Learning more about Savannah has become my hobby lately.  Boy, there is so much history, art and culture!

This past Saturday night I enjoyed Art Squared’s Palette to Palate Gallery Hop.  Four trolleys traveled around 15 different art galleries in downtown Savannah.  I especially enjoyed seeing the Mapplethorpe and Annie Leibovitz images at SCAD’s Art Museum and the Bird Girl from the cover of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil at the Telfair.   All evening local musicians serenaded us while we enjoyed food and beverages and took in the art.  What a great evening!

Savannah has become a mecca of art…come take it in!

For over four years, downtown and city leaders have been planning a streetscape project for downtown.  It appears that they are very close to making this a reality.  The first phase will start at the fountain at the intersection of East Main and Savannah Avenue near the Willie McTell Trail and move west to the court house.  The project will entail a complete redo of the street in front of our studio.  We are SO excited about the project.  They have just finished a similar project on Tybee.  After seeing how incredible this turned out - we are more excited than ever for the project to begin in downtown.  We will keep you posted on interruptions during the construction.  We do have an employee entrance in the rear of our building so if things get too challenging out front - we will allow clients to enter that way.

There was a great article in the Statesboro Herald about the streetscape.  You can read that article by clicking here.

   Edie Grace has a summer filled with great camps..but so far last weeks No Joe’s Clown Camp has top billing so far.    The camp was held at the Averitt Center for the Arts.  Edie Grace and her classmates spent the week learning all things “clown”.  On Friday evening, they starred in a clown circus on the big stage at the Averitt Center. 

Edie Grace had a blast.  I wanted so bad to take off the week and join her.  DeWayne is always concerned every year when the fair comes to town that I am going to join up.  I LOVE all things carney.

This week, Edie Grace is at Art Camp.  Tomorrow night she will have her first exit show.  I am looking forward to seeing her week of work - her masterpieces hanging in a real art gallery.  She is SEVEN…wow.

Hope each of you are joining Edie Grace in having a GREAT summer!

Thank you, Tim, and the Arts Center gang for bringing another great show to the ‘boro!  If you missed it, you can catch this talented group every Friday nite in Savannah, downtown, at the Crystal Beer Parlor.  Saturday’s event was a fund-raiser for the Averitt Center for the Arts and the Emma Kelly Theater, but don’t worry, you can still give a contribution to Tim, Delia, Connie or any of the folks over there that bring culture day-in and day-out to our community.  Speaking of culture, Edie Grace is a participant this week at NoJoe’s Circus Camp at the Arts Center.  She wants you to “save-the-date” for Friday nite @ 7:30 when her camp gets to perform with NoJoe in bringing a circus to the Emma Kelly Theater.

The Circus is in town…the circus is in town…AND Edie Grace has joined!!!

Don’t miss the show!  Call 212-ARTS to get your $5 ticket.  There won’t be any lions or tigers or bears (oh my!) but there will be lots of family fun.  Edie Grace has been part of a week long clown camp and she says the circus will be great. 

Come join us Friday nite at the Emma Kelly theater at 7:30.

Hope to see you there!

NoJoe’s Circus

Joey “NoJoe” Thurmond and his traveling circus are on their way to the Averitt! Alongside NoJoe, campers from the NoJoe circus camp will be showing off their circus skills! NoJoe’s Clown Circus is a high energy show with a circus theme. With silly magic, goofy animals, great juggling, amazing balancing, and other CLEAN family entertainment. NoJoe, the “WORLD’S BEST MANNERED CLOWN”, will have your audience saying please and thank you before they know it. The audience will not be able to look away for fear of missing what is coming next! You supply the children and NoJoe will supply the LEARNING, SMILES, LAUGHTER, and FUN!

Time: 7:30pm
Cost: $5.00 per person

If you haven’t checked out Todd and Bob’s brand new space you are totally missing out on the coolest stuff anywhere!  It is so refreshing to walk off of East Main street into a store filled with home decor that would rival anything you may find in Atlanta, New York or LA.  Really!  If you don’t believe me, come take a look for yourself!  One day when I was in their store a lady walked in and said, “Wow, I have just walked into HGTV!”  And that is just how you will feel!

One of Todd’s specialities is silk floral design.  At the new location he has a glass windowed studio so you can watch him create.  Just bring in one of your old pieces that needs updating, pick out some new pieces from his vast array of silks and let him work his magic.  Better yet, come in and pick out a container and the silks and let him create the whole thing!

Whether you need some pieces to update your table for entertaining, patio furniture for outdoor living, water features to bring some Zen to your life or just want to be inspired to tackle the whole house…they can most likely accommodate your every wish.  Todd even offers holiday decorating, but you better call today…his list was full VERY early last year.  If you enjoyed our tree last year…it was a Todd creation!

These images are from their open house and window debut.  (And one from a client’s house.  Todd created the pieces that flank the portrait)  When you go see Todd and Bob…tell them Lori sent you!    

Every now and then a car passes by with a bumper sticker that catches your eye.  One that we laugh about often - we saw on the interstate.  In our rear view mirror this old, beat up car came up on us fast.  Black smoke was pouring out of the car.  Every part of the car was a different color and it was missing one entire fender.  As the car zoomed passed us we read its’ bumper sticker - “Honk if Parts Fall OFF”  Now that guy had a great sense of humor.

DeWayne and I are VERY passionate people.  We are passionate about things we care greatly about.  Maybe you just become more passionate when you stare death in the face and cheat it.  Things seem to take a little different meaning to us than it does to others.  Often we wonder why we see things and understand things that effect us greatly - but no one else seems to care.

This week we saw this bumper sticker and it brought it all into perspective for us.  Why do we care?  Why do we speak out?  Why do we try so hard to make a difference in our downtown, community, state and nation?  Because when Good People Do NOTHING - Evil Thrives.

So we are calling Good People everywhere - keep pushing, keep asking why, keep figuring out a way to say yes - when everyone else says no and together we will stomp out evil - one person at a time.

Thursday night, the Statesboro-Bulloch County Chamber of Commerce hosted Business After Hours at Statesboro’s brand new Holiday Inn.  I think everyone in town was curious to see it because the crowd was wall-to-wall! 

Our client’s and friends, Doug and Karen Lambert, and the group of local investors , have really raised the bar in Statesboro with this property!  Beautiful, comfortable rooms, conference facility space and of course, “EMMA’s” - Chef Jason Scarborough’s newest creation in fine dining.  I think they have really hit the target with this place!

In addition to mingling and enjoying appetizers prepared by Chef Jason and his team, we also got to tour three of the rooms on the fourth floor.  I toured with three other girls and we were all trying to think of logical reasons to stay in a hotel in the same town we live in.  It just is THAT inviting!!!

Welcome to Heath, Dr. Lisa and Hannah their 8 month old daughter.  Heath is the general manager of the Holiday Inn and his wife, Dr. Lisa is Dr. Cichelli’s new partner/pulmonologist.  You all know what a fan of “girl power” I am…Lisa finished her fellowship in pulmonology, had a baby and moved to the ‘Boro with Hannah now only being eight months old.  That IS impressive!!!

It was great to catch up with Senator Jack Hill and his beautiful wife, Ruth Ann.  We owe a big THANK YOU for much of Statesboro’s economic development on the state level to Senator Hill’s leadership and vision. Serving since 1990, Senator Hill has really seen us through an amazing amount of growth and prosperity here in Statesboro and south Georgia.  Senator Hill calls Reidsville home, but I think Statesboro is always in his heart.

We will give a gift certificate for $10 to EMMA’s for the first comment we receive from this BLOG. 

If you don’t win, eat there anyway…you will be glad you did!        

We try to sponsor a couple of shows per year at the Averitt Center to support their great work.  We are honored to co sponsor with Moe’s the Crystal Beer parlor Ramblers of Savannah this Saturday night at the Averitt Center.  This event is a fund raising event for the arts center.  General admission is $10.  So bring the kids or make it a MUCH NEEDED date night and join Edie Grace, DeWayne and I at this wonderful event for the Averitt Center.

It is with great regret that downtown Statesboro lost legendary Chef Jason Scarborough this past week.  Jason, in a few short years, transformed a small downtown sandwich shop into one of the southeast’s most popular fine dining experiences.  Trained at Johnson and Wales, Jason worked for some of the most acclaimed restaurants in the country including the Cloister on the super exclusive Sea Island before making Statesboro home.  While we are sad to loose Jason from downtown we are excited that he has opened Emma’s on the bypass inside the new Holiday Inn hotel and conference center.  Tomorrow night (Thursday) from 5 to 7 PM the Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce and the Statesboro Convention and Visitors bureau is hosting a business after hours at Emma’s.  Chef Jason wanted us to extend a personal invitation to all of our clients and blog readers to come by tomorrow evening and check out his latest creation.  The restaurant will blow you away.  This, coupled with Jason and his staff’s incredible menu and service - creates an experience you will not soon forget.  The best part is Emma’s is a few miles closer for all of you Savannah, Richmond Hill and Pooler clients to enjoy.  We wish Jason and his staff the best of luck and hope to see all of you at Emma’s Thursday night.