It’s been almost 30 years since Debbie and I, as school girls, began the great debate. Over the ensuing years, we have each stood fi rmly on what we be-lieved to be true. There was no compromising, moving or being reasonable.

One night all those years ago when I was hanging out at her house, which I did a lot in those days, I commented, “Did you know that Solomon was black?”

We were always playing Trivial Pursuit and Bible Trivial Pursuit so I had come up with this new piece of knowledge from Daddy’s sermon the previous Sunday. He had preached about the equality of races and pointed out that the wisest man that God ever made was black. She swirled her head

in complete shock. Her eyes grew wide and fi rmly she said, “Solo-mon was not black.”

“Yes, he was.” I marched over to her Bible, picked it up and read from the fi rst chapter of Solomon where he had written, “I am black but comely.” I read on where he talked of being deeply tanned by the sun. Now, that I take the time to think back on it, it really was pretty extraordinary that two young girls would get into such a

deep theological discussion. After all, has the color of Solomon’s skin ever crossed your mind?

She argued her point. “David was his father and David was red-headed and ruddy complex-ioned.”

“But Bathsheba, his mother, was Egyptian.” Plus, most importantly, I believed that if my daddy said it, it was true, especially when it came to the Bible because he read and studied it every day.

“Listen, I respect your daddy and I’ve learned a lot from him about the Bible but he’s wrong on this.”

So, the multi-year, multi-generation debate began. She and Daddy even debated it while I would just sit there and nod in

agreement with Daddy. I let him fi ght the battle for me. Still, she did not waiver. When Daddy died, I inherited the debate and have, thus since, carried on valiantly. It’s been a vigorous battle of wills and knowledge. It’s been energetic because Debbie is a great intellectual and I am a great know-it-all, some would say a great smart aleck. But I have stuck to my guns. Daddy would be proud.

The debate would rear its head at the oddest times such as the other day when Debbie brought it up and, again, we started it. I quoted the scriptures verbatim. “This is exactly what Solomon wrote.”

Suddenly, she had a new piece of ammunition, one she had not

used previously. “But he wasn’t talking about himself. He was talking about a woman.”

A few days later, I decided it was time to get serious with my research. I pulled out every translation of the Bible that I have. Now, as I have stated on nu-merous occasions, I am a reader of the King James Bible. I love the language. I sought help from a King James study Bible and the New Living Translation and learned, lo and behold, Solomon did write it but Debbie was right – he was not referring to himself. I pulled Daddy’s Bible – a Sco-fi eld Reference King James – and saw why he believed that because there were no notes otherwise. Solomon may have been black but that is not the scripture that

proves it.After decades, the debate was

about to come to an end. I called Debbie and said, “I’m running the white fl ag up the pole.”

First, she asked for me to hold on while she got a recorder and then she said, “The humbleness of you lately is truly amazing.”

It’s bittersweet as the great debate ends. Even the victor was sad, saying, “It was so much fun.”

We agreed, though, we would carry forth with the “hyphen-ated” debate, a disagreement that has lasted a mere 20 years.

Stay tune for more on that.— Ronda Rich is the author of

“What Southern Women Know (That Every Woman Should).” Visit www.rondarich.com to sign up for her weekly newsletter.

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Life BThe Brunswick News

Popularity of ‘The Artist’ buoys interest in silent fi lms, 3B

Also insideAdvice & More, 2BTV schedule, 3BComics, 4B PerspectivesFriday

February 17, 2012

Saturday, Feb. 18• Cassina Garden Club will

open the historic tabby slave cab-ins on Gascoigne Bluff from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the Harrington Graded School from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on St. Simons Island. Details: 638-5791.

• Fort Frederica National Monument, 6515 Frederica Road, St. Simons Island, will host its 276th anniversary with a Liv-ing History Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Details: 638-3639.

• Fort King George State Historic Site, 302 McIntosh Road SE, Darien, will host a ranger talk, scavenger hunt and geocaching event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• H.A.R.T. will host its annual meeting at 1 p.m. in room 205 of the Darien Outlet Center. Speaker will be Bob Chris-tiansen, president of the Atlanta Animal Alliance.

• Jekyll Island Campground Winter Guests will host a pancake breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m.

• Trailhead Center, 104 First St., Darien, will host Nettye Evans of Brunswick at 10:30 a.m. She will speak on her collection about the Tuskegee Airmen.

Sunday, Feb. 19• Coastal Georgia Audubon

Society will host its 9th Annual Team Birding Event. Participants will meet at 8:45 a.m. in front of the Jekyll Island Conven-tion Center Campus. Details: 270-2995.

Tuesday, Feb. 21• Brunswick Golden Isles

Christian Women’s Connec-tion will host a Timely Tax Tips Brunch at 10 a.m. at Epworth by the Sea, 100 Arthur J. Moore Drive, St. Simons Island. Details: 275-8624 or 222-0473.

• College of Coastal Georgia, 3700 Altama Ave., Brunswick will show the 1990 fi lm “Miller’s Crossing,” at 7 p.m. in the Stem-bler Theater. Details: 279-5781.

• Golden Isles Woodworkers will hold its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. at 272 Edgewater Drive, Southern Landing Subdivision, Brunswick. Featured will be a demonstration on bandsaws.

With spring arriving in just weeks, salons around the Golden Isles are busy helping women get the new-for-the-season looks they want.

Teana Garrison, a hair stylist at Studio 412, 412 Ocean Blvd., St. Simons Island, has some tips on popular cuts, colors and styles she expects for the spring.

For a popular cut, Garrison says bangs are the rage right now.

“You can try short and piecey, slanted and long bangs, or even blunt, straight-across bangs,” she said.

With temperatures warming up, “beachy” hair is popular, espe-

cially among women with longer locks. “For longer hair, adding layers and subtle waves is always in – that fresh off the beach look,” Garrison said.

Indigo Sahlberg, stylist at Studio 1604, 1604 Newcastle St., Bruns-wick, fi nds the tousled look to be popular, as well, no matter what length of hair.

“It’s just soft waves, not any-thing too fi xed. For straight hair, use a roll brush on your ends, hot rollers, or even a big curling iron,” she said. “You don’t have to curl the whole head, just mainly the ends.”

If you already have a bit of curl to your hair, Sahlberg suggests allowing your hair to air dry and scrunch the hair with a small

amount of mousse to get the look without the crunch.

Both stylists have been applying a variety of colors to clients’ hair. Along with the laid-back style of loose waves, the ombré dye-job is popular, a la celebrities like Ra-chel Bilson and Giuliana Rancic.

The look, with grown-out roots that fade into the rest of the hair color, allows for a bit longer time between salon visits.

But Garrison has seen some bold colors as well.

“Red and strawberry blondes are very in right now. Even bright neon colors, for any type of style, are popular,” she said.

At Studio 1604, Sahlberg has seen another dramatic color asked for by many of her clients. “A lot

of people bring in a picture of Kim Kardashian and say, ‘I want this dark color,’” she said.

If a new cut or color is a bit too much change for spring, both styl-ists recommend trying a variety of braids.

“Braids are defi nitely in. There’s a fi shtail braid, the twist braid, even an across-the-crown braid that looks like a headband,” Gar-rison said.

If these are too elaborate, Sahl-berg suggests a twist on the simple braid.

“Take a small, simple braid and intertwine it with a few more amongst the hair on your head. If you want an up-do, just try mixing a few little braids throughout it,” she said.

Now the great theological debate can fi nally come to an end

The tan dog gently leaned his head against the wall of his kennel, careful not to disturb the bandage around his ears. When April McEwan entered the room, his eyes lit up.

“This is Maximillion,” McEwan said as she led the dog from the Humane Society of South Coastal Georgia’s medical room. “He’s such a good boy.”

As the society’s adoption specialist, Mc-Ewan has become close to Maximillion. Uneasy at fi rst, his spirits rose quickly as McEwan patted his head. “He had surgery on his ears, but Dr. (Missy) Weaver says that he’s on the mend.”

While Maximillion recovers, he needs to have extra attention. That’s where the society’s foster program comes into play. The group is looking for loving, temporary homes for animals like Maximillion who need a little extra care.

“We do prefer he be adopted, but foster care is better than staying (here),” McEwan said.

“Foster parents” provide temporary care

for cats, kittens, dogs and puppies in their homes. Some animals can be in a home for as little as two weeks, while others may need care for many months. The average stay for a foster pet, McEwan says, is two to four weeks.

“By offering your time, energy and

home to an animal in need, you prepare the animal for adoption into a permanent home, as well as help prevent overcrowd-ing in our adoption center. (The humane society) is always looking for more foster homes, especially throughout the busy spring and summer seasons,” she said.

Animals that are eligible for foster care include puppies and kittens too young to be adopted permanently. “They may need to be bottle fed or they may be waiting for surgery,” McEwan said.

A mother cat or dog can also be fostered with its litters. Other candidates are fearful or shy animals in need of socialization. Animals, like Maximillion, who are recov-ering from surgery or an injury are also an option, as are ones with disabilities.

The society also allows fostering for animals with a treatable illness, such as heart worm or a cough. That way, the animals still get free medical treatment from the humane society. In addition, any animal might be fostered when the shelter becomes overcrowded.

Oftentimes, a person takes a pet home under the society’s Foster-to-Adopt pro-gram and becomes a full-fl edged member of a family.

“Typically, Foster-to-Adopt cases in-clude dogs that are being treated for heart worm disease or dogs/cats with medical conditions. Through our Foster-to-Adopt program, the pet ‘parent’ has all intentions of offi cially adopting the pet as a ‘furever’ family member,” she said.

Before the society lets an animal leave, potential foster parents are screened to ensure that they are a proper match.

“Anyone interested in fostering pets for (the society) can submit a foster ap-plication for review. Once reviewed, an appropriate match will be made. Appropri-ate matches are made based on pet needs, foster parents’ lifestyle and foster parents requests, as well as what potential foster parents can provide.”

Bobby Haven/The Brunswick News

April McEwan, adoptions specialist at the Humane Society of South Coastal Geor-gia, pets Maximillion, one of the dogs available for the society’s foster program.

Nick Nichols/The Brunswick News

Teana Garrison styles a customer’s hair at Studio 412 on St. Simons Island. Garrison said “beachy” hair is popular with temperatures warming up.

New hairstyles heat up as season begins to changeBY SARAH LUNDGRENThe Brunswick News

Fostering a furry friend

By LINDSEY ADKISONThe Brunswick News

View descrip-tions of avail-able foster animals on the Humane Society of South

Coastal Georgia’s Facebook page. Appli-cations are available at the society, 4627 U.S. 17

N., Glynn County. The society is open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Satur-days. Contact

April McEwan, adoption specialist, at

264-6246, ext. 109, or at April@Adopt-PetsNow.com.

Among animals in need of foster homes are:

• Zelda, likely a golden retriever mix, about to begin treatment for heart worm. She will be

available for Foster-to-Adopt

about Feb. 24. • Miss Eloise, apparently

a poodle mix, who is mostly deaf and blind.

• Baysey, a 12-year-old, black-and-white cat, who is able to maneu-ver easily, despite her age.

• Wish-bone, a mixed breed dog who is restless because of

his lengthy stay, but minds

well after he settles in.• Bowser, a fun and playful

dog who is restless because of his lengthy stay, but who would be a great com-panion.

• Ester, a Labrador mix who likes to play

in water, but is restless because of her lengthy stay.

• Suzi, a Stafford-

shire bull mix with high en-ergy who is restless because of her lengthy stay.

• Tilly, a shy dog who has steadily become more comfort-able and confi dent.

How to help

Program gives pet lovers a chance to help animals in need

Baysey

Miss Eloise Wishbone

Bowser

Tilly

ZeldaSuzi

Ester

1B PERSPECTIVES PROCESS