Dunwoody Crier - December 8, 2022

Dunwoody switches on holiday light tour

By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com

DUNWOODY, Ga. —Dunwoody hosted an opening night celebration Dec. 1 to kick off a month of free themed holiday lights at Brook Run Park on Peachtree Road.

The annual “Holiday Lights” is a collection of 85,000 lights on display every night from 5 to 10 p.m. through Dec.31. The walk-through experience is free.

The lights are “Candy Land” themed, with ice cream truck and chocolate volcano light displays. Opening night featured free hot chocolate, character photo-ops, food and more.

Children roamed the playground and interacted with light displays. They also wrote letters to Santa and senior citizens. Meanwhile, adults chose from alcoholic beverage offerings.

At sunset, residents gathered around the tree. Mayor Lynn Deutsch led children in a countdown as the tree lit up to the sounds of holiday music.

The holiday lights were introduced three years ago during the height of COVID-19.

“It was created in the dark days of COVID to help bring our community together,” Deutsch said. “Everyone loved it so much that we’ve kept it as a tradition.”

The event officially started three years ago, but Dunwoody Parks and Recreation had a taste of the work in 2019. A three-person team put up a few inflatables and outdoor decorations.

“We knew we wanted something bigger,” Program Recreation Supervisor Rachel Waldron said.

The holiday lights have only grown

See HOLIDAY, Page 14

City leaders begin deep dive into revitalizing Dunwoody Village

By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Members of the City Council and Dunwoody Development Authority put their heads together Nov. 30 to map out first steps in transforming Dunwoody Village into a more walkable and livable community focal point.

Drawing from the revised Dunwoody Village Master Plan, officials focused on identifying projects to reinvigorate the array

of commercial spaces that the city calls “The Heart of Dunwoody.”

Dunwoody Village is a neighborhood of shops, offices and residences along Chamblee Dunwoody Road near Mt. Vernon Road.

The original Dunwoody Village Master Plan was created in 2011 through a Livable Centers Initiative grant through the Atlanta Regional Commission. LCI grants provide funds to revitalize areas into self-sustaining communities offering a mix of amenities

for work, shopping, entertainment and dwelling.

The plan, last updated in 2020, is designed for communities to become more walkable and pedestrian friendly, with a focus on reinvigoration.

Dunwoody officials stressed that public opinion is essential to forming Dunwoody’s future.

“There was robust public comment in developing the plan,” Dunwoody Communications Director Jennifer

Boettcher said. “Now these leaders are using that document to implement it.”

The meeting focused on implementation

DELANEY TARR/APPEN MEDIA

Dunwoody city officials stand in front of the illuminated tree at Brook Run Park during the holiday light tour Dec. 1.

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Thieves take items from storage units

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ated fingers. A witness told police the incident began when a suspect kicked down the apartment’s door and began attacking the victim with objects in the apartment.

Both men were injured in the in cident, and the suspect was taken to the DeKalb County Jail after receiving treatment.

Police arrest suspect In Nov. 14 hit and run

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DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody Police reports said nearly $6,500 in electron ics and valuables were stolen during a burglary at a local storage facility. Officers responded to a storage unit off Ashford Dunwoody Road Nov. 27 and were told that sometime within the past month, a number of storage units had been burglarized.

From one storage unit, four TVs and a collection of over 1,000 VHS, DVDs, Blue-Ray, tapes and disks had been stolen. In total, the owners estimated they had lost $6,400 in the burglary.

At the scene, police and witnesses reported seeing multiple other sur rounding storage units that had also likely been burglarized. The victims said their storage unit had also been burglarized in July, and they had re ported it to the leasing office, but not to the police.

No security cameras were found in the area, and no suspects were identified at the time of the report.

Dunwoody man arrested for domestic assault

DUNWOODY, Ga. — A 21-year-old Dunwoody man was arrested by police Nov. 28 for allegedly attacking and seriously injuring another man during a domestic dispute.

Police reports said officers re sponded to an apartment complex on Ashford Dunwoody Road after receiv ing reports a heavily bloodied man had been seen in the parking lot.

At the scene, officers found a victim with several heavily lacer

DUNWOODY, Ga. — A 26-year-old Dunwoody man has been arrested and charged by police in connection with a hit and run that took place on Ashford Dunwoody Road and I-285 Nov. 14.

Reports said the man was charged Nov. 27 for leaving the scene of an accident and following too closely, for hitting two vehicles on the roadway at about 5 a.m.

Police identified and tracked the man using license plate reading traffic cameras, and pictures taken by wit nesses at the scene.

Multiple check frauds reported on account

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Police reports said that a Dunwoody man reported more than $15,000 was stolen from his bank account through 17 fraudu lent transactions.

A victim contacted the police de partment Nov. 21 after noticing sever al discrepancies in an older bank ac count. Reports said the man’s checks had been duplicated to make fraudu lent transactions worth $15,366.

No suspects were identified by the report.

Charity assists needy near Perimeter area

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — If there were ever a “Jack-of-all trades” charity in Metro Atlanta, it would almost certainly be the Community Assistance Center off Roswell Road in Sandy Springs.

But far from being “a master of none,” the Community Assistance Center has spent the last three decades building a dedicated network of community resources and partnerships to help people during their darkest days, no matter what they might need.

It all started in 1987 when five church congregations came together to form a simple food pantry for community members who were having a hard time making ends meet. Just a small group of neighbors helping neighbors, the charity’s Communications Manager Laura Deupree said.

“These neighbors were just not able to put food on the table,” Deupree said. “So, these five congregations came together, took over the Boy Scout shack at Mount Vernon Presbyterian, and turned it into a food pantry.”

Since then, the organization’s services and reach has grown dramatically, helping thousands of families with food, clothing, financial

assistance and education each year. But what hasn’t changed, is the community-led mission that first launched the group.

While the organization only has 18 staff members, Deupree said they see 250 to 450 volunteers each month to help run a number of food pantries in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody, the Community Assistance Center thrift store and offices for financial assistance, adult education and career center.

“That spirit has completely stayed at the core of what CAC is,” she said. “It’s going from an all-volunteer organization to what we like to call a volunteer-led organization.”

No big crisis spurred the creation of the Community Assistance Center, but throughout the years the charity has faced every sort of challenge imaginable, from recessions and the housing crisis of 2008 to the COVID-19 pandemic. In each time of crisis, the community stepped forward to make ensure the nonprofit could fulfill it’s mission in the community.

Right now, Deupree said the North Fulton community is facing an “insidious” threat from across-theboard increases in the prices of rent, gas, food, which is pushing people to a breaking point.

Rent increases have had the

COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE CENTER/PROVIDED Community Assistance Center volunteers inventory gift donations for the group’s Holiday Adopt-a-Family program. During the holidays CAC pairs donors and recipi ents to make sure that children in need get presents for Christmas.

Neighbors:

greatest impact, she said, because many of their most vulnerable clients are already living on the edge of what they can afford. Any shift in that balance can be devastating.

“It’s never one thing that goes wrong that completely derails your life,” she said. “It is often a series of things that just keep piling up until you can’t sustain it financially anymore.”

To combat that threat and put clients back on their feet and in a better position from when they started, Deupree said they were able to launch a Career Center last year.

At the CAC Career Center, clients and anyone in the community who needs help, can find higher paying job opportunities, learn new marketable skills, and get resume and interview help. In the short time the career center has been open, the organization has assisted more than 150 people either find a new job, or progress in their career.

“About 80 percent of the clients at the Career Center already have a full-time job,” she said. “This year just has been really tough on people who normally do not need help.”

One example of the charity’s mission of allowing neighbors to help neighbors is its annual holiday program, which pairs donors with children and families in need to provide personalized Christmas presents.

Like nearly everywhere else, Deupree said they’ve seen a spike in the number of families that need help during the holidays. Out of 1,600 kids registered to receive presents, they’ve been able to pair up about 1,450.

“The need is just up, especially for things that are considered luxuries like holiday gifts, which is a little heartbreaking to think about,” she said.

If you want to help with the Community Assistance Center’s Holiday Adopt-a-Family program, email adoptafamily@ourcac.org.

But beyond the holidays, Deupree said they need help and donations year-round, especially during the summer and other major holidays when people go on vacation and things get lean.

“Economic crisis doesn’t wait for the holidays,” she said.

For details on how donate and learn more about volunteer opportunities with the Community Assistance Center, visit www.ourcac. org.

Dunwoody launches revitalization of Brook Run veterans memorial

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Planning efforts are underway to revitalize Dunwoody Veterans Memorial at Brook Run Park.

During a 2022 Memorial Day Ceremony earlier this year, a concept plan to upgrade the memorial was unveiled by the City of Dunwoody’s Department of Parks and Recreation. The city has committed to the legacy and to working with DeKalb County to continue honoring men and women in uniform through their annual Memorial Day and Veterans Day events, held at the memorial for all DeKalb County veterans.

However, city officials would like to re-imagine the memorial for a more engaging, modern and approachable experience for veterans, their families and the public as a space to reflect on the sacrifices our veterans have made.

To kick off the renovation efforts, DeKalb County Commissioner Robert Patrick allocated $100,000 from his district discretionary funds, recognizing the importance of keeping the memorial as an attraction and sacred space for veterans in DeKalb County and across Metro Atlanta.

According to the proposed rendering, the roof and glass of the existing building would be removed. The existing brick

A rendering shows the proposed update to Dunwoody Veterans Memorial at Brook Run Park. To kick off the renova tion efforts, DeKalb County Commis sioner Robert Patrick has allocated $100,000 from his district discretion ary funds.

columns would remain but will be clad in granite with an overhead steel ring encircling the columns with extended arms representing a salute.

The monuments representing the six branches of the U.S. Military would also remain and the engraved ceremonial bricks would be relocated to the walkway approaching the memorial. Spotlights will illuminate the memorial at night to enhance its sense of place and importance.

Frank

Tara Tucker

DEKALB COUNTY/PROVIDED

Individuals with special needs walk down the red carpet during the Night of Shine hosted by Dunwoody United Methodist and the Tim Tebow Foundation. The prom is back in full swing following several years of virtual and socially distanced events.

Dunwoody UMC, Tebow Foundation partner to host special needs prom

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody United Methodist and the Tim Tebow Foundation will host the Night of Shine Feb. 10, celebrating local individuals with special needs with an in-person prom night experience.

Church officials announced this week that the event will be held at the church as part of worldwide movement to change how cultures embrace people with disabilities and rally the community around people with special needs.

“We are blessed to be able to host this community event,” Dunwoody UMC Senior Pastor Phil Schroeder said. “If you want to see and experience joy, come be a part of the Night to Shine.”

Every guest at the Night of Shine will receive a red-carpet welcome, with a friendly crowd and paparazzi. Inside, they’ll be treated at hair and makeup stations, shoe shine areas, limousine rides, corsages and boutonnieres, a catered dinner, karaoke, prom favors, a dance floor, all leading up to the moment when

each guest is crowned king or queen of the prom.

The Night to Shine launched in 2015 with 44 host churches and 15,000 volunteers honoring more than 7,000 kings and queens of the prom. In February 2020, 721 host churches and 215,000 volunteers came together to celebrate 110,000 honored guests with special needs.

Over the last two years the Night to Shine has endured through the COVID-19 pandemic with virtual experiences and socially distanced drive-thru events. But now, group founders say they are back and stronger than ever.

“I’m so excited Night to Shine 2023 will be back in-person,” Tim Tebow, founder of the Tim Tebow Foundation said. “All around the world, individuals with special needs are going to be celebrated like they should be.”

For more information about Dunwoody UMC’s Night to Shine event visit dunwoodyumc.org/nightto-shine/.

DUNWOODY UMC/PROVIDED

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Taking time to reflect

Year-end holidays and the coming New Year bring back memories of family times, and the opportunity to make new ones. We can all take a moment to reflect on what we are grateful for and take stock of what life has bought our way. It’s a good time to stop and consider changes that may have occurred within our family structure due to the advancing needs, health or recuperative challenges of older loved ones.

Life can get complicated as we age, and the impact on a spouse, siblings, children or family members can also be life changing. Perhaps you live in another state and are worried about your loved one’s well-being but aren’t close enough to help. Alternatively, you live nearby and find yourself in the midst of filling a caregiving role that can be extremely hard to manage both mentally and physically. Balancing parental or spousal needs and your own needs can often have compelling and competing emotions and commitments. The relationships and family dynamics we knew are forever altered, and without a plan of care that is thoughtfully created it can be difficult and stressful for both you and your loved ones.

The best gift you can give your family and you is to consider the impact professional care can have on all your

lives. We know that being able to age in place is the desire of the vast majority of seniors, whether home is a private residence, an assisted or independent living community. That means more than just having a caregiver to help with tasks. At Home Helpers we take a holistic approach that goes much further than helping with the activities of daily living. We consider the physical, safety, mental, social and emotional needs of your loved one. Most importantly, we let family go back to being family.

Care that makes a difference is based on a wonderful match of a screened, trained, heart centered caregiver and the hands on attention of a dedicated team with depth and skill. It’s the commitment to providing the best quality of life for our clients and their families that brings our care to the next level. We respect our clients and listen to their unique needs, constantly fine tuning to help make each day the best it can be.

Your caregiver is a professional who can assist with all personal care, help around the house, safely manage a quicker recover from surgery, or provide specialized care for Alzheimer’s, Dementia or Parkinson’s, etc.

We’re here to help – from six hours a day several days a week to 24/7 and live-in care. For a free consultation please call Home Helpers of Alpharetta and North Atlanta Suburbs today at (770) 681-0323.

Brought to You by - Home Helpers of Alpharetta and North Atlanta Suburbs

‘Tis The Season

Understanding Seasonal Depression

• Oversleeping

• Overeating, particularly craving carbohydrates or sugar

• Weight gain

Brought to you by - Darrick Brown, Mental Health Awareness Program Coordinator at Summit Counseling Center

Each year, about five percent of Americans experience seasonal depression. Also referred to as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), seasonal depression can cause those affected to experience feelings of sadness, low energy, or just not feeling like their regular selves as days become shorter in the winter months, often subsiding in spring when days become longer and warmer.

Considered just as devastating as clinical depression, seasonal depression can be accented with more issues when accompanied by traumatic events - not only is one depressed, but memories of events or experiences of current events add additional weight to the season.

Additionally, when the days are shorter and darker, the production of melatonin increases. Melatonin can affect an individual’s “biological clock,” resulting in unusual sleep/wake rhythms. In addition to the typical signs of major depression, symptoms typically more common in seasonal depression include:

• Social withdrawal (feeling like “hibernating”)

• Seasonable Affective Disorder is treatable, with success found in the following treatments:

• Light therapy (exposure to artificial sunlight to make up for the loss during darker winter months)

• Antidepressant medications

• Talk therapy

I would add that being in community, having a support system, developing systems of accountability, having healthy coping skills, and making healthy lifestyle choices work year-round to assist anyone working to confront and combat depression regularly.

Seasonal depression is a recognized mental illness that can impact those affected by it emotionally, spiritually, and physically. If you are struggling with signs of seasonal depression, Summit Counseling is here to help. We have a team of trained and experienced therapists available to walk alongside you this season. Visit our website to view our services, meet our therapists, and schedule an appointment for yourself or a loved one at www.summitcounseling.org!

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Brought to you by - Darrick Brown, Mental Health Awareness Program Coordinator at Summit Counseling Center

Early symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease

Brought to you by - Dr. Jack Shen Jr., movement disorders neurologist at Wellstar Health System

First described in 1817 as the “shak ing palsy,” Parkinson’s disease (PD) is now recognized as the second most common neurodegenerative condition. Researchers estimate that about 10 mil lion people worldwide are living with the disease. Americans comprise approximately 1 million of these individuals, with 60,000 more in the United States an ticipated to receive the diagno sis each year. These harrowing numbers are expected to in crease over the current decade. Moreover, with the subsequent greater need for specialized PD care to address these popula tions, only 54 neurologists per year successfully “match” into a U.S. movement disorders training program to become PD experts, based on training data spanning the past five years.

Because people living with PD experi ence the disease in unique ways, it may be difficult for them, their loved ones and even physicians to come to the diagno sis. People with PD, despite their distinct underlying neurobiologies, may manifest certain early symptoms. Below is a nonexhaustive list of common symptoms that may occur intermittently, progres sively, persistently, in isolation or in combination.

1. Tremor at rest — involuntary shaking movements of a limb when

muscles are relaxed, usually on one side of the body

2. Shuffling gait — shorter, some times dragging steps while walking; may be accompanied by the reduced swinging of an arm or a stooped, slumping posture

3. Rigidity — stiffness of muscles (with or without tremor) causing discom fort, difficulty arising from the seated position and sometimes reduced range of motion

4. Micrographia — hand writing that has become smaller or trails off by the end of a written sentence

5. Hypomimia — reduced facial expressions, less fre quent blinking resulting in a “masked” or “poker” face

6. Anosmia — the com plete inability to smell

7. Hypophonia — a softer or less loud voice

At Wellstar North Fulton Medical Center, neurologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech language pathologists offer a team-based approach in evaluating and caring for people living with PD. Helping these individuals arrive to their diagnosis sooner leads to better symptom control and, ultimately, a greater quality of life as they navigate their journey with PD.

Dr. Jack Shen Jr. is a board-certified, fellowship-trained movement disorders neurologist at Wellstar North Fulton Medical Center. To make an appointment with Dr. Shen at his office on the campus of Wellstar North Fulton Medical Center, call (770) 663-4649.

SHEN

Groups challenge Georgia Power bid for rate hike at state hearing

By DAVE WILLIAMS Capitol Beat

ATLANTA – Georgia Power customers can ill afford a nearly 12 percent rate increase at a time rampant inflation is making it harder to buy food and fuel, more than a dozen witnesses told state energy regulators Nov. 29.

“I’m tired of seeing companies mak ing record profits … when good people working every day are not getting in creases in their wages,” Linda Pritchett, a city council candidate in South Ful ton, told members of the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC}. “People simply cannot afford this rate hike.”

Pritchett was among several current and former politicians to address the commission at the start of two days of hearings on Georgia Power’s request to raise the average residential customer’s bill by $16.29 a month starting Jan. 1.

Former state Sen. Vincent Fort, DAtlanta, said the rate hike is only the first of several the company is expected to bring before the commission in the next two to three years. Together, those increases could drive up rates as much as 45 percent, he said.

“If you vote for this, you’re about to send working people in Georgia into a crisis,” Fort told commissioners. “Don’t raise these rates on Georgia working people.”

After the public witnesses gave their testimony, representatives of Geor gia Power defended the utility’s rate increase request as necessary to make the capital investments required to strengthen the electric grid and main tain quality customer service.

“We operate a capital-intensive busi ness,” said Aaron Abramovitz, Georgia Power’s chief financial officer.

Abramovitz pushed back against recommendations by the PSC’s Public

Interest Advocacy Staff to reduce the size of the proposed rate hike. Among other things, the staff is asking the commission to lower the return on equity (ROE) Georgia Power is seeking from 11 percent to 9.5 percent.

“Any radical reduction of the com pany’s requested ROE … would be unprecedented and unwarranted, with such severe changes significantly im pairing the company’s financial integ rity and its ability to raise capital at a reasonable cost upon reasonable terms for the benefit of customers,” the CFO testified.

The PSC staff also has recommended the commission order Georgia Power to reduce the operation and maintenance costs it can recover from ratepayers and reduce its electrical transmission and distribution investments.

Michael Robinson, vice president of planning, operations, and policy at Georgia Power, said the company needs to make major investments in its trans mission and distribution systems to replace aging infrastructure that is up to 70 years old.

“The company cannot delay or take shortcuts in implementing these grid investments,” Abramovitz added.

Dan Walsh, a lawyer representing the PSC staff, objected to Abramovitz’s use of the word “radical” in describing the staff’s proposal to reduce the ROE requested by the company. Walsh said the average ROE awarded to utilities across the industry since 2020 is less than 9.5 percent.

The PSC, which held two rounds of hearings on the rate hike request earlier this fall, is scheduled to vote on the rates Dec. 20.

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.

Village:

Continued from Page 1

strategies for the master plan with a focus on results from a 2018 survey regarding the area’s architectural and design style. The survey was conducted by Historical Concepts, an architecture and planning firm in Atlanta. The survey drew more than 1,800 responses.

Dunwoody Economic Development Director Michael Starling said Dunwoody Village previously had a style reminiscent of Williamsburg, Va., with red-brick and minimal aesthetic variety.

“We felt we needed to move away from that design,” Starling said.

The survey results showed a particular interest in the style of Canton Street in Roswell and Avalon in Alpharetta, both significant commercial hubs.

Following the survey, Dunwoody officials updated the zoning code to allow more freedom in architecture and design.

At the Nov. 30 meeting, councilmembers and Development Authority board members discussed which elements of Canton Street and Avalon were best suited to the plan for Dunwoody

Village.

“(The meeting) was a starting conversation on how we move to the next step,” Starling said.

In the past few years, the city has made infrastructure improvements, like adding street trees and widening sidewalks.

Dunwoody has also seen growth in the dining scene, with the opening of multiple new food spots, including the stationary Funwoody Food Truck.

Officials at the meeting discussed a need for more commercial spaces and walkable areas. They also highlighted green spaces, parking and a possible nature trail as key areas of focus. They also stressed the need for immediate steps as well as long-term goals.

“It’s sort of a beginning stage, but there’s not really an end in sight,” Starling said. “It’s sort of a constant process all communities go through.”

Starling said that the Dunwoody Devel opment Authority will take key points from the Nov. 30 discussion and draw up an action report with clear guidance. Starling said he anticipates more joint meetings as they develop implementation plans.

“More is to come in the Village,” Starling said. “We’re focused on how we keep that momentum and what’s next.”

DELANEY TARR/APPEN MEDIA

Councilmembers and Development Authority Board members brainstorm pros and cons of existing city centers like Canton Street in Roswell.

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Holiday:

Continued from Page 1

since then. The 2020 event lasted two weeks. In 2021, there were 75,000 lights. Now, the event boasts 85,000 lights through all of December.

The Parks and Recreation team has since grown to about seven people, but the biggest help has been the city’s multi-year contract with visual presentation group Chitwood Studios. The studio builds and runs all the light displays.

“It takes them months to do,” Waldron said.

Parks and Recreation begins work on the lights during the summer, when staff determine a budget and decide on the theme. Then they task Chitwood Studios with executing their vision.

“A lot of the pieces they make, they build them for the playground so the kids can interact with them,” Waldron said, adding that there’s been positive reception since the creation of the holiday lights. She credits it to the

lights being free and family friendly.

“I like for my family to do traditional things, but we’re a family of four,” Dunwoody resident Andrea Perez said. “If you want to go to the Botanical gardens, it’s really expensive.”

Perez said she admires the effort that goes into the lights without having to pay for pricey tickets.

“This has become our new tradition,” Perez said.

While the full list of opening night offerings won’t be around for the entire month, Waldron said there may be some returning vendors on weekends, like the alcoholic beverage stand.

Waldron has high hopes for the future of the event.

“My five-year vision is to have everything in the park be a part of it, but I know that takes a lot,” Waldron said.

Waldron may be looking ahead, but residents crowded around for lights in the present. As the mayor counted down to zero and the tree came alight, the crowd erupted into applause.

“We just want to see things sparkle,” Perez said.

DELANEY TARR/APPEN MEDIA

Holiday characters pose for a photo with a child at the Dunwoody Holiday Lights on Dec. 1

DELANEY TARR/APPEN MEDIA

Children play at the interactive chocolate volcano light display.

Why social media is (still) not your friend

How many of us, when we were growing up, did stupid stuff even though people who cared about us tried to warn us? I know I did a lot of stupid stuff – more than I care to remember – and it took a long time to learn my lessons enough to stop being stupid –but that is another story.

few years prior. Time makes one so clairvoyant.

RAY APPEN Publisher Emeritus ray@appenmedia.com

How many of us who took music lessons when we were kids quit, and now we wish we had listened to our parents and kept taking lessons? I know that would be me. I wish I had listened to my parents and stayed the course.

For the record though, I am only 68 and there is still time to learn to play really well – and I intend to – but that is another story.

I remember stories about growing up that relate to these things.

The first one took place when I was in college at FSU in the ’70s and ’80s and managing a private student dorm (Cash Hall). At the time, I was still half an idiot, but I was starting to figure some things out. Most of the dorm management thing meant trying to set in some way bumpers/safety nets around the kids living in the dorm so they didn’t get drunk and hurt themselves or others. Those “bumpers” included rules (which almost never worked very well), visibility (walking the halls constantly and monitoring who came in and out of the dorm), occasionally reaching out to the police, and sometimes, talk – conversations and simply listening to the kids.

Doing that job was sort of like stepping into a “live” time machine looking backward because I was watching first-hand the very same behavior in the kids that I did only a

I remember taking one kid aside – Derick – and sitting him down and giving him my crystal ball heads-up talk. I told him he was a smart kid and that he had a lot going for him. I also shared that he was not on a good path at the moment – drinking partying, not studying and the like, and that that he was probably going to flunk out and have to go home and that his parents would stop being willing to pay his tuition, room and board, and he probably would have to work his butt off to recover and get a second chance to come back to school. I told him that school was a whole lot easier and more fun than having to climb that “recovery mountain,” and maybe it would be in his best interest to chill out, moderate the partying some, study a bit more and avoid all that hardship heading his way. That is, “figure it out and behave. “

Six or seven years later I ran into him again on campus. He came up to me and shared that everything that I had warned him about happened and that he wished he had listened to me. He also thanked me for trying. He had come around and was in a good place, but it cost him a lot.

Ha, looking back, managing that dorm actually was my training in becoming a parent, but of course I didn’t know that at the time!

The other story was similar but instead of involving Derick, it involved me in my freshman year in that same dorm. I was on the same path as Derick had been, but probably worse. My suitemate who was maybe five years older than I was, one night left a scrap of paper on my desk. It was a quote from a song that was popular at the time: “Stop, hey, what’s that sound? Everybody look what’s goin’ down… Stop now.” Of course, I ignored the note, and at the end of my freshman year flunked out and worse. But that’s another story.

I did save that scrap of paper though for decades and ultimately passed it forward.

So, I had you labor through all this for a reason. Recently the teenage daughter of a good friend made a national sports team. It was her dream. Before practice started, the decision was reversed, and she was told she would not be able to play on the team. Why? She had posted some stupid stuff on social media about herself and someone sent a screen shot of some of her posts to the coach. She was heartbroken; she had worked so hard to make that team.

Mother used to tell my sisters and me that “nothing good happens after midnight.” She was, as usual, right. If she were still alive today, she would probably slightly alter her little lesson to the following: “Nothing good comes from posting stuff on social media –nothing.” I would probably modify that to say that “actually, nothing good –nothing – comes from posting on social media or even having a social media account.”

I recall a scene from the movie “Absence of Malice” when the DA (played by Wilford Brimley) is reading everyone the riot act at the end of the movie and is talking to Paul Newman.

“I want to ask you if you set all this up, but you’re not going to tell me. I’ll tell you something, you’re a smart fellow. Don’t get too smart.”

Listen to your elders. They aren’t nearly as stupid as you think they are. And nine times out of ten, listening to them will save you a lot of heartache, disappointment and frustration from having to learn the hard way.

As I did with Derick, I offer you my crystal ball advice. I want to hopefully

and sincerely ask anyone in school anywhere to at least consider that you don’t really “need” social media; it’s a trap that you don’t need.

Once your posts are out there, they never go away. Your posts are forever, like an ugly tattoo on your face or something.

College admission people, coaches, potential employers, would-be boyfriends or girlfriends, fake friends, people competing with you and others can and often will use one or some of your posts in some way to hurt you. Who needs that? Honestly, you don’t need – really “need” – social media in any form. You are better than that, a lot better.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” – Dr. Seuss.

You are enough, way more than enough. You don’t need social media to validate who you are. Let it go. Just be you – in person – face-to-face. Life is hard enough as it is. Don’t make it harder.

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1978 Crier holds treasured memories

Charlie and Myr tice Lee Lloyd married on Christmas Eve, 1922. The story of their life and mar riage were preserved in a Dec. 21, 1978, Dunwoody Crier when Arden Strabane interviewed and wrote about the couple in “A Life Shared and Times Remembered.” Archives of the Dunwoody Crier going back to 1977 are maintained by Dunwoody Preservation Trust at Donaldson-Bannister Farm.

In 1978, the couple had been married 56 years, but Charlie remembered well the day they met. It was 1920, and he was walking down Winters Chapel Road when he ran into two cousins and a brownhaired young woman named Myrtice Lee Loyd. His family owned a farm on Winters Chapel Road where North Atlanta Memo rial Park is now located. Her family lived in the Grogan’s District of Milton County. Charlie immediately thought this was the woman he would marry. The couple married two years later. Myrtice wore a brown dress with an embroidered cape for

the small ceremony which took place at the Dunwoody Methodist Church parson age. The parsonage sat where Dunwoody United Methodist Church is now located, and the church was across the road.

That night the couple stayed at the home of Charlie’s parents, Jesse and Eliza Spruill Blackburn. Charlie’s friend Calvin Eidson decided to play a trick on the newlyweds, setting off two sticks of dynamite outside their window and shout ing, “I’m shot.” When Charlie went outside to investigate, Eidson and other friends took Charlie down the road half a mile. He had to walk home barefoot on that freezing December night.

Charlie’s grandparents were Franklin Blackburn and Malinda Rudisill Black burn, who moved from Dawson County, Georgia, to Cross Keys in DeKalb County. They lived near Silver Lake at Oglethorpe University. Their house was on land where an old jug factory was located. Pots and other clay products were manufactured there.

His maternal grandparents were Mary Jane Copeland Spruill and Calhoun Spruill. They owned a farm on Chamblee Dunwoody Road, across the road and south of Dunwoody Elementary School.

Charlie and Myrtice Blackburn had

THE INK PENN

many happy memories, but they also told of the hard work involved in operating the farm. There was plowing, digging ditches, picking and bailing cotton, tending the veg etable garden and feeding livestock. They worked not only on the farm of Charlie’s parents, but also at his grandparents, Cal houn and Mary Jane Spruill.

In addition to keeping the house clean, Myrtice did the laundry, which involved standing outside over a pot of boiling water, washing, wringing and hanging clothes up to dry. Myrtice was the oldest of five chil dren and only 5 years old when her mother died. She was accustomed to hard work.

A fun childhood memory for both

Charlie and Myrtice was playing town ball. Children could play town ball year-round after their chores were completed. The ball was a tightly wound yarn ball, some times made from an old, unraveled sock. A wooden plank served as the bat. Charlie explained the game, saying you had to hit the runner with the ball to get them out. “After that ball had laid out in the rain for a while, it sure did get hard, and it hurt when you got hit.”

The couple later bought their own home on Chamblee Dunwoody Road and lived there for 25 years before moving to Pitts Road. After they sold the property, Black burn was sad to see the house torn down to make way for a Southern Bell office.

He worked for the Chamblee Fire Department for many years and at Thomp son’s Grocery at the southwest corner of Mount Vernon Road and Chamblee Dun woody Road.

In the next Past Tense, I’ll share Charlie and Myrtice Blackburn’s memories of Christmas in Dunwoody.

Award-winning author Valerie Bigger staff is a longtime columnist for Appen Media and the Dunwoody Crier. She lives in Sandy Springs. You can email Valerie at pasttensega@ gmail.com or visit her website at pasttensega. com

Books and bookshops and writers, oh my!

What is it about books about bookshops? Or books? No, not all of them are engaging, witty, and informative, but these three are.

“The Mayfair Bookshop” by Eliza Knight

This is the second book I’ve read that shifts between the story of Nancy Mitford and that of a modern-day character who is visiting the Heywood Hill bookshop in London where Nancy worked during WW II. The first was “The Bookseller’s Secret.”

This time, curator Lucy St. Clair is in search of books for a client’s library and is also seeking the answer to a family mystery involving Nancy Mitford.

This book added additional detail to what I’d learned about Mitford’s life in the earlier book, and I was fascinated by all of it. The two tales are carefully intertwined and the mystery is satisfactorily resolved. All in all, a delightful read, one I highly recommend.

“The Lost for Words Bookshop” by Stephanie Butland

Another book set in a bookshop? Of course, I loved it. Yes, I reveled in the books mentioned, but I was also fascinated by the main characters: Loveday, Nathan, and Archie. Loveday, whose story it is, has worked in the Lost for Words bookshop for six years. It is a refuge, a hideaway, and her world is books, so much so that she has first lines of novels she loves tattoed on her skin. The tale of how she emerges from her shell drew me in. The why behind her pesonality, her need not to engage with others, is slowly revealed. Ultimately it is a story of love and loss, not only in the romantic sense, but in the family sense. I predict you’ll find yourself rooting for Loveday, Nathan, and Archie as I did. I tried to savor the book, but instead I stayed up late several nights because I couldn’t put it down.

“The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (and Their Muses)” by Terri-Lynne DeFino

I loved this book for its tale of writers, the writing process, and more! I expected it to be a cozy mystery, perhaps along the lines of the “Thursday Murder Club.” Silly for me to think one retirement home

would be like another. A cozy mystery it is not! If you don’t care for sex and cursing, this is not the book for you, but if you want a view into writers’ lives, you’ll be fascinated. It’s a “ ... whimsical, moving novel about a retirement home for literary legends who spar, conjure up new stories, and almost magically change the lives of the people around them.” As an author, I treasured insights into the writing process. When one writer comments, “You made him Polish?” and hears back, “It just happened. Surprised the hell out of me too,” I laughed aloud. It confirmed for me that I’m not the only one who doesn’t always know where my work is headed. Things DO just spring to mind. It’s a beautifully written story that has stayed with me even as I’ve begun another book. I highly recommend it.

Now, I must turn my attention to writing my next book. I wonder what surprises my characters will have in store for me as the story unfolds.

Award-winning author Kathy Manos Penn is a Sandy Springs resident. Find her cozy mysteries locally at The Enchanted Forest in Dunwoody and Bookmiser in East Cobb or on Amazon. Contact her at inkpenn119@gmail. com, and follow her on Facebook, www. facebook.com/KathyManosPennAuthor/.

VALERIE BIGGERSTAFF

PROVIDED Charlie and Myrtice Blackburn as they appeared in a December 1978 issue of the Dunwoody Crier. They had been mar ried almost 56 years.

OPINION

Historical transition in Roswell Fire Department

BOB MEYERS

When I learned that the Roswell Fire Department would transition from a part-time department to one with only salaried career firefighters, I became curious about the history of the department and the reasons for the shift.

The statistics about fire departments may be surprising to some folks. Did you know, for example, that according to the National Fire Department Registry maintained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, 70 percent of registered fire departments in the U.S. are all-volunteer, and 16 percent are mostly volunteer? Only 9 percent are fully career and 5 percent are mostly career.

In Georgia, which has 456 fire departments, 72 percent are volunteer or mostly volunteer, while only 28 percent are career or mostly career. Even so, Roswell has had the distinction of being the only city in North Fulton without a full-time career fire department.

Roswell’s fire department dates back to 1937 when it was established with 27 volunteers with C.W. Hughes as fire chief. In 1947, a group of local business leaders decided that the city needed a fire truck. They purchased a used American LaFrance Ford fire engine for $13,000. Up until that time firefighting depended on two long lines of bucket holders, called bucket brigades, with one line for passing water from the water source to the fire and the other for returning empty buckets for reuse.

Former Roswell Fire Chief Ricky Spencer says “there weren’t enough buckets to put a fire out. We needed a truck.”

The City of Alpharetta has a similar history. In 1944 a small group of local business leaders obtained sufficient surplus war material from the U.S. Government to start an Alpharetta volunteer fire department. It gradually grew in size and capability, and in 1957, Billy Bates was one of several local men to volunteer as part of a reorganized department. Billy’s son Bill, like his dad before him, became a volunteer and rose through the ranks to become the first salaried fire chief in 1989. He retired in 2006 after 43 years in the fire service. The Alpharetta department still has some volunteer firefighters.

Ricky Spencer joined the Roswell

Fire Department as a volunteer in 1975.

“Everyone had a pager,” says Ricky. “The 911 center would send a call out about a fire, heart attack, etc. The volunteer closest to a station would pick up the truck and head to the fire. We had about 50 volunteers at the time.”

The city grew. So many calls came in during the late 1950s that the chief at the time, Aubrey Reeves, decided to station people in the fire stations overnight. The calls kept increasing, so more people were assigned to the fire stations, and the volunteer jobs evolved into paid part-time jobs.

Roswell attracted full-time firefighters from all over the Atlanta metropolitan area who wanted to supplement their incomes as paid part timers. The department also continued to have unpaid volunteers, who retained their regular outside jobs, until the late 1970 when it transitioned to part-time.

“We had doctors, lawyers, grocery clerks, mechanics, all committed to saving lives and protecting property, spending their days and nights in the fire house” says Ricky.

The number of calls continued to increase. There were more medical emergencies and more cats caught in trees. The most serious fires were multi-

story apartment complexes requiring many rescues. Freeing people trapped in cars after serious accidents, first aid for burn victims and rescuing hikers trapped on cliffs were also quickly handled. More recently, the pandemic affected Roswell’s ability to fill slots and to have personnel available to man the city’s seven stations 24 hours a day. Discussions had already begun to gradually move to a more permanent paid workforce.

Ricky worked his way up through the ranks. Like many other firefighters, he worked full time as a Fulton County firefighter from 1982 to 2004 in addition to his volunteer work in Roswell. After 13 years as a volunteer assistant chief, in 2004 he became the Roswell Fire Chief. He retired in 2014. He was succeeded by Ricky Burnette, who served as fire chief for six years.

In 2019, following a nationwide search, Dr. Joe Pennino was sworn in as Roswell’s current fire chief. Due to the significant changes occurring in recent years, the City Council approved a five-year plan to move the department to a career-only model. The city has hired 21 captains to ensure adequate coverage of Roswell’s seven fire stations.

“Firefighting gets into your blood,”

SPENCER FAMILY/PROVIDED

Roswell Fire Chief Ricky Spencer was named Fire Chief of the Year by the Georgia Association of Fire Chiefs. He accepted the award at the association’s annual conference Sept. 14, 2013, in Albany, Georgia. The ceremony was attended by several hundred Georgia fire chiefs and firefighters.

says Ricky Spencer “and it is always with you. Our goal is always to help other people.” Maybe that is why so many young people want to grow up to be firefighters. After all, George Washington and Benjamin Franklyn were volunteer firefighters.

Bob is director emeritus of the Milton Historical Society and a Member of the City of Alpharetta Historic Preserva tion Commission. You can email him at bobmey@bellsouth.net.You can email Bob at bobmey@bellsouth.net. To learn more about the Milton Historical Society, go to miltonhistoricalsociety-georgia.org. Commission. He lives in Alpharetta.

Columnist bobmey@bellsouth.net

SPENCER FAMILY/PROVIDED This is the official portrait taken when Ricky Spencer became a full-time fire chief in 2004.

SPENCER FAMILY/PROVIDED

Roswell volunteer firefighters battle a fire, pre-1980. Notice that the firefighters are wearing plain clothes.

Robert Cichocki, 64, of Alpharetta, passed away on November 26, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Robert Clifton, 90, of Roswell, passed away on November 26, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Betsy Coble, 77, of Dunwoody, passed away on November 18, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Chad Jason Fields, 49, of Cumming, passed away November 15, 2022. Arrangements by Ingram Funeral & Crematory.

Marlene Joiner, 87, of Roswell, passed away on November 19, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Theresa Lenich, 87, of Roswell, passed away on November 26, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Garland Loudermilk, 91, of Alpharetta, passed away on November 15, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Marlene Mahotiere, 82, of Roswell, passed away on November 19, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Lena McGuyer, 87, of Alpharetta, passed away on November 26, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Mariellen Naegele, 95, of Alpharetta, passed away on November 18, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Paul Scholfield, 81, of Milton, passed away on November 16, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Michael Smith, 62, of Johns Creek, passed away on November 17, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Brian Spandau, 32, of Roswell, passed away on November 22, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Harold Vogel, 79, of Roswell, passed away on November 22, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Barbara Whalley, 86, of Alpharetta, passed away on November 19, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Reba Wright, 90, of Milton, passed away on November 14, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.