Features

BY ANGELA GARY
Days spent sitting on the deck of the huge cruise ship soaking up the sun and relaxing. Eating lots of food, enjoying shows in the evenings and spending a day enjoying the beach and shopping in Cozumel.
As we enjoyed all of this, a small boat was less than 100 miles away from us in the vast ocean. Twenty-three people were crammed into the small boat with no power as it drifted in the middle of the ocean for three days. No food. No water. And, likely, little hope of being rescued.
It was the last day of our cruise, as we headed up to the deck for another day of sunshine and relaxation, that the captain’s voice came over the sound system on our cruise ship. He said the Coast Guard contacted him and told us our ship was the closest to a small boat that was in distress. A Coast Guard airplane spotted the boat that was in distress. The captain said we would be searching for the vessel in hopes of rescuing those on board. He said this would put us behind in getting back to port the next morning.
We weren’t sure what size of boat it would be or what the problem was. When we came upon the small boat with so many people crammed on it and no sign of fishing rods or life jackets, speculation came from those around us on the deck. We had been in Cozumel, Mexico, and were headed back to the port in Mobile, Ala. The judgment was quick with some people even questioning why we had to look for them. This angered and saddened me. If someone is in danger of death, how could we not rescue them.
When the small boat was spotted, our huge ship stopped and waited. The small boat slowly drifted toward our ship and those on board began to jump off and swim toward the ship where they came aboard. If we had not rescued them, those on board would have likely died.
We didn’t have a lot of answers but after we got back to port and looked online and found the story had made national news. The small boat had 23 people from Cuba on it. The news article stated that Border Patrol officers were waiting for them when the ship got back to Alabama.
We were four hours behind the schedule in getting back to the port in Alabama and, of course, there were complaints about that. But how could anyone complain when they were headed back to a warm home, family and friends and job. They don’t have to worry about being in a situation so dire that they would risk their life by heading out in a small boat. We have a lot to be thankful for and shouldn’t let a little inconveniece bother us.

BY ANGELA GARY
It’s the longest running game show in the country. For 47 years, fans have been filling the audience hoping to hear the three most magical words in game show history, “Come On Down.”
The Price is Right, which is filmed in California, has given away 7,000 cars, 10,000 trips and $250 million. Most everyone I know has seen at least one episode and laughs out loud at those crazy people who run, jump and turn cartwheels down the aisle when they are called to “Come On Down.”
Twenty years ago, Bob Barker, the most well-known host of the show, got to thinking about how so many of the fans, whom he calls “friends,” didn’t get to see a live taping because they didn’t have the opportunity to go to California.
Barker launched a “stage show” bringing the fun of “The Price is Right” to folks across the country.
The touring show is not taped for television and you don’t get the main host, who is Drew Carrey now. But you do get all of the fun of the games, including audience-favorite Plinko.
The stage version of the show has come to Georgia several times, including stops in Hiawassee and at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. On Sunday, the show came to the Classic Center in Athens.
A friend had an extra ticket and invited me to go. We decided to go early and register for a chance to be a contestant. It was a long shot with hundreds of other people in line for one of the coveted spots.
It took an hour to register. You just filled out a card with your name. Contestants would be selected randomly, so it didn’t matter if you had on a cute homemade “Price is Right” shirt or were especially animated.
It was a few more hours until the show started so we found a spot and sat and waited, watching people as they passed by. We did see some very creative T-shirts and outfits. This was as much fun as watching the actual games.
I also saw a few people I know from Jackson County with the big yellow name tags on, showing that they too had signed up to be a contestant. I was hoping someone I know would get called to “Come on Down.”
Once the show started, it moved pretty fast with five games being played and four contestants being called down at a time. No one I know got called down to play. It was still fun watching those compete for prizes, including a car, cash and amazing trips.
One man won a trip for two to Hawaii. A lady tried for a trip to Hollywood, but won a vacuum cleaner instead.
The big prize was a car, two trips and a refrigerator. Two contestants tried their luck at guessing the price for all four prizes. Both overbid and didn’t win.
Angela Gary is an editor with MainStreet Newspapers Inc. She can be reached at angela@mainstreetnews.com.

BY ANGELA GARY

My nephew is always counting down the end of the school year.
“Only 30 more days until the year ends.”
Then he starts counting down the end of his high school years.
“Only one more year until a graduate.”
I hear comments like this all the time from not only my nephew but other teenagers in my life.
They are so young but what they don’t realize is that they are wishing their lives away.
Your life-time really is short and the more you wish for things coming up, the more of your life you are wishing away.
Enjoy every moment of every day instead of wishing your life away. I’m afraid what most people will find is the time in their life they were wishing for has both good times and bad times.
No need to wish for high school to end. College will also bring challenges. Enjoy those high school days and take advantage of every opportunity. Take school trips. Join clubs. Hang out with your friends.
No need to wish for college to hurry and be over. Instead, be thankful that you are getting an education for the job you want.
The career world will also bring challenges and dispair, as well as joy. Enjoy the field you decided to work in and look for something bright every day.
Mothers with young kids are so busy and exhausted, they might wish for the days when their child grows up. What they may not realize is that they will miss those days when the kids are grown and moving on with their own lives.
Don’t wish for retirement to hurry up and get here. You really are wishing your life away.
Enjoy spending time with your family. Take that trip you always wanted to go on. Spend days doing nothing. Sleep late. Read a book. Call a friend you haven’t talked to in a long time.
Senior years often bring on medical issues so enjoy your retirement years while you can.
Look for the good times in whatever season in life you are going through.
One of my favorite country songs is by Trace Atkins and it sums this up pretty well. As his daugher goes through different times in her life, including teen years, a newlywed and a new mother, she wishes for the hard times to hurry and pass by.
The song goes:
“ You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this.”
As Kenny Chesney sings in one of his hits, “Don’t blink. Life goes by faster than you think.”

Angela Gary is an editor with MainStreet Newspapers Inc. She can be reached at Angela@mainstreetnews.com.

Remember that time we went to Savannah, spending time on River Street and Tybee Island? Remember all the fun we had?
Remember all those times we teased our hair as big as possible? It was the ‘80s and that was the way you fixed your hair before heading out.
Remembering riding around and around “the tracks” in Commerce?
What about all the concerts we went to? Remember how excited we were to head to Atlanta for a concert?
Remember that time you and Amanda had a wreck leaving school and I heard about it on the scanner and ran down from my office to make sure you were both O.K.
What about that time we received devestating news about the sweet infant in our family and you cancelled your work commitments and came to the hospital in Atlanta to comfort us.
With old friends, there are so many “remember when” moments to share. When you’ve been friends since your elementary schoold days, you have so many shared times to look back on and laugh and cry. There were good times and there were bad times. But, through it all, our friendship remained strong.
The great thing about those childhood friends is that you can go weeks without talking but pick right up where you left out when you see each other gain.
These are the friends you tell about the good things in life and the bad things in life. You know you can count on them to rejoice in your good news and pray for you in hard times.
Our friend, Robin, is the one who my sister and I shared all of the memories above with. We got together Saturday for a birthday celebration.
We always get together for our birthdays and at Christmas. It’s always great to slow down and enjoy time together and get caught up with each other’s lives.
We also see Robin once a month at her beauty shop in Homer. She has been “fixing” our hair since we were teenagers.
I remember many special occasions we headed out on after Robin teased up our ‘80s hair. She could always do magic with anyone’es hair — even my impossibly curly hair that I can’t do anything with.
According to the Bible, true friendship is characterized by love. The many examples in Proverbs, the story of David and Jonathan, instructions to the Church, and, ultimately, Jesus’ example depict true friendship.
A true friend loves, gives wise counsel, remains loyal, forgives and offers support and encouragement in both good times and bad times.
Old friends really do make the best friends. Treasure these special friends in your life.
Angela Gary is editor of the Banks County News.

Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta will present the Tony and Grammy Award-winning hit musical “Jersey Boys,” the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, playing the Fox Theatre March 22-24 for a limited four-performance engagement.
Directed by two-time Tony® Award-winner Des McAnuff, “Jersey Boys” won the 2006 Tony® Award for Best Musical, the 2006 Grammy Award® for Best Musical Show Album, the 2009 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, the 2010 Helpmann Award for Best Musical (Australia).
“Jersey Boys” is written by Academy Award® -winner Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe and choreography by Sergio Trujillo.
Tickets start at $34. Ticket information can be found online at FoxTheatre.org/JerseyBoys, by calling 1-855-285-8499, or by visiting the Fox Theatre Box Office (660 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta GA 30308).
Group orders of 10 or more may be placed by calling 404-881-2000.
The performance schedule is as follows: 8 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
“Jersey Boys” is the behind-the-music story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. They were just four guys from Jersey, until they sang their very first note. They had a sound nobody had ever heard… and the radio just couldn’t get enough of.
But while their harmonies were perfect on stage, off stage it was a very different story – a story that has made them an international sensation all over again. The show features all their hits including “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Oh What A Night,” “Walk Like A Man,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and “Working My Way Back To You.”
Visit the “Jersey Boys” website at www.JerseyBoysTour.com.

BY ANGELA GARY
As another year anniversary of the start of my newspaper career again passes, I’ll continue the tradition of sharing odd facts about myself that you most likely don’t know.
As I’ve written thousands of columns over the several decades I’ve been a reporter/editor, it’s often hard to come up with new things to share.
My family and friends and readers of this column know I love to travel, that I’m a “foodie,” that my nephews are so very dear to me and that my faith is strong and has guided me through some difficult times.
Here are a few things you might not know:
•I can’t drive across mountains, in big cities or across bridges. I’m not saying I’ve never done these things but they do cause some anxiety. I try to avoid them at all costs. I’ve pulled over on many occasions when I encounter a mountain or a bridge or a big city and asked the person in the car with me to drive.
•I listen to praise music while I work and it puts me in a more positive frame of mind.
•technology is not my strong point but it’s usually not as difficult as I think it will be to learn something new. I’ve only had one panic attack and it was because of technology.
•I worked in a restaurant when I was 15 and in a video store when I was 20. Both were owned by family members.
•Amanda called me “Sister” until she started middle school and thought she was too old to do so. I secretly wish she still called me Sister. It sounds so Southern.
•I took walking as my PE class when I was a student at the University of Georgia majoring in journalism. I also took ball room dancing as a PE class.
•the number one question I am asked is how long I have worked at the newspaper. I get that question 10 times or more each month. The answer is it’s 34 years and yes, I was really young when I started working here.
O.K., that’s all of the new things I can come up with. Here are a few that I’ve shared over the years that people are always asking me about.
•I once drove to South Georgia with a deer head in a cooler in the back of my new car.
•I often have random celebrity encounters, including that time I was in an elevator in Nashville with Wilmer Valderrama from “That 70s Show.”
•If you think a column is written about you, it’s not. Well, it’s probably not.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 34 years. I’ve enjoyed sharing my life with our readers. I appreciate all of the kind remarks from people who read my column. So many people have told me they enjoy my travel writing and the stories about my family. I’ve enjoyed sharing my life with you over the years.
Angela Gary is an editor with MainStreet Newsapapers Inc. She can be reached at AngieEditor@aol.com.

My church has held several community service projets over the years but I think the current effort is the best project of all.
Cabin Creek Baptist Church, located between Nicholson and Commerce on Cabin Creek Road, is collecting dry goods for veterans.
The donated items will be dropped off by members of the church at the area Veterans Administration Office. We have taken items by before and they are always so appreciative.
This is an opportunity for all of us who appreciate the sacrifices made by our veterans to give back to those who made such a great or ultimate sacrifice.
John 15:13 says, ‘Greater love hath no man more than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’
These veterans have given so much; and we’re thankful we are able to support our Armed Forces.
The church will be accepting donations on Saturday, March 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cabin Creek Baptist Church, which is located at 892 Cabin Creek Church Road, Nicholson. You can also contact me if you would like to donate items.
New household/non-perishable/personal care items being collected include the following items: Toilet paper, paper towels, toothpaste, tooth brushes, deodorant, bar soap, dish soap, laundry detergent, Kleenex, etc.
For more information on the effort to collect donations for veterans, call 706-202-5518.
It’s always a blessing to reach out and help those in need.
Angela Gary is an editor with MainStreet Newspapers Inc. She can be reached at Angie@mainstreetnews.com.

BY ANGELA GARY
Seven years ago, I wrote about a trip my family took to Pigeon Forge where we saw a Jackson County boy take the stage at Country Tonite.
In 2012, I wrote that one of my travel highlights from the year was, “Seeing Colin Chandler, an 11-year-old Commerce boy and former student of my sister, perform at Country Tonite in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. My family has gone to see this show for years and we always love it. It was even more special this past year to see a local face on the stage. Colin Chandler is a natural talent who is a featured vocalist and fiddle player. He is also wonderful interacting with the audience and the cast. He has a long career ahead of him in the entertainment industry and will make the Commerce area proud of his accomplishments.”
Colin was in a very serious wreck just over one week ago and has been at an Atlanta hospital since then.
As a child, Colin had also performed in a show at Dollywood with my sister and other East Jackson teachers going to see him perform. His talent was so very bright even at a young age.
The last few years, we’ve watched him shine on the stage of East Jackson Comprehensive High School in musical productions.
We just returned from a chorus trip to Hawaii, with Colin and the other EJCHS students singing at Pearl Harbor and on the U.S.S. Missouri. It was such a wonderful experience to see Colin and the other EJCHS students perform in Hawaii. The year before, I was with them as they sang at Carnegie Hall in New York City. So many wonderful memories.
A few months ago, I began seeing Colin working in the drive-thru window at Starbucks. I would laugh and tell him to sing as he delivered my drink. Before our Hawaii trip, I told him the next time I would see him that we would be in Hawaii.
Colin was in my sister’s fourth grade class. His dad went to Benton Elementary School where my mother worked. My parents have known his parents for many years. Colin and his family are all very special to us, as they are to many people in Jackson County.
I know I’m just one of hundreds, probably thousands, of people who check Colin’s dad’s Facebook page throughout the day for updates on his progress. I have smiled, laughed and cried at the posts.
I also felt led, on the day of the wreck, to pray once every hour for Colin. I know I’m not alone as many, many other people are also praying for Colin. Please join me in praying for his complete recovery, as well as strength for his family, during this time.
Angela Gary is an editor with MainStreet Newspapers Inc. She can be reached at angie@mainstreetnews.com.

BY ANGELA GARY
When Rock City opened to the public in 1932, it was the dream come true for Frieda Carter who had spent four years forging a path through the wilderness among the rock formations with only a string to mark her trail. It was a labor of love for her husband to open his wife’s gardens to the public and share her dream with the world.
As for nearby Ruby Falls, Leo Lambert spent 17 hours crawling through a tiny space until he found the magnificent underground waterfall. On his next exploration into the cave, Lambert took several people, including his wife, Ruby, to see the many wonders he had discovered. While gazing at the waterfall, Lambert told his wife that he would name it in her honor, “Ruby Falls.”
It’s interesting to note the love stories from the two natural wonders located only miles apart that have brought millions of people to Lookout Mountain.
ROCK CITY
The campaign to get tourists to “See Rock City” was painted on barn roofs from Michigan to Texas. The huge red barns and birdhouses with “See Rock City” are located across the country and have led many people to the Chattanooga garden spot.
A walk through the gardens at Rock City lightens the heart and stimulates the mind. As the owner says, “Our vision is to create memories worth repeating.” It has been success as the enchanted trail has been delighting adults and children alike since 1932.
Highlights include the overlook where you can “See Seven States” and the view from the swinging bridge where you get a great look at the massive rock formations, gardens and countryside.
For more information, go to www.seerockcity.com or call 800-854-0675.
RUBY FALLS
Ruby Falls has been a vacation destination for more than 75 years and it has been voted one of the top seven natural attractions in the United States. It is the deepest commercial cavern in the United States and is located 1,000 feet underground deep inside Lookout Mountain.
Visitors begin their journey by boarding an elevator and heading down to the caverns. An informative and entertaining guide leads you through the caverns and to the spectacular 145-foot waterfall. As you walk through the cavern, it’s amazing to see the small crevices and imagine how the caverns were first discovered. It’s also fun to look at the formations and figure out what they resemble. You might spot steak and eggs or an elephant’s ears as you go deep into the caverns.
Ruby Falls is located at 1720 South Scenic Highway. For more information, check out wwwrubyfalls.com or call 800-755-7105.
Angela Gary is an editor with MainStreet Newspapers Inc. She can be reached at angie@mainstreetnews.com.