One of my favorite strolls is down East Fifth Avenue to Broad Street just so I can walk under the bright yellow ginkgo trees at that corner of historic downtown Rome. They always provide a perfect seasonal backdrop to the Rome Fine Wine Festival in the Forrest Ballroom each November as well as other fall events downtown. One of the most beautiful things I’ve witnessed was a gentle swirling wind that had the yellow leaves from those trees raining down like snow nonstop. It was a sight to behold!
Of course, fall also means the Chiaha Harvest Festival and all of the other fabulous local autumn events like the downtown tours as well as the Where Romans Rest tours at Myrtle Hill Cemetery, where history comes to life each October. Look for details on the women featured at this fall’s cemetery tours inside this edition.
Football season and the holidays also provide plenty of fun things to do. It seems like families are out and about more doing all kinds of group activities this time of year. That’s why in addition to celebrating our lives as women, this edition of Magnolia celebrates families.
After all, Greater Rome is such a family friendly place to call home. So you’ll see that theme running through many of our regular features this edition. Like recipes, from Taste of Home that comes to Rome each fall for the Cooking School presented by the Rome News-Tribune, for the whole family to make and enjoy in Bon Appetit and Cheers. Our For the Health of It, Home Sweet Home, Magnolia Moms and 50-Plus & Fabulous sections also celebrate family life.
And as always our main features like Brava, which spotlights the artistic side of Rome City Commissioner Sue Hamler Lee, and our showcase portraits – this time featuring Ann Hortman, Tina Hayes Rush, Melissa Jones, Haley Walker and Tannika King – shine the light on some of the area’s most intriguing women.
And we can’t forget the She Said questions and answers from Magnolia readers, each intriguing in her own right. In this edition you’ll get to read what area women have to say about the worst movies, best childhood memories, their favorite pet names and most memorable pranks and what gives them the creeps to name just some of our She Said topics.
It is our hope that our celebrating as many women as possible each season will serve as a reminder all year long of all of the wonderful women who grace our community in leadership roles, in public service, as creative muses, as half of the workforce, as educators and health care practitioners, as watchdogs and peacekeepers, as volunteers and, of course, as mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, daughters and wives.
Together we all weave together the feminine fabric of our community that keeps it strong and caring.
Charlotte Atkins, Magnolia Editor








