Column: 2021 – a year of faces, places and events in The Augusta Press

Tuesday marks my anniversary — one year as features editor for The Augusta Press.

I remember when I got my press badge in January and looking at it, wondering why I was called an editor. At the time, my sole job was to generate features content.

How things have changed in just 12 short months, and I know why that word was stuck with my name.

It’s hard to sum up 2021 in a few short paragraphs because it was an amazing year.

I sought to carve out a role for The Augusta Press by not only writing stories that I hoped would interest and engage readers, but I brought together a group of writers to provide additional content that might appeal to some.

One of the first people I sat down with on the story side of things was Ann Beth Strelec, also known as the Naked Epicurean. I’ve known Ann Beth for more years than either of us will admit. Let’s just say it was before either of us graduated high school.

I met with her at the Inner Bean to pick her brain for story ideas. I remembered thinking how cool it would be to get her to write some columns about what she knows about — the area’s best cocktails.

A few months into The Augusta Press, I got a greenlight to begin to fashion that dream team of columnists, and I reached out to people I already knew or had worked with over the years.

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Ann Beth was the first person I contacted; I also reached out to Danielle Wong Moores, who writes our restaurant columns and finds some of the best food options around, and Francie Klopotic who helped in the production of has been bringing stories about some of the live music opportunities in the area. Francie is one of the authors of the book “Hooked Onna Feelin: The Yummy History of Sticky Sweet Sounds.”

The final part of my dream team rotation was Steven Uhles who joined us in the fall.

Steven has always had a way with words that leaves me in awe.

Another great addition to this features group is Mike Adams.

As with all the others, I’ve known him for years. He has a keen artistic eye and is an amazing sports photographer. He came on board to shoot high school football games, but he’s covered so much more. He also has a great nose for news.

Through Mike, we were the first to learn about the death during this year’s IronMan competition; he also clued us in to the shooting in downtown North Augusta on Dec. 9.  

Rounding out the features’ team is Ron Baxley Jr., who brings his versatility to the mix, writing profiles, business stories whatever else is thrown his way.

And who can forget Vera Stewart? My head is still spinning about the fact that she wanted to be part of our publication on a regular basis. And I’m learning how to make her recipes in the weekly column.

Also in 2021, I wrote more than 600 stories. It’s really hard to put that element into a nutshell.

I wanted to bring to you some of the fascinating people who live in the area. People profiles are my favorite types of stories to write. I’ll never forget the advice of Elizabeth Kemple Adams, a woman I always emulated. I shadowed her when I was still in college, watched her go through the ranks of reporter, features editor and eventually managing editor at The Augusta Chronicle before leaving for the private sector.

She taught me how to let subjects tell their stories, and I’m forever grateful.

A handful of the interesting people in this town include Audrey Monroe, a vintage model; Dr. William Goss, celebrating his 40^th year as a chiropractor; Karlton Clay, who has produced films that are available on streaming platforms such as NBC’s Peacock; Trey McLaughlin, whose music videos have been seen by millions; Dacre Stoker, a New York Times bestselling author whose famous ancestor wrote the novel, Dracula, and who was part of the 1980 Olympics Team that had its dreams dashed when Canada boycotted the games; Wycliffe Gordon, trombonist extraordinaire; and Caren Ooollee Bricker, who owns Vintage Ooollee. And that’s definitely the short list.

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I was inspired by the Luciano “Louis” Charles Graziano and Oscar Ray Barney Jr., two World War II veterans I interviewed this year; the people who started new businesses in the wake of COVID-19 and the other businesses which have stood the test of time and remain open; and the breast cancer survivors in October’s breast cancer awareness series.

And I took you behind the scenes of two films being shot in Augusta – “Agent Game” and “The Hill.”

A few stories were hard to write — such as one of the stories in the childhood cancer awareness month series in September and the 9/11 Retrospective.

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And that 9/11 retrospective made me cry for more than one reason. I relieved the memories from that day and the weeks that followed as we researched it. It was raw all over again, but I was so proud to be associated with The Augusta Press. Kudos to Joe Edge who made a downloadable PDF of that edition. It was a beautiful sight to behold, and when I saw it, I had to brush a couple of tears away.

I tried to write about as many things as I possibly could to give you options on what to do for the weekend or even during the week – from where to find Christmas lights displays to the best in community theater to art exhibitions to interviews with rock bands such as Styx and 38 Special. There’s a lot to do in Augusta and surrounding areas. And I also wrote my fair share about new restaurants, where you could dine before that event.

One thing that did surprise me over the year was that people liked the short getaway stories I wrote about trips glamping and to places like Newberry, S.C., Charleston, S.C. and Blood Mountain, Ga.

I could go on and mention the non-profits, the businesses, the crime and sports including the high school athlete spotlights I covered, but I think I’ll stop here by saying, during the week of Dec. 27, I’m going to bring back five of my articles you probably missed because most of them were from our early days in business.

With more than 600 articles, it’s hard to narrow it down to five, and I have more than five favorites.

Look for my Five Faves, and if you want to know about any of those other articles I mentioned above, just send me an email at charmain@theaugustapress.com, and I’ll be happy to send you the link.

Happy 2022. I’m looking forward to bringing you more great content in the year ahead.