THE
LIFE 400 NORTH
GIVING EXOTIC ANIMALS A SECOND CHANCE
A DAY ON
LAKE LANIER
Driving the Movement Dawn Hall has grown the food truck trend in metro Atlanta despite her share of adversity. And she is nowhere near finished.
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from the
E ditor T
here is something unequivocally American about a comeback. Maybe it stems from the underdog mentality our country’s forefathers instilled in the first Americans who helped win their freedom from the monolithic British empire. Or maybe it’s just that Hollywood (really, storytelling entertainment in general) uses the concept in nearly every script they churn out. Regardless, the theme permeates our culture. The Ga. 400 corridor is not exempt to this phenomena, and we found a couple stories that prove it. For our cover story this issue, we have Dawn Hall. She has overcome what might seem insurmountable to some, and she has done it with grace, style, and a damn good menu. The story really is a must-read. We also took a trip up to Dahlonega, and we talked with C.W. Wathen about how he and his staff work to give exotic rescue animals another chance at life. But there’s a lot more, too; so grab a cold beverage, get out of that heat and humidity and get some inspiration from this issue of The Life — 400 North. —
Micah Green
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June • July 2016
Contents
10
A Day on Lanier Take a day-cation with us as we escape the pavement and eat our way across the lake.
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On the Cover: Full Hearts, Happy Bellies Dawn Hall has faced her share of adversity. You’d never know it by her two food trucks and event planning business.
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Ga. 400: Where It’s Been
Given a Second Chance
Every day Ga. 400 takes thousands between their job and home, but the highway has brought much more to the corridor than a commute.
C.W. Wathen is giving hope to the helpless at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve and Zoo.
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Summer Cocktails
16
Sports Portraits
22
Places to Go
29
July 4th Calendar
30
June • July 2016
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Contributors Content Director
Micah Green mgreen@forsythnews.com 770-887-3126
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Ryan Garmon - Director rgarmon@forsythnews.com 770-205-8960 Allison Althauser aalthauser@forsythnews.com Cheri Bullard cbullard@forsythnews.com Connor Kelly ckelly@forsythnews.com
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June • July 2016
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ESCAPING THE P Story by Michael Foster
A DAY ON LAN
Story by Kayla Robins Photos by Micah Green 10
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June • July 2016
PAVEMENT
NIER
The wavering of the fluid surface beneath me is both unnerving and calming. I don’t like that I can’t see more than two feet of my submerged body. At all. But the water swishing back and forth under the b oat and the way it moves u p an d d own , attempting to break free drop by drop while also becoming part of the entire lake at the same time, is like a blanket of reflected sunshine.
June • July 2016
Our transportation for the day is a boat. Simple, comfortable, spacious enough for the three of us to put our feet up yet compact enough so we don’t have to yell – too much – over the wind while we zoom from pier to pier. We pass an abandoned golf course. Then a course that’s being used. And a floating church. To our right, a few hundred feet away, a girl on a Jet Ski is winning the race that she had no idea we were competing in. Lake Lanier on the Friday before Memorial Day was shockingly empty. Maybe our timing had something to do with THE LIFE 400 NORTH
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i t . We w e r e , a f t e r a l l , boating to three restaurants before 6 p.m. and possibly overestimated the number of people who would be flocking out already. “This is nothing. Usually when I come here it’s like bumper to bumper with boats. Like y o u c a n ’t j u s t p u l l u p like this.” That was Connor. Our captain for the day. We took advantage of the space before it inevitably became a parking l o t . We f l o a t e d i n t h e water and watched the zip line at LanierWorld. We could hear the massive screen over the water from our boat. We did not feed the ducks that swam up to us, clearly accustomed to an alternative outcome.
The family favorite
You can without realizing it spend an entire day at Lake Lanier Islands Park. We almost did. Maybe it was the halfand-half frozen daiquirim a rga r i t a I o r d e r e d a t Sunset Cove that probably made our server wonder if I had already had four. I hadn’t. Maybe it was the key lime pie that tasted like s o m e o n e ’s g r a n d m a made it. They probably didn’t. We only experienced the opening act in the total show. We didn’t get
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to eat our nachos while listening to live music. We didn’t get to lounge under the roof or on the beach. It was still a perfect meal to end a day on t h e w a t e r, bu t i t a l s o could have made for a family outing that lasted a l l w e e ke n d . W h i c h i t o f ten d o es . Th ey we re sitting next to us.
The standard
A half-day earlier, we had departed from the Habersham Marina and headed northeast. Connor had transformed from Forsyth County News sales representative to our Lake Lanier navigator. He showed us how steep the lake floor dipped as we approached Buford Dam to 50 feet, 120 feet, 200 feet.
I transformed from r e p o r t e r t o o b s e r v e r. With no one to interview, I noted the movement of the boat. I wondered what the part of the island that was hidden under water looked like. Like a red-clay iceberg. Micah played the role of first-mate-for-the-day.
I think he even learned how to tie the knot when we pulled up at the dock. The boat didn’t float awa y, s o i t m u s t h ave worked. Not growing up around lakes big enough to host restaurants and destinations, I anticipated the novelty of parking our
June • July 2016
boat at Port Royale and walking up to Pelican Pete’s for lunch. The fish tacos satisfied the hunger and refreshment I needed. The dockside restaurant was the respite from the sun I wanted. The ease of getting right back onto the boat after a calming lunch and friendly staff was the relaxation I didn’t expect.
The local
Between Pelican Pete’s and Sunset Cove, we stopped at the Twister Oar. We took the scenic route. This was the place where, if I lived nearby, I would see someone I knew every time I went. Nothing flashy, nothing unnecessary. Good, simple, satisfying. It was the perfect mix of home and vacation, like having a patio and TV with the comfort of the water on your other side. I knew we were surrounded, past the water and the docks and the trees, by the traffic and the neighborhoods and the orange cones along the roadway. And it comforted me that this lake was below me. Here’s a disclaimer: I’ll take a beach over most any other setting any other day. Growing up in Florida, I was a few turns away from soft, white sand and saltwater on either side. Forty-five minutes to the west for a seaside lunch or a coastal sunset or 75 minutes to the east for a day trip or weekend visit with crashing waves. But I must say there’s something about taking a boat out on the lake, spending a day on the water instead of by it, not having to pack up and leave to get a meal and feeling the motion of the wakes from
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other boats turn the floor beneath you from a rocking chair to a roller coaster. There’s something about seeing the green of the trees turn into the red of the clay before being submerged under more green. There’s something about a lake that settles your mind. About being on the water but surrounded by shore. It’s escaping from reality but remaining grounded. There are certainly worse ways to spend a day. June • July 2016
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THE LIFE 400 NORTH
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400
GA.
I
t’s no secret the population along the Ga. 400 corridor has exploded in recent years as the area developed a knack for excellent dining, natural amenities and a high quality of life. All that praise, arguably, is due to the roadway itself. Since its initial dedication in 1971 and expansion through the next decade, Ga. 400 has driven growth to the area by making the big city and its workers more easily accessible to each other. That access was fed by a want to live with more space outside of the city bustle that was close enough to commute to work. According to census data, between 1970 and 2010 populations grew from 16,928 to 175,511 in Forsyth County, 2,455 to 57,551 in Alpharetta, 5,430 to 88,346 in Roswell and from 3,639 to 22,330 in Dawson County.
WHERE IT’S BEEN Story by Kelly Whitmire
The northward population trend mirrored the expansion of the state route. Roswell saw a population explosion from 5,430 in 1970 to 23,337 in 1980. Alpharetta didn’t boom until the next decade, when it grew from 3,128 residents in 1980 to 13,002 in 1990. From 1990 to 2000, Forsyth County’s population more than doubled from 44,068 to 98,407. The influx of growth has brought in new neighbors and opportunities while shaking up what had been smaller and quieter communities with less “transplants.” The corridor is filled with more memories of those days gone by than just the Smokey and the Bandit backdrop, covered by new development and urban sprawl. Though it may be fun to look to the future and what’s in store for the area, sometimes it is nice to take a look back.
Lake Lanier
Named for poet Sidney Lanier, Lake Lanier is one of the most popular recreation areas in the state and is the water source for Atlanta. The man-made reservoir began filling with water from the Chattahoochee River in 1956, following the completion of Buford Dam on the Forsyth-Gwinnett county line. Before the lake was impounded, the area in east Forsyth County was home to communities, churches and even a racetrack, which was briefly unsunk during the heavy drought lasting between 2007-2009.
Chattahoochee Nature Center
Since the 1970s, the Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell has worked to educate families and visitors on area wildlife and the importance of a healthy river. The center sits on 127 acres and hosts more than 100,000 visitors every year. At the center, visitors can hike wildlife trails, learn about ecology and visit a discovery center featuring live animals and interactive exhibits.
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June • July 2016
Downtown Cumming
Totaling just more than 6 square miles and with just about 5,000 residents, most of Forsyth’s population lives outside the city limits, making Cumming among the smallest county seats in metro Atlanta. But its small stature doesn’t mean it lacks history. The city was incorporated in 1833 and named for Col. William Cumming, who fought in the War of 1812. Today, downtown Cumming is the home to several small businesses, courts and government buildings. Perhaps the most popular space is the Cumming Fairgrounds, the site of the annual Cumming Country Fair & Festival since 1995.
King and Queen
Though officially called Concourse Corporate Center V and VI, the King and Queen towers operate as unofficial gate to the Ga. 400 corridor. The skyscrapers in Sandy Springs, which earned their nicknames due to their resemblance to chess pieces, are the most notable roadside sights as the highway crosses Interstate-285, referred to as Atlanta’s perimeter. The Queen tower opened in 1988, and the King followed in 1991. Both buildings are part of the Concourse Center at Landmark Park. Photos courtesy of the Historical Society of Forsyth County, Chattahoochee Nature Center and the Concourse Center at Landmark Park.
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3rd Thursday of each month at 6:00 pm The Bellmont Building (along Jot Em Down) 4940 Jot Em Down Rd. • Cumming, GA 30041
www.GracemontAssistedLiving.com
June • July 2016
770-887-2000
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S
UMMER COCKTAILS
A
By Adlen Robinson
hhh…Is there anything better than enjoying the lake or pool on a hot summer day? If you add a cool, refreshing cocktail to the equation, you just reached summer Nirvana! If you usually use one of those pre-made mixes to make cocktails, think again. Have you ever read the ingredient list of those mixes? Most are loaded with high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, and numerous chemicals and preservatives — can you say toxic? Instead of sipping on a Frankendrink, why not try one of these super simple, yet delicious, cocktails? Enjoy!
Blue Island Breeze 1 ounce vodka 1 ounce gin 1 ounce Blue Curacao 1 lemon peel for garnish
Combine all ingredients in a shaker full of ice. Shake and then strain into glass. Garnish with lemon peel.
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Frozen Mango Daiquiri 4 ounces light rum 1 lime, peeled completely (no white pith or peel) 1 tablespoon honey 1 cup frozen mango 1 cup frozen pineapple 2 cups ice Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until combined.
Frozen Cosmopolitan ¼ cup cranberry juice 2 ounces vodka 1 ounce Triple Sec 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 ½ cups ice
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until combined. June • July 2016
3331 Hamilton Mill Rd. Suite 1106 Buford, GA 30519
1230 Bald Ridge Marina Rd Suite 300 Cumming, GA 30041
3370 Paddocks Pkwy. Suwanee, GA 30024
3850 Pleasant Hill Rd. Duluth, GA 30096
(Across from the Kroger Shopping Center)
(Off 141 close to BP Gas Station & Laurel Springs Sub-division)
(Across from Costco at Exit 15 off GA400)
(Between Peachtree Industrial & Buford Highway)
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June • July 2016
FULL HEARTS, HAPPY BELLIES Story by Kayla Robins Photos by Micah Green
D
awn Hall is a lot of things. She is a mother of two. An entrepreneur. A small business
owner. She is a do-er. She is a host and a server. A liaison and a planner. She says yes a lot. She definitely doesn’t quit. Dawn Hall is a widow. She is 41. She owns Happy Belly Curbside Kitchen and coordinates about 60 other food trucks that rotationally attend six food truck rallies throughout Atlanta and its suburbs, including the new monthly Food Trucks N’ Forsyth at the Lanier Technical College Forsyth Conference Center. At the May event (the second in Forsyth) she crossed the parking lot back and forth from the conference center staff to the green box truck that already had a line to the center of the 10-truck circle. The health inspector was supposed to be there at 3 p.m., but she didn’t arrive until 4. Hall had hoped the 5 o’clock start time would be smooth since she doubled the
June • July 2016
number of trucks to fight the long lines that themed the inaugural event in April. Sometimes plans change. She knew that. “All food trucks have to get a permit in each county every year,” she said. “It’s definitely more permitting than a brick-and-mortar restaurant. It’s a lot more to keep up with.” Forsyth County hands out temporary permits, so each truck has to be inspected before every event. So Hall not only runs her two Happy Belly trucks, about 12 employees and a commissary kitchen in Smyrna (food trucks are required to base out of a non-mobile kitchen) and lets about six other trucks work out of that kitchen. She also runs Fork in the Road, a food truck event planning company. She serves as a liaison between the event space (cities, counties, parks, businesses) and the food trucks, saving the host the hassle of contacting truck owners individually and saving the trucks the freelance-
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style stress of finding ways to be invited to these events.
“Everything is homemade”
Happy Belly’s success from the getgo led to the event planning aspect as naturally as the ingredients on its menu. The ingredients are good, by the way. Really good. “What guided us was just the way we ate. The way that I saw a need for. My husband is from Louisiana, and we talked about doing a Louisiana-themed truck but because we had hospitality experience of 15-plus years, 30 combined, we just looked at the market and we found a need,” Hall said. “The way we eat at home is clean eating. Organic, local, fresh, clean. So we just went with that, I guess.” The husband-wife duo didn’t want to be another one-dimensional food truck trend. They didn’t want to only serve barbeque or tacos or southern comfort dishes. Not that the trucks that do that aren’t good, too. After all, they complete her Fork in the Road roster. “We partnered with Big Green Egg, so we have one on the truck that we grill our proteins on. We grill our burgers, chicken, vegetables, our salmon,” she said. “We’re probably the most laborintensive food truck in Atlanta … I could offer cheaper food or prepackaged food, which would be a lot easier for us. But that’s not my philosophy. Everything is homemade. The mac and cheese, we buy the pasta and the cheese and the heavy cream and we melt it all. That’s the way I like to feed my family, and that’s the way I feel people should eat.”
In the business of family
Hall got into the food truck game with her family, so it was only natural that the menu, the name, the business revolve around it, too. Hall and her husband, Terry, moved to
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the area from Pittsburg in the fall of 2011. They met while both working in the private club business. Country clubs, weddings. The food truck trend was booming but hadn’t quite reached full steam in Atlanta yet. They had to live with Hall’s parents in Cumming for six months while they got their business on its feet. They created a business plan, a design, a logo, a menu, a name. Their daughter, Mayer, who is 7, likes to take customers’ orders. “She’s going to own it one day, she says,” Hall said. “She wants to be a veterinarian and own Happy Belly one day. We named the company after her because we used to always … whatever we’d eat we’d ask her, ‘Is your belly happy?’” They got rolling in 2012, and by the end of the year were saying no to so much business that Terry said they needed to buy a second truck. And start Fork in the Road to create a coordinated effort to promote food truck events. The business continued to grow and succeed. Even as we talk, her phone rings and buzzes multiple times. Her number is on the trucks, after all. She picks up the phone to decline a call with her right hand, on which she wears her wedding ring.
“A dynamic duo”
In fall 2013, Hall was due to have her second child, Henry, in a week. Terry asked the doctor about a lingering cough he was worried to have around his newborn son. “He was actually diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer when Henry was 7 days old,” Hall said. “He passed away when he was 6 months old. So Henry never knew his daddy. Awful. He died at the age of 40, healthy. He was a nonsmoker. So it was a complete shock.” For the first three months after his diagnosis, Terry worked 14-hour days
on the truck. He was the chef, the manager. Hall ran the planning and sales side. “The two of us were a dynamic duo,” she said. Selling the truck hasn’t been an option. “I have a full-time nanny, two children. I had to hire two other managers to help me run it that weren’t here when Terry was here. But I can’t do what he did because I have the family, and it’s just me. I have a lot of extra help,” he said. “I could be doing something a lot easier. My dad looks at me and he goes, ‘Why don’t you just get a normal job?’ I’m trying. I’m trying my best. It’s another baby. It’s a lot of different things. There’s a purpose behind it. No other food truck in Atlanta does what we do.” A family-oriented, healthy food truck where “dad can get a burger and fries, mom can get a kale salad with salmon on top and kid can get mac and cheese.” Hall loves what she does. Not just because it’s a successful business. Or because it’s her piece of Terry that remains. Or because she needs to support a family. It’s a little bit of everything.
“It’s sticking around longer than I thought”
Fork in the Road puts trucks in almost every major city in metro Atlanta, and Hall’s expansion mirrors how Atlanta grew. “You have your city, and we came out from, say, to Roswell/Sandy Springs to Alpharetta and now Cumming,” she said. They go to Marietta, to Kennesaw, to Smyrna, to Brookhaven and now even to Woodstock. “It allowed us to have a place for our own company. If we can organize the event, it just helps us. Happy Belly is always at these events. And it creates events for food truck owners,” she said. Happy Belly hasn’t stopped there. Dawn Hall does a lot of things. She takes Happy Belly to food truck rallies. She organizes the rallies. She caters for weddings. Business outings. She can offer gluten free menus. She can serve catered food right from the truck or from a more traditional buffet-style setup. “I thought it was a trend, but it’s sticking around longer than I thought. The Cherokee event is very busy. Just as busy as Forsyth because they haven’t had it in the past come up this way, so June • July 2016
it’s still new to communities,” she said. “Catering will always be there. People need food. And people are so busy these days they don’t cook themselves anymore. We’ve catered a 1-year-old’s birthday party. You can’t pack up 50 people most times and go to a restaurant. You can, but it’s more limited. We can serve about 100 people an hour.” She hopes her next step will be a brick-and-mortar café. Possibly in Forsyth. Depends on the location. She has the word of mouth ready to open a restaurant and the proven menu. She wants the consistency of a kitchen without wheels so she can serve people year-round instead of seeing sales go down in winter. “People ask me, ‘Where can we come get your food?’” she said. “But we may be out in Lawrenceville that day.” Dawn Hall has a lot of things. Two children. The memory of her husband in two happy bellies. A food truck event planning business. A catering company. A determination. Dawn Hall is a lot of things. A quitter is not one of them.
June • July 2016
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Sports on 400 North
Our favorite portraits of some of the area’s most talented athletes. Photographs by Micah Green
Koby Cormier, West Forsyth
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June • July 2016
Erin Houlihan, Pinecrest Trey Arnold, Lambert
June • July 2016
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GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE Story and Photos by Micah Green
W
hen Little Bear showed up at C.W. Wathen’s Chestatee Wildlife Preserve and Zoo, he weighed just less than 12 pounds. “He really was just skin on bone,” Wathen said. “When they handed him to us, it was like he was lifeless.” The small black bear cub – he’s called LB for short – was picked up after several reports of him wandering dangerously close to a local highway. The cub was in bad shape, and it looked like the Georgia Department of Natural Resources was going to have to put the animal down. “Someone heard them talking about it on the scanner and let us know,” Wathen said. “It was pure luck.” DNR took the cub out Old Dahlonega Highway to the preserve; Wathen and his staff got right to work, doing what they do. They had to nurse LB back to health. And though luck may have been what brought LB to Wathen, it wasn’t luck that was going to save him. ••• Rescuing animals was never really in C.W. Wathen’s plan. He grew up on a farm in Kentucky, though, sur-
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June • July 2016
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To get a closer look inside the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve and Zoo, check out Episode 1 of our video series online at www.forsythnews.com/multimedia
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rounded by all the common farm animals: cows, chickens and the like. After his father got out of the dairy business, Wathen took over the land and promptly acquired some buffalo in a trade for some of his dairy cows. Over the ensuing years, he would acquire more animals, usually through owners who could no longer care for or afford them. A r o u n d t h a t s a m e t i m e h e m ove d t o Georgia, and that’s when things changed. Wathen said he needed to get licensed by the state if he wanted to be able to keep the exotic animals he had already been caring for in Kentucky. What he didn’t know immediately was that being licensed in Georgia meant the state might ask you to take in animals that were either rescued from the wild or confiscated from private owners. Once he began taking in rescues, the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve really started to take shape: lions and tigers and bears, for real. Wathen moved his family and animals from Forsyth County to Dahlonega in order to have a little more acreage. He built his home on a hill overlooking the entrance to the preserve. Despite its growth, though, the preserve was still not technically open to the public. That is until a hospital – Wathen can’t remember which – called and asked if they could bring a group of terminally ill patients to visit, all of them children. He unhesitatJune • July 2016
ingly agreed. Just don’t think you’re going to get to feed the “We brought them out, big cats on the first day. and it just opened their ••• eyes and their hearts,” he There are people who said, beaming. “I’m telldon’t appreciate what ing you, you could just see Wathen is doing. It’s the it lift their pains.” nature of his business, That was about 28 years though. ago. The Chestatee He is providing a serWildlife Preserve hasn’t vice to the state by takclosed their doors since. ing in these animals that “The staff is out here would otherwise be put feeding and tending to the down, in one fashion or animals everyday anyway, another. so we figure we might as But he has to take care well let people come of them properly and whenever they can,” he said. “I haven’t had a vacation in 45 years … I’m not complaining though; this is the abide by state and federal guidelines, which can be expensive. life I have chosen.” Animal rights activists want him to give the animals ••• The Chestatee Wildlife Preserve houses more than more room to live, and though Wathen said he and his 150 animals, including everything from the mighty staff agree and strive to do so, they can only work with the resources they have. African lions and white Siberian tigers “Yes, of course, we get flack,” to hedgehogs and cockatoos, so Wathen Wathen said. “But they are usually peoand his staff have a wide set of knowlple that don’t understand what we are edge. doing here; we think it is better to have And he attributes a lot of that knowlan animal safe and in an enclosure, edge to simply paying attention and rather than stuffed on some wall or put having the animals’ best interests at in the ground.” heart at all times. ••• “It’s a labor of love to us here,” Back to Little Bear. Wathen said. “we watch their ears, how Luck brought him to Chestatee. Hard they sit down, how they walk towards work and loving dedication saved his you, where their tails are and how life. C.W. Wathen and his staff saved they’re moving.” his life. It’s these things that you could only C.W. Wathen — Today, Little Bear is two years older learn on the job that he tries to pass on and about 250 pounds heavier. He to his staff, a lot of who volunteer their Chestatee Wildlife spends his days hanging around with a time, which is something he said is Preserve grizzly bear, which would certainly be invaluable. his mortal enemy in the wild. Here they As a 501 (c) nonprofit, the preserve relies completely on private funding and heavily on play together. Sometimes wrestling. Sometimes chasing. Sometimes sun bathing. volunteers. He gets plenty of food and plenty of exercise, but, of “As long as you’re 18 years old and able to lift about course, he’s not in the wild. 40 pounds a day, we can put you to work,” he said.
“It’s a labor of love to us here,”
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In reality though, he wouldn’t survive there now and certainly wouldn’t have two years ago. “These animals can’t be turned back out into the wild,” he said. “We prolong their lives, and we think they have good lives here.” As to what the future holds, Wathen isn’t sure. He knows he wants to keep expanding, as funding allows, but because he relies so heavily on donations, major planning for the future can be a little futile. “But I got a little 8-year-old,” he said. Her name is Bella, and Wathen is confident that when the day comes for her to take the proverbial reins, she will wholeheartedly. “She lives and breathes this with me, too. We run side-by-side every day.”
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Places to go... Would you like to submit an event to be considered for Life 400 North’s Places To Go? Email us at: events@forsythnews.com. Please type “Things To Do...” in the subject line.
Concerts at The Collection Thursday — 7-9 p.m. Live music & kids activities. June 23: Cole Tannisch July 7: Lance Price Band July 21: Last Five Standing
Alive in Roswell Thursday — 5-9 p.m. This family-friendly event features live bands, food trucks, kids games, face painting, balloons, etc. and enjoy participation from the many boutiques, small businesses and restaurants that surround the venues. Alcoholic beverages may be purchased and consumed at the venues.
July 21 & August 18 Historic Town Square & Canton Street | Roswell, GA www.aliveinroswell.com
The Collection at Forsyth 410 Peachtree Parkway | Cumming, GA www.collectionforsyth.com
Lakewood 400 Antiques Friday: 9 a.m. -5 p.m. | Saturday: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission: $3 (12 & under FREE) July 15-22 & August 19-21 Lakewood 400 Antiques Market 1321 Atlanta Highway | Cumming, GA www.lakewoodantiques.com
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre At the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, you will enjoy performances by today’s leading artists and the Grammy-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Set on 45 acres of beautifully-landscaped wooded land, the 12,000-seat state-of-the art venue provides a unique setting for music lovers. June 22: Taste Of Chaos Tour with Dashboard Confessional June 28: Barenaked Ladies with OMD and Howard Jones July 16: I Love the 90’s featuring Salt N Pepa July 23: Tedeschi Trucks Band with special guests July 29: Gwen Stefani with Eve Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre 2200 Encore Parkway | Alpharetta, GA www.vzwamp.com
KS
RUC T D FOO
Alpharetta JUNE 23 • 30 JULY 7 • 14 • 21 • 28 Food Truck Alley Every Thursday 5 - 9 p.m. 37 Old Roswell St. | Alpharetta, GA www.awesomealpharetta.com Alpharetta Food Truck Alley
forsyth JUNE 20 JULY 18
Third Monday 5 - 8 p.m. Lanier Technical College 3410 Ronald Reagan Blvd. | Cumming, GA www.forsythconferencecenter.laniertech.edu
Food Trucks n’ Forsyth
Avalon Nights Live 6pm-8pm Unwind after a long week with live music in The Plaza every Friday presented by SKYY Vodka! Grab your friends and family and get ready to dance the night away! June 24 July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 August 5, 12, 19, 26 Avalon 2200 Avalon Blvd. | Alpharetta, GA www.experienceavalon.com
JULY 4
th
INDEPENDENCE DAY
Looking for the perfect location to celebrate the 4th of July with your family and friends? Pack up your lawn chairs and blankets and head on up to Dahlonega, only an hour’s drive north of Atlanta, for a full day of exciting activities and events that the entire family will enjoy!
4 th OF
JULY CELEBRATION AT Cumming Fairgrounds July 3 Dance contest, food and vendors, children activities 6-11 p.m. Fireworks 9:30 P.M. at Cumming Fairgrounds. FREE admission & parking. July 4 Annual Steam Engine Parade 10 a.m.-noon The parade, lead by the Mayor, will feature Steam Engines that represent a historical era of agriculture and farming. A.G. Thomas, Dr. Jim Mashburn, and Dr. Marcus Mashburn, were all avid collectors of steam engines and their family and friends have maintained and added to their unique collections. The Steam Engine Association proudly displays their antique engines every 4th of July to carry on the tradition Thomas began over fifty years ago. Antique cars, local business floats, county sports teams, and simply a combination of small-town fun will follow the engines in the parade. Cumming, GA www.cummingfair.net | www.cummingjuly4parade.com
July 4 - Gates open at 6 p.m. Centennial Olympic Park’s Fourth of July Celebration will offer fun and entertainment for the entire family, including free music and the Southeast’s largest fireworks display and live entertainment by J-Fly and Friends. 265 Park Ave W. NW | Atlanta, GA www.centennialpark.com
This year’s 4th of July Family Celebration will be bigger and better than ever. Arrive early to compete in the Firecracker 5k/10k and catch the all new Pet Show and Expo. The rest of the day will be filled with a patriotic ceremony, an all American market, a classic car show presented by Gold City Car Club, a thrilling adventure zone for all ages, live entertainment, a watermelon eating contest and patriotic parade. After a full day of fun in the sun, head down to the drill field at the University of North Georgia to watch one of the best fireworks displays in North Georgia. Downtown Dahlonega & UNG Drill Field | Dahlonega, GA www.dahlonega4thofjuly.com
CELEBRATE 4TH OF JULY IN ALPHARETTA
Celebrate Independence Day with family and friends at Wills Park on Monday, July 4, 2016! The spectacular fireworks display begins at dusk! Entertainment and children’s activities will be on the lawn behind the Alpharetta Community Center from 6-9 p.m. There will be nominal fees for inflatables and other children’s activities (cash only please). Food vendors will be located throughout the park from 6 - 10 p.m. (cash only please). Alcohol and tobacco are prohibited in the park per city ordinance. Pets must be on leashes or in a crate. Charcoal grills are strictly prohibited. Small propane grills are allowed with permit. Some activities may be canceled due to inclement weather, but the fireworks will be shot rain or shine. Wills Park 1825 Old Milton Parkway | Alpharetta, GA www.alpharetta.ga.us
Sparks at the Motorsports Park Independence Day Celebration Presented by the Dawsonville Downtown Development Authority. 4 - 9 p.m. Festivities: food vendors, crafts, food trucks, popcorn, activities
for the family, dunk tank, snow cones, bouncy houses. Music- Scott Walker of Scott Walker Band. 4:30 - 4:45 p.m. First Supercross show 5 p.m. Car show 7 - 7:15 p.m. Second Supercross show 8:30 p.m. Pie eating contest 7 - 9:45 p.m. AMP 4k at 9 p.m. Finish your run under the fireworks 8 - 8:15 p.m. Third Super Cross show 9 p.m. Parachuters/ParaCommandos fly in. Fireworks to follow Atlanta Motorsports Park 20 Duck Thurmond Road | Dawsonville, GA www.business.dawson.org/events
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820 Peachtree Parkway
820 Peachtree Parkway
Cumming, GA 30041
Cumming, GA 30041
820 Peachtree Parkway Cumming, GA 30041
820 Peachtree Parkway Cumming, GA 30041
820 Peachtree Parkway Cumming, GA 30041
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We’re honored to serve you It’s an honor to be recognized as the nation’s leading hospital for maternity and newborn care. Look a little closer and you’ll discover that Northside performs more surgeries and diagnoses and treats more breast and gynecologic cancer than any other hospital in Georgia. While people choose Northside for our expertise, they also know us for our exceptional compassionate care. Visit us online at www.northside.com
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