Schools attended and Places I've lived

          Kinston, NC 1956-64 - 1st and 2nd grade - Southwood School 

          Raleigh, NC 1964-65 - 3rd through the middle of 4th grade - Lewis H. Powell Elementary

          Rocky Mount, NC 1965-66 - thru middle of 5th grade - Englewood Elementary

          Huntsville, AL 1966-70 - thru middle of 9th grade - Rolling Hills Elementary & Davis Hills Jr. High

          Pensacola, FL 1970-74 - thru High school - Woodham High & Pensacola Christian High

          Greenville, SC 1974-75 - my freshman year (college) Bob Jones University

          Pensacola, FL 1975-85 - Pensacola Christian College (1975-76)

          Mobile, AL 1985-89

          Mableton, GA 1989-90 - near Six Flags, west of Atlanta

          Mobile, AL 1990-1999

          Dacula, GA 1999 - 2004 (Loved living in

          Lawrenceville, GA 2004-2005

          Dawsonville, GA 2005-2006  (the mountains and hiking Amicalola Falls was great!)

          Fairhope, AL  2006-present  (love living by Mobile Bay and near the beaches of the Gulf)

PICTURES

                                                                                          This is my Kindergarten picture 

CLICK HERE for PICTURES of Family & Friends

What I do for enjoyment:   

SING - I have been in many church and school choirs and am a past member of the Gwinnett Choral Guild and Dawson Community Chorus.  I sing 1st Tenor and enjoy singing sacred music.   Look for me in the choir at Springhill Baptist Church in Mobile.   

COOK - Since I was a kid I have enjoyed playing with my food.   !!!    I have many recipes of my own of Mexican, Chinese, Cajun,& Italian.  I love to cook fresh seafood, beef-vegetable stew, and fish stew.  I enjoy hot-spicy foods.  Like Emeril I like to "kick it up a knotch - - BAMM..!"  I make my own salsa, great with nacho chips or spoon it over my Mexican dishes.  I've recently started to teach myself how to bake.  I started with cookies, then biscuits, and now banana bread.  I enjoy dark chocolate anything, fresh cinnamon rolls, chewy oatmeal cookies (I bake some yummy ones!), and cherry pie.  I enjoy watching Iron Chef on the FoodTV channel and Alton Brown's show Good Eats.  

DANCE - In December 2006 I started ballroom dance lessons at the local Fred Astaire Studios.  I am a very musical person and I have found my love of ballroom dancing is ME - Musical Expression.  I know the Foxtrot, Rumba, East Coast Swing, Cha-cha, Waltz, and Tango.   I go dancing once or twice a week and enjoy seeing many of my dance friends.  

READ - I read Patricia Cornwell and John Grisham novels along with assorted biographies, current political books (Culture Warrior by Bill O'Reilly), and the Star Trek series books and paperbacks.  My library overflows and I always have a book going.   My daily devotions are from The Message, a contemporary translation of the Bible.   I enjoy both the NIV and The Message translations.      

TRAVEL - I have had the pleasure of visiting 46 different states and the following countries:  Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, Italy, and the Bahamas. I have been to Yellowstone Park both in the summer and winter, I was able to snowmobile there and see Old Faithful along with many of the roaming animals in the park.  In the summer I rafted Snake River.  My father and I spent 9 days in Venice and literally walked all over the city.  The trip to Hawaii was like being in paradise it was so beautiful and Bermuda was so relaxing along with being breathtakingly beautiful.  My desire is to travel the Orient for 2-3 weeks and visit more Caribbean islands.  I have enjoyed many trips to New York City, great food, great shopping, great people watching, great shows, lots of fun walking all over Manhattan.  Chinatown is my favorite place to hangout. I also enjoy trips to Las Vegas. I'm not much on gambling but the entertainment, food, watching people (losing their money), seeing the sights, and shopping are also great.   

MUSIC - Classical music is my favorite. Works by Mozart, Bach, and Tchaikovsky are my favorites along with Beethoven's 7th symphony.  I love a variety of music such as Choral, pipe organ, smooth Jazz, Salsa, just a little bit of soft Rock, easy listening, upbeat instrumental styles like Enya, Yanni, Adiemus, Jim Brickman, Narada, Andre Gagnon, and Kitaro.  I enjoy Big Band, Spanish Flamenco, Latin America styles, and my favorite singer is Sarah Brightman (what a voice!).   I also enjoy Barry Manilow, Josh Groban, Eydie Gorme, and Steve Lawrence.

EXERCISE -  I enjoy long walks when the weather is warm along with some jogging and try to put in 5 or 6  miles each week or twice a week.  Swimming is my favorite activity especially snorkeling in the ocean.  I have a daily routine of light weights exercises to keep trim and I go to a local fitness center three to four times a week.   It keeps me trim and feeling great. 

TV & MOVIES - I'm not much into the regular network programs except for the series House and Project Runway.  I usually have Fox News Channel on when I'm not watching Braves baseball, Iron Chef, college football, WPT/PPT, and assorted movies and documentaries I find by surfing.  I enjoy some things on the Sci-Fi channel, and I have a fondness for animation, yes - cartoons.  I enjoy a lot of the Japanese anime such as Last Exile, Cowboy BeBop, Cased Closed.  I purchased a DVD collection of Hayao Miyazaki anime.  The very best animation movie I have ever seen is Spirited Away. It is absolutely wonderful!  I also enjoy some foreign movies, yes - even the ones with subtitles like Wasabe and Amilee.  I enjoy learning about other cultures.  

COLLECTING -  I have a large collection of Fitz & Floyd salt and pepper shakers and a few oriental antiques I've accumulated over the years.  I'm a collector at heart starting back at age 13 when I started collecting coins and turned it into my first business. 

SPORTS -   College football is the sport I enjoy watching.  My favorite teams are Georgia and Alabama.  As far as playing sports I'm fair at Bowling, Billiards, Ice Skating, Roller Skating, Swimming, Snorkeling, Tennis, Ping-Pong, Darts, Fishing, Hiking, Canoeing, and Hiking.  

PEOPLE WATCHING  -  Sometimes I enjoy just sitting and watching people go by; at the mall, the beach, sporting events, concerts, tourist areas, most anywhere.  Small children usually bring a big smile on my face. 

SHOPPING -  I enjoy shopping but am not a shop-a-holic, I'm more of a buy-and-browse-aholic.  I guess because of my 30 year retail background I love strolling every mall I can find.  I like to discover new and different stores and just get a view and feel of what's going on with businesses in general.  If you are ever with me at a mall have your fast walking shoes on as I like to get around quickly to see it all.  I enjoy grocery shopping too. I love to buy fresh produce and food, take it home and cook it up.  My weakness is clothes.  I'm a bit of a clothes horse.  Two closets packed out full!  But I enjoy wearing sharp looking and clothing that has colors and life! 

FAMILY - When I get together with my parents, brother, and sisters we have a great time, talk a lot, eat a lot, play games, play with the kids, go shopping, and watch a little TV.  I have a wonderful Christian family and we get along pretty good.  Dad and I talk about business a lot, Mom and I talk about church.  I have an older brother Terry, and two younger sisters, Kim and Paula. There are now 7 nieces and 5 nephews.  We are a family that  hugs.  My parents have now been married 55 years.  

POLITICS -  I am a conservative Republican.  I'm not only for the flat tax, I want it to be no more than 10% and everybody pays, whether you earn only $1 or $10-billion.  If you are a citizen of this country you should have a part in supporting the security and safety of this great nation God has blessed us with.  Other monies needed for the country to run on should come with land leases, tariffs, and use fees.  I'd be glad to discuss more about politics with you anytime. Just keep it calm and civil.   

WRITING -     I enjoy writing my thoughts on paper (actually the computer).  Writing is great therapy.  It helps to purge things from the mind and is great for self discovery.    

BOARD GAMES - I love playing Monopoly because I usually win - so watch out!  I have a great knowledge of general trivia so of course Trivial Pursuit is also a favorite.  I enjoy card games, charades, and Pictionary, and Boggle.  I play Scrabble with my daughters but I'm not real good at it.  Hey, they need to win at something!   

PHOTOGRAPHY - I have a couple of digital cameras and a video camera.  I know how to crop, touchup, add effects, and text with computer software I have.  I would like to do more photography in the future.  It can be lots of fun.  I've enjoyed picture taking for the website and stuff on eBay.

COMPUTER -  I used to surf the net (hence the name surfround "surf a round the internet"), a lot more than I do now but I still have several favorite websites I check out when I check my e-mail.  I love Netscape Navigator and Mozilla Firefox browsers.   I use Gmail (Google Mail) for my e-mail application.  I use "My Yahoo" for business news and stock & commodities information.  I am now upgraded to Windows Arista.  It has lots of great applications built in.  I started with DOS, then Windows 3.1, then Windows 95, then 98, ME, XP and now Vista.  

Business History: ___In July of 1975, I joined a newly opened business called Pensacola Coin Company with three other men in Pensacola, Florida.  This came about because of my hobby, Numismatics.  I had been collecting coins since age 13 when an uncle introduced me to this hobby and gave me 3 copies of Coin World, a numismatic publication.  I was now part owner of a corporation, Pensacola Coin Company, Inc. located in the lobby of the old San Carlos Hotel. At age 19 I was the manager and actually the only employee for a little over a year.   After about a year we moved to Westwood Mall and changed the name to Coin Castle.  In November of 1978 I left Coin Castle and started my own rare coin business and named it Ambassador Coin & Stamp Investments. I was a few months over age 22 and took a my leap into entrepreneurship.  I did this on around $4,000 worth of coins that I received from my 14% ownership in Coin Castle. 

The rare coin business was booming and the precious metal market was rapidly moving upwards and success was happening fast for a young 24 year old. In February of 1980, the gold market peaked at $850 per ounce and silver at $50. I bouth millions of dollars in scrap gold and silver in 1979-80.  Inflation was in double digits and the prime rate was going through the roof at over 21%. But the rare coin market crashed hard in the next couple of years of 1981-82 so I sold off all the rare coins (took a big loss) and changed the operation to a fine jewelry business, Ambassador Fine Jewelry & Gifts.

My father resigned from Montgomery Ward when he lived in Dallas, TX.  My parents and two sisters moved to Mobile and we opened a our partnership business in August of 1980, calling it Ambassador Gold & Silver Investments. In November of the same year opened a second store in Saraland, AL (15 miles north of Mobile). We soon changed the name of the stores to Ambassador Jewelry.  I had two stores in Pensacola but closed both of them and opened a video gameroom called Crystal Cactus in May of 1982. It was to my unfortune that on that month of May 1982 the video game arcade business peaked. It was all downhill from there but I survived until January of 1985. I auctioned off all assets of Crystal Cactus and moved to Mobile. I went to manage the Saraland store an shortly thereafter started a wholesale jewelry company called Royalty Chain Company, selling 14 Karat gold jewelry. I sold to other jewelry stores in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida; gold chains, rings, and charms. The gold chain business went soft in 1989.   I had 7 companies to go bankrupt owing me lots of money so I changed the wholesale gold jewelry business into costume fashion jewelry and in May of 1989 moved to Atlanta to open a showroom in the Atlanta Apparel Mart and called it Royalty Imports.  Wouldn't you know it, the ladies accessories and apparel market went soft within a year so I then became a road rep for a few ladies accessories companies and moved my family back to Mobile in August of 1990.  The best thing I took back to Mobile from my 18 month stay in Mableton,  GA was my second daughter Julie, born March of 1990.  I shortly dropped the accessories lines and became a rep for a fine jewelry company called Samuel Spil Jewelry- whew! Things seem to happen so fast in my life. In 1992 I helped start what became my second wholesale jewelry company named Arrow Jewelry Mfg.  I was until 1999 President of R.A.E., Inc. (Royal Ambassador Enterprises, Inc.) and owned four retail stores, Ambassador Jewelry, and a wholesale/mfg jewelry company, Arrow Jewelry Mfg. The wholesale business got too much to handle along with the retail operations so we just stopped.  When Springdale Mall in Mobile went into a tailspin downward due to the loss of key anchors and other stores Ambassador's business went down by 40% in the fall of 1998 and down by 60% in first 4 months of 1999.  My father and I finally reached a decision  because of the great losses we were suffering to close Ambassador Jewelry.  I wanted to start a new and different business on my own.  I moved my family to Dacula, Georgia (near Lawrenceville) on August 6th of 1999 and opened a new jewelry business Jewelry99.  "Fine Jewelry for $99 or Less" at  Mall of GEORGIA.  The lease was for only one year and  I later opened Charming Collectibles & Jewelry in Underground Atlanta in April of 2001 and at Discover Mills in Lawrenceville, GA in November 2001.  I opened a temp store called ANIMAL KINGDOM in Mall of Georgia in 2004 for about 9 months.  I closed all the stores at the end of 2003 and went to work at Caribou Coffee for a while.  In 2005 I became the manager for the new Haggar Clothing Co. store in Dawsonville at North Georgia Premium Outlets.   It was an enjoyable business and I met many people from all over the world there.  I was proud of my work there, we broke many records and won several contests in sales.  I worked with a great crew of people and had lots of fun.  For about a year my parents tried to get me to move back to Mobile and take over their jewelry store.  In October of 2006 I made my decision and moved to Fairhope, AL instead of Mobile and took over my parent's jewelry business Rose Jewelry in Saraland, AL.  They were either going to sell the store or turn it over to me.   I enjoy being near the beach and by the bay and I have lots of free time.  The store does not open in the evening and never on Sundays.  It has given me a comfortable life and the ability to do many enjoyable things outside of the business.  I think I'll stay a while.  That is unless God has some other and new plan.  You might want to stay tuned!  

Churches I have attended: I have worshiped in many different churches because of my moving around. Some of these are Bethel Free Will Baptist Church in Kinston, NC; Longview Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC; Falls Road Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, NC; Meadow Hills Baptist Church and Beracah Baptist Church in Huntsville, AL; Faith Baptist Church and Pensacola Christian Campus Church in Pensacola, FL;  Hillcrest Baptist Church and Spring Hill Baptist Church in Mobile, AL; McKendree United Methodist Church in Lawrenceville, GA; Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta, GA.  When I lived in Dawsonville, GA I attend two churches, Roswell United Methodist Church and Mt. Pisgah Methodist Church in Roswell, GA.  I sang in the choir at Roswell UMC and went to a terrific Bible study at Mt. Pisgah given by Wayne Clark.  I have enjoyed singing in the choir at church. I have been in the adult choir since 8th grade as a 1st tenor.  I am now a member of Dauphin Way United Methodist Church in Mobile, AL and sing in the choir at Spring Hill Baptist.     

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