Sandy Springs Crier - February 23, 2023

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Dunwoody Police: Persons behind antisemitic fliers won’t be charged

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Authorities have identified the Individuals responsible for distributing antisemitic flyers in Dunwoody and Sandy Springs Feb. 5, but they will not pursue charges, Dunwoody Police Chief Billy Grogan said.

Grogan told members of the Dunwoody City Council Feb. 13 the Police Department has concluded its investigation and has determined no charges can be filed in the case, because the flyers did not contain a threat or any other actionable language.

Firefighters drop a line to cheer young patients

“After conducting a thorough investigation and discussing this with the District Attorney’s Office and City Solicitor's Office there's no charge we can make against them,” Grogan said. “It’s a free speech issue.”

The flyers, which were found on driveways around the two cities, sparked an immediate public outcry from community members and leaders statewide, including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and state Rep. Esther Panitch.

“Welcome to being a Jew in Georgia,” Panitch Tweeted, sharing a photo of the flyers on her driveway in Sandy Springs.

See FLIERS, Page 3

Early automobiles were quite a sight on area roadways

Sandy Springs firefighters rappel down the side of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Scottish Rite Hospital in Atlanta during a technical rescue training event Feb. 14. City officials said the training event is a perfect way to engage with the community and give firefighters experience in the real world. Read story, Page 6

SANDY SPRINGS/PROVIDED

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Suspect and victim named in Sandy Springs homicide

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Police have identified a murder suspect in a fatal shooting of an Atlanta man that occurred at an abandoned Sandy Springs property Sunday, Jan. 29.

Sandy Springs police located the body of Michael Williams deceased in a car at about 6 p.m., after responding to a call about an abandoned vehicle at 4499 Peachtree Dunwoody Road.

A Sandy Springs Police Computer Aided Dispatch report for the incident, obtained by Appen Media, said a witness 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.

Police suspect Williams was shot and killed Jan. 26 by Kemit Campbell, an alleged member of the Gangster Disciples street gang. A BOLO seeking information about the murder said Williams drove to Campbell’s home in Atlanta for a drug transaction, was robbed at gunpoint and forced into his own vehicle.

Campbell allegedly made Williams drive to the residence on Peachtree Dunwoody Road, fatally shot him and fled the scene, police said.

The Sandy Springs Police Department secured warrants for Campbell’s arrest for murder and armed robbery. Police said he should be considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information about

Campbell’s whereabouts should contact Sandy Springs Detectives B. Davidson at (770) 551-3327 or BDavidson@ SandySpringsGa.gov and C. Needham at (770) 551-2563 or CNeedham@SandySpringsGa.gov.

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.

Sgt. Matthew McGinnis, public information officer for the Sandy Springs Police Department, said the entry was likely removed because the case is an active investigation with sensitive information, which is the department’s policy.

Sandy Springs Police Reports

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.

Here are a few public safety items gleaned from reports that include limited details:

• On Feb. 9, a Sandy Springs Police officer heard a dispatch call about an armed robbery near Lake Forest Drive and Allen Road. The case was cleared by arrest on Feb. 10. The report lists two victims, with a purse and $150 stolen. A second purse was recovered by police. Officers also recovered a handgun as evidence. There is no other information available about the armed robbery besides a list of 16 different “assisting officers.”

• On Feb. 9, a Sandy Springs Police responded to a “threats call” on Summit Springs Drive. The report was filed under terroristic threats. The case is listed as

inactive. No other information is available in the report.

• On Feb. 10, Sandy Springs Police were dispatched to a domestic call at an apartment on Roswell Road. The police report listed as “battery” was cleared by arrest the same day. There is no other information in the report.

• On Feb. 9, a resident came into Sandy Springs Police Headquarters to report packages worth $450 stolen from her apartment. Video cameras showed trash valet stealing a coffee table and two end tables in shipping boxes around 3:45 a.m. The case is still open.

Theatre to mark 30th season with production of ‘Cinderella’

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Jerry’s Habima Theatre, the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta’s award-winning, inclusive theater company, will celebrate its 30th anniversary season with a production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella: Youth Edition.”

Jerry’s Habima Theatre is Georgia's only professional theater company that features actors with special needs, who perform alongside professional actors to create a Broadway-style performance. In addition to actors, professional staging managers, costume designers, directors and choreographers also work with the

Fliers:

Continued from Page 1

Grogan said the city also won’t be able to cite the individuals for littering, because they don’t cite other individuals and organizations for distributing flyers, which is common in the Dunwoody area. To enforce one because they don’t like the message would expose them legally, he said.

However, Grogan did say that the individuals involved in the incident have been identified and are now on local

Sandy Springs #1 Kitchen

theater company.

Jerry’s Habima Theatre’s upcoming production of “Cinderella” is the timeless story of magic, romance and the surprising power of wishes reimagined with great warmth and hilarity. All the beloved songs and characters are present and accounted for, including “Ten Minutes Ago,” “A Lovely Night,” and “Impossible.”

The performance will run from March 9-19. The show will be held at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta’s Morris & Rae Frank Theatre on Tilly Mill Road.

authorities’ radar.

“I mean they posted a video online of them passing the flyers around, so we know who did it,” he said.

Since the incident, Panitch and other Georgia lawmakers have united behind House Bill 30, currently being considered at the Capitol, which would define antisemitism under Georgia law and link it to the state’s hate crimes law.

“This weekend it was my turn to be targeted,” Panitch said on the Georgia House floor Feb. 6. “We all know it might the Jews today, but the same people will come after you tomorrow.”

MARCUS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF ATLANTA/PROVIDED Robbie Cox, Molly Drumm and Cynthia Outman rehearse with Jerry’s Habima Theatre for the upcoming “Cinderella: Youth Edition.” The performance will run from March 9-19 at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta’s Morris & Rae Frank Theatre on Tilly Mill Road.

Community honors volunteer who worked to rescue dogs

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

DUNWOODY, Ga. — To nearly all who knew or met her, Dunwoody resident Rosemary Rutland was an unrelenting force of selflessness, generosity and positivity.

Friends and family said Rutland dedicated herself to supporting and caring for animals in the community for decades, helping countless dogs find forever whomes with loving families in the process.

Rutland died Jan. 23 at the age of 64 after a protracted battle with pancreatic cancer, but those who knew her best said her legacy will live on through the lives of people and animals her work affected.

“She is going to be a tremendous loss,” Rutland’s longtime friend Lisa Johnson said.

Johnson, who founded Ruff Dog Rescue in Milton, said Rutland was a master at seeing, “the extraordinary out of the ordinary” and loved helping the most difficult dogs, no matter what type of care they needed.

Rutland made a habit of rescuing dogs who had truly been left behind, Johnson said.

“She never went for the easy dogs,” she said. “She didn't go for the little cute little fluffy dog that everyone ponders over, she would literally go and look at the longest residents there.”

But throughout her years working at animal shelters and rescue programs in the community, Rutland’s husband Tracy said his wife’s greatest gift was her ability to engage with people and help them find the right dog.

“So many people in dog rescue are more focused on getting the dogs treated and healthy and everything else, but they don't necessarily know how to do the people part of it,” Tracy Rutland said. And she was really good at that.”

Rosemary would often continue checking in with families for years after they adopted a dog, he said, sometimes getting them to adopt another animal years later.

In some cases, like with Johnson, those check-ins turned into a lifelong friendship.

“Our first encounter was at one of the local county animal shelters, and I was looking at dogs to rescue,” Johnson said. “She could obviously tell what I was doing and she goes, ‘take that one’ and that’s just kind of how she was, she always put herself out there to engage and get to know people.”

In time, Rutland even became one of Johnson’s best volunteers at Ruff Dog Rescue.

“Having a pet rescue, a lot of volunteers come and go throughout the years,” she

Friends

JODY JOYCE

LOCAL

said. “But there was a period of time that Rosemary was what I would consider the heart and soul of the rescue.”

Rosemary and Tracy Rutland got involved in the north Georgia dog rescue community when they moved back to Dunwoody from overseas in 2001. Over the years, the couple did everything from pulling dogs out of kill shelters to running adoption events in the community.

Eventually, Rosemary became known as the “dog lady” in their area of Dunwoody, Tracy Rutland said.

In recent years, she focused her work on the Georgia Jack Russell Terrier Rescue and the BarkVille Dog Rescue in Jasper. She also was heavily involved in efforts to improve the conditions of rural dogs in winter, visiting rural communities and talking to dog owners about bringing their pets inside when the weather gets cold.

HANNAH WILDNER/PROVIDED

Another longtime friend, Jody Joyce, said she was inspired to get involved with the rescue community after meeting Rutland at an adoption event back in 2012.

“She taught me so much, about not just about rescuing dogs, but rehabbing and rehoming,” Joyce said. “She really was one of the kindest and most generous and amazing women I've ever come across in my entire life.”

Joyce, who now serves as the adult dog coordinator for Ruff Dog Rescue, said it was easy to see Rutland’s impact on the community by the sheer number of people who came to visit her in hospice.

On some days, as many as 68 people visited her, Joyce said.

“The earth needs more Rosemarys,” she said. “It would definitely be a better place if we had more people like Rosemary.”

A celebration of life ceremony for Rutland has been scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 26. It will be held at Buckhead Church, 3336 Peachtree Road NE in Atlanta, with a greeting and gathering from 1:45 p.m.2:30 p.m. and a celebration of life from 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, Rutland has asked for donations to go to her favorite nonprofits, the Georgia Jack Russell Rescue & Adoption, and the BarkVille Dog Rescue.

“The earth needs more Rosemarys.”

Adult dog coordinator for Ruff Dog Rescue

and family of longtime Dunwoody resident and volunteer, Rosemary Rutland, say she was utterly dedicated to helping both people and animals. Rutland died from Pancreatic Cancer Jan. 23 at the age of 64.

Firefighters build their skills in front of young audience

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Patients at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta got an interesting surprise while looking out their windows on Valentine’s Day morning this year.

It wasn’t cupid launching his arrows at unsuspecting couples, but a group of Sandy Spring firefighters practicing high-rise rescue skills in the real world, rappelling down the hospital’s roof and taking a few moments to brighten the day of the youngsters.

“It's important for us at Children’s to collaborate, support and nourish relationships with our local first responders,” Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Director of Security Angela Gilovanni said. “The Sandy Springs Fire Department has an amazing team who is dedicated to this type of relationship-building and collaboration with Children’s.”

Sandy Springs Communications Director Andrew Allison said the Fire Department regularly conducts training for its technical rescue team on large buildings and elevated terrain, to give firefighters experience in the real world. But this time, they decided to switch things up and give people a show.

“The event was designed as a community outreach effort, centered around the kids at the children’s hospital,” Allison said. “The whole reason behind the event was to cheer up the kids, with the additional benefit of offering a training opportunity.”

Hospital patients looked like they were having a great time watching firefighters scale the building, Allison said, and the department was glad to involve them in the training.

LOCAL NEWS

“It’s important to involve the community so they can better understand what SSFD does on emergency scenes and how they react to certain situations or scenarios,” he said.

Sandy Springs did not make any Fire Department personnel available for an interview about the event but provided comments from Allison via email.

SANDY SPRINGS/PROVIDED

A Sandy Springs firefighter rappels down the side of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Scottish Rite Hospital Feb. 14, stopping to wave at patients every so often.

The Fire Department held a training event at the hospital to practice real-world rescue skills and brighten the day of young patients.

Dunwoody city leaders study medical cannabis regulations

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Medical cannabis may not come to Dunwoody anytime soon, but city leaders recently laid the groundwork for how future sick residents could get cannabis oils under new Georgia laws.

At the Feb. 13 Dunwoody City Council meeting, members extended a moratorium banning cannabis dispensaries in the city until September before participating in a discussion about Georgia’s medical cannabis laws and how the city needs to prepare for the future.

Deputy Community Development Director Paul Leonhardt said medical cannabis, in the form of low- level THC oil, has been legal since 2019 thanks to Georgia’s Hope Act. Under the law, which is much more restrictive than other states, people with 17 specific medical conditions can buy and use THC oils as a form of medicine. The list includes conditions like endstage cancer, for instance, Leonhardt said.

Unlike traditional cannabis flower or THC oil purchased illegally on the street or in states where it’s sale has been legalized, Georgia law stipulates legal low THC oil must contain less than 5 percent THC.

“In recreational cannabis, things you buy on the street more or less, the THC content is typically 19 percent or can be more than 19 percent,” he said. “So, Georgia has really strict regulations comparatively.”

A path opens

The Georgia Hope Act opened two pathways to dispense medical cannabis,

Leonhardt said. One path is through the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, which deals with standalone dispensaries and is expected to license six operators with some 30 dispensaries statewide.

The second route, the State Board of Pharmacy, has not been fleshed out as of 2022, Leonhardt said.

As part of their research, Dunwoody officials looked at seven Florida municipalities where medical marijuana has been legal since 2014, under much more permissive laws. Their research found that Georgia’s medical cannabis laws could be implemented in the community with minimal impact and risk.

The city also considered the City of Doraville, which passed legislation in 2022 to make dispensaries a special use with a special land use permit, which requires approval from the Doraville Planning Commission and City Council.

After examining these communities, Leonhardt said Dunwoody city staff recommended either moving forward with an ordinance making dispensaries a permitted use or a special use. The first option would be more administrative, while the second option would be more restrictive, similar to Doraville.

Either way, he said they recommended adopting requirements in line with state law, with stipulations preventing clustering of the businesses and language to prevent consumption of cannabis on the premises of potential businesses.

Council members react

After Leonhardt’s presentation, Dun-

woody Mayor Lynn Deutsch and the City Council shared largely positive feedback, mixed with a few questions, comments and concerns.

“To me, this is a narrow law written to provide essentially a drug for people with chronic medical conditions,” Post 2 Councilman Robb Price said. “Do we want our citizens to be able to access that if they have those conditions? I think, yes. So I think we do want to figure out a way for something like this to be allowed in the city.”

Most councilmembers also agreed the “permitted use” option would be best for Dunwoody and said they like the rules that would limit the number of dispensaries and spreading them out in the city.

“I think the important thing for us to remember is this isn't us becoming a Colorado and this isn't recreational use and people aren’t going in to get edibles and go crazy,” Post 3 Councilman Tom Lambert said. “This is medical, this is regulated by the state, they'll need a prescription. I think people that are recreational users will have no interest in this, because it's probably going to be more expensive and the potency is far less than what they can get from their local dealer.”

However, several other members expressed some concerns about rushing to a decision without a good template in Georgia to model their policy after.

“I just wish someone else had already opened one in Georgia,” Deutsch said.

The City Council took no action on the item, but Leonhardt said he had heard enough information to continue working on the topic.

School system offers guidance on bullying

ATLANTA — As part of a “Parent Safety Toolkit,” the Fulton County School System listed facts and tips on bullying for parents and children.

Bullying is distinctly different from disagreements between peers or aggressive behaviors between siblings or current dating partners and can be characterized by intentional and repeated behaviors that often have a power imbalance.

Bullying can take many forms, including direct and indirect bullying. Examples of direct bullying are verbal abuse or physical aggression, while direct bullying might be name calling, social isolation, defamation and rumor spreading. Bullying can also take the form of cyberbullying, which is any type of bullying carried out

through electronic media.

Bullying can leave a lasting impact on victims, perpetrators and bystanders into adulthood, affecting them psychologically, socially, physiologically and academically.

Bullying involves a power differential between the bully and the victim that is based on real or perceived factors and often happens to vulnerable student populations, like LGBTQ+ youth, students who have a physical, mental, or intellectual disability, and students perceived as “different” due to weight, clothing or socioeconomic status.

Although bullying is pervasive and can have many effects, there are things that can be done to address these behaviors.

Parents can model and teach respectful behavior systematically; develop, implement and enforce anti-bullying policies; recognize bullying as a mental health and relationship issue; use a comprehensive approach to address bullying; teach responsible use of technology; and provide support to students who might be marginalized.

Meanwhile, children can report instances of bullying to adults; address bullying with bystanders by stressing the importance and responsibility to stop harassment and intimidation; show kindness to all students; reach out to students who are being bullied; and stand up to bullying if the situation is safe.

City Springs Theatre to present ‘Monty Python’s Spamalot’

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The City Springs Theatre Company in Sandy Springs will present the acclaimed musical comedy, “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” with a cast of Broadway veterans starting on March 10.

“Lovingly ripped off” from the 1975 classic comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, “Monty Python’s Spamalot” won three Tony Awards when it was first presented on Broadway in 2005. This new iteration of “Spamalot” will bring the hilarity of King Arthur’s search for the elusive Holy Grail home to Sandy Springs.

“Monty Python has been bringing laughter and delight to audiences for generations,” Artistic Director Shuler Hensley said. “It’s a delightful way to kick off 2023 and guaranteed to be an incredible evening of fun and laughter for all patrons.”

The cast includes Broadway veterans David Rossetti of “Annie” as the not-sobrave Sir Robin, Billy Harrigan Tighe of “The Book of Mormon” and “Pippin” as

Sir Galahad, and Kristine Reese of “Les Misérables” as the Lady of the Lake

It will star local favorite and City Springs Theatre Company regular Googie Uterhardt in the lead role of King Arthur.

Other cast members include Grace Arnold, Danny Iktomi-Bevens, Tecia Chavez, Emmanuel Cologne, Leigh Ellen Jones, Imani Joseph, Emmanuel Kikoni, Paige McCormick, Robert Millerick, Hamilton Moore, Ryley Perry and Charles Pruitt.

“We’re thrilled to have an incredible, entirely local cast with Broadway and National Tour experience, as well as some that have been a part of past City Springs Theatre Company productions,” Hensley said.

Performances will be held between March 10 and March 26 at the Byers Theatre in the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center.

For more information on performance dates, tickets and future productions, visit CitySpringsTheatre.com.

PROVIDED

City Springs Theatre Company regular Googie Uterhardt plays the lead role of King Arthur in "Monty Pyton's Spamalot" while Roberto Mendez plays the role of Patsy. City Springs Theatre in Sandy Springs will host performances of the acclaimed musical comedy starting March 10.

Exercise Coach Alpharetta personalizes fitness

By SHELBY ISRAEL shelby@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — When Eric Roberts lost his job in 2019, he was forced to reimagine what he wanted to do with his life.

“I was just kind of trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and I was so glad to be back in Georgia,” Roberts said. “I was so glad to be back in Alpharetta that I absolutely thought, you know, I want to do something locally, and I’d always wanted to provide jobs.”

Roberts, a Macon native, spent his career traveling around the United States and Canada. After an opportunity relocated him and his wife to Georgia, Roberts opened The Exercise Coach Alpharetta in February 2021 after a year of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The studio, located in Suite 800 at 735 North Main St., offers customers two 20-minute sessions a week, where they work one-on-one with a coach to find a personalized routine that works for them.

Customers exercise on the studio’s proprietary Exerbotics equipment, which analyzes the user’s minimum and maximum force to tailor the experience. The machine, Roberts said, learns something new about a customer every time they use it.

The display on the equipment shows a range for each user. Roberts said the goal is to keep the line within the shaded area.

Rather than doing 20 reps, he said, a user will do between four and eight intense reps, which loads the body’s muscles and burns energy. With each experience, workouts get progressively harder along with the customer’s individual pace.

Roberts, 54, said he had never enjoyed exercising, but a longtime friend introduced him to the studio’s Dunwoody location. There, despite initial skepticism, Roberts said he found a love of fitness, which he wanted to share with the community.

“And when I started to do it and I fell in love with it, I then signed the deal,” Roberts said. “It not only meets the need of what I had wanted to do is to bring jobs locally, but it’ll allow me to work out with a coach because I still work out to this day with my own coaches.”

He said his father, who owned a convenience store when Roberts was growing up, often spoke of the pride he had for his business that gave him the ability to give back to the commu -

nity. The studio employs five coaches who build relationships with customers to provide a customized experience

beyond the equipment, Roberts said. Many of the studio’s customers, he said, are retired or live lifestyles that leave little time for exercise.

“We have a lot of pilots that come to us,” Roberts said. “We have a lot of retired people that come to us. We also have younger people as well, but it really is for that person that's on the go, getting that full workout and not having to spend an hour in the gym and walking out of there and not feeling like you've just been attacked in any way, shape or form.”

Roberts also said the studio is a no-judgment zone that has no mirrors, and it lacks the atmosphere that many gyms have.

Before opening the studio, Roberts worked in the insurance and energy efficiency industries. While he still does some consulting work on the side, Roberts said The Exercise Coach Alpharetta is his passion.

Beyond providing employment opportunities, Roberts said seeing how his studio has improved his custom -

ers’ lives is a rewarding experience. He described himself as a customer and the owner, and working out alongside patrons gives him the opportunity to find ways to improve the business.

Part of the personalized experience, Roberts said, is ensuring that customers get their money’s worth. He said the studio has been successful, and 10 percent of his customers have been there since day one.

The Exercise Coach has five other locations in Georgia. After his experience with the Alpharetta studio, Roberts said he hopes to open another in Cumming, Woodstock or Canton in the next year and a half.

“It's the most rewarding thing I've ever experienced,” Roberts said.

The studio stops by the North Main Street Market at Alpharetta, which takes place in the parking lot in front of the studio, on Wednesdays from 3:30-6:30 p.m.

The Exercise Coach Alpharetta is open weekdays 6 a.m.-8 p.m., and Saturdays 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

PHOTOS BY SHELBY ISRAEL/APPEN MEDIA

The Exercise Coach Alpharetta employs five, including, from left, owner Eric Roberts , Studio Manager Roxanne Foster , and coaches Joe Dougherty and Justin Phillips . Coaches at the 735 North Main St. studio work individually with clients to provide a personalized fitness experience.

The Exercise Coach Alpharetta Studio Manager Roxanne Foster uses the 735 North Main St. studio’s proprietary Exerbotics abdominals and back machine Feb. 16. The user’s goal is to keep the yellow line within the green shaded range, which will adjust in the next workout based on the user’s performance.

It’s time to focus on heart health

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

While February brings thoughts of those we love and Valentine’s Day cards, the best gift of all is to remember it’s also American Heart Month. Heart disease is the leading cause of hospitalization for those over age 65 and is still the leading cause of death in this country. Over 800,000 deaths a year are due to cardiovascular disease. The good news is it’s largely preventable, so let’s review how to improve and maintain your heart health.

Monitoring your blood pressure is a key indicator of where you stand with your heart health. Yet only 48 per cent of people aged 50 to 80 who take medication or have a health condition affected by high blood pressure (or hypertension) monitor it on a regular basis. Preventing hypertension lowers your risk of heart disease and stroke. So setting a regular schedule and getting a blood pressure monitor you can learn to use at home is the start of knowing the numbers for your heart health journey.

Eating a healthy diet with a variety of food with potassium, fiber, protein, and importantly is lower in salt is critical. Flavor your food using more spices, eat salads and steamed vegetables. Select grilled poultry or fish and avoid heavy sauces, salad dressings and fats. This will help you get to or keep a healthy weight.

Staying physically active and reducing stress comes next. Moderate walking or other forms of physical exercise can do wonders. While 150 minutes of moderate activity a week is recommended, be sure to check with your doctor about forming a personalized plan of action and regular visits that are right for your current health status. Social isolation can also impact your stress levels, so staying in touch with friends, community groups and family is an important part of the picture.

Sleep is emerging as an ever increasing factor in heart health. It keeps your blood vessels healthy, and not getting enough sleep on a regular basis correlate to increased rates of stroke, high blood pressure and heart disease. Aim for a regular schedule and seven to eight hours of sleep.

Stop smoking and be careful about alcohol consumption for a healthy heart. So, if this is an issue, monitor your use and start a plan to cut back.

At Home Helpers, we know how important a skilled and well-matched Caregiver is to helping an older loved one maintain their heart health. Whether it’s making sure a moderate walk can be done without fear of a fall risk, regularly monitoring blood pressure and vital signs, following a nutritious diet, keeping a regular sleep schedule, or creating social bonds to battle loneliness, we strive to make each day the best it can be.

Our heart centered Caregivers can assist with all personal care, help around the house, safely speed up recovery from surgery, or provide specialized care for Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Parkinson’s, etc.

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

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AUTHOR TALK WITH JOE BARRY CARROLL

What: “My View from Seven Feet” is NBA All-Star Joe Barry Carroll's musing on the mythical qualities some want to assign to a person standing seven feet tall. Carroll expresses his "view" in the form of figurative and abstract paintings that are celebratory, reflective and hopeful. Each is paired with a short narrative that further conveys the artist's ruminations on relationships, legacy, sexuality, success, sports, culture, responsibility and more.

When: Thursday, Feb. 23, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Mimosa Hall, 127 Bulloch Avenue, Roswell

More info: roswellgov.com

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 — stand-up comedy by Sarang Sathaye in the first half, followed by an improv show with the characters of “Aai Ani Me” series.

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

Where: Studio Theatre, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs

Cost: $30-70

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. 25, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

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

More info: dunwoodyga.gov

DUNWOODY POLICE POLAR PLUNGE

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

BLACK HISTORY MONTH MURALS EXHIBIT

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

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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 souvenir photo and goody bag. The dress code includes semiformal 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 EXHIBIT

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

‘DOUBLE HEADER’ WITH THE ATLANTA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA AND KINNARA

What: Recently relocated from Princeton, New Jersey, a professional chamber choir named Kinnara joins the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra in a program featuring contemplative yet powerful music for strings, winds and voices.

When: Saturday, March 4, 3 p.m.

Where: Roswell Presbyterian Church, 755 Mimosa Boulevard, Roswell

Cost: $15-50

More info: atlantabaroque.org/double-header

Tempers flare at ‘unsuccessful’ Dunwoody trail meeting

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Scores of angry residents derailed a Feb. 8 meeting meant to gather feedback on how the city might initiate a multi-use trail system throughout Dunwoody.

The meeting, held at Dunwoody City Hall by design group the PATH Foundation, was conducted to weigh public sentiment about a map of proposed trail opportunities which would connect major city attractions and neighborhoods with surrounding communities.

However, PATH Foundation officials and city leaders heard very little real feedback from the standing-room-only crowd. Instead, they received mostly angry comments and questions about the plan.

“My goal for tonight, which I don’t think we reached, was to figure out where people would like to see [trails],” Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch said. “Not where you don’t want to see it. It doesn’t help me if we’re going to pick one part to pilot.”

Master plan draft

Presented by PATH Foundation Executive Director Greta deMayo, the Dunwoody Trail Master Plan will be a framework mapping the trail and street improvement opportunities that could be completed over the next three decades.

Over the last 32 years, the PATH Foundation has been responsible for more than 350 miles of trails, including the Silver Comet and multiple paths throughout North Georgia, deMayo said.

During that time, deMayo said they’ve been able to gauge economic and environmental impacts of city trail systems firsthand, like Atlanta’s BeltLine which connects communities throughout the city.

“Over time, the areas that really were kind of rundown, became revitalized,” she said. “It also brought in tree canopy which was needed, and just really became a linear kind of park condition with destinations where people would want to live, work and play.”

Through a series of meetings with stakeholders and the community, the PATH Foundation identified several major points of interest that could be connected with trails, like the Dunwoody Nature Center, Dunwoody Village, Perimeter Center, Georgia State University and Brook Run Park.

Future Dunwoody trails would also provide vital connections to trail systems in other communities, like Sandy Springs and Chamblee.

“It’s hard to plan Dunwoody without looking at your neighbors,” deMayo said.

Proposed trails would include sec-

tions of greenway, which become “linear park spaces,” but deMayo said the plan would also involve stretches with buffered bike paths, calmed existing streets and side paths adjacent to the roadway.

“If we could find a greenway trail everywhere, we would do that,” she said. “In a built environment, you’re not going to always find greenway trails, so we have to have other trail types when within our arsenal to plan.”

With the draft plan, PATH Foundation officials are confident 71 percent of the community would be within a 10 min walk of a trail, and 94 percent of the community would be a 10 min bike ride away.

But to move forward with the plan, deMayo said they need to know which projects the community would want to see started first. After a model project is selected, a draft of the plan will be presented to the Dunwoody City Council in April and would be considered for approval in May. If a model project starts going into design this summer, deMayo said, construction could begin this time next year.

Community feedback

Following deMayo’s presentation, community members spent an hour commenting on the proposed master plan.

Despite being asked specifically for ideas on where to start the project, most residents only shared concerns about

specific areas of the project, like the proposed trail that would follow Nancy Creek in southeast Dunwoody, trails proposed near Tilly Mill Road, the possible removal of deceleration lanes to make room for other trail options and the effect the plan would have on local trees.

PATH Foundation staff continued to answer questions about the plan and address community members’ concerns, but leaders also tried to guide the conversation back to more positive constructive comments.

“For this meeting to have value to the community, it would be really helpful if you would give input on where you think there is an opportunity for us to make a difference in our trail and path system for people who are interested in using them,” Deutsch said, trying to calm the crowd.

The mayor’s plea did little to change the mood.

One resident launched into a monologue on his fears about the project, with none of the feedback city officials were hoping for.

Of those who spoke at the meeting, only a few comments could be considered constructive, including one woman who said many Dunwoody streets listed in the plan are already calm enough to be considered trails. One man suggested starting the plan on Dunwoody’s west side by adding connections to the Nature Center and Dunwoody Village.

“Those are the destinations that we on the western side of the city are always trying to walk to, bike to, just go to generally,” he said, adding that the Dunwoody Village connection would dovetail with what the city is trying to do to reinvigorate the area.

A change of tactics

After the meeting, Deutsch said it probably could have gone better, and it showed the community has a lot of confusion and frustration about the project.

The problem, she said, is residents are wrongly assuming that trail master plan projects are set in stone and coming soon. This couldn’t be more wrong though, she said, because most of the proposed trails won’t be started for decades and the plan could change in the intervening years.

“I think there’s a lot of frustration because the perception is we’re not listening,” she said. “But we are listening. We’re just not making final decisions yet … People see these plans, and they presume that we are starting tomorrow.”

One problem is engaging people who typically don’t participate in public meetings, but who actually need the trails in the project.

“The areas of town where people have to walk are always woefully underrepresented with our meetings,” Deutsch said. “How do you convince people that are working two jobs or have three children at home, to come out on a random Wednesday night and join in?”

The city hasn’t scheduled any more participation meetings on the trail master plan, but Deutsch said officials are going back to the drawing board to see if there are different methods to get more feedback from underrepresented community members.

Despite calling the meeting “unsuccessful,” Deutsch said the city probably has enough information to identify their main priority for the initial project.

“Dunwoody Village is a big priority of ours, but in full transparency, I think Perimeter is where the need is the greatest,” she said.

If they work on connecting the Perimeter area to other southwestern areas like Georgetown and Winters Chapel Road with trails, she said they will bring vital new connections to areas where many families don’t have vehicles and rely on public transportation.

“Just because you may not think you’ll ever walk to the grocery store doesn’t mean that other people won’t,” she said. “We’re not building for today or tomorrow. We’re building for the next 20 years.”

For more information about the Dunwoody Trail Master Plan, visit the city’s website, dunwoodyga.gov/, and look under the “Government” header.

ALEX POPP/APPEN MEDIA

Dunwoody residents watch as representatives from the PATH Foundation answer questions and present information about the Dunwoody Trail Master Plan at a meeting Feb. 8.

Recalling the time when early autos graced local roads

Effie Spruill Carpenter recalled the first time she saw a car drive through Dunwoody and told the story to her granddaughter Jane Anderson Autry.

The people of Dunwoody waited in yards and along the road, waving and clapping as the car drove by. Carpenter said the driver was a Mr. Vaughn from Roswell, and his drive through Dunwoody took place in the early 1900s.

Cliff P. Vaughn and Claud Groover opened the Roswell Motor Company in 1921, so Vaughn may have been advertising for the dealership. The company sold Fordson tractors, Lincoln and Ford cars. A Whippet dealership opened in Roswell in 1929 but was short lived due to the Great Depression. (“Roswell, A Pictorial History,” edited by Darlene Walsh)

According to the Digital Library of Georgia, White Star Automobile in Atlanta was the first Southern automobile manufacturer and began operations in 1909. The $1,500 car was advertised as “complete with top, magneto, and lamp equipment.” That same year, the company name was changed to Atlanta Car Company. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1911.

Benjamin Burdett and his son Arthur of Sandy Springs invested in the Hanson Motor Company in 1917 after the car was introduced at the Southeastern Automobile Show. The Hanson Six automobile was designed by Don Ferguson, who had worked with Studebaker and General Motors. Arthur Burdett was vice president of Hanson Motor Company.

The Burdett family built a two-story brick mansion in 1900 where Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church is today. Benjamin Burdett had already started a realty firm before getting into the car business. The Hanson Six sold well initially, but by the mid-1920s, large manufacturers were too much competition. The company closed in 1925. (“Atlanta and Environs, Vol. 2,” Franklin Garrett)

Tillie Hindman Womack recalled that Benjamin Burdette commuted

from Sandy Springs to Atlanta in his Hanson Six. At the time, he was the only person driving a car in Sandy Springs. People still got around with horse-drawn carriages and wagons, so everyone was fascinated with the car. (Sandy Springs Gazette, 2017)

Elmer Womack, who lived where Georgia State University Dunwoody campus is today, was the proud owner of a 1925 Model T Ford that was sitting idle in the garage. When the Tucker Federal Savings and Loan interviewed him for their local newsletter in 1970, Womack told the story of an $800 cash offer he recently received for the old car. He turned down the offer because he was still thinking of trading the Model T for a newer car.

Fred Donaldson of Dunwoody remembers a 1928 model Chevrolet the family owned. One day the car started rolling down the driveway. As Donaldson tells it, “We were all sitting on the front porch one Sunday when the ’28 model Chevrolet came down the drive right by itself. My brother Fletcher ran and jumped in, stopped it right before it reached the railroad cut.”

Johnson W. (Dub) Brown grew up in Chamblee, graduating from Chamblee High School in 1941, the year the school burned. His family ran a dairy. Brown later served as mayor of the city. His first car was a stripped-down Model T. Ford.

Gordon Wallace also had a stripped-down Model T, which he took with him to the University of Georgia. His father was postmaster of Chamblee for 18 years, ran a store with Charlie Warnock, and owned Wallace Construction Company.

In “Dunwoody Isn’t Bucolic Anymore,” Richard W. Titus recalls seeing Dunwoody school principal Elizabeth Davis driving a Henry J automobile from the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation. For two years, a version of the Henry J. was sold in the Sears-Roebuck catalog.

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

VALERIE BIGGERSTAFF Columnist

DONALDSON FAMILY

The Donaldson family car parked out front of the family home around 1932.

“A HISTORY OF THE COMMUNITY AND THE CITY OF CHAMBLEE” BY VIVIAN PRICE SAFFOLD

Edna Brown on the left, and Dub Brown stand on the running board of his first car, a stripped-down Model T. Ford. The Brown family dairy pasture is in the background.

Choose your location—London or Paris

once again the reluctant author who writes about the mysterious Detective Hawthorne. This book opens with him telling the detective he no longer wants to write about him.

KATHY MANOS PENN Columnist

Whether it’s new locales or familiar ones, reading can transport you wherever you’d like to go. I especially enjoy visiting cities I’ve explored in the past, because I like recognizing familiar landmarks. That’s what I got to do with these two books — first I crossed the pond to visit London, and then I hopped the channel to see Paris.

“The Twist of a Knife” by Anthony Horowitz

If you’re a fan of “Masterpiece Mystery,” you likely watched “Magpie Murders,” a recent hit on PBS. It is based on the book of the same name by Anthony Horowitz. The author was also the screenwriter for “Foyle’s War,” another fan favorite on “Masterpiece Mystery.”

What fun to read a novel in which the author is the main character. That’s the case with Horowitz’s Detective Hawthorne novels. In this fourth in the series, Horowitz is

When Horowitz becomes a murder suspect, though, he has no choice but to call on the reclusive detective and resume a reluctant partnership with him. Intrigued by the blurring of fact and fiction, I turned to the internet for more information.

Fact: Horowitz did write a play called “Mindgame,” and it debuted at the Vaudeville Theatre in London. A fact not in the book is that it also debuted on Broadway with Keith Carradine in the lead role.

Fact: As happens in the book, the play was not a success in London, and in real life, its Broadway run wasn’t either.

If you’ve read the first three books, you will recall that the titles have a pattern: “The WORD is Murder,” “The SENTENCE is Death,” “A LINE to Kill.” This title is different, and he mentions in the story that the first three titles were a mistake as they were difficult to continue.

I have to wonder if that detail is

fact or fiction, and I wonder whether there will be a fifth book. Something tells me the series will continue because there’s more to learn about Detective Hawthorne. Horowitz the author has yet to reveal the complete story about the man, and, of course, in the books, Horowitz the character is as clueless as we readers are.

“Time was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare & Co.” by Jeremy Mercer

I had to pick up this book when I saw it displayed at Shakespeare & Co., the bookshop in North Carolina, not France. I feel quite fortunate that I’ve gotten to know the manager of this quaint bookshop in Highlands and that he decided to carry my books. Yes, I visited the namesake shop in Paris but didn’t have the time it takes to get to know it. This book showed me what I missed.

Most of us have heard of the original shop that opened in 1919 and became a home away from home to authors such as Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others. It didn’t reopen after WW II. Today’s Shakespeare & Co. opened in 1951 on the banks of

the Seine as Le Mistral and its owner changed the name to Shakespeare & Co. in 1964 when the original owner died.

This book is a memoir about an unemployed Canadian journalist who made his home there in early 2000. He lived above the store and worked for “the proprietor … patron saint of the city’s down-and-out writers.” It is a memoir, though it is as much about the strange and wonderful bookshop as it is about the author’s time there. For me, it was a very different visit to Paris.

Where will your next book take you? I’m reading “A Dangerous Fossil,” so I’m off to Dorset, a county in southwest England known for the Jurassic Coast. Such is the beauty of a good book.

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

What happens in Opelika comes home to Roswell

Here’s a bit of news trivia for you: The locations at the start of articles (you know, the ones that look like this: SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — ) are called datelines. They’re used to show readers where the story is taking place.

Some newsrooms use them to indicate a reporter had boots on the ground.

The last few weeks Appen Media has had some special datelines. We’ve published stories that start with GREENVILLE, S.C.; CHATTAHOOCHEE HILLS, Ga.; ATLANTA, and now OPELIKA, Al.

Using them means Appen Media had boots on the ground in all those places.

Most of our city governments go on “strategic retreats” every year. The whole city council and administrative staff will pack up and head out of town for a few days. They offer a range of reasons – to visit a downtown they want to model, team building or really buckling down to

focus on the issues.

The meetings aren’t recorded or streamed online, and most city “notes” are scant. Last year Roswell went to Greenville for five days and came home with a plan to revise the city’s charter.

The meeting minutes – the official record of what took place that week –was 34 words long. If you’ve ever been to a Roswell City Council meeting, you know they speak more than one word every four hours.

Of course, by law these meetings are open to the public. Any time a quorum – or voting majority – of elected officials gather for city business, discussion, research or action, you’re allowed to be there.

But if the meeting is in Greenville, who is going to drive three hours just to go along and be in the room?

Well, us, I suppose.

When the Johns Creek City Council traveled to Greenville, S.C. for the weekend, Amber Perry went along too. Shelby Israel woke up at dawn on a Sunday to be in Chattahoochee Hills for the Alpharetta retreat. Then she did it again the following day.

Alex Popp had it easy. Sandy Springs held their retreat in Sandy Springs. Delaney Tarr is spending the weekend in Opelika, Alabama, to cover the Roswell City Council retreat.

She really got the short end of the stick. The City Council is staying at the Auburn Marriott Opelika Resort & Spa at Grand National. I tried to get her a room there too, but the entire place was booked. So, each day Delaney is making a quick drive over from Opelika’s Hampton Inn. Imagine that.

On behalf of city officials and staff, taxpayers are footing the bill for these excursions.

For the reporters in the room – and I assure you, we’re the only ones – that bill falls squarely on our shoulders. Your local newsroom. (So maybe after all, it’s a good thing every room was taken at the Grand National.)

We’re glad to do it.

In fact, Managing Editor Pat Fox and I think it’s pretty special that you can open up the local newspaper and see a dateline from South Carolina because there’s a newsroom willing to follow local officials there.

We have problems getting metropolitan dailies to show up at city council meetings to cover the city council.

Local news is not always local. Just because Roswell is strategizing in Opelika doesn’t mean what they do there happens in a vacuum.

Chattahoochee Hills is not Las Vegas. What happens there comes home.

Shelby was in the room when Alpharetta approved requests for funding increases.

Amber got to walk along the Reedy River with the Johns Creek City Council as they took notes on Greenville’s public art, civic partnerships and cohesive branding. Now those are all lessons the city will hope to implement as the Johns Creek Town Center moves forward.

I can tell you this much, Delaney’s report from Opelika is going to be a lot more comprehensive than the one that comes from the city.

So, we think it’s important to go.

If the Johns Creek City Council is meeting, the Johns Creek Herald should be in the room. Even if we have to pay our own way.

CARL APPEN Director of Content & Development

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!

PRESERVING THE PAST

WW II hero celebrates 100 years (Part 1)

Eighteen-year-old Jack Buckner was in his second year studying architecture at Georgia Tech at night while working days at Western Electric Company. A 1940 graduate of Fulton High School in Atlanta where he was senior class president, Jack was having fun at a roller skating rink in Lakewood Park on December 7, 1941, when he heard the news over the loudspeaker that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. He knew he had to do something.

Jack joined the Army January 19, 1942, the day the Army lowered the enlistment age for Aviator Cadets to 18.

Thus began a saga of sacrifice and courage that took young Jack to fight in distant places under the most challenging circumstances.

Jack is a special person. He celebrated his 100th birthday on Feb. 3, 2023. He and his wife Florence will observe their 79th anniversary on Feb. 25. He flew 50 perilous missions as a bombardier in World War II and shot down two German Luftwaffe fighters in the process. What a great story he has to tell.

After passing the written test and physical exam at the local Army recruitment center, Jack was sent home to pack a toothbrush and shaving articles. Upon returning to the recruitment center, Jack joined other volunteer enlistees who passed the entrance exam that day. They marched together to the Terminal Railroad Station where they took a train to the Army’s Maxwell Field (now Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base) in Montgomery, Alabama, for initial training as Army Air Corps cadets. Next stop for Jack was the Army Bombardier Flying School at Kirtland Army Air Field in Albuquerque, New Mexico, noted for training 5,200 bombardiers during the war.

Upon graduation in August 1942, Jack was commissioned a second lieutenant and was sent to Hendricks Field in Sebring, Florida, the first training school in the United States for heavy bomber crew instruction. There, he began training on the B-17 Flying Fortress, developed by Boeing Corporation, that dropped more bombs during WW II than any other aircraft. That training was followed by advanced training at Gowen Field Army Air Corps Base in Boise, Idaho. It was there that his 10-man crew was formed as part of the 347th Bombardment Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group, which was composed of four squadrons with nine planes each. The final eight months of training was at Sioux City Army Air Base which was constructed shortly after Pearl Harbor for advanced group

training prior to overseas deployment.

The crew picked up their plane at the Smoky Hill Army Airfield in Salina, Kansas, in January 1943. The crew named their plane Warrior, and Jack was given the honor of painting the name and image on the side of the aircraft.

A bombardier had to be proficient in mathematics, Morse code, meteorology and have the ability to identify enemy aircraft quickly. Jack learned to use the Norden bombsight, a top secret weapon that he had to guard with a sidearm every time he carried it to and from his aircraft. The bom-

bardier has to factor in the speed of the airplane, its altitude, speed and direction of the wind and the size and weight of the bomb. Most missions were from 20,000 to 26,000 feet so accuracy was a complicated assignment.

The crew’s first operational assignment was in March 1943 at the Navarin Airfield in Algeria, used by B-17 bombers against the German Afrika Korps led by Field Marshal Rommel. There was no base, just a landing strip in the desert, and no ground crews, so the Warrior crew had to load their own bombs, ammunition and gasoline from 5-gallon cans. They had no tents, so they slept under the wings of the aircraft. They had only C-rations and Krations to eat.

It could be 120 degrees during the day in Algeria and 40 to 50 degrees below zero at flying altitudes. The B-17s were not pressurized or heated. The crew took buckets of water on missions to freeze so they would have ice for drinks after their return from their missions.

When the Americans moved east into Tunisia, the airfield was dismantled and abandoned.

The Warrior’s first mission was to bomb ships and docks at Naples, Italy. They had five direct hits on a ship, and all planes returned safely to base.

In July 1943 the Warrior was tasked with the destruction of airfields and railroad yards during the Allied invasion of the island of Sicily. Rommel accumulated ammunition and food for his Africa troops on the island, and he had to be stopped. The Warrior also bombed the harbors in Tunis where Rommel kept his boats. The objective was to prevent German supplies from entering North Africa.

To be continued.

My appreciation to Martine Broadwell for her assistance with this column.

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.

FAMILY/PROVIDED PHOTOS

Eight of the 10-man crew of the B-17 named Warrior are photographed beside the aircraft. Bombardier Jack Buckner is standing second on the left. The bombardier sat in the transparent nose of the aircraft. His job was to assure accurate placement of bombs taking into account weather, wind direction, outside temperature, speed, altitude and other factors. He also operated one of the plane’s machine guns.

BOB MEYERS Columnist

Jack Buckner’s official portrait was made after he joined the Army as an Army Air Corps Cadet shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

OPINION

60/40 asset allocation debate and your financial plan

The 60/40 asset allocation debate and your financial plan

For years, Wall Street gurus espoused an asset allocation model of 60 percent stocks, 40 percent bonds. The idea was that a generous allocation to equities would provide for long-term growth, with a modicum of dividends, while bonds offered interest income and a potential cushion during periods of market stress. Easy guidelines to follow have appeal that’s based on simplicity. Reality is generally a bit more complicated, as a truly diversified investment portfolio is likely to contain more than stocks and bonds.

The drops in equity values along with a concomitant rout in the bond markets in general in 2022 have several large asset managers arguing over the pros and cons of the 60/40 strategy. The rigid allocation model may be akin to declaring that a fruit salad should always contain 60 percent apples and 40 prcent bananas. What about berries or exotic options such as mangoes, passion fruit, coconut, etc.?

As noted, a diversified investment portfolio will likely contain more than stocks and bonds. Even stocks and bonds offer a plethora of choices. You may elect individually self-selected stocks, mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), professionally managed portfolios of various holdings including individual stocks. Bonds come in various formats, similar to equity offerings. Some formats may include stocks and bonds in the same portfolio, as in a “balanced fund.”

Equities offer a variety of choices akin to a diverse restaurant menu. Large-cap (capitalization) stocks, mid-cap, smallcap, micro-cap? What would you prefer today: U.S. stocks, non-U.S. stocks? What about investment “style”−growth, growth at a reasonable price (GAARP), value, deep value? Dividend-paying stocks, non-dividend payers focused on growth? Utilities? Where do strategies such as option writing (puts and calls) come in, if at all?

When it comes to cash or bonds, what mix is appropriate for you? Treasury bills, notes, bonds? Money market funds, CDs, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, other types of debt instruments? Again, you have choices as to individual holdings, mutual funds, ETFs, and/or separately managed portfolios.

You may want to mix in alternative investments in various forms such as real

estate, private equity, precious metals, or other assets. Perhaps you own a closely held business that is your largest single investment. How does growing the value of that asset play into other investment and planning choices?

If you are confounded in a fine restaurant by a complex and diversified menu with an extensive wine and cocktail list, you are likely to turn to an experienced waitress or waiter and ask, “What do you suggest?” In the same way, you might turn to an experienced financial adviser to suggest what mix of planning options and investment choices is right for you.

To determine what is appropriate for you, before any recommendations are made, a client-centered adviser will have a series of discussions with all parties involved. This means you, of course, as well as your spouse or partner depending on the circumstances, and perhaps an adult child who may have to step up given your incapacity or death. As with choosing the makeup of your portfolio there are a multitude of variables: your age and time frames, goals and objectives, health status, number of dependents and their time frames, other family obligations such as aging parents or a special needs child, current net worth, debt levels and cost of debt, need for liquidity, your understanding of risk versus reward, and your mental and financial ability to deal with risk.

An adviser would want to understand your story. How did you get to where you are and where do you see yourself in the short-, mid-term, and long-range future? What do you want your money to do for you? Do you understand risk?

Risk is a tricky concept. Some people will tell you that they can tolerate risk, only to change their mind when confronted with loss. Markets fluctuate. Some investments do well, some okay, some lose money. With some speculations (like the recent crypto fiasco), the value of the investment may go to zero. If you’re going to take a flyer, the question would be, “If you lost your entire investment in XYZ Ventures, would it imperil your lifestyle?” If your answer is “Yes,” don’t invest.

In any well-diversified portfolio, performance in any one sector will vary from time to time. But the assumption is that over the long run, the portfolio will grow to meet your goals. Beyond investment strategies, you must look at the “what if?” vicissitudes of life. A comprehensive financial plan encompasses elements of living and testamentary estate planning, application of various insurance tools,

tax planning, special needs planning and charitable giving. For the business owner, concepts of “value acceleration” are critical for dealing with what may be your largest single investment asset, your lifestyle business or enterprise. The allocation model of 60/40 is not as simple as it looks. The proportion, or something similar, may be a good starting point and a useful rule of thumb periodically, but there are many other factors to consider.

Kofi Annan, former SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations, noted, “To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and

why you want to get there.”

Your financial plan should reflect your journey and your goals and expectations. Choose well, indeed.

Lewis Walker, CFP®, is a life centered financial planning strategist with Capital Insight Group; 770-441-3553; lewis@ capitalinsightgrp.com. Securities & advisory services offered through The Strategic Financial Alliance, Inc. (SFA). Lewis is a registered representative and investment adviser representative of SFA, otherwise unaffiliated with Capital Insight Group. He’s a Gallup Certified Clifton Strengths Coach and Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA).

LEWIS J. WALKER, CFP

Columnist

The Investment Coach

Friends, Rome, Georgians, lend me your ears

Part of my job includes reminding our reporters about AP Style – that’s the official rulebook for language use as laid down by the Associated Press.

PAT FOX

Managing Editor

Many of these rules I don’t agree with, and I encourage some to be ignored.

One rule I’d like to change regards U.S. House members.

AP Style guidance is to name the person, then, in parentheses, provide their party affiliation and the state they represent.

It seems a simple and salient practice, unless you consider the person and buffoonery of one Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Listing Ms. Green as (R-Ga.) is unfair to most residents of this state.

My recommendation would be to credit those local voters who unleashed her on our nation.

So, it would be: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Rome, Ga. or R-Floyd County, Ga.).

Give credit where it’s due, I say. Greene’s continual outbursts are in contrast to a recent report from Preply, an online language learning platform, that recently ranked Georgians among the slowest talkers in the United States.

The report analyzed data from two nationwide studies based on YouTube videos and call recordings. It then ranked the average speech rates of Americans from 114 cities and in all 50 states.

Georgia ranked 5th among states with the slowest talkers with an average of 4.89

syllables per second. The U.S. average is 5.09 syllables per second.

Here are some of the key findings in the Preply study:

• The state with the fastest average speech rate is Minnesota at 5.34 syllables per second.

• The state with the slowest average rate of speech is Louisiana at 4.78 syllables per second.

• The U.S. city with the fastest average rate of speech is Portland, Oregon, at 5.38 syllables per second.

• The U.S. city with the slowest average speech rate is Peoria, Illinois, at 4.71 syllables per second.

Those in the Southeast ranked way up there in slow speech.

Having lived in the South for almost 40 years, I’ve learned to love the musical lilt of the local dialog.

Few things aggravate me more than actors, mostly from other regions, who feign Southern accents for their roles. They’re often preposterous and almost always exaggerated. Have you ever heard someone from Nebraska try to say “y’all?”

Oddly, the actors who can best nail a genuine Southern accent are British or Irish. (Tell me Kenneth Branagh isn’t dripping with perfect Buckhead portraying an Atlanta attorney in “Gingerbread Man.”)

The Plepry study does not address the content of speech, whether what’s being said is worth saying or the time it takes to listen to it. Nor does it say whether the speech is infused with banal interjections, like “like,” “sorta like” and “you know.”

Such a study would be valuable, allowing us to focus our attention on those most reliable for not wasting our time.

Forget about halftime, Super Bowl wasn’t half bad

This is being written mere days after the Super Bowl. It was fairly typical: Good ads, bad ads, a stinker of a halftime show, politics and an unruly mob made up of the losing team’s fans.

MIKE TASOS Columnist

Maybe I’m a sentimental sap, but the Amazon commercial where they tease the feisty family dog’s apparent banishment to a crate only to reveal there was no cell, just a four-legged pal. Maybe next year, they’ll show both pets wreaking havoc on hardwood floors and carpets.

For the most part, the ads were, well, normal. I am still giggling at Bradley Cooper trying to keep a straight face while he and his mom pitch T-Mobile. Ditto for J’Lo catching hubby Ben Affleck moonlighting at Dunkin’ Donuts. Ol’ Ben loves getting his donut/coffee fix at Dunkin’ in Boston and the commercial

tickled me.

I guess the best part was that weirdness was kept to a minimum.

For the most part.

I can’t criticize the halftime show. The two minutes of Rihanna’s lip-synching was inspiring. It inspired me to make a beeline upstairs and make a sandwich.

Not sure there is any necessity for two national anthems. Personally, I think the one played by Chris Stapleton covered things nicely.

Oh yeah, about that unruly mob, otherwise known as Philadelphia Eagles fans. They outdid themselves, booing Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott winning the ultra-humanitarian Walter Payton award.

I would have expected nothing less. After all, the late Jay Johnstone, who played for the Phillies, once told me when asked about playing in the cheesesteak city: “The fans are ridiculous. They go to the airport and boo the good landings.”

They boo philanthropic, civic-minded Cowboy quarterbacks, too.

Do you reckon whoever came up with

that city’s “Brotherly Love” moniker is laughing somewhere, knowing he played “pull my finger” while selling us a Whoopee Cushion of a slogan.

You know there had to be brawls at Independence Hall, a monstrous scrap where they make Scrapple, a broken hand when an “over-served” fan took out his frustrations by taking a swing at the Rocky statue.

And connecting.

Everyone got their money’s worth it would seem. And Philadelphia fans aren’t the only ones who lost.

We have to wait until September for any football.

Having attended a few Super Bowls, I’ll never forget Gramps showing up at our house in Bakersfield and telling me to take ride with him on a mid-January Sunday in 1967.

“You’re not going to make me dig in that riverbed again, are you?”

“Nope,” he replied. “We’re going on an adventure.”

Now my Grandpa might have been a tad nuts. This was the guy who hit golf

balls in the neighborhood trying to cure a slice. Broken windows and flowerpots were evidence that his game needed lots of work,

I also once spied him firing live .22 rounds into a blanket, somehow reasoning he was fashioning some type of hayseed silencer.

What Gramps had planned was way better than a lighter and a can of hairspray. That decrepit Ford station wagon barely made it over the mountains to Los Angeles. JL Stone, the grandpa who really cared, took his oldest grandson to the half-empty Coliseum to watch the Green Bay Packers wallop the Kansas City Chiefs in the first AFC-NFC Championship.

Those marketing geniuses hadn’t come up with the “Super Bowl” name yet.

They were probably busy inventing Pringles.

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.

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