Friends,

As another week draws to a close, I wanted to take a moment to share with you some great stories of how individuals from our community are having well deserved success at the national level. Last Wednesday, Lakeside High School graduates Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood’s band Lady Antebellum captured both the vocal group and single of the year categories at this year’s Country Music Association’s annual awards show in Nashville. Earlier this fall, the group’s debut album “Lady Antebellum” was certified platinum and the single “Need You Now” from their upcoming album has already been certified gold. I know that I speak on behalf of the entire community in saying that we are all extremely proud of our hometown boys well deserved success.

On Wednesday night, Evans High School graduate Kathryn McCormick was voted into the Top 12 on the Fox Channel’s hit show “So You Think You Can Dance?”. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I realized a personal connection that I had with Kathryn as her mother Sandra and I graduated from Evans together in 1985. Having made the connection, Sandra was kind enough to put me in contact with Kathryn so that I could share with her how proud her hometown is of her. Kathryn let me know how much the support of the folks back home means to her and how this same support keeps her grounded as she pursues her dreams so far away from home. Once again, this tremendously talented and extraordinarily humble young lady is doing a wonderful job representing our city at the national level and I know we all wish her continued success.

Finally, today marks the release of the new motion picture “the Blind Side” starring , Tim McGraw, and Glenn Hills High School graduate Quinton Aaron in his most major role to date. Though he now lives in New York, Quinton still calls Augusta home and his performance in this true story about the life of current NFL rookie has received a great deal of well deserved critical acclaim. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to play a brief role as Coach Lou Holtz’s assistant in the film and I can honestly say that I believe this movie is going to be something special. Congratulations to Quinton for his breakthrough role and I look forward to watching his career progress in the future.

In closing, I would just like to say that our community is truly blessed to produce this caliber of young people who have gone on to have a major impact on the national stage while at the same time serving to represent their community in the finest manner. I hope everyone has a great weekend and that, if you have some free time, you might take time to go see a movie that is nothing short of inspirational.

Thanks, Deke