I love lunches. Last week I got to go to two that provided some great column fodder.
First up was Thursday's Brentwood Cool Springs Chamber’s membership luncheon. Though the president of Brentwood's largest employer was the main speaker, Police Chief Ricky Watson got the standing ovation.
On Friday, it was off to the Brentwood Rotary Club to hear one of my favorite people give the program. That would be HK Derryberry.

Well, hello Dolly! I have no idea how much time Dolly Parton actually spends at her Crockett Road spread in east Brentwood, but perhaps she’s about to spend more there with Thursday’s announcement that her Dollywood Co. has teamed with Gaylord Entertainment to create a 114-acre “entertainment zone” in Middle Tennessee.

I wish, of course, the announcement had been in Brentwood, but I don’t know if we even have 114 acres of developable property available, and even if we did, lord knows someone would fight the zoning. Of course, that flat 80 acres that remains to be purchased at the Ravenswood Farm might have worked but we’ll never know.

Wow, how about that winter weather we experienced Tuesday.
There’s nothing like a tornado warning and 65 degree temperatures in the middle of January to make you dream about spring, is there?
Luckily we seem to have escaped unscathed, though for a few minutes after lunch people across town hunkered down in their safe places, whether that was a hallway in Kenrose Elementary School or a corporate headquarters in Maryland Farms.

Today Erika Page White’s a busy Brentwood mom and community volunteer. Just a few years ago, she played Roseanne Delgado on One Life to Live, the ABC sister of my soap, All My Children. No, I wasn’t a star, but I did have a huge crush on Philip Brent (the original one played by Richard Hatch, not the tall wannabe who followed).
Last summer millions of AMC fans mourned the end of the long-running soap. On Friday, OLTL fans did the same.

Just remember, you heard it here first.

“And the nominees for the 2012 CMA New Artist of the Year Award are: Edens Edge…" Or maybe the announcement will go like this: “And the nominees for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist are Hunter Hayes ….”

Or maybe it will play out like this, “The Single of the Year Award goes to “Storm Warming”….” Or maybe “…Amen.”

On Thursday, I finally got the call from Pete Fisher, vice president and general manager of the Grand Ole Opry. Fisher, a Ravenwood High School dad, is the man behind Music 4 Music, benefit oncerts that have no doubt launched the careers of Taylor Swift, Chris Young and last year’s headliner, The Band Perry.

Well, we’re a week into the new year and the new me is on a roll. With a little help from my first cold of the year, that is.
I’ve embarked on the Birthday Diet. Go ahead and Google it. You won’t find it. Nor will you find it on the best-seller list at Amazon, though if I’m successful you might next year.
As a failed Weight Watchers’ lifetime member, I know it all. I’ve studied the DASH diet and love Sugar Busters....

There’s only one way to travel and that’s the Leathers’ way. I realize most Brentwood folks think tooling down to Destin or Gulf Shores at the drop of a hat or flying off to the Aspen or Big Sky or Vail is the way to go, but not my family.

No, we managed to hit seven states in four days, staying in three hotels and racking up close to 1000 miles on the ol’ mini-van. The adventure started mid-morning on Friday and ended early Monday afternoon. And we saw not a ski slope or beach – unless you count the brown hills of Gatlinburg or the low lakes of Georgia.

I love to write this column. No, not just BrentWord. But BrentWord’s Brentwoodian of the Year  column. The first, in 2009, came just months after we launched Brentwood Home Page. We didn’t have time to create an official “Person of the Year” program, so I decided to be judge and jury all by myself.
Then-Library Director Chuck Sherrill and then-City Commissioner Alex Noble got the first nods.
Last year I surveyed various movers and shakers around town to see who they would nominate if given the chance, but still the decision fell to me, though Police Chief Ricky Watson was an obvious choice.
This year was much harder. There were, and are, numerous deserving people for very divergent reasons, including Chief Watson, who could easily have taken home the title for a second year.
But in the end, and drum roll please ….

Where’s Susan? Working hard on her BrentWord Brentwoodian of the Year column, coming Friday. She promises to surprise you with her selection. In the meantime:

Brentwood Home Page is searching for Brentwood residents who have weight loss or related success stories they are willing to share with our readers in our new Be Healthy section that launches soon. We also are searching for readers who have resolved to make changes in their lives that will benefit their health in the new year who are willing to let us follow them over the next year.

My favorite story of the year in 2010 was writing about Marine Ben Maenza’s homecoming.  Army Spc. 4 Andrew Wilson’s story this year mirrors it in almost every way. Granted Ben didn’t get quite the hero’s welcome that Andrew did yesterday, but his story and the experience definitely paved the way for the great outpouring of funds, volunteers and support we’ve seen in recent weeks.

More than any other individual involved, Brentwood Police Chief Ricky Watson helped bring both young men home to Brentwood. He told me Tuesday afternoon that that morning’s crowd was bigger than “I even dreamed would be there… Literally thousands of people turned out. It was the first time I’d ever seen something like that.”

Paulette Walsh doesn’t want to be a Grinch, but she’s about had it with pranksters trespassing into her yard and rearranging her holiday ornaments. And doing the same to her neighbors too.
The reindeer seem to be special targets for the culprits, who have repositioned the lighted ruminant mammals into mating positions.
“One evening, the vandals came once to reposition our reindeer and we just unplugged the lights so the inappropriateness would not be illuminated. We figured that we would just leave them in the dark until morning,” Paulette shared.
Think again...

Now, I don’t mean this as a putdown of the personal style of Cindi, Leesa, Lauren, Lynn, Ann and Amber at the Brentwood Cool Springs Chamber of Commerce, but the chamber office has just lost its biggest accessory.
For more than four years, Connie Albright-Manteris has been my fashion idol. I’ve never seen her look bad, even in jeans and a baseball hat. She can do more with a scarf than Warren Buffet can do with a $1.

I’m a huge believer in fate. And that God puts you in places for a reason. So I don’t think it is a coincidence that I was awakened early Saturday morning to the sound of sound checks for the 30th annual Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Christmas parade.

Opening the drapes in our 11th floor Hyatt hotel room, I looked down and saw the big white and green sign marking the starting point of the parade adhered to the asphalt of Peachtree Street.

Now that we have our very own street festival, I don’t have to take up valuable column space laying out all the reasons why Brentwood needs its own Main Street event. Although organizers called them Town Center Saturdays instead of the Brentwood Mole Fest, I’m more than satisfied with the result.

So I’m starting my 2012 campaign a little early: A movement to have our very own, home-grown Christmas Parade next year.  I had already been thinking about it the idea, but an email from Dennis Jackson, the Ravenwood Band Boosters' biggest booster, really sealed the idea.

Let the holidays begin. On Sunday night, I attended the always amazing youth choir Christmas concert by the Brentwood United Methodist Church’s Sonshine, Jubilation and Alleluia choirs.  It’s been a few years now since one of my boys sang with the choir but it remains the official start of my holiday season.

There’s something about the dimly lit, three-story round narthex with more than 150 teenagers singing in candlelight that just sets the tone, especially coming three days after what I believe is the purest of holidays – or at least was until Black Friday mania took over.