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Back in the Swing

Sports

Photos courtesy of Toptracer

A new practice facility is making the cut at the former Jones Creek golf course.

There will be a new player in town starting Masters Week. On Monday, April 3, Bond Golf Global will open “The Practice Club at Jones Creek” on the site of the former golf course in Evans.

“The golf course has been closed for five years, and we want to inject some life back into it,” says Andrew Brooks, founder and owner of Aiken-based Bond Golf Global. “We want to create a good community and a family friendly facility that anybody can use. We want to direct people into the game of golf. It’s open to everybody 100 percent.”

Powered by Toptracer, the high-tech facility will feature eight outdoor bays, eight indoor bays, two covered suites, a sitting area to watch sports and a Junior Golf Academy.

Although the clubhouse is not part of the project, The Practice Club will offer food and beverage services as well.

In its second phase, the facility will add a putting green, a chipping green and a practice bunker. Brooks says these areas should be open by the end of June.

“Our vision is to bring back the golf course. We’re looking at what’s required,” he adds. However, he says no timetable has been set for these renovations.

Future amenities also will include club fitting and club repair services.

While some practice facilities are geared toward entry-level golfers, Brooks says, “This will be a next-level facility where people can hit real balls onto a range. It’s a pathway onto the golf course. It’s going to be a special place.”

For more information, call (803) 477-6824 or email bondgolfgobal@gmail.com.

Schvitz — Vulfpeck

Listen To This

Known for their VHS-soul vibe-a-licious instrumentation, Vulfpeck’s sixth studio release, appropriately titled Schvitz — a Yiddish word for sweat — pours a tall glass of refreshing, sweet sonic genius for every ear and skippy-yips to every step.

With a topspin of precision and magic, the Michigander retro wonder kids, Vulfpeck, are back with a warm and wide-eyed groove for the year’s back nine.

Vulf’s back catalog has consisted mostly of instrumental jams with occasional soul-vox provided by Theo Katzman and Antwaun Stanley, but Schvitz is a full Katzman-Stanley pairing that matches the energy and fly-vibes throughout the course of the 10-track groove sandwich.

The album’s opener, “Sauna,” a catchy-hook ditty with a sweet mix of tea olive and magnolia, sets the tone for the entire album.

The disco-inferno punch of “New Guru” and “Simple Step” keeps the BPM at a steady RPM while “In Heaven” and “Romanian Drinking Song” bump and run into a stroke of pure awesome.

The talent and creativity naturally pulled from Vulfpeck’s bag of genius are champion-sized, full-tilt celebrations of sonic mastery that properly bring the swing into spring.

– Chris Rucker

Bee-ing Innovative

People

Photos courtesy of UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences photo

The University of Georgia creates a buzz by developing the world’s first vaccine for honeybees.

Most people regard insects as a nuisance to be swatted away. Not honeybees, however.

These pollinators are instrumental in the global production of foods that rely on insects for pollination, and, with the development of the first vaccine for the world’s honeybees, beekeepers now can protect their colonies.

The vaccine resulted from a collaboration between the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) and Dalan Animal Health, a biotech company based at UGA’s Innovation Hub in Athens. According to Environment News Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved the vaccine for two years on a conditional basis.

The vaccine is intended to help honeybees resist American foulbrood, a destructive disease that can wipe out entire bee colonies.

“You don’t have to look far to know honeybees are having a lot of problems right now. Hives will die unless you intercede with herculean efforts,” says Keith Delaplane, professor in the CAES Department of Entomology and director of the UGA Bee Program.

“Queen Candy”

While traditional vaccines are injected with a syringe, the honeybee vaccine is mixed into the queen feed that is consumed by worker bees and then fed to the queen.

After she ingests it, the inoculated queen, for the remainder of her lifetime, will produce worker bees that are primed to be immune to foulbrood as they hatch.

“This work is so new,” says Annette Kleiser, co-founder and CEO of Dalan. “There are no guidelines, no handbook. We are developing, together with Keith, what will be the gold standard for these trials. It’s really exciting; it is the first of its kind.”

Pollinators such as bees are responsible for one of every three bites of food humans eat, according to the USDA, and U.S. crops that depend on honeybee pollination are valued at more than $15 billion.

However, pollinator numbers have been declining for years. According to a survey by the Bee Informed Partnership, U.S. beekeepers lost 39 percent of their honeybees from April 2021 through April 2022.

“People don’t understand how hard it is to keep bees alive,” says Delaplane. “I can’t imagine a more frightening branch of agriculture to be in. It takes ceaseless attention.”

The animal vaccine can be used in organic agriculture, and it will be available on a limited basis to commercial beekeepers this year.

Who You Gonna Call?

If a swarm of honeybees takes up residence in your house, it’s now safer to tell them to buzz off. A new Honeybee Control and Removal state certification program requires pest control companies and operators who provide the service in Georgia to be certified and licensed.

The new law prohibits the use of pesticides in honeybee removal, so it’s better for your home and the bees.

Eye-Catching Craftsmanship

People

Photography by Sally Kolar and Herb Fechter

From kayaks to fly fishing rods, an Evans father and son create functional wood works of art.

About 10 years ago, Evans resident Bradley Bertram, aka one of the Eye Guys, was looking for something to do to fill the cold-weather months. Or, perhaps more specifically, his wife, Paige, was looking for something for him to do, so for Christmas she gave him the plans and materials to build a wooden kayak.

“Shortly after that, she described herself as a ‘kayak widow,’” Bradley says.

Especially since the 14-month project ended up spanning two winters. However, it wasn’t a solitary endeavor. Bradley’s then-adolescent son, Collin, who is now a 22-year-old college senior, got involved as well. He had built a couple of small model boats, but he was ready for a bigger, better challenge.

“I got interested in it right away. I like building things, boats, boating and fishing,” says Collin. “We jumped from building small model boats a foot long to building actual boats. I’m always in the garage helping with something, so it morphed into that.”

The Eyes Have It

The first kayak they built was an 80-pound tandem. However, during covid in 2020 and 2021, when many of us were binge-watching TV shows, they decided to build a 40-pound, one-person kayak. The newest vessel sports a pair of eyes on its deck, so naturally, Bradley dubbed it their “KeyeYAK.”

“I’m the king of dad humor,” he says. “My specialty is corneal surgery, so I’m the king of ‘corn’-ea.”

The Bertrams built the single KeyeYAK in six months. “It was easier to make than the first one, but adding the eyes made it harder,” says Bradley. “We turned a hatch into an eye, and every part of the eye is a different wood with a different color.”

The pupil is walnut; the iris is western red cedar; the sclera is Alaskan yellow cedar.

“Each kayak has a set of plans, but you can do what you want with them,” Bradley says.

In fact, their next kayak will be a racing-style model with an inlaid blue heron on the deck.

To construct the kayaks, the Bertrams use the stitch-and-glue method to stitch pre-cut plywood panels together with wire and then glue the seams with a mix of epoxy resin and wood flour. Once the kayak is assembled, they trim the exposed wire. Then, to waterproof and strengthen the wood, they cover it in protective layers of fiberglass.

“Most of the weight is in the epoxy,” says Bradley. “We put five pounds of epoxy in each end of the kayak. If we run into something, it’s protected.”

The hull is made of 8-inch mahogany plywood, and the deck consists of cedar and walnut strips.

“We’ll do 30 to 60 minutes of work, and then we have to wait while it dries,” Bradley says. “There’s a lot of ‘hurry up and wait.’”

Father and son also have developed an effective division of labor for their projects.

“Collin gets the jobs where a limber person is needed,” says Bradley. “He crawls in the hull to put in the filler and epoxy.”

He also is in charge of sanding the wood, a practice that dates back to his youth when he enjoyed dressing the part in surgical gown, goggles and ear protectors.

“At that age, using a power tool for hours is the best thing in the world,” Collin says. “Not so much now, though. It’s the most tedious part of the project.”

The younger Bertram doesn’t seem to mind, though. “We work well as a team,” he says. “We coordinate with each other all the time. My dad will work on the kayaks when I’m at school, and I work on them when he’s at work.”

Bradley says a lot of planning – and psychology – are involved in the construction process.

“Psychology comes into play in boat building. You get very obsessive-compulsive about it,” he says. “You question if it’s good enough, or if you should start over. We learned not to set a deadline because then it becomes work, and that takes the fun out of it.”

‘Good for the Soul’

Woodworking is as soothing as paddling on open water for the Bertrams, and Collin loves the creativity as well.

“You start with a tree, and you can manipulate it yourself into almost anything,” he says.

Bradley appreciates the yin and yang of their avocation.

“Part of it is very mindful. You really have to plan and think about what you’re doing so you don’t mess it up,” he says. “Then there’s part of it, like sanding, that’s mindless. Mindless work is good for the soul.”

While they love to take their kayaks out on the water, they’re always concerned that they might damage them by inadvertently paddling over a rock.

“In fact, both hulls have been repaired from doing just that,” says Bradley.

The risk to their handiwork doesn’t deter them from paddling, however.

“If you go through everything it takes to build it, you’re going to use it,” Collin says. “Open water is better for a wood kayak. You don’t want to take it around rocks or on rapids. If you scratch the hull or the top, it takes three days of work to bring it back to what it was.”

Besides beauty and durability, the Bertrams say wood kayaks have other benefits as well.

For instance, Bradley says, “The small one is lighter than a fiberglass counterpart.”

“You can cut through the water fast in a wood kayak. A lot of plastic kayaks have a fin or a rudder,” Collin says. “You don’t have to worry about a wood kayak going one direction or the other. It’s going to go straight.”

‘Then You Go Fishing’

The Bertrams have made other items, including custom fly fishing rods that they crafted three summers ago at a class they took together at Oyster Bamboo in Blue Ridge, Georgia.

While Bradley built a rod with a tortoiseshell finish and rattan grip, Collin crafted a solid wood rod with a cork grip.

“There’s constant anxiety that you’re going to do something wrong,” Bradley says. “You either love it or hate it.”

“If you’re off by one one-thousandth of an inch, it will take you another day to redo it,” adds Collin.

They worked on their rods all day from Monday through Saturday, and for the record, they didn’t mess up. “And then you go fishing on Sunday,” says Bradley.

Collin caught a 22-inch rainbow trout with his brand new rod. “You could still smell the varnish on the rod,” his father says.

They also have made cutting boards for gifts, but they don’t sell their work. They built a river table headboard for Collin’s bed out of maple wood, and currently, they’re working on a maple river table for the screened porch at their house.

“When I’m building something, it’s out of need. I want something functional,” says Collin.

Family Legacy

Bradley also likes the idea of creating family heirlooms to pass down to his children. In fact, when Collin’s twin sister, Carter, left home for college, she refinished her grandfather’s desk and took it to school with her.

“My dad built the desk in a woodshop class when he was in high school in 1930,” says Bradley.

The kayaks are destined to become part of the Bertram legacy as well.

“I’ve instructed that they are to never leave the family,” Bradley says.

By Betsy Gilliland

Line of Work

People

Photos courtesy of Jason Chambers

Talent, destiny and perseverance led artist Jason Chambers to the best job in the world.

Local abstract artist Jason Chambers, who sells to collectors across the world, has artwork on six continents. This month, however, he will travel with some of his pieces for a 10-day exhibition at The Holy Art Gallery in London.

Not bad for a self-taught artist who used to get in trouble for drawing during school.

“My teachers would send home my artwork with a note that said, ‘This is what he did instead of classwork,’” Jason recalls. “As ‘punishment,’ my mom would make me draw for two hours. It was the best punishment I could have ever had.”

After all, Jason, whose father was an editorial cartoonist for the Augusta Herald and Augusta Chronicle, was raised around cartoons and art. His grandmother and great-grandfather were painters as well.

“As soon as I could pick up a pencil, I started drawing,” Jason says.

A Style is Born

He got interested in different kinds of art when he was in high school, and he started doing portraits and landscapes.

He loved cartoons as well, and his childhood dream was to become a comic strip artist or to work for Disney or Pixar. Instead, he pursued more conventional employment at DSM Chemicals for 10 years and the Starbucks roasting plant for four years to provide for his wife, Nicole, and their two children.

However, art always helped Jason make sense of the world, and after he had a severe panic attack in 2016, he started drawing again with pen and ink.

“My anxiety starts to abate when I transfer my focus from the cause of the anxiety to paper,” says Jason. “I’m not thinking about the artwork. I’m thinking about what happened in my day and my week.”

He always carried a 3-inch-by-5-inch pocket sketchbook, where he would draw a coffee cup or his co-workers, and in 2018 he accidentally stumbled upon his style – a mix of abstract expressionism, cubism and surrealism – with a drawing he did at work.

“One day I did this continuous random line, and it made an abstract image,” Jason says. “I didn’t think too much of it, but my co-workers liked it.”

When Jason starts drawing on paper, he has no plan or preliminary sketches. In fact, he still begins with a random continuous line. He paints the same way, starting on a small scale and then transferring it to canvas. At the beginning of the process, he typically sees an eye or nose in his creations that are “usually about faces.”

“With abstract art, you try to convey an emotion or a feeling. There’s no stress or expectations involved,” says Jason. “I just create it and see what unfolds. It keeps me guessing throughout the process. Sometimes I don’t even know what I was thinking until after it’s done. I’m just drawing.”

While all of his artwork is “fairly busy,” he can tell how he felt when he created a piece by looking at it.

“If a piece is busy, I was in a stressed frame of mind,” Jason says. “If it’s not as busy, I was feeling happy-go-lucky and stress-free.”

He started with pen and ink drawings in black and white, and monochromatic art allowed him to focus on shape and imagery.

“Pen and ink has always been my first love,” says Jason. “It’s simple. It’s portable. It’s affordable.”

Now, however, he paints almost exclusively with acrylics or oils, and he uses more color in his work. “I’m a planner with the color palette, but not the design itself,” he says.

Influences on his work range from Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali to American artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, and Jason likes to acknowledge them in his paintings. For instance, in homage to Basquiat, many of his characters wear crowns.

Jason also says he’ll “work a piece to death.”

“It’s never finished,” he says. “It’s abandoned.”

The Business of Art

He certainly hasn’t deserted his talent, however, and 16 months ago, Jason took a leap of faith when he became a fulltime artist.

“I was always destined to be an artist,” he says. “All artists have self-doubt, but it’s still the best job in the world.”

Through the years he has changed as an artist, transitioning from portraits and landscapes to abstract art. The size and scale of his pieces have grown from medium-size to mural-size paintings as well.

“It’s definitely important as an artist to try to evolve,” Jason says.

In 2021 he developed another skill set by creating digital art on an iPad. “It’s a mobile studio at my fingertips with no mess and no cleanup,” he says.

He also got into NFTs (non-fungible tokens) in early 2021, and he dropped a 300-piece collection of NFTs the first week in December.

Jason sells his work by more traditional means as well. His artwork is available at jasonchambersart.com and through social media, and he sets up a tent at the Augusta Market every Saturday from March through November.

“I don’t care if people like my artwork,” he says. “If they stop to look at it and try to figure out what it is, then I feel like my job is done.”

He also has published an adult coloring book, Calming the Noise, and a coffee table book, The Art of Jason Chambers Volume I, which are sold on Amazon and his website.

“The book is a way for people to collect art,” Jason says. “Not everyone has wall space for artwork.”

He is working on another coloring book, and he’s writing a book about selling artwork – a book for artists by an artist. “It’s information that I wish I had available to me when I was starting,” he says.

He learned the business of art by reading and by contacting other artists. “There are so many artists out there,” Jason says. “All you have to do is send them a message. We’re not competing with each other. It’s a community.”

To further diversify, he has started painting designs on 8-inch wood or clay sculptures that he creates. He also wants to get into lithographs, and Jason, who has multiple pricing tiers, does commissions twice a year.

“Unless you’re selling your work and have an audience, you’re a hobbyist,” he says. “Collectors give me artistic viability.”

He even ships his artwork to Saint Tropez, France to a dealer who exhibits it for him. He plans to conduct a workshop in Saint Tropez later this year as well.

“I work 16 hours a day seven days a week,” Jason says. “I still don’t have enough hours in the day. I don’t get inspired and then start working. I start working and then get inspired. I go to my studio at the same time every day, whether I feel like it or not. I clock in, and I clock out.”

Jason says creating art brings him “pure joy,” and he wants other people to feel that same joy.

“I want them to add something to their home, and I want it to be a conversation piece,” he says.

A self-described “slow, meticulous artist,” Jason likes “clean, precise artwork.” He has many repeat customers, and his attention to detail extends to the presentation when he ships his artwork to collectors.

He double wraps his pieces in glassine and brown kraft paper before putting them in a protective bag for shipment. He always attaches a certificate of authenticity to his artwork and includes a handwritten thank you note in the package.

“Your name is everything,” he says.

By Betsy Gilliland

Happy Trails

Sports

Photos courtesy of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources

Newly available all-terrain wheelchairs in state parks are a game changer for physically challenged outdoor enthusiasts.

Enjoying the great outdoors recently became easier for many people, thanks to All Terrain Georgia, a partnership between the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Aimee Copeland Foundation.

Through this program, high-mobility all-terrain wheelchairs now are available for use free of charge at 11 state parks, historic sites and a wildlife center.

Users safely can travel rough terrain to explore trails, go fishing, participate in adaptive hunting and enjoy other outdoor education and recreational activities.

“All Terrain Georgia is the pride and joy of Aimee Copeland Foundation,” says Copeland, a Georgia native who created the organization. “It’s been a long time coming, and we’re honored to offer this life-changing program to the community.”

After being diagnosed with a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection from a 2012 zip-lining accident at age 24, the outdoor adventurist lost both hands, her right foot and her entire left leg to amputation.

However, reconnecting with nature was a central part of recovery for Copeland, and she started the foundation to provide greater access to those with physical challenges.

Currently the all-terrain wheelchairs are available at the following state parks and historical sites:

• Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center, Mansfield

• Cloudland Canyon State Park, Trenton

• Don Carter State Park, Lake Lanier

• Red Top Mountain State Park, Lake Allatoona

• Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site, Cartersville

• Fort Yargo State Park, Winder

• Hard Labor Creek State Park, Rutledge

• Panola Mountain State Park, Stockbridge

• Picketts Mill Battlefield Historic Site, Dallas

• Smithgall Woods State Park, Helen

• Sweetwater Creek State Park, Lithia Springs

Advance reservations are required and can be made at allterraingeorgia.org. Users also must be certified and accompanied by a “buddy” who is at least 18 years old, in good physical condition and carrying a charged mobile device in case of emergency.

To qualify for user certification through the program, eligible disabilities include cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injuries and lower limb amputations.

Anyone with another type of disability can contact the Aimee Copeland Foundation at aimeecopelandfoundation.org for consideration.

By Todd Beck

Brrrrr-ing It On

Sports

The annual Ice Bowl and Chili Cook-Off at the International Disc Golf Center help battle hunger.

Whether temperatures are unseasonably warm or dip below freezing, fun will be in the forecast on Saturday, January 28 for the 15th annual Ice Bowl at the International Disc Golf Center in Appling.

The mission of the event is to showcase disc golf in an effort to combat hunger, and the tournament will benefit Columbia County Cares and Golden Harvest Food Bank. The goal this year is to raise $4,000 in monetary contributions and to collect 1,200 pounds of food.

People who bring food donations to the IDGC at Wildwood Park any time from January 23 – 28 will receive one ticket for raffle prizes for every three food items donated. The drawing will be held during the awards ceremony.

Anyone who wants to participate in the raffle without donating food can purchase tickets in the IDGC pro shop during the event. A silent auction also will be held in the IDGC lobby the day of the Ice Bowl.

“I want people to get a sense of giving back to the community,” says Samuel Northrop, the IDGC assistant tournament director. “We have the resources to do some good while we play.”

The event will include amateur and professional divisions, and there is a $35 entry fee. An additional $10 fee will be charged to players without current PDGA memberships.

“The vast majority of people who play one round of disc golf will play another time and get the bug,” says Northrop. “It’s probably more challenging, but also more fun, than it looks.”

All competitors will receive a pro shop voucher, lunch and the satisfaction of supporting a worthy cause. Each division winner will earn a trophy.

Round 1 begins with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m., and Round 2 gets underway with a shotgun start about 1:45 p.m.

A lunch break will feature the annual Chili Cook-Off, held in partnership with the Augusta Disc Golf Association. All contestants should coordinate with the ADGA board of directors in advance. The IDGC staff will judge the ranked-choice voting competition, and the winner of the Chili Cook-Off will receive a trophy as well.

This event is one of 72 Ice Bowls scheduled nationwide to fight food insecurity. “It’s one tournament in a big network that does a lot of good,” Northrop says.

As always, three cardinal rules apply to the Ice Bowls – no event will be canceled or postponed due to weather under any circumstances; no wimps or whiners allowed; and no excuses for not attending. Brrrrr-ing it on!

For more information, visit discgolfscene.com or icebowlhq.com.

Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule — Louis Armstrong

Listen To This

For decades, Christmas audio and visual gems have been stacking up like generations of handcrafted family ornaments. From Bing Crosby and Elvis to A Charlie Brown Christmas and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and everything in between, there has been one staple missing, however, from the arsenal of yuletide goodness: a Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Christmas album.

The legend, whose name has been synonymous with holiday smooth moods, now has his first official Christmas release, a one-stop shop of remastered Satchmo’s finest sugar-and-spiced jingles to saddle up the most wonderful time of the year.

This 11-track remastered time capsule includes classics like the wassail-waltzing “Winter Wonderland,” the soft-brush peppermint rush of “White Christmas” and signature Satchmo numbers such as “Zat You, Santa Claus?,” “Christmas in New Orleans” and “What A Wonderful World.”

The most endearing track is a somewhat mysterious reading of “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” known to most as “The Night Before Christmas.” A testament to how much he loved the Christmas season, an ailing Armstrong recorded this track alone on a reel-to-reel tape recorder months before his death in 1971.

Satchmo’s love for Christmas was as big and robust as his music. The brilliance of his signature trumpet and gravel-tone voice brings an unmistakable gift of happiness that embraces the hustle and bustle while encouraging spontaneous sing-a-longs at the drop of a snowflake.

The wonderful world of Louis Armstrong is a vibrant reminder that music transcends the peaks and valleys of life through the joy of a happiness that is merry and bright.

– Chris Rucker

Tea Time

People

Photos courtesy of Nicole Presby

With an extensive collection of tea services, an Evans resident pours on the hospitality for her friends.
Girls never outgrow tea parties, and for Nicole Presby of Evans, almost any occasion calls for tea with friends.

Nicole, who grew up in Europe as the daughter of an American serviceman and a German mother, has had a longtime fascination with the British royal family, and the milestones in their lives are always cause for celebration.

After all, her affinity for the House of Windsor is matched only by her love of tea services, and she rarely misses an opportunity to add to her collection – or to put it to use.

“I like china and dishes,” says Nicole. “A silver teapot, a single cup, an heirloom piece – It always finds a home in my house.”

Fit for a Queen

In honor of Queen Elizabeth II, Nicole invited five friends to a tea in September to watch the televised state funeral for the monarch following her death at age 96.

In June, Queen Elizabeth had celebrated her unprecedented 70th year on the throne with a four-day Platinum Jubilee, and Nicole had planned to mark the affair with a tea in October. She even bought commemorative tea cups for the occasion.

“I ordered the first teacup in May, and it arrived on the day the queen died,” Nicole says.

After Queen Elizabeth passed away, however, Nicole simply rescheduled the get-together to honor the queen and her legacy.

The ladies also celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s long life and steadfast service to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth with a special gesture.

“At three o’clock we toasted the queen with a glass of sherry because she had sherry at three o’clock every day,” says Nicole.

The menu featured various teas such as black assam, blackberry and Southern peach, and finger foods like cucumber butter sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches and egg salad sandwiches. Desserts included cherry pie jubilee, shortbread and lemon curd poundcake.

“I always have black assam tea, and I always have multiple kinds of tea so everyone can try different ones,” says Nicole, a military wife and honorary Southerner who is living in the area for the fourth time. “Peach is my ‘house tea.’ It’s my personal favorite. I always do a nod to the South like pecan shortbread cookies or Southern peach tea.”

Her friend, Cynthia Stein, is a frequent guest at Nicole’s teas, including the one during Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and a Tiaras, Pearls and Pajamas party to celebrate the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018.

“Prior to the pandemic, Nicole hosted tea parties in her home. We always looked forward to them. Depending on the time of the season or event, she creates an awesome theme,” says Cynthia. “Your jaw drops as she describes artifacts she has collected to support her teacup collections, all revolving around the royal family.”

Nicole used to have monthly teas – which she recently has resumed – for various occasions. She’ll have a harvest tea or Octoberfest tea in the fall, a spring-themed tea in March for her birthday and a lemon-themed tea in the summer.

In December, Nicole hosts a Secret Santa-style cookbook exchange – a favorite among her friends – or a German-themed tea, and in January she leaves out her crystal and white holiday decorations for a Crystal in the Winter Forest tea.

Quite the Collection

Nicole started collecting tea services in 1982 when she got her first Hutschenreuter Racine Fountainbleu teapot.

“This is the teapot that got my obsession started,” she says. “My mom and grandmother started me on this service for my 18th birthday and bought pieces for every gift-giving occasion. I now have a complete service for 12 in this pattern.”

In fact, she has several full services for 12, but Nicole likes to have more intimate gatherings for her friends. She prefers to keep the guest list to six to eight people to create a cozy atmosphere.

She got some of her tea services from her grandparents and great-grandparents, and she has received many pieces as gifts from her mother-in-law and other friends through the years. “I’m always on the hunt for more,” she adds. “I like to go antiquing for them.”

Some pieces in her collection are too precious to use, however. “I don’t use the royal family services,” Nicole says. “Those are purely souvenir collectible ones.”

Her oldest piece is a teacup that dates to the June 1902 coronation of Queen Elizabeth’s great-grandparents – King Edward VII, who reigned from 1901 to 1910, and Queen Alexandra.

She also has a 12-month floral teacup set that features the flowers associated with each month of the year. When she entertains with this set, she puts the cup from the month of her friends’ birthdays on the table to mark their place setting.

If several friends have birthdays in the same month, then the first person to the cup’s spot on the table gets to use it.

Always the perfect hostess, Nicole never lets her friends leave empty-handed. At the tea party for Harry and Meghan’s wedding, for instance, everyone received a gift bag and a commemorative crown brooch, which she used on the tulle silverware holders.

“My enjoyment comes from seeing my friends happy,” she says. “I want them to have a couple of nice hours and create memories. It’s not a typical party that they would go to.”

However, she gets as just as much pleasure from the parties.

“I love pulling out all of my china,” Nicole says. “I love doing the research on the place settings to use and the menu items I serve, and I love matching the tea with the food.”

By Leigh Howard

Tails of Happiness

People

Photos courtesy of Caroline Weaver

It’s a dog’s world. The rest of us just live in it.

Consequently, when dog – or let’s face it, any type of pet – owners are being honest with themselves, they know who runs the show in their households.

Yep, it’s their four-legged family members, and pet parents love to shower them with love and attention. Yet treats and belly rubs or walks and car rides are not the only ways to pamper these fur babies. Just ask Augusta artist Caroline Weaver.

Personality Plus

Three years ago, Caroline painted portraits of her two rescue dogs – a German Shepherd named Boo Radley and a Lab mix named Dakota – and then a couple of friends asked her to paint pictures of their dogs as well.

“I have never taken any classes. I’ve always been in love with art. It has always been my passion,” she says.

Her talent has grown into a side business (ccthornton_art on Instagram), where she can combine her passions of art and animals.

“My rescue dogs inspired me,” Caroline says. “They were my little guinea pigs.”

From the tilt of a dog’s head to the happy expression on its face, she loves to use acrylics on canvas or watercolors to capture the special qualities of people’s pets.

After all, Caroline named Boo Radley, who was living in a sewer in south Augusta when she found him, after the character in To Kill a Mockingbird for a reason.

“Boo Radley was very skittish. I named him that because he refused to go outside,” she says.

Clearly, Caroline, who got Dakota after she saw a Facebook picture of her tied to a telephone pole, has a knack for zeroing in on a pet’s personality.

“I am a huge animal lover. I get so excited when people allow me to paint their precious little keepsake,” she says.

When she does a commission, she asks her clients to give her as many photos as possible of their pet so she can capture its personality.

“I love to get an assortment of different pictures to get their character,” Caroline says. “I try to make my paintings as realistic as possible.”

Because she paints primarily on weekends in a dining-room-turned-art-studio in her home, it generally takes Caroline three to four weeks to finish a piece. Although she prefers painting with acrylics, clients can choose watercolor or acrylic for their portraits.

“With watercolor you’re more limited because it’s such a delicate process to balance out shades and colors. Watercolor requires a lot of layering to catch a pigment,” she says.

“With acrylics you have more freedom. I like the opaque finish of acrylics, and the pigment is more vibrant, especially on canvas. But I love both mediums.”

Caroline not only paints dogs, however. Some of her other works have included a painting of eight cats, a couple of pig portraits and a painting of a dog with two donkeys.

Bridal Party Pets

Art and painting have been an outlet for Caroline since she drew cartoons as a child. She picked up the hobby again as a stress reliever in 2019 when she started planning her wedding.

Once people saw the monogrammed crest she did for her own wedding invitations — featuring Boo and Dakota at the venue — she began to get requests.

Custom signs for specialty drinks named after a couple’s pets are another popular item for wedding receptions. For her wedding, she painted a “Boo’s Bar” and “Dakota Sour” sign in honor of her dogs.

For another bride who served margaritas at her reception, she painted a “Grangerita” sign that showcased her dog with a margarita.

In addition, Caroline paints 24-inch-by-18-inch alternative guest books on canvas that feature the bride and groom and their dogs.

“People who are huge animal lovers want their pets to be a part of their wedding day,” she says.

She also paints house portraits, venues, monogram canvas tiles and family portraits – with or without pets.

“This is such a fun outlet for me,” Caroline says. “I like to paint people and families, and I love to be creative.”

By Betsy Gilliland

Petscaping 101

Garden Scene

12 tips for designing pet-friendly yards for Fido and Fluffy.

1. Know which plants are poisonous to pets.
Many popular outdoor plants are harmful to pets. Poisonous plants include azaleas, rhododendrons, amaryllis and bulbs such as tulips, narcissus and iris. For an extensive list, visit aspca.org.

2. Landscape with flowers and plants that are pet friendly.
Dog friendly garden plants include roses, daylilies, marigolds, magnolias, ornamental grasses, junipers and lilacs. Cat friendly plants (yes, they like to eat their greens) include catnip, catmint (bees and other pollinators like these flowers, too) and cat grass.

3. Keep select garden veggies separately fenced.
Foods like onions, tomatoes, chives and garlic are fine for human consumption, but they are toxic to pets. Fence off your garden if growing these vegetables.

4. Create a lawn with a pet-proof grass.
Lawncare experts recommend a variety of grasses such as Bermudagrass, Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, fescue and zoysia for homes with dogs. All of these have thick roots, rapid growth rates and a tolerance for high traffic.

5. Give your cats some seclusion.
Cats enjoy a nice patch of grass for sunbathing, but they also like their privacy. Create nooks and crannies where they can hide by setting up a group of container plants or hollowing out spaces under existing plants where they can retreat from the world.

6. Consider a catio.
Think outdoor resort for your cat. These open-air, screened structures are often built on patios or around tree trunks and should include a cat bed, toys, climbing poles and varying levels where they can jump or lounge.

7. Design a landscape that includes shade and shelter.
If your dog spends a large part of the day outdoors, make sure it has access to shade, water and protection from the elements. If trees don’t create shady spots, create one with a pagoda, shade sail or doghouse.

8. Be sure water features are pet friendly.
An outdoor fountain or water feature can be a creative way to keep your pet hydrated. However, make sure the water circulates well to help prevent mosquitoes, and avoid water treatments that can harm pets. And remember: if pets can get in the water, they need to have a safe, easy way out, too.

9. Beware of food and garden waste, aka compost.
Although compost can enhance garden soil, some foods can create problems for pets. For instance, coffee, moldy food and certain fruits and vegetables, including some stems, leaves and seeds, are toxic to your pets.

10. Maintain your yard to keep fleas and ticks at bay.
Keeping your yard free from overgrowth, puddles and lawn debris helps to reduce the chance of fleas and ticks. Planting your garden with flea-repelling plants such as chamomile or lavender also is a natural way to help keep your pets safe from pests.

11. Play fetch with a toy bone instead of a stick.
When fetching a stick, your pooch accidentally could swallow part of the wood. Splinters can get stuck in its mouth and esophagus; larger fragments could cut the stomach lining and intestines or cause constipation. Play it safe with toys.

12. Avoid burning yard debris.
Burning trash releases chemicals that can lead to asthma and mouth burns, among other injuries, in humans and animals. Once the fire has been extinguished, the ash still contaminates the grass where your pets walk.

Setting the Pace

Sports

Get ready, cyclists. Paceline, a casual bike ride dedicated to helping cure cancer faster, is holding its third annual PaceDay on Sunday, October 16. Participants can choose to ride 25, 50 or 70 miles, and 100% of all fundraising supports research at the Georgia Cancer Center.

The Opening Ceremony will be held 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. Saturday, October 15 at SRP Park. This event will include food, fun, cancer stories and live music from Funk You and Moon Taxi. Riders can drop off their bikes and pick up their swag bags as well. Early packet pickup also will be available at the start location before the ride on PaceDay.

On PaceDay, cyclists can park in downtown Augusta and take a shuttle to the ride start at SRP Park from 6 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. All rides will depart at 8 a.m. In addition, “unchained” riders can participate virtually from any location. For more information, visit pacelineride.org.

Pedal Power

Sports

Photos courtesy of Erin Caracci and SORBA

A trio of local charities will benefit from a popular bike ride for cyclists of all abilities.

All expectations are that the Best Dam Ride Ever will live up to its name when bicyclists take part in the fundraiser the first weekend in October.

Geared toward cyclists of all abilities, bike riders can pick one of several distances to hit the road or hit the trail.

While the 100-mile century road ride is for advanced riders only, the 29-mile road ride is designed for bikers who are new to road cycling or who have not ridden for a while. However, most riders opt for the 62-mile metric century – the original Dam Ride.

In addition, SORBA-CSRA will offer mountain bikers a fun ride on the historic Bartram Trail. Riders can choose from multiple distances ranging from 5 miles to 36 miles.

After the ride, cyclists can enjoy lunch provided by Mot’s Barbeque.

Proceeds from the ride benefit Augusta Urban Ministries, which provides furniture and household goods to families and individuals in need; the Liam Caracci Foundation, which supports parents who experience stillbirth and infant loss; and SORBA-CSRA, which promotes trail preservation and development, riding opportunities, fun and fellowship for area mountain bicyclists.

If You Go:

What: Best Dam Ride Ever

When: 8:30 a.m. Sunday, October 2

Where: Below Dam Park (South Carolina side)

How Much: $45 (includes T-shirt, water bottle, rest stops and lunch)

More Info: bestdamride.com

Medicine for the Soul

Features

Photography by Sally Kolar and Lou Ciamillo

An emergency room physician and his son weathered the stress of the pandemic through their shared love of woodworking.

There are few good things to say about the coronavirus pandemic. For a local father and son, however, covid offered an unexpected opportunity to embrace their creative side.

For most of his adult life – and especially during the pandemic – Martinez resident Lou Ciamillo, an emergency medicine physician and associate professor of emergency medicine for more than 20 years, has found solace in woodworking.

The craft became a refuge for his 21-year-old son, also named Lou, during the pandemic as well. Restless from having to take college classes online, he decided to try his hand at woodworking in 2020.

“I started doing it at the height of covid. I was really bored, so I tried it,” he says. “I was bad at it at first, but my dad taught me.”

After all, it was hard for the elder Ciamillo to miss his son’s growing interest in working with wood.

“Every day when I came home from the hospital, he was making something in the garage,” he says.

Following the Process

The elder Ciamillo got his start in woodworking when he and his wife, Pam, built their first home about 20 years ago. His father-in-law, who worked in construction, was the builder, and he wanted to help.

“I bought a few tools, and then I kept buying things. Two years later, I had every tool known to man in my garage,” he says. “I got the bug for woodworking and never stopped. Most people have pictures of their families on their phone. I have pictures of wood.”

The physician has found that he sometimes uses similar skills sets when practicing medicine and working with wood.

“Medicine requires what I call de-construction,” he says. “It gets to a point where you have to figure out what’s going on and deal with each thing one at the time and realize the additive effects of what you’re doing. In medicine, you have to understand the effects of interventions on other organ systems. That’s what I like about the ER. You’re basically starting from nothing and building up to something.

“Woodworking is the same. There’s a process. You have to de-construct everything to make a product,” he continues. “You start with raw materials, and you have to troubleshoot.”

Star of the Show

The Ciamillos make functional pieces, using almost exclusively walnut and pecan, and occasionally sycamore, wood that is milled in South Carolina. Natural finishes on the products let the wood be “the star of the show.”

“Every piece has to have its own universe, its own place,” the elder Ciamillo says. “We like pieces with a live edge. It gives them a nature element.”

The woodworkers use dry, not green, wood with no twists or cupping. They also look at the figure of the grain.

“We lean into the imperfections because I think it makes for a more interesting piece,” says the elder Ciamillo.

They now make charcuterie boards, grill boards with handles, double-sided magnetic knife blocks, valet trays, valet trays with a Qi charging tray, whiskey and wine flights, bowls and cutting boards.

The Ciamillos also designed a wine flight for Cork and Flame and made a walnut tableside cutting board, as well as a whiskey flight, for the Evans restaurant.

It was the younger Ciamillo who first suggested that they try to sell their goods, and in February 2021, they started a Facebook page to showcase and sell their work to finance their hobby.

Their pieces also are available at ciamillowoodworks.com, and they will have a booth at the Aiken’s Makin’ and Arts in the Heart of Augusta festivals this month.

Creative Days

The Ciamillos currently work out of a 2,100-square-foot shop in Martinez, where the younger Ciamillo spends about 16 hours a day woodworking.

“There’s no time on the clock for this,” he says. “We listen to country music and sing when we do our work. We enjoy each other’s company.”

Their favorite days are the ones they call “creative days,” when they come up with new ideas or make things they’ve never made before.

The younger Ciamillo often lets ideas roll around in his head, but he never hesitates to ask his father for help. He says his best idea has been making valet trays.

“I’m the type of guy that carries a lot of things in my pocket,” he says. “I wanted a valet tray of my own. I thought there are probably a lot of other guys like me.”

He enjoys 3D modeling and 3D design, and he taught himself how to operate their CNC (computerized numeric control) machine. This machine cuts or moves various materials, including wood. Instead of being controlled by a human operator, the machine’s movements are calculated and carried out by a computer on a pre-programmed path.

Father and son love working together, and they share a daily ritual that they never miss. Every afternoon they get a smoothie – dates, raspberries and bananas for the elder Ciamillo and muscle punch for his son.

“Working with my dad is the best choice I ever made,” the younger Ciamillo says. “We’re very similar. We’re both hard-headed and creative. Even on our worst days, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

By Betsy Gilliland

Coastal Cruisin’

Travel

Photos courtesy of Coastal Tide Excursions

A trip aboard this boat provides an up-close-and-personal chance to meet and touch underwater life without even leaving the deck.

The Golden Isles, midway between Savannah and Jacksonville, Florida on the Georgia coast, offer pristine stretches of marshland dotted by smaller islands known as hammocks, historic landmarks, five-star resorts, sandy beaches, unrivaled landscapes and boundless recreational activities.

No wonder the area’s four barrier islands – St. Simons, Sea, Jekyll and Little St. Simons and the mainland city of Brunswick – offer such superb Southern hospitality. However, for a different perspective, Coastal Tide Excursions’ Lady Jane provides a hands-on meet and greet with creatures from beneath the sea.

Catch & Release

The Lady Jane, a U.S. Coast Guard-certified passenger vessel, is a retired commercial steel hull shrimping trawler that has been refurbished for eco-tourism, education and conservation purposes.

Led by friendly, outgoing, incurable extrovert Captain Cameron Ako, the 1 1/2- to two-hour cruises travel the calm, protected waters of Glynn County’s salt marshes and estuaries in St. Simons Sound. T

“We market the trips as shrimp excursions because the boat was a commercial fishing trawler,” says Ako. “We see different animals in different seasons of the year, and water temperatures vary from 65 to 85 degrees.”

On each excursion, the 61-ton Lady Jane performs three 10- to 15-minute trawls with a 20-foot wide otter trawl to pull up marine life to the boat.

From small bottom dwellers to apex predators, each trawl yields varying species. Hauls can include tiny shrimp, 7- or 8-foot sharks, stingrays, spotted eagle rays with an 8- to 10-foot wingspan, sea turtles, Jack Cravelle fish, horseshoe crabs and squid.

“You never know what you’re going to catch, but you always catch something,” says Ako. “We have caught some large, predatory fish that have no business being in the creek.”

Along with Ako, the crew includes a marine naturalist and a stryker, who operates the equipment to haul the game onto the vessel. Of course, passengers of any age can turn into deckhands as well and help the crew sort through the abundant marine life retrieved from the water.

“The marine naturalist explains each individual animal and creature we pull up in the net. Everybody on board can hold, touch and interact with the animals,” Ako says. “They can get right up to the table while the nets are being dumped and have one-on-one time with the marine naturalist.”

Some people who have been fishing in the area for 50 years have taken a trip aboard the Lady Jane and been surprised by the marine life they see.

“A lot of things we catch are things you’re only going to catch in a net,” says Ako. “One of the neatest creatures we pull up is a guitarfish. It looks like a stingray in the front and a shark in the back.”

Crew members immediately sort through the haul and throw back creatures when they catch multiples of them. They keep the others in a water tub on the boat until it is time to return them unharmed to the marshes and estuaries. Not all of the marine creatures are enamored with their temporary home on the boat, however.

“We’ve caught some big sharks. I’ve had one take a bite out of the fiberglass sorting table,” says Ako.

He says some of the marine life they catch such as shrimp, horseshoe crabs and sea turtles can be found only on the East Coast

“Our main focus is making people aware of all the marine life you can find under the water,” Ako says. “We want them to understand the importance of the coastline and its inhabitants.”

For instance, he says, horseshoe crabs have a coagulant in their blood that is used for medical research. (Vaccines, injectable drugs, intravenous solutions and implantable medical devices, for humans and animals, are quality checked for safety using a test that comes from the blood of horseshoe crabs.)

In addition to educating passengers about local marine life, crew members share information about the boat and the commercial shrimping industry. They also explain the role that marsh estuaries play in the eco-system.

“One-third of all marine estuaries on the East Coast are here in Georgia despite the fact that we only have 100 miles of coastline,” Ako says.

Run of the Boat

Ako, who formerly worked in marine sales, has owned the business since January 2020. He managed it for the previous owner for several years, however, and this is his 13th year aboard the Lady Jane. He purchased the business because he wanted to spend more time outside.

“I would watch my customers leave excited to go to the water,” says Ako. “But while they were headed to the water, I was headed back into the office.”

He offers public and private excursions. While most of the public cruises take place in the summer, private trips are scheduled primarily during the spring, fall and winter.

The Lady Jane, which is 65 feet long and 21 feet wide, includes an enclosed cabin, restroom, large covered rear deck with ample seating and ADA accessibility for wheelchairs and walkers.

No food is served on board, but people are permitted to bring coolers. Anyone age 21 or older also is allowed to bring alcohol.

The excursions are suitable for all ages, and guests have ranged from pre-kindergartners to retirement community residents.

Although the boat can accommodate 49 passengers, Ako has limited the public cruises to a maximum of 35 people because of covid. The minimum number for an excursion is 12.

“Folks have the run of the boat. They can move up and down from the bow to the stern,” Ako says.

Reservations are required for the excursions. Walkups are allowed, but space cannot be guaranteed. Passengers also need to arrive at least 15 minutes before their departure time.

Ako allows up to 49 people for a private charter, and private excursions are scheduled through 2024. These trips range from photography groups to bachelorette parties to sunset wine and cheese cruises.

“I try to give private groups whatever they want, but no fishing is allowed on the boat,” says Ako.

Pre-covid, the boat took out more 20,000 passengers a year. The number dropped to 2,000 people in 2020, but Ako says operations have returned to normal.

“We’re not under a lot of strict regulations because our activity is mainly outside,” he says.

The excursions, which have received a 2020 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence and a 2021 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Award, offer passengers a different experience.

“The biggest thing for me is having the opportunity to make people aware of what’s down here and how important the coastline is,” he says.

If You Go:
What: Coastal Tide Excursions Shrimpin’ Excursions

When: 4 p.m. most Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays; additional times and private charters also available

Where: 1200 Glynn Avenue, Brunswick, Georgia

How Much: $47.99 ages 6 and older; $39.99 military, first responders and children ages 2-5; $2 children ages 0-1

More Info: shrimpcruise.com

By Morgan Davis