Forsyth Herald - May 30, 2024

Summer2024Summer2024Calendar Calendar

Forsyth Writer’s Club supports local author in publishing memoir

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — It took Barbara Gomes Serafino years to write the book she promised her grandmother, a memoir filled with stories about her immigrant family.

The Forsyth Writer’s Club, a group with more than 160 members, mostly women, helped her along the way — a “gift from the universe” Serafino found on Nextdoor.

The club, celebrating its seventh anniversary in June, meets monthly, usually at a favorite Starbucks location, to review each other’s works in progress and provide suggestions on how to publish.

Serafino said the original idea was for her family to be the memoir’s sole audience.

“With the encouragement of my friends, I said, ‘I’m gonna do this,’” Serafino said from inside the screened back porch of her home. Her memoir “The Book I Always Promised,” published nearly a year ago, laid before her, its cover a picture of her grandmother Christina LeFosse Longobucco as she was leaving Italy for America in 1920.

“I never felt that I would get a publisher,” Serafino said. “I didn’t think there was anything out there.”

Serafino uses BookLogix, a local publisher recommended by members of the Forsyth Writer’s Club. She has sold around 500 copies so far.

Alongside the journey her family made to Ellis Island searching for a future in America, captured by oral tradition, Serafino includes adventures abroad uncovering her family’s history in Italy and Portugal.

The 2024 Georgia Author of the Year Award nominee is also laden with humor found in her Brooklyn, New York, upbringing (her accent noticeable), a look into an Italian culture of superstition, like family curses and alleged “stregas,” or witches, who lived down the street.

PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Barbara Gomes Serafino holds her memoir, “The Book I Always Promised.” Serafino finished her book while participating in the Forsyth Writer’s Club, a group of more than 160 members, mostly women, who have been meeting monthly for the past seven years. See WRITERS, Page 15

Dean steps down weeks after closing Sunshine Law clinic

By CARL APPEN carl@appenmedia.com

ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Georgia School of Law’s First Amendment Clinic has stopped providing advocacy work for open meetings and open records, Appen Media reported May 15.

Now the school’s dean, Peter “Bo” Rutledge, has announced he will vacate the position and return to the faculty at the end of the year.

“The UGA School of Law is now on course to redefine what it means to be a great national public institution,” he said. The university’s press release cited numerous accomplishments from Rutledge’s almost 10 years at the helm. One of them was the expansion of the law school’s outreach programs, including the First Amendment Clinic.

See RUTLEDGE, Page 5

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA/PROVIDED Peter “Bo” Rutledge instructs a class at the University of Georgia. The law school dean announced May 20 he will step down and return to faculty.

AMBER

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Police continue search for burglary suspect

ALPHARETTA, Ga. —Milton Police are searching for a home invasion suspect after a resident on Highgrove Club Drive reported the incident around 11:40 a.m. May 20.

A May 22 statement from the Milton Police Department clarified that only one suspect was involved in the home invasion. Previous statements from Alpharetta and Milton police during the May 20 manhunt provided descriptions for two suspects.

Surveillance video from outside of the home on Highgrove Club Drive shows a suspect matching both descriptions publicly released during the search. The suspect is a bald, light-skinned Black man who also wore black pants and no shirt during the home invasion.

POLICE BLOTTER

All crime reports published by Appen Media Group are compiled from public records. Neither the law enforcement agencies nor Appen Media Group implies any guilt by publishing these names. None of the persons listed has been convicted of the alleged crimes.

Police arrest man for stalking at gym

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Police arrested a 32-year-old Johns Creek man May 15 after he allegedly followed a woman around a gym on Old Alabama Road.

The woman told police the suspect held open the door for her as she was walking inside, then followed her to the sauna and waited by the door. The woman said she could see the suspect through the sauna doors because they were clear, according to the incident report.

The woman told police she felt uncomfortable and scared, so she walked out of the facility then drove to the South Precinct of the Johns Creek Police Department, though police did not answer the door when she knocked.

Police watched surveillance footage at

According to a statement from the Milton Police Department, the suspect left the residence in one of the victim’s vehicles.

Alpharetta Police officers located the abandoned vehicle near North Point Parkway, where the suspect had fled on foot toward the Big Creek Greenway, the statement said.

Milton Police reported that several law enforcement agencies joined Alpharetta Police in pursuit of the suspect, including a helicopter from Fulton County.

Authorities focused their manhunt on the greenway, at one point locking down nearby schools. Alpharetta Police lifted that lockdown later Monday afternoon without having caught the suspect but believing there was – then and now – no imminent danger to citizens, the state-

the gym, showing the suspect follow the woman, peer into the saunas as if trying to find someone, look directly at the surveillance camera, then walk out of view, according to the report.

Police found the suspect walking by a Starbucks near the gym, trying to conceal himself behind a brick column. The suspect told police he had been at the gym, trying to find a manager to get a free workout, the report says.

Police found that the suspect had been criminally trespassed from a business in October, the report says.

Police charged the suspect with loitering and prowling, then transported him to the North Fulton County Jail in Alpharetta.

The suspect was denied at the jail because he told staff he was suicidal, then police transported him to the Fulton County Jail.

Thief takes empty safe during home burglary

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — A Johns Creek woman reported to police May 19 that

ment said.

The latest update from Milton police stated no additional information will be released because of the ongoing investigation and work to apprehend the suspect.

The update encouraged people with any information on the suspect or the case to contact Milton Police Detective Rebecca Tidwell at 678-242-2614 or Rebecca.Tidwell@miltonga.gov.

Anyone with information on the case can submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477, online at www.StopCrimeAtl.org, or with a text to 274637.

The statement also said people do not have to give their name or any identifying information to be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.

her home on Talisman had been burglarized.

When police arrived at the scene, the woman said her mother had called her while she was at work, saying the alarm had gone off, according to the incident report. The woman told police she went to the residence and noticed the garage door was open, though it should have been closed, and there was a blue hoodie on the ground.

When she walked into the kitchen area, the woman told police the security alarm system had been pulled off the wall and noticed a bag containing clothing had been moved in the master bedroom. She said she also noticed the master bathroom and closet door were open, the report says.

Surveillance video showed a vehicle backing up to the residence and a suspect placing a gray safe in the trunk, according to the report.

The property owner told police the safe had been taken from his master bedroom walk-in closet but that it was empty. The man told police a second, smaller safe containing all his valuables was left at the home.

Fashion fundraiser garners support for animal rescue

Furkids headquarters to build new dog shelter, medical center

CUMMING, Ga. — Furkids Animal Rescue, a nonprofit that touts itself as the largest no-kill animal shelter in Georgia, hosted a fashion show and fundraiser May 14.

“Fashion for Furkids” is a new annual event to take place on the second Tuesday of May. It was held at the Giaquinto Event Center at Shiloh Gardens on Union Hill Road, a 3,400-square-foot Furkids fundraising facility dedicated last March.

The rescue collaborated with fashion historian and author Nancy Flaherty for the event, which showcased an array of vintage and contemporary styles from Flaherty’s collection, trending fashion from Dillard’s, and finds from Furkids thrift stores.

The nonprofit boasts several thrift stores, located in Johns Creek, Peachtree Corners, Marietta and Lawrenceville. Proceeds from the thrift stores make up one-third of Furkids’ annual operating budget, according to the rescue’s website.

In addition to the fashion show-

case, which included outfitted puppies, the event featured a silent auction of designer handbags. The auction raised $10,000 to support the care of animals at Furkids.

The nonprofit is constructing a new 2-story dog shelter at its headquarters.

The 13,000-square-foot facility will be similar to the configuration of its cat shelter on-site with fenced outdoor play yards with each dog having an individual room, according to the project webpage.

It will be able to accommodate up to 115 dogs, doubling the nonprofit’s current life-saving capacity, while providing additional room and a more comfortable environment for its long-term residents.

The effort is part of Furkids’ campus master plan, which will also feature a new medical building. The Giaquinto Medical Center will double the nonprofit’s number of surgery tables from three to six and incorporate five separate wards with space to treat more than 100 individual cases at a time.

— Hannah Frazer

DINNER

KARLIE LUCAS/PROVIDED

A dog models an outfit at Furkids Animal Rescue’s new annual fashion show and fundraiser “Fashion for Furkids” May 14, held at the Giaquinto Event Center at Shiloh Gardens on Union Hill Road. The nonprofit plans to host the event the second Tuesday of every May.

Woodland students prepare to take on pollution problems

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Third graders at Woodland Elementary School got creative in semester-long projects that explore solutions to air, water and land pollution.

Their presentations spanned oceanand land-cleaning robots, prototypes made of cardboard, to letters written to school administration about a recycling program on-site.

Ryder Leary, executive director of Keep North Fulton Beautiful, visited classrooms May 20 to get a look at the projects in their final form, shown in PowerPoints and demonstrations. He had previously given classes a high-level overview of pollution and visited the school to provide feedback while projects were in progress.

Leary said Keep North Fulton Beautiful has had a relationship with Woodland for a few years, dropping into talk about what the nonprofit does and general recycling information.

But, he opted to make this year more engaging, providing parameters to the students’ problem-based learning projects, integral to the school’s curriculum. Leary joined Keep North Fulton Beautiful last July.

Cameron Jasso and Reyes Castillo, third graders at Woodland Elementary School, showcase their semester-long project that attempts to solve land pollution May 20. Keep North Fulton Beautiful, a recycling center in Sandy Springs, partnered with Woodland to provide parameters on the student’s problem-based learning projects.

“I think one of the cool things that we as Keep North Fulton Beautiful can do is from an education standpoint at all levels, whether it be communicating to our citizens in the community but also showcasing … that even our little ones in elementary school and up can contribute,” Leary said. He said he plans to take the same

approach to other schools. Leary also provides volunteer opportunities for students at the recycling center.

Woodland Elementary, the only STEM-certified school in Sandy Springs, boasts a curriculum designed to help students answer real-world problems and master the education standards it sets.

Each grade level works on one problem-based project per semester. For third graders, the previous semester was a recurring project on the decline of the monarch butterfly.

Rita Hudson, a third grade teacher at Woodland, said students planted milkweed in the school’s garden to make up for the loss of the food, a contributing factor to the insect’s near-candidacy on the endangered species list. She said 20 monarchs have been released so far, with students facilitating the eggs to

hatch inside, away from predators.

Hudson also asks her students to do the little things, like using reusable bottles and picking up trash at parks.

“Small changes — they make a big difference,” she said.

Two students, Reyes Castillo and Cameron Jasso, created a colorful robot to help lower land pollution named the “Catnap Trash Helper.”

“People that throw trash cause land pollution,” Castillo said. Animals are dying because people throw trash.”

Tara Uremovich, Woodland assistant principal, said around 150 students participated in the pollution-based project this year.

Kindergarteners had a role to play as well, filing into the classrooms holding clipboards.

“...We try to … help the kids make connections between what they’re learning and what they might learn in the future, or the problems and how they get bigger and bigger, and how as they grow and learn more, they can tackle bigger problems,” said Uremovich, once a curriculum support specialist at Woodland.

Uremovich played a key role in earning the school’s STEM recertification last year, which involved a two-year process. The school was originally certified by the Georgia Department of Education in 2016.

She said the school’s boost to its STEM integration and its Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports system went hand-in-hand. PBIS is an evidencebased, tiered framework for supporting student well-being.

“We were rewarding students for being on task, but also their engagement was just genuinely increased because of these connections that they were making,” Uremovich said. “We actually saw our behavior incidences drop significantly.”

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Rutledge:

Continued from Page 1

The agency opened its doors in August 2020 to “defend and advance the rights of free speech, press, assembly, and petition via regional litigation and advocacy” and to provide law students with real-world experience on First Amendment issues, according to a UGA news release at the time.

Journalists and citizens across the state looked to the clinic for free legal help gaining access to public materials. Appen Media’s May 15 story included interviews with news outlets Decaturish, Atlanta Community Press Collective (ACPC) and The Current GA. All three shared how the agency’s assistance had strengthened their reporting of government accountability and financial transparency.

The clinic’s change in policy takes that help off the table moving forward.

Remaining an educational resource, University Spokesperson Greg Trevor said the Clinic will now “refer open records/ open meetings matters that need direct advocacy and representation to qualified legal professionals or agencies.”

The timing of the shift coincides with UGA’s decision to transfer the lawsuit filed on behalf of the Atlanta Community Press Collective and Lucy Parsons Labs against the Atlanta Police Foundation.

The Foundation is a nonprofit that supports the Atlanta Police Department and works closely with the City of Atlanta. The organization is largely tied to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center under construction on 85 acres of the South River region in DeKalb County.

The suit alleges the foundation failed to respond to open records requests related to the project, dubbed “Cop City” by its critics.

Georgia sunshine laws, “apply to any entity to which public functions have been transferred by an agency or which receives substantial funding or resources from an agency in performance of a task,” according to the state Attorney General.

The Press Collective and Lucy Parsons Lab filed the suit in January with attorneys on staff at UGA’s clinic. A few weeks later Rutledge, the law school’s dean, ordered the clinic to cease all work related to public records law, according to The Guardian.

The school told Appen Media the directive, “is part of ongoing efforts to align the First Amendment Clinic’s activities more closely with the institution’s educational mission.”

One of the lawyers representing the Police Foundation is Harold Melton, a former chief justice of the state Supreme Court who graduated from UGA Law and now teaches at the school. Melton also served as executive counsel to former Gov. Sonny Perdue, who today is chancellor of the University System of Georgia.

Staff Reporter Amber Perry contributed to this story.

Middle school students take title in national quiz bowl competition

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Five students at River Trail Middle School celebrated their win May 12 in a national quiz bowl tournament for middle schools across the country.

The group was crowned the 2024 NAQT Middle School National Champions in the Middle School National Championship Tournament, hosted by National Academic Quiz Tournaments in Rosemont, Illinois, near Chicago.

Quiz bowl is a fast-paced buzzer competition where teams compete to answer questions that cover academic subjects including science, literature, history, fine arts, geography, philosophy and the social sciences as well as the broader world of popular culture and current events.

The team was made up of seventh and eighth graders, Justin An, Sheehan Banka, Kovid Cerejo, Reyansh Krovi and Kaiden Lee, led by their school coach Scott Fowler.

During the national finals weekend May 1012, more than 160 qualifying teams from 114 schools across the country competed for the championship title. River Trail from Johns Creek won both the final rounds against Sycamore from Indianapolis for the win.

The team went undefeated in all local- and state-level playoffs during the academic year, culminating in its win in the state championship. In March, the team was recognized by the Fulton County Board of Education.

and

their coach Scott Fowler celebrate their win May

the Middle School National Championship Tournament, hosted by National Academic Quiz Tournaments in Rosemont, Illinois.

7506 Wilderness Parkway Big Canoe, GA 30143

bigcanoeanimalrescue.org 706-268-1346

7506 Wilderness Parkway Big Canoe, GA 30143

This is Dawson!

bigcanoeanimalrescue.org 706-268-1346

Facts About Me

Breed: Terrier Mix

Color: Black and white (Short haired)

Age: 6 months old

Weight: (Current) 25 lbs

Fully Grown: Medium Size (50lbs)

Sex: Male

My Info

Healthy, All Shots current

Good with dogs & children

Chipped, Neutered

Good leash walking & car rides

Crate trained

Meet Porter

This handsome boy would bring any family joy and happiness! Porter has a gentle way about him with a sweet calm disposition. He would be great for a family with children of any age. He gets along with other dogs and never met a human he didn’t like. He is leaning his commands and is very smart. Don’t miss out on him! Bring treats.

All BCAR dogs are placed as indoor family pets. No electric fences, please. Visit pets every Saturday 11:00 am to 2:00 pm (706-268-1346) or visit our website for adoption information at www.bigcanoeanimalrescue.org.

Facts About Me

Breed: Yorkie/Chinese Crested Mix

Color: Tan/Grey (Shorthair)

Age: 5 years old

Weight: (Current) 8 lbs

Fully Grown: Small (10 lbs)

Sex: Female

My Info

Healthy, All Shots current

Chipped, Spayed

Loves squeaky toys

No family with large dogs or cats

My name is Dawson!

It’s been a wild ride…. want to hear my story?

First, I was lost, then I was hit by a car, then a wonderful family who I didn’t know helped get me to a vet to take care of me. After a week at the vet’s office (I’m ok, just a few scratches) they picked me up and took me to this nice shelter so I could find a new home!

I’m a little anxious and scared after all this as you might imagine but with the right family and a little patience, I’ll know I found my forever home.

All BCAR dogs are placed as indoor family pets. No electric fences, please. Visit pets every Saturday 11:00 am to 2:00 pm (706-268-1346) or visit our website for adoption information at www.bigcanoeanimalrescue.org

LYNDON CEREJO/PROVIDED

River Trail Middle School students Sheehan Banka, Reyansh Krovi, Justin An, Kaiden Lee,

Kovid Cerejo as well as

12 in

June book events focus on children, nature, true crime

By KATHY DES JARDINS CIOFFI newsroom@appenmedia.com

There’s no better way to slide into summer than with a stack of books. For help filling bookbags bound for beaches or the closest comfy chair, check out this list of June author events across North Fulton and Forsyth counties.

Saturday, June 8, celebrating children’s authors with three authors per hour sharing their stories. 11 a.m. Free. Poe & Company Bookstore, 1890 Heritage Walk, Suite P101, Milton. 770-797-5566. Poeandcompanybookstore.com

Sunday, June 9, Omar Tyree. The New York Times bestselling author will chat about his newest book, “Control.” 1 p.m. Free. Read It Again Bookstore, 3630 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 314, Suwanee. 770-232-9331. read-itagain.com

Saturday, June 15, J.D. Cervantes signing his novel, “Fran and Her Friend Death.” 11 a.m. Free. Johns Creek Books, 6000 Medlock Bridge Road. 770-696-9999. johnscreekbooks.com

Sunday, June 16, Keeping the Chattahoochee: An author talk with Sally Sierer Bethea. 2 p.m. Free. Sharon Forks Library, 2820 Old Atlanta Road, Cumming. forsythpl.org/ event/10167432

Tuesday, June 18, Suzi EhteshamZadeh, Parul Kapur, Mike Coleman. A Novel Idea and Bookmiser present the trio of authors and their “Journeys of Freedom and Acceptance.” 7 p.m. Free. Brimstone Restaurant & Tavern, 10595 Old Alabama Road Connector, Alpharetta. 770-509-5611. bookmiser. net/book-events.html

Saturday, June 19, Licia Chenoweth, promoting her latest middle-grade book, “Finding Lila.” Noon. Free. Read It Again Bookstore, 3630 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 314, Suwanee. 770232-9331. read-it-again.com

Friday, June 21, Mazey Eddings. The neurodiverse author and dentist will examine her popular romances that focus on mental health. 6 p.m. Purchase of $18 “Late Bloomer” required. Read It Again Bookstore, 3630 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 314, Suwanee. 770-232-9331. read-it-again.com

Saturday, June 22, Judy Highum, reading from her children’s book, “Parker P. Possum – A Lesson in Gratefulness.” 11 a.m. Free. Johns Creek Books, 6000 Medlock Bridge Road. 770-696-9999. johnscreekbooks.com

PROVIDED

Lynn Cullen will discuss her novel, “Mrs. Poe,” in Milton June 24.

Saturday, June 22, Brynn Barineau, with her debut novel, “Jaguars and Other Game.” Noon. Free. Read It Again Bookstore, 3630 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 314, Suwanee. 770232-9331. read-it-again.com

Saturday, June 22, McCracken Poston Jr. Atlanta Authors presents Poston detailing “Zenith Man,” a true crime thriller. Bookmiser will have copies available to purchase. 2 p.m. Free. In person and online. Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., 770-5095611. bookmiser.net

Monday, June 24, Lynn Cullen, discussing “Mrs. Poe,” inspired by literature’s most haunting love triangle. 7 p.m. Free. Poe & Company Bookstore, 1890 Heritage Walk, Suite P101, Milton. 770-797-5566. Poeandcompanybookstore.com

Tuesday, June 25, Survival skills with author Mark Warren. 6:30 p.m. Free. Hampton Park Library, 5345 Settingdown Road, Cumming. forsythpl.org/ event/10336655

Thursday, June 27, Crabapple Summer Stroll, supporting local independently owned stores. 5 p.m. Free. Poe & Company Bookstore, 1890 Heritage Walk, Suite P101, Milton. 770-7975566. Poeandcompanybookstore.com

Saturday, June 27, Bookfair for Grownups. Read It Again Bookstore will partner with Gate City Brewing for a boozy book fair. 6 p.m. Free. Gate City Brewing, 43 Magnolia St., Roswell. 678-404-0961 https:// www.gatecitybrewingcompany.com/

Saturday, June 29, Clint Smith, signing “The Georgia Air National Guard.” Noon. Free. Read It Again Bookstore, 3630 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 314, Suwanee. 770-232-9331. read-it-again.com

Sunday, June 30, Cherry Mo. The children’s author will read her book, “Home in a Lunchbox.” 10 a.m. Free. Johns Creek Books, 6000 Medlock Bridge Road. 770-696-9999. johnscreekbooks.com

To submit an author event for the upcoming month, email Kathy Des Jardins Cioffi at kathydesjardins3@gmail. com by the 15th.

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JUNE JUNE

AUGUST AUGUST

Summer

Summer2024Calendar Calendar

NEW BUSINESS SPOTLIGHTS

Business Name: Culinary Dropout

Owner: Fox Restaurants

Business Description: Culinary Dropout serves classic meals done right. A place where food and music are life. We’re here to party all year long. While you and your crew enjoy good food & drinks, a local band plays live for great vibes. Come hang out and stay a while.

Month Opened: February 2024

Phone: (470) 242-6712

Address: 1231 Ashford Crossing, Building 900; Dunwoody, GA 30338

Website: https://www.culinarydropout.com/

Business Name: Pet Supplies Plus Cumming

Name Of Owners: Don Forlani and Chris Miller

Business Description: Pet Supplies Plus Cumming is a specialty pet retailer with a wide selection of quality pet foods and goods at low prices, state of the art self-serve pet wash stations, full grooming salon, live animals, free local delivery and curbside pickup. We are petcentric and always neighborly!

Opened: April 12th 2024

Phone: (847) 343-8532

Address: 1595 Peachtree Pkwy #116, Cumming GA 30041

Website: http://www.petsuppliesplus.com

Business Name: California Hand Wash Owners: Jack Craig, Mathew Stoner, and Kirt Lattanze

Business Description: California Hand Wash's third location provides a stateof-the-art conveyor-driven hand car wash, specializing in full-service washes, detailing, and ceramic coating. Our membership

Just opened?

options ensure your vehicle stays beautiful. Relax in our inviting lobby, complete with complimentary refreshments, as our dedicated team pampers your car to perfection.

Month Opened: January Phone: (770) 343-9960

Address: 12905 Ga9 N Milton, Ga. 30004

Website: https://californiahandwash.

Appen Media publishes New Business Spotlights to highlight local businesses as they get started. Submit yours for free at appenmedia.com/newbusiness

Some perspective as a long-time Georgian

Having come to grips that next month, when that page is torn from the calendar and June is upon us, another birthday will be foisted upon me. It is totally appropriate, from this perch, to put some things in perspective.

This year marks our 33rd year in Georgia. Forget about trying to chronicle all the changes. Attempting to do that would have me slobbering, drooling and mumbling to no one in particular.

It’s scary to think that since I became a Georgian in 1991, my personal journey took us from Woodstock to Cumming. We put down roots after being a “corporate gypsy,” where we lived in Bakersfield, Clackamas (Oregon) and Lacombe (Louisiana) before I accepted a job to live here, sight unseen.

Everyone raved about Atlanta, and besides, we were getting the Olympics.

The job that brought me here taught me to always look past the money and focus on the people. The muckety-mucks from the company turned out to be an immoral, sinister bunch. The whole bunch got ceremoniously disgraced, the subject of a cover story in Business Week magazine. The CEO went to prison, and I shouldn’t have taken glee on what happened to the lot.

But I did.

After getting sacked because I refused to fire a rep who was sleeping with that CEO, I collected a hefty severance that was really “hush money.” Instead of leaving Georgia, I had fallen in love with this place, its people and the lifestyle.

Friends thought I’d pack up and leave.

Nope. Georgia had become home.

And it still is.

In the time we’ve been here, we were able to adopt two wonderful infants. We traveled to Russia to get them. At the time, going to Russia was daunting, especially with those machine gun-wielding soldiers in the Moscow airport.

Vicki wasn’t amused at my being a smart aleck at Lenin’s Tomb, where visitors must remain moving at a brisk pace. Can’t stare too long, lest you wise up to the reality that Lenin is made of wax. She probably would have left me in a prison if I would have been “pinch-ski’d” when I asked her: “Where do you reckon they’ll be burying Paul, George and Ringo when they croak?”

Before coming to Atlanta, I was warned that traffic was awful. It was. And still is, so not much has changed in

that perspective. With my current (non)employment status, I am aloof to numbers like 20, 75 and 85, unless I am playing them in Mega Millions.

But there are things I miss. Sadly, these will not be coming back, but I can reminisce anyway:

• Braves broadcaster Skip Caray: Skip knew baseball and knew how to make sound bites that will last forever. His call of Sid Bream lumbering towards home to send the Braves to the 1992 World Series was one I’ll never forget. “Down the stretch he comes.”

• Skip’s post-game call-in show was a “must listen to” event every night. It was a treat listening to Skip get tormented by inane questions about the infield-fly rule. Friends would line up to call and pour on the aggravation.

• I miss opening the Atlanta JournalConstitution and laughing at Lewis Grizzard’s column. There was something comforting about overhearing a “did you read Grizzard today?” discussion. Seemingly, both Lewis and Skip seemed like they’d be with us forever. Until they weren’t.

• I miss my friend Papa Kenny Cagle’s call when he’d comment on my Sunday column. When Papa Kenny said a column was “Grizzard-esque,” I knew he really liked it. Papa Kenny left without me ever getting a chance to say goodbye. I hope the “Heart-and-soul” eulogy made him smile.

• I miss playing regular Saturday games with the Callahan boys at Lanier Golf Club. Sadly, that homey, pristine track is now an ugly subdivision. I sigh every time I drive past where we played and the boys learned to swim. If their friends had no lunch money, Chris would assure them: “Don’t worry, I’ll just sign for it.”

• I miss Channel 5’s meteorologist Ken Cook. I’d see him at church and ask him if the weather would hold off for our baseball game. On the air, if Ken came on with his shirtsleeves rolled up, it was time to head for the basement. A bad one was coming.

• I don’t miss flying. Delta used to be a great airline that couldn’t do enough to make its customers feel special. I was even awarded “Flying Colonel” status. Now, after more than four million miles flown, I get nary a grunt. Don’t get me wrong, if I must fly, it’ll be on my hometown airline. But I now avoid flying like liver and onions.

Mike Tasos has lived in Forsyth County for more than 30 years. He’s an American by birth and considers himself a Southerner by the grace of God. He can be reached at miketasos55@gmail.com.

MIKE TASOS Columnist

The difficulty in choosing Alpharetta’s crown jewel

RAY APPEN Publisher Emeritus ray@appenmedia.com

Just when you think that Alpharetta has run out of rabbits to pull from their hat, they somehow find yet another one. It never ceases to amaze me.

One would be hard pressed to choose the “best rabbit” that the City of Alpharetta has created during the last 35 years. Which one would get your vote? And, some of these are serious and others, not so much!

Spoiler: At the end of this column, there is a party invitation for everyone.

No. 1. Big Creek Greenway: Alpharetta’s greenway (9 miles long) is a 12’ wide paved linear park for biking, walking, roller blading, inline skating along Big Creek; birds and mammals, flora and fauna, can be seen from the trail. The Alpharetta greenway connects with the Roswell & Forsyth greenways (with several gaps) for a total of 26 miles of linear park. Construction of the Alpharetta section began in 1995 and has cost roughly $10 million. Google “Awesome Alpharetta greenway” for more details. Nice work leading the initial construction Marie Garrett, then Alpharetta’s Community Development Director.

No. 2. Ga. 400: So, Alpharetta didn’t build Ga. 400. However, legend has it that when the Georgia Department of Transportation asked then Alpharetta Mayor Jimmy Phillips how many exits he wanted off Ga. 400, he replied with: “How many can I have?” This contrasted with another mayor who reportedly replied to the same question with: “Do I have to have any?” Way to go Mayor Phillips (wherever you are)! Those five exits drive a massive amount of business to our fair city.

No. 3. Wills Park Equestrian Center: So, while I personally have never been a big fan of a park that is used by such an ultra-small percent of the population, the Equestrian Center is an amazing regional marquee facility for the horse world, and it does set Alpharetta apart from almost all other cities in the state.

No. 4. Wills Park: What can you say about Wills Park other than wow! Created in the late 1960s by then Mayor Harry Wills, the park today spans 110 acres (Central Park in New York City is

843 acres), including the Equestrian Center which is but one component of this immense and multi-faceted facility. The park includes so much – walking trails, a huge multi-use community pool, one of the most popular and largest disc golf courses in the state, tennis courts, multi-use community buildings, picnic shelters, basketball courts (indoors and out), a dog park, many ball fields, playgrounds and more. In addition to the actual facilities of the park, the city’s management of the park shines just as brightly; it has changed and adapted to the needs of the population over time and stays current and magnificently relevant.

No. 5. Rucker Farm: This one may be the least well-known of Alpharetta’s gems. The 10-acre farm located off Rucker Road is a working farm operated by Alpharetta’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department. Two of the 10 acres are dedicated to organic farming, and the remainder is used in a variety of ways including providing agriculture-related classes, community gardens, green house space (soon to expand with a new larger greenhouse), outdoor classrooms, Eagle Scout resources, 700 volunteer opportunities, food for North Fulton Community Charities and so much more. Great big “highfive” to the city and council for having the foresight and wisdom to create and support Rucker Farm as an outreach that addresses some of the most challenging and critical issues of today and especially the future – food, health, soil, education and connection.

No 6. Alpharetta’s high-tech nature: What do you get when, decades ago, you (Ross Perot, Georgia Power and other players) bury miles and miles of concrete-encased electric and fiberoptic cable underground and run it due north up Ga. 400 from Atlanta to a little backwater city (at the time), facilitating near fail-proof power delivery and one of the largest fiber-optic systems in America? Well, you ultimately get Alpharetta, “Technology City of the South.” And while Alpharetta did not really have much to do with the creation of this infrastructure, it had everything to do with managing the growth and direction of that growth that came as a result of the power and fiberoptics. Boom! Kudos to Alpharetta’s elected officials and voters through the years!

See APPEN, Page 15

OPINION

The distinguished Mansell family (Part 2)

BOB MEYERS Columnist

In a recent column I described the origins of the Mansell family of North Fulton. Attention was focused on Robert Henry Mansell (18731950), who was born in Crabapple, and his wife Maude Dorris (1883-1977). This week I will portray their children in more detail and how they and their descendants contributed so much to North Fulton and surrounding areas. Robert (known by most folks as Bob) and Maude had five children, a girl and four boys, all now deceased. Bob was a farmer and businessman, influential and widely respected in the area. These are their children listed by birth year:

Pauline Mansell Matthews (19021985) married Jason Henry Matthews (1894-1983) in 1920. They had seven children. Pauline was a full-time homemaker with her seven children which kept a wringer washing machine on the back porch very busy. Life was hard during the war and Pauline baked cakes and sewed for people. Jason had a series of jobs including insurance sales, medicine sales and owning a coffee shop until he started farming on the approximately 60 acres Bob Mansell gave to each of his five children.

Joseph Cliott Mansell (1906-1997), known as Joe, married Lessie Mae Coleman (1908-1959). They were married for 30 years. After she passed away, he married Mary Clara Wright (1918-2010). Joe tried his hand at farming on land gifted from his father, but it was not the life for him. He opened the Joe Mansell Filling Station in Roswell where he also ran a coal and ice business. He owned and operated the Mimosa Café across the street from the gas station. In 1941/42 he was mayor of Roswell. After that, he became a deputy sheriff in Atlanta for 20 years, where among other assignments, he investigated the 1946 Winecoff Hotel fire on Peachtree Street. It was the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history, with 119 hotel guests killed. In 1960, Joe and some partners opened a recreational park on Alpharetta Highway called Sun Valley Park. It had three lakes, a sandy beach, offered fishing and boating, horseback riding and other fun activities. He sold it in 1965. Unfortunately, the new owner did not maintain it, and it shut down after a few years. Joe and a partner Ben Tolbert then opened the Roswell Department Store which they operated for approximately 10 years.

MANSELL FAMILY/PROVIDED

The annual Mansell family reunion has been held for some 150 years. In 2009 an estimated 250 people attended. By 2017 the number of attendees had declined to about 150, but the tradition will continue in the future. The photo shows some of the family members attending a recent reunion.

James Earl Mansell (1910-2002), married Lillian Shirley [1911-2002]. Earl did not go to college, something that bothered him throughout his life. Consequently, he stressed the importance of a good education to his children. Earl was mentally gifted, however, and was a very successful buyer and seller of land throughout his life. Lillian was one of 10 children of the Shirley family of Alpharetta. She received a degree in education from Young Harris College and taught in several local schools until her marriage in 1935 when she had to leave the profession because married women were not allowed to be teachers. A little-known story about Earl, told to me by his son Barry, is about Aubrey Morris, who Earl knew when Morris was a boy. Aubrey was not planning to go to college, but Earl took him to Athena to visit the University of Georgia. Aubrey was convinced and studied journalism at UGA. Aubrey became a celebrated columnist for the Atlanta Journal Constitution and personality on WSB radio for many years – all thanks to Earl Mansell’s appreciation of Aubrey’s potential.

Crawford Walton Mansell (19121990), known as C.W., married Francis Louise Pinkerton (1908-2002), known as Pinkie. Walton as a farmer and businessman and Pinkie was a nurse.

Walton and his brother C.B. were very close. They enlisted in the Navy together right after Pearl Harbor. They jointly founded Egg Acres, one of the largest poultry farms in Georgia. Walton’s 100 vine muscadine grape vineyard was well known. He grew several varieties of muscadines including Dearing, Cowart and Higgins. Making wine was his hobby. He also had a large apple orchard with Jonathan, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Stayman Winesap, Mutsu and other varieties. Pinkie was raised in Putnam, Ga., on a dairy and cotton farm. She was a trained nurse and headed the Fulton County Health Center in Roswell. She retired in 1972 after 30 years when she and C.W. traveled throughout the U.S. in their Airstream Trailer.

Clarence Broughton Mansell (19162004), known as C.B., was the only son born in the original house built by Bob Mansell in 1910. He married Louise Paris [1919-1974]. During World War II, C.B. served as a baker on a destroyer escort. Egg Acres, mentioned above, had seven chicken houses and some production machinery. Workers had Sunday’s off, so C.B.’s and Walton’s four children had to work among the smelly chickens gathering eggs, a job they did not relish, according to C.B.’s daughter Clair Louise’s account in Linda Mansell

Martin’s book “The Great Generation of Mansell’s of North Georgia.” C.B. and Walton had annual Easter egg hunts for all Roswell children for several years at Egg Acres, and school field trips took place frequently. C.B., like many farm children, did not go beyond the sixth grade. However, he was a successful businessman with Seed and Feed Store and later Egg Acres. He obtained his GED at age 50, obtained a commercial real estate license and had a successful real estate career in his later years.

The Mansell family was and is very special, and quite numerous. The annual Mansell Family Reunion had 250 attendees in 2009. It has dwindled since then as the younger generation has more activity options, but according to Linda Martin “we are confident that this 150-year-old tradition will continue.”

I believe that the best term to describe the Mansell family is “hard working.” That is the farm-based ethic that has motivated the family for generations.

Bob is director emeritus of the Milton Historical Society and a Member of the City of Alpharetta Historic Preservation Commission. You can email him at bobmey@bellsouth.net. Bob welcomes suggestions for future columns about local history.

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Continued from Page 1

Growing up a curious kid, Serafino said she would ask her grandmother, or “Nonna,” what it was like living in Italy and how she came to America.

“This just opened up a can of worms, and I drove the poor lady crazy,” Serafino said. “I wanted to know more.”

Much of the memoir is based on memory, but she also uses letters and other artifacts her family kept, traveling to Ellis Island to look at immigration records, and to Italy, after tracking down Longobucco’s family in Calabria.

Part of the book is also dedicated to her paternal family from Madera, Portugal, who she had come to find after reading a letter from her great aunt to her father, found in her brother’s estate after he died.

“She wrote my father a letter and said, ‘We want you with your wife and the baby to come to Madera,’ and she enclosed a holy card, the ‘Our Lady of Fátima’ card,” Serafino said. “I realized I’m the ‘baby.’”

The letter was dated 1953, the same year she was born.

A section of the book is filled with photographs of her family dated as far back as 1909, a photo of her Portuguese grandmother as a baby at her baptism, up to 1970, showing Serafino in her hippie era, her sister Christina and brother William John in Mystic, Connecticut.

Serafino is working to publish a book of poetry called “Poems from a ’60s Hippie Chick,” pulled from an old notebook of poems she wrote in her late teens on topics like the Vietnam War and women’s rights.

The book is inspired by a favorite growing up, “Sonnets from the Portuguese” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a Christmas gift from her parents still intact but tattered with small pink flowers on the cover. Plans for the book cover include a Polaroid of an 18-year-old Serafino writing on her bed.

She’s already working on a third book, about her career as a criminal prosecutor in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. She would later start a

Continued from Page 12

So, how does a city pull yet another rabbit out of the hat – produce yet another encore – after launching such an amazing run of rabbits over time?

The answer is two words: the “Alpha Loop,” yet another gem in Alpharetta, perhaps the crown jewel of them all!

Barbara Gomes Serafino, left, meets with other members of the Forsyth Writer’s Club at Starbucks for its monthly meeting. Amy Lyle, who has two books out for purchase, formed the club nearly seven years ago to create a space of support for up-and-coming authors.

women-only firm in Staten Island.

Around a dozen books have been published since Amy Lyle formed the Forsyth Writer’s Club in 2017, apart from blogs and freelancing.

Lyle recalled sitting on the floor of a Barnes & Noble with two other “wannabe” authors, joking about starting a writer’s club in a video.

“...Then we posted it, and people were like, ‘Is there a writing club?’” and we were like, ‘Yes, Yes, there is,’” said Lyle, a comedian, who would eventually publish “The Amy Binegar-Kimmes-Lyle Book of Failures” and “We’re All A Mess, It’s Okay.”

At the first meet-up, Lyle said around 10 people showed up, which became the average.

“It’s just been a really, really wonderful thing,” Lyle said.

At the meetings, members perform a 10-minute reading of their work, then others provide feedback. The club has also been a place where leads are

That encore is in progress as we speak and is accepting visitors, users, and anyone else who maybe just wants to be amazed with wonder or, perhaps, simply is looking for some down time to stroll, think, slow down and “smell the roses.”

Saturday party invitation

Come help us celebrate (food trucks, music, face painting, fun for the entire family) the opening of the

More information

To join the Forsyth Writer’s Club, visit its Facebook page.

shared, like finding an illustrator, an editor or someone to market the book.

Lyle said it’s hard to gain traction as a creative. But, with support from the club, the book launch for her first book, “Book of Failures,” saw more than 300 people. Both of Lyle’s books are No. 1 bestsellers across multiple categories and have made the Goodreads Top Ten Best Humor list.

She said it’s been exciting to see authors in the Forsyth Writer’s Club make it to the finish line.

“I really am proud of people that thought they wanted to write a book, but they weren’t sure, but they showed up with their own notebook at the Starbucks at 10 a.m.,” Lyle said. “… [The club] gave them confidence.”

newest section of “the Loop” this Saturday, June 1, 10 a.m. to noon. Celebration will be held in Northwinds parking lot at 2500 Northwind’s Parkway (near Village Tavern off Haynes Bridge Road). Come walk the new section and explore – a taste of more wonder to come – and Alpharetta’s hits just keep on coming! New to the Loop? Find out more about it: www.AlphaLoopFoundation. org

AMY LYLE/PROVIDED

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