Every cover and cover story for each month of the first year of CountyLine has featured a prominent, successful, and high-energy individual or group of people who make the communities of South Forsyth and Johns Creek proud that they live or work here. Over the past year, I have often wondered what new success, significant contribution, accomplishment or achievement each of these people, groups or associations have made since I last communicated with them. As I look forward to a new, exciting year of publishing CountyLine, I contacted each cover subject from the Johns Creek Chamber of Commerce, on the cover of the first issue, to Dawn Martin of the Culinary Arts Program at South Forsyth High School who appeared with some of her culinary students on February's cover - the last issue of the first year. I hope you enjoy reading the updates on the cover subjects for the first year of CountyLine. I know I had a wonderful time seeing each of them again and hearing about the great things that they are doing in our community.

The Johns Creek Chamber of Commerce (JCCC) has had incredible growth since last March and has more than doubled in membership from 175 to over 400. "I am extremely pleased with the rapid growth in the number of members as well as the large cross-section of business types," said Geoff Berlin, President.

As the Chamber has grown and evolved, the twelve committees of the Chamber have been actively engaged in contributing to the community. Geoff is especially proud of the recent work done by the Education Committee chaired by Melinda Colcord. The Education Committee brought a new, innovative program "Choices" to eighth-graders at Rivertrail Middle School. Presented in two 55-minute classroom sessions by members of the Education Committee, the focus of "Choices" is to educate students on making the right choices. "The choices that students are making at the eighth grade level - to stay in school, to stay away from drugs and alcohol - will have a tremendous impact on their future. If they make the right choices, they will benefit and, if they make the wrong choices, there will be consequences," commented Geoff on the purpose of implementing the "Choices" program.

On December 1st the Chamber participated in the celebration of Founders Day by putting on an event that had booths, exhibits, food and fun for all who attended. A coupon book, comprised of special offers from Johns Creek businesses, was distributed at the celebration to encourage holiday shopping in Johns Creek. The Chamber also held a Fall Health & Wellness Fair to introduce many of our local health care professionals and an October International Arts & Music Festival to highlight our fantastic cultural diversity.

The JCCC continues to sponsor four networking events every month as well as a meeting once a month for all its members. "There is so much enthusiasm and a high energy level at the meetings," said Geoff. "Our members are working together for their mutual success. I take pride in opening the door by providing an environment that is so beneficial to our community." The Chamber's 2nd Annual Golf Tournament will be held on March 31st at St. Marlo Country Club.

Since Brian Duffy was the cover story last April, he has competed in eight triathlons. Brian races in his Team Blazeman uniform and is proud to be a part of this team, which has grown to nearly 100 uniformed triathletes. The Blazeman Warrior 5K Run/Walk on April 14th had 300 participants and raised over $10,000 for the Emory ALS Center. Brian and his family are busy preparing for the 2nd annual 5K, this year called Run for Life 5K-A Race to End Lou Gehrig's Disease, which will be held on April 19th. They are also hosting a golf tournament on June 2nd at Olde Atlanta Club. The proceeds from both events will benefit the Emory ALS Center.

Recent months have taken the lives of many ALS victims, including Jon Blais for whom Team Blazeman is dedicated. Brian and his dad, Mike, participated in Jon's memorial service in Bristol, Rhode Island last August. "There is still so much more work to be done to find a cure for ALS," said Brian. "I plan to continue to raise awareness, participate in and plan fundraising events, visit ALS patients in their homes and hospital rooms, and attend ALS fundraising functions."

Brian is now an eight-grader at Riverwatch Middle School. He plans on running cross country and swimming when he moves on to South Forsyth High School next year. In addition to competing in (and training for) triathlons, Brian is a Golden Panther mascot for his school's basketball team, worked last summer as a coach for his subdivision's 4-6 year old swim team, and was a "buddy" for a Miracle League Baseball game in Forsyth County. Fourteen-year-old Brian Duffy continues to be an inspiration to all as he does his part to cure a disease that keeps others from finishing their own race.

For more information on the upcoming fundraising events for ALS, please contact Karen Duffy at kduffy@bellsouth.net or 678-491-0639.

Members of the Johns Creek Healthcare Association (JCHA) who practice in South Forsyth and Johns Creek have grown to number nearly 200 since the Association's cover story last May. From networking to informative seminars, the services and benefits provided by the JCHA have also grown. Members have received many value-added services such as: seminars to educate office management on human resources and practice management; networking events, including events in conjunction with local chambers and associations; and opportunities to contribute to local non-profit organizations through fundraising. Charles Benson, JCHA President said, "I am proud that the JCHA has been able to provide such valuable seminars and events that benefit the members and their office staff and, as a result, enables them to provide more effective and efficient healthcare services to their patients."

The JCHA is currently working with members on a malpractice initiative to reduce the cost of their malpractice insurance rates. The Association is combining information provided by member offices, assessing and analyzing the data, and communicating with insurance companies on behalf of their members. The JCHA feels that this group initiative will increase the effectiveness and impact of their members' efforts to reduce the cost of their malpractice insurance rates.

Last December, the Association held its second annual Gala; the first Gala held to benefit a local charity. Over $7,000 was raised by silent auction for Jessie's House, a non-profit organization that provides emergency shelter for children in North Georgia. The JCHA was an associate sponsor for last May's Concert in the Quarry(TM), a concert held at the Forsyth Quarry to benefit the South Forsyth High School Band program.

This year the JCHA will be increasing seminars to help healthcare providers with their day-to-day business operations; increasing seminars featuring prominent speakers from the medical community; increasing events to benefit the community such as a healthcare fair that will provide complimentary medical services; and is planning an even bigger and better Gala to increase their donation to charity. The Johns Creek Healthcare Association is growing and the result is better healthcare providers for the South Forsyth and Johns Creek communities.

Looking back over the first year of the City of Johns Creek, Mayor Mike Bodker observes, "Everything is easier when done at least once and, as we start off the second year, I'm finding everything to be more manageable." He is proud of the City's first year and considers the most outstanding accomplishments to be: having the lowest millage rate of any city in the major metro area; being fiscally responsible; and spending significant dollars for improvements, in particular paving roads which Mike knows was noticed and appreciated by Johns Creek's citizens. He is also very proud of the success of the Founders Day celebration last December 1st. From the parade to the tree lighting ceremony, every event of the day was well attended and enjoyed by those who live and work in Johns Creek.

As for upcoming goals, Mike is looking forward to the launching of the Public Safety Department, continuing to keep to the mission of quality improvements to the infrastructure, and adding more green space. "My goal, as well as that of the Council, is to improve the City while building a healthy reserve to look out for our future," commented Mike. He is particularly excited about what the citizens of Johns Creek have to look forward to when the Fire and Police Departments are up-and-running. "They will be an active part of this community, there to help and to get to know the citizens of Johns Creek."

On January 31st, Mayor Mike Bodker delivered the "State of the City" address in collaboration with the Johns Creek Area Council of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce at the Area Council's quarterly luncheon. Mike is happy that these luncheons and Town Hall meetings provide the citizens of Johns Creek with an opportunity to participate in the future of their city.

Returning from the Bodker family's recent, annual vacation in Ixtopa, Mike explains, "My desire was to dedicate this trip to spending time with Aileen, Keri and Jake, and to mourn my father's recent death and I accomplished both." It was a successful vacation for the family to enjoy spending time together. There will be time for scuba diving - Mike's "great escape" - and golf, but for now, Mike's focus continues to be dedicating himself to being a familyman, businessman and Mayor of Johns Creek.

Since last July, Chase Mitchell has barely been home long enough to unpack and repack his suitcase. He has been on the road touring and performing in cities all over the Midwest and along the East Coast. From opening shows for Rodney Atkins and Jason Aldean, to taking the Chevy Stage at CMA Fanfair in Nashville, Chase's career has risen to a whole new level. He has made many trips to Los Angeles to work with Doc Holiday, his new manager Michelle Mitchell of EZLU Entertainment, and his music attorney, Seth Lichtenstein. Not to drop names, but these associations put Chase in the same company with Matt Damon, Will Smith, Gwen Stefani and Beyonce, just to name a few.

Chase's recording success is moving up at the same rapid pace as his performances. His song "Once I Have You" spent five weeks at #1 on the FHR radio chart - an Internet radio broadcasting group that charts music based on call-ins from listeners - and topped the chart along with music legends such as Keith Urban, Brooks & Dunn, and Sugarland. This success was quickly followed by his second released song "Back in Georgia" shooting to #1 on the FHR chart last January. "What made this second #1 even more meaningful to me was that I wrote "Back in Georgia" to express how I felt about missing home," said Chase. He was very happy to have the opportunity to perform back home at the Cumming Fair and Festival.

Between shows, Chase has been commuting back-and-forth to Nashville and has finally made the big decision to make Nashville his new home. He is now eighteen and finishing up his senior year of high school through on-line courses. Chase Mitchell is a new age/soulful performer whose wisdom with song is far beyond his years. With the support of his family and friends, hard work and determination, Chase Mitchell is a music star who is rapidly on the rise!

When the doors of Johns Creek Elementary (JCE) opened last August, over 1,000 students walked through them to their first day of school. Though the last nail had just been hammered in, Principal Debbie Smith - along with Assistant Principals Barbara Clement and Alyssa Degliumberto - quickly took the process from construction to constructive. Along with getting the teachers and students situated in their classrooms, they and their counselors, Kathy Bain and Denise Eccleston, immediately began the process of developing RAMP (Recognized School Model Program). This program, recognized by the American School Counselors Association (ASCA), benefits the students and parents at JCE. Designed to facilitate independent learning and thinking, RAMP is comprised of three parts: Love & Logic, Student Lead Conferences and Olweus. The results produced by the implementation of the three RAMP components are extremely constructive and will enable students to: take responsibility for their own actions; recognize where they are doing well and what they need to improve on; involve their parents and teachers by transferring the lessons and values they learn in the classroom from school to home; and, enables them to better understand, recognize, and prevent bullying.

Debbie Smith supports Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Buster Evans' goal to "have the highest SAT scores in the nation." She promotes concentration in JCE classrooms on building the skills that will enable students to increase these scores in the future. Knowing that successful students are the result of excellent teachers, Debbie is most proud of the staff at JCE. "The teachers here are a cohesive group that work together as a team to support each other for the benefit of the students, the parents, the community and JCE," said Debbie. "I am extremely proud and excited about what we have been able to accomplish in the first semester and am looking forward to an even more exciting and successful future."

Always the "Ultimate Fan," Captain Tim Young and his First Mate Christina sailed through this fall's football season with their usual passion, dedication and loyalty to their teams - the Buccaneers and the Florida Gators. As busy as they were at their restaurant, The Village Market, they still made time to attend home games in Tampa Bay and Gainesville. These tailgating champions were cooking in the parking lot of the Georgia Dome when the Bucs played the Falcons. Captain Tim arrived at 7am with three turkeys - freshly fried in the middle of the night - and, of course, the rest of his equipment and food supplies to spend the morning cooking up the best of his award-winning tailgating recipes. Since their cover story, not all has been smooth sailing for Captain Tim and his First Mate Chris. The Captain explains in his own words:

by Tim Young
Life nearly always has its ups and downs. Sometimes the seas of life are calm and sometimes the sea's fury can whip up hurricanes and change the lives of many. Well, since our story in September, Tim "The Captain" Young and his First Mate Christina sailed their ship of unbridled restaurant enthusiasm at their steakhouse, The Village Market, into one of life's worst unexpected hurricanes. Tim had some pain in his right arm and his good friends and neuro-spinal specialists, Dr. Disch and Dr. Danyo, discovered an aggressive tumor never seen in anyone Tim's age (41) and never in the neck area. They are just starting a year's worth of chemo and radiation. Their staff has been great and they want to thank everyone for their support. Tim says, "Well, we're taking it like the Buccaneers of old. They never quit the fight and, when the ship takes on water, they bail it out or go down with it in shame." Tim and Christina plan on fighting the fight, winning the fight, and then sailing on with their successful restaurant, and all of their dreams.

Since Mike Dobbs appeared on the October issue cover, he has been busy in his capacity as Plant Manager of the Forsyth Quarry and in his personal life as well. Mike has been working on his MBA at Brenau University and currently only has one eight week course to complete his degree. As for the Forsyth Quarry, Mike says, "The Plant has provided almost one million tons of aggregates since the cover story last October."

As a result of information that was in Mike's editorial, he was contacted by Shakerag Elementary and invited to talk with over 100 kindergartners at the school. Mike brought photographs and maps with him to visually describe to the children what different types of products are supplied by the Forsyth Quarry, what the products are used for, and what the Quarry looks like from an aerial view. The students also watched "The Rock Man" which is an informative movie designed to educate children of this age group about quarries, their products, and product uses. "The children were fascinated by the maps, photographs and movie. They had lots of questions and were genuinely interested in both the Quarry and specific uses that the aggregates are used for in building," said Mike. He is looking forward to visiting other schools in the area and also hopes that some of them can take field trips to visit the Quarry.

Mike is busy planning and preparing for the third annual Concert in the Quarry(TM) which will be held on May 31st.

For more information or to schedule a tour of the Forsyth Quarry, contact Mike Dobbs at 770-887-6711 or e-mail him at mike.dobbs@martinmarietta.com.

All in the last semester of their senior year at Northview High School, the five athletes featured on November's cover are still playing their sport to win. Busy with official visits and signing their Letter of Intent, these athletes continue to be committed to practicing and playing their sport.

MacKenzie Swindall was temporarily sidelined last November with multidirectional instability, a condition she was born with that became worse with constant movement from playing tennis. MacKenzie has a daily physical therapy regimen that involves completing 15 exercises several times a day. She is back playing tennis and officially signed on November 16, 2007 to play for Kennesaw State University.

Courtney Fletcher played on Northview's volleyball team, which won the State Championship. She also played on the Northview State Championship team in 2005 when she was a sophomore. Courtney is currently playing on an A5 Volleyball Club team that travels all over the country and will be on the team until their season ends in July. Courtney is looking forward to next fall when she will attend University of Michigan.

Richard Doverspike signed his formal Letter of Intent to play for University of Alabama on November 15, 2007. He made his decision after visiting and spending time with their tennis team. "The team's chemistry was excellent, I liked the coaching staff, and the campus," said Richard. He has been busy competing and won 1st place in both the Junior Southern Level 3 and Georgia Doubles Championship.

In January, Cordian Hagans headed to the home of the BCS National Champions, the LSU Tigers, for his official visit. He had a great time meeting the other players who will be joining the football team with him next year and said they all enjoyed "eating the great food they were served just about every two hours." Cordian continues to work out and practice to prepare for football season at LSU next fall. Geaux Tigers!

"My visit to Boston was a very good one," said Justin Tuggle. "I had the opportunity to see my future team play and to see what the game day environment is like. What I am most excited about is the opportunity to work with a great quarterback coach and to live in another city." Justin played in the Offense-Defense All Star game in Miami, Florida, which featured the top talent in the country.

December 31, 2006 was the culmination of Paula Gault's twenty-six year career in education with Forsyth County Schools. Beginning as a teacher, her career ended with six years as Superintendent of Schools. Paula's retirement was what she described as "bittersweet." She said, "My last few weeks were filled with mixed feelings. I had spent the last five months working side-by-side with incoming Superintendent Dr. Buster Evans and felt very good about turning the reigns over to him. But, I was also sad to be leaving so many friends and the phenomenal staff that I had worked with over the years."

Paula's retirement celebrations started in early December when she and her husband, Robert Hughes, their children, and their grandchildren spent three days at Disneyworld. The entire family - a total of 23 - wore either a red or green t-shirt monogrammed with "GiGi's Retirement 2007." Paula says, "The shirts were really fun to wear and a great way to find all the family members in the crowd!" This vacation was just the beginning of numerous "retirement celebration trips" that Paula has either taken or is planning. In January, Paula and Robert spent a weekend in Florida visiting with friends. In February, they visited with friends in Arizona and took a trip to Washington, DC with friend, Candy Norton. Candy's brother is the owner of several restaurants in the area and Paula, Robert and Candy ate at all of them between their site-seeing adventures. Paula is currently wrapping up plans for a long-anticipated trip to Greece which she and Robert will be taking in April.

"I am truly enjoying the time that I'm able to spend with my mother, husband, children and grandchildren," said Paula. She contributed so much to the growth of the Forsyth County Schools and is now enjoying and continuing to celebrate her retirement.

Though it has been a short time since Brian Tam's cover story, he has been very busy as Forsyth County Commissioner for District 2, spending time with Kelly and their children, Robert, Dorothy and Rene, and running his restaurant, Tam's Backstage in Cumming.

On February 5th, Forsyth County citizens voted on the one hundred million dollar Parks and Recreation Bond Referendum. Prior to the vote, Brian and the other five Forsyth County Commissioners had dedicated meetings to consider proposals on which projects the dollars from the bond should initially be spent on for improvements within the County. The Board of Commissioners unanimously approved: 40 million dollars for adding green space such as parks and walking trails; 10 million for a new state-of-the-art aquatic center for use by high school swim teams, subdivision swim teams, seniors and families; 8 million dollars to finish the Big Creek Greenway extending it from the county line (McGinnis Ferry Road) to Sawnee Mountain; and, 8 million for more joint venture parks such as Joint Venture Park at Daves Creek Elementary which was a cooperative venture of land use between the Forsyth County Board of Education and the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners.

The first week in March, Brian will be attending the National Association of County Commissioner's Convention in Washington, DC. Traveling at his expense, Brian decided to combine business with pleasure and make this another Tam Family vacation in Washington. Though this will be their third trip, Brian knows that these visits provide the children with an education in how the different branches of government work and valuable lessons in the history of their Country. It is also an opportunity to spend time together as a family, which is always valuable to Brian, Kelly and the children. Brian continues to work with dedication and passion to improve the quality of life for those who live and work in Forsyth County.

Dawn Martin and the students in the Culinary Arts Program at South Forsyth High School are still in the kitchen cooking up delectable dishes for school events, business meetings, fundraisers, special events, class assignments and just for fun.

On March 7th, the four students selected from the Program will be cooking for competition when they go up against other teams from around the State to participate in the ProStart Competition being held at Gwinnett Technical College. This new location is a first for the teams, with the location changing so students are exposed to the various local culinary schools that are available to them. The all-day competition has each team producing a three course meal within a one hour time period. As if this isn't enough pressure, the four team members work in a 6' by 6' table area and their only equipment is two butane burning stoves. The teams are judged by industry chefs, including some master chefs, who will grade them on professionalism, taste, presentation, knife skills, team work, safety and sanitation. Good luck to the SFHS team and thanks to Dawn Martin and Chef Malcolm B. Orser who have been working to prepare the team for this major competition.

On March 15th, the Culinary Arts Program will be catering the wedding of a SFHS teacher. This is the first wedding reception for the Program and the students are excited and busy with the preparations for this big event. They are creating the entire menu, selecting the recipes and standardizing and costing them, configuring the room setting - including everything from how the tables are arranged to choosing the tablecloths - and preparing to cook, set up and clean up on the big day. This is a professional catering job that Dawn and the students are looking forward to with hopes that it is the first of many. If you want to know what's cooking, just ask the Culinary Arts Department at South.