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I; - ‘~?WSb 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. . • ' / ■ - ■ ■ 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. or*ii> 0 e> 0 et €fl Y (COVENANT CHRISTIAN ACADEMY ’ J 6905 Post Road • Cumming, GA 30040 Qy \\ 770-674-2990 • www.covenantrams.org a ■3 Conveniently located 1/2 mile west of intersection GA Hwy 9 and GA Hwy 371 (Post Road) in South Forsyth County g • OPEN HOUSE • 5. Thursday, November 21st 7pm - 9pm A Now enrolling grades K 4 through 12 _ a BO 0 (E> 0 6(1 Small Jobs • Home Repairs Handyman Jobs • Carpentry • Painting • Fix a Switch • Electrical • Screen a Porch • Grout a Tile • Ceramic Tile • Fix a Fence • Hang a Blind • Vinyl • Caulk a Tub • Fix a Deck • Plumbing • Stop a Drip J^ • Drywall • Pane a Window y 1 o n7 FREE ESTIMATES! YOU DON'T PAY UNTIL THE JOB'S OKAY! www.andyoncall.com vCwE Let us help you get your home m ready for the holidays! Serving North Fulton, Forsyth & Dawson Bonded & Insured I ■ I fl ; ■ ■ •‘1 ‘ Cw-'Y I M < Fl f- ■•’l flkW ; ’..<. k M KX Jew fl Iww I y - fll Kfl fl * Photos/Submitted r ■ ■ v K “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 ■ B[p VyJN | ('fiil w 1 hTTWa g-TP ■ Huge Remnant Sale!!! Bring Room Sizes! A~MMapelioiise Sale! 1 / Bring Room Sizes! Hardwood • Laminate • Ceramic Tile also available B Forsyth O^' A — asE 0/c # AffiUMX ■ Surgery HO GAN MafcdCatar Center P'tree Pkwy. Oj£ ?TS Across From a South Forsyth - High School / l 770-fltf9-7465 / f J * • Fully staffed operating and . ■, -- recovery room with I - / state-of-the-art equipment \ / David a. Ragan, do, mph • All the resources & \. / Board Certified In Family Practice I advanced conventional & Occupational Medicine orthopaedic I.llHmfe.l lHDJJ.ltffiH OCCUPATIONAL surgeons and ■■■■■■■■■ MEDICINE | anesthesiologists on staff. Michael G. Hogan, MD, FRCSjC) i •On site x-ray facility with Orthopaedic Surgeon FAMILY PRACTICE registered technicians Linda C. Jackson, MD URGENT CARE c.re, Orthopaedic Surgeon • Workers’ Comp Injuries __ A ■ • Physicals • Drug Screenings Medicare certification IHI42ASCA 7r 0”Oo9 - 746O '7*7o 000'7'71'1 State License 058-148 I ' z 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.