Few traditions are more sacred in the south than family reunions.  Last weekend DeWayne, Edie Grace and I attended the annual Wilson family reunion in Glennville.  This is the largest and one of the most organized family reunions I have ever attended.  No where have I seen more hard to resist home cooking than at this reunion.  DeWayne’s grandmother was one of NINE Wilson siblings.  Five of them are still alive and four of them attended the reunion this year.

It really is wonderful to see so many family members and catch up on their lives.  You can understand how deeply rooted southern families are and how well they stick together in times of feast or famine.

If you live here long enough you will learn that almost everyone in the area is related in some way. 

This is one southern tradition that I am happy is alive and well!

p.s.  Only the Senior family members eat inside…I forgot to take a picture outside…what a crowd!

Last Friday night was another great First Friday downtown.  The downtown merchants along with the Averitt Center for the Arts, the Statesboro Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Downtown Development Authority have been working hard to make F1RST Friday in Downtown Statesboro more fun and exciting.  This past Friday their were several new and wonderful additions.  The Arts Center hosted a “taste of Downtown” featuring wonderful downtown restaurants including the Blue Moon, the French Quarter, Sugar Magnolia, Christopher’s, Hugo’s and special drinks by the SCVB.  Pladd Dot  music store offered their music students the opportunity to provide entertainment throughout downtown.  We also had the “Teapotter”, a local poet, reciting poetry on our sidewalk.  It was a great night of fun.

Mark your calendar for the next First Friday — December 6th.  There will be LOTS and LOTS of Christmas deals and surprises!

See you downtown!

***Edie Grace ”apprenticed” as a chef with Jason Scarborough, The Blue Moon’s Executive Chef, briefly at the event.

No portrait is more special than your five year portrait.  It is the LAST opportunity to capture your beautiful little girl or little boy - before they loose their teeth and begin quickly to change.  Wouldn’t it be nice to freeze time?  Every portrait allows you to do just that.  We can help…let us plan a portrait for you today!

I told this family they were so blessed…she was so cooperative and fun!  I hope she will treasure this portrait when she is my age.   (I hope she will keep that dress to pass down for her daughter’s portraits!) 

For years - years mom has dreamed of having a Lori Grice portrait of her family.  She has had the perfect spot selected all she needed was convincing her family to dress appropriately and put everything aside for an hour or so to make a special appearance in front of my camera.  She has been blessed with a wonderfully accomplished family.   The hardest part was not getting them to agree to help with this special project - but getting all of their schedules to align.  Several weeks ago this finally happened.

Today she picked up her Christmas gift a little early.  From our first phone call to our design meeting and the session the two of us had a special connection.  Of course, she made my day when she told me how long she has dreamed of having this special portrait created by me.  There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a wonderful project like this through.  

This proves that there is NO gift more special or desired than a portrait of your family.  Why don’t you make this the most incredible Christmas ever for your parents and make this dream come through for them.

  Once again we rolled out the purple carpet today for our most famous and special guest - Santa and Mrs. Claus  Thank goodness his visit went well.  Many of you helped make this a very special day for me and Santa.  For those of you who did not make it in this year - book EARLY for next year.  This event ALWAYS sells out.

It is definitely Edie Grace’s favorite visitor to the studio.  She wrote a special letter to Santa and Mrs. Claus welcoming them to Statesboro.

We thought you might see the last seven years of Santa’s visits through Edie Grace’s portraits.

  He was checking his list and then checking it twice - when he realized that three little girls and boys have been naughtier than nice!  But this is good for you because we have Three - COUNT THEM T H R E E openings for a very special time with Santa.  This interactive 30 minute sessions are only $180 and includes the session and your choice of A) 25 Christmas Cards or B) 2 8×10’s or C) 1 8×8 and a 8×8 frame.

Specials this good are hard to find - especially with a HUGE INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN celebrity like Santa and Mrs. Claus.  This is a wonderful way to prevent yourself from standing in a long line - waiting to see the Jolly one.

Call now at 9170764-7274 and leave your name and contact information.  We will follow up with you over the weekend.  Santa is here Monday and Tuesday ONLY - November 5th and 6th.

Forsyth Park is always such a fun place to photograph.  It is especially fun when you have a family of models.  What a great family!  Forsyth is always alive with tourists and locals all curious what celebrity  I am photographing.  With the lights and reflectors, my location shoots often appear “important”.  Nowhere do you draw more onlookers than in Savannah.  But I digress - back to this beautiful family.  Mom has begged me to bend my rules a bit and share a few of the images with her.  Due to their demanding schedule and so MANY of you wanting Christmas Cards and portraits for the holiday - our schedules are a bit challenging.

So mom you can relax and know that like always - you have LOTS of hard decisions to make!