Highlights from the Highway

Wow---tonight was fantastic. It was so good to see familiar faces--Jenny Masters Butler ('04) and Joe Butler ('07) were at dinner tonight and it was great to see them. They live in Rome but were visiting her family and it just so happened that they were down in Savannah at the same time the road tour crew was! So they came to dinner and it was great catching up. John and Donna Connell were also at dinner and they were certainly entertaining! They seem to bring laughs with them wherever they go.

I sat with Gail Sharp ('67) and Wendy Sutton ('91) during dinner, then switched and sat with Jenny and Joe for dessert. Gail had great stories about her time at Shorter and the daisy chains the younger girls would do for the senior girls. She said they would go to a place called the rockery, but I had no clue where that is on the campus in 2010. She also remembered the High Minded (those who graduated in an odd year) and Whoop 'Em Ups (those who graduated in an even year).

I did not know that Wendy Sutton worked for Shorter....or for as long as she did! I said to her, "Oh! You used to be the John Head"...and she laughed. :) Wendy is a counselor at the Saint Andrews School in Savannah and she was a delight to talk to.

Once again everyone enjoyed getting their Shorter University swag! And the event was a great one! When we were leaving the hotel a guy said, "Hey! Y'all must be from Rome! I'm from Calhoun!"

And that was that. Augusta...we're coming to see you now!

Over and out,

Mal

I found another advantage of driving today - taking the scenic route! As we left Jacksonville this morning, we decided to meet Laura Pate '07, and Jessica Davenport '09 for lunch on Jekyll Island. Laura who works for Shorter in the admissions department is doing a recruiting event at Super Wow. Lunch was great and we had some good laughs. Since we had the time, and I was driving we decided to drive through Historic Jekyll and avoid the interstate on the drive into Savannah. I consider myself a beach bum, but for some reason I've never explored the GA coast. I'm obsessed with American history as well, so the drive was not only beautiful, but educational. It was my favorite drive of the trip for sure.

Savannah is such a charming town! Our event tonight was at Vic's on the River. Once again, we had a good turnout. On my end of the table were John & Donna Connell who will be joining the Shorter family this fall. John is the new Chair of Christian Studies. Both he and Donna joined us in Orlando, but their home is in Savannah, so they joined us again to meet some alums. In Orlando, we didn't really get the chance to talk, but after tonight's dinner I can already call them friends! Also on my end of the table were Jenni Masters Butler '04, and Joe Butler '07. Jenni and Joe are expecting their first child next month, so needless to say she was glowing. Jenni and I were also roommates in college at Shorter and have remained close friends. So glad she and Joe made a point to join us on the Road Tour.

My shout outs for tonight go to Amanda Price and Tianna Johnson. Both Amanda and Tianna went to Shorter, but left to pursue other career fields not offered at the time. Amanda is a bubbly bundle of joy, and an amazing mother. It was so great seeing her. Tianna stopped by for five minutes to say hey. She is actually graduating from PA school this weekend, so I got to see her entire family for a quick second. Tianna is the very first person I ever met at Shorter when we came for summer orientation as freshman. While she was on the Hill, people used to say we were "attached at the hip". I am so proud of her, and know that we will always have a special bond thanks to Shorter!

As we were pulling out of the parking garage earlier, a man asked," Rome?" We smiled and said, yes! He is originally from Calhoun. I can tell we are back in Georgia. :)

Heading to Augusta in the morning. Just tomorrow and Saturday's event till we finish up this leg of the tour.

Till next time,

Rach

I think the drive from Jacksonville to Savannah has been one of the better segments of this road trip so far. We stopped off in Jekyll Island to see a couple of alumni who are at Super Wow this week. We got to eat lunch with them and took a quick driving tour of the Island. After leaving the island we decided to avoid the interstate on our way to Savannah and I enjoyed seeing the little towns we passed through.

Our Savannah event was great as usual. We had the event at Vic's on the River which did a great job for us back in January when we held an event there for music education alumni attending the GMEA convention in Savannah. Both the food and service was amazing not to mention the atmosphere being right on River Street.

We had a good crowd that seemed to have a great time. Gail Sharpe and her husband were the first to arrive. It was fun to hear stories about how Gail and her friends would sneak into the halls at the Greystone just to see if anyone would be there to catch them. Wendy Sutton also sat at my end of the table so we got to reminisce about alumni that we both knew. Wendy worked for Shorter for 11 years in Admissions and other offices on campus. Wendy shared that the first student that she admitted to Shorter in her role in Admissions was Brooks McCommons who was my first boss and hired me at Shorter. We were joined by Dr. John Connell and his wife Donna, who is the new chair of Christian Studies at Shorter University. He has been the pastor of Calvary in Savannah since 2003. At the other end of the table was Jenny and Joe Butler who I unfortunately didn't really get a change to converse with due to how our table was arranged (no worries though because Rachel was down there and did a great job.)

Shake and Bake!

Chip