SNELLVILLE, Ga. — A statewide event for youth interested in sustainability advocacy is coming to Snellville Nov. 4, intended to foster awareness, empowerment and lasting change.
This year, Green Cell, an Alpharetta-
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based grassroots environmental nonprofit, is partnering with the United Nations’ Atlanta Chapter and the Georgia Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council to host the Georgia Youth Sustainability Conference at Shiloh High School from
communities and beyond.
Through dynamic workshops, interactive discussions and inspiring keynote speakers, the conference will equip attendees with the knowledge, tools and networks necessary to effect positive change in their
This youth-led conference welcomes students, change-makers, members of middle and high school eco-clubs in
See CONFERENCE, Page 7
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — North Fulton residents raised pointed questions about elections Sept. 14 at a town hall sponsored by Fulton County Commissioner Bridget Thorne.
Thorne, who represents Johns Creek, parts of Roswell, Alpharetta and Sandy Springs, hosted the meeting at the Alpharetta Branch Library and invited the county’s new Board of Registration and Elections Chair Patrise Perkins-Hooker and the new Republican board member Michael Heekin to answer questions from the crowd of about 50.
The Fulton County Commission had substituted Chairman Robb Pitts’ original nominee Lee Morris, a Republican who had served on the County Commission, for Perkins-Hooker, a Democrat and former Fulton County attorney. After Pitts received backlash in the strongly Democratic county, Morris backed out from his nomination to avoid divisiveness.
Heekin was appointed from a pool
AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections Chair Patrise Perkins-Hooker, left, prepares to answer questions on elections at County Commissioner Bridget Thorne’s town hall meeting held at the Alpharetta Branch Library Sept. 14.
of two Republican nominees to the BRE, a five-member board consisting of a chair, two Republicans and two Democrats.
See ELECTIONS, Page 6
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Appen Media continues to campaign for more transparency in the Sandy Springs Police Department.
To describe the events of a May incident in its official report, the Sandy Springs Police Department wrote one sentence –“A traffic stop was conducted and a cash seizure was completed.”
Appen Media reviewed the document and noticed that the amount of currency seized during the alleged traffic stop was $31,480. The incident’s location for the “traffic stop” was a residential address and categorized as a “lake/waterway/ beach.” It carried the event code for drug violations.
The arrest report is dated a month later – in June – using the same incident number, suspect name and location. Charges include four drug felonies and a weapons violation.
Sandy Springs Police Department broadcast on Facebook in June that the agency executed a search warrant on a home where they “located a sophisticated marijuana grow operation.” It goes on to list seized items including:
• 540 marijuana plants
• 135 pounds of cultivated marijuana
• An AR-15 rifle
• Psilocybin mushrooms
The incident report associated with the Facebook post is the May “traffic stop.”
A traffic stop was conducted and a cash seizure was completed.
DUNWOODY, Ga. — The Dunwoody City Council took up a proposal Sept. 11 to regulate new drive-thru construction and considered a developer’s pitch to allow open consumption of alcohol at Park Place shopping mall.
Dunwoody City Planner Madalyn Smith presented a draft ordinance aimed at making streets more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly by requiring a special land use permit to build or redevelop a business drive-thru.
“Typically, drive thrus are really not conducive to pedestrian friendly environments,” Smith said. Drivers, she said, are less likely to be alert in the queue, and there can be conflict between drivers and pedestrians, especially when people are driving across the curb cuts and pedestrians are on the sidewalk.
“Drive-thru lines also really interrupt traffic flow,” Smith said, raising concerns that idling cars affect air quality and that “the typical design of drive-thrus involves a lot of excessive asphalt and it's not necessarily a sustainable mode of development.”
The proposal, which received endorsement from the Planning Commission in August, makes no changes to areas of the city where new drive-thru development is already prohibited, but requires business owners to apply for a separate permit for a drive-thru element to be built or added into their business.
Smith said the proposed regulation would allow the city to separate drive-thrus for special consideration as to how they may affect surrounding areas.
Under the proposal, a business with a drive-thru that has been closed for a number of years would have to re-apply for the special permit if it reopens and plans to use the service, Smith said.
City Councilwoman Catherine Lautenbacher expressed a citizen’s emailed concern over the regulatory burden this would pose. Smith estimated that the process for obtaining a special land use permit, which is in part a matter of state law, would be approximately six months and cost in the ballpark of $2,000.
The proposed ordinance will come before the City Council again on Oct. 16.
In another matter at the Sept. 11 meeting, real estate developer EDENS presented a request to expand the Perimeter Center Entertainment District to include the Park Place Shopping Center. The group’s vision is to have the courtyard area of the mall for daytime and nightlife events, such as fitness activities or concerts and allow people to walk around the property with an alcoholic beverage –purchased at a tenant business – in hand.
“The focal point is that courtyard area,” said Michael Sard, an attorney representing the group. “From time to time, there may be larger events we have on property and want people to enjoy drinks they purchased on the property.”
The City Council seemed generally receptive to the request, though Councilman Joe Seconder raised concerns about pedestrian connectivity between Park Place and the Perimeter Mall. The proposed redevelopment does not include plans to increase pedestrian connectivity across Ashford Dunwoody Road or Perimeter Center East or West roads.
“I'm a bit disappointed,” he said. “I'd like to be able to walk safely … into the center of your place. We’re starting from scratch [...] so I'd like you to potentially reconsider,” he said.
The Entertainment District expansion request will return for consideration at the council’s Sept. 26 meeting.
MILTON, Ga. — Hasani and Danielle Pettiford, owners of Couples Academy, will soon celebrate 21 years of marriage. But as they sat closely on the couch in their Milton home, they recalled a time when that benchmark felt impossible.
Hasani said couples tend to struggle in five areas — communication, sex, parenting, finances and loss, though communication is the common denominator.
“We suffered from all five of them. All of it,” Hasani said. “Broke, busted and disgusted, didn’t have a pot to pee in, a window to throw it out of … We had to crawl our way out.”
Danielle said she had asked Hasani to go to counseling time and time again, and eventually checked out. But something in him changed one day, she said, and he started watching therapeutic VHS tapes to begin a journey of selfrepair.
“We found some therapists that turned everything around and gave us a different experience, where we were working on ourselves,” Danielle said. “... They really helped us center on our own development.”
Danielle and Hasani Pettiford, owners of Couples Academy, stand in their Milton home. The Pettifords began working with married couples around 15 years ago after therapy helped them overcome their own marital difficulties. While the pair cover a wide range of issues, they specialize in infidelity recovery.
The Pettifords saved their marriage and began sharing their story with other couples at casual gatherings at their home, laughing and playing cards. But the pair realized some of these couples would pour out their marital issues in search of the same level of happiness they had discovered.
So, Hasani and Danielle decided to take their positions more seriously and become
certified as marriage and family coaches.
“Once we became infidelity recovery specialists, it seems like 99 percent of all our clients kind of fit in that category,” Hasani said.
What separates the Pettifords from other marriage counselors is that they deal with crises, those on the verge of divorce, impacted by an affair.
“It's beyond ‘Hey, have a date night and just learn to communicate better,’” Hasani said. “We get in the trenches, and deal with some heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy issues that most practitioners are not equipped for, become overwhelmed by and may refer out because that's just not their thing.”
Since becoming infidelity recovery specialists a decade ago, Hasani said only eight couples who have gone through programs at the Couples Academy have divorced.
Couples can take one of two routes at Couples Academy. One is the traditional path consisting of weekly sessions led by one of 15 practitioners. But the Pettifords said this is not ideal.
“If somebody chooses the traditional weekly model, the national statistics suggest that the average couple engages in about 16 to 20 sessions before they wind
up stopping,” Hasani said.
Couples stop, not because the process is completed, he said, but because they either haven’t seen enough breakthrough or because it’s too costly. Yet, it takes one to two years to heal from an affair, Hasani said.
The preferred path is an intensive, three-prong approach. The first step is attending a “Last Chance” weekend, where four to eight couples participate in experiential learning exercises, a process that includes a “shock factor.”
“We connect dots, and we walk you through a journey to get you to a final destination,” Hasani said.
Those weekends are three, 12- to 16hour days that consist of team-building activities, like hiking Stone Mountain or climbing a 30-foot pole blindfolded.
“You see that partnership, and they make it together,” Danielle said.
Couples then participate in a 12-week program, exclusive to husbands and wives, tackling different obstacles on the individual level. This is followed by what the Pettifords call “building your kingdom,” where couples tap into the power of their partnerships.
“We're not just interested in saving your marriage,” Hasani said. “There's so much more behind that.”
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The County Commission rejected Republican Jason Frazier, in a 3-2 vote in June. Frazier, who attended the town hall, is known for challenging the eligibility of thousands of voters. The BRE still has a Republican vacancy.
Frazier sat beside his wife Lucia Frazier and Matt Rowenczak. All are Roswell residents.
All three had frequented Milton Election Feasibility Committee meetings, commenting to the six-member group tasked with studying whether Milton could divorce itself from Fulton County to run its own municipal elections. Milton is one of two Fulton County cities conducting their own election this year.
In their comments to the Milton committee, the three criticized Fulton County’s election management and pushed toward the city hand-counting paper ballots.
Questions about Fulton County adopting hand-counting paper ballots were posed to Perkins-Hooker, citing concerns about a technical error that occurred in the DeKalb County Commission race last year.
“We don’t use it because it’s too unwieldy with regard to the number of votes and ballots that are cast,” she said. “We’re not going to change that policy just because a few people, a few people, are interested in having hand-
counted ballots.”
Perkins-Hooker said a change to hand-counting paper ballots would have to go through the state Legislature or through the county government. She
said Fulton County uses ballot machines according to state policies and regulations.
Some audience members also requested flexible, part-time schedules
for poll workers on a more permanent basis. This is the first year Fulton County is assigning poll workers parttime shifts, and Perkins-Hooker said the decision is an experiment.
“We will make a decision based upon the actual experiences, but it’s not just because other counties do it,” PerkinsHooker said. “We don’t do that. We do it the Fulton way, and we do it such that Fulton voters get a chance to have an experience that’s better than most counties.”
Rowenczak shouted that PerkinsHooker’s response was a “cop out.”
Perkins-Hooker also answered questions about ensuring diversity among party affiliations of those who work the polls. But she said there’s not a line item on an application that asks whether the applicant is a Democrat or Republican because the selection process is nonpartisan.
County Commissioner Thorne introduced the “hot topic” of voter registration to Perkins-Hooker. Local media reported recently the Secretary of State had purged nearly 190,000 names from Georgia’s voter rolls. Earlier that day, Perkins-Hooker said the BRE reported that 20,000 of those were in Fulton County.
The process of cleaning voter rolls takes a long time, she said.
“It will continue to take a long time because we have numerous registrants who are constantly applying to Fulton County, as well as numerous people who are transferring out of Fulton County,” Perkins-Hooker said.
Continued from Page 1
Georgia as well as teachers and eco-club sponsors to participate. There is expected to be 400-plus middle and high school students in attendance.
Scholarships are available for students from Title 1 schools, teachers and eco-club sponsors.
The deadline to register is for the third week of October. Now, there is an early bird pricing promotion, which slashes the cost from $30 to $20. There are also 50 percent discounts for groups of five students registering together. To register for the event, visit youthsustainability.org/registration.
The conference also invites organizations interested in setting up booths to showcase their sustainability efforts and offer internship and volunteering opportunities in various fields. For those interested in setting up a booth, visit youthsustainability.org/product/booth-registration.
Service hour and appreciation certificates will be provided by the three partnering organizations to all volunteers. The GYSC 2023 Champion trophy will be awarded to the school with the most participants. An award for Best Poster will also be offered.
For more information, visit youthsustainability.org.
— Amber Perry
It’s about a nine-hour drive to New Orleans from Dunwoody, but you need only travel minutes to a nearby community to experience the art, antiquities, and amusements of NOLA at a French style villa nestled on well-tended grounds.
This home is one of the lovely homes featured in the 50th Annual Home Tour set for Wednesday, Oct. 4, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and is hosted by the Dunwoody Woman’s Club. All profits of the home tour are used to implement the club’s charitable initiatives. Home tour tickets can be purchased several ways as outlined below at the end of this article.
Your adventure begins as you step across the white marble entry. Turn left or right and you will experience bold artwork and painted wood curiosities throughout set against walls of soft artichoke and sea salt greens. New walnut-toned wood floors underpin this pleasing color palette.
The original living room at the left of the foyer has been repurposed for formal dining at a glass-topped table set upon a black and white Magnolia Home rug to which fringe has been added. A faux fireplace, family armoire, and wine cellarette anchor this room.
To the right of the entry is the home office where a mahogany desk dominates, and a “Blue Dog” wall collectible from the late Louisiana artist, George Rodrique, stares you down. If you’re the gambling sort, an antique family slot machine once favored by mid-West gangsters might also grab your attention.
The back of the home has been completely remodeled to bring light, height and openness to the kitchen and sitting areas. A quartz-topped center island in the kitchen area seats five. Quartz counters are backed by tri-tone white porcelain picket tiles. And a coffee bar sequestered in a multi-doored cabinet begs you to savor café au lait and a beignet.
A fireplace in the sitting area is backed by white subway tiles counterbalanced by comfy furniture upholstered in soft greens and grays. A far wall has been pushed back to make way for a wet bar, cabinetry and a pantry behind. But you absolutely can’t miss the giant paper mache
Home Tour tickets are available now and can be purchased:
• Online at https://www.dunwoodywomansclub.com/ buy-home-tour-tickets/
• Guests can go in person to purchase tickets at Southern Comforts at 2510 Mt. Vernon Rd., Dunwoody
• From any member of the Dunwoody Woman’s Club
dragonfly over the wet bar that once decorated a Mistick Krewe of Comus Mardi Gras float.
A central hallway takes you past a well-stocked sewing room to guest and family bedrooms. Antiques, angel plaques, and Americana abound: beds from grandma, angels floating at ceiling level, an old Singer sewing machine as night table, and large filigree wall hangings provide unique bed backings.
The main bedroom itself is a masterpiece in southern comfort living,
Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 on tour day. We look forward to seeing you at the home tour and appreciate your support. Buy your tickets today!
For more information about the Dunwoody Woman’s Club go to www.dunwoodywomansclub.com
graced by neutral fabrics, antiques, expanded tiled and mirrored bath, and exit to a large deck that overlooks natural landscaping. Phantom screening at this exit and the front door allow breezes to flow the breadth of the home.
Built in 1973, this beautiful home maximizes the iconic traditions of New Orleans, as lovingly updated by its current owners. Your adventure here awaits!
Be sure to check out the exciting raffle on the day of the tour for the
chance to win one of three prizes each valued at least $500. Cash and credit cards accepted.
Included on this year’s tour will be a decorator showcase hosted by everyone’s favorite designer, Marc Jones, The Consignor’s Designer. Marc will host “Fall Entertaining” at the Dunwoody location of Southern Comforts. The event will be 10:15 a.m. on tour day and guests are encouraged to pre-register for the event at style. southerncomforts.com or by calling 770-901-5001.
What: This free festival will feature performances from nationally recognized musicians, like Dave Fenley from “The Voice” and “America’s Got Talent” and Paul McDonald from “American Idol,” as well as festivities and refreshments.
When: Friday, Sept. 22, 6-9 p.m.
Where: Brook Run Park, 4770 North Peachtree Road, Dunwoody More info: discoverdunwoody.com
What: Every Saturday morning through October, more than a dozen vendors set up shop around Milton City Hall with fresh produce, fresh meat, sweets, coffee and tea, flowers, soaps, jewelry and more.
When: Saturday, Sept. 23, 8:30 a.m.12:30 p.m.
Where: Milton City Hall plaza, 2006 Heritage Walk, Milton More info: facebook.com/ miltongafarmersmarket
What: Observe and learn from a cooking demonstration which explores stories of enslaved peoples in America as represented through their food.
When: Saturday, Sept. 23, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Where: Smith Plantation, 935 Alpharetta Street, Roswell More info: roswell365.com
What: Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Jackie Venson is a multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter who has supported major acts like Gary Clark Jr. and Citizen Cope. Beer, wine and sangria will be available for purchase. There will also be on-site food trucks.
When: Saturday, Sept. 23, 7-9 p.m.
Where: Riverside Park, 575 Riverside Road, Roswell More info: roswell365.com
What: In Sherman L. Sergel’s play adaptation of the teleplay, a 19-year-old man who has just stood trial for the fatal stabbing of his father. “He doesn’t stand a chance,” mutters the guard as the 12
What: The hills and hollows of Sandy Springs, its vistas of the Chattahoochee, and even its name, are tied to its geologic past. Learn stories of the rocks and landscapes during a 45-minute walk and a lecture.
When: Thursday, Sept. 28, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Lost Corner Preserve, 7300 Brandon Mill Road, Sandy Springs
More info: sandyspringsga.gov
jurors are taken into the bleak jury room. It looks like an open-and-shut case — until one of the jurors begins opening the other’s eyes to the facts.
When: Until Sept. 24, times vary
Where: Act1 Theater, 180 Academy Street, Alpharetta
Cost: $20-25
More info: act1theater.org
What: The hills and hollows of Sandy Springs, its vistas of the Chattahoochee, and even its name, are tied to its geologic past. Learn stories of the rocks and landscapes during a 45-minute walk and a lecture.
When: Thursday, Sept. 28, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Lost Corner Preserve, 7300 Brandon Mill Road, Sandy Springs
More info: sandyspringsga.gov
What: In its debut, this free festival will
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.
have an artist market and live music of different genres on multiple stages. There will also be food and beverages, a Kids Zone and a Sports Zone with a video wall.
When: Friday & Saturday, Sept. 29-30, times vary
Where: City Springs, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs
More info: sandyspringsga.gov
What: Bring your lawn blankets and chair to see Radio 80’s Band cover the greatest hits from the decade. Tents as well as outside food and alcoholic beverages are not allowed. Friendly dogs on a leash are welcome.
When: Friday, Sept. 29, 7-9 p.m.
Where: Lou Sobh Amphitheater at Cumming City Center, 423 Canton Road, Cumming
More info: cummingcitycenter.com
TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE
What: Based on the book, this play
easy
is about Mitch, who catches Morrie’s appearance on a television show 16 years after graduation. He learns that his old professor is battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Mitch is reunited with Morrie, and what starts as a simple visit turns into a weekly pilgrimage and a last class in the meaning of life.
When: Sept. 29-Oct. 15, times vary
Where: Stage Door Theatre, 5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody Cost: Adults are $28; students are $20; kids are $15
More info: stagedoortheatrega.org
What: The inaugural Johns Creek Literary Fair will feature more than 30 authors hailing from the southeast and around the country.
When: Sunday, Oct. 1, 12-5 p.m.
Where: Mark Burkhalter Amphitheater at Newtown Park, 3150 Old Alabama Road, Johns Creek
More info: johnscreekga.gov
On September 12, 2023, several tributes to the community and Trailblazers of Lynwood Park were unveiled at the Lynwood Park Recreation Center, formerly Lynwood Park School. The city of Brookhaven worked with the Lynwood Park Foundation to honor and celebrate the history and people of the community.
The path to these changes began in 2018 when the Lynwood Park Foundation began work to obtain a historical marker. In October 2020, the Brookhaven City Council voted on and approved the “Historic Lynwood Park Recognition Ordinance.” The ordinance recognized Lynwood Park as the first predominantly Black subdivision in DeKalb County, a community which suffered discrimination and segregation.
Brookhaven councilwoman Linley Jones announced the various markers and tributes which are now a permanent part of the community.
The Lynwood Park School historical marker is on the lawn in front of the former school, which is now Lynwood Park Recreation Center. Black students from Lynwood Park, Doraville and Chamblee attended the school. It is one of several “equalization schools” across Georgia, where improvements or new schools were built for Black children, while keeping schools segregated.
The “Lynwood Park Trailblazers Community Room” honors former Lynwood Park students who blazed a trail for those to follow. The students were the first to integrate nearby White DeKalb County schools when Lynwood Park School closed in 1968.
The name of the gymnasium of Lynwood Park Recreation Center has been restored, named in honor of Columbus Jones, the first recreation director. The sign above the entrance reads, “Columbus Jones Gymnasium, home of the mighty Lynwood Rattlers, est. 1949.”
The turf field of Lynwood Park will honor Emmauel Wallace, long-time staffer of the park who died in 2020. His daughter shared his legacy, adding “his character and integrity shone through.”
Another tribute to the history lies within a display case placed in the community center lobby with photos and memorabilia of Lynwood Park School.
To highlight the entrance to historic Lynwood Park, Atlanta artist Turiya Clark was commissioned to paint murals in each crosswalk of the Windsor Parkway and Osborne Road roundabout. Clark, who grew up in Lynwood Park, painted images that are significant to Lynwood Park.
The little red schoolhouse, the first
school in Lynwood Park, is featured in one crosswalk section. Families of the community donated their labor and money to build the school which served their children from 1942 until 1949.
The school built in 1949 is pictured in another crosswalk. Other crosswalk paintings include a large oak tree which was a central gathering place for the community, white butterflies to symbolize peace and transformation and the ancestors of Lynwood Park, red poppies represent remembrance and hope for the future, yellow wildflowers for resilience and willpower to
survive against the odds, and the sun for happiness and harmony in the community.
Markers sharing the story of the community have also been placed at the entrance to Lynwood Park. Councilwoman Linley Jones declared, “The gateway markers at the intersection of Windsor Parkway and Osborne Road establish a permanent
sense of place.”
Award-winning author Valerie Biggerstaff is a longtime columnist for Appen Media and the Dunwoody Crier. She lives in Atlanta. You can email Valerie at pasttensega@gmail.com or visit her website at pasttensega.com.
Book chatter is what you get when you join a group of avid readers. Believe it or not, it can be hard to get a word in edgewise.
In August, I met with a Mystery Book Club in Highlands, N.C. What a fun time. Not only did Shakespeare & Company bookstore host the group, the manager also provided a tasty charcuterie board to fortify us for the meeting.
I gave an informal presentation about my serendipitous path to becoming an author, and a freewheeling back and forth ensued. Imagine a group of avid readers offering their opinions not only on mysteries but on all kinds of books. Picture all of us sharing the names of our favorite authors — from Agatha Christie to Rita Mae Brown. From Dorothy Sayers to Sophie Hannah. Their eyes lit up when they heard that the books in my series all include either a book club meeting or a literary festival.
We reflected on the joy that reading brings us. We were all lifelong bookworms. Someone mentioned Anna Quindlen’s book, “How Reading Changed My Life,” and I was the only one in the room who hadn’t read it. If there’d been a copy available in the shop, I would have bought it on the
spot. Instead, I went right home and reserved it at the library.
We even had a conversation about grammar when one reader bemoaned the mistakes in a newsletter at a senior living facility. Laughter greeted the story of the residents circling the errors and bringing them to the front desk. The group was aghast but not surprised that the college grad who composed the publication seemed unable to produce an error-free product.
That launched a discussion of our favorite books about grammar. I had to come home and scan my bookshelf and fire off an email with a list of my favorites:
• “Dreyer’s English—An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style”
• “Between You & Me—Confessions of a Comma Queen”
• “Lapsing into a Comma—A Curmudgeon’s Guide to the many things that can go wrong in print—and how to avoid them”
• “Eats, Shoots, & Leaves”
Ten days later, I met with a Dunwoody book club to discuss the first book in my mystery series. This group of women formed their club in 1997 and are still going strong. Because they’re Dunwoody residents, they’re familiar with my “Crier” columns about books. I smiled when one member walked in with a clipping from the column in which I’d recommended “The White
Lady,” a novel by one of my favorite authors. In her other hand, she carried a copy of the book.
Once again, I shared the tale of how I came to write my first work of fiction after I retired. I still credit Dick Williams, former editor of the Crier, with launching my writing career when he hired me as a columnist. This group had read “Bells, Tails & Murder,” book one in my series, so there were plenty of questions about the plot, the characters, and the setting. As I described the many Cotswolds sights and facts that appear in my books, I felt as though I were reliving my 2018 bucket list trip to England.
My heroine lives in a schoolhouse cottage we drove by, but the village where she lives is fictional. A waterwheel we saw in Upper Slaughter inspired the imaginary Olde Mill Inn in the book. It’s true that J.M. Barrie summered in Stanway and donated a cricket pavilion to the village, but the literary mystery in the book exists only in my imagination. The spunky octogenarian in the book? The inspiration for that character comes not from the Cotswolds trip, but from closer to home. She’s the embodiment of a 93-year-old Dunwoody friend.
You can always count on a group of avid readers to share the names of their favorite authors. Mine, of course, were all British — Kate Ellis, Colleen Cambridge, and Jacqueline Winspear. The list changes depending on when I’m asked, though there are a few constants.
When one person commented that it must take lots of imagination to write a novel, I had to think. I write what I know and pluck characters and situations from my life. Describing bicycling, reading, or tossing together a Greek meal comes easily to me. How much imagination does it take to weave stories around those elements? I’m not sure. What I know is that I get immense joy from writing. Talking books with groups like these is an unexpected bonus. Who knew retired life could be so rewarding?
NOTE: Join the fun at the Oct. 1 Johns Creek Literary Fair from noon to 5 p.m., at the Mark Burkhalter Amphitheater at Newtown Park. Enjoy New York Times bestselling writers discussing and signing their books. Witness a literary version of “Speed Dating” when twenty local authors give two-minute talks about their books — yes, I’ll be one of them. Books plus light hors d’oeuvres, wine, and other beverages will be available to purchase. What could be better than strolling through the park on an autumn afternoon chatting with authors and picking up a book or two or three?
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/.
One of the most splendidly adorned insects is the butterfly. If I asked you to tell me about your favorite insect, my guess is that butterflies would be at the top of the list for most people.
Because of the public admiration of butterflies, most of the 50 states have selected a state butterfly. In 1988, the Georgia Legislature passed a bill designating the Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) as the official state butterfly.
These summer beauties have four wings with yellow and black stripes on their forewings and one orange eyespot at the posterior end of each hindwing as well as a distinctive tail at the end of each hindwing. The female tiger swallowtails are adorned with an additional feature, a series of five blue circles lining the area above the tail of both hindwings. Some female swallowtails in the South are completely black but contain a shadow of the tiger stripe.
Every summer I anxiously await the arrival of the butterflies, especially the Eastern tiger swallowtails. They are the most abundant of the butterflies that visit our Georgia gardens. When the sun is shining, the swallowtails look for bright colored, nectar-producing flowers. They can also be seen at mud puddles and on asphalt to obtain water and some of the essential minerals needed for survival. During their short, two-week life as adult butterflies, they have two missions: to obtain nourishment from the nectar in flowers and to find a host plant to lay their eggs. They prefer to lay their eggs on birch, wild cherry, tulip poplar and ash trees. The leaves of these trees serve as the food supply for the hungry caterpillars after they hatch from the egg.
As the caterpillar increases in size and weight, it will shed its exoskeleton several times, and each time the exoskeleton is replaced by a new and larger one. When the larva, or caterpillars, reach their mature size, they pupate. The egg, caterpillar, pupa. adult life cycle is repeated one or two more times each summer. In Fall before the first frost, the last of the mature caterpillars will attach to a leaf and enter the pupa stage of their life cycle and remain suspended in this stage of development until the
This week’s “Garden Buzz” guest columnist is Carole MacMullan, a master gardener since 2012 and a Milton resident. Carole describes herself as a born biologist. Since childhood, she loved to explore the out-of-doors and garden with her mother. When she entered college, she selected biology as her major and made teaching high school biology her career for 35 years. In 2012, Carole completed the Master Gardener training program and joined the North Fulton Master Gardeners (NFMG) and the Milton Garden Club. Carole uses her teaching skills to create a variety of presentations on gardening topics for the NFMG Lecture Series and Speakers Bureau. She also volunteers weekly at the Assistance League of Atlanta (ALA) thrift store and acts as chair of their Links to Education scholarship program. Her favorite hobbies are gardening, hiking, biking and reading.
• Top left photo: Female Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly on buttonbush (Cephalalanthus occidentalis), photo by Ed Navarro.
• Top right photo: Female Eastern tiger swallowtail on purple butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii), photo by Carole MacMullan.
• Middle left photo: Male swallowtail on orange impatiens (Impatiens walleriana), photo by Carole MacMullan.
• Bottom right photo: Eastern tiger swallowtail close-up showing antenna and proboscis, University of Georgia photo
• Bottom left photo: Eastern tiger swallowtail larva, photo by Howard Ensign Evans, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org.
summer of the next year. The pupa stage is a time of change. Some of the caterpillar cells are lost, reshuffled, and replaced by new cells that create wings, antennae, new mouth parts and reproductive organs. This metamorphosis transforms the green, worm-like caterpillar into a colorful butterfly capable of reproducing and laying eggs.
Successfully observing butterflies requires being at the right place at the right time. They like sunny days and prefer to feed in the late mornings and during the afternoon since they are cold-blooded. On a sunny July 14, I observed a hungry, male Eastern tiger swallowtail feeding on the nectar of a cluster of orange impatiens flowers. Over a period of 10 to 15 minutes, the butterfly moved from one orange
flower to the next orange flower, each time inserting its straw-like mouth part called a proboscis to obtain lifesustaining nectar. To my amazement, the butterfly visited every orange impatiens flower in my flower bed but ignored every white flowering impatiens! My conclusion is that they like bright colored flowers, and the flower color is more important than the taste appeal of the nectar.
My suggestion to all butterfly enthusiasts is to visit your gardens, take a walk and/or visit the Atlanta Botanical Garden or Gibbs Garden in Ball Ground, Ga., and to enjoy the summer flowers, pollinators and of course, the butterflies. If you have pre-school children or grandchildren, I suggest reading my favorite children’s picture book, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”
• Georgia Wildlife Federation Magazine, “State butterfly is a beautiful sight,” March 18, 2020, originally posted in fall 1991.
• Jeffrey Glassberg, “Butterflies of North America,” 2011, ISBN 978-14027-8620-4.
• Charles Seabrook, “The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is Aptly Named,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, June 20, 2013.
• James A. Scott, “The Butterflies of North America: a natural history and field guide,” Stanford University Press, ISBN-13: 978-0804720137.
by Eric Carle. It is never too early to teach our children to appreciate the out-of-doors and all the animals, plants and living things we share the planet with and are part of the web of life!
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.
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