Tricia Stearns and I have been friends for over a decade. We first met when I was the interim Community Services Director for Peachtree City, and she was knee deep in developing the Community Garden on Kelly Drive. She had already founded the City’s first Farmers Market, and it was thriving. We were introduced at a meeting at City Hall and I immediately picked up on her infectious energy.
Around the same time, I was planning a “One Read” event for the City. The book I had chosen for the event was The Seed Underground by Janisse Ray. When I thought of ways to cross-pollinate with other organizations, I immediately thought of Tricia. We met for wine and conversation one Friday after work and our friendship was born.
Over the years, we’d meet to catch up on occasion, but it wasn’t always easy. Tricia and her husband finished their lake house atWedowee and were spending more time out there. She was welcoming grandbabies while my husband and I were transporting our kids to and from extracurriculars.
Finally, this past summer we managed to schedule some writing time at her place on Lake Wedowee. I love lakes, but I must admit, I have some trepidation about southern lakes. When my family first moved from Massachusetts to Peachtree City in 1984, Iwasn’t allowed near the lake because, my mother warned, these southern lakes weren’tlike lakes back home – these lakes contained s-s-s-snakes!
The first night at Lake Wedowee we took a sunset cruise on Tricia’s pontoon boat. She took us out to deep water in an area with a glorious view of the sunset and cut the motor. I waited for someone else to get in first to test the water (for snakes!). Tricia led the way, climbing down the ladder and plopping onto a float. “How is it?” I asked.
“It’s warm, come on,” she said, patting the float she had positioned at the bottom of the ladder for me. Down the ladder I went, looking right and left (for snakes!). Once in the float, I kept my feet and arms moving to discourage any snakes. I felt so proud that I’d overcome my fear and was enjoying the experience. I said this aloud several times and as the sun disappeared and darkness settled in, everyone darted for the ladder spooked by my talk of snakes.
The next morning, I accompanied Tricia down to the dock for a morning swim. We brainstormed about projects we were involved with, one of which was Tricia’s newsletter The Pulse. She wanted to take it to the next level. I immediately thought of Ellie White-Stevens of Dirt1x. When I left the lake that Sunday, Tricia reminded me to send her Ellie’s contact info, which I did, and then promptly forgot about the conversation.
Two months later I ran into Ellie at a local soirée. Towards the end of the night, Ellie leaned in, eyes big, and said, “I’m working on something big and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. Soon.”
“Okayyyy…I look forward to hearing about it.” I tried to imagine what she might be talking about, but I came up with nothing.
A month or so later I received an email announcing Tricia and Ellie’s acquisition of The Citizen. Ah ha! This must have been what Ellie was being so cryptic about at the party! It only occurred to me in a series of flashbacks while driving home from work one evening: the conversation at the lake, sharing Ellie’s contact info, Ellie’s new “project” – Hey, I had a hand in this!
I’m not patting myself on the back about this (well, maybe a little), but I marveled at the power of serendipitous connection. Word of mouth means a lot in this community. When someone says, “You know who you should talk to?” – listen.
The lesson here is this: great things come from the planting of seeds, a bit of serendipity, and yes, s-s-s-snakes! Welcome to my brand-new column where I look forward to sharing the latest in books, community happenings, a little bit of Peachtree City history, and anything else that seems germane (maybe even a few snakes!).
Jill Prouty is Library Services Director for the City of Peachtree City where she has worked for over 26 years.
