Meet the TSC Founders Cheri Leavy and Whitney Long

This is from a post in January 2012 and we added some current insights in honor of the new website launch.

Cheri Harden Leavy (pictured left)

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP –
I grew up in the Golden Isles of Georgia

MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME/BEST ADVICE/WORDS TO LIVE BY
“If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all!”

PLAYLIST OR SONG THAT TAKES YOU BACK TO A SIMPLER TIME
‘Melt with You’ by Modern English

3 THINGS YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT/3 THINGS ON A DESERTED ISLAND
husband Vance, my Golden Retrievers and MacBook Pro

WHAT READING MATERIAL IS ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND
2012- It is a toppling stack always of current magazines, a biography I am reading (Fitzgerald and Hemingway: Works and Days by Scott Donaldson) concurrently with a novel (Ten Thousand Saints: A Novel 
by Eleanor Henderson), a cookbook (A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen by Hugh Acheson,) and my ipad for quick browsing.

2014- Still a toppling stack of mags, Good Dog by Garden & Gun editors, a cookbook (Heritage by Sean Brock), Camille Styles Entertaining and now I am in love with my ipad mini.

FAVORITE THING TO DO ON A SATURDAY NIGHT
Host a dinner party at our home that turns into a dance party!

DREAM VACATION
I have wanderlust so I love to be on the move so I am ready for any vacation anywhere.

I’M PASSIONATE ABOUT
Philanthropy and giving back to your community.  My alma mater, the University of Georgia.  The Arts.  Education.  Most of my friends would say I am passionate about everything.

YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE
Casablanca, The Godfather Trilogy

YOUR LIFE/LIFESTYLE IN FIVE WORDS
Work hard. Play hard. Serendipity.

BEST MOMENT OF YOUR DAY
2012- Husband delivering coffee and my Goldens in bed with me watching Morning Joe– sometimes with laptop, sometimes sans laptop.

2014- Happily nothing has changed, yay!

WHY I LOVE THE SOUTH
The people.  The story telling.  The food.  The hospitality.

FAVORITE SOUTHERN CITY
Tie amongst the three towns I have lived in: St. Simons Island and Athens, GA and Oxford, MS.  If you are after a city, I suppose Charleston or New Orleans.

FAVORITE SOUTHERN ACTOR
2012- Reese Witherspoon and Julia Roberts…can’t think of a fella?

2014- Jennifer Lawrence from Kentucky can be added to that list.

FAVORITE SOUTHERN AUTHOR/BOOK
To Kill a Mockingbird: 50th Anniversary Edition by Harper Lee is a classic everyone should read.

FAVORITE SOUTHERN FOOD
2012- I love a low country boil with Wild Georgia Shrimp and homemade sausage is the key to a good one, throw in Vidalia onions, corn and potatoes.

2014- I still love a good low country boil but I have fallen in love with a good piece of fried chicken and glass of champagne. Bliss!

FAVORITE SOUTHERN BAND/SONG
Widespread Panic- “Travelin’ Light”

FAVORITE SOUTHERN VACATION SPOT
2012- Most recently, the Cheeca Lodge in Islamorada, Florida Keys

2014- Most recently, I went to Charleston, SC which has become one of my favorite cities in the world!

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Whitney Wise Long (pictured right)

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP –
Elba, Alabama – a small southern town with the courthouse in the middle of the “Square”.  Everybody knows you and you know everybody.

MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME/BEST ADVICE/WORDS TO LIVE BY
“There but for the grace of God go I.”

PLAYLIST OR SONG THAT TAKES YOU BACK TO A SIMPLER TIME
Oh my… so many!  Anything by Bon Jovi, The Band, 38 Special, the Allman Brothers, Steve Miller Band, REM, Billy Joel, Willie Nelson and plus lots more.

3 THINGS ON A DESERTED ISLAND
My family, a computer with Skype capabilities and a fridge with an endless supply of food and drinks.  Sunscreen, too!

WHAT READING MATERIAL IS ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND
The nightstand can’t hold it all!  I have a big basket that always contains devotion books and my Bible, a parenting book or two of some sort, several magazines and my Nook loaded with a variety of titles.

FAVORITE THING TO DO ON A SATURDAY NIGHT
For the “mom me” it’s watching a movie with the kids and ordering pizza and everyone getting to spend unhurried quality time together.  For the “adult me” it’s going with my husband and friends to hear the bagpipes at the Sea Island Lodge at sunset, with one of their yummy mojitos in hand, followed by a late dinner at one of our many great local restaurants.

DREAM VACATION
Call me crazy but I really want to go on a family cross-country road trip –  albeit on a very nice, fully loaded RV that comes with a driver as needed.  And several overnight stays in the Ritz Carltons we pass along the way would be appreciated.

BEST PART OF THE DAY
Waking up each morning in good health to a new day with those I love most.

I’M PASSIONATE ABOUT
Doing what I can to help thru charity work –  especially things related to the wellness and lives of children both domestically and globally.

YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE(S)
Simon Burch (adapted from the book ‘A Prayer for Owen Meany’ by John Irving), Facing the Giants, Almost Famous

YOUR LIFE/LIFESTYLE IN FIVE WORDS
Full, Blessed, Busy, Exhilarating, Rewarding

WHY I LOVE THE SOUTH
It’s home and what I know – all my memories are here as well as my favorite people and places.

FAVORITE SOUTHERN CITY
Can’t name just one – Birmingham, New Orleans, Nashville, Charleston

FAVORITE SOUTHERN ACTOR/ACTRESS
Sandra Bullock (Virginia) & Luke Wilson (Texas)

FAVORITE SOUTHERN AUTHOR/BOOK
Rick Bragg –his writings bring me to tears every time.

FAVORITE SOUTHERN FOOD
Again, can’t name just one.   They all sound cliche but it’s true: shrimp and grits, fried okra, boiled peanuts, corn, sweet tea.

FAVORITE SOUTHERN BAND/SONG
Lynrd Skynrd and “Sweet Home Alabama” – of course!  Love how you recognize it from the first few notes and that everyone knows the words and sings at the top of their voices.

FAVORITE SOUTHERN VACATION SPOT
Anywhere along the coast of the Florida Panhandle.  My life is filled with wonderful childhood memories from there and now memories being made with my own family at WaterColor, Florida.  It is our favorite place to just go to slow down and just “be”.  The beautiful sand and waters cannot be beat.