TECH
SeatCheck
Millennials are the largest generation in U.S. history, making up 83.1 million of the population. As the group gets older, their influence widens. Their influence is reflected in today’s economy, a socio-economic system built around the sharing of resources, with the emergence of services like Uber. So now, get ready for SeatCheck, the first app of its kind. This app allows users who are already sitting in a restaurant to share the empty seats at their table with people in the area who are looking to grab a seat. It’s the AirBnB of restaurants.
The science behind the matching is pretty simple. A diner accesses the app and posts a listing that includes restaurant location, number of seats available and the length of time they intend to stay. The listing can be viewed by people in the area and users can review the diner’s profile before making a request to join them. Users are matched once the diner accepts the request. If you’re tired of long waits when you go out to eat then visit SeatCheck at www.goo.gl/i7mbvX and seat, eat and meet.
Visit http://www.seatcheckapp.com
Hot Press
Choose Yourself! Be Happy, Make Millions, Live the Dream by James Altucher, foreword by Dick Costolo.
James Altucher is a hedge fund manager, entrepreneur, outspoken writer and podcaster. In his fearless and deeply personal voice, he writes Choose Yourself as a guide to professional self-liberation.
Altucher’s message stresses the importance of self-reliance in both your professional and personal life because the world is changing. Markets have crashed. Jobs have disappeared. Industries have been disrupted and are being remade before our eyes. More and more opportunities are rising out of the ashes of the broken system to generate real inward success (personal happiness and health) and outward success (fulfilling work and wealth).
Through his own story and the stories of other entrepreneurs, Altucher illustrates why the only way to achieve success on a large scale is by choosing yourself.
This book will teach you to do just that. With dozens of case studies, interviews and examples–including the author, investor and entrepreneur Altucher’s own heartbreaking and inspiring story–Choose Yourself illuminates your personal path to building a bright, new world out of the wreckage of the old.
EVENTS
The Wood Brothers.
Presented by Friends with Benefits and Steve Hall Productions.
On June 26, The Wood Brothers will perform at The Imperial Theatre, touring in support of their latest album One Drop of Truth.
In a career chock full of highlights, The Wood Brothers, an American folk band consisting of brothers Chris (upright bass) and Oliver Wood (acoustic and electric guitars), as well as multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix are steeped in American roots music.
Visit www.imperialtheatre.com.
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Johnny Hensley and the Red Hots.
Johnny Hensley and the Red Hots will present their final reunion concert on July 28 at the Imperial Theatre, the same stage where Hensley made his debut 60 years ago at the age of 15.
This event will feature all of your favorite 50s and 60s rock-and-roll music staring George Croft, Sid Hatfield, Tillman Ezernack, Frank Mears, Johnny Hensley and a full brass and violin section.
This concert will benefit Natalie’s Light, a nonprofit on a mission to help prevent teen suicide through awareness. Their vision is to bring people together with resources to live a purpose-filled life. Natalie’s Light started in a living room by a group of adults and adolescents who wanted to share 18-year-old Natalie Lauren Wood’s story of life. The organization helps people with depression by connecting with them and talking with them to let them know that they matter. Visit: www.natalieslight.org.
For tickets to Johnny Hensley and The Red Hots, visit www.imperialtheatre.com.
GETAWAYS:
Bryson City
Bryson City, N.C. A gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Bryson City is a laid-back, non-touristy town and an outdoor adventurer’s paradise. Stretching with wildflowers, streams and parts of the Appalachian Trail, Bryson City is an easy stroll with local bookstores, arts and crafts galleries, bike shops, museums, breweries and a surprising variety of restaurants.
What to Do:
Raging Rivers Rafting Company. Nantahala River is one of the most popular whitewater rafting rivers in the Southeast, luring more than 200,000 paddlers to its waters every year. A perfect combination of exciting whitewater and placid pools, the Nantahala is a great introduction to the sport of whitewater paddling and kayaking.
There are a lot of large rafting outfitters around the Nantahala River but don’t overlook Raging Rivers Rafting Company. Enjoy eight miles of fun with experienced and friendly river guides or you can go alone. Prices are very reasonable and Raging Rivers Rafting Company rents Aire rafts made in the U.S. They also rent bunk houses and camp sites in the beautiful Nantahala National Forest or you can enjoy a picnic rain or shine at their covered picnic area. Visit their Facebook page at Raging Rivers Rafting Company.
Scenic Railroad Excursions:
The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad operates scenic rail excursions through the beautiful countryside of Western North Carolina. Departing from the historic Bryson City Depot, trips go into the Nantahala River Gorge or to nearby Dillsboro. Options include first-class cars with a private attendant as well as open-air gondolas and themed excursions. Don’t forget to visit for the holidays when the train becomes The Polar Express. Embark on your next rail adventure and visit www.gsmr.com.
Deep Creek Waterfalls, Hiking and Fishing. Just a quarter mile from the Folkestone Inn, the Deep Creek area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers hiking and nature trails, mountain trout streams with waterfalls and unsurpassed pristine beauty. Stand-up paddleboarding is available on Fontana Lake and on the Tuckasegee River in downtown Bryson City. There is boating for recreation and fishing on two mountain lakes in Swain County.
Where to Eat:
Pizza By The River. Seven months of the year Pizza By The River continues to be the go-to place for pizza in the Nantahala Gorge. This is the perfect paddle stop with a rushing river vibe. Every seat has a view of the river and you can enjoy watching rafting guests and kayakers roll by. This is a dining experience not to be missed during your next Nantahala Gorge trip. Visit www.pizza-by-the- river.business.site.
Where to Stay:
Nantahala Log Cabin Lodge is located in the scenic Nantahala Gorge and offers quality lodging in a secluded location. Situated right in The Gorge, it is locally owned and offers many outdoor recreational activities including fly fishing, whitewater rafting, canoeing, kayaking, horseback riding and mountain biking and hiking trails nearby.This area is also a mecca for motorcyclists with miles of scenic back-roads across the Smoky Mountain Range. Visit www.nantahalalogcabinlodge.com.
The Everett Hotel. Set in a former bank built in 1908, this redbrick boutique hotel, off Route 19, is surrounded by the Great Smoky Mountains, and next to the Swain County Visitor Center and Heritage Museum. The Everett features high, handcrafted wood ceilings and parking is complimentary, as is hot breakfast served in a country-chic restaurant/bar. There is also a rooftop terrace with a fireplace and mountain views. Visit www.theeveretthotel.com.
FACES:
Bert Storey
1929-2018
For local young professionals, real estate developer Bert Storey is known as the epitome of professionalism and philanthropy in Augusta.
Storey’s business savvy along with his desire to promote the welfare of others through social conscience and charitableness serves as a business model for the next generation of leaders.
Storey’s son Barry says his father modeled leadership throughout his life, “My father always believed that my sister and I needed to be active whether he was referring to our church, schools or community. He liked the idea of our joining boards of local non-profit entities but always warned us against the notion of being on a board “in name only” vs. being an active and participating contributor. He was also a strong believer that one should determine what their strongest passions are and to follow that path to success.”
James M. Hull, founder and managing principal of Hull Property Group recalls,
“I first met Bert in 1982, and shortly thereafter we co-developed a shopping center. Bert showed me the way, and little did I realize then that 36 years later Bert and I would still be working together.”
Storey was born June 10, 1929 in Columbia, S.C. and spent his youth growing up in Eastover. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1951 and moved to Augusta after serving in the Army.
In 1972, he established Bert Storey Development Corporation, the parent corporation of his real estate agency Bert Storey Associates and retail development business Sunstates Development group.
Sharing some of his fondest memories of Storey’s accomplishments, Hull says, “Both personally and professionally, Bert was a gentlemen of the first order, and in all the years I knew Bert, he never had cross words with me or with anyone else in my presence.”
Regarding Storey’s philanthropic efforts, Hull adds, “Bert embodied the paradigm that “a life well lived” includes giving your money, your time and your work and leadership abilities to your community and family, and Bert’s use of his considerable talents in a quiet and always positive manner should be instructive to us all.”
He was a deacon and trustee of First Baptist Church of Augusta and was a vice chairman of the Policy Board of the University of South Carolina School of Engineering and Information Technology and he was a president of the Augusta Board of Realtors.
The Mallie Bert Storey Civil Engineering Scholarship at the University of South Carolina and the Storey Chapel at First Baptist Church Augusta and the M. Bert Storey Cancer Building at Augusta University are tangible examples of sacrificial giving by a man who lived a beautiful life.
Throughout his business career, Storey was also a caring and kind family man. Hull says, “Bert lost his wife to cancer, and he knew that the effort to understand cancer in all of its forms and to develop treatments, cures and preventions is a war of attrition that requires facilities and funds for the researchers to keep probing for weaknesses and to exploit those gains.”
Barry Storey says, “My father and mother had been married for 44 years when she passed away in 2002 after a year long fight against a rare form of thyroid cancer. Subsequent to her passing, my father clearly decided he wanted to help in any way possible to advance the research and development of successful treatments for cancer in all forms. He also believed that the second largest metropolitan market in Georgia should have a quality cancer center to address the needs of patients in eastern Georgia as well as our neighbors across the Savannah River in South Carolina.”
Because of Storey’s contribution to Augusta University and his efforts to get others to donate, the expanded Georgia Cancer Center will now allow more hiring of researchers to obtain funding from the National Cancer Institute, which will promote new therapies and treatment for cancer.
“Bert will be missed, and there is no better model for a young professional to emulate than Mallie Bert Storey,” Hull says.
For his transformational gifts to Augusta University, Storey received the university’s highest honor, The President’s Award in 2016.
“Our family as a whole, including his five grandchildren, is very proud that his “dream” of establishing a world renowned cancer center in Augusta will continue as the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University’s Medical College of Georgia grows in the coming years,” Storey says.
Article appears in the June/July 2018 issue of Augusta Magazine.
