Georgia Magazine - August 2010 - (Page 5)

www.georgiamagazine.org (800) 544-4362, in Georgia; (770) 270-6950 GEORGIA Magazine, the largest-circulation monthly magazine in the state, is published by Georgia Electric Membership Corp. (GEMC), the trade association for Georgia’s 42 consumer-owned electric utilities. On average, more than 500,000 members welcome the magazine into their homes each month. Georgia’s not-for-profit electric cooperatives provide reliable, safe and affordable electric service to more than 73 percent of the state’s land area serving 4.5 million residents. For more information, visit www.georgiaemc.com. EDITOR Ann Orowski, CCC MANAGING EDITOR Jennifer Hewett, CCC ASSOCIATE EDITOR Victoria Scharf DeCastro PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Steve Jacobs ASSISTANT EDITOR Kevin Braun ASSISTANT EDITOR Jim Jess EDITORIAL INTERN Sarah Bakhtiari CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Emily Allen, Kris Bisgard, Lynn Coulter, Nancy Crosby, Deborah Geering, Jackie Kennedy, Mike Long, Dwain W. Penn, Bill Shanks, Randy Southerland CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Drugstore cowboy steps back in time BY PAUL WOOD President/CEO, Georgia Electric Membership Corporation A Mary Acken, Bruce Avery, Greg Brooks, Nancy Crosby, William Flatau, Jay Flesher, Steve Frazier, Jennifer Hewett, Jennifer Meares, Debbie Mumford, David Nash ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Laurel George, (404) 541-0628; Laine Kirby Wood, (770) 289-5700 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE National Country Market, (800) 626-1181 DESIGNERS Trudie Thibodeaux, Kerstin Weis Mary Wellman, (770) 270-6981 SUBSCRIPTIONS 2010 ADVISORY BOARD Christy Chewning, Jeffrey Ferguson, Tony Griffin, Stacey Fields, Johnnie B. Hall, Pamela Keene, Doyle Medders, Jeff Pierce, Donnie Prince, Steve Rawl, Brandon Reese, Romeo Reyes, Tony Sinclair, Jere Thorne GEORGIA EMC OFFICERS CHAIRMAN Neal Talton, Flint Energies VICE CHAIRMAN Alice Mallory, Coweta-Fayette EMC SEC.-TREASURER Randy Crenshaw, Irwin EMC PRESIDENT/CEO, GEMC A. Paul Wood georgia Magazine (USPS-473120, ISSN 10615822) is published monthly by Georgia Electric Membership Corp., P.O. Box 1707, 2100 East Exchange Place, Tucker, GA 30085. Periodicals postage paid at Thomaston, GA, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to GEORGIA Magazine, P.O. Box 1707, Tucker, GA 30085. Printed in Georgia by Quad/Graphics. Acceptance of advertising by GEORGIA Magazine does not imply endorsement by the publisher or Georgia’s electric membership corporations of the product or services advertised. GEORGIA Magazine’s LIABILITY FOR ERRORS IN, OR OMISSIONS OF, ADVERTISEMENTS, WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR IN TORT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DAMAGES TO THE ADVERTISER’S BUSINESS, SHALL IN NO EVENT EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF CHARGES FOR THE ADVERTISEMENT THAT WAS OMITTED OR IN WHICH THE ERROR OCCURRED. s I pulled into Natchitoches, La., I spied something rather unsettling: a freshly painted sign announced a new coffee shop coming soon to replace the old drugstore that was my “second home” in my youth. I quickly parked the car and got out to examine firsthand the changes the new owners were making. Those old-fashioned wire chairs, hardly strong enough to hold anyone, were gone, as was the black-andwhite tile flooring. The candy counter I visited nearly every day was discarded as well. They always had my favorites— Bazooka Bubble Gum, Sugar Daddies and Necco Wafers. I used to buy a whole roll of Necco Wafers just for the one lemon-flavored wafer. The soda fountain with its red vinyl-covered seats was nowhere to be seen. I sat there many afternoons enjoying a milkshake known as the “Ethyl.” In those days, ethyl was the name of high-octane gasoline at the corner service station. You’ll understand why we named it “Ethyl” when you learn the ingredients. A scoop of marshmallow cream was added to a standard milkshake before it went in the mixer, and then the soda jerk would give it an extra large shot of chocolate. It guaranteed a sugar high for the rest of the day. As most of us learned when we read Thomas Wolfe’s great American classic, “You Can’t Go Home Again,” one should never go home expecting to find things as they were. “As they were” raises other questions: Was the tea ever so sweet, More online at www.georgiamagazine.org cornbread ever so moist, girls ever so lovely? In our own minds, the answer is always an affirming, “Yes!” But were they really? The great thing about memory is that good times rarely revert to bad times in the gray matter that holds our memories. Nothing turns sour or negative. If anything, time enriches the experiences we remember, even raising them to an imagined perfection. The truly wonderful thing about memory is that it only takes a certain smell, a sound or sometimes just a word spoken in casual conversation to resurrect all the intense, suspended images we hold in our minds. Most of us only have to close our eyes to make them real. Memory—what a wonderful place to visit. The healthy thing for all of us is to strike a balance in our lives between a yesterday that should be remembered and a tomorrow that is yet to be created, for change comes inevitably, even to those places fondly remembered. I learned many life lessons in that old drugstore, but none as important as the one I learned the day I visited there and found strangers erasing the physical evidence of my idyllic youth. One’s personal anchor should not be tied to the past; rather, the past and our memories of it should be used as a foundation for a future filled with unlimited possibilities for growth and self discovery. I guess I’m still learning important lessons from my Louisiana hometown. 5 August 2010 http://www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.georgiaemc.com http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - August 2010

Georgia Magazine - August 2010
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar
Festival Guide
Currents
Warner Robins Hits a Home Run
More Little League Action
For the Birds
Around Georgia
My Georgia
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Cookbook of the Month
Snapshot
Additional Snapshot Photos
Bonus Recipe of the Month

Georgia Magazine - August 2010