Sprayberry HS graduate to have book signing for new memoir

Sprayberry HS graduate to have book signing for new memoir
Wes Rhea

Wes Rhea’s life and career has taken him to many places—from professional wrestling to the corporate world and to academia.

The Sprayberry High School graduate recently published a book about those experiences and to help others with career transition entitled “Off the Top Rope,” and on Dec. 9 he’ll have a book signing.

That event will take place from 12-4 p.m. at the 2nd and Charles store (815 Ernest Barrett Parkway).

He tells us his book is “geared towards helping people with career development and career transition with faith and a positive approach as well as my journey from a professional wrestler to a corporate executive to a university professor. I thoroughly enjoy helping others and I feel my book would be an inspiration.”

Rhea is a part-time information systems instructor at Kennesaw State University, his college alma mater. After high school, he was a professional wrestler from the late 1980s to the early 1990s (on his website, there’s a photo of him with Muhammad Ali stemming from those days).

He earned an MBA and law degree and became an executive in the telecommunications, financial and health care industries.

Rhea also was a senior lecturer at KSU teaching in the undergraduate and executive MBA programs and has served as a career coach.

In a recent profile in the Cobb in Focus magazine, Rhea said that “I’m not sure too many people go from being a professional wrestler to a C-level executive to a college professor. Probably not the most straightforward path; however, that seems to be the way I do things. Hey, it may not be the track for everyone but it allowed me to live a semi-charmed life.”

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East Cobb abuse survivor publishes new ‘self-help guide’

Angela Williams describes how her life has changed since she was the victim of childhood abuse as “a 40-year journey I’ve been on.”East Cobb abuse survivor publishes self-help guide

She’s shared her story as an advocate for those who’ve gone through similar ordeals, helping them to learn how to reach out for support.

The East Cobb resident is the author of several books on the subject, including an initial memoir, “From Sapphires to Sorrows,” which explained how she began climbing out of her situation.

But Williams admits she’s long been haunted by the challenges of living with what happened to her, even as she continues to guide fellow victims to develop resiliency for a lifetime.

Last week, she published another memoir, “Loving Me: After Abuse,” which she says is a deeper, even more personal telling of the path out of abuse, with the aim of it being “a self-help guide.”

She held a book launch last week at the DK Art Gallery in Marietta and on Sept. 30 will be leading a “Time to Heal” Conference in Woodstock.

For 14 years, starting at the age of three, Williams was the victim of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. She said 93 percent of abusers are people their victims “know and trust.”

Williams said coming to terms with the emotional as well as physical pain of being abused hasn’t been easy to confront, but after a conversation with a friend she decided she needed to do just that in her latest book.

In order to truly help others even more, Williams realized she had to make herself even more vulnerable in sharing her story.

“It’s about wanting to live a life where you’re not tormented,” Williams said in a recent interview with East Cobb News. “It’s about walking in a life where you’re living to your fullest potential.”

Even as she went all-in on helping fellow survivors, including getting a degree in forensic psychology, Williams said “it took many years” for her to feel that she was truly moving in that direction.

In the book, Williams details “the amount of shame and feeling so unlovable” that led to a suicide attempt at the age of 17.

It left her homeless, and she persevered with her work ethic, and as a young adult got married and had children (who attended Pope High School and the University of Georgia).

“I worked on burying it,” Williams said of her memories of being abused. “It felt like holding a beach ball under water 24/7. I tried to mask it, but I wasn’t healthy.

“I wasn’t the wife and mother I wanted to be.”

She said she underwent “intense counseling” after thinking about suicide again—Williams said she never attempted to carry it out—and in her 30s, began to feel the clouds lifting.

“I learned to give myself grace,” Williams said. “I really built my faith in God.”

Her advocacy led to the creation of Angela’s Voice, which provides resources for the awareness, prevention and healing of child sexual abuse.

They include workbooks to teach children to defend themselves against abusive behavior, and she conducts support groups for survivors.

Williams has taken her message to schools, non-profits, faith communities and medical offices, and is developing more curricula.

“It’s about helping survivors to heal,” Williams said, adding that only one in 10 people who are abused will ever tell anyone about it.

“I hope that my book will give them the hope that they need,” Williams said.

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Update: East Cobb man recovering after son donates kidney

A couple weeks ago we brought you the story of Charlie Porter, an East Cobb resident who was preparing for a kidney transplant, along with his son Teddy, who was his donor.

That procedure took place last Tuesday in Nashville, and this morning we got the following information and photo above from Charlie:

“I have been in a bit of a bubble since surgery but now that my head is clearing, I wanted to let you know that the transplant was a huge success. Teddy did great and he is now back home being taken care of by his mother and girlfriend. I’ll remain in Nashville for another six weeks or so.

“The surgical staff, nurses etc are all very happy with how everything went.”

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East Cobb man to get kidney transplant with son as his donor

East Cobb man to get kidney transplant

From the time he was a young boy, Teddy Porter was raised by his father in a modest home in East Cobb where he participated in a variety of youth sports.

He played recreational basketball at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church and baseball at Sandy Plains Baseball, and football in the Pope High School programs. His father was his youth coach for a couple of years.

With his years as a Pope student disrupted by COVID-19 closures and restrictions, Teddy wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after graduating in 2021.

A few months later, Charlie Porter, his father, was told he would need a kidney transplant.

Without hesitation, Teddy volunteered to donate a kidney.

“I thought that I probably had the best chance” to be a good match, he said.

But Charlie was hesitant, even though Teddy did turn out to be an ideal donor.

“I don’t know how much time I have left,” says Charlie, 69, from the living room of his home off North Hembree Road, in an interview this week with East Cobb News.

“But at first I said I don’t want to put my 21-year-old-son under the knife.”

A friend, Brenda Isaac of the One Love Learning Foundation, an Atlanta non-profit that helps children in disadvantaged situations through the establishment of schools and community gardens, reminded him that he wanted to raise his son in a stable community, and that he made sacrifices to do so.

“Here’s his chance to give back,” Charlie recollected Isaac telling him about Teddy’s offer to donate a kidney.

On Tuesday, Charlie, Teddy and Isaac will be in Nashville, where the transplant will take place at Vanderbilt Health.

After the surgery, Teddy will return home after a few days, while Charlie will have to stay for at least a month, and possibly up to eight weeks.

In the months since they made this father-son arrangement, Charlie said he’s been able to reflect upon the role of his children—he has two daughters, 40 and 38, who are Teddy’s half-sisters—who have rushed to their father’s side during his health crisis.

“It’s been a lesson in love for me,” said Charlie, who had to retire last year after a 30-year career in the trade show business. “They’ve shown up unconditionally for me.”

Teddy’s parents are divorced. He was home-schooled for a while until his father got sole custody. His mom is still close by—she’ll be looking after Teddy after he returns from the transplant operation—and he said he doesn’t see much of a downside to being a donor.

“My mom has been very helpful,” Teddy said.

He’ll lose a kidney, but said doctors told him the capacity of his remaining kidney “expands by 20-30 percent.”

There aren’t many side effects, although he can’t take ibuprofen. And he won’t be able to go back to heavy lifting at various trade show jobs he’s had right away.

As a male, he can’t pass on the gene for Alport Syndrome, a rare condition Charlie inherited from his mother.

And if Teddy should need a kidney transplant at some point in his life, he would be a priority since he’s been a donor.

“Most people with this don’t make it to my age,” Charlie says of Alport Syndrome, which affects mostly children and young adults.

He’s had a uralysis every five years, and it’s the one he had in 2021 that resulted in the Alport Syndrome diagnosis.

After about a year, Charlie wanted a second opinion, after enduring quite a bit of fatigue. In addition to his work, he couldn’t even mill around in his garden or volunteer at the One Love Learning gardens, including one at Maynard Jackson High School in Atlanta.

Neither has he been able to continue taking up yoga, which he says has been a revelation to him. After his mother died, he started taking classes at Peach Out Power Yoga in East Cobb, and befriended owner Karen Patton.

“I fell in love with it,” Charlie says. “It changed my life in many ways.”

He credits yoga in part for contributing to his his otherwise good health, which made him a strong candidate for a transplant.

He said that doctors conducted testing to project longevity, and he came in the middle of the KDPI calculator at 49.

So he’s hopeful about his prospects after the transplant.

“If all goes well, I should be able to get another eight to 10 years,” Charlie said.

“I thought it was 20,” Teddy responded.

On Tuesday, Teddy’s surgery will begin early in the morning, and last around two hours. Charlie’s surgery will take place immediately after that, and he is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days before staying in an Airbnb he has rented out in Nashville.

While he rehabs, there will be follow-up visits with doctors before he’s allowed to return home.

Charlie’s already turning the wheels in his own mind about becoming active in his life again. He served on the board of the East Cobb YMCA, in addition to his career and other community activities.

“I have been active since I was 16 years old,” he said. “That’s been the hardest thing for me. Now I’m starting to look at the other side of this.”

He wants to get back to yoga and gardening, and to see his son further into adulthood. Teddy said he’s pondering college but possibly joining the military more than that.

“This process has been a family affair,” Charlie said. “My three children have rallied around me, and it’s amazing to me that they said they were going to do this together.”

Charlie looked Teddy squarely in the eyes and said “my son gave me a purpose. A big part of my life was raising this boy, and I just wanted him to be a good boy.

“People say to me that Teddy is a kind boy.”

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East Cobb Sterling Estates resident aims for Transplant Games

East Cobb Sterling Estates resident aims for Transplant Games
Risa Rambo wants to compete in the Transplant Games in Birmingham, Ala., next summer because “this one is so close and I hope my boys and sister can go.” ECN photo.

After undergoing a heart transplant in her mid-40s, Risa Rambo found refuge—as well as a rigorous physical rehab regimen—in competitive sports activities.

She earned medals in two different runnings of The Transplant Games of America, including being the most Valuable Participant for the Team Georgia in 2012.

East Cobb Sterling Estates resident Transplant Games
Some of the medals Rambo has earned at The Transplant Games of America.

A year later, the former high school and college basketball player was at her home on St. Simons Island when she suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, a life-threatening rupture of a blood vessel in the brain.

“My son found me, I was unconscious,” Rambo, 63, says in an interview with East Cobb News in the lobby of the Sterling Estates assisted living community on Lower Roswell Road, where she has lived for the last eight years.

After being rushed to a hospital in nearby Brunswick, Ga., she had emergency brain surgery. Rambo was unconscious for several weeks, and later had to undergo a more grueling rehab in Atlanta at the Shepherd Center, which helps patients recover from spinal cord and brain injuries.

She would be lifted out of bed by rehab specialists, and “they would work you real hard,” from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. almost daily.

“They had to teach me how to walk again,” Rambo said. “I was real scared.”

Part of the therapy was putting a basketball in her hand when she walked, to keep her head up.

Rambo, who as Risa Turton was a hoops star at Crisp Academy and Crisp County High School in Cordele, Ga., and played at the University of Mississippi and Mercer University, knew she would never be able to live the same way again.

After college, she married and raised three sons, and after her divorce, stayed active playing golf on St. Simons. She returned there after leaving Shepherd.

But she could no longer do basic things for herself, such as cook or even change bed linens.

East Cobb Sterling Estates resident Transplant Games
Rambo as a basketball player at Ole Miss.

“I just needed help,” she said. “I couldn’t live by myself.”

Paige Sander, her sister and legal guardian, lives in East Cobb, and in 2015 Rambo came to live at Sterling Estates to be closer to her. There, the staff cooks her meals, does her laundry and cleans her room once a week.

She walks with something of a limp, but is alert and responsive in a busy facility where she greets everyone, including a 106-year-old resident.

Rambo takes walks around the Sterling Estates pedestrian loop and enjoys the facility’s small pool.

But she says she wants to try cooking again soon, and desires some more independence.

Most of all, Rambo wants to get back to the Transplant Games, which became a major source of support and social life with her fellow transplant recipients.

The next Transplant Games take place in the summer of 2024 in Birmingham, Ala., and Rambo is excited about an in-person return. A virtual competition took place during the pandemic, and she was mailed some medals.

But she misses the camaraderie and wants her family to take part in the experience, which like the Olympics also includes opening and closing ceremonies.

East Cobb Sterling Estates resident Transplant Games
Rambo had a long recovery from a stroke in 2013.

“This one is so close,” Rambo said. “I hope my boys and my sister can go. The closer it gets, the harder I train.”

She wants to compete in swimming, cycling and basketball. She and her sister attend Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, where Rambo shoots basketball two or three times a week.

“I’m still trying to get it up to the goal,” she said. “I’ve got a year to work on it.”

Rambo says she can drive, but prefers not to, and gets where she needs to go with her sister and via the Sterling Estates vans that circulate around East Cobb.

She has checkups twice a year at Emory University for her heart, and said that she “checked out well” after a recent EKG.

While she knows the activities are helpful for her brain and body, it’s the connection to others that she values just as much.

After having to retire due to her medical situation, Rambo said “I didn’t do anything for a while, and I got depressed. I wasn’t sleeping.”

At Sterling Estates, she pulls out the facility’s daily activities calendar, which is crammed with outings, bingo, movies and physical therapy and exercise sessions.

East Cobb Sterling Estates resident Transplant Games
Rambo’s stroke rehab included walking with a basketball to help keep her head up.

She also enjoys spending time with friends she has made on the Team Georgia of the Transplant Games. They’ve gone to Braves games and are having a fish fry in August.

Rambo speaks matter-of-factly about the myriad of health issues she’s endured—”I’ve come a long way”—and even the death of one of her sons last year to suicide at the age of 30.

A good support system, Rambo said, has been vital for her recovery.

“You trust in God, and my friends and my family,” she said.

East Cobb Sterling Estates resident Transplant Games
Water workouts are part of Rambo’s continuing recovery from a stroke.
East Cobb Sterling Estates resident Transplant Games
Family visits and social activities with fellow transplant recipients have been a big part of Rambo’s support system.

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East Cobb author publishes book on Civil War-era newspaper

East Cobb author Bill Hendrick

(Editor’s Note: Bill Hendrick and I worked at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution but did not know each other during the years we were there together—Wendy Parker)

An idea that was more 25 years in the making came to fruition this fall for East Cobb resident Bill Hendrick when he became a first-time book author.

A longtime journalist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Hendrick reported in 1994 about some artifacts that were discovered at a construction site in downtown Atlanta, including an unexploded shell fired by Union General William Sherman’s troops during the battle of Atlanta.

Hendrick’s curiosity also was piqued by something else: The discovery of Atlanta’s leading newspaper during the Civil War years.

A visit to that construction area with legendary Atlanta historian Franklin Garrett introduced Hendrick to the story of the Atlanta Daily Intelligencer.

The book he co-wrote with local historian Stephen Davis, “The Atlanta Daily Intelligencer Covers the Civil War” was published this fall by the University of Tennessee Press.

Hendrick and his wife Laura raised two sons in East Cobb, and they graduated from Walton High School and the University of Georgia. Jordan is an attorney in Decatur and Stuart is a writer and teacher in Atlanta.

While Hendrick researched the newspaper issues, Davis, a former East Cobb resident and author of other Civil War-related books, supplied the larger historical backdrop.

They began their collaboration in 2017, and met nearly daily to discuss their work, often at Goldbergs Bagel on Johnson Ferry Road (where this interview was conducted).

The result is nearly 500 pages of text with extensive footnotes and bibliographical information.

“I wasn’t thinking about making any money when we started,” said Hendrick, who left the AJC in 2008 and also was a reporter for the Associated Press in Atlanta.

“I just thought it would be interesting to see how a newspaper covered a war.”

What’s left of the Atlanta Daily Intelligencer offices after the Battle of Atlanta.

By contemporary standards, the look, feel and reportage of the paper is dramatically different. The Daily Intelligencer published four broadsheet pages each day of pure text. There were no photos but plenty of front page ads and obituaries, and many of the bylines were pseudonyms.

A typical front page during the war (see below) included battle reports, dispatches first published in other newspapers and ads for land, “desired goods” and slaves.

Atlanta’s population during the Civil War was around 10,000 (a fifth of them enslaved), and the newspaper’s circulation was around 3,000, Hendrick said.

The publisher of the paper, Jared Whitaker, was prominent citizen and city council member when the war broke out, and a devout supporter of the Confederate cause.

Those views were frequently reflected in the newspages, which Hendrick said bluntly was a pro-Confederacy, anti-Lincoln propaganda organ (here’s an excerpt).

The Daily Intelligencer struggled to purchase newsprint after its supplier, the Marietta Paper Mill, was burned by Union troops as they approached Sope Creek in July 1864. The mill was targeted because it also printed Confederate currency.

Much of the war-related content in the Daily Intelligencer came from other newspapers that received battlefield reports from correspondents.

The newspaper exchange program that was a forerunner of the modern newspaper content syndicates included the Atlanta paper sending copies even to their Northern counterparts for a time.

But in the Daily Intelligencer, Hendrick noted, “there was hardly any coverage of the the Battle of Atlanta.”

That was due in part to the newspaper evacuating its operations to Macon as Sherman’s troops laid siege to Atlanta.

After the Daily Intelligencer staff returned to town, the building where its office was located—above a liquor wholesaler on Whitehall Street in what’s now Underground Atlanta—had been destroyed by the Union bombardments.

A correspondent filed a dispatch of that incident, writing of a shell fragment that “should I go to Macon soon, I will have it with me, as a moment of the love that is borne for us by our Northern brethren.”

John Steele, the newspaper’s editor, thundered from Macon about Sherman and his troops that “their success in battering to pieces the impenetrable fortress Atlanta, must have given them great satisfaction. The murder of women and children, by fragments of their barbarous shells, will be a gory blot on the savage and unsoldierlike campaign of Sherman the flanker.”

The front page of an 1863 edition of the Atlanta Daily Intelligencer. For a larger version click here. Digital Library of Georgia

“The news was always late,” Hendrick said of the Daily Intelligencer, including news of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln shortly after the war ended.

During the Battle of Gettysburg, he said, the paper “didn’t admit for days that the South had lost. Initially, they said it was a great victory. But you can only deny it for so long.”

What also foiled the Daily Intelligencer’s narrative were the letters written home by soldiers, as well as messages sent via telegram, from troops and others who witnessed the combat first-hand.

The book includes a telegram the newspaper printed from a Southern soldier writing home to his father that he lost an arm in Gettysburg. That soldier, Lt. William Nesbit, recovered from his wounds and lived to be an old man in Alpharetta and Cherokee County.

When civilians on the home front started getting a different story from what was in the press, Hendrick said, “they started asking questions.”

As to why correspondents didn’t want to use their own names, Hendrick said “I think they didn’t want to take crap from the people they interviewed.

“I’m sure the generals knew who they were talking to but they never saw their names in the paper.”

Hendrick maintains ownership rights to the trade name Atlanta Daily Intelligencer, which was the only newspaper in Atlanta to survive the war.

But it didn’t last long, ceasing publication in 1871, as Reconstruction continued and as Atlanta was becoming, in the words a decade later of Henry Grady, the publisher of The Atlanta Constitution, “the capital of The New South.”

Hendrick updates his registration for the Daily Intelligencer every year with the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.

“I own a newspaper that doesn’t exist,” Hendrick cracked.

The research for the book was grueling—he spent nearly six months combing through the microfilm copies of the Daily Intelligencer at the Atlanta History Center.

“I almost went blind,” he said with deadpan humor. “But it was fun. I was fascinated with how newspapers operated.”

At the age of 75, Hendrick is taking on a new book subject that he’s doing by himself, a history of American newspapers in the 19th century.

“If I live to finish it,” he joked.

Hendrick says the research is a lot easier due to the wealth of information available online. He said he was ecstatic, for example, to find a story about the Alamo on newspapers.com.

“If it takes another four years,” Hendrick said of his current project, “I may be dead.”

 

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KSU student from NE Cobb killed in South Korean stampede

KSU student NE Cobb killed South Korean stampede
Steven Blesi sent out a photo of his son on social media after a Saturday stampede in South Korea. Steven Blesi Jr. was among 154 people killed in the incident in Seoul.

Among the more than 150 victims of a Halloween incident in Seoul, South Korea that turned into a deadly stampede was a college student from Northeast Cobb.

Kennesaw State University announced on Sunday that Steve Blesi, 20, a sophomore majoring in international business, was among those killed on Saturday.

The Lassiter High School graduate was studying in a semester abroad program in South Korea. KSU said it has 11 students in that program this semester and the other students are safe.

“On behalf of the entire Kennesaw State community, our thoughts and prayers go out to Steven’s family and friends as they mourn this incomprehensible loss,” Kennesaw State University President Kathy Schwaig said in the social media message.

At least 154 people were killed when the celebration in the Itaewon district of Seoul got out of hand, and resulted in many of them being crushed to death in narrow alleyways.

Earlier Sunday, Blesi’s father Steven Blesi sent out a desperate message on Twitter saying he’d heard about the stampede but had not been able to get in contact with his son.

Later he Tweeted that “We just got confirmation our son died” and asked for time to grieve. Later on Monday, he interacted with the media and public on social media.

“He was a great young man with a big heart. Never said anything bad about anyone, was so full of love and loved by many.”

He responded to another user on Twitter saying that “We have to be strong for our other son who I will pick up at college today. Somehow we have to press on, but our lives have forever changed.”

The elder Blesi confirmed his son’s death to The Washington Post on Sunday.

“I just never thought something like this would happen,” he said. “I can’t understand how they didn’t have crowd control. I don’t even know how the hell it happened.”

He described his son as having “an adventurous spirit” and who “could have done anything he wanted in this world.”

According to a social media post by the Lassiter PTSA, the younger Steve Blesi graduated in 2020 and his brother Joseph graduated in 2019.

State Rep. John Carson of Northeast Cobb sent out a statement of condolence Monday afternoon to Steve Blesi Jr. and his wife Maria, saying the younger Blesi “was a devoted member of the Eagle Scout, Northeast Cobb County and Kennesaw State University communities, and in his short time on this earth, he was truly a bright light to all of those around him. He will be dearly missed, always remembered and forever loved.”

 

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East Cobb audiologist recognized by Cobb Young Professionals

East Cobb audiologist Next Generation Award

Dr. Melissa Wikoff, the founder and director of audiology at Peachtree Hearing in East Cobb, has been named a Next Generation Award winner by Cobb Young Professionals.

CYP is the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s networking and development arm for professionals in their 20s and 30s. Wikoff leads her own practice in addressing issues regarding hearing loss at 4939 Lower Roswell Road and is involved in the field nationally.

According to the Cobb Chamber, “CYP award winners and nominees are all in their 20s or 30s, active within their community, demonstrate leadership ability in the community and in their current role, and offer a unique perspective.”

Wikoff—pictured with fellow NGA recipient Jon Ingram, Director of Corporate Relations at the Woodruff Arts Center—opened Peachtree Hearing in 2016.

She is on the board of directors on the national level for the American Tinnitus Association (ATA) and at the local level for Aloha to Aging, an East Cobb-based non-profit that helps seniors and their caregivers.

Wikoff mentors students at the Washington University School of Medicine, where she earned her Doctor of Audiology degree, and founded a program called Hearing Aids for Holocaust Survivors.

She donates hearing aids and services to survivors in the metro Atlanta area and was recently honored with the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta’s Jewish Abilities Alliance’s Very-Inclusive-Person award for her work with local hard-of-hearing community.

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Postponed Wheeler HS reunions rescheduled for October

Wheeler reunion picnic rescheduled
For a larger view click here.

Back in April 2020, the earliest graduating classes from Wheeler High School were supposed to have a collective reunion picnic.

That would have been the 50th anniversary of Wheeler’s first senior class in 1967, and invitations were expanded to go through the Class of 1972.

The COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to that gathering, and reunion organizer Nancy Collier got back in touch this week to say that the event has finally been rescheduled.

It’s now taking place on Saturday, Oct. 8, at the same location of the originally scheduled event (Riverside Day Use Area of Lake Allatoona on Lake Allatoona Dam Road) and the same cost ($25 person, $40 couple).

“It’s on, come hell or high water,” as noted in the attached flyer, which also helpfully points out takes place on the same day as the UGA-Auburn football game.

Two years ago they wanted to have it in the spring to avoid such a conflict, but it’s been a long wait.

The festivities began at 11 a.m. and include food catered by Williamson Bros. BBQ, live music and more.

Check the flyer for more details or visit http://wheeler69.com/. There are instructions in both places on how to pay in advance. If you show up unannounced, “you will go to the back of the food line.”

 

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East Cobb resident takes up swimming challenge for 9/11 organization

East Cobb resident 9/11 swimming challenge
“I’m not really a swimmer,” said Jim Whitcomb, who’s taking part in a 10-mile swim Sept. 10 to help the Tunnel to Towers “in my own little way.”

It’s been nearly a year since East Cobb resident James Whitcomb learned about the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a non-profit set up after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to provide seriously injured first responders and military veterans with mortgage-free homes and other housing assistance.

“I thought, ‘What a great foundation? What can I do to help to in my own little way?’ ” Whitcomb said.

To mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Tunnel to Towers has organized a “Swim2Help” campaign to encourage donations.

Whitcomb, who splashed in the many lakes of his native Minnesota as a young boy and has lived in East Cobb for 20 years, admits that “I’m not really a swimmer.”

But for several months now, he’s been building up his endurance with weekday swims at the Mountain View Aquatic Center.

On Saturday, he logged seven miles, his longest swim yet, in about four hours, to get ready for the climax to his “Swim to Help” effort that’s been underway in other respects.

Next Friday, Sept. 10, he’s undertaking a 10-mile swim at the Mountain View pool, with some rest and hydration breaks, to get over a substantial fundraising goal he set for himself

Whitcomb has raised nearly $15,000 of a targeted $25,000, mostly through word-of-mouth efforts.

“I’m not a social media guy,” he said, adding that a flyer he posted on Facebook didn’t generate much of a response.

He has created his own website to explain what he’s doing, and why, with some video footage here, here and here.

He’s broken down what he calls his “mega” swim like this: 52,800 feet, or 17,600 yards, or 352 laps in a 25-yard pool.

Whitcomb is inviting the public to come cheer him on, and “make sure I’m still afloat.”

The swim begins at 6 a.m. sharp, and he estimated it will take 6-7 hours with those breaks.

Donations can be made at this link anytime, and many of the donations range between $25-$100.

Whitcomb, a finance executive with J.P. Morgan Chase, said donors can offer any amount they wish.

Wrote one donor: “I work hard to swim ONE mile at Mt. View Aquatic center. You’re awesome. We support T2T also. Good luck.”

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East Cobb teen part of initial class of female Eagle Scouts

Cecelia Pumpelly, East Cobb female Eagle Scout

Submitted information and photo:

Marietta teen Cecelia Pumpelly will make history on August 8, 2021 when she is set to be recognized as one of Metro-Atlanta’s first female Eagle Scouts – a prestigious achievement attained by some of the country’s most noteworthy figures. Cecelia is among hundreds of young women who make up the Inaugural Class of female Eagle Scouts.

Cecelia graduated from Campbell High School IB program, is a National Merit Scholarship winner, and will be attending the honors program at University of Georgia in the fall to study economics and Spanish.

“Earning the rank of Eagle Scout takes hard work and perseverance, and we are honored to recognize Cecelia for this significant accomplishment,” said Tracy Techau, Scout Executive/CEO of the Atlanta Area Council, BSA. “Along the journey to Eagle Scout, young people gain new skills, learn to overcome obstacles and demonstrate leadership among their peers and in their communities. These benefits are invaluable for everyone, and we are thrilled that they are now available to even more youth.”

Young women have been part of Scouting for decades in co-ed programs offered by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The BSA expanded that legacy further in recent years by welcoming girls into Cub Scouts and then into Scouts BSA. Since then, tens of thousands of young women across the country have joined the organization’s most iconic program with many, including Cecelia, working their way toward the rank of Eagle Scout.

“Being a part of Scouting has changed me as an individual and likely the trajectory of my life. On a surface level, merit badges like Emergency Preparedness made me rethink how I wanted to change the world, shifting my focus from a medical degree to a position in public health.” “I have had the opportunity to know what it truly means to be a leader and a teacher, and that being able to grow in both those areas is just as much about developing the people you’re leading as it is developing yourself. Yet, most of all, Scouting has taught me that whatever the boys can do, the girls can do too!”

Cecelia is the first Eagle Scout in her Troop 2019, chartered to The Episcopal Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in East Cobb. Eagle Scout is the program’s highest rank, which only about 6% of Scouts achieve on average. To earn it, an individual has to take on leadership roles within their troop and their community; earn a minimum of 21 merit badges that cover a broad range of topics including first aid and safety, civics, business and the environment; and they must research, organize and complete a large community service project.

Cecelia’s Eagle Scout project consisted of building a flag retirement box and three portable benches for the church. The box serves as a way for community members to properly dispose of their flags, as well as education on proper flag etiquette.

Packs and Troops around Metro-Atlanta are welcoming new Scouts throughout the fall. If you are interested in learning more about becoming a Scout, visit www.AtlantaBSA.org/Join.

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East Cobb business and civic leader Johnny Johnson dies

East Cobb Citizen of the Year, Barbara Rhodes
Johnny Johnson presented Brenda Rhodes of Simple Needs GA the 2018 East Cobb Citizen of the Year Award. Johnson was a former recipient of the honor. (ECN file).

Johnny Johnson, the owner of a jewelry store in East Cobb, a former member of the Cobb Board of Education and a longtime community leader, died on Wednesday.

The East Cobb-based Kiwanis Club of Marietta Golden K said that Johnson, who turned 75 in December, died of complications from COVID-19.

“Johnny was a great Kiwanian and leaves a legacy of passion and service that is rare but sets a high standard which we should all strive to emulate.”

For more than 40 years, Johnson was the owner of Edward-Johns Jewelers, located at Woodlawn Square Shopping Center on Johnson Ferry Road for many years until moving to the nearby Regency Park office building in 2018.

He served on the Cobb school board from 1997-2008, one of many public roles he took on after settling in the East Cobb area in the 1970s.

He was a leader of the East Cobb Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, which names a citizen of the year each fall. After being named an East Cobb Citizen of the Year, Johnson had the honor of presenting future recipients with the same award.

Johnson also dressed up as Santa Claus for the Holiday Lights celebration at East Cobb Park, riding in on a sleigh and visiting with children.

Each December he would dress up as Santa at his Edward-Johns store and pose for free pictures with children.

Johnson was an active member of the Golden K Kiwanis, as well as Kiwanis International and its board of trustees, and was a past president of the Cobb County YMCA.

Holiday Lights East Cobb Park

 

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East Cobb realtor honored as ‘Rising Star’ in corporate leadership

MUST Ministries urgent call food supplies
East Cobb realtor Janice Overbeck with Tom Gonter of MUST Ministries.

Submitted information:

On February 18, 2021, The Atlanta Business Chronicle  will hold their virtual ceremony recognizing Janice Overbeck as the 2021 Leadership in Corporate Citizenship “Rising Star” recipient. According to The Atlanta Business Chronicle, this program recognizes individuals who have found the perfect intersection of social good and corporate success by integrating relevant societal concerns into their core operating strategies and embracing them as positive for businesses, customers, employees and the metro Atlanta community. This award was only presented to three recipients including Overbeck. 

She will be recognized for her efforts to support animal activism, raising funds and awareness for Emory ALS Research Center, serving as a Child Ambassador for World Vision, serving on the boards of Fix GA Pets, Georgia Pet Foundation, Keep Cobb Beautiful, and The German School of Atlanta. Much of her charitable work is done through the Janice Overbeck Real Estate Team charity JO Gives, Inc. which was founded in 2016 and is a non-profit organization.

Janice believes deeply that her company operates first and foremost as a community center that just so happens to sell real estate. In an interview with Atlanta Business Chronicle Janice stated,

“As business leaders, we have a duty to corporate social responsibility. If you do what is right and go above and beyond to give back locally and make your local community a little brighter, then, at some point, you will likely be seen and recognized for your work. Although you should initially do these things altruistically (and probably because it makes you feel good to do so), others will see the good. I strive to live by this quote from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “If you want to be a true professional, you will do something outside yourself, something to repair tears in your community, something to make life a little better for people less fortunate than you. That’s what I think a meaningful life is — living not for oneself, but for one’s community.”

The Janice Overbeck Real Estate team holds over fifty events a year such as poker nights, wine tastings, art shows, pet adoptions, low-cost vaccination clinics, and more to raise money for various programs including the Homeless Pets Foundation, Emory University, Chin Up Foundation, and Project Mexico.

The team was also named the 2020 Stewardship Partner of the Year with Cobb County in honor of their environmental and sustainability practices. “It is very important to me as a business owner to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible here at the business and also conserve water and reduce single use plastic” said Janice Overbeck. The team places a heavy emphasis on setting achievable monthly goals that turn into big yearly goals and ultimately result in reaching their biggest goals.

JO Gives, Inc. is focused on low-cost pet vaccination clinics in which they have raised over $100,000 for animals in need since 2016. Since April 2019, JO Gives, Inc. has been working to spay and neuter over 2,000 cats and dogs by the end of 2020. JO Gives, Inc. also works in conjunction with a local veterinarian to build after-school programs that teach humane education of animals to children.

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Chattahoochee Plantation resident gets 99th birthday surprise

Chattahoochee Plantation resident 99tj birthday, Jane Agati

Thanks to Marsha Brenner for the photos and the note below about Jane Agati, a longtime resident of Chattahoochee Plantation known to many there as the “Ole Soft Shoe Lady” and who got an incredible surprise for her 99th birthday on Aug. 31:

“Over 70 friends stopped by at staggered times, masked and socially distanced, to wish one of our communities sharpest and happiest senior citizens a ‘Happy Birthday.’

Jane served in WW2 as a Navy Wave, is known for her ‘Ole Soft Shoe’ Tap Dancing and her GORGEOUS flower gardens.

Jane and her now deceased husband Nick proudly made home made Italian sausages and served a special annual, Atlanta Country Club members gourmet Spaghetti dinner, for 54 years! Sadly COVID-19 prevented her this year from continuing this tradition—but she was ready, willing and amazingly able . . . had the pandemic not happened.

Jane’s ‘Stop by’ Birthday celebration also included a surprised visit by both Cobb County Police and Firefighters. At first she thought she was being arrested! But soon realized the wonderful men and women of our local Police and Fire departments were there to congratulate her. And, in truest form—she tap danced to say thank you for their kind well wishes!

Jane is truly an icon in East Cobb. She is blessed with amazingly good health and LOTS of great FRIENDS!

Chattahoochee Plantation resident 99tj birthday, Jane Agati

Chattahoochee Plantation resident 99tj birthday, Jane Agati

Chattahoochee Plantation resident 99tj birthday, Jane Agati

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As East Cobb man nears 100th birthday, ‘I never worry about tomorrow’

East Cobb man turns 100

Ever since Harry Kone survived wounds at Guadalcanal that reduced him to one working lung, he’s chalked up his long life to a simple philosophy:

“I never worry about tomorrow.”

It’s a mindset that served him well in 40 years as a public school teacher in Chicago, in raising three children and in staying involved with veterans groups and his church since his retirement.

In 1995, Kone and his late wife Marjorie moved to a senior-living community in East Cobb, off Johnson Ferry Road, to be closer to two of their children.

These days, one of those children, his daughter Sue Lind, is his in-home caregiver, and in recent weeks she’s been busy preparing for a very different birthday celebration for him.

It’s not just that Kone will turn 100 years old on Aug. 16. In the time of COVID-19, he’ll finally be able to see family members he hasn’t seen since the outbreak in March.

But they’ll be doing it incrementally, one family at a time.

“Everybody’s coming on a different day,” Sue explains about the need to keep gatherings small, and she notes, less hectic.

Kone’s friends from the Squire “Skip” Wells Marine Corps League also will be wishing him a happy birthday, via conference call.

Kone accepts the reality of the health restrictions.

“I feel great,” he says.

He’s met with some of his Marine League buddies in his garage, all of them sitting socially distanced.

“His social life has been more robust than mine,” says Sue, a human resources consultant who sold her home in Buckhead four years ago to look after her father. “His life is here.”

Kone also has been active at the Unity North Atlanta Church on Sandy Plains Road, where the minister is planning a special video message for his birthday.

His resilience was shaped by his younger years. The only child of a Baltimore railway clerk and a homemaker, Kone was an avid reader, the habit instilled by his mother.

In 1939, he had moved to Milwaukee to work as a welder, and attended a branch of the University of Wisconsin on scholarship to help develop children’s programming in the very early days of televison.

He was living in a boarding house there when he met the young woman to whom he would be married for 65 years.

After Pearl Harbor, Kone volunteered for the U.S. Marine Corps, and served as a machine gunner in the South Pacific.

It was at Guadalcanal that he recalls a conversation he and some of his fellow Marines had, during a lull in the combat.

“We were talking about what we were going to do when we got back home,” Kone said.

Not long after that, the Japanese began a bombardment attack, and many of those young men never made it home.

Harry Kone, East Cobb World War II veteran
Harry Kone cuts his 99th birthday cake in 2019 with friends from the Marine Corps League.

“You never know what’s going to happen the next day,” he said, explaining how he wanted to return to service after getting wounded in that engagement.

As it turned out, his injuries were too severe, and he was honorably discharged in 1945. A bout with tuberculosis kept him in a Veterans Administration hospital for two years.

But Kone persisted with his aim of becoming a teacher, and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Northwestern University. He and Marjorie raised their family on the west side of Chicago, and lived there for 50 years. Kone later taught at the college level and made appearances as a public speaker.

After moving to East Cobb, Kone hooked up with the local Marine Corps League, which has met at the veteran-owned Semper Fi Bar & Grill in Woodstock. Marjorie Kone died nine years ago, at the age of 90.

Last year, for his 99th birthday, he was honored by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.

“He always used to say that every day was a holiday,” Sue says.

Kone also stays engaged with books. Sue says he’s always reading something related to current affairs. On a coffee table in his living room is his current book, “So You Want To Talk About Race?” by Ijeoma Oluo.

Kone has some big plans for the near future. His grandson, who lives in London, is getting married to a British woman next summer, and he wants to make the trip for the wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Kone says he understands the anxiety many people are facing today, given the circumstances, and harkens back to memories of what he endured during World War II.

“From then on, I never worried about much. I had plans, but I didn’t worry about what I’m going to do tomorrow,” he said.

“This is what worries a lot of people,” Kone said, but “if I’m dead tomorrow, I don’t have to worry.”

He lets out a bit of a laugh and a big smile, and then offers up what he claims is the real secret to a good, long life.

“The three ‘S’s,” he said. “[Get] lots of sleep. [Do] lots of stuff. [Have] lots of sex.

“If you have that, you’ll live to be 100.”

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Pope graduate earns bachelor’s degree from KSU in three years

Pope High School graduate Angie Jackson

Submitted information about a Pope High School graduate who recently earned a bachelor’s degree from Kennesaw State University with honors, and in only three years, and will soon be seeking a master’s in accounting:

Angie Jackson gained the foothold she wanted at Kennesaw State by keeping busy and taking advantage of opportunities during her undergraduate experience – and she did it with intense determination.

Jackson, an Honors student who officially graduates this week, earned a position as a trumpeter with the Marching Owls, studied abroad in Italy, joined two professional fraternities, and completed two internships – all while earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting in just three years.

A Zell Miller Scholarship recipient, Jackson was a trumpeter with her high school band. She said that her interest in attending Kennesaw State began when she was exposed to the University’s Marching Owls.

“Our school was undergoing construction, and KSU let us practice at their indoor band facility during our summer band camp,” said Jackson who graduated from Pope High School in Cobb County, Georgia. “When I saw the University and the Marching Owls, I knew that this was the place I wanted to be.”

While Jackson was focused on getting her degree, she also knew that she wanted to be active in campus life. She immediately auditioned for and earned a spot with the Marching Owls, and was section leader for two of her three years with the band. Her love of music also drew her to Sigma Alpha Iota, a professional women’s music fraternity, where she served as the philanthropy chair.

Zeroing in on the right major took her a little longer.

“I’m one of those people who loves all subjects, because I love to learn,” Jackson said. “While I knew I wanted to do something in business, I also knew I wanted something specific to focus on and that eventually led me to accounting.”

As an accounting major, the determined Jackson put her energy into networking opportunities. She became a member of the honors organization for accounting, finance and information systems majors, Beta Alpha Psi.  She also attended KSU Career Fairs where she quickly secured her first internship in the accounting department of WarnerMedia as one of 12 interns.

“I got a lot of great experience there learning about invoicing and vendor relationships. I even had the opportunity to conduct training for new hires on some of the systems I was familiar with, which I really enjoyed,” she said.

WarnerMedia, however, wasn’t the only company to offer an internship to Jackson, and she said that she was shocked and excited that she was able to line up two internships within one recruitment season. The second firm, Moore Colson CPAs and Advisors, extended an internship offer to Jackson a year out for the 2020 spring semester.

Professor of Information Systems Adriane Randolph is one of Jackson’s professors and said that she isn’t surprised by the student’s success. “Angie gives 100 percent to all of her vigorous commitments while maintaining top marks across her coursework. She loves to learn and goes the extra mile whenever possible, and she will undoubtedly be successful in pursuing her future goals.”

In the fall, Jackson, who earned a $10,000 scholarship from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, will make the transition to the Master of Accountancy program in the Coles College of Business. Meanwhile, her job prospects are already set for next summer as she’ll return to Moore Colson CPAs and Advisors as a business assurance staff accountant.  

“I really didn’t think there were going to be that many opportunities at KSU, but once I joined the Marching Band, I made so many friendships and connections that will last a lifetime. It opened my world to so much, and I knew that I was where I was supposed to be,” Jackson said. “I feel like I had four years of college in three years with all that I did, and I feel very fortunate to stay at KSU for my master’s degree.”

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Cobb Chamber CEO, President Sharon Mason gets contract extension

Submitted information about Sharon Mason, an East Cobb resident who’s getting a three-year extension as president and CEO of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce:Sharon Mason, Cobb Chamber of Commerce

Today [July 14], the Cobb Chamber Board of Directors announced to extend the terms of the organization’s President and CEO Sharon Mason employment agreement for another three years, through December 2023.

“Since her start as President & CEO in January 2018, Sharon Mason has been leading the Cobb Chamber to achieve its desired vision to be a catalyst for innovative solutions, and create healthy conditions for business. In just three years, Sharon has led the Chamber through the sale of its 35-year-old building and its move to the 10th floor of 1100 Circle 75 Parkway, the expansion of programming, including the launch of the International Council, Workforce Target Industry Councils, and Marquee Monday, a rebrand, and record membership growth,” said John Loud, 2020 Cobb Chamber Chairman and President of LOUD Security Systems. “I have worked closely with Sharon for the past 15 months, and I’ve never worked with someone so committed to their job, to the people they manage, and to the Chamber’s mission to nurturing an environment where businesses can prosper.”

As President and CEO, she leads the Chamber’s efforts to create jobs, strengthen the economy and quality of life for businesses and the community while building Cobb County’s reputation regionally, nationally and beyond. With the Board of Directors moving forward with her contract extension five months before it was set to expire is a vote of confidence regarding Mason’s outstanding job performance.

“Serving this Chamber and our community as its President and CEO is an honor,” says Sharon Mason, President and CEO of the Cobb Chamber. “I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished together with our Board of Directors and chamber team. Now, more than ever, Cobb’s businesses need our organization. We are here to help businesses find their way forward through this time of uncertainty and into the future. I look forward to continue working with our Board of Directors and staff to advance our economy forward.”

Mason has more than 18 years of chamber of commerce experience, including at the Cobb Chamber starting in 2005 and the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce prior. She has held varying leadership positions of increasing importance. Prior to her selection as CEO, Mason served as the Cobb Chamber’s COO in 2013 to 2017.

Mason is a Georgia native and an active member of the community including serving on the Regional Business Coalition Executive Committee, Council for Quality Growth Board of Directors, Wellstar Kennestone Hospital Regional Board, Children’s Healthcare Cobb Community Board, IgniteHQ Board, Cobb County School District Superintendent Advisory Committee, and the Georgia Chamber’s Resiliency and Recovery Task Force. In 2018, she was named by Governor Deal to the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority Board (GRTA) and continues to serve on this board. She also is a Marietta Rotary member and was Foundation Director in 2015-2016, is a past president of Friends for the East Cobb Park non-profit (2012-2013), and served on MUST Ministries Board of Directors from 2014-2019. Mason is a graduate of Chamber Institute for Organizational Management (2011), Leadership Cobb (2012), Regional Leadership Institute (2014), Honorary Commanders (2015), Leadership Atlanta (2018) and is active in these alumni associations.

In 2019 and 2020, Mason was named to Georgia Trend’s Top 100 Most Influential Georgians, Top 100 Most Influential Women in Georgia by Engineering Magazine and Atlanta 500 Most Influential list. In 2020, she was named by James Magazine to the Most Influential Georgians list. She was also named to liveSAFE Resources Academy of Women Leaders in 2015 and Atlanta Magazine’s Women Making a Mark in 2019.

Mason received her bachelor’s from Samford University. She lives in East Cobb with her husband and middle school daughter. They are active at East Cobb Church.

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Wheeler graduate a finalist in national tuxedo design contest

Wheeler student tuxedo design contest

Alexandria Said sends word about a Wheeler High School graduate, Ashton Cordisco, who’s one of five finalists nationwide in a contest for college scholarship money from the Duck Tape Company.

The contest rules require contestants to made a design out of duct tape, and here’s what Ashton, who’ll be attending the Savannah College of Art has—ahem—fashioned.

In order to help him out, you’ve got to click here so he can get votes in the final round. The winner gets $10,000 in college aid from the company, and voting ends July 10.

Ashton Cordisco

 

Ashton Cordisco

 

Ashton Cordico

Ashton Cordisco

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Lassiter graduate honored for thesis at Naval Postgraduate School

Lauren O'Malley, Lassiter graduate

Submitted information and photo:

The Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) Operations Research (OR) Department offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Located in Monterey, California, it is one of the oldest, largest, and highest ranking OR departments in the world. It is without peer in terms of the extent to which graduate education is integrated with a commitment to solving real military problems. The NPS Military Operations Research Society selected four graduate students as finalists for the top thesis award. The students presented theses examining a variety of research topics, including machine learning, surface ship maintenance and active shooter scenarios, to a panel of judges for the Military Operations Research Society (MORS) Stephen A. Tisdale Thesis Award, held May 21, 2020. 

Following the detailed presentations and deliberations, the judges awarded Ensign Lauren O’Malley (parents Brian and Shelley O’Malley and graduate of Lassiter High School (2015), Marietta, GA and United States Naval Academy (2019), Annapolis, MD) with the MORS/Tisdale Award and asserted that her research represented the most immediate or near-term value to the defense of the United States and its allies. In her thesis entitled, “Level Loading Surface Ship Maintenance Availabilities,” Ensign O’Malley developed a mixed integer linear programming model to produce an optimal surface ship maintenance schedule to provide private shipyards with a more sustainable and predictable workload, which in turn reduces the risk of maintenance backlogs for the Navy. Ensign O’Malley’s timely research promises to be applied immediately to real-world applications in order to improve current maintenance planning. Her research strives to advance the state-of-the-art surface ship maintenance, extending previous research conducted by NPS graduates Lieutenant Commander Adam Hilliard (2019) and Vice Admiral Richard Brown (1992).

“We’re all very proud of Lauren and the work she has done while at NPS; winning the MORS/Tisdale Award is always a great accomplishment, and she was in very strong company,” stated Dr. Matt Carlyle, Operations Research Department Chair. O’Malley joins a lengthy roster of students earning the esteemed award dating back to the 1970s. “The MORS Tisdale competition is a time where we, as a department, get to celebrate the excellent work that our students do,” said Carlyle. “Anytime anyone asks me about examples of the work we do here, I have a long list of examples that I can show to anyone who’s interested about the fantastic, relevant work that we do in this department.”

O’Malley presented her Award Winning Thesis to Vice Admiral Richard A. Brown, Commander, Naval Surface Forces/Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. O’Malley next reports to her ship home ported in San Diego, the Destroyer USS John Finn, where she will receive her designation as a Naval Surface Warfare Officer. From there, Lauren will attend the Navy’s Nuclear Power School in Charleston, SC, studying Nuclear Engineering which will ultimately lead her to being responsible for the operations of the nuclear propulsion system on an U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier.

The MORS/Tisdale Award is named in honor of Lieutenant Commander Stephen A. Tisdale, who graduated from the Naval Post Graduate school in 1989 with two master’s degrees: an M.S. in Operations Research and an M.S. in Space Systems Operations. His outstanding and influential thesis, “Assessing Optimal Utilization of Potential Anti-Satellite Architectures,” won the MORS prize. The MORS prize was renamed in honor of this outstanding officer-scholar after his tragic death in the collision of two P-3 Orions conducting a submarine tracking exercise at low altitude off the California coast on 21 March 1991. 

 

 

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Wheeler reunion for classes of 1967-72 set for late April

Thanks to Nancy Collier for sending along this invitation to anyone who graduated from Wheeler High School between 1967 and 1972.

The picnic is to honor the 50th anniversary of the Class of 1970, but the invitation has been expanded to a few classes before and after.

 

Wheeler class reunion

Nancy is with the Marietta-based Peachtree School of the Arts and a private flute and bassoon teacher who’s community recognitions include the Leadership Cobb Class of 2006 and Arts Leaders of Metro Atlanta Class of 2010.

 

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