Fayette Senior Services will sponsor AARP’s 55 Alive Driver Safety Program classes on Tuesday, April 8 and Thursday, April 10 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at their new life enrichment center located at 4 Center Drive in Fayetteville (across from the Fayette County Justice Center).

Fayette Flyers is a Radio Controlled (RC) airplane and helicopter flying club located in Fayette County and certified by the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA).

One of HGTV’s newest weekly series, “My Big Amazing Renovation,” is coming to the area to film big, amazing renovations. Each half-hour episode features some of the most incredible renovations throughout the country and the inspiring homeowners who roll up their sleeves and transform their current home into their dream home.

The American Cancer Society in Fayette County needs volunteers for its Road to Recovery program to drive cancer patients to and from their cancer treatments.

John Robertson, Laurie Flegel, Mona McReynolds and Randy LaSante of Beau Tye’s Pet Spa & Collectibles recently attended the Atlanta Pet Fair, the largest show in the Southeast for professional pet stylists. It was a three-day weekend of continuing education, grooming competitions and an industry trade show, sponsored by McPaw, Inc., in Atlanta, Ga.

• Caldwell graduates from basic combat training

Army Reserve Pfc. Anthony J. Caldwell has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C. During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches, and field training exercises. He is the son of Michelle Caldwell of Peachtree City, Ga. and grandson of Norma Caldwell of Santee, Calif. Caldwell is a 2006 graduate of McIntosh High School, Peachtree City, Ga.

It’s been a little over 18 months since the last time we caught up with Peachtree City resident-turned-Hollywood actor Travis Van Winkle. Since then he’s acted in three major motion pictures and that’s only the beginning of the plans he has for himself.

The American Cancer Society in Fayette County needs volunteers for its Road to Recovery program to drive cancer patients to and from their cancer treatments.

The Coweta County Nonprofit Coalition, made up of representatives from nonprofit and governmental agencies providing services in Coweta County, met Jan. 22 at the Newnan Coweta Habitat for Humanity ReStore, located at 1082 Ga. Highway 16 E. The coalition’s goal is to keep each other aware of the challenges and successes each organization experiences, while encouraging collaboration whenever possible to improve the effectiveness of community services in the county.

Thefotolounge is selling photographs from Fashionata 2008 MTV – McIntosh goes Totally Vogue – to raise money for the McIntosh High School Parent Teacher Student Organization. thefotolounge has over 300 images from the event, all of which are available for purchase on the company website, www.thefotolounge.com. Half of all proceeds from online print sales will be donated to the PTSO.

Dunlap Wealth Strategies has announced that Ray Dunlap has been accepted into the nation’s most exclusive group of financial advisors — Ed Slott’s Elite IRA Advisor Group. The exclusive grou is comprised of financial advisors dedicated to solving the country’s biggest and most complex financial problem — effectively managing the distribution of assets from Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).

Webelo 1 of Den #1 Pack 409 recently toured the new building of Mahaffey Orthodontics, which is under construction in Peachtree City. The boys are learning about building construction in order to earn their Engineering Badge. The building tour was conducted by Sam King (pictured) of South – Tree Enterprises, the project’s general contractors.

Promise Place, the council on domestic violence serving Fayette, Pike, Spalding and Upson counties, will host the second annual Hope Springs at Promise Place live and silent art auction this weekend.

Lee Bryan, a.k.a. That Puppet Guy, will be performing a puppet show in honor of Fayetteville resident Maggi Blair. Maggi was first introduced to readers in an October 2006 article in The Citizen.

Under the direction of Courtney Savage, four students from Starr’s Mill High School advanced through the county stage of The Governor's Honors Program and danced their way to the state level. From left to right: Bethany Edmondson, Lindsay Ratcliffe, Claire McIlwrath and Amy Wheble. Photo/Special.

The way stock markets performed this fall, it was enough to make even the most seasoned investors queasy. Gains were quickly offset by losses – up on interest rate cuts, down on credit crunch news, up on employment news, down on energy costs. Despite the bumpy ride, students at McIntosh High School took no chances, doing the research, crunching the numbers and making wise enough investing choices to win the Stock Market Game for Fayette County Schools.

Logan Austin, a seventh grade student at Fayetteville's Bennett's Mill Middle School, correctly spelled "basilisk" to win the Fifth District Spelling Bee held at Mundy's Mill Middle School in Jonesboro. Fifth-grader Jaire Duncan of Flat Shoals Elementary in Conyers finished second in the 17-round contest. Both will represent the fifth district at the 2008 state spelldown that starts at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 21, in the student center at Georgia State University. The fifth district is represented by schools in Carroll, Clayton, Coweta, Fayette, Griffin-Spalding, Haralson, Henry, Polk and Rockdale counties, and the Bremen City and Carrollton City schools.

The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) announced the 10 winners of the Georgia High School Drawing Competition Feb. 9 in a ceremony at SCAD-Atlanta, 1600 Peachtree St. The winners, one of which is a Fayetteville resident, were awarded scholarships to attend SCAD, SCAD-Atlanta or SCAD-eLearning.

Fayette Art Center and Gallery's mission statement is bringing people together through art. Last month, four ladies, all from different countries and all speaking different languages, met for the first time at at the reception for their art.

Peachtree City Boy Scout Troop 175 collected a truck-load of food during the annual Scouting for Food community service drive. Pictured from left are John Dowd, Evan Marlow, Mitch Ingman Sr., Andy Houghton, Mitch Ingman, Austin Russell, Joe Dowd and Greg Meyers.

For the fourth year in a row, students at Sara Harp Minter Elementary School in Fayetteville, in conjunction with the Martha Stewart Bulloch Chapter DAR are making a big effort to pay tribute and express appreciation to hospitalized veterans. Chick-fil-A’s Operation Big Heart helped the school’s effort by collecting valentines from other Fayette, Coweta and south Fulton schools.

The statistics are sobering. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 164,423 children in Georgia live in grandparent-headed households and more than 600 of these grandparents who are raising their grandchildren live in Fayette County.

Recently, the Fayette-Starr’s Mill Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution placed a display in the Peachtree City Library Children’s Department celebrating the Georgia signers of the Declaration of Independence as well as the African Americans who were part of the American Revolution.

• McIntyre accepted for admission to Luther College

Scot Schaeffer, Luther College vice president for enrollment management, has announced that Lohr McIntyre of Fayetteville, Ga., has been accepted for admission to Luther for the 2008-09 academic year. Luther is a selective four-year college located in northeast Iowa. The college has an enrollment of 2,550 students and offers a liberal arts education leading to the bachelor of arts degree in 60 majors and pre-professional programs.

Building a community, one house at a time

The Newnan-Coweta Habitat for Humanity has come a long way since its founding in 1994. Today the local organization is in the process of building its 31st home for a needy family.

Eunice Nichols has been named Newnan-Coweta Art Association’s Artist of the Month for March 2008.

Recently she has become certified in a “new art” of pen and ink with oil rouging. She won an art scholarship from the Society of Decorative Art which was used towards her intensive study in Buffalo, New York last May.

On Tuesday, March 4, the Rutledge Singers performed for the Newnan Kiwanis. The group received a standing ovation after singing a variety of inspirational songs including “In the Highways” and “When the Fire Came Down.”

National Commander Martin “Marty” Conatser made an official visit to Georgia January 24-26 and his first stop on his three day visit was at Fayette County Post 105’s “Log Cabin” in Fayetteville. Conatser was greeted by nearly 100 Georgia legionnaires from Atlanta and surrounding cities. Dale Barnett, Georgia’s Department (State) commander, members of the senior staff of the Georgia Department and David Niebes, Commander of Post 105, were in attendance. Niebes was the master of ceremonies for the luncheon.

Fayette County Evening High School held its fall 2007 graduation ceremony in Sam’s Auditorium on Dec. 13, 2007. Ten candidates for graduation received their diplomas. Of these 10 graduates, four started college in January. The Fayette County Evening High School is accredited by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS) and offers both college prep and technical/career diplomas for students age 16 to adult who have attended one full year of high school. Students attend three two-hour classes each nine weeks which allows for more in-depth presentation of the academic material and enhances learning. To learn more about FCEHS, visit its website at www.fcehs.org. Photo/Special.

Dwayne D. Smith, 2002 World Champion of Public Speaking, spoke at the High Noon Toastmasters meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at noon. His message was “The Ultimate Weapon.”