By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 29, 2023 | It was a quiet tapping on the door. At first, I paid no attention to it. If I had not been in the den, I would not have heard it.
Then the sound came a second time. Why wasn’t the doorbell used? Opening the front door, I was greeted by three little girls, maybe two or three years old. They all began jabbering immediately, excitedly trying to out talk one another. I couldn’t imagine what they were saying.
Then I looked up, and saw one of the little girls’ father, a neighbor from across the street, standing at a distance in the yard. He explained it all:
“They want to walk on your stone path.” Oh.
What fascinated these little girls was a blue stone path (see photo) from the street toward our backyard. They had spotted it from across the street, and could not wait to try it out.
“Sure,” I said back to the father (and the little girls). “Just be careful, for some of the stones are higher than the other ones, and you could trip.”
And off they ran toward the spaced-out stones, ready to have a big time jumping from stone to stone. I watched them for a while. A little later, they were gone, probably well exhausted from finding something as simple as a stone walkway completely fascinating.
It was a pure joy to see them and hear their small voices having such a good time on something as insignificant as a stone walkway! I hope they come back and enjoy this walkway again, and I get to see them running on these steps once more.
Tara Schiphof and David Post
The current Miss Georgia, Tara Schiphof of Sugar Hill, is shown with Dave Post of Suwanee, a member of the Gwinnett Rotary Club, after she spoke to the club recently. Post was a captain in charge of the Reserve Division for former Sheriff Butch Conway, and was once assigned to watch over another Miss Georgia and Miss Gwinnett at an autograph signing.
As the 2023 Miss Georgia, Tara will be in the Miss America contest on December 12-15, 2023 at the Mohegan Sun resort in Uncasville, Conn. She was runner-up Miss Georgia in 2022. Winners of the state competitions may participate in the Miss America finals only one time.
She brings as her talent to this contest dancing as a ballerina. She was a professional ballerina for eight years, dancing with the Boston Ballet. She routinely practiced ballet for 30 hours a week.
Tara is a native of King, N.C., she is now a national marketing representative for Stanley Black and Decker. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and has a master’s degree from Wake Forest University.
The current Miss America spoke without notes for about 30 minutes to the Gwinnett Rotarians, with members saying it was one of their better programs. When asked how she would prepare for the Miss America pageant, she told Rotarians: “If you have to prepare, you are not ready.”
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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