Spruill Center for the Arts CEO Alan Mothner works the nonprofit’s drawing table May 11 full of future painters at the
and enjoy food trucks.
Village sees thousands on Mother’s Day for arts festival
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
DUNWOODY, Ga. — After a rainy Saturday at the Dunwoody Arts Festival, thousands strolled up and down Village Parkway May 11, perusing hundreds of booths filled with unique art of every medium.
The Dunwoody Arts Festival is a Mother’s Day tradition. Since 1999, artists and vendors from Metro Atlanta and across the country have filled the
Village with unique arts, crafts and treats.
Like the Dunwoody Preservation Trust’s annual Lemonade Days, the Dunwoody Arts Festival began as a fundraiser for families impacted by the 1998 tornado that destroyed parts of the city. There were no carnival rides at the May 10-11 arts and cultural celebration, but one of the more popular beverage vendors was selling lemonade.
See FESTIVAL, Page 21
By ZOE SEILER zoe@appenmedia.com
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — DeKalb County water customers remain at risk of losing service or have already been disconnected, despite the county commission’s request to keep taps flowing for those with disputed bills, Appen Media has learned. When the County Commission approved a water and sewer rate increase in February, it made a commitment not to shut off water for customers challenging disputing overcharges.
water bill for over $18,000.
PHOTOS BY: HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA
Dunwoody Art Festival’s Kidz Zone. The city’s annual Mother’s Day weekend tradition brought thousands to Dunwoody Village Parkway to peruse vendors, check out artwork
Families check out unique paintings and sculptures from hundreds of vendors along Dunwoody Village Parkway during the May 10-11 Dunwoody Art Festival.
DEAN HESSE/APPEN MEDIA
DeKalb County resident Brandy Knox holds her
Sandy Springs receives funding to help construct all of PATH400
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The Atlanta Regional Commission has stepped in with an $18 million grant to help Sandy Springs construct all segments of PATH400 from its southern border with Atlanta to Central Perimeter.
The Sandy Springs City Council approved a budget amendment to accept the funding windfall May 6 after discussing the immense impact on regional connectivity and the build-out of the city’s Springway Trail Plan.
City Councilman Andy Bauman said the project is transformative, and the connectivity between cities and neighborhoods will propel the community forward.
Sandy Springs TSPLOST Program Manager Allen Johnson said the grant allows the city to construct the full 2.3-mile path from Loridans Drive within the city of Atlanta to an existing multi-use path built as a part of the Transform Ga. 400 and I-285 project.
“Segments one and three are currently in construction,” Johnson said. “At the end of the year, ARC said … these other jurisdictions can’t use the money, would you be willing to take it?”
Instead of the initial $4 million grant extended to the city in November, Sandy Springs received $18 million for final design and construction of the middle segment of PATH400 through the city.
One reason is the city’s strong finances.
Because of the project’s regional significance, the Atlanta Regional Commission recently announced an additional $18 million grant offer to construct the second, middle segment. That piece runs from Windsor Parkway to just north of Ridgeview Middle School within the High Point neighborhood.
Once complete, the greenway will stretch 5.2 miles from Central Perimeter to planned segments of the Atlanta Beltline and Peachtree Creek Greenway in DeKalb County. It’s an already popular 12-footwide path along the spine of Ga. 400.
“Our planning staff has done a good job coordinating with ARC to get these [funds],” Johnson said. “We always asked for the funding … often jurisdictions ask for everything and then they cannot use the money, and the ARC has to reallocate it.”
The city is setting aside an estimated $5.75 million for its local match for construction.
A budget amendment is needed because a new project is being created for the middle segment, the funding amount exceeds the city manager’s discretion and overall expenditures are being increased. However, staff says there is no financial impact to the city because of re-assigned
grant dollars, the use of $2 million in capital contingency and leftover funding.
Construction on the middle segment is expected to begin next summer, Johnson said.
“In four years, it will be done, hopefully it will be done earlier than that,” he said.
City Councilman Tibby DeJulio said if people head north of Lordans Drive along Ga. 400, they can already see construction work on the east side of the state route.
“People were asking me, and it sounded crazy that we were doing one and three but not two,” DeJulio said. “This means I can tell people we’re doing the whole thing now.”
Because of protections for an endangered bat species that roosts near Nancy Creek, contractors were required to remove trees before March 31 to avoid delays with a ban on tree clearing until fall.
Atlanta is funding construction of the 12-foot-wide multi-use trail from Loridans Drive to its city limits. Sandy Springs is then building the path’s bridge over Nancy Creek. Motorists along Ga. 400 can now see the path’s corridor.
“This project’s been around since 2017 … we started off with the design, right-ofway, pre-construction funding,” Johnson said. Because the city set aside design funding for PATH400 in its 2016 TSPLOST budget, he said his department has been managing the project. Fulton County’s TSPLOST program, approved by voters in 2016 and 2021, gives the city a share of sales tax revenue for transportation improvements.
Last May, the city funded the more than $20 million in construction of the first and third segment.
The Georgia Department of Transportation, which owns the right-of-way along Ga. 400, is funding 80 percent of the project’s costs through disbursement of federal grants.
Other Sandy Springs and Perimeter Community Improvement District projects are set to connect PATH400 at Peachtree Dunwoody Road into multi-use paths in Dunwoody’s trail network and to City Springs along Mount Vernon Highway.
Public Works Director Marty Martin says the city’s relationship with the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Georgia Department of Transportation is strong, helping pull the construction funding together.
Mayor Rusty Paul said acquiring the funds for the massive construction project, estimated around $40 million, took a team effort. He said other cities couldn’t provide a match, but Sandy Springs could because of its financial management.
“It’s still just a relatively small part of our total trail network, but it’s a key part,” Paul said. “Because we’re a linchpin for all these regional trails, they all come together here; This is a very important milestone.”
A map shows planned segments of PATH400 connecting the Atlanta Beltline to Buckhead, Dunwoody and Sandy Springs. Sandy Springs officials said the city’s middle segment, from Windsor Parkway to Ridgeview Middle School, is estimated to wrap up in 2029, a year after the other two are slated to be completed.
Fifty dollars covers a dozen basic grocery items in Perimeter stores
By AMRITHA JOSEPH newsroom@appenmedia.com
DUNWOODY, Ga. — A trip to the grocery store may no longer be a trifle errand, but rather one to make consumers pause before purchase, as food prices have increased.
For $50, the average shopper can buy roughly 10 to 15 staple items (including tax) at a chain grocery store.
The food-at-home Consumer Price Index increased 0.5 percent from February to March. This category includes grocery store or supermarket food purchases. Prices are 2.4 percent higher than they were in March 2024. CPI predicts a 3.2 percent increase in this category this year, and Dunwoody residents have already noticed the pinch on their pocketbooks.
Shelly Xiao, a graduate student visiting the Perimeter Publix at 1100 Hammond Drive, said she used to buy beverages of different flavors – orange juice, grapefruit juice and milk. Now, she purchases just one drink per grocery store visit. Other times, she purchases groceries at Walmart, even seeking out their private Great Value label to save a few bucks, she said.
At the same time, nutrition and social responsibility considerations also influence decisions, so some shoppers have chosen not to make any changes.
More
To see a price snapshot of different grocery stores, visit appenmedia.com.
store label in some cases. Publix store brand and Bertolli extra virgin olive oil sat side-by-side at the same height and priced at $14.99 per bottle. However, the Bertolli bottle contains 16.9 ounces, while the store brand contains 34 ounces.
Similarly, Kroger and Tropicana pulp-free orange juice were both priced at $4.79, but the store brand comes in a 52-ounce bottle versus Tropicana at 46 ounces.
Additionally, shoppers may consider purchasing larger packages of foods they consume often. An 8-ounce package of store brand unsalted butter costs around $3.69 compared to a 16-ounce package at around $4.89. While the overall price of the larger package is higher, the consumer pays less per ounce.
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Sandy Springs resident Syrus Dumas said, as an athlete, he maintains a strict diet. He chooses specific brands like Uncle Matt’s or Natalie’s juices. He shops around at stores like Publix, Costco and Trader Joe’s but prefers to support local farmers markets which he feels offer “real food.”
Tips for stretching a dollar
Shoppers who are not as brand loyal may be able to save money. Leading brand labels can be priced up to four times more per ounce than a
Value shoppers should also pay close attention when purchasing chips or cereal where food is air-sealed and slack-filled with gas to preserve freshness. Actual food content within a box may vary. A box of store brand corn flakes on the shelf at the Kroger at 4498 Chamblee Dunwoody Road contains 18 ounces of cereal priced at $2.29, while a similarly sized box of Kellogg’s corn flakes contains 12 ounces of cereal priced at $5.79.
Cost-conscious consumers may want to consider how much they are willing to pay for minor conveniences, like pre-chopped vegetables or premolded meat. At Publix, raw ground beef shaped into patties were 50 cents more per pound than the same ground beef in unformed condition.
Owner John Hogan & Designer Bobbie Kohm
and 4 letters). The clues are numbered 1 through 7, with each number containing 3 clues for the 3 answers on the line. But here’s the catch! The clues are not in order - so the first clue in Line 1 may (or may not) actually be for the second or third answer in that line. Got it? Good luck!
SURNAMES
1. Hot rock. Katmandu land. Hammerin’ Hank of baseball fame.
2. “Midnight Run” actor Charles. Vittles. A __ and a prayer.
3. Little wriggler. “North by Northwest” actor James. Amulet.
4. “The World in His Arms” actor Gregory. Prepare to propose. Maui neighbor.
5. Monster. Johnny of “Sweeney Todd”. Stand-offish.
6. Mountain lion. Humpback, e.g. Running mate of ‘68.
7. Boredom. “Finnegans Wake” author James. Surefooted wild goat of Eurasia.
1 Hot rock. Katmandu land. Hammerin’ Hank of baseball fame
2. “Midnight Run” actor Charles. Vittles. A ___ and a prayer.
How to Solve: Each line in the puzzle above has three clues and three answers. The last letter in the first answer on each line is the first letter of the second answer, and so on. The connecting letter is outlined, giving you the correct number of letters for each answer (the answers in line 1 are 4, 5 and 5 letters). The clues are numbered 1 through 7, which each number containing 3 clues for the 3 answers on the line. But here’s the catch! The clues are not in order - so the first clue in Line 1 may (or may not) actually be for the second or third answer in that line. Got it? Good luck!
3. Little wriggler. “North by Northwest” actor James. Amulet.
4. “The World in His Arms” actor Gregory. Prepare to propose. Maui neighbor
5. Monster. Johnny of “Sweeney Todd.” Stand-offish.
6. Mountain lion. Humpback, e.g. Running mate of ‘68
7. Boredom. “Finnegans Wake” author James. Surefooted wild goat of Eurasia and Northern Africa.
Dunwoody schedules Kids to Parks Day, summer activities
A girl runs through the Two Bridges Park splash pad, and a father and son enjoy a treat from King of Pops last summer in Dunwoody. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department announced a series of free, family-friendly community events this summer, beginning with Kids to Parks Day May 17.
Before Spaces, After Showcases
DUNWOODY, Ga. — The Dunwoody Parks and Recreation Department’s summer calendar features free concerts, movies and the May 30 splash pad opener at Two Bridges Park.
The summer season launches May 17 with Kids to Parks Day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the front field at Brook Run Park. A family bike ride through Brook Run Park is also scheduled for May 17 starting at 9 a.m.
“We always have a great turnout for Kids to Parks as we feature balloon artists, bubbles and face painters,” Parks and Recreation Director Rachel Waldron said. “This event brings our community together and gives us our first taste of summer and sets the stage for more fun in the months ahead.”
Opening day for the Two Bridges Park splash pad is set for May 30 at 10:30 a.m. Residents are invited to check out the new sculpture and shade sails at the park off Perimeter Center East.
The city says visitors will enjoy a free King of Pops treat and giveaways.
Dunwoody’s summer concert series, Pics in the Park, begins with a June 6 showing of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at 9 p.m. at Pernoshal Park off North Shallowford Road. Upcoming films include “Home Alone” July 11 and “Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade” Aug. 1.
The Groovin’ on the Green series kicks off at 6 p.m. June 14, featuring nine acts performing at the Brook Run Park Amphitheater on the second Saturday of the month from June through October.
Guests are encouraged to walk or ride bikes to the concerts since the amphitheater is located along the Dunwoody Trailway. Bring picnics or pick up dinner from a featured food truck. Leashed dogs are welcome.
Concerts include Band X with Nero Simon June 14; Hedonistas with After School Special July 12; G Clef & The Playlist with DieDra Hurdle-Ruff Aug. 9; Red Not Chili Peppers with Run Katie Run Sept. 13; Piano Man Vs. Rocket Man: A Tribute to Billy Joel and Elton John Oct. 11
“We’ve developed a loyal following for our Groovin’ on the Green series,” Waldron said. “These concerts have become a signature part of summer in Dunwoody. It’s a chance to relax, connect and gather under the stars.”
Dunwoody Parks and Recreation is also offering new programs this summer. They include Adaptive Soccer, Kids Goat Yoga and SportsPlay by Kidokinetics.
— Hayden Sumlin
Art Pharmacy partners with Wellstar
METRO ATLANTA — Art Pharmacy is partnering with Wellstar Health System to address the isolation and loneliness pandemic.
The new program allows participants in the Wellstar Live to the Beat heart health program to improve their health by engaging in fun, non-clinical community events. Live to the Beat is a community outreach program that partners with local faith communities to connect participants with community health sources.
Art Pharmacy combines decades of research in the field of arts and health with non-clinical community events like the arts, movement, nature and service to help patient health.
The group will connect participants to community-based activities that will benefit patient’s mental health and well-being.
To learn more about Art Pharmacy, visit www.artpharmacy.co.
— Sarah Coyne
CITY OF DUNWOODY/PROVIDED
Bloom Roadside serves up specialty donuts, burgers
By SARAH COYNE sarah@appenmedia.com
MILTON, Ga. — Life is like a box of doughnuts for Bloom Roadside.
The little café on the side of the Hopewell Road in Milton offers an array of fresh doughnuts, coffee, teas, sandwiches and burgers.
Located at 15260 Hopewell Road, inside the historic Hardeman’s Grocery, employees greet customers with a smile.
It all began in May 2021, when New Yorker Josh Kim decided to create Milton’s next doughnut shop. Kim renovated the 1,100 square-foot historic store from the 1940s into a cozy, farmhouse café.
“They always wanted to do a simple, humble, family-oriented [environment],” General Manager Daniel Nicks said.
Chef at Atlanta staples, like Fred’s Meat & Bread and The General Muir, Todd Ginsburg later joined the picture to help out with the shop.
Since then, doughnuts have been handmade each morning, hours before the store opens at 7:30 a.m. on weekdays. Although it may seem intense, the process is quite simple, as the store only uses unbleached flour, milk, eggs and butter.
“We want indulgence, but simple, clean ingredients,” Nicks said.
Customers can enjoy fresh, warm
doughnuts of all flavors, including chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, cinnamon, coffee bacon, apple fritter and cookies n’ cream.
Doughnuts aren’t the only star of the show. Nicks said that the staple of the restaurant is the Roadside Burger, made with 100 percent certified angus beef, american cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and a sesame bun.
“People would hear about us a lot for the doughnuts, but business is actually built on the Roadside Burger,” he said.
The burgers are ground in-house and cooked in the shop.
“Everything is made from scratch,” Nicks said.
Those looking for a unique menu item can try the doughnut burger, which features the Roadside Burger sandwiched between a toasted and glazed doughnut.
While menu items are important, Nicks said the most vital part to him is the community. On any regular day, customers can find him greeting the regulars and making connections with new faces.
The shop runs on three words, cuisine, comfort and community, evidenced through the shop’s outreach with the City of Milton.
time. Bloom Roadside also hosts several events like dance alongs and a Memorial Day BBQ for guests to enjoy.
Madison Becker, who grew up 10 minutes from the store, now serves as assistant general manager. One of her favorite parts of the job is the baking.
“It’s calm,” she said.
Not only does Becker get to bake, but she also gets to come up with the new specialty flavors.
“It’s really fun to come up with new flavors,” Becker said.
Every two months, Becker goes through her process, which includes going on Pinterest and brainstorming what will work best for the season.
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“We want [to] be a place where people can come and hang out,” Nicks said.
Every Friday at 10 a.m., community members can bring their children to story
Becker gave a sneak peek into this summer’s flowery flavor, which will include notes of hibiscus and honeysuckle.
“We’ve got a super creative staff,” Nicks said.
Bloom Roadside lives inside the historic Hardeman’s Grocery located at 15260 Hopewell Road in Milton.
PHOTOS BY: SARAH COYNE/APPEN MEDIA
Customers can find a warm, cozy farmhouse environment inside Bloom Roadside 15260 Hopewell Road.
Employee Melanie List makes a donut for a customer at Bloom Roadside May 1.
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Shutoff:
Continued from Page 1
One DeKalb County resident with an $18,000 bill that is in dispute lost water service for two weeks. Another received a notice saying he had to pay 10 percent of his $8,500 bill or the full amount to avoid a shutoff. Still another customer says he has been told for years not to pay his high water bill, and it would work itself out. That bill reached $62,000 at one point.
DeKalb CEO Lorraine CochranJohnson said the county has not shut off water on a widespread basis, and residents who are disputing their bills will not have their water disconnected throughout the review.
“However, under future plans, all individuals who do not demonstrate income sensitivity or establish a documented payment plan will not be allowed to continue accruing a balance during the dispute process,” CochranJohnson said. “Customers in dispute must remain current on their undisputed monthly bills.”
But the shutoffs are happening, and customers say they are struggling to meet new payment requirements from the county.
Brandy Knox, a single mother in Stone Mountain, was without water from April 14 to 28. Her current water bill is more than $18,000.
Knox’s water bills were about $72 per month until about June 2023, when they skyrocketed to $19,000 allegedly due to leaks in 2018 and 2022.
Knox had a broken pipe repaired on Jan. 1, 2023. She has paid about $3,400 toward the total bill, but she says the bill does not reflect those payments.
Knox also had issues contacting the county regarding her water bill, finding watershed and finance employees hard to reach and unwilling to help.
“What happened was they sent my case to the [county] Department of Revenue, and they’re supposed to give me a call,” Knox told Appen Media on April 22. “I’ve been calling them every day, and they haven’t returned any of my phone calls.”
Knox received an email from the county Finance Department on April 18, 2025, stating that she had to pay $18,339.90 in full to have her water service restored.
Instituting payment plans
DeKalb County has insisted that residents, like Knox and others, must either pay 10 percent of their bill or the full bill to avoid a shutoff or reconnect service.
“I got cut all the way off because I couldn’t afford the money they were requesting,” Knox said.
Customers who spoke to Appen Media
BEHIND THE
STORY: Decaturish Assistant Editor Zoe Seiler has been covering DeKalb County since 2019. Appen Media acquired the news website July 1, hiring its staff and ensuring their work can continue into the future. The aim is to have a larger, more experienced and supported joint newsroom that can offer readers important reporting on the topics that matter most. Watch for more from Decaturish, the Crier and the rest of the Appen Media team.
Support the work of protecting and strengthening local news in North Atlanta by becoming a member of the Appen Press Club at appenmedia.com/join.
DEAN HESSE/APPEN MEDIA
DeKalb County resident Brandy Knox received a water bill for over $18,000.
were told they must also pay monthly installments on their accrued charges and regular water bills. To resolve her dispute, the county wants Knox to pay $1,800 followed by $500 monthly installments until her water bill is paid. She says she can’t afford it.
“I was trying to pay my bill, but they kept saying I had to pay 10 percent of it. They wouldn’t just let me pay $100, $200 until we figure this out, but they were insisting I had to pay 10 percent,” Knox said. “I don’t even have it, so what do you want me to do?”
Water was reconnected on April 28 after Knox reached out to a county commissioner.
Meanwhile, in Brookhaven, resident Mark Cribb has an $8,500 water bill from 2017. He has been in the dispute process since then.
DeKalb County alleges Cribb and his wife used enough water to fill three swimming pools for months. Initially, Cribb was told his home had a leak, but two plumbers inspected his property and couldn’t find one.
He has checked on the dispute periodically since 2017. He hadn’t heard anything until recently, when he received a letter saying he had to pay 10% down or the full bill by April 26, 2025, or his water would be turned off. Cribb’s water was shut off on May 6.
“I’ve touched base with them several times over the years. A lot of times I just got put on hold, couldn’t get anybody on the phone,” Cribb said, adding that the bill “included the original disputed amount. They didn’t resolve anything.”
The county told Cribb he would need to pay $850 and $300 monthly, plus the regular water bill. Like Knox, Cribb can’t afford it.
“I’m dealing with a lot of medical
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bills with my wife. She’s had some heart issues and that would be a death sentence here to get my water shut off,” Cribb said. “I can’t afford this. I don’t have $8,500 lying around.”
Cribb also noted that these payments would be in addition to upcoming water and sewer rate increases, which will rise 20 percent by January.
The county’s customer relief efforts
When the County Commission approved the water rate increase, they also asked the CEO to take steps to help people who couldn’t afford higher water bills.
Those requests include:
• Establishing the Office of Water and Sewer Customer Advocacy by Jan. 1, 2026. The office would work with the Watershed Customer Service and Billing Advisory Board to address customer billing issues and handle disputes.
• Funding the DeKalb Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Services Discount Program, which includes an income-based water affordability plan for very low-income and extremely low-income residents, within 30 days of adopting the resolution. The resolution was adopted on Feb. 25.
• Establishing water shutoff protections for vulnerable populations, including households with minors under 18 years old, seniors 62 or older, disabled residents and those experiencing temporary hardships.
The shutoff protections include a commitment that the county will not shut off service for customers in the dispute process or those waiting for the Office of Water and Sewer Customer Advocacy to be created.
Commissioners said they intended for the CEO to immediately implement shutoff protections and discount programs.
County Commissioner Ted Terry said the general idea is not to shut off water, and the county shouldn’t be focused on shutoffs.
“Instead of posting shutoff notices, it’s, ‘Here’s the county’s new programs
to protect people with discounts, shutoff protections and other assistance, see if you qualify.’ As opposed to, ‘You need to pay 10 percent of this $18,000 bill,’ otherwise your water is going to be shut off or to get it turned back on,’” Terry said.
CEO Cochran-Johnson said she’s considering the commission’s request.
“As that request is under review, we have assigned two dedicated Water Customer Advocates, with a staff of [nine] customer service representatives to assist customers with water disputes,” she said.
As of May 2, about 76 accounts were in dispute, according to CochranJohnson.
DeKalb will unveil a plan to address delinquent accounts without a payment plan within 30 days of receiving notice. The county has sent notices to about 3,000 residents this year.
“As we move toward that model, beginning in 2025, we have sent notices to approximately 3,000 accounts per month that are currently in a delinquent status requesting either payment in full or a 10 percent payment toward their balances and the establishment of a monthly payment plan to actively work toward bringing their balances down,” Cochran-Johnson said.
The county’s chief financial officer decided on the 10 percent down payment requirement, which Cochran-Johnson approved.
“It should be noted, depending upon income and circumstances, DeKalb reserves the right to establish custom payment plans,” Cochran-Johnson said.
Plan falls short for some
So far, the bills, down payments and payment plans have been unaffordable for some residents.
Lithonia resident Greg Jones has a $42,500 bill due to previous issues with his water meter in 2015, and a leak in 2023. Each time his meter was replaced, or a repair was made, Jones says he was told that his bill would work itself out and he shouldn’t pay anything.
But the high bills keep coming.
Jones’ highest bill was $62,000. That was reduced to about $42,500 in 2024. Jones has officially started the dispute process to contest the bill. Jones lives in Lithonia with his wife, daughter and son, Joshua, who has cerebral palsy and a seizure disorder. He is on a ventilator and has pressure sores to treat.
“There is no way my water bill would be this high if on average we [pay] $75 to $98 in water a month, now that they are billing monthly…,” he said.
Jones also said a lien was placed on his house in 2024 due to the high water bill.
“I want just want to get through this,” he said. “I’m worried and scared about providing for my son and family, worried about losing my home or whatever. I don’t know what to do.”
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We’ve been away for a few weeks, savoring the countryside of northwest England in what they call the Lake District. It was one of those trips where there’s a little bit of work (writing about Lake District fly fishing) and a lot of fun (traveling, sightseeing, hiking, meeting folks and discovering new ales at quaint and charming pubs, among other things).
There were occasional moments of terror, too, thanks to the fact that we’d rented a car and were driving on the other side of the road. But she points out to me (gently but definitely) that I’m using the royal “we,” for she did all the driving. Yes, she did, and very well too.
We were in England for quite a while. In fact, we were there for my birthday. She gave me a new day pack, one made in this century. It’ll be perfect for the kind of hiking I like to do. I’ll tell you more about it soon. What adventures will it bring? I don’t know, but I will treasure every one.
As often happens, the first part of our trip passes with luxurious slowness, each day lasting and lasting and stretching from here to the far horizon. I savor such days. They have no time attached. They go on forever.
But then, just when you have finally decided that you want this foreverness to go on…well, forever…it’s time to go home.
Don’t get me wrong. I love going home. But I love “being there,” too, wherever “there” may happen to be. And I wonder: In this world where we can do so many things, why can’t we figure out a way to have our travel cake and eat it too?
And so, we drove from the village of Grasmere, which had been home away from home for those magical weeks in England, to the airport in Manchester. We got on an airplane. The pilot cranked it up, and nine hours later we were once again stuck in traffic on the downtown connector.
But we were home. And I was thinking about fishing.
In England, we had fished the English way for brown trout. We fished in glacial lakes and in cold, clear rivers. The fish were spectacular.
WAVES, Page 21
STEVE HUDSON Columnist
Festival:
Despite an overcast sky, the colorful two-day outdoor celebration brought hundreds of mothers, daughters and sons of all generations to the heart of the Dunwoody community Sunday afternoon.
Splash Festivals co-owner Cindy Flynn produces the annual arts fair and several others throughout north Metro Atlanta. The festival, promoted by the city’s destination marketing organization Discover Dunwoody, helps elevate local businesses, bring together the community and introduce the city to neighboring residents.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
our volunteer ambassadors, and they have guided the artisans to their booth locations the beginning – usually in the dark!”
She also complimented the Dunwoody Village Townhomes community for being easy to work with, given their proximity to the festivities.
Sponsor booths from Regency Centers, Pella Window & Doors of Atlanta and Bubba Burger marked exit points from lines of hundreds of individual vendor booths from local and regional artists.
Some have been honing their craft for years, setting up shop at festivals around the Southeast.
Dunwoody resident Carla Werthheimer, a first-year vendor specializing in mosaic yard art, said she’s been coming to the festival as an attendee since it started.
Chamblee resident Bjorn Jordan, who started making portraits and sculptures with bottle caps and driftwood a year ago, said the Dunwoody Village Parkway festival is the second one he’s attended in his short career as an amateur artist.
overcast skies and gulf storm headed north toward Metro Atlanta.
Joe Capo, solo acoustic and electric guitarist from Atlanta, played throughout the festival and said the Sunday crowd was a marked improvement.
“The businesses in the Village area love having the big crowds in front of their doors to help showcase their shops and restaurants, and we are excited to let the fun artisans and vendors hang out in the Parkway,” Flynn said. “The Dunwoody Rotary Club will once again partner with us as
Waves:
Continued from Page 20
Now, in Canton, Ga., 30115, we would fish again. But we would be fishing for brim.
Brim, the colloquial spelling of “bream,” is a catch-all term that covers the myriad sunfish found in warmwater streams all over the Southeast. My daddy used it as a descriptor of that massive class of fish-types which he so loved to pursue. His was an eminently practical taxonomy of fishes with just four categories (bream, bass, catfish and everything else). It may not have been the most precise in the world, but by golly it covered the bases.
In England, I remember, they also had a fish called a bream. But it bore little resemblance to the ones hereabouts and was in fact some totally different kind of creature. The word was spoken differently too. One of or British angling mentors pronounced it “breem.”
Someday I’ll have to go back to the Lake District and try to catch one of ‘em, just in the interest of touching all the bases.
So many fish! So little time. Anyway, it’s “brim” that’s on my mind as I think about where to go.
Elizabeth Ann from Mobile, Alabama had one of the more weatherproof tent set-ups along Dunwoody Village Parkway, which turned into a winding sandwich of white-topped tents and humans. She said most of her time spent crafting ornaments, picture frames and other home decorations is over the summer. Then, she heads out to various art festivals across the country in the fall.
Jordan said his friends encouraged him to start selling the pieces during visits to his home, located near I-285 at the Dunwoody border. He said Sunday was rainy, but he stuck it out and ended up selling a few pieces.
With an ear-to-ear grin, Jordan reported selling at least five of his bottle cap portraits of rock ’n’ roll legends like Jim Morrison and John Lennon. He also said he took a few orders.
The weather held off Sunday afternoon at the Dunwoody Arts Festival. Some vendors who packed up the day before didn’t return with
The Spruill Center for the Art’s drawing booth in the festival’s Kidz Zone was a popular spot. A few local elementary schoolers worked with crayons, markers and colored pencils as a larger group of kids popped giant bubbles.
Memorial Day is right around the corner. A month after that thousands are set to return to the Dunwoody Village for the state’s largest 4th of July Parade and the nation’s 249th birthday. Continued from Page 1
“Where shall we go?” I ask her. We discuss options. We consider possibilities. Ultimately, we settle on a stream in the local lake district (Allatoona Lake, specifically) and decide to venture toward Allatoona Creek.
Allatoona Creek is one of those warmwater streams that’s both accessible and fishable. The trick is to figure out how to get to it and, having done that, how to get to the water. I knew it would be worth the effort. I’d had some fine days there over the years. And so we packed up the rods, and off we went. We stopped for a frozen Coke on the way. It was refreshing.
And then we were there.
From the car park (uh-oh…more English terms creeping in) to the water was about a 20-minute walk.
Then came the big question: What flies should we choose?
She favors small foam spiders, preferably pink ones, and the fish seem to universally approve of that choice. I tied one to her line, and she was off to the water. I knew she’d be landing fish before I was even finished rigging my own rod.
Again the question: Which fly? I could have used a pink spider, too. I knew it would work. But I was still in
We would like to invite you for a community meeting for a possible rezoning of the property 4500 North Shallowford Road, Dunwoody, GA 30338 to allow a veterinary emergency and specialty clinic.
Location: 4500 North Shallowford Road, Dunwoody, GA 30338
Date: May 28th
Time: 6 pm-8 pm
Splash Festivals chose Josh Berkman’s “First Flight” as the cover of this year’s promotional materials. His booth saw a steady crowd.
While the Dunwoody Arts Festival is not the city’s largest annual event, it’s a symbolic summer kick off and the end of the school year.
a vaguely English frame of mind. And I wondered…
Would a classic English fly – a fly crafted by my friend in from across the pond, a fly created with wild English brown trout in mind – would that fly possibly work on a good ol’ north Georgia crick and help me catch a few bream?
Well, I was gonna find out.
The fly, something called a “Foam Buzzer,” imitates an emerging insect. One of the fisherfolk we’d met in England had tied them and had given us a few. The fly floats low in the film (that’s fishing talk for right at the surface) with most of its body hanging down below. Fish see it as a stranded insect that’s an easy meal, and the brown trout in England loved it with wild abandon.
I tied it on. I eased over to the water.
THE CITY OF DUNWOODY, GEORGIA
I made a cast, and (I’m not making this up) on the very first cast I had a profound hit, and a few minutes later was looking at the biggest bream (“brim”) I’d ever landed from that hallowed little creek.
More casts…more fish…I was deciding that my hometown bream apparently didn’t mind that I was tossing them a fly which spoke with an English accent.
Meanwhile, a few yards away, she was catching only the occasional fish. Wonder of wonders, I was in the lead! “Change flies?” I asked. I fished out another Foam Buzzer and tied it onto her line, and that’s all it took.
The spell of England was working its magic on Allatoona Creek, and for a little while, the place we had been and the place where we were didn’t seem so far apart after all.
NOTICE OF SPECIAL CALLED MEETING & PUBLIC
HEARING
The City of Dunwoody Planning Commission will meet on Wednesday, June 18th, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of Dunwoody City Hall, which is located at 4800 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody, GA 30338, for the following purpose:
Review and consideration of the draft 2025-45 Comprehensive Plan
Information about the 2025-45 Comprehensive Plan can be found online: dunwoodyga.gov/compplan
Should you have any questions or comments, please contact the City of Dunwoody Community Development Department at 678-382-6800. Staff is available to answer questions, discuss the decision-making process, and receive comments and concerns.
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