Greensboro Daily Photo

Z is for Zoë

Zoë Dillard is trained as a theatre teacher. She has a master's degree from UNCG where she taught as a lecturer in the theatre program here before leaving to teach in the K-12 environment in Fairfax County, Virginia.  While Zoë  appreciates music of all genres, she especially loves listening to, teaching, and performing in musical theatre. Some of her former students are establishing successful careers. Recently, Zoë returned to Virginia to watch a former student perform. One of Zoë's special memories was performing as a principal character in Fiddler on the Roof.

Having retired from her position in Virginia, Zoë returned to Greensboro with her family and is working as a substitute teacher. When she is not subbing, she loves attending theatrical events, traveling, singing in her church choir, and learning to cook gourmet food. She is happy to be back in Greensboro and loves all of the events we have access to locally. You can tell from her smile that Zoë is happy, optimistic, and fun to know. We're glad she moved back to Greensboro and hope to see her act and to hear her sing.

Today is ABC Wednesday and for our A-Z Women-of-Greensboro series,  "Z" is for Zoë. This concludes this Round of ABC Wednesday. Interviewing people for our website is one of the most meaningful things we do. We would like to thank everyone who graciously gave of her time to be interviewed and photographed for this A-Z series. We began in July with April Dunovant, and moved through the alphabet with many other great women of Greensboro:  Betty, Caryl, Delight, Elena, Felicia, Gisela, Hope, Isabella, Jane, Katja, Liliana, Mariela, Nikki, Pat, Quaneisha, Renee, Sheila, Toni, Vandy, Yvonne, and Zoë. Thank you, ladies; thank you, readers!

Y is for Yvonne

Yvonne Johnson is a lifelong resident of Greensboro. She was born and educated here, and has dedicated her life to our city and its residents. After graduating from Dudley High School, she attended Bennett College, majoring in psychology and biology. While Yvonne did not consider entering the political arena during college, she attributes her early commitment to social justice to the culture at Bennett College. As a student, Yvonne served on student government and she worked with getting voters registered. She was also part of the Sit-In Movement in the 1960’s. However, it wasn’t until the early 1990’s, at the urging of a friend, that she considered running for political office. Ultimately, she ran for a city council at-large position. With a great love of people and learning, Yvonne decided that even if she lost, she would have a chance to meet more people in Greensboro and it would certainly be a learning experience. Her grassroots campaign was successful and she was the first African American elected to council since the district system was adopted in Greensboro. “Firsts” are nothing new to her family. Her uncle, a Penn State graduate, was the first African American Ph.D. in dairy science in the United States.

In addition to serving all the citizens of Greensboro, as council member and mayor, Yvonne has been running a non-profit for 33 years, One Step Further, Inc. This program mediates, advocates, and helps people with life skills and conflict resolution. Additionally, the organization runs a food pantry, serving over 900 families a month. Helping community and making Greensboro a better place for people of all ethnicities are high priorities for Yvonne. While a Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling from NC A &T contributes to her professionalism, her calm temperament and demeanor contribute to Yvonne’s ability to make people from all walks of life feel comfortable and valued when talking to her.

Some things you might not know about this high-profile woman is that she loves fishing, meditating, traveling, reading, and listening to jazz music. Above all, she cherishes time with family and friends. Family dinners are a priority. Playing bridge and pinochle are much-enjoyed pastimes, and she loves to indulge in getting decals on her fingernails. As for Greensboro, Yvonne loves the diversity- approximately 110 ethnic groups- and working with the diverse groups in our city. She loves all of the events the local institutions of higher education bring to Greensboro. She enjoys attending sporting events and tournaments. She loves our parks and feels enormously blessed to live here. She looks forward to watching Greensboro continue to grow. One of her hopes is that we will become the best job training center in the US and that we will be continue to grow in a multi-faceted way so that, from education to arts to sports and more, there is something for everybody.

Yvonne Johnson does so much for Greensboro, she was the obvious choice for our A-Z Local (Women) Series. Today is ABC Wednesday and “Y” is for Yvonne Johnson.

W is for the Women of Greensboro

Today's photo features women walking to the starting block of the "Running of the Balls." As they walked down Greenway, we were struck by how many women and children participated. Yes, there were many men, too, but the event was such a family -friendly one, we saw many women and children. All walked for a very good cause as tons of cans of food and money have been raised to help combat hunger in Greensboro. The morning after the "Running of the Balls," a man at the collection site at the corner of Rolling Road and Greenway said that they had already loaded 660 pounds of food from that one collection bin that morning. How wonderful for a neighborhood to band together to help the hungry.

Today is ABC Wednesday. As many of you know, this A-Z Round, we're featuring "Women of Greensboro". Unfortunately, all of the women we know whose names start with "W"  are either out of town or we don't have contact information for them. For example, Wendy Levine is a Greensboro woman who has left wonderful comments on GDP over the years. However, we have never met her and didn't have her contact information. We hope you aren't too disappointed for us to say that today is ABC Wednesday and "W" is for the walking, working, wonderful women of Greensboro. And, as for the men, we do hope to attempt an A-Z men of Greensboro. Happy Wednesday, dear readers, regardless of where your name falls in the alphabet!

V is for Vandy

Vandy Chhum's smile says it all. She approaches life joyfully and with optimism. Her name is a Khmer/Cambodian name given to her by her father. Vandy's road to Greensboro was a long one. Her family left Cambodia, spent time in a refugee camp in Thailand and moved to the United States in 1985. They moved from New York to Greensboro to Chicago and to Long Beach, always in pursuit of community and family. Cambodian families in the United States are a close community, as is Vandy's own family. When in Long Beach, she asked her her father for permission to return to Greensboro to attend high school and to live with her sister. Vandy not only graduated from high school, she attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, majoring in social work. 

While at UNCG, she interned with Communities in Schools, a national drop-out prevention program. She continued working for them after graduation and has been there for eleven years. With her youthful look, it is hard to believe that Vandy has been in the workforce for over a decade and that she is happily married with two lovely children. Vandy remins close to her family and is extremely proud to have been born into the Chhum family.

In the above photo, Vandy is photographed at the Sedgefield Country Club where she was attending brunch with Delta Kappa Gamma, a society for women educators. Vandy is also very involved with the Piedmont Interfaith Council, where she works hard to bridge faith groups, cultures, and people of all ages.

Vandy loves Greensboro so much, she selected it as her permanent home over fifteen years ago. She loves the people, the trees, the greenery, and the sense of community. Greensboro gives her a sense of belonging and is the one place she says she can truly call home. We are so grateful that Vandy is here and for all she does for our community. Today is ABC Wednesday and V is for Vandy. See our other A-Z People entries, here,

U is for Unnamed

The above photo of the Alumni House on College Avenue at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Last night was the 2015 Annual Luminary Dedication Ceremony, taking place at the Vacc Bell Tower and along the area around College Avenue, and spreading through campus. Over 1,000 luminaries were lit, as they have been since 1969. The luminaries are always lit on Reading Day, a day after the last day of classes.  It is a day of rest and reading before exams.

Meanwhile, in the Alumni House above, Chancellor Gilliam was holding his first Holiday Open House in the Virginia Dare Room. Indeed, the holiday season is upon us, not only on UNCG's campus, but also throughout our city. For this ABC Wednesday Round, in which we are featuring A-Z Local People, nobody with the name Uliana or Ursula or Udele stepped forward for an interview, so we're dedicating "U" to all of the unnamed people enjoying themselves, in the above photo, and throughout Greensboro.

 

T is for Toni

Toni Knight arrived in Greensboro as a student at UNCG in the 1960's and has remained here doing good things for the community for over fifty years. She majored in social studies, taught for about 8 years, and returned to the University for a master's degree in counseling. Toni was so well liked by the faculty and staff at UNCG that she was asked to lead the advising center for the Pedagogical Studies Department. While her position evolved over time, she spent a career giving students sound advice about classes, details about their respective majors, and even some sage advice about career choices. 

One of Toni's many good deeds along the way was the starting of a group she called Tomorrow's Place. It is a support group for women to sit and talk about life, whether it be working through problems, adjusting to life changes, dreaming about the future, or just discussing the present moment. For the first year, in the mid 1980's, the group met over soup at Toni's house. This was a time when the women's movement hadn't really started and there weren't many options for organized support for women. Today, the group meets at the First Lutheran Church of Greensboro and the format is a brown-bag lunch. Tomorrow's Place continues to help women celebrate the good times and endure the difficult ones. Three original members still actively participate. Tomorrow's Place doesn't have a website and mostly gets new members through word-of-mouth. The group has also formed a book club and pot-luck supper club. These women love being there for each other.

For the last five years, Toni has worked part-time for East Lawn Elementary School in Burlington. She is the volunteer and community coordinator, working for one of her former Teaching Fellows, whom she advised while he attended UNCG. She is also involved in Eldercare and is committed to helping her 90-year-old mother continue to live at home. Together, she and her husband, Tom Smith have three children and seven grandchildren- the joy of their lives. 

Today is ABC Wednesday and for our A-Z People Series, "T" is for Toni. However, if we had to pick a letter of the alphabet to represent Toni, it would be "C," for "caring" as she is such a caring person. With respect to what Toni likes about Greensboro, she loves how beautiful the city is and the fact that even the poorest neighborhoods are clean and litter free. We are so lucky she has made Greensboro her home.

 

S is for Sheila

Sheila Groves, originally from Lenoir, NC, came to Greensboro on a Broyhill Scholarship in the 1970's. Fortunately for Greensboro, Sheila stayed put. She majored in early childhood development at UNCG and dedicated her professional career to teaching in the public schools.  First, Sheila taught Kindergarten, many years at Sedalia, Millis Road, and Pilot Elementary Schools. Upon retiring from the Guilford County Schools, she became an instructor at UNCG. 

Now, in retirement, it seems as if she is busier than ever. She is member of Delta Kappa Gamma, an international society of women educators. She is a member of Greensboro's Beta Delta Chapter, where she served as president. Now, she is the president of the state chapter, Eta State. In the above photo, Sheila is seen at a working dinner for the organization, held at the Lone Star Steak House on High Point Road. Sheila always has a warm smile on her face, even when she is in the throes of a mountain of paperwork. As you can see, she is in her element when doing things for others. She loves working with this organization of like minded women who are so committed scholarship and to making a difference in the realm of public education- here and abroad.

While in college at UNCG, Shelia made many lifelong friends and, every year since graduation, the same weekend in May, a group of eleven dorm friends travels to the beach for a weekend together. They come from different cities throughout the United States with very different careers, however, they are united by the strong bond they built while in Greensboro and at UNCG. When not traveling with family, friends, or Delta Kappa Gamma, Sheila docents elementary school groups for the Greensboro Historical Museum.

Most people don't know that Sheila used to live in a warehouse downtown, on Davie Street, in the 1980's, way before gentrification, before Greensboro's downtown buildings were renovated, and before Davie Street burned. Sheila loves the fact that there are so many opportunities to volunteer in Greensboro and that she has met many great people in Greensboro as a result of her volunteering.

Today is ABC Wednesday and "S" is for Sheila Groves, who is part of our A-Z Local (Women) series. To see the other ABC Wednesday entries for "S," around the world, go here.

 

R is for Renee

 

Today’s ABC Wednesday featured person is Renee Swink, who is peeking out from behind a piece of her art. We first met Renee at Artstock 2015 in October where she was showing her paintings at the Steinberger Artists Center at 712 Summit Avenue. Renee’s art caught our attention because it was colorful and playful. She loves painting animals and slice-of-life scenes, and not always on canvas! She especially enjoys painting chickens and cows and putting a touch of magic realism into her paintings. Renee is a student of Denise Landi, at the Sternberger Collaborative. 

Renee grew up in Ohio but moved to Greensboro over forty years ago with her husband, Greensboro native and author, Tim Swink. She met Tim, the love of her life, when he handed her a flower as she walked past him in Myrtle Beach. Renee and Tim enjoy quiet evenings at home, cooking, and entertaining friends. Renee loves Greensboro and describes it as a city, carved out of a forest. (What a great, and accurate, image)! She finds the location ideal, perfectly situated between the mountains and the coast.

For the past 23 years, Renee has been the house manager for philanthropist and businessman Mike Weaver and his wife Katherine. The Weavers call Renee their fairy godmother. She magically makes things happen at home so that the Weavers can spend even more time doing great things for our community.

Today is ABC Wednesday and “R” is for Renee. See our previous features for the A-Z Women of Greensboro, here. Since today is ABC Wednesday, we'll feature our Veterans Day post tomorrow. Hope you stop back!

 

Q is for Quaneisha

Quaneisha Payne is an inspirational young woman from Greensboro. Her great smile, as seen above, is one of the first things you notice about her. It reflects her positive outlook on life. Quaneisha has been a lifelong member of Warnersville, Greensboro's historical, African American community just south of downtown. She helped start the first community garden and farmers’ market in Warnersville. Quaneisha has great leadership skills and loves to initiate projects and see them to completion. Although she is not yet 20 years old, she has already been involved in many groups in Greensboro. The Smart Girls Leadership Academy and the The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) are two organizations where she has logged countless service hours. She is also an advocate for adolescent health.

Quaneisha is a graduate of the Middle College of UNCG in Greensboro and now attends Johnson C. Smith University, where she is studying political science. In October, she accompanied a group from her university to Washington D.C. on the Million Man March. She was proud to be part of a movement committed to the common good and to bringing about change.

About Greensboro, Quaneisha loves the way our city is growing and developing. She loves that the town has a rich history and cultural diversity. Quaneisha reminds us that we have the arts, historical museums, beautiful scenery, and many institutions of higher education. What she misses, while away at college, is being able to participate in annual events such as: the fair, the NCA&T homecoming, the ACC sporting events at the Coliseum, and food from Beef Burger and Stamey's Barbecue. Quaneisha, next time you are in town, we’ll treat you to a meal at Beef Burger or Stamey’s. Your choice! Today is ABC Wednesday and for our A-Z local people series, “Q” is for Quaneisha.

 

 

 

P is for Pat

 

Pat Bailey is a playful, people person who perseveres at any task she undertakes.  As you can probably sense from the above photo (Pat is the person on the right), she has an effervescence that exudes a joy for life, and a smile that is contagious.  A helper by nature, Pat loves working with people and has done that throughout her life as a teacher, as Director of Disability Services at UNCG, and following her retirement as Co-Director of Healing Ground with Dee Irwin (see link to Healing Ground under D is for Delight).  Her sincerity, the depth of her convictions and her integrity make her a committed advocate for those who are marginalized, for peace and justice, and for environmental concerns.  While she volunteers her time through committees and hands on activities, she also loves raising money by biking and has raised funds for many organizations.  She is currently gathering information for biking the Underground Railroad, following the route slaves took from Guilford County north to New York and Canada.

The above photo was taken when Pat rode in a fundraiser with her sister (on the left) and a friend (in the middle). Pat has been in the Greensboro area for over 25 years and loves that she can be outdoors most of the year. She feels that the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department does a fabulous job of encouraging folks to get out and enjoy nature. She also loves the range of cultural activities that are available and is proud that Greensboro is hosting the International Folk Festival for three years.

Today is ABC Wednesday and "P" is for Pat. See our other featured A-Z women of Greensboro, here.

N is for Nikki

Nikki Dale-Oaster's smile is as genuine as they come. She is an energetic and positive person whose passions are exercise, being outdoors, healthful living and spending time with loved ones- including her beloved rescued dogs and cats. Born and raised in Guilford County, Nikki graduated from Andrews High School and earned a B.A. in Communications at UNCG. She worked several years in food services. You may recognize her from Hamm's Restaurant on Friendly Avenue, Bert's Seafood, Southern Lights, or her own catering service Hogan's Groovy Gourmet in Lindley Park. Nikki owned and operated the catering service for ten years before selling it and getting certified as a yoga instructor. Today, she works full-time teaching yoga and loves the fact that the age range of her clients is from 3 to almost 90 years young. She is very good at helping clients work at their level appropriate and has one patient who is off of 75% of his medicines through a personal exercise program which includes yoga. 

When Nikki isn't teaching yoga, you will likely find her out bicycling or snow skiing, depending on the weather. Nikki can count on one hand the number of weeks she has missed exercising in her life: Five. First, it is impressive that she exercises so regularly and diligently. Second, it is impressive that exercising matters so much to her that she keeps count if she misses a week. Nikki is also a part-time bookkeeper at Penland Frames on West Market Street and she volunteers every chance she gets for organizations like Urban Ministries when they serve holiday meals for Greensboro's homeless community.

While we didn't meet her husband, he sounds as nice as Nikki. They met when she was catering his brother's wedding at Blandwood Mansion. He was wearing a tux, yet helped Nikki carry out the trash in the pouring rain. Now that's a southern gentleman and such a super, sweet story. We hope to get over to his business (Southern Safes and Vaults) to meet him soon.

Today is ABC Wednesday and for our ABC People Series, "N" is for Nikki. We couldn't resist asking her to show us a few yoga poses when we interviewed her on Sunday. Below, you see her kicking up against a tree into her favorite pose Adho Muhka Vrkasana, which means upside down tree in Sanskrit. Namaste Nikki! She even smiles when upside down!

M is for Mariela

When you are with Mariela Pérez-Simons, she exudes happiness, joy, and love- of nature, humanity, and life! Mariela will lead you to believe that life is total bliss and problem free. However, life has not always been easy for Mariela. She came to Greensboro in 1995 as a political refugee from Cuba. Her family was the first to be sponsored as political refugees by Lutheran Family Services from Cuba to Greensboro. The departure from Cuba was harrowing. Her family sold everything to have the cash to take the flight from Cuba to Miami. They sneaked through the streets of Havana to the airport in the night as many Cubans were being detained and their exits denied. Had this happened, Mariela's family would have been left with literally nothing. Fortunately, they arrived in Miami, incident free. The Miami portion of the journey was no problem as so many people in Florida speak Spanish. However, for the connecting flight to Greensboro, they were told nobody spoke Spanish and were given a New York City phone number to call if they arrived in Greensboro with nobody to translate. They were terrified that they would be alone and had they no idea how to make a phone call in the United States (especially in the pre-cell phone era). They were especially worried because they couldn't even find Greensboro on the map. They anticipated having to sleep in the streets and were a bundle of nerves. To their great joy, they were greeted at the Greensboro airport with a party of 50 people holding signs and welcoming them with open arms. That was their introduction to Greensboro. Because of the great people in our community, they have never left.

While many people tried to convince Mariela to relocate to Florida, she says that the palm trees don't speak to her the way Greensboro's trees do. She loves the nature here and stays outdoors as much as possible. She is constantly walking the nature trails and greenways and, 20 years later, continues to find new trails. Her business, "Live Your Bliss,", incorporate all of her talents, from photography to public speaking to freelance writing to bringing people together to connect in a deep way. The human connection  is so important to Mariela and she is introducing her 9-year-old daughter to this concept. She and her daughter have a project where they collect smiles from people. They try to get strangers to smile and when they to, they draw a small picture to add to their wall of smiles (see photo below). The happiness of others brings happiness to her. We are so lucky to have Mariela in our community. Today is ABC Wednesday and "M"  is for Mariela.

For the other people in this A-Z Local People series, see, here.

L is for Liliana

Liliana Jordanov is the World Languages and Global Education Coordinator for Guilford County Schools. She has been in Greensboro since 2000 when she moved from her native Argentina to teach Spanish and ESL at Smith High School. In 2002, Liliana unexpectedly  became a widow. She attributes the warmth and support of the Smith High community during that tough moment as playing a huge role in her decision to make NC my permanent home. Now that Liliana works in the Central Office at the Guilford County Schools, she is also involved with projects related to global education and cultural awareness.

Liliana has two lovely, adult daughters who are also involved in education. Soledad is in nursing education at Novant Health and Micaela teaches fourth grade in a developmental bilingual program in Winston-Salem. Liliana loves spending time with her daughters and, together, they love to dance. She hopes to find a local group where she can learn Argentine tango. Her childhood home in Buenos Aires was surrounded by great tango dancers and her home was also only five blocks away from Pope Francis’ childhood home!

Liliana's dad was from Bulgaria and her mom from Entre Ríos, one of the provinces in Argentina. Both left home and met in Buenos Aires, where they married and raised their family. Liliana has a feeling that her family's story is the origin of her love of languages and cultures and her capacity to blur the borders of differences. Liliana loves the warmth of the people of Greensboro as well as the city's diversity. As for us, we are so lucky that she decided to stay. She is a great resident and a hard worker for the public schools. As seen in the above photo, she has such a warm smile. Also evident above, is her grand Barbie collection from around the world! Today is ABC Wednesday and "L" is for Liliana! (See A-K Local people here).

 

K is for Katja

If we ever need someone to fill in for us at Greensboro Daily Photo, we know who to call, Katja Brown. She attends so many community events that our paths and Facebook postings cross frequently. In addition to visual and performing arts events, Katja takes a special interest in social justice and world peace. Through serving on the boards of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro and the Piedmont Interfaith Council, she volunteers regularly, promoting the understanding and appreciation of cultural and religious differences. Katja was born and raised in a tight-knit community of 500 people in a village near Frankfurt, Germany. It was a community where people knew each other's names and cared for each other. She has found that same sense of community in the UU Church of Greensboro.

Katja and her husband have two high school children who attend a charter school and are also very engaged in community activities. In addition to church and family activities, Katja is involved in the German language club of Greensboro. She loves the luxury of time, afforded by not having to work outside the home. She savors having time to take food to friends who are not feeling well and cooking the recipes she learned in cooking school in Italy this past summer.

The above photo was taken on Battleground Avenue at the big oak tree in the same complex as Earth Fare. Katja's grandfather's name was "Baum" or "tree" and so her connection to trees runs deep. She had just finished a session of core fitness training and had hardly caught her breath. We are grateful to have caught up with her; and, more importantly, we are grateful to know her. 

Her favorite quote is from Einstein: "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." We don't agree with the former statement, but the latter is definitely true. Katja loves hearing new ideas, learning new things, and taking time to appreciate nature's beauty- especially on Greensboro's public trails with her trusty dog Apollo. When asked what she loves about Greensboro, her response was, "what's NOT to love about Greensboro? With all of the universities and colleges in the area, there is so much to do." And indeed, Katja is a do-er, of good, kindhearted things. Today is ABC Wednesday and, for our A-Z People Series, K is for Katja- a dear friend to Greensboro Daily Photo.

 

J is for Janis & Jane

Janis and Jane are great friends and have a lot in common. They are both from West Virginia and both came to Greensboro to teach language methodology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Both love teaching languages and helping future teachers learn to teach languages. Jane retired in 1996 and Janis teaches currently for the Guilford County Schools. They are working on a history of foreign language education in North Carolina and have had a great time interviewing people who have been professionally active in the language community.  In her retirement, Jane has taught at Shepherd Center and likes reading and spending time with friends.

Jane and her family came to Greensboro in 1958, planning to stay for only three years. However, Jane loved her job at UNCG, finding the colleagues to be inviting, helpful, and welcoming. She liked the community so much, she continued to work at the University for 36 years. Janis and her family have been here since 1996 and they also like calling Greensboro home. While Janis and her husband have been the driving force behind Greensboro Daily Photo, Jane works tirelessly behind the scenes helping them find people to interview and giving them ideas for posts. When arriving at the letter “J” for this ABC Wednesday series, their feature person cancelled. So, at the last minute, laughing, Janis and Jane realized that the die was cast and the camera lens was turned on them. So, today is ABC Wednesday and “J” is for the doppelgänger duo, Janis and Jane, who hope to continue collaborating, talking about current events, and contributing to this blog for a very long time. 

See the A-K people in this series, here.

I is for Isabella

Isabella is an amazing young lady whose trusty eclectus parrot, Turtlepear, is never far from her side. Turtlepear spends hours watching Isabella play sports with her siblings and neighbors. When Isabella is home, whether studying, painting, doing chores, or simply hanging out, you can bet he is out of the cage with her. Isabella is not only a responsible pet owner, she is a well-rounded person actively engaged in the Greensboro community. She is a great student, athlete, visual artist, and performing artist. This past year, she made her acting debut with the Community Theatre of Greensboro.  One of Isabella's favorite community-oriented projects is Backpack Beginnings, where she volunteers on a regular basis. Each week, over 1,600 Guilford County children take home food from the pantry of Backpack Beginnings. Isabella arrives 30 minutes early and works as needed, including briefing volunteers, and staying to help clean up. 

Thanks to the Spanish Immersion Program in the Guilford County Schools, Isabella is very proficient in Spanish. Last summer, she participated in a mission trip to Guatemala. She and four other American students visited five Guatemalan schools and made presentations (in Spanish), sharing information about the United States, North Carolina, Greensboro and life in general for American teens. When asked how she plans to spend next summer, Isabella smiled and said she hopes to finish the novel she is writing. She has completed two chapters and already has an editor. Since she is an artist, Isabella plans to illustrate the book herself. Maybe she will write a Spanish version as well!

Today is ABC Wednesday and "I" is for Isabella, and Turtlepear approves of this interview! See the A-H interviews in this series, here.

H is for Hope

Hope M. Gruber, MD has practiced dermatology in Greensboro for twenty-eight years and has loved every minute of it. Within a few minutes of conversing with her, it is clear that she is a caring, dedicated professional.  She loves the interaction with her patients and tries to make a personal connection with each of them. 

In her spare time, Dr. Gruber loves trying Greensboro's ethnic restaurants as well as attending as many theatrical productions as possible. She is a season ticket holder to Triad Stage, Community Theatre of Greensboro, and the UNCG Theatre. While she is a big supporter of the performing arts, her face lights up when she mentions all of the wonderful people who are part of her theatre groups. She has a different circle of friends for each venue, bringing even more wonderful people into her life. Another favorite pastime is ballroom dancing. She speaks highly of the Fred Astaire Studio, where initially, she went just to learn to swing dance, but ended up staying and branching out into many areas of dance. She especially enjoys dancing salsa.

When asked what she loves about Greensboro and how she decided to live here, Dr. Gruber said that it was a nice Southern community with a diverse mixture of people. She noticed that Greensboro has a thriving, vibrant, and well-respected Jewish community. Throughout the years, she has made deep and lasting friendships through Temple Emanuel, Bnai Shalom and the American Hebrew Academy. Now that her two sons are grown, she spends more time attending community fundraisers, especially those spearheaded by friends. She is thankful for all of the diverse, positive, and upbeat people in her life and is very happy about her decision to live in Greensboro. Today is ABC Wednesday and, for our A-Z People Series, "H" is for Hope.

G is for Gisela

Gisela Hood is another fine example of the great people we have in the Greensboro area. Gisela, originally from Germany, has lived and raised a family in the Greensboro area for decades. A few years ago, she retired from the Guilford County Schools as a German teacher and world language consultant. Gisela was instrumental in developing and teaching German classes via closed circuit TV, allowing students across the district to continue with their German studies. While she is technically retired, she is busier than ever these days. Volunteerism, philanthropy, staying fit, traveling, and freelancing as a translator fill her days with meaningful activities. 

One of Gisela's passions is honoring veterans, especially those who live locally. She is Executive Director of the Board that oversees the Carolina Field of Honor at Triad Park. Between her husband, his family, and their two children (both West Point graduates), her family has contributed over 100 years of service to the U.S. military. In her spare time, Gisela loves traveling with her husband. This past year, they visited Bhutan and, ever the teacher, when Gisela heard school children singing, she went to the school to learn more about the education system and to find out ways she might help. Gisela feels so fortunate to be living the American dream that she spends as much time as possible being civically involved and giving back to the community.  She also makes time for running, Pilates and yoga, and hiking. Her daughter, who is still in the U.S. military, recently took Gisela on a 12 hour hike. The above photo of Gisela, with a warm smile and surrounded by the great outdoors, captures her spirit beautifully.

When asked what she likes about Greensboro, here was her reply. "Greensboro has been very good to our family, the schools provided excellent education for our children, the community is very caring and giving and has wonderful organizations such as Rotary International, JDRF, Goodwill and United Way, all institutions we are involved in to make Greensboro a better place. Greensboro provides unique job opportunities with international companies such as Honda Jet. Overall, it is the right size place with many opportunities to raise a family, and NO traffic - most of the time."

Today is ABC Wednesday, and for our 2015 A-Z People Series, "G" is for Gisela. 

Gisela in Bhutan-

F is for Felicia

Felicia Brown is a massage therapist who loves helping others. For over two decades, she has worked in the massage and spa industry. Through diligent professionalism, she has not only increased her career's visibility, but elevated Greensboro's perception of the field. Above, she is photographed at A to Zen Massage Center, located at 523 State Street. Felicia has owned A to Zen for nine years. You may recognize her from Balance Day Spa, a business she opened and managed until she sold it in 2005. Felicia established A to Zen partly to continue massage therapy with her loyal following of clients, some of whom have been with her since the mid-1990's.

Felicia's first experience with the healing arts came in the 5th grade at the Greensboro Day School as her teacher was also credentialed in yoga and massage. The teacher offered an elective in relaxation therapy. In middle school, Felicia took the class, where they practiced yoga and learned about concepts like reflexology and massage. It is always wonderful when teachers open doors for students, especially in helping them establish careers! Over the years, Felicia has grown into quite an entrepreneur of the healing arts. She is also a business and marketing coach and educator. She is known for turning around troubled spas. She shares her expertise at conferences as far away as Poland. 

In her "spare" time, Felicia writes for her three blogs; promotes her books; trains as a triathlete; and spends time with her husband and beloved pets. One of her books, The Sunflower Princess, is a healing fairy tale that helps people of all ages manage grief and despair from the loss of loved ones. Those who spend time with Felicia realize her well of compassion, love, and empathy runs deep. 

To learn more about Felicia, start with her website, here.   Today is ABC Wednesday, for our A-Z Local People, "F" is for Felicia at, A-Zen! 

E is for Elena

Elena Wong is an extremely creative, dynamic, and passionate young professional. Having graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this summer, Elena is enjoying time in Greensboro with family and friends before heading to California to begin her career at Huron Consulting Group. Elena graduated with an undergraduate degree in psychology combined with a focus on business.  Already fluent in Spanish and English, she studied three semesters of Mandarin.  She is well-rounded, involved, and loves working to make things better. While at UNC, Elena not only served as a resident advisor, she designed and implemented a training program for her fellow advisors. She is passionate about helping leaders lead, a skill she honed during her internship at Greensboro's Center for Creative Leadership. While at UNC, Elena was captain of the women's ultimate (frisbee) club team and also played on the men's team. She spent the final semester of her senior year on a study abroad exchange at the National University of Singapore. Fortunately, she was able to practice with their ultimate club team.

Elena firmly believes students should pursue a career and find extracurricular activities they are passionate about.  By the time she graduated, she had amassed over 500 hours of community service. She ascribes to the notion that if you love what you do, you'll never feel like you worked a day in your life. 

When asked what she likes about Greensboro, exuding enthusiasm, Elena shared many positive aspects of our city. She loves seeing so many people out taking advantage of Greensboro's parks and trails; the easy access to nature; the running and biking groups; the not-too-hectic pace of life; the fact that Greensboro is a clean city; the diversity of the people here; the access to healthy food- especially at the farmers' markets; all the great branches of the YMCA; and the fact that our community is centrally located- between the ocean and mountains and less than an hour away from her alma mater, UNC. When asked how she is spending time before starting work, Elena told us that she is training for a half-marathon. Not inclined to choose the easy or orthodox way of doing things, Elena is going to celebrate her first week of work in California by running in the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco. We will be cheering her on and are confident Elena will finish with flying colors. Maybe we can find her an "I love Greensboro" t-shirt to wear for when she crosses the finish line!

Today is ABC Wednesday and "E" is for Elena. We wish her well in California and hope she comes back to visit often. Greensboro can be so proud of her!  (See A-D in our 2015 People series, here).

D is for Delight

Delight M. Irwin, named after her mother's friend, comes by her name honestly. Indeed, spending time with her is delightful. Born in California and raised in rural Wisconsin, Delight came to Greensboro as an assistant professor at UNCG in 1978- thinking she would stay a mere 5-7 years. Thirty-seven years later, she is still here. Delight fell in love with Greensboro's sense of community service; noticing many organizations and people doing good things for one another, the community, and the world. She also likes having five institutions of higher education in the area and all of the activities, classes, and events they offer.

Always a person of great spirituality, Delight (also known as Dee) retired from academia and established Healing Ground, a spiritual retreat in Summerfield.  In 2000, after her own bout with cancer, Dee opened the property to others in need of a place for quiet time and healing. Some visitors come with their own programs and leaders; others rely on Dee to guide them on their spiritual journey. She is known as a deep listener, helping people find answers within themselves. Dee has started scaling back on organized commitments. Recently, she retired from her position as Dean of the Servant Leadership School at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. She has also retired from ten years of co-leading spiritual pilgrimages, to Iona, Chartres, the Pacific Northwest, and beyond. Having followed in the footsteps of Mary Magdalene, made Celtic spirit pilgrimages, and taken many other sacred journeys, Dee is spending more time with friends and loved ones, nurturing the beauty around her. As seen in the above photo, she is surrounded by beauty.

Today is ABC Wednesday and for our A-Z People of Greensboro series, "D" is for Delight! Below, a page from Dee's birthday book provides additional insight into the special person featured today. If interested, see Healing Ground's website, here. While today's post features Dee, it should be made clear that Healing Ground is co-owned and has always been a joint venture with the equally-delightful Pat Bailey! We hope to feature Pat on GDP soon.

 

 

C is for Caryl

Caryl Cheeseman is President of Caryl's Pool & Spa. In the above photo, she is featured with husband and CEO, David Cheeseman. They, along with their staff, work tirelessly to see that Greensboro's pools and spas have sparkling water and balanced chemicals. When you frequent their shop, located at 2616 Lawndale Drive, you realize quickly that Caryl and her staff are helpful, service oriented and friendly. Caryl has worked in the pool and spa business in Greensboro for 38 years. If she looks familiar and you don't have a pool, you may recognize her from her Christmas store. For many years, the pool shop transformed into a Christmas store during the winter months.

When asked what she likes about living here, Caryl told us the story about her first impressions of  Greensboro. She was in a small plane one Thanksgiving, about 40 years ago, en route to Williamsburg, Virginia. Due to bad weather, they had to divert and land in Greensboro. While here, they took a taxi downtown and Caryl commented that she would love living in Greensboro. It would be a great place to raise children, having a small town feel with big city amenities. Little did she realize, the very next year, she and her family would relocate here. She went from moving almost every year- for business reasons, to staying in Greensboro permanently. Caryl says, no matter where she vacations or travels, she always loves coming home to Greensboro. It is so clean and beautiful. She loves the city, her job, and all the friends she has made here. Caryl also enjoys spending time with her family and knitting.

Today is ABC Wednesday, and for our ABC People Series, "C" is for "Caryl." Lucky for Greensboro, she landed here! 

B is for Betty

A post featuring Betty Cone is long overdue on Greensboro Daily Photo. In Downtown Greensboro, Betty Cone's name is synonymous with leadership, community involvement, and volunteerism, especially in the arts. She is known for her ability to take ideas from concept to completion, managing everything from finding sponsors to venues to volunteers. She is in her element when giant community events, like the Eastern Music Festival, Fun Fourth, and the Festival of Lights, are teeming with people from all walks of life. Inclusivity is important to Betty and something she finds appealing about Greensboro. Betty will see to it that anyone who wants to volunteer  has an opportunity to do so, and she has always been impressed with the high level of volunteerism within the Greensboro community. 

We caught up with Betty one day last week, in front of her beloved Carolina Theatre. She spearheaded the raising of more than half a million dollars to restore the Carolina Theatre. This vibrant theatre, built in 1927, is North Carolina's only remaining historic theater. Today, it is a thriving venue that attracts over 90,000 visitors annually.

While many associate Betty with the arts, not many know that professionally, she was a scientist; a math major in college and a computer programmer for Lockheed-Georgia Aircraft Company, back in the 1960's when few corporations had even one computer. In a nutshell, Betty Cone can do it all; however, lucky for us, she chooses to bring community events to Downtown Greensboro. Today is ABC Wednesday  and for our A-Z People 2015 Series, "B" is for "Betty," the indefatigable Betty Cone.

A is for April

April Dunovant is a fabulous social studies teacher for the Guilford County Schools. In the above photo, she is in her classroom, at the Middle College at UNC Greensboro, on the day she taught the Roaring 20's in U.S. History. She brings the decades and events alive, not only by what she says and what she has the students doing, but also in the props. For the Roaring 20's lesson, students could only enter if they knew the special knock and said the password- as if the classroom were a Speakeasy. Students love learning history and civics from Ms. Dunovant. With the use of cooperative activities and engaging protocols, students learn civic rights and responsibilities and history in a way they will remember for a lifetime.

Ms. Dunovant's father was in the military and he taught her to be trustworthy, hardworking, organized, and so much more. Those qualities shine through in her classroom. Were he alive, he would beaming with pride to see how much students learn from her. He would also like the fact that they clean up after themselves, push their chairs in, and leave the classroom in good order at the end of each lesson. Her mom, equally influential in her life, always encouraged her, inspired her to go to college and, to this day, remains a driving force in her life. Ms. Dunovant says she knows her mom is always in her corner.

Today initiates a new round of ABC Wednesday. And on GDP, we're not only working through the alphabet, but also featuring a Greensboro resident each week. We're asking what each person likes about Greensboro. Here is what "Ms. D" said, "Greensboro is a melting pot of people and cultures. I enjoy everything about the city and am excited to see it grow even more." Today is ABC Wednesday, Round 17,  and we start the series with "A" is for "April" who is an A+ in our books!