Hoagies and High Fashion, to benefit Promise Place, may prove to be the perfect “date night,” and there is much talk about making this unique fundraiser an annual affair. This year’s evening to remember will take place Friday, April 20, at New Hope South (the Starr’s Mill location).

Organizers are busy planning for the 2007 Festival of the Arts, and this year’s two day, family-friendly event boasts an exciting line-up.

On Feb. 28, the J.C. Booth Middle School Parent/Teacher Organization and Fayette County Chamber of Commerce sponsored a lunch for the Booth Partners in Education.  

The Citizen Newspapers, The Villages Amphitheater and Coweta-Fayette EMC will present the first-ever kids concert in Fayette County by Imagination Movers. Recently signed to the Disney label, the Imagination Movers are a kid-friendly band on the national music scene and were featured on the Playhouse Disney Channel in 2006. The concert will be held on Saturday, May 12 at The Villages Amphitheater in downtown Fayetteville with gates opening at 5 p.m. The opener, renowned kids magician Ken Scott, will begin at 6 p.m. and showtime will be at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 children 12 and under and $55 for a family of four.

A local trumpet player has finally made it big after years of hard work and support from friends and family. William Lee Hogans is the newest addition to the band of R&B and rock star, Prince. Hogans is part of a four member horn section and performs behind Prince every weekend at Prince’s hip new club, 3121 in Las Vegas Nevada. As part of Prince’s band, Hogans has also had the opportunity to play with Elton John. This is not the first time Hogans has had success as part of a megastar’s band, he just finished up a CD tour with rap artist and hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.

A group of concerned citizens and business people met with jail personnel regarding programs for short term inmates. The coalition emerges out of a Leadership Fayette project. 

At a recent breakfast hosted by the Kiwanis Club of Peachtree City two seniors from McIntosh High School were honored as Technical Career Students of the Month for February and March. Receiving recognition plaques from Kiwanian past president Pam Dufresne were Morgan Flanders (February) and Rebecca Read (March).

Four members of the Fayette County DAR attended the 2007 State Conference in Savannah for three days at the Hilton Savanah DeSoto Hotel. The Fayette-Starr's Mill Chapter members heard state officer and state chairmen reports. Judy Hughes, state chairman of chapter revitalization, gave her year-end report.

On Sunday, March 11 and Sunday, March 18, 32 student volunteers from McIntosh High School Adopt-A-Stream (AAS) canvassed portions of Smokerise, Stoneybrook, Greer’s Mountain, Interlochen, Larkins Landing, Parkway Estates, and other subdivisions along Kedron Drive, Blue Smoke Trail and Flat Creek Road with information for homeowners vital to keeping area streams and lakes healthy. All together, they spent over 120 hours going door to door in the neighborhoods.

Shenaz Lilywala, a McIntosh’s High School student, has been selected as a recipient of the High School Student of the Year 2007, awarded by the Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese Georgia Chapter (AATSP-GA), for her love of learning and passion for knowledge of the Spanish language demonstrated throughout all her high school years.

Post Commanders of Fayette County Post 105, past and present, gathered at their March meeting to observe the anniversary of the founding of The American Legion. The American Legion, the nation's largest military veterans service organization was founded in March 1919 by soldiers returning World War I. Commanders pictured are Herman Miller, 1986 and 1987, Deana Rowe, 2005 and 2006, Dale Barnett, 1999 and 2000, David Niebes, 2007, Trenton Pauley, 1994 and 1998, Robin Robbins, 1995, Harold Goza, 1979-1985.

Alternate Energy Systems, Inc. assisted the Peachtree City Fire Department Training Division in developing a propane training device which will enable local firefighters in mitigating propane emergencies. Wolfgang Driftmeier, president of Alternate Energy Systems, was the motivating force in completion of the training project.

Plans for the 2007 American Cancer Society Barons’ Ball are underway. Volunteers for the event planning committee, corporate sponsors, and donors are needed. The first planning committee meeting will be held on Monday, April 23 at RiverWood Studios.

The Girl Scouts of Junior Troop 163 put their hearts into a recent service project: they cleaned up the race route for the Kedron Elementary Heart to Heart race.

The Scouts picked up trash along the roads and paths for the 1 mile and the 5K race, giving the runners a more pleasant view while they ran the race, and benefiting residents as well. The girls of Troop 163 have recently been challenged by their leader, Marsha McCranie, to develop service projects in subjects they feel strongly about.

Peachtree City native Jaye Bell will play Panacea in the Gordon College production of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”

Representatives from the Pregnancy Resource Center of Fayette recently attended the National Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC) Conference in Columbus, Ga. The CPC conference is hosted by Edgewood Baptist Church and led by their Pastor Andy Merritt.

Spring Hill Elementary collected pennies for over three weeks totaling $1,500 to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in their Pennies For Patients fund drive. "Spring Hill Elementary was thrilled to be a part of Pennies for Patients again this year,” said Beth Brock RN, Spring Hill's school nurse. “Not only do our students get to raise money for a wonderful cause, but each grade level learned about blood cancers and about children just like them who are fighting the battle and winning thanks to their support.”

A group of fourth grade students at Peachtree City Elementary recently tested their speed by stacking a set of cups. Pictured are Jada Rush, Gabby Aku, and Bryan Chen with Coach Hart.

Local Civitan clubs throughout Georgia are joining Civitan clubs around the world in celebrating Civitan Awareness Month during April.

• Alexandra Woycheck, a freshman from Fayetteville, has been chosen for Phi Delta Epsilon, an international medical fraternity at Oglethorpe University. Woycheck attended Sandy Creek High School and is now majoring in chemistry at Oglethorpe. Oglethorpe’s Alpha Chapter of Phi Delta Epsilon is a pre-medical honor society. Its purpose is to foster and achieve bonding among physicians of high moral character devoted to education and philanthropy for a lifetime. The chapter hopes to promote the highest scientific, educational and ethical standards in the field of medicine, medical teaching and research. Phi Delta Epsilon also promotes nonprofit group service to the community and discussions of current social and economic issues related to medicine.

Patsy Gullett’s work leaves a lasting image on more minds than she is willing to accept. Her quiet work of recreating historical landmarks in and around the state of Georgia as paper collages with watercolor and watercolor prints has been Gullett’s focus for the past 15 years.

The huge mural, depicting the treasures of Fayette County on Fayetteville Main Street at the corner of Ga. highways 85 and 54, was planned and executed by Patsy and her husband Ed, who is an artist of industrial designs. Every year for the past six years, Patsy, a Main Street Committee Member, designed the Christmas ornament for the Fayette Main Street Program, each depicting a historical site in Fayette County. Her designs can be seen on the T-shirts and posters for the Old Court House Art Show held each May in Fayetteville.

Hundreds of Fayette County citizens were treated to a night of outstanding entertainment at Starr's Mill High School recently when children from first through twelfth grades competed in the 22nd annual Art & Talent Showcase sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Peachtree City.

The new GPB Original Production “Instant Iraq” captures the many ways new technologies help Georgians stay connected to deployed soldiers and to find support among each other on the home front. The program premieres Monday, April 16 at 9 p.m. in conjunction with “America at a Crossroads,” a new PBS series comprised of 11 films that explores the challenges confronting the post 9/11 world, including the war on terrorism, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and the experiences of American troops.

Fayetteville’s newest casual furniture retailer, Georgia Backyard, is the 2006 recipient of the prestigious Grand Apollo Award for excellence in retailing for the casual furniture industry.

This Friday, the southern premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s unconventional musical, “Song & Dance” will open at The Legacy Theatre in Tyrone, Ga.

Local residents come to aid of Americus tornado victims

When a tragic tornado struck Americus, Ga. a month ago, it destroyed not only the hospital, but much of the city’s most beautiful structures as well as hundreds of the 200-plus year old live oaks that gave the community the antebellum flavor tourists go to see. Authorities put out a cry for help. The emergency was so grave that President Bush made a trip down to see the damage. During a press conference in the devastated area he issued a plea; "Some people are going to need your help," he said. "I would ask you out of the generosity of your heart to help the folks down here."

Counterpane recently received a $15,000 grant from United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta for the Souns for Literacy Program for Infants and Toddlers.

Brenda Erickson of Counterpane School is committed to affecting literacy through an outreach infant and toddler program called Souns. Souns relies on incidental learning and focuses on lowercase letters and their sounds (as opposed to letter names) during a child’s most language sensitive period – from birth to 24 months.

The Peachtree City Optimist Club will host their annual Easter Egg Hunt on April 7 at Shakerag Knoll in Peachtree City. The free registration will start at 9:30 a.m. and the hunt will begin at 10:30 a.m. Kids can meet the Easter Bunny beginning at 9:30 a.m. as well. The event will have candy, games, fire trucks for the kids to get in, the EMT truck, and other displays from the fire department. There will be two moonwalks, one for small people and one for the older kids and refreshments from the Thrivent Financial of Fayette County chapter. For questions or directions, call Kathy at 770-486-6231.

Robert J. Burch Elementary’s Relay for Life Team will host its third annual Mr. and Miss Patriot Pageant on Saturday, April 21, at Sandy Creek Patriot Auditorium.

The Citizen Newspapers, The Villages Amphitheater and Coweta-Fayette EMC will present the first-ever kids concert in Fayette County by Imagination Movers. Recently signed to the Disney label, the Imagination Movers are a kid-friendly band on the national music scene and were featured on the Playhouse Disney Channel in 2006. The concert will be held on Saturday, May 12 at The Villages Amphitheater in downtown Fayetteville with gates opening at 5 p.m. The opener, renowned kids magician Ken Scott, will begin at 6 p.m. and showtime will be at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 children 12 and under and $55 for a family of four.