Interview by Gainesville High School senior and Abernathy Cochran intern Donangelo Marshall
Meet Vaughan Smith! Vaughan is the Clubhouse Manager at the Chattahoochee Country Club. He was born and raised in Gainesville. Vaughan said one of his favorite things about Hall County currently is, “…the revitalization that’s going on at the Square right now is tremendous.”
We want to thank Vaughan for telling us more about his life and love of Hall County.
Question: Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.
Answer: “I was born and raised here in Gainesville. I went to Lakeview Academy and graduated in 1995, then I graduated from the University of North Georgia in 2001 with a degree in Business Administration. My grandfather, Pastor C.E. Vaughn, was a Baptist minister on the radio for 50 years, my mother taught at South Hall, Lakeview and Chestatee, I’ve got a sister who is also an assistant high school principal in Dawson County, so I’ve got my roots here in Gainesville.”
Q: What inspired you to led you to your current career?
A: “Basically, I’ve always been in customer service. I actually worked at Disney for seven years down in Orlando, and unfortunately in 2008 the economy did a downturn and 1,900 lost their jobs so I moved back home. I bartended at the Monkey Barrel for a year and then the Country Club found me and I’ve been here ever since.”
Q: How long have you lived or worked in Hall County?
A: “Born and raised here in Hall County, only for that seven years living in Orlando.”
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in Hall County?
A: “There’s a lot of interesting people here but I probably have to go with my grandfather, Pastor C.E. Vaughn of Grace Baptist Church. He passed away when I was young and the stories I hear nowadays from the people that he baptized or serviced, he had a lot of stories that I never got to know. Some of his recorded sermons, would be the one thing I would love to have back and just get to know him a little bit more.”
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? And why?
A: “I would go anywhere at this point. Honestly, on my bucket list is a trip to Fiji.”
Q: What is your favorite movie? What is the first movie you remember seeing in a theater?
A: “The top two of my most favorite movies are ‘Dead Poets Society’ or ‘White Squall.’ The first movie that I remember is ‘Bambi,’ but the first drive in movie theater was the movie ‘The Labyrinth.’”
Q: What advice would you give to a crowd of people?
A: “I’ll probably say to just keep going, I thought that I would always be at Disney, but if it was not for the layoffs in 2008, the Country Club wouldn’t have found me. As the old saying goes, ‘When one door closes, another one opens’ and it truly does, all you have to do is to be patient.”
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: “To go skydiving.”
Q: What is your favorite music or three bands that you would like to see (dead or alive)?
A: “ I’d love to see Dave Matthews again. The Oak Ridge Boys was one of those groups I saw when I was a little kid and I want to see them back in full force and ‘Elvira’ is the main song they had.”
Q: What current / former local business makes you the most nostalgic about Hall County?
A: “I really think just the Square and the revitalization that’s going on in the Square right now is tremendous.”
Q: If you could choose anyone that is alive today and not a relative; with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where locally would y’all meet for this lunch?
A: “Walt Disney. I have always had a love for Walt Disney World and the Disney Company itself. Walt Disney was such a visionary and never gave up on his dreams even through so many obstacles personally and professionally. It would be nice to talk with him and ask how he kept going and what he thinks of Disney today.”
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about Hall County?
A: “The uniqueness is that we are such a diverse group here but we still have that ‘local’ feel. We’ve got a lot of new people coming in to the Hall County area everyday but it’s amazing how people just fit right in to that ‘local feeling.’ Hall County is home to me.”
Q: Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?
A: “That’s one of those things that you just never know at this point but in five year range, I still plan to be here as long as the Chattahoochee Country Club needs me.”
Q: (Even for friends or family), what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
A: “Not many people know that I play piano but I have played piano since I was five. Here at the Country Club, I played for an event once and just the shocked that I actually played piano.”
Q: What 3 words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
A: “Togetherness, Warmth and Caring.”
Q: If you were cast into a major motion picture and had your choice of anyone to be your co-star, who would you choose?
A: “Sally Field. She’s been in tons of movies and the power that she has is unbelievable. She would be one that I would love to sit down and pick her brain. I am not good in comedy so probably we will do either historical or drama kind of movie.”
Q: What is favorite horror movie?
A: “I wanna stick with ‘The Ring’ or ‘The Grudge,’ it’s just they were new when they came out but now everything is spinning on those but I think ‘The Ring’ is one of the most terrifying movie.”
