Buy Local Savannah – luncheon – topic: Healthy Savannah

Mayor Otis Johnson and Dr. David Davies

DIRTT arrives

Ecomonic Outlook Luncheon at the Trade Center

lipizzaner stallions – at the civic center in Savannah

I watched Obama on TV become our 44th President of the USA

“Soldier for a Day” – at Hunter Army Airfield, Jan 15, 2009

Major Todd was showing me now to fire an M16. It was so heavy, I could NOT hold it straight – plus I had 20 pounds of protection on me.

Doreen Vandal

Ginger Cucolo

Anette Wilson and Lisa Scarsboro from Leadership Savannah

Kerri Goodrich

Me in front of a Black Hawk – in 2001 when I went on a media trip with the Ga Air Guard, we flew on one of these over Bosnia

Cathy Rodgers learning how to shoot from an Apache Helicoptor

Kim Tompson and the pilot. He used to be a medic and got tired of riding in the back  – I know his parents must be proud of him. He leaves for Iraq this spring/

Lisa Scarsboro of Coastal Pet Resuce and Shannon Hall of Grand Harbour

Women from the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce and the military wives gather together to BRIDGE the two communites.

http://www.thebridgegroup.wordpress.com

Zack Powers and his dad John Powers

Zack is a 3 time EMMY WINNER for his video work and his dad is a Marketing guru.  Photo taken at the Express Cafe on Barnard Street in Savannah

Hollywood Ron turns 44! Happy Birthday Ron Higgins

Kenan (Dist Gov. for Rotary) and Don at the Savannah Rotary’s 90th Anniversary

Tom Bonnell, headmaster at SCDS is interview by Kris Hummer at WSAV – about the Creative Minds Lecture Series

Pace Lighting Grand Opening Party in Savannah

Cooper, Skip Jennings, Julia and Stacy Jennings

Marcia Banes from the Savannah Magazine, and Marjorie Young

Carol and Ari

Carol saying goodbye – heading to RPI.edu in Troy, NY

January 2009. A little over a year later, the three of them end up as refugees, strangers on our doorstep, looking for refuge.

written by Martin Melaver

http://www.melaver.com/martin-melaver/refuge.html

Refuge

“Home is the place,” goes the famous lines from Robert Frost’s The Death of the Hired Man,  “where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in.”

Lines to think about for sure.

My story, in the context of Frost’s poem, centers on Sergei, Natalyia, and their 6-year-old son Misha. Sergei and Natalyia hale from Russia, though they emigrated to Israel over ten years ago for what they hoped would be a better life. Misha was born a while back, and the couple decided to return to Russia soon after his birth for what they hoped would be a better culture to raise a family. But the young couple ─ Sergei’s a precision metal worker and Natalyia is a trained pianist ─ discovered that the new Russia was no longer part of their culture and so they returned to Israel in 2007.

January 2009. A little over a year later, the three of them end up as refugees, strangers on our doorstep, looking for refuge. The war in Gaza has started. Ashdod, where Sergei, Ntalyia, and Misha live, is getting hit with missiles. The three flee, leaving jobs, toys, clothes, appliances, food, everything, in the effort to find comfort and safety.

And so here are these three strangers, feeling the intense humiliation of asking help from people they don’t know balanced by an even stronger intense drive to survive, moving in to my study in the ground floor of our house in Tel Aviv one Sunday night. My wife and I try to lighten the mood by cracking a few jokes, saying by word and body language that this too shall pass and it will all be good eventually. Sergei’s face is ashen, tense. I think to myself, I hope to god I never scrape bottom like this. I am so wrong.

Our dog Funny cozies up to Misha, and the two quickly become friends. Funny has been lacking love and affection since the kids started school. Misha seems to be looking for a companion that transcends the barriers of language. Once Misha gets comfortable, everything else starts to get more relaxed. Sergei begins to talk about trying to find his niche somewhere, caught between cultures that are foreign to him. Natalyia also seems to relax, though that’s more woman’s talk which my wife seems privy to and not me.

As it turns out, these three have become a gift to me and my family, in ways it may take a lifetime to sort out. My kids seem suddenly grateful for things they took for granted. Same for me. I think back to the beginnings of the economic crisis still very much facing us today, and my worries about paying bills here and managing expenses there, and the seemingly countless nights when I stared at the clock at 3 am wondering what will happen. All of a sudden, I don’t seem to be obsessing about all these details.

When I talk about our now extended family ─ which isn’t all that often ─ I refer to the fact that we have “refugees” in our house. The funny thing is, it’s not Sergei and Natalyia, and Misha who are finding refuge. It’s actually my family and I.

Home is indeed the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you. How many of us can identify such a place? Moreover, how many of us see the refuge provided by those ostensibly seeking succor from us? Something to reflect upon in the days ahead.

……/ what a wonderful writer, can’t wait to read his new book, Living Above the Store

WJCL announces GOOD NEWS COUNCIL in Savannah

Marjorie Young and Casey Jones, anchor on WJCL

Lynn Fairbanks, the General Manager of WJCL / Fox – will be the host of the GOOD NEWS COUNCIL.

Diana Morrision spoke to the Small Business Council

Stacy Jennings and Kim Tompson at the Small Business Council

New to the Savannah Morning News (welcome to Savannah!)

Kim and HOLLYWOOD Ron (Savannah Movie Tours and Savannah Foody Tours)

Susan Smith with the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce and Vicky Buck

Diana Morrison, Chair of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, spoke to over 100 small business owners at the Small Business Council – HER MESSAGE… GET INVOLVED!

POLO – WAY COOL!

(BLUFFTON, SC) Lowcountry Arena Polo School is now offering group polo lessons every Saturday morning from 10:00 a.m. to Noon. Two  hours of instruction for $85.00. These lessons will incorporate riding skills, polo skills and rules, team play and game strategy. Just show up! Contact Mike Rippy: 843-290-4220

COOL FACTS ABOUT Stage Front Presentation Systems / Savannah, Atlanta, Charleston

Stage Front Presentation Systems is in the construction business.  Stage Front designs and builds integrated audio, video and lighting systems that help people better communicate, educate and entertain in facilities such as auditoriums and churches; lecture halls and teaching labs; courtrooms and council chambers; and sports facilities and theme shows.

A few Stage Front differentiators:

§         Largest Georgia AV company, outside of Atlanta.

§         Only Georgia AV company, outside of Atlanta, that has fully staffed engineering and project management departments.

§         Only commercial AV company in the Coastal Georgia region that:

o       has 24/7 service

o       completely pre-builds, test and programs AV equipment racks and control systems in house prior to field installation

o       authorized for AMX and Crestron remote control programming services

o       provides full systems design and documentation services

o       is a dealer for Electronic Theatre Controls, Crestron, Extron, Yamaha Pro Audio, Altman Stage Lighting

EYe see you