If you enjoy great country music and you listen to Savannah’s Country 106.9’s morning program - then you already know that their co-host Laura Anderson is expecting her first child.  To celebrate this exciting time for Laura her station has put together a great promotion where listeners who are expecting will be the winners.  They have asked me to be part of this celebration and I am honored.  This is a great opportunity for you or any of your friends who are expecting to win some great gifts include FREE PORTRAITS created by me.  Those of you who are clients of mine - understand that this is a rare opportunity.  In fact, this is the only time this year we are giving a gift of portraiture through this promotion.  Whether you are a long time client or have never had an opportunity to have me create a portrait for you - you are eligible to win.  All you have to do is log onto their web site and register to win.

So join the excitement of the Lucky Dog Family, register for the Lucky Baby Pick of the Litter Contest! They are giving away great prizes throughout the summer!

Register For:
July — $250 Gift Certificate from Lori Grice Fine Art Photography
August — Grand Prize of a Baby Shower hosted by Supper Studio, Nursery Furniture from Just For Baby, and a photo session and 24 inch Gallery Wrapped Portrait (no need for framing) from Lori Grice Fine Art Photography.  All valued at over $3,000.00!!!

Your surprised that I listen to country music?  I actually love all types of music and draw inspiration from all genres.  If you have heard me speak on my journey of survivorship overcoming cancer then you know I close my speech with an emotional slide show set to one of my favorite country music artist, Tim Mcgraw’s “Live like you were dying.”

Good luck to you!  Stay tuned to their website and our blog for information on the winners.

  By: Kitty Roberts Cason - Richmond Hill and Statesboro

Finalist

I got a phone call from Lori a couple of days ago.  During the call Lori encouraged me to write a story expressing what my portraits from her have meant.  When I got the phone call I was a little distracted so I asked her if I could e-mail them to her.  Honestly I forgot all about it as I hung up the phone and three children begging to hurry up and go to the pool can do.  But it came back to my mind while I had a few minutes alone in the car.  A flood of memories came to my mind. 

    Originally she had mentioned my wedding portraits but I had to go back even further.  Lori began taking pictures of my family in the early 1990’s when I was still in college. I had seen her work through the windows of her store and I liked what I saw so I gave her a call.  Little didn’t know how dear these would become to me.  You see, we hadn’t a family portrait taken in quite a few years so Lori came down to my family home in Richmond Hill and we did a family portrait.  Mom, Dad, younger brother, me and our  3 dogs.  I also had a portrait taken of me and my horse.  That may sound a little odd to some but this horse was my first horse that I got at 7 years old and we shared the exact same birthday.  I grew up with this magnificent creature riding and showing him in shows and if he could talk would spill all of my secrets.  I was the girl who loved horses.  The portraits were great.   A treasure that I could hold on to. 

    Time marched on……Unfortunately my parents divorced after almost 30 years together, two of the three dogs have passed away, and my horse too passed on.  But I still have the portraits!  And every time I look at them I think of all of the good memories.  I am so glad that I have these.  A day frozen in time.

    When I got engaged I knew who to call.  Lori!!  She took the engagement photos and once again traveled to Richmond Hill to take my bridal portraits.  Ever since I was a small girl I knew that I wanted my bridal portraits under the beautiful and grand live oaks of White Hall Plantation so that is just what we did.  Magical is what they were.  Since the divorce of my parents a lot of things had changed in my life and I wanted these pictures to reflect what I grew up knowing and loving.  The home that I remembered.  We took the pictures in a lot of the places that I spent time daydreaming and playing.  Every time I look at these I am never older than my dreams.  Once again Lori did it she froze so many of my wonderful memories in time. 

    Now I am the mother of three wonderful and spirited children.  Lori has captured their personalities and milestones too many to name.  I am appreciative for the attention to detail and craftsmanship.  Things will come and they will go.  But my pictures will be with me until my last days and my children will have them and the generations to come.  I hope that they understand the importance of them as much as I do.  It is my history and theirs to. 

   Lastly,  we had a family portrait taken a week ago.  The first for my family.  I will never forget how my 3 year old didn’t want to stand still and cooperate my 18 month old couldn’t sit still and my 7 year old would rather be playing with her friends.  Some how we came out with a beautiful picture.  Through all of the craziness of that day Lori came inside and shot some candid pictures of my kids just laying on the couch together.  They were watching Nemo on tv and were all snuggled up.  When Lori started shooting I knew these would be my favorites.  My kids would be together, snuggled tightly, just hanging out.  She froze this moment in time.  When my kids are all grown and gone and living their lives and I look at this portrait they will always be my babies.  My perfect babies. 

Thank you Lori for the memories!  Thank you for the emotions that you create in me through your pictures!  Thank you for the last 14 years that you have taken pictures of my family!  Thank you for freezing so many memories in time!  From a girl, to a bride, to a mother I am grateful!  I look forward to the years and milestones to come!

Always,

Kitty Cason

  By: Stefanie Reeder  - Savannah

Finalist

Lori,

Your photos of me telling Sean I was expecting, served as a lighthouse during the darkest time of our lives.
Just days after we were with you, we were told I was miscarrying. Devastated and broken, I was so afraid those photos would be a constant reminder of what we lost.

But through prayer we turned it over to the Lord. We decided until this child left us for Heaven, we were going to cherish every moment. In those quite days, we became profoundly grateful we had those photos- photos that might be the only ones we?d ever have ?with? him.
Regardless, we knew those images of joy would always be in our home, honoring our FIRST child.

Today, they hang outside his nursery- a beautiful reminder of God?s grace and the greatest miracle he performed in our life- our healthy son, Grant Kenneth.

Thank you for your amazing gift.

Love,

The Reeders

By: Kristen Grach - Pooler 

  Finalist 

                                                                                                     Lori, 

After 9 weeks of pre-term labor contractions, I delivered a 4 week premature baby boy at 7 lbs.      6 ounces.  He was very healthy and ate every hour and a half to prove it… for 5 months…day in and day out.  Levi was my second child so you’d think I would have known what to do, but I had no time to pull myself together before someone needed something.  I became emotion-less, robotic.  That is the only way I can describe it.  My husband sensing my distress, strategically placed our portrait in the nursery so it was the first thing I saw every time I walked in to retrieve our hungry boy.  On days I didn’t know if I’d be able to make it to lunch time without having to call someone to help me, it was there.  The days I didn’t get a chance to shower, and there were quite a few of them, it was there.  And 2 1/2 years later it is still there reminding me of the indescribable love I have for my children. 
After going through post-partum depression, I relish the moments that Levi now walks up to me and says “Hold you.”

Kristen Grach

By: Neelam Raichura  - Statesboro

Judge’s Favorite

My husband and I got married in July of 1999, against the wishes of both families. Coming from conservative Indian families, where nuptials are usually arranged, it was a bold move. Following the not so very happy wedding ceremony, which was attended by a very few close friends, I accompanied my husband to the United States and left my family and friends back home in India. Over time my husband?s family became a part of our lives once again but my parents never talked to me. They did not even want to know how I was doing in this far away land. In a new world and around new people, I made friends and some close enough to be called family but in my heart I suffered the pain of not having my parents around me. After many-many phone calls, emails and letters, I reestablished a formal line of communication with my father and my sisters but my mother never came to the phone. The distance from home, the loss of family support and a severe case of hypothyroidism was drawing my life into depression just before our daughter Misha was born in August of 2004.

We had a family portrait session with Lori in early 2006. One of the pictures in that session was of Misha and myself. For this picture I wore a traditional Indian dress that my mother had given me long back. I framed and sent this picture to my home in India and to my surprise and immeasurable happiness my mother called me. We talked for three hours mostly crying and getting emotional after a few sentences. From that moment on, my life felt comprehensive, I sensed a new confidence that comes from finding something precious that was lost long back. Soon after that Misha and I visited my parents, which was the first time in seven years that I had seen my mother and most other members of my family. My parents had a very good time with Misha and she enjoyed every single moment of it as well. Since I had last seen my mother she had suffered a serious case of Spinal Stenosis and had to remain on bed rest. On her bedside was the picture of Misha and I, which Lori had taken. This mother?s day my mom sent me a card that said, ? I am looking at your picture right now and I just want you to know that you are the best mom and the best daughter. Misha and I are blessed to have you in our lives. Happy Mothers day.? Re-establishing this relationship with my mother and hearing this from her was impossible without that one picture.

The true power of great portraits is immeasurable but sometimes it can make lives complete and living more worth it. I am glad I have one such portrait made by you that had the power to mend broken relationships.

Thank You So Much Lori!

Neelam

This past week we hosted another in our series of Limited Editions Express sessions.  The theme for this week featured grandparents.  We encouraged our clients to use these sessions to allow me to create generational portraits and portraits of the grands with an without the grand parents.  There is NO better gift for a grand parent than a Lori Grice portrait! 

One of my sessions featured Mrs. Lucille Tyson who will celebrate her 100th birthday on July 27, 2007.  The pictures are amazing - but not nearly as amazing as this beautiful patriarch!  She is sharp, spry and full of energy and filled with radiant love.  She walked into my studio and posed for me sitting and standing, with and without her son, grandson, and great grands.  Can you imagine all the the things this lady has experienced?  She was born in 1907, just four years after Henry Ford introduced the automobile to the world

I have been photographing this family since the beginning of my career.  In fact, Mrs. Lucille’s son Billy Tyson played a major role in the creation of Lori Grice Photography.  Twenty years ago, Billy was the President of Farmers and Merchants Bank in Statesboro.  He honored me with a personal meeting at a very young age and listened patiently as I shared with him my business plan and goals for my company.  Billy believed in me when no one else did.  He gambled and gave me my first business loan.  I have never forgotten his generosity and genuine concern for my success.  20 years later I remain a faithful client of Farmers and Merchants Bank and best yet, four generations later the Tyson’s remain great clients of mine.  Every step of the way the Tyson family and Farmers and Merchants Bank have been great supporters of mine. 

Please join me in congratulating Mrs. Lucille Tyson by penning her a celebratory note for her 100th birthday July 27, 2007.  Her address is Post Office Box 26, Brooklet, Georgia  30415.

Included with Mrs. Lucille are her son Billy Tyson, grand son Bill Tyson, and great grand son’s, Konner, Gunnar and Turner Tyson.

Two months, lot’s of entries and our judges have named the winners.  For those of you new to the blog, in May we launched a promotion as part of our 20th Anniversary celebration which we called an ”emotional exploration of art”.  Through this, we invited our clients over the past 20 years to write stories about how my portraits have impacted them and their family.  I had no idea how powerful these stories would be.  The response was overwhelming.  I am humbled and motivated by the power of my portraits and the way they have impacted each of you.  In our marketing, we talk a good bit about the “Lori Grice Difference.”  Often many of you have had trouble putting into words how incredibly wonderful your experience was with my studio and more importantly how much you have enjoyed your portraits. Through this call for entries - many of you put it into words more masterfully that I could have ever dreamed.  Dr. Michael Guido often says that it would bankrupt a dictionary to find the words to adequately thank you.  I concur completely with him in response to your entries and excitement this promotion has generated!

The judges had great difficulty identifying one top entry.  They asked that in addition to the “Most Moving Story” that we also add four more finalist along with many honorable mentions.  If you did not send your story in, my hope is that these will motivate and inspire you to share your stories of the impact of my portraits with me.  We are working with a publicist to put these stories along with others in a book form to share with the world.

Congratulations to Neelam Raichura of Statesboro who was our judges’s favorite and to the four finalist Stefanie Reeder of Savannah, Kristen Grach of Savannah, Kitty Cason of Statesboro and Sheri-Lynn Owens of Rincon.  Congratulations also to our honorable mention story authors: Avis Coleman of Savannah, Linda Powell Jones of Statesboro, Cheri Alderman of Black Creek, Stephanie Owens of Statesboro, Amanda Kicklighter of Statesboro, Lisa Oliver of Glennville, Dr. Michael Guido of Metter, Kelley Chester of Statesboro, Carolyn Lynch of Washington, D.C., Michelle Smeltzer of Savannah, Jen Morris of Statesboro and Susan Allen of Statesboro.

I also want to thank our sponsors for this promotion: Serenity Day Spa and Salon, The Blue Moon Cafe, and Dr. Larry G. Hubbard, DDS.

Here is a copy of a half page ad that will run in the Lifestyle section of the Statesboro Herald tomorrow announcing the winners.  We will include each of the stories along with the portrait that I created for them in our blog beginning on Monday. 

Thanks to all of you who entered this promotion.  If you did not place, I know you will understand after reading all of these stories in the next few weeks - what a difficult task the judges had.  Each story touched my heart in special and incredible ways.  I want you to know that I felt each of you deserved the “Most Favorite Story” but that is why we selected an independent and diverse group of judges to help make these difficult selections.  Thanks again for your enthusiasm and willingness to share your amazing stories with me and now others through this blog.

If you have never experienced the Lori Grice difference, I invite you to give me an opportunity to create for you what I have created for each of these wonderful people and thousands more throughout the world.  It is your legacy, your story, that should be told through a fine portrait for generations to enjoy.  Contact us today and give us the opportunity to share more with you about our difference - if you feel I am not the portrait artist that will best suit your needs - then my staff and I will diligently work to match you with a photographer that can accommodate your budget and portrait goals.  (our Legacy Portraits begin at $250) We will do this consult and matching at no charge to you.  It will only cost you a little time and a phone call.  Please don’t procrastinate… contact us today at info@lorigrice.com or 912-764-7274.

Today is the last day of the High School Musical Camp and the opening night of the long awaited show at the Emma Kelly Theatre across the street from our studio in downtown Statesboro.  If you don’t have tickets - we will have to tell you about it.  All three shows are completely sold out.  They have a lengthy waiting list for people wanting tickets. 

Edie Grace will be joining the rest of the High School Musical campers performing in a 12 noon show today at the Emma Kelly.  She is playing one of the many energetic cheerleaders in the mini musical.  She has had a GREAT time.  It has been good to see so many of our friends downtown this week for the camp and the performances.

Here is sneak preview of tomorrow’s performance.

 Yesterday at lunch we pulled together an impressive group of judges to help us select the winning entry to our Your Portrait, Your Story promotion.  I want to thank the prestigious group that traveled to Statesboro today to judge your stories.  The judges were Dal Cannady - WTOC TV, Dr. Larry Guido - Guido Evangelistic Association, Megan Hopkins - Statesboro Herald, Christine Connors - published author,and  Kristy Chandler - Claxton High School.  We met at the Historic Statesboro Inn (the preferred lodging for all of our out of town clients).  They provided us with an amazing lunch.  I want to thank Gil Riggs of Regency Photo for helping put together the slide presentation for the judges.  It was so hard - they struggled and I tried to remain quiet and not lobby hard for my favorites.  We have a Most moving story winner.  The judges struggled with the top five stories and asked that we create a special category for the top five.  Then an honorable mention category for the next ten. 

You are going to have to wait a few more days to find out the winners and begin to read the stories.  They are powerful!  We will have a half page ad in Saturday’s Statesboro Herald  announcing the winners and of course we will have it here on the blog.

Thanks to all of you who entered.  For those of you who did not enter - I hope as you read these you will feel compelled to share you story with us also.

Tomorrow!!!  Tomorrow!!!  It is finally tomorrow!!!

I can’t decide what I am going to order first…my standard grilled sandwich with fruit OR go crazy and order nuggets with the buffalo dipping sauce…whichever I order I know I am about to die for a hand-spun milk-shake!  Speaking of shake…shaking…withdrawals…I think the remodel/temporary closing was toughest on Edie Grace.  Last week we even tried to go to the location on the GSU campus to help her with her cravings!  (Unfortunately, they close daily @ 5:30 in the summer and it was already 7pm).  I really didn’t realize how many times a week we go.  DeWayne has missed his “occasional” morning biscuits.  Edie Grace is so excited about breaking in the new playground equipment.  She was in the office this week when two of the Chick-fil-a employees brought us the good news of the Thursday re-opening.  She RAN to tell her Dad and the client that was here. Now…if I could only figure out a way to  get all the children that come to the studio as addicted to portraits as Edie Grace is to waffle fries and lemonade!!! 

We will see you there tomorrow for dinner!