. He has slept with his window open at night - instead of running the air conditioning - since the hottest stretch of summer passed.

"I try to be conscious of consumption," Platto said.

To conserve energy, he runs appliances like the dishwasher and dryer during off-peak hours and turns up the thermostat during the day when no one is home.

He also unplugs his cell phone and shaver chargers when they're not in use.

Platto doesn't know it, but he's killing vampires.

Electronic devices suck power from the outlet even when the machine is turned off, and energy experts are starting to point to that so-called "vampire load" as the next place to save energy.

"Anything that lights up or has a clock on it - like a VCR - is drawing power," said Bonnie Jones, public relations director for Jackson Electric Membership Corp. "Even though your computer is in sleep mode, it's costing you money."

Libraries across the state now allow patrons to check out the Kill A Watt Energy Detector Toolkit and calculate the annual costs of running home appliances.

The hand-sized gadget is plugged in between the outlet and any appliance or power cord and measures how much energy the machine uses. Officials with the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority and the library system hope curious people like Platto visit their local libraries to take advantage of the detector, which may encourage Georgians to decrease their energy use.

"That's genius," said Platto, who moved to Athens over the summer. "Now that I know that they have this thing, I'm going to go get a library card just out of curiosity."

To Platto, saving money is a side-benefit to conserving, but for other people it's the main goal.

Sean Watson doesn't pay any attention to his carbon footprint, but he'll conserve if he sees the cost benefit. (He also recycles, just because.)

"I'm pretty loaded up on energy-saving tips because of friends who are into it," said Watson, 24. "But we try to turn lights and other things off because we're also very poor."

Since taking steps to reduce the cost of powering their apartment, Watson and his roommates have seen their electric bill drop from about $150 a month to $100. He attributes the savings to learning about vampire load.

Watson and his roommates now use a power-strip for their TV and gaming systems that can be switched off easily, and unplug any appliance they don't use every day.

The library's Kill A Watt detectors come with energy-saving tips, operating instructions and directions to download the "appliance efficiency tracker" from www.gefa.org. The tracker is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet formatted to calculate the results with the aid of your monthly electric bill.

"Heating, cooling and water-heating are the majority of your power bill," Jones said. "People need to be measuring how much power their HVAC system is using, their water-heaters and washers, dryers, refrigerators and freezers, if they have them."

Most people who have borrowed the Kill A Watt detectors read about the idea in newsletters from the library or Jackson EMC.

A woman whose husband had wondered for years about how much energy it took to operate their stove recently came in to borrow a detector, said Mazie Bowen, a librarian at the Athens-Clarke County Library.

"He was really excited to find out," Bowen said.

The detector measures the energy efficiency of individual appliances by the kilowatt-hour and, with the help of the spreadsheet, estimates the cost of operating the appliance by the hour, day, week, month and year.

"It's so much different when you can see it, when it's right there in your face," Platto said.

The three big-ticket energy-consumers - refrigerators, freezers and dishwashers - can cost several hundred dollars a year to operate. Smaller items like toasters, blenders and cell phone chargers combined can use as much power to run as your refrigerator.

"Everyone talks about creating renewable sources of energy," Platto said. "But why don't we just conserve what we have?"

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, September 28, 2009

Healing Place in danger of closing its doors again

Photo by David Manning

by Jennifer L. Johnson

The letter on Casey Minish's desk came from an incarcerated man in Hall County who needs drug and alcohol treatment.

The fact that the inmate doesn't have the money to pay wouldn't normally bother Minish.

But now, the thing standing between the man and addiction treatment is cash, and that fact does bother Minish.

"If we have the money and the bed available, we do not turn anyone away because they don't have the money," said Minish, executive director of The Healing Place. "The problem is that I do not have the funds to take him in."

The Healing Place is a multipurpose facility in Athens that serves men not only with substance abuse problems, but also men who need emergency overnight shelter and, usually later, transitional housing.

Shelter Manager Evan Conner turns away four or five men a night because the 12 available beds fill up quickly.

The faith-based drug and alcohol recovery program includes the 90-day residential program, help finding a job and housing, and ongoing support after the person returns to the community to live a life of sobriety.

Some, like 28-year-old Conner, complete the program and are allowed to stay and work with the men who arrive later.

"I've been through four other treatment programs before this," Conner said. "I learned more in two weeks at this place then in five years at those others."

The program costs $1,050, but as many as 85 percent of the clients don't have the money to pay, according to Minish. Most go through the program at little or no charge, even though it costs the nonprofit about $4,000 per client.

That might no longer be possible, according to organizers. The Healing Place only has enough money to remain open for another month and a half.

This isn't the first time The Healing Place teetered on the brink of closing. The organization lost its home in February 2008, but donors and community helped the organization get back on its feet.

As with many nonprofits, charitable donations are down due to the economy, and that money pays 95 percent of the cost to operate The Healing Place, Minish said.

Even its thin slice of government funding is shrinking.

A state Department of Community Affairs grant usually supplies the group with $20,000 to $30,000 a year. This year, The Healing Place received $5,000.

"We need general operating expenses," Minish said. Rent and utilities for the organization's building on West Broad Street run about $4,000 a month and so far this year, the organization is $26,000 in the red.

Minish is the only paid employee at The Healing Place; programs, including the shelter and transitional housing, are staffed by former clients who have chosen to continue living and working at the shelter.

"If the doors of The Healing Place close, there are 25 men that are going to be back on the streets," said Minish.

One of those men is Dwayne Waldrop, who has been at The Healing Place for more than a year.

"This place is changing people's lives on a daily basis," said Waldrop, 28. His parents found the program after he was arrested on drug charges last year and given the choice of prison or rehab.

"If this place closed its doors, I'd be up under a bridge somewhere," he said.

More than a place to live, residents say The Healing Place is a positive environment for addicts to work on their sobriety.

"The program gave me more insight on my life," said Darren Williams, 40, who completed the treatment program on Friday. "Not just from my past addiction, but what I would need for my future to stay clean and have a successful life."

Fifty-two-year-old Mike Conner of Rutledge joined the treatment program in late August after going through several secular rehabilitation programs.

"I was hitting rock bottom, I was homeless, I had burned all the bridges," said Conner, whose son is the shelter manager. "I came here and they took me right in. They treated me with nothing but love and respect."

Eighty percent of homeless people in Athens are men, and more than half of homeless people admitted to having a substance abuse problem in a January survey, to Evan Mills, community development specialist at the Athens-Clarke Human and Economic Development Department.

"I don't know what will happen to Clarke County if we don't continue to operate," said Healing Place board President Jerry Kiser.

Right now, the board of directors is appealing to the organization's mailing list and speaking to UGA classes and local churches about what the nonprofit does.

"This place has the ability to help people," Evan Conner said. "It's helped me."

Contact the Healing Place at (706) 369-0603.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, September 27, 2009

Council making plans for historic renovation

Photo by Richard Hamm

by Jennifer Johnson

WINTERVILLE - City leaders have taken the first step toward renovating the historic Winterville High School - finding out just what's inside.

The Winterville City Council recently agreed to spend $1,440 for an asbestos inspection of the old Winterville High School and auditorium, which the city bought for $1 this summer, as leaders make plans to renovate the historic buildings.

"Until we do an inspection, we don't have any idea what we're dealing with," said City Councilwoman Mary Quinn.

A group of citizens and government officials is overseeing the renovation of the two buildings after the city purchased them from the Clarke County Board of Education in June. The committee arranged for an environmental hazard testing company to take samples of various materials around the buildings located on North Church Street.

The samples will be analyzed in a lab to identify any problems with the materials in the building.

"This is step one of where we have to go," said Bob White, chairman of the rehabilitation committee.

Next up, the committee will solicit quotes from architects, who will have to incorporate in their plans how to deal with any asbestos or other hazardous material that turns up in the inspection, according to White, who works at the physical plant at the University of Georgia. Those proposals likely will be due in November or December.

The cost of architectural work could range from $125,000 to $167,000, according to White, but actually completing the work may run $1 million to $1.5 million.

"Let's face it - it's going to be expensive," he said. "When you get into historic preservation, it gets real expensive."

In the meantime, city leaders will do what they can to improve the property. A fence and cracked asphalt behind the school will be removed and recycled in the next few days.

"We're trying to make it look better for the community and the environment," White said. "Hopefully, just for the cost of 20 or 30 pounds of grass seed."

Next month, locals will get a chance to tell city officials how they'd like to see the space used.

"We're in the research stages," White said. "We need to find out what the community wants to do with these buildings."

Committee members warn that the buildings can't be used for just anything - no school or a day care - because both buildings have lead paint, and removing all the paint isn't practical, he said.

Suggestions may be sent at any time via the city clerk at winterville@charter.net.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Nonprofit seeks new zone class

by Jennifer L. Johnson

WINTERVILLE - A nonprofit organization working to build a planned community for developmentally disabled people may ask the city of Winterville to create a new zoning class.

The would-be developers of Sycamore Ridge are working on a proposal for a new zoning district for Winterville, a class they are calling an "assisted residential district," said Planning and Zoning Commission member David Dreesen.

Sycamore Ridge representatives met with Dreesen and the city engineer to ask about how best to present their proposal, which is on the agenda for the commission's Oct. 5 meeting, said Dreesen.

"We're currently working with the Winterville Planning and Zoning Commission about zoning requirements," said Nicholas Harris, executive director of Sycamore Ridge. "Once the land has been zoned in the appropriate category, we'll be ready to move forward with developing."

Organizers met with the Planning and Zoning Commission early this month and proposed the city rezone the land under the "professional limited commercial" class, the type of zoning for places like doctor's offices and private schools.

Planning commissioners voted unanimously to reject the proposal because they didn't see the development - which plans to provide jobs for its residents in a garden center, artist market and café - as a private school, as organizers had suggested.

The developers decided not to appeal to the city council, and instead will propose the city create the new district.

The group plans to close on an 87-acre tract of land stretching from Parkview Drive across to South Main Street in Winterville on Dec. 31.

The development hinges on the zoning and closing the contract, said Harris. If everything goes according to plan, some housing and vocational programs for the first set of residents would be up and running within 16 months of closing on the land.

At a hearing in August, Winterville residents worried that rezoning the entire 87 acres would leave the city with no control over the type of commercial business that might go there if Sycamore Ridge fails.

Though some people expressed concern about traffic, Sycamore Ridge has not received any calls or e-mails from opponents.

"It's a collaborative effort," said Harris. "We're trying to meet the needs of the community, and the community is trying to meet the needs of Sycamore Ridge."

The organization has been receiving calls from families with questions about admission requirements, people interested in serving on the board and professionals looking for jobs.

"The residents of Winterville have been very, very open to us," said Harris. "We've tried very hard to address their concerns without jeopardizing the true mission of what Sycamore Ridge is all about."

The next Planning and Zoning Commission meeting is at 7 p.m. Oct. 5 in Winterville City Hall.


Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, September 19, 2009

"Nota Bene, Latin for "note well," is Phi Theta Kappa's honors anthology. It recognizes outstanding writing of Phi Theta Kappa members and demonstrates to the literary public the academic excellence and commitment to scholarship found at two-year colleges. The first issue of Nota Bene was published in 1994; it has been published annually ever since.

The Citation Scholarship, a stipend of $1,000, is given to the author of the Nota Bene manuscript considered to be the most outstanding of all entries.

Four authors receive the Reynolds Scholarship Awards, stipends of $500 each. These awards are endowed by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. They honor the memory of the late Donald W. Reynolds, founder of the Donrey Media Group."
--- From the Phi Theta Kappa Nota Bene Web site.

September 30, 2009:
"Members whose literary works were selected for the 2009 edition of Nota Bene, Phi Theta Kappa's literary honors anthology, are announced this week.

Nota Bene is distributed internationally to community college leaders and community college libraries.

"We congratulate our 2009 Nota Bene honorees and their colleges," said Phi Theta Kappa Executive Director Rod A. Risley, who serves as Founding Editor of the honors anthology.

"At a time when writing skills are neglected, Phi Theta Kappa is proud to provide a platform to nurture creative writing and effective communication. Nota Bene, which will be distributed internationally, will showcase outstanding writing by community college students and emphasize the opportunities for excellence found at community colleges," said Risley.

Jennifer Johnson of Georgia Perimeter College received the Citation Scholarship of $1,000 for the entry judged best overall, her short story, The Act of Salvaging.

Reynolds Scholarships of $500 each were awarded to:

Mariangela Jordan, Greenville Technical College, South Carolina, for her poem, English 101. Jordan's poem History was also selected for the 2009 edition.

Jandra Oliver, Nashua Community College, New Hampshire, for her poem, Future Memory. Oliver's poem Sorting Socks will also be included.

Jared C. Silvia, Valencia Community College, Winter Park Campus, Florida, for his short story, Uncle Benny. Silvia's short story, The Boxer, was also selected.

Linda Sirois, Bay de Noc Community College, Escanaba Campus, Michigan, for her essay, Terva Paikka. Sirois' essay, A Few Words about Algebra, was also selected.

Members and their submissions chosen for publication include:

Brittani Alexander, Glendale Community College, Arizona, Mae - short story

Gabriel Dietz, Butte College, California, God, Man and the Mysterious Force - research paper

Alison Green, Illinois Valley Community College, Illinois, The Platte City Rabble-Rousers - short story

Anthony Heyward, Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York, Granddaddy - essay

Mitzi Kay Jackson, Wayne County Community College, Downtown Campus, Michigan,
Long Way to Go - poem

Linda Lyons, Pima Community College, Arizona, Beginnings - essay

Jennifer L. Miller, Butte College, California, Note to the English Teacher - poem

Alison Ann Springle, Bucks County Community College, Newtown Campus, Pennsylvania, Holiday Wish - poem

Kaitlin Williams, College of the Desert, California, Back Alleys - poem

James A. Yarrow, Santa Ana College, California, For a Rainy Day - poem "

--Press release from Phi Theta Kappa



The Act of Salvaging, a story I wrote about a year ago, was selected as the 2009 Nota Bene Citation Award.

I'm over the moon!

If ever I needed any encouragement to continue writing, this is it. Just when I needed it.

A story at every stop on Winterville tour

Photograph by Tricia Spaulding


By Jennifer L. Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 12:31 am on 9/5/2009

WINTERVILLE - When trains carrying soldiers to a Civil War hospital in Union Point stopped at a station like the one in Winterville, they sometimes left the dead behind to make more room for the living.

John Schroeder was left behind.

Though the Confederate Army made an effort to return dead solders to their families, Schroeder is buried between four unmarked graves and an air-conditioning unit behind Winterville United Methodist Church on the town square. The graves aren't visible from the church parking lot or the road, and there are no signs letting visitors know they even exist.

Mary Quinn can't wait to show people where they are.

"There's a story everywhere you turn here," said the longtime Wintervillian.

Quinn would know - she's learned the depth of the city's history through research and interviews with the families who call Winterville home.

"The facts that you can find are real limited," she said. "It's the stories you got to get from people."

Quinn will share the stories she's learned when she leads a tour of Winterville's historic district Sunday.

The tour is part of a series organized by the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation to celebrate Athens' designation by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of its 2009 Dozen Distinctive Destinations.

"We really needed to come up with something great to celebrate this," said Amy Kissane, the executive director of the foundation. The tour series continues through this summer and autumn as part of the foundations' Athens Heritage Walk campaign.

"Walking tours to me are the best way to get to know an area because you're with a small group of people, with someone who obviously loves the area," said foundation trustee Amy Andrews.

Andrews helped organize the schedule and works with the amateur historians who are conducting the tours of places like the Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery, the Milledge Circle historic district and the University of Georgia's Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

"With this focus, we wanted to look at some unique aspects of Athens-Clarke County," she said. "Places like Winterville that are a little bit off the beaten path."

Quinn welcomes the opportunity to share stories of her childhood home, she said, and is glad the heritage foundation included Winterville in the historical tours.

"We see it as a perfect opportunity to introduce others to our quaint community," she said.

Andrews wasn't very familiar with Winterville, even though she had attended the city's celebrated Marigold Festival, which was held from 1971 to 2002 and revived this year.

"I didn't even know how it got its name until I started to talk to Mary Quinn," said Andrews.

Georgia Railroad station manager John Winter volunteered his family name when it came time to title the one-mile radius around the wood-and-water stop six miles east of Athens.

When the tour participants gather in the recently renovated train depot to start their tour at 2 p.m. Sunday, they'll hear how Winter and his brothers immigrated from Germany and settled in the railroad town.

Though no descendants of the German immigrant live in the city today, four former Winter family homes will be stops on the tour.

The tour begins in the train depot, and will include a blacksmith shop, the Carter-Coile Doctors Museum, Pittard Park, the Hunnicutt Hotel and several architecturally significant houses in the area that are included in the National Register of Historic Places.

The walking tour also will stop at the city's newest acquisition, the old Winterville High School and its 450-seat opera-style auditorium.

The school has sat dilapidated for about five years, said Quinn. Though they won't get to go inside, tour participants will peek in windows and step over the dedication stone from the graduating classes of 1926 and 1927.

The tour will pass parts of the abandoned railroad that runs parallel to Main Street. The right-of-way is part of a proposed rails-to-trails project to convert 38 miles of abandoned railway into a walking and cycling trail from Athens to Union Point.

"This is a railroad town, where everyday people worked and where they lived," said Quinn.

Tour spaces still are available for Sunday and for a reprise of the same tour, scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 10. Registration is $12 for Athens Clarke Heritage Foundation members and $15 for non-members. Registration forms, tour details and schedules can be found online at www.achfonline.org.

Though space is limited, there may be room for last-minute participants who arrive at the train depot on Main Street in downtown Winterville before 2 p.m. For more information, call the ACHF at (706) 353-1801.

Credibility is all in the digging

Being a conscientious reporter is an especially tedious endeavor at the moment.

I'm waiting for a call back from a Civil War historian or a researcher at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw (whomever contacts me first) to double-check the verity of an anecdotal lead involving a dead guy, a railroad line and a defunct (or then-temporary) Confederate Hospital in Union Point, which may also have been called Scruggsville at the time.

Sure, I could shrug my shoulders, say, 'what the hell', and proceed with my story the way it is. 'So what,' I could say. 'A Civil War historian gets bent out of shape because I confused the railroad track that went into a little city in North--

Oh. There. The phone.

Apparently, I had it wrong... good thing I checked.

It took some digging and a few phone calls, but I think it was worth it to retain a reader that might have gotten bent out of shape over fallacies in an anecdotal lead.

Maybe being a conscientious reporter isn't quite as tedious an endeavor as I thought...

'Be The Bitch'

"Ms. Johnson, what would you say if I told you that we can continue to deliver you the same great service at a fraction of the cost you now pay?"

"A fraction of the cost sounds nice, but I don't need it," I said, trying to wiggle out of the retail conundrum. "I really just want to close out my accounts with you."

"What can I do to convince you to reinvest your business in insert company name here?"

"Nothing, really. I'm sorry. I really am, but I just don't need a insert product/service name here anymore."

"Ms. Johnson, we here at insert company name here understand your frustration--"

Really?

"--And that's why we want to offer you the best possible solutions to make your money work for you, and to work toward your goals with a partner you can trust..."


A few weeks ago, when Mom moved out to the country and our joke of a cell phone provider tried to retain our business by trying to get her to purchase extra products and services to boost a non-existent signal, she handed me the phone. It felt as if she were giving me a free pass; a signal that clearly said 'Be The Bitch'.

Sure, I listened to the guy on the other end of the line, explained our predicament and told him we would not be investing any more money in the cell phone carrier. I ended the conversation sternly, making it clear there would be no further business transacted with the Johnson family. The relief that played across my mother's face made me feel good about being 'the bitch'.

It always surprises me, however, how hard it is to do.

I was on the phone today for nearly fifteen minutes trying to close out an account I no longer needed. I'm sure every customer-retention strategy was levied at me, and I understand that.

After all, I had to stand behind a counter and try to pitch credit cards to students who didn't know the first thing about overdraft fees, and try to persuade customers doing cash-advances on their credit cards to sit down with a personal banker to talk about applying for a line of credit they obviously couldn't swing. But at least I prided myself on stopping when I got the push-back.

I might have been pushing back against a brick wall today. And yet, my inner-bitch did not come to the surface. I did not struggle to bite my tongue. Strange that I can cop an attitude in completely unnecessary situations and still have a reputation among friends for being sweet all the time.

My family and my 'him' recognize that a little too much pushing and the bitch is there, dammit.

I'm not sure if I ever really paid attention to it before, but that 'inner bitch' is really the manifestation of my self-defense mechanism. It leaps to action when someone tries to take advantage of my family, but is strangely quiet when I'm being personally tormented by false authority figures (at least 'til a point). It overreacts, often savagely, at the slightest hint of pugilism from my 'him'. It is ugliest when it rushes to confront its arch-enemy, the acerbically-witted, forked-tongued inner bitch of the one with whom I share blood.

But in appropriate situations, when you need that little 'screw you, bub' injection to defend yourself, I tend to be a lamb about it. I understand now that fascination with those brazen women of the silver-screen, those take-charge broads who don't put up with anything. Each of us really could use a little more of that attitude in our lives, that 'don't you dare mess with me... or else' aura.

What really strikes me most, though, is that the only ones that will probably ever see my inner bitch are the people that deserve it the least.

The Secret to Productivity

Unplug your TV. Do it.
Layer your bed with clothes that
need to be folded. Put every
conceivable thing on your
desk or at your feet that you
absolutely have to deal
with. Promise yourself you'll
take a short break in-between
tasks. Relax. You can get a
lot done in an hour. Just
don't look at the clock. Other-
wise, you might realize that one
hour has just become five.

Right reaction key to avoiding dog attack

When animals threaten
By Jennifer L. Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:14 pm on 8/22/2009

John Cooper used to walk a mile and a half to the local gas station to buy a pack of cigarettes - until he crossed paths with a 70-pound black lab.

"I had no idea what to do," said Cooper, 27. "I tried to pass him, but he snapped and took a step toward me."

Cooper did the only thing he could think of - he yelled at the dog.

"That's the worst thing you can do," said Christy Champagne, a supervisor at the Athens-Clarke Animal Control shelter. Making yourself appear more of a threat doesn't help diffuse the situation. She also advises people not to tempt an animal's instincts by fleeing in fear.

"If you're running, obviously they're going to chase you," said Champagne. "They're dogs."

Cooper did run and the dog did chase him - for a block or two.

"I never walked to the store again and I quit smoking after that," said Cooper. "It scared the hell out of me."

The animal shelter where Champagne works has been getting a lot of calls from people afraid of aggressive dogs since an Oglethorpe County couple were killed last weekend by a pack of feral dogs. People are worried they might find themselves in a situation like Cooper did and not know what to do.

But there are signs you can look out for to help avoid a confrontation with a dog, said Kate Jackson, a certified dog trainer and one of the owners of Jabula Dog Academy in Decatur.

"The most blatant sign is a lack of general sociability," said Jackson. "If a dog doesn't seek out positive human interaction, they're more than likely not going to tolerate any negative reactions from humans at all."

If a dog doesn't immediately soften its body language and try to approach you in a relaxed way, that dog has the potential to bite you, according to Jackson.
If a dog becomes rigid and or tries to maintain eye contact, be wary.

"A lot of people think if a dog is not growling and barking at them, it's not threatening," said Jackson. "It's even more dangerous for a dog to stand dead still and stare at you."

People often believe - wrongly - that a wagging tail is a green light to approach a dog.

"Don't trust the tail," said Jackson. All the swish means is that the dog's level of arousal - aggression, excitability or adrenaline - has increased.

"You should always be cautious around any dog that is unfamiliar," said Champagne, who warns that any dog has the capacity to bite, regardless of breed.

After you've identified the signs that an animal may be dangerous, the most important thing to do is defuse the situation.

First, remain calm and slow down your movement.

Animal control officers teach children to act like trees when meeting unfamiliar canines. Standing still with arms flat to your sides is a non-threatening stance that even adults should use with new animals.

That doesn't mean you should be stiff, said Jackson. Stay as relaxed as possible, because rigid body language tells a dog that you're unapproachable and a potential threat, according to Jackson. If the dog's behavior does not change, keep your eyes on the ground and slowly walk away. Never run and do not scream.

Sometimes a confrontation is unavoidable.

Some experts, including Champagne, suggest carrying a walking stick. Jackson disagrees and recommends carrying pepper spray instead. A shot to the dog's eyes or nose should immediately disable him, as it would a person.

Since Lothar and Sherry Schweder were attacked by a pack of dogs not far from their home, some callers have said that they worry about groups of wild dogs in their neighborhoods, Champagne said.

Serious dog attacks are rare, and many feral dogs will not get close to people, she said.

Still, people who encounter an aggressive dog or group of dogs should call authorities after danger passes, the experts said. It's the best way to protect yourself from a potentially dangerous dog and may also help protect your neighbors.
Follow the same advice when you encounter a group of dogs or an individual dog, the experts say.

"Your body language should say to a dog, 'I'm not challenging you, I'm not a threat to you, I'm going to defuse (the situation) and try to leave you alone,' " said Jackson.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, August 23, 2009

Group needs funding to build

Donations to Women's Build, Habitat for Humanity down



By Jennifer Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 10:25 pm on 8/22/2009

To Heather McElroy, there's a certain feeling of empowerment that women get from building a house together.

Women Build, an all-female group that works with Habitat for Humanity, always has an overflow of volunteers ready to swing hammers or wield paintbrushes. Like many Habitat projects, everything from the roofing to landscaping, painting to siding is handled by volunteers.

"Everyone wants to get out and build," said McElroy, special events co-chair for Women Build. "But we need money before we can do that."

Charitable giving is down, a symptom of the weak economy, and it's slowing the work of all Athens area nonprofits.

"People are just really worried about what they spend their money on right now," McElroy said.

Athens Area Habitat for Humanity first started to see donations drop about a year ago, according to it Executive Director Spencer Frye.

"I would say that pretty much all nonprofits for the past year and a half have been experiencing a fall in their donor dollars," said Frye.

Women Build and Habitat for Humanity need $65,000 per house before they can break ground.

The nonprofit relies on money donations as well as volunteers to help build their homes.

"It really saves us a lot of money and allows us to maintain the affordability of the houses," Frye said. For $207 a month - plus taxes and insurance - a low-income family can afford a house of their own.

"There are a great number of hard-working poor people for whom the only reason they can't get into homeownership is because they have a lack of income," Frye said.
Despite economic hurdles, Athens Area Habitat is in the process of completing their 70th home.

Although Women Build's goal was to break ground by the end of the year, they might not be able to start working before 2010 rolls around. It takes Habitat about 12 to 20 weeks to build a house, but a lot longer to come up with the money to take that first step.

"We've been doing this eight months now, and we're not even halfway to our goal," McElroy said.

Last year, Women Build had a $10,000 grant from Lowe's, was given $4,000 by the Gainesville College Habitat, and had help from a Best Buy initiative to brainstorm and create signage.

"It's hard, with this economic environment, for individuals, churches or companies to put up the kinds of funds that they have in the past," Frye said.

In years past, Women Build had a waiting list of companies willing to sponsor houses. Now, corporate sponsorships are slow in coming, forcing the charity to rely more on donations from individuals. Women Build has sponsorship packets from $100 to $2,500, and have hosted men's bake sales and women's bridge games to help raise money for the next house.

For now, Women Build is working to get the word out about their cause with Google groups and a Facebook page while their representatives and volunteers try to rally donors from their schools, churches, businesses and neighborhoods.

McElroy is hoping that a planned bridge game at the Watkinsville Community Center in September will bring in a few extra dollars toward their next project, the fourth home that Women Build has helped construct.

"Everyone just wants to get out and build," McElroy said. "Hopefully we'll be able to do that soon."

For more information about Athens Area Habitat for Humanity or Women Build, go to www.athenshabitat.com.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, August 23, 2009

Ambitious jobs-for-disabled plan raises questions

By Jennifer Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 12:19 am on 8/5/2009

Nick Harris wants what any father wants for his teenage son - to be happy, healthy and find a rewarding career. But cleaning McDonald's restrooms or chasing down carts in a grocery store parking lot are the only options for Ethan, a teenager born with Down syndrome.

Harris is hoping a proposed community for people with disabilities would give Ethan and people like him the chance to live independently and find a meaningful way to contribute to society.

"The need for job opportunities for adults with disabilities is astronomical," said Harris, executive director of Sycamore Ridge, a nonprofit organization with plans to open a residential community for the developmentally disabled in Winterville.
Not everyone agrees that Harris and his team have picked the right way to help developmentally-disabled people land good jobs.

As they came out to hear the group's plans at a public hearing Monday, some said they worry about traffic and what will happen if Sycamore Ridge's ambitious plan fails.

An 87-acre tract stretching from Parkview Drive across to South Main Street will include an equine barn, riding rink, garden center, artist market and café open to the public, creating jobs for the people who live there. The campus-like community will include four six-bedroom cottages with private rooms for residents and could house 80 adults when the project is complete.

But neighbors worry that once the property is rezoned, the plans might change.
"We like the community the way it is," said resident Dawn Perry.

Winterville residents are especially wary of development after a legal tussle over city ordinances left a planned 158-lot subdivision called Winterville Station only partially constructed.

"I have no problems with the adults that you're planning on putting here," said Perry, whose home is close to the property. "But what if this doesn't work and you have to abandon the property? I want some guarantees - something substantial - that says you're going to succeed."

Sycamore Ridge isn't intended as a profit-making venture, developers said. The café, market and other businesses wouldn't have to pay the original cost to build infrastructure, investments that a charity would fund.

"I don't know what's going to happen in five, 10, 15 years," said Winterville Mayor Jim Mercer. "But I can guarantee you that eventually, something's going to happen to that land."

The property comprises 5 percent of the land inside the city limits, and that is one reason why citizens are concerned, said Mercer. Though the project is just beginning the process of government approval, Winterville residents were clear that they don't want the entire 87 acres rezoned.

Some of the regulations over the project may be addressed as variances, rather than rezoning the entire area commercial, said planning and zoning committee member David Dreesen.

"We're not here to bait and switch," said Sycamore Ridge Vice Chairman David McKenna. "We'll commit to whatever we have to commit to, to get your approval."
Not all residents disapprove of the group's plans.

"A planned community with greenspace and a park-like atmosphere is far more appealing than having 80 houses built which would cause increased traffic and demands on our infrastructure," said resident Rebecca Silver.

Developers have not done a traffic study, said McKenna, but from his 20 years experience in real estate, he doesn't anticipate traffic problems. Employees arriving in the morning and leaving in the afternoon will come in the opposite direction of rush-hour traffic, and Sycamore Ridge residents won't have their own cars.

"We really think that there is an economic benefit for Winterville," said McKenna. At full capacity a few years from now, developers anticipate between 90 and 120 jobs could be created for non-disabled local residents.

"Frankly, we just fell in love with your community," said McKenna. "Everything just clicked with Athens, Winterville and this site."

But some experts don't think the Sycamore Ridge model is best for developmentally disabled people.

"Having this here is going to take resources and attention away from people in the community," said Jenny Manders of the Institute on Human Development and Disability, a federally-funded agency at UGA that advocates to keep developmentally disabled people living in their own homes and a part of the community. Organizations like the Statewide Independent Living Council and the Georgia Advocacy Office agree and are opposed to the facility.

Developers recognize that there are groups that oppose their planned community.

"It may not be the place for everybody," said Harris.

A special education director and parent to a developmentally-disabled child, Joan Baird recognizes that some groups don't agree with the group's mission.

"Having spent my life trying to make the world better for people with disabilities, (I think) this is a great thing for some people," said Baird. "Not for everyone, but for some people."

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Wednesday, August 05, 2009

High degree of emotion at UGA's summer commencement

Keep your eye on your goal, graduates told

By Jennifer Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:44 pm on 8/1/2009

The key to success is simple, recently retired gymnastics coach Suzanne Yoculan told a crowd of University of Georgia graduates and their families packed into Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday morning.

"See it. Say it. Do it."

Yoculan recalled the nerve-wracking moments before UGA gymnast Courtney Kupets attempted her final vault at the NCAA Gymnastics Championships in April.
Kupets was standing very still with her eyes closed when Yoculan approached to offer a coach's words of encouragement.

Before she could speak, Kupets turned to her, told her to relax and said that she would stick the landing. Kupets made a perfect 10, clinching the title for the Gym Dogs.

Kupets, like her teammates, visualizes what she wants to happen, says it out loud and then goes for it.

"I'm confident that you visualized many, many times, this day - your graduation day," she said. "You saw it, you said it, and you did it."

About 1,300 UGA students followed through on their education goals this summer, capping the accomplishment with Saturday's dual ceremony for undergraduate and graduate students.

While undergraduates outnumber grad students on UGA's campus, many master's and specialist programs wrap up in summer, university President Michael Adams pointed out to the crowd. In all, 144 doctoral and 441 master's and specialist in education degrees were awarded in addition to the more than 700 bachelor's degrees.

Two undergraduates were recognized for perfect records. Dustin Charles Elliott (philosophy) and George Frederick Akers (advertising) maintained 4.0 grade-point averages to be named First Honor Graduates. "You're now in a position as a graduate that the world will expect uncommon things from you," Adams told the graduates.
Yoculan echoed the sentiment.

"In 2009, the pressure is on for people to perform at their best, and you cannot do that without a clear picture," Yoculan said. "The most important thing you need to do today is to begin your picture."

Charles Barnes already is following Yoculan's advice. Barnes knew he wanted to become a school counselor, and after a year-long program at UGA, the 40-year-old is set to work in the DeKalb county school system as an intervention specialist.
"I feel like anyone who comes through the professional school counseling program will leave well-equipped to be an effective school counselor," said Barnes.
For some students, the transition from the academic world to the working world will be seamless.
Already employed at Oconee County Middle School as a chorus teacher, Shelynn Scott, 29, will go into the new school year with a master's degree in music education from UGA. "I think I'll miss the concerts and football games most," Scott said.
Unlike Scott, some graduating students have uncertain futures.

Courtney Belcher, 22, began at Georgia as a fashion merchandising major before realizing what she really wanted to do was teach the second grade. She graduated Saturday with a bachelor of arts in child and family development, but isn't sure when she'll reach that next goal.

"I'd really like to teach in the fall, but since the economy is kind of rough right now. I might go back to school in January to get my master's," Belcher said.
Despite the job market, many students are optimistic about finding employment.
San Diego-native Jennifer Cross transferred to UGA from Georgia State University after a six-year stint in the military helped her pay for school.

Now, armed with a degree in criminal justice, Cross, 27, wants to do something in law enforcement at the federal level.

"I'm moving back to my hometown," she said. "I don't have a job, but I'm going to start looking."

The future successes of the graduating class and those of the university's championship sports teams start in the same place, said Yoculan.

"Our teams see themselves on the victory stand. We keep the picture clear by talking about it, but then we focus on the day-to-day details," said Yoculan. "Yes, life is a journey, but the journey goes nowhere without a clear picture."

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, August 02, 2009

Sharecropper's house to be added to Heritage Park

By Jennifer Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 7:37 pm on 7/25/2009

When Albert Ward started looking for a house, he didn't go to a local real-estate agent. He went to the Watkinsville postmaster.

"I told her what we were attempting to do and I said, 'I have an idea that if any house exists of this nature, your mail carriers will have seen it,' " Ward said.
Ward wasn't looking for a place to live; he wanted a place to illustrate how many Oconee Countians would have lived 100 years ago.

Sure enough, one of the dozen rural mail carriers remembered seeing a plantation-style house along one of her routes. On the property was an old sharecropper house, and it was just what he was looking for.

Ward planned to have the house moved to Heritage Park in Farmington, where a space has been created for historically valuable structures. Two old classmates from Watkinsville High School in the 1940s, Larry Weatherford and Zachary Norville, are working with him on the project.

Ward remembers the tenant farmers' houses dotting the landscape of their youth.
"Zachary and Larry and I were in our sub-teens in the midst of the Depression - that meant that we picked cotton and all our friends came in from the country on buses to go to school," Ward said. "We're all intimately acquainted with how these people lived."

When Ward arrived at the property, he expected to see the construction crew renovating the main house, not pushing the sharecropper house over with a bulldozer. He had no idea that the owner needed to tear down the dilapidated building that day.
"I went up to the construction guys and I said, 'Halt! I need this house!' " Ward said. "They told me to call the owner, who was very excited about the prospect of being able to help."

The owner told Ward she had another sharecropper house on the property that was in better condition.

And soon, history buffs will get the chance to see it for themselves.
Smith Wilson, an expert in restoring historic buildings, will advise the group as they figure out the best way to preserve and place the building. Wilson also restored an 1840s home in Watkinsville for Larry Weatherford and will arrange for the house to be transported to Heritage Park over the next few weeks.

Ward hopes that the house will be placed in a spot that is visible from U.S. Highway 441, if parks officials agree. The sharecropper house will join the Central Schoolhouse building and an early-19th century log cabin in the park.

The citizen group that advises county officials on parks issues will discuss what other buildings should be added to the historic village at its August meeting, according to Lisa Davol, the interim director of Parks and Recreation.

Once the house is settled and weatherproofed, supports will add a porch, the interior will be renovated and stocked with the types of furnishings a family of that era would have used. This likely will be the task of the Oconee County Historical Society.

"They were fairly integral in getting the Central Schoolhouse relocated to Heritage Park," Davol said.

Ward, who has written several books about life in Watkinsville, thought the sharecropper house would be an important addition to the historical village at Heritage Park.

"I've been to villages in Europe that have been set up specifically for the purpose of exposing the public to the way that people used to live," Ward said.
In his presentation to the county commission in June, he theorized that about half of the local population lived in these kinds of houses in the 1930s.

The 1930 census recorded 140 dwellings in Farmington, where Heritage Park is located. Since only 15 were listed as owner-occupied, historians can infer that most of the others were for tenant farmers.

"This sharecropper house will illustrate the way people lived up through the end of World War II, when the G.I. Bill first became available so people could get loans and start building their own homes," Ward said.

Sharecropper houses have all but disappeared from Oconee County, Ward learned as he scoured Watkinsville looking for a house. Expecting that commissioners weren't familiar with the structures, he wanted to take a picture to show them.

"You have to be about 70 years old to remember little barefoot children outside and ladies boiling water in big cast-iron pots," said Ward. "That was an everyday sight for us, which is long since gone."

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, July 26, 2009

Oconee to pay for use of well

Private water source
By Jennifer L. Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:18 am on 7/6/2009

WATKINSVILLE - Oconee County will pay a former commissioner for some of the well water the community has drawn from his well over the past 15 years - though only a fraction of what he proposed.

"I have never asked for anything. If y'all would give me something for it, that'd be great. I could sure use it," William "Bubber" Wilkes told Oconee County commissioners.

Commission Chairman Melvin Davis had suggested to Wilkes that he ask to be reimbursed for his well water and urged him to present a figure to the commission, according to Wilkes. Wilkes initially suggested $2,700, but in the end, commissioners agreed on a much smaller amount: about $674.

Commissioners John Daniell and Jim Luke objected to the size of the payment, because Wilkes and the county never had a formal agreement about taking water from Wilkes' well for a transfer station on Georgia Highway 15. The water primarily was used for restrooms at the transfer station, located across the street from the farm that has been in Wilkes' family more than 50 years.

Wilkes said he offered his family's water - with no strings attached - so the county would not have to drill another well.

"I've never demanded anything, and I'm not demanding anything now," he said.
When asked, Utility Department Director Chris Thomas estimated Oconee County would have paid $5,000 to $10,000 to drill a well, and that at today's costs, Wilkes' bored well would have cost about $2,000 to $2,500.

"We're a county that likes to be fair," Luke said. "I would pay Mr. Wilkes back four years of payments. The county would have gotten a heck of a deal."

The statute of limitations only would extend to four years if Wilkes were to take legal action, commissioners said last week.

Commissioner Chuck Horton, who took Wilkes' seat on the Board of Commissioners, called for the motion that reimbursed the 20-year veteran of the board for his water.
Wilkes, who now works as a security officer at Athens Regional Medical Center, said he is satisfied with the board's decision to pay him the current monthly charge for well water for the past four years, which comes out to about $674.

Editor's note: The reimbursement figure initially suggested by Wilkes was incorrectly reported in a previous version of this story. Wilkes suggested he be reimbursed $2,700.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, July 06, 2009

It's still safe to get in the water at Bishop Park

By Jennifer Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:55 pm on 7/1/2009

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, June 07, 2009

Thomas Ehlers never had shared a swimming pool with a shark before, and he wasn't sure about the proper etiquette.

"Do we have to avoid the shark?" 6-year-old Thomas asked Myla Neal, an administrator for Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services.

"No, he's not a real shark. He's a fun shark, so you shouldn't beat up on him," said Neal.

Thomas and his brothers, Andrew, 4, and Coles, 8, still gave the blue inflatable shark wide berth until their mother, Sarah, swam under its gaping jaw.

Bishop Park's Imitation Ocean - which runs through Friday - turned the pool into an open sea scene to challenge young swimmers' creativity and give Leisure Services a way to kick off Recreation and Parks Month.

Workers roped off a section of the water and filled the bottom with plastic and motorized fish, a giant clamshell, sea turtles, glass stones, dolphins, seahorses and whirling jellyfish to transform the ordinary pool into a deep-sea experience for the young kids.

"We come here every day for swim team," said Sarah Ehlers. "My 4-year-old just learned how to swim, and he's been talking about this all week. 'Mom, is today when we get to swim with the fishes?'"

On opening day, only a handful of kids and their parents chased after fish and played water games.

Ila mom Kenna Allen held on to Emma, 2, as they retrieved bobbing starfish and turtles from the surface.

Five-year-old Alexander Changus had a more challenging task.

"I'm going to dive for more ocean worms," he said, flinging a rubber worm back into the pool.

Leisure Services workers didn't intend the Imitation Ocean to be educational - just a place for kids to splash around with their parents for a different kind of close-to-home vacation.

Lori Changus, from Tallahassee, Fla., was in town with son Alexander and 8-year-old daughter Quinn.

"It's so cute. We don't live in Athens, so this is a real treat for us," she said. "The kids were really anxious to get in the water."

Part of the $3 admission fee for the Imitation Ocean paid for new snorkels that the kids borrowed.

"Are the goggles going to scare the fish away?" 4-year-old Andrew Ehlers asked.
Though the fake fish were undaunted, after a few minutes in the water, most kids exchanged the snorkels for regular swim goggles so they could dive to the bottom and retrieve glass stones and sunken fish.

"They're having a big time on their 'rescue missions,' " Changus said.

Though the organizers were disappointed with the initial turnout, they are hopeful about attracting families with young kids to the sessions today and Friday.
The Imitation Ocean will be open today and Friday from 11 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Bishop Park, 705 Sunset Drive. Admission is $3 per person. Register by calling (706) 613-3580.



Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Thursday, July 02, 2009

Program teaches Winder students to like folk art

By Jennifer Johnson | Athens Banner-Herald | Story updated at 9:56 pm on 6/6/2009

WINDER — Although most art shows would offer wine and cheese, Kerry Bryant thought MoonPies and RC Cola might be more appropriate for the Southern Folk Art Show.
The seventh-graders who showcased their artwork seemed to agree.

The art show was the culmination of a yearlong, hands-on program that had Russell Middle School students exploring the connections between folk art and science, ecology, language arts and culture.

“Every step of the way, it’s been tying the art to the core curriculum standards,” said Bryant, the fine arts coordinator for Barrow County Schools.

Jocelyn Davis, a social studies teacher at Russell Middle School, connected an ancient Korean method of pottery-making to the similar Appalachia method to study different cultures.

“Through art, you can talk about anything,” Davis said.

More than 50 students participated in the program, made possible by a character education grant from the Harrison Foundation two years ago. When they started, many students knew nothing about folk art.

“It’s not an art that you’re used to studying,” Davis said.

And not all the students liked what they saw.

“At first, I thought folk art was really kind of bad, but once I got to meet the artists and learn about them, I really started to like it,” said 13-year-old Joshua Pharr.

In groups of five or six, students visited the home studios of folk artists like potters Michael Crocker and Roger Corn, visual storyteller Billy Roper and recycled materials artist Lisa Pirkle.

“We actually got to talk to her, not just learn about her from a book,” said Charlie Horne, who considered Pirkle her favorite artist.

After a visit, students would return to the classroom and present their experience to fellow classmates, often working with Russell Middle’s media specialist, Aprille Williams. Each student contributed PowerPoint slides, shared videos or brought back samples of the artist’s work to contribute to each lesson.

The students studied 53 artists over the course of the year, and got to try their hand at different folk mediums those artists use.

As the school year wound down last week, they displayed their clay whistles, recycled art and narrative paintings that reflected a childhood memory, with the story that inspired it written with markers on the back. These paintings were styled after pieces by Billy Roper, who came to the school to share his stories with the children.

The program was overseen by language arts teacher Robin Blan, who co-owns a folk art gallery in Dawsonville called Around Back at Rocky’s Place. Blan was instrumental in making the connections between the folk artists and the classroom. Blan’s friend Steve Slotin welcomed the students to his folk art auction at Historic Buford Hall in downtown Buford, where they had a scavenger hunt, finding the work of artists that they had studied.

One particular student, Brandan Cowen, was so taken with the art form that he asked his mother to take him to his first auction this past March, where he found a painting he loved.

“When the piece came up, Henry Slotin got up and told the crowd that he was a kid from my class who really wanted to start his folk art collection and to go easy on him,” Blan said.

When a woman in the audience bid against him, the crowd turned and gave her dirty looks. She backed down and Brandan won the piece.

When he went to pay for it, he was told that an anonymous contributor had paid the tab for him. The work, “Mississippi” by Lonnie Holley, was displayed at the students’ own art show last week.

“I think I enjoyed meeting the artists more than making the art. I’m not an artist, I’m an art collector,” Brandan said.

When the students took a trip to the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia in Sautee-Nacoochee, their knowledge about folk art impressed even their tour guides.
“We knew a lot more than the people who were leading us,” Charlie said. “They were pulling out their note cards to tell us stuff we already knew.”

Some of the students who participated in the program served as docents during their own show, guiding mostly family and friends through the makeshift gallery, sharing what they had learned and their newfound appreciation for the art form.

“Folk art is taking what you feel in your heart and putting it on the wood or the canvas and replicating what you’re feeling,” Joshua said.

Now art connoisseurs, the students enjoyed seeing their classmates’ artwork displayed.

“Because each one of us has a different way to interpret things and to express ourselves, it was fun to see,” Elizabeth Perry said. “I grew as an artist through the program and during the program. It was a lot of fun.”

Bryant hopes to continue the project next year and will look for more funding.
“This year was the first time doing this, and now we see ways that it could expand,” Bryant said. “Kids learn like crazy when they have the experience with the subject.”

Town abuzz as Marigold Festival returns

Winterville's back in bloom
By Jennifer L. Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 12:01 am on 5/16/2009

WINTERVILLE - When the organizers of Winterville's Marigold Festival decided they needed a break in 2002, Donny Seagraves, the event's publicity chairwoman, felt awful.

"I felt like we were taking away Santa Claus from the kids," Seagraves said. "Winterville really loved it."

Today, after a seven-year hiatus, the festival returns, giving Wintervillians a chance to celebrate their unique city.

Friends and former neighbors used to time their visits to Athens to coincide with the festival. Members of Seagraves' family who live in Tennessee have re-established the tradition and returned for this year's festival.

"We've missed that for the past few years," Seagraves said.

Half of the people helping to revive Winterville's Marigold Festival never attended one before, but they'd heard enough stories.

Emily Eisenman, who moved from West Palm Beach, Fla., with her husband two years ago, wanted to be part of the Winterville tradition and took on the task of organizing the festival's return.

When word spread through the community about plans for 2009, Winterville began to buzz.

"I think it pleased a lot of people because they can go back and relive their memories," Seagraves said.

Marigold Festival 2009 will keep many of the features that drew people for three decades - at its peak 7,000 visitors - but the time away will allow for some changes, too.

"Not having a festival for several years is allowing us to do some things differently," Eisenman said.

Organizers, for instance, moved the date of the festival from late June to mid-May to avoid the worst of the summer heat.

"Thank God, 'cause it would get burning hot," said Lanora Pierce, a former Miss Marigold who now works as a preparator for the Georgia Museum of Art. "The festival was a big deal when I was a kid. I walked down from my house, which was on the other side of town. I loved it."

While this year's festival tries out new events like dog agility courses and alpaca petting, it is bringing back many of the traditions that make hometown festivals unique.

The Winterville Civitan Club will barbecue chicken in the Pittard Park Pavilion to raise money for an annual scholarship for a local student.

Mary Whitehead, the whose husband, Wesley, was mayor when the festival started and helped make it a community tradition, will serve as grand marshal of the festival's parade.

Glassblowers and potters will sell their wares, but art offerings will range from the work of children to professionals.

The Georgia Museum of Art contributed several sculptures on Main Street near the train Depot, large scrap-metal animals by Georgia artist Doug Makemson that will be displayed until August.

Winterville Elementary School students also created works for the festival, and Principal Deborah Holcomb Haney was looking forward to her first Marigold Festival.
"Being out with the community, mingling and seeing parents and grandparents I normally see around here in a different context is a really great thing," Haney said.

Administrators at Winterville Elementary, which was relocated to the old Gaines Elementary building on Gaines School Road while the Winterville school undergoes renovations, sent home fliers to encourage parents to support the festival.
Like many people contributing to the festival this year, Haney already is looking to the future.

"I'm hoping that next year, when we're back in our school, maybe we'll participate more in having groups sing," she said.

There will be plenty of music this year, including the first Winterville Marigold Festival performance of the town's official song, written by singer-songwriter and Winterville native Wilma.

David Blackmon, who played the fiddle at one of the early Marigold Festivals with his brother and father, will perform with The Wintervillians in their first public appearance.

Pork barbecue and ribs will be cooked up in the Depot by Ken Hodges BarBQ. Hodges' father's barbecue was a highlight at previous festivals.

"There are several things coming full circle," Seagraves said. "And I'm looking forward to the new as well as the old."


Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, May 16, 2009

Panel: Tech college system should take on 2-year schools

Education committee submits recommendations
By Jennifer Johnson | Correspondent | Story updated at 11:58 am on 4/22/2009
A committee created by Gov. Sonny Perdue delivered its final report on the Georgia education system Monday, including recommendations to strip the state's nine two-year colleges from the University System of Georgia.

The "Tough Choices or Tough Times" committee was established in July to follow up on a national study of the educational system and was charged with recommending how to better prepare Georgia public school students to compete in the global economy.
The committee offered three key suggestions:

► Give high school students an early introduction to college-level work when they demonstrate readiness to move on.
► Attract and retain "world-class educators" in pre-kindergarten through 12th grades.
► Bolster students' analytical and creative problem-solving skills in earlier grades to help prepare them for workplace demands.

To ease students' transition from high school to college, the report recommends restructuring Georgia's higher education system by transferring nine two-year colleges from the University System of Georgia, which oversees 35 two- and four-year institutions, including the University of Georgia, to the Technical College System of Georgia, which traditionally has overseen technical education and adult literacy programs.

Or, if the transfer is impractical, the committee suggested standardizing credit transfers between schools and eliminate duplication between University System schools and technical colleges.

The transfer would "streamline the whole process" for students who want to move from two-year to four-year schools, said Mike Light, executive director of communications for the Technical College System.

Gainesville State College President Martha Nesbit, though she has not seen the official recommendations, said she thought the transfer would be a mistake.

"The community college system and the technical school systems have very different missions," Nesbit said. "It would be difficult to combine them without diluting them."

Although Gainesville recently became a state college and technically no longer is a two-year school, "our primary focus is to provide the first two years of education for students wishing to get their baccalaureate," said Nesbit, whose institution often transfers students out to University System schools.

The committee, co-chaired by former UGA President Charles Knapp, recommended increasing the number of high school students in "joint enrollment" - taking college courses before graduating.

Under the proposal to merge two-year and technical schools, successful programs already in place may change because educational objectives differ between two-year and technical school programs.

"Most of the students who do joint enrollment through a technical school aren't planning to go to a university system school," said Susan Loftstrom, joint enrollment coordinator at Georgia Perimeter College. "They are looking to stay on the technical school track."

Perdue plans to review the committee report and appoint action committees charged with finding ways to implement selected recommendations.

Clarification: This sentence was added to the latest version of this story to clarify the recommendation contained in the final report: Or, if the transfer is impractical, the committee suggested standardizing credit transfers between schools and eliminate duplication between University System schools and technical colleges.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A poem for my Grandmother

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.
Her’s 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 once had to pick.

For the first time in her years, her life began,
slowly. I believe to this day,
Grace, long dead, still waits, even though
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.