On Thursday, June 15th the Cultural Arts Council Douglasville & Douglas County held its Annual Membership Meeting to report on the concluding year’s activities, elect a new Board of Directors, announce the winning restaurants for Taste of Douglasville, listen to two artists talk about the value of the arts to them, and have fun taking part in an arts activity. With ample refreshments generously provided by Texas Roadhouse the meeting was punctuated by a sudden wind burst, rain storm and a power outage but as the Bard stated, “all’s well that ends well.”
Highlights for the Fiscal Year ending June 30th were the growth of the “Family Arts Ventures!” family and education arts program, the inauguration of the “Pop Up Arts Shop” and “Arts e-NEWS” county-wide arts bulletin. Last year’s GALA themed on the Mad Hatter, a successful Chili Cook Off and a larger Taste of Douglasville were also highlighted. Taste of Douglasville’s winning restaurants were formally announced. Best Booth was won by UGA Douglas County Extension – Water Wonders and Best Dessert was won by Cupcakes by D’signz. At the Annual Meeting the winner (second year in a row) for the Best Entree was revealed to be Gabe’s Downtown, who ALSO took the Most Sold Award! The folks at Gabe’s had a dinner party that night and couldn’t be at the Annual Meeting but were photographed the next day at their restaurant.
Fused-glass artist Elizabeth Mobley and photographer Shannon Belletti regaled the members with stories about their art, how they got started and why they work in their chosen media.
The CAC 2017-2018 Board of Directors was also elected. Re-elected for a new term were: attorney Donna Crawford, retired educator Bill Willis and GreyStone Power retiree Marcita Sharnhorst. New members elected for their first terms were: Superior Court Judge Cynthia Adams, photographer and teacher Shannon Belletti, Myesha Good (City of Atlanta), Candy King (Kaiser Permanente) and DCSS School Improvement Specialist, Rueben Pitts. Members continuing are: retired American Airlines flight attendant Lexy Dennis, West Georgia Tech’s Director of Campus operations, Lisa Doney, Chad Griffin (Douglas County Parks and Rec.) Rita Wilson Harris (GreyStone Power), Nycole Jarrett (Better Homes & Gardens Realtor), Steve Jones (Video Producer for Douglasville), Tamara Manny (owner, Proforma), Gail Moore (owner, Custom Plastics and More), Jude Patterson (Bank of America retiree), Patti H. Puckett (owner, Ameriprise Financial franchise), Ana-Elis Perry (Geneal Manager, Grifols Plasma Operations) and Tiffany Stewart-Stanley (DC Outreach). Also continuing are the City appointee April McKnown (Main Street Manager) and the County appointee Philip Montgomery (education retiree). One member of the Board retired at the end of her term, DCSS Director of Student Services, Renee Davis.
Officers were also elected and for 2017-2018 they will be: President, Lisa Doney; Vice President, Gail Moore; Vice President for Planning, Ana-Elis Perry; Treasurer, Marcita Sharnhorst; Secretary, Tamara Manny; and Immediate Past President Patti H. Puckett.
During the meeting attendees had great fun exploring their creative side by creating a 6”x6” artwork that will be on exhibit in August as an art-purchase fund raiser for CAC. Each small painting will be sold for $20 each and the artist’s identity is not known until a purchase is made.
The Annual Meeting satisfied with information, experiences, meeting new colleagues and good food. A pretty good way to end a critical and financially successful year. – Davina Grace Hill, Director
