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Lemonade Days keeps revival alive Annual celebration preserves residents’ sense of community
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com DUNWOODY, Ga. — The rain held off April 20 at Brook Run Park for Lemonade Days’ 12-hour Saturday slate of stage performances, carnival rides and mouthwatering food. Organizers said roughly 20,000 Metro Atlantans stopped by the park for the five-day festival. Hundreds of patrons made their way to the stage at the corner of North Peachtree Road and Peeler Road for the Dunwoody Idol Competition, featuring 10 of the city’s best young vocalists from local middle and high schools. With the backing of a professional band, festivalgoers jammed out to pop hits and selected a winner, runner-up and crowd favorite. Marist student Lauren Schroder, 15, took home the first place for her cover of Demi Lovato’s “Warrior.” The runner-up, 15-year-old Anshula Phadke from Dunwoody High School, sang “Diamonds” by Rihanna. The crowd-favorite award went to
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Girl Scout troop gifts bird houses to Vermack club
HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA
The contestants in the 2024 Dunwoody Idol competition stand on stage April 20 at the Dunwoody Preservation Trust’s Lemonade Days. The winner of this year’s competition was Marist student Lauren Schroder. Mackenzie Dakake, 11, a student at St. Jude the Apostle Catholic School, for her performance of “A Place in This World” by Taylor Swift. Elsewhere throughout the park, families, seniors and teenagers swarmed different food vendors, like Soul Truckin’ Good, King of Pops and Repicci’s Italian Ice. When forecasted rain put doubts on the final day of the festival, organizers were unphased and invited folks back for what turned out to be a dry afternoon. Lemonade Days, the city’s most
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popular family event, features dozens of carnival rides, like the Expo Wheel and Alien Abduction, face-painting and carnival classics and rows of food and beverage vendors. A group of seven students from Pope High School in Cobb County said they left in a hurry April 17 to make it for the opening day of carnival rides at the festival. After hopping off the Nemesis 360, a twisting and flipping pendulum that puts
See LEMONADE, Page 13 OPINION
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Paying Retail for Diamonds 1ct Lab Grown Diamond Solitaire Engagement Ring $1195 2ctw Lab Grown Diamond Stud Earrings $995 2.5ctw Natural Diamond Stud Earrings $5980
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DUNWOODY, Ga. — For the fifth graders in Girl Scout Troop 19443, it’s exciting to see each other at monthly meetings. They’ve known one another since kindergarten, but they now attend nine different elementary schools around Dunwoody. The 12 fifth graders, classified as Junior Girl Scouts, recently completed their Bronze Award project, constructing seven bird shelters and a bird bath at Vermack Swim and Tennis Club. The COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in Scouting when the girls were in second grade, but that has not stopped Troop 19443 from advancing through the program. At the April 29 Dunwoody City Council meeting, officials recognized Girl Scout Troop 19443 for their Bronze Award project and its contribution to the city. The Bronze Award is the third highest award in Girl Scouts and can only be earned by a registered Junior. The Girl Scouts of the United States of America, the official name for the national organization, separates girls K-12 based on grade level. Junior Scouts, after moving through the Daisies and Cookies levels, enter their first opportunity to earn one of the Girl Scouts’ highest awards. While girls are in the fourth or fifth
See SCOUTS, Page 12