About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2020)
4B Midweek Edition - May 13-14, 2020 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com LIFE COMMUNIS NEWS Worth their weight in gold Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia honored 19 girls with the Girl Scout Gold Award at a virtual Highest Award Ceremony on Sunday, May 5. The Gold Award is the most prestigious award for Girl Scouts Among those awarded are Sara Laine of Gainesville and Troop No. 10849. Laine designed a mental health education system for middle schoolers. The program, intended to be taught by an older peer, is to raise awareness about mental illness and mental health. She hopes the program inspires a generation without a stigma against mental illness, according to a news release from the Girl Scouts. Ansley Talafous of Cleveland and Troop NO. 11728 also was awarded. Talafous and her team built a nature trail at a local Scout camp that gave safe access across a creek. She also created nature lessons for youth to use along the trail. Her trail and les sons will be maintained by the staff at the camp. Turning the ship Gainesville native Mark Braza, 32, is a finalist for the Service to America Medals in the emerging leaders category. Braza is an assistant program manager for the Department of the Navy, who is responsi ble for leading nearly 30 government organi zations and contractors to plan and execute key elements of a $5 billion overhaul of technology and weapons systems on the USS John C. Stennis, a Nimitz-class nuclear air craft carrier, and two power plants. His efforts so far have saved tens of mil lions of dollars and ensured that the aircraft carrier will remain a state-of-the-art warship for the next quarter century, according to Submit your news The Times accepts information about and photos of charitable donations, civic meeting happenings, student achievements and other awards. Submissions are edited and published as space allows. Only one photo per submission will be published. Email submissions to community® gainesvilletimes.com. the Service to America Medals website. Braza has worked for the Navy for 10 years, joining right out of college. Food for those in need In three donations, John Soules Foods donated enough food for over 890,000 serv ings. That included 20,000 pounds of food to charities in the Atlanta area. The company has operations in Gainesville. “We feel there is a real need right now and we want to lend a helping hand to our neighbors,” said John Soules, Jr., president and Co-CEO of John Soules Foods, in a news release. “Our hope is that providing protein- rich foods to local food banks will ease the burden many are facing at this time. ” Randy and Friends crafts some thanks for firefighters Earlier this year, firefighters from Gaines ville Fire Department’s Station 1 came to Randy and Friends and taught a class on fire safety. Recently, Randy Owens was able to bring them a serving tray made in the nonprofit’s wood shop and baked goods. The back of the tray reads “Thank you for your good words and works” to remind them they are appreciated, Marty Owens, co-founder of the nonprofit, said. Owens brought similar gifts to other fire stations and to those in law enforcement, she said. Photo courtesy Randy and Friends Activate your online account to take advantage of all that your subscription has to offer: Unlimited 24/7 access to gainesvilletimes.com, our mobile app and the ePaper - the page-by-page digital replica of the newspaper Lawns are the new wedding venue in age of coronavirus BY LEANNE ITALIE Associated Press NEW YORK — Love in the age of corona- virus sometimes requires a lawn. Couples with dashed wedding plans due to lockdown restrictions have been tying the knot on those tidy green spreads instead, including at least one loaner. Danielle Cartaxo and Ryan Cignarella were supposed to get married in West Orange, New Jersey, on April 11 at a venue with sweeping views of the New York City skyline. Rather than abandon their Easter Weekend nuptials, they headed outdoors. The tricky part was finding a lawn. The two live in Wayne, Pennsylvania, about 100 miles away, but they had a marriage license issued in West Orange, where Cartaxo lived until she was 5. “We still felt like at the end of the day making that commitment to each other was important and we didn’t want to wait,” Car taxo said. But they were barred from marrying in a public space. That’s where a stranger, Janice Berman, comes in. A friend contacted Ber man, and she offered her front lawn, with a few yellow spring blooms on one of her bushes as backdrop. “My husband played the 'Wedding March’ for them on a speaker,” Berman said. “We watched from the porch. It was really fun. They were so sweet.” The couple’s maid of honor and best man attended at a safe distance, as did Cartaxo’s parents. The bride, in a short white dress, held a bouquet. A small, handwritten “Just Married” sign marked the occasion. They’ll have a party later. “You have to be grateful in times like this,” Cignarella said. “Sometimes when you put goodness out into the world it kind of comes back to you.” In Muskego, Wisconsin, Kalee and Tim Gbur weren’t in need of a borrowed lawn. They used their own for their wedding on April 18. They had originally hoped to marry last October, but Kalee’s paternal grandmother fell ill and died in December at 101. Her grandparents’ wedding anniversary was April 18, and her chosen venue, a grand hotel nearby, was free on that date. Then the pandemic struck and the cou ple’s plans were scuttled once again. What was once supposed to be a big affair with more than 250 guests was moved to their lawn. “We went through weeks of trying to decide. Should we move our date altogether? Should we keep it April 18? I said, 'You know what, I don’t want to give up our date. I want to honor my grandma,”’ Kalee said. They were going to keep it small and simple. Then her mother and sister stepped in with balloons and a huge “Just Married” sign with their names in their wedding col ors, purple and gray. Loved ones decorated their cars and stood in the street, honking their horns in celebration. A neighbor built a wooden backdrop adorned with tea candles and flowers. Somebody else provided a white plastic aisle runner. “When we were doing this we were like, this is just not going to be what we wanted, but it actually ended up being better than what we wanted. It really touched our hearts seeing everybody there, just coming together,” Tim said. “I wouldn’t change a thing.” With social distancing in place, and high wind blowing, Kalee’s not sure exactly what their impromptu guests actually heard dur ing the ceremony. “They were pretty far,” she laughed. L lip » / 'V)H . • • ' A' ■ A.Vjai ■/ fvF\, ■ / >1 ill tv A WE Kk n Photo provided by MICHAEL WARGO I Associated Press Newlyweds Danielle Cartaxo and Ryan Cignarella kiss while wearing masks after getting married in West Orange, N.J. on April 11. Barred from getting married in a public space due to lockdown restrictions, Cartaxo and Cignarella got married on the front lawn of the home of a stranger who offered to help. Up-to-the-minute coverage get time-sensitive updates throughout the day Search for a specific article or subject in today's edition or for past editions in the archives Share your favorite stories with friends and family Join a subscribers-only Facebook group offering more access to our news team and conversation with other subscribers GO TO gainesvilletimes.com/register Having trouble registering for online access? Email us at websupport@gainesvilletimes.com £hc Otncs gainesvilletimes.com Honestly Local
