Sandy Springs Crier - February 16, 2023

City planning to upgrade Police Headquarters

Mayors discuss fall elections at regional meeting of officials

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — City elections dominated discussions at the Feb. 9 meeting of the North Fulton Municipal Association held at the Avalon 1000 Building in Alpharetta.

The organization, composed of elected and senior staff from North Fulton cities, meets monthly to discuss matters affecting their municipalities.

Over the past month, North Fulton city councils have explored efforts to run their own municipal election this fall in the face of rising charges from Fulton County, which has traditionally managed the polling.

In December, the Milton City Council voted to approve self-run municipal elections this year following the recommendation from a locally appointed election study committee.

While the Alpharetta City Council approved a new city elections superintendent position, other cities are still deciding on whether to remain with Fulton County, run their own election or formally sign with other cities to seat an elections superintendent to oversee municipal elections in Milton, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Roswell and Mountain Park. The agreement, still in draft form, leaves each city to figure its way through election operations.

Sandy Springs has no municipal elections scheduled for this year.

The remaining cities have until the end of March to decide whether to contract

School Board takes next step to intensify drive for literacy gains

By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Fulton County School Board voted to move forward with the third edition of a program designed to sharpen instructor’s skills in teaching reading.

The Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling program, which carries a price tag of approximately $1.48 million, was passed unanimously at a Feb. 7 work session and will join a block of other topics set for formal approval at the Feb. 23 School Board meeting.

with Fulton County or embark on their own to operate polling.

The municipal organization

The North Fulton Municipal Association includes the cities of Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton, Roswell and Mountain Park.

A partner to the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, the municipal organization has no webpage, so agendas or meeting schedules are not posted. The

group’s chairman, Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul, said the association has been “going on” since he was elected, about a decade ago.

“It’s mostly an opportunity for us to get together and share information, kind of talk through common problems and develop solutions, and proposals, for how we work as a region in the North Fulton area,” Paul said.

See MEETING, Page 8

The curriculum designed for teachers, also called LETRS, is based on “the science of reading.” It trains teachers on “five essential pillars of reading,” phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. It also instructs on writing, spelling and oral language.

The school system has already implemented versions of the program. Fulton County Schools Chief Academic Officer Cliff Jones said the third edition of the program is like

See SCHOOLS, Page 8

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Fulton County Commissioner Bob Ellis speaks to North Fulton mayors Jim Gilvin, Rusty Paul and Peyton Jamison at the North Fulton Municipal Association’s Feb. 9 meeting.

Sandy Springs Police Report

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Each week

Appen Media requests police incident reports to inform residents about the safety of their community. Sandy Springs continues to withhold what it calls the “narrative reports” of open cases. It is the only city Appen Media covers that does this. Without that information, The Crier is unable to report on crime in the city.

The city’s position is in conflict with guidance from the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, Georgia Bureau of

Investigation, Georgia Department of Law, Georgia Press Association and other organizations.

At right is the report for an incident in Sandy Springs that ended in an arrest for firearm violations. The report is one sentence long, “On January 6, 2023, I obsereved a black suv driving at a high rate of speed on Glenridge Drive.”

Below is a report the Dunwoody Police Department provided Appen Media for a theft arrest.

Dunwoody Police Report

City advances funding, plans to upgrade Police Headquarters

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The Sandy Springs City Council approved a measure for updated designs and cost analysis for expansion of the Police Headquarters and Municipal Court complex.

At a special called meeting of the Sandy Springs Public Facilities Authority Feb. 7, the City Council approved a $50.7 million budget for the project which will expand the current police headquarters at 620 Morgan Falls Road. Officials said the expansion will add new space for the city’s municipal courthouse and room for future growth for Public Safety services.

Plans presented at the meeting show the project will add about 24,000 square feet of space to the existing property, with a large outdoor plaza and a stylized screen wall façade, which will mirror other city building aesthetics.

As part of the project, the city will also construct a new fleet maintenance building off Roswell Road, said Charlie Whiting, director of commercial preconstruction at Reeves and Young.

Whiting said an updated budget estimate for the project shows the Public Safety and court building will cost about $36 million to complete, and the fleet maintenance building is expected to cost $3.4 million. Another $11 million will be spent on design fees, contingencies and other expenses.

A “police auxiliary building” which was originally proposed as part of the project, will be completed at a later date. Project designs have also left room on the property for future expansions, like the police shooting range training center and Fire Station 1, he said.

Sandy Springs Director of Facilities Dave Wells said with the new budget and designs in hand, construction will start in June, and substantial completion of the project will come sometime in 2024.

However, Whiting said the main

constraint will be a long lead time for materials, which they are already trying to get ahead of.

“We’ve got a long lead time, when we place an order,” he said. “What used to take eight weeks could take 30 to 50 weeks.”

Sandy Springs Police Department officials did not immediately respond to Appen Media’s requests for comments on the project.

Recycling grant application

Councilmembers also unanimously approved a $1.25 million application for the Environmental Protection

RENDERINGS

Renderings presented to the Sandy Springs City Council Feb. 7 show how the Police Department Headquarters on Morgan Falls Road will be expanded. Officials said the new facility will one day include the city Municipal Courthouse and room for future expansion.

Agency’s Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant Program, which would fund upgrades at the city’s recycling center and a new recycling program aimed at underserved communities.

Sandy Springs Sustainability Manager Catherine Mercier-Baggett said if the grant is awarded to the city, it will run for three years and wouldn’t require any financial match.

With the grant funding, Sandy Springs and the nonprofit group Keep North Fulton Beautiful, would complete much-needed upgrades on the city’s recycling facility on Morgan Falls Road.

Mercier-Baggett said the recycling center opened in the 1980s, and the city’s 2020 Master Plan identified more than $1.5 million in upgrades needed at the facility.

“The site has not really changed since the closure of the landfill,” she said.

Proposed upgrades to the recycling center include resurfacing and stormwater management work, new fencing, signage, landscaping, containers and other new equipment.

Mercier-Baggett said the second part of the grant would pilot a mobile recycling program for multi-family apartment complexes in underserved communities. Of the 90-plus apartment complexes in Sandy Springs, only 18 advertise recycling services, she said.

“That’s where we have our most vulnerable populations and also where there is less access to recycling,” she said

The pilot program would require purchasing a heavy-duty truck with two special recycling trailers and employing two part-time Keep North Fulton Beautiful employees responsible for driving the truck and performing education outreach work.

While the council approved the grant application, several officials said they had concerns with how the mobile recycling program would work.

District 5 Councilman Tibby DeJulio said the city has always avoided taking “one-time money” for programs with recurring expenses.

“By having one of these trailers and going ahead and buying a truck and hiring some drivers … those are ongoing expenses, where we won’t have that grant money to last more than a year or two,” DeJulio said. “No question, our recycling center needs to be upgraded ... As far as these mobile trailers, which is going to be an ongoing expense, I’m just not sure of that.”

However, Mercier-Baggett said the pilot program would run throughout the grant period and would be funded by “at-cost” fees paid by the apartment complex after the grant expires.

Antisemitic flyers ignite local effort to find offenders

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmeda.com

DUNWOODY, Ga. — State and Perimeter area leaders took to social media Feb. 5 to denounce an antisemitic flyer distributed in Dunwoody and Sandy Springs over the weekend.

Officials said the flyer, which contained multiple antisemitic messages

and slogans, was found on driveways in several Dunwoody and Sandy Springs neighborhoods Sunday morning.

In a message to residents, Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch said her city is a diverse community of different faiths, races and ethnicities, which doesn’t tolerate hate speech.

“On behalf of the Dunwoody City Council, I want to assure everyone that

hateful, divisive, and antisemitic rhetoric has no place here,” Deutsch said. “I stand with our Jewish community and all who face intolerance. I believe that love always conquers hate. Please be good to each other.”

Representatives from both the Dunwoody and Sandy Springs police departments said they are investigating the incidents. Any residents with more

information about the flyers are asked to call 911.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said that if needed, state law enforcement is ready to assist with the investigation of the incident.

“This kind of hate has no place in our state and the individuals responsible do not share Georgia’s values,” Kemp said. “We will always condemn acts of antisemitism.”

BY CITY OF SANDY SPRINGS/PROVIDED

Eagles Nest Church plans new facility

Multi-use development to occupy old Kohl’s site

By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com

ROSWELL, Ga. —Eagles Nest Church in Roswell is moving forward with a multi-use development plan after purchasing the vacant Kohl’s lot on Holcomb Bridge Road for $13 million in December.

The 15.5-acre site was once home to Kohl’s, a Rite-Aid, Petco and Moe’s – all now shuttered. The Kohl’s lot has been vacant since 2016.

Details of the development are private for now, but Lee Jenkins, the founder and Senior Pastor of Eagles Nest Church said he hopes to have a general vision for the property in three months. In the next year and a half, he said there should be some major changes.

Jenkins said they’re trying to do something “unique” for a church. Many churches use their property for religious services and daycares and leave them empty the rest of the time.

“I always thought that was a poor use of such a valuable asset,” said Jenkins, who has experience working in the finan-

cial sector.

That experience, he said, helped him focus on “return on asset” for the church property and spurred him to explore a multi-use development, rather than a traditional space.

Since its creation in 2012, Eagles Nest Church has bounced around temporary homes for its services. The church started with 20 people, but as its membership has grown to almost 3,000 people, so has the

need for a permanent location.

“We were vigorously looking for a permanent facility, but we could not find a place zoned for us,” Jenkins said.

Traditional church buildings were too expensive and not conducive to multi-use development.

Jenkins wanted “a destination spot that could spur economic and social activity.” It was essential to Jenkins that the property would be in East Roswell, where he has lived for 20 years.

City Councilman and economic development liaison Peter Vanstrom said he’s excited to have Jenkins develop the property.

“It seems like he’s planning something exciting, something destination oriented,” Vanstrom said.

Vanstrom has not seen plans for the property yet because the project is still in early development, but he looks forward to working with the pastor.

“We needed something positive to happen on this side of Roswell because we have seen many major projects over here fail,” Jenkins said, referencing the closed SuperTarget, Taco Mac and Kohl’s as examples.

Jenkins said many residents want more development and economic activity in the area.

“We have been extremely disappointed with the failures of those businesses and the lack of choices that we have as a consumer,” Jenkins said. “I would like to see that change.”

East Roswell is seeing some spark of life recently with a $101 million luxury apartment and townhome development taking over the former SuperTarget, which closed six years ago. The project began construction in June 2022 and is expected to be completed in late 2024.

Vanstrom said the development on shuttered businesses must be done carefully.

“What’s important is the vacancies be

filled with something progressive and positive for the city,” Vanstrom said.

Jenkins said he had been eyeing the old Kohl’s property ever since it closed seven years ago. The lot is a mile away from his home.

“When Kohl’s closed down, I immediately identified that property as our promised land,” Jenkins said.

The church was still relatively new at the time and could not afford the pricey property, so Jenkins looked for a partner to help fund and develop the site.

In 2020, he found a partner in developer Competitive Social Venture. The group planned to open a pickleball sports and recreation facility called Pickle and Social. Eagles Nest would develop an event center on the property as well.

The pickleball developers backed out of the property in March 2022 after they deemed the property “too cost-prohibitive,” and Jenkins had to start over.

“If we got another opportunity to purchase this property we would seize it,” Jenkins said.

The opportunity came last year, when the church found new partners. Jenkins cannot divulge who the partners are but called them “real estate experts.”

With the new partners on board, Jenkins said he hopes to create the “way of the future” with Eagles Nest Church. The details are still private, but the church is dedicated to a multi-use development. The property will likely include an auditorium or event center facility for church services.

The planned auditorium development will likely seat somewhere between 750 and 1,000 people to encourage “hybrid,” online and in-person attendance, he said.

Many of the Eagles Nest Church members attend entirely online, and with almost 3,000 members Jenkins said the services will continue to be hybrid.

Meanwhile, Eagles Nest Church meets at the auditorium in Centennial High School, right across the street from the Kohl’s site. Jenkins wanted to be close to the future development to get his membership used to the area.

Eagles Nest rents the auditorium from Fulton County Schools for a fee, and the church has invested more than $150,000 in upgrading the space, including improvements to the audio, video and lighting equipment. But, the auditorium still is not big enough for the church. It seats about 450 people, so Eagles Nest holds two services. Soon, the church may have to hold three services to accommodate the large membership.

The tight fit at Centennial creates urgency for the development, but Jenkins said the church must be patient.

“Things are going to change, not overnight, but things are going to change,” Jenkins said.

DELANEY TARR/APPEN MEDIA

Eagles Nest Church plans to turn the vacant Kohl’s property on Holcomb Bridge Road into a multi-use development with an auditorium space for church services.

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Homicide investigation underway in Sandy Springs

Police scrub report from city website

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Sandy Springs officials have confirmed police are investigating a homicide following an incident Jan. 29.

Appen Media first learned a homicide occurred in Sandy Springs through information gathered at a meeting of city officials Jan. 30. The information was later confirmed in reports obtained through open records requests.

Reports said a Sandy Springs police officer discovered a deceased person while conducting a welfare check at an address on Peachtree Dunwoody Road and Registry Lane Jan. 29. The person was found dead at 4499 Peachtree Dunwoody Road at about 6 p.m. but Sandy Springs police reports do not give any details about the victim, how the body was located, or any other narrative information.

The report lists three other individuals associated with the case but does not explain how they are connected. An unspecified type of firearm is also listed as being involved.

A Sandy Springs Police computer aided dispatch report for the incident, also obtained by Appen Media, said

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a person called 911 after finding, “an abandoned car at the bottom of the driveway” of an address on Peachtree Dunwoody Road, just south of Registry Lane.

The report said the caller didn’t “want to approach” the vehicle and was advised not to open the car door. However, large portions of the report were redacted and provided no further information on the death.

Sgt. Matthew McGinnis, public information officer for the Sandy Springs Police Department, said Feb. 3 the case is being investigated as a homicide and they expect to release a statement with more information soon.

McGinnis declined to comment further on the case.

“In the interest of the integrity of the investigation, we will make a statement/media release next week,” McGinnis said. “We do not want to compromise our investigative efforts at this time.”

Evidence that a homicide occurred in Sandy Springs was scrubbed from the city’s public police dashboard following Appen Media inquiries, leaving residents no way of knowing a possible murder had taken place in their city.

McGinnis said the entry was likely removed because the case is an active investigation with sensitive information, which is the department’s policy.

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Meeting:

Continued from Page

Meetings generally include the mayor and possibly some city councilmembers from each city as well as city managers and other senior staff.

At least four members of the Johns Creek City Council – a quorum that qualifies as an official Johns Creek City Council meeting – were present at the gathering. The city’s official website carries no listing for the council meeting.

The association also regularly invites representatives from other entities, like Fulton County Government, the Georgia Department of Transportation, MARTA and the Atlanta Regional Commission.

A printed handout shows the meetings are held monthly on Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. on the following dates: March 23, April 27, May 25, June 22, July 27, Aug. 24, Sept. 28, Oct. 26, Nov. 16 and Dec. 13.

Municipal elections

The setup in the conference room Feb. 9, positioned officials in a round-table discussion without microphones, so discussions were sometimes inaudible from the gallery.

Conversation about municipal elections was short, running around 10 minutes. The newly drafted multi-city agreement was not discussed.

However, Fulton County commissioners Bob Ellis and Bridget Thorne provided information on the county’s municipal election budget.

In a split vote, the County Commission passed a resolution Feb. 1 to budget the same amount of money for municipal elections as it did in 2021 — $5.2 million, plus an extra 10 percent for contingencies. The county would then assess its charge for running a local election based on the number of registered voters in the city.

Schools:

Continued from Page 1

the newest edition of a textbook.

Fulton County Schools launched the program in 2018 at the prompting of Schools Superintendent Mike Looney. When COVID-19 hit, the need for early literacy education increased.

“COVID-19 created a learning gap,” Jones said. “We knew we needed to have more resources.”

With the help of the $168.8 million Fulton County Schools received from the 2021 federal American Rescue Plan, the board pushed for more literacy program funding. In 2021, the board approved a $3.26 million contract to implement the professional development program for teachers.

Some estimates for the cost per registered voter were then tossed around.

Milton City Manager Steve Krokoff said he figured the cost per registered voter will be more than $7 for cities that allow Fulton County to conduct their municipal elections this fall.

But, because Milton has already set up an apparatus to run its own election, its cost per registered voter will be less than

Fulton County District 4 School Board member Franchesca Warren said a first grader’s parent told her they saw “a huge difference” between sight-reading and a focus on phonics.

Jones said the program is a “very comprehensive view” of literacy education.

“It shows how the brain works while students are working,” Jones said.

Last year, Fulton County Schools found that 74 percent of their third graders were reading at or above grade level. The school district says it hopes to improve that figure to 95 percent in the next three to five years.

“I can’t wait for another two to three years as these kids get into fourth and fifth grade and how they will handle language,” Warren said.

Throughout the eight-unit program teachers complete two assessments,

$3, Mayor Peyton Jamison said.

Following the meeting, Johns Creek City Councilwoman Erin Elwood found herself in a tense conversation with Alpharetta Mayor Jim Gilvin, in which she expressed concerns about the logistics of North Fulton cities running their own election on short notice as well as cost being the determining factor.

Elwood has consistently contested the

one after the fourth and one after the eighth unit. If they score 80 percent or higher on each assessment, they receive a certificate of mastery and a stipend.

Chief Academic Officer Jones said more than 95 percent of teacher participants achieve the required score.

The programs are led by facilitators already trained in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling. District literacy staff and school-based literacy coaches can become facilitators if they achieve an 88 percent or higher score on each assessment.

So far, 87 staff members are trained facilitators for the first volume of the program, and 22 staff members are trained facilitators for volume two.

The district hopes to continue inhouse training to make the program extend “beyond the life of the grant.”

idea of Johns Creek running its own election or signing an agreement with other cities to coordinate municipal elections.

But Gilvin maintained he has faith in the cities to do a better job than Fulton County this year.

In other action at the meeting, Johns Creek Mayor John Bradberry, who was not in attendance, was elected as the new Municipal Association chair.

District staff members completed the third edition Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading course in June 2022. The contract will fund more than 2,000 additional teachers. The first cohort will include more than 600 school leaders.

Additionally, a group of 1,900 kindergarten through fifth grade teachers will complete the course January 2024. The second cohort that includes about 100 pre-K to 12th grade teachers will complete work in May 2024.

There will also be a 6th-12th grade teacher cohort with approximately 490 participants completing work in May 2024; and a kindergarten through 5th grade teacher cohort of around 450 in December 2024.

The county will create more cohorts as it hires new educators.

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Milton City Manager Steve Krokoff tells North Fulton city officials that he estimates the cost to cities for Fulton County operating their municipal elections will be more than $7 per registered voter. Milton, which will run its own election this November, anticipates a cost of around $3 per registered voter.

Performer evokes the spirit of Harriet Tubman in one-woman show

By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com

ROSWELL, Ga. — The stage at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center was sparsely decorated, with only a few trunks and boxes as decoration for the one-woman show, “The Spirit of Harriet Tubman,” Feb. 4. The set was all writer and star Leslie McCurdy needed to put on the play, which she has performed for 26 years.

As a dancer-turned-actor, McCurdy portrayed abolitionist Harriet Tubman’s life from childhood to old age using only her movement and strategic costumes. The show was a part of the city’s month-long Roswell Roots festival celebrating Black History Month.

Harriet Tubman is best known for her time as an activist working the Underground Railroad, a network of activists and safe houses used by slaves searching for freedom. Tubman was born into slavery and escaped through the Underground Railroad, then returned to rescue 70 more slaves across 13 missions.

Throughout the hour-long family friendly show, McCurdy explored the life and “spirit” of the famous abolitionist in depth, talking about Tubman’s, childhood, family and romantic interests.

As 7-year-old Tubman, McCurdy bounded across the stage and gestured

wildly. As Tubman aged, McCurdy crept through the seats to hide from slave catchers, and later in life, McCurdy’s Tubman trembled and croaked with the wisdom of an elderly woman.

For McCurdy, the performance was an ode to her “personal hero.” McCurdy has always studied Harriet Tubman, but it wasn’t until a friend told her about a play about Tubman that she considered playing her hero.

Once she was cast, McCurdy started performing the play, but she wasn’t comfortable with the script.

“(My friend) actually told me to take that other person’s play and edit it and then I could still use it,” McCurdy said. “He did not tell the playwright that.”

When McCurdy got a cease-and-desist order from the playwright, she wrote her own play and performed it.

“I wrote it in three weeks and memorized it in two days,” McCurdy said. “Twenty-six years later, I’m still doing it.”

After the Feb. 4 performance, McCurdy hosted a Q&A with the audience. She said she does it after every show to help people engage with the material. She also told the audience that not everything in the show is truthful, because it was based off the “legend” of Harriet Tubman.

When a child asked what McCurdy learned creating the show, she said “all of this stuff you saw.”

McCurdy has left the script the same since she created it, even though the information available on Tubman has shifted over that time. McCurdy has changed, though, and so has her performance.

“Every year, I’m a little different, and I bring that perspective,” McCurdy said.

When asked why she keeps performing the piece year after year, McCurdy’s answer

was simple.

“Audiences keep requesting it, and I love it.” McCurdy said. “Performing, it gives me life.”

She came to Roswell after the city’s Cultural Arts Center requested she put on two shows for the annual Roswell Roots festival, a month-long celebration of Black History Month with various educational and cultural events. McCurdy performed the play on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4.

“We programmed this show because we wanted to include a strong youth and family event in our Roots line-up,” Cultural Arts Coordinator David Crowe said. “One that was educational, theatrical and showcased the way arts and culture can bring a community together through history and storytelling.”

Roswell City Councilwoman Christine Hall attended the show, and said it was a great moment for the Roswell Roots 2023 festival.

“This year really rocks,” Hall said.

Families lined up after the show to meet McCurdy and take photos with the performer. One woman tearfully hugged McCurdy and thanked her for her work. Another woman from Tucker said the show was “awesome.”

“Through the arts you can touch people emotionally, even if it might make them uncomfortable,” McCurdy said.

Tara Tucker

DELANEY TARR / APPEN MEDIA Writer and performer Leslie McCurdy answers questions from the audience after a performance of her one-woman show “The Spirit of Harriet Tubman” on Saturday, Feb. 4 at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center.

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Stand-Alone Gloss

ARTIST LORRAINE CHRISTIE’S EXHIBIT

What: The show will feature the works of Lorraine Christie, a local artist whose paintings have been exhibited globally. Christie works primarily with palette knife and brush to create the smooth yet impasto style unique to her work.

When: Thursday, Feb. 16, 6-8 p.m.

Where: Sandy Springs City Hall, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs

More info: sandyspringga.gov

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, Feb. 18, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

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

More info: dunwoodyga.gov

STAR GAZING

What: Bring the entire family out for a night of stargazing with the Atlanta Astronomy Club. The club will have telescopes set up to observe the nighttime sky and will point out interesting constellations and objects, and answer questions about astronomy.

When: Monday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m.

Where: Morgan Falls Overlook Park, 400 Morgan Falls Road, Sandy Springs

More Info: sandyspringsga.gov

ATLANTA

JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

What: Sixty world-class films, narrative and documentary features alongside two handpicked shorts programs, the 23rd annual festival brings Atlanta Jewish Film Festival's mission to life, inspiring diverse communities with cross-cultural understanding.

When: Up to Feb. 21, times vary

Where: City Springs, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs

Cost: Prices vary by date and film

More info: ajff.org

BHADIPA PRESENTS ‘AAI, ME ANI GHARCHA KARYA’

What: “Aai Ani Me” is a popular sketch video series in Marathi, an Indian regional language with over 75 million speakers, set in a typical Indian setting. The series uses anecdotes from the daily lives of typical Indian mothers’ parenting skills and presents a funny sketch about it.

“Aai, Me ani Gharcha Karya” is a variety show about an Indian marriage proposal. The show will be performed in two halves — standup comedy by Sarang Sathaye in the first half, followed by an improv show with the characters of “Aai Ani Me” series.

STAR GAZING

What: Bring the entire family out for a night of stargazing with the Atlanta Astronomy Club. The club will have telescopes set up to observe the nighttime sky and will point out interesting constellations and objects, and answer questions about astronomy.

When: Monday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m.

Where: Morgan Falls Overlook Park, 400 Morgan Falls Road, Sandy Springs 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.

When: Friday, Feb. 24, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Studio Theatre, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs

Cost: $30-$70

More info: sandyspringga.gov

DUNWOODY POLICE POLAR PLUNGE

What: Dunwoody Police will raise money for Special Olympics Georgia through the Polar Plunge. Department members will jump into icy waters in the middle of winter to show their support for Special Olympics athletes.

When: Saturday, Feb. 25, all day

Where: Acworth Beach, 4425 Beach Street, Acworth

More info: dunwoodyga.gov

SUPERSTAR DANCE FOR TEENS AND ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES

What: It’s prom time for people with developmental or physical disabilities, and every attendee will be crowned prom king and queen. A DJ will play dance music, food and refreshments are on the menu, and participants will take home a souve -

nir photo and goody bag. The dress code includes semi-formal attire, but more importantly, Superstar Dancers should wear what they feel most comfortable in. This event is for ages 13 and up.

When: Saturday, Feb. 25, 6 p.m.

Where: Sandy Springs City Hall Conference Center, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs

Cost: Free to attend, but registration is required.

More info: sandyspringsga.gov

WOMEN IN JEOPARDY

What: Liz, Mary and Jo are three mutually supportive, single-againafter-40 friends who have a lot of thoughts about Liz's new boyfriend. Is he a dentist with an odd hobby, a celebrity look-alike, or a serial killer… or maybe all three? It’s “Sex and the City” meets “Murder, She Wrote” in a modern comedy.

When: Feb. 16-March 5, times vary Where: Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest Street, Roswell Cost: $34-$37

More info: get.org

BLACK HISTORY MONTH MURALS

What: Large scale murals have been commissioned by local artists and displayed along the Brook Run Park Skate Park perimeter fence.

When: All February

Where: Brook Run Skate Park, 4770 North Peachtree Road, Dunwoody More info: dunwoodyga.gov

ENCHANTED WOODLAND TRAIL

What: The fairies and gnomes have been busy building whimsical houses along Chattahoochee Nature Center’s forested trails. Slow down as you search for houses made from tiny natural objects. Take notice of the beautiful and enchanting features of the winter woods.

When: Up to Feb. 28, open daily

Where: Chattahoochee Nature Center, 9135 Willeo Road, Roswell

Cost: $15 for adults

More info: chattnaturecenter.org

MEET THE NEWSROOM

Amber Perry

On a normal weekend you could find me...

Going to a music show, roller skating or taking my spritely, old dog for a walk

On a long weekend you could find me…

Somewhere far enough into Appalachia to feel like I’m not in a society

Something I want to do but am just not very good at: Playing an instrument

Delaney Tarr

On a normal weekend you could find me...

Thrift shopping, walking the Atlanta BeltLine or eating oysters.

On a long weekend you could find me…

Visiting my family in Florida or driving out to Athens.

Something I want to do but am just not very good at:

Running

amber@appenmedia.com

Early bird or night owl? Night owl

When folks come to town, I know I’ll take them to eat at...

Restaurant Cafeteria Tia Roseta or Lucky’s

A movie I could quote start to finish…

None, I think I have diagnosable memory loss

Alex Popp

On a normal weekend you could find me...

Working on my house or on the couch with a good book.

On a long weekend you could find me…

Up in the North Carolina mountains hiking or relaxing in my hammock.

Something I want to do but am just not very good at: Flyfishing.

delaney@appenmedia.com

Early bird or night owl?

Night owl

When folks come to town, I know I'll take them to eat at...

Jerusalem Bakery & Grill or Roswell Provisions.

A movie I could quote start to finish…

“Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”

Shelby Israel

On a normal weekend you could find me...

Unwinding and watching movies with my boyfriend Jimmy.

On a long weekend you could find me…

Trying out new restaurants with friends.

Something I want to do but am just not very good at:

Going to the gym and maintaining a self-care routine.

Dionna Williams Jacob Tomberlin

On a normal weekend you could find me...

Relaxing at home either drawing, writing stories or watching YouTube videos.

On a long weekend you could find me…

Riding around the North Atlanta area or walking at the Roswell Riverwalk.

Something I want to do but am just not very good at:

Painting

dionna@appenmedia.com

Early bird or night owl?

Night owl

When folks come to town, I know I’ll take them to eat at... Flatlands. My family is Creole, so we love that there is a great place to get Cajun food in the area.

A movie I could quote start to finish…

“Spider-Man 2.” It’s my favorite childhood movie that I used to watch all the time with my dad.

On a normal weekend you could find me...

Visiting any record shop or indie bookstore in Metro ATL.

On a long weekend you could find me…

Getting out in the sun, visiting friends and family or blasting records.

Something I want to do but am just not very good at:

DJ-ing

alex@appenmedia.com

Early bird or night owl? Night owl.

When folks come to town, I know I’ll take them to eat at...

Shri Krishna Villa in Cumming or LA Sushi in Johns Creek (The best sushi in the metro Atlanta area.)

A movie I could quote start to finish…

“The Usual Suspects” or “Return of the Jedi.”

shelby@appenmedia.com

Early bird or night owl? Night owl

When folks come to town I know I’ll take them to eat at...

Butcher & Brew

A movie I could quote start to finish…

“Pride & Prejudice” (2005)

A dish I’m known for making is...

Creamy pumpkin chorizo pasta.

jacob@appenmedia.com

Early bird or night owl?

Early bird

When folks come to town I know I’ll take them to eat at...

Circle Sushi, Bawarchi Biryanis and of course Waffle House.

A movie I could quote start to finish…

“The Princess Bride”

A dish I’m known for making is...

Sweet and spicy chili

Reporter Reporter

Reporter Reporter

Designer Designer

NEWSROOM

Pat Fox

On a normal weekend you could find me...

Outside, working in my garden.

On a long weekend you could find me…

Hiking up Amicalola Falls

Something I want to do but am just not very good at:

Play piano

Early bird or night owl?

Early bird

Appen

pat@appenmedia.com

When folks come to town, I know I'll take them to eat at...

Café Efendi

A movie I could quote start to finish…

“Miller’s Crossing”

A dish I'm known for making is...

Goulash with red, yellow, orange and green peppers

One thing that can instantly make my day…

A Steven Wright joke

On a normal weekend you could find me...

Taking my Frenchie to the park or strolling through Lenox Mall.

On a long weekend you could find me…

Camping, visiting friends or in Athens

Something I want to do but am just not very good at:

Skateboarding

Hans Appen

On a normal weekend you could find me...

Playing taxi driver for my 3 children and their various activities.

On a long weekend you could find me…

At Saint Simons Island

Something I want to do but am just not very good at:

Fishing

Early bird or night owl?

Aspiring early bird

Early bird or night owl?

Night owl

When folks come to town, I know I’ll take them to eat at...

The Rusty Nail, Hibachi Express or Café Intermezzo

A movie I could quote start to finish…

“Troy”

Six Flags or White Water?

Six Flags

carl@appenmedia.com hans@appenmedia.com

When folks come to town I know I’ll take them to eat at...

Anywhere in downtown Alpharetta

A movie I could quote start to finish…

“The Departed”

A dish I’m known for making is...

Cereal with milk

One thing that can instantly make my day…

Coffee

These days the Appen Media newsroom is looking a little different.

First and foremost, it’s growing. This winter we added two new positions. Our Perimeter reporter will lead coverage of two new city councils. A second news designer will help our reporters’ stories get the presentation they deserve. Together the additions will help our newest publicationthe Sandy Springs Crier - get off the ground. Hopefully, there are more to come.

Pat Fox continues to helm our editorial staff, but most faces are new. So, we all wanted to take a moment and introduce - or reintroduce - ourselves.

If you’re out and about and see someone with a red Appen Media press pass around their neck, say hello. You can also come by July Moon Bakery in Alpharetta on Feb. 22 at 9 a.m. for the first Appen Press Club event of 2023. It’s free to attend and open for everyone.

Hope to see you around town.

— Carl Appen

Carl

Managing Editor

Director of Content & Development Publisher

Recalling life in segregated Roswell

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

ROSWELL, Ga. — Sandra Taylor

remembers taking the bus with her mom in the 1950s from Roswell to Atlanta to shop. She would go down the aisle, notice empty seats on the bus and ask her mother if they could sit there.

“She would say, ‘Hush’ and just squeeze my hand and drag me to the back of the bus,” Taylor said.

Taylor and Charles Grogan, Roswell’s Black historian, added details to Roswell’s Black history that original documents couldn’t offer during a Feb. 2 presentation led by Roswell Historical Society Archivist Elaine DeNiro.

While no longer residents, Taylor and Grogan gave the packed audience in a Roswell Public Library conference room intertwining first-hand accounts of what it was like to grow up Black in a racially segregated city.

In “Black History: Honoring Our Past,” DeNiro described ledgers, news articles and photographs – some that included Taylor, Grogan, their family members and even some audience members, who would then bolster the history with their own experiences, or the experience of those that came before them, gathered from oral tradition.

Around the room, some uttered, “... Not much different than today.”

Pleasant Hill Baptist Church

DeNiro began the account with the Cherokee Nation, which owned slaves based on an 1833 census. She followed up with the history of Roswell’s founding families, who reintroduced slaves to the area from the coast.

The enslaved were given land in 1855, DeNiro said, to establish a place of worship — Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. Grogan remembered visiting with his uncle, whose parents were buried there. According to the cemetery’s description, the congregation dates to 1847.

In 1922, land was purchased where the current church building sits. The Rev. Joshua Grogan headed the church at the time, but years later, he baptized Taylor when she was 9. The reverend was her cousin.

“I remember him telling me to close my eyes, to hold my breath, that ‘I’ll take care of you,’” Taylor said.

Grogan and Taylor recalled segregated movie theaters. The Roswell theater was off limits, so Taylor went to the one in Marietta, but upstairs. The bottom floor was reserved for Whites only.

“I don’t think they ever cleaned upstairs,” Taylor said. “You would step on popcorn boxes and sticky soda on the floor.”

Grogan went to the theater in Alpharetta, also confined to the upstairs space. He worked as a cleaner at the Roswell theater, but he couldn’t attend a show.

“It never dawned on me,” Grogan said. “That’s just the way life was.”

Taylor and Grogan also spoke about their time attending Bailey Johnson, a school once named the Alpharetta Colored School.

Grogan attended for three months and said that his 1965 graduating class was the largest ever at 14 students.

Black fellowship

DeNiro spoke about Grove Way Community Center, which Taylor said was a haven for Black people to have a good time and fellowship in a safe place. Grogan had his 16th birthday party there.

But Grogan’s “most important thing” was the Josh Gibson Baseball League, later named the Roswell Flames, then the Southern Flames. The Black baseball league was organized by Grogan’s uncle, Charles Grogan, and two other men, Alonzo Allen and Estee Strickland. Games were held on Woodstock Road.

Grogan joined the team at age 15.

“That was the thing I loved the most — that Negro league,” Grogan said.

Taylor also remembered going to the games. Her dad was a baseball fanatic.

“It was such a joy to see him and his brothers and other Black people get together and have fun,” Taylor said. “The kids could watch and run around and

eat the good food from the concessions … It was just the love for the game and for the people.”

Throughout the ’70s, Roswell remained a small, Southern town with little diversity, DeNiro said.

Young Black adults moved out of town to find housing and employment.

In 1971, Taylor and her new husband had a hard time finding housing, despite a fair housing law that should have gone into effect years before. While White people were told there were vacancies, Black people were told a different story, she said.

“A lot of the Black people that grew up in Roswell and wanted to stay in Roswell moved to Atlanta, College Park,

DeKalb County, Cobb County because we could not get housing in Roswell,” Taylor said.

The dynamic changed in the ’80s and ’90s, DeNiro said, when there was an influx of northern Black families.

By 2000, the city’s historically Black neighborhoods had been threatened by development, DeNiro said, showing side-by-side photos of Webb Street. The picture from 2022 was drastically different.

Grogan and Taylor grew up on Webb Street, only feet away from one another.

“Growing up on Webb Street was fun because you knew everybody on the street,” Taylor said. “Everybody looked out for each other.”

PHOTOS BY AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Charles Grogan, Black historian for the City of Roswell, speaks on his personal experiences growing up in a Black Roswell neighborhood Feb. 2. Grogan was joined by Sandra Taylor, who also recalled racial segregation in the city, as part of a Roswell Historical Society presentation on the city’s Black history at the Roswell Public Library.

Roswell Historical Society Archivist Elaine DeNiro presents original documents related to Roswell’s Black history at the Roswell Public Library Feb. 2.

PAST TENSE

DeWald’s Alley, a community of Black families on Barfield Road

A small community of Black families lived along Barfield Road in Sandy Springs from the 1920s until commercial development in the 1960s.

VALERIE BIGGERSTAFF

Columnist

The area was known as DeWald’s Alley, likely named for property owner George DeWald and his family. DeWald was a stockbroker with a home on Peachtree Dunwoody Road.

Christine Burdett Melton and her brother Lee H. Burdett, known as Jimmy, recalled DeWald’s Alley in a 1993 oral history. They described the road as an unpaved street off Barfield Road. Most of the residents worked at nearby homes and businesses. (Sandy Springs Historic Community Foundation, 1993 oral history of Lee H. Burdett and Christine Burdett Melton)

Willie and Pearl Jones and several other families are listed on Barfield Road in the census of 1940. Willie Jones did landscape work to support his family. Lucius and Dorothy Mae Spivey, Melvin and Willa Mae Peters, and DeLee Morehead and Katherine Morehead lived along DeWald’s Alley. DeLee Morehead was a laborer in the building industry, and Katherine Morehead worked as a servant in a private home.

Other families listed include the Brown, Blonson and Harris families. Henry Harris worked as a cook at a tearoom, and Moses Harris worked as a yardman at various homes.

One of the categories on the 1940 census listed whether the individual was in school and how many years of school were completed. Some of the children are listed as having attended school in 1940. Schools were segregated, so unfortunately the children would either have traveled to a Fulton County school for Black children some distance away, or the community may have operated their own school.

Several families appear in the 1950 census, living on Barfield Road between Mt. Vernon Highway and Hammond Drive. Tommy and Maggie Bains and Douglas and Flora Bacon are listed. Tommy did landscape work and Douglas worked in a local drug store.

The family of Jessie and Grace Pruitt are recorded on the census, with Jessie working at a steel plant and Grace working as a house cleaner. The Austin family included William

and Marilyn. William worked as a cook at a college, most likely Oglethorpe University. The Moon, Jones, Heard, and Lloyd families were also living in DeWald’s Alley in 1950.

Melvin Pender recalls that his parents moved from Dalton, Georgia, to his grandparents’ Sandy Springs home temporarily in 1937 in anticipation of his birth. He was born Oct. 31 at a segregated Grady Hospital. Pender went on to become a captain in the 82nd Airborne, serving two tours during the Vietnam War. He also represented the U.S. in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics, winning a Gold Medal in 1968 for the 4 x100 relay. (“Expression of Hope: the Mel Pender Story,” by Melvin and Deborah Pender)

Captain Pender moved into the home of his grandparents in 1949. They had moved to Lynwood Park in Brookhaven. According to “Stories of Lynwood Park” by Veronica Menenez Holmes, some residents of DeWald’s Alley, including Pender’s grandparents, relocated to Lynwood

Park. Pender’s mother helped bring a church from the Sandy Springs community to Lynwood Park. That church was Mt. Mary Baptist Church.

Riding along Barfield Road today, one would never know that the community of DeWald’s Alley existed. The people who lived there and their efforts in difficult times to provide for their families should be remembered.

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.

HERITAGE SANDY SPRINGS 2017 ISSUE OF THE SANDY SPRINGS GAZETTE

From left, Clarence Pruitt and A.C. Peters at DeWald’s Alley, date unknown.

From left, Dorothy Garrison, Gwin Loyd and Hazel Lloyd play along DeWald’s Alley in the 1960s.

PRESERVING THE PAST

Collecting old radios brings history back to life

BOB MEYERS

Columnist

WSB’s 100th anniversary celebration last year reminds us how much the extraordinary invention of the radio has contributed to society. The South’s first radio station, WSB, began operations in 1922 with 100 watts of power, about the same as an average light bulb, versus 50,000 watts today.

In today’s column I will discuss radio’s history and how some local people, members of the Southeastern Antique Radio Society, help keep alive one aspect of the amazing history of this medium.

In 1893, Nikola Tesla, a Serbian immigrant, demonstrated a wireless radio to audiences in St Louis. He later developed and marketed the first successful long distance wireless telegraph. In 1894, Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian engineer, received the first wireless telegraph patent in England where he spent most of his working life. In 1901, Marconi broadcast the first transatlantic radio signal. More than 700 people survived the Titanic disaster in 1912 thanks to his wireless telegraphy device.

While men such as Tesla and Marconi were responsible for the practical application of radio waves, their highly recognized achievements were based on theoretical work by many uncrowned pioneers, such as the physicist Heinrich Hertz whose experiments in 1877-1888 in Frankfurt, Germany, paved the way forward.

Broadcasting voice signals to general audiences by combining sound and radio waves, as opposed to point-to-point wireless transmissions using dots and dashes, had its start in the early 1900s. The next 50 years were marked by amazing and rapid achievements. By 1915, telephone conversations were broadcast across the Atlantic. In 1920, America’s first commercial radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, broadcast live election returns and the news that Warren G. Harding had won that year’s presidential election. Subsequently, the station also broadcast sporting events, baseball scores, time signals and market reports. Grand Ole Opry began broadcasting in 1925 and is the longest running radio broadcast in the world. By that year, there were 1,400 commercial radio stations in the U.S. Today there are more than 15,000.

The first radio receivers were sold with headsets because loudspeakers had not been invented yet. Radio sets were battery operated. In the early 1920’s modifications and improvements came in rapid order. Constant improvements in tube design in the 1920s improved reception, volume and sound quality.

Radio News, published from 1919 to 1971, began as a magazine for amateur radio enthusiasts but gradually became focused on the technical aspects of radios and electronics. Looking at the ads and articles in old technical magazines is a good way to track developments in the fast-changing radio and related industries.

This peacetime research and development by communications equipment manufacturers contributed mightily to the success of our fighting forces in World War II. Portable communications systems and switchboards, field telephones and shipbased communications systems helped change the nature of the battlefield. The precursor to today’s cell phones occurred in 1946 when Bell Laboratories launched the country’s first mobile radio telephone system.

Collecting antique radios is a popular hobby with dozens of clubs in 35 states. The Southeastern Antique Radio Society is a Georgia example. The organization publishes a quarterly newsletter and holds monthly dinner meetings. Their annual winter swap meet and radio show

will be held on Saturday, March 4, at the American Legion Post, 201 Wills Road in Alpharetta, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is their website for further information: https:// www.sarsradio.com. Free to the public. Everyone is welcome.

Collectors tend to specialize in specific aspects of the radio industry: attractive radios of old, technological breakthrough models, colorful transistor radios from the 1950s and 1960s, advertising, even tubes and the artistic boxes they came in.

Jim Del Principe, past president and current vice president of the Southeastern Antique Radio Society, said he thinks the club is “a way to reach back to a simpler time. Musical styles were limited, and families would gather to listen to music. There were daytime programs for house-

“Genuine Plastic Radios of the Mid-Century,” published by Schiffer Publishing in 1998, provides 219 pages and hundreds of photos of collectable plastic radios. Early models were by Bakelite and Catalin. Following WW II, many electronic companies produced inexpensive plastic radios. Companies such as Emerson, Motorola and Zenith turned out beautiful, colorful and imaginative designs. Catalin radios are generally the most valuable today because the colorful plastic used in their manufacture tended to shrink and crack from the heat generated by the radios.

wives such as the ‘Lux Radio Theater’ and ‘Queen for a Day,’ evening programs for the kids like ‘The Shadow’ and ‘Tarzan’ and adventure programs at night.” Most radio operators were amateurs who made it possible for Artic and Antarctic explorers to maintain contact with people back home before commercial services were available.

Another former president of the Georgia club is Milton resident Gordon Hunter who is the proud owner of 450 antique (at least 100 years old) and vintage (at least 50 years old) radios dating from the 1920s to the 1970s. He notes that early radios often had beautiful wood cabinets, creative designs and in the 1930s colorful Bakelite and Catalin plastic cases. Bakelite “the material of a thousand uses” and Catalin plastics were used in a wide variety of consumer products. Because of the way Catalin plastic was produced, over time radios developed cracks due to the heat they generated, making surviving radios rare, highly collectible and very expensive. According to Hunter, “collecting old radios, especially small ones, is addictive. There is usually something at a swap meet that fits perfectly in one’s collection.”

By the way, WSB, has a meaning, Welcome South Brother. The station is owned by Cox Media Group.

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.

PHOTOS BY BOB MEYERS/APPEN MEDIA

APPEN MEDIA’S FIRST EVER

Shopping Spree Giveaway

Start the year off right with a chance to win a $1,000 Shopping Spree courtesy of Appen Media and the Crier Newspapers.

Each week, our newsroom will hide this shopping cart image in the newspaper. Once you find it, visit appenmedia.com/shoppingspree and enter

1) Your name

2) Your email

3) The page number you found the image That’s it!

The contest will run for 13 consecutive weeks, so submit an entry each week to maximize your chances of winning.

The winner will be randomly drawn, notified on Monday, April 3rd and announced in the April 13th Crier publications. HAPPY SHOPPING …and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The evolution of the NFMG Lecture Series through the pandemic

The title of this column really sums up the transformation of our horticultural education over the past three years. Prior to the pandemic shut down in March 2020, we presented each of our seven gardening classes in person at three different locations in North Fulton County (Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, and Roswell). We typically attracted about 300 attendees to all 21 classes.

During the spring 2020 Lecture Series, life as we knew it came to a standstill. On March 13, in response to COVID-19, we announced the cancellation of the remainder of our in-person classes.

Our team quickly pivoted and learned how to record classes using Zoom. We created a YouTube channel. We recorded one of our cancelled classes using Zoom and uploaded this first video in May 2020. This Hydrangea lecture has 1402 views to date.

In 2020, we Zoom pre-recorded and posted 13 gardening lectures to our YouTube channel. To date these classes have been viewed more than 5,600 times.

In the spring of 2021, feeling brave, we transitioned to live Zoom webinars. Our team executed an extensive marketing and social media campaign. We held 10 live webinars – streaming live to both Zoom and Facebook and afterward, we posted the recordings to those same sites. The Spring Gardening Lecture Series has had over 11,000 views, of which 2,500 were viewed live on Zoom and Facebook.

The 2021 David Gibby International Master Gardener Search for Excel -

TALK BACK TO THE CRIER

“Garden Buzz” guest columnist is Lee Tanenbaum, a master gardener since 2011. Lee is NFMG’s Communications co-chair for Publicity and Marketing as well as the current interim chair of the NFMG Gardening Education Team. Lee is a retired speech-language pathologist and public health professional, a mother of three, and a grandmother of nine. Lee loves to garden and travel, especially with her grandchildren.

Learn more about the North Fulton Master Gardeners

• linktr.ee/NFMG

• http://nfmg.net/communityclasses.htm

• facebook.com/northfultonmastergardeners

• twitter.com/NFMGardeners

• youtube.com/northfultonmastergardeners

• instagram.com/northfultonmastergardeners

lence Awards recognized the North Fulton Master Gardeners for our efforts in the face of a global pandemic in successfully providing horticultural education to the North Fulton community and beyond through virtual webinar technology. The First Place Award in the Workshops/Presentations category was made on Sept. 15, 2021, during the virtual International Master Gardener Conference. View our video at https://youtu. be/_1hSJfpsFS0.

We are pleased that more than 5,800 people have attended one or more of the 43 free NFMG Garden Lectures live-streamed on Zoom or Face -

book since May 2020. An additional 25,000 people have viewed the videos on the NFMG YouTube video library at youtube.com/northfultonmastergardeners.

Our class registrants hail not only from North Fulton County but also from throughout Georgia and the United States, Canada and a smattering of other countries! Thirty to 40 percent of each class are Master Gardeners from throughout Georgia and neighboring Southeastern states.

As society opened after the early months of the pandemic, we surveyed our class attendees to determine whether they were ready to transition back to in-person gardening classes. We learned that 90 percent of the 355 people who responded to our spring 2022 survey at the end of each class prefer viewing our classes through Zoom and Facebook Live streaming, while an additional 6 percent of respondents prefer to view the classes later at their leisure through our YouTube channel. Amazingly, only 4 percent of respondents tell us that they prefer to attend in-person classes in North Fulton.

The decision is clear! Post pandemic learners prefer virtual learning. So, the North Fulton Master Gardeners in collaboration with UGA Extension in Fulton County will continue to provide horticultural education to the North Fulton community and beyond through free virtual gardening education programming.

The Spring 2023 Gardening Lecture Series begins Sunday, March 5, and will again be available through live Zoom webinars and Facebook Live as well as viewable for later viewing several days later through our YouTube channel.

Each class emphasizes practical gardening activities at the time of year

that is best suited for that activity. You may register for all five classes or just pick specific classes. Please register in advance at https://bit.ly/ Spring2023NFMG-GardeningLectureSeries to assure your place. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join the webinar. If you cannot attend the live webinar, you can register anyway so you will receive a recorded link to the class.

Don’t miss these incredible opportunities to learn more about gardening in metro Atlanta.

• Walk in the Woods with Spring Wildflowers - Observing the Beauty of Nature, Sunday, March 5, 2023, at 2 p.m.

• Figs at Home: An Introduction to Growing Figs in the Southeast for the Home Gardener, Sunday, March 12, 2023, at 2 p.m.

• Insect Allies: Predators and Parasitoids in the Garden, Sunday, March 19, 2023, at 2 p.m.

• Ferns of the Southeast, Sunday, March 26, 2023, at 2 p.m.

• Annual and Perennial Plants for Water Gardens, Sunday, April 2, 2023, at 2 p.m.

For more details, visit https:// mailchi.mp/nfmg/nfmg-februaryupdate.

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.

Prostitution stings require more data

I read the article about the practice of the Dunwoody police reporting the City Hall address for suspected cases of prostitution and the resulting question about public transparency. I understand the business interest in protecting the reputation of the hotels in our area.

Whether the address of the actual hotel is published is less of a question for me than asking if the Police Department or other city authorities track data about the arrests and work with those hotels to im-

prove their security or prevention practices. For example, are any hotels used more than others? Are there hotels that have an ongoing problem with human trafficking and prostitution? How does the location of the hotel affect the number of suspected instances of this behavior? Are minors involved? Are there particular days or times when suspected instances occur?

Mapping of the data about these arrests along with other person or time analyses could tell a story and provide better insight

into why particular hotels are ongoing locations for these particular arrests. As a member of the public, I don’t have to know the particular hotels involved, but I think the Dunwoody Police, the city authorities and the hotel management would want to answer these questions – and plan for better public prevention and hotel staff awareness.

HELEN PERRY DUNWOODY

LEE TANENBAUM

Guest Columnist

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/

Truck Driver

NFCC needs a reliable driver to work part-time picking up scheduled donations. The person in this role may also assist with facility maintenance and must maintain accurate vehicle maintenance records. It is crucial that they represent NFCC with a professional and friendly demeanor. 1-2 years of box truck delivery experience is preferred. Candidate must maintain a valid Georgia driver’s license and be free of any traffic violations for the past three years.  Work on Saturdays or Sundays may be required occasionally. For a complete job description, please visit https://nfcchelp.org/work-at-nfcc/

TRAVEL AGENT , 2 years+ experience required. Call 770-396-3299. Email resume to: leslie@travelfaire.net

Part-Time

FRONT DESK RECEPTIONIST for Dunwoody chiropractic office. 3PM-6PM, 4 days/week. Computer skills necessary. seidart@aol.com

POOL TECHNICIANS WANTED

Part-time & Full-time positions available. Pay is $12-$14 per hour. Hours starting at 6:30AM, Monday-Friday. Pick-up truck not required but must have your own reliable transportation. Gas allowance provided. Looking for people who enjoy working outside and are enthusiastic, dependable & punctual. Able to contribute independently or on a crew with consistently friendly attitude.

Well-established commercial pool maintenance company providing service in the North Atlanta Metro area.

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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 $5,000.

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