Rome News-Tribune Mister

A glimpse into the lives of the Men of Rome

Summer Grilling:

Outdoorsman Bill Summer (right)

shares his cooking secrets. Page 2

‘Kickin’ it’ with James Schroeder: Kickball brings out

his competitive nature. Page 5

A man among

his beers: Tree expert Martin Cipollini branches

out into brews. Page 6

June 13, 2010

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE FATHER’S DAY GIFT?

Gary Jones II:

“My favorite gift was tickets

to see the Kings of

Leon.”

Fernando Luna: “My best Father’s Day gift was my daughter.”

He said:

Stefano Echanique:

“My 1-year-old gave me a

card with a recording of him saying ‘I

love you, daddy.’”

Josh Donner:

“I enjoy being able to play

basketball with the kids.”

Keith Brownlow: “My favorite gift is a framed photo of my daughters.”

Harrison McKnight:

“My best gift was a

matching watch,

lighter, ink pen and wallet.”

1428 North Broad Street • Rome • 706-291-6500HOURS: WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY 10-6

Our ReclinersAre Ready To Go!

Discover A Great Gift for “The Man” In your Life!

Pictured L-R: Jerry Wheat, Billy Rickman, Howard Scott

2 SUNDAY, June 13, 2010 • Rome News-Tribune

By Doug WalkerAssociate [email protected]

Bill Summer says the se-cret to fine Southern grill-ing is in his fingers. “You’ve got to put a good rub on your butt,” Summer said. “A Boston butt is always good. Baby back ribs are real nice too.”

What makes a good rub?“Paprika, cayenne pep-

per, brown sugar, pepper and salt, but Byron’s is so easy, and it’s pretty darn good,” Summer said. Like the rub, Summer said, anytime you’re grilling meats, the sauce is an im-portant ingredient in the equation. “You start with

Kraft, add a l i t t l e vinegar,

lemon juice, lemon and orange zest, maybe a lit-tle salt water,” he said.

“My father got me into it at a young age,” Summer said. His father, Lloyd Sum-mer, was the CEO of the old National City Bank in Rome. Bill is following his father’s lead by passing his culinary proclivity to his own son Will. Will, who now lives in Raleigh, N.C., got one of the cookers his fa-ther used during the old Ro-man Rib Cook-off competi-tions. It must have been a good cooker because Sum-mer’s team won two first- place titles in the judge’s competition and two first place ribbons in the peo-ple’s choice competition over the years.

He has also judged a number of culinary compe-titions though the years.

A real estate agent for Hardy Realty, Summer is serious about his culinary skills. He cooked 86 Boston butts for the recent Com-

munity Criminal Justice Foun-dation Law En-forcement Ap-preciation Day. “The most I ever cooked was 116,” Sum-mer said.“The butt is a

real forgiving piece of meat. You cook it

long and slow, and it’ll relax, collapse and be a

true thing of beauty,” Summer laughs.

When not working with a butt, or a rib, Summer said he enjoys searing a flat iron steak. “Cook ’em high on each side, and it’s almost like brisket,” he said.

In addition to the red meats, Summer said he en-joys some good pork or chicken on the grill as well. His key to the white meats is a good marinade and cre-ating a little smoke to add flavor. “I love to soak some hickory chunks in water and get a little smoke going; it’s real good for chicken or quail,” Summer said.

Summer is an avid out-doorsman who also enjoys putting some venison back straps on the grill as well. He said the only way to cook deer meat is “very rare.” “If somebody comes up and says they want it well done, I give them $5 and tell them to go to the Burger Doodle and eat in the car,” Summer said.

Summer’s skills on the grill have also been put to use by groups including Trout Unlimited, the Alla-toona Yacht Club and, of course, the folks at Hardy Realty. “I just cooked for Jimmy Byars’ 50th birth-day,” Summer said. He was one of the originators of the hugely successful Trout Unlimited Chili Cook-Off.

The secret’s in thefingers

Bill Summer was one of the founding fathers of the Trout Unlimited Chili Cook-Off and has cooked scores of Boston

butts in this super-sized cooker that a friend in Carrollton actually owns. ON THE COVER: Summer catches fish to grill.

Doug Walker / Rome News-Tribune

Please see SECRET 3

Getting involved a ...no-brainer

By Rod GuajardoStaff Writer [email protected]

Getting involved in the 100 Black Men of Rome was a no-brainer for Greg Shropshire.

“I knew I needed to be part of an organization that was address-ing the issues that I felt were im-portant in the black community,” Shropshire said. “When I went to the first meeting I knew that’s what I wanted to be a part of.”

Shropshire was named vice presi-dent of programs shortly after and continued to climb the organization-al ladder of success, eventually be-coming president, a position the 39-year-old relinquished in January.

Shropshire stepped down from president to become vice president of programs, a role he knows well.

Graduating with his undergraduate degree in African American studies from Morehouse College and his master’s degree in sociology from the University of West Georgia, Shrop-shire said he was seeking an outlet where he could be a part of change for his community after his studies.

During his studies at West Georgia, Shropshire developed several men-toring programs. One program that hit the ground running was Club KMT, which teaches history, spiritu-ality and financial education.

Shropshire said the mentoring aspect of the organization has giv-en him the greatest sense of sat-isfaction.

“I really love the responsibility and the ability to affect our pro-gramming and make sure our pro-grams are meeting the standards of a world-class organization,” Shropshire said, “also making sure the programs that we have are responsive to our children.”

With Shropshire reaching his maximum presidency term limit, Jerome Parks was elected to the president position in January and

said he has some big shoes to fill.“It will be a let down if we did

not keep that same standard that he has set for the organization,” Parks said of Shropshire. “His leg-acy is unmatched right now.”

Parks said even though Shrop-shire has passed the torch, his worth ethic and positive attitude continue to shine.

“He hasn’t really stepped too far down from the presidency yet be-cause he still has that mindset of ‘lets get this going’ and ‘let’s start this,’” Parks said.

Curtis Adams was one of the origi-nal founding members of the 100 Black Men of Rome, which was found-ed in 1994. Serving as president from 1999 until 2004, Adams said Shrop-shire worked closely with him and

showed a great initiative early on. “When I met Greg I had a lot of

influence in his understanding of what the 100 does, but he just took the baton and carried it on and developed,” Adams said. “It’s good to see him grow into his roles. One of the things I have done is tried to encourage him and help him.”

Christopher Johnson was elect-ed vice president to serve with Parks and has been with the orga-nization since August 2009. John-son said his main goal is to con-tinue the positive programs Shropshire has established.

“I don’t think it will be hard, or it’s going to get old. It’s just going to get better,” Johnson said. “We’re just going to take the bar and raise it higher and higher.”

Johnson said he sees Shropshire working hand-in-hand with Parks and himself to continue to move the organization in a positive direction.

“We’re not looking backward, we’re looking forward,” he said. “He’s not behind us; he’s parallel with us, and we are all walking together.”

Shropshire said he will continue creating new educational mentor-ing programs for his community.

With a new administration slowly transitioning into its leadership roles, Shropshire says he is excited for the new thoughts and ideas to improve the organization, while still holding a high standard for excellence.

“The true mark of a great presi-dent is where was the organization when he came in and where was the organization when he left,” Shropshire said. “Did you move or advance the organization forward? If not then that’s clearly a sign of an ineffective president.”

For more information about how to get more involved with the 100 Black Men of Rome, visit www. 100blackmenofrome.org.

File, Lindy Dugger Cordell / Rome News-Tribune

100 BLACK MEN’S VISION100 Black Men of America Inc. seeks to serve as a beacon of leadership by utilizing our diverse talents to create environments where our children are motivated to achieve, and to empower our people to become self-sufficient

shareholders in the economic and social fabric of the communities we serve.

Greg Shropshire says mentoring has given him the greatest sense of satisfaction.

‘I knew I needed to be part of an organization that was addressing the issues that I felt were important in the black community. When I went to the first meeting I knew that’s what I wanted to be a part of.’

Greg Shropshire100 Black Men of Rome vice president

Summer has a friend in Carrollton who has a grill large enough to cook 75 Boston butts at a time. “It’s

a serious grill,” Summer said. “It cost $1,600 10 years ago and would probably sell for $2,500 today.”

Summer owns an assort-ment of smaller cookers, in-cluding uprights. Most take wood or charcoal; he’s not a

fan of the modern gas grills. “Low and slow, that’s the best way to go,” Summer said. It’s not unusual for Summer to have meat on the grill for 16 hours. “You cook the butt at 225 degrees for 16 hours, and then the last

45 minutes you want to crank the heat up to 350 and blast them. It melts the fat out of them, and they relax. If they’re done right they’re going to be falling apart.”

Summer is not afraid to share his secrets, having ap-

peared on the Library Chan-nel’s Southern Exposure with hostess Lisa Smith. He’s trying to figure out how to shoot his next show, which will focus on Brunswick stew. “That’s really a two-day shoot,” Summer said.

SECRET from 2

Rome News-Tribune • SUNDAY, June 13, 2010 3

From staff reports

So what to buy dad for Father’s Day?

Let’s face it, the spe-cial day for dad doesn’t exactly draw the same kind of angst that Moth-er’s Day does. Not that dads are complaining, they just don’t always mind picking out their own presents.

Wes McElroy said pick-ing out a present for his dad, the Rev. Tom McEl-roy, is always a tough task.

“He’ll never says what he wants,” said 14-year-old Wes. “Usually my mom will pick the present.”

Like a lot of dads, McElroy has been known to pick out his own pres-ent. No surprises, and he gets what he wants.

The following are a few gift suggestion based on

helpful hints from AskMen.com:

1. A watch. Your father will remember you every time you check your watch, the website advises.

2. Sporting event tick-ets. If dad is into sports, this is an easy one. Take him to the Rome Braves for the af-ternoon. The Braves are scheduled to play at home on Father’s Day at 2 p.m.

3. Facial care. OK. Dads like to look good, too. There are plenty of reasonable skin care kits that might make dad sparkle.

4. Grooming kit. Chances are, dad has to shave. And if has hair, he wants it to look good. He probably

could use a good set of nail clippers, too.

5. Wine. Moms will have to help on this one. Get dad his favorite bottle of wine. If he doesn’t drink, you can even pick up stuff to make a milkshake.

6. Wallet. Dad might be carry-ing around something made of Velcro. Try

some leather.7. Set of golf

clubs8. Fishing gear9. Swiss Army

knife10. Auto card

manager to hold credit cards, driver’s license etc.

What to buy for ... Dad

SXC.hu


By Nick Godfrey Staff [email protected]

He’s like a fusion of artist, athlete and teacher formed into one competitive soul with a humorous flip side. He stands 6 foot 6 and loves to go head-to-head in any type of competition.

But if there is anything that brings out the compet-itive nature of James Schroeder, it’s kickball.

“Kickball just takes be-ing really competitive to be really good,” he says.

The kickball passion started early in life and has always been something he’s enjoyed doing. He shares this passion with his older brother Bryan.

On the last Sunday of ev-ery month, Schroeder gath-ers up some players, in-cluding his brother, for a game of intense and com-petitive kickball.

He tried playing in a league in Kennesaw for a while but didn’t enjoy it because of what he called a lack of competition.

He explained that the teams were comprised of all the people who never played in school and were trying to come out and play the game now, and long story short, he says he struck somebody out at kickball “and that should never happen.”

“You could put me in any game, and I want all or noth-ing,” he says. “When it’s me playing, I’ve got to win.”

But just because he goes for the gold in every single sport, game and, yes, even four-square match, there’s another side to the com-petitive man.

He is also an artist with numerous pieces of art lin-ing the walls of his dad’s restaurant, Schroeder’s New Deli on Broad Street.

“I’ve always been really

creative for some reason. I’ve always had the ability to make people laugh re-ally hard.”

The 27-year-old is also a history teacher at Model High School and says some of his ideas for art come from his students.

“You’re surrounded by so much emotion — kids in love, depressed — you feed off that emotion.”

One of Schroeder’s examples of hu-morous art was a turtle flying down while wearing a parachute. Why? “Be-cause it’s funny.”

Lately his art has fo-cused on a serious subject matter, love, with a funny image. For in-stance, he created a piece of art portraying a teddy bear drinking a beer and looking sad.

“At Chiaha last year a girl came up and asked ‘Why is the teddy bear drinking or-ange juice?’ And, I told her it was beer. And she asked why he was drinking beer, and I asked her if she ever owned a teddy bear. She said ‘yes.’ I asked her if she played with it anymore. And she said ‘no.’ I said ‘see that’s why the teddy bear is drinking a beer, cause you don’t love him anymore.’”

And even with his time

already divided into kick-ball, teaching and art, he still manages to coach soc-cer at Model during the spring and attend a sum-mer camp as a volunteer.

Each spring, Schroeder coaches with a simple phi-losophy: Go out, play and have fun. He says it’s diffi-cult for him sometimes be-cause he doesn’t like to lose, but he said having fun is the

main thing for his varsity team. “I want to win

but definitely have a good

time. Coaching is something that keeps me young.”

“James is a gifted teacher

with a unique ability to in-

spire his stu-dents,” said Mela-

nie Drinkard, who teaches English at Model.

“Most importantly, he does a great job of making a dif-ference in the lives of his students, from the classroom to the soccer field.”

During the summer, Schroeder enjoys volun-teering at Camp Mikell in Toccoa, the place where his dad and mom met. The camp brings out his com-petitive side yet again. This time on a four-square court against campers.

“At camp, they say you have to play on the kids’ lev-el, but if you play hard with these kids you can help them to play at higher levels.”

Needless to say, Schroeder doesn’t go easy on them.

He says he’s been to the camp so often he’s watched the kids grow up in front of him, and they always come back and say, “This year, I’m getting you out Schroeder! And I tell them let’s get on the court and see.”

Schroeder says he aspires to one day get into comedy and maybe move to New York or even bring a serious kickball program to Rome. He said he would really like to start a kickball league in Rome or even host an an-nual 5K run on Oct. 30 where everyone dresses in cos-tume. He said he would call it, “The 5K People Chase.”

“I’ve always been that person who can’t pick just one thing and go with it. It’s been tough to find time for all of it, but I have a good time with it.”

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE

MOVIE?

He said:

Josh Bennett: “‘Boondock Saints’ — the first one, not the second one.”

Louis Lataif:

“‘The Fugitive,’ mainly

because I lived where it

was made.”

Alex Porto: “My favorite movie is ‘Casablanca.’”

David Harvey: “‘War and

Remembrance,’ because of my

Navy background.”

Tom “the Balloon Guy” Klopsch: “My favorite is the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show.’”

Landon Wales:

“My favorite movie is

‘Super Troopers.’”

Raiden Cowan: “My favorite is the ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.’”

Jimbo Strodtman:

“‘Lucas’ because it was

made in my hometown and

my daughter was an extra.”

‘James is a gifted teacher with a unique ability to inspire his students. Most importantly, he does a great job of making a difference in the lives of his students, from the classroom to the soccer field.’

Melanie DrinkardModel High School teacher

ON THE WEBFor more about Camp Mikell in Toccoa visit

www.campmikell.com.

with James Schroeder

Kickin’ it Photo by Ken Caruthers / Rome News-Tribune


By Daniel BellStaff [email protected]

Sometimes people call Berry College professor Martin Cipollini “the chestnut man,” but he could just as easily and just as accurately be called “the longleaf pine man” or “the beer man.”

Cipollini has been at Berry for about 15 years now, and there are a few things he’s fairly well know for: his work to breed and restore a chestnut tree species that was basically wiped out by disease years ago; his work to restore and maintain a longleaf pine forest; and his work (well, work may not be the right word) to per-fectly brew his own beer.

“They say the best beer is local beer, and my beer is as local as it gets,” said Cipollini.

But first his work, then his play. The American chestnut tree was near-

ly destroyed years ago by a fungus called “chestnut blight” by biologists like Cipol-lini. The tree species originally could be found from Mississippi to Maine and all the way down to South Georgia. Now only

a few healthy trees remain. By collecting pollen from American

chestnut trees in Georgia while they’re flowering, then mixing the pollen with hy-brid trees that are resistant to blight, Ci-pollini and his students are able to create a chestnut that is resistant to the blight.

The tricky part is finding a healthy chestnut because the blight spread to almost every American chestnut tree on the planet. The tree will re-sprout from its roots, so researchers just have to find it before the blight does.

Cipollini compared the process to the arcade Whack-a-Mole game, saying it’s a process that can be challenging and frus-trating. But, they are making progress.

THE QUALITY JEWELER328 BROAD ST. • 706.291.7236www.GreenesJewelers.comFREE GIFT WRAPPING • FREE ENGRAVING

Give him the gift for Father’s Day

perfect

Ken Caruthers / Rome News-Tribune

Martin Cipollini holds up beer he brewed inside a wine cellar he and his son put together.

A man among his beers

‘They say the best beer is local beer, and my beer is as local as it gets.’

Martin CipolliniBerry College professor

Please see BEERS 7

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING TO GRILL?

Lawayne Pelfrey: “I like grilling steak ... as long as it ain’t bleeding.”

Evan Smallwood: “I like grilling

steak.”

He said:

Al Castillo: “I like to throw a rack of ribs on the grill.”

Bill King: “I enjoy grilling hamburgers and steaks with my own recipe.”

Bill Collins: “My favorite is

barbecue chicken and

ribs.”

Milton Slack III: “I like to grill steak.”


Berry has an orchard of 10 resis-tant chestnut trees growing out near the old mill on the mountain campus. Cipollini is aiming for 10 more and expects he’ll have them within the next few years.

The eventual goal will be to plant those resistant strains else-where, hopefully allowing the new chestnuts to naturally spread on their own.

The chestnut project has taken up a lot of his work time, he said, and a lot of his free time too.

His other tree project, his long-leaf pine work, is about more than a tree; it’s about a forest type that exists where those trees grow.

Once upon a time in Georgia, the

mountains that comprise our state were practically covered in long-leaf pine forests. The problem is, humans came along and started putting out the fires that longleaf pines need to thrive.

Yes, that’s right, this type of for-est needs to be burned, and that’s what Cipollini and his students are doing.

Berry began its restoration ef-forts in earnest eight years ago, when students and volunteers planted about 2,000 longleaf pines.

In an undisturbed environment, Cipollini says, nature would use periodic, fast-moving fires to burn off underbrush and hardwood trees, leaving the more-resilient longleaf pines to thrive and mak-ing room for more diverse plant life at ground level. So Cipollini

and his trained crew have con-trolled burns, taking every single precaution available, in order to help the forest thrive.

“When we started there was just a handful of plant species, now there are more than 200,” Cipol-lini said.

When Cipollini isn’t saving tree species or re-creating forest types, he brews beer using the all-grain process. His four ingredients: wa-ter, hops, barley malts and yeast. Depending on the mix and the fer-menting process, Cipollini says he can make any type of beer known to man.

He’s been working at it since grad school and even did an in-ternship at Big River Grill in Chat-tanooga. Cipollini has even con-sidered opening a brew house in Rome. He put the idea off before

because of his wife’s work, but she has switched jobs recently, and the thought has begun to creep in again.

Cipollini has a pub in his base-ment where he pours his home-made brew from five-gallon kegs. Ask nicely, and he might show you the Belgian style beer he put in corked bottles and stored in his wine cellar.

He’s even recently started ex-perimenting with the cask ale pro-cess. Cask-conditioned beer is the term for unfiltered and unpas-teurized beer which is condi-tioned (including secondary fer-mentation) and served from a cask without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure.

Cipollini did a pub tour of Lon-don last winter, but at home, he’s drunk his own beer for years.

BEERS from 6

By Kim SloanStaff [email protected]

A few years ago Ernie Studard’s wife Linda was in an elevator at Floyd Medical Center when someone asked her, “Which Ernie Studard are you married to?”

“There’s only one,” Lin-da Studard replied.

It’s easy to see why some may think Studard has cloned himself.

Sitting outside at a down-town Rome eatery, Studard has to stop at times as he runs down the list to make sure he is remembering everything.

He sells cars at Heritage Nissan in Rome, a job he has held for the past 20 years. He has been a Floyd County deputy coroner for the past 11 years. He is involved with the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce. He teaches classes at local high schools about the importance of wearing a seat belt when driving. But many in Rome simply know him as the “K-man,” a fixture in section 206 at Rome Braves games.

Studard, a graduate of Coosa High School, not only

cheers for the Rome Braves but for his community as well. He is active in the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce, serving on the committees for the organi-zation’s annual business expo and the Downtown Rome Christmas Parade.

Downtown holds a special place in Studard’s heart. As a child, Studard was a fix-ture at Hilburn’s Shoe Store on Broad Street where his mother worked. He walks past the building several mornings a week on his morning walk through down-town. Often his walks take him to two Rome landmarks, Myrtle Hill and Clock Tower Hill.

After his morning walk, he goes to his main job — sell-ing cars at Heritage Nissan in Rome. He attributes his success as a car salesman to his experience at the shoe store with his mom.

“You have to have that

trust with people,” Studard said. “In some people’s eyes, car salesmen do rate just above attorneys.”

Studard admits that at times his jobs overlap be-cause as deputy coroner, he is on call several days out of the month. The leap from car salesman to deputy cor-oner happened by chance.

“I was a volunteer at Floyd Medical Center, and I was told (coroner Barry) Henderson needed a third deputy,” Studard said.

His first call involved a man who fell off a brick wall and hit his head. He has been to dozens of calls since then — some routine and some not. Through his work as coroner he serves on Floyd County’s Child Fa-tality Review Committee.

“The ones that get me the most are the children,” Studard said. “But my wife is a nurse, and she is a good sounding board for me.”

Studard met Linda when they were teenagers in the late ’60s. They attended Clara Ellison School of Dance on Broad Street together. The two dated for a while in high school but went their sepa-rate ways. Dance brought them together again more than 20 years later after run-

ning into each other again. They started dancing togeth-er at local clubs around town. The Studards’ favorite dance — the jitterbug.

“But I don’t dance well,” Studard said. “I have two left feet.”

There’s only one ...

K-Man‘You have to have that trust with people. In some people’s eyes, car salesmen do rate just above attorneys.’

Ernie Studard

Kaitlin Kolarik / Rome News-Tribune

K-Man Ernie Studard holds his “K Time” sign to indicate when the pitcher strikes a player out. Studard’s wife Linda (center) and friend Sandra Duvall (left) share a laugh.

Please see K-MAN 9


Hubert Platt (left) and Randy Payne stand in front of their signature edition 2006 Shadrach Mustang, which the two helped

auction for $190,000 for charity in Florida. Platt and Payne were partners on the Ford Motor Co. Racing team in 1969.

Kevin Myrick / Rome News-Tribune

By Kevin MyrickStaff [email protected]

The only thing Randy “Mr. Big Stuff” Payne loves more than his family is the sound of a hot car.

Payne reaches into the driv-er’s side to crank a late-model Pontiac Firebird.

The car roars, and Payne guns the engine, and the rev-ving fills the large garage with the sound of pure, Amer-ican-engineered power.

“Have you ever heard anything like that before?” Payne asked after he shut off the engine. “Sounds sweet, doesn’t it?”

It’s this noise that’s filled Payne’s ears over the de-cades of racing — from the blacktop roads of Floyd County to the drag strips of Florida — as he sat on the starting line in car after car.

His life has been about more than just drag racing. Payne has been a car sales-man for the past 50 years at the family-owned Geor-gia Auto Brokers.

“From the day I was born I was in the car business,” he said.

Those formative years working for his father — from going to auto auctions to helping clean the cars for sale and paint the white walls of tires — began his foundation for an appre-ciation of all things cars.

A brief look around his car hangout in Rome is just a glimpse into how much he loves cars: there are model cars, pictures of cars, hats with car logos all over.

Looking at the resume of his life is like reading a sports-themed novel: a grad-uate of Rome High School in 1958 (he spent three years at Darlington School, 1954-1957), he joined the U.S. Army and worked in mili-

tary police in the Reserves for eight years.

Payne spent time at Au-burn University; the experi-ence was short lived after his father Tom presented him with a deal of a lifetime: come home and get $20,000, half of the business and a new car instead of studying law.

Payne could not refuse the offer.

After selling cars during the weekdays, Payne raced on the weekends. His career started with his first semi-professional race in 1955 when he took home the Ala-bama State Championship at 15 in a 1953 Chevy Corvette.

“I didn’t even have a driver’s license,” he said. “But there I was racing. When it got down to the fi-nal race, I could barely talk I was so sleepy.”

It wasn’t until 1969 that Payne went mainstream in the race world and earned the nickname of “Mr. Big Stuff.”

Payne, along with partner Hubert Platt, toured the United States with a 1969 Ford Torino and a 1969 Ford Mustang. Both featured a big block 428-cubic inch Cobra Jet engine that at the time could not be beat. They even toured Canada.

The team would pull into a city and a dealership to show off the cars, then would race on Sunday.

“Our motto at the time was race on Sunday and sell on Monday,” he said.

Platt said those years he was teamed with Payne were special.

Rev it up,Mr. Big Stuff

‘From the day I was born I was in the car business.’

Randy “Mr. Big Stuff” Payne

Please see STUFF 11

Banker Guys . . . No Stuffed Shirts Here!


Studard has two stepdaughters, a son and four grandchildren. His 7-year-old granddaughter Lily is often with him at Rome Braves’ games.

Studard is a Braves’ season tick-et holder along with his pals Billy

Pelfrey and Randy VanHorn, and he is hard to miss at the games. He has earned his nickname as K-man by rousing the crowds at the Rome Braves’ games with a sign that says, “What time is it?” on front and “It’s K-time!” on the back. The enthusiasm of the group makes section 206 one of the most popular sections in State Mutual

Stadium, Studard said, “because it is the loudest.”

He loves to give a baseball to a child attending the game. He signs the baseball along with Romey, the Braves mascot, and others.

“We just have a good time,” Studard said.

When asked how he balances his family, his job and his other ac-

tivities, Studard admitted it’s a challenge.

“It’s hard to be at a call at 2 a.m. in the morning and get home at 5 or 6, sleep a couple of hours and then work all day long,” Studard said. “But as I said, I have a wife who is a good sounding board and is a good listener. And I am not as involved in as many things as I was in the past.”

K-MAN from 7

By Doug WalkerAssociate [email protected]

Phil Taylor has been fighting fires in Rome for more than 30 years. When he’s not helping out with a hose, you can generally find Taylor in his bass boat, or perhaps in a deer stand.

Taylor has been a firefighter with the Rome-Floyd Fire Depart-ment for 32 years, serving as a cap-tain for the past 22 years.

Taylor got a college degree in education and thought he was go-ing to be a teacher and coach, but he couldn’t find a job after gradu-ation. He took a job in the recre-ation department in Douglasville for a while and then returned to Rome where he worked for Shag Knowles in the local recreation department.

After a year and half, Taylor in-terviewed for a position with the Rome Fire Department. “Thirty-two years later, and I’ve never looked back,” Taylor said. He’ll be one of many in the fire depart-ment to retire over the course of the next several years

His job as a firefighter is a little different from most government jobs. He works a 24-hour shift and is off 48 hours. “I don’t think I could work a nine to five job right now,” Taylor said. “Being off those two days I get to do a lot of things that other people don’t get to do.”

While the unusual work shifts might be difficult for some, Taylor said the hardest part of his job is keeping up with the younger guys. Sleep habits are not a big concern for Taylor, especially when he’s got a fishing tournament on the day after his 24-hour shift. “I just tough it out and go on,” Taylor said.

When the retirement papers are submitted, Taylor has no question about how he’ll spend a lot of his time. “I’m a fanatic about fishing and hunting,” Taylor said.

“I had a friend down at Floyd College (now Georgia Highlands) who got me involved in fishing — actually, fishing and hunting,” Taylor said.

Taylor has primarily been a bass fisherman and used to fish at a lot of tournaments. He’s gotten com-pletely out of the tournament fish-ing scene. “I just can’t stand up in the boat for eight or nine hours at a time like I used to,” Taylor said, so fishing is purely a recreational activity nowadays. In addition to the bass, Taylor loves to land one of those big stripers that can be found in the Coosa River system. “It’s my therapy being out there. If I weren’t out there, I’d probably be in a therapist’s office some-where,” Taylor said.

Through the years, Taylor has owned eight different boats. Now he goes out in a 21-foot Stratos bass boat with a Yamaha 225 hp motor.

Taylor has landed some pretty big fish, though none were any larger than fellow firefighter and fishing buddy Phil Langston. They were fishing in a tournament on Lake Lanier a number of years ago, one at the front of the boat and other at the opposite end.

“Phil kind of eased up behind me, and I didn’t realize it. I started to cast, and the hook caught him in the tender part of the shoulder. He just told me to dig it out and kept right on fishing,” Taylor said.

He even caught himself one day on Weiss Lake. Taylor said a storm was coming up, and there was hardly anyone on the lake. “I was by myself near the Riverside Campground and had caught this small bass. As I was pulling the hook out its mouth, it wriggled loose, and the treble hook went right into a fingernail and poked out the other side,” Taylor said. “Finally a guy from Summerville showed up and helped get me to a doctor in Centre who was able to pull it out.”

The hazards of being a firefight-er can get a man down. Taylor re-members a fire down on Cave

Spring Road near the new Florida Rock quarry. It was about 12-15 years ago. It was during a violent spring thunderstorm. A young girl got out of the inferno OK but went back inside to try to save her grandfather. Neither made it out alive. “That one got to me,” Taylor said.

When he’s not at Fire Station Three or in his bass boat, Taylor loves to spend time in the woods on the trail of a whitetail deer. “I used to chase elk and mule deer, but I haven’t been out west for eight or 10 years,” Taylor said.

He’s pretty good with a gun, too.

“I carry venison to the fire de-partment all the time,” Taylor said. “I process it myself. In fact I’ll be taking bacon-wrapped ten-derloin to the station to cook here pretty soon.”

Taylor madeRome-Floyd Fire Department Capt. Phil Taylor hunts and fishes when he’s not saving lives

Ryan Smith / Rome News-Tribune

Capt. Phil Taylor of the Rome-Floyd Fire Department is usually found hunting or here fishing on his bass boat when he’s not fighting fires.

‘It’s my therapy being out there. If I weren’t out there, I’d probably be in a therapist’s office somewhere.’

Capt. Phil TaylorRome-Floyd Fire Department


By Daniel BellStaff [email protected]

On a shelf in the office of Rome City Schools Assistant Superintendent Mike Buck sits a six-inch tall statue of Uga, the University of Geor-gia mascot, wearing running shoes and headphones and forever posed mid-stride.

Buck says the memento was purchased for him be-cause of the striking similar-ity the running cartoon dog resembles to the photo it sits beside — a photo of Buck mid-stride during one of his four marathons. Sure enough, the guy in the photo and the ceramic pooch are permanently in the same pose, right foot forward, left foot back, arms bent at the elbow and frozen in time.

Buck, a UGA alum, laughs when he points out the de-tails that make the two run-ners looks so much alike.

Also on that shelf are oth-er photos from his various marathon experiences and a finisher’s medal. It’s sort of like a miniature shrine to Buck’s relationship with runners’ most infamous distance: 26.2 miles.

Buck wasn’t always a mar-athoner. As a teenager he played tennis and ran for the sake of fitness, but he joined the cross country team at Au-gust College after a friend convinced him he was good enough to make the team. The CC races back then were fives miles, and Buck had only ever ran 12 miles in one go before deciding he was going to run a marathon.

“I thought if I could run

five miles I could run 26,” he said, laughing at the thought of it. “They tried to get me to get on the Red Cross van, but I made it.”

He’s done three more mar-athons since that first one but hasn’t yet reached his goal of a finishing time un-der four-and-half hours. Time to train is hard to come by, now that he has 6-year-old twin girls and a younger son, but he still hopes to pound out some long runs and take another stab at it.

He would also like to get his kids into running. It could happen because his wife al-ready joined him in the sport. Joy ran a marathon with her husband, her first race of any distance ever. She hasn’t done another race since, but she has recently laced up her shoes again.

“She was chipper. I was a miserable human being,” said Buck about the race they ran together.

Buck fought cramps and fluid shortages, and he ad-mits he probably held his wife back.

In another race, he could have probably reached his time goal. He had prepared well and was feeling really good. But his running part-ner wasn’t doing so hot, and Buck stayed with him to make sure he kept going.

Buck still runs too, usually in the morning before the neighborhood wakes up, but training for a marathon re-quires at least one really long run a week, which could mean half a day devoted to the distance. He still does 5Ks and 10Ks and the occa-sional half marathon, and

even placed second in his age group in a 5K once.

“Other people who know me and were there would point out that there were only two people in my age group,” Buck said with a laugh.

Though that sub-4:30 mar-

athon goal has not yet been reached, others have been.

Buck set and met a goal to run 1,000 miles in one year, even if that meant running became a chore during December of that year. He also met his goal

of a 24-minute 5K. Buck has worked for the

school system for 13 years, and before coming to Rome was the principal of a school in Columbia County. He serves on the board of direc-tors for multiple community service groups, including but not limited to the Salvation Army, United Way, Rome-Floyd County Commission on Children and Youth, and the Teen Pregnancy Preven-tion Task Force.

He still loves tennis too but doesn’t play so much be-cause you need a court, a partner and the time. That’s part of the reason he finds running so appealing. He likes the simplicity. All you need are shoes and time.

He also likes solitude be-cause it allows him to get in touch with his spiritual side and catch up on his prayer time. Buck is a man of strong faith, and his faith and spirituality are very important in his life.

“It’s the core of who I am and who I want to be.”

Getting in touch with his spiritual side ...

while pounding out miles

Ryan Smith / Rome News-Tribune

Mike Buck, holding one of his marathon medals in front of the Rome Board of Education, hopes to some day reach his goal of finishing a marathon in less than 4.5 hours.

312 Broad Street . Rome, Georgia


“Randy was a real good driver,” he said. “And we ran around deal-erships all over and put on shows. I enjoyed every minute of it.”

Payne continued racing after his stint on the team for Ford Motor Co., going on to set new time re-cords and win championships.

He has won championships in Alabama, California, Florida, Geor-gia, South Carolina and Tennessee

over the years, along with numer-ous match races throughout the Southeast and 18 NHRA — that’s the National Hot Rod Association — track records for performance.

As time wore on, Payne’s career has wound down. Payne said that over the past decade he’s less in-volved in racing and more in-volved in helping others to race.

This was especially true when the NHRA approached Payne to help train junior drivers to help develop the future of the sport. He helped form the Junior Drag Rac-

ing League, and his family trav-eled 30,000 miles in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico developing interest in the sport.

His son Butch took up interest in the racing world as a teenager, and once he was in a car Payne knew he was a talented driver.

“Butch had never driven a race car before, but it turned out that he is an excellent driver,” Payne said.

Payne doesn’t sit behind the wheel as much as he once did. A botched knee surgery makes it hard for him to extensively drive like he once did.

He only races a few times a year — specifically at two of his favorite events: the Gator Nationals in Gaines-ville, Fla., and in New Orleans, La.

He finds himself in chairs in ban-quet halls, signing autographs for fans or promoting younger drivers. Overall, he said one of his greatest moments was not behind the wheel but hearing news that he was being inducted into the southeast division of the NHRA Hall of Fame in 1997.

“The day I got the info that I was being put into the hall of fame, I’ll admit I cried,” Payne said.

STUFF from 8

By Kim SloanStaff [email protected]

For some people, life-changing moments come after a serious accident or after the diagnosis of a deadly disease. For Trey Smith, it was a broken hand and, several years later, a conversation with his then 2-year-old son that prompt-ed changes in his life.

Smith is the owner of Cy-cle Therapy on Broad Street in downtown Rome — a big shift from his 10-year ca-reer in engineering. Bikes line the walls of the busi-ness, but it is not just a bike shop. A former profession-al racer, he and his staff re-pair bikes and offer classes to cycling enthusiasts. He is also an advocate for bring-ing more cycling trails to Rome so that families can enjoy riding together with-out having to leave town.

The path is not what Smith, a 1986 alum of East Rome High, had envisioned.

“My goal was not to go through college and say one day I am going to do retail,” Smith said.

It was while he was a stu-dent at Southern Tech in Marietta that Smith real-ized he had a talent for building bikes. He built his first one after being frus-trated with his own bike.

“I went ahead and de-signed (the bike) hoping it would ride a certain way,” Smith said. “It did, and I was hooked.”

Shortly after he built his first custom bicycle, Smith was asked to race for a team in Durango, Colo. He quit school and moved west, rac-

ing around the world. He set the fastest qualifying run at the Iron Horse Clas-sic in Durango, besting four-time champion Eric Carter, but was eliminated in a rainy quarter final.

“I broke my hand in Big Bear, Calif., two weeks be-fore the national finals were to be in Helen,” Smith said. “I ended up visiting my mom and met my wife, Julie, who was attending Shorter at the time.”

Two weeks after meeting Ju-lie, Smith rented a van, packed his stuff in Colorado and moved back to Rome. They were married two years later. The couple lived in Mar-ietta while Smith attended engineering school at South-ern Tech. When Julie was re-

cruited to come back to Short-er University to work, the fam-ily returned to Rome.

“I had gone from design engineering to engineering sales, so it didn’t matter where I lived,” Smith said.

But the sales job re-quired Smith to travel, and he spent weeks away from his family. His second life-changing moment came during a phone conversa-tion with his young son.

“My son, Nate, who was 2, said, ‘Daddy why are you never home?’” Smith said. “I knew I had to be closer to my family.”

The answer to his dilem-ma was already in the works. While working in engineering, Smith oper-ated a small bike shop on

West Third Street.“As technology has ad-

vanced in bicycles, people from Rome were having to drive to Atlanta to get what they needed,” Smith said. “One day I was lying in bed and Julie said, ‘Are you going to work today?’ I said, ‘I think yesterday may have been my last day. I think I am going to give the bike shop a try.”

Since 2007 he has oper-ated Cycle Therapy full-time. But his time in col-lege was not wasted. His engineering background is important, he said.

“It helped me teach my guys how to fix a bike right the first time,” Smith said. “Even from the retail side, if I had done this 15 years ago, I am pretty sure it would not have worked be-cause I would have been running it as a bicycle en-thusiast. I have a much better perspective on how to run a bike shop now.”

Life-changing moments are sometimes ...

a cycle of life Ryan Smith / Rome News-Tribune

Trey Smith, doing a wheelie in front of Cycle Therapy, would like to see more biking trails in Rome and around Floyd County.

‘I went ahead and designed (the bike) hoping it would ride a certain way. It did, and I was hooked.’

Trey SmithCycle Therapy owner


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