Wednesday, September 6, 2000

Stallings stands out in Tyrone

Longtime Fayette County resident
has long list of community achievements

By JANET McGREGOR
jmac_snippets@hotmail.com

Mention the name Carol Stallings to almost anyone in Tyrone and they'll know who you are talking about. Mention her name to anyone who has lived in Fayette County for any length of time and chances are they will have heard her name also.

Stallings has lived in Fayette County since 1970 "when Willowbend was 'it' in Peachtree City," she quips. In those years, when the Stallings family wanted to eat out locally, they had two choices. The Flat Creek Country Club had a restaurant, and there was the not-quite-so-upscale Pac-a-chic with the walk-up screened order window. Hanchey's Gas Station was the only station in town and there was, to the best of her recollection, one barber shop and a beauty shop.

"Glenloch opened and then, boom, things took off," she said.
Fayette County has gone through some changes through the years, and so has Stallings. She has raised two children she is extremely proud of. She has transitioned from Peachtree City to Tyrone, a town "I always wanted to live in," and has made a few career changes along the way.

She's also left her mark on the community.

In a community filled with transplants from other states, Stallings is one of a fast decreasing number of native Georgians. She was born at Ft. McPherson and, as an "Army brat" spent some time outside of Georgia, but ultimately ended up back on the south side of Atlanta. She graduated from Sylvan High School with "the kids I went to grammar school with." She has lived in Washington D.C., Florida and Maine.

After graduating from Sylvan High, Stallings worked as an office medical assistant for a plastic surgeon in Atlanta. She married into the Navy and soon found herself living in Florida and Maine. When her husband's term of service ended the family returned to Georgia and Stallings went to work for an oral surgeon.

In 1968 her son Kevin was born and Stallings once again "changed careers." In 1970 daughter Kim joined the family. Life took a difficult turn when Kevin was diagnosed with a form of pediatric kidney cancer called Wilms Tumor. It was almost a stroke of luck that the 22-month-old's cancer was caught early he developed a hernia at 18 months that resulted in an operation. The doctors speculated that putting him to sleep might have sparked the rapid growth and early detection of the tumor.

In spite of the early diagnosis, Kevin was given a 26-percent chance of survival. Stallings beams and says her "million-dollar baby" is now 32 years old and has been completely cancer free since the early run-in.

With money a little tight and the need for a flexible schedule, when a position opened with Garden Cities, which later became Peachtree City Development Authority and is now Pathway Communities, Stallings gladly went back to work. Stallings had been a competitive diver during her youth and had always wanted to work in recreation. She started as the facility supervisor at Glenloch Pool in Peachtree City and later became the aquatic director and facility director for Peachtree City.

She started the well-known Pacers dive team and was the dive coach for the group. Daughter Kim, her "water baby," swam with the Pacers for eleven years.
In 1986 she opened her own business, Stallings Frame Shop. "I probably got into framing because I wanted to frame some of my cross-stitching for gifts and couldn't afford to," she noted. "I liked to work with wood and had been framing at home."

Shortly after starting the business, Stallings took on another job, working as a night auditor for the then Peachtree Executive Conference Center. Unfortunately, she hurt her back badly during that time period and was unable to frame for an extended time. Thinking she might be able to do engraving, she added a new service at the shop.

Stallings Frame Shop now offers a wide variety of services including trophies, plaques, certificates, building and office signage, name badges, gift items and other related items. Recently, always on the "grow," Stallings has added the ability to do dye-sublimation. She's excited about the new addition, as it will allow full-color imprinting at a very affordable cost for those without the budget, or item volume, to print multi-colored promotional items.

Stallings Frame Shop has been in Tyrone since it opened. However, it has had three locations in the town. Her first shop outside of her home was located in the building that now holds Mundy's Pharmacy. When more space was needed, she moved the shop across and down the street near the current post office. Later she moved to her current space in the shopping area across from the Tyrone Police Department.

In 1988 Stallings opted to follow her shop and move to Tyrone. "I had always liked Tyrone," she said." I thought it was a neat little town and wanted to be a part of it. I liked the size and the people."

She smiles as she talks about being able to look out her window and watch the deer in the mornings.

In 1993, feeling it was important to give back to the community, Stallings helped start the Tyrone Rotary Club. As a charter member she has seen club growth fluctuate and is hoping to see more growth. Although there are currently only about 15 members, each week they have many visitors doing "make-up" meetings.

Rotarians commit to attending a meeting each week.

Stallings has had perfect attendance during her 7 years and has served as President and Secretary.

She was the 1994 - 95 Rotarian of the Year and during her year as President the Club was named the Best All-Around Club.

Stallings was also a member of the McIntosh Chapter of the American Business Women's Association for four years. She served as president one year, was named the 1992 Business Associate of the Year, and was honored as the Woman of the Year.

Stallings was a charter member of the First Baptist Church of Peachtree City. In 1988 she moved her membership to National Heights Baptist Church. She is active in the church, singing soprano in the choir, serving as a deacon and attending regularly. She has chaired the Deacon Board, served as Personnel Chair and been a member of the Personnel Committee. She also chaired the Worship Committee.

Stallings has also had the honor of singing the National Anthem at four Braves games. She jokes, "I sang when they weren't the best ball players around." She also sang the Anthem at a Hawks play-off game in the 80s.

In addition to being the proud mother of her two children, Kevin and Kim, Stallings is a very proud grandmother. Daughter Kim Embres has two children, Scott, 9 and Sierra, 6. They live in California. Son Kevin, an electrician, is married and lives in Newnan.

Stallings 79-year-old mother also now lives in Tyrone. She moved to the area to be close to her daughter around 8 years ago.

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