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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 31
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
ATL is abuzz with resolve for new year
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New Year’s Day 2009. We made it! As the black-eyed peas bubble on the stove, take a gander at what some Buzz readers are resolving to do in the new year. Being kinder to the environment, to each other and to our wallets all make the list this year. And curiously, so did “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.” Read on, and happy new year!
Mary Kay Andrews (aka Kathy Trocheck), author, Avondale Estates: “To personally apologize to every really real housewife of Atlanta on behalf of every non pole-dancing, non back-stabbing, non-skank housewife everywhere in the ATL. And to get my roots touched up every six weeks. And go green. Except for the hair-color thing.”
Carla Conrad, East Atlanta: “My resolution for 2009 is to prove that 39 is the new 29.”
Melanie Brandt, Duluth: “To get birthday gifts to all of my nephews and nieces on time.”
Marylouise Fitzgibbon, W Buckhead general manager: “My personal goal is to teach my 3-year old twin boys to respect themselves, respect others, and respect the environment. My work goal is to ensure that our guests and talent-members know that W Buckhead does not plan on participating in the recession!”
Richard Blais, Flip burger boutique chef: “Besides losing 20 pounds, spending more time with my wife and little girl, I’d also like to find and run a restaurant run by young people, seeing if I can be more of an example for the community and inspiring kids to find their calling. And open a super-small hyper-creative joint in town !”
Jerry Schwartz, Alpharetta: “I’m going to follow the 80/20 rule in interpersonal relations this year, which shows that 20 percent of the people cause 80 percent of the problems. I’m going to do everything possible not to be part of that 20 percent.”
Lewis Perkins, Atlanta: “To reduce my carbon footprint by 25 percent. I am doing this through efficiencies in my home, purchasing made-in-USA and local produce only, switching to a Prius and investing in wind-energy offsets.”
Libby Morley, Roswell: “To give back to my husband the incredible love, devotion and support he has given me this entire year, as he stood steadfastly by my side through a long and very serious illness and recovery.”
Anne Barge, Buckhead: “My New Year’s resolution for 2009 is to live life just like my dog!”
John Lemley, WABE-FM: “During the past few months, I’ve taken up the rewarding project of tracing my family tree. This has not only given me a better sense of who I am but has also led to my reconnecting with some Conecuh County (Ala.) relatives that I hadn’t seen in well over two decades. My resolution is to keep family at the tippy-top of my priorities. These people serve as my foundation. The very least I can give them in return is an hour or two of my day.”
Jan Smith, owner, Jan Smith Studios: “To give more, to serve more, and to love more with a heart of full of humility and gratitude. And to make the world sound a little better one voice at a time!!!”
Jeff Dauler, Q100: “I resolve to have big dreams, like a ‘Real Housewife [of Atlanta].’ To live in a world where million-dollar fund-raisers and singing careers are possible, regardless of a tanking economy and being tone-deaf. I resolve to sometimes spell cat ‘k-a-t’ because I am individual like that. Oh, I’d also like to become a better cook. (Even though if I was a true ‘Real Housewife’ I would have a chef).”
Chris Schroder, Schroder Public Relations: ” That I will spend less time in 2009 looking for my wallet and keys.”
Tamela Francis, Atlanta: “To gain the ability to be able to tell someone off without raising my voice and using profanity.”
Jimi Rogers, Atlanta: “I actually have 12 but the things I want the most are to become a teacher, lose weight, and continue to grow in my relationship with the Lord.”
Condace Pressley, WSB Radio: “I want to talk less and listen more, reject diet and embrace healthier choices, and not allow a day to pass without family, friends or colleagues knowing how much they mean to me.”
Jon Arge, artist, Atlanta: “I resolve to tighten my belt. And not from the inside out this time like I did last year.”
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Oprah rewards Ron Clark Academy $365,000 Christmas present
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: Ron Clark at his school soon after announcing the Oprah gift on New Year’s Eve 2008. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
Oprah Winfrey gave the local Ron Clark Academy a surprise Christmas gift: $365,000.
Ron Clark, an enthusiastic, innovative educator featured in a 2006 TNT film starring Matthew Perry, said he got a Fedex package on Christmas Eve with no indication what it might be. Normally, he said he has an assistant vet his mail but he saw the package and decided to open it himself.
It was a personal note from Oprah herself. She had been tracking the school’s progress and was thinking about who to give a big present to this year. She decided Clark’s school was deserving and figured $1,000 a day, or $365,000, was apropos. His school, which needs about $2.4 million to operate per year, is in South Atlanta.
He said the extra money will enable him to provide 26 full scholarships for a year. This month, his academy also received $300,000 from Tony Cann, vice chairman of Promethean Ltd, the leading manufacturer of collaborative classrooms systems.
Here’s video of the announcement:
ABOVE: Ron Clark (right) has a laugh with Evonna Bruner, wife of his assistant Lazarus Bruner. That’s their son Jalen at bottom left.
ABOVE: Ron Clark confers with two sixth graders Jordan Jones (left) and Rashad Sherrell. “He brings so much energy to the school,” Jones said.
Currently, the school has 78 students from fifth to seventh grade. Next year, he plans to expand to 108. Since it opened in the fall of 2007, the school has also trained more than 4,800 educators from around the world on his teaching methods.
Clark has a history with Oprah. After he won Disney Teacher of the Year in 2001, Oprah brought him on her show. And after he wrote a book about his teaching philosophy, she brought him back in 2003. Since then, he has kept her informed through personal notes to her assistant. He said he had no clue if she ever read them but when she called him last week to talk to him personally, it was clear she had read his past notes and went on his Web site regularly.
He informed his kids to come to the school for a special surprise announcement on New Year’s Eve at 10 a.m. and gave them the news. He also taped a video of them doing their Barack Obama rap song/dance.
If all goes well, it’s fairly certain Oprah will invite Clark and the students up to her studios in Chicago to talk about the school and the dance./song.
ABOVE: Ron Clark gabs with parents Pamela Bryant (left) and Marva Merriweather (right). “”I’m still in shock,” Merriweather said over the Oprah gift.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Looking back, mostly fondly, on 2008 news
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New Year’s Eve 2008. A time to reflect on all the jaw-unhinging happenings that took us by surprise at Buzz Central this year. Read on.
Best reason to lie about where you live: Bravo’s reality wreck “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.” Little was real and none of the fame-hungry “housewives” ever washed a dish during the show’s first season. Our favorite “real” moment? Atlanta vocal coach Jan Smith’s delicate assessment of alleged singer Kim Zolciak’s talents: “You’re living in a very beautiful house. With a cracked foundation.”
Best chat with a country legend: Loretta Lynn’s phone call before her August date at the Cobb Energy Centre. Discussing her late husband Doo, who served as the inspiration for many of her hits, Lynn laughed and said: “Songs about cheatin’ have always done me right. Now Doo, he didn’t like some of those songs, but Doo ended up making us a lot of money over the years!”
Best-kept family secret: Martin Luther King III’s disclosure in January that he had been married for nearly two years to bride Andrea Waters. The son of MLK only publicly spilled the beans because the Rev. King’s first grandchild was on the way.
Best apology: This summer, “Colbert Report” host Stephen Colbert apologized to Canton after calling the Cherokee County city “crappy.” Colbert conceded: “I hear Canton is a beautiful place. It has so much to offer. Oxygen and paved roads. Why did I call your lovely city crappy? A simple mixup. I meant Canton, Kansas. That place is a real [expletive] hole!”
Worst Christmas present from future Chrysler CEOs: Suits from Niche Media Holdings flew in from New York this month to tell staffers at Atlanta Peach magazine they were unemployed while confiscating staff PDAs. That was after they invited publisher Elizabeth Schulte Roth and editor Drew Brown to lunch at Chops, ordered surf and turf, then fired them. We hear they also made off with the last can of Who Hash. …
Best book tour: The ever-incomparable Ted Turner went on a national media blitz to promote his memoir, “Call Me Ted,” this fall just as the country needed some no-nonsense financial advice from its favorite crazy uncle. “It’s simple,” Turner explained at the Atlanta Press Club. “You shouldn’t spend more money than you make.”
Best historic opening: Tyler Perry’s star-studded debut of the first African-American-owned film and TV studio facility in southwest Atlanta in October. Attendees included Will Smith, Hank Aaron and legends Sidney Poitier, Cicely Tyson and Ruby Dee, who had soundstages named after them. During an emotional ceremony, Oprah Winfrey cried her eyelashes off as Tyson told us: “I never dreamed I would witness this in my lifetime.”
Best new career: Former UN ambassador and Atlanta mayor Andrew Young teaming up with producer CB Hackworth to create a series of “Andrew Young Presents” documentaries, including his riveting doc with troubled rapper T.I., “Walking With Guns.”
Obit we hated having to contribute to: Soul man and former Atlantan Isaac Hayes, whose untimely exit came in August. In 2005, discussing “Hot Buttered Soul,” his 1969 album of pure baby-making music, Hayes told us: “Guys have come up to me and said, ‘Man, I’m so glad ‘Hot Buttered Soul’ is out on CD. Now, my lady doesn’t have to wait for me to flip the album over.’ “
Kookiest fund-raiser: In August, Atlanta playwright Topher Payne convinced actor pals Greg Morris, DeWayne Morgan and Joey Ellington to work for free and don drag for “Golden Girls Live!” at an Onstage Atlanta benefiting AID Atlanta. Said Payne: “The frightening thing is that in drag as Bea Arthur I’m more mannish than I am dressed as myself.”
Most recession-proof fund-raiser: Sir Elton John, who brought his annual Advanta World Team Tennis Smash Hits benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation to his U.S. hometown this fall. Of the sold-out VIP reception for 600, John told us: “All of the money raised here today will stay here in Atlanta and Georgia. Forty-six percent of AIDS cases are now being reported in the South.”
Interview of the year: Our September sit-down with Perry. We discovered a smart, funny, ambitious, sensitive guy who never forgets where he’s been in life. On why he’s just now getting around to writing white folks into his work, via “Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys,” he told us: “I never knew any white people! I grew up in New Orleans and moved to Atlanta and for 15 years I didn’t know any white people. Now I’m living in a world where I’m meeting all kinds of people. Now I look at a situation and say, ‘Oh, this is how this person lives.’ “
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor Anthony Hopkins is 71. Rock musician Andy Summers is 66. Actor Ben Kingsley is 65. Singer Donna Summer is 60. Author Nicholas Sparks is 43. Pop singer Joe McIntyre is 36.
LAST CALL!
For Buzz reader resolutions. E-mail us your poignant, unique and funny New Year’s resolution today at buzz@ajc.com. Attach a photo of yourself too, if you like. We’ll publish the best Thursday.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
