Photos for Ashley

About a year ago, LHS student Ashley Scott learned she had cancer.  From the website Hope, Faith & Photos for a Cure we learn more,

Last April of 2010, Ashley injured herself during a softball game and what the doctors thought was to be a sports related injury turned out to be more. She knew something was not right and after further persistence and biopsy, a tumor was found and she was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma Stage 4 Cancer.

Life changed in an instant.  It was hard. Hard for her to comprehend and lose many things she loved like softball and her hair.

Photographer Carla Lynn designed Hope, Faith & Photos for a Cure as a fundraiser for Ashley.  On Sunday, February 27th from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m., top photographers from across the area are gathering for a photo shoot.  Admission is $10 p/person (all going to Ashley Scott) and all proceeds from photos ordered online via Pictage also go to Ashley.

As a community, we need to rally around this fundraising effort.  If you have a child, go have their photo made.  If you are newly engaged or need a family portrait done, do it here.  If you need a professional photo taken, this is a great opportunity.  And it’s for a really good cause.

Here’s more information,

When you come to the Marathan Village (the red tall short bldg located at 1305 Clinton Street, Nashville) we will be set up on the 3rd floor and the stairs will be straight across. As you come in- there will be Registration tables set up, where you will pay your admission of $10 a person and also complete a form that asks of your contact info, email address and consent for use of any images for media/web publications.

Here’s a map to Marathan Village via Google Maps (the link takes you to the map where you can zoom in/out):

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this event.  I will try to post more about it as the photo shoot gets closer.

Photo by Carla Lynn of Carla Lynn Photography.

We Are (the Snowpeople of) LaVergne

I didn’t even capture some of the best snowmen of LaVergne as a friend and I ran errands together today.  But these were cute enough to inspire this post.  I introduce you to… The Snowmen of LaVergne!

When he saw the camera aimed in his direction, Herman's face went blank.

Sticks are the new black.

Little Danny froze solid for there were no walls or windows covering his house.

Tiny Tina grew weary of people always asking, "What's up your butt?"

Blue gatorade, red gatorade... it's all the same when it doesn't go down right.

Mixing blue and yellow make green. Mixing green and yellow make blue or pink.

Homemade Potato Soup

Skipping right over the tradition of eating black eyed peas and cabbage to bring luck in the New Year, I opted instead to make a big pot of homemade potato soup!   Just back out to your favorite page if you are either 1) a top chef or 2) don’t want to see a recipe, but for those of us who are *cough* cooking-challenged, you might enjoy this.

First, peel and dice your potatoes.  I think I ended up using about 15 spuds.

I then boiled the diced potatoes and added onion and celery flakes, salt and pepper.  Using fresh celery and a fresh onion is a better choice, but… again I’m not a top chef here!  I also added some ham … I used city ham, but other options are country ham or bacon (do not pre-cook the bacon, boil it with the potatoes and other ingredients).

Add two to three (or more if you like) dashes of liquid smoke.

Once the potatoes are cooked, add a block of velveeta (16 ounces).  You can add the whole block or cut in slices.

The cold velveeta will make the soup stop boiling, but the pan is still hot… therefore keep stirring to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.  After all cheese is melted, get 2% milk and start pouring.

Since my brother (the master potato soup chef) couldn’t tell me exactly how much he pours in, I was very nervous.  His advice, “Pour until the soup gets white enough for you.”  In the end, I think I added one to two cups of milk.  Now this part is VITAL.  Do not overcook from here or the milk will separate from the rest of the soup!  You’re really in the last stages of the dish…

While you’re again bringing the soup to a boil, mix about a cup of flour with a cup of water.

I whisked it like a crazy woman, but apparently not enough since it clumped a bit when I added it to the soup pan.

The potato soup thickened almost immediately so after a few more stirs – and being paranoid about the milk not curdling from overcooking – I took it off the heat and began serving.

I added some mild cheddar on top to serve.  Adding sharp cheddar, crunched up cooked bacon, or onions or chives on top would be pretty tasty, too.  The potato soup was very rich, but really really good.  My biggest shortcoming?  I needed more salt for sure.  And I think I made too much.

Bon appetit!

2010: A Year in Pictures

I make no claims that these photos are any good, but I thought it would be fun to post a year in pictures for LaVergne.  Here’s 2010 in retrospect… enjoy!

January

I’ll throw in a “jump” here… click if you want to see the rest of the year in pictures.

City Hall Wedding

Congratulations to Tenna and Blake Bryant on their marriage yesterday.  Also congratulations to Mayor Senna Mosley for presiding over her first wedding ceremony.  I hope the newlyweds enjoy a long, beautiful, very happy marriage and that any hardships will be faced together with undiminished love.

The mayor invited the newlyweds to have the small cake reception in her office.

Congratulations again to Blake & Tenna!

Mayor Mosley Sworn-In

Tonight LaVergne has a new Mayor, new Vice Mayor, and new Aldermen.  Instead of hearing from me, I’m going to share the words of a 15-year old resident who updated her Facebook status:

LaVergne is taking a new turn starting tonight! I think ill be proud to call lavergne my home again! (: congrats to everyone! Tonight was ahh-mazing! (:

She summed it up so nicely.  But let’s do a run-down, shall we?   I arrived about 5:20 with my toys for the toy drive and handed them to Alderman Waldron. They had a little table set up and it looks like they collected 10 or 15 toys on behalf of the Christmas program.  Kudos to the police department and Mr. Waldron for their efforts.

I’m throwing in a jump here because it’s a long, picture-filled post.

If You’re Going, Take Some Pictures!

If you plan to attend tonight’s Swearing-In Ceremony where our newly elected Mayor and Aldermen take the oath of office, please bring your camera.  I suspect the meeting room at City Hall will be filled to capacity overflowing.   As a result, it may be hard to take photos to share later… if a lot of people bring cameras, then hopefully we’ll get enough reader pictures to share a photo essay.

The LHS Choraliers will be there and a student from LaVergne Middle will lead the pledge.  Also participating is a student each from LaVergne Primary, LaVergne Lake, Roy Waldron, Rock Springs, and Cedar Grove elementary schools.  A little birdie told me we’ll see our men in blue really shine tonight, as well.

While it’s not a gimme until the vote, I’m also excited for Mr. Tom Broeker.  It is expected that he will be elected by the Board to fill the unexpired term of Mayor-to-be Mosley since he was the third highest vote getter on November 2nd.

More photos to come later… I hope!

Clean Up & Trail of Treats Made for BUSY Day

Ay yi yi… what a busy day in LaVergne!  We started this morning at Hurricane Creek Boat Ramp with a clean-up activity. Tons of people showed up, including this old woman with creaking limbs, an out-of-control sciatic nerve, and easily-sunburned skin!  My little group filled up three bags of litter from along Stones River Road.

Photos after the jump…

Drainage Concerns Linger

After talking with some of the residents of Madison Square subdivision earlier today, they remain concerned about drainage problems along Nir Shreibman Blvd. and a would-be creek it crosses.  Okay, so I’m not really sure it’s a creek, but with the standing water remaining in it I’m taking a wild guess that it might be.

Yet, there are concerns.  First, according to the homeowner only one of these pipes is completely connected.  The drainage pipe on the left hand side is “off” somehow (left when you’re standing on top of it looking down… or right in this photo).

I’m including these next two photos to show how high the water was… see the debris in the tree?  (You can click on the photos to embiggen….)  And the log was seen floating down the street during the actual days of flood.

Again, you can see the debris in the tree.

This drainage ditch is one of the biggest worries.  Before the flooding, it was much deeper (at least as deep on the right as it now is on the left).  But when the road was repaired, the gravel was added and now … well you can see there would be no containment of water on the right hand side if a heavy rain comes again.

More after the jump… go ahead and click… see what else we have!

Don’t Swim in Brown Water

Not that anyone HERE would do that, but for the sake of staying healthy please do not.  And remember, tetanus shots are our friends.  A friend sent these links for us to share about post-flood issues including sanitation, hygiene and health concerns, returning home, repairing your flooded home,  etc.

CDC Tips on Staying Healthy

Disaster Assistance.gov

Flood Safety – Preparedness and Checklist

Kimberly Frank was also kind enough to send us some more flood photos she and her husband took on Sunday.  A picture definitely speaks a thousand words, so thank you Kim for sharing.