Keep Newnan Beautiful has teamed up with CLM Sanitation for the ‘Design That Truck’ contest, open to all school age children in Coweta County, ages 5 to 18. 

The abbreviation is CASA, but the full name says it all: Court Appointed Special Advocates. They may be court appointed, but they are strictly volunteers to provide efficient advocacy for the deprived children in our community.

The original program began in 1977 when a Seattle judge conceived the idea of using trained community volunteers to speak for the best interests of abused and neglected children in court. The program was so successful that judges across the country began utilizing citizen advocates.

Students from Georgia high school and college technical education programs won the nation's highest awards recently at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. Industry leaders representing over 1,100 businesses, corporations, trade associations and unions recognized the students for their demonstrated excellence in 91 hands-on occupational and leadership contests, such as robotics, criminal justice, aviation maintenance and public speaking.

University of Georgia undergraduate Jennifer Lee, from Fayetteville, is among 33 students who received 2008 summer research fellowships from the Honors Program’s Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO).

Kai Wolter was selected by his fellow Rotarians as the Coweta-Fayette Rotary Club’s Rotarian of the Year. Club members noted Wolter’s involvement in all club projects, particularly his instrumental role in the successful Car Show held June 7 at Drake Field, with 102 cars on display, and his development of the club’s website www.CowetaFayetteRotary.org.  Wolter is a second-generation Rotarian. He and his wife Cynthia and family are long-time residents of Peachtree City, and Wolter is the manager of the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites in Peachtree City. As the District 6900’s newest Rotary Club, Kai Wolter is the first recipient of the Rotarian of the Year award for this club. Photo/Special.

Synovus, the Columbus, Georgia-based financial services company and parent company of Bank of North Georgia, recently announced its 2008 Jack Parker Scholarship recipients. This year 99 scholarships totaling $134,000 were awarded to children of Synovus team members. Scholarship funds are generated each year through team member donations and internal fund-raising activities. 

The Dauphin Island Sea Lab offered a summer course from June 1-27, 2008, for high school students across the country to come explore the marine environment through classroom lecture, laboratory and field activities.

The Griffin Technical College SkillsUSA Crime Scene Investigation Team of Kathy Crabtree, of Fayette County, Tracy Maddox, and Ashley Schaffer won the gold medal in the national SkillsUSA competition held June 23-27, 2008 in Kansas City, Missouri.

As Heritage Bank continues to serve all the needs of their customers and the community, the bank announces the addition of Laurie Connatser, who will serve as Branch Manager of the Jeff Davis location in Fayetteville. Connatser has extensive knowledge in banking, customer service and business development and has over 17 years in financial services industry.

Local music teachers Annette Day, Mary Jane Server and Jessica Ledford recently met to plan upcoming monthly activities for  Coweta-Fayette Music Teachers Association. The association is currently seeking new members for 2008-2009. The group meets monthly for teacher-education lectures, student activities and fellowship. 

Rachel Colbert, L, and Betty Harrah, both of Fayetteville, attended the 88th National Convention of the Colonial Dames 17th Century in Washington, D.C. Colbert serves as treasurer of the Thomas Wingfield Chapter and Harrah serves as chapter president. The convention was held at the Mayflower Hotel April 9-12. Photo/Special.

St. Paul Lutheran School has made several additions to their teaching staff for the 2008-2009 school year. The school, located at the entrance of the Ardenlee Subdivision in Peachtree City, offers a Christian, pre-K through middle school experience for area children. St. Paul Lutheran School offers a strong academic program and has scored in the top 1-3 percent nationally on annual achievement tests.

• Prothro named to honor list
Crystaline Prothro, of Fayette County, was named to the president’s list at North Metro Technical College for the spring 2008 semester. In order to be named to the honor list, students must earn a 4.0 GPA.

Rebecca Wayne has been named Newnan-Coweta Art Association’s Artist of the Month for August. Wayne, who has been a member of NCAA for three years, will have her work displayed at Newnan City Hall.

State Bar of Georgia president-elect Bryan M. Cavan of Newnan has been appointed as executive committee liaison to a special committee charged with the task of identifying and addressing unmet legal needs of the state’s military service members, reservists, veterans and their families.

Michael R. Trantum of Peachtree City was chosen for district leader of the Benevolent and Protective Order (BPO) of Elks at the national convention.

Actors, Models, and Talent Competition (AMTC) will celebrate their grand opening in a new building on Tuesday, August 26 between 3-7 p.m. Activities are planned throughout the afternoon, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5:30 p.m. The event will also feature live performances, inflatable slides and an obstacle course, food, festivities and much more.

Local resident, IMPACT 360 graduate helps launch AIDS ministry in Kenya

Squatting over a small bucket of water while taking a sponge bath may not be the way some college students would want to spend their summer, but Zach Fallon wouldn’t have it any other way.

A member of the first graduating class of Impact 360, a gap year program that takes students (graduating high school seniors and first/second year college students) on a nine-month odyssey designed to equip and challenge the leaders of tomorrow, Fallon spends his academic year studying at Wheaton College.

With 18.5 percent of all children in the United States living below the federal poverty level, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, many families have to choose between food and clothing. Seeing the tremendous need facing the nation, Rack Room Shoes, one of the largest shoe companies in the country, has now joined with Shoes That Fit to provide shoes for thousands of underprivileged children through a special fund-raising effort that not only has social significance, but lends a helping hand to community outreach.

The U.S. Army Forces Command’s Army Ground Forces Band will perform a concert in honor of opera’s great lyric tenor Luciano Pavarotti at the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater in Peachtree City, Ga., on August 7 at 7 p.m.

Sean Williams of Tyrone, Ga was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest award in the Boy Scouts of America, at a Court of Honor on May 3. Since 2001 Williams has been a member of Troop 79, sponsored by Hopewell United Methodist Church in Tyrone.

Southwest Christian Hospice, located in Union City, was chosen by the United Community Bank—Fairburn to be one of the recipients of the Banker’s Hour Benefit. Pictured from left are Blake Brantley, senior vice president of United Community Bank – Fairburn; Janice Wright, assistant to the executive director/development specialist at Southwest Christian Care; David Coxon, president of United Community Bank – Fairburn; Mike Sorrow, executive director at Southwest Christian Care. Photo/Special.

Here’s your chance to help keep Newnan beautiful with a new car tag. It’s easy and it doesn’t matter if your birthday has already passed. One thousand orders are needed for the Department of Revenue to manufacture the new recycling tag.

The Veranda Historic B&B Inn will celebrate the opening of its new addition, the Veranda Inn Gallery, with a grand opening on August 9 from 5-9 p.m. The event will feature local artists, photography by Raffaella DeAmicis and hand-crafted recycled jewelry by jewelry designers Kristen Fountain Davis and Brooke MacFarlane.

Fayette Coweta Family Theatre, Inc. (FCFT) has announced a new program that enables outstanding members of FCFT the ability to take the helm of a production.

A group of Peachtree City children raised $510 recently selling homemade ice cream at a neighborhood ice cream stand. The children ran the stand to raise money for Atlanta Food Bank, the Winfield Missouri flood victims, and Soldier’s Angels, a charity that supports injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan. The philanthropists are, from left to right, Grace Kilgore, Eli Kilgore, Sarah Kilgore, Christiana Adams, Aaron Adams and Gavin Adams. Photo/Special.

On July 3, New Neighbors League Club (NNLC) members gathered to assemble and decorate 350 gift bags to give to troops who were leaving that evening from the Atlanta airport to return to duty in Iraq. The bags contained items to make a soldier's life a bit more comfortable in the desert environment.  

A woman for all seasons

Maynard Griggs Brown, 99, has tasted a lot of life. She is a native Fayette Countian, a retired school teacher, an actress, an artist, a mother and a grandmother.

She is a guide to educating children, being a leader in her church, and her quilts are treasures. Miss Maynard can also be found delivering a sermon on Sunday mornings, and she always has the rapt attention of everyone present

Author Doug Crandell will visit the Fayette County Public Library on Thursday, July 31 at 7 p.m. to read from and discuss his latest novel, “Hairdos of the Mildly Depressed.” Crandell, a resident of Douglasville, recently received the Georgia Author of the Year Award for his memoir, “The All-American Industrial Motel.”

Girl Scouts from Troop 39 in Fayetteville, Ga. recently received their Silver Award. The Silver Award is the highest award a Cadet Girl Scout can earn. Pictured from left are Michelle Roth, Katie Cassidy and Brittany Pye. Roth and Pye partnered together to become Brownie Troop leaders within their own Girl Scout Troop for their project. Cassidy did a Diaper Drive for DFCS for her project. Photo/Special.