Newspaper Page Text
She (Times
gainesvilletimes.com
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Nick Bowman Features Editor | 770-718-3426 | life@gainesvilletimes.com
FAITH
EVENTS
‘Better than new’
Red-Back Church
Hymnal Singing. 6
to 7:30 p.m. June
30. Mountain View
Baptist Church,
3765 Mountain View
Road, Gainesville,
kbyers56@hotmail.
com. Free.
CrossView Church
VBS. 5 to 7:45
p.m. July 7-11.
CrossView Church,
1219 Flighway
124, Hoschton.
678-425-9831,
crossviewchurch@
windstream.net.
Free.
Marriage
Enrichment. 9 to
9:45 a.m. July 14.
Mount Zion Baptist
Church, 4000
Thurmond Tanner
Road, Flowery
Branch, mzbcinfo@
yahoo.com. Free.
Tiny Stitches.
10 a.m. to 2
p.m. July 20.
Lakewood Baptist
Church, 2235
Thompson Bridge
Rd., Gainesville.
770-561-7007,
janicekehrle@
yahoo.com. Free.
Rising Stars
Theater Organists.
3 p.m. July 21.
Cumming First
United Methodist
Church, 770 Canton
Highway, Cumming.
Free.
Collin Boothby,
Organist. 7 p.m. July
30. Cumming First
United Methodist
Church, 770 Canton
Highway, Cumming.
Free.
ONGOING
Celebrate
Recovery. 6:15-9
p.m. every Friday.
Dinner, large group
service and small
groups. Children’s
ministry available
for children of all
ages. CrossBridge
Community Church,
751 Ga. 53 E,
Dawsonville. $2-3.
770-883-2576 or
slreeves2@yahoo.
com.
Free clothing
store. 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. every Tuesday.
Infant, children
and adult clothing
available for those
in need. Donations
appreciated. Holy
Trinity Anglican
Church, 7049 Spout
Springs Road,
Flowery Branch.
678-336-6964.
Gentle Hearts
Ministry Food
Pantry. Distribution
of food. 5-6 p.m.
every Wednesday.
St. Paul United
Methodist Church,
705 Summit St.,
Gainesville. 770-
536-4910.
Senior adult choir.
1 p.m. Wednesdays.
First Presbyterian
Church, 800
S. Enota Drive,
Gainesville.
Membership not
required. 770-532-
0136.
Arts Council plans concerts in freshly roofed Performing Arts Complex
Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Workers with North Georgia Contracting LLC replace the roof on the Arts Council Performing Arts Complex in
Gainesville on Thursday, June 27.
BY LAYNE SALIBA
lsaliba@gainesvilletimes.com
The Arts Council still has big plans
in the future for its Performing Arts
Complex at the corner of Green and
Academy Streets, but for now, those
plans are all about a new roof.
After finding some hail damage at
the complex that came from storms
in July 2018, Gladys Wyant, The Arts
Council’s executive director, knew
the roof needed replacing so they
could continue with renovations
inside.
“It will be good for another 50
years,” Wyant said of the new
roof. “There were leaks, so we just
wanted to get all the water out of the
building.”
After work began on the roof,
Shannon O’Toole, owner of North
Georgia Contracting, saw the job
wasn’t going to be as easy as he had
hoped.
“We tore the roofing system off the
church and found out the decking on
the roof was original to the building,”
O’Toole said. “So low and behold, we
had gaps that were an inch to half an
inch wide. So we had to re-deck the
entire structure with plywood and
then install our shingles.”
After 500 sheets of plywood on the
roof and many, many more shingles,
the job was finished Friday eve
ning. It only took three days to com
plete the Performing Arts Complex
building.
“We have roughly about 25 guys
working on it,” O’Toole said.
As the new roof was being installed
with equipment and supplies strewn
around the building, Wyant couldn’t
help but get excited. For one, it
shows people driving by that things
are happening and moving along
with the building. But it also means
they can continue with all the work
inside, without any worry of things
being destroyed by water.
“It’s going to be better than new,
because we’re upgrading what was
here,” Wyant said.
The inside is still a work in prog
ress. The non-working sprinkler
system, which stopped perfor
mances that were being held there
when The Arts Council took over,
has been replaced and is in working
order now.
The platform serving as the stage
has been built out to much larger
than it originally was, but hasn’t
been completed quite yet.
“Right now, we’re in the design
stage,” Wyant said of the inside of
the complex. “We’re designing the
lights and sound and the electri
cal, because before we deck the
platform we need to have all the
guts in there and not make any mis
takes and have things that have to
come out.”
Wyant said they plan to have all
types of concerts and performances
in the historic Methodist church.
“The Arts Council will be present
ing more than one series,” Wyant
said. “We may have a classical
series, we may have a pop series,
we may have jazz.”
Wyant said they have the same
plans for what the rest of the com
plex will look like. The red carpet
that is there now, old and faded, will
likely be torn up to expose the origi
nal wood floors. She said they’re
debating on how to use the original
pews that were there, too.
“There’s a small group that wants
us to bring the pews back, but most
people say don’t bring the pews
back because they’re uncomfort
able and everybody wants their own
space,” Wyant said.
The Arts Council is still looking for
ways to pay for all the renovations
its making to the Performing Arts
Complex. Wyant said they’re hoping
some people will be generous and
do some of the work at a lower cost
than usual. She’s hoping other peo
ple will donate money to get other
things done. No matter what, she
said everything should be a lot eas
ier from here on out because there
is no worry of water getting inside.
She’s ready to see the building’s
potential come to fruition and serve
the area for years to come.
“This is on my bucket list to finish
before I retire,” Wyant said.
Workers with North Georgia Contracting LLC replace the roof on the Arts Council Performing Arts Complex in Gainesville on Friday, June 28.
Cousin Lynn, a blessing but not in disguise
When we were growing up, my
cousin, Lynn, and I were week
end and summertime warriors,
fighting side-by-side through
childhood journeys and teenage
wonders.
We fought each other, once in
a while, both of us getting mad
and sulking until, finally, one said
something nice to end it. Then,
just that quick, we were off on
an adventure through the back
woods or plotting how we were
going to get some boy to like us.
In the summers, we picked
blackberries, strung beans and
went swimming. In the fall, it was
high school football games, pump
kin carving and fall festivals. At
Christmas, we stomped through
the mountains, picking out cedar
Christmas trees, overseeing the
cutting of those trees and drag
ging them back to the truck. We
decorated them together and,
every year, almost without fail,
she played Elizabeth to my Mary
in the church pageant.
R0NDA RICH
southswomen@bellsouth.net
We are third cousins. In the
South, degrees matter. We are
very close third cousins because
my daddy and her grandmother
were double first cousins. We
both had brownish red hair and
freckles scattered generously on
our faces so you could tell from
whence we cometh.
I remember the first time I saw
Lynn. I was seven and she was
eight. We went to a tiny country
church where there were only
a handful of children. I was the
only girl. One Sunday morning,
we were settling down to begin
service when suddenly the door
opened and in walked a cute girl
with shoulder length hair. All by
herself. I was riveted. Another
girl. Impressively, this little girl,
all by herself, walked down the
aisle, her Bible tucked in the bent
of her arm and held her head
high. There was a look of bold
assurance in her eye.
Our church was so small that
our children’s Sunday School
class was held on the back bench.
Our teacher stood in the row in
front and taught. On the day our
Sunday School attendance went
from six to seven, Lynn sat beside
me. It was the beginning of many
perfect attendance awards for
the both of us.
This I will always remember:
She came to church for months
without her parents because she
insisted on coming. They would
drop her off but after a while, her
mama started to attend. Then
her daddy came. Once that hap
pened, the doors of that church
never opened without all three of
them being there.
This always calls to mind the
scripture: A child shall lead them.
She certainly did.
On a Saturday morning during
July revival, Lynn and I were
saved at the ages of 11 and 12
then baptized by my daddy in the
chilly waters of an early Septem
ber Sunday morning. The framed
Kodak photo of that is one of my
favorites.
Our Friday and Saturday nights
were spent in sleepovers and
going to the movies. Once, we
stood in a line that stretched two
blocks to see the movie “Jaws.” I
guess that’s why big earning mov
ies are called “blockbusters.”
We remain close. We’ve worked
hard in our careers — she is a
scientist-turned-executive — and
we’ve helped to keep each other
grounded in the values that grew
us. Interestingly, neither of us had
children, which was never a con
sideration in our teenage years.
She called the other day. “I got
you on my mind. I wanted to see
how your new project is going.”
I sighed. “Haven’t heard
anything.”
“You will,” she said reassur
ingly. “The Lord just told me to
call you and give you a word of
encouragement.”
About two hours after our call
ended, good news came on the
project. I texted her. “You’re not
gonna believe this...”
“I knew it was coming,” she
said confidently. “You just
needed to be encouraged.”
All those years gone and yet
she’s still as bold and assured as
the day she first walked in church
and began blessing my life.
Ronda Rich is the best-selling
author of several books, including
“Mark My Words: A Memoir of
Mama.” Sign up for her newsletter
at www.rondarich.com. Her column
appears Tuesdays and on www.
gainesvilletimes.com.