Family Spotlight - The Cassara Family

By Josh Hudson • Photography by Heidi Kalpak, The Pink Peach Photography

This month, Stroll Inside the Gates recognizes the Cassara family.  Frank and Linda moved to Greensboro from Seabrook Island, SC in 2019.  They moved into their beautiful newly built home in Reynolds in May of 2020.

Linda (Miller) Cassara was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. During high school, Linda was active in school team sports, including tennis, field hockey, the rifle team, and cheerleading. She was also encouraged to take lessons and play golf at a very young age, but did not pick it up again until later in life. She went on to graduate from Penn State with a degree in Social Welfare. Her first profession was in geriatric social work.  She worked in nursing homes for over 15 years and then switched professions to pharmaceutical sales, working for Ortho Pharmaceuticals, the women’s health care division of Johnson and Johnson.

Frank Cassara is originally from Long Island NY. Frank was a gymnast in high school and college, and he hoped to be able to coach children in the sport after college.  He attended Springfield College in Massachusetts, graduating in 1971.   After college, Frank moved back to Long Island where he coached gymnastics and began his career with Organon Pharmaceuticals, holding various positions from field sales to account management.  

“I was working and living on Long Island and had taken up golf again when Frank and I first met,” recounts Linda. “We were both in pharmaceutical sales, but oddly enough, we did not meet through our careers or golf. We met playing team tennis, where we were inadvertently placed on the same team. At that time, we learned that we had similar careers and that we were going to be competitors!” Linda and Frank started out as friends, playing tennis together for several years. After several life changes, their relationship changed for the better and they were married in 1994.  At that time, they lived on eastern Long Island, where they spent weekends on Frank’s sailboat,  sailing locally, and on vacations, sailing to places such as Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

During that same year, Frank was promoted to Regional Account Manager and his company relocated them to the Washington DC area. Because of their love of sailing, they chose to live in Annapolis, MD. “We spent 9 wonderful years sailing on the Chesapeake Bay and enjoying the cultural offerings of Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington DC,” adds Frank.  “We also chartered sailboats in the Virgin Islands, the Caribbean, France, and The Gulf Islands until my retirement in 2005.” 

While in Annapolis, Linda started a business, Osprey Originals, creating commissioned architectural etched and stained-glass work. Her work can be seen in many homes and businesses in Annapolis, the Charleston area, and as far away as Hawaii. In 2003 Frank and Linda moved to Seabrook Island, SC., where they became involved in the golf and tennis communities.  Frank became very active in the Seabrook Island Art Guild, as Linda continued her glass business, producing glass art in the Charleston area.  She closed her business in 2019 when they moved to the Lake Country.

“We loved living near the ocean,” adds Frank. “We lived on Seabrook Island for 16 years, however, and after 12 or so years, the hurricane frequency and ferocity increased. Every fall, we were having to wrap up the house and evacuate. We still wanted golf, tennis, and boating, so that is how we found Reynolds.”

The Cassara family’s favorite part about living in Georgia’s Lake Country is the incredible sense of community. “We love it here!” states Linda. “Not only have I become very involved in golf, but I have met so many wonderful people. I was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2021, and Frank and I spent 6 months in Atlanta, where I had chemotherapy. Our Reynolds family was amazing during that time! Friends and neighbors were so supportive, sending cards, gifts, and pre-made meals. Now I am completely in remission and so thankful for all the positive support and prayers I received during that time.”

In his free time, Frank’s primary hobby is art. “I paint in oil and sell my work,” continues Frank. “My subject matter is primarily large landscapes, animals, and I love doing commissioned work”.  Anyone interested in Frank’s  work can visit his website at www.cassarapaintings.com. Music also plays an important part in Frank’s life. He sings in several choral groups, plays classical and contemporary piano, and he has entertained the residents at The Glen Assisted Living Center a couple of times. “Linda and I also enjoy the musical events hosted here, and we often travel to Athens, Augusta, and Atlanta for symphonic concerts.” Though he no longer plays tennis or pickleball, Frank is still working on his golf game, and he loves to bike in the nicer weather and workout at their wonderful fitness center here in Reynolds. 

In her free time, Linda enjoys playing golf with friends and with the WGA, e-biking, and playing Mahjong and Canasta. She also recently took up pastels and loves painting pet portraits. Both Frank and Linda are members of the Artisans Village Art Gallery in Eatonton, where some of their art is on display and for sale. Frank’s art can also be seen at the Sunshine Gallery in Watkinsville and Bend The Trend in Greensboro.  Twice a year Linda and Frank take hiking trips up to the mountains to enjoy the spring and fall scenery, and in the summer they rent pontoon boats and get out on the lake.

To stay active in the community, Linda volunteers weekly at the Greene County Habitat for Humanity Restore and the Lake Oconee Humane Society, where she feeds and gives love to all of the cats and kittens and helps with the foster volunteers. She is also a member of PEO, a national philanthropic organization that supports education for women through grants, loans, and scholarships. Soon after her move to the area, Linda joined the Reynolds Ladies Club and an RLC Book Club. Frank, on the other hand, is involved in a local men’s book club and the Reading Buddies program at the elementary school, helping second graders improve their reading skills. He also volunteers with Victory Train, a transformative early childhood education program based in Greene County. In addition to their volunteer efforts, Linda and Frank attend Lake Oconee Church, where they participate in a weekly small-group.

Frank and Linda are blessed with a wonderful blended family. Frank has two adult children who live in Baltimore: Jason (age 46) and Adrienne (age 50).  Jason is recently married, and Adrienne has two children of her own, Henry (19) and Louie (17).  Linda has one adult son, Luc (50), who lives in upstate NY with his two children, Skylar and Eli.

Frank and Linda have truly fallen in love with life here in Georgia’s Lake Country. “We both feel very blessed to live here at Reynolds,” concludes Linda. “We are still near the water and there is so much to do!  We attend many of the special events here at Reynolds. We both play golf regularly and on our very active street, we have monthly women’s game nights, block parties, and golf outings. We also enjoy cooking together with friends and  we love the convenience of having wonderful restaurants here in the community and eating ‘out’ at Reynolds. We have truly found our perfect home here!”