On many afternoons in Georgia, when David Mendez and his pupils get to work, it isn’t one but two countries that are represented on the ballfield: the United States and his beloved home of Panama. Like the excitement of late-inning heroics, the melding of those two creates the platform on which a dream continues to be realized. Mendez Baseball Academy is not just a baseball academy. It is a bridge between countries, generations, and hard-earned dreams. And Mendez, the man at the center of it, treasures that journey. Gifted as a left-handed pitcher, he began drawing attention as a teenager....
The Heartbeat of the Band
For more than five decades, Phil Ehart has kept time behind the drum kit for Kansas, the Topeka-born rock band whose songs, including “Carry On Wayward Son,” “Dust in the Wind,” and “Point of No Return,” became the soundtrack of a generation. What most fans never knew is that Ehart’s story off the stage rivals anything the band ever put on vinyl: chance encounters with several of rock music’s most iconic figures, and a lifetime shaped by a military childhood that carried him from Air Force bases in the Philippines to a club in New Orleans. Now, after decades of...
Veteran Victories
After a successful inaugural event in 2025, local organizers are making a 5K dedicated to eliminating veteran homelessness an annual event. The Mighty Hero Homes 5K is one of the events that benefit the McDonough-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that seeks to provide affordable, permanent homes for all U.S. veterans. The organization is planning the first Mighty Hero Homes community construction in Henry County. “Events like this are important for the local community to recognize that this is not just a VA problem or organizational problem,” explains Drew Walston, founder and CEO of Mighty Hero Homes. “We all benefit from our...
Seasoned with Love
The holiday spread on this issue’s cover is what the table looks like every year at Tanya Jaynes Boatwright’s house: turkey ham, dressing, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, black-eyed peas, maple pecan sweet potatoes and collard greens, most of them made from recipes handed down through her family. “I just decorate it a little differently every year,” she says. “But that’s basically it.” Boatwright and her husband, Kevin Boatwright, have run BoJaynes Specialty Foods with their family for more than 15 years, and their shop on Keys Ferry Street in McDonough carries the same feeling. It is part natural...
A Miraculous Place for a Miracle Young Man
Before he was born, 17-year-old Mekhi Floyd faced life-threatening challenges. His mom, Altovise Floyd, became concerned about a month before...
Seasoned with Love
The holiday spread on this issue’s cover is what the table looks like every year at Tanya Jaynes Boatwright’s house:...
Far East Meets South
Sweet Auburn BBQ started with a trailer in Atlanta and continued growing in popularity to now two restaurants, one on...
Personal Investments
In the process of building financial portfolios, where and how we invest our resources is of great importance. If one...
It’s Never too Late to Try Something New
For decades, Amy Iketani toyed with the idea of being a writer. In her early fifties, she decided to go...
Beautiful Legacy – Remembering Greg Horton
Greg Horton was not the type of person to seek the spotlight. Somehow, though, it found him. Not in a...
Dr. Cindy Balsam Builds Confidence First, Then College Plans
Community Christian School’s college prep culture is easy to describe on paper. Students explore multiple post-high school pathways, from four-year...
And the Show Goes On
In McDonough, Georgia, inside an old building many people pass without a second glance, a theater has been quietly teaching...