January 2012

  • Decatur Salutes 2011 Hometown Heroes

    Decatur honored 14 Hometown Heroes for contributions made to the Decatur community on December 6 at the December Decatur Business Association meeting held at Agnes Scott College. The 2011 Heroes are Alan Ashe, Marc Brennan, Roger Bryant, Jodi Dick, Daniel Flores, Walter Kellar, Lori Leland Kirk, Louis and Sandra Rice, Susan Riley, Mark Sanders, Melissa Stratton, Seegar Swanson and Kyle Williams.


  • Bring One for the Chipper

    Each year, Keep Georgia Beautiful works with private sponsors to organize the Bring One for the Chipper Christmas tree-recycling event. The Chipper program involves hundreds of Georgia communities and thousands of volunteers. Since its inception, the program has recycled over 4.8 million Christmas trees. Mulch from these trees has been used for playgrounds, local government beautification projects, and individual yards.  


  • Centers for Disease Control — Part of Atlanta's Rich His-tory

    Adjoining the Emory campus and with historical associations to the university, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is critical to not only America’s but also international well-being. It provides health information, engages in critical research and tracks down the source of epidemics worldwide.


  • 2012 Cathedral Antiques Show Names Inspiration House Designers

    For the second year, a group of talented designers will transform The Deanery on the grounds of the Cathedral of St. Philip in Buckhead into “Inspiration House,” a wonderful addition to the 2012 Cathedral Antiques Show and Tour of Homes (www.cathedralantiques.org). 


  • Atlanta Boy Choir Sings in Russia

    The world famous Atlanta Boy Choir has been invited to join Russia’s renowned Glinka Choir in presenting a concert on June 4 in The Great Hall of the Philharmonic in St. Petersburg, Russia. Although the Atlanta Boy Choir has appeared in Russia several times since 1990, this is the first time they have been asked to perform with another Russian choir in The Great hall of the Philharmonic. 


  • Blast Off in SPACE!

    The Center for Puppetry Arts presents SPACE!, January 26-March 11. In space, no one can hear you... learn! Blast off on a galactic journey of scientific facts and pure fantasy with your hosts, Ot and Eema! Discover out-of-this-world facts about planets, stars, meteors and more! Feel the gravitational pull with Sir Isaac Newton, gaze at Saturn’s rings with Galileo, rock out on the asteroid belt, and cheer on the moon landing of 1969.


  • 2012 Home Garden Training Series

    On Thursday, January 26 at 7 p.m., DeKalb Extension Service kicks off its 2012 Home Garden Training Series at the Extension Training Center, 4380 Memorial Dr., Decatur. The evening’s topic is Basics of Home Landscape Design. Instructors are Lynwood Blackmon and Sarah Brodd of the Extension Horticulture staff. Whether it’s time to do a new landscape or revive an old one, you need to make a plan. 


  • Create a Wildlife Habitat

    Karen Lindauer, an avid gardener and active member of the Georgia Native Plant Society, will present a program on “Creating Habitat Using Native Plants” to the Mountain Shadow Garden Club at their January meeting. Following early retirement from the CDC, Karen and her husband moved from the Morningside area in Atlanta to Tucker, where they purchased a house on a nearly 2-acre property.


  • Morningside Elementary is a 2011 Georgia School of Ex-cellence

    Morningside Elementary School is among 26 schools throughout the state that earned the 2011 Georgia Schools of Excellence in Student Achievement recognition.  Morningside Elementary was among only 13 schools recognized for being in the top 10 percent of schools, as measured by state assessments in reading and mathematics.


  • Hightower Indian Trail Site

    In prehistoric Native American times in what is now North Georgia, long before there were even tribes, the cultural capital was at Etowah, near modern-day Cartersville—still the site of the fantastic Etowah Indian mounds. Connecting Etowah to an Indian trading post at the site of present day Augusta, Georgia, was a long trail, a kind of “interstate highway” that crossed a ford on the Chattahoochee River at today’s Roswell.


  • Bringing the Joy of Music to Children

    Making this recent holiday season bright, Blue Star Connection brought gifts of beautiful, new musical instruments to patients working with music therapists throughout the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta three-hospital system. 


     “Having a non-profit like Blue Star Connection that is now donating guitars, electric pianos and other instruments to our patients is a blessing. It is incredible to see the excitement, hope, and empowerment that grow in each patient when they discover they will be getting a guitar or instrument of their own to take home and keep,” said Cori Snyder, an award-winning music therapist working at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite within the Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit. 


  • Encouraging Kids To Explore Outdoors

    Interacting with the natural world can help children develop a healthy respect for the marvels of nature. The great outdoors is one big exciting science lesson waiting to be discovered, and it is a world that kids are naturally fascinated by. There are great ways to get kids to interact with nature. The new season of the PBS KIDS’ hit series “Dinosaur Train” features a nature club theme that the kids name “The Nature Trackers,” which encourages kids to get outside, get into nature and make their own discoveries.


  • Blueberry Pancake: Simply Sweet and Easy

    For a quick twist on blueberry flapjacks, why not try a Blueberry-Filled Dutch Pancake? This family-sized pancake is quick and easy to mix in the blender, and bakes in the oven.  The Dutch pancake puffs as it bakes and quickly settles down as it cools to be filled with big luscious blueberries that are gently poached in syrup.  Fresh and frozen blueberries are a great way to start the day.


  • Window Winners!

     All the shops in Downtown Tucker were wonderfully decorated in festive holiday fashion and made Christmas so much merrier in Tucker. Tucker Historical Society held its Annual Storefront Window Decorating Contest on Tuesday night during the Christmas on Main Holiday Festival.  The judges visited all the shops and, after much consideration, the winners were announced. Kelly Holloway, owner of the Custom Frame Shop, won 1st Place, Jonathan Carr, owner of PPS (Palliative Pharmacy Solutions), took 2nd Place, and Larry Schupbach, owner of Village Shoe Service, was awarded 3rd Place


  • 7th Annual Run With The Dogs

    The Decatur Bulldog Boosters would like to let the Decatur dog-loving and running communities know of the 7th Annual Decatur Bulldog Boosters 5K “Run with the Dogs” on Saturday, January 7th at 9:00 am. The race will feature a single 5K race where runners and dog-owners can run with (or without) their dogs. T-shirts, awards, and treats will be available to race participants as well as a sporty “race”-kerchief for canine participants.


  • Furkids and SmallDog Rescue Join Forces

    Furkids, Inc. (www.furkids.org), one of the most successful nonprofit animal rescue organizations in the southeast, is joining forces with a respected leader in the Atlanta rescue community, SmallDog Rescue & Humane Society (www.smalldoghumane.org). 


    Effective immediately, Furkids will acquire SmallDog Rescue & Humane Society, assuming total responsibility for the management and operation of the organization. This acquisition allows the SmallDog Rescue & Humane Society board members – executive director Anne Stockton, secretary Pat Bittinger and treasurer Linda Gill, to retire from daily, active business management.