Around Kennesaw

As the end of the year approaches, life is bringing a lot of changes for me. I’m so excited to share that my daughter Ansley is getting married in May, and I have two more weddings to attend next year. I’ll be traveling to Portugal in June, for pleasure, and Mark and I plan to visit our son Daniel in Florida. I am getting involved in new endeavors, such as taking part in my neighborhood’s activities committee, which also will keep me busy.

One major change that I want to share with you is that I’m retiring at the end of this month. That doesn’t mean I won’t be out and about, but I will be transitioning out of the company and leaving leadership of this team in great hands. Kim Dahnke, who recently joined us as senior director of operations and sales, will add the title of president, and Jennifer Coleman, who is our director of marketing, will serve as vice president.

The past 11.5 years with Aroundabout Local Media have meant more to me than just a career. It has been a lifestyle of community involvement, development of relationships, and engagement with the small businesses in our community. Cobb and Cherokee counties offer so many benefits through charitable organizations, and so many opportunities for us to be involved. I have learned what an altruistic community we have by watching as our neighbors reach out to families, adults and children in need. I’ve learned to love our famous dog, Teddy the Spaz Man, who is featured in our publications. I’ve watched a young boy who is now a young man — Rob Macmillan — build his own nonprofit to help animals in need.

I have learned so much about many different small businesses and how the owners and their families pour their heart, soul and money into starting a new venture or keeping one going. It has been satisfying to hear from an advertiser that their ad is bringing them new business, or to receive calls and emails telling me how the cover space that the client purchased has paid for itself in the first few days the magazine was in mailboxes. I even have had business owners tell me they had to hire new employees to help with the uptick in business since their cover placement increased their business.

I have loved working for Aroundabout Local Media and engaging with our communities, our advertisers and our readers. I feel so lucky to have had this opportunity. What makes this company so great is the owners, Jon and Karen Flaig, who gave me the opportunity, and our talented team of leaders and experienced employees. You can see them on Page 55 in this issue. The past 11.5 years have been very fulfilling in so many ways. Happy holidays and here’s wishing you a blessed and prosperous New Year!

Last month, Smith-Gilbert Gardens (SGG) unveiled a new logo, which is composed of four symbols, representing SGG core values. The hummingbird represents wild bird conservation, the butterfly represents the gardens’ pollinatorfriendly mission, the tulip represents the 15 themed garden areas, and the leaf represents the important plant collections. www.smithgilbertgardens.com.

From left, SGG Foundation Board Member Beverly Huff, Board Chair Amy Selby, Executive Director Ann Parsons and Mayor Derek Easterling with the new logo. Noteworthy

Members from First Baptist Church of Kennesaw made every Kennesaw Police Department (KPD) officer a care bag to keep in their patrol cars. The bags were labeled with each officer’s name. They thought of everything, from hand warmers to chapstick, and hand sanitizer to delicious treats. KPD issued a thank you on Facebook: “We are so appreciative for all the support this community gives their police department. All we can say is wow! We have the best community we could ever ask for. ”

Officers Jacob Metcalf and Tim Burns show off their care bags.

The Cobb County Police Department has implemented E-Commerce Safe Zones at all five precincts and headquarters, to provide residents with a safe place to conduct e-commerce trades and sales this holiday season. The zones are marked with blue signs in well-lit places and monitored by video surveillance. • Precinct 1: 2380 N. Cobb Parkway, Kennesaw • Precinct 2: 4700 Austell Road, Austell • Precinct 3: 1901 Cumberland Parkway, Atlanta • Precinct 4: 4400 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta • Precinct 5: 4640 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs • Headquarters: 140 N. Marietta Parkway, Marietta

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Helping local businesses grow and prosper by offering affordable advertising opportunities in a quality publication that provides positive, relevant information to our readers.

“Thank you to your team. I have been telling everyone they need to work with your magazine.” — Karen Demarco, Oaks at West Cobb

Kim Dahnke, Sr. Director of Operations and Sales 770-615-2779 | Kim@AroundaboutMagazines.com

@AroundKennesaw

@around_kennesaw

Publisher Aroundabout Local Media, Inc. www.aroundaboutlocalmedia.com

ALM President Patty Ponder 770-615-3322 Patty@AroundaboutMagazines.com Sr. Director of Operations and Sales Kim Dahnke 770-615-2779 Kim@AroundaboutMagazines.com Director of Marketing Jennifer Coleman 678-279-5502 Jen@aroundaboutmagazines.com Executive Editor Candi Hannigan 770-615-3309 Candi@AroundaboutMagazines.com Managing Editor Katie Beall 770-852-8481 Katie@AroundaboutMagazines.com Assistant Editor Jessica Forrester 770-615-3318 Jessica@AroundaboutMagazines.com Art Director Michelle McCulloch 770-615-3307 Michelle@AroundaboutMagazines.com Page Designer Laura Latchford Laura@AroundaboutMagazines.com Graphic Designer Savannah Winn Savannah@AroundaboutMagazines.com Controller Denise Griffin 770-615-3315 Denise@AroundaboutMagazines.com Social Media Manager Kathryn Holt Kat@AroundaboutMagazines.com Market & Advertising Specialist Michelle Smith Michelle.Smith@AroundaboutMagazines.com Copy Editors Bill King, Eliza Somers

Around Kennesaw, a publication of Aroundabout Local Media, Inc., is a community magazine with 17,000 free copies distributed monthly. Approximately 16,600 are direct mailed to homes and businesses and an additional 400 are placed in racks in the community.

Around Kennesaw welcomes your comments, stories and advertisements. The deadline is the 10th of the previous month.

Subscriptions are available for $24 per year. Send check or money order to: Around Kennesaw, 1025 Rose Creek Drive, PMB 380, Suite 620, Woodstock, GA 30189.

The viewpoints of the advertisers, columnists and submissions are not necessarily those of the editor/ publisher and the publisher makes no claims as to the validity of any charitable organizations mentioned. Around Kennesaw is not responsible for errors or omissions. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved. Copyright 2021.