Milton Herald - January 23, 2025

Milton

ideas for athletic amenities at Deerfield Park site

By JON WILCOX jon@appenmedia.com

MILTON, Ga. — The City of Milton is asking residents to help with ideas to furnish a proposed athletic complex on Deerfield Parkway.

City officials invited the public to the Milton Municipal Court Jan. 14 for an open house, asking residents to place stickers on poster boards marking the amenities of their choice.

The 24-acre park at 300 Deerfield Parkway will include turf multi-use rectangle fields to accommodate a variety of sports and diamonds for softball and baseball.

The fields would help fill a considerable need for athletic facilities expressed by the community’s sizeable sports community, Parks & Recreation Director Tom McKlveen said. The city’s 2017 comprehensive master plan called for additional fields, and the

facility’s fields have been in need for years.

The city is asking residents to help them decide how the remaining space should be used.

Possible uses include pickleball and tennis courts, outdoor basketball courts, picnic shelters and pavilions, a walking trail, small outdoor event space, splash pad, greenspace, fishing area, playground and an off-leash dog park.

City officials also included space on the posters to allow residents to write in use options of their choice. Writtenin choices included an outdoor pool, all-inclusive playground, more multiuse fields, equestrian facility, biking trails, sensory playground and zip line.

A walking trail, dog park and multi-use fields led the choices in votes.

Milton High School to host annual Hall of Fame ceremony

MILTON, Ga. — Milton High School will hold its annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony Jan. 25 to honor outstanding graduates and faculty members of the 104-year-old community institution.

The public, including school alumni and North Fulton County residents, are invited to attend this year’s Hall of Fame celebration weekend at 13025

Birmingham Highway.

The Red Jacket ceremony is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 24, in the school gym during the break between the girls and boys varsity basketball games.

The Ring ceremony, scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, will begin with a reception in the auditorium at 6:15

p.m.

For its keynote speaker, the Milton Hall of Fame Committee secured Sonny Perdue, former governor and Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who now serves as chancellor of the University System of Georgia.

The 2024 inductees into the Milton High School Hall of Fame are

John Devore, Myrl Hansard, Chris Lagerbloom, Chris Lewis, Mo Lewis, Tim McFarlin and Mike White.

Milton High School kicked off its Hall of Fame with the Class of 2016. There are now 51 alumni and faculty members, soon to be 58.

— Hayden Sumlin

JON WILCOX/APPEN MEDIA

A Milton family examines options for new facilities at the Deerfield Parkway athletic facility during an open house Jan. 14.

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GBI called to investigate Roswell police shooting

ROSWELL, Ga. — The Roswell Police Department requested the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Jan. 8 after an officer shot a suspect just past midnight.

The Roswell Police Department and GBI did not report any injuries to officers during the incident.

Responding officers rendered aid to the suspect, a 33-year-old Atlanta man, until emergency medical services arrived and transported him to a local hospital. According to the GBI,

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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.

Avalon store reports theft of merchandise

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Sunglasses valued almost $1,000 were reported stolen from an Avalon store Jan. 4.

An employee told officers a woman had grabbed two pairs of sunglasses from a display stand while staff were busy, according to an Alpharetta police report. The woman concealed the glasses in her jacket and exited the store.

Police viewed a surveillance video of the alleged theft.

The woman had black hair and was wearing a pink hoodie, brown overcoat and black leggings.

The sunglasses, both Prada brand, were valued at a total of $892.90.

The employee said she suspected the woman had stolen from the store at least two times before.

The incident was classified as a felony theft by shoplifting over $500.

— Jon Wilcox

Storage unit manager reports break-in, theft

ROSWELL, Ga. — Roswell police are investigating a burglary at Extra Space Storage off Arnold Mill Road after a 58-year-old Milton man reported $2,500 in missing guitars.

The manager told police that the victim called Jan. 6 to report that someone had accessed his storage unit through its mesh-wire ceiling.

The manager said the client had last accessed the unit Dec. 14 with all items accounted for.

The victim told the manager that wire roofing was pulled back and two of his guitars were laying on the ground.

the suspect was last listed in stable condition.

Both agencies say the incident began just after midnight when an officer saw the suspect near the Regal Nissan dealership yelling while his car was parked by the entrance with its engine running.

When the officer arrived, the suspect approached the officer’s patrol car before he got out and a struggle ensued. After the officer’s taser deployment was ineffective, he

The missing guitars include an $800 Grestch model 5120T with a red sparkle finish, an $800 Epiphone Les Paul Standard 60s with a tobacco burst finish and a $600 Squire Fender with a candy apple finish.

Police said the manager found a 6-foot ladder lying on top of the wire roofing just a few doors down from the victim’s unit.

The officer said the manager recognized lettering on the ladder as belonging to another client with storage units near the victim’s locker. According to the manager, one of the other client’s units also had damage to the wire roofing.

Police found no tools used in the commission of the crime at the scene.

After listing the guitars’ serial numbers as stolen, officers said they would review security footage from the facility to narrow down the timeline of the theft.

There are no identified suspects.

Hayden Sumlin

Mail found in disarray in post office burglary

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — A burglary at an Old Milton Parkway post office was reported Jan. 6.

An employee said she noticed after arriving that the door was ajar and mail appeared to have been rummaged through, according to an Alpharetta police report.

Officers cleared the building after the crime was reported. During their investigation, they found only the drop box baskets had been rummaged through.

Numerous other Amazon packages and other valuables appeared undisturbed.

The door to the cashier appeared to have been pried open with a bar. Officers noted the metal of the door was bent and orange paint had been transferred. None of the cashier’s desks were disturbed.

The employee was not certain whether cameras in the cashiers’ area

eventually shot the suspect, a 33-yearold Atlanta man.

The GBI says it will conduct an independent investigation. Once complete, it will be given to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office for review.

The Roswell Police Department says all additional information moving forward in the investigation will be released by the GBI.

— Hayden Sumlin

were working. She also could not provide the exact time the last employee left.

— Jon Wilcox

Roswell man arrested after leveling threats

ROSWELL, Ga. — Police arrested a 38-year-old Roswell man Jan. 9 at his Woodstock Road residence after he allegedly threatened to kill people and refused to comply with officers.

Dispatch told officers that a man was making threats and stating he was going to kill police and feed them to his dog.

Officers said they saw the suspect enter a Dodge pickup and head toward them when they arrived at the residence. While the suspect was in his vehicle, officers said the man told them they would have to kill him because he would not surrender.

Officers said attempts to negotiate his surrender failed because he refused to comply with verbal commands. When they attempted to arrest him, officers said the suspect fled on foot, ran into his home and later came outside declaring he would not surrender.

While the man was approaching officers despite warnings, they tased and detained him.

Once the suspect discovered he had an active warrant while being put in a patrol car, officers said he kicked one of them in the mouth.

The active warrant is out of Fulton County for failure to appear.

An officer said he listened to tapes from dispatch and confirmed the suspect’s verbal threats to officers, dispatchers and his children. Dispatchers told officers that the suspect screamed racial epithets at them.

Officers secured warrants for terroristic threats, obstruction of law enforcement, unlawful conduct and battery to law enforcement.

Officers had the suspect cleared at North Fulton Medical Center, then transported him to Fulton County Jail.

— Hayden Sumlin

Milton Fire CARES offers free check-ups

MILTON, Ga. — Milton scheduled a series of free community wellness checks Jan. 29-March 26 through the Milton Fire-Rescue Department’s CARES program.

The city says the sessions are open to anyone who comes by the clinics during scheduled times.

The aim of the Milton Fires CARES program is to provide healthcare services to those in need within the city, bridging the gap between emergency care and everyday heath care needs.

As part of his unit’s commitment to fostering a healthy community, Milton Fire CARES Coordinator Derek Hoffman, a firefighter, paramedic and registered nurse, will run the program.

The Milton Fire-Rescue personnel nominated Hoffman as the city’s 2022 Firefighter of the Year, calling him “Mr. Do It All” and lauding his positive attitude and customer service.

Citizens can have their blood pressure and glucose levels checked. They can also get electrocardiograms, or EKGs, measuring their heart rate.

The city said knowing where

you stand on the tests can be life-changing, and potentially lifesaving, for people of any age.

The community wellness checks align with one of the Milton Fire-Rescue Department’s priorities to do what it can to promote preventative medicine that can lessen the likelihood of people having to call 911, go to the hospital or visit a doctor’s office.

The wellness clinics run from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. No appointments are needed, but waits are possible.

The dates and locations are:

• Jan. 15 at Community Place, 2006 Heritage Walk, right next to City Hall.

• Jan. 29 at Fire Station 43, 750 Hickory Flat Road, with parking in the front or back of the building.

• Feb. 5 at Community Place

• Feb. 19 at Community Place

• Feb. 26 at Fire Station 43

• March 5 at Community Place

• March 19 at Community Place

• March 26 at Fire Station 43

To learn more about Milton Fire CARES and its offerings, visit www.miltonga.gov/FireCARES.

Respiratory diseases hit seasonal heights, health agency says

By ALLEN SIEGLER Healthbeat Georgia

ATLANTA — As the new year begins, Atlanta and Georgia respiratory disease spread has accelerated to some of the highest levels seen this winter.

Over the last week of 2024, flu cases hospitalized 220 residents in the metro Atlanta area, according to the latest report from the Georgia Department of Public Health. That week alone makes up over a third of the region’s count since October.

Statewide cases appear to be paralleling that trend. Preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that Georgia’s hospitalization rate for the virus also rose at the end of 2024 to its highest level in recent months. Additionally, the state percentage of health care visits for suspected flu cases has continued to increase and outpace the national average.

Respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, and Covid-19 are infecting many Georgians as well. Wastewater surveillance sites detect high levels of the viruses in communities across the state. RSV levels appear to have remained at the new heights they reached last month.

These state benchmarks show yearly rises in the three viruses, but many also indicate a less severe season so far relative to recent winters. In the last three months of 2023, metro Atlanta area health care centers hospitalized about 1,000 more people for the flu than they did at the end of 2024.

And while CDC numbers indicate that December’s final week was a recent peak for Georgia hospitalizations related to any of the three viruses, that rate is significantly lower than it was any of the past four years at the same time.

Still, there are other respiratory diseases that have outpaced recent Georgia recordings. One of them is pertussis, also known as whooping cough. The bacterial disease, most common in children, can compromise babies’ breathing and cause coughing strong enough to break ribs. For 2024, the CDC has recorded 280 Georgia cases — nearly three times the count of 2023.

The system used to detect whooping cough is updated frequently, and the 2023 and 2024 counts could continue to change. But in a health advisory last month, the state health department warned providers to be on the lookout for any patients presenting with severe coughs.

The CDC recommends five doses of vaccines throughout a child’s first six years that helps protect against whooping cough. The organization says besides some groups like pregnant people and seniors, most adults don’t need to seek additional immunizations. Healthbeat (Healthbeat.org) is a nonprofit news organization covering public health.

CITY OF MILTON/PROVIDED

The Milton Fire CARES program is offering free wellness checks to those in need through the end of March.

Rotary partnership funds renovations for American Legion post

By JON WILCOX jon@appenmedia.com

Alpharetta Rotary member Donna Murphy was as shocked as anyone when she received a college scholarship from American Legion Post 201.

“No one gave me a heads up,” Donna Murphy said.

Murphy, a Realtor and lifelong Alpharetta resident, took that scholarship and ran with it. After completing a degree in management information systems at UGA, she has found career success while contributing to the community, serving as a member of the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals and the president elect of the 400 North Association of Realtors.

“It really just touched my heart that a group like this was willing to invest in young adults in the community and hope that we would step up and do other things,” she said.

Years later, she decided to return the favor.

The Rotary Club raised more than $80,000 for improvements at the Legion’s aging post on Wills Road in Alpharetta. The money paid for refurbishing parts of the entry, foyer, bathrooms and dance hall.

It also has created a symbiotic relationship between the Legion and Rotary Club, which has long sought a convenient meeting place for its almost 200 members.

“If you join together for the greater good of the community, great things happen,” she said.

When she was a youth, Murphy’s father, Don Shaw, was a member of the Legion.

Murphy said she thinks the U.S. Navy veteran found a safe space at the post and enjoyed the camaraderie of other military service members.

She also remembers fondly how the post supported the community. They helped support her in college and sponsored her participation with Girls State. On every first Saturday of August, the post sponsored the Old Soldiers Day Parade.

“Oh my gosh, it was the biggest event of the year,” Murphy said.

Decades later, Murphy decided she wanted to help the post.

She and other Rotary members coordinated to raise the necessary funds, which Murphy admits were substantial. At the Rotary’s annual Polar Bear Plunge, Murphy coordinated support under the name Freezing for the Legion and jumped off a diving board into a frigid swimming pool in February while wearing a U.S. flag onesie.

“It was a total leap of faith, literally,” she said.

Countless attendees of the charity Under The Stars concerts provided a

significant bulk of the funds.

Rotary Club member Donna Murphy prepares to dive into a swimming pool in February as part of a fundraiser for American Legion renovations.

PHOTOS BY: DONNA MURPHY/PROVIDED

The club and Legion also sold bricks in the memories of post members to create a walk of memories.

“We did everything and anything we could,” she said.

Others supported the work directly by purchasing necessary items like toilets and paint through a charity auction.

Post Commander Bob Byrd said he’s deeply impressed with the improvements.

“It was just a fantastic job, a really good job,” he said.

He added that Rotary has proved to be an excellent partner with other efforts, like outreach to homebound veterans. The post and club will likely work together on future projects and are currently looking at possibilities.

“It’s quite a partnership,” he said.

Through an agreement, the Rotary Club funded and organized the post improvements. Dozens of light fixtures were replaced. Fresh coats of paint were applied to walls and molding. Bathrooms were redone. New flooring was laid.

The work and agreement has given the Rotary Club a new morning meeting space in the post’s dance hall. Previously, the hundreds of members met in the gymnasium of the First Baptist Church of Alpharetta.

That arrangement had its drawbacks as members were often required to promptly leave to make room for students and other functions

“It’s hard to find a space,” Murphy said.

On Oct. 31, the Rotary Club held its first meeting at the post. Afterward, they lingered unhurried, enjoying chit-chat for the first time in a long time.

The improvements also have allowed the post to rent out the dance hall to other organizations and groups, adding to the group’s bottom line.

Murphy said she is now looking at additional enhancements.

“We’ve been searching for a home, and people feel like this could be our forever home,” she said.

Drop cloths cover areas marked for renovations in the American Legion Post 201 in Alpharetta. The local Rotary Club partnered with the veterans organization to fund and complete the work.

Roswell council signs $8.4 million contract for Big Creek Parkway

By JON WILCOX jon@appenmedia.com

ROSWELL, Ga. — The Roswell City Council approved an $8.4 million construction contract Jan. 13 for an ambitious project to reduce traffic congestion on Holcomb Bridge Road.

Council members unanimously approved a $8,370,324 contract to Summit Construction & Development as part of the first phase of the Big Creek Parkway project.

Proposed more than 15 years ago, the parkway would create an alternative east-west route across Ga. 400 to relieve traffic along Holcomb Bridge Road, which is the city’s only access to the freeway and carries more than 70,000 vehicles a day.

The city received five bids for the project, selecting the lowest bidder. The project received $7.9 million in funding from the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.

The city has authorized up to $8.8 million for the construction.

Dual left-turn lanes will be built on three of the four approaches at Holcomb Bridge Road and Warsaw Road.

Warsaw Road will be widened from two lanes to four from Holcomb Bridge Road to just north of Bainbridge Road. The widening will accommodate the project’s second phase, which will create a route from Warsaw Road east over Ga. 400 and then to Holcomb Bridge Road.

The project also will include sidewalks and an 8-foot multi-use trail along Warsaw Road.

In 2019, Roswell officials approached GDOT about a partnership to redesign

and replace the interchange at Holcomb Bridge Road and Ga. 400 as part of an express lane project on Ga. 400. The interchange redesign aims to improve traffic on Holcomb Bridge.

In other business at the Jan. 13 meeting, business owners and residents offered opinions about paid parking in Roswell during a public comment period. Councilmembers are exploring parking solutions and commissioned a $143,000 study by consultant Seer World.

the Ga. 400 and Holcomb Bridge Road intersection.

The move comes less than a month after the Roswell City Council approved a major mixed-use development on a 6 acre tract that sits in City Hall’s shadow along Hill, Atlanta and Ellis streets. The city’s police headquarters is located on the site, but the agency will soon move to a new facility near Holcomb Bridge Road. The development could bring 80,000 square feet of commercial space and as many as 143 multi-family housing units and 16 townhomes.

Construction on the Hill Street project is projected to begin in July, according to remarks by Peter Sorckoff, head of the Seer World consulting firm, during a Dec. 9 Roswell City Council meeting. Sorckoff’s company has a contract with the city to explore potential revenue streams outside of property taxes.

The DDA also discussed the Hill Street project during its Jan. 9 meeting in a closed-to-the-public executive session. The panel’s next regular scheduled meeting is Feb. 13 at City Hall.

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Holcomb Bridge Road at Warsaw Road is set to receive improvements as part of a larger project to reduce congestion in Roswell.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29 • 6 P.M.

STATE CITY OF THE MILTON CITY HALL

2006 Heritage Walk, Milton, GA 30004

Wednesday, January 29 as Mayor Peyton Jamison highlights some of the City of Milton’s noteworthy accomplishments in the past year, and what in to come in 2025! This is a free event, however guests are asked to RSVP as seating capacity in the Milton City Hall Council Chambers is limited.

Please RSVP to rsvp@miltonga.gov by Monday, January 27 with the names of the people in your party.

This event is made possible through generous support from

A lot of pop-up bars will give you a martini with a candy cane. We try to go above and beyond that.

JONATHAN PHILLIPS, co-owner, Mercantile Social

Alpharetta’s Mercantile Social provides creative escape

By JON WILCOX jon@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The owners of permanent pop-up bar Mercantile Social know when they’ve done their job.

“I call it the wow factor,” co-owner Jonathan Phillips said. “[Customers] take out their phone and take a picture. Their mouths drop open.”

For the past four years, Phillips and his brother Mark have worked hard to make Mercantile Social much more than just another Alpharetta watering hole. Every season, the bar, at 20 N. Main St., selects a theme, reinventing its look and menu.

“It’s all about something unique and different,” he said.

This spring, the bar will allow patrons to raise their wands and glasses with a Harry Potter theme that will have them wondering whether they’ve enrolled at a school of witchcraft and wizardry.

“You’ll really feel like you’re in the Hogwarts dining hall, in a magical environment,” Jonathan Phillips said.

Floating candles will hang from a ceiling filled with clouds and lightning. A smoke machine will create an air of enchantment, and characters from Dobby to the Whomping Willow will adorn the walls of the cozy 1,800 square-foot space.

The bar will be sectioned into Hogwarts’ four houses — Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. After taking a sorting hat quiz, customers can hang in their house’s area, which will be appropriately decorated to make them feel at home, and side-eye rival students.

Guests are welcome to wear Harry

Potter costumes to get into the spirit, Phillips said.

he said.

A “Goblet of Fire” cocktail is one of many thematically inspired drinks at year-round pop-up concept bar Mercantile Social in Alpharetta.

As with previous themes, Mercantile Social partnered with an interior decorator to bring the Harry Potter universe alive. Phillips said they prefer to work with local designers to support the Alpharetta economy and community.

An astonishing amount of preparation and detail go into decorating because it’s critical for guests to have their socks knocked off,

Mercantile Social takes its themes seriously, and feeding patrons’ imaginations is a central part of the experience.

Previous concepts include “Indiana Jones,” “Mean Girls,” the 1993 film “Hocus Pocus,” and the crowd-favorite Grinchmas holiday theme.

When the Phillips brothers purchased the bar, it reinvented itself with the Christmas pop-up theme only once a year.

The brothers, whose day jobs are in real estate, decided they loved the idea so much they wanted to make it a regular thing.

“When the opportunity came, we jumped on it,” he said.

Guests are sure to get a kick out of Mercantile Social’s dedication to the pop-up concept, but the bar is no slouch when it comes to the fundamentals.

See MERCANTILE, Page 9

PHOTOS BY: MERCANTILE SOCIAL/PROVIDED

Mercantile Social features an in-house kitchen to serve gourmet eats.

Mercantile:

Continued from Page 8

Drinks are served by bartenders whose skills make them closer to mixologists, Phillips said. Cocktails lean heavily into the wow factor, but they also are well balanced and tasty.

“A lot of pop-up bars will give you a martini with a candy cane,” he said. “We try to go above and beyond that.”

A “Hocus Pocus” inspired drink called the Black Flame Candle was built around tequila with blueberry and sage accents. Flaming cocktails are a recurring theme at the bar, and the Black Flame Candle was served ablaze with dark fire.

Other drinks, like those inspired by Hogwarts potions, change colors before the cutomer’s eyes. The “Harry Potter” theme also promises a butter beer inspired beverage.

The bar offers a full range of options for wallets big and small from cheap drinks for the college crowd to high-end Scotch whiskies and other aged premium liquors. They also can make any cocktail nonalcoholic.

An in-house kitchen also serves up delicious eats from mozzarella balls in homemade sauce to something Phillips calls an “Amish grilled cheese,” toasted bread with candied bacon, Brie, Amish apple butter and Granny Smith apples. When possible, the bar opts for ingredients from local distributors rather than big box brands.

“Everything is higher end quality,” Phillips said.

MERCANTILE SOCIAL/PROVIDED

Mercantile Social partners with local designers to reinvent their bar with a dazzling deco with each theme.

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Residents who were unable to attend the meeting will still be able to have their voices heard through an online poll, McKlveen said.

Whittall

Lynn Thomas Kim Truett Roger Wise Jr.

The polls and responses from the meeting will drive the decision-making process before the City Council makes a final determination.

Milton resident Jonathan Lundstedt said the city should prioritize multi-use rectangle fields to provide ample space for youth athletes.

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Like many other young athletes, his daughter, a senior at Cambridge High School and lacrosse player, has struggled to find space for practices and competitions.

“We’re out of fields,” he said. “In other words, even if we add two additional rectangles, we’re still short because of the amount of soccer, lacrosse and football that we have.”

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Reservations for rectangle fields are in such high demand that she has sometimes found herself on the field as late as 9 p.m., he said. Other times, players split fields horizontally, exposing them to a heightened risk for injuries.

“She finishes at 9:45 p.m. sometimes,” he said.

Chelsea Blevins, a Milton resident whose daughter plays lacrosse, agreed. She said her daughter, like many players, practices or plays almost every day.

“I just dropped my daughter off before I came here,” she said.

Candy and Kevin Muldowney, a Milton couple whose children are now adults, said they would prefer the space to be allotted for other uses.

While Milton already has numerous pickle ball courts, they think additional spaces would be used by numerous players in the city.

The Muldowneys also said they would love to see green spaces and pavilions for outdoor recreation.

A pavilion could allow the city to host outdoor concerts like Alpharetta.

“They are a lot of fun,” Kevin Muldowney said.

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Great news in Pediatric Melanoma

to you by

– Dr. Brent Taylor, Premier Dermatology and Mohs Surgery of Atlanta

Isn’t it wonderful to hear that you are making a difference? Well, you are! All that hard work that you put in with children or grandchildren getting them to protect themselves from the Sun and wear sunscreen is making a difference!

A recent study in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (JAAD) of more than 76,000 pediatric melanomas confirmed a decline in melanoma incidence over the last ten years in children ages five and older. That decrease in melanoma is likely due to the measures you and your family members have taken during those years and during the prior ten to fifteen years when you worked so hard to protect them from the Sun.

And it is hard work. I have personally braved and endured myself. We all know what it’s like: The child in question seems to morph into a wet fish wriggling out of your grasp. Your slippery sunscreen hands don’t make it any easier! The rascal gets free, and you chase him or her down. Your drink gets knocked over. Sand gets on chairs, in bags and in other places you don’t want sand to get. It’s a task somewhere between roping a calf and getting a cat to take a bath. Grueling, grasping, groaning, finally it’s complete! The child may go and play. And in an hour and a half, you get to repeat the process all over again!

We know sun safety isn’t easy. What dermatologists ask of parents and grandparents is not a simple task. Is it really all worth it?

Yes! The results are in, and they are inspiring. This very encouraging study in the JAAD strongly suggests that all our hard work is paying off.

For children ages 10-14, there was a greater than 30% drop in melanoma between 2002 and 2020.

For children ages 5-9, there was a greater than 60% drop in melanoma between 2014 and 2020.

Interestingly, a small increase in pediatric melanoma cases for children ages four and younger supports that what we are doing is making a difference. Older children who develop melanoma are much more likely to have developed skin cancer from sunburns and sun exposure. Babies and children under 4 years old who develop melanoma are NOT likely to have developed melanoma from sun exposure. (But they still need to be protected from the Sun). Instead, genetics, a chance unlucky mutation or non-sun related environmental factors are more likely to be responsible for

melanoma in the extremely young. They simply haven’t had much time to be damaged by the Sun. The fact that melanoma in those ages four and under slightly increased but melanoma in those five and older dramatically decreased makes the claim even more credible that our efforts at sun protection are working.

Good news in pediatric melanoma is likely great news for these individuals’ entire lives. Our bodies have proteins called “mismatch repair enzymes” whose job it is to fix DNA that has been damaged by ultraviolet rays from the Sun. Unfortunately, these enzymes don’t do a perfect job, and many mutations in our DNA are with us for life. Our entire lives, these mutations increase the chance that we develop skin cancer. Dermatologists have tools including prescription creams and in office treatments that kill pre-cancers and reduce one’s sun damage, but some of the Sun damage from childhood and adulthood is always with us. The fact that pediatric melanoma has plummeted in the last ten years gives us great hope that these same individuals will develop far fewer cancers as adults as well.

When you protect your loved one as a child, you are likely helping protect him or her for life.

The next time you wonder, “is it worth it?...Should I really use that sunscreen, that UPF 50 sun shirt or take on the herculean task of wrangling a kiddo channeling his or her inner feral cat?,” the answer is YES. You are making a difference. And we only see these wonderful results at the population level in a published study because of many, many daily actions at the individual level – through the genuine care and love of many, many parents and grandparents who love their family and showed it through their actions. Keep up the great work!

Insist

Dr. Brent Taylor is a Board-Certified Dermatologist, a Fellowship-Trained Mohs Surgeon, and is certified by the Board of Venous and Lymphatic Medicine in the field of Vein Care.

He is an expert in skin cancer and melanoma treatment, endovenous laser ablation, minimally invasive vein procedures and cosmetics procedures such as Botox and injectables.

Kathryn is a certified physician assistant with over 22 years experience as a Dermatology PA and cosmetic dermatology.

Her specialties include general dermatology such as acne, eczema, rashes, hair loss, full body skin exams, abnormal growths etc. Kathryn also specializes in cosmetic dermatology including lasers, injectables, micro-needling, PRP, facial peels, sclerotherapy for spider veins and at home skin care.

Kathryn Filipek, PA-C

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Roswell, local development authority advance toward broader agreement

By DAVIS WINKIE newsroom@appenmedia.com

ROSWELL, Ga. — A public entity devoted to boosting economic growth in downtown Roswell voted Jan. 9 to a restructured formal partnership with the city for future projects.

During its regular monthly meeting at City Hall, the Roswell Downtown Development Authority approved a new agreement that broadens its participation in economic initiatives with the city.

The City Council must approve the agreement before it can go into effect. The council will likely take up the issue on a future agenda, Roswell DDA chairman Thomas Smith said following the meeting.

The new document does not include any specified tasks for either the city or the DDA, Smith said. DDA board members and city officials said the plan provides a general framework that the DDA and the City Council can then use to flexibly develop projectbased statements of work for the public organization to execute.

The document’s vague nature contrasts with recent intergovernmental agreements between the city and its development authorities. Previous collaborations have focused on specific projects, such as a 2022 agreement that authorized (and funded) the Development Authority of Roswell to secure master planning services of the Ga. 400 and Holcomb Bridge Road intersection.

The move comes less than a month after the Roswell City Council approved

The City of Roswell is considering broader initiatives for its Downtown Development Authority to pursue.

a major mixed-use development on a 6 acre tract that sits in City Hall’s shadow along Hill, Atlanta and Ellis streets.

The city’s police headquarters is located on the site, but the agency will soon move to a new facility near Holcomb Bridge Road. The development could bring 80,000 square feet of commercial space and as many as 143 multi-family housing units and 16 townhomes.

Construction on the Hill Street project is projected to begin in July, according to remarks by Peter Sorckoff, head of the Seer World consulting firm, during a Dec. 9 Roswell City Council meeting. Sorckoff’s company has a contract with the city to explore potential revenue streams outside of property taxes.

The DDA also discussed the Hill Street project during its Jan. 9 meeting in a closed-to-the-public executive session. The panel’s next regular scheduled meeting is Feb. 13 at City Hall.

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Participants jump into frigid water at a snow-covered pool at a previous Polar Plunge. Hosted by the Rotary Club of Alpharetta, the event raises thousands of dollars for dozens of causes.

Polar Bear Plunge fundraiser to benefit multitude of causes

By JON WILCOX jon@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Jumping into a pool in mid-February isn’t for the faint of heart.

“It will take your breath away,” said Kile Lewis of Milton, a member of the Rotary Club of Alpharetta.

Nevertheless, several hundred charity-minded divers will take the leap for the club’s annual Polar Bear Plunge at the Wills Park Pool, 1815 Old Milton Parkway, Feb. 3. So far, 54 teams have raised more than $91,000 to support their cause of choice.

The previous fundraiser saw about $175,000 donated.

This year, funds will support the Alpharetta Symphony, Family Promise of North Fulton/DeKalb, Wounded Warrior Project, first responders, youth sports teams, hurricane victims, trips to do work for communities in faraway countries and many other causes.

Ninety percent of funds raised go to charities, with the remaining 10 percent supporting Rotary and its costs for holding the event.

Fundraising progress can be tracked, and money can be donated on the event’s web page, alpharettapolarbearplunge.com.

No matter how cold the weather Feb. 3, the event will take place, Lewis said.

Several years ago, participants plunged despite piles of snow heaped on the diving board.

When temperatures approach freezing or even dip below, the water can almost be a reprieve, Lewis said. But it’s never quite a pleasant experience.

Warm clothes mean little when soaked with pool water in winter, he said. The combination of wet clothes

A man wearing pink rabbit pajamas leaps into the pool at a previous Polar Plunge held on a snowy day at Wills Park in Alpharetta. Plungers often don wild costumes before leaping into the cold water, an organizer said.

and cold air can make leaving the pool a tribulation.

“When you get out, it’s a religious experience,” he said.

Despite the shock to the system, the day should be fun, Lewis said. Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and hot coffee will be on hand. The plunge’s mascot, Splash, a polar bear, will make a debut appearance.

Plungers will dress in a variety of crazy costumes. At previous fundraisers, participants donned everything from giraffe and Tarzan costumes to spare swimsuits and even a pair of pink rabbit pajamas.

“People are so creative,” Lewis said.

To participate, donate or attend the fundraiser, visit alpharettapolarbearplunge.com.

PHOTOS BY: ROTARY CLUB OF ALPHARETTA/PROVIDED

FILE PHOTO

PRESERVING THE PAST

A bell tolls in Georgia for Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter was our 39th president. His funeral motorcade stopped at his boyhood farm in Plains, Ga., on Jan. 4 at the start of a three-day remembrance of his life. There, an old farm bell was rung 39 times in his honor. That prompted me to write about the history of farm bells.

Many kinds of bells have played important roles throughout history. They were made in different sizes and different metals for various uses: farms, churches, fire departments, schoolhouses, factories, carillon bells, marine bells and more. Farm bells were typically 10 to 20 inches in diameter and weighed between 25 to 100 pounds. Most farm bells were made of cast iron.

Farm bell manufacturing was big business in the 1800s and early 1900s. Several large foundries manufactured bells but stopped production when they became less popular once telephones became available or during wartime when raw materials were scarce.

Farm bells were used primarily for notifying farm workers in the fields that it was time to gather for dinner. After all, they had no other means of communication. The bells were typically mounted on posts near the farmhouse and rung by pulling a chain or rope. They also served to alert farmhands of tragedies such as fires.

There is a famous scene in the 1985 award-winning movie “Witness,” starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis where the young boy Samuel secretly rings the family’s farm bell to alert the neighbors working in the fields about a criminal threatening the family. The neighbors dramatically rush to the farm and confront the criminal who is forced to surrender.

According to the authoritative website Tower Bells, more than 300 bell foundries have existed in the United States in the past three centuries. Some 200 of them produced traditional cast bronze bells while others worked with cast iron, cast steel or a combination of metals. Very few of the old companies still exist.

One notable exception is Bevin Bells, the oldest bell producer in the United States, founded in 1832 in East Hampton, Connecticut. At one point there were 30 bell companies in the town. Bevin Bells is the town’s sole survivor and the only company remaining in the U.S. exclusively

A worker at the White House gardens rings a bell in this historic photo dated September 12, 1922. The bell notified workers of important daily activities such as meals. mer people gather from Cherokee, Fulton, Forsyth and other counties for 10 days of “prayer, preaching, hymn singing, and fellowship.”

devoted to making bells. Although today, the company’s largest bell is 8” in diameter, at one time they forged large bells up 21” or greater that were likely also used on farms, in addition to ships, trains and other places.

Another pioneer company was C.S. Bell Company founded by Charles Singleton Bell in Hillsboro, Ohio, in 1875. One of the greatest and longest-lasting bell foundries, known as “America’s Original Farm Bell Manufacturer,” its bells were used on many of the 6,000 Allied vessels that took part in the invasion of Normandy. The company still exists but makes other products today. Many of its original bell molds and patterns were purchased in the 1990s by Prindle Station Bells a company that today casts bells using the C.S. Bell molds.

Yet another example is the American Casting Company in Birmingham, Alabama, founded by Dan B. Dimick in 1903. It produced a range of cast iron products including farm bells. The company no longer exists, but its farm bells are highly collectable.

The most famous bell in the U.S. is the Liberty Bell which weighed 2,080

FOX 5 ATLANTA/PROVIDED

The historic farm bell at former President Jimmy Carter’s boyhood farm in Plains, Georgia, is rung 39 times by the National Park Service to honor the former president. Randy Dillard and Karen Barry, the NPS’s longest-serving members in Plains, rang the bell.

NATIONAL BELL FESTIVAL/PROVIDED

A Sears, Roebuck and Co. spring 1912 catalog lists farm bell options for bells ranging from 35 to 90 pounds. Bells were mounted on posts or attached to porch railings and used to summon farm workers for dinner. The bells cost about $2 each. The ad says “Every farm, no matter how small, should have a good bell.”

pounds when cast in England in 1752. It was transported by boat to Philadelphia. The bell cracked the first time it was rung during its initial test ring. A substitute bell, known as the Centennial Bell, was cast in 1876 and hangs in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It did not replace the original bell because the original had by then become a powerful symbol of our freedom.

Many presidents were known for the gardens they or their wives kept on the White House grounds. Plants were grown in greenhouses or in glass conservatories adjacent to the White House. An article published in several newspapers in September 1922 had titles such as “Bell Calls President’s Gardeners to Daily Task.” The article says “In the heat of Washington hangs this old-fashioned bell…located in the ‘Propagating Gardens’ where all flowers and plants for the White House gardens are grown…. It is rung at 7:30 a.m., 12 m., 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. The bell originally hung in the State, War and Navy Building” which is today’s Eisenhower Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House.

Paul Ashe is director of the National Bell Festival, a charitable organization dedicated to the preservation of bells. He says that the Propagating Gardens are long gone, and one of the most historic bells of the U.S. has disappeared. His organization is dedicated to finding the bell if that is possible.

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.

BOB MEYERS Columnist

COURTESY OF LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AND NATIONAL BELL FESTIVAL

The changing face of eastern U.S. forests

In March 2020, Americans became keenly aware of a fastspreading, globally transmitted disease called COVID-19. Soon pandemic became a household word, and everyone became concerned about its transmission and possible deadly consequences.

Most Americans in 2020 never encountered a disease that had spread so rapidly and had such dark consequences. Going back in history, in 1952 there was an epidemic of polio, a viral disease that attacks the human nervous system. As a result of donations to the March of Dimes and the discovery of the Salk and Sabin vaccines, the risk of a polio pandemic in the U.S. is now zero!

Reaching further back into history, you probably remember studying about the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918-19 and the Bubonic Plague that rapidly spread throughout Europe, killing an estimated 50 million people, or 50 percent, of the European population in the 1300s and 1400s.

Pandemics are not isolated to humans. Pandemics have ravaged the population of a wide variety of plants and animals as well. I would like to concentrate on three tree pandemics.

American Chestnut

As a child, I lived near a mountain range in western Pennsylvania called Chestnut Ridge. Even though we hiked in the forests near our house, I never saw a chestnut tree. Soon, I became curious about the catastrophic loss of the American chestnut tree in the wild. Before 1930, an estimated 4 billion American chestnut trees existed in the forests of the eastern U.S. These trees were the dominant hardwood species, and their large, high energy content chestnuts provided a food source for a wide variety of insects, microorganisms, birds and mammals.

The chestnut forests were rapidly changed by a microscopic package of bad news! A dying American chestnut tree was first observed in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden in 1904. It promptly was determined to have been infected by a foreign invader, a fungal disease that was given the common name American chestnut blight.

Fungal diseases can spread rapidly because they reproduce by microscopic spores. The wind spreads these species-specific, microscopic messengers of death quickly. In three short decades, the wind carried the chestnut blight spores throughout the entire eastern U.S., causing an American chestnut pandemic. By 1930, so many American chestnuts died from blight that the logging industry began to clearcut all the remaining healthy American chestnuts, devastating Appalachian forest ecosystems from Maine to north Georgia and Alabama. By 1940, they were declared extinct in the wild. This event has been described as the “most devastating forest event ever!”

Today if you walk in any eastern U.S. forest, you will find that oak trees now occupy the habitats once populated by the life-sustaining

American chestnuts. Nutritious, high-energy acorns produced by over 70 species of oak trees, 28 of which inhabit the forests of Georgia, now sustain a diversity of microorganisms, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. As a result, oak trees are now the dominant or keystone trees of eastern U.S. forests.

American Elm

There are more than 30,000 Elm Streets in the United States and many town and city parks, such as Central Park in New York City, that enjoy the beauty and cascading form of the American elm tree. These highly desirable urban trees also encountered a deadly fungal disease, Dutch elm blight. As the name suggests, the disease was first detected in the Netherlands in 1921 and was introduced to the U.S. for the first time in the 1970s. Many towns were forced to cut their streetscape trees. Currently, my hometown of Westmont, Pennsylvania, has the longest continuous tree-lined street of American elms in the United States. Luzerne Street is home to approximately 195 well-tended American elm trees.

Through the efforts of selective breeding for resistance to Dutch elm blight, two new, disease-resistant elm hybrids are now available. Additionally, the American Chestnut Society is engaged in a two-pronged approach using both selective breeding and bioengineering with the goal

About the author

This week’s “Garden Buzz” guest columnist is Carole MacMullan, a Milton resident and Master Gardener since 2012. Carole describes herself as a born biologist. Since childhood, she loved to explore the out-of-doors and garden with her mother. When she entered college, she selected biology as her major and made teaching high school biology her career for 35 years. Shortly after moving from Pittsburgh, she became involved with the philanthropic mission of the Assistance League of Atlanta (ALA), and in 2014, completed the Master Gardener program and joined the North Fulton Master Gardeners (NFMG) and the Milton Garden Club. Carole uses her teaching skills to create a variety of presentations on gardening topics for the NFMG Lecture Series and Speakers Bureau.

of creating a healthy, viable and disease-resistant American Chestnut. The hope is to create hybrids of both species that will grow and thrive in their former habitats.

Southern pine beetle

One of the most common forest diseases facing Georgia landowners and foresters is the Southern pine beetle. Pine beetles bore through the bark of pine trees and create tunnels as they consume the xylem tissue that makes up the annual rings. Without the xylem tissue needed to transport water throughout the tree, the tree will die. Since I moved to Milton in 2008, I have witnessed the death of hundreds of young, venerable pine trees in the forest behind my house. If you see a pine tree with peeling bark and exposed tunnels made by the pine beetles, please consult an arborist to confirm the extent of the beetle infestation. If confirmed, please take action to destroy and remove the tree or trees from your yard to prevent the spread of this disease that is devastating our southern pine forests,

Let me end with this quote, “We are all interconnected - people, animals, our environment. When nature suffers, we suffer. And when nature flourishes, we all flourish.” Dr. Jane Goodall

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. Previous Garden Buzz columns are featured at: https://appenmedia.com/opinion/ columists/garden buzz/.

Save the dates for NFMG’s 2025 signature events: Garden Faire on April 12 and Garden Tour on June 7. Learn more at nfmg.net.

CAROLE MACMULLAN Guest Columnist

CAROLE MACMULLAN/PROVIDED

American Chestnut Tree with disease canker caused by the American Chestnut Blight at Berry College

Being a grandparent opens opportunities for gift-giving

RAY APPEN Publisher Emeritus ray@appenmedia.com

For at least the past 40 years or more, I have written a long – most times, very long – Christmas letter, at times more than 3,000 words. All this time the “target audience” of my letter has primarily been the adult friends of my parents, the ones I’ve known for decades and who watched us grow up.

So, the Christmas letter has been an update every year on how we are and what we have been doing. They actually knew us all, and generally, I believe, were interested in updates. It has almost always included a 1–3-page collage of pictures from that year.

Increasingly, however, I have a problem continuing this annual effort because well over half of the people on my Christmas card mailing list have died, and many of those remaining have never met my kids or my sisters. So, getting this indulgent, long missive from me probably annoys them or, at a minimum, it is not something that

gets read very well. I don’t blame them.

Most of the Christmas presents I bought this year were analog. I bought books; I always buy books. I have never been able to read a single digital book, although I am increasingly listening to audio books when I drive on long trips.

I bought a wall map for my grandchildren, a large world map that has all the countries. I hope that Hans will find a wall somewhere, perhaps in the basement, to mount it – or maybe the kitchen! Maps, the knowledge that there are other countries is important. A kid needs to know that they are not the center of the universe. In my dreams, I see my son Hans reading current events to his kids at the breakfast or dinner table and asking them to go find the country on the map that he has just reported some news on.

One thing I wanted to buy but could not find a satisfactory version of was history flash cards, like the ones I had when I was growing up. Two things in my youth helped me understand context and my place in the world – my history flash cards and my stamp collecting. If you

know your stamps, you know U.S. history, or at least the most important events and people.

I did find and buy two items. One was a package of lots of small single topic books. The topics included: Steve Jobs, Jules Verne, Steve Irwin, Galileo, NASA, Nikola Tesla, Marie Curie and more. There were 25 of these books in the package that I bought from Costco (which is no longer going to sell books).

The other thing I bought (also at Costco) in lieu of the flash cards was a rather large “illustrated history of the world,” from the pyramids to the Apollo space missions. Lots of maps, lots of images, and a ton of information. That one is for my eldest grandchild, Phoebe (11), but it may be a little of a stretch at her age. Maybe she will grow into it.

It reminded me of my copy of a large coffee table book “History of the World” by Arnold Toynbee that I think I bought at least 50 years ago, and still have. I actually read all of it and highlighted half of it. And it was also from my encounter with this book that I started my “word collection.”

Since every page in Toynbee’s book had at

least a dozen words that I did not know or understand, I started writing them down, looking up the definitions, and ended up with my “word collection” journal. Unfortunately, years ago I left my word collection in Chile, but that is another story.

I bought each of the grandchildren journals in which they can start their own word collections. Only Leo knows about this idea at this point. His first word, something we stumbled across when reading together, was “archipelago” – a chain of islands. I am sure if anyone asks Leo what that that word means now, or 50 years from now, he will for sure be able to tell them. He was excited about the idea of a word collection.

Being a grandparent can be fun. You sort of get the opportunity – especially if you live close – to work on “molding” or influencing another human being after you have had the benefit of already having raised children. You definitely see the possibilities, and every Christmas, you get to buy them stuff that you think will help them grow, become wiser, or just generally benefit them.

There’s a big difference between ‘selling’ and ‘educating’

This week’s music inspiration is “Things That Make You Go Hmmm,” the 1991 hit from C+C Music Factory.

As we all know, rates have been moving notably higher and have reached a point that we have not seen since last spring. With this recent surge in rates, I am seeing loan programs and “start” rates which are well below the market.

The lenders are trying to sell that they are offering an exclusive program that only they have. One example is a lender showing a start rate of 4.99 percent. On the surface, this sounds good given that 30-year fixed rate mortgages are running about 7.25 percent as of this report.

However, what they are not telling you is that this is known as a 2/1 buydown, where the first-year rate is 4.99 percent, then goes to 5.99 percent in year 2, and then caps at 6.99 percent in years 3-30. They promote this as a newfound program that only they have in some cases. However, the truth is that a 2/1 buydown has existed since I got in the business in 1984. It is not new, it cost about 2.25+ points, and the buyer cannot pay those points.

Don’t get me wrong…starting at 4.99 percent the first year is very attractive, but if you spent the same points on a straight 30-year fixed you would have a fixed rate close to 6.125 percent in some cases. Therefore, the real benefit is really only in year 1. After that, you are basically where you would be on a straight 30-year fixed with the seller paying the 2.25+ points and you would not have to worry about year 3 when your rate would hit 6.99 percent.

You will be told that you should not worry about year 3 as rates will certainly come back down, and you will refinance anyway. But what if they don’t come back down? The average 30-year fixed rate from 1971 to present is 7.73%.

While I do believe rates will go back down over the next 12-24 months, I’m not sure we will see 5 percent again anytime soon…maybe 6 percent by years end, but probably not much lower.

Now, if you intend to only own the home for 24-36 months, and the seller is willing to pay 2.25+ points so you can do a 2/1 buydown, this may be the program for you. My guess is that is not the case with most folks purchasing a new home, but it is certainly an option in that scenario.

The bottom line is you need to ask questions and have your lender thoroughly go through your options. Rates have gone up significantly over the past 24 months, mortgage originations are down sharply,

and there is 50 percent less mortgage originators than there were just 12-24 months ago. These things lead to folks “selling” you on an idea as opposed to educating you on your options….and there is a difference.

A 2/1 buydown may be your best choice depending on your situation, but do not buy into a particular lender is offering you something that is indigenous to just them and or their company. Ask questions. In most cases, you are making the largest purchase of your life and there are no dumb questions.

D.C. Aiken is vice president, producing production manager for BankSouth Mortgage, NMLS # 658790. For more insights, you can subscribe to his newsletter at dcaiken.com.

The opinions expressed within this article may not reflect the opinions or views of BankSouth Mortgage or its affiliates.

OPINION

PAST TENSE

Volunteers sprucing up Stephen Martin Cemetery

Between Perimeter Expo shopping center on Hammond Drive and Campus 244 at 244 Perimeter Center Parkway in Dunwoody lies the historic Stephen Martin Cemetery.

Recent work at the cemetery and maintenance plus special projects over the last 10 years have made it a peaceful spot to sit and reflect or remember those who are laid to rest in the cemetery.

Back in 2015, members of Boy Scout Troop 434 out of All Saints Catholic Church began projects to improve the cemetery. David Savini built benches and a kiosk for the cemetery to display history and information for visitors. The two endeavors were his Eagle Scout project. Daniel Montgomery’s Eagle Scout Project was clearing out overgrowth of weeds and small trees along the gravel path leading to the cemetery.

Glen Fuse volunteered his time for over 10 years maintaining the cemetery by cutting the grass and trimming the surrounding hedges. He also kept the kiosk up to date with current information and placed a visitor sign-in book at the kiosk.

The kiosk was updated recently with documents and photos which tell the history of the people and the land where the cemetery is located. Chryse Wayman and Journey Bradham of Dunwoody Preservation Trust joined me to complete this project.

Sam McEntyre of DPT organized the repair of cairn graves and broken headstones at the cemetery. Cairn graves are constructed from pieces of stone arranged to form a box indicating the location of a grave.

The three large cairn graves belong to Stephen Martin (1798-1866), his first wife, Frances Elizabeth Garrett (1800-1847) and his second wife, Sarah Crowley (1812-1878). It is believed Stephen Martin’s grave site is the middle cairn. A smaller cairn grave may have been for a child.

Stephen and Sarah’s daughter Naomi married Thomas F. Spruill. Stephen Spruill, who grew up and lived in the home that is now Spruill Gallery, was one of the children of Naomi and Thomas F. Spruill. Another daughter, Sophia, married Joseph Spruill.

The cemetery is the final resting place for members of the Martin,

The cairn grave markers of Stephen Martin Cemetery were recently repaired. The buildings in the background are the Perimeter Expo shopping center.

Spruill, Reeves and Hardigree families, among others. During World War I, John Hardigree trained at Chamblee’s Camp Gordon, then served as a Prisoner of War escort.

Homer Morgan (1900-1902), son of Luvader Spruill Morgan and Joseph Tilman Morgan, grandson of Sophia and Joseph Spruill, was buried near his great-grandparents’ graves. His stone marker was recently repaired. Campus 244 includes the former

three-story office building that opened in 1975 as headquarters to Gold Kist Inc. and the Cotton States Insurance Group. (Atlanta Journal, June 4, 1974, “Gold Kist starts new building”)

The building has been repurposed into a five-story Class A office building, according to dunwoodyga.gov. The campus also includes Element Hotel by Westin and two restaurants scheduled to open in 2025.

The City of Dunwoody Trail Master

The repaired headstone of Homer Morgan, who lived from 1900 until 1902.

Plan includes the new concrete path that leads to Stephen Martin Cemetery. Until the trail opens, park on the Nordstrom Rack side of Perimeter Expo and walk toward the back of the parking lot. When you see Campus 244, turn left and follow the path to Stephen Martin Cemetery.

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

PHOTOS BY: VALERIE BIGGERSTAFF/APPEN MEDIA

The updated kiosk of Stephen Martin Cemetery provides additional history. Campus 244 is visible in the background.

VALERIE BIGGERSTAFF Columnist

One detective series that never fails to deliver

Can you recall getting hooked on a series and having to wait a year for the next installment to appear? Or perhaps stumbling across book five or six in a series and enjoying it so much that you went in search of the earlier books? Michael Connelly’s Bosch series is one I started from the very beginning with “The Black Echo.” At the time, there were several books out. Only after that did I have to wait patiently for the next installment to appear. If you haven’t read the books, you may know his name from the show on Prime Video. This review is of book 25.

“The Waiting” by Michael Connelly

Renée Ballard, who appears in the last five Bosch books, heads LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit, investigating cold cases — some decades old, others more recent. As happens in the previous books with Ballard as the main character, Harry Bosch contributes to solving the case.

This time, Bosch’s daughter Maddie, who is now a patrol officer, joins the unit as a volunteer. Before you know it, the unit is investigating the never solved Black Dahlia case from the ‘40s. The twists and turns in trying to solve the case while also dealing with department politics combine with investigating another cold case that hinges on DNA analysis.

This one is a suspenseful roller coaster ride, and, of course, I stayed up way too late several nights to get to the end. I had barely finished the book when the wildfires erupted in California.

Now, as I watch the coverage of the LA fires, I’m flipping back through the book and wondering how the areas in this series have fared. Harry’s neighborhood of Laurel Canyon had escaped unscathed as I began writing this column. The news reported that one Malibu trailer park was devastated, so I thought of Renée, who is an avid surfer and lives in a trailer park in Malibu.

So much of what I know of the LA area comes from Connelly’s series and visits with two friends who live there. One lives far from the devastation, but my Altadena friend was in the

thick of it. He evacuated before his neighborhood was engulfed in flames, and miraculously, his house was still standing when he last heard.

The images on the news are horrific, and reading Michael Connelly’s vivid descriptions of the areas I see in flames make them all the more real to me. Gut wrenching, poignant—words fail me. My heart goes out to those who are living this horror.

Award-winning author Kathy Manos Penn is a Sandy Springs resident. Find her Dickens & Christie cozy mysteries on Amazon or locally at The Enchanted Forest and Bookmiser. Contact her at inkpenn119@gmail.com and visit her website www.facebook.com/ KathyManosPennAuthor/.

Have you ever wondered what happened to...

Best of luck to y’all still in the New Year’s resolution game. I was proactive this time around: no resolutions of any kind. Just like Jerry Jeff Walker sang: “I’m taking it as it comes.”

I was pondering all the opportunities that a new year brings, when I thought of a few occupations that had simply gone away. And no, I’m not counting a New Jersey drone operator, although I am mystified as to where all those drones went.

Maybe they were Christmas gifts that were returned. But whatever happened to:

Service stations: Remember when you’d sit in your car while someone pumped your gas, checked your tires, washed your windshield, checked your oil? Why, if there was a promotion, 10 gallons would get you a free dish towel. Service with a smile. You can trust your car to the man who wears the star. Nowadays, New Jersey is the last bastion of where it is illegal to pump your own gas. I thought of this while filling up at BJ’s when the wind chill was 22 degrees.

Milkmen: Remember when you’d leave empty glass milk bottles on the porch, and like magic the empties would be replaced with fresh milk? Maybe even chocolate milk and a half-dozen donuts. It seemed like the milk poured from glass bottles was colder and tasted better when poured on my Fruit Loops. I was actually a milkman for a summer during

college. Drove a milk truck while standing up. Had to master the dual clutch/ brake pedal. Up every morning at 4:30 to load my vehicle and ice down the milk to keep it fresh in that 100-degree Bakersfield heat. I had keys to some customers’ homes and had to put their milk in the fridge. One customer was a local news anchor who was somewhat of a boozer. It was a regular occurrence to let him in his house after he’d had difficulty getting into the house. I always envisioned his wife being nearby, rolling pin in hand, ready to do damage.

Bookies: Ted Knight, the hilarious Judge Smales in “Caddyshack,” let Rodney Dangerfield know: “Gambling is illegal at Bushwood. And I never slice.” Personally, I once had an untreated slice with a trajectory resembling a well-tossed boomerang. As for gambling, early on, I was exposed to relatives who played the ponies at all the Los Angeles area tracks. Our barber, Freddie, had a shop in San Pedro with three chairs in front and a cavernous hall in back, which I learned, after Freddie had to go “on vacation” courtesy of the police, was used for monumental card games, dice games and who knows what else. I smartened up one day while watching the barbers tend to two customers while answering no less than 50 brief phone calls. There was a local bookie in Bakersfield who would set a point spread for local high school football games. He was a great guy, and I wrote a three-part series about his services. There was no leg-breaking if a customer didn’t pay. Instead, even more painful, was the gambler being “cut-off,” not allowed to place any more wagers. The women in the

newsroom were even apt to place a wager or two. We all mourned the bookie’s passing after he (somewhat poetically) dropped dead of a heart attack at Santa Anita. His obituary listed his occupation as a “selfemployed accountant,” which was hilarious because who keeps better books than a bookie? After the funeral, a local cattle rancher came to me with a pained expression on his face. I thought he was deep in the throes of mourning but instead was sad about future gambling. He threw up his hands and cried: “Now what are we going to do?” These days, you can’t watch a game without being bombarded with pitches for sports betting. Every time I see one, I think of Pete Rose’s exclusion from Cooperstown.

Customer service: A few years ago, there was a particularly surly librarian who was a pain to deal with. One day, I said to her: “Keep being nasty and you’ll be replaced by a self-checkout machine.” She “harumphed” me, but these days, human interaction is being replaced by a scanner that inevitably doesn’t work. Thankfully, the Publix where I shop hasn’t succumbed to this rage. I don’t mind waiting in line to interact with a real person who feeds her family thanks to her job. Just trying to do my part, you know. This is a paltry list. I’m sure we are missing many more items. It made me think that there are times when progress isn’t always a good thing.

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.

KATHY MANOS PENN Columnist

MIKE TASOS Columnist

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770-645-1414

info@northsidechapel.com www.northsidechapel.com

During these turbulent times, we would like to highlight the continued courage and commitment of everyone who works in the health care, law enforcement, childcare, food service and utility sectors. We are extremely grateful.

12050 Crabapple Road • Roswell, GA 30075

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The City of Milton City Council will hold a public hearing for the applications for alcohol licenses listed below on Monday, February 3, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers on the First Floor of City Hall located at 2006 Heritage Walk, Milton, Georgia 30004. All interested persons are encouraged to attend the public hearing.

PH-25-AB-01 – Fu Tai Garden LLC dba Volcano Ramen and Sushi has made an application for a license to sell Wine and Malt Beverages for Consumption On-Premises, and for Sunday Sales at its place of business located at 5316 Windward Parkway, Suite A, Milton, Georgia 30004.

PUBLIC NOTICE QUALIFYING FEES CITY OF MILTON MUNICIPAL ELECTION

Notice is hereby given that on November 4, 2025, the City of Milton, GA will be holding a non-partisan general election to fill the following municipal offices:

Mayor (At-Large) – Currently held by Peyton Jamison

Council Member District 1/Post 1 – Currently held by Andrea Verhoff

Council Member District 2/Post 1 – Currently held by Juliette Johnson

Council Member District 3/Post 1 – Currently held by Jan C. Jacobus

Any person desiring to qualify as a candidate for the election shall file with the office of the City Clerk, City Hall, 2006 Heritage Walk, Milton, Georgia 30004. The qualification dates and times are August 18 through August 22, 2025 (Monday through Friday) between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Pursuant to Georgia Code Sec. 21-2-131(a)(1)(A), the qualifying fees are hereby set at $894.00 for Mayor and $594.00 for City Council, representing 3% of the total gross salary for each of those offices in the 2024 calendar year.

Invitation to Bid

FY25 Asphalt Reconstruction & Resurfacing

ITB NUMBER 25-PW03

Bid Due Date:

February 12, 2025, by 2:00PM Local Time

Electronic submission via: https://www.miltonga.gov/government/finance/bidsrfps

Bid submissions will be publicly announced via a virtual bid opening at approximately 2:30 PM at the City of Milton City Hall located at 2006 Heritage Walk, Milton, GA 30004. The City reserves the right to reject any and all bids. If the contract is awarded, it will be awarded to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder whose bid meets the requirements and criteria set forth in the invitation for bids.

The City of Milton is requesting bids from qualified parties to provide asphalt reconstruction and resurfacing services within the city limits of Milton, Georgia. All qualified bids will receive consideration without regard to age, handicap, religion, creed or belief, political affiliation, race, color, sex, or national origin.

The time and terms of payment, along with the conditions, cost of plans and specifications can be found in the solicitation of bids posted on the websites below. A bid bond of 5% is required when submitting bid response.

The request for electronic bids for ITB 25-PW03, FY25 Asphalt Reconstruction & Resurfacing will be posted on the following websites the week of January 16, 2025:

https://www.miltonga.gov/government/finance/bids-rfps and https://ssl.doas.state.ga.us/gpr/

City of Milton

PUBLIC NOTICE OF SALE OF PROPERTY

PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that the City of Milton will offer the following property for sale at auction beginning Monday, February 11, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. and the final auction ending Wednesday, February 20, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. Full property descriptions, as well as the bidding process, will be available through the City's website's home page at www.miltonga.gov by following the link provided for www.GovDeals.com

Police Vehicles:

* 2007 Ford Crown Vic

* 2014 Ford Explorer

* 2015 Ford Explorer - (5)

* 2016 Ford Explorer

Equipment Lots:

* Glock Holsters

* License Plate Recognition (LPR) Modules, Raptors, VSR Heads, & Trailer Computers

* (2) lots of Motorola Radios

* Taser Holsters

The buyer will have up to 5 business days to pay with exact cash, money order, or cashier's check and 10 business days to remove the vehicle/equipment. The vehicle/equipment will be available for inspection, by appointment only, at 13690B Highway 9 N, Milton, GA 30004. Appointment requests should be emailed to Sgt. Scott Mulvey at scott.mulvey@miltonga.gov

Donor Operations Supervisor

The Donor Operations Supervisor (Full-time) The Donor Operations Supervisor manages the donation door process and delegates tasks to staff, volunteers, and community service workers. As the face of NFCC, they provide excellent customer service while greeting donors and ensuring donations are properly removed from vehicles and sorted in designated areas. They are responsible for maintaining the security of merchandise and keeping all areas clean and organized.

The Supervisor must be able to lift up to 75lb frequently and be on their feet most of their shift. They must enjoy staying busy, training and influencing other to work as a team in a professional manner within a fast paced environment. Must have the ability to work Tuesday through Saturday 9am – 5pm. An extraordinary Total Rewards Package is included with this opportunity!

If this sounds like the role for you, we’d love to hear from you! Please submit your resume to jobs@nfcchelp.org

Infor (US), LLC has an opening for a Team Lead in Alpharetta, GA. Position will develop new features, modules, and functionalities for the product, ensuring they meet quality standards. Participate in unit testing, integration testing, and performance testing to ensure the reliability and robustness of the product. 100% Telecommuting permitted. How to apply: E-mail resume, referencing IN1035, including job history, to careers@infor.com. Infor (US), LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. EOE.

Computer Systems Analysts – Multiple Openings - Alpharetta, GA. Intuites LLC needs professionals: Analyze SAP FICO standardization, optimize processes, conduct FIT/GAP workshops, oversee integration testing & guide implementations. Req. –Bachelor’s + 2 yrs. Exp. Comp. salary, Relocate to unanticipated site. No national or international travel. Please mail resume to Ref: Director, 1740 Grassland Parkway, Ste 405, Alpharetta, Georgia, 30004.

Application Developer III (Alpharetta, GA) Work across a broad suite of techs (Azure & AWS) that involve UI dvlpmt , middleware dvlpmt & d/b dvlpmt . Reqs: U.S. Master’s deg in Info Sys, CS, or closely rltd field & 3 yrs of exp in the Application Dvlpr III, S/w Dvlpr, S/w Eng, or closely rltd pos. Exp which may have been obtained concurrently must incl 3 yrs of exp w/: Designing & dvlpng custom web apps using C#.NET & bldg reliable & reusable code. Must be Microsoft Certified: Azure Dvlpr Assoc. Mail resume only to: Tracy Ryan, Balbec Capital, LP, 10000 Avalon Blvd., Ste. 550, Alpharetta, GA 30009

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