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MONROE COUNTY
Community
Calendar
Calendar items run free
of charge as a community
service each week as space
allows. Mail items for the
Community Calendar to Diane
Clidewell at newMmymcr.net
by 8 a.m. on Monday.
July 14
Ribbon cutting at Monroe
County Health Depart
ment
There will be a ribbon cutting at
the renovated Monroe County
Health Department, 106 Martin
Luther King Jr. Drive, Forsyth
on Thursday, July 14 at 6 p.m.
A plaque honoring Dr. J. Ray
Grant Jr. will be unveiled and
the new lobby of the Health
Department will be dedicated
to Dr. Grant, who served for
many years as member and
chair of Monroe County's
Board of Health. The community
is invited and refreshments will
be served.
Juliette River Club to meet
Juliette River Club will meet
Thursday, July 1 4 at 7 p.m. at
the Juliette Methodist Church,
69 McCrackin St, Juliette. The
guest speaker will be Richard
Hayden, who will discuss and
give information on air condi
tioning units.
Monroe Co. Democratic
Committee to meet
Monroe County Democratic
Committee will meet at 6:30
p.m. on Thursday, July 14 at St.
Luke AME Fellowship Annex,
1 43 James St., Forsyth. The pur
pose of the meeting is to elect
District Post positions.
July 15
Kids Art Show
There will be a Kids Art Show
at 1823 Artisan Guild, 20 N.
Jackson St., Forsyth from 1 1:30
a.m.-12 noon on Friday, July 15
to showcase the creations of
Art Camp.
July 17
Save A Pet, Inc. Annual
Meeting
Save A Pet, Inc. will hold its
Annual Meeting, including the
election of officers and direc
tors, on Sunday, July 17 at 2
p.m. at the Save A Pet Shelter,
430 Maynard Church Road,
Forsyth. The public is welcome
to attend. For more information,
call 478-994-5223.
July 22-24, 29-31
See PUFFS at The Rose
The Backlot Players will present
“PUFFS Or: Seven Increasingly
Eventful Years At A Certain
School of Magic and Magic"
on Friday-Saturdays, July 22,
23, 29, 30 at 7:30 p.m. and
Sundays, July 24, 31 at 2:30
p.m. Rated: PG. This is the an
nual BOOYA production. It is
a fast-paced, funny adventure
with original music that may be
particularly entertaining to those
who’ve enjoyed the Harry Pot
ter books. Directed by Elizabeth
Hunter. Tickets are available
online at thebacklotplayers.org/
tickets. The box office is now
open only two hours before
and during shows.
July 23-24
Annual Community Unity
Event at Kynette Park
Kynette Park will be the site of
the Annual Community Unity
Event hosted by Jon Clawd
& friends on Saturday and
Sunday, July 23-24. There will
be something for all ages at
this family-friendly festival with
bounce houses, a Car Show,
basketball tournament, softball
tournament, live entertainment
and refreshments. Come enjoy
being part of a great com
munity.
July 23
The Return performs at
Fine Arts Center
"The Return,” a Beatles tribute
band, will perform at Mon
roe County Fine Arts Center,
25 Brooklyn Ave„ Forsyth on
Saturday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $25-$35 and can
be purchased online. Call 478-
994-2031 for more information.
July 25
Cub Scout Pack 51/Boy
Scout Troop 51 host Open
House
Cub Scout Pack 51 and Boy
Scout Troop 51 will host an
Open House on Monday, July
25 from 5-7 pm in the fel
lowship hall at Forsyth United
Methodist Church. Youth ages
5-18 are eligible to join. Please
call 478-258-1453 for more
See CALENDAR
Page 2B
j ui y i 3 ,2022 ^Reporter
Community 1B
Around Monroe County ► ► Forsyth • Juliette • High Falls • Bolingbroke • Culloden • Smarr
Forsyth native receives Mayo Clinic Award
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Forsyth native Dr. Floyd Willis has received
the first Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. Willis grew up
in Forsyth, the youngest child of George Willis
Sr. and Elizabeth Willis. After graduating from
Yale College with a BS in biology in 1982, he
earned his MD at Morehouse School of Medi
cine in Atlanta in 1986.
He completed his residency in Family Medi
cine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester in 1989 and
was admitted to the American Board of Family
Medicine in 1989. He went into private prac
tice in Carrollton, but when the Mayo Clinic
determined to open a clinic in the Southeastern
U.S., Willis got a call to help do so and moved to
Jacksonville where he has worked since.
Willis is a consultant in the Department of
Family Medicine and an Assistant Professor of
Family Medicine. He specializes in the treat
ment of dementia with interests in dementia in
cross-cultural populations and telemedicine.
His father didn’t graduate from high school
but earned his GED and left Monroe County,
where he worked as a shoeshine boy, to go into
the U.S. Army. He took advantage of every
educational opportunity the army offered him
and reached the rank of Captain, serving as a
chaplain, before he returned to Monroe County
to open a funeral home and invest in real estate.
Mack Willis, Floyds brother, said his father
was determined to be able to send all of his chil
dren to college if they studied hard and qualified
to go. He saved the money by never buying any
thing he couldn’t pay for in cash. He told Floyd
he could apply to up to four colleges.
Mack Willis said he saw the stack of letters
from colleges that had come to his brother. Flip
ping through them, he saw one from Yale and
asked Floyd if he had applied. Floyd said no, but
he had already applied to four schools. Mack
asked how much the admission fee was and
upon learning that it was $25, he gave Floyd the
money and told him to apply to Yale.
See Dr. Floyd Willis • Page 3B
Dr. Floyd Willis
Playwright with Forsyth ties has new hit
Will Arbery, center, is pictured with his Forsyth cousin, Ivey
Virgil, 2nd from right, and four of her Army wives friends
who came to see his Corsicana off Broadway. (Photo
courtesy of Hugh Mercer Jr.)
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Will Arbery, an accom
plished playwright with
Forsyth ties through his
father, Glenn Arbery, has
a new play off Broadway
that is getting positive
reviews and has already
had its rim extended. Will
Arbery’s “Heroes of the
Fourth Turning” was a
finalist for a Pulitzer Prize
in drama in 2020, and his
latest play, “Corsicana,” is
already gathering acclaim.
“Corsicana” premiered
on June 2 at Playwrights’
Horizons in New York
City and has been extend
ed through July 17 so far.
The name comes from the
town in Texas that is the
setting for the play, which
centers around a woman
with Down’s syndrome,
her half-brother and two
other characters who play
a part in their lives as they
adjust after the death of
their mother.
Glenn Arbery grew up in
Forsyth, played defensive
tackle for Coach Dan Pitts
and graduated from Mary
Persons before heading
to University of Georgia,
earning advanced degrees,
including a doctorate in
literature, and being a
professor in Massachu
setts, Texas and Wyoming
before accepting the presi
dency at Wyoming Catho
lic College in Lander.
In the course of his
career in academics, he
raised a family of seven
daughters and one son,
Will. Julia, the daugh
ter just ahead of Will in
age, is the inspiration for
the young woman with
Down’s syndrome in “Cor
sicana.” In one interview,
Will said he had always
wanted to write about be
ing Julia’s brother. Several
of his other plays, includ
ing “Heroes of the Fourth
Turning,” also include
autobiographical material.
He continues the tactic
of writing about places and
people he knows from his
father, who among a num
ber of academic works
has published two novels
in which it is said one
can recognize a number
of places and people that
have been part of Monroe
County.
Will’s uncle, Hugh Mer
cer, is proud of his nephew
and his success. Mercer’s
daughter, Ivey Virgil, was
able to see “Corsicana”
with several friends while
her husband, Col. Scott
Virgil, was serving at West
Point, N.Y. They met Will
for lunch after a matinee
and congratulated him on
his work. Ivey and Scott
are now on their way to a
new assignment at Mac-
Dill AFB in Tampa.
Mercer lives in the house
where he and Glenn and
an older and younger sister
grew up in Forsyth. He
was 10 years old when his
father, Hugh Mercer Sr.,
married Glenn’s mother,
Frances, and Glenn was
two years younger. He en
joys following Will’s career
and was able to attend a
performance of “Heroes
of the Fourth Turning.”
Will has an extensive
portfolio of work beyond
these two plays and is
likely to produce much
more. Those from Mon
roe County who hear his
name should know that
even though he grew up
primarily in Texas and
Wyoming, his roots stretch
back into Forsyth.
Forsyth welcomes new sculpture
Pictured, left to right, are Frank Wilder, Janice Hall, Julius Stroud, John Howard, Chris
Hewett, Megan Thomas, Michael Borders, Eric Wilson, Renina Smith, Denise Buff, Gilda
Stanbery.
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Forsyth unveiled its new sculp
ture at the entrance to City Hall on
East Main Street in a ceremony on
Wednesday, June 29. The sculp
ture, designed by Megan Thomas
and fabricated by Michael Bor
ders, was initiated when Forsyth
Convention & Visitors Bureau
(CVB) obtained a Vibrant Cities
grant from the Georgia Council
for the Arts.
Mayor Eric Wilson thanked
Gilda Stanbery, executive director
of the CVB, for pursuing the grant
and the committee that developed
guidelines for what and where the
art should be and then selected
the design from artists’ submis
sions. The committee included Ju
lius Stroud, Renina Smith, Denise
Buff, Chris Hewitt, Janice Hall,
Frank Wilder and Stanbery.
Stroud said the committee
wanted three key elements in
the sculpture. They wanted it to
represent unity in Forsyth; to be
relevant, fresh and respectful;
and to engage in life in its setting.
Stroud said the
committee wanted
an artwork that
would be engaging
both in day and
night.
Thomas thanked
the committee
for choosing her
design and giving
her the oppor
tunity to bring it
into being. As a
resident of Monroe
County and an
active member of
the 1823 Art Guild
on the square in
Forsyth, Thomas
said she was
compelled by the
theme of unity
and the desire to
represent in the artwork the to
getherness she sees in Forsyth and
especially the unity she saw during
the pandemic. She wanted to por
tray the unity across generations
and diverse backgrounds. She also
wanted the sculpture to represent
the perseverance and fortitude she
has seen in people in Forsyth.
“Through tests, we grew stron
ger,” said Thomas. “We are all
there for each other.”
She said Borders, of Iron Eagle
Fabricators, did an incredible job
of creating her design.
“His fabrication skills made it
happen,” said Thomas.
She encouraged people to notice
the details of the sculpture, like
the forsythia, and to come see it
at night when lighting adds an
additional element.
John Howard, Forsyth CVB
See SCULPTURE . Page 4B