Living 50 Plus Decatur-Morgan

By Catherine Godbey | Staff Writer On New Year’s Day, Regina Raney, flute in hand, will join several hundred other band directors from across the country to march the 5.5-mile Pasadena Rose Parade in California. “I am very excited that I was selected for the Saluting America’s Band Directors project. It is a reminder of just how far music can

By Catherine Godbey | Living 50 Plus Clad in a long, curly black wig, a pirate’s hat and a hook covering his right hand, Phil Parker stepped onto the Princess Theatre stage as Captain Hook and checked another role off his bucket list. “I’ve been lucky enough that I’ve gotten to play a lot of the roles I’ve had on

By Catherine Godbey | Living 50 Plus Sitting in his grandfather’s rocking chair, surrounded by family photographs and shelves lined with books, Harry Moore thumbed through the pages of his latest poetry collection, “We the People: Confessions of a Caucasian Southerner.” “Writing this book and these poems has been a burden. I needed to write them. They are rooted in

By Catherine Godbey | Living 50 Plus As the faint sound of “Dixie” played on the harmonica drifted through the heavy air of late summer, the Rev. Myron Mooney manned his post behind a wooden table. Beneath a canvas tent, Mooney regaled visitors with tales from the Civil War. He talked of how Confederate bands played “Nearer My God to

By Catherine Godbey | Living 50 Plus Clicks and clacks — the bird-like sounds of tiles clinking against one another — a sound that earned Mahjong, which translates to “Sparrow” its name — provided a sort-of background music as players swapped stories of grandchildren, husbands and upcoming vacations. “We get sidetracked pretty easy ’cause we get to talking,” Patti Puma

By Jean Cole | Living 50 Plus When Char Baxter was only 5 and living in Iowa, her parents bought her a paint set for Christmas. As a creative little girl, she immediately took to it. “I was in heaven,” she remembers. Then she spilled the paints on her parents’ white carpet. Becoming an artist was going to be messy.

By Deborah Storey | Living 50 Plus On paper, Decatur’s Youth Services Department is supposed to address the “economic, social and educational challenges” of the city’s young people. That goal is great, but what really makes it work is a staff with loving hearts and compassion. One of those people is 55-year-old Shannon Shackelford. Shackelford has been at Decatur Youth