It Takes a Community to Brew Great Beer

Southwest Gwinnett breweries are growing with support from cities, customers and each other.

Words by Nathan Deen Photography by George Hunter

L-R Sterling, Devon, Diana and Stephen Peet of Kettlerock Brewing

Wh e n Preston Smelt first opened Anderby Brewing in 2019, he wanted to provide something that didn’t exist in the southwest Gwinnett area. But he wasn’t the only one who realized there was a lack of breweries accessible to those who don’t want to drive toward downtown Atlanta. Anderby opened its doors in Peachtree Corners a year after Good Word Brewing opened in downtown Duluth, and it was quickly followed by Social Fox Brewing and Cultivation Brewing in Norcross, Kettlerock Brewing in Peachtree Corners and 6S Brewing in Duluth. Those six breweries have each opened within the past four years. The rise of breweries in the southwest Gwinnett area has been the result of the passing of SB-85, along with the cooperation and enthusiasm the cities of Norcross, Peachtree Corners and Duluth have provided to get more breweries into high-density areas. “All of us knew that in this area there was nothing,” Smelt said. “If you were looking for a good craft beer, there was nothing around here. There was a hole in the market, and that’s what I was looking for, neighborhoods where there was a hole in the market, to get in early and hope it fills in around you.” The hole is getting filled quickly, and if the growth continues, and each brewery is committed to making a great product that reverberates throughout the brewing industry, the area could one day be a beer destination that people travel to, Smelt said. Getting there won’t be easy, however. In fact, each brewery has had to deal with and overcome their own individual challenges as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Fox, Kettlerock, Cultivation and 6S all opened in early 2020 when the pandemic began.

Social Fox Brewing

Before 2017, many people interested in brewing were restricted to brewing inside their homes. Georgia law did not permit breweries to sell their products directly to consumers, which means breweries could only brew their beers and distribute them to wholesalers. The passing of SB-85 in 2017 allowed breweries to sell up to 3,000 barrels of their beer to customers per year, paving the way for small breweries to start setting up shop. Each owner of the six breweries in southwest Gwinnett had the same idea at about the same time. “When you look at cities like Atlanta, you’ve got pockets of breweries that everyone wants to go to,” said Kevin Keyes, co-owner of Social Fox Brewing. “The further out you get outside the perimeter, there’s not much offered. Now all of a sudden, people are homebrewing, they’re in clubs and things like that, and they see all these small breweries popping up and they’re like, ‘I can do that too.’” Keyes, a former private chef, was already brewing at home as early as 2015 with his friend Mike Greene, now co-owner of Social Fox, before the pair teamed with Scott Norwood, who was also homebrewing his award-winning recipes. When the group started combining their recipes, they knew they had a beer that could sell. “When you talk about it day in and day out, seven days a week, you just start putting the puzzle together,” Keyes said. “Next thing we know, we were reached out to by the planning and development of Norcross.” Keyes said Social Fox was originally called 400 North Brewing because he, Green and Norwood planned to open a brewery on Georgia State Route 400 north of Buckhead, but because Norwood had connections to the city of Norcross, the city reached out to them and asked them to consider a venue in downtown Norcross. They settled on an empty warehouse on Skin Alley that had a mural of a fox already painted on the outside wall. Knowing they would need to change the name of their brewery because they were no longer opening on Route 400, the answer seemed obvious. Social Fox became the first brewery to open in downtown Norcross, and Keyes said he has seen a growth in business and downtown activity ever since. “The downtown vibe and having a brewery here really sets the stage for what Norcross is,” he said. “Norcross is building and getting bigger, so us being the first brewery in Norcross kind of helps build that.”

Kevin Keyes, COO, Chief Operating Officer of Social Fox Michell and Preston Smelt the year they opened Anderby Brewing in 2019

Kettlerock Brewing

Kettlerock Brewing is owned by Dianna and Stephen Peet and operated by the couple and their children — Sterling, Taylor, Christa, and Devon — all Georgia Tech graduates. Dianna Peet said she wanted to start a family business but wasn’t sure what it was until someone jokingly suggested it should be a brewery. Her oldest sons, Sterling and Taylor, started homebrewing from the basement while the two were living with their grandmother and attending Georgia Tech. The Peet family has over a dozen degrees from Georgia Tech between them, and each member brings a wealth of knowledge to different aspects of the brewing business. “None of them. And at the same time, all of them,” Dianna Peet said when asked how

many degrees have been utilized toward the brewery. “You learn a lot about how to research things, how to find out information. You need to do that a lot in any technology industry, and believe it or not, brewing has a lot of technology involved. “We have someone who has construction experience, someone who has manufacturing experience, someone with home brewing experience, someone with business experience and my two younger kids are into user experience, which is closely aligned with marketing, so we were sitting around thinking, ‘Hey maybe we really could.’” Dianna Peet said one of her family’s favorite vacation spots is the mountains near the Georgia and North Carolina border, and Kettle Rock is the name of one of the summits in Macon County, N.C. That feeling of the mountain atmosphere was perfect for the type of beer the Peets wanted to brew, she said. “It just seemed to fit. It has that whole mountain vibe,” she said. “It recalls a place that’s really important to us. And you brew beer in kettles, and it’ll rock your taste buds. We have leaned into the whole mountain, bear, nature side of things, and you’ll see that in the names of our beers and branding of our cans.”

Pedal thru Historic Norcross at Cultivation Brewing (from @ cultivation_brewery)

Cultivation Brewing

A little off the beaten path, and about a mile from downtown Norcross, Cultivation Brewing isn’t the typical location for a brewery. It’s located on Langford Drive in the midst of a handful of industrial businesses. That’s because the building is owned by Britt Lancaster and Paul Bennett, who owned and operated a landscaping business before they converted it to a brewery. But people haven’t had much trouble finding their way there, Lancaster said, and once they do, they realize it’s a great place to relax and enjoy a beer. “That was our biggest concern at first, people not being able to find us,” Lancaster said. “We just really used social media, online marketing and word of mouth to get people there.” Cultivation has a secluded vibe to it and a spacious outdoor patio area where customers can bring their dogs and enjoy live music and activities such as cornhole tournaments. “It’s definitely mysterious,” Lancaster said. “You almost think of it as an adventure going back there. People feel comfortable there. People think it’s a destination.” Lancaster and Bennett still run a tree service business from their location, and they partnered with co-owner Tate Clements to help run the brewery. Lancaster said he and Bennett have known each other since they were teenagers, and they started the original landscaping business together. They wanted to work that background into their brand and culture and came up with the idea of Cultivation. “Our concept was to cultivate a community and bring people together,” he said. “We’re creating a new culture in the beer industry.”

Good Word Brewing

Todd DiMatteo and Ryan Skinner started

Cultivation (courtesy Cultivation)

Good Word Brewing after branching out from the prestigious Brick Store Pub in Decatur, which has been recognized by Forbes as one of the 50 best beer bars in the U.S. DiMatteo and Skinner got their start at the Brick Store Pub and decided they wanted to start their own business together. DiMatteo was set on opening their brewery somewhere inside the I-285 perimeter until he attended a concert at the Town Green in Duluth and saw the potential for a brewery and pub at the heart of a growing downtown. While the building that hosts Good Word appears to be historic, it is only a few years old and was built by the city and given to DiMatteo and Skinner to craft their brewery and restaurant. Since Good Word opened, restaurants such as Nacho Daddy, Local on North and Sweet Octopus have flourished in the area. “I’ve watched this place grow,” said Allen Parker, Good Word’s general manager. “Five years ago, none of this was here. Now it’s a place where if you travel out here, you can make a day of it. It was a very old town. Nothing new happening. It’s definitely helped the city out in a big way. We all got in here during the same surge.” The idea behind the establishment was to have a place that was built around beer, food and conversation. Though there are three televisions in the restaurant now, it originally had none. “Our main thing was come in, put your phones down, have a beer, talk to the person you’re with, enjoy the company, enjoy the food. Keep that old school interaction,” Parker said. Unlike other breweries in the area, Good Word has its own restaurant and a full bar, serving gourmet snack food and some main courses on a seasonal menu. “That’s been a huge challenge because when you look it up on Google Maps and you’re looking for a restaurant, we’re not the first thing to pop up,” Parker explained. “But if you’re looking for a brewery, we are the first thing to pop up. People who are looking for a brewery aren’t necessarily looking for food; people looking for food aren’t necessarily looking for a brewery. It’s getting those people in here and capturing them and letting them know what we have.”

6S Brewing

The youngest of the breweries in southwest Gwinnett, 6S Brewing (a play on the word “success”) is getting set to celebrate its one-year anniversary in July after opening just down the street from Good Word Brewing. While owner Robb Watson has his signature beers, he wanted to bring variety to the Duluth area and already has 14 types of beer on tap along with two types of ciders. “There’s such a diverse clientele in Duluth,” Watson said. “The demographic is similar to Manhattan in terms of diversity. Everyone has a different taste in the kind of beer they want. We try to have at least one beer on tap for anyone who comes in here.” Watson, who had been homebrewing for 20 years, used his background as a salesman and his love for racing cars and motorcycles to build his brand. He had been looking for a place to start his business since the passing of SB-85 but finding the right location and a city that would work with him took some time. Once he got the city of Duluth behind him, Watson set up shop in a pre-existing building in downtown Duluth, which he had to renovate to suit his needs. He tore down the back wall and built an extension for his fermentation vessels. Then he hired Jason Ford as head brewmaster to manage them and start creating beers based on his own experience and Watson’s recipes. Ford started his brewing career at

Good Word Brewing recent release of cans of collaboration with Resident Culture

Sweetwater Brewing Company, the 11th largest craft brewery in the U.S. “It took a little more work, but the end result was what we were looking for,” Watson said.

A supportive community

Watson may be the newest person to start a brewery in the area, but the rapidly growing brewing community hopes he won’t be the last. And anyone who decides to open a brewery won’t be met with any hostility from their competitors. Each brewery is working to produce the best-tasting beer in the area, but each also understands that more breweries means more customers and more business for everyone. It’s a micro-industry that fosters cooperation and support from competing entities, said Devon Peet of Kettlerock Brewing.

“Eighty percent of the beer market is dominated by big beer,” Peet said. “When you think about competition, we’re not competing with any other craft brewery for your dollars. This a whole beer community. “I haven’t found many people who don’t believe in this ethos of cooperation instead of competition. Anytime something goes wrong at the brewery, there’s a Georgia brewery email list and it’s easy for anyone to send out, ‘Hey, we got way too much of these hops or too little of these hops.’ Anderby ran out of nitrogen, so we ran ours over to them. Those types of situations happen all the time.” “The brewery community is phenomenal,” added Keyes. “Everybody supports each other. You can have a brewery right next door, and you end up working together. Cultivation, right down the street, we help each other out whenever we can.”

July 17-23 scheduled to celebrate local brewers

Beer lovers should mark their calendars for Gwinnett Beer Week, July 17-23. It’s a time set aside to celebrate craft beers and support local brewers in Gwinnett County. The week will be packed with fun-filled events and giveaways. A full roster of events is being finalized at press time. Participating businesses include Anderby Brewing, Blackbird Farms Brewery, Cultivation Brewing Co, Exhibit Ale, Good Word Brewing, GS Brewing, Indio Brewing Co, Ironshield Beer, Kettlerock Brewing, Monkey Wrench Brewing, Peachtree Growler Co, Slow Pour Brewing, Social Fox Brewing, Southern Beer Tours, Still Fire Brewing and Sugar Hill Distillery. Check exploregwinnett.org/gwinnettbeer-week to see the latest updates and make plans to be part of the fun.

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Challenges met and overcome

That support proved to be even more valuable after the COVID-19 pandemic began, and each brewery had to face its own unique challenges. Smelt strategically opened his brewery at the Peachtree Corners Technology Park with the idea that he was in a prime place to attract customers who were getting off work from the numerous companies located there. “When we moved in, we were very excited about the location,” Smelt said. “This was a high-traffic area. We knew we hit a good spot. About six months after we opened, COVID hit, and everybody went to work from home — and the vast majority of companies in Tech Park still work from home. “We were forced to re-shift our focus. We’re nothing if not flexible in this industry.” With entire barrels full of beer and no one to sell it to, Smelt immediately ramped up the distribution side of his business. “Our goal was to always become a distribution-focused brewery, but we didn’t expect to shift to pure distribution as fast as we had to,” he said. He’s also explored other ways of creating revenue, such as allowing businesses to hold meetings inside his brewery, which has led him to incorporate a distillery so he can cater to customers who don’t drink beer. He knows early on he’ll be limited to spirits that can be served unaged, such as vodka and some tequilas; whiskeys, bourbons and rums will have to be barrelled for years before he can sell them. It’s a long-term project that he’s committed to because he believes remote work isn’t going anywhere, and he doesn’t expect things to be the way they were when he first opened. “We think the distilled spirits are going to add a new element to the taproom,” he said. “I always had an interest. I didn’t originally plan on doing it myself and doing it here, but circumstances kind of forced us into it. “Recipe creation on the spirits side, in some ways it’s a lot easier, and in some ways it’s a lot harder. We’re in this for the long haul and not doing this on a whim. Outside of vodka, nothing’s fast,” he added. For Kettlerock, the Peets had to delay opening by six months because the bank they relied on for a loan dropped them because of the shutdown. “Everything was ready to go, and our funding was gone,” Dianna Peet said. “The bank we ended up with specializes in breweries, so they knew our business. We were able to open in May and it was awesome. It was right when everyone was starting to open again.” Using plastic to-go cups, Social Fox, Good Word and 6S all utilized their surrounding outdoor space to serve beer to customers while keeping their doors locked. As people were walking in downtown Norcross and Duluth — both cities permit open-container alcohol — they could stop by the breweries and take a beer to go. Watson even utilized a window in the back of its building that faces the Town Green, handing beer to customers as they passed by. Social Fox is facing its most recent challenge after Norwood, 56, suddenly passed away in May after suffering a brain aneurysm. Keyes said that led to him quitting his job as a private chef and working at the brewery full time to help fill the void, but Norwood operated the vessels and was the head brewer behind many of the recipes. Keyes has since hired Jamie Parker to be the head brewer. “We didn’t have to hire anybody for that,” Keyes said about losing Norwood as the brewer. “A lot of businesses would have to hire someone. With Jamie being on board, he’s got that extensive knowledge of how to recover the system if it goes down. We just have to adjust as we go.”

Building a destination

With more people going outside and COVID restrictions lifting, business is growing for each of the breweries, and they appear to have made it through the worst of the pandemic, even if their businesses have had to change in the process. Lancaster said what has encouraged him is that for anybody thinking about starting a brewery in a post-COVID-19 world, the six breweries in southwest Gwinnett have shown that it can be done. “Those [days] were very challenging,” Lancaster said. “We saw Social Fox open and how they dealt with it. We watched how other breweries dealt with it. We saw breweries adapt and that was a ray of shimmering light. We just have to be smart about what we do and provide a safe environment for people to enjoy.” And the more breweries that come to the area, the more likely it will be a destination that beer connoisseurs start flocking to. “It’s becoming a brewery destination in my mind,” Lancaster said. “That’s part of the culture nowadays. People want to go and experience as many breweries as they can. I think with our breweries, we’re all getting some residuals.” ##

Presbyterian Church History Goes Well Beyond Buildings

Church historian chronicles NPC’s journey from pre-Civil War to today and reveals the humanity behind the doctrine.

To understand the goals and mission of any modern-day church, it’s important to first acknowledge its history. Presbyterianism has had a presence in the United States since colonial times and has exerted an important influence over broader American religion and culture. Although the Presbyterian Church has deep roots in reformation theology, like many Protestant religions, its followers have often been referred to as the “frozen chosen,” a reference to the reasoned, non-emotional approach to worship. But Norcross Presbyterian Church (NPC) has proven over time that it leads by its heart as well as its doctrine. In 1899, the church built a charming white chapel with a mellow toned bell in its tower, and it was home to Norcross Presbyterian Church for 73 years. In the 1960s, NPC began to outgrow the space and by 1970, it had moved to Medlock Bridge Road. Still, the historic church building endured. Eventually, the church found itself needing to downsize. “We were looking for a place to move and this building was up for sale,” said Jason Bernardo, an administrator and historian at Norcross Presbyterian Church. “It was the perfect size for our current congregation — and of course, it gives us a tremendous story to tell, moving back into our original building.” In negotiating the sale, the realtors wanted a history of the church that they could put in the paperwork. That task fell to Bernardo. “I had become the administrator, which is like the church secretary here, about 10 years ago and had access to all the historical documents, all the session records, session minutes,” said Bernardo. “I started looking around and looked at the one-page history that we always used. And I thought, well, that might be okay for the needs of the realtor, but it struck me that it didn’t really say much about the church,” he said. Unlike some other Protestant religions, the Presbyterian Church is run by committees of church elders, often with meticulous record-keeping. It’s that access to such precise documentation that led Bernardo to set out to tell the story of this particular church, beyond the one-pager that highlights a few dates and historical figures. “It would tell you who the first pastor was, and when the church was founded, and where the churches were located,” said Bernardo. “Then they’d mention the founder and our pastor and that’s basically all that was in the history.”

Words by Arlinda Smith Broady Photography courtesy of Jason Bernardo

The years-long search to give a much more accurate account of Norcross Presbyterian eventually turned into a self-published book titled, “Norcross Presbyterian Church: They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love.”

Quest for lost history

Bernardo’s quest began at the church’s location on Medlock Bridge Road, the second spot that housed the congregation. But the records hadn’t made the journey across town from the original building. The files Bernardo unearthed only went back to the 1970s. “It turns out that the same project had probably come up a half dozen times over the past 100 years or so. There were several other onepage histories, and they were basically the same,” he said. Not one to give up, Bernardo made inquiries to the national body. In between his other duties, Bernardo contacted the Presbyterian Heritage Center, which, at the time, was located in Montreat, N.C., as well as the Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta and the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia. With so many dead-ends, he couldn’t see the point in going all the way to Philadelphia to find the proverbial needle in a haystack. So, Bernardo vowed to search every nook and cranny in the Medlock Bridge building before the move. “We’d been in that building for 50 years… and there are so many closets and cupboards and things — it’s a big building,” he said. “So I scoured the whole building, looking for anything that had been shoved in the back of a cupboard or whatever. And I came across quite a bit of scrapbooks and little histories.” The most important materials were the makings of what looked like a historical record that a previous pastor had been working on. “There were photocopies of session minutes from the 1850s and the 1870s. They were handwritten in a really nice flourish. The script was small and hard to read, so I’m looking at these things with a magnifying glass,” he said. Bernardo also came upon a metal box at the back of the cupboard. “It probably had been there for 30 or 40 years. And in that box were about 500 photographs,” he said. The photos documented the construction of the building on Medlock Bridge Road. There were a couple of photographs of the building at 89 Jones Street being put up for sale. “I thought, well, I don’t want to let these materials go to waste,” said Bernardo. “I started to see that we had that kind of a story that I originally thought we should have. The history of the buildings wasn’t enough.” Opposite page, Jason Bernardo Top, Church exterior with renovated marker Above, Church exterior in circa 1960 Left, the history of the church available on Amazon

Bernardo wanted the generations to come to know about the people of Norcross Presbyterian Church. So, he took Rev. Lewis Fowler’s notes and began looking in other places where historical records were kept. “What we wanted was a history of the church, of the mission of the church, a history of the kinds of people that were here and that they were average people with flaws,” he said.

Left, Pastors Matthew Fry and Lewis Fowler Top, Rev. Dr. Matthew M. Fry and wife Nicole Above, wedding in the renovated santuary

“There was a story to be told there. So, I started writing, putting everything together, just a big kitchen-sink version of everything I found out.” In the search for facts, some mysteries came up. “I can say I solved about one-and-a-half of the three mysteries,” Bernardo said.

Solving decades-old mysteries

The original Presbyterian church in Gwinnett County was the Goshen Presbyterian Church chartered in 1833 by the Fairview Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville. According to Rev. Fowler’s notes, Goshen Presbyterian was originally located at the intersection of Beaver Ruin Road and Hopkins Mill Road on land donated by Thomas H. Jones. However, there is no intersection of Beaver Ruin and Hopkins Mill. The closest structure is the current Norcross High School, wrote Bernardo. The Georgia Historical Society lists a cemetery named Goshen Presbyterian, with the notation that it was established in 1833 and used until 1861. It also claims that it was “gone” by 1979. That’s as close as anyone has come to locating the first Presbyterian church in Norcross. Another mystery involved the disappearance of a Presbyterian pastor at the start of the Civil War. “Although Gwinnett County delegates opposed secession, they yielded to the 208-89 majority in favor of the measure,” wrote Bernardo. Shortly after the vote, Goshen Presbyterian’s pastor, Rev. W. C. Smith, was reported to have abruptly left for his home above the Mason-Dixon line. “He fled because he was suspected of being a Union spy and Northern spy,” said Bernardo. He explained that in the Presbyterian Church, the congregation doesn’t really have a choice over who their pastor is going to be. The presbytery, the governing body, will send some candidates who might come from anywhere in the country. “At that time, prior to the Civil War, it was probably common for there to be pastors in the South who would come from the North,” he said. The third mystery has to do with one of the three stained-glass windows that have dedications on them. It’s in memoriam Mary Richardson. “No one in our church today knows who Mary Richardson was,” Bernardo said. “There’s no mention of her… in the church records, and yet she is forever memorialized in this fantastic stained-glass window.” It turns out she was married to the only doctor in the area and was the head of the church nursery. She’s mentioned, in the Norcross Presbyterian Church session records, as being a member in 1873. That’s the earliest mention of her, and it’s at that time — 1870 — when Norcross was founded,” said Bernardo. He found an obituary in the Atlanta Journal from July 4, 1896 that said Richardson was “of a gentle disposition and loving, charitable deeds were part of her life.” When the Jones Street building was erected three years later, she held a place of honor with a dedicated window.

Precursors to diversity, inclusion

One of Norcross Presbyterian’s most notable

attributes was that it embraced civil rights and diversity early on. Bernardo came across proof of this while going through slave narratives. “In the 1910s and 1920s, there was a bunch of interviews with the last surviving enslaved persons,” said Bernardo. “There are lots of books containing these interviews of what slavery was really like.” Bernardo stumbled upon a document that mentioned an enslaved person named Polly who was owned by one of the original founders of the church. “The description we have of our church at that time was that there was what they called a “slave gallery,” which would be [used] if there were some of the enslaved persons that were brought to church on a Sunday. They sat in a separate section of the church,” he said. The fact that the church had an area for slaves was evidence that they were considered to be children of God and worthy of being saved, he wrote. Bernardo also found evidence that during the early days of the Civil Rights movement, NPC was receptive to desegregation and other equal rights. Clara Nesbit, a descendant of enslaved people owned by ferry operator Sylvester Nesbit, approached the Norcross Presbyterian Women’s Auxiliary seeking support to attend a Negro Women’s Conference in Atlanta. Afterward, she came back to the women’s group and gave an update of what had happened. Clara Nesbit was mentioned in records several times throughout the 1940s and 1950s. “This church would have been all white at that time,” said Bernardo, adding that it had a mission to help educate Blacks. “This was before the Civil Rights movement got going and she was planting seeds. And then you fast-forward just a little bit into the middle of the 1960s where Pastor Fowler stood up for desegregation.” Bernardo added that not everyone was as liberal-minded, however. “Rev. Fowler had preached at the Central Baptist Church — an African-American church founded by Perry Nesbit’s wife,” Bernardo said. The pastor at the time was Fred Taylor who went on to become the Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Rev. Fowler turned around and invited Rev. Taylor and his wife to visit at Norcross Presbyterian on a Sunday. “They were the first …[Blacks] to ever set foot in the sanctuary. And two of our elders got up and walked out,” said Bernardo. The very next day, the church elders called a meeting to establish guidelines on what to do the next time a person of color would come to attend worship service. “At the end, they did the right thing,” said Bernardo. “They said, ‘We’re going to treat whoever walks in that door just like anyone else.’” Bernardo said that statement was a turning point in race relations — at least among the parishioners of NPC at that time. “Some of them were very unhappy with Pastor Fowler. But then he tells a story that years later, those same people were thankful for him.” Bernardo pointed out that, unlike some other denominations, the congregations of Presbyterian churches are pretty much in charge. Although the pastor is the leader of a church, he’s just one voice among the elders.

Top left, view of the church from Lillian Webb Park Above, New stained glass windows installed Left, at 2021 dedication, Chip Blankenship, Director of Operations and Congregational Consultant of Presbytery of Greater Atlanta; Aishe Brooks-Johnson, Executive Presbyter of Presbytery of Greater Atlanta; Rev. Dr. Matthew M. Fry, Pastor of Norcross Presbyterian Church; Cassandra Morrow, Congregational Consultant of Church Growth and Vitality of Presbytery of Greater Atlanta and Dr. Lewis Fowler, Jr., retired former pastor of Norcross Presbyterian Church 1966-1974

The history of a people

In the forward of the book, the current pastor, Rev. Dr. Matthew M. Fry, noted that the book outlines “the history of a people who followed their hearts and their understanding of God.” “Sometimes they made some decisions that we would consider questionable by today’s standards. Other times they made decisions we would consider brave,” wrote Rev. Fry. Going forward, the church continues to do what it believes is best for the community. In its new / old space since October, it is learning how it can serve the needs of those around them. “There’s a saying in this particular denomination,” said Bernardo. “The PCUSA is reformed and always reforming. So, especially since the 1960s, there has been a continuous change towards diversity, towards inclusiveness, towards working for justice.” ##

The Peachtree Corners Festival

Returns Triumphantly for Its 11th Year

Words By Ivy Marie Clarke

July 1-3 is gearing up to be an exciting weekend for Peachtree Corners. Not only is it the lead up to Independence Day, but it’s also the 10th anniversary of Peachtree Corner’s founding. Why not celebrate it all at the 11th annual Peachtree Corners Festival? Enjoy food, entertainment, music and art with your family and friends — not to mention, the festival (and parking) is free and open to the public.

The Peachtree Corners Festival has been a staple of Peachtree Corners since before the city was even officially, well, a city. The festival is a nonprofit “dedicated to bringing a safe, wholesome and family-friendly festival to the City of Peachtree Corners,” according to peachtreecornersfestival.com. It’s volunteer-run, so its success is due to the passionate citizens who are driven by pride for their homes as well as its sponsors. Funds earned by the festival are directed towards beautification and education projects in Peachtree Corners.

Dave Huffman has been involved with the festival for 10 years and served as its president for nine. He said that it can be stressful at times to handle the hundreds of details that go into planning a festival, but the volunteers make it manageable, and the sponsors’ funding makes it all come to fruition.

“As our city has grown, the festival has kept pace with that growth,” Huffman said. “That makes the work a bit more every year, but when we see the smiles of our attendees and hear good things from our vendors and sponsors, it makes it all worthwhile and we start to think about how we can make the next year even better!”

As the saying goes, it truly takes a village. Huffman cited several members of the Peachtree Corners Festival team who make the dream come true, including Arts Director Ayanna Graham, Music Director Becky Lyon and the First Lady of Peachtree Corners, Debbie Mason, as vice president.

“Debbie was one of the founders of the festival and spearheads our work with the many sponsors we depend on,” Huffman said. “She is wonderful!”

This year, the festival will return to the Town Green located in the Town Center development, which has become the entertainment hub of the city. Due to the tight fit and muddiness that the festival experienced last year, though, it will also be returning to its roots in a sense: while the Town Green will still host music and kids’ activities, a section of Peachtree Corners Circle will be blocked off to make room for the booths, food court and classic car show.

Saturday’s Classic Car Show and Sunday’s Georgia Concours d’Elegance will be located in the Hexagon building parking lot next to the food court.

The weekend-long event will kick

The Drifters

off with a concert at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 1, followed by a festival on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Read on for more information about what to expect from this year’s Peachtree Corners Festival.

2021 Car Show

Music

The Saturday and Sunday entertainment lineup will be one of the highlights of the festival, according to Huffman. Lyon has carefully evaluated and selected entertainers from a myriad of submissions. Festival attendees are encouraged to bring picnic baskets and coolers full of food and non-alcoholic beverages to enjoy during the performances.

The Friday night headliner has been announced as the iconic R&B group of the 50s and 60s, The Drifters. Best known for their classics “Under the Boardwalk,” “Save the Last Dance for Me” and “This Magic Moment,” among numerous other hits, The Drifters will have you swaying and celebrating on the Town Green.

Saturday’s musical lineup starts with Leah Bell Faser, 12-1 p.m., a singer who delivers compelling original songs as well as those from some of her favorite artists, including Patsy Cline, Linda Ronstadt and Janis Joplin. A rock band from Virginia, Bulletproof, takes the stage 1:15-2:15 p.m.

They’re followed by Sonic Alley, a rock and roll cover band that features classic tracks and deep cuts performed by veteran musicians from the Atlanta area, 2:30-3:30 p.m. From 3:45-4:45 p.m., the New Bridge Band will rock the house with their unique mix of familiar and eclectic songs from across the musical spectrum.

On Sunday, 12-1 p.m., Catherine Wynder performs performing Lindsey Stirling covers, pop songs and movie soundtracks. The Hearsay will continue the celebration, 1:15-2:15 p.m., with their combination of rock and pop that has hints of 90s alternative, pop-pun, and modern indie music.

More musical acts will be finalized soon, so please check peachtreecornersfestival.com for the latest updates.

Cars, Bikes, Hot Rides

1954 Cadillac Convertible (Photo courtesy Georgia’s Concours d’Elegance) The Classic Car & Bike Show (“classic” for both the types of cars it represents and its traditional presence at the Peachtree Corners Festival) will take place on Saturday, July 2, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s free for spectators; if you decide to register your car or bike on-site, you’ll only pay $15. The awesome vehicles will be lined up at the ready for you to photograph and admire. Meanwhile, trained judges will assess which rides are worthy of the coveted Top Car & Bike Awards and Top Class trophies. Enjoy food, a DJ and fantastic door prizes.

Georgia’s Concours d’Elegance will exhibit on Sunday, July 3, from 12 noon to 4 p.m., and admission is also free. Here, you’ll be witness to a lot of rare, collectible and vintage cars. The special “Sneak Peak” will show what’s coming in 2023 to Atlanta.

A classic car is more than merely a car. It’s an aesthetic, an artwork, a relic of history, a feat of technology. Concours d’Elegance brings that glorious showmanship and craftsmanship directly to you — and for free at the Peachtree Corners Festival. Support Peachtree Corners’ Concours with your attendance this year so that even more beautiful motor vehicles can be brought in next year and continue to unite our community in the pursuit of beauty.

Arts, Crafts and More

Local artisans and business owners will represent their wares at the festival. They’ll be selling everything from home goods to jewelry to crafts, so be a good neighbor and shop ‘til you drop!

► Built by Bees: Tim Haratine started his honey business in 2015 with two goals: to make customers and employees happy, and to do so by promising good products and great value. All of Built by Bees’ many delicious products use raw honey and earn repeat customers. Visit builtbybees.com.

◄ Chili P. Designs: Owner Julia channels her artistic skill and love for her family into creating beautiful wood signs perfect for home decor. Gift a design to a family member or display it in your own home for guests to admire. More at chilipdesigns.com. ■ Goddess Luxe: Necklace chains of delicate gold or silver, rings embedded with dazzling crystals, elegantly shaped earrings: this shop lives up to its name and makes jewelry fit for a goddess. See the collection at goddessluxejewelry.com. ► Discover Atlanta Chinese Art: Godwin Kou and Kuansoi (Christine) Kou are both accomplished painters and calligraphers dedicated to sharing authentic Chinese art with the world. Their work is delicate and striking while staying pure and unconfined. Go to discoveratlantachineseart.com for info. ■ Kettlebrook Brewing: You can support this new, upand-coming, family-run brewery boasting good stories and great beer with a purchase of their shirts or mugs. Go to kettlerockbrewing.com. ▼ Knox Carter Kandles: The 100% soy candles melt into a gorgeous marbling so, with their pretty packaging and wide variety of scents, they look just as incredible as they smell. More info at knoxcarterkandles. com. ■ Puppy Present Designs: Specializing in matching collars and leashes for all sizes of dogs, your puppy is sure to be the prettiest at the park. Find their shop on Etsy.

◄ Reminis Soaps: Stacey, the maker of Reminis Soaps, began her soap-making journey in 2016 because she was looking for a solution to her oily skin and post-shower itchiness. Now she handmakes beautiful, delicious-smelling soaps using only all-natural ingredients. Check out reminissoaps.com. ■ Whatnot Bear Mobile: This business is family-owned and operated. It began with the purpose of bringing children support and joy. Make your own child happy at the festival by coming home with a fuzzy friend! Find more at whatnotbearmobile.com.

▲ XOC Designs: Specializing in a variety of materials to handmake stunning furniture and other homewares, you’re sure to wow your guests with these pieces. Browse xocdesigns.com for details. ■ Ziparoos: Committed to a sustainable home, Ziparoos makes and sells multi-purpose, reusable storage bags — but they also sell other eco-friendly products that are perfect for the kitchen or cleaning around the house. And they come in cute prints, so they’re fun for the whole family!

Find the full vendor list on the Exhibitor page at peachtreecornersfestival.com.

Call for Volunteers

Need to complete volunteer hours this summer? Part of a service group and looking for a direction to channel your goodwill? Or just need to kill some time this season?

The Peachtree Corners Festival is volunteer-run, and volunteers are still being sought. With so many fun things to do all weekend, there are multiple avenues to get involved, no matter what your interests are — whether that’s assisting with the car show, distributing water to thirsty festivalgoers, setting up vendor booths or managing the hospitality suite.

Volunteers need to be above the age of 18 or have parental permission if younger. Volunteers will receive a commemorative T-shirt and pride in having supported their home city. Sign and return the 2022 volunteer waiver form via the Volunteer page on the festival’s website, peachtreecornersfestival.com.

Food and Beverage Vendors

Whatever you’re craving, Peachtree Corners Festival is serving it up. From sweet treats to cool down in the heat or a little spice to intensify your day, the food court has you covered.

Speaking of sweet and spicy, Chocolate & Spice Eatery will be dishing it out both ways. Their Caribbean-French-Brazilian fusion-inspired offerings include islander’s sorbet served in pineapple, a Creole low country boil served with your choice of protein and vegetables, savory Brazilian barbecue and, of course, the classic festival food — turkey legs. Find them at facebook. com/chocoandspice. ►Or chew on this: Chew-on Chuan stands out at festivals with their Latino-Asian fusion street food, and the Peachtree Corners Festival is no different. Smack on Asian street skewers (your choice of protein) with a side of mango salsa and tortilla, Dominican empanadas that sound so good they’ll make your mouth water just looking at the ingredients list, yucca fries, Thai Tom yum soup, scallion pancakes and grilled corn in a 13-spice barbecue sauce. Yum! Check them out at facebook.com/chewonchuan.

For more can’t-miss-it, gotta-have-it festival food, check out Tasty Yum Yum. Not only do they have the classics — fried Oreos, funnel cake, sweet tea and ice-cold lemonade — but they’ll also be selling hearty stuff like rice and peas, steamed cabbage, loaded fries, sausage, Philly cheesesteak and chicken any way you want it: popcorn chicken, chicken on a stick, jerk chicken, curry chicken–yum! Visit them on Instagram.

Thirsty? Phoenix Roasters will be roasting up a full espresso and cold brew bar. If you haven’t tried a nitro-based craft drink yet, this festival will be your chance! Get details at phoenixroasters.coffee.

What’s lunch without a snack, or dinner without dessert? After your meal, top it off with national award-winning homemade ice cream from Daddy O’Brien’s Irish Ice Cream Pub. Find out more at daddyosicecream. com.

If ice cream’s not your taste, Sweetacular Treats will have every other treat available to choose from, including popcorn, cotton candy, candied pickles and apples, Rice Krispies, cake, soda and lemonade. Find them on Instagram.

Sponsors

It cannot be said enough times how important sponsors are to making the Peachtree Corners Festival great. This year’s sponsors can be found by clicking on the Sponsors page at peachtreecornersfestival.com; from there, you can click on each of their logos and be directed to more information. Notably, the Title Sponsor is the City of Peachtree Corners, and Peachtree Corners Magazine has been recognized as a Silver Sponsor. Come visit our table when you attend the festival.