Linda's Vidalia Onion Casserole

5 medium onions, sliced thinly

1/2 cup butter

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup grated cheddar

1 1/2 cups crushed Ritz crackers

4 tablespoons half and half

1 teaspoon Nature's Seasoning

A Macon mother and her family went on vacation and came back to a backyard they didn't recognize.

That's because friends and a group of volunteers worked tirelessly to transform her backyard into an oasis.

The idea came about when friends wanted to give Wendie Cheek a gift that would bring her peace. The backyard transformation for the Cheek family had to be put on hold as Wendie battled a disease.

"She got diagnosed with another tumor and had to go in for more treatment, so that kind of got stopped short and it sort of left the backyard in a disaster area," said Matthew Cheek of Macon, who is also Wendie's brother-in-law.

"With Wendie possibly going into treatment again, we wanted her to have a place where her and her family can go and chill and enjoy and just relax, just forget about everything else," said P.J. Flores of Macon, who spearheaded the idea of the backyard makeover.

School officials locked down Heritage Elementary early Thursday morning after a suspicious man was found wandering the campus.

Donald Porter, spokesman for Bibb County schools, confirmed to 13WMAZ that a Heritage staff member saw the man and contacted campus security but did not see a weapon.

A suspicious vehicle was also seen on campus, Porter says.

Campus police put Heritage on a preventive lock-down and confronted the suspicious man, who fled the campus into the woods.

The school grounds and the surrounding neighborhoods were searched until police determined the vehicle and individual were no longer in the area.

The lock-down was lifted by 8:35 a.m.

The school did have campus police on heightened security throughout the day as kindergarten through second grades celebrated Field Day outside.