Events and happenings: The Week of Dec. 3
Dec. 2—Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Celebration
The Acworth MLK Celebration and Day of Service will be held Jan. 16.
Participants can join in for a light welcome breakfast at 8:30 a.m. at the Roberts School Community and Education Center. Following the breakfast, the Unity Walk will begin at 9:15 a.m. and leave from the Roberts School Community and Education Center to finish at the Acworth Community Center.
The program honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will take place at 10 a.m. in the Tanyard Creek Overlook of the Acworth Community Center. After the program concludes, the service project will begin and help an organization within the community.
MLK Day of Service shirts will be for sale at the Acworth Community Center leading up to and on the day of the event. All proceeds will go towards the Acworth Expanding Horizons and Acworth Achievers programs.
For more information, visit www.acworthexpandinghorizons.org.
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Special Olympics Georgia Polar Plunge
Special Olympics Georgia presents the 14th Annual Polar Plunge which will be held on Feb. 25 at Cauble Park in Acworth.
The plunging will occur between 9:45 a.m. and 1 p.m. The Polar Plunge is one of Special Olympics Georgia largest fundraising
events through the efforts of the Law Enforcement Torch Run Program. All proceeds raised go to help provide 26,620 Special Olympics Georgia athletes free year-round sports training.
For more information and to register, visit polarplungega.org.
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Horizon Gala
Tickets are now on sale now for the 2023 Horizon Ability Gala.
The Horizon Ability Gala will be held March 3 at the Tanyard Creek Overlook at the Acworth Community Center. There will be a unique fine dining experience, silent auction, live auction and jazz ensemble. Proceeds from the Gala go directly to the Horizon League and will help it continue to keep registration costs down and offer quality programs. Within the last several years, businesses and Acworth residents have donated over $300,000 to this cause.
To buy tickets, visit www.horizonabilitygala.org.
The Horizon Ability Gala raises funds to advance its mission to strive for a better quality of life for children
and adults with special needs.
For more information, contact Lauren Ham at lham@acworth.org or 770-917-1234.
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Horizon League Baseball
The Horizon League provides children and adults with cognitive and physical disabilities the opportunity to participate in athletic events, develop lasting relationships among their peers, coaches and parents and demonstrate to them that they are an important part of their community by creating an environment of inclusion for both the participants and their families.
The League is open to youth and adults, ages five and up. Teams are broken up by age groups. Games are non-competitive and each player on the roster gets on base before the opposing team gets to bat.
Youth & Teen League is April 15 to May 20. Adult League is Thursday evenings from April 13 to May 18.
The facility is the Acworth Sports Complex — Horizon Field. League cost is $15 per player and the deadline is March 24.
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Town Center at Cobb mall to host Caffeine & Octane on Dec. 4
Town Center at Cobb mall, 400 Ernest Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw, will have the Caffeine & Octane's monthly car show, featuring a MOPAR theme, on Dec. 4 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Spectators can find the family-friendly event, which hosts over 1,000 rare automobiles, in the parking lot near Belk and JCPenney. Throughout the free event, guests can make toy donations for the MUST Ministries Toy Shop. MUST Ministries ensures that families in Cobb and Cherokee counties receive toys, blankets, hats, socks, family games and more for Christmas. Any donations attendees make are greatly appreciated. During Caffeine and Octane, the mall opens early at 11 a.m.
Event is rain or shine and spaces are first come first serve to exhibit a privately-owned vehicle. For more information, visit caffeineandoctane.com/about-caffeine-and-octane, www.mustministries.org/ or towncenteratcobb.com.
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Volunteers needed to plant trees at Leo Frank site
The Marietta Tree Keepers is seeking volunteers of all ages to help plant trees at the Leo Frank site on Dec. 10.
The address is 1157 Roswell Road in Marietta. Volunteers can park along Chert Road, which is right next to the site. Sign-in and refreshments will be 9 a.m. and the planting will be from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Tools and gloves provided. Participants should dress for outdoor weather.
RSVP at 770-424-4664 or mariettatreekeepers@icloud.com with the number of volunteers that plan to attend. In case of bad weather, call the number for weather updates and a rescheduled date.
Members of the Marietta Tree Keepers have been promoting the value of trees to the community since it was founded in 2002. MTK, which is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization, has over 100 members and has planted over 5,500 trees around the city.
For more information, visit www.mariettaga.gov/committees/treekeepers.
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Kennesaw to host Menorah Lighting
The City of Kennesaw, in partnership with Chabad of Kennesaw, will host the Menorah Lighting on Dec. 21 at 5:30 p.m. in Depot Park, 2828 Cherokee Street in Kennesaw.
This will be the fourth night of Hanukkah. The eight-day Jewish holiday commemorates the Jewish Maccabees' military victory over Syrian-Greek oppression more than 2,000 years ago.
During Hanukkah, Jews across the world celebrate the miracle of light that burnt for eight days out of a single-days-worth of oil found in the Temple. One Hanukkah candle is lit the first night and an additional candle is lit each successive night. The holiday is a celebration of religious freedom and hope.
For more information, visit kennesaw-ga.gov/parks-and-recreation or call Kennesaw Parks & Recreation at 770-422-9714.
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Powder Springs citizen survey
Do you have one minute a month to help make Powder Springs better?
Sign up for a short survey at https://www.flashvote.com/powdersprings. Participants will get a short one minute survey every few months and get to see full survey results within 48 hours. FlashVote makes sure one's feedback is anonymous.
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Stormwater study crews coming to Powder Springs
Zebra-striped trucks and crew members from Lowe Engineers will be coming to Powder Springs neighborhoods in the coming days and weeks to work on the city's stormwater system.
Residents can learn more about the project in a short video by Crew Chief Jairus Reed at https://www.facebook.com/cityofpowdersprings/videos/544608207101532/.
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Marietta church providing free food to those in need on Dec. 6
The Episcopal Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, 1795 Johnson Ferry Road in Marietta, is partnering with There's Hope For The Hungry to provide free food for those in need.
On Dec. 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., those in need can come to the church and follow signs through the church parking lot, park and come inside to register, then have a brief conversation and after that be directed back to one's car to pick up a box of non-perishable food that will feed four people for two weeks, a loaf of bread, frozen chicken, a quart of milk and a box of cereal. All COVID-19 precautions will be followed.
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Austell City Council and Directors Retreat
The Austell City Council will have a retreat, administered by the Georgia Municipal Association, on Dec. 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Smyrna Conference Center.
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Congregation Ner Tamid celebrates first night of Hanukkah
Congregation Ner Tamid, 1349 Old Highway 41, Suite 220 in Marietta, will celebrate the first night of Hanukkah on Dec. 18 at 5 p.m.
At the free event, participants can make and light their own menorah and eat donuts and latkes. RSVP to membership@mynertamid.org.
For more information, call 678-264-8575 or visit www.mynertamid.org.
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Fun in the Park photo contest winners
The Fun in the Park Photo Contest 2022 brought in the largest amount of submissions ever.
More than 370 photos were submitted in three categories: General, Nature and Wildlife, and Sports and Action. With so many great photos submitted, the judges had a difficult time selecting the winners. Once the scores were tabulated, the following photographers were named as winners:
— In the General Category, Joyce Howard took first place, Sharrell Lewis took second place, Jesslin Ward took third place and Honorable Mentions were Elizabeth Tarallo, Candy Cook, Laura Smitherman, Jason Holtz and Jodi Holtz.
— In the Nature and Wildlife Category, Craig Ehler took first place, Temeka Ringer took second place, Dennis Tudor took third place and Honorable Mentions were Jared Collins for three different images, Jason Silverston and Laura Kwiatkowski.
— In the Sports and Action Category, Paul Mears took first place, Mabel Barba took second place, Jodi Holtz took third place and Honorable Mentions were John Ridings, Sandy Lee for two different images, Jesslin Ward, Becca McCoy and Jason Holtz.
All the winning photos can be found at https://www.cobbcounty.org/parks/programs/fun-park-photo-contest.
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Pop-In at the Marietta History Center: Holiday Crafts
The Marietta History Center, 1 Depot Street in Marietta, will be hosting its monthly Pop-In event on Dec. 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Pop-In's provide children and their families the opportunity to interact with the museum through themed activities and crafts. The December event's crafts and activities are geared towards the holidays and families may enjoy them in the galleries.
The center also has special extended hours in December. Holiday hours start Dec. 2 and end Dec. 23.
For more information, call 770-794-5710 or visit www.MariettaHistory.org.
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Cobb County Library staffer selected for Emerging Leaders Program
The American Library Association has selected Vidhya Jagannathan of the Cobb County Public Library to participate in its 2023 class of Emerging Leaders.
The EL program is designed to enable library staff and information workers to participate in project planning work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA structure and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity early in their careers.
Jagannathan is a Senior Library Assistant who manages the makerspace at the North Cobb Regional Library. She is pursuing her Masters in Library Information Science from the University of Florida. She has a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Madras, India and an Early Childhood Teaching Certificate from Western Governors University.
The Emerging Leaders program will kick off with a virtual day-long session during the ALA LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience virtual event. Participants will continue in an online learning and networking environment for six months. The EL program culminates with a poster session where the Emerging Leaders will highlight the results of their project planning work during the ALA 2023 Annual Conference in Chicago in June.
Christina Fuller-Gregory and Libby Holtmann, co-chairs of the Emerging Leaders program, look forward to working with this most recent cohort of talented and committed early career leaders who are eager to pursue leadership opportunities in the Association.
The 2023 class of Emerging Leaders consists of 46 people from across the U.S. and Canada. They are from public, school, academic and special libraries. This year, 83% have received scholarships. Jagannathan is sponsored by Public Library Association of the ALA. Each sponsor commits to financial support of an Emerging Leader to help defray costs of attending LibLearnX and the ALA Annual Conference. She has been a member of the Cobb library system staff for five years.
For more information, visit www.ala.org/educationcareers/leadership/emergingleaders.
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Ye olde time Christmas
See what Christmas was like from the 1840s-1880s at the Bullard Museum Tour — Christmas Through the Ages on Dec. 10 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The museum will be decorated for the holidays with period greenery. Participants can learn how Christmas was celebrated from the first Cherokee Christmas to the Victorian Age, then make a Victorian tree ornament to take home and warm up with some hot apple cider.
The Bullard Museum is located at the Green Meadows Preserve, 3780 Dallas Highway in Marietta.
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It's Stuff-a-Bus time!
Cobb Christmas Inc. and CobbLinc are collecting new, unwrapped gifts to distribute to needy families.
From Dec. 13-15, a CobbLinc bus, dressed up for the holiday, will travel to designated sites to collect toys for the Cobb Christmas annual distribution. Volunteers will stuff the bus with toys, balls, dolls, bikes, building blocks and more.
To participate, bring a new, unwrapped toy for children ages 3-13. Donations will be distributed to about 1,000 Cobb families.
For drop-off locations and more information, visit the Cobb Christmas website at https://cobbchristmas.net/stuff-a-bus.
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Mable House Complex Tree Lighting
The Mable House Complex, 5239 Floyd Road in Mableton will have their annual tree lighting celebration on Dec. 3 from 6 to 7 p.m.
There will be a holiday sing a long, photos with Santa, a craft, hot cocoa and popcorn all for free. Participants can also visit the 12 Days Holiday Market while there for holiday gifting needs.
The event will feature student music performances at 6 p.m., Cobb Commissioner Monique Sheffield will light the tree at 6:30 p.m., the holiday sing a long will be at 6:35 p.m. and a drive-in showing of "The Grinch" will be at 7 p.m.
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Control High Blood Pressure
Senior Wellness Center, 1150 Powder Springs Street in Marietta, will have Control High Blood Pressure on Dec. 2 from 10 to 11 a.m.
Managing blood pressure is vital for preserving health and reducing risk of dangerous conditions. Participants can learn what blood pressure is, why it is so important and choices one can make today to lower heart attack and stroke risk. Free, but registration is required.
For more information, call 770-528-5355 or visit https://www.cobbcounty.org/public-services/senior-services.
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Exploring Your Nervous System Health
Freeman Poole Senior Center, 4025 South Hurt Road in Smyrna, will have Exploring Your Nervous System Health on Dec. 6 from 10 to 11 a.m.
This workshop is designed to help people understand how trauma or chronic stress can affect the nervous system. Participants will be introduced to a set of skills to bring the mind, body and spirit into balance. Free, but registration is required.
For more information, call 770-801-3400 or visit https://www.cobbcounty.org/public-services/senior-services.
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Just Hanging Around
Senior Wellness Center, 1150 Powder Springs Street in Marietta, will have Just Hanging Around on Dec. 6 from 10 a.m. to noon.
Participants can spend time with Elf Sandra and decorate two holiday ornaments. Paint ornaments with a favorite holiday scene or memory and fill with colored glittery tinsel. Snacks and a light beverage will be provided. Cost is $8. Registration is required.
For more information, call 770-528-5355 or visit https://www.cobbcounty.org/public-services/senior-services.
