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Our Town DeKalb
4 COVER STORY: Kingfisher Academy: School in the Time of Pandemic 7 Wellness In-Sight: Game Changer 17 Smoke Rise Artist Launches Two Atlanta Shows 18 Tucker Girl Scout Earns Top Award
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To become an Our Town DeKalb advertising partner, email info@OurTownDeKalb.com or call 770.621.9041
Our Town DeKalb
OurTown NE DeKalb Community and Family Magazine
A Shiny Inc Publication Editor Lizbeth A. Dison Shinycomm.com ldison@shinycomm.com Our Town DeKalb is published and direct mailed to
select homes in the Tucker / Northeast DeKalb area. Opinions expressed by the writers and staff are their Creative Director own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Jay Adcock the publisher. Our Town DeKalb reserves the right jay@adcockcreativegroup.com to edit or reject any editorial or advertising content. Our Town DeKalb is not responsible for errors in advertising beyond the cost of the space or for the Writers validity of claims made by advertisers.
Cindy E. Farrar Doug Reynics Lois Ricci Sanah Sayani Karl Schwartz Art Wood
Entire contents copyright 2021 by Our Town DeKalb and Shiny Inc LLC. Reproduction in whole or part is forbidden in any media without written permission from the publisher.
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IN THIS ISSUE 4 Kingfisher Academy: School in the Time of Pandemic 6 The Bits in Between: Happy July...2nd? 7 Wellness In-Sight: Game Changer 8 Age Friendly Tucker: Escaping the Pandemic in Tucker’s Green Space 9 Common Sen$e: Is NOW Still a Good Time to Buy a House? 10 Food for Thought: America’s Food Waste Problem 11 Back Talk: Family Fun is Healthy Fun 12 Beauty Byline with Sanah: Summer Lip Tips 14 Tandem Bank Recognizes Top Tucker Businesses 16 Radio Tucker Celebrates First Anniversary with Free Concert 17 Smoke Rise Artist Launches Two Atlanta Shows 18 Good Neighbor Back 2 School Shop to Help Students in Need 18 Tucker Girl Scout Earns Top Award ON THE COVER: Fiifth grader Hannah Salazar is one of the Kingfisher Academy students observing the mandatory mask requirement for the school.
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On The Cover:
Kingfisher Academy:
School in the Time of Pandemic While most Metro Atlanta students over the past fifteen months were confined to home and struggling through on-line learning, one small independent school in Tucker not only successfully kept students safely in the classroom but increased enrollment by 25%. Kingfisher Academy, which bills itself as a “Human Scale Education School for ages 4 to 13,” was open and operational during the past school year, with only one positive COVID-19 case since last August. Most of the new students have come from other schools in the DeKalb, Decatur and Gwinnett systems, all of which repeatedly flipped between virtual and on-site attendance, and frustrated parents and students when they moved completely to on-line last spring. “We were constantly fielding calls from parents looking for a way to offer in-person schooling for their bright, bored kids,” said Debbie Gathmann, executive director of Kingfisher. “Changing schedules weekly made families struggle with planning ahead. That’s why we tried to stay steady and managed to run a relatively stable schedule of face-to-face learning for the entire school year.” Early on in the pandemic, the school enacted a strict COVID plan that was created under the guidance of the CDC and the DeKalb Health Department. Masks were mandatory for everyone on school property or involved in any offsite school activities. No visitors, including parents, were allowed in the classrooms. Disinfecting wipes were used every couple of hours on all hightouch surfaces, but the main plan emphasized masking, washing hands, not combining classes and keeping everyone physical distancing. The school suspended cooking and serving hot lunch; everyone – students, faculty and staff - brought their lunches daily. Gathmann says that the school’s success in fighting COVID was due to the
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complete and total cooperation of everyone involved with the school. “It is totally puzzling to me to hear that larger schools were having trouble enforcing masks,” stated Gathmann. “If Kroger could do it, why couldn’t schools? When a few potential parents last summer announced to me that their child wouldn’t be wearing a mask, we gently let them know that they would need to find a different school. Our own parent population was totally supportive— sending in cartons of wipes, buying gloves for us, sending paper towels.” The students easily adapted to the regulations. “Amazingly, they acted like they’ve always worked this way,” explained Gathmann. “My youngest class wore masks as if it was always part of school. Sometimes when they saw photos up in the hallways from the previous year, someone would ask, ‘Why don’t they have on their masks?’” Kingfisher divides the students into three multi-age classes—one for
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students from four- to seven-years old, one from eight- to ten-years old, and one class for eleven-years-old and up. These multi-age classes are extremely important to the school mission. Family-based grouping allows children to work on material on their own level while still being part of their own social group. Students may have the same teacher for several years, allowing a true in-depth relationship to develop between the kids and the teacher. But COVID reduced the physical mingling between groups and individuals, and there was less exchange between classes than in past years. “Since the school was founded twenty years ago, the oldest kids have always eaten lunch with the youngest kids, and the younger students always had a reading buddy from one of the older classrooms,” explained Gathmann. “This past year, we stayed in our ‘pods’ with little interaction and we didn’t like it, but we did it.” The most difficult adjustment was the lack of field trips, which has always been a significant part of Kingfisher’s curriculum. In addition to the standard field trips, students travel into the surrounding neighborhood as part of their learning— eating in the restaurants, using the public library and parks, and doing service projects around the neighborhoods that surround the school. Extracurricular activities include options for art, drama, piano, various sports and library book club. “We usually go out and about the metro area at least once or twice a week,” said Gathmann. “But in the past year, trips to the park were pretty much all we could do due to venue closures.” The school found “virtual field trips” not to be meaningful for any group, but now with the lifting of many COVID restrictions for group activities and venues, is looking forward to a return to in-person field trips. Dealing with the pandemic motivated significant changes to Kingfisher, many of which will stay. Gathmann plans to continue the smaller classes, and believes all schools should consider the value of smaller class size - for better health, and to encourage more intimate education and provide more individual help. “We have always had small classes but we went a bit smaller during this COVID time and everyone has benefited.” Not having the libraries for research necessitated more computer use, which was a much harder adaptation for the teachers than for the kids, who had always complained that they could find things on the Internet at home much more easily than by digging through books. While most Kingfisher students have computers or laptops of their own, Kingfisher now has an inventory of Chromebooks, available for loan to any student who needs one; the school will upgrade and add computer equipment as needed. The school’s significant increase in computer use also required a change to a much more powerful and faster broadband provider, and plans to upgrade and add additional network equipment as needed. Kingfisher ended the school year with thirty students, and expects to begin the new year with thirty-five students – the largest enrollment since the school moved to Tucker in 2015. Parents experiencing a year of on-line learning now want their children taught with a more “hands on” approach and a more active, project-based curriculum. Increased scholarship offerings from the state and a growing sense of disconnection with the larger school systems have also prompted parents to consider a movement to smaller independent schools like Kingfisher. Gathmann knows that students made a lot of sacrifices in their daily lives to stay in school over the past year but feels even the younger ones understood the necessity of “staying the course.” She hopes that the strict rules implemented in the previous school year will allow for a return to a less restrictive environment in the new year. Kingfisher plans to start in August with continued mandatory masking but will see what the CDC recommends in
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September. All faculty and staff have been vaccinated, as well as the seventhand eighth-graders, but younger students probably won’t start vaccinations until January 2022, and vaccination won’t be a requirement for enrollment. “We’ll proceed cautiously as we reopen, and put equal emphasis on the health and safety of our students while ensuring their continued emotional and academic growth.” Kingfisher Academy is located at First Baptist Church of Tucker, at 5073 Lavista Road in Tucker. The full-day program teaches students pre-K through eighth grade. For more information, including fees and registration, visit kingfisheracademy.org or call 678.615.2313.
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The Bits in Between: Happy July…2nd?
OurTown NE DeKalb Community and Family Magazine
Got a story idea?
Our Town DeKalb is always looking for talented writers! Send story suggestions to info@ourtowndekalb.com. Submissions become the property of Our Town DeKalb; all submitted material is subject to review and editing. Acceptance of submitted material does not guarantee publication. PAGE 6
We celebrate American Independence Day on the Fourth of July every year. We think of July 4, 1776, as a day that represents the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation. But July 4, 1776 wasn’t the day that the Continental Congress decided to declare independence. They did that on July 2, 1776. It wasn’t the day we started the American Revolution either. That had happened back in April 1775. And it wasn’t the day Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence; that was in June 1776. Or the date on which the Declaration was delivered to Great Britain; that didn’t happen until November 1776. Or the date it was signed; that was August 2, 1776. So, what the heck are we celebrating on July 4th? While the Continental Congress did vote for independence on July 2, Thomas Jefferson was still working on the final draft of the document, which he dated July 4, 1776 because everyone was still arguing over the final draft and he still had to get it printed. The Founding Fathers couldn’t agree either on what day we should be celebrating Independence from England. Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin thought it was July 4. John Adams wrote home to his wife Abigail that the “Second Day of July 1776… ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other.” If you asked most of the other Founding Fathers what day should be celebrated, they would probably say, “What Independence Day,” because the event wasn’t even recognized as a ubiquitous celebration until long after the Founders had passed away. (An interesting note: Jefferson and Adams both passed away on the Fourth of July in 1826.) Congress in early July 1777 didn’t even mention the anniversary of the new nation, and everyone apparently was working on July 2 and July 4. It wasn’t until 1870 that Congress voted to make July 4 a holiday, and then the annual party started. If you want to extend your Independence Day festivities over a few days, you have historical precedence to do so. Enjoy your holiday cookouts, parades and fireworks, and celebrate safely and wisely!
Lizbeth A. Dison Publisher and Editor
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Wellness In-Sight: Game Changer Wellness In-Sight: Stretch Yourself E. Farrar HereCindy we are at the halfway point in our 2021 journey. We began this ‘road trip’ enthusiastically looking forward as we left so much of the heavy uncertainty of the last year behind. The last two months we have considered tools to promote traveling our journey with lightness of being and greater peace in our souls. The perspective of nonattachment and one of its key components’ flexibility were explored in their significance in our efforts. However, there are times on our journey where we are confronted with things in life that are coming at us faster than we can adjust. In response, we may become ‘frozen’ as a result of the triggering of the body’s Stress Response (aka Fight, Flight or Freeze). This presents us with one of the more common and perplexing paradoxes: what happens when an unstoppable object meets an immovable force? The reality is the two cannot co-exist; either the unstoppable stops, therefore no longer being unstoppable, or the immovable moves. As long as we are living, life and its situations are going to continue to come at us (the unstoppable force). If we are to remain, we must keep moving. In that moment, flexibility alone may not be enough to adequately get us through. In basketball, when a player is dribbling the ball, the opponent will try to impede the advancement of the player dribbling. If the opponent is successful and the player dribbling stops moving and dribbling, she may not simply start again (without penalty). A successful player learns how to be proficient in pivoting. Pivoting in this instance is keeping one foot on the floor while turning the body in different directions to prevent the opponent from stealing
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the ball, seeking assistance from her teammates, in an effort to continue advancing the ball down the court and ultimately scoring a basket. The stationary foot or pivot foot is key in the prevention of being penalized. It must stay in contact with the floor at all times. As we are confronted on our journey by situations or events that are trying to get in the way of our forward progress, pivoting can enable us to thwart the opposing force. As in basketball, our ‘pivot foot’ is vital. In life, our pivot foot is that which keeps us deeply grounded. It is our anchoring roots (families, communities, values, etc.). When solidly planted, we are able to move in all directions safely to seek out support, if necessary, and identify alternate or less obstructed routes on our journey. When faced with unstoppable objects, real or perceived, being movable is not a deficit. Our ability to move, specifically pivot (with flexibility) is a game changer. Cindy E. Farrar, LMT, BCTMB, CLC is a licensed massage therapist, certified life coach and the owner of Massage Associates of Atlanta, LLC (Lavista Road in Tucker). In addition, she is a certified Qi Gong instructor and a nationally approved continuing education provider for massage therapy and bodywork. Cindy enjoys sharing insights on wellness and personal and community development as a speaker and writer.
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Age Friendly Tucker: Escaping the Pandemic in Tucker’s Green Space Dr. Lois Ricci Travel was down across the board during the COVID pandemic – except in the national parks. While Americans weren’t leaving home much, when they did, they flooded into open spaces, which included everything from public beaches, dog parks, and marinas to national parks. This trend reflects the reaction to our country’s last pandemic. When the Spanish Flu was subsiding in 1920, parks recorded a 63% increase in visitors over the year prior. Visits to Tucker parks also increased over the past year. “Parks became a refuge for residents of all ages who said it took a pandemic for them to appreciate their own community,” said Vicki Warren, domain lead for Outdoor Spaces and Buildings, one of the Age Friendly City eight domains. “Parks are key to any community. They have a significant impact on everyone. They provide space for residents to interact with each other and meet new people. They’re great for events and for recreational activities, for picnics, concerts, whatever the community feels it needs. Parks are important to healthy living and a major part of city planning.” “Despite the impact of the pandemic we found ways to give everyone a way to engage and stay safe,” added Rip Robertson, director of parks and recreation for the City of Tucker. “Our parks stayed open, play continued after a short pause, and our pools were open for the summer.” The city installed a new high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration system at the Rec Center, to help keep air clean and occupants safe. July is National Parks and Recreation Month, and also when we celebrate the third anniversary of Tucker Parks and Recreation. The department has made significant improvements to Tucker parks over these three years. • Six new playgrounds, included a renovation of Peters Park that added playground equipment suitable for all ages • Trails, bridges, boardwalks, docks and overlooks added to other parks • New sports fields, a second municipal pool, four tennis courts and a completely renovated gymnasium • New athletic programs include pickleball, golf, basketball, baseball and a tennis program
Parks provide space for sports, hiking trails and other amenities designed to get people active. Parks benefit everyone in the community. Take time to visit your parks. You’ll be glad you did! Tucker parks Fitzgerald Park - 4877 Lawrenceville Highway Three multipurpose fields, football stadium, one baseball field, and two softball fields Henderson Park - 2801 Henderson Road (West), 4000 Henderson Park Road (East) 130 acres, walking trails, soccer fields, tennis courts, pavilions, two playgrounds, lake with fishing, community garden, restrooms Johns Homestead - 3071 Lawrenceville Highway Historic Johns Homestead House, walking trails, lake with fishing Kelly Cofer Park - 4259 N. Park Drive Walking trails, pool, baseball fields, pavilions, playground, pollinator garden, lake with fishing Montreal Park - 1341 Montreal Road Walking trails, playground, pavilion, open play space Peters Park - 1832 Clark Drive Walking track, playground, pavilion, basketball court Probst Park - 5623 Hugh Howell Road Walking trails Rosenfeld Park - 2088 Glacier Drive Pool, tennis courts and picnic pavilion with lights and restrooms Smoke Rise Crossing - 1596 Lilburn-Stone Mountain Road Walking trails Smoke Rise - Lord Park – 5525 Smoke Rise Drive Undeveloped with walking trails Tucker Nature Preserve - 4440 Lawrenceville Highway Walking trails, picnic area, parking Dr. Lois Ricci is a longtime resident of Tucker, where she chairs the Tucker Civic Association Lifelong Community Committee. She serves as an adjunct faculty member at Kennesaw State University, where she teaches gerontology courses and the Professional Development in Gerontology Certificate Class. Ricci also serves as an official representative for American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), co-facilitator for the Rosalyn Carter CareNet, and on the board of the Atlanta Regional Commission Advisory Committee on Aging.
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Common Sen$e: Is NOW Still a Good Time to Buy a House? Art Wood The housing market has been all over the news lately. It is a HOT market, and people are regularly getting OVER their asking prices. I heard from an agent the other day that the house on which they made an offer had fifty-two offers! In this crazy market, a lot of buyers have given up, or are waiting until the values start coming down. I can certainly understand the first reasoning because they grew tired of seeing houses every weekend, only to be outbid by a cash buyer. There is a lot of burnout among buyers for this reason. I would encourage you to stay the course and continue to work with your agents and lenders to submit the most bulletproof offers you can. The stars will align eventually, and you will get that dream home. With that being said, I want to address the other set of buyers that want to wait until the values come down. There is no doubt that house prices are out of control. We have seen over twenty percent year-over-year appreciation in some areas, so that has people screaming “bubble.” I don’t disagree that house prices will stabilize at some point, but to think we are going to have a value correction seems far-fetched. I think the reason people feel this way is because the Great Recession isn’t that far behind us, and that fear still remains. People watched their home values go down forty percent. (My $320,000 house in Tucker appraised for $250,000 in 2009.) What I have learned in my 47 years is that fear is a terrible motivator, because most fears are irrational. In this case, we have to look at what caused the last recession, which was irresponsible lending. 100% financing / No Documentation / Negatively Amortized loans were the norm. People had no skin in the game and were not property vetted. People hit hard times, and what was supposed to be their key to wealth suddenly had zero equity and they were actually going backwards. The easiest thing to do was to let the house go. When everyone is letting their house go to foreclosure, values tank. Real Estate was the driver of the recession. But the thing they say about recessions is that no two are alike. So here we are in 2021 and talking about 2008 repeating itself but I am here to tell you that the same headwinds are not in place. The mortgage industry has corrected and is lending in a responsible manner again. Down payments and full documentation are required now on 95% of loans. 99% of interest rates are fixed. When people fall on hard times, they are not going to walk away as they have too much to lose. They will sell and capture the equity in their property that will help keep them afloat during the tough times. I don’t believe house prices will level off until we see interest rates increase but I also don’t believe that’s certain. Are people going to want to sell their home that has an interest rate in the twos and buy another house with an interest rate in the fours? My suggestion is not to overthink it. Even if houses come down 5%, and interest rates go up a half point, your payment will be similar or maybe even higher. If you want or need to move, this is a great time due to the super low interest rates, and you don’t want to look back a year from now and say, “ I wish I would have…”
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Art Wood (NMLS #118234) is the branch manager of the Art Wood Mortgage Team of Goldwater Bank, located at 2341 Main Street in downtown Tucker. “Tucker’s Mortgage Guy” for fifteen years, he is a former Tucker Tiger (Class of ’92), and co-founder and organizer of Taste of Tucker. Family guy, community guy, and definitely not your typical mortgage guy - it’s all that he does that makes Art Wood who he is. Contact him at 678.534.5834 or art.wood@goldwaterbank.com.
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Food for Thought: America’s Food Waste Problem Doug Reynics America grows four times the amount of food that it consumes. So what happens to all the excess food? A large percentage of it is discarded and ends up in landfills. A staggering eighty billion pounds of food are discarded annually, making up the largest space in landfills. This discarded food could easily feed the large numbers of hungry people in need of nutritional food, and not just a wasteful use of the chemicals used to grow it. An Atlanta non-profit organization is seeking to reduce the amount of discarded food while addressing food insecurity of those in need. FreeFoodCommune, a ‘freegan coop’ founded in 2014, began its food rescue crusade to lessen food waste and to provide nutritious food for families at a very reasonable cost. It keeps food items like overstock, expired or imperfect items out of landfills. The weekly FreeFoodCommune is held each Saturday from noon to 2:00 p.m., at Edgewood Church, 1560 Memorial Drive SE in Atlanta. A person pays $35 any Saturday that they attend and brings one to five plastic tote bins into which to put their food selections. At the event, a person can get enough food in one trip to feed a family of four for a month: meats, fresh produce, milks, cheeses, pantry cans, rice, beans, breads, desserts, juices and meals already cooked (just heat and eat). Much of the food rescued comes from the Atlanta Farmers Market. On one of the weekday programs, I bought approximately $500 worth of perfectly good, Grade A produce for a fraction of the cost. Six months later, I actually still have butternut squash from that trip. I donated a large amount to the NETWorks Cooperative Ministry in Tucker. We canned, dehydrated, froze and consumed the rest. It is within our means to reduce food waste. We just have to want to do it, and I hope you will join me in this endeavor. To learn more about FreeFoodCommune, visit freefoodcommune.us or follow it on Facebook
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Doug Reynics is a longtime Tucker resident and self-described “foodie.” Many know him as “Doug the Driver,” who provides rides to and from both the domestic and international airport terminals. (To date, his service has provided 1,650 airport rides!) If you have a food story or question you would like to see him write about, email him at dougthedriver1@gmail.com.
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Back Talk: Family Fun is Healthy Fun Dr. Karl Schwartz Last month, we celebrated the dads, who are the impetus for fun, sports and competition. This month I would like to celebrate the families that make us who we are as a country. This month, as we head into the summer, I travelled to Long Island, New York to visit my brother’s family. It was the first time that I had traveled since the beginning of the pandemic. The mini-vacation was full of fun, food, and lots of summer activities. My brother lives on Long Island Sound, where we were able to boat, paddleboard. and dig for clams (surprisingly fun, like a modern day digging for gold). The time spent with my family reminded me how fortunate we are to enjoy unrestricted travel and relaxation, time not so easily or freely enjoyed by families in other countries, especially now with so much of the world still in a health crisis. Like most people as they age, I have begun to really value my family, and spending time with them becomes of paramount importance. Going to the beach, boating, camping, fishing, hunting – even small, seemingly unimportant activities are a time to cherish. Being with my family reminded me how much I enjoyed these times, but the resulting aches afterwards also reminded me what happens when you start using muscles you haven’t used in a long time. Now I am back working out in the gym regularly and I am pleasantly surprised that I am not too sore even after hours of activity. I have a motto that I preach to patients regularly: “Use it or lose it.” Our bodies are made to move. Keeping it in motion with regular activity keeps the spine, muscles, tendons and ligaments moving smoothly. The more you move, the better your body will age. The big three activities I recommend to all my patients, young and old, are muscle building and maintenance, cardiovascular aerobic exercise, and stretching. You can do most of those activities solo, but family activities are often fun ways to work in healthy movement as part of family get-togethers, travel, and social outings. I especially like any activities related to the beach! Let us all take pride in our bodies. Keeping our bodies supple and freemoving leads to feeling better and the freedom to spend more time with our families. To me this is the best thing we can do to maximize our quality of life. Act now and you will enjoy the benefits of active participation later. You will be glad you did!
Dr. Karl Schwartz is a graduate of Life University in Marietta, Georgia; he has been practicing chiropractic in Tucker for twenty-one years and a resident here for fifteen years. His office specializes in preventing sports injuries and maximizing performance by analyzing posture, weight bearing, and gait. If you have a question you would like addressed in a future column, please email karlschwartzdc@gmail. com. Note “Back Talk” in the subject line.
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Beauty Byline with Sanah: Summer Lip Tips Sanah Sayani Most of us experience dry and chapped lips during the winter but have you ever had it in the summer? I have! I was in Las Vegas for a beauty show in June and the temperature was a sweltering 110. The bright hot sun and the dry desert heat destroyed my lips. I kept lathering them in Chapstick and oil while trying to keep myself as hydrated as possible. But nothing helped; I felt like the skin on my lips was tearing apart. I even had some cuts to prove it. As soon as I got back to the humid Georgia heat, my lips started to recover, which got me thinking about lip health and the environment. During the winter months, the lack of humidity dries out the lips, and in the summer, constant sun exposure can do the same. Did you know that our lips dry out because there are no oil glands and sweat glands around the lips? These glands keep the body hydrated and moisturized. Experts say the skin on your face can be up to sixteen layers thick while the skin on your lips is only three to five layers thick. The lack of oil and sweat glands around naturally thinner lips make that part of your body more susceptible to environmental factors. Another fun fact is there is very little to no melanin in your lips. Melanin is the body’s natural way of protecting the skin from ultraviolet rays. Because your lips don’t have much, they are at a higher risk of getting sunburned which is why sunscreen is the best thing to protect your lip health. Any SPF of 15 or higher is recommended. When your lips start to chap, there are only a few things you can do. Dermatologists recommend you apply lip balm, drink lots of water, and cover your lips from the natural environment. Make sure you do not lick your lips (which was my natural reaction), because saliva can actually take off the moisture on your lips, further drying them out. If your lips are already chapped, stop using products with camphor, alcohol, eucalyptus, flavoring, fragrance or menthol, and start using castor oil, hemp seed oil, mineral oil, sun-protecting ingredients like titanium oxide and zinc oxide, shea butter and petroleum jelly. Applying the right type of balm twice a day should be enough. I never want to go through what I did in Vegas so I’m going to do my best to prevent it from happening again. I’ve increased my water intake, I’m applying balm at least two times a day and I’m bathing in sunscreen. I’ve also added lip scrubs. Once a week I gently exfoliate my lips with a sugar scrub to stimulate collagen production. Your lips get thinner as you age due to decreasing collagen levels and the sun’s UV rays. It’s important to show them some love by occasionally exfoliating the lips and putting on sunscreen every day. For those traveling this summer to places with dry heat, pack a few Chapsticks just in case and make sure you’ve got that sunscreen handy to reapply every two hours. Sanah Sayani is a master cosmetologist and owner of Thread Beauty Spa (4426 Hugh Howell Road in the Tucker Publix shopping center). Her monthly column seeks to answer readers’ beauty concerns; write to her at threadbeautyspa@gmail.com or drop by the shop to ask her in person!
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Tandem Bank Recognizes Top Tucker Businesses Our Town DeKalb Staff
This past spring, Tandem Bank celebrated the heart and resiliency of the city’s business community with its first annual “Best of Tucker” awards. The public was invited to submit nominations in April, and the winners were announced in late May. There were three award categories: • Ford’s BBQ won for “Newly Launched,” as a business that stepped out and started up in the midst of a global pandemic. Ford’s opened in December 2020, serving Texas-style barbecue. • Thread Beauty Spa won for “Giving Back,” as a business that made giving back and making a difference an intentional part of their practice this year. When the salon had to close down temporarily to customers due to COVID restrictions, owner Sanah Kapadia put her staff to work making masks, and donated free masks to healthcare workers and first responders in addition to selling to the public. • Matthews Cafeteria won for “Most Adaptable,” as a business that creatively changed and adapted how they served their customers during the pandemic. When the restaurant had to suspend inside dining due to COVID restrictions, Matthews quickly began curbside delivery, where customers could just drive up, place an order and have staff place the order in their car in a no-touch delivery. Each winner was awarded $1,000, to be given to a charity or cause of their choice.
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Tandem Bank Chairman and CEO Charles DeWitt (center) presents an award check to Ford BBQ owner James Maggard and pitmaster Justin Bradford. Photo by Tandem Bank
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Radio Tucker Celebrates First Anniversary with Free Concert Our Town DeKalb Staff
Local station Radio Tucker celebrates its first anniversary on the air with the inaugural Radio Tucker Music Festival, scheduled for July 17 at Tucker Brewing Company. Headlining the free festival is local groove-rock band The Bitteroots, with opening act local singer-songwriter Art Linton, delivering a mix of folk, funk, country blues, soul and classic rock. The event will also feature live DJ sets by DJ Fernando F. Radio Tucker went on-air in July 2020, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic when local bands weren’t able to play bars, clubs and festivals. The station plays a wide variety of music, from classic rock to today’s indie, alternative rock, alt-country and Americana plus local weather every hour, guest DJs, Georgia music, local bands, and much more. Visit radiotucker.com to listen to the live stream, or download the app for Android and Apple.
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Smoke Rise Artist Launches Two Atlanta Shows
Our Town DeKalb Staff
Smoke Rise resident and artist Tamara Carnegie will exhibit her work this summer at two Atlanta venues: margarita bar and taqueria Guac y Margys on the Beltline in Midtown and Maker’s Market around Atlantic Green at Atlantic Station. Carnegie is a “fluid artist,” using acrylic paints and paint additives to bring her creations to life on canvas. She paints under the name “Agape Flowing.” “’Agape’ is the Greek word for love,” said Carnegie. “My life, faith and experiences create a clear pathway for all of my art to develop, flow and come to life.” Carnegie grew up in Jamaica, where her parents incorporated hands-on art projects into the homeschool curriculum. From an early age, she dreamed of being an artist but “believed the lie that only dead artists generate money from their work.” In her teens, Carnegie decided to pursue seriously her artistic vision, and began to study techniques and art history. She graduated in 2003 with the highest marks from Northbrook Church of England Secondary School in London with the plan to become a professional artist. When she moved to America, her plans for an art career stalled as she acclimated to a new country and new culture and took a corporate job in order to support herself. She continued to paint in her spare time, doing the occasional paid commission and projects for her church. In April 2020, COVID and the resulting lockdowns nudged her to leave the corporate world to fully embrace
a career as a professional artist. “From a young age I wanted to ‘change the art world’ but what I actually meant was I wanted to add positive and happy parts of our human existence on earth,” explained Carnegie. “I think there are gaps in art that some artists fill with sadness, anger, death and dark art. I love color. I have experienced the splendor of what God created for us to enjoy in the world and all the beauty of life in nature…and what I see in nature I try to interpret into my art in the most vibrant colorful way.” Fifteen pieces of Carnegie’s work is on display at Guac y Margys until February 2022. Her work will be displayed at Maker’s Market one weekend a month starting on July 10 and running through the rest of the year. Times and days vary for each venue; check schedules on agapeflowing.com. Pieces on display are available for purchase, as well as those on her website.
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Good Neighbor Back 2 School Shop to Help Students in Need
Tucker Girl Scout Earns Top Award
When the family budget is tight, the extra expense of school starting, with its long list of supplies, can create a financial emergency. NETWorks Cooperative Ministry is helping parents provide for their families at a price they can afford. The Good Neighbor Back 2 School Shop will sell new school supplies at discounted prices, offering parents with financial challenges in Northlake, Embry Hills and Tucker a respectful way to prepare for the new school year. The Shop will be located at the Gym on Main Street, 2367 Main Street in Tucker, and will be open on Saturday, July 31, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sunday, August 1, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Donations of materials or money are welcome and due by Tuesday, July 27. Donated supplies ordered online can be shipped directly to NETWorks at 2380 4th Street, Tucker, Georgia 30084. Volunteers are also needed for the shop. For more details, visit networkscoop.
A Tucker Girl Scout recently earned a Gold Award for her project addressing the impact of domestic violence on a child’s mental health. Cecily Emrich Branche, 19, worked with a team of volunteers to build and install two benches at a safe house providing shelter for women and children fleeing abuse, and planted aromatic plants such as lavender and chamomile around Branche working on a bench the benches to help create a tranquil space for with the help of her father. meditation. Domestic abuse can negatively impact the mental health of a child, even affecting the way their brain is structured. Branche’s project provides a designated place for meditation, which can help alleviate the mental stress and offset any negative behavior resulting from this abuse. Branche has volunteered with Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence (WRCDV) for the last four years through Camp Peace, a summer camp for children who have witnessed domestic violence, and The Safe House provided by the organization. She is the daughter of Jennifer Emrich and Benito Branche, graduated from Ben Franklin Academy, and is currently attending Goucher College in Maryland. The Gold Award is the highest achievement within the Girl Scouts of the USA, earned by Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts. Only 5.4% of eligible Girl Scouts successfully earn the Gold Award. Branche is a member of Girl Scout Troop 421 in Stone Mountain.
Our Town DeKalb Staff
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Our Town DeKalb Staff
To become an Our Town DeKalb advertising partner, email info@OurTownDeKalb.com or call 770.621.9041
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