On Saturday January 18, twenty seven girls competed for the title of Miss Starr's Mill. Amy Wheble was crowned the winner and awarded the McPherson $2500 scholarship. The scholarship was made possible by Dr. and Mrs. Scott McPherson of Peachtree City Orthodontics. Scholarships for the pageant totaled $5,700 making the pageant the largest high school scholarship pageant in the nation. Runner-up scholarship winners included 1st runner-up Maddie Contie, 2nd runner up Karla Dietmeyer, 3rd runner-up Rachel Stanford, and 4th runner-up Jamie Green. Scholarships were made possible by Alcan, Chick-fil-a, and The Southern Federal Credit Union.

In its 30-plus years of providing live entertainment to downtown Newnan, the Newnan Community Theatre Company struggled in 2008, however, they are coming back strong in 2009. Its season-opener, M*A*S*H, played to sold-out audiences and they have over 130 season-ticket holders. The Board of Directors no longer manages the day-to-day operations of the theatre. The Board handles oversight and policy, while a Theatre Operations Committee handles theatre management.

Kristina L. Adams was recently named Newnan-Coweta Art Association’s Artist of the Month for the month of February. Her work will be displayed at Newnan City Hall for the month of February.

Well, the wait is finally over for everyone wanting to know who is coming to The Villages Amphitheater in Fayetteville this year. The 2009 “Southern Ritz/Classic Hits” series lineup presented by Mercedes Benz of South Atlanta was officially announcedtoday, and will offer a healthy mixture of current and classic artists.

When you’re hot, you’re hot. Aside from Fayette County’s undefeated Lady Tiger basketball team, no one knows this better than Fayetteville resident Dan Guyton. His latest play, “The Mother of God Visits Hell,” is currently being produced out in Los Angeles and will also be staged by the Town and Gown Players in Athens this month.

Allan Vigil, President/CEO of Allan Vigil Ford Lincoln Mercury, a Ford, Lincoln and Mercury dealership in Morrow, Georgia, was honored recently for his nomination for the 2009 TIME Magazine Dealer of the Year award.

What will President Obama’s Economic Stimulus plan mean to south metropolitan Atlanta and beyond? This will be one of the key topics at the Seventh Annual South Metro Development Outlook Conference to be held on Tuesday, Feb. 10, from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Student Activities Center at Clayton State.  

By Rebekah Baldwin

Special to The Citizen

Teenagers far and wide are familiar with the age-old question, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” Peachtree city native and Starr’s Mill High School junior, Brent Bouthiller, has decided not to wait until he “grows up” to start realizing his goals. At just 16-years-old, he has already played in several bands and started his own sound and lighting company, Rescue Sound Technologies.

As part of the University of Georgia's Year 2000 millennial celebration, the University Libraries established the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame. It was established as a public awards program and a permanent online exhibit honoring Georgia's most influential writers.

Just 11 days from today, Mike Duke, a native Fayette Countian, will become president and CEO of Walmart Stores, Inc.

Duke, 58, is a 1957 graduate of Fayette County High School, where he served as president of his senior class. He is also a graduate of Georgia Tech with a bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering in 1971.

When you are driving towards Peachtree City on Georgia Hwy 54 your eye can’t help but be drawn to the colorful sign. It is yellow and purple and it reads “Linda’s Playhouse.” Down the driveway, you see what looks like an average white house, but it is what is on the inside that makes this house so special.

“Linda’s Playhouse,” founded by Peachtree City resident Melissa Kotch, is a non-profit children’s museum. It is named after Kotch’s aunt, Linda Bellamy, an artist, writer and philanthropist who passed away in 2005.

Seven students at Landmark Christian School have earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program (AP) Exams.

The Flint River Council of the Boy Scouts Of America is pleased to announce that the annual Scouting for Food Drive for 2009 is under way. Publix Supermarkets is the sponsor this year. They provided the food bags for the scouts to use to pick up non-perishable food goods; such as peanut butter, soups canned meats, pastas, vegetables.

Three deputies in a 1975 photo became top sheriff

In this 1975 photo of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, three of the people shown became a sheriff. They are all Fayette County High School graduates.

On Thursday, January 15, twenty-eight shining contestants will begin competing for the title of Miss Starr's Mill 2009. The annual pageant takes place over a three day period.  Preliminary rounds beginning at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. The finals, featuring the top ten from preliminaries, and the crowning of the queen will take place on Saturday, Jan. 17 starting at 7:30 p.m.  

The Boy Scouts of America has begun testing of a new social networking web site just for the Boy Scouts. The web site, community.scouting.org, will connect Scouting volunteers from all over the country with one another and allow them to share their stories, their experiences, and their suggestions about how to give children the best Scouting program possible.

Teachers at nine Fayette County schools were surprised with gift baskets, balloons and Bright Idea checks ranging from $671 to $1500 recently when a group of Operation Round-Up Board members, judges and EMC employees showed up at schools to announce this year’s winners. The Operation Round-Up Trust Board awarded $25,042.82 in Bright Idea grants to 21 deserving classrooms throughout the EMC’s service area leaving excited teachers at every school.

Planning is now underway for the “Fifth Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Holiday Parade” in Fayette County.

Brooke Fletcher, a junior at Starr’s Mill High School, is no stranger to pageants. Still, the shock of winning Miss Georgia Teen USA and qualifying for the Miss Teen USA Pageant next August was hard to shake.

“It still hasn’t hit me,” said Fletcher in an interview last month. “It’s very exciting.”

The win has kept Fletcher, already busy with schoolwork and a number of extra-curricular activities, on the go. She has participated in the 11 Alive Can-a-Thon, as well as a program that gets suits donated for women, and will also be in the Peach Bowl Parade.

Along with thousands of other competitors the trio travelled to Orlando, FL to compete in the regional championship - the Southern Region Oireachtas (pronounced o-ROCK-tis) on December 6th and 7th.

Thanks to Payless Shoe Source and Helen Rickman of Fayette Holiday Helpers, 100 students in need of shoes on the CARE (Children at Risk in Education) Angel Tree will have their requests granted.

Working families who cannot afford to place their children in the Fayette County School System’s After School Program are getting some help thanks to a local civic organization and the school system’s CARE (Children at Risk in Education) After School Scholarship Fund.

The summer before her freshman year at Starr’s Mill, Becca Ritchie, now a senior, was ready to write her first novel. She had written a story before, proving that she could write something of length, but she was ready to write something that she and her twin sister, Krista, would like to read. It would be a young adult novel with supernatural elements, the kind of things they saw on television programs like “Charmed” and “Angel,” and read about in books by authors like Kevin Brooks. Ritchie sat before her computer for hours at a time that summer, with her sister reading over her shoulder and constantly wanting to know what would happen next.

As The Legacy Theatre in Tyrone celebrates their 2nd Anniversary as the only full-time professional theatre south of Atlanta, Mark Smith and his wife, Executive Producer Bethany Smith, are confident that The Legacy Theatre will continue to bring high quality main-stage productions, fun and educational children’s shows, and top notch classes and workshops to the citizens of this region for a long time to come.  This past season provided patrons with memories they won’t soon forget. 

Twelve members of the Rotary Club of Fayetteville recently were named Paul Harris Fellows by the Trustees of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Carol Colon, Hector Colon, Darrell Cutts, Al Dapkus, Tony Fritz, Al Gilbert, Phil McMullin, Paul Oddo, Brenda Schachle, Teresa Thaxton, Brenda Whitlock, and Marion Wells were presented their fellowship awards by 2007-2008 District 6900 Governor Bill Woulfin. Member Al Gilbert honored longtime resident Frances Reeves with his third Paul Harris Fellowship.

The Rotary Club of Fayetteville is proud to recognize Carol Colón as the 2007-2008 Rotarian of the Year. Carol and Past President Bill McNally were the club’s first recipients of this award in 1990-1991.

During October, Rotarians are encouraged to focus on Vocational Service. The Fayetteville Rotary Club held its annual recognition program for vocational service, where it presented awards to four outstanding individuals. As part of their Vocational Service Recognition Month, the club awarded the recipients Certificates of Appreciation and a gift from the club to show their appreciation for a job well done.

It only takes the efforts of a few to change the lives of many and three students at McIntosh High have worked hard to do just that.

Morgan Ennis, Nathan Baca and Felicia Hoyt were well aware that this was one of the most active hurricane seasons on record with hurricane Paloma forming as late as November 7 and causing major destruction on the Cayman Islands and Cuba.

For some, the Christmas tree goes up in the living room the day after Thanksgiving, while others wait until Christmas draws closer. If you haven’t found your Christmas tree yet, there are many places to find one that you can either cut yourself or have someone prepare for you.

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