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V3Mag FEB2013

fall that decorated two years ago, and in his book, that’s evidence enough that it can―and should―snow every winter. Period. End of discussion.

No matter where you stand on the issue personally, it makes for a lively morning commute. Plus, when you’re a parent raising kids in the South, snow is more fun when it finally happens because the kids want it so badly the winters that it evades us. If we lived in a region with an abundance of the stuff, they wouldn’t appreciate it the way they do.

It is so easy to get caught up in the every-day responsibilities of life that we often for-get to enjoy the special little gifts it has to

offer, and I’m thankful that my children seem to remind me of this when I need it most—even if it arrives in the form of a backseat spat on the way to school.

Stay toasty this February, readers, and take a moment to enjoy the month of love, presidents and agoraphobic groundhogs.

M y son is completely obsessed with snow. Unfortunately for him, we don’t get very much of the white stuff around here, and if you’ve ever discussed the unpredictable cli-matic shifts of a particular region with a 5-year-old, you too know that it’s a lost cause. Regardless of the informa-tion I provide him,

the fact is that winter is upon us here in Northwest Georgia, and the poor kid hasn’t spotted a single flurry—a bleak statistic that has him extremely agitated.

Almost every morning this January on our way to school, he debated with his big sister, who despises cold weather, why winter is the greatest season. The sole basis for his argument is that it snows in win-ter. With a counterpunch based on obser-vational data and not wishful thinking, my daughter is always quick to point out that it hardly ever snows in Rome, so why be cold? Being cold without snow is miser-able, so winter stinks.

This clever reasoning should end the conversation every time, but young Master Grady still remembers the glorious snow-

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Geeks. Nerds. Call them what you will. But while you’re home eating Cheetos and catching up with the skull-numbing antics of Honey Boo Boo, the members of 7HILLS MAKERSPACE

are forging the next great generation of American ingenuity

SPACEINVADERS!!!

(Left to right) Back row: JF Steele, Zane Cochran, Trey Cunningham, Lillian Shaw, Richard Royal, Christopher Nolan. Front row: Greg Richardson, Steve Devine, John Grout, Tricia Steele Seifert

W hen you walk into 7Hills Makerspace, located in the biggest room on the highest

floor of the old Masonic Lodge on Broad Street, you’ll find a cross section of Ro-man life: engineers, artists, entrepreneurs, musicians, developers of all kinds, think-ers, tinkerers, and one Rome High School sophomore.

They’re all a bunch of nerds, and I’m one of them. I became a member of Maker-space just three months ago, but it instantly changed my point of view on what a col-laborative, creative community can accom-plish.

So, what is a “makerspace”? And, more importantly, why have one? 7Hills Maker-space is a membership-based, non-profit workshop where our community’s creative types can come together to inspire, learn, and create. The space itself is a technology lover’s playground, filled with the tools of making: woodworking tools, an electron-ics station, laser cutter, 3-D printer, sewing machine, musical instruments, professional video equipment, animation studio, a verita-ble library of books and resources, comput-ers, and the software to use it all. Members

pay a monthly fee to have 24/7 access to the space.

The unofficial leader and founding mem-ber of 7Hills Makerspace is economic de-veloper Greg Richardson, a Rome trans-plant whose company, Civitium, consulted on the Appalachian Valley Fiber Network’s broadband stimulus initiative. This initia-tive, partially funded by a $21 million fed-eral grant in 2011, has allowed AVFN to build the infrastructure that now provides high-speed internet to 12 counties in North-west Georgia and eastern Alabama, creating untold opportunities across our region.

As the number of opportunities grew, it was Richardson who recognized another need. “Networks aren’t enough,” he says. “If you build it, they won’t come. We needed a location and a way to pull together the cre-ative assets of the community, to get them to begin sharing ideas, collaborating, and find-ing ways to exploit new technologies. The makerspace model allowed us to create the lightning rod we felt was needed.”

In November 2011, Richardson and 7Hills Makerspace’s three fellow found-ing members—Tricia Seifert, CEO of SAI Digital; Steve Devine, engineering man-ager at Petz Enterprises; John Grout, dean


TEXT BY LILLIAN SHAWPHOTOS BY DEREK BELL


of Berry College’s business school—held the group’s first public meeting, ushering in Rome as the next great city in the global maker movement.

It’s more than a movement now; it’s a cul-ture. In America today, there are over 200 makerspaces—also called hackerspaces, hacklabs, or any variation thereof—and while no hackerspace is the same, hackers tend to abide by similar philosophies:

Whenever possible, use and make free and open-source tools and software. In the same manner, share knowledge, ideas, and opinions freely. Make collaboration as easy as possible for the simple sake of discovery. Anyone can be a maker, and everyone has something to offer.

Making stuff isn’t a new or rare thing, of course. But makerspaces aren’t focused on

cost efficiency, as a manufacturer would be. “With making, the value and priority is on invention, innovation, design, engineering,” says Richardson. New technologies, like 3-D printers, are part of what makes inven-tion possible on such a small level. Using digital files of 3-D models, these robots are able to “print” physical objects by distributing layers of material (usually a plastic) in a way similar to that of a 2-D printer distribut-ing ink. The ease of prototyping is bring-

ing the power of invention back to the in-dividual and, hence, changing the future of manufacturing.

The 3-D printer in 7Hills Makerspace is the brainchild of Maker-Bot Industries, a startup that is now developing more sophisticated and affordable 3-D printers while its larger counter-parts fail to pay attention. Not coincidentally, Mak-erBot was started by the same guy who brought one of the first hacker-spaces to America, Bre Pettis. Makerbot’s success is a testament to how the collaborative culture of hackerspaces enables in-dividuals and communi-ties to change the world in unique ways.

As you learn more about hackerspaces pock-marking the globe, you’ll realize that the group at

“[7Hills Makerspace’s] four founding members are actually really obsessed with...creating a culture of innovation throughout our city, which we think will mean creating job and business opportunities.”


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7Hills is a bit different than most. Even the space itself is unique. Initially, hackerspaces were often housed in converted, inner-city industrial buildings. At 7Hills Makerspace, however, we get to do our making in a beautifully imposing, 136-year-old Gothic Revival structure. We play with robots in a room where Rome Freemasons once held secret ceremonies. We make digital art while surrounded by giant murals

painted by Robert Redden in 1950. We read, think, inspire and create under a domed ceil-ing, all while overlooking lovely downtown Rome.

And the Makers themselves are a differ-ent breed, comprised primarily of people who are more than just geeks or artists or engineers. “The four founding members are actually really obsessed with the greater community,” co-founder Seifert says, “cre-ating a culture of innovation throughout our city which we think will mean creat-ing job and business opportunities.” Seifert offers a 7Hills membership as an optional benefit to SAI Digital employees, alongside the company’s employee health insurance. She adds, “A makerspace membership pro-vides a sense of security for the health of their souls and creative gumption—not to be overly dramatic.”

Every member gets something dif-ferent out of his or her makerspace, and every member gives back something en-

tirely unique. Richardson, for instance, always has a newly hacked piece of furniture; Devine makes and programs microcontrollers (or “little baby computers,” as he likes to call them) that solve problems with limited sources; Zane Cochran, an artist and non-traditional Berry College computer science student, once used a hacked XBox Kinect as part of his Bit-Dome, a planetarium-type con-struction that uses your body’s movements to control lights and music. John Grout is always creating something new and in-novative on the 3-D printer. The sewing machine is my favor-ite toy, and the last time I saw 16-year-old Christopher Nolan, he was programming LEDs for his Chevy Camaro.

We are a diverse, creative, offbeat, oftentimes contradic-tory group of people—and that’s sort of the idea around here. Our common bond is the space, this community, and the desire to be forever up to something. VVV

crowd. Deal and his supporters argue that it would keep lawmakers from raising taxes, which no legislator wants to do, as well as allow the Department of Community Health to collect fees from hospitals to fill a $500 million hole in Medicaid funding. Healthcare providers say they will have to cut services and close rural hospitals.

It’s a highly contentious issue, and both sides have solid talking points, but most legislators don’t want to come home and stand accused of raising your taxes. The bed tax gives them cover, even if it’s not the optimal solution, and we won’t really know how Senate Bill 84 is affecting the elderly and the vulnerable until a few years down the road.

Deal’s proposed budget is $19.8 billion. It would include spending cuts that acknowledge sluggish revenue growth, then turns around to spend on a variety of projects, ranging from restoring pre-kindergarten to a full 180-day school year, alternative sentencing programs for juvenile offenders, water-supply projects (mainly reservoirs). It even extends to the

College Football Hall


t he Georgia General Assembly is back in session, but I’ll leave it to other columnists to trot out the same old tired jokes. There are a few things that should trouble the lawmakers, though, even if there’s little they can do about some of them.

Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unem-ployment rate increased to 8.6 percent in December, up one-tenth of a percentage point from 8.5 percent in Novem-ber. The rate was 9.4 percent in December a year ago, so things are better. A bump in unemployment can be expected in January, but Decem-ber is often a different story.

Retailers had a slow holiday season and temporary hires were down. Georgia’s labor force did grow by 4,159, reaching 4,804,459 in December, its highest level since February 2009. The labor force has grown by 64,384 (1.4 percent), from 4,740,075, in December 2011.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler cited a number of factors, but said, “Basically, the December numbers are flat, but even so, this is the best November to December job market report since 2007.”

Georgia’s foreclosure rate remains fourth highest in the nation, but that is hardly discussed under the Gold Dome.

Gov. Nathan Deal and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle are pushing passage of Senate Bill 24, the so-called “bed tax,” and it will probably become law by the time you read this―unless it awaits a ceremonious signing by Deal. It has already passed the Senate, and House Speaker David Ralston has endorsed it. Yet, the bed tax has come under heavy criticism from the anti-tax

Cents&Sensibilitywi t h J.B r y a n t S t e e l e

of Fame. There are no new construction

projects, though the proposed budget contains $800

million for construction projects already planned. It contains no cost-of-living salary increases for state employees (six consecutive years now) and, more disheartening, no cost-of-living salary increases for teachers (five years running).

But let us switch tracks now to the issue of ethics reform and House Speaker David Ralston, the same man who accepted $17,000 from lobbyists for a trip to Germany to “study” high-speed rail. (He took his family, of course.)

The discussion of high-speed rail, particularly a line from Chattanooga

to Atlanta, is a fine idea; accepting what amounts to a lavish, paid European vacation is not.

Senator Don Balfour of Snellville is also being scrutinized by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for expense reports he filed―which leads me to reiterate from previous columns:


Georgia is one of only four states that do not limit or outright ban gifts from lobbyists, whether it may be a four-star dinner, Falcons tickets, or an all-expenses-paid trip to Europe.

Many lawmakers are honest about it, but many still expect gifts from those seeking to gain their influence. I was in a meeting once in Nashville when the conference-room phone started ringing. The guy who answered it covered the mouthpiece and said a lawmaker was calling, wanting someone to buy him dinner. A lobbyist raised his hand and said, “I’ll take him.”

And that’s the way it is, folks. But we now may very

soon see a $100 limit on what lawmakers can accept from lobbyists. Thanks to increased media scrutiny—and that trip to Germany—the public demands it. What remains to be seen is how long it will take them to find holes in the limit.

b usiness leaders have long pushed for federal deficit reduction without mentioning much in the way of

specifics, always retreating to a “big picture” ideal that brings greater public support. But that’s all starting to change,

Despite having started a dialogue on instituting some semblance of ethics reform, as one of only four U.S. states that still doesn't limit or outright ban gifts from lobbyists, is it any wonder that some brazen Georgia lawmakers continue to wet their beaks?

Steele's Biz Bits

Come for the "Study," Stay for the Schnitzel

as a group of leaders from the Business Roundtable begins pushing its plan to raise the eligibility age for both Social Security and Medicare to 70. Many Republicans have argued in favor of raising the Social Security eligibility age to 70, but the Roundtable’s recommendations for Medicare go significantly further. U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, for instance,

has proposed raising the Medicare eligibility age, but only from 65 to 67.

I have always stood for the First Amendment, believing that even nut-jobs like KKK members should be granted freedom of speech. But it’s not as easy as it used to be. I’m increasingly appalled by many of the Internet’s “reputable” news organization sites, or at least the ones that allow readers to post messages filled with rage, hate, racism, et cetera. It’s getting uglier, too. The news organizations that manage these sites need to treat this hate speech just as they would a hate-filled letter to the editor in print form―but, obviously,

in a faster, more round-the-clock fashion. It comes down to this: Sure, you have a

right to your opinion―just not on my page.Rome Area Writers is sponsoring a

Writers Forum on March 23 at the Cotton Block Hall on Broad Street, featuring four guest authors. Look for posters with more information in local shops.

And finally, sports teams across America

are making record-breaking deals with ESPN and News Corp. for the right to broadcast their games. Fox is about to pay $6 billion to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Atlanta Braves, meanwhile, are stuck in a 20-year deal made when Time Warner sold the

franchise to Liberty Media, and therefore are unable to reap the windfalls from which other teams are benefitting heavily—which means less money to offer sterling players. The Braves’ spin on this is that they have a good brand, a good reputation, and other sources of revenue. My spin is that I long for the days when Ted Turner would just open up his checkbook. VVV

J. Bryant Steele is an award-winning busi-ness reporter and feature writer based in Rome. More of his work is currently fea-tured in the 12th edition of Lavender Moun-tain Anthology, available at local retailers.


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24 vini vidi vici / v3 magazine vini vidi vici / v3 magazine 2524 vini vidi vici / v3 magazine

Moths to the Flamei t’s wintertime again. The clocks

have been turned back, the days are shorter, and the mercury is dropping. The first thing many of you do when you return home af-ter a long day at work is turn up the thermostat. Then, you put the kettle on the stove and crank up

the flame for a nice hot cup of tea. Steam-ing mug in hand, you finally settle onto the sofa, snuggle down beneath a cozy throw blanket, and gaze hypnotically at the danc-ing light of the gas logs.

But did you ever really stop and think about how that little flame magically ap-pears on the stove, or in most modern fire-places, when beckoned? Would you ever have conceived that the natural gas heating your home this very evening, cooking your

food, warming your tootsies, has crossed up to four states before making its way into your home?

Of course not. You have more important things to worry about. And luckily for you, if you happen to be one of the company’s 460,000 Georgia customers, SCANA En-ergy is standing sentinel, providing your natural gas with reliance and ease.

Natural gas, to most people, is some-thing like a third cousin who occasionally shows up at the family reunion. You know his name, maybe where he lives—but aside from a surface detail or two, you don’t re-ally know that much about the guy. Natural gas is not gasoline, nor is it propane; it isn’t made from coal. All three are, however, fossil fuels (i.e. the dead and decayed left-overs of plants and animals that inhabited

the planet millions and millions of years ago, then, over time, were all squished down and fossilized under enormous pres-sure. The results yielded various types of fuels that, eventually, we humans discov-ered and have used to power our growing societies ever since.

Natural gas is fairly new to the party—at least when compared to coal, oil and gaso-line—but the technology finally caught up with the product.

SCANA Energy is a subsidiary of SCANA Corporation, which has provided energy in the Southeastern U.S. for more than 160 years. Even though technology and methods of production have changed

According to North Georgia regional manager, Terry Brown, and fellow

Scana Energyjourneymen, business is good not

because it’s nippy outside, but because their community-minded employer

warms as many hearts as it does homes

Text by Mandy Loorham Photos by Derek Bell

vini vidi vici / v3 magazine 25 vini vidi vici / v3 magazine 2524 vini vidi vici / v3 magazine

Moths to the Flamedramatically since the company’s humble beginnings, according to SCANA, its mis-sion has never wavered. They maintain that their daily focus is still “on providing qual-ity energy solutions cost effectively to our customers.”

But this quote falls well short of what SCANA officials believe the company does for its customers and their communities. In the corporate world, values often seem like vague ideas floating on the breeze, grasped only in opportune moments. For many companies, these often impalpable, corporate-world morals are spoken of only in times of legal or media scrutiny, becom-ing mere pretty words, perhaps lettering a plaque hung below a coat rack in the front office.

SCANA, conversely, claims to take a different approach, touting its values in a clearly spelled-out, cleverly devised ac-ronym that it demands adherence to from each and every one of its employees:

Serve our communityAchieveCommunicate openly and honestlyRespect diversity and

care for each otherExcel in customer ser vice and safetyDo what is rightThese values are also clearly displayed,

says SCANA’s North Georgia regional manager Terry Brown, through his com-pany’s involvement in the communities it serves, as well as through their employees’


professionalism. Sit down with Brown for a few minutes, and you’ll quickly realize that his calendar is a pretty full one. Much of this scheduled time, he says, is spent en-suring that SCANA customers are receiv-ing a quality product at a competitive price; the rest goes to trying to enrich the lives of those same customers through education and outreach.

Brown, a native of Rome, has been in the natural gas business for 37 years. SCANA’s persistent community-service efforts cur-rently have him working with seven dif-ferent chambers of commerce, in addition to serving on seven different boards of di-rectors, including the Rome-Floyd County Commission of Children and Youth and the Northwest Georgia Criminal Justice Foun-dation. SCANA Energy is also a proud sponsor of several organizations one might not expect from an energy giant, covering public concerns from environmental (The Coosa River Basin Initiative, Trout Unlim-ited) to healthcare (The March of Dimes, Susan G. Koman for the Cure), to seniors and low-income citizens (with its Heating Energy and Assistance Team). SCANA sees itself less as a business entity, Brown says, and more as a helpful neighbor that happens to sell natural gas for a living.

Terry Brown SCANA Energy North Georgia regional manager

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"Power generation has even turned to natural gas due to FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) emission rules. It is a much cleaner source of energy than burning coal."

He also believes, being a good corpo-rate citizen with an eye to the future, that progress begins in the classroom. That’s why his employer has created a network of eight SCANA Energy Homework Centers throughout Georgia, each of which provides a safe, quiet respite for 30 current third- and

fifth-grade students to receive tutoring help from certified teachers. SCANA pays for the tutoring, supplies, snacks, anything the kids need.

One of these centers is located at Gar-den Lakes Elementary School in Rome, the mention of which brings a big smile to Brown’s face. When he talks about this cen-ter in particular, his eyes alight. “I am so im-pressed with Garden Lakes. We want those kids to be proud SCANA kids.”

SCANA is currently the only natural gas provider in the state of Georgia that offers a

community outreach program of this kind, which also operates Homework Centers in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Natural gas is not something new—given that it has been in production for millions of years. The methods necessary to safely bring it to the surface and transport it in quanti-

ties large enough for mass consumption, however, have only around for the past few decades. The technologies, infra-structural construc-tion techniques, and necessary materials weren’t really avail-

able at this scale until the years following World War II. But by the 1960s, long-range pipelines weren’t uncommon.

Once used primarily for lighting pur-poses, natural gas could now be used to fuel hot-water heaters, stoves, ovens, and could even help to generate electricity.

“Power generation has even turned to natural gas due to FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) emission rules,” Brown explains. “It is a much cleaner source of energy than burning coal. Now, natural gas is used to turn the generators.”

This is a new method that the Tennessee Valley Authority has implemented in several of its power plants, using natural gas instead of coal to turn the combustion engines that create power. The main benefit of the use of natural gas over coal, officials contend, is a reduction in emissions that produce green-house gases.

Perhaps one of the last frontiers for natu-ral gas will be to conquer the automobile industry. In fact, two nearby cities, Atlanta and Chattanooga, have already released their own fleets of public buses powered by compressed, natural gas. One of the main difficulties with natural gas-powered cars and trucks at present, however, is that there are no public fueling stations.

But when you think about it, since natural gas is an odorless, colorless, clean-burning source of natural fuel, wouldn’t it only make sense to use it to power our vehicles?

“After all,” Brown says, “the only emis-sion is water.”

So give a little deeper thought that magi-cal, electric-blue flame that appears each day at your command. It has waited millions of years to heat your water and home; it has traveled thousands of miles through intri-cate, underground pipelines just to spark and dance inside your fireplace. VVV


L ynne and Paul Grif-fin’s journey into

the world of interior design was a natural progression, one stem-ming primarily from Lynne’s passion for sewing. It then blos-somed into the store so many Northwest Georgians are now familiar with, Room Service. Taught to sew by her mother/grandmother, Lynne made her first set of draperies for a friend in 1984. The friend later encouraged her to begin doing it professionally, and she’s been ser-vicing Romans with the same skill set ever since.

While Room Service offers a wide va-riety of interior design services, custom-made draperies and window treatments are the roots of their business, and the Griffins have stayed true to their roots. In the early days, while Lynne’s focus was centered on draperies, Paul took care of the blinds, shades and shutters. He worked with a small fabrication company that was later absorbed, fortuitously enough for Room Service, by another company called Hunt-er Douglas, and this fateful transaction sparked a business relationship that has

lasted close to 30 years. “We are proud to be a part of the Hunter Douglas Alliance Program,” says Paul, “as it allows those of us who sell their products the opportunity to be as consistent as possible. We are a gallery dealer, which is the highest level of the alliance program, and have been a dealer for the Hunter Douglas brand for so long because the prod-uct and service they offer is second to none.”

The Hunter Douglas brand was born thanks to the collective fabrica-tion and design genius of Henry Douglas and Joe Hunter, who began work-ing together in 1938. The

duo’s road to building what is now the number one supplier of innovative win-dow accessories in the United States went through many phases, however. The pair fabricated aluminum engine parts for Lockheed P-38 fighter planes in

DRAPED INSUccess

AFTER THREE DECADES SPENT RECEIVING ACCOLADES AS AN ELITE, GALLERY DEALER FOR GLOBAL WINDOW-TREATMENT ICON HUNTER DOUGLAS, ROOM SERVICE'S OWNERS SAY THE VIEW FROM WHERE THEY SIT HAS THE FUTURE LOOKING BRIGHT FOR YEARS TO COME

PAUL&LYNNE GRIFFIN


WWII, for instance, and even helped cre-ate the Zuni rocket and Sidewinder air-to-air missile during the Korean War. In the years to follow, Hunter and Douglas’ grow-ing company focused its fabrication goals squarely on aluminum venetian blinds, and have been considered the industry leader ever since.

“I am a bit of a perfectionist,” says Paul. “If I work with a product that creates head-aches for the client or myself, I refuse to use it again. We have been doing window treatments for quite some time, and I have never worked with a company more fo-cused on customer satisfaction than Hunter Douglas. They back up what they sell with

a lifetime warranty and, in the rare case that a repair is needed, they make it extreme-ly easy for both the dealer servicing it and the client who made the purchase.”

One of the most unique and client-friendly products of-

fered at Room Service are energy-efficient window treatments. These coverings help homeowners control the climate in their homes in a number of different ways. The Hunter Douglas Duette honeycomb is one of the store’s top lines, serving as a dual-purpose shade and storm window that ef-fectively seals off the air between itself and

“IF I WORK WITH A PRODUCT THAT CREATES HEADACHES FOR THE CLIENT OR MYSELF, I REFUSE TO USE IT AGAIN. WE HAVE BEEN DOING WINDOW TREATMENTS FOR QUITE SOME TIME, AND I HAVE NEVER WORKED WITH A COMPANY MORE FOCUSED ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION THAN HUNTER DOUGLAS.”

TEXT BY IAN GRIFFINPHOTOS BY DEREK BELL

ADDITIONAL PICS COURTESY OF HUNTER DOUGLAS


the window, thus allowing the home to stay cooler or warmer depending on the season.

Of course, the innovations don’t stop there. Motorized blinds, shadings and screens that can be opened, shut, raised and lowered by remote are also available at Room Service, as well as more conven-tional blinds that, while they may not offer the same range of gadgetry, certainly pass the eye (and smell) test. Simply put, the Hunter-Douglas catalog has it all.

Complementing the fact that they offer top-notch product lines, Room Service’s staff also brings the depth of knowledge and customer-service aptitude to make shopping with them a pleasure. From hard-ware to bedding and window treatments, to educational books for children and toys,

this store is equipped to han-dle all types of design spaces and motifs.

“Depending on your needs, you will deal with Lynn or myself when pick-ing out your window treat-ments,” Paul adds. “I handle all the hard treatments while she takes care of the soft treatments, and we both have almost 30 years of experi-ence, so we have learned to listen to our customers in order to get them exactly what they need in a window treat-ment. We can help match what is already in a room or help design the room around the treatment.”

At Room Service, customers ap-pear to make their purchases with a true sense of security. “You’re only as good as your last job,” says Paul. “We keep that in mind every time we start a project, and I think that plays a huge roll in why our cus-tomers refer us to their friends and family. You can knock out 18,000 jobs in a row without a mistake, but if you slip up on job 18,001, it could be the one that loses the next 20. We want to make sure that never happens.”

The Griffins also contend that ensuring grade-A service for each and every customer is one of the

top reasons globally renowned Hunter-Douglas now ranks Room Service as one of its elite dealers, a distinction that holds them to the highest standard. And the Grif-fins wouldn’t have it any other way. VVV


“YOU'RE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR LAST JOB. WE KEEP THAT IN MIND EVERY TIME WE START A PROJECT, AND I THINK THAT PLAYS A HUGE ROLE IN WHY OUR CUSTOMERS REFER US TO THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.”


Trends&Traditions w i t h H o l l y Ly n c h

i n third grade, I had a major crush on a boy named Craig Lasiewski. And Michael J. Fox. But Craig was in my class, so I figured had a chance. Not to mention, Valentine’s Day was fast approaching.

We had a ritual in my elementary school during which we would decorate lunch bags, tape them to the chalkboard, and everyone in class would place their valentines into the pre-decorated bags for each classmate. This was my shot. I remember picking out the best valentine from my box and carefully putting Craig’s name on it. I was so excited to place that

note in his bag, and at the end of the day, I was pumped to take home my bag and read all the notes from my friends. Of course, the first valentine I looked for was one from Craig. After all, my mother made me give a valentine to every last student in my class.

Craig’s mother did not have the same policy, however, and so, in order to help me feel better, my parents encouraged me to reread all the great notes from all of

The First AnnualFive-Valentine Challenge(for Anyone Not NamedCraig Lasiewski)

my friends who did take the time to slip something into my lunch bag.

As we approach this second month of cold and dreary winter, a bright spot in our lives is all the red and sparkle that shines in our stores. But at the risk of offending my editor by making this a Valentine’s Day-centered column, let’s push things along and get to the true heart of the matter:

When was the last time you wrote or received a love note?

Are you wondering how to begin? Or to whom you would write one? As a personal challenge, list five people to whom you could write a legitimate love note this month. It will cost you very little except

your time, and possibly some postage, but this red-hot task will warm your soul this winter. More importantly, you will warm someone else’s.

The inspiration for this challenge comes from a little file a friend taught me to keep a long time ago. She told me to keep an “I Am Great” file, which is now quite literally a file I keep in my desk drawer that contains thank you notes and kind words I have received from clients, friends and

family. When I’m having a low day, I pull out a note or two from it to remind myself that I am loved.

Love letters do not have to be between lovers. There are lots of different types of love, and a letter is a great way to express your feelings for any person in your life who you’d miss if they were no longer there. Over the next 30 days, make it a point to drop five love notes into five “lunch bags,” so to speak, and warm five souls.

Several years ago, my dad wrote me an email that explained why he was proud of me. I was a divorcee, completely on my own, and had just started a new job. That email was the emotional food I needed right then, and somehow, he must have known that. Even though my life, both personally and professionally, is very different now, I still have the printout of that email and I reread it from time to time. What a treasure to have those words from a parent.

To get the ball rolling on your Trends & Traditions Five-Valentine Challenge, first, choose the recipients of the notes. Perhaps start with a spouse, child, or sibling. Someone you know so well that you can order a meal for them in a restaurant, or

identify from the mere sound their footfall on a hardwood floor; the sort of invaluable, closely proximal person to whom you should have the easiest time writing a love letter. Then, find a

piece of paper (or computer) and, without thinking, just write. Write exactly what you love about that person, even if it begins with the most mundane of characteristics. For example, I love

that my husband rolls the trash bin to the curb on Thursday mornings. I never asked this to be ‘his’ job, but he does it every single week, even in the rain.

It’s one of the many, many things I love about him, but if I need to enumerate the traits that really make me value him, rolling the trash bin to the curb is one of them. I don’t love him because he takes the trash out, I love him because he does it for me.

The same starting point works for almost


anyone important in your life. Think of at least one thing that particular person does or says that makes you smile. For instance, whenever my neighbor goes out of town and I watch her house for her, she leaves me a yummy baked good on her kitchen table. It’s a small gesture of thanks that she leaves for me, but she’s so consistent in this gesture, it makes me smile just to walk inside her home.

The next step in writing these love notes is to share your honest feelings. Start with how the actions your loved one performs (which you identified in step one) makes you feel. When I see the trash barrel out by the curb on Thursday mornings, I feel protected. The cupcake on my neighbor’s table makes me feel appreciated. It’s one thing to ‘thank’ a person for doing

something you like; it’s a whole new step to tell him/her why you value

what he/she is doing. That manner of self revelation is what will make this love letter deeply meaningful.

It’s the step that changes this letter from a thank-you note to a tangible emotion. This is the time to wear your heart on your sleeve.

Finally, talk about the future. Share your thoughts about where you would like the relationship to go, or where you see yourselves in the future. For the letter to have the most meaning and impact, attention to detail is imperative. If possible, handwrite it. Be sure to date the letter, as well, so when the recipient reviews it from his/her own I Am Great file, he/she can remember exactly when he/she received this memento. Close the letter with an affectionate, heartfelt sign-off. Nothing about this token of appreciation should resemble a business letter.

For my own Five-Valentine Challenge, the people I plan on writing to are as follows: a loved one, a colleague, a young person, an elderly person, and someone from my past (but not someone named Craig Lasiewski).

Who will you write to? It isn’t nearly as difficult as it may seem. Once you start, you’ll be glad you did it. In fact, as an illustrative example, here’s my love letter to all of you:

Dear Reader,

How can I begin to thank you? I know you are sacrificing your valuable time to read V3’s Trends & Traditions department, and I greatly appreciate that you are also interested in creating a society that values new trends while celebrating old traditions. Because you read this column, I feel validated that my old-fashioned values still have a place in this modern world. I do hope that together we will continue to bring civility and style to our community for years to come.

With great fondness,Holly

Holly Lynch is the owner of and managing coordinator for The Season Special Events Planning at 250 Broad Street in Rome.


I'd Like To See It Saved For All Time...

Text byLuke Chaffin

Photos byDerekBell


A scarcely known, ecologically rich wonder sits nearby, undisturbed, thriving right under our noses. It is a continuing scene of solace that would make Marshall Forest Preserve’s namesake one very happy conservationist

Rome’s own ecological hotbed contains an interesting mix of both Southern and Northern tree species. Fifty-five different species, to be exact, including pine, chest-nut oak, and other hardwoods. Some of these trees are estimated to have been pro-ducing CO2 for Rome since before the city’s founding in 1834. Research in the past has suggested that one of the reasons so many different tree varieties have been able to coexist so well here is due to the region’s periodic ice storms—the blizzard of ’93, for instance—which help create openings in the tree line and allow pine trees to grow larger than usual.

Home to the endangered Scutellaria montana, the large-flowered skullcap, Mar-

shall Forest also provides a cozy habitat for numerous, non-threatened plant spe-cies, including over 300 different species of wildflower. Once described as a “living laboratory for Georgians to nurture,” the preserve flourishes virtually incognito, right alongside a somewhat busy artery for resi-dential traffic, a river and a mountain.

In 1966, Marshall Forest became Geor-gia’s first national natural landmark by or-der of the United States Department of the Interior. That same year, it was designated a registered natural area under the provisions of the State Council for the Preservation of Natural Areas Act, because it demonstrated so well Georgia’s natural history. And since 1977, it has laid claim to the Nature Conser-

a s a child, I had the great pleasure of visiting the tall sequoias of Cali-fornia’s Muir Woods. In more recent years, I

have also traveled to see the evergreens of the Olympic National Forest in Washing-ton state, and I have hiked through differ-ent pine varieties of South Dakota’s Black Hills. But even with the wide selection of beautiful, vastly different ecosystems I have discovered in distant locales, one of the country’s best-kept secrets is a natural trea-sure that exists in our own back yard.

Early one morning in the midst of a busy work week, I decided to seek a natural re-spite somewhere, anywhere close by. Just a short drive from home was the Marshall Forest Preserve on Horseleg Creek Road. After a solid 45 minutes of hiking around, breathing in pure oxygen, I was ready to take on my day—and all of this without even having to leave Floyd County.

The Marshall Forest holds an impressive title not only in Northwest Georgia, but across the continental U.S. The 293 acres that stretch from the incline of Mt. Alto to the Coosa River comprise the only virgin forest within city limits of any—yes, any—city in the entire country. Virgin forests are typically older forests that have witnessed minimal disturbance, and tend to be hotbeds of ecological significance. A “no-interfer-ence” policy exists in an effort to keep the preserve as pristine as possible.


vancy’s distinguished designation as a “mod-el preserve.”

Once a part of the original Cherokee na-tion, the Marshall fam-ily acquired the tract of land in 1880 and built a home that they lovingly named “Edgehill”. The last owner and private steward of the land was Roman sculptor/painter/ecologist/Re-naissance man, Ma-cLean Marshall (1912-1976). “Mac”—as he was called—fought passionately for the survival of his family’s land in a time when early land development and other disruptive human activities were threatening the beautiful silence so long as-sociated with the Marshall property. Even to this day, the land remains much like as it did spanning the nearly 100 years the Marshalls possessed it, perhaps even back to the days of the Cherokee.

With his home and studio stationed on the property, the prize-winning sculptor was able to work in harmony with the land, just miles from busy Shorter Avenue. One work Marshall created during this period of cre-ative solace was a statue of an Indian en-titled Last of the Cherokees. The sculpture had been fashioned as a possible replace-ment for the Rome City Auditorium’s iconic Capitoline Wolf during World War II, when anti-Italian sentiment ran high. Mac’s statue instead went on display at the original Carn-egie Library next door, and later made its way to Augusta. Marshall continued hon-ing his well-known talent for sculpture, but remained equally dedicated to pledging himself a tireless champion for the cause of the forest that now bears his family name. A sign that once hung in Marshall’s stu-dio read, “Land is more important than the people on it.” Mac lived these words every day—a message that, to him, must have im-plied that nature is, in and of itself, an amaz-ing work of art.

B ecause of the juxtapo-sition of different flora and fauna found on the land, Marshall Forest has become a naturally

centralized location for ecological study, es-pecially in the fields of biology, botany and forestry. In the early 1960s, Shorter College professor Lewis Lipps (1919-1996) was

ing herbs, shrubs, trees and woody vines. After a five-year study, Dr. Lewis Lipps earned her PhD in 1966, and continued to lend ecological credibility to Marshall Forest. One of her many projects included tagging different plants and trees with her Shorter students, identifying the common names, family names, genus and species of each specimen the troupe encountered. This

busy surveying every inch of a four-acre Marshall plot. She was working diligently on her University of Tennessee disserta-tion at the time, and was hoping to more accurately reconstruct what Georgia for-ests had been like before the white man came along, before the lands were tam-pered with and new species introduced. One of the primary reasons for Lipps’ re-search was to recognize which tree species would grow best in Georgia, cultivating an understanding of the “original woodlands and their natural productivity.” Among other important industries, Lipps saw her work as potentially helping tree farmers, by guiding their choice of “crop” to those best-suited for Georgia’s unique climate and topography.

Lipps spent a year in the Marshall For-est crawling through the leaf-litter, catalog-

A sign that once hung in Marshall’s studio read,

“Land is more

important than the

people on it.”

continued on pg. 46 >>>>


sure to let her know about it. So, how is it that a day devoted to pro-

claiming one’s love has become something of an aberration? I mean, the rules are sim-ple and easy enough to follow. The man is to order flowers (preferably a dozen, overpriced, red roses) at least two weeks in advance, or, if he finds them to be sold out, obtain a mass-produced greeting card with adorable assurances of enduring love,

i f you were to pass me on the street or meet me in a restau-rant, you’d probably never guess that hiding under my tough, Eastwood-esque per-sona hides a poetry-loving, candle-lighting, flower-picking romantic. Even my closest circle of friends,

having grown accustomed to my disdain for authority and my complete inability to keep even my most unpopular opinions holstered, seem sur-prised and doubtful during the rare occasions where my alter ego is publicly exposed.

With this sensitive informa-tion in mind, you might assume that Feb. 14 is my favorite day of the year—an independence day of sorts. Yet, as unfortu-nate as it may seem, I have spent the majority of my adult life loathing Valentine’s Day.

As far back as kindergarten, maybe earlier, I remember lov-ing the ladies. Skinning my knees on the playground and

chasing after girls to steal kisses where the teachers couldn’t see, seemed as close to awesome as was humanly possible. During this time, most of my kindergarten cohorts thought that girls were gross and weird. I, contrarily, found them to be breathtak-ing reflections of sunlight, and I was never afraid to admit it. That’s not to imply that I was some kind of pre-pubescent Don Juan, but if I liked a young lady, I certainly made

RobbReport2.0 w i t h R o b bR a ymon d I I I

acquire a large, red or pink, heart-shaped box of assorted chocolates, make reserva-tions at Red Lobster, and finally, kick back and wait for the fireworks.

Being a man, I absolutely love fireworks. And, in typical male fashion, I will often go to great lengths to attend a well-orches-trated display. But to robotically purchase goods and services with the sole intent of getting a return (or, at the very least, to stay out of the dog house) simply because the calendar demands it of me? This seems completely averse to the fundamental es-sence we, as a modern society, have sup-posedly granted our annual lovers’ holiday.

Shrouded in mystery, the origins of St. Valentine and the day named for him are an-cient, dating back to his death around A.D. 270. Roman Emperor Claudius II outlawed

soldiers from becoming married, as he believed that unwed men made better troops. Legend has it that Valentine performed wed-dings for young soldiers despite Claudius II’s decree, and was eventually arrested. Refusing to convert to paganism, he was ex-ecuted and became a Christian martyr.

Centuries later, with the Christian church’s rise to power and predominance, it is believed that the middle of February was chosen to celebrate St. Valentine’s feast day in an attempt to convert pagans who then celebrated Lupercalia on Feb. 15. Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as Rome’s founders, Romulus and Remus. During the Lupercalia festival, priests would sacrifice a goat for fertility and a dog for purification. Tearing the goat hide into strips, they would parade through town, slapping women and crops with the bloody hide. This tradition continued until the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gela-

What Could PossiblyBe More RomanticThan Martyrdom?In the name of honoring a man who, quite literally, gave his life to the notion of unbridled love, can we not find the depth to say it in our own words?


sius deemed it “un-Christian” and declared Feb. 14 St. Valentine’s Day.

It wasn’t until the High Middle Ages (c.1000-1300), a period of great social change and economic growth in Europe, that Valentine’s Day became expressly as-sociated with romantic love. It was during this period that the exchange of gifts and handwritten cards became popularized.

Fast forward hundreds of years into the industrial era, and we find handwritten love letters giving way to the mass manufacture of Valentine’s Day cards that could be widely distributed and cheaply priced. Before this technological shift, people actually had to put pen to paper in order to share their feelings. Transferring powerful emotions into the words of a poem or love letter can be an extremely difficult, often harrying task. And it’s the very act of doing this that gives a far more real, far deeper meaning to those heartfelt words we share with a lover.

It isn’t that Valentine’s Day gifts are completely thoughtless, nor do they lack sincerity, but to collectively opt for the easy way to pay dirt when we speak of matters of the heart is, well, little more than a col-lective cop out. After all, why spend hours

writing a sonnet that speaks to your wife’s untold beauty or of the fiery passion set ablaze by a single glance from her, when you can drive to the neighborhood CVS in sweatpants and pick up a giant lollipop that reads, I’m a sucker for you?

When the U.S. Greeting Card Asso-ciation estimates that 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards will be sent this year, I can’t

help but worry about a modern society’s lack of creative individualism. I read the figure billion with that big, glaring “B” and my mind is instantly flooded with hilari-ous scenes of love-struck, middle-school boys battling over the last “Locked Out of Heaven” musical greeting card; an army of fanatic soccer moms joining forces in a massive, all-out land assault on Walgreens, purchasing anything plastered with red hearts and chubby cherubs; offices full of cubical-confined employees searching the

web for the perfect, animated e-card; beer-bellied, last-minute husbands tearfully picking through the scattered remnants of a war-ravaged Hallmark aisle at Walmart. They search desperately for anything that reads as cookie-cutter romantic, perhaps whatever fits the bill as suggested by The Bachelor.

If the loved ones in our lives aren’t worth finding the words—our own, original words, straight from our hearts onto the incredibly vulner-able space that is a blank piece of paper—what does that say about us, the people who pay a few bucks for someone else to utter them in such a grossly generic fashion? St. Valentine wittingly gave his life

to ensure that love couldn’t be smoldered even in the darkest of arenas, and the bat-tlefields bloodied and land-scarred by the mighty Roman army were certainly that. Can we not dig deep enough within our-selves, within our souls, to reinstitute the true meaning of a holiday intended to hon-or such selflessness and sacrifice—two of unconditional love’s basest characteristics?

We can. And we should.I think I’ll start right now, with a love

letter addressed to my beautiful wife. VVV

When the U.S. Greeting Card Associa-tion estimates that 1 billion Valentine's Day cards will be sent this year, I can't help but worry about a modern society's lack of creative individualism.


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Take on HealthOUR PHYSICIANS ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS

A Healthy HeartQ &A with Dr. BaggettDr. Baggett received his Medical Doctorate degree from Louisiana State UniversitySchool of Medicine in New Orleans and completed his residency in Internal Medicineat the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Virginia. He then joined

Scott and White Memorial Hospital, part of Texas A & M University Health Sciences Center, in Temple, Texas, to complete his Fellowship in Cardiovascular Disease. Dr. Baggett is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Baggett joined Harbin Clinic in 2010. He, his wife and four daughters reside in Rome.

• What are the most common heart conditions people have and a brief explanation of each? 1. Coronary artery disease (CAD) - abnormality in blood flow through the heart arteries 2. Congestive heart failure - abnormality in the squeezing or relaxing function of the heart 3. Arrhythmias - abnormality in the electrical system through the heart

• Are there any heart tests that I should ask my doctor about even if I have no symptoms?The American Heart Association recommends screening with a coronary artery calcium score in asymptomatic individuals (typically over age 40) who have a family history of heart disease.

• Can heart conditions be genetic even if I am healthy?Yes. In order to detect cholesterol problems that run in the family and lead to CAD, it is recommended that all adults over age 20 have a screening lipid profile.

• What do you consider a “Heart Healthy” diet?The Mediterranean diet has the most evidence regarding reducing your risk of death from all causes (including cardiac as well as cancer). It includes high consumption of olive oil, legumes (peas or beans), unrefined cereals, fruit, vegetables, moderate consumption of dairy products, fish and wine with low consumption of meat and meat products.

• Can alcohol consumption be healthy for the heart? Is it different for women than men?Alcohol consumption can be heart healthy when in moderation - up to one drink a day for women or two drinks a day for men. Serving samples include: Beer: 12 oz Wine: 5 oz Distilled spirits (80 proof ): 1.5 oz. (Not recommended for those with a history of alcoholism).

For an appointment with Dr. Baggett or for more information, please visit our web site at www.harbinclinic.com or contact our Cardiology Department at 706-235-3855.

later helped provide the building blocks for a for-est map pinpointing those locations.

Like Marshall, Lipps understood the great eco-logical worth of the pre-serve: “Virgin forests are hard to find, and even a near-virgin forest in Georgia is so rare that any one [forest] still around ought to be preserved”. The property has also served as an outdoor laboratory for many a student at nearby Berry College, the University of Georgia, and even Fernbank in Atlanta.

What now com-prises the Marshall Forest Preserve was willed to the Nature Conservancy upon MacLean Marshall’s death in 1976. It was Marshall’s hope that the land continue to be pro-tected, and that its natural beauty and wilderness remain undisturbed—except in the instance of re-search. The Nature Conservancy cur-rently works in more than 30 countries and all 50 U.S. states to help protect and conserve our eco-logically significant lands and waters.

Over 119 million acres of land have been protected by the organization, including the original Marshall property.

The continued preservation of the forest has proved to be and continues to be a true community endeavor. Organizations like the

Friends of the Marshall Forest, the Garden Clubs of Georgia, and Rome Federated Gar-den Clubs, as well as numerous civic lead-ers and private citizens have all stepped up to bolster awareness of the former Cherokee lands. Various fundraising efforts through-out the years have helped garner financial support to maintain trails and boundaries, as well as to erect property gates, fences and road signs.

The preserve’s ecological significance also allows it to stand out in a community that has quite an abundance of outdoor activity to offer via its rivers, hills, trails and more. The Marshall Forest has beauti-ful trails worth checking out, including the Big Pine Braille Trail, which features a rope-guided course and narrative signage in English and Braille. Another path open to the public is the Flower Glen Trail, which stretches a quarter-mile.

The naturalist Marshall once said, “I’d like to see it saved for all time. As long as I live, nothing will happen to it.” Thanks in part to trailblazing scientists, kindred-soul enthusiasts like Dr. Lipps, and the mem-bers, volunteers and others who have taken an active part in protecting this little-known Roman asset, the Marshall Forest continues to thrive. VVV

>>>> from 37, “I’d Like to See...”

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Offer in the form of $5 credit per bill for the first 15 bills, for a total of $75, available for new residential accounts, subject to credit requirements. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Terms and conditions apply. Visit scanaenergy.com/georgia1 for details.

Saving money will give you something to smile about.

/scanaenergy

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/scanaenergyga

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