Forsyth County News-Sunday, April 8,2001
Forsyth Life
Cheryl
Rhodes
Fishing trip
creates a
vegetarian
“Mommy, guess what?” she
shouted, dashing over to my side as
she spilled from her fatty’s car.
As he followed, towing a cooler
crammed with ice and skinned fish,
it was apparent that the Daddy/-
Daughter Girl Scout outing at
Rainbow Ranch in Cumming had
been a grand success.
I wrapped my arms around her
and waited to hear about the day’s
many wonders.
"I’m a vegetarian now!” she pro
claimed, enthusiastically. Taken
aback, I glanced up at Bill and
raised my eyebrows at his broad
grin.
Shrugging, he let her continue.
“Everything was fine until they
chopped off the heads of the fish
that I caught,” she explained, mat
ter-of-factly. “If I had known they
were going to do that, I would’ve
thrown 'em back in. I’m never eat
ing an animal again.”
This from the nugget who had
cheered the evening before at the
Japanese steakhouse when she spied
filet mignon on the menu.
The next morning, as we
enjoyed an airport breakfast prior to
her Spring Break flight to visit Aunt
Lu, Savannah poked and prodded
her bacon.
“I can’t eat this, Mom,” she said,
pushing it aside. “I’m a vegetarian
now.”
Egad. She was serious.
My neighbor, Terry, is older and
wiser than I am and she has long
faced this problem with creative
deception.
I decided to follow her example.
“That’s vegetarian bacon,” I
assured her, recalling the many
times Terry’s daughter, Cassie, has
gobbled up the “vegetarian” hot
dogs we roast over the fire.
Yeah, yeah, that’s bound to tick
off one or two diehard vegans but,
let’s face it, getting kids to eat a
solid meal can be darned challeng
ing without the added burden of
eliminating most main dishes.
When Christine recently
expressed interest in the calamari on
her dad’s plate, he promptly con
vinced her they were Italian onifm
rings, tentacles and all.
Squid’s now her favorite appetiz
er.
But Savannah wasn’t quite so
gullible.
“Are you sure?” she asked, eying
the delectable strips o’ pig. “I didn’t
hear you order vegetarian bacon. I
think I’ll wait and ask the waiter.”
I suppose this is a sign of things
to come. Yesterday Savannah turned
9 and she is wise beyond her years.
Hard to believe this astute young
lady, who routinely curls up with
me during Mommy/Daughter time
to read “It’s Perfectly Normal” and
learn about oh so many life changes,
is the same tiny bundle that slipped
from my frame so very long ago and
forever into my heart.
That precious memory is seared
among my life’s most stirring
moments.
» And so I had to laugh, yesterday,
when a friend recounted his trip to
visit a buddy’s newborn child in the
hospital.
Seems he beat his buddy to the
bedside and so had to make small
talk with the new mom, who was
tearfully intent on her new miracle.
Even when they were joined by the
dad, 1 am told, both parents were
beside themselves, nearly weeping
with the profundity of new life.
My friend, certain he was intrud
ing on a Madonna moment, made a
hasty escape, wishing he’d simply
sent a covered dish.
Not a bad idea, actually.
But might as well anticipate the
future, I told him. Her teen years
will be here before they know it.
Better make it vegetarian pot
roast.
Cheryl Rhodes' column is pub
lished every Thursday and Sunday.
Gjg&ister weekevents
I The Christian community prepares
to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus w (Ju i \
Christ next weekend with a variety J
( of events in and around the county -
— * during the coming week. r xoF
By Mary Pitman
Lifestyles Editor
From drama to musicals to
Easter egg hunts, there is no
shortage of events in the commu
nity during Easter week.
Today
Theatrical
productions
“Watch the Lamb”
... a drama at Trinity Worship
Center, 315 Kelly Mill Rd during
the 11 a.m. service.
“The Life of Jesus”
... Easter production at Fields
of the Woods Baptist Church on
Pendley Road in Cumming dur-
Tour of Homes wil benefit The Place
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By Cheryl Rhodes
Features Writer
It’s tough to believe it all start
ed with a broken leg the
sprawling home on the lake’s
edge, the picture-perfect family,
the philanthropic couple.
But, says Chantal Bagwell,
chuckling, that is what first drew
her to her future husband, Tommy,
nearly a decade ago.
“We met at a restaurant in
Miami,” says the Montreal native.
“I was with a date from Atlanta.
We met some friends from Atlanta
and it was Tommy. When I first
Nacoochee Indian Mounds
By Bill Vanderford
For the Forsyth County News
Just a hint of spring in the
mountain air already has much of
the wild azalea, mountain laurel,
and rhododendron bursting into
color, which has many people
from our area taking the short
ride into the hills near Helen.
Along this path, an old Indian
mound stands at the junction of
Hwys. 17 and 75, just south of
Helen near the Chattahoochee
River. It is a familiar landmark to
many travelers, but a mystery to
newcomers.
Legend has it that lovers from
opposing Indian tribes are buried
in this sacred place known as the
Nacoochee Mound. The story
relates that Sautee, a brave of the
Chickasaw Tribe, and Nacooc
hee, daughter of a Cherokee
Chief, fell immediately and hope-
ing the 11 a.m. service. For more
information, call (706) 216-6642.
Easter Egg Hunt
Cumming First United
Methodist Church
... for children O-fourth grade
at 4 p.m. at 770 Canton Hwy.,
Cumming. There will be refresh
ments and pictures with the
Easter bunny. Rain date is April
15. For more information, call
(770) 887-2900.
Easter Bunny
Pictures
Publix
... Cumming 400 Shopping
Center. Pictures with the Easter
Bunny, noon to 4 p.m. $3 each.
met him, he had a broken leg and
was dancing on his broken leg. I
thought that was pretty neat.”
So neat, she says, that she tried
her best to set him up with nearby
girls.
“I thought he was too nice to
be by himself,” she concedes,
laughing. “The next night, there
was another gathering for the
Super Bowl, and the guy I’d been
out with had gone back to Atlanta,
so Tommy and I got to know each
other better.”
Within a year, they were talk
ing marriage.
“We got engaged on Dec. 12
lessly in love when a Chickasaw
band stopped in Cherokee territo
ry at a designated resting place.
The two lovers met in the night
and ran away to nearby Yonah
Mountain to spend a few days
together.
When they later confronted
Nacoochee’s father with the idea
of creating peace between the
two nations, Chief Wahoo
ordered Sautee thrown from the
high cliffs of Yonah Mountain
while Nacoochee was forced to
watch.
Almost immediately, Nacooc
hee broke away from her father’s
restraining hands and leaped from
the cliff to join her lover. At the
foot of the cliff the lovers
dragged their broken bodies
together and locked in a final
embrace.
The Chief, overcome with
remorse, realized the greatness of
All proceeds'go to the March of
Dimes.
Good Friday,
April 13
Theatrical
Productions
Crucificial scene
... an all-day, live crucificial
scene will be presented at New
Bethel Church of Dawsonville.
For more information, call Karen
McCord at (706) 265-3943.
“Beyond His Resurrection”
... a drama, will be presented
at Christ Fellowship Church of
Dawsonville at 7 p.m. For more
and then, within a week, decided
the whole family would be in
town for Christmas, so why not
tell them it’s an engagement party
and throw a surprise wedding?”
she recalls, grinning.
“It was the nicest wedding
ever,” she says. “In one week’s
time, I got a wedding dress,
license, minister, rings, caterer,
you name it. There were 20 peo
ple at the wedding and it was
stress-free.”
Soon, the couple, then living in
Roswell, decided to get a new
house and started shopping for
homes along the river.
love and buried the lovers, still
locked together in death, near the
banks of the Chattahoochee River
in a burial mound.
Though a very touching story,
in reality the Nacoochee Mound
is an old burial site that was prob
ably placed there long before the
Cherokee Tribe inhabited the
area.
In fact, an excavation that
began in 1915 unearthed 75 buri
als in the mound. Graves were
discovered at varying levels,
showing that the burials took
place over a number of years.
Differences in artifacts found
indicate a slight change in the
culture, possibly due to the influ
ence of civilization.
Within the mound, none of the
remains were preserved well
enough to enable exact measure-
See MOUNDS, Page 2B
information, call the church at
(706)216-3248.
Easter Musical Drama
Celebration
... at 7 p.m. at Sawnee
Mountain Church of God, 610
Canton Hwy., in Cumming. For
more information, call (770) 889-
9287.
Saturday,
April 14
Theatrical
Productions
Easter Musical Drama
Celebration
... at 7 p.m. at Sawnee
“But I wanted to live on a big
ger body of water,” recalls
Bagwell. “I said his mother lives
two miles away and the factory’s
up here, so we started looking on
the lake. When we didn’t find
anything, we started looking for
property.”
Still, she says the couple never
dreamed their home would be
come such a large one.
“Tommy had a friend who
lived in Alabama and built this
10,000-square-foot house,” she
recalls.
“He told them they were
idiots; how much room do two
are rich in history
Photo/Bill Vanderford
Legend has it that lovers from opposing Indian tribes are
buried in this sacred place known as the Nacoochee Mound
near Helen.
Celebrated
occasions
MGE4B U]
Mountain Church of God, 610
Canton Hwy., in Cumming. For
more information, call (770) 889-
9287.
Easter Egg Hunts
Grace Baptist Church
... at 2 p.m. for children birth
to grade 6. A special hunting
ground will be reserved for
preschoolers. Everyone is wwel
come. The church is located at
4940 Martin Rd., approximately
five miles north of Cumming. For
more information, call (770) 844-
8896 or (770) 887-5988.
Fellowship Baptist Church
... Easter egg hunt and special
children’s service at 11 a.m.
See EASTER, Page 2B
The Bagwell home, which is
nearly 20,000 square feet,
took four years to build and
will be featured among this
year’s Tour of Homes to ben
efit The Place, scheduled for
May 12, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Tickets are sls. For an addi
tional charge, you can include
lunch, dinner or a Mother’s
Day Brunch lakeside under a
tent on the Bagwell property.
Meal tickets include the Tour
of Homes and a cruise
aboard the Bagwells’ boat,
The Amistad.
Photo/Submitted
people need?”
Their home, which grew to
nearly twice that size, took four
years to build and will be featured
among this year’s Tour of Homes
to benefit The Place. Scheduled
for May 11-13, the tour will also
include a luncheon, dinner or
brunch on the Bagwell’s spacious
yacht, The Amistad.
Reservations can be secured
by contacting Fran Eaton at (770)
889-8067.
Featuring stunning rooms with
soaring windows and beautiful
See BAGWELL, Page 2B
