HOLIDAY
HOLIDAY
HOLIDAY
Students at Columbia High School will feed more than 400 homeless men, women and children at their third annual Turkey Dinner on Nov. 21. 10
Commissioner Larry Johnson is hoping to see a sea of gifts when his annual Tree of Love kicks off at the Gallery at South DeKalb mall. 11
Want to be a hit when the family and friends gather for a holiday potluck? Try one of these recipes sure to please a hungry palate. 12
Learning to help others
Copyright © 2009 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
Making wishes come true
November 21, 2009
Treats for the feast
www.crossroadsnews.com
Volume 15, Number 29
Signs that people are shopping again inspire retailers By Donna Williams Lewis
While people aren’t expected to loosen the grips on their wallets anytime soon, local malls are still optimistic that this holiday season will be merrier for them than the last. The International Council of Shopping Centers predicts a moderate gain for 2009 in holiday sales. Local malls say they expect that to be the case. The Mall at Stonecrest has seen an uptick in sales since September, said marketing manager Donald Bieler. “People are starting to shop again,” Bieler said. “We’ve started the slow climb but it won’t be quick. It is going to be a long climb.” North DeKalb Mall has seen an increase in traffic since Halloween, said the mall’s marketing manager, Mary Joyce Burdge. “To be sure, I believe people are going to be sticking to a stricter budget than they may have had in the past, but I think there may be a small increase in spending over last year,” Burdge said. Though there are about 10 shuttered spaces at the Gallery at South DeKalb, general manager Tene Harris said the mall is “90 percent occupied” and that mall traffic has been stable throughout the year. Stores are under construction behind six of the tarps, Harris said. Meanwhile, the mall’s Piccadilly Cafeteria is “No. 1” in its chain for
Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews
Retailers are hoping shoppers like these 2008 Black Friday bargain hunters will make this holiday shopping season a merry one. The 2009 shopping season kicks off the Friday after Thanksgiving despite dire projections.
sales volume in Atlanta, according to Harris. And its Macy’s store is widely known for doing brisk business. “Our customers have been extremely loyal,” Harris said. “We have not seen the significant decreases in mall traffic some other centers have.” The rosy pictures are painted against a grim backdrop – one in which some surveys show that
consumers plan to spend about the same or less than they did last year, won’t be splurging or buying on credit. “Retailers are about to embark on the holiday season of the serious bargain hunter,” the National Retail Federation said in an Oct. 20 press release. An NRF survey found that U.S. consumers plan to spend an average of $682.74 on holiday-related
coupons and putting up last year’s decorations. Many say they plan to buy more practical gifts, to buy joint gifts for kids or parents, and to give more handmade gifts. To help lure customers early on Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving – the Mall at Stonecrest is offering patrons a buy one get one free gift card special. Customers who buy a $100 Mall at Stonecrest gift card will get a $50 gift card for free, while supplies last. The sale begins at 7 a.m. Santa arrives at the Mall at Stonecrest at I-20 and Turner Hill Road in Lithonia and at the Gallery at South DeKalb at 1-20 and Candler Road in Decatur on Nov. 21. He makes it to North DeKalb Mall on Lawrenceville Highway in Decatur on Nov. 27. The traditional beginning of the holiday shopping season, Black Friday is expected to be a much bigger deal for consumers this year than in recent years. Sixteen percent of respondents to a survey conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers said they expect to begin their holiday shopping that day. That’s up from a previous high of 13 percent in 2006 and a low of 10 percent in 2007, the ICSC said. Some of the new retailers to the Gallery at South DeKalb are targeting Black Friday for getting their doors open. Already a new eatery, Mikie’s
shopping this year, a 3.2 percent drop from last year’s $705.01. In its November issue, Consumer Reports unveiled results of its consumers’ spending practice survey that found that 86 percent of adults 18 years and older say they will buy only what they need and put less on credit cards. Respondents to the NRF survey said they would be shopping for sales more often, using more Please see SHOPPING, page 4
90-year-old’s passion is helping his church feed community’s needy By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
Even the years can’t slow Sam Brown down. Two days after his 90th birthday on Nov. 7, Brown was at his post at Holy Cross Episcopal Church managing the food pantry he helped set up 25 years ago. “It’s better than sitting down,” he said this week. “My health is good and all that work keeps me young.” Brown, who lives in Decatur, says his volunteer work at the church he has attended for 31 years keeps him going. He also rarely misses the monthly first Saturday DeKalb Community Cabinet Meeting hosted by former state Rep. Stan Watson at New Piney Grove Church. A retired engineer, Brown came to Atlanta in 1976 to help build the MARTA subway system. He also helped build the Washington, D.C., and San Francisco subway systems that were designed by Parsons Brinckerhoff Engineers, where he worked. He retired in 1982. When he joined the Decatur church in
1978, he said the pantry was needed. “We used to have 50 to 60 households receiving food,” he said. “They came from Atlanta, Stone Mountain, Lithonia, just all over.” Then as now, the country was in the midst of recession and families were hurting. Three decades later, the country is in another recession and families are struggling with job layoffs, unemployment, foreclosures and a host of other economic issues. Hunger also is rising across the country. This week, a Household Food Security Report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that there were more than 506,000 U.S. families in which a child experienced hunger multiple times over the course of the year. Local food pantries, like Holy Cross’, have helped stave off some of that hunger. Brown said that the number of families served by the pantry has doubled this year. The pantry is supported by the 267 families making up the membership of the church on South Columbia Place and by its Diocese of Atlanta. Members also put in
volunteer hours to pick up from the Atlanta Community Food Bank and pack the food boxes they give away monthly. Last month, the pantry helped 170 families. On Saturday, it will be serving as many again with food boxes that will include all the fixings for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Brown said what they do is necessary. “This is one of the most important ministries of this diocese,” he said. His pastor, the Rev. Brian Jemmott, said Brown shows no signs of slowing down at the church, which counts members from 21 countries including various Caribbean islands and Africa. “He is the nucleus of what goes on there,” Jemmott said Thursday. “Sam has the energy and he continues to lead the efforts.” Brown says he gets a “Christian feeling” from helping people in need. Even as a child growing up in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, he was helping others. “We had a day that we did things for the Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews church,” he said. Sam Brown loads a freezer with some of the Please see BROWN, page 4
turkeys that Holy Cross Episcopal Church will give away for Thanksgiving dinners.