March 2019 - Buckhead Reporter

reporternewspapers.net

MARCH 2019 • VOL. 13 — NO. 3

Buckhead Reporter

MARCH

2019

Sandy Spring s

Section Two

Dunw oody Brookh aven

WWW.R

Buckh ead

EPORTE

RNEWS

PAPERS .NET

FROM PO SCARVE TTERY TO ARTIST S, LOCAL S IN AMER FEATURED CRAFT ICAN SHOW PAGE

►TV

comedy pioneer joins a movie theater’s new era ►Out & About ►Summer Camps

26

SECTIO N

SPECIA

L AD SEC

A TV co medy p ioneer joins

TION ■

PAGES

TWO

32-38

‘Battle of Atlanta’ Cyclorama painting returns to view

BY DY AN

A BAGB dyanab Y agby@ reporter newspa pers.net Bill

a movie

theater ’s new

full bar Tush bec loved with a ame one cul and me wide sele of Atlant a late-nig t personalit nu ies in have rep items includ ction of cra a’s bethe totype ht newscast ft beer for The pop laced a lon ing chicken that bec 1970s with purcha ely hot and lau such shows fin corn, can ame the sed the though nched dog wa gers as “Th prody and are per the stars as e the car with a rm sodas haps life ater from eers of Daily Show” wider Jan Ho Worki remain er.

George want to -chang var oks suc Tush , al. h com Lef ural cho ng at a mo iety. edy retain go out for a ing for people ont, now is (the name vie movie the com rhyme a manag light yea ice for emplo theater is who experie rooms s wit phouse a er at Spr , Tush fort sitting Bill Tus nce but dates bac rs,” he say yment in his natin San ings Cin h “rush”) says. “Yo in the h, who mo s. status usher dy Spr vie His “twiir ema & anymo gar on love in ings, wh charge k to his childh Tare,” he u can’t just living station Ted Turner nered cult figu forme a complete neighb ood wh of movies said. show ’s fledglin in the r Lefont transf ere he helped film orh re en a ood kid s in the Cult fig he 197 ormatio heated at Spr art hou s to wa would ings Cin0s, is now a g local TV n of the bac home, rec ure sta tch 8m ma ema & even ser kyard of and sta liners hav se theater.

Bef ore the tus m Lux Taphou nager his Pit e replac PHOTO ined tra ving up “I think re though

BY DYA tsburg se. ed bea ury, dition NA BAG , there was an art h cals.’ Th I watched popcorn. ten up al mo BY house cal sta wa vie sea too mu tion pur s WTCG Ch theate ting. A busine ey were alw ch ‘Lit r, got a ann cha SIG N UP ss,” he tle Ras ays try sed el job in 17,

by Ted ing to games TO RE CE The cha says. the where Turner a lostart a and nges ma he bec 1970s at the . Tush IVE DA land” and old sitcom ame a Turner de by Bra ILY & WE s like Bugs Bu ’s “ye jack-of-al new station ndt Gu “Gillig EK LY EM Durin , nny lly, wh l-tr an’s IsTurner s man” and o AIL S WI loyal “pa ades and Tush’s g the weeke cartoons. filled in the lov l.” nds on TH LO CA mid-1970 his new sta the hos e for movie tion L NE WS s with t s was Channel 17, Atlant ’s airwaves @ RE PO Academ for film bro put to a Braves adcast y RT ER NE Aw s rangin use as ard-wi ballWS PA PE nners like “Gi g from RS .NE T/S ant” sta IGN UP rRE

AD MO

RE PAGE

era

30

BY JOHN RUCH johnruch@reporternewspapers.net JOHN RUCH

Visitors view the “Battle of Atlanta” painting and its diorama of soldiers, which was added later, from the ground level of the display area.

COMMUNITY

Libraries to close this spring for renovations P10

Court, police zone reform among crime-fighting ideas

BY JOHN RUCH johnruch@reporternewspapers.net

Check out our podcasts and Facebook Live Streams

The Buckhead Reporter is mail delivered to homes on selected carrier routes in ZIPs 30305, 30327 and 30342 For information: delivery@reporternewspapers.net

From an “Adopt a Judge” court-watching program to an effort to shrink Buckhead’s police beat, residents and officials are responding to a fear-inducing uptick in neighborhood crime.

Buckhead’s Zone 2 police district saw a reported increase in crime of about 14 percent as of mid-February. Among the crimes: the shooting of a Fire Rescue captain in a broad-daylight robbery; a multimillion-dollar jewelry store burglary; and a litany of car

break-ins.

Atlanta Police Maj. Barry Shaw, the commander of Zone 2, frequently informs the neighborhood about new crimes and call for reforms while also trying to calm fears.

At the February meeting of NPU-A, he spoke about crime in terms of “buts.” Buckhead’s pretty safe overall, he said, but its crime is up, unlike most of Atlanta. He sends out updates on significant crimes for posting on social media like Next Door, but warns that social media can spread unwarranted fear.

Police staffing is too low, but officers are See COURT on page 22

The historic “Battle of Atlanta” Cyclorama painting is back as part of a major new permanent exhibit at the Atlanta History Center that opens Feb. 22.

A Feb. 21 preview of showed the 130-year-old painting, which depicts the key Civil War battle in gigantic, circular format, is back in an eye-popping restoration. Unlike its display at its former home in Grant Park, the painting is hung under tension with a slight curve that creates an optical illusion of depth of the battlefield’s landscape.

The painting was moved in 2017 from Grant Park to the History Center at 130 West Paces Ferry Road in Buckhead. After two years of work, it is on display in a custom-designed wing that includes an enormous circular chamber containing the painting and See BATTLE on page 12

POSTAL CUSTOMER

PRSRT STD ECRWSS US Postage PAID Monroe, GA Permit #15

2 | Community

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

Community Briefs An illustration of Pace Academy’s proposed new Lower School building.

SPECIAL

PA C E A C A DEMY’ S N EW LOWER SCHO O L BUI L DI N G GETS N P U-A A P PR O VAL

Pace Academy’s plan to replace the Lower School building is heading for city review with an approval recommendation from NPU-A. The approval for the change at the 966 West Paces Ferry Road campus came after the private school agreed to drop a controversial plan to build a new natatorium as well, according to NPU-A chair Brink Dickerson.

Pace spokesperson Caitlin Goodrich Jones declined to discuss detailed plans or long-

term campus plans pending city approvals of the Lower School project.

The current plan would replace the existing Randall Building, which dates to 1951, with a new structure at West Paces Ferry and Rilman roads. With a peaked roofline and stone façade, the new Lower School building would echo the style of Pace’s trademark main building, known as “The Castle.”

The new Lower School building would not expand enrollment, and driveway locations would remain the same, according to plans filed with the city.

For the project, Pace needs two approvals. One is an amendment to its special use permit to operate the school, which is expected to go before the Zoning Review Board in March. The other is a zoning variance for height, 39 feet instead of the 35 feet allowed by code, which is expected to go before the Board of Zoning Adjustment in April.

NPU-A voted to support both requests at its Feb. 5 meeting, following an agreement with the West Paces Neighborhood Association. That agreement followed months of negotiations over the more controversial part of the original proposal, according to Dickerson: demolishing the head of school’s house and another house front on West Paces Ferry to build the new natatorium, a structure containing a swimming pool.

Dickerson said in an email that “Pace badly misjudged community opposition” and that agreement came relatively quickly once the natatorium plan was dropped. However, he said, that proposal is likely to return in four or five years when a previous neighborhood agreement expires.

PEACHTR EE R O AD FA R M ER S M A R KET TO O P EN EA R LY

The Peachtree Road Farmers Market is getting a head start on the shopping season, with a scheduled opening March 2 – about a month earlier than usual.

Farmers market spokesperson Carly Grady said the early opening of the 13th season comes from public demand and growers who are ready and willing.

“Our customers have also requested an early opening and we are happy to support the demand for local-grown [food],” she said.

Held rain or shine on Saturday mornings in at the Cathedral of St. Philip’s parking lot, 2744 Peachtree Road, the market features more than 50 vendors, chef demonstrations and more. All of the vendors are producers, not re-sellers.

This year’s market will run Saturdays through Dec. 14. The hours are 8:30 a.m. to noon through Sept. 28 and 9 a.m. to noon for the remainder of the year. For more information, see PeachtreeRoadFarmersMarket.com.

Lillian Schapiro, MD, FACOG

Kathryn Garren, WHNP

Ashlee Forrester, WHNP

Your Home for Womens Health SPECIALIZING IN: • Abnormal Paps • Colposcopy • Coolsculpting • Fibroids • Gyn Ultrasound • Hydrafacial

• Irregular Bleeding • Menopause • Myomectomy • Pelvic Pain

• Pelvic Floor Therapy • Prolapse • Well Women Exam

470-312-3696

www.idealgynecology.com 3200 Downwood Circle, Suite 220, Atlanta, GA 30327

G D O T TO TEMP O R A R I LY C LO S E R O S WEL L , PEACHTR EE LANES I N Y EA R - LO NG P RO JEC T

Lanes will be temporarily closed along Roswell and Peachtree roads in Buckhead and Sandy Springs during a year-long project to relocate utility poles, the Georgia Department of Transportation and Georgia Power announced.

Approximately 100 existing power line poles will be relocated from near the curb to the back of the sidewalk along an eight-mile stretch of Peachtree and Roswell roads.

The project begins in Midtown and continues through Buckhead to Roswell Road at Windsor Parkway in Sandy Springs, Georgia Power announced in a Feb. 13 press release.

The temporary lane closures will occur only in the areas immediately impacted by the pole relocation, the release said.

GDOT and Georgia Power said in the release they will make every effort to limit lane closures related to the project, avoiding rush hour and heavy traffic-related events. The lanes will be closed outside of normal rush hours between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., according to the release.

The project is the fifth time GDOT and Georgia Power have worked together on the “Clear Roadside Project” initiative in metro Atlanta that extends the distance between utility poles and traffic flow, the release said.

BH

Community | 3

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net

F ULTON C OUN TY H OMESTEAD P RO P ER T Y TA X EXEMP TI ON F I L I N G DEAD LINE IS APR IL 1

April 1 is the deadline to file for new homestead exemptions to property taxes in Fulton County, according to the Board of Assessors. Applications can be made online at fultonassessor.org.

Anyone who bought a new home or made changes to their deed at their primary residence in 2018 should apply. Also, several new homestead exemptions were approved by voters last year; most will automatically apply to existing homeowners.

One of the new exemptions is for seniors ages 65 and older, which increases their basic exemption from $30,000 to $50,000 for the county portion of property taxes. Homeowners who do not currently have a senior homestead exemption should apply.

Applications can be made at homestead exemption offices, including one in Sandy Springs at the North Fulton Service Center, 7741 Roswell Road N.E., Suite 210.

For more information, see the website or call 404-612-6440, ext. 4.

M A XIN E R O C K , F ORMER N ORTH BU CKHEAD CIVIC A S S OC IATION P RESI DEN T, DIES AT 78

Maxine A. Rock, 78, of Atlanta, passed away peacefully on Feb. 19.

Rock was born in New York City on April 29, 1940 to parents Jean and Louis Hochman. She graduated from New York University in 1961 and from the University of Michigan in June 1963 with a graduate degree in journalism. She was a journalist and writer who authored numerous articles and books on medicine, environment, human relations and science. Her favorite book was the one she wrote with her grandchildren titled, “Adventures in Faun Forest.”

She was a founder and President of the North Buckhead Civic Association and was instrumental in the creation of the PATH Foundation, which has built numerous walking and bicycle trails throughout the Atlanta region. She was a tireless advocate for the environment and maintained membership in the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy and other environmental and wildlife agencies. She was an enthusiastic cyclist, potter and painter.

She is survived by her husband, David, daughter Lauren Rock and son Michael Rock of Atlanta; by son-in-law Jarad Schiffer and daughter-in-law Pamela Rock; and by grandchildren Rachel Rock Schiffer, Ren Rock Schiffer, Sara Rock and Jordyn Rock, all of Atlanta, Georgia.

WISH YOU COULD SWITCH TO A BETTER BANK,

A celebration of life service will be held at the home of daughter Lauren Rock, on Feb. 24, 2019 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the PATH Foundation, pathfoundation.org/support/donations.

--Obituary information from Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care

CITY O R D ER ED TO PAY $1 .4 M IN B UC KHEA D M A NHO L E CR ASH L AWS UIT ; M AY A P P EA L

A jury has ordered the city of Atlanta to pay $1.4 million to a woman injured in a car crash caused by a missing manhole cover on a Buckhead street. The city says it is considering an appeal.

The Feb. 8 Fulton County Superior Court lawsuit decision, reported by the Daily Report, followed the 2016 accident on one of the city’s main thoroughfares. According to the lawsuit, plaintiff Pamela Dale, a Buckhead resident, was driving home from her job at Phipps Plaza mall when her car hit an open manhole in front of Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant at 3386 Peachtree Road. The impact caused her car to flip over in a crash that injured her.

The lawsuit argued that the manhole was improperly installed, and the Daily Report reported that a key piece of evidence in court was city’s lack of routine inspections of manholes.

The city’s press office did not respond to questions about manhole inspections, only issuing a brief statement saying it is considering an appeal of the decision.

“The city is disappointed, but fully respects the decision of the jury,” the statement said. “At this time, the city is considering its appeal rights.”

but the thought of changing stresses you out?

We know how you feel. Cornerstone Bank offers what the big banks can’t — more personal attention, less fees, and flexible lending options. And we can take care of the transition from your old bank with our account switching assistance.

Open a new Cornerstone Bank account today!

• Free Checking and Great Rates • Mobile Banking and Mobile Deposit • Flexible Lending for your home or small business

of Buckhead M E M B E R

EQUAL HOUSING

LENDER

FDIC

2060 Mt. Paran Rd, NW Suite 100 Atlanta, GA 30327 404.601.1250

www.Cornerstone.bank BH

B U CKHEAD CID B O A R D L EA DER S HI P C HA NG ES

The Buckhead Community Improvement District board of directors has new top officers following a January election, according to Executive Director Jim Durrett.

Thad Ellis, a senior vice president at the major real estate firm Cousins Properties, is the new chair of the board, moving up from the vice-chair position. He replaces David Allman, the president of Regent Partners, who had chaired the CID since its inception 20 years ago and chose not to run for re-election.

The new vice-chair is Robin Suggs, the general manager of the Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza malls on behalf of Simon Properties.

4 | Community

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

Lime scooter company won’t reveal Atlanta impacts of brake issue

BY JOHN RUCH

ously described as “rare” and “very rare” without specific numbers, can “cause sudden excessive braking during use.” The problem usually happens when the rider is going “downhill at The scooter company Lime warned users in February of a top speed while hitting a pothole or other obstacle…,” the post safety issue where some of its vehicles’ front wheels suddensays. ly lock, a problem that has caused crashes and injured riders.

“While this issue has affected less than 0.0045 percent of all The company says it is updating the scooter software to fix the Lime rides, some riders have been injured, and, although most issue, but would not reveal whether it has caused problems in have been bumps and bruises, any injury is one too many,” the Atlanta. post says.

“Use extra caution in the next few days while we issue the fiSome fixes have already been made, “which immediately renal firmware update — especially when riding downhill,” Lime sulted in a material reduction of occurrences,” Lime says, and a warned in a Feb. 23 blog post. “Always stay in full control of final update will be completed “shortly.” your scooter and don’t go full speed while riding downhill.”

While the post says that Lime is “committed to being transScooters placed on public streets by Lime and rival compaparent with our riders and with the community,” spokesperny Bird have been both popular and controversial. The city of son Alex Youn would not answer questions about the number Atlanta recently passed a package of rules to legalize and regof such software problems and injuries in Atlanta, when the fiulate the scooters. The city of Brookhaven has been considernal fix will be complete, and whether an independent organizaing similar ordinance. tion is reviewing the solution. Youn did not respond when asked Atlanta City Councilmember Howard Shook, who repwhy Lime would not release that information. resents Buckhead’s District 7, was the only member to vote The rival company Bird is not having similar braking isagainst legalization, saying the vehicles are fundamentally sues or other accident-causing firmware issues, according to a unsafe. He says the wheel-locking reports emphasize his consource close to the matter. cerns.

The city of Atlanta did not have immediate comment.

“I voted against the ordinance legalizing the use of scooters The Washington Post recently reported on safety issues with SCOOTER COMPANY LIME for a couple of reasons, including the likely inability of the city Lime’s scooters, including one model that sometimes broke to meaningfully enforce the ordinance, and the kind of rise apart during use. in accidents and injuries that other cities have experienced,” According to media reports, a man in Austin, Texas, is suing Shook said in an email. “The sooner the law is repealed, the Lime for an injury allegedly caused by the sudden braking issue, safer we’ll all be.” and officials in Auckland, New Zealand say Lime told them of 92 unexpected brakIn its blog post, Lime said the problem is a software bug that, in situations variing incidents in their city, of which 30 caused injuries. johnruch@reporternewspapers.net

Use extra caution in the next few days while we issue the final firmware update — especially when riding downhill.

Lenbrook is expanding. So are your possibilities.

Introducing Kingsboro at Lenbrook - the newest addition to the Lenbrook community. These 53 luxury Villas and Flats all come with the acclaimed amenities and lifestyle that have made Lenbrook Atlanta’s premier intown community for engaged senior living for more than 35 years.

Scheduled for move-ins in early 2022, Lenbrook is currently taking fully refundable Priority Deposits for Kingsboro at Lenbrook.

All you want.

More than you expect.

Join us at our next Kingsboro at Lenbrook Preview Event Call 404-476-7526 kingsboroatlenbrook.org

To learn more about becoming a Priority Depositor, call us today at 404-476-7526 to attend one of our preview events. With only 53 residences being built, now is the time to reserve your place in line!

BH

Education | 5

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net

E

very year, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators Foundation, known as the PAGE Foundation, identifies top students at public and private high schools across Georgia. The foundation says its Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program, or STAR student and teacher honors, has highlighted the achievements of more than 25,000 students since it started in 1958. The program identifies high school seniors who post the highest SAT scores for their schools and rank among the top 10 percent or top 10 students in their class in grade-point average. Each STAR student then chooses her or his STAR teacher. Once school winners are selected, regional STAR students and teachers are chosen to compete for the state title. Here are the STAR students and teachers for high schools located in Reporter Newspaper communities.

Atlanta Girls School

Elizabeth Becker Star Student

Suzy Beckham Star Teacher

Chamblee Charter High School

Alice Bai Star Student

Fred Avett (not pictured) Star Teacher

Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School

Will Scarborough Star Student

Chris Yarsawich Star Teacher

Mount Vernon Presbyterian School

Ivan Mo Star Student

James Roberts Star Teacher

Atlanta International School

Pablo Patel Star Student

Medad Lytton Star Student

Cross Keys High School

Jennifer Godoy Star Student

Watson Casal Star Student

Jake Eismeier Star Teacher

Thomas Cole Star Teacher

North Atlanta High School

Robert “Jake” Churchill Star Student

Daniel Gribble Star Teacher

Brandon Hall

Rabbi Daniel Estreicher Star Teacher

Tianya Zhan Star Student

Dunwoody High School

Noah Covey Star Student

Holy Spirit Preparatory School

Riverwood International Charter School

Michelle Stanek Star Student

Ecaterina Lungu Star Teacher

Atlanta Jewish Academy

Adam Brooks Star Teacher

Bradley Hendrickson Star Teacher

Samuel Rosner Star Student

Elaine Wen Star Student

Rowan Wiley Star Student

Gordon Mathis Star Teacher

Marist School

Kevin Randolph Star Teacher

Isabella Hay Star Student

North Springs Charter High School

St. Pius X Catholic High School

Mike Scirocco Star Teacher

The Galloway School

The Lovett School

Dylan Shapiro Star Student

Alexander Pike Star Teacher

Eric Smith Star Teacher

Pace Academy

Charlie Hirsch Star Student

The Westminster Schools

Jessica Lao Star Student

Brittany Loudermilk Star Teacher

Reanna Ursin Star Teacher

Gus Whyte Star Teacher

6 | Education

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

Lucretia Gant, Chamblee Charter High Lucretia Gant is working to grow the robotics program at Chamblee Charter High, a school that serves Brookhaven students, helping it win a state championship in February.

Gant, who teaches engineering and started at Chamblee Charter in 2010, has been involved in leading the program since 2013, working to get more students to participate and making sure they have the resources to explore robotics.

The school’s team has won several tournaments and qualified for the VEX Robotics World Championship in the past two years. VEX Robotics, which runs competitions for elementary through university students worldwide, held the Georgia state championship in McDonough, Ga., on Feb. 8-9. Chamblee Charter, in a combined team with Tucker High, came away with the win in that competition, said Gant, who began her teaching career 18 years ago.

“I am most proud that the teams have developed a community of passionate enthusiast for VEX Robotics and that we have had a focus on exposing underrepre-

SPECIAL

Lucretia Gant, right in black, stands with the robotics team she leads at Chamblee Charter High.

sented groups to robotics,” Gant said.

Kitchen Fronts of Georgia

DOING IT RIGHT FOR 41 YEARS! Ugly Kitchen, Reface... Don’t Replace!

Full Warranty 100% Financing No Interest (If Qualified)

Working Kitchen in 3-5 Days!

15% OFF

With Complete Kitchen Re-Facing Extra Military Discounts & Senior Citizen Discounts

Save 40% - 60%

We Use Real Wood

Must present coupon.

Not valid with any other offers.

Expires 3/31/19

Over New Cabinet Installation

• Complete Design & Installation • Fast Start Times • No Money Down • All Materials Custom Made • New Doors • New Drawer Fronts • Repair Drawers

• New Hinges • Reface All Framework to Match • Custom Made Solid Wood Doors • Painted Doors • Custom Stains & Glazes • New Hardware

Let Us Make Your Kitchen Beautiful!

Family Owned & Operated

770-455-3139

Call Today for a FREE In-Home Consulation www.kitchenfrontsofga.com

Q: How common are robotics programs at public schools?

A: Robotics programs are becoming more

popular at schools. However, DeKalb has had a strong focus for some time, and I believe that this is commendable, in that students are developing skills that the workforce is looking for: problem solving, critical thinking, risktaking, teamwork, perseverance, research and dedication.

A: What keeps me going from year to year

is creating opportunities for students. I definitely love to hear from former students about how their doing in their classes or internships, what their involvement

Exceptional

Educator

ucator?

in school is like, and how their experiences in clubs and classes have helped them to be successful on the next level. Matching students to opportunities and experiences they otherwise would not have had is why I do what I do.

A: I decided to become an educator while

Q: What are you most proud of in your

Q: Why did you decide to become an ed-

at Georgia Tech, pursuing my chemical engineering degree, after tutoring a local elementary student in math in the nearby Techwood Homes community. I recall being struck by how close in proximity this student was to Georgia Tech, but how far away the student was in skill level and ability. This made me reflect on my challenges pursuing my degree at Tech and the root causes for those challenges.

I, along with two other students, started a group to look at how we could address this issue and change it while at Tech.

Q: What keeps you going year after year?

career?

A: I am most proud of the relationships

that I have with my students and some parents that span beyond the classroom.

Many of my students come back to give to Chamblee even if they were students from another school. If I need help with volunteering, tutoring [or] judging, I can usually reach out and depend on students and parents to assist with whatever activity I am doing. I value these relationships and I love to hear about their pursuits beyond high school and how they are doing great things like I knew they would.

Education | 7

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net

Q:

What do you hope students learn from you?

A: I hope that students learn that they are great. I believe that this is my call to nurture the gifts and talents that all students have so that they can fulfill their purpose.

When they learn and know that they are meant to make a valuable contribution to society, I believe they will better embrace opportunities in the classroom and in lessons.

Q: Why do you think technology and science are important for students to learn?

A: Technology is a vehicle to obtaining,

transferring and manipulating knowledge of nature to our benefit. Understanding how to use and leverage technology will help to secure a sustainable lifestyle in one’s future. Embracing science will allow students the opportunity to understand why nature works as it does and will afford them opportunities to work to shape and improve it to make the world a better place for everyone.

Q:

What is your favorite memory at your school?

A: This is really hard to answer, because

I have several, but, my fondest memory was when one of my students shared that I had been very integral in her success and the reason she had pursued engineering.

She shared that I had been like a mother to her, since she had been in a single-parent home with just her father. This is one of my favorite memories because I had similar circumstances as a student growing up and teachers were very integral and the key to my success in life. So, it was nice to know that I have served their example well in the work that I do each day.

Riverwood school building to be reused, renovated

BY EVELYN ANDREWS evelyn@reporternewspapers.net

Some parts of Riverwood International Charter School will be saved and renovated instead of rebuilt to save money as the construction cost skyrockets. The change is expected save the district an estimated $10 million on a project that is already millions over budget.

The Fulton County School System approved the changes at its Feb. 21 meeting, which include renovating the auditorium and performing arts spaces to reduce the costs of the already over-budget project.

The physical education spaces, including the gym, would be identical to the approved design, but reoriented. The new design, if approved, still would go an estimated $3.8 million over budget rather than $14.6 million for the current design.

The approved budget for the entire project is $102.9 million.

Residents had a mixed response to the proposed changes in the Riverwood International Charter School reconstruction project at a Feb. 13 community meeting.

While some thanked the Fulton County School System for shaving costs, others lamented features that would be lost.

“This is just great. I really appreciate what you have done to be fiscally responsible,” one resident said at the meeting.

An added bonus to the cost savings, officials said, is that the students won’t be without an auditorium for a year. Since it will only be renovated, the work would be done over two summers while school is not in session.

“We do not have to take the auditorium away for a year with this proposal,” said Doug Carey, the district’s director of capital planning.

The explanation of the change was originally described in meeting documents as building a smaller school build-

ing, but that was later corrected to say it would be actually be slightly larger, said Patrick Burke, the district’s chief operating officer.

The changes come as construction costs for the project have skyrocketed.

The board previously had to approve a $5 million increase for the second phase in 2018.

Burke has previously said that the higher costs were being caused by the complicated nature of building the project in seven construction phases and how the project is being funded. Increased material prices and tariffs were also driving the increases.

The school, located at 5900 Raider Drive, is being built in seven phases. Phases 3 through 7 are the ones that will be addressed with the change. The main school building and media center are already built or are in progress and are not affected.

The shell of the existing performing arts areas and auditorium like the steel, walls, foundation and roof, will be reused instead of demolished, Burke said.

“Everything one sees, feels and touches will be new, but we will not incur the costs associated with the steel and concrete,” Burke said. Some parts of the building would also be reconfigured with new interior walls.

The gym and related physical education spaces are planned to still be new and identical to the approved design, but reoriented, Burke said. The new gym will be built farther north than under the original proposal to be next to the existing auditorium. The practice field becomes full size and moves behind the gym.

School system officials discussed the project at Board of Education member Gail Dean’s monthly community meeting, which was held in Riverwood’s auditorium and attended by parents and res-

idents.

Most concerns raised by residents at the meeting were about how the old and new parts of the school would look joined together. Carey said they plan to resurface the exterior of the old building with the same material used for the new construction, but details are still being worked out.

Riverwood Principal Chuck Gardner said overall he supports the idea, but understands the concerns about how the exterior would look.

“The aesthetics are the biggest things I’m worried about,” he said.

The changes would decrease the length students would need to walk to get to different parts of the building. Accessing the auditorium, field and gym for evening events would also be easier and more secure, Gardner said.

“Hats off to the team,” he said.

The plan would also provide enough room and funds to build a full-size practice field, which the school has never had, Gardner said.

“I can’t overstate how big of a deal that is,” he said.

The practice field and tennis courts would be built close to I-285 and Raider Drive, where the Georgia Department of Transportation has discussed building an interchange for its toll lanes project. Patrick Burke, the district’s chief operating officer, said there is no information about how the project would affect the school.

“We don’t have a clear picture from [GDOT] on the exact scope of what they’re doing,” he said.

The district had to make changes to the project to lower the costs, and realized the auditorium is already in an ideal location on the campus, Carey said.

“Why tear it out and put it right back where it was just for the sake of calling it new?” he said.

Oriental & Area Rug Hand Washing

J UD E G O L DE N YOUR NEIGHBOR, YOUR REALTOR® TOP PRODUCER

• gentle •Wash thorough Atlanta's Only Unique safe Submersion & Compressed Air Cleaning

Restoration & Repair • Pet Urine Removal Padding & Storage • Moth & Stain Treatments Free Pickup & Delivery • Serving Atlanta for Over 30 years

404.355.2126 MicroSeal of Atlanta

A DIVISION OF S&S RUG CLEANERS

Stoney Green & Steve Arroll, Owners 1710 Chattahoochee Ave., Atlanta, GA 30318 c. 404.862.9302 | o. 404.874.0300 judegolden@atlantafinehomes.com judegolden.com

TheRugCleaners.com EPA RATED NON-TOXIC & NON-ALLERGENIC

8 | Education

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

Education Briefs TWO SCIEN C E, TEC HNO LO GY EV ENTS ANNO U NCED FO R S A NDY S P R I NG S

Two science and technology events have been planned for Sandy Springs.

The Sandy Springs Education Force has set its ninth annual STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) Showcase for March 13. Atlanta Jewish Academy will hold its event for Young Women in STEM event March 17.

SSEF’s event, which is free, will be held all day and be open to the public from 6 to 8 p.m. at North Springs Charter High, 7447 Roswell Road. Sandy Springs’ 11 public schools will be showcasing their STEAM programs, SSEF said in a press release.

AJA’s event will be held from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the school, located at 5200 Northland Drive. Held in partnership with the Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta, the event is only open to Jewish female high school students or rising ninth grade students, the press release said. Dr. Lori Zeltser, an associate professor of pathology and cell biology at Columbia University, will be the keynote speaker. There will also be mini classes, interactive presentations, career booths and networking, according to the release.

Our assisted living is accredited for two reasons. You. And your family.

Because having the confidence and peace of mind of accreditation is important.

That’s why The Piedmont at Buckhead is accredited by CARF International, an independent organization that sets exceedingly high standards for care and service. It’s a lot like an accreditation for a hospital or college. Or a five-star rating for a hotel.

So if you’re looking for assisted living services, take a good look at The Piedmont. We think you’ll find that our CARF accreditation is only one of the many reasons you’ll like what you see.

Please join us for a complimentary lunch & tour.

Call 404.381.1743 to schedule.

It’s a great way to get to know us.

ST. M AR TIN’S SCHO O L R EO P ENS FI R E- DA M AG ED B UI L DI NG

After 18 months of construction, St. Martin’s Episcopal School in Brookhaven opened its new Early Childhood Learning Center on Feb. 19.

The new building, which serves children two through kindergarten, is double the size of the previous building.

The building replacSPECIAL es the school’s Early Students explore the new St. Martin’s Episcopal School building, which was rebuilt after damaged caused by an arson fire.

Childhood wing that was destroyed by an arson fire on in July 2017.

“It has long been the school’s vision to create a larger, purpose-built space to meet the unique needs of the youngest students,” said Head of School Dr. Luis Ottley in the press release. “When the fire destroyed the home of our Early Childhood Program we embraced the opportunity to execute that vision.”

The new building includes a “STEAM village” that intentionally connects a science lab, tinker space and art room, all geared to foster engagement and collaborative learning among young children. In the spring, the outdoor learning space and natural play area will be completed, and the garage doors in lower level classrooms will allow for a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor learning.

“We are incredibly grateful to St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church for graciously allowing us to share their space for the past 18 months,” said Early Childhood Principal Cindy Alexander.

“And thank you to SMES parents, community members and the staff and crew at Evergreen Construction who all helped make this vision a reality.”

R IVERWO O D STU D ENT S SELECTED FO R STATEWID E O R CHES T R A PR O G R AM

I n de p e n de n t & A s s i s t e d L i v i ng

650 Phipps Boulevard NE • Atlanta, GA ThePiedmontatBuckhead.com

404.381.1743

SPECIAL

Riverwood International Charter School students Madeline Chen, left, a sophomore harp player, and Nathaniel Stone, right, a freshman cello player, were chosen for the Georgia Music Educators Association’s All-State Orchestra and Fulton County High School Honor Orchestra.

Two Riverwood International Charter School students have been selected to participate in a statewide orchestra program, the school announced.

Madeline Chen, a sophomore harp player, and Nathaniel Stone, a freshman cello player, were chosen for the Georgia Music Educators Association’s All-State Orchestra and Fulton County High School Honor Orchestra.

For the 2018-19 All-State Orchestra, the students will travel to Athens for two days of workshops and practice, culminating in a performance March 2 in the Classic Center.

|9

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net

Spring Guide to Atlanta Highrises

If Youʼre Looking For An Amazing View in an Atlanta Highrise Read This

If youʼre looking for an amazing Atlanta Highrise, the Spring 2019 Guide To Atlanta Highrise Prices will be helpful for you.

- Detailed map of the Highrises in Atlanta

There are over 70 Highrises in Atlanta and you want to be sure to find the right Highrise for your needs. This guide gives you all the information you need to make a smart decision about which Highrise will be right for you.

- Pictures and details about each of the Highrise

buildings - Market Data on all the Highrise sales in Atlanta for the last 90 days

PLUS info on the Highrises for sale right now

- Price ranges and square footage for each Highrise building

- Info on building amenities and special services offered by each Highrise.

To get your Guide to Atlanta Highrise Prices, just call...

Here's what you get in the new Guide to Atlanta Highrises:

855.214.5690 code 1034 or visit

www.GuidetoAtlantaHighrises.com Guide provided by the Zac Team RE/MAX Metro Atlanta CitySide. If your home is currently listed for sale, please disregard our pro-active and aggressive marketing.

It is not our intension to solicit the business of our colleagues. Zac Pasmanick, Zac@Zac.Biz 404.564.7272

BH

10 | Community

BY JOHN RUCH AND DYANA BAGBY Buckhead’s local libraries are getting long-awaited makeovers, which will require lengthy makeovers likely to start in the spring.

Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System officials unveiled the plans for the Buckhead and Northside branch libraries at recent community meetings to general approval. They are among 22 libraries getting renovations in the latest phase of an Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System’s capital improvement program approved in 2008.

The library system is accepting comments via email at librarycomments@ fultoncountyga.gov. Commenters should identify the branch library in the subject line of comment emails.

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

Libraries to close this spring for renovations

Buckhead Branch

The “comprehensive” renovation plan for the Buckhead Branch Library at 269 Buckhead Ave. was unveiled at a Feb. 7 meeting to a largely positive response from around two-dozen patrons and staff.

Not so popular: a construction closure that may start in April and run as late as December.

The Buckhead branch’s $2.7 million renovation is “comprehensive,” said Al Collins, the administrator of a county bond program funding the system’s new and improved libraries. It includes everything from a new roof and signs outside to completely new layout and furnishings inside. The exact construction timeline is uncertain due to such issues as permitting, officials said, but the work is expected to happen roughly from early May through early November, with closure extending a little before and after for preparations.

Two renovation features that got attendee applause were new lighting and a new 48-seat meeting room to complement an existing 80-seat room.

Other significant new features include three self-checkout stations; four glass-walled study rooms of varying sizes; and a vending machine area dubbed the “café.”

The overall vision of the renovation is more flexible space and a more open layout to improve security and the atmosphere, according to Collins and architects with the firm McAfee3.

A big change related to that theme is doing away with the traditional circulation desk. Instead, there will be a one-person station that can be moved to different spots, though it likely will remain in the lobby. Collins said the idea is that other librarians will visit various areas of the building instead of sitting at the desk.

The new layout will include a larger children’s section, gained in part by eliminating the traditional reference area, and a distinct teen’s section.

Concerns raised by attendees related to the use of specific spaces. Where and how temporarily exhibited artwork would be stored was one issue. Another was how the branch’s friends group would conduct its ongoing book sales, as the new layout placed its storage in a side room. Collins suggested that the flexible layout allowed for library staff to find space for such uses in the new rooms or

DYANA BAGBY

Top right, the new Northside Branch Library layout as presented at the Feb. 19 meeting.

Above, a metal sculpture that has sat in front of the Northside branch library for many years is being relocated as part of the renovations to begin in May. JOHN RUCH

Below, the new Buckhead Branch Library layout as presented at the Feb. 7 meeting.

lobby area.

Some other concerns had no immediate solution. A drive-through book dropoff box is not possible, Collins said in response to an attendee’s question. Another concern was the loss of a sink in the main meeting room, an existing feature that the architects said was eliminated due to public comments; Collins said it could return to the plan if the budget allows.

One feature that will remain, with only a cleanup, is “The Storyteller,” a collection of sculptures depicting a deer-headed human speaking to a group of dogs.

Now wedged against the front of the library, “The Storyteller” was controversially displaced a few years ago from a park at Peachtree and Roswell roads as part of its makeover into a tribute to developer and Aaron’s Inc. rental empire founder Charlie Loudermilk. Along the way, other elements of the sculpture – including

several turtles and a rabbit – went missing, with Loudermilk’s son Robin reportedly giving away some of them. A meeting attendee called for the return of the missing pieces, leaving Collins to say, “I don’t know where the rabbits are” and that further sculptures could be a tripping hazard on the sidewalk.

Northside Branch

The Northside Branch Library at 3295 Northside Parkway is slated to close May 20 and remain closed for most of the year as the building and property undergo $2 million in major renovations, including the addition of a new roof, creation of a new and larger meeting room, an expanded children’s reading section and adding dedicated parking spaces in the tight parking lot to be used for people just wanting to quickly drop books off.

The planned projects for the small li-

brary tucked in into a residential area were unveiled at a Feb. 19 community meeting to a crowd of more than a dozen library supporters and staff. The closure is expected to begin May 20 and run into December.

Northside Branch Library Director Gabriel Morley said the renovations to the library were “very tricky” due to its small size and “unique” footprint. The library will remain the same size as will its small parking lot. Adding more parking was deemed too expensive for the approximate $2 million in renovations dedicated to this branch, officials said.

A vending machine area dubbed the “café” will be added off the front glassedin atrium. The atrium space will also be getting new glass that should help alleviate extreme temperatures in the room during summer and winter months, according to Cheryl McAfee and architects with McAfee3 Architects.

A small, central circulation desk, a teen area, a renovated children’s area and a separate computer and printing area for the adult area are also planned as part of the renovations. A much larger meeting room is planned as well, which received audible sounds of approval from the people attending the Feb. 19 meeting.

The iconic metal art sculpture at the entrance of the building will be removed at the request of many of the patrons and staff members and may be place another library facility, according to Al Collins, the administrator of a county bond program funding the system’s new and improved libraries.

Some meetings attendees say the sculpture poses a risk to children who climb on it. The news of its removal was received with loud cheers of joy from many of the attendees.

Library officials are still trying to determine the artist of the sculpture and did not know where it would be relocated to.

Howell Williams, the branch manager for Northside Library for 15 years before retiring in 2017, said it was among artworks created for the Atlanta Gateway Industrial Park, which was built in the late 1960s.

The industrial park was located in south Atlanta near the Six Flags amusement park. Eventually the sculptures were donated to various Fulton facilities, Williams said.

BH

Community | 11

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net

Peachtree-Dunwoody/Windsor intersection remake is criticized

BY EVELYN ANDREWS evelyn@reporternewspapers.net

Residents criticized Sandy Springs’ plan to remake the Peachtree-Dunwoody Road and Windsor Parkway intersection with new and extended turn lanes at a Feb. 7 open house, saying it would largely help commuters and make the area less safe.

The city and consultants designing the concept said it would improve traffic flow and give better pedestrian access.

“It seems like you’re moving traffic through the neighborhood at the detriment to the neighborhood,” one resident said at the meeting held in City Springs, which about 40 people attended.

The intersection, near the city’s border with Buckhead and Brookhaven, is surrounded by single-family home communities and the Sandy Springs YMCA. It is often heavily congested and needs more room for turning cars, according to the city.

The proposal, which is in the concept stage, would add a right turn lane on westbound Windsor and extend the left turn lanes on northbound and southbound Peachtree-Dunwoody. Pedestrian improvements are included, too, with a new sidewalk running from down Windsor from the intersection to Estate Way. It’s one of many city projects funded by the transportation special local option sales tax.

Although there is enough extra room in the existing right of way for most of the improvements, the city would need some property from the YMCA’s lot.

The homeowners association that BH

Above, an illustration shows Sandy Springs’ proposal to add new turn lanes and crosswalks to the PeachtreeDunwoody Road and Windsor Parkway intersection.

SPECIAL

EVELYN ANDREWS

Right, residents discuss Sandy Springs’ concept for the Peachtree-Dunwoody Road and Windsor Parkway intersection at a Feb. 7 meeting held at City Springs.

would be affected by the new right turn lane and sidewalk on Windsor is concerned the widening would cost them property value and said consultants were not being upfront about the changes.

“Do they think the residents are idiots?”

Brookhaven Estates HOA President Gail Newcomb said. “Get ready for a battle.”

The concept would add a sidewalk several feet closer to Brookhaven Estates’ houses and remove trees, but would stay within the city’s right of way, consultant Bradley Cox said.

The removal of trees would increase the traffic noise, Newcomb said.

“This is a real problem,” she said. “It’s going to hit our values, increase traffic and be for other people.”

Other residents were concerned noise would increase because there would be a general increase in traffic.

“It is going to increase volume. When it becomes easier for people to come through there, they will,” resident Rob Wilson said.

Wilson, and several others, said they believe Sandy Springs would be paying for improvements that would largely benefit commuters passing through the city.

“Why should Sandy Springs residents pay for DeKalb County residents to get to [Ga. 400] faster?” Wilson said.

“It seems like there’s a lot more benefit to Brookhaven than Sandy Springs,” another resident said.

The morning traffic brings “severe” congestion on northbound Peachtree-Dunwoody and Windsor, according to the city. Evening rush hour clogs southbound Peachtree-Dunwoody. There are typically too many cars to fit in the existing left turn lanes. Between 2013 and 2017, there were 53 crashes with 12 injuries, the city said. The changes would cut down travel times for nearly all directions, according to the consultants’ traffic study.

Some said that congestion can make it safer for residents leaving their homes to turn onto the intersection’s roads by providing breaks in traffic. With the added traffic flow, some feared cars would be going too fast for them to safely leave, especially if they are turning left.

Other residents believes the problem lies elsewhere. Some residents suggested the city take a look at the traffic light timing, which causes major problems at nearby intersections such as the Glenridge Connector, where red lights last so long traffic can back up to Windsor.

“If you don’t fix the light at the Glenridge Connector, that’s not going to help,” one resident said.

Joe Gillis, the traffic manager for TSPLOST projects, said a system that coordinates signals is planned to come to the area that would help with those problems.

People generally liked the idea to bring crosswalks to every direction on the intersection and the added sidewalks. The crosswalks would be signaled with a pedestrian refuge island at westbound Windsor and southbound Peachtree-Dunwoody.

“The crosswalks are a no-brainer, everybody wants that,” Newcomb said.

Some suggestions were thrown out by residents, including a roundabout, but others said the project is bad enough the city should scrap the whole idea and save its money.

“I’d like to see you not do this and save your money for anything else,” a resident said.

The proposal is in the early stages and many details have not been determined.

The city will next meet with stakeholders, like homeowners associations, before moving forward, said Dan Coffer, the city’s community relations manager.

For more information and to follow the project’s progress, visit sandyspringsga. gov/windsor.

12 | Community

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

A

‘Battle of Atlanta’ Cyclorama painting returns to view B

C

D

A - The high, curving wall of the painting’s rear.

B - Alecia Zackery admires the Cyclorama from the ground-floor walkway.

C - The restored locomotive “The Texas” is on display as part of the larger exhibit around the Cyclorama.

PHOTOS BY PHIL MOSIER

D - An exhibit explains the Cyclorama’s role in “Lost Cause” myths about the Civil War. E- Visitors view information about the “Battle of Atlanta” painting on a touch-screen at the ground level of the display.

PHOTOS BY JOHN RUCH

Continued from page 1 a 15-foot-high platform from which to view it. The painting is about 50 feet high and 370 feet around.

After more than two years of painstaking restoration work, the Cyclorama painting is now part of a larger exhibit called “The Big Picture.” As the name implies, it gives a larger context of Atlanta’s history and the myths and realities of the Civ-

il War. Other prominent Atlanta artifacts on display in the wing include the legendary 1856 locomotive the “Texas,” which was once stolen by Union troops; the Zero Mile Post that long marked the original city center; and the Solomon Luckie lamppost, named for an African American barber who was killed during the Battle of Atlanta’s shelling in 1864.

The exhibit addresses several Civil War

myths, especially the “Lost Cause,” a heroic vision of the Confederacy that ignores slavery as a key motivator of the war. The Cyclorama painting is itself an artifact that became part of local Lost Cause mythology.

An entertainment fad of the late 1800s, Cycloramas were huge, circular paintings of dramatic scenes intended to give the viewer an immersive experience—“the virtual reality of its time,” as Gordon Jones, the

BH

Community | 13

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net History Center’s senior military historian and curator, previous put it.

The “Battle of Atlanta” painting was created by artists in Minnesota in 1886 as a dramatic tribute to Union Gen. William Sherman’s key victory in seizing and destroying Georgia’s capital. Among its dramatic licenses was including a soaring eagle – “Old Abe,” a mascot of a Wisconsin Union regiment that did not fight in the battle and would not have let the bird fly if it had, Jones says.

The painting toured several states in temporary displays before ending up in Atlanta, where it was altered to suit pro-Confederacy tastes. One famous change – later reversed — was repainting Confederate prisoners of war to transform them into

fleeing Yankee troops. After the city constructed a permanent building in Grant Park to house the painting in 1921, it became a local icon of Lost Cause myths.

Only 17 Cyclorama paintings survive worldwide, museum officials say, and “The Battle of Atlanta” might have joined the others in rotting away if it were not for two African American mayors. Maynard Jackson, the city’s first black mayor, ordered a restoration that was completed in 1982, saying it was important to save a tribute to a key battle in a war that helped to free his ancestors. In 2011, Mayor Kasim Reed gathered a group to find a new and safe home for the painting as talk began of selling its Grant Park building.

The History Center won the rights to

host it by raising nearly $36 million for the restoration, new building and long-term conservation, starting with a $10 million gift from residents Lloyd and Mary Ann Whitaker.

The complex symbolism that now attaches to the Cyclorama painting is addressed in an introductory movie that is projected onto the painting itself as an orientation. The movie features actors depict-

ing various points of views: the artists who made and altered the painting; Union and Confederate veterans seeing themselves in its battle; and women and African Americans who were left out of the picture, though not out of the real war.

For tickets and more information, see the Atlanta History Center website at atlantahistorycenter.com.

Nesting

Nutrition

for Your Birds

E

20% OFF 1 Regularly-Priced Item*

*Valid in-store at the Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shops listed. One discount per purchase. Offer not valid on previous purchases, gift cards, DSC Memberships, Brome Feeders or sale items. Offer valid NOW thru 3/31/19.

White-breasted Nuthatch

4279 Roswell Road Ste 603 Atlanta, GA 30342 404-257-0084 www.wbu.com/atlanta 2080 N. Decatur Road Decatur, GA 30033 404-464-5157 www.wbu.com/decatur BIRD FOOD • FEEDERS • GARDEN ACCENTS • UNIQUE GIFTS

FACT:

85% of core brain structure is developed by age four.

BALANCED LEARNING® WAY:

Recommending the right activity at the right time is child’s play.

CALL TO RSVP FOR A PARENT INFORMATION MEETING!

Infants – Pre-Kindergarten and After School

Primrose School of Atlanta Westside 2260 Marietta Blvd., Suite 114 | Atlanta, GA 30318 404.565.0257 | PrimroseAtlantaWestside.com

BH

Each Primrose school is a privately owned and operated franchise. Primrose Schools® and Balanced Learning® are registered trademarks of Primrose School Franchising Company. ©2018 Primrose School Franchising Company. All rights reserved. See primroseschools.com for ‘fact’ source and curriculum detail.

14 | Community

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

Call 404-497-1020 for an appointment.

Exit 26

28 Exit 28

Welcoming New Patients!

I-285

Cardiology ICU Admissions

Emergency

Johnson Ferry Road

993 D

Exit 4A

5545

5669

Hospital 5665

Marriott

• Rheumatoid Arthritis

Center Pointe 1100

• Lupus

o dy

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

5673

Dr. Butler Offers Services For ’s Saint Joseph

Sun Trust Bank 993 C

GA-400

5671 5667

Peacht ree Dun wo

Trimble Road

975

Cancer Center

Parking

980

Hollis Cobb Circle

960

Exit 3

The Tower at North-

NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL

Meridian Mark

Glenridge Point Parkway

Parking

Lake Hearn Drive

Marta

is Cobb Holl

Women’s Center

GA-400

875

5780 Interchange

5670

Women's Center Parking Garage

Glenridge Connector

Emory’s wastewater recycling greenhouse is a model for Buckhead, advocates say

Medical Quarters 5555

• Gout • Osteoarthritis

5505

Meridian Mark Plaza 5445

• Osteoporosis • Auto-immune Disease

Glenridge Connector

Dr. Butler is a board-certified rheumatologist who brings over three decades of practice experience. She offers excellent, personalized care to adult patients, as well as thorough preventive screenings for the diagnosis and treatment of medical problems before other complications arise.

PHOTOS BY JOHN AWTREY

Kean Hamilton, the WaterHub’s director of operations, shows a handful of clear water in the facility’s greenhouse.

BY JOHN RUCH johnruch@reporternewspapers.net

875 Johnson Ferry Road NE, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30342 PeachtreeDunwoodyMed.com

Walk With Us!

100% of every dollar raised goes directly to pancreatic cancer research.

Imagine a group of Buckhead’s new office towers or apartment buildings fronted by a greenhouse full of banana trees and ginger plants, like a miniature Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Now imagine that the greenhouse is not just pretty plants, but also a facility that recycles sewage or stormwater into semi-clean, lower-cost water for the buildings’ heating, cooling and toilet systems.

That’s the dream that the nonprofit Livable Buckhead hopes to bring to major properties and the future park capping Ga. 400. And it’s already a reality at Emory University, where a facility called the WaterHub provides nearly 100 percent of the campus’s mechanical-use water at a lower cost than needlessly pumping in county drinking water.

“Water is not cheap in the city of Atlanta,” says Denise Starling, Livable Buckhead’s executive director. “Basically, you don’t need drinking water to water your plants… It doesn’t make sense to have drinking water in your toilet.”

A recent tour of the WaterHub showed you also don’t need an enormous treatment plant to recycle wastewater. The main works are a modest greenhouse full of plants that help filter the water and contains an operations center; a few storage tanks and solar panels for extra power; and, across the street, an artificial wetland – providing further water-filtering -- that looks like typical planting beds. The air carried not even a whiff of sewage odor anywhere.

Atlanta, GA Saturday, March 30, 2019 Old Fourth Ward Park across fromPonce City Market Check-in begins at 8:30AM Walk begins at 9:30AM

Visit: lustgartenwalkatlanta.org or 866.789.1000

Plants inside the WaterHub greenhouse help to filter wastewater. Illustrations on the floor show where the system’s pipes flow on the Emory campus.

BH

Community | 15

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net Kean Hamilton, the WaterHub’s director of operations, says the “community space aspect” is different from typical water treatment plants. He says “it gives people a different take on water treatment… It can be this beautiful space we create. And for a beautiful neighborhood like Buckhead, it’s a no-brainer.”

The WaterHub is a private enterprise, the brainchild of a Virginia company called Sustainable Water and built and operated by the construction and engineering firm Reeves Young. The Emory WaterHub was the first of its kind when it opened in 2015, Hamilton says, and a second one is now being built in Virginia for the giant tobacco corporation Altria Group.

At Emory, the WaterHub connects directly to a wastewater outflow pipe and recycles it into water for boilers, heaters, coolers and toilets. It can handle 400,000 gallons a day.

Up to 50,000 gallons are held in reserve, and excess water can be pumped back into the DeKalb County water supply.

Hamilton wouldn’t say what the WaterHub cost to build beyond calling it “millions,” but the private operators paid for it and charge Emory a variable water rate lower than the county utility. The facility now provides about 40 percent of Emory’s overall water, according to Hamilton and university publicity materials.

The WaterHub works by running wastewater through several different kinds of fil-

Chin Chin Chinese & Sushi Restaurant Best of Atlanta since 1998

SUSHI BAR NOW OPEN!

RAMEN NOODLE

MONOGLIAN TRIPLE

NOODLE SOUP BOWL

SICHUAN WONTON Sushi Lunch Box | Sushi Lunch Special | Nigiri Sushi | Sushi Appetizers | Sashimi | Sushi Platters | Sushi Rolls | Hand Rolls

3887 Peachtree Road, Buckhead/Brookhaven • Delivery (Limited Area, Min.$12) Tel: 404-816-2229 • Fax: 404-816-5929 • www.ChinChinGa.com

We call it home.

A greenhouse contains the main systems of the WaterHub at Emory University.

ters, as well as chlorine and ultraviolet light, in a process that takes about nine hours.

The dirty water runs through tanks containing floating bits of plastic that sewage-eating microbes can cling to. Other filtration happens under the greenhouse, where the banana and ginger roots help remove toxins, too. The artificial wetland, complete with a pump-driven simulated tide, filters it further. Very little organic waste is left over – about one 55-gallon container every two weeks, Hamilton said.

The product is technically “graywater” unfit for human drinking – or even eating the bananas that grow in the greenhouse. But the water was already clear and odor-free as it flowed through an open pool in the greenhouse. Hamilton plunged a bare hand into the water without hesitation to show its clarity.

“It’s very, very clean reused water,” he said. “If I was in the desert, I would drink it.”

For Emory, the WaterHub doubles as a “living laboratory” on such topics as the microbes that help to filter the water. “Our bugs are very unique,” Hamilton says. “We kind of covet our bugs here.”

They are naturally occurring, but the strains are evolving in the specialized wastewater-processing environment. One is a strain of the common bacteria Bacillus subtilis, which Hamilton said student researchers have dubbed “a phosphorus-eating monster.”

The greenhouse makes for a nice showcase, but Hamilton said that many different configurations are possible for other types of properties, including more modest and even smaller facilities.

Livable Buckhead hopes it can sell major property owners on some version of a WaterHub. Starling calls it a “mini-utility” that is part of “future-proofing” properties in an era of water shortages. Creating such facilities is part of the nonprofit’s new sustainability work plan.

“It has to be done in a super-block… to make economic sense,” said Cecilia Shutters, Livable Buckhead’s director of sustainability, who toured a group of unnamed local property owners through WaterHub about a year ago. She said they appeared “impressed,” but haven’t built their own yet. Still, she’s hopeful that people will be inspired as she was when she attended a conference at Emory and heard it had a new sewage recycling plant.

“When you tell people about it, it sounds like one thing,” Shutters says, “and when you see it, it looks like something completely different.”

BH

MARGARET JACKSON

“This place is so very special— It’s home, It’s family.”

Resident since 2016

• Serving Buckhead community for over 30 years • Minutes from OK Café • Quiet residential neighborhood • Apartments tailored to personal needs

CALL US TO SCHEDULE YOUR VISIT 3100 Northside Parkway, NW Atlanta 30327 www.saintannesterrace.org • 404-238-9200

Mexican Restaurant 2042 Johnson Ferry Rd NE

(at the corner of Ashford-Dunwoody Rd. in Brookhaven)

(770) 452-9896

Hours: 11am to 10:30pm

$5 OFF

Lunch or Dinner

Minimum $20 purchase Not valid with any other offers. Not valid on Fridays, must present newspaper

ad to redeem. Expires 3/31/19

16 | Community

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

A Place Where You Belong

Sandy Springs annexing Buckhead?

Residents chatter, officials shrug

BY JOHN RUCH johnruch@reporternewspapers.net

Spend the day or evening on the Town!

Discover over 50 shops, services and restaurants.

Town Brookhaven is truly your one stop shopping and dining destination with a blend of interesting boutiques, delicious restaurants and useful services.

www.townbrookhaven.net Conveniently located on Peachtree Road adjacent to Oglethorpe University.

Could Buckhead be annexed into the city of Sandy Springs?

The idea has become a topic of neighborhood chatter as a spinoff of longstanding talk of Buckhead becoming its own city. Mary Norwood, chair of the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods, says she would neither lead nor oppose such a move. But Sandy Springs official say annexation would be difficult and they’re not especially interested.

Sandy Springs City Councilmember Andy Bauman, who represents part of his city bordering the Chastain Park area, is among those who has seen Buckhead annexation chatter on the Nextdoor social media app.

“I’ve read it, and I guess the answer would be, it’s certainly flattering that people want to be a part of Sandy Springs,” Bauman said, adding that “it’s not something that I’m focused on or that I think is very likely.”

The notion of Buckhead breaking off from Atlanta and becoming its own city has been floated for over a decade amid concerns about the neighborhood not getting enough city services and in debates fraught with overtones of race and class. Norwood attended a 2008 meeting about the cityhood idea, and has since lost two close and bitter races for mayor in 2009 and 2017.

The Buckhead cityhood idea revived last year when a wealthy area of Stockbridge, Ga., attempted to become its own city of Eagle’s Landing in a move shot down by voters. There was no organized Buckhead cityhood movement, but Atlanta City Councilmember Howard Shook was among those making approving comments on the Eagle’s Landing effort.

Sam Massell, a former Atlanta mayor and president of the Buckhead Coalition, spoke out against cityhood.

Cityhood talk has continued in such forums as Nextdoor, where the idea of Sandy Springs annexation has become a prominent sub-topic. “I wonder if it would be easier to join Sandy Springs v[ersus] start a full-on separate city?” wondered one resident in a January chat on Chastain Park’s Nextdoor group.

Jane Collins, president of the Pleasant Hills Civic Association, raised the idea at the February meeting of Neighborhood Planning Unit A, saying that joining Sandy Springs might be one way to improve police staffing levels amid concerns about crime and traffic.

Norwood said she has not heard the Sandy Springs annexations discussions, at least “not in any organized fashion,” and is hopeful that groups like BCN help Buckhead residents feel heard by Atlanta’s city government. But, she added, her position on the related issue of cityhood has been that “I will neither lead the charge to leave the city” nor oppose anyone else who wants to.

“If people want to do it, I wouldn’t stand in their way,” Norwood said of the annexation idea.

Sandy Springs city spokesperson Sharon Kraun did not say whether anyone has contacted officials about idea, but she commented on the complicated process.

“As the surrounding area is incorporated, there would have to be a de-annexation before Sandy Springs could annex [Buckhead],” Kraun said. “That would require agreement of both municipalities or the action [would have to be] done via local legislation. It is not on the city’s current agenda of priorities.”

REE ROAD HT

HE

T

Call today to schedule your FREE consultation!

ST

PH

ILI P

PEA C

rket a m s fa r mer Call today to schedule your FREE consultation!

Call today to schedule your FREE consultation!

CAT

HEDRA

L

OF

saturdays

ental area, thigh,The abdomen and flank, along with bra fat, fat, underneath buttocks (also known CoolSculpting® procedure is FDA-cleared for back the treatment of visible fatthe bulges in the submental area,as thigh, abdomen and flank, bra fat, and backflank, fat, underneath (also as banana roll), and (also upperknown arm. It is ulges in the submental area,along thigh,with abdomen along withthe brabuttocks fat, back fat,known underneath the buttocks asalso ubmental area treatments.

FDA-cleared affect the appearance of lax tissue with submental area treatments. lax tissue with submental areatotreatments.

cold, tingling, stinging, aching, and you cramping at the treatment site.

These sensations subside as the During the procedure may experience sensations of pulling, tugging, mild pinching, intense cold,area tingling, stinging, pinching, intense cold, tingling, stinging,ataching, and cramping at the treatment site. as These sensations subsideFollowing as the area aching, and cramping the treatment site.

These sensations subside the area becomes the g, blanching, bruising, firmness, tingling, stinging, tenderness, cramping, aching, itching, or numb. skin sensitivity, y redness, swelling, blanching, bruising, firmness, tingling, stinging, tenderness, itching, or skin sensitivity, OLANSKY DERMATOLOGY procedure, typical side effects include temporary redness, swelling,cramping, blanching,aching, bruising, firmness, tingling, stinging, OLANSKY DERMATOLOGY OLANSKY DERMATOLOGY ffectsRare mayside alsoeffects occur.

The CoolSculpting® procedure is not for everyone.

You should not have the ment. may also occur.

The CoolSculpting® procedure is not for everyone.

You should not have the tenderness, cramping, aching, itching, or skin sensitivity, and sensation of fullness in the back of the throat after a ysmal cold hemoglobinuria.

The CoolSculpting® procedure isoccur. not aThe treatment for obesity.

Ask your doctor if You submental area treatment.

Rare effects may also procedure is not foryour everyone. disease, or paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria.

Theside CoolSculpting® procedure isCoolSculpting® not a treatment for obesity.

Ask doctor if should 404-355-5484 cold .coolsculpting.com.not have the CoolSculpting® procedure if you suffer from cryoglobulinemia, cold agglutinin disease, or paroxysmal m.

BUCKHEADOFFICE: OFFICE: 3379 RdRd NE,NE, Suite 500 500 Atlanta, BUCKHEAD 3379Peachtree Peachtree Suite Atlanta,

hemoglobinuria. The CoolSculpting® procedure is not a treatment for obesity. Ask your doctor if CoolSculpting® is right for you. To learn more about what to expect, visit www.coolsculpting.com. n. ©2018 Allergan.

All rights reserved. COOLSCULPTING® and its are registered trademarks of ZELTIQ Aesthetics, . All rights reserved.

COOLSCULPTING® and its design aredesign registered trademarks of ZELTIQ Aesthetics, *CoolSculpting® is the treatment doctors use most for nonsurgical fat reduction. ©2018 Allergan. All rights reserved.

COOLSCULPTING® and its design are registered trademarks of ZELTIQ Aesthetics, Inc., an Allergan affiliate. IC03668-B

404-355-5484 404-355-5484

BUCKHEAD OFFICE: 3379 Peachtree Rd NE, GA GA30326 30326 Suite 500 Atlanta, GA 30326 olanskydermatology.com

olanskydermatology.com olanskydermatology.com

Mar 2 – sep 28

OCT 5 – Dec 14

8:30 am – 12:00 pm

9:00 am – 12:00 pm

2744 Peachtree Rd NW • Atlanta, GA 30305 www.PeachtreeRoadFarmersMarket.com BH

MARCH 2019

■

Community | 17

www.ReporterNewspapers.net

At anti-Semitic bullying forum, expert panel offers advice, urges reporting

BY EVELYN ANDREWS evelyn@reporternewspapers.net

Over 100 parents, students and teachers attended a Feb. 10 forum on anti-Semitic bullying to question an expert panel put together days after a swastika was painted on a Roswell high school, rattling the north metro Jewish community.

Local school officials said at the Sandy Springs event they have “strict” punishments and protocols for bullying and harassment and encouraged students to report it immediately. And a state representative said he is hopeful this legislative session will bring the passage of a hate crimes bill that could help reduce such incidents.

“Anytime something comes up, you need to say something,” North Springs Charter High Principal Scott Hanson said at the event, which was held at Temple Emanu-El and attended by over 100 people.

“That’s the most important thing. Don’t assume someone else is going to.”

The panel, which also included representatives from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Anti-Defamation League, DeKalb County School District and a state representative, was held by the Atlanta Initiative Against Anti-Semitism in response to a recent vandalism incident at Roswell’s Centennial High School. Among the vandalism there was graffiti of a swastika near the front entrance.

AIAAS was formed by Dunwoody-ar-

EVELYN ANDREWS

Director of Georgia Commission on the Holocaust Sally Levine, center with microphone, answers an audience question at the Feb. 10 event about incidents in schools. Joining her are, from left, Centennial High School Assistant Principal Dr. Bre Peeler; North Springs Charter High School Principal Scott Hanson; DeKalb Department of Student Relations Director Dr. Quentin Fretwell; Fulton County School District Assistant Superintendent Dr. Chris Matthews; Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Dr. Allison Padilla-Goodman; Marist School teacher Brendan Murphy; Georgia Bureau of Investigation Assistant Special Agent in Charge Andy Mossman; and state Rep. Josh McLaurin.

ea mothers in 2017 “amidst what felt like an explosion of anti-Semitic events,” said Lauren Menis, on the founders, when introducing the panel. They have held two previous events that discussed the rising incidents.

AIAAS cites numbers from the FBI and ADL that say anti-Semitic incidents and hate crimes targeting Jews are on the rise nationwide. Incidents at North Springs in 2017 included a swastika drawn on a bathroom wall.

To help deter these incidents, the AIAAS

55+ A PART ME N T HO M E S

RENTS STARTING AT $1,595

has been pushing for a state hate crimes legislation in partnership with the ADL. State Rep. Josh McLaurin (D-Sandy Springs) said the legislation is expected to be filed this session with bipartisan support. He is hopeful this can be the year it passes.

The bill would create an additional sentence for crimes found to be against a protected class based on categories that often include race, religion, sexual orientation, gender or disability. Previous state hate crimes legislation has not gained serious traction or failed to pass, such as last year’s effort by former state Rep. Meagan Hanson

(R-Brookhaven).

A sponsor to carry the bill has not been determined, McLaurin said. But he pledged that the legislation will be comprehensive and “not just a solution for one community.”

“We cannot have hate crimes legislation that’s not comprehensive,” McLaurin said, a comment that received applause.

The ADL regional director agreed that its “comprehensive or nothing.”

“We feel pretty good about it this year,” Allison Padilla-Goodman said.

“Enjoying Life It’s a community of active adults.”

Discover carefree and maintenance-free living that’s modern, spacious, and spontaneous.

• Modern residences • Active amenities • Innovative programs • Lots of new friends and neighbors

Gwen, Overture Resident

RSVP for an event or schedule a visit to experience Overture today!

855-971-2436 OvertureBuckheadSouth.com 658 Lindbergh Drive NE, Atlanta, GA 30324 Overture is an equal housing opportunity. Amenities and services vary by location. Photo of Overture resident(s).

See a Greystar representative for details.

18 | Commentary

Reporter Newspapers

Our mission is to provide our readers with fresh and engaging information about life in their communities.

Published by Springs Publishing LLC 6065 Roswell Road, Suite 225 Sandy Springs, GA 30328 Phone: 404-917-2200 • Fax: 404-917-2201 Brookhaven Reporter | Buckhead Reporter Dunwoody Reporter | Sandy Springs Reporter www.ReporterNewspapers.net Atlanta INtown www.AtlantaINtownPaper.com Atlanta Senior Life www.AtlantaSeniorLife.com

C O NTA C T US Founder & Publisher Steve Levene stevelevene@reporternewspapers.net Editorial Managing Editor John Ruch johnruch@reporternewspapers.net INtown Editor: Collin Kelley Editor-at-Large Joe Earle Staff Writers Dyana Bagby, Evelyn Andrews Creative and Production Creative Director Rico Figliolini rico@reporternewspapers.net Graphic Designer Julie Murcia Advertising Director of Sales Development Amy Arno amyarno@reporternewspapers.net Sales Executives Melissa Kidd, Jeff Kremer, Janet Porter, Jim Speakman Office Manager Deborah Davis deborahdavis@reporternewspapers.net Contributors John Awtrey, Doug Carroll, Robin Conte, Phil Mosier, Judith Schonbak, Jaclyn Turner

Free Home Delivery 60,000 copies of Reporter Newspapers are mailed monthly to homes in ZIP codes 30305, 30319, 30326, 30327, 30328, 30338, 30342 and 30350 and delivered to more than 200 business/retail locations.

For delivery requests, please email delivery@reporternewspapers.net

Honored as a newspaper of General Excellence

2018 © 2019 with all rights reserved Publisher reserves the right to refuse editorial or advertising for any reason. Publisher assumes no responsibility for information contained in advertising. Any opinions expressed in print or online do not necessarily represent the views of Reporter Newspapers or Springs Publishing, LLC.

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

Community Survey: Are toll lanes worth taking homes?

Are separate toll lanes alongside Ga. 400 and I-285 a good idea, especially if they require razing houses to make way for the new roads? Reactions to the proposal appeared sharply split in our most recent 1Q survey.

Although more than four in 10 of the 200 respondents said they would use the proposed toll lanes if they were built, about a third of the respondents said they wouldn’t use the lanes and fully a quarter said they weren’t sure whether they would or not. The survey was conducted by 1Q.com via cellphones used by residents of Reporter Newspapers communities. The results reflect only respondent opinions.

When asked whether private property should be taken and 20 or more homes razed to make room for the lanes, respondents were sharply divided, with a few more saying no than yes.

“No one should be forced to give up their home for a toll road,” a 44-year-old woman commented. “The state should find an alternative.”

“Please don’t do that [take private property for the toll lanes],” a 34-year-old Brookhaven man responded. “Let’s complete the existing projects and see how that impacts traffic flow and then we can move on.”

State transportation officials are moving ahead with plans for building a new system of toll lanes along the Ga. 400 and I-285 interchange over the next decade.

The four “express lanes” are intended to help move traffic through the area and to

work

toward

solving

con-

gestion issues.

Not everyone will like the solutions, but letting fic

traf-

continue

to get worse is not an option if Atlanta is going to continue growing (which seems to be a given).”

And

a

40-year-old Sandy Springs woman put it simply: “Twenty houses for the greater good of Atlanta traffic? Definitely!”

But not all respondents were convinced the toll lanes would do any real, lasting good.

“Toll lanes are stupid,” a 19-year-old improve traffic flow. The Ga. 400 lanes also would carry a new MARTA bus rapid transit route, which would require adding access points and stations.

Although GDOT officials say they haven’t yet fully figured out how much land building the lanes will require, many homeowners in the area have said the state already says it must acquire some or all of their property for the project.

Supporters of the project were quick to say that residents should be paid a fair price, or even a premium price, if their homes were taken for the project. Some suggested that any homeowners forced to move because of construction should be paid relocation costs in addition to the price of the property.

A 33-year-old Brookhaven man said he would support taking the property “as long as a fair price is paid for the houses.

The city is growing rapidly and needs to

Dunwoody woman commented. “I will not use them. Let them stay in their homes.”

Other respondents thought the money could be spent better elsewhere, especially on expanding public transit.

“Twenty houses isn’t a significant number, but I still don’t think that it’s worth it to build toll lanes,” a 34-year-old Brookhaven woman commented. “I think it would definitely be worth it to expand the rail and public transit options. More lanes won’t affect the number of cars on the road, and it’s not possible to add enough lanes to truly match the cars that want to be at that interchange.

“The only long-term solution is to enable people to get from A to B without cars or without going through that interchange, such as enabling folks to live closer to where they work.”

Here’s what some other respondents had to say about taking homes for toll lanes: No! Toll lanes effect our community schools, neighborhoods and children. We do not want them built.

– a 35-year-old Sandy Springs woman Yes. Atlanta traffic is among the worst in the country. We are getting more and more cars on the road and we have to do something.

– 49 year-old Buckhead/Sandy Springs woman Civil engineers will tell you that increasing lanes doesn’t alleviate traffic in the long term. More cars come to fill them. The best way to reduce traffic is to do as other major cities in the world do -- invest in public transportation.

– 38-year-old Atlanta woman

BE COUNTED IN OUR NEXT READER SURVEY

The toll lanes are a money grab with minimal traffic alleviating benefits. The fact they are taking people’s homes seems inherently wrong.

– 34-year-old Dunwoody man While I would use them … I think expansion in Atlanta is so poorly done I don’t think I can support eminent domain from an incompetent government and GDOT. – 47-year-old Atlanta man No. We just paid off a toll road [on Ga. 400]. Why would we want another one? Push MARTA and expand that.

– 37-year-old Atlanta woman

1Q is an Atlanta-based startup that has developed a technology which sends questions and surveys to a cellphone via app or text message from businesses and organizations across the country. Respondents are paid 50 cents per answer, through PayPal, for sharing their opinions. Payments may also be donated directly to charity. Sign up to be included in our local community polls at 1Q.com/reporter or by texting REPORTER to 86312.

1Q.COM/REPORTER OR TEXT REPORTER TO 86312

MARCH 2019

■

Commentary | 19

www.ReporterNewspapers.net

Little What’s-Her-Name I choke at introductions. It doesn’t matter if you have lived next door to me for eight years, if we chaired the school auction together, if you have the same name as my first-born child, if you ARE my first-born child. If I have to introduce you to someone else, I will forget your name. It’s not that I’m uncouth. It’s just, as I admitted, that I choke at introductions.

It’s like a mini-stage fright.

Now, I recognize that the statutory grace period for forgetting someone’s name is 28 days or three meetings, whichever comes first. After that time, you are expected to know the name, and you can no longer ask for it. Moreover, if you’ve seen the same person at least four times and each encounter included conversation, hugs and cheek-to-cheek air kisses, the next time she happens along, you are charged with the responsibility of introducing her to the person standing beside you, or you are liable for crimes against etiquette. Those are the rules -- at least in the South.

So, I have developed two (hopefully) face-saving introduction strategies, which I will share with you now: Strategy A. The Southern Strategy, a.k.a The Hey Stack This, of course, is the word “Hey,” uttered over a period of 23 seconds and inserting a veritable rollercoaster of inflections and a bell curve of vowels ranging from A to E to Y, then followed immediately with a warm embrace and a gleeful, “How ARE you!?”

You then proceed directly to the introduction of the person you’re with, “This is my friend Jane…” (Odds are pretty good that if you are already together, you will remember your companion’s name at this moment.) And you wait in awkward silence for Nameless Friend to introduce herself, while smiling Robin Conte lives with brightly and pretending that you didn’t really forget her name. her husband in an empSometimes you can interject an intimate anecdote about ty nest in Dunwoody. Nameless Friend (“Liz is married to my brother”) as soon as her name is revealed, just to prove that you really do know her.

Guys can’t pull-off the Hey Stack as well. They must resort to the Hey Slap, which is a slap on the back and a “Hey, buddy!” kind of greeting, I suppose. I really don’t know what guys do. If you’re a guy, please tell me.

Strategy B. The Help Me, Rhonda, a.k.a. The Preemptive Prompt If you see Nameless Friend approaching in advance, you might prompt your companion and beg, “Please introduce yourself -- I forgot her name!” You then proceed as described above. After the niceties have ended and Nameless Friend has moved on, you and your companion can have a lengthy yet amusing conversation about all the other things you can’t remember.

My daughter gets irritated by the fact that I can’t remember the names of all her friends, but she doesn’t realize that my forgetfulness is not spiteful, it’s a biological defect. I’m not going to attribute it to age, though that would be the easy, albeit discomforting, thing to do.

I can’t remember directions, either, and I’ve always been that way.

The fact is, if I happen to see you at any given time, chances are that I have forgotten your name. The Hey Stack still works very successfully in terms of a greeting in these instances, but with the unfortunate side effect that when you leave, I will still be clueless as to your name.

If you are dating one of my sons, you will be referred to by me as “Little What’s-HerName.” I will remember your name if he gives you a ring … or if I hope that he will.

If my accent were thick and syrupy enough to drip out of my mouth and attract bees as I speak, I could sidestep the use of actual first names by using generic “nom de bonbons,” such as Sugar or Honey or Puddin’, but it isn’t. Sometimes I use the more accent-neutral “Sweetie,” which can be uttered with an efficient clip, but is generally more appropriate for people who are younger than I am (which is increasingly turning out to be most people).

So, if I see you at the grocery store and smile brightly and give you a hug and say “Hey,” please tell me your name.

The Alfred & Adele Davis Academy Production of:

Words and Music by

Book by

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Timothy Allen McDonald

Based on the Book

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

SH OW TIME S:

Sunday, March 17 at 1:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.

Monday, March 18 at 6:30 p.m.

2 W To GA 018 in p Pr & ne C e 2 r ol ss 0 um A 17 ni ssn st !

Robin’s Nest

Read Robin Conte’s debut book ‘The Best of the Nest’ “The Best of the Nest” offers 49 of Reporter Newspapers columnist Robin Conte’s witty essays on suburban family life, organized by seasons. They include some of the pieces that won Robin the first-place Lifestyle/Features Column award in 2017 and 2018 and first-place for Humorous column in 2018 from the Georgia Press Association.

Order the book at bestofthenest.net Follow Robin’s book-related appearances at robinconte.com.

Rosenberg Performing Arts Theatre

The Davis Academy Lower School, 8105 Roberts Drive, Atlanta, GA 30350

For tickets and info visit us at www.davisacademy.org/musical

Bariatric Innovations Bariatric Innova of Atlanta & General Surgery

of Atlanta & General Surg Regain Your Health & Mobility!

An Advanced Weight Loss Practice Call or visit: 404-250-6691 BariatricInnovationsAtl.com

We specialize in non-invasive, minimallyinvasive and robotic techniques for advanced weight loss and general surgery procedures.

Let Dr. Srinivasa Gorjala, a boardcertified physician, and our on-site dietician help you to live to your full potential with one of our medical or surgical weight loss programs.

Procedures We Offer • Robotic Surgery • Gastric Sleeve • LAP-BAND ® System • LINX® Reflux System • Non-Surgical Gastric Balloons • Thyroid/Parathyroid Surgery • Gallbaldder Surgery • Hernia Repair • Non-Surgical Weight Loss

6135 Barfield Road, Suite 150, Atlanta, GA 30328

20 | Commentary

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

An Olympics champion finds a home at the MJCCA

Liliyah Podkopayeva.

SPECIAL

When gymnast Liliyah Podkopayeva came to America more than two decades ago, she was just a teenager and the United States seemed “far, far, far, far away” from her home country, Ukraine. “The United

Around Town

States,” she said, “was like a different planet.”

Here, everyone spoke English, a language Podkopayeva didn’t then understand. Everyone needed a car to get around.

They had new computers. All sorts of things just seemed strange.

Plus, she was a gifted young athlete at the top of international competition. She had taken top honors in the all-around competition at the 1995 World Championships. Then, in 1996, she represented Ukraine in the Atlanta Olympics and claimed the all-around gold medal, a second gold medal for floor exercises and a silver medal on balance beam.

She was in the spotlight. In 1997, she said, she was named “Person of the Year” in Ukraine. That same year, she joined a bus tour of the U.S. with other Olympic athletes, including members of the celebrated U.S. team. The “Tour of Champions” did something like 70 shows, Podkopayeva remembers, and performed in front of thousands of people at a time. “You kind of felt like a pop star,” she said.

Still, she felt like visitor in the U.S. “When you travel for competition you don’t see anything, you don’t see the culture,” she said. “It was hard because I didn’t speak English at all, but it was great. … It

Northside

was a lot for a girl who was 18.”

Besides, Ukraine was her home. Even after she moved on from gymnastic competitions, she was a celebrity there. She competed twice in the Ukrainian version of “Dancing with the Stars” and won that competition in 2007.

Now, at 40 and a mother of two, she feels more comfortable in the U.S. than she did when she was younger. “Now it’s my home,” she said.

She’s still moving around and spending time in gyms. Since the late 1990s, she’s continued shuttling from the U.S. to Ukraine for work, she said. “Gymnasts have gypsy blood,” she said. “We couldn’t stay home.”

A little more than a year ago, she and her family settled in Atlanta. She recently started working as a coach for young gymnasts at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, which is located in Dunwoody. She’s among about 15 coaches at the MJCCA’s gymnastics center, where she primarily works with the older and more experienced girls, center director Stacey Harris said.

“I’m thrilled [she’s here],” Harris said.

“She’s a delightful person. Her presence in the gym is just amazing. Here knowledge of gymnastics and how to coach it is world

Heart

NorthsideHeart.com We are proud to serve the Atlanta community with the highest standard of cardiovascular care. Our board-certified physicians serve each patient with the latest technologies and treatments, and work with referring physicians to optimize treatment plans and individualize care. One of the largest cardiology groups in the North Atlanta area, we offer 9 locations throughout the Metro and Greater Atlanta areas.

We offer services for complete cardiovascular care, including:

• • • • • • •

Joe Earle is editor-at-large at Reporter Newspapers and has lived in metro Atlanta for over 30 years. He can be reached at joeearle@reporternewspapers.net

Arrhythmia Evaluation & Treatment Cardiac Ultrasound Stress Testing Pacemaker Implantation Cholesterol & Hypertension Management Cardiac Cath/Coronary Stent Defibrillator Implantation

class. And it’s just fun.”

Podkopayeva says she likes living in Atlanta. It reminds her more of her Ukrainian home than her previous residence in Florida. She likes the hills. And the seasons.

It seems like a good place to raise kids. “It reminds me a little bit of Kiev,” she said.

She feels other ties to Atlanta, too.

There are memories of her gold medal performances in the Atlanta Olympics, of course. And she credits a doctor at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta with saving her daughter’s life when the child needed surgery related to blood vessels in her brain. Podkopayeva calls the doctor her own Olympic champion.

“I consider myself a Ukrainian, but I really appreciate everything I got here in the U.S. When I was here [before], I was like 20 years old. When you’re in gymnastics, you know nothing but gymnastics. You practice seven, eight hours a day. You get used to it.”

And even though she stopped competing, she couldn’t just walk away from gymnastics. Twenty years on, she can’t imagine herself as a pensioner, someone who doesn’t keep working and keep active.

“I don’t like it when my cellphone doesn’t ring,” she said.

Three convenient Atlanta locations Sandy Springs Office 6135 Barfield Road NE Suite 100 Atlanta, GA 30328 Phone: 404-847-0049

Atlanta Office 5670 Peachtree Dunwoody Road Suite 880 Atlanta, GA 30342 Phone: 404-256-2525

Midtown Office 1110 West Peachtree Street Suite 920 Atlanta, GA 30309 Phone: 470-639-6300

Visit our website for information on our six other convenient locations.

Classifieds | 21

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net

Personal & Professional Services Directory TRUSTS and ESTATES ATTORNEY ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

MARK ELLIOTTT

Trusts and Estates Estate Planning Estate Litigation Probate Business Succession Planning

www.atlantatrustsandestatesattorney.com

Complimentary Initial Consultation

404-330-8854

Reporter Classifieds PETS

HOST FAMILIES

HELP WANTED

Atlanta’s oldest and largest pet sitting company is Critter-Sitters.com. 404-377-5475 or email info@critter-sitters.com today!

Host a French Teen for 20 Days in July Twenty French teens, who speak English and are from professional French families (ages 14-18). Each student needs an American host family who will provide room and board (host families are compensated), hospitality, and friendship. They are fully insured, come with ample spending money for expenses.

Contact: Linda Farmer - Retired French teacher - lgfarmer@aol.com or 770-9732452. Also, see www.lec-usa.com.

Graphic Designer (part-time)—Springs Publishing seeks an experienced graphic designer for a part-time position (approx. 15 hours per week) to work on print and digital products, especially ad design and page layout. You should be proficient with Adobe Creative Suite, specifically InDesign and Photoshop. Knowledge of web design (using WordPress), videography and social media is a plus. You must be available to work in our office on specific weekdays; with some flexible hours and remote work possible. Please provide your resume and samples of your work (via links, etc.) to publisher@reporternewspapers.net.

Good Rascal Dog Training Certified Dog Trainer Private Training In Your Home

MOVING SALE

Positive, Gentle Methods

www.mygoodrascal.com

770-401-7945

With two professional in-house polishers, we can make your silver flatware, tea sets, bowls and trays more beautiful than ever before.

Bring it by or call us for an estimate today!

Moving Sale— Friday/Saturday - March 22 & 23, 8 am -2 pm, Bluffhaven Way, Brookhaven 30319 (Bluffs of Nancy Creek).

Great selection of home furnishings, designer clothes, etc.

REAL ESTATE PROPERTY

LANDSCAPING Tranquil Waters Lawn Care – Hauling of debris, yard cleanup, aeration, leaf blowing & power washing. Free Estimates – Senior or Veteran discounts. Commercial/Residential.

Call Mike 678-662-0767.

Home Services Directory

Are you thinking about Selling your Houses or Commercial Properties? No Gimmicks. Any Area. Any Condition. You will Receive a Good Offer Quickly & Easily.

I invite you to call anytime, there is NoObligation 404-447-0177.

Showroom, Design, Build

Jasmin Young ► Residential & Event Cleaning ► Professional Organizing

404-969-5528

SweetheartCleaning@yahoo.com

At Your Service

PLUMBING

404-219-1923

404-910-3969

www.RemodelingExpo.com

SHOWROOM

48 KING STREET ROSWELL, GA 30075

Oriental Rug Shop Antique and Decorative Rugs since 1976

REMEDIES

ROOFING

WINDOWS

Windows And Doors

REPAIRS LEAKS 404-697-6937

Belco Electric

• Family Owned since 1972 • Fast, Dependable Service by Professional, Uniformed Electricians

770-455-4556

Check out our new website www.BelcoInc.com and follow us on

The Painting Plus Family

Buy with confidence!

Visit our showroom in Chamblee!

770-939-5634 quinnwindows.com 3660 N. Peachtree Rd • Chamblee, GA 30341

justTRASHit!

JUNK REMOVAL & RECYCLING

We Haul Away: We Clean Out: *Furniture *Appliances *Construction *Pianos *Hot tubs *Paint cans

*Basements *Garages *Attics *Offices *Storage units *Estate sales

(770) 314-9867 www.justTRASHit.com

• Serving Metro Atlanta Since 1998 • A Name You Can Trust • Family Owned • Family Operated • Family Service www.paintingplus.com

SS

IN HOME CONSULTATION

SINCE 1986

“With Cleaning comes Peace”

Get 15% OFF of the 1st cleaning or organizing service!

Property Home Tending – Regular inspections of your For Sale or unoccupied home. Call Charles 404-229-0490.

To Advertise, call 404-917-2200 ext 110

Kitchen Bathroom Basement

Sweetheart Cleaning

SERVICES Masonry: Driveways & Walkways – Replaced or Repaired. Masonry, Grading, Foundations repair, Waterproofing and Retaining Walls. Call Joe Sullivan 770616-0576.

20

& % Cleaning Repair of OFF All Rugs With coupon. One per family.

Peachtree Ind. Blvd 404-995-8400 5548 Chamblee, GA 30341 www.PersianRugParadise.net

Spring Into

Atlanta’s Premier since 1968 Window Cleaning

• Gutter Cleaning • Pressure Washing • Family Owned • Licensed and Insured • FREE ESTIMATES

404.355.1901

www.WindowCleanAtl.com

► PAINTING ► WINDOWS ► SIDING ► GUTTERS ► ROOFING

770-971-1577

22 | Public Safety

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

Court, police zone reform among crime-fighting ideas Continued from page 1 catching a lot of suspects. But judges often let the suspects out immediately. But either way, the sheer number of thieves heading to Buckhead quickly replaces those who are caught.

“It’s delicate to put it like this,” said Shaw. “You really, really are probably in the safest police beat in the entire city.”

He said “two things that are true at the same time” – Atlanta has its lowest crime rate in about a half-century, but the rates are up in Zone 2 and Downtown.

In Buckhead, Shaw said, the uptick is mostly property crime. He said car breakins have become a top form of thievery “because people leave guns and keys and cash and $3,000 purses.”

Shaw wasn’t pulling the idea of expensive purses out of thin air. “We found out that they take some of those purses to highend consignment sales,” he said. “We’ve had [criminals] tell us they can make five or six thousand dollars a week coming up here.”

Whatever the type of crime, many residents have voiced fears in meetings and Facebook groups for over 18 months.

“We’re all frightened,” one woman told Shaw at the NPU-A meeting.

The Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods was scheduled to focus its March meeting on the crime issue, according to chair Mary Norwood, who sent the mayor and City Council a letter in January calling for more crime-fighting action.

“We can’t allow these random acts of damage and violence,” Norwood said in an interview. “’Brazen’ and ‘random’ – those are two words when you put them together with ‘crime,’ that’s frightening.”

Shaw appeared at the January BCN meeting, where he said police staffing levels would be helped by a recent significant pay increase approved by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the City Council.

He has other solutions in mind, too, including reforming the way Fulton County judg-

es bond out some defendants and a proposal to shrink Zone 2’s boundaries.

Judge-watching

Local discontent with Fulton County judges has simmered since last summer’s murder and robbery at the Capital City country club. In that case, a 17-year-old suspect was on the streets from a previous armed robbery conviction due to a controversial private probation order from Superior Court Judge Doris Downs.

More recently, residents and officials have complained about Fulton judges letting defendants free immediately without full knowledge of their criminal records – though the nature of the complaints vary.

Shaw voiced concern about the use of “signature bonds,” which is a pledge to show up for trial without any deposit. City Councilmember J.P. Matzigkeit of Buckhead’s District 8 recently wrote in his newsletter about a 17-year-old defendant getting out on a cash bond of $30,000, but without the judge knowing he was wanted on active warrants and a suspect in other active cases.

Taryn Chilivis Bowman, a local business owner and sometime political candidate, says that such apparently routine signature bonds are “a slap in the face to our whole police force and the citizens of Atlanta.”

Bowman is starting up a “Fulton County Judicial Accountability Task Force” to educate residents about the court system and pay attention to how judges decide particular cases. Nicknamed “Adopt a Judge” by Norwood, the program right now is a basic sign-up sheet where a resident agrees to follow a particular judge in any Fulton court, learn about their background, show up in their courtrooms, and find out when they are up for election or who appointed them.

“Everybody is picking a judge and we’re really going to watch them,” says Bowman.

“We’re letting them know we’re there and

we’re watching… We’re trying to help the good judges do what they need to do and get the bad judges out.”

Her effort is largely organized through such private crime-fighting Facebook groups as Concerned Citizens United, which held a large meeting last year about Judge Downs’ decision. She says the group has identified about 65 judges and as of late February had 22 residents signed up to watch one.

Bowman ran unsuccessfully last year as a Republican for Buckhead’s House District 40 seat, a race eventually won by Democrat Erick Allen. Bowman said she would still like to hold that office, but added, “I probably won’t run again.” Political ambition is not behind her judge-watching, she said.

Fulton County government has its own court liaison program, called Citizen CourtWatch, but several leaders of local Facebook crime-fighting groups have said it’s of little or no use. Norwood said she hopes Robb Pitts, the chair of the Fulton County Commission and a Buckhead resident, will take the lead on arranging some meetings with judges. Pitts did not respond to questions.

Matzkeit wrote that he and City Councilmember Matt Westmoreland recently met with Fulton Superior Court Chief Judge Robert C.I. McBurney and Chief Magistrate Judge Cassandra Kirk to discuss the issues. He said the discussion of judges lacking full information about defendants during a bond decision “illuminates a potential opportunity to fix a crack in the system.”

Norwood called for more “appropriate” sentencing of young offenders to keep them out of gangs and longer prison terms.

“We could not be more effectively harming lives and destroying lives of young people in our city if we don’t get the appropriate – and the key word is ‘appropriate’ – consequences for young [offenders],” she said.

Redrawing Zone 2

Zone 2 is the Atlanta Police Department’s geographically biggest zone, which is a factor in its crime rate, though Norwood and Shaw have indicated the rate is out of proportion. Shaw recently has touted a plan to redraw the zone by removing the Cheshire Bridge Road and Howell Mill Road areas, which produce more regular calls, while keeping the same number of officers. While that looks like a quick way to lower Zone 2 crime rates, Shaw has said it will allow officers to focus on better patrolling residential Buckhead.

Zone 2 is “way too big, way too many calls for service,” Shaw said.

The police department has not responded to questions about the zone redrawing.

Shaw said in an interview that the plan is still a draft stage following a Georgia Tech study. “It’s not a done deal,” he said, but is being presented individually and privately to City Council members for review, with “zero objections” so far.

Buckhead-area Councilmembers Matzigkeit and Howard Shook said they support the plan.

“I’ve seen a draft, which I love,” said Shook, who represents Council District 7. “No [Zone 2] manpower reduction, but it loses two problematic beats. Given the heightened concerns about Buckhead crime, I’ve urged the chief to implement it ASAP.” “I strongly support APD’s work to shrink Zone 2, which is the largest police zone in the city,” said Matzigkeit. “While Zone 2 will decrease in size, we will not lose any officers and all of District 8 will remain in Zone 2. The beat realignment is one part of a larger effort to reduce crime in Buckhead.”

Shaw said there is not a specific timeline for unveiling the zone redrawing plan, but that he expects it “very, very soon.”

Can’t Find Your Home in Sandy Springs? Call Me!

Spring is here!

770 Edgewater is Under Contract!

Call me if you are looking for a house before the house you want is gone!

Keller Williams Realty First Atlanta

AngIe PonSELL ATLANTA TO THE WORLD

www.kwatlanta.com

www.isellsandysprings.com

404-531-5700

404-226-2002

BH

Public Safety | 23

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net

Police Blotter / Buckhead The following information, involving events that took place in Buckhead Feb. 7 through Feb. 21, was provided to the Buckhead Reporter by the Zone 2 precinct of the Atlanta Police Department from its open data records.

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT 400 block of Armour Drive — Feb. 8 3300 block of Lenox Road — Feb. 8 300 block of Peachtree Hills Avenue —

Feb. 15

3100 block of Piedmont Road — Feb. 17 2600 block of Piedmont Road — Feb. 18 Burglary-Residence

900 block of Huff Road — Feb. 11

3500 block of Piedmont Road — Feb. 20

2100 block of Piedmont Road — Feb. 18

400 block of Bishop Street — Feb. 11

3400 block of Kingsboro Road — Feb. 20

3300 block of Peachtree Road — Feb. 19

2300 block of Parkland Drive — Feb. 13 2400 block of Cheshire Bridge Road —

BURGLARYNON-RESIDENCE

ROBBERY

Feb. 13

2100 block of Hollywood Road — Feb. 7

3700 block of Vermont Road — Feb. 15

2100 block of Piedmont Road — Feb. 8

1100 block of LaVista Road — Feb. 16

3400 block of Lenox Road — Feb. 8

2400 block of Cheshire Bridge Road —

200 block of Armour Drive — Feb. 9

Feb. 16

1300 block of Wesley Place — Feb. 7

LARCENY Between Feb. 7 and Feb. 21 there were

78 larcenies from vehicles reported across Zone 2 and 58 reported cases of larceny and shoplifting.

2100 block of Defoors Ferry Road — Feb. 9

3400 block of Valley Road — Feb. 17

2900 block of Peachtree Road — Feb. 13

2300 block of Piedmont Road — Feb. 18

3200 block of Peachtree Road — Feb. 17

AUTO THEFT Between Feb. 7 and Feb. 21, there were 24

reported incidents of auto theft.

Visit us today to learn how you may qualify for up to

1,600

$

Discount BACK Valid Thru7/10/19 12/31/18 Valid thru

For the way it’s Made 761 Trowbridge Miami Circle, Suite D | Atlanta, 7455 Rd. | Sandy Springs,GA GA30324 30328 404.233.6131 404.255.0640 || www.builderspecialties.net www.sewellappliance.com BH

| 24

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net

CONGRATULATIONS To Our 2018 Top Sales Associates CHASTAIN-SANDY SPRINGS

TOP INDIVIDUAL & TEAM JILL HUITRON

SHIVERS THRASHER

INDIVIDUAL

TEAM

#1 TOTAL SALES VOLUME & TOTAL CLOSED UNITS

404-376-5114 Jill.Huitron@HarryNorman.com

#1 TOTAL SALES VOLUME & TOTAL CLOSED UNITS

404-403-5555 | 404-444-1364

Fran.Shivers@HarryNorman.com | Susan.Thrasher@HarryNorman.com

TOP INDIVIDUALS & TEAMS OVERALL

MARCIA WEINHOFF

PAM HUGHES

404-983-0309

404-626-3604

CHANABERRY & ASSOCIATES 770-265-9080

KATHERINE MAXWELL

TERESA SWOFFORD

404-992-8813

404-384-4646

MISS EMMIE

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

BONNIE WOLF

CHERYL BRODNAX

KIM KAPPEL

BARBARA CHRISTIE

BANT MILLICHAP

GWEN GABLE

404-216-9296

404-277-1009

404-387-2342

404-803-1617

770-946-6018

678-576-0546

HARRY NORMAN, REALTORS® | CHASTAIN-SANDY SPRINGS | 5290 ROSWELL RD STE A | ATLANTA, GA 30342 | 404-250-9900 | HARRYNORMAN.COM BH

MARCH 2019

WWW.REPORTERNEWSPAPERS.NET

Sandy Springs

FROM POTTERY TO SCARVES, LOCAL ARTISTS FEATURED IN AMERICAN CRAFT SHOW PAGE 26

Dunwoody Brookhaven Buckhead

SECTION TWO

SPECIAL AD SECTION ■ PAGES 32-38

A TV comedy pioneer joins a movie theater’s new era

BY DYANA BAGBY dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net

Bill Tush became one of Atlanta’s beloved cult personalities in the 1970s with a late-night newscast that became the prototype for such shows as “The Daily Show” and launched the careers of such comedy stars as Jan Hooks.

Tush (the name rhymes with “rush”) now is a manager at Springs Cinema & Taphouse in Sandy Springs, where he helped usher in a complete transformation of the former Lefont art house theater. Luxury, heated recliners have replaced beaten up and stained traditional movie seating. A

full bar with a wide selection of craft beer and menu items including chicken fingers have replaced a lonely hot dog warmer.

The popcorn, candy and sodas remain, although with a wider variety.

Working at a movie theater is a natural choice for employment in his “twilight years,” he says. His love of movies dates back to his childhood when he would charge neighborhood kids to watch 8mm films in the backyard of his Pittsburgh home, even serving up popcorn.

“I think I watched too much ‘Little Rascals.’ They were always trying to start a business,” he says.

The changes made by Brandt Gully, who

purchased the theater from George Lefont, are perhaps life-changing for people who want to go out for a movie experience but retain the comfort sitting in their living rooms, Tush says. “You can’t just show a movie anymore,” he said.

Bill Tush, who garnered cult figure status on Ted Turner’s fledgling local TV station in the 1970s, is now a manager at Springs Cinema & Taphouse.

PHOTO BY DYANA BAGBY

Cult figure status

Before there was an art house theater, though, there was WTCG Channel 17, a local station purchased by Ted Turner. Tush got a job in the 1970s at the new station, where he became a jack-of-all-trades and Turner’s “yes man” and loyal “pal.”

Turner filled his new station’s airwaves in the mid-1970s with Atlanta Braves ball-

SIGN UP TO RECEIVE DAILY & WEEKLY EMAILS WITH LOCAL NEWS @ REPORTERNEWSPAPERS.NET/SIGNUP

games and old sitcoms like “Gilligan’s Island” and Bugs Bunny cartoons.

During the weekends on Channel 17, Tush’s love for movies was put to use as the host for film broadcasts ranging from Academy Award-winners like “Giant” star-

READ MORE PAGE 30

2 6 | Art & Entertainment

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

From pottery to scarves, local artists featured in American Craft Show

BY JUDITH SCHONBAK Lora Rust, a native Atlantan, grew up in a Buckhead home filled with beautiful original pottery. But is was not just for show. “We had many special pieces that we used every day, for the sheer enjoyment of touching them instead of just looking at them.” That enjoyment never faded, and it is the heart of her ceramics.

She creates distinctive functional works -- bowls, vases, mugs and tumblers -- with lush, fluid surfaces that “beg to be touched,” she said.

Rust is one of more than 230 artists showcasing their work in the prestigious American Craft Show in 2019, scheduled for March 15-17 at Cobb Galleria Centre.

It is celebrating its 30th consecutive year in Atlanta. One of the largest juried fine craft shows in the Southeast, it features top contemporary craft artists nationwide in handmade ceramics, fine jewelry, textiles, wood work, apparel, home décor and furniture.

Felting artist Debra Kidd is also among the 32 artists from Georgia this year. It is her fourth appearance in the annual craft show in Atlanta.

Her Brookhaven studio is stacked with bins of yarns and fabrics in many colors from suppliers around the globe, rolls of bubble wrap and a stash of shortened swimming pool noodles. The space is dominated by two long tables – the stage where she creates her signature scarves and other wearable art.

Kidd said she is pleased to return to the American Craft Show. “It has such high-quality artists and I like the energy of the people who come. They are so interested in the crafts and are art-savvy.”

An ‘aha moment’ in pottery

Rust first put her hand to a pottery wheel in high school, when she opted for pottery for her required art course. The experience with the wheel stayed with her.

After graduating from Tulane University, she took a job with a fast-growing young company and ultimately became

Top, Debra Kidd in her studio. Above, Lora Rust at work.

Above left, One of Lora Rust’s artworks.

Left, a scarf created by Kidd.

SPECIAL

the head of human resources. Some years later, married and with two thenteenage girls with busy school and gymnastic schedules, she left the corporate world to be a full-time mom.

With more time for herself, she took the opportunity to tap into her creative side and enrolled in a pottery course at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. She found her passion in ceramics. Rust studied for four years under Glenn Dair, former director, now retired, of Callanwolde’s acclaimed pottery department, who shares her studio space. She entered a two-year internship in pottery at the arts center where she developed her signature style.

She had an “aha” moment that led to that style. While using the end of a ruler to make a design in a mug, the tool slipped and bunched up the clay. It was a fortuitous mistake. It gave the design texture and depth, she said. When she starts creating the design by pushing the surface of the clay on the form, she calls it “loralizing.”

Her pieces have an Art Nouveau design. “I was drawn to that type of design before I knew it had a name,” she said. “I love its fluidity.” She is also influenced by designs and patterns found in Gothic architecture, from her days as a choirgirl, staring at the architecture in cathedrals, notably the Cathedral of St. Philip’s in Buckhead, she recalled. She is inspired, too, by the fall and drape of textiles and fashion design. They provide movement to the texture on the clay form.

Rust has created her own tools that each make a special design element in

Art & Entertainment | 27

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net the clay and she has borrowed shapes for tools like a bear’s leg puzzle piece and an oar for a pirate ship puzzle, among others. She recently developed a basic set of tools that went on the market in February this year.

Using fine white porcelain clay, Rust throws her pieces on the wheel in her studio in the Zonolite complex in Atlanta. Once they are set to what is called “leather hard,” she begins pushing the design into the clay. When she has pieces ready, she packs them up for a trip to her soda kiln in Blue Ridge, Ga., where she and her husband have a second home.

Science and chemistry meld with artistry to create certain glazes and colors on all the pieces. It’s a complex process that requires careful placement in the kiln; the use of just the right amount of glazing chemicals – her favorite is copper; the proper spraying in the kiln with a mixture of water, baking soda and soda ash; proper venting and, of course, temperature. The sodium vapors glaze the exterior of each piece.

She is always experimenting and recently began looking beyond her functional vessels to create decorative wall pieces. “I want to keep on going,” Rust said, “and be a very old lady potter.”

She has been teaching at Callanwolde for 10 years and holds workshops nationwide. This is her fifth year in the American Craft Show in Atlanta. “I love being a local artist and connecting directly with customers. The Atlanta show is a big draw,” she said, “and it is an opportunity to meet other artists as well as to connect with potential art centers, galleries and workshops.”

Show are light in weight, airy, colorful and rich in texture.

Kidd is an architect with a boutique firm in the Old Fourth Ward. She works every day with glass, steel and concrete and exact measurements. “The softness and freedom of felting is a totally different experience and a kind of escape,” she said.

She discovered felting by way of a gift of a felted scarf from her sister and, she said, “I became obsessed with how to do it.” When the last recession hit the architectural community hard, Kidd was temporarily laid off. The silver lining was that she had time to pursue her obsession. Through experimentation, she taught herself the art of felting. She continues to experiment to discover new effects. The obsession is alive and well, and she has gone on to teach workshops in felting and win awards as a fiber artist.

Felting is an ancient process that has been used around the world for millennia. There is dry and wet felting. Kidd does both, but wet felting is her specialty. She lays out carded or combed and hand-dyed wool fibers -- choosing among alpaca, merino, cashmere, angora, mohair, yak and more -- on top of a length of fine natural fabric like silk or chiffon.

Bubble wrap protects her work tables in this wet art form.

With a practiced eye for color and de-

The freedom of felting

For many of us, the word felting may suggest a wool fabric in jackets and hats, and Kidd has created those, but her scarves featured at the American Craft

Join us in March for a St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, the beginning of Soccer Season and March Madness!

Now Open in Dunwoody 1221 Ashford Crossing in Perimeter Place Brookhaven 804 Town Blvd in Town Brookhaven Midtown 1551 Piedmont Ave NE at Monroe Drive www.hobnobatlanta.com

sign and an intimate knowledge of fibers, she is in her element. For design, she adds other fibers, like silk, ribbons or mixed fibers of various thicknesses. She then sprays the piece with warm soapy water that shrinks the fibers. A 10-foot length of silk can shrink to 6 feet long.

“Wool is the glue that holds it all together. It is a living fiber that entangles

and migrates through the layers,” she says. “Agitation -- rolling the assembled piece with a plastic-covered noodle -- and compression cause the fibers to hook together and make a single piece of fabric.”

It’s a long process that can involve hours to lay out and hours of rolling.

“Good for the arm muscles,” she said with a laugh.

Travel the World!

Passports and Visas, Stress Free & Fast!

404-464-7125 | visasupply.com

Lora Rust: LoraRust.com Debra Kidd: woolandworm.com American Craft Show in Atlanta

Health care for women by women

craftcouncil.org.

Friday, March 15 to Sunday, March 17 Cobb Galleria Centre, Two Galleria Parkway Tickets: One-day pass $12 advance, $13 on-site; $5 after 5 p.m. Friday night on-site purchases only; free for children under 12 and members.

Info: craftcouncil.org/atlanta

PremierCareForWomen.com Our team of experienced physicians provides comprehensive gynecologic services, in a compassionate environment, throughout every stage of a woman’s life.

• Annual Well-Woman Exams • Menopausal Care • Cervical Cancer Screenings • HPV Vaccinations

• Hormone Replacement Therapy • Minimally Invasive Hysterectomies • Contraception Management • Other Gynecological Issues

Dr. Eva Arkin, Dr. Sujatha Reddy, Dr. Laura Cummings, Dr. Nadine Becker & Dr. Jennifer Lyman

Call for an appointment: 404-257-0170 960 Johnson Ferry Road NE, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30342

28 | Art & Entertainment

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

Q&A with Clint Harp How Dunwoody shaped a famous TV woodworker

BY DOUG CARROLL

STEPHANIE BLYTHE & FRIENDS ing!

Everybody S

Friday, May 17 at 8:00Pm Saturday, May 18 at 8:00Pm

Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center at City Springs More information & tickets

atlantaopera.org | 404-881-8885

Perimeter North

Medical Associates

Perimeter North Medical Associates is proud to serve the families throughout the Atlanta area. Offering a full range of family medicine and endocrinology services, our experienced physicians offer attentive, compassionate care to keep you and your family happy and healthy at

For those who believe there are no coincidences in life, we give you Dunwoody’s Clint Harp and two occasions when his life took a fortuitous turn.

You might know about the first one, when Harp bumped into Chip Gaines at a gas station in Waco, Texas, seven years ago. At the time, Harp was broke and trying to make a go of his passion for custom furniture-making. One thing led to another, and within months the woodworker and Chip and Joanna Gaines were filming a pilot for “Fixer Upper,” which became a hit show for HGTV, airing for five years.

You probably don’t know about the second one, which happened way back when Harp was a teenager and part of a youth group at Dunwoody Baptist Church. Allen Jackson — then the church’s youth minister, now its senior pastor — had a soft spot for Harp, and both of them were part of the church’s mission trip to inner-city New Orleans.

“Somehow, we ended up at Café Du Monde together,” Harp recalls of the trip. “As we talked, he said, ‘Clint, there’s three types of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what just happened.’ And he also said, ‘Your integrity is the most important thing about you.’

“Those words of wisdom define me today. I’m a person of integrity, and I’m one who makes things happen.”

Harp’s ability to make things happen — by making things — has resulted in a measure of national

all stages of life. We accept most insurance plans and offer same-day appointments for sick visits.

Our Services Include: • Physical exams & wellness care for men, women & children • Care for chronic illness, including diabetes, hormone and thyroid disorders • Immunizations

NOW G REGISTERING IN R SP R FO BREAK & SUSMMER CAMP

• Acute illness treatment for colds, fevers, flu & more

Mithun Daniel, D.O.

Family Medicine

Diana Denman, M.D. Endocrinology

Charles Taylor, M.D.

Family Medicine

! s re tu u f ir e th rt ta s p m u J

Shetal Patel, M.D.

Family Medicine

Call 770-395-1130 for an appointment!

960 Johnson Ferry Rd. NE, Suite 300, Atlanta, Georgia 30342 PNFM.com

FREE baby classes * Just You & Me Kid * Preschool Gymnastics * Recreational Gymnastics Team * * J-Sport * J-Fit * Dance Boys Gymnastics * * School’s Out Camps * Acro * Silks Winter/Spring/Summer Camps * Birthday Parties Parents’ Night Out * * * Tumbling Clinics * Special Events * Jump Start Travels 5920 Roswell Rd Suite 208 * Sandy Springs, GA 30328 * WWW.JUMPSTARTGYM.COM * 404-252-JUMP (5867)

Art & Entertainment | 29

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net fame and will bring him to the 41st annual Atlanta Home Show for speaking appearances on March 22 and 23 at the Cobb Galleria Centre. (For more information, go to AtlantaHomeShow.com.)

None of Harp’s success — he’s also the author of a book, “Handcrafted: A Woodworker’s Story” — comes as a surprise to Jackson, who says he remembers a boy earnestly “trying to figure out his family” in the wake of his parents’ divorce.

“He was in the process of deciding to live a life of integrity, no matter where his journey took him,” Jackson says. “I remember picking him up so that he could be at church on Wednesday nights. I remember him being easy for everybody to like. He was friends with everybody.

“Clint is such a good, good guy. He was authentic then, just like he is now.”

We explored Harp’s Georgia days with him in a recent phone interview.

Q: How does Dunwoody fit into

your life story?

A: I’ll always consider Dunwoody

home. I was born at Piedmont Hospital in 1977, and in about 1980 I moved with my mom and stepdad to Asheville, North Carolina. For about eight years, I spent every other weekend back in Atlanta with my dad. At age 11, I moved back to Atlanta. I went to Woodland Elementary School, Ridgeview Middle School, Peachtree Junior High School and Dunwoody High School, graduating in 1996.

Q: What are some of your favorite memories of those days?

A: One of the best memories is the

time I spent with my family on my dad’s side in the Paces Ferry and Vinings area.

My granddad on my mom’s side, I got my genes for building from him. He built a house off Spalding Drive on the Chattahoochee River. I was constantly canoeing on the river and playing on a rope swing and hanging out on the sandbars. There

were peacocks walking around the yard.

My grandmother, Ann Callaway Martin, worked for President Carter at his library and knew the Carter family.

Q: What’s the first thing you ever built?

A: In shop class in the ninth grade, I built a trashcan out of pine for my mom.

Q: When you speak to an audience, as you will at the Atlanta Home Show, is there a message that you try to leave with them?

A: I try to tell a story. I believe that as

we share, we find that we have a lot in common. Everyone has themes in their life, and family struggle was a theme in mine. But people stepped up in my life, as well. I’m where I am because of all the things that happened in my life. I’ve used all of it to get to where I am today. I was married with two kids when I quit a six-figure job (in medical sales) to go for

my dream. We went for it. I chose years ago to make something happen with no promise of anything. I never would have met Chip Gaines if I hadn’t been going for it.

Q: What are the Gaineses like?

A: Joanna is just as talented as you

think she is. She’s the real deal, insanely gifted and a great person. Chip is just as funny in person [as he is on TV]. You want to have barbecue and a beer with him. He has an energy that attracts people to him.

Q: What are your thoughts about coming back to Atlanta for the show?

A: I’ve wanted to do the Atlanta Home

Show for a long, long time. I told them, “I don’t care what date it is, put me down for it!”

We sweat the details for you...

770.952.8300 tcava.com M-F 9-6 • Sat 11-3

HOME OF THE “NO BRAINER” VACATION

FAMILY SUMMER VACATIONS • 4 Night Key West & Cuba from $612pp • 6 nt. Key West & Cuba from $742pp • 5 nt. Key West & Cuba overnight from $1019pp • 7 nt. E. Caribbean from $1389pp • 7 nt. W. Caribbean from $1335pp

ALL ABOARD SALE

Get an up-close look at glaciers in Alaska. Get ready to go exploring in Europe. Get a group together for a cruise vacation sailing Summer 2019 and everyone will enjoy FREE specialty dining, plus up to $900 to spend on board.

New Bookings Only Book by 2/28/19.

BOOK NOW SAVINGS Save up to $2,000 per Suite • Tahiti & Cook Islands from $3,505pp • Sydney to Singapore from $3,649pp • Rome to Barcelona from $1,630pp • Roundtrip Barcelona from $1,630pp

ALL ABOARD SALE Get an up-close look at glaciers in Alaska. Get ready to go exploring in Europe. Get a group together for a cruise vacation sailing Summer 2019 and everyone will enjoy FREE specialty dining, plus up to $900 to spend on board.

New Bookings Only.

Book by 2/28/19.

Med and Alaska

• 10 Nt. French Riviera & Med. from $1319pp • 7 Nt. Alaska Glaciers from $1099pp • 7 Nt. Bermuda from $999pp • 7 Nt. Greece from $929pp • 7 Nt. Spain/France/Italy from $1699pp

Our Exclusive! FREE roundtrip ATL airport limo for any Alaska CruiseTour or European Cruise.

All pricing is capacity controlled and may change at any time without prior notice. All rates are per person, double occupancy. Taxes and port charges additional

30 | Art & Entertainment

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

A TV comedy pioneer joins a movie theater’s new era Continued from page 1 ring James Dean and Rock Hudson to Hollywood classics like 1935’s comedy “Ruggles of Red Gap” starring Charles Laughten, who went on to star as Quasimodo in 1939’s “Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

“We ran the gamut … it’s like what TCM [Turner Classic Movies] does now,” Tush says.

Tush also started hosting a 3 a.m. newscast on Channel 17, where he and a few crew members incorporated silly skits into a regular reading of events of the day.

There was the episode where Tush was literally dragged off the set by a “kidnapper” as part of a sketch highlighting news of diplomats being kidnapped around the globe, he said. “There was fake panic from the crew,” Tush remembers as he actually screamed while being forcefully removed from behind his news desk.

Then there was the addition of a new, award-winning weatherman from Cleveland, Ohio. Tush and his crew promoted his start date for a week.

On the day the new weatherman started, Tush said, he grabbed an older announcer who worked elsewhere in the station, positioned him in front of a weather map, and gave him his cue that he was on the air. The star weatherman introduced himself, then grabbed his chest as part of the gag and died on air, creating another fake panic on set.

“That was the joke!” Tush laughed.

Nothing was written down other than the weatherman would die on air after a week of anticipation, he said.

Late-night viewers were instantly amused and Tush achieved a cult following of fans captivated by this new niche entertainment. The success led him to becoming a face of Turner’s media empire during its fledgling years. He still receives an invitation to Turner’s birthday bash every year.

Tush’s 1970s newscasts are considered by many TV pundits as a pioneer in late-night TV. In 2002, renowned Associ-

Bill Tush, in rear, with Jan Hooks, at left, and the rest of the crew of the sketch comedy show “Tush” that aired on what is now TBS in 1980-81. The show helped launch Hooks’ career, including on “Saturday Night Live.”

SPECIAL

ated Press TV writer Frazier Moore wrote of Channel 17 and Tush’s brand of humor, “Here, a quarter-century ago, was Comedy Central’s ‘The Daily Show’ stripped down to raw abandon, on zero bucks.”

“People always say it was ‘The Daily Show’ before ‘The Daily Show.’ But it wasn’t,” says Tush with a headshake. “It was a crazy, all ad-libbed, [a] whatever goes, goes show. There were no writers, no scripts.”

Tush says he still writes jokes and humorous musings on one of his six typewriters in his Atlanta apartment. He keeps the pages and pages of ideas, with nowhere yet to go, in boxes of stationery paper he finds at Goodwill stores.

The success of his newscasts led Turner to give Tush his own one-hour sketch comedy show aptly named, “Tush.”

The one-hour show aired from 1980-81 on what is now the multichannel TBS network. The show helped launch Hooks’ career, as well as the careers of writers Bonnie and Terry Turner, who went on to

with the purchase of a Bundtlet

Sandy Springs 5975 Roswell Rd, Suite A-103 (404) 236-2114

NothingBundtCakes.com

One Act of Joy a Day

Expires 3/31/19. Limit one (1) coupon per guest. Coupon must be presented at time of purchase. Valid only at the bakery(ies) listed. No cash value. Coupon may not be reproduced, transferred or sold. Internet distribution strictly prohibited. Must be claimed in bakery during normal business hours. Not valid for online orders. Not valid with any other offer.

create such massive hit sitcoms as “3rd Rock from the Sun” and “That ’70s Show.”

Hooks was a master of many personalities, Tush says. On “Tush,” her character Tammy Jean pleaded in a sugary sweet Southern accent for viewers to donate money to save humanity from the evils of hang gliders. She sang the song “I’m Commercial,” a satire of Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman,” with the chorus, “I’m inane, I’m an imbecile, I’m commercial.” She played Tootsie Plunkette, the diva of the popular “Captain Space” skit, where Tush and others wore weight loss sauna suits as uniforms and oversized water bottles as helmets.

Sometimes Tammy Jean was so convincing, people would send in $4 or $5, he said. Back then, that was enough for a lunch.

“She was the star of the show,” Tush said of Hooks.

During a recent afternoon in the Springs Cinema lobby, Tush, 70, took out his cellphone and nervously played the last

message Hooks left him, the date stamp showing March 2014. Hooks died Oct. 9, 2014, at age 57, of throat cancer.

“I’m deathly afraid of erasing this darned thing,” Tush said, visibly frustrated as he taps his phone’s screen.

After a few seconds, “Biiiilllll!” in Hooks’ familiar voice, although a bit scratchy, finally played.

“It’s Jan. You’re probably away across the ocean, but, um, I haven’t talked to you in a while and I just wanted to check in … and I’ve been thinking about you,” she says.

“I hope all is well. OK. Bye.” “I don’t know what to do with this,” he says of the message, which came when he was working in Nigeria as a consultant for a new TV network. “When I came back, she was already dead ... and I had this message.”

When “Tush” was axed after one season, Turner landed Tush a job as host of a new entertainment show, “People Now,” on CNN. The new gig meant packing up and moving from Atlanta to Los Angeles. Tush and Hooks were roommates along with a former “Tush” writer; all three decided to take their chances and head to Hollywood together.

“She’s out there, doing her thing, getting nowhere. Then [“People Now”] is canceled, and I’m left drifting,” he says. “She’s struggling. And she’d call me and say, ‘I can’t take it anymore. I’m calling you to tell you I’m killing myself.

“I’d say, don’t do it! And meet me at Alan Hale’s Lobster Barrel,” he says of what became a tradition for the duo.

The two would meet at the small restau-

Art & Entertainment | 31

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net rant where Hale, the skipper from “Gilligan’s Island,” would come out every night at 6 p.m. and make an appearance.

“And we’d go there and drink and laugh,” Tush says with a smile. “And a week later, I’d call Jan and say the same thing, and we’d meet again.”

Tush then got a gig at CNN’s “Showbiz Today” in New York City and Hooks called a few months later to say she was coming to New York to do “Saturday Night Live.”

She also went on to do “Designing Women” and also “3rd Rock from the Sun,” a show created by former “Tush” writers Bonnie and Terry Turner.

“So, we went from Atlanta to L.A. to New York together. We were always together,” he says. “We’d call each other four times a week to talk about stupid things. And then I go to Nigeria and she gets sick.”

Hooks was a heavy smoker and Tush said he later learned she smoked right up

to the end, removing her oxygen mask to take a drag and to drink her wine.

“We always had this running gag where she’d go, ‘Biiiillllll!’ he said. “We had so many crazy fun times together.”

A few months ago, another close friend and “Tush” alum, Bob Gillies, died. Gillies had starred in “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In” in 1967 before becoming teaming up with Tush and Hooks.

Gillies is now in an urn on a shelf in

Tush’s apartment. Tush said he’s not sure what he’s going to do with him. Sneaking his ashes on an upcoming trip to London on the Queen Mary luxury cruise ship and dumping them into the ocean may be a good idea, he says.

“He’d like that,” Tush says. “He’s got nowhere to go. Like me, I’ve got nowhere to go. Throw me over the side.”

Springs Cinema & Taphouse renovation gets rave reviews

BY DYANA BAGBY dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net

At a Feb. 7 VIP reception, more than 100 people gathered to see for the first time the extensive renovations to Springs Cinema & Taphouse movie theater, formerly the Lefont. Plenty of “oohs” and “ahs” were expressed at everything from the new rug in the lobby area, the tasty food, bartenders slinging cocktails and such details as movie reel fixtures throughout the lobby.

Attendees were able to catch a free screening of now Best Picture Oscar-winner “Green Book” while checking out seats that heat up or extend into recliners with a push of a button.

“This theater is important to Sandy Springs,” said Howard Mavity at the reception. As a 16-year city resident, he said he watched movies at the theater when it was operated by George Lefont and plans to attend even more screenings at its sequel under the helm of new owner Brandt Gully.

“I loved George, but it was time,” Mavity said. “What’s [Gully] has done is very unique. It’s a home run. This place has been embraced by the city.”

A full bar where people can grab a Jack and Coke and watch a basketball game, a venue where nonprofit organizations can hold fundraisers, and even a place where a pre-teens can have celebrate birthdays and play “Fortnite” on the big screen – these are all now available at what Gully says is “different than your typical chain movie theater.”

But make no mistake, movies – art films, foreign films, blockbusters -- are the top priorities, he said.

“First and foremost, this is a movie theater,” Gully said, “and it is when people come to the movies that they discover what else we have.”

Gully purchased the theater in 2017 from Lefont, who retired after a career that spanned more than 40 years of making Atlanta movie history as the owner of the Silver Screen in Buckhead; the landmark Plaza Theatre, still Atlanta’s oldest continuously operating theater; the Screening Room; and the Garden Hills Cinema.

The theater is located in the Parkside Shops shopping center at 5920 Roswell Road, in the rear facing Sandy Springs Circle.

Gully is no amateur when it comes to running a movie theater. For years he’s worked in securing funding for construction and renovation of movie theaters and other entertainment venues, including at the large corporation GE Capital, and working with such major chains as AMC and General Cinemas.

In 2009, he started his own business,

EFA Partners, to help venues broker funding. Among local companies he has worked with are the CineBistro at Town Brookhaven theater and the Topgolf golf-oriented entertainment complexes.

Lefont gave him an office at his theater about three years ago and Gully said he fell in love with the place and in love with the loyal customers. But the movie theater was falling into serious disrepair. Dirt and muck caked the floors, hot dogs sold from behind the register came with buns that were hard as a rock, and over the summer the air conditioning units went out in two theaters. Gully wanted to take his experience and transform the theater he knew was important to the community.

“I think the location is fantastic for an entertainment venue ... and there’s tons of exciting growth in the area,” Gully said.

For more information, see springscinema.com

Springs Cinema & Taphouse boasts new luxury recliners as seating in the renovated movie theater.

SPECIAL

50 YEARS OF

CELEBRATION Member & Lottery Registration

Open March 15-31 at AJC.com/peachtree Members register at atlantatrackclub.org/peachtree All others register at ajc.com/peachtree

32 | Special Section

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

Play your part!

SPRING BRE AK & SUMMER CAMPS

on sale now!

AGES

3–5 REGISTER TODAY! alliancetheatre.org/dramacamp 404.733.4700 12 8 0 PE ACHT REE S T NE, AT L ANTA GA 3 0 3 0 9

GRADES

K–12

After-care available.

Satellite locations: Alpharetta Arts Center • The Galloway School • Lovett School • Mount Paran Christian School • Oglethorpe University • First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta

Academic, specialty, and sports camps for children ages 4 to 13!

June 3–28 | July 29–August 2

trinityatl.org/summercamp 4301 Northside Parkway NW, Atlanta

|

p 404-231-8117

NEW 2019 Summer Camps at Dunwoody Baptist Church

Dream it. Plan it. Make it happen.

SUMMER ADVENTURE CLUB

Now Enrolling!

At Summer Adventure Club, children discover the joys of Design Thinking: a fun and innovative way to learn. Engineering

for Preschoolers • Program Dates: May 28-Aug. 9 • Flexible Schedules • Space is Limited - Call Today!

design challenges, hands-on experiments and themed activities await as children

Primrose School of Atlanta Westside

unlock new ways of thinking—all while

2260 Marietta Blvd., Suite 114

having a blast! It’s our way of teaching them to think more ways always.

Camp Unite

Atlanta, GA 30318 404.565.0257 PrimroseAtlantaWestside.com

Learn more at PrimroseSummer.com

For children ages 2 yrs - f inished kindergarten 9 am - 1 pm each day

ALL NEW

Camp All-American

at Dunwoody Bapt ist Church For children ages 6 years by week of camp - 12/13 years 9 am - 4 pm each day

For more information and weekly summer schedules visit DBC.ORG/CAMPS

Each Primrose School is a privately owned and operated franchise. Primrose Schools is a trademark of Primrose School Franchising Company. ©2019 Primrose School Franchising Company. All rights reserved. Ages for Summer Adventure Club program vary by location.

camp_unite_reporter-ad-2019.indd 1

1/28/2019 10:37:59 AM

MARCH 2019

■

Special Section | 33

www.ReporterNewspapers.net

CAMP REGISTRATION OPENS JANUARY 21ST!

You don’t want to miss out! Sign up at WWW.WESLEYANSCHOOL.ORG/SUMMERCAMPS

Summer Academy at UGA

1&2 week sessions for ages 6-16!

Experience a world of learning and fun in Athens!

On top of Lookout Mountain on the banks of Little River...

Only 1.5 hours east of Huntsville and 2 hours from Atlanta, Nashville & Birmingham

ACTIVITIES Horseback Riding Swimming (Heated Pool) Ropes Course Climbing Tower Tennis Canoeing Golf Gymnastics Dance Cheerleading Flag Twirling Archery Arts and Cras Knitting Chorus and Drama Outdoor Living Skills Basketball Volleyball Soccer Riflery Trip Day River Water Blob Campfire every night Counselor-In-Training Christian Leadership

We l c o m e t o R i v e r v i e w C a m p f o r G i r l s !

Yo u r Aw a r d Wi n n i n g C a m p E x p e r i e n c e !

C o n fi d e n c e , C h a r a c t e r, Ad v e n tu r e , I n s p i r a t i o n !

When you attend our summer camp or our mother-daughter weekends, you will have an amazing time on a mountain top, sharing moments of fun, faith, and adventure!

Recognized as one of the South’s favorite private summer camp for girls, Riverview’s exciting programs are appreciated by both campers and parents!

Girls from the South and International campers as well, are among our camp families!

Dr. Larry and Susan Hooks, Owners/Directors For more information and a free DVD: www.riverviewcamp.com 800-882-0722

Spring & Fall Mother-Daughter Weekend Also Available!

Sign up online!

Camps in June & July Summer Academy at UGA is an exciting series of specialty academic summer camps in Athens for middle school and high school students who want to do amazing things.

Camps include Mini Medical School, Culinary, Engineering, Game Design, and many more.

We offer a residential option for students to stay with us all week in a college dorm.

Registration Now Open Visit our website for more information

www.riverviewcamp.com has an extensive Frequently Asked Questions section for

first-time camper families and several enjoyable videos!

June 3 - July 26

ugasummer.com

For more information contact us at questions@georgiacenter.uga.edu or 706-542-3537

Inspiring Early Learners through 12th grade

SUMMER CAMPS 2017

CELEBRATING MORE THAN A DECADE OF EXCELLENCE

SUMMER CAMPS CAMPS 20 2017 SUMMER 19 CELEBRATING MORE THAN AOF DECADE OF EXCELLENCE A LONG HISTORY EXCELLENCE

5-STAR SPORTS LITTLE SPORTS MVP FUN & GAMES GYMNASTICS & CHEER BOYS GYMNASTICS AND NINJA CO-ED GYMNASTICS TINY TUMBLERS PRINCESS BALLERINA CONTEMPORARY, BALLET & MODERN CO-ED HIP HOP ITTY BITTY HIP HOP DANCE INTENSIVE MUSICAL THEATRE ABRAKADOODLE ...and More

404-842-5852

Registration now open at thewalkerschool.org/summer

REGISTER NOW: thegymatpeachtree.org

34 | Special Section

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

,¾,·�t;: \":-�.. ,. ::,l. v

/ �4iXPLORE. CONNECT. ACHIEVE. HAVE FUN;

Session I: Session 2: Session g:

June 3 - �une 21 June 24 - �ulY. 12 (No Camp July 4th) JulY. 15 - �ugust 2

F.ouni::lea 1973 I Roswell, G� 7Z0.993.':"/.975 I higtimeaaowscamP..org

H I G H M U S E U M O F A R T AT L A N T A

SUMMER

JUNE 3 – AUG 2, 2019 Members receive 25% off camp!

Explore art, get messy, and have a blast!

Register your artists for a weeklong art camp at the High. We offer camp options for grades 1 through 8. Campers will explore the collection, sketch in the galleries, and create artwork.

For class descriptions, times, and pricing, visit high.org/camp.

Atlanta Intown Feb 2018 _CAMP_4.94x5.6297.indd 1

1/15/19 1:21 PM

AGES 5 – 17

Sports, Music Technology, Fun & Games, Choral Music, STEAM Camp, SAT/ACT Prep, College Essay Start-Up, After Camp Care, and more...

MARCH 2019

■

Special Section | 35

www.ReporterNewspapers.net

CAM

SUMMER CAMPS

PS

• Sports • Gymnastics • Science • Technology • Engineering • Nature • Arts & Crafts • Theater

STARTI NG

PER WEE

K

CAMPS THAT ENGAGE, ENTERTAIN AND EDUCATE YOUR CHILD We offer a variety of quality summer day camps in Sandy Springs that encourage positive character development! Our staff are committed to providing a safe environment where campers can be challenged and achieve success.

Things are heating up outside—and inside—the studio. This summer, we’ll explore dance from ballet and tap to jazz and hip hop. Plus, arts, crafts and dance-themed games. Camps run from June through August for dancers of all ages and skill levels. Come dance with us!

Enroll today at elitestudiosatl.com/summer-camp THE EXCHANGE AT HAMMOND 5962 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs, GA 30328 ELITESTUDIOSATL.COM 404.500.1738 © 2019 Elite Studios, LLC

Learn more at registration.sandyspringsga.gov.

W E S L E YA N

SUMMER

CAMPS

EXCITING SUMMER ADVENTURES June 3–28, 2019

ESA CAMP

Preschool Camp (2s–PK) and Adventure Camp (K–6th) • Returning Camps include Circus Camp, Drone Camp, Art, Drama and Sports • New Camps include Steam Quest (STEAM Challenges and more!)

• Before and After Care available • Multi-Week Discount • Half Day or Full Day programs

REGISTER FOR CAMP TODAY!

Register today at epsteinatlanta.org/esa

5242 ESA SSR ad_f.indd 1

You don’t want to miss out! Sign up at WWW.WESLEYANSCHOOL.ORG/SUMMERCAMPS

11/15/18 11:38 AM

36 | Special Section

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

Make a splash this summer.

Your summer. Your adventure.

Traditional day, sports, and specialty camps for children 3-18 years

BEYOND CAMP

Learn more at westminster.net/summer

SUMMER CAMPS at

WESTMINSTER Love. Challenge. Lead. Change.

Customize your summer camp experience.

Galloway’s summer camps are open to all children ages 3 and up and are held on our campus in beautiful Chastain Park.

Register now at gallowayschool.org/camp Come to CAMP CHATUGA for your best summer ever!

To receive a $50 DISCOUNT off your 2019 registration, email us at mail@ campchatuga.com

by May 1st and mention this Reporter Newspaper advertisement!

BMX (Bikes) • Horseback • Waterskiing • Crafts • Drama • Archery • Riflery Sports • Animal Care • Frisbee Golf • Outdoor Living Skills • Campfire Cooking Fitness (Yoga, Zumba®) • Canoeing • Guitar • Nature • Survivor • Diving Swim Games • Swing/Line Dancing • Cheerleading • Tubing • Creative Writing

Mountain Rest, SC (864) 638-3728 www.campchatuga.com

SciKidz Where Sc ience & Te chnology Co nnect!

$25 OFF 60 STEM and STEAM Camps To Choose From!

• F/X - Zombie

• Food Truck Science • LEGO Robotics • Video Gaming

• Veterinary Medicine

• Grossology

• Coding

NEW FOR 2019 STEAM CAMPS! • American Girl

Follow us on Facebook!

www.playbyplaycamps.com

800-319-0884 | info@playbyplaycamps.com

DAY/OVERNIGHT OPTIONS AVAILABLE!

:: Sports Camp

• Marvel Stop Motion

678-493-5651 support@clubscikidz.com

:: Tennis Camp

Space is limited. Register today!!

• Mystical & Magical

www.ClubSciKidz.com

Enroll Online!

s

Boys & Girl 10-18

Choose from 2 exciting and amazing camps!

ART & SCIENCE CONNECTED!

• The Great Masters • Manga Maker

Complete registration online!

play videos

HOST your own sports talk radio and PTI style shows PRACTICE sports social media and podcasting

Our professional staff has prepared another exciting summer of fitness and educational fun. We will encourage each child to express his or her own creativity as well as explore and discover new activities.

Early Bird Registration

Including:

ATLANTA JULY 15 - 19, 2019

LEARN from top sports broadcasters MEET professional coaches and athletes CREATE your own sports anchor, reporting, and play-by-

Have a Blast! with us this summer.

Code: EAST19. See our website for details!

• Minecraft

TH RETURNS FOR OUR 12 YEAR!

SUMMER CAMP 2019 MAY 29-AUGUST 9

Atlanta’s Best Summer Camps

Club

SportsBroadcastingCamp

One, Two, Three and Four Week Sessions for Boys & Girls Ages 6 to 16

23

V

For more information or to register, contact Patricia Alvarez at 770.698.2017 or palvarez@wellbridge.com

MARCH 2019

â–

www.ReporterNewspapers.net

Special Section | 37

Horse Lovers Summer Camp Chastain Horse Park - convenient Buckhead location!

Boys and girls ages 4-8 – Mon-Fri 8am-1pm Many weeks to choose from during Summer 2019 Camp activities for our younger riders include horsemanship instruction (grooming, safety and more), riding lessons, crafts and games!

Contact us at (404) 252-4244 ext.1001 or camps@chastainhorsepark.org.

More information regarding summer schedule dates and registration form can be found at chastainhorsepark.org, select Riding Services, then select Summer Camp!

www.chastainhorsepark.org 404-252-4244 ext.1001

a High-energy, hands-on stem camp

1,600+ Summer Programs Nationwide!

Save $25 using promo code: INNOVATE25RPRINT at invent.org/camp

In partnership with the USPTO

38 |

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

BROOKHAVEN

•

BUCKHEAD

PERFORMANCES URINETOWN, THE MUSICAL

Explore, connect, create change for a better world.

A welcoming community with local roots and global reach, composed of families from over 90 countries.

• An intellectually stimulating environment for inquisitive, hands-on explorers who learn by doing and questioning • Full immersion preschool and partial immersion primary programs in French, German, Mandarin and Spanish • International Baccalaureate curriculum, Grades 3K - 12 2890 North Fulton Drive Atlanta, Georgia, 30305 404•841•3840

www.aischool.org

Thursday, March 7 through Saturday, March 9, 7 p.m.

A satirical musical about a world where a corporation controls restrooms, performed

by Chamblee OnStage students. Chamblee Charter High School Auditorium, 3688 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road Chamblee.

Tickets $10. Info: cchsurinetown.bpt.me.

XANADU, JR.

Thursday, March 7 through Sunday, March 17 Jerry’s Habima Theatre, Georgia’s only theatrical company featuring actors with special needs, presents a musical about a Greek Muse coming to California. Morris & Rae Frank Theatre, Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Members: $25, Non-members: $35.

Info: 678-812-4002, or visit online at atlantajcc.org/habima.

SOUTH PACIFIC

Thursday, March 8 through Sunday March 17 Directed and choreographed by Tony Award Recipient Baayork Lee, the 10-time Tony

H I G H

•

DUNWOODY

•

SANDY SPRINGS

Award winning musical comes to Sandy Springs. Set on a tropical island during World War II, the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic tells a story about love transcending the harsh realities of war and prejudice. Presented by City Springs Theatre Company. Byers Theatre, Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs. $30-$62, Info: citysprings.com.

POETRY OUT LOUD

Sunday, March 17, 1 p.m.

A high school poetry competition incorporating the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken word, and theater into the English and drama class. The Georgia winner competes at the National Finals in Washington, D.C. Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road, Buckhead. Free. Info: atlantahistorycenter. com.

ANASTASIA AND PETER PAN

Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24 Roswell Dance Theatre and Atlanta Dance Theatre present “Anastasia, Once Upon a December” and “Peter Pan, Pirates and Pixie Dust.” Byers Theatre, Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs. $20-$28, Info: citysprings.com

HIGH MUSEUM OF ART ATLANTA | HIGH.ORG

Enjoy free admission and special programs on the second Sunday of each month.

Designed for little kids, big kids, and the whole family, Second Sundays are for everyone. Visit us each month and experience new interactive, innovative family activities inspired by our collections and ever-changing exhibitions.

Second Sundays are sponsored by the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation.

Art & Entertainment | 39

MARCH 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net

ARIEL RIVKA DANCE COMPANY

Saturday, March 23, 8 p.m.; Sunday, March 24, 5 pm The all-female contemporary group based in New York/New Jersey uses emotional movement, precise technique and harmonized collaboration in their critically acclaimed performances. MJCCA – Zaban Park, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Members: adults $25, children $15; Non-members: adults $36, children $20 Info: atlantajcc.org/arielrivka.

MUSYKA, MUSIQUE, MUSICA, MUZIK, MUSIC

Sunday, March 24, 4 p.m.

The Atlanta Concert Band and Synagogue Ahavath Achim is present a concert of influences on the American sound. Synagogue Ahavath Achim, 600 Peachtree Battle Avenue, Atlanta. Free. Info: atlantaconcertband.org.

LISTEN: WORKS BY WOMEN

Sunday, March 24, 4 p.m.

A special chamber performance by Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musicians honors Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day with chamber music written by women. Skylight Gallery, Oglethorpe University Museum of Art, Lowry Hall, 3rd Floor, 4484 Peachtree Road NE, Brookhaven. Free.

Info: connect.oglethorpe.edu.

VISUAL ARTS SEVEN POINTS OF VIEW

Saturday, March 9, 6-8 p.m., through April 17 An exhibition of paintings by the collective “Seven Points of View,” based at the Chastain Arts Center, featuring works from Claudia Earnest, Brenda Hinton, Cindy James, Margot Longreen, Helen McSwain, Twinkle Nelson, Sheryl Pressler, Sallie Ritter Smith and Kay Summers. Gallery 4945, Highpoint Episcopal Community Church, 4945 High Point Road, Sandy Springs. Info: gallery4945.weebly.com or Clara Blalock at 404-434-9606.

LEARN SOMETHING

EXPLORING MARS

Thursday, March 14, 8 p.m.

National Geographic Live hosts NASA mechanical engineer Kobie Boykins, a supervisor of the mobility and remote sensing teams for the rover Curiosity and winner of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal. Studio Theatre, Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs. $35. Info: citysprings.com.

SWARM SCIENCE: HOW HONEYBEES MAKE DECISIONS

Saturday, March 16 and Sunday March 17, 10 a.m.

Is it really true that the queen bee calls the shots? How do honeybees communicate and make the best decision for the hive community? Come for a fascinating close-up look at the latest honeybee research, complete with hive observations, a honey tasting, and an outdoor experience part of the Atlanta Science Festival. Blue Heron Nature Preserve Field Research Center, 3931 Land O’Lakes Drive, Buckhead. $12. Info: atlantasciencefestival.org

FESTIVALS ATLANTA JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL

Thursday, March 7 through Saturday, March 16 The Atlanta Jewish Music Festival shares and celebrates Jewish heritage through music and artist experiences, this year featuring Grammy-winning artists, up-and-coming bands and history presentations on the theme of “Jewish Contributions to American Music.”

Performers include Bill Charlap Trio (March 7, Atlanta History Center) and soul-pop band Lawrence (March 9, Vinyl @ Center Stage).

Various locations and prices. Info: atlantajmf.org.

WHAT’S ON THE DARK WEB?

Tuesday, March 12, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

At the Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber Signature Luncheon, Dr. Donald Hunt, a cybersecurity expert and former National Security Agency and FBI consultant, will bring the “dark web” of unlisted internet sites to life and chat about how criminals operate. Westin Atlanta Perimeter North, 7 Concourse Parkway, Sandy Springs. Members: $40, nonmembers: $45. Info: business.sandyspringsperimeterchamber.com.

THE ASTROBIOLOGY OF STAR WARS

Wednesday, March 13, 5-7 p.m.

Gather for this all-ages Star Wars adventure, where Professor Jay Dunn and Dr. Jessica Parilla will lead a discussion on how the worlds and aliens of the “Star Wars” films compare to known planets and life in our solar system and beyond. Part of the Atlanta Science Festival. Georgia State University Perimeter College, Dunwoody Campus, Building NC, Room 1100, 2101 Womack Road, Dunwoody. Free.

Info: atlantasciencefestival.org.

960 Johnson Ferry Road NE, Suite 500 Atlanta, GA 30342

Expert care for your lungs.

Our expert staff of board-certified physicians diagnose and treat patients with pulmonary disorders and critical care needs with the highest standard of care, offering leading-edge therapies and technology through a patientcentered approach. We offer a wide range of surgical and nonsurgical treatment options, clinical studies and on-site advanced diagnostic capabilities in a convenient location.

Accepting new patients!

For an appointment call: 404-257-0006 Our specialties include: • Asthma • COPD • Interstitial lung disease • Lung cancer • Occupational lung diseases

• Pulmonary embolism • Pulmonary hypertension • Respiratory failure • Sarcoidosis • Sepsis

Atlanta’s Newest Family Medicine Practice

MADAME FOURCADE’S SECRET WAR

Monday, March 11, 8 p.m.

Author Lynne Olson discusses her book about the leader of a Resistance intelligence organization, during World War II. Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road, Buckhead.

Members $5; non-members $10. Info: atlantahistorycenter.org or 404-814-4150.

PCCATL.net

Meet our New Buckhead Doctors

Primary Care Doctors with Urgent Care Hours ■ Primary Care ■ Urgent Care ■ Men’s Health ■ Women’s Health

Joshua Yager, MD Family Medicine

Lindsay Young, DNP Family Medicine

■ Medical Weight Loss ■ Wellness Physical ■ Travel Medicine Most Insurance Accepted Walk-in or Schedule an Appointment

3867 Roswell Rd NE, Atlanta, GA, 30342 (1/2 mile north of Piedmont, across from Superica, formerly Perimeter Clinic Buckhead)

678-904-5611 www.allcarefamilymed.com Hours: Mon-Fri 9am - 7pm, Sat 10am - 5pm

40 |

Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News

Experience Metro Atlanta’s Most Exciting Spring Festival Artist Market • Pet World Kidz Zone • Classic Car Show

FREE PERFORMANCES

SMASH MOUTH

The Wallflowers

March 30-31, 2019 Blackburn Park 3493 Ashford Dunwoody Rd.

SPIN DOCTORS

The ROMANTICS

Josie Dunne • The Marias • HONNA • Wesley Cook March 23 Cherry Blossom 5k

to benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta 2019 Peachtree Road Race Qualifier

BrookCherryFest.org SplashFestivals.com SPONSORED BY:

Stone Mountain Park • Oglethorpe University Atlanta Braves • LeafFilter Gutter Protection MAA Post Briarcliff • Perimeter Summit • Regency Centers