Newspaper Page Text
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Upper left, Some of this year’s graduates of the Cumming-Forsyth County
Chamber of Commerce Diplomat program show off their distinction certificates
at the awards banquet. From left, front row: Mike Edwards, Robin Grier, Marilyn
Wedig, Paul Aase. Back row, Trevor Riedinger, Al Abbott. Upper right, Barton
Kimsey, current chairman of the Ambassador-Diplomat committee, presents
Susan Sokolowsky with the prestigious Chairman’s award in appreciation for her
assistance and support. Lower left, Marty Byars, funeral director at McDonald
Funeral Home, receives his Ambassador Horizon award from Kimsey. Lower
right, Paul Aase of Roberts Commercial Real Estate Services is this year’s
recipient of the Diplomat Horizon award for generously giving time and effort to
the Chamber and its programs.
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Volunteers’ hard work recognized
by local Chamber of Commerce
By Cheryl Rhodes
Lifestyles Editor
It was a chance for the unsung heroes of
the Chamber of Commerce to shine.
Throughout each year, as the Chamber
does its best to canvas the county, meeting
and greeting and cutting ribbons and spread
ing local civic and professional good tidings,
a core of helpful professionals man the
desks and don the nametags and line up to
mingle. Already juggling busy schedules of
their own, these volunteers represent the
heart and soul of a professional community
that is experiencing tumultuous growth.
Newly enlisted in a year-long program
that has been in place for more than a
decade, fledgling Diplomat members work
with Ambassadors, graduates of the pro
gram, to liaison with Chamber members,
staff and board members.
This week, an appreciation banquet was
held to trumpet the efforts of Diplomats and
Ambassadors and the collaboration that ben
efits an entire community.
“Being a member of the program means
a lot of hard work, time and input, but the
results are phenomenal,” said Joni Owens,
president of the Chamber of Commerce.
“There are 1,400 members of the Chamber
and I can’t possibly get in touch with that
many members. I don’t do it; my board
members don’t do it. These are the people
that do it.
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“But it’s clearly worth it,” she said.
“Over the course of the years, the
Ambassadors and Diplomats initiative has
grown into being an institution that affords
professionals the opportunity to meet and
network and grow with mentors,”
Finding the time can be a challenge, say
participants, but one worth meeting.
“I have a 3-month-old baby and a wife at
home,” said Roberts Commercial Real
Estate Service’s Paul Aase, this year’s recip
ient of the Diplomat Horizon award. “So it’s
always a challenging call to say I have to go
to Business After Hours or a dinner. I aver
age once a week, at least. But, in the long
term, it’s worth it for business and, in the
short term, for the social aspect of it. What
you put into it is what you get out of it.”
For those who have graduated from the
program, the opportunity to mentor new par
ticipants is a rewarding endeavor, as well as
away to extend the benefits that first drew
them into volunteering.
“My wife grew up here and I was new to
the community, so it served its purpose of
meeting people,” said Bert Durand, “It’s a
good way to meet owners of businesses. It’s
funny, because now I see more people I
know than Melissa does.”
During the banquet, retiring Chamber
office and programs administrator Vicky
Clair was honored for nearly a decade of
service.
DREAM from IB
When her family moved
from Tennessee to southeast
Atlanta, she was nearly 21 but
looked much younger.
“1 was overseas on one of
the minesweepers and my par
ents wrote me about the young
girl that moved next door,”
recalls Bill Whatley, his eyes
glowing at the memory. “They
thought she was a teenager
and I sent her a card to wel
come her. Being away and in
action, I always wrote home
eveiy week and it just seemed
appropriate to send something
and make her feel comfort
able. That was in April of
‘53.”
Jt would be the only com
munication with her until
Whatley came home on leave
a year later.
“1 got home in the middle
of the night and, after 1 got
some rest, I got outside wash
ing my car,” he says of that
fateful day more than 48 years
ago. “Unbeknownst to me, she
was looking at me out the win
dow. But when she came out, 1
had just gone in. Then, when I
came back out, she was in. We
were passing each other and
not realizing it.”
His memory of the
moment when, at last, they
looked into each other’s eyes
has lingered with heady clari
ty-
“‘Good morning. I’m Bill.
I imagine you’re Dorothy,”’
Whatley recalls saying. “She
said, ‘Yes 1 am.’ “
What began as his attempt
at neighborly good will with
that first full-color, embroi
dered postcard soon led the
couple past their first date at
The Fox Theater The High
And Mighty was playing to
others at the Varsity and bowl
ing and Stone Mountain the
carving had been started, but
was not yet finished. Her
beaming consent to his heart
felt proposal that same year
led them to the altar and a
future of parenting three sons.
“She took such good care
of me and of each of our chil
dren,” says Whatley. “She
cared for our kids’ friends,
too, and, eventually, my
grandparents and her parents.
She would give everything she
had. but really wouldn’t ask
for anything for herself. She
was that way with me, too, so
I’d bring her everything I
could think of to get her.”
As Whatley left the service
and entered a career with
Sweetheart Products that cur
rently spans 34 years, his
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, November 17,2002
***■ "■
Photo Submitted
When Bill and Dorothy Whatley (above) first met, the
carving on Stone Mountain was not yet completed.
Their marriage would last nearly five decades. In tribute
to her memory, he has established scholarship assis
tance for nursing students at North Georgia College.
bride stayed home and raised
their boys. Bill Jr., Russell and
Michael, and manned the
church kindergarten and Bible
school and stayed closely
involved with education.
Three months after the
completion in 1983 of the cou
ple’s dream home in Forsyth
County, Whatley suffered a
stroke and subsequent virus,
derailing their plans for a
blissful retirement that would
coincide with their youngest
son’s graduation from college.
With unflagging dedica
tion, his wife nursed him back
to health. In 1990, when their
eldest son died in a plane
crash, her stoic strength began
to fray. Then, in October of
2000, it became apparent that
something was terribly wrong.
When her eye socket began
to bulge, nearly eight hours of
emergency surgery were con
ducted to re-route pressurized
blood vessels and correct the
problem. Whatley says that,
although doctors sent her
home within three days, his
wife contracted gangrene
when a yeast infection went
initially undetected. More
emergency surgery left her
disabled and burdened with
the indignity of a colostomy
bag.
Over the course of the next
seven months, she would learn
again to talk and walk.
Additional surgery temporari
ly relieved her of the need for
the bag, and again she seemed
to regain her youthful opti-
PAGE 3B
mism.
But her tissues were thin
and the victory was short
lived.
“The infection kept her
down and she went into ICU
with fever,” recalls Whatley,
his composure failing him.
“Four days later, they told me
they could not conquer all the
infection that was raging
inside her body. We took her
home to make her comfortable
and. on Mother’s Day. she was
in a coma. We checked her
every hour through the night
and, when my son went into
her room, I heard him cry out,
‘My mother's dead.’”
The grief that is etched on
Whatley’s face cannot be
eased, though he takes com
fort in his loving children and
grandchildren.
Determined to pay tribute
to the love of his life, Whatley
has established a scholarship
fund, through Regionsßank, to
benefit nursing students at
North Georgia College in
Dahlonega. Recipients will be
selected by the college.
“There’s gonna be some
young ladies out there that
need help,” he says, tenderly
holding a
n image of his smiling
wife. “She never had the
money and she didn’t think to
talk to a mentor for scholar
ships. This is one last thing
that I can do that I know
would please her.”
Cheryl Rhodes'column is
published every Sunday.