Johns Creek Herald - March 16, 2023

Green Cell sells society on recycling

Volunteers construct community composter

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Green Cell, the Alpharetta-based nonprofit, is endearingly scrappy, but it packs a punch with more than 100 volunteers.

The group leads a number of eco-conscious projects that service other cities in Fulton County, like Johns Creek, as well as Forsyth and Gwinnett counties.

Green Cell is also looking to engage communities outside of the state by setting up utensil banks in Charlotte and one in Texas. The project loans coolers and utensils for low-waste gatherings. By loaning utensils in 2022, Pankaj Rajankar said more than 100,000 single-use utensils were eliminated.

Rajankar, who co-founded Green Cell in 2018 with Sandesh Shinde, said the idea for Green Cell started with a well-liked Facebook post spreading environmental awareness.

“My comment on that was, ‘These likes don’t matter,’” Rajankar said.

He said everybody points a finger and asks others to change their habits, yet they hold a plastic bottle or don’t own reusable grocery bags.

“Unless all human beings change and ask for this change, the change is

Specialists visit Black cemetery ahead of survey

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Macedonia Cemetery, a Black historical cemetery off Medlock Bridge Road, saw visitors Feb. 28 for a preliminary ground penetrating radar survey.

not going to happen,” Rajankar said. He along with board member Vijay Desai and youth coordinator Ramya Shivkumar sat inside the

See SUMMIT, Page 18

Devon Ramey, a geospatial analyst with Nelson Intelligence Solutions, monitored drones aerialmapping the area. Meanwhile, Rauf Hussein, a geotechnical engineer, walked around the cemetery mapping locations using a phone application. Hussein said he has been doing ground penetrating radar (GPR) for a decade.

See SURVEY, Page 16

GREEN CELL/PROVIDED

From left, Green Cell volunteer Uday Golambade, co-founder Pankaj Rajankar and board member Vijay Desai stand next to a newly constructed community composter in Alpharetta. Green Cell volunteers take material from around 25 families in their neighborhoods for composting.

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Devon Ramey, geospatial analyst with Nelson Intelligence Solutions, monitors drones mapping Macedonia Cemetery Feb. 28.

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Woman suspects nephew stole $3,000 in jewelry

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — A Johns Creek woman reported Feb. 28 that she suspects her nephew stole some of her James Avery jewelry, valued at $3,000.

She said her nephew showed up to her residence off Threadstone Overlook Feb. 24 saying he’d just gotten out of Cobb County Jail and didn’t have anywhere to go.

The woman said that he was in jail for something related to a stolen vehicle and that she agreed to let him stay a couple of nights. She said she never left him in the house alone except once when she stepped outside to speak with her landscapers.

On Feb. 28, the woman had to go to jury duty and made plans to drop the nephew in Alpharetta.

When she got dressed, she went downstairs, leaving him upstairs. They left her residence at 6 a.m. When she returned from jury duty at 12:45 p.m., she immediately went back out and returned at 2:40 p.m. It was then that the woman discovered her jewelry missing.

The woman said she had jewelry inside of a bowl on the sink in her master bathroom and jewelry inside a jewelry box on her master bedroom dresser, which were missing. She said she was also missing two Bank of America checkbooks from a cabinet.

The woman said there was no sign of forced entry to her residence but stated she left her back door unlocked because she lets her dog roam freely.

She said nothing was out of place beside her jewelry and checkbooks missing.

The scene was turned over to a detective.

Business owner reports stolen debit card

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — The business owner of Eastern Atlanta Behavioral Health in Watkinsville reported to Johns Creek Police Feb. 28 that he was supposed to receive a new business debit card in the mail to his Johns Creek residence off Knollcrest Boulevard.

The report said the debit card was for his business account through Bank South. The man received automated alerts for his business bank account that someone activated the new card Feb. 25. Half an hour later, someone withdrew $400 and then $400 more at a CVS ATM.

The suspect then made a $1.98 purchase at Publix on Holcomb Bridge Road in Gwinnett County, and requested $1,000 cash back.

Police checked the man’s bank statements, which showed $1,801.98 as a total loss to the business account.

The man said he does not know whether someone stole the card from his residential mailbox in Johns Creek.

He also noted he has a cleaning service that last entered his residence Feb. 11.

Mellow Mushroom stores hit with fake credit card

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — An employee of Mellow Mushroom off Medlock Bridge Road reported to Johns Creek Police March 5 that a man attempted to purchase $500 in gift cards with a fraudulent credit card.

The employee said the man came in earlier that day and used a credit card to make the purchase, but the last four digits on the sales receipt for the Visa credit card didn’t match the last four digits of the credit card being used. The employee described the suspect to be a 5-foot-10 White man with black hair.

The employee said he refused to give the gift cards to the man, who then started yelling at him. The man used

a passport as identification, the police report said, but the employee didn’t remember the name. The employee was able to cancel the sale transaction and took a photograph of a red Dodge Charger with a Florida tag the man left in.

The employee said he was notified that the same man had attempted to purchase gift cards at the Suwanee and Cumming Mellow Mushroom locations the same day.

The employee also sent police an image of a sales receipt for $400 in Mellow Mushroom gift cards purchased March 4 at the location off New Paces Ferry Road in Atlanta.

The store told the employee that it had the suspect’s name and that the last four numbers of the Visa credit card used for the purchase matches the last four digits of the card on the sales receipt for the Johns Creek Mellow Mushroom location.

Dating site user falls victim to scam

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — A man reported to Johns Creek Police March 5 that he paid $800 for a date Feb. 10, but she didn’t show up as planned.

The man used the dating site called “asstok.com” to pay for the date, scheduled Feb. 11 at the Hyatt Place Atlanta off Medlock Bridge Road.

Because his date didn’t show up, the man contacted his bank and reported the $800 as fraud. The man said his bank refunded the money to his account.

Soon after, the police report said the man started receiving threatening text messages and emails from a man who said he would “break his nerves” and that he and his whole family would pay if the man didn’t send $2,500.

The messages continued, the report said, and stated the man’s current home address, known relatives and ex-wife. The individual also sent an image of five beheaded human heads and noted the same thing would happen to him.

Alpharetta police introduce agency’s first therapy dog

By SHELBY ISRAEL shelby@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The Alpharetta Police Department is instating its first therapy dog to provide victim and witness support and departmental therapy.

Lt. Andrew Splawn said Det. Caitlin Lawrence pitched Scout, a 14-monthold beagle mix, to Director of Public Safety John Robison in 2022. He said Scout was approved, and Lawrence attended a 40-hour basic training school with Scout in December.

Splawn said Scout came from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office’s Paws and Stripes College in Florida, a program where select jail inmates train shelter dogs in obedience to determine whether they would be a good fit as a therapy or a comfort dog.

“They have to do a mock therapy dog interview where they’re interviewing a victim or a witness and the dog is in the room,” Splawn said. “They have a really nice program down there at Brevard County, and then after the one-week certification, then the handler gets to come back and start to do work with the dog.”

Scout’s training did not end with Paws and Stripes, Splawn said. Scout will continue to learn and improve his skills for the rest of his time at the department.

Splawn said standard K9 dogs are used as tools in the field for scent detection, tracking and apprehension, but Scout will be used to bring comfort for those who have had traumatic experiences.

“Because whenever somebody’s been a victim of a traumatic crime, especially like a person-on-person crime, being able to help them recall the details and speak about them, it’s very challenging,” Splawn said. “And if we can use therapy dogs to help them out, we’re helping the victim, but then we’re also helping to identify suspects.”

He said Scout’s primary purpose is a therapy dog for victims and witnesses, but the dog will also provide therapy for the Public Safety Department’s employees, such as firefighters and 911 dispatchers, who can witness traumatic events in the course of their duties.

Since February, Splawn said Scout has already made rounds around the department to cheer up employees, but Scout has not yet been employed in direct response to a traumatic

The Alpharetta Police Department’s new therapy dog Scout is a 14-month-old beagle mix. Scout was trained alongside Police Det. Caitlin Lawrence at the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Paws and Stripes College in Florida.

event.

Splawn said a study conducted by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office found that in 24 cases, 83 percent of child abuse victims made active disclosures when comforted by a therapy dog, compared to the national average 30-40 percent disclosure rate.

“It really helps victims and witnesses [who are] anxious in an interview room,” Splawn said. “It really helps calm them down, and as they get more calm, they’re able to recall more instances and details to be able to give to the police.”

Splawn said the department will review Scout’s success rate in the future to determine if more therapy dogs would be worthwhile, but the department is open to having more.

ALPHARETTA POLICE DEPARTMENT/PROVIDED

Alpharetta student to compete in Toronto piano festival

By SHELBY ISRAEL shelby@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga.

— Kenneth Low, a 13-year-old pianist from Alpharetta, has been selected as the Georgia finalist to play at The Royal Conservatory of Music’s Music Lights the Way Piano Festival at

Koerner Hall in Toronto March 21-22.

Low will play Frédéric Chopin’s “Mazurka in A flat Major, Op. 24, No. 3” in the intermediate level seven at the competition. The grand prize for Low’s level is a Yamaha b1 acoustic upright piano that retails for more than $6,500.

The Royal Conservatory College of Examiners member Jonathan Roberts said nearly 8,000 participants from Canada and the United States submitted videos of their piano

performances.

“As a judge for the Music Lights the Way Piano Festival, I was impressed by the quality of submissions from piano students across the continent,” Roberts said. “It was very exciting and inspiring to hear so much talent and joyful music-making in the performances at all levels and I am honored to have been part of this wonderful event.”

Low said he started playing piano around 2014, and he started loving it

when he was 9 years old.

“It means a lot, and it is really exciting to be heading to Toronto to perform in front of the big crowd,” Low said. “I can’t deny that I have been wanting to do this for a long time.”

Low said he recommends the conservatory’s piano program because it has enhanced his knowledge. After his performance in Toronto, he plans to expand his repertoire and participate in more competitions.

Street art course registration underway at Spruill Center

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Spruill Center for the Arts and Brave Nu Ventures announced open registration for “Exploring Street Art in Atlanta,” a sixweek course that explores the art form transforming the city.

Exploring Street Art in Atlanta, one of a handful offered in the United States, will run April 15-May 20. Classes will be held on Saturdays from 2:30-4:30 p.m. at the Spruill Center and at key street art locations in Atlanta.

Full scholarships are available to young adults who qualify. The link to the scholarship application is spruillarts.

org/scholarships.

Exploring Street Art is open to the public and includes talks, mixed media projects and field trips:

• Week 1: Intro to Street Art Lecture – overview of Atlanta’s evolving cityscape from an urban art scholar.

• Week 2: ATL Street Art Tour – twohour trek through Castleberry Hill & Downtown to learn the stories behind iconic works.

• Week 3: Is Graffiti Art? Workshop – a closer look at graffiti and arguments for and against its merits.

• Week 4: Graffiti Painting – a hands-on, and legal, workshop to create a piece with a graffiti teaching artist.

• Week 5: Artist Studio – an opportunity to meet the muralist behind several works and learn about their creative process.

• Week 6: Public Art Installation –a rare chance to work on a public mural with a local artist.

Brave Nu Ventures designed the course over 12 months, working with local artists, creatives and street art insiders.

The course features a team of facilitators who will lead individual sessions. Students will learn about the cultural significance of street art in Atlanta. They will see and discuss the iconic murals, the contributions of edgier, and even anonymous artists, and the issues being addressed. By making art and touring the city, students will develop an aesthetic sensitivity to street art forms and techniques – from graffiti styles to how murals are made.

To enroll in Exploring Atlanta Street Art, go to spruillarts.org/classes.

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Big Creek Greenway project receives $2 million in grants

ROSWELL, Ga. — The Big Creek Greenway Community Connectivity Planning Project is getting a shot in the arm, thanks to $2 million in federal grants announced Feb. 28 by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The project aims to design a multi-use path to unite disadvantaged residents to jobs, health care, education and other civic life. It will be built on a 20-foot

Roswell

By SHELBY ISRAEL shelby@appenmedia.com

easement in Roswell underneath Ga. 400, land owned by the Georgia Department of Transportation.

The path will connect Roswell’s town center, Alpharetta, the historically disadvantaged Liberty Square neighborhood and Metro Atlanta through the Big Creek Greenway.

“Transportation should connect, not divide, people and communities,” Buttigieg said.

The Reconnecting Communities Program, established by President Joe Biden provides technical assistance and funding for community planning and construction projects that aim to reconnect neighborhoods split by transportation barriers.

The grants, totaling $185 million, were awarded to 39 planning projects and six capital construction projects.

Woman’s Club sets home, garden tour

ROSWELL, Ga. — The Roswell Woman’s Club announced it will host its second annual Spring Home and Garden Tour April 22 in Roswell.

The tour is a signature fundraising event that features historic homes and décor inspiration. Proceeds from ticket sales will support North Fulton education and charities.

“The profits raised from RWC fundraisers are channeled back

into the community through scholarships to high school seniors and to non-traditional students, grants to teachers, and grants to nonprofit organizations that serve the North Fulton Community,” Roswell Woman’s Club President Liz Jackson said.

The club has awarded over $2.4 million in grants and scholarships since 1997, Jackson said. The club, a nonprofit founded in 1948, seeks to support educational scholarships and grants, human services, cultural arts, historical preservation and urban

improvement in Roswell.

In 2022, the club granted 32 organizations nonprofit grants, including The Drake House, the Roswell Historical Society, Sunshine on a Ranney Day and the Foster Care Support Foundation. It also provided 14 scholarships to high school seniors and 34 educator grants to North Fulton teachers.

Ticket sales will begin this month. More information on the tour, the upcoming silent auction and tickets can be found at roswellwomansclub.org.

It’s an American story. It’s a story that engages a high degree of authenticity. Real hands, real people working in small wood shops.

JIM MILLER, CEO, DutchCrafters

DutchCrafters celebrates 20 years of handcrafted perfection

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — When DutchCrafters CEO Jim Miller and his partner Miao Xue first went into business in 2003, they didn’t really know what they wanted to sell.

Normally, that doesn’t bode well for the survival of a business. But Miller and Xue, both former grad students at the University of South Florida, knew that an invention called the internet was starting to show a lot of potential for matching customers with niche products that were hard to find.

DutchCrafters will celebrate its 20th anniversary later this month, marking years of hard work through recessions, a global pandemic and countless other challenges that led them to become an industry leader in selling hand-crafted furniture to customers around the world.

“It’s been a great success story,” Miller said. “But wow, there were challenges along the way. It took a lot of work.”

Today DutchCrafters is known for selling high-end custom furniture made by Amish craftsmen from communities in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. But initially, Miller didn’t even think it would be possible to sell such an expensive product on the internet, which was seen as “shady” during its infancy.

“People didn’t trust it,” he said. “Consumers weren’t there yet. In 2003, total U.S. sales of eCommerce were something like 1.25 percent.”

Instead, they began selling nifty, but less expensive, Amish-made

craft items like decorative wooden lighthouses and outdoor furniture, which weren’t really being sold anywhere else online.

All that changed when Miller and his wife, Linse, took a trip to

Pennsylvania to scout for vendors, and she convinced him they’d be crazy not to try selling the beautifully crafted furniture they kept seeing.

“I said, that’s never going to

work. There’s too many problems,” he said. “The next year we did about half a million dollars in revenues … So, it was a great time to be wrong.”

See TWENTY, Page 9

ALEX POPP/APPEN MEDIA

Jim and Linse Miller, center, stand with their staff in the showroom of DutchCrafters in downtown Alpharetta. The Amish-made furniture company opened its Alpharetta location in October 2022.

Twenty:

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Like the trust they had to build with customers, Miller said they also had to slowly build relationships in the close-knit Amish craftsman community by convincing suppliers they could sell their products faster, more consistently and for higher prices than traditional brick-andmortar stores.

“It was almost more difficult to break into the vendor community than it was with customers,” he said.

In October 2022 DutchCrafters cut the ribbon on their third location outside of their headquarters in Sarasota, Florida, and quality control warehouse in Indiana, a state-of-the-art product showroom in downtown Alpharetta.

Miller said DutchCrafters has been serving the North Fulton area for years, and he thinks that with the new location, they can boost their business in the region, while also charting a course for showrooms to open in other cities

“We’re really thrilled with the reception that we have had here from the business community and customers in Alpharetta,” he said.

“We’ve felt really welcomed by it. We want to engage in the community and be part of it.”

But customers at the showroom aren’t going to take anything home with them, like they would from an Ikea, Rooms To Go, or other furniture stores. Instead, the showroom allows customers to learn about DutchCrafter’s products and options before their furniture is custom-made by Amish craftsmen.

A custom-made piece of furniture takes much longer to arrive at its final destination, months rather than weeks, but the end product is totally unique for each customer, Miller said.

“I call it slow furniture, like slow food,” he said. “Slow Food takes a little longer, yeah. But it usually tastes pretty good, you experience it in a different way. You sit down and enjoy it together with friends.”

Beyond that uniqueness, Miller said his customers are really buying a story.

“It’s an American story,” he said. “It’s a story that engages a high degree of authenticity. Real hands, real people working in small wood shops.”

For more information about DutchCrafter’s products and story, visit www.dutchcrafters.com.

ALEX POPP/APPEN MEDIA

Each piece of furniture sold by DutchCrafters is lovingly hand-made by Amish craftsmen in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Customers can now see examples of many DutchCrafters pieces at their showroom off North Main Street in Alpharetta.

Wills and probate court

Brought to You byGeerdes & Associates

It’s a common misconception that a Will is read by a lawyer and then everything goes according to your wishes. In reality, when you pass away with a Will, your heirs have to hire a probate lawyer. The lawyer will go to probate court and file a petition asking for permission to execute the Will. If the court accepts it, then a public notice of your estate goes out. This allows all of your creditors and debtors to place a claim on your estate. It’s only after those parties are satisfied that the lawyer can

GEERDES

execute your Will.

When you die without a Will or if your heirs can’t find your Will, the same process happens - except after the creditors and debtors are satisfied, your heirs must then fight over what’s left.

The most important takeaway is that so long as you only have a Will, then your heirs must go to court. The probate court is in charge of executing Wills, and a Will that doesn’t go through probate court doesn’t have legal authority. If you want to avoid court, we recommend speaking to an estate planning attorney about setting up a trust.

Computer Museum of America seeks to generate bigger crowds

By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com

ROSWELL, Ga.— The Computer Museum of America hosted its second annual “Byte: A Night of Cuisine, Cocktails and Computers” fundraiser March 9, marking the start of a new phase for the tech-focused museum.

More than 200 people gathered at the museum after hours to tour exhibits and donate to the non-profit tech museum.

The Computer Museum of America opened in the corner of Roswell Town Center on Commerce Parkway in July of 2019. Museum founder Lonnie Mimms used his own collection of over 300,000 technology artifacts collected over 40 years to create the exhibits. The museum opened with the mission of “preserving stories and artifacts from the so-called digital age.”

With more than 34,000 square feet of exhibit space and displays on supercomputers, film technology and space travel, the museum spans the history of technology.

Museum highlights include the Pixar computer used to create “Toy Story,” a timeline of technology and a temporary interactive art installation.

Yet Executive Director Rena Youngblood said growth “hasn’t been

as fast” as the museum’s team had hoped.

“We are now where we could have been within 12-15 months of starting,” Youngblood said. “Instead, it’s been three years.”

Youngblood joined the museum staff in early 2020, six months before COVID-19 shutdowns began. She cites the onset of the pandemic as one of the museum’s biggest challenges.

“We reopened when the government said we could, but it has not been the same,” Youngblood said.

Volunteers at the Computer Museum of America called the space a “hidden gem” in Roswell. Youngblood said the museum hears that a lot. For 2023, she plans to allocate more funds to promoting the museum and moving away from “hidden gem” status.

“You know, we’re just so young,” Youngblood said. “Every dollar you spend, it’s thoughtful.”

To bring in funds, the museum decided to host a “Byte” fundraiser event in 2022. The first fundraiser faced COVID-19 related delays, but Youngblood said it was eventually a success.

The funds helped the museum grow. Last year, they hired the See CROWDS, Page 13

DELANEY TARR / APPEN MEDIA

Sam Berman and Vivian Kovach tell the crowd about their experiences at Computer Museum of America’s summer camp at the March 9 “Byte: A Night of Cuisine, Cocktails and Computers” fundraiser in Roswell.

Crowds:

Continued from Page 12

museum’s first education and programs manager, hosted about 26 summer camps and weekly field trips. Youngblood said she has spent a lot of time working on a new strategic plan.

“We almost consider what we’ve done so far a proof of concept,” Youngblood said.

For the second annual “Byte” fundraiser, the Computer Museum of America had 17 sponsors, with 11 local restaurants and catering companies providing food and drink to guests.

The museum premiered their temporary exhibit, Georgia Tech’s interactive art installation “LuminAI.” Participants danced with an artificially intelligent, projected dance partner while other guests watched.

Two children who attended the museum’s computer-focused summer camps spoke about how much they enjoyed their time learning about technology. In remarks, Youngblood recalled what another child said to her after he left the museum.

“He said, ‘I’m just shocked it’s not full of people right now!’” Youngblood said.

To the executive director, reactions like that are an example of the museum’s impact so far. Now, she’s looking to “phase two” of the museum.

“It’s raising awareness, raising funds and raising energy for what we do as a group,” Youngblood said.

Youngblood hopes to expand into the rest of the museum’s space. In addition to the exhibit area, the Computer Museum of America has a 10,000 square foot ballroom, classrooms and a second floor offering 65,000 square feet of space.

The museum still acquires artifacts that it plans to display in the future, once the staff knows “how things are going to shake out” and decides what to preserve and share. The artifacts are part of the museum’s long-term goal.

“We want to be here 75 years from now,” Youngblood said.

To do that, Youngblood said the museum needs fundraising, partnerships, and for everyone to “believe” with her that the museum can do what it takes to succeed.

“We’re a nonprofit, so let’s work together,” Youngblood said.

PHOTOS BY DELANEY TARR / APPEN MEDIA

Vintage Apple Mac computers form the supports for a table at the March 9 “Byte: A Night of Cuisine, Cocktails and Computers” fundraiser at the Computer Museum of America in Roswell.

A dancer demonstrates Georgia Tech’s “LuminAI” interactive art exhibit at the March 9 “Byte: A Night of Cuisine, Cocktails and Computers” fundraiser at the Computer Museum of America in Roswell.

Cumming Arts Center honors young artists

By SHELBY ISRAEL shelby@appenmedia.com

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Forsyth County parents, teachers and residents enjoying a sunny Saturday afternoon gathered at the Cumming Arts Center for a reception to recognize student artwork March 4.

The exhibit hosted by the Sawnee Association of the Arts recognized 159 students in the South Forsyth Vertical Team, which includes Lakeside Middle School; Daves Creek Elementary School; Haw Creek Elementary School; and South Forsyth Middle and High Schools.

South Forsyth Middle School art teacher Taylor Shoemake said roughly 30 students from her school had their art displayed.

“I think it’s very encouraging for kids in elementary and middle to see what they can look forward to in

high school,” Shoemake said. “And I think it’s for the high school kids to be able to look back and see maybe where they came from, but just the creativity that shines through, every single piece that is up there is completely different from the one next to it.”

Shoemake said she was excited for her students to have the chance to show their skills and hard work and to celebrate their achievements.

One of Shoemake’s students, sixth grader Samudita Baral, said she chose Donald Duck as the subject of her ceramic sculpture, “KAWS Donald Duck,” because the character has anger issues, which fits the sad themes of the artist KAWS’ sculptures. Baral said it felt good to have her art displayed publicly.

Sammie Sarkady, another of

PHOTOS BY SHELBY ISRAEL/APPEN MEDIA

The Cumming Arts Center displays art by students in the South Forsyth Vertical Team at its exhibit March 4.

Lakeside Middle School seventh grade student Cindy Zhou’s “Self Battle” is displayed at the Cumming Arts Center’s student exhibit March 4. The exhibit featured artwork from five Forsyth County schools.

Artists:

Continued from Page 14

Shoemake’s students in the seventh grade at South Forsyth, said she wanted to include many different elements in her painting “A Peaceful Path.”

“It’s pretty cool,” Sarkady said. “It makes me feel like my art is actually appreciated for once.”

Sarkady’s mother Suzy said art is a good outlet for her daughter, and the robust art programs at South Forsyth schools and in Cumming have encouraged Sammie.

“She’s had these art teachers that are just really seeing her and seeing her abilities and just, you know, encourage her to bring out that side of her, which I think is good for her mental health and well-being and everything,” Suzy Sarkady said.

Aditi Pabbidi, an eighth grade student at South Forsyth Middle School, painted the brightly colored acrylic on canvas “Flower Face” for the show. She said she cut pieces of paper to use as stencils to create the painting, and the showcase made her feel special about her art.

Cumming Arts Center Chair of Publicity and Marketing Marilyn DeCusati said the student showcase

followed a December exhibit that featured artwork from seven Forsyth County high schools and two home schools. After the success of the event, she said, the art teachers asked to continue shows at the arts center.

DeCusati said events at the center

have picked up after COVID-19, and art teachers have been active in showcasing student work, which the community has positively received.

“It is absolutely inspirational,” DeCusati said. “The parents have been incredibly proud. The kids, you can see from their faces, how proud

they are, and their teachers give them such a platform, I guess. So it’s been great for those of us who have been at it a long time to see that and to get that energy back. The excitement, the energy, the talent has just been immeasurable, so it’s a lot of fun. It’s just fun working with these kids.”

SHELBY ISRAEL/APPEN MEDIA

The Cumming Arts Center’s exhibit features five colorful sculptures made by students at Haw Creek and Daves Creek elementary schools March 4. The exhibit also included various pieces from Lakeside Middle School and South Forsyth Middle and High Schools.

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Rauf Hussein, geotechnical engineer with Nelson Intelligence Solutions, uses a phone application Feb. 28 to map Macedonia Cemetery for future ground penetrating radar. Kirk Canaday, Johns Creek Historical Society member, provided guidance to the process. A descendant of one of the people buried, Sabrina Aquell, was also at the cemetery to stay updated on the project.

Survey:

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Real-time data collection would take place in a second visit, Hussein said.

Kirk Canaday, Johns Creek Historical Society member, followed Hussein around to provide guidance

on the area. Sabrina Aquell, a Macedonia descendent, was also there to key in on the process.

GPR focus is going toward the area where the first church was, near the St. Ives fence. But for best results, Canaday said the City of Johns Creek will need to clear the ground.

Because moisture kills radar signals, Hussein said GPR should be performed before next winter.

Summit:

Continued from Page 1

Dunkin’ Donuts off North Main Street in Alpharetta sharing Green Cell milestones. Shivkumar’s young but forward-thinking daughter was there, too, and said she wants to move to California because the state is banning plastic bags.

Desai pointed out the window to call out the harmful transportation of pine straw used to beautify the parking lot’s medians. The area already has a lot of pine trees, but Desai said the needles are mostly transported from Florida.

“It’s crazy that they are actually spending carbon to bring [those] pine needles and spread it here when we could just simply leave the leaves alone,” Desai said impassioned, with comments on an alternative like spreading composted soil.

Composting was one focus of the Feb. 9 discussion. But Shivkumar also brought news about an upcoming youth sustainability conference hosted by Green Cell in September, the first of its kind in the state in a decade.

Plans for youth summit

For the conference, Shivkumar is working with the Wild Center based in New York, which has a youth climate program. Shivkumar reached out to Atlanta’s chief sustainability officer for support.

Shivkumar foresees the conference attracting at least 400 middle and high school students. Details, like venue and keynote speakers, are still being decided.

But Shivkumar said the conference will involve students in a climate change workshop where they will create actionable plans to address climate change and sustainability in their local communities. There will also be mini workshops.

The summit will provide a platform to share success stories, Shivkumar said, and continue to build a platform for students to continue discussion post-conference.

While plans are in the works for the larger conference in September, Green Cell’s youth program has regularly hosted virtual summer camps, where students are asked to study an environmental issue and perform a related action, like three-minute showers or glass recycling. Green Cell also has an orientation program for kids that teaches about environmental issues and why action is important.

Shivkumar said the program, which now has more than 40 volunteers, came into the picture once she saw a void in the education system.

Students aren’t taught how their everyday actions impact the

environment, she said, and many don’t have the resources or guidance to actively participate in discussions.

“We wanted to bridge that gap by providing that education on what you can do in your everyday life,” Shivkumar said. “You don’t have the money, you don’t have the resources, but you have a voice and you have certain things that are in your control that you can do.”

Composting made accessible

In February, Green Cell volunteers including Rajankar, Shinde and Desai, constructed a community composter in Shinde’s backyard.

The 475-gallon, enclosed composter is made of pressure-treated plywood and uses a pump air system which speeds up composting from 8 weeks in summer and 16-20 weeks in winter to about a month.

Once the organic material, made of “greens and browns,” is composted, the soil will set out to dry for a few weeks and is then picked up for personal use. “Browns” are the dead leaves that are necessary to dry out the moisture from organic matter, or the “greens.” Finding the balance between the two is the number one issue people face when they compost, Rajankar said.

Composting has two benefits, he said. When people compost, they aren’t throwing organic matter in trash, which prevents methane gas. Rajankar said methane is 25 times more potent in warming the planet than carbon dioxide.

The second benefit is that the carbon is captured in the soil, he said, rather than the atmosphere.

Because people understand the need for composting, but are not able to compost, Green Cell started a mentoring program called, “Compost with a buddy.” The program assigns volunteers to residents to help them until they are successful with their first batch of compost.

The grant for Green Cell’s new composting learning center at Autry Mill in Johns Creek was recently funded. Visitors will be able to see the benefits of composting through different types in a walking tour.

Johns Creek saw Green Cell efforts in other ways, too. Youth volunteers helped implement glass recycling at Ocee Park last year.

Green Cell has hands on several other projects. The nonprofit rescues discarded food with the help of Bagel Rescue. This past year, volunteers have rescued more than 40,000 pounds of food. Much of it was bagels, which Desai stockpiles in his personal freezer before donation.

“Composting — the food is gone to waste,” Desai said. “But with food rescue, you’re actually feeding people, right?”

Dunwoody Diorama records city’s history on discarded tree trunk

Dunwoody Preservation Trust will unveil a stunning piece of public art this spring which will tell the community’s history, the Dunwoody Diorama. The Diorama is a 19-foot-long wood sculpture carved in relief from the trunk of a red oak tree. Jim and Melanie Williams, past presidents of DPT and long-time residents of Dunwoody, have led the concept and funding of the project.

The 100-year-old tree was once part of the landscape of DonaldsonBannister Farm, located in front of the circa 1870 home at 4831 Chamblee Dunwoody Road. When the city determined the tree was dead and needed to be cut down, Melanie Williams had the idea to have the base of the tree carved where it was. However, an arborist determined the oak tree was not stable and had to be removed.

Chamblee sculptor Tom Williams suggested the tree be cut into thick slabs which could be cured and used to create a linear carving. In January 2020, the process began with the slabs drying outside and then in a kiln. The COVID pandemic slowed the progress of the project but planning continued.

Members of Dunwoody Preservation Trust along with Tom Williams met to discuss the details of the carving, working to incorporate as many aspects of the history as possible. Williams sketched several versions of the planned carving, working with local historians, non-profit organizations, the City of Dunwoody and other experts. He began carving soon after the final sketch was approved in early 2022.

The Diorama begins with the indigenous people who lived in the area 8,000 years ago and continues through every stage of the community’s growth, including Dunwoody today. The carving includes iconic Dunwoody history. Images of the Roswell Railroad engine Buck, Carey Spruill and his mule Shorty, the early Dunwoody school, Thompson’s store, Cheek-Spruill House and Donaldson-Bannister Farm are included, just to name a few.

The Dunwoody Diorama will be completed, mounted and secured under the roof of the new barn, on the Chamblee Dunwoody Road-side of Donaldson-Bannister Farm. It will be available for viewing whenever the city

park and farm is open, 7 a.m. until sundown each day.

DPT is planning guided tours, brochures and a series of children’s books to tell the stories of the Dunwoody Diorama. They also plan to incorporate QR codes for self-guided tours and the use of augmented reality software to bring elements of the Diorama to life. DPT is planning a regional history museum, and the Diorama is an important component of the plan.

Jim and Melanie Williams have dedicated countless hours to their vision of the Dunwoody Diorama. “This extraordinary and unique work of art will be an important educational tool and will be enjoyed by all for generations.”

The craftsmanship of wood sculptor Tom Williams has made that vision come to life.

Private donations from members of the community and local nonprofits have funded the Dunwoody Diorama project. Contact Noelle Ross, executive director DPT to contribute to this project at noelle@dunwoodypt.org or 770668-0401 or visit the website, dunwoodypreservationtrust.org/ dunwoody-diorama/.

Award-winning author Valerie Biggerstaff 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.

VALERIE BIGGERSTAFF

Columnist

PHOTOS PROVIDED The trunk of this 100 year old red oak tree at Donaldson-Bannister Farm was cut and preserved to become the Dunwoody Diorama.

Tools of the trade, used by sculptor Tom Williams, sit on a portion of the carving in progress.

Jimmy Carter and the Dolvin Elementary School

At a time when many Americans are contemplating the life and legacy of former President Jimmy Carter, it is appropriate to recall the history of the Dolvin Elementary School in Johns Creek, which Carter was on hand to dedicate in September 1980. This column is the story of that event and the story of one unique woman, his Aunt Sissy Dolvin, who helped make Jimmy Carter the person he became.

Dolvin Elementary School is the oldest operating school in Johns Creek. It is known for its academic excellence and for the active interest students’ parents take in education. School Principal Karen Cooke says, “We live our school mission: inspire, challenge, achieve.”

As part of the Fulton County Charter School system which emphasizes local school autonomy, Dolvin School has an active School Governance Council whose membership is 50 percent staff and 50 percent parents, an energetic PTA and the effective Dolvin Foundation. The foundation is a nonprofit charitable organization that raises funds to support educational programs, new technology and other equipment that would not otherwise be available through the school’s annual budget. For the past two years the Foundation has focused its efforts on a Science Discovery Lab. Cooke states that the Foundation has raised more than a million dollars over the years.

The school is named after William Jasper Dolvin (1908-1974), a celebrated educator who was principal of Roswell School on Mimosa Boulevard. He was married to Emily Gordy Dolvin (1912-2006), President Carter’s beloved “Aunt Sissy.” Emily subsequently married Hubert Visscher (1914-2005), a meteorologist. Emily was a well-known community leader in Roswell for more than 50 years. She played a key role in Carter’s political success, especially in 1976 when the then relatively unknown Georgia governor ran for president. The Dolvins’ home on Bulloch Avenue, built in the 1880s, became known as the Carter Roswell White House.

June Gay, retired assistant principal at Dolvin Elementary School, remembers the dedication ceremony. “It started off in a wonderful way,” she says. “Jimmy had

just become president. The principal was Betty O’Quinn. We invited Emily Dolvin for lunch to get to know her. She liked our proposal, and she said she would call Jimmy. We moved into Dolvin School Dec. 7, 1979 and hoped to get the president to come out soon, but it was Sept. 15, 1980 before he could schedule his visit.”

June taught school the day of the dedication and had three Secret Service agents in her classroom.

“We thought we would have a lot of students attend since it was a school event, but there were so many politicians and reporters that we had to cut way back the number of students,” she recalls.

To control the crowd, the school instituted a ticket system for students and teachers.

“A Secret Service agent was assigned to me, and we had to move all the teachers into one room so the Secret Service could search the school,” June says. “When the president arrived, the agent and I stood at the door to be sure everyone who entered had a ticket. I said ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to our people who wanted to come in, and the Secret Service agent checked out the VIPs.”

June remembers that Aunt Sissy was very excited. She was raised in the Dolvin house in Roswell and was excited to show her deceased husband’s namesake, the school, to her nephew, the president.

Carter spoke to the crowd in the auditorium/cafeteria and told them how proud he was to see his Uncle Dolvin’s name on the school. He noted that he had visited the Dolvin home often “because Sissy was my favorite aunt and helped to guide me through my formative years. And as I got into politics and government, Sissy and Dolvin’s house was a good place for me to come, not only to receive love and friendship and support but also to learn. . . because he knew that I was eager to learn and to improve the educational system of our state. He taught me just as he taught his students in elementary school.”

Following the dedication, Aunt Sissy hosted a reception for about 100 people at the Dolvin residence including Mrs. Lillian Carter, the president’ mother, Governor Busbee, Senator Talmadge and Representative Fowler.

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.

ROSWELL HISTORICAL SOCIETY/PROVIDED

President Jimmy Carter speaks at the dedication of the Dolvin Elementary School in Johns Creek on Sept. 15, 1980. Standing next to him is his Aunt Sissy Dolvin, widow of William Jasper Dolvin, for whom the school is named. Aunt Sissy was a community leader for more than 50 years in Roswell and had a major influence on President Carter as a youth and adult.

FULTON COUNTY SCHOOLS ARCHIVES/PROVIDED

President Jimmy Carter and his Aunt Sissy Dolvin unveil a portrait of her deceased husband William Jasper Dolvin for whom the Dolvin Elementary School is named. Aunt Sissy, whose real name was Emily Gordy Dolvin, devoted more than 50 years to volunteer and civic activities in Roswell.

ROSWELL HISTORICAL SOCIETY/PROVIDED

President Jimmy Carter addresses a crowd during the dedication of Dolvin Elementary School in Johns Creek on Sept. 15, 1980. His favorite Aunt Sissy Dolvin is seated on to right of the empty chair. The Dolvin home in Roswell was known as the Carter Roswell White House because he visited his aunt frequently during his formative years.

GARDEN BUZZ

Top Gardening Jobs for March

Our aboveground low and freezing temperatures this winter may have caused damage, injury and possibly death to some of your foundation plants. Look for signs of life by scraping a twig or stem with your fingernail. If you see green just inside the exterior, the plant has probably survived. Refrain from cutting back any plant material until you see new shoots or buds. Be cautious with pruning too early this season; we may continue to have unpredictable cold snaps. If new shoots or buds are developing, that is a positive sign. Most established bulbs should not be affected.

Spring blooming shrubs, such as loropetalums, azaleas, and forsythias will not likely have as dramatic a show as in years past. When (and if) you get flowers, you may prune lightly after the shrubs have completed their bloom cycles. Refrain from fertilizing shrubs or trees until after they begin to leaf out.

On the ground

Flip over the compost pile as your muscles can tolerate this exercise. Add moisture if needed and continue to add leaf matter that you have raked from the yard. Clean up those plant beds. Remove excess leaves, branches, cones, and those aggravating sweetgum balls, and remove new emerging weeds underneath the leaf matter.

Amending your soil around the bases of foundation plants is important: 1) remove the old mulch; 2) add a mixture of soil conditioners and decomposed compost; 3) hand-till it in and around the established plant roots, then tamp the soil; 4) replace with 2 inches of fresh mulch. Adding in a small amount of 10-10-10 granular fertilizer (slower release) with the new soil is advisable. This is a labor-intensive activity that will pay off in the long run. A soil test through your local UGA Extension office will tell you exactly how to amend your soil for what you want to plant.

Divide and transplant perennials (including ground covers, such as

sedum, pachysandra, ajuga, liriope, and creeping jenny) as they emerge from the ground. Use your amended soil to give them a healthy start. Chrysanthemums should be firmly tamped into the soil; they may have heaved or pushed themselves out of the ground during the coldest months.

It’s not too late to plant new ornamental shrubs; if you still want to plant new trees, they will require extra attention from you throughout the warm months. Your ‘optimal window of opportunity’ with tree planting has passed. Be mindful of watering new foundation plants regularly.

Bulbs

Make room and plan (but don’t yet PLANT) summer bulbs, such as cannas, dahlias, gladiolus, caladiums and colocasia. When the soil temperatures reach at least 60 degrees, you may plant. These items perform well in containers and will mix well with summer annuals.

When spring bulbs have completed their bloom cycle, cut off the flowers and stems completely but not the leaves. Don’t forget to work fertilizer into the soil for next year’s blooms, after the leaves begin to die back naturally. The location of spring bulbs may be a good spot for planting your new summer annuals.

Pruning

Prune to remove dead, broken or diseased branches. At any time of the year, always prune out branches that are crossing unnaturally or rubbing together. Selectively thinning branches is encouraged for providing proper air circulation throughout the plant. This prevents future disease and pest problems. Some deciduous trees may have “water sprouts”— these are clusters of very vertical branches growing straight up. They can eventually weaken a tree and are often used by an old pruning wound. Also, prune back the “suckers” found at the bases of trunks, such as crape myrtles, maples and cherry trees. Never prune river birches or maples at this time of the year; they will produce excess sap. You can also prune needled evergreens, such as junipers, hemlocks, pines and cedars. Severely pruning Rose of Sharon shrubs now will

offer stronger blooms in the summertime.

Other Tips

Apply pre-emergent herbicides and lime to your turf as needed. Make sure that mower blades are sharpened and lawn equipment is serviced. Remember that the timing of lawn tasks is often determined by soil temperature. Make a design for including specific annuals that you want in landscape beds and containers before visiting your nurseries or big box stores. Select plants based on site and maintenance requirements. Happy Gardening!

North Fulton Master Gardeners, Inc. is a Georgia nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization whose purpose is to educate its members and the public in the areas of horticulture and ecology in order to promote and foster community enrichment. Master Gardener Volunteers are trained and certified by The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. Learn more at nfmg.net.

About the Author

This week’s guest Master Gardener “Garden Buzz” columnist is Marlysa Raye-Jacobus. Raised on the coast of southern New Jersey, Marlysa arrived in the Atlanta area in 1997 after five corporate moves. Initially, she became a Master Gardener through Ohio State University’s program in 1996 and interned in 1997-98 in North Fulton County. She is an active member of several horticultural organizations in addition to NFMG. Marlysa is the current co-chair of the Plant! Milton gardening classes presented by the North Fulton Master Gardeners in partnership with the City of Milton. Her passions are: six wonderful grandchildren, traveling, playing tennis, reading, and attending cultural events in the ATL area with her husband and friends.

MARLYSA RAYE-JACOBUS Guest Columnist

A new series and an old favorite

story and writing that brings the setting to life. I’ve always wanted to visit Nantucket, and this series may do the trick for me.

KATHY MANOS PENN Columnist

I’ve been waiting for the most recent book in The Thursday Murder Club series to become available at my library. Only in Atlanta could a parking issue keep you from getting a library book. Seriously! I put the book on hold when it was first published in 2022, and I was delighted to get the email in October that said I could pick it up. I never would have imagined that early voting at the library would mean that the parking lot was destined to be full on the last day I could pick it up.

I have on a few occasions called the library to ask if they could hold a book for an extra day, and they’ve always been happy to oblige. This time, however, I couldn’t even get through on the phone. That meant I had to re-up my hold request, and I didn’t make it to the top of the list until February. The good news is that it was well worth the wait.

In the meantime, I indulged in a new-to-me series that was easy to get. Heaven forbid I do without reading material.

“Death in the Off-Season” by Francine Matthews

I love it when I discover a new mystery series. I read a review of the seventh book in the Merry Folger series and immediately picked up the first one, “Death in the Off-Season.” What a treat. Publishers Weekly said it well: “Spunky but inexperienced, thirdgeneration Nantucket cop Meredith Folger investigates murder in this spare, atmospheric debut.”

She’s the daughter of the local police chief and has recently been promoted to Detective when she’s assigned her first murder case. Not only does she need to solve the case, Merry has to deal with an all-male department that questions her competence.

This mystery checked all my boxes. A strong female lead, a well-plotted

It’s September on the island, and the fog and the chill provide an eerie setting for a murder that has its roots in the family dynamics of one of Nantucket’s oldest and wealthiest families. The extra treat was learning about cranberry harvesting. I’d never heard of a cranberry bog.

“The Bullet that Missed” by Richard Osman

This may only be the third book in The Thursday Murder Club series, but the characters already feel like old friends. The four amateur sleuths return to solve another murder. All in their 70s, the four friends are as different as can be, but they get along famously.

They live in the luxurious Coopers Chase Retirement Village in Kent, England, and meet every Thursday to work on murder cases, most often cold cases. It’s appropriate that they meet in the Jigsaw room in the clubhouse. Aren’t all mysteries puzzles where you have to move pieces around to make sense of them? One way or another, the cold cases wind up involving the friends in a more recent murder. Sometimes, they stir up something that results in yet another murder, and of course, puts one or several of the friends in danger. The plot is filled with twists and turns, even a Russian spy.

I am happy to report that book four in the series is due out in September 2023. Next up, I have the second Merry Folger book and countless other mysteries to keep me entertained. When you read at least two books a week, it’s critical to keep your hold shelf at the library well stocked.

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/.

The real lowdown on a meaningful life and retirement

There’s a hot new company advertising on television, The RealReal. Based in San Francisco, TheRealReal is an online resale marketplace for staffauthenticated luxury goods. If you are going to buy used Prada, Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton or other upscale item, you want certainty it’s the genuine article. Anyone who has traveled and seen the guys selling “luxury handbags” on European or Asian streets, aggressive salesmen who run like rabbits at the first sign of the police, has cause to be suspicious of deals and illusions that too often are too good to be true.

Illusions portraying a happy and perpetually idyllic retirement are peddled constantly. We know that the process of growing older is not one long day at the beach, so to speak. Money worries, physical aches and pains, responsibilities in caring for

oneself and others and myriad other challenges can upset the best of plans. Have you thought about your game plan?

In reality, your plan for a happy and well-adjusted life should be crafted long before retirement, ideally when you are young and just starting out. But since life is a process of learning that should not end until the day you die, you will think differently at age 22 than you will at 32, and so on at ages 42, 52, 62, 72, 82, and 92. Why count in multiples of 10? Long-range planning is always wise, but if you think too far out, the “fog of the future” can cloud your thinking. Just focus on the next 10 years. Why 10 years?

Anyone beyond age 70 will tell you that 10 years will slide past you faster than you think. You don’t want 2023 to 2033 to be your lost decade. It will be if you just drift through it. Craft a plan. Then monitor your plan and modify it as you go. Change it as you learn and life lessons force growth in wisdom and understanding. A financial plan is best couched within an overall life plan.

Ask yourself, “Who am I and why am I here?”

People have a wide range of religious and non-religious beliefs as to why they are on this planet and of what is expected of them in terms of how one relates to others. Those who are not anchored by strong beliefs encompassing responsibility to self and others often are adrift, lacking purpose. That does not make for a happy life at any age. Answering key questions, knowing who you are and where you are going, can be the path to an energizing, purposeful, and happy existence, regardless of where you are in “the circle of life.”

From your early 20s up until you retire from your primary work life, you are busy. You’re often tired, and a twoweek vacation, if you can afford the time and expense, is welcome. Spousal responsibilities, raising children, maintaining a home, managing your career or running your own business, continuing education, caring for elderly loved ones, can be energy draining and time consuming. But what happens when you’ve made it to retirement?

Once you retire, every day is a weekend day. You’re not even working from home. You are home, 24 hours a day, 168 hours a week, 8,760 hours a year. Suppose you sleep 8 hours a day and spend two hours daily on personal grooming and other necessities of life. That leaves you with another 5,110 hours to fill over the course of a year. Now what, pilgrim? What does your major life transition called retirement look like?

If you can answer the question as to why you are on this planet, that helps to bring meaning and purpose to your retirement journey. Megachurch pastor Rick Warren in 2002 wrote “The Purpose Driven Life” to help you answer the quintessential question, “What on earth am I here for?” Whether you are a religious person, a religious humanist, spiritual but not religious, a secular humanist, agnostic, an atheist, many retirees find energy and mentaland physical-health bolstering purpose in helping and serving others.

Writer

Mitch Anthony, author of

“The New Retirementality,” now in its fifth edition, asserts that in retirement you have to have enough money to sleep soundly at night, but you need a purpose to wake up to in the morning. Many retirees who are financially secure have a fear of being bored in retirement.

That bromide may help you answer the question, “Where am I going?” Aging is not one long vacation. There are everyday aches and pains, health challenges, losses of loved ones and friends, caregiving and other responsibilities. But a purpose-driven life stems from the satisfaction of knowing that you loved others, you met their needs and did the right thing no matter the challenges. You ran a good race, fought a good fight. Remorse is a sad thing. It’s comforting to know that when your soul shuffles off this mortal coil, to paraphrase Shakespeare, an eternal reward awaits.

A sense of hope, of purpose, of meaning right up until the day you die, is the foundation for a happy life and rewarding retirement. It’s not the “secret to life” because it’s not a secret. Read the teachings of the Old Testament prophets contained in the books of Sirach and Wisdom. Authored thousands of years ago, some advice is timeless.

Happy and fulfilling retirement is far, far away from anything that the RealReal or more spurious sellers promise. In fact, most retirees quickly realize that they have too much stuff. Garage sale, anyone?

Lewis Walker, CFP®, is a life centered financial planning strategist with Capital Insight Group; 770441-3553; lewis@capitalinsightgrp. com. Securities & advisory services offered through The Strategic Financial Alliance, Inc. (SFA). Lewis is a registered representative and investment adviser representative of SFA, otherwise unaffiliated with Capital Insight Group. He’s a Gallup Certified Clifton Strengths Coach and Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA).

LEWIS J. WALKER, CFP

GET OUTSIDE GEORGIA

It’s astounding the places trout can take you

Spring’s here. I know that for sure.

The pear trees are starting to bloom, and the nose is starting to itch. Pear trees and pollen are the sure harbingers of spring.

Trout are a sure harbinger of spring too. It’s fun to fish for them, and it’s fun to just go see them too.

There are some neat places to see trout in northern Georgia, too, and one that’s near and dear to my heart is Rolater Park in the town of Cave Spring. You may remember Cave Spring as the site of Southern Flavor, that wonderful restaurant with the all-you-can-eat catfish. We’ve talked about that before, and thinking about it is making me hungry again. How long till lunchtime?

The cave part of Cave Spring, which is the centerpiece of Rolater Park, is not large as caves go. You can explore it in just a few minutes. But the spring part makes up for it. A flowing spring yields about 2 million gallons of cold, cold water a day. It’s been described as “the purest, best-tasting water you’re likely to find anywhere,” and folks come from far and wide with plastic milk

jugs and even big glass mayonnaise jars to take some of that water home. The water eventually flows into the park’s swimming lake, an understandably popular spot, especially as the days grow warmer. The temperatures are not there yet, but it won’t be long.

But today we’re looking at what happens between the cave and the swimming lake. After exiting the cave, the water flows into a nice little reflecting pond.

And said pond is usually the home to trout.

“Do people catch them?” she asked. We were waiting to go across the street to lunch, so we had a little time.

“No,” I said, “but we can feed them. Would you like to?”

“Yes,” she said. “That sounds like fun!”

I moseyed over to the cave entrance, where trout chow is for sale. For the cost of a cup of coffee, I bought three or four little plastic bags of food-for-trout – enough, I figured, to keep us and the trout entertained for a while.

I walked back to where she waited for me, there on the little walkway by the pond. The trout seemed to know that something good was about to happen. It was like the word had gone out, and just like that they all somehow congregated in the water near

where we stood.

“Watch this,” I said, and tossed a half dozen of the trout chow pellets into the water. The fish were on ‘em in a flash.

“Well!” she said.

“Now it’s your turn!” I said.

I poured some of the trout chow into her hand, and she tossed it into the water, and the trout were all over it, and water was flying everywhere, and she laughed out loud.

“This is neat!” she said.

The feeding continued, and the splashing and the laughter did too. We used up one bag of food, and then started on a second, stopping to show two young children how to feed the fish too.

“I think I need more trout food,” she said, laughing, and again I poured some into her hand.

More laughter. More splashes. Smiles all around.

She was having fun. I was too. And then…

You know that feeling you get sometimes when someone is looking at you? I got it then.

For some reason I turned around, and looked, and I saw a lady standing there near the two of us. I remember how in that instant something funny happened to the

light and how it was all bright and clear and crystalline blue all of a sudden. And then the lady looked at us – at her, at me –and then pointed at the two of us –

-- and said, “You two are perfect together” –

-- and then turned and walked away.

And then everything kind of stopped. It does that, sometimes, when something really significant is happening.

In that instant out-of-time moment, in that moment by the cool, clear water with the trout and the sky, there we were. Just the two of us, it seemed, there on the little walkway near the pond at Rolater Park in Cave Spring, Ga., zip code 30124. Nearby, the children were still feeding trout. But the scene had refocused. The center of the image had changed.

There was silence, hushed, expectant.

“Did you hear that?” she asked, her voice a little low.

“I did,” replied.

We stood there for a moment. She leaned on the railing. I looked at her, and she looked at me.

Time out of time -

And then time returned to normal. And we went and had catfish for lunch.

You never know where trout are going to take you.

STEVE HUDSON

Columnist

ARTISTIC AFFAIR

What: Building off the success of last year’s groundbreaking fundraising event, Spruill Center for the Arts presents “Artistic Affair: An Arts Experience” at Factory Atlanta. The fundraiser and auction will include a DJ, magician and fortune tellers, live art painting, open bar, hors d’oeuvres and more.

When: Friday, March 24, 7-10 p.m.

Where: Factory Atlanta, 5616 Peachtree Road, Chamblee

Cost: $75

More info: spruillarts.org/artistic-affair

‘THE NICETIES’ AT STAGE DOOR THEATRE

What: Zoe is a young Black student at a liberal arts college. What begins as a polite clash in perspectives of the founding fathers between her and her liberal, tenured professor explodes into a tightrope of what it means to hear and what it means to listen.

When: March 17-April 2, 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Where: Stage Door Theatre, 5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody

Cost: $35 for adults, $20 for students, $15 for children

More info: stagedoortheatrega.org/ the-niceties/

DUNWOODY FARMERS MARKET

What: The Dunwoody Farmers Market brings together a variety of vendors selling local and organic fruits, veggies and produce, coffee, breakfast, baked goods, prepared meals, frozen treats, eggs, grass-fed meat and fresh seafood.

When: Saturday, March 18, 10 a.m.12 p.m.

Where: Brook Run Park, 4770 North Peachtree Road, Dunwoody

More info: dunwoodyga.gov

FOOD DRIVE - ALL SAINTS ST. VINCENT DE PAUL

What: All food items are essential and appreciated, however the greatest need is canned meat, peanut butter and diapers. Please no glass containers which can break in transport.

When: Saturday, March 18, 2-6:30 p.m. & Sunday, March 19, 8 a.m.6:30 p.m.

Where: All Saints Catholic Church, 2443 Mount Vernon Road, Dunwoody

More info: allsaintsdunwoody.org/ ministries/st-vincent-de-paul/

NORTHSIDE SAINT PATRICK’S DAY PARADE & FESTIVAL

What: The inaugural Northside St. Patrick’s Parade & Festival will commence with the parade honoring St. Patrick and the Irish community in Georgia and will include Irish Societ

ies, businesses and social groups, local school units, bands, families, and some pipes and drums. The parade will complete its route at the City Green where the festival will be in full swing. Local and Celtic vendors will be selling wares, and there will be Irish sports demonstrations, music, Irish dancing and more. The evening will culminate with a concert, ages 21 and over, by Kate Curran at nearby Thos. O’Reilly’s Public House.

When: Saturday, March 18, 10 a.m. Where: City Green, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs

More info: visitsandysprings.org

MOONSHINE IN SANDY SPRINGS

What: Busting up moonshine operations was not unheard of in Sandy Springs during the 1940s, and rumor has it that one remains hidden under Lost Corners trails. Join Melissa Swindell, director of Historic Resources and Education Programs at Heritage Sandy Springs, to learn more about the fascinating and scandalous history of moonshine and prohibition in Sandy Springs. The event is free, but registration is required. Donations are welcome.

When: Tuesday, March 21, 7 p.m. Where: Lost Corner Preserve, 7300 Brandon Mill Road, Sandy Springs

More info: sandyspringsga.gov

STUDIO SERIES: MICHELLE MALONE

What: Closing the Studio Series, songwriter and modern-day guitar hero Michelle Malone brings her unique mix of roadhouse rock ’n roll, blues, gospel, country-soul and folk to the stage.

When: Thursday, March 23, 8 p.m. Where: Studio Theatre, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs

Cost: $20-30

More info: sandyspringsga.gov

HEALTHY FOREST LECTURE WITH INTERPRETATIVE HIKE

What: If we understand the soil of today, then we can better understand the forest of tomorrow.This program will cover seed bank, soil science, soil

horizon, soil testing, limiting factors, mycorrhizae, richness, biodiversity, urban forestry, fungal network (mycelium), nutrient uptake, nutrient fixing and root grafts. Participants can submit soil samples to the University of Georgia and begin a soil composition index.

When: Friday, March 24, 12:30 p.m.

Where: Lost Corner Preserve, 7300 Brandon Mill Road, Sandy Springs

More info: sandyspringsga.gov

SNAP!DRAGON’S GARDEN OPENING RECEPTION

What: Spring has sprung at the Dunwoody Community Garden. Visit the event for an afternoon of Instagramworthy selfies, free popcorn and garden-themed goodies for kids. Moondog Growlers will be on site with beverages available for purchase. Exhibit runs until April 1.

Where: Brook Run Park, 4770 North Peachtree Road, Dunwoody

When: Saturday, March 25, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. More info: dunwoodyga.gov

SANDY SPRING THEATRE COMPANY’S ‘SPAMALOT’

What: Join King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table and the glamorous Lady of the Lake as they turn the Arthurian legend on its ear in their quest for the Holy Grail. Along the way they encounter dancing showgirls, flying cows, killer rabbits and assorted French people. The production is the winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical.

When: Up to March 26, times vary

Where: Byers Theatre, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs

Cost: $37-100

More info: sandyspringsga.gov

FEATURE YOUR EVENT ONLINE AND IN PRINT!

It’s even easier now than ever to promote your event to hundreds of thousands of people, whether online, through our newsletters or in the Crier and Herald newspapers.

To promote your event, follow these easy steps:

1. Visit AppenMedia.com/Calendar;

2. Provide the details for your event including title, description, location and date;

3. Click the red button that reads “Create event”

4. That’s it! Submissions are free, though there are paid opportunities to promote your event in print and online.

Delivering Readers Award-Winning Newspapers

2022 Georgia Press Association

1st – Health Care Advertising

1st – Serious Column

1st – Investigative Reporting

1st – Food Advertising

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2nd – News Photograph

2nd – Feature Writing

2nd – Food Advertising

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2nd – Special Issues/Sections

2nd – Business Writing

3rd – Business Writing

3rd – Page One

3rd – Locals News Coverage

3rd – Spot News Photograph

3rd – Breaking News Writing

3rd – Lifestyle Feature Column

2022 Association of Community Publishers

1st – Orig. Editorial Photo Sports

1st – Orig. Writing Opinion

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3rd – Food & Drink Single Ad Color

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Stand-Alone Gloss

H R NG ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

See solution Page 30

NFCC is looking for a full-time executive assistant to support the Executive Director and leadership team.  This person will play a vital role in help keep the NFCC leadership team organized and productive and will interact with the board of directors and other important stakeholder groups. Sensitivity, discretion and attention to detail are a must. Candidate must have a two-year degree, bachelor’s degree preferred and should have at least 2-3 years of relevant experience. For a complete job description visit https://nfcchelp.org/work-at-nfcc/

Client Services Specialist

The full-time Client Services Specialist greets visitors to NFCC and assists them with obtaining services. In addition, this person conducts followup interviews, enters data and may participate in additional follow-up activities.  A high school degree or equivalent is required along with at least one year in customer service or other relevant experience. Discretion and strong written and verbal communication skills in English and Spanish are also required. For a complete job description, please visit https://nfcchelp.org/work-at-nfcc/

Supportive Service Coordinator:

The Supportive Service Coordinator (“SSC”) will be responsible for managing the social/supportive services for a portfolio of properties, under the supervision of the Company Asset Manager. This position will serve as a liaison between the Asset Manager and the property management company. This individual will primarily be responsible for managing compliance and reporting for supportive services and, secondarily, procuring grant funding to supplement the property service budget, and identifying local service providers to augment property offerings.

Full time hours. Requires a Bachelor’s degree in social work or education and a minimum of 5 years’ experience.

For a full job description and to submit a resume, please reach out to:

Samit Patel, spatel@rhgroup.org

Resource Housing Group, Inc.

Workforce Development Coordinator

Develop programs and services for clients and students who are seeking employment, post-secondary education, or other career options. The coordinator collaborates with employers in the community who are hiring. The role also includes working one-on-one on job applications, resumes, interview preparations and offers tips for successfully securing and improving employment. Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services or related field required.

For full job description see: https://nfcchelp.org/wpcontent/uploads/2023/02/Workforce-DevelopmentCoordinator-2023.pdf. To apply, send resume to cswan@nfcchelp.org.

Accounting Specialist – PART TIME

Responsible for the day-to-day transactions within the accounting department. The specialist is accountable for preparing financial transactions, processing invoices, and entering general ledger data which will assist in balancing the income statement, managing budgets, and preparing financial reports. Role works closely with the Finance Manager and Director of Finance and Administration. Bachelor’s Degree in Finance or related field required.

For full job description see: https://nfcchelp. org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/AccountingSpecialist-02.21.23-1.pdf. To apply, send resume to jrice@nfcchelp.org.

Senior Business Analyst, Job code OCS0802 (Opus Consulting Solutions Inc): Alpharetta, GA & various unanticpt locs w/in U.S. long term relo may be req’d. Understnds & anlyzes critcl bus rqmnts & provdes technical solns.  Wrtes usr stries for prvded rqmnts. Coordinats UAT testing for users & prvdes demo for usrs & prduct mgrs for fnctonalites that are dvlped. Uses tools such as Jira, Jira Align. MS Visio & Mock Simulatr for Core banking tools. Requires Bachelor’s in Comp Sci./Eng. or frgn equivlnt + five yrs progressive exp or will accpt 3 yrs Bachelor’s w/ 7 yrs wrk exp. Email resume to hrusa@opusconsulting.com

Software Developer needed to dsgn, dvlp, & mntain new & exsting appl as well as gather/define cstmr req to dvlp clear specs for creating well orgnzed proj plans. Duties will be prfrmed using JHipster, Java & SpringBoot/Spring. Systems Analyst needed to Anlyze, doc, & dsgn the SW sys appl. Work w/ cross fnctnal teams to dsgn, dcmentation of re-engineering & digi trnsfrmtin process. Cnstrct biz flow for current & future state of appl. Asst in moving the new SW proj to prod envrmnt. All duties will be prfrmed using SAP Biz Objects, Invision Studio, & Visual Studio. Not all pos’s req all skills. Work locations for all pos’s will incl Alpharetta, GA & var unanticipated client locations in the U.S. which may req relocation. Applicants must specifically identify all post- secondary edu & all mentioned s/w, langs, skills or tools in which applicant has edu, trng or exp. Resumes must show if the applicant has any of the mentioned combo of skills. Mail resumes to Sun Techs, Inc. Attn. HR, 3700 Mansell Road, Ste# 220, Alpharetta, GA 30022. Resume must specifically identify all edu & exp rel to job offered.

Now Hiring: Office Coordinator

Local commercial real estate company is hiring an Office Coordinator. The role includes coordinating administrative tasks between our property management, leasing and accounting departments. The position requires exceptional communication and organizational skills, knowledge of MS Office, a strong work ethic, internal drive, and a positive attitude. This is an office only (not remote work) position. Please contact us Employment@mpshoppingcenters.com for more information.

Solution

Part-time

BORED RETIREE?

Painter needed for small sports replica (Georgia, Braves, etc) components painting. $14 per hour. McFarland-Union Hill near 400. 770-667-3516

PART-TIME CATERING, DELIVERY, AND SETUP

• Flexible hours – mostly mid day

• Need own transportation

• Inquiries to info@asculinaryconcepts.com or 678-336-9196

• Located in Johns Creek

Office Space

Wonderful Office Suite Available

Near (.7 mile) Downtown Alpharetta

• Turnkey – Everything provided

• Utilities included

• Marketing can be included

• Conference Room

• Parking

• 24/7 access

• Private office suite within Appen Media Group’s building

• Easily accommodates up to 5 people

• Office has great light. Ground floor

• .7 mile to Alpharetta City Hall on Hwy. 9

• Smaller office space also available in same building

• Short or longer term lease. Reasonable $ Contact Ray Appen via Text (770-527-4042) or email me at RayAppen@Gmail.com – or just call me but best to

SERVICE DIRECTORY

Gutters

AARON’S ALL-TYPE GUTTERS

Installed. Covers, siding, soffit, facia. www.aaronsgutters.com. Senior citizen discount! 678-508-2432

GUTTER DONE, LLC

Gutter cleaning, roof repair, free DRONE roof, picture inspection, tree service. 770-905-9682

www.gutterdoneamerica.com

Roofing

ROOF LEAKING?

Call us for roof repair or roof replacement. FREE quotes. $200 OFF Leak Repairs or 10% off New Roof. Affordable, quality roofing. Based in Roswell. Serving North Atlanta since 1983. Call to schedule FREE Quote: 770-284-3123. Christian Brothers Roofing

Driveway

$250 OFF NEW DRIVEWAY!

Mention this ad. Concrete driveway specialists. Driveways, Pool Decks, Patios, Walkways, Slabs.  A+ BBB rating. FREE ESTIMATE. Call Rachael at 678-250-4546 to schedule a FREE Estimate. 30 years of experience. ARBOR HILLS CONSTRUCTION INC. Please note we do have a minimum charge on accepted jobs of $4,500.

Home Improvement

PHILLIPS HOME IMPROVEMENT We

Tree Services

24 hour emergency service. Licensed, insured. Workers Comp, insurance claims. 25+ years experience. Family business. Free estimates. We Love Challenges!

Yellow Ribbon Tree Experts 770-512-8733 • www.yellowribbontree.com

COMPLETE TREE SERVICES

Appen-Rated 98

Text or Call us for a FREE quote appointment.

Tree removal, Pruning, Stump grinding, Free mulch. Fully insured.

Emergency 24/7 770-450-8188

Landscaping

Full Service LANDSCAPING Company

Retaining walls (brick or wood), grading, sod, tree services, hauling, topsoil & more.

Ralph Rucker 678-898-7237

Haulers

Bush Hogging, Clearing, Grading, Hauling, Etc.

Many local references Call Ralph Rucker

678-898-7237

Concrete/ Asphalt

Retaining Walls Brick or Wood

Contact Ralph Rucker. Many local references. Honest, punctual, professional and reasonable prices!

678-898-7237

Company. Covers 350 procedures. Real insurance - not a discount plan. Get your free dental info kit! 1-855-526-1060 www. dental50plus.com/ads #6258

Attention oxygen therapy users! Inogen One G4 is capable of full 24/7 oxygen delivery. Only 2.8 pounds. Free info kit. Call 877-929-9587

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES in as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available. Call: 855-761-1725

Donate Your Car to Veterans Today! Help and Support our Veterans. Fast - FREE pick up. 100% tax deductible. Call 1-800-245-0398

HughesNet - Finally, superfast internet no matter where you live. 25 Mbps just $59.99/ mo! Unlimited Data is Here. Stream Video. Bundle TV & Internet. Free Installation. Call 866-499-0141

Become a published author. We want to read your book! Dorrance Publishing trusted since 1920. Consultation, production, promotion & distribution. Call for free author’s guide 1-877-729-4998 or visit dorranceinfo.com/ads

Prepare for power outages today with a GENERAC home standby generator $0 Down + Low Monthly Pmt Request a free Quote. Call before the next power outage: 1-855-948-6176

Eliminate gutter cleaning forever! LeafFilter, the most advanced debrisblocking gutter protec-tion. Schedule free LeafFilter estimate today. 20% off Entire Purchase. 10% Senior & Military Discounts. Call 1-833-610-1936

DISH TV $64.99 For 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some restrictions apply. Promo Expires 1/31/24.

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The Generac PWRcell solar plus battery storage system. Save money, reduce reliance on grid, prepare for outages & power your home. Full installation services. $0 down financing option. Request free no obligation quote.

1-877-539-0299

Safe Step. North America’s #1 Walk-in tub. Comprehensive lifetime warranty. Top-of-theline installation and service. Now featuring our free shower package & $1600 off - limited time! Financing available.

1-855-417-1306

Switch and save up to $250/ yr on talk, text & data. No contract or hidden fees. Unlimited talk & text with flexible data plans. Premium nationwide coverage. 100% U.S. based customer service. Limited time get $50 off any new account. Use code GIFT50. 1-855-903-3048

MobileHelp, America’s premier mobile medical alert system. Whether you’re home or away. For safety & peace of mind. No long term contracts! Free brochure!

1-888-489-3936

Free high speed internet if qualified. Govt. pgm for recipients of select pgms incl. Medicaid, SNAP, Housing Assistance, WIC, Veterans Pension, Survivor Benefits, Lifeline, Tribal. 15 GB internet. Android tablet free w/one-time $20 copay. Free shipping. Call Maxsip Telecom!

1-833-758-3892

Caring for an aging loved one? Wondering about options like senior-living communities and in-home care? Caring.com’s Family Advisors help take the guesswork out of senior care for your family. Free, no-obligation consult: 1-855-759-1407

Inflation is at 40 year highs. Interest rates are way up. Credit Cards. Medical Bills. Car Loans. Do you have $10k or more in debt? Call National Debt Relief to find out how to pay off your debt for significantly less than what you owe! Free quote:

1-877-592-3616

Wesley Financial Group, LLC Timeshare Cancellation ExpertsOver $50,000,000 in timeshare debt & fees cancelled in 2019. Get free info package & learn how to get rid of your timeshare! Free consultations. Over 450 positive reviews. 833-308-1971

DIRECTV Stream - Carries the most local MLB Games! Choice Package $89.99/ mo for 12 mos Stream on 20 devices at once. HBO Max included for 3 mos (w/ Choice Package or higher.) No contract or hidden fees! Some restrictions apply. Call IVS 1-866-859-0405

Are you a pet owner? Do you want to get up to 100% back on vet bills? Physicians Mutual Insurance Company has pet coverage that can help! Call 1-844-774-0206 to get a free quote or visit insurebarkmeow.com/ads

!!OLD GUITARS WANTED!! GIBSON, FENDER, MARTIN, etc. 1930’s to 1980’s. TOP DOLLAR PAID. CALL TOLL FREE 1-866-433-8277

Decks repaired/built. Labor payment upon completion. 30-plus years experience. John Ingram/678-906-7100. Act now before prices increase next year! Heritage Home Maintenance HOMEREPAIRGA@GMAIL.COM, (HERITAGECONSTRUCTIONGA.COM)