She’s honest, learned and humble. A straight-shooter with a quick wit, the Honorable Louisa Abbot never overlooks the magnitude and responsibility of her job as judge in the Superior Court of Chatham County, nor does she take for granted the opportunity to serve her community. Judge Abbot sat down with South to give us a quick glimpse of life in one of the most powerful positions in the city.

South magazine: How has your career evolved over the nine years on the bench? How have you changed?

Judge Abbot: I’m not scared to ask questions anymore. At first, whenever you go into a profession, you think you have to show other people that you know everything, that asking questions is a sign of weakness. But I don’t agree with that at all now. I think people respect honesty. You have to be willing to work hard, and if you start getting jaded or cynical, you are going to be in big trouble, especially in this job because you can see a lot of sad, sorrowful and mean parts of human nature. If you start believing that’s what the world is about, you can quickly lose your integrity as a judge.

In Savannah to visit the Savannah College of Art and Design, reality television star Ty Pennington talks with South about his Georgia roots.

By all accounts, Ty Pennington is a Southern boy at heart. Best known as the high-energy host of ABC’s Extreme Makevoer: Home Edition, and TLC’s Trading Spaces before that, it only takes a couple minutes of conversation with him before it becomes hard to imagine this easy-to-smile guy fitting in with the Hollywood scene. Then again, Pennington’s job—or rather jobs—aren’t all glitz and glam. He makes a habit of working hard … for other people.

In addition to his work on his outrageously successful show, now in its sixth season, Pennington oversees his style line at Sears, is the author of two books, and has launched a magazine, Ty Pennington At Home. “Everything I do is a challenge,” says Pennington, “and I love
challenges.”

In the span of three years, J.J. Wilson had lived in six different foster homes. According to Wilson, when he was in third grade, before entering the foster care system, his grandparents removed him and his younger brother and sister from their mother’s home because of her drug use. They lived with their grandparents until the fifth grade, when Wilson divulged to his teacher that his grandfather was molesting him and his siblings, prompting the children’s removal from that home as well. By the time Wilson was 13 years old, he says he knew the foster care system enough to know that it wasn’t working for him. So, on the last day of eighth grade, he ran away. When he refused to return to his foster home, Wilson’s caseworker took him to the emergency shelter at Greenbriar Children’s Home.

Tucked away in a quiet neighborhood on Savannah’s westside for the past 60 years, many Savannahians have only heard of Greenbriar because someone—a parent, grandparent or

In Savannah to tape an episode of her newest series, Travel Channel star Samantha Brown spends an afternoon with South discussing what it’s like to have one of the world’s best jobs.

Typically, when people first ride in my dusty, dirty ‘96 Toyota station wagon, I’ve known them for a while. They’re familiar enough with me to excuse the broken air conditioning, crumpled pages of Googlemapped directions, gum wrappers and piles of fast-food napkins stowed hastily atop the center console. But when I ushered Samantha Brown across Bull Street and to the dinged door of my car that warm, windless day, I worried that she and I didn’t know each other well enough for the ride.

As a guide with Old Savannah Tours, Bob Register leads the way to a thorough appreciation of the city for thousands of tourists a year.

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone that speaks more fluently—or frequently—on Savannah’s storied history than Bob Register. As a tour guide with Old Savannah Tours for the last 15 years, he leads over 750 tours annually and has shaped the experiences of literally thousands of visitors with his genteel manners, erudite delivery and homespun Hostess City charm.

Thanks to the efforts of over 300 members, the Two Hundred Club of the Coastal Empire ensures that  the sacrifices made by local firefighters and law enforcement officials will never go unappreciated.

On December 11, 1999, 36-year-old Christopher Argentinis said goodbye to his family and reported for duty as a patrolman with the Wareham Police Department in Massachusetts. He would never return home. Struck by a car while in a foot chase with a suspected drug offender, Chris succumbed to head injuries two days later, leaving a wife and two young sons, ages 6 and 4, to mourn his sudden loss.

It’s been said that there are two types of people in this world, dog people and cat people. Realistically, the labels may not be so cut and dry, but one thing is for sure: Here in Savannah there are many outstanding individuals worthy of the classification “animal people.” These are the individuals caring and advocating for our feathered, furry or flying friends. The South presents five individuals that are a truly breed of their own.

Led by a group of dedicated locals, the Coastal Georgia Greenway may offer a key to the area’s pressing environmental and economic questions. Here’s a hint: Blaze a trail.

Penetrating sunshine, whimsical shades of khaki and green marsh grass, fiddler crabs scurrying from one habitat to the next—these are treasures found in abundance along the Georgia coast. And if you have ever wished you could safely bike or walk your way through this extraordinary environment, you’re not alone.

Thanks to the dedication and passion of a growing group of citizens, the Coastal Georgia Greenway (CGG) is drawing closer to realizing its vision of a 450-mile, connected trail system that will link South Carolina to Florida along Georgia’s pristine coastline. This breathtaking stretch of paved trails will be part of the larger, East Coast

Greenway trail system that when complete, will connect Key West, Florida to Calais, Maine—totaling 3,000 miles. To date, the entire system is 30 percent complete, with most trails found in the Northeast.

In a city that thrives on charity, there’s a small community of philanthropists ensuring that events like the Savannah Music Festival ever reach the stage.

Every year, ticket sales for the Savannah Music Festival, (SMF) cover approximately 36 percent of the event’s annual costs. The other 64 percent—the hundreds of thousands of dollars vital to the procurement of the world-class performers, expert staff and highly anticipated special events—has to be raised by alternate means. Advertising and merchandise help some, but much of the festival’s bill is footed solely by the generosity of local individuals and businesses, who, for their own reasons, chose to open their wallets and their calendars to give.

The SMF isn’t the only entity in the city largely maintained by local altruism. Savannah is built upon the charity of its citizens—literally. Nearly five decades ago, the checkbooks and inexhaustible energy of a group of dedicated residents materialized into the Historic Savannah Foundation. Over the years with the help of private funds and public efforts, the organization assisted in preventing the gradual destruction of the city’s historic districts and initiated an urban renewal that enabled a 180-degree turn from the aesthetic and economic depression enveloping the Hostess City by the mid-20th century.

Every day, there are unseen hands molding Savannah into what it is, and what it should be. Each day, there are phone calls being made, board meetings being held, initiatives being considered and enacted—all with the goal of community-wide advancement in the Hostess City.

To honor those individuals who have directed their considerable influence towards exacting positive change, we present our first ever list of Savannah’s Power Players. These are the people who spend their days on the phone, in meetings, and at their desks, getting things done for the betterment of the city and the lives of its citizens. These Stars of the South are reminders that one person’s efforts can have a long and lasting influence.

Mayor Otis S. Johnson
Hails from: Savannah, Georgia

Life’s work: Even before becoming the mayor of the city of Savannah in 2004, Otis Johnson’s life has been geared toward community activism and education. He was a professor and administrator at Savannah State University, the executive director of the Chatham Savannah Youth Futures Authority,