“I started reading every book, every magazine, going to wedding events—I just tried to learn as much as I could.”

“I have always wanted Sycamore Grove to be that welcoming place where someone feels comfortable to come in, talk, and get away from other things for a little while.”

“I wanted to get involved in something and be hands-off, so I started looking at franchises,” Chad says. “My brother-in-law said, ‘You ought to look at this company, Mosquito Authority.’”

"A case may not always seem to be a very big deal on the surface, but I have to stay grounded and remember that it is a big deal to the people involved. So, we work to make a positive difference in their lives as best we can.”

“Judge (James) Ray and his wife were both well-known ‘characters’ in town,” Shelley says with a faint grin. “I also heard he had the dining room set up like a lending library and people would come here and check books out.”

Sidney Smallwood and Hunter Davis – Oakman High School

“My dad was an innovator when it came to organic farming and early conservation. He wanted to care for the farm so that the soil would remain productive, not for him, but for the generations to come.”

“I have always been into [dentistry,” she says. “Every time I went to the dentist, I was asking questions and looking at everything.”

“I think God has guided me through a lot to give me these opportunities,” Nick explains. “There are some things I had to experience in my childhood to get me here.”

[Michael] recalls sitting at the dinner table at an early age, listening to his parents and grandparents discuss concerns and problems in the community. It was then that he decided he wanted to run for office one day and hopefully find solutions to those problems.

“The idea was to have a gift shop-type business catered more to the people who care for plants as a hobby as opposed to professionally, but also a place for people to gather and enjoy each other’s presence, and that became The Plantique,”

“The neurosurgeon told my family that he would do what he could…people with that kind of injury don’t usually make it to the hospital.”

“Having a really good dad was the main structure in figuring out my life. My dad is basically my best friend. I realized I wanted to do that for other kids who didn’t have that in their life.”

“If Herbert was called to war, he would go right now—he'd walk out of that wheelchair,” says Command Sgt. Major Frye.