POWERGRAMS

31 on the clear walls, along with the Panthers' moo: "High standards, no excuses." There are separate computer classrooms for elementary and high school students. Smith has been assistant principal at Georgiana School for six years. She knows most of the students by name, as well as their parents, some of whom she taught during her 26 years in local schools. A high school student seeing Smith pass by her class comes outside and whispers that she has a problem with a gossipy boy. Smith counsels her on the spot and the student returns to class satisfied and relieved. "We're a close-knit school," Smith says. "That tightness makes the parents trust that we're going to do what we're supposed to do for their children." Outside the administrative offices is a growing accumulation of college acceptance leers: Alabama, Auburn, South Alabama, Troy and others sent them to proud seniors who have shared for all to see. "We tell our children that no one is going to give them anything," Smith says, "but if they apply themselves, they can go far." Alabama Power Office Like almost everyone else in town, Customer Service Representative Patricia Ray has a Hank Williams story. Although she's been in the Georgiana Office for 17 years and given directions to the nearby museum on countless occasions, she only knows the country music legend through relatives. "My husband grew up in the community Hank was raised in," she says as customers stream in and out. "The festival originated at Mt. Olive Church across from where Hank was born, but it got a lile too rowdy, so they used a field belonging to my husband's granddad, Otis Ray, for the festival." The Hank Williams Festival soon moved to the property surrounding his boyhood home and museum, and Ray eventually became a volunteer for the annual event. She's a member of the Three Arts Club that compiles the annual festival program, selling them for $5 each to raise money for scholarships for local girls. "I usually work at the gate or sell programs every year," says Ray, who's a member of the Greenville subarea, Southern Division Chapter of the Alabama Power Service Organization. "Last year, we had an APSO booth at the festival." Ray grew up in Georgiana, graduated from Georgiana High School and le town from 1983 to 1986 when she and her husband, Robert, lived on an Army post in Panama. Today she lives 8 miles from the Alabama Power office, which she closes at noon for an hour Monday through Friday to eat lunch at home. She previously worked for a decade at the old First National Bank, watching as the historic Ga-Ana Theatre across the street was gued and eventually renovated. Ray says she was fortunate to make the switch to Alabama Power. "By the grace of God … the girl who was working here was expecting a baby," she says. "They needed someone to work here and I got the job." Ray says she enjoys working at the center of the action in Georgiana, being across the street from First Baptist Church, next door to the hospital, a block from the railroad tracks and 2 miles from I-65. She is happy in her hometown. "It's just family," she says. "In the summertime it gets hectic out on the interstate with the beach traffic. But Georgiana is just home to me." Ray has greeted customer for 17 years.

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