The Southern Crescent Alumnae Chapter of Gamma Phi Beta sorority won three awards on June 26 at the Gamma Phi Beta International Convention in Cincinnati.

The Coweta-Fayette Music Teachers Association is seeking new members for 2008-2009. The group meets monthly for teacher-education lectures, student activities and fellowship. Coweta-Fayette MTA is a local division of Music Teachers National Association, which will hold their national convention in Atlanta in the spring of 2009. This is a four-day annual event that local teachers would not want to miss.

The city of Newnan and Ayr, Scotland have celebrated a sister city relationship since 1997. Banners will be hung this week for the month of July around the courthouse square to observe the sister city connection.

Peachtree City New Neighbors League Club (NNLC) will sponsor its annual "Amnesty Month" in August. Normally, new residents are invited to join NNLC within their first year of moving to Peachtree City or surrounding towns. 

Reversal of autism diagnosis no surprise to Ian’s parents

Autism. It is a condition with an alarming incidence that now strikes one in every 150 children in America. Parents are told it is a condition for which there is no cure, though coping strategies and mechanisms can sometimes prove helpful. Yet regardless the current understanding surrounding this mysterious condition, its exponential growth in the United States and statements of it being incurable, there are sometimes exceptions to the rule.

Fayette Alliance Coordinating Teamwork, Outreach and Resources (FACTOR) has received a 2008 Hands On Georgia State Challenge Grant in the amount of $8,000. This grant will help to build organizational capacity and strengthen the Encore! Fayette volunteer program, a program designed to engage senior adults of Fayette in volunteer work.

Bank of North Georgia will host a ‘Back to School Peanut Butter and Jelly Food Drive’ to benefit 17 local food banks that are located near the bank’s 34 offices from Monday, July 14 through Saturday, July 26.

Five Fayette County teens are among more than 150 teens to graduate from the National Guard sponsored Youth Challenge Academy (YCA) at graduation ceremonies on Saturday, June 21.

Local artist and business owner Kimbo Daniel recently won a merit award including a ribbon and cash prize for her found object sculpture titled "Wonderful Man." Only three awards were given. The thirrd annual juried exhibit for Newnan/Coweta Arts Association at Newnan's Center for Performing Arts was held June 18 and coincided with the art association's 40th anniversary. The Performing Arts Center has only been open for three years and holds work by many prestigious artists, including Francoise Gillot – Picasso's third wife and mother of two of his children. Photo/Special.

Emily Williams, member of Tara Mustang Club, presents a check for $1,000 – raised at their Gene Evans/Union Station car show – to Dr. James Harper, president of the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home. Tara Mustang Club meets the first Thursday each month at the Heritage Bank in Fayetteville. Tara’s next benefit car show will be at Summit Racing in McDonough, September 14, 2008. Photo/Special.

The Children of Promise Mentoring Program is a mentoring program for children affected by incarceration. The program is looking for those children as well as adults to be a positive role model in the life a child.

Governor Sonny Perdue has announced that Allyson Wright, a native of Peachtree City, Ga., is among 29 college students and recent graduates chosen to participate in the Governor’s Intern Program for the summer of 2008. Wright is working as an intern for the Office of Executive Appointments.

The Dauphin Island Sea Lab offered its week-long summer camp “Gulf Island Journey” from June 15-20 for middle school students across the country to come learn more about the marine environment by exploring life on a barrier island.

Forty youth and chaperones from Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church spent the week of June 21-28 in Mattoon, Illinois doing mission work for seniors, disabled people and low-income residents who applied for the free help. Nearly 400 youth from eight states formed 60 site crews that worked to build porches, install wheelchair ramps, paint walls, homes and buildings – generally sprucing up the neighborhoods. The church provided tools, and materials were paid for by the youth’s registration money.

The members of Mt. Olive Baptist Church celebrated its 142nd anniversary by moving into a brand new facility.

The congregation was organized in 1866 in a one-room building with a dirt floor. Former slave owners gave the land near the corner of Graves Road and Gingercake Road. The building also served as the schoolhouse.

Delta Community Credit Union, a non-profit financial services institution and anchor in the communities it serves, recognizes three exceptional students who have set high standards for youth through community involvement and entrepreneurial spirit. The winners of the Hometown Heroes scholarships are Jared Ciervo and Conner Cress of Harrison High School in Kennesaw, and Shannon Roche of Whitewater High School in Fayetteville.

There is something new coming to Fayette County. It is Georgia’s first older-adult volunteer leadership program, designed to make a difference for seniors and to those whose lives they touch. Encore! Fayette is a non-profit organization designed to educate and train seniors and foster their participation in areas across the community.

For more than 50 years, the American Legion Ladies’ Auxiliary has chosen delegates who comprise a diverse group of young women with a common desire to explore government and citizenship to attend a yearly conference.

The Atlanta Metropolitan Council, Navy League of the United States, held its’ 15th annual Youth Awards Banquet on May 8 and named Cadet Seaman Wesley Satterwhite, NSCC from 2745th Seabee Battalion – a student at Fayette County High School, the councils’ eighth annual Sea Cadet award. The council also named Cadet LCDR Marleyna Greene, Stephenson High School, the 2008 winner of the JROTC Award. Greene was selected from 45 nominees.

• Anders inducted into honor society

Hannah A. Anders, of Fayetteville, has been inducted into the Samford University chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta honor society for freshman students. Membership in Alpha Lambda Delta is open to full-time freshman students who earn a minimum 3.5 grade point average out of a possible 4.0 during their first semester of study and rank in the top 20 percent of their class.

Beverly Owens and Kathleen Hunter participate in a "hands on" program about container gardening at the East Coweta Senior Center. The program was presented by Mike Cunningham of Country Gardens of Sharpsburg at the covered dish luncheon on June 4. Photo/Special.

Newnan resident John Blankenship has released three new books this year. ”Consequences” is a unique approach to financial planning intended to motivate young adults. ”RobotBASIC Projects for Beginners” teaches programming using interesting examples involving computer graphics and video games. ”Robot Programmer’s Bonanza,” published by McGraw-Hill, is the first hands-on programming guide for today’s robot hobbyist.

The Newnan Community Theatre Company is proud to be hosting their summer Drama Camp again this year. The first week of camp was a huge success with almost 50 of the community's children participating.

In honor of Flag Day, the "Betsy Ross" Flag was flown in front of the American Legion Log Cabin in Fayetteville on June 14. The Continental Congress approved this design of 13 stars and 13 red and white stripes as the first official national flag of the United States on June 14, 1777. 

Sierra Holmes of Fayetteville was recently named the sixth grade Georgia Daughters of the American Revolution essay winner at the state DAR conference. Holmes's entry was one of over 5,000 in the state and has been sent to regional competition. Holmes was also recognized at the recent James Waldrop Chapter DAR meeting in Fayetteville for her win. Joining James Waldrop Chapter DAR regent Betty Harrah and Sierra Holmes at the awards tea were her mom, Cindy, and her two sisters. Photo/Special.

On Memorial Day, the Frankie Lyle Chapter #2074 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Jonesboro, Ga. attended the National Memorial Day Program at the Marietta National Cemetery. Chapter secretary Ruth Smith presented a wreath in remembrance of those men and women who have served our country and, through their sacrifices, contributed to the establishment and the continuing freedoms we enjoy today.

By Gwen Hughes
Special to The Citizen

In a charming Fayetteville home, hoop skirts are the latest trend.

The Victorian Day Camps at the Southern Oaks House are not about teaching young girls history. Rather, the camps are focused on showing them instead. For the past 12 summers, owner Michele Cox, an avid history buff, has run a variety of week-long historical camps for young girls. The students learn to live the lifestyle of the period by wearing the typical dress and participating in activities such as sewing their own costumes, making colonial tea and candles, and playing games from the past. The main objective, according to Cox, is for the children to learn, and to have fun while doing it. One young girl in the Victorian Camp, an 1800s inspired camp which features bonnets and homemade ginger ale, says that “at school I hate history, but Mrs. Cox makes it fun.”

The National Federation of Independent Business Young Entrepreneur Foundation recently announced the Georgia recipients of the sixth annual NFIB Young Entrepreneur Awards, a scholarship program designed to reward and encourage entrepreneurial talents among high school students, and Fayette County High School student Asad Abdulla of Fayetteville is among them.

• Fayette student receives Piedmont academic honor
Spencer Shelton of Fayetteville has been named to the dean’s list at Piedmont College after completing the recent spring semester with a grade-point average of 3.5 to 3.99. Piedmont College is an independent liberal arts college of about 2,000 students with campuses located in Demorest and Athens, Ga. Founded in 1897, the college offers undergraduate degrees in 32 major areas and master’s degrees in education and business.

Seniors met at the East Coweta Senior Center on the first Wednesday in June to celebrate June birthdays for Betty Smith and Pat Stokes. The first Wednesday is always a covered dish luncheon at 11:30 a.m. with a program to follow. Other Wednesdays are scheduled for 1 p.m. with a variety of other activities. Photo/Special.