forsyth herald, march 4, 2015
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By KATHLEEN [email protected]
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — With two ice and snow events in as many weeks, Forsyth County Schools’ new policy to have students use its online itsLearning program to make up for inclement weather days is getting a baptism by fire.
This academic year, the county had built in two inclem-ent weather days, which were both used on Feb. 17 and 18. When the county cancelled school on Thurs-day, Feb. 19 and again for several days last week due to snow, stu-dents and teach-ers throughout the county logged on for their first official itsLearn-ing days.
Forsyth Coun-ty Schools (FCS) Chief Technology and Information Officer Marty Bray said Feb. 19 at the school board meeting the county’s imple-mentation of its-Learning is going well so far.
“We expe-rienced about triple the use of itsLearning today,” Bray said. “This says a lot about people really wanting to get on. They were ready to go. Usually there are around 2,000 users going on at any one time; today we had close to 6,000-7,000 con-current users.”
Although people were eager
to get on, Bray said it didn’t come without problems.
“As a result of how many people were on at once, the system came to a crawl this morning,” Bray said. “The its-Learning company had to shut it down for a little while. All of this is on the company’s serv-ers in different places. They took the server down and took it to another server with more capacity. We only see these numbers increasing over time.”
The county held a test run in late December to early
January depend-ing on schools, and Bray said they were testing in six different categories — access/equity, teachers, stu-dents, parents, administration and other recom-mendations.
The access/equity category required the research team to go out and talk to the school social workers, principals and ITs at all schools.
“We identi-fied additional students who needed access,” Bray said. “FCS
is consulting with other dis-tricts that use a checkout mod-el for some mobile hotspots. FCS increased the number of students receiving devices as a result of the drill.”
Bray said the group came
March 4, 2015 | forsythherald.com | 75,000 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 10, No. 18
Sponsored SectionsReal Estate Report
► PAGE 22Summer Camps
► PAGE 24
FCS says itsLearning working so far
See FCS, Page 29
Usually there are around 2,000 users going on at any one time; today we had close to 6,000-7,000 concurrent users.”MARTY BRAYForsyth County Schools (FCS) Chief Technology and Information Officer
NFHS makes helping charity ‘simple’By KATHLEEN [email protected]
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – Bri-an Grasso, a senior at North Forsyth High School, saw the impact of extreme poverty firsthand in middle school after going on a mission trip to Kenya.
“This trip had a massive impact on me and caused me to begin to think about char-ity with a global perspective,” Grasso said. “I was struck by the widespread lack of basic necessities overseas, and I wanted to do something about it.”
A few years later as a high
school junior, Grasso had idea to start Simple Charity.
“I realized that if every student in my high school donated just $40 over the course of a school year, we could raise $100,000 to fight global poverty,” Grasso said. “I knew this money would go so far overseas. With a lot of help from my close friend Josh Martin, I started Simple Charity in March of 2014.”
Simple Charity is a faith-based club with the goal of raising $100,000 to fight global poverty in Jesus’ name over the course of this school year. The official deadline is May 31.
Grasso said they have a leadership team made up of top students at NFHS, and they raised $30,000 last se-mester.
The monetary goal has shaped a lot of their efforts and plans this year, but Grasso said from the begin-ning, $100,000 is not the real goal.
“The real goal is to inspire both high school students and adults in Forsyth County to give with a global mindset,” Grasso said. “Leading this club has taught me so much about people, and I sometimes
See NFHS, Page 11
JOSH MARTIN
Josh Martin, left, and Brian Grasso sit at a Simple Charity table set up at a North Forsyth High School football game, selling T-shirts and asking for donations to raise money to fight global poverty.
‘Gray Clouds on my Mind’Stephanie Tian’s art ranked top 10 in country
► PAGE 15
Johns Creek radio tower in ForsythTo be used for public safety
► PAGE 4
Courthouse on scheduleSet to open March 16
► PAGE 6
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2 | March 4, 2015 | Forsyth Herald | forsythherald.com PUBLIC SAFETY
Motorcyclist gives self awayFORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — A Forsyth County Sheriff’s deputy noticed a motorcyclist Feb. 11 pulled over in a grassy shoulder of the road, spinning its rear tire.
The deputy approached the man, who said he had pulled off the road to allow an ambulance to pass. The dep-uty reportedly noticed a strong smell of alcohol coming from the driver’s helmet and noted his eyes were red and watery and his speech slurred.
The man said he had nothing to drink but was reportedly unsteady on his feet when he got off the bike. He later allegedly said he only had a couple of drinks.
The man would not do field sobriety tests, so the deputy arrested him for DUI. While in the backseat of the patrol car, a tow truck arrived to get the mo-torcycle. The man allegedly said it was easier for the tow truck driver to get the bike unstuck because he was sober, before he added that he was also sober.
He was transported to the Forsyth County Jail.
Driver purposely damages drive-thruFORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — A manager of McDonald’s, 4890 Post Road, called the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office Feb. 17 after a truck reportedly purposely drove over the safety pylons in the drive-thru.
She told the officer the driver asked if he could run over the pylons. She said she told him no because they’re expensive to replace, but that he ran over them anyway and left the parking lot.
The manager said the restaurant has had problems with him in the past, ranging from him being loud in the lobby to smoking electronic cigarettes after being told not to.
Another customer witnessed the in-cident and said he went to high school with the driver. The customer said he saw the driver go over the pylons and kick several bushes along the sidewalk.
The truck returned to the parking lot, and the witness identified the man.
The driver allegedly admitted to the deputy that he hit the pylons and
kicked the bushes and apologized be-cause sometimes he “gets bored.”
The deputy spoke with the manager, and she agreed that they should issue a criminal trespass warning, gather the driver’s information and advise him not to return to the restaurant until further notice. The deputy notified the driver of the warning, who said he under-stood and left after his information was gathered.
Report of man with gun leads to another’s arrestFORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Forsyth County deputies were dispatched Feb. 14 to Parks Road in reference to an individual walking around with a gun.
Upon arrival, they were met by the owner of the residence, who said his brother was hunting for coyote in the woods.
The owner said he had other friends inside the house and brought them outside. One of those individuals was reportedly recognized from multiple previous encounters. After that man was asked to identify himself, the homeowner asked the man why he was lying, but he didn’t respond.
The deputy then arrested the man for giving a fake name and date of birth. After putting his name through their system, the man came up as having an active parole warrant and as a wanted person located. The warrant was veri-fied and returned valid.
POLICE BLOTTERAll crime reports published by Appen Media Group are compiled from public records. Neither the law enforcement agencies nor Appen Media Group implies any guilt by publishing these names. None of the persons listed has been convicted of the alleged crimes.
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CORRECTIONIn the Feb. 4 edition of the Forsyth Herald, the pictures in the Lam-bert hosts youth soccer shootout article on pg. 27 were attributed to the incorrect person. They should have been attributed to Sam Bennett with www.ceimages-inc.com.
GAINESVILLE, Ga. – An Alpharetta man is among two dozen members of a motorcycle gang found guilty for drug-dealing and weapons offenses.
Howard Haney, 44, Alpharetta, pleaded guilty to posses-sion of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Haney was sentenced to 10 years in prison as part of a long-term investigation of motorcycle gangs in North Georgia sus-pected of drug trafficking and illegal gun and explosives offenses.
Beginning in mid-2010, the FBI conducted a long-term undercover investigation in North Georgia into allegations that members of the Outlaw Motorcycle Club, the Black Pistons Motorcycle Club and other motorcycle clubs were engaged in various forms of criminal activity, including drug distribution and illegal firearms and explosives offenses.
An undercover agent posed as a drug dealer from Florida who was looking to expand his drug dealing into North Geor-gia. He was introduced to members of the motorcycle clubs
by a club member who was working as an informant for the FBI.
The undercover agent conducted actual and ruse drug deals in which he either bought methamphetamine from mo-torcycle club members or recruited club members to assist him in moving what they were led to believe were significant quantities of methamphetamine or cocaine from North Geor-gia to Tennessee.
The undercover agent also obtained firearms from con-victed felons and engaged two defendants in discussions about making an unregistered explosive device for him.
Twenty-two defendants were arrested Aug. 16, 2012 on drug, firearms and obstruction of justice charges. Six other defendants were arrested later.
Since then, 20 defendants have pleaded guilty to various charges, two defendants were convicted after jury trials and five defendants were acquitted at trial. The final defendants were found guilty in February 2015.
Alpharetta man guilty of drug, weapons charges
See BLOTTER, Page 29
Forsyth Herald | March 4, 2015 | 3PUBLIC SAFETY
DUI arrests ► Linda K. Landrum, 57, of
Creek Tree Lane, Cumming, was arrested Feb. 10 on Atlanta Highway in Cumming for DUI, failure to maintain lane and impeding traffic.
► Preston Keith Nave, 37, of North Bluff, Alpharetta, was arrested Feb. 12 on Kelly Mill Road in Cumming for DUI and defective tires.
► Steven Kyle Tillery, 23, of Rolling Oaks Circle, Cumming, was arrested Feb. 14 on Mary Alice Park Road in Cumming for DUI and taillight violation.
► Charles Louis Purdy, 30, of Greyhawk Lane, Cumming, was arrested Feb. 19 on Greyhawk Lane in Cumming for DUI, striking an unat-tended vehicle and expired registration.
► James Travis Edmunds, 41, of Dawsonville was arrest-
ed Feb. 20 on Ga. 400 in Dawsonville for DUI and fail-ure to maintain lane.
Drug arrests ► John Stailey, 50, of Ball
Ground was arrested Feb. 10 on Northside Forsyth Drive in Cumming for possession of marijuana, failure to maintain lane and failure to signal lane change.
► Kurtis Bell Hanna, 52, of Gainesville was arrested Feb. 10 on Matt Highway in Cumming for possession of marijuana.
► Daniel Edwin Sosebee, 31, of Dawsonville was arrested Feb. 10 on Crystal Cove Trail in Gainesville for possession of methamphet-amines.
► Michael Thomas Galitello, 31, of Morganton, Georgia, was arrested Feb. 10 on Buford Highway in Cumming for pos-session of marijuana and fail-ure to maintain lane.
► Theresa Rose Knight, 44, of Gainesville was arrested Feb. 13 on Highway 53 in Gainesville for possession of a schedule III controlled sub-stance.
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DUIS & DRUGSAll crime reports published by Appen Media Group are compiled from public records. Neither the law enforcement agencies nor Appen Media Group implies any guilt by publishing these names. None of the persons listed has been convicted of the alleged crimes.
MILTON, Ga. – A Dunwoody man was arrested on multiple outstanding warrants from around the state and country after he was found dis-oriented in another man’s car.
Police were called out Feb. 18 at 8:16 a.m. after a Lathenview Court man found a stranger in his car. The stranger would not leave the car.
It took several officers to remove the stranger, who seemed tired and disorientated and repeatedly gave them a false name and date of birth.
The victim said the inside of his car was in disarray, with wiring pulled out of the center console and steering wheel and the contents of the glove box scattered.
Through fingerprinting, police were able to identify the suspect as Joel Townsend Diek-hoff, 32, of Dunwoody, who had warrants for his arrest from Idaho and DeKalb County for burglary.
Diekhoff was arrested for entering auto, giving false information to police and having outstanding warrants.
Man breaks into car, stays there
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4 | March 4, 2015 | Forsyth Herald | forsythherald.com NEWS
By KATHLEEN [email protected]
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — The city of Johns Creek will soon have a new public safety radio tower — but not within its city limits, or even Fulton County.
At the Forsyth County Commission’s Feb. 23 work session, commissioners ap-proved an intergovernmental agreement between the county and Johns Creek to allow the city in Fulton County to build a public safety radio tower off McGinnis Ferry Road in Forsyth.
Forsyth County Attorney Ken Jarrard said Johns Creek needed a piece of prop-erty for a communications tower and had looked at Forsyth and various locations in Johns Creek for some time. For various reasons, Johns Creek was unable to find a location for the tower within its city limits.
“They approached Forsyth County with respect to a parcel of property located just within the Forsyth border that borders Johns Creek,” Jarrard said. “Johns Creek came to the county and submitted plans for a building permit to erect this tower.”
Originally, the county believed a condi-tional use permit would be required, which is true for most communications towers, Jarrard said. Johns Creek responded that its request was for a government tower. In the Unified Development Code, it says the conditional use requirements don’t apply for a government tower. Jarrard said the county’s position is that it is governmen-tally controlled or owned property.
“What we understand now is Johns Creek is suggesting they will secure an easement, a property interest, on that piece of property. If that’s true, then they’re ex-
empt,” Jarrard said. “But they do need an intergovernmental agreement.”
There are a few conditions Johns Creek will have to abide by, Jarrard said, includ-ing the tower will have a maximum height of 200 feet and will not be lighted. This par-ticular parcel has two other towers on it.
“The primary purpose of the tower is to be a public safety facility, meaning it would serve the public safety interests of Johns Creek,” Jarrard said. “In exchange for us allowing this tower to be built in Forsyth County, we would have a right to erect two things on it — a 400-pound tor-nado/weather warning siren, and we have the right to erect our own public safety radio antenna.”
In addition, Forsyth has the right to direct private communications companies to that tower so long as there’s a load ca-pability to have a colocation on that tower, Jarrard said.
“To the extent another communication tower company like Verizon wanted another tower like this but this satisfied their needs, that’s good for Forsyth – because it means another tower doesn’t have to be erected,” Jarrard said. “The way the intergovernmental agreement is structured is if a private lease
was secured for this tower, Johns Creek and Forsyth would split lease payments.”
The area in which the tower would be built has two other intergovernmental agreements on it pertaining to McGinnis Ferry Road, Jarrard said.
“We’ve been working with Johns Creek for a long time to get an intergovernmental agreement with respect to maintenance of McGinnis Ferry Road that’s been long overdue in getting done,” Jarrard said. “If they need intergovernmental agreements here for us to approve it, we want the other McGinnis Ferry Road [projects] to be done. There’s a third intergovernmental agreement which pertains to the widening of McGinnis Ferry Road.”
Johns Creek is willing to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with Forsyth to fund up to $200,000 for the design to widen McGinnis Ferry Road, Jarrard said.
“I don’t believe Johns Creek at this point wants to commit half of construction costs of the widening of McGinnis Ferry Road, which is a multimillion endeavor,” Jarrard said. “The way I structured the agreement with Johns Creek was they had to pay us the $200,000 or assistance of it with the widening design.”
Commissioner R.J. “Pete” Amos said Johns Creek is committed to the intergov-ernmental agreement and the widening of the intersection.
“They just can’t come up with money for it right now,” Amos said. “They might come up with it later.”
The public safety tower agreement was approved with a modification requiring that if a private party locates on the tower, Forsyth County gets 100 percent of the lease proceeds.
By KATHLEEN [email protected]
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — The Forsyth County Commission has postponed until a later date a decision to renew the county’s lease with Mike Do-menicone for the Polo Soccer Academy.
Commissioners discussed Feb. 23 renewing the lease on the 26-acre piece of property at the Polo Fields in the south-western part of the county. The private property, which backs up to houses in the Polo Golf and Country Club neighbor-hood, is currently used as an outdoor recreation facility and for outdoor coordinated soccer, said County Attorney Ken Jar-rard.
The county originally had to enter into an agreement with Domenicone, the property owner, to use the fields for a soccer program because the land is not currently zoned for such a use.
“There were issues about a piece of property zoned Residential 2, and this type
of use is not allowed,” Jarrard said. “Neighbors were con-cerned of lights, trash and debris based on activity going on there. The property owners didn’t want to rezone then, and the county’s overall view of the place is positive because it’s heavily at-tended with lots of parents and kids there.”
The county parks and rec-reation staff said there could be no space for private recre-ation fields at county parks, and said to keep the fields there, Jarrard said.
Instead of rezoning, the county’s solution back then was to enter into a lease with owner of property.
There was an agreement with Domenicone and the county and later Extreme Soc-cer that ended up paying for a tree buffer on the property to mitigate what was going
on between the fields and the neighborhoods that backed up to it, Jarrard said.
“It seemed a win-win situation,” Jarrard said. “The county saw a need for the field, but now the lease is expired.”
Jarrard said the fields are still very heavily used and if the lease isn’t renewed, the county’s codes will need to be enforced.
Jim Pryor, the director for parks and recreation, said there are about 4,300 kids
who use the space’s six soccer fields.
“If we shut it down, we couldn’t accommodate them,” Pryor said. “This fills a big need for them, and if it closes, they’ll come to the county to fulfill need. It’s not a hassle on our end with this facility. There have been no complaints from neighbors since I’ve been here.”
The fields are in Commis-sioner Todd Levent’s district, but he was absent, so they voted to postpone any decision.
Renewal of lease for soccer academy discussed
Commissioners approve Johns Creek request to build radio tower in Forsyth
The property owners didn’t want to rezone then, and the county’s overall view of the place is positive because it’s heavily attended with lots of parents and kids there.”KEN JARRARDCounty Attorney
JARRARD
[Johns Creek] just can’t come up with money for it right now. They might come up with it later.” R.J. “PETE” AMOSForsyth County Commissioner
forsythherald.com | Forsyth Herald | March 4, 2015 | 5Recycled paper | Submit your news & photos to [email protected]
6 | March 4, 2015 | Forsyth Herald | forsythherald.com Submit your news & photos to [email protected]
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Courthouse on schedule and under budget
By KATHLEEN [email protected]
CUMMING, Ga. – Officials said Feb. 23 construction on the new Forsyth County Courthouse is under budget and on schedule to open next month.
The opening of the new jail has been delayed due to running into rock during con-struction.
The SPLOST VII jail/court-house project team held a meeting to discuss the cur-rent status of the buildings, including final details like jury box microphones, intercoms, dedication plaques and the Lady Justice plaque.
Judge Jeffrey Bagley said microphones in the jury box would allow the members to be heard during jury selection and trial.
Currently, each jury box has a microphone in the corner for the jury foreman, but it was mentioned the judges might want to test the amplification of that microphone from the furthest corner in the jury box before committing to additional microphones.
Bagley motioned to test the amplification of the corner
microphone in the jury box. If it is determined to be inad-equate, the project team would consider approved the $7,000 to $10,000 cost for additional microphones. The motion was approved.
There was also discus-sion about the placement of intercoms on the fourth and fifth floors of the courthouse, so that judges and judicial assistants will know who is re-questing access to the secured area.
Commissioner Pete Amos motioned and Mayor H. Ford Gravitt seconded to give County Manager Doug Derrer the authority to spend up to $5,000 to correct any intercom system on the fourth and fifth floors.
Also considered was a cer-emony for a dedication plaque by the Masons. Bagley said the county will be placing items into a time capsule and plac-ing the time capsule into the courthouse cornerstone one week after the building’s grand opening.
He said this might be an appropriate time for the Ma-sons to perform their dedica-tion ceremony and plaque installation.
Gravitt motioned to authorize the Masons to proceed with a dedication ceremony and present the plaque.
Amos also motioned to let
Bagley, Derrer and Fire Chief Danny Bowman select the size, location and time for the plaque dedication ceremony. The motion was approved.
The verbiage for the Lady
Justice plaque provided by Bagley was also approved.
The dedication and open-ing of the courthouse will be March 12, and it will officially open March 16.
Courthouse set to open March 16
A rendering of the completed courthouse and jail.
forsythherald.com | Forsyth Herald | March 4, 2015 | 7Recycled paper | Submit your news & photos to [email protected]
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8 | March 4, 2015 | Forsyth Herald | forsythherald.com Submit your opinions to [email protected]
The Internet is a strange and complex place. It is a place where a photo of a dress can spark heated debates over just what its color is – blue and black, or white and gold? But it’s also a place largely divided into two portions – pornogra-phy and cute animals.
It’s the cute animals that get me into trouble.
The Missus loves animals. Cats (“kitties!”), dogs (“pup-pies!”), rabbits (“bunnies!”), hamsters (“hammies?”) and
so on are constantly being squealed in our home when-ever she sees pictures of them. Or videos of them. Or sees them outside. Or thinks about
them. Or whenever.We already have a cat and
a dog. That’s enough for me, thanks. But she wants more. Always more.
And the Internet gives her a great place to find more. Al-ways, there are photos of cute animals at hand, often from shelters or adoption centers, and I’m fairly certain I have seen most of them at one point thanks to Her.
Cat playing the piano? I’ve seen it. Dog running in its
sleep? Watched it. Did I know a group of rabbits is called a “fluffle?” I do now. Llamas run-ning down a highway? I guess that’s cute?
I’m certain this is all part of a plan to wear me down to just give in. She hopes I will see the perfect video and say, “Well, OK. We can get a XX.”
That’s not going to happen.Don’t get me wrong – if I
wanted another animal, our first stop would be a shelter. All animals deserve a home, is
my belief. There are plenty of great shelters that are chock-full of animals waiting for someone to love them. And I would encourage anyone look-ing for an animal to make their first stop at a shelter.
The problem is that I don’t really want another animal. We have two and they are plenty, I think.
But there’s always room for more, isn’t there? At least in her mind. But try telling her otherwise. I dare you.
Love: Why I can’t afford the toilet paper
In December, I asked for my girlfriend’s hand in marriage. Actually, I asked for her entire body in marriage, but you get the idea. The marriage pro-posal is considered “popping the big question,” but once that big question is out of the way, another rears its money-grubbing head – “How much will it cost?”
First on the list of things that cost a ridiculous amount of money, the ring. Now, I hap-pen to be of the opinion that engagement rings are nice, but a redundant and useless idea that we only conform to because it is the norm. But, I’m also not a complete fool and did not propose with an empty hand, lest my asking for her hand in marriage would end with her not giving me her hand, but rather a single, raised finger.
I learned much about diamonds and rings in my research on the matter, though what I learned most was that I could have purchased an almost new car for the same price. But with the impending wedding costs, little did I know that my bank account was about to go down faster than a ring-less proposal.
When the ring was pur-chased, and thus the first wed-ding punch to the wallet was complete, on comes the cost of the wedding venue, which as far as I can tell, costs about as much as a 30-year mortgage.
Finding a venue is a deli-cate mix of finding a building that is user-friendly, beautiful, well-decorated without being gaudy, has enough space for people to move freely yet is still intimate, has a big dance floor, proper accommodations, cater-ing options, a DJ, plenty of parking, a bar, plenty of bath-rooms, is handicap accessible and on and on and on. Well, that is the kind of venue my fiancé is looking for. So far, my only questions on venues has been, “Do they have a bar?” and “How much does it cost?”
The quick answer to the lat-ter question – “A lot.” Slap the term “wedding” on anything from a venue to a tablecloth and the price will escalate tenfold.
A nice candlelit center-piece? $450. Colored drapes to hang over the chairs? $450. Using the resident DJ? $450. In fact, I’ve found that everything you can add to a reception is $450. It wouldn’t surprise me if they charged $450 to have toilet paper in the bathroom.
It has been very difficult finding a venue that can not only accommodate my fiancé’s novella of requirements, but also one that won’t force me to sell my body to science to pay for it.
I could use that open bar now.
JOE PARKERAppen Internnews@appenmedia group.com
... I’m also not a complete fool and did not propose with an empty hand, lest my asking for her hand in marriage would end with her not giving me her hand, but rather a single, raised finger.
JONATHANCOPSEYRevue & News Editorjonathan@ appenmediagroup.com
No more animals! I mean it this time, no more animals!
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Technology in educationWhile I may be young, I
do remember a time before almost every household had a computer. Granted, I was around 8 when my family got our first computer.
Growing up, the Internet and personal computers were just becoming mainstream in the daily lives of Americans.
People in my generation are sometimes called digital natives, and that’s pretty fit-ting. Most adults in our lives didn’t have much experience with the World Wide Web, so we had to be self-taught. If we wanted to add the latest Britney Spears song to our Myspace profiles, we had to learn a little bit of HTML code.
And yes, I do remember the beautiful music and hour-long wait when you would log into AOL.
But even though I’m a millennial, I still am amazed every time I walk into a school and see a classroom full of elementary students all using their own digital device for an activity.
A few weeks ago, Forsyth County Schools announced their finalists for Teacher of the Year. When the elementa-ry teacher was taking pictures with her class, one student pulled out his iPad to take a class selfie.
It’s exciting how kids get to grow up with technology in their schools and use it in everyday lessons.
My mom is an elementary school librarian, but their job description recently changed to include more technology instruction. She has used this as a chance to learn as much as she can about apps and Web tools for her students. Sometimes, she teaches me a thing or two.
I wish we could have used this technology when I was growing up. It seems to be so helpful for students to really grasp concepts and demon-strate what they learned.
I know my generation can sometimes get a bad reputa-tion for always being plugged into our digital devices, but sometimes technology can be an effective tool – and one of those places is in the class-room.
There are thousands of free or low cost apps, web-sites, blogs, vlogs (video blogs) and software for students, which is pretty cool to think about.
My cousin just turned 3 and when I visit her and have my phone out, she takes it from me and starts playing games. She too also loves to take selfies with me.
She is fearless when it comes to technology.
If we don’t all start to em-brace a future with technolo-gy, we will soon be as obsolete as the floppy disk.
KATHLEEN STURGEONForsyth Herald Reporterkathleen@appen mediagroup.com
forsythherald.com | Forsyth Herald | March 4, 2015 | 9COMMUNITY
PHOTOS BY SHANNON WEAVER/STAFF
From left: Falcons defensive end Jonathan Babineaux, Falcons Head Coach Dan Quinn, Northside Hospital Forsyth Administrator Lynn Jackson and Falcons of-fensive guard Joe Hawley.
Falcons donate to Northside Hospital Foundation
By SHANNON [email protected]
CUMMING, Ga. — Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Dan Quinn paid a visit to Northside Hospital Forsyth to present a check to the hospital’s foundation Friday, Feb. 27.
The event was one of Quinn’s first appearances in the Atlanta area since being hired earlier this month. Jona-than Babineaux and Joe Hawley of the Falcons also attended the event.
“I couldn’t be more proud to be here,” Quinn said. “For me to learn that you guys deliver more babies than anywhere else in the United States, that’s doing it better than it’s ever been done.”
Quinn, Babineaux and Hawley presented a donation of $30,000 to the foundation with Lynn Jackson, admin-istrator of Northside Hospital Forsyth.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be doing this with you guys,” Quinn said. “Let’s get it even stronger, let’s get that check even bigger as we move forward from here on.”
Delane Cope, the Northside Hospi-tal Foundation manager, accepted the donation.
“I just want to thank the Falcons for this wonderful partnership and this wonderful gift,” Cope said. “Our vision is to connect donors, volunteers and resources to build strong and healthy
communities. We do that through pro-viding leading edge research, lifesaving screenings, patient services, education and state of the art technology in our local community.”
New head coach Dan Quinn presents check
New Falcons Head Coach Dan Quinn addresses the crowd.
twitter.com/forsythherald
10 | March 4, 2015 | Forsyth Herald | forsythherald.com COMMUNITY
Forsyth County News
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FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — This is a real good dog here. His name is Rufus. He is a bit lost and confused with the whole shelter thing.
He scores an A plus across the board. He’s house trained, good with other dogs, excellent on a leash and has a massive love for people. It’s an easy fit.
Rufus is believed to be a Shepherd/Labrador mix and he is 2 and a half years old.
Please consider giving Rufus his forever home. Visit him at the Humane Society’s adoption center at 4440 Keith Bridge Road, from noon to 5 p.m., Tues-day through Sunday. Fill out an appli-cation online at www.forsythpets.org.
Dog of the week: Rufus
Forsyth Herald | March 4, 2015 | 11Submit your news & photos to [email protected] COMMUNITY
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FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — The Board of Education approved the following administrative moves Feb. 19, effec-tive for the 2015-16 school year.
High SchoolLaura Wilson, current assistant
principal at South Forsyth HS, will be the principal at South Forsyth HS.
Current South Forsyth HS princi-pal Jeff Cheney will be the principal at North Forsyth HS.
Current North Forsyth HS princi-pal Beth Hebert will be the director of human resources at the central office.
Middle SchoolCheryl Riddle, current assistant
principal at Little Mill MS, will be the principal at Liberty MS.
Current Liberty MS principal Con-nie Stovall will be a director of teach-ing and learning at the central office.
Drew Hayes, current assistant principal at Riverwatch MS, will be the principal at Vickery Creek MS.
Current Vickery Creek MS princi-pal Kathy Rohacek is retiring.
Elementary SchoolDerrick Hershey, current assistant
principal at Vickery Creek ES, will be the principal at Shiloh Point ES.
Current Shiloh Point ES principal Rebecca Johnson will be a director of teaching and learning at the central office.
—Kathleen Sturgeon
FCS approves admin moveswonder if we set our goals too high.
However, I believe that most people set standards that are far too low for high school students and that anything is possible with God; so Simple Charity will press on toward our goal until the very last day.”
Simple Charity has been far more successful than he could’ve imagined, Grasso said. “We’ve had an incredible amount of support from the community and have pulled off events and fun-draisers that most student-led clubs don’t even attempt,” Grasso said. “Last semester, we did a car wash, a chili dinner, a battle of the bands and two yard sales to raise money to fight global poverty by giving to World Renew, Gos-pel or Asia, Food for the Hungry and Just One: Africa. We also raised money by making our own T-shirts using a stencil and spray paint or bleach.”
That’s not where the club’s success ends. Grasso said Simple Charity fund-ed three wells in India through Gospel for Asia and enough water filters to give over 2,500 people clean water for life in Kenya through Just One: Africa. It has given 43 students around the world everything they need to go to school for a year through World Renew, paid for 10 farmers in Mozambique to learn sustainable farming techniques, given 100 children nutrition kits to combat malnourishment in Honduras and funded 10 sheep to be given to impov-erished families in Guatemala.
While that may seem like a lot, Grasso said they have many more am-
bitious events they want to do before the end of the school year.
“We’re hopefully going to do a 5K on March 28 to raise money for Just One: Africa,” Grasso said. “We’re also going to try to do another battle of the bands, a poetry slam, a night of worship and an end of the year banquet before the May 31 deadline. All of this we want to do in addition to increasing our T-shirt sales and enlarging our ‘Give 5 Friday’ cam-paign that encourages people to give $5 to fight global poverty every Friday.”
Even though they’ve been received well in the community for the most part, Grasso said they sometimes come off as controversial because they’re committed to give only to global causes.
“There is a different kind of pov-
erty overseas that doesn’t exist here; this really is an objective statement,” Grasso said. “No one dies of malaria locally because it’s been eradicated. No one can’t afford a high school educa-tion locally because it’s free.”
Grasso said there are perhaps a dozen organizations at NFHS that do local community service work, and that’s not an exaggeration.
“Simple Charity is the only club at NFHS that has a global humanitar-ian focus,” Grasso said. “Many of our leadership members are active in other clubs doing local community service, and Simple Charity as an organization has supported local causes as well.”
To learn more about Simple Char-ity, visit simplecharity.wordpress.com.
Continued from Page 1
NFHS:
JOSH MARTIN
Megan Wilson, left, and Chad Ward lead a night of worship hosted by Simple Charity at the Warehouse in Midway Park.
12 | March 4, 2015 | Forsyth Herald Submit your news & photos to [email protected]
CUMMING, Ga. — The Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta will help the Forsyth County Public Library celebrate National Women’s History Month March 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Cumming Library, 585 Dahlonega Road.
This special guest lecture is part of the Library’s One World Forsyth program to help bring
cultural information and is-sues from around the world to the local community.
One World Forsyth is spon-sored by the Forsyth County Public Library Friends and Advocates.
The 2015 theme for Na-tional Women’s History Month is “Weaving the Stories of
Women’s Lives” and represen-tatives from the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta will discuss the history of the organization, beginning with its founder and Savannah, Ga. resident Ju-liette “Daisy” Gordon Low. The presentation will also include information on the ways Girl Scouts have changed over the
years and the new ways girls and young women build cour-age, confidence and character though participation in scout-ing.
Young attendees at the presentation may also partici-pate in a craft activity in honor of National Women’s History Month.
The event is free and all ages are welcome. Advance registration is not required.
At the next One World Forsyth event, the Library will celebrate El día de los niños, El día de los libros or simply Día.
Translated from Spanish, the event is also called Children’s Day, Book Day and is meant to honor children and connect them to literacy and the joy of reading.
Día will be observed with special performances from The Center for Puppetry Arts April 4 at 11:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. at the Post Road Library, 5010 Post Road.
For more information on One World Forsyth and other programs at the Forsyth County Public Library, please visit www.forsythpl.org.
By JONATHAN [email protected]
NORTH FULTON, Ga. – With the Gen-eral Assembly deep in their annual session downtown, there are many bills making their ways through the halls of the Capitol that have Georgians inter-ested or concerned.
To help give an update on the major work affecting their constituents, Sens. John Albers (R- Roswell) and Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) held a town hall meeting Feb. 14 at Alpharetta City Hall where they answered questions from residents.
Economic development and jobsThe expansion of the port of Savan-
nah will have a large effect on the state, said Albers.
“It will lead to more jobs and eco-nomic growth,” he said.
The deepening of the port coincides with the expansion of the Panama Ca-nal and will enable Savannah to be one of the few posts on the Eastern sea-board able to handle the cargo.
One of the largest recipients of the freight from Savannah is Fulton County.
TransportationThat freight has get from Savannah
to Fulton and all parts west somehow, and that is typically by trucks, said Beach. He wants to work on reduc-ing the amount of trucks on the roads to help congestion and reduce wear-
and-tear. Railroads, he said, could handle more freight.
The state collects tax money from every gallon of gas pumped. This money goes into the transportation fund to pay for road improvements.
However, Beach said this method was unsustainable, as vehicles become more efficient and es-pecially as electric cars become increas-ingly popular.
The state is about $1 billion short of where it needs to be in transportation funding, he said.
Several suggestions have been made to solve the issue, including eliminat-ing the electric vehicle tax rebate and changing how the state and cities col-lect the gas tax.
Tax incentivesMany industries get tax incentives
from the state. Gaining momentum in the Legislature is a search to discover just how many industries and how much money is used in those breaks. For a state grappling with ever-increas-ing costs, they need to find sources of revenue.
Case in point – the film industry. “People are flooding in from Holly-
wood and New York City,” said Albers. No one knows quite how much
money the film incentives are costing
the state. Others, such as
one for airliner Delta, face scrutiny.
When the recession hit, the airliner was given a tax break to help it stay afloat. Now the trouble has passed and the company is doing well, but it is
still collecting the incentive.Many such cases will be looked at to
weigh the costs against benefit.“We want to be good stewards of
those dollars,” Albers said.
Health careIn an effort to reign in rising health
care costs, Beach proposed overhauling the medical malpractice system.
Currently, cases of malpractice go before the courts. Beach said an “administrative system” could be put in place to take the courts and overly large settlements out of the way.
He said the vast majority of doctors practice defensive medicine, to protect themselves from lawsuits. This adds to the costs of health care.
“If you take that out of the equa-tion, we get lower costs,” he said. “The constant rises are unsustainable.”
911 infrastructureUnder proposed legislation, cities
and counties would no longer be al-lowed to enact moratoriums on “critical
systems,” Beach said, especially cell towers.
He cited a recent case where a Milton woman died after she called 911, because her call went to another county, which had the closest cell tower. It took so long for emergency crews to find her, she died.
“Some infrastructure is for the pub-lic good,” Beach said. “Twenty years ago [cellular technology] was a luxury, but now we have to have it.”
Horse racingBack again this year is an effort to
legalize horse racing. Beach said he wants the state to become a center for the equestrian community, capitalizing on horse tourism, jobs and veterinar-ians that would come with it.
While betting would be allowed, Beach was clear that casinos would not be.
Money raised through the gambling would go toward the HOPE scholarship.
EducationThe largest portion of the state
budget goes to education. Albers said a bill has been introduced to allow and encourage school systems to use e-books and more online tools. This could reduce cost and help students in poor, rural areas get the same instruction as the wealthier districts.
“We can put technology in a child’s hand, no matter where they live,” Al-bers said. “It’s a great equalizer.”
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XL212 announces February student athletes of the monthALPHARETTA, Ga. — Brittney Neser and Jordan Pitt were honored as the XL212 student-athletes of the month (SAM Award) at the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce February Eggs & Enterprise Breakfast Feb. 24. The SAM award recognizes the out-standing accomplishments of deserving student athletes in the greater North Fulton area. Winners are chosen from nominations made by area athletic directors and coaches, and based on extraordinary ac-ademic proficiency, exceptional athletic accomplishments and dedication to civic action.
Brittney Neser, a senior basketball player from North-view High School, was named the female student athlete of the month for February.
Academically, Neser achieves a 3.4 GPA while car-rying multiple advance place-ment classes.
She has consistently main-tained her honor roll status throughout her entire high school career and scored a 1790 on her SAT.
Neser is the co-President of the National Leadership Coun-cil at Northview and is very in-volved in shaping the student athletes in a positive light.
Neser’s athletic accom-
plishments include starting point guard for the last three years, averaging per game seven points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals.
She has scored over 400 points in her career, with 250 assists. She is also an active varsity soccer player and will attend the University of South
Carolina at Beaufort on a scholarship.
Neser will be playing in the upcoming XL212 Basketball All-Star Classic on March 14 at Lambert High School.
When asked what sets this student leader apart from her peers, Coach Chris Yarbrough said, “Brittney has been a
true pleasure to coach. I’ve seen her grow as a player and a leader. She virtually played every minute this year and was always competing on and off the court. Players like her don’t come around very often, and she will be missed. She set the tone for the players and her leadership helped us
improve this year.”The February male student
athlete of the month is Jordan Pitt, a senior wrestler from Chattahoochee High School.
Academically, Pitt achieves a 3.66 GPA, 1800 SAT and a 27 ACT. He has been a mem-ber of the honor roll for all seven semesters.
Pitt has received numerous awards including three time re-cipient of the athletic academic award, outstanding achieve-ment award in GPS Geometry and Cougar Pride award in mathematics.
Pitt’s athletic accomplish-ments include 2015 region, sectional and state champion at 120 lbs., four time State placer (first, second, third and third), two time freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling state champion, all-American at Cliff Keen National Tournament, career record of 199-21 and a season record of 56-3.
When asked what sets this student leader apart from his peers, Coach JJ Hicks said, “He makes everyone around him better. His tireless work ethic in all aspects of his life and his natural talent for the sport of wrestling makes him a champion on and off the mat.”
–Kathleen Sturgeon
From left, Dr. Robert Avossa, superintendent of Fulton County Schools, Mike Haynes, with XL212, pose with Jordan Pitt, Brittney Neser, Eric Douglas, with XL212 and Brandon Beach, North Ful-ton Chamber of Commerce.
14 | March 4, 2015 | Forsyth Herald Submit your news & photos to [email protected]
By JONATHAN [email protected]
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – The city’s plans for the future of down-town Alpharetta were unveiled to the public Feb. 16, in an open house.
Six outparcels of land around the new City Hall are available for development. Cheri Morris, with Morris and Fellows, the project’s manage-ment team, said the hope is to
build a mix of office, retail and residential buildings to make downtown Alpharetta a vibrant city center.
“This will be the heart and the marketplace of downtown Alpharetta,” said Morris.
She and the city envision 2- to 3-story buildings clus-tered around the town green, with commercial and retail fronting Ga. 9 and residential – apartments – bordering City Hall.
“We have gone back to what would have been in the down-town,” Morris said. “We wanted to create an enticing space.”
The plan calls for 50,000 square feet of retail, 30,000 square feet of office and about 170 units of residential.
Morris and her team cre-ated downtown Woodstock, she said, so she has experience revitalizing city centers. For Al-pharetta, the business is easy – the city owns all the land, and much of the water and electricity are already installed. Essentially, all that has to be done is build.
Residents were able to view the designs, giving input. Paula Milliard, who lives in down-town Alpharetta, said she liked what she saw.
“I love it,” she said. “I was worried about the residential, but I had no idea it would be this pretty.”
The plan must still come before the City Council. Once they give their nod of ap-
proval, Morris said she expects construction to begin this time next year, with completion in early 2017.
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Forsyth Herald | March 4, 2015 | 15Submit your news & photos to [email protected] COMMUNITY
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CUMMING, Ga. — Last fall, Stephanie Tian, 10th grader at Lambert High School, submit-ted art to a contest held for student artists through the United States and Canada.
Tian’s art, “Gray Clouds on my Mind,” was selected from thousands of entries as one of the ten best in her grade divi-sion. The contest was held for students in grades K-12. The top ten artists in each divi-sion (grades K-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12) each receive special recognition in the art anthol-ogy “Celebrating Art.” Each top ten winner receives a compli-mentary copy of the anthology and a $25 award. Art pieces are selected for their creativ-ity, originality, self-expression, craftsmanship and skill.
The upcoming art contest deadline is April 9. Art of high merit will receive an invitation to be published in an anthol-ogy. To enter, students should submit one original entry online at www.celebratingart.com. Each art piece must be submitted with the student’s name, grade, home address (optional), school name and school address.
For more information, con-tact Tom Worthen at Celebrat-ing Art at 435-755-8136 or [email protected].
–Kathleen Sturgeon
Local student in top 10 for art contest
Stephanie Tian’s, 10th grader at Lambert High School, top ten winning art piece in the Celebrating Art competition.
WASHINGTON, D.C. —U.S. Representative Rob Woodall said Feb. 24 in reaction to the presidential veto of S. 1, authorizing construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, “by vetoing the Keystone XL pipeline authorization today, President Obama said “no” to the American people; as well as to the jobs, energy security and reduction in daily liv-ing costs that the bill would provide.”
“Republicans and Demo-crats alike came together and found a way to say “yes,” but sadly the Presi-dent chose not to join us,” Woodall said. “America’s new Congress is committed to getting things done on
behalf of the American people, and while I do not know whether the senate has enough votes to override the President’s
misguided veto, I hope that it will try in the near future.”
Woodall represents the seventh congressional district of Georgia, which includes the majority of Gwinnett and Forsyth counties, and cur-rently serves as chairman of the rules subcommittee on legislative and budget process.
Woodall reacts to President Obama’s veto of Keystone XL authorization
WOODALL
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16 | March 4, 2015 | Forsyth Herald | forsythherald.com Submit your news & photos to [email protected] | Recycled paper
forsythherald.com | Forsyth Herald | March 4, 2015 | 17Recycled paper | Submit your news & photos to [email protected]
By PATRICK [email protected]
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Johns Creek’s plan to designate a 25-acre site near Medlock Bridge and McGinnis Ferry roads as a business district runs counter to recent efforts by cities to grow their economies.
Over the past 20 years, north metro Atlanta cities have shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild areas in an effort to draw visi-tors, businesses and economic prosperity.
Nearly all started the pro-cess with plans for a new city hall.
But Johns Creek is keeping its focus on business, a com-modity it is sadly lacking com-pared to most of its neighbors. Commercial real estate makes up a paltry 19 percent of the city’s property tax base, plac-ing the bulk of the tax burden on homeowners.
And with growing needs for revenue, a new city hall is the least of Johns Creek’s worries.
“We’ll take a spot as a lead tenant in a 75,000-square-foot building a developer wants to build,” said City Manager Warren Hutmacher. “The idea
is not to build a sprawling 20-acre campus where none of the land is taxable.”
By contrast, Sandy Springs, which was founded 10 years ago as the poster child for smaller government, is spend-ing tens of millions of dollars to build a city center along Roswell Road. Proponents ar-gue the project, which includes a city hall that may double as a meeting center, will spur an economic boom that will spiral outward and nourish civic pride.
Alpharetta is in the midst of a $30-million project that includes a new city hall with a parking deck, retail shops and green space on its Main Street.
Sugar Hill continues work on the commercial elements of its revamped downtown with its new $8.5 million city hall.
From Smyrna to Suwanee, the message has been the same, a government complex is a magnet for business.
But Johns Creek is taking a different tack.
“Land in the district is not sufficiently utilized, so we’ve got capacity for more growth, more development in that area to raise more revenue,” Hutm-acher said. “If you can generate more money from this potential business district, you can pop that money into other residen-tial areas in the city and let the residents benefit from the
commercial growth.”It’s up to the city to capital-
ize on the growing job market that has most recently been creeping from Atlanta to the northern suburbs, Hutmacher said.
“The goal from the city’s standpoint is to make these improvements in a measured and successful way without creating more traffic that’s going to be a nuisance for the rest of the community,” Hutm-acher said.
The new business district plan is still in the planning stages, but civic groups and business leaders have already participated in a series of infor-mational presentations to learn
more about it.Johns Creek Chamber
President John Bemont said those he’s spoken within the business community are excited about the prospect of a well-planned area where commercial growth is fos-tered.
“Any time you plan things out in an area where develop-ment makes sense, rather than random expansion, it’s good,” Bemont said. “It’s going to be more opportunity.”
Most chamber members, he said, are anxious to see what comes out of the planning ses-sions.
“I’m still learning a lot about it,” he said.
JOHN BEMONT, Johns Creek Chamber President JOIN TODAY: 770-993-8806 • WWW.GNFCC.COM
18 | March 4, 2015 | Forsyth Herald | forsythherald.com
Any time you plan things out in an area where development makes sense, rather than random expansion, it’s good.
Sponsored by
CorrectionA recent item in the busi-ness briefs carried an incorrect spelling of the new marketing coordina-tor for Harry Norman Realtors Forsyth/Lake Lanier office. His name is Jeff Bucchino.
Johns Creek Business District breaks mold for revitalization
HATCHER HURD/STAFF
Residents pack City Hall to begin the discussions of what the community would like to see in The District.
Forsyth Herald | March 4, 2015 | 19Submit your business news & photos to [email protected] BusinessPosts
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How confident are you in building your sales pipeline? Are you continually evaluat-ing the number of new leads, qualified opportunities and forecasted sales each month? Do you utilize the metrics associated with your sales pipeline to make adjustments in your sales team’s activi-ties and focus? Building and managing your sales pipeline is critical to achieving your short- and long-term growth objectives.
Building your sales pipe-line starts by evaluating the potential customers you can sell to. This can be either ex-isting clients or new custom-ers that have the potential to do business with you, often referred to as “suspects.” A suspect becomes a “prospect” when you have assessed and confirmed there is an oppor-tunity to do business with them. While prospects may have the need for your prod-uct or service, they may not be qualified to buy. They may also benefit from using your product or service, but not
have the budget to pay for it.Managing your sales pipe-
line requires that you allocate time to all “segments” of your pipeline. In other words, how much time are you spend-ing generating new leads, qualifying opportunities and closing business? Addition-ally, knowing how many leads it takes to identify a qualified opportunity and how many qualified opportunities result in closed business will help prioritize your time.
The end game for revenue growth is always sales, but there is a lot of activity that precedes a sale. Managing your activity while building your sales pipeline will help you to maximize your sales efforts.
Building and managing your sales pipeline
DICKJONESFounder & PresidentJones Simply Sales
More big, bold ideas to usher in prosperity
Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a series of excerpts from Frank Norton Jr.’s “Nor-ton Native Intelligence Report for 2015.” The report, which reflects and synthesizes the views from more than 500 indi-viduals surveyed and economic vital signs recorded, has been used to chart the North Georgia economy and real estate for more than 25 years.
We’ve been speaking of “big, bold, bodacious ideas” that we proposed in our annual Native Intelligence Report for 2015.
Here are a couple more:Progressive preservationWhat makes a community
great? With the surge of growth anticipated by our gorilla “Atlanta” and her twin sister “Gwinnett” over the next 40 years, how does a community like North Georgia preserve (save) its soul?
Supreme Court Justice Pot-ter Stewart once said “about pornography, I don’t know what it is but I know it when I see it.” The same is true for the soul of a community – hard to explain but you know it when you see it…when you feel it…magical, inspirational and aspirational.
The character of a commu-nity is manifested in its archi-tecture, the context of preser-vation of its people and their welcoming arms and attitude. It’s the sense of place. More than festivities and parades, it’s a community giving heart as demonstrated when a side of Clarkesville’s square burns to the ground or a church mo-bilizes for a lost child.
Our bold challenge is to preserve our heritage, bottle that North Georgia spirit before it’s too late. Through some vehicle like the North Georgia Community Foundation, you can create a Heritage Com-
munity Fund to preserve and protect landmark properties. Through some sort of alliance, you can bring together a vari-ety of organizations dedicated to enhancing the quality of life and give them training and re-sources that prepare them for growth and expand their reach and develop their clout.
Self-sufficiencyThe recent successful
SPLOST transportation refer-endum in Forsyth County got us thinking,
“Could we do the same for water?”
Forsyth County, pressured by the bottleneck congestion and on the precipice of a popu-lation explosion, placed on the November ballot a comprehen-sive transportation package: surface roads, interchanges, cross county arterial access roads, even widening Ga. 400 through their county. The
county knew that congestion would strangle the local econo-my, its tax base and Forsyth’s quality of life.
Lack of water could do the same thing. Yes, we have Lake Lanier but Atlanta claims it, as do Alabama and Florida. While the lawsuits make their way to the Supreme Court, we cannot be like Nero and fiddle while Rome burns. We are liable to have no water to put it out.
They say that future wars will not be fought over religion or politics, but over food and water.
Lumpkin took the bold step some years ago creating the Yahoola Creek Reservoir. Hall County is in design of an 850-acre reservoir at the Glade Farm, but much more is needed. With limited surface water but abundant rainfall, our control of water and con-trol over our destiny has been limited to running waterlines, not building storage basins.
While a hurdle may be envi-ronmental, regulatory permit-ting and the crazy governmen-tal maze to get a permit, the bigger hurdle will be land.
Norton Native Intelligence forecasts that the large reser-voir quality of privately held land tracts will disappear in the next 20 years. Smaller ones may still be around but the larger non-public forest land tracts will be developed or economically out of reach. Communities like Jackson, Forsyth, Dawson, Cherokee, Pickens, Barrow and Walton will find themselves scrambling for water by 2030 if they don’t take some preventative action now.
You plant a tree today to cast shade on future genera-tions; it’s the same for water. It’s time to plant water trees for future generations of thirsty North Georgians and take full control of our future.
FRANK NORTON JR.
CEO and Chairman The Norton Agency
They say that future wars will not be fought over religion or politics, but over food and water.
NewBusinessSpotlight
Business: Sunrise Detox AlpharettaOpened: February 2015What: First stage of treat-ment for recovery begins with detox.
Where: 4500 North Point ParkwayHours: 24/7Call: 678-762-0370Web: sunrisedetoxatlanta.com
20 | March 4, 2015 | Forsyth Herald Submit your business news & photos to [email protected]
GRAND OPENING »
REI celebrates grand opening of new Alpharetta storeALPHARETTA, Ga. – REI will celebrate the grand opening of its Alpharetta store with co-op mem-bers and the local community from Friday, March 6 to Sunday, March 8. The store will be at Mansell Crossing at 7531 North Point Parkway.
Activities scheduled throughout the weekend include:
Shop Early, Get a Gift – The first 200 people (age 18 and older) who visit the store each day will receive a limited-edition CamelBak water bottle with a $10, $50 or $100 REI promotional card.
Fuel Up – Early birds can enjoy a free conti-nental breakfast throughout the weekend one hour before the store opens.
Win Great Products – Members and customers can enter to win gear sweepstakes packages from Coleman, Eno and REI.
Store hours will be 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.
PEOPLE »
Wise assumes top post at medical technology firmALPHARETTA, Ga. – R. Halsey Wise has been ap-pointed chairman and chief executive officer of Me-dAssets, replacing company founder John A. Bar-dis. Wise, a former chairman and CEO of Intergraph Corporation, joined MedAssets board of directors in March 2014.
Bardis will remain on the MedAssets board of di-rectors until the next annual stockholders’ meeting. He has entered into a multi-year consulting agree-
ment with the company.During his time heading Intergraph, from 2003
to 2011, Wise grew revenue from $525 million to $850 million. Based on his performance, Wise was selected as Ernst & Young’s 2010 Entrepreneur of Year in the technology category for Georgia/Tennes-see/Alabama.
POH announces new senior associatesALPHARETTA, Ga. — Pieper O’Brien Herr Architects has announced three new senior associates: Gary Hightower, Earl Smith and Laurie Walters.
Hightower has been with POH for over 14 years. He serves as a project manager on a wide variety of project types including correc-tional, ecclesiastical and justice facilities.
Smith celebrated 30 years of dedicated service to POH last year. He serves as a senior project man-ager and has worked on several of the firm’s most significant projects including the Riverside EpiCenter and the Cobb County Superior Courthouse.
Walters has been with POH for over 17 years. In addition to her role as marketing manager, she has made major contributions on the education and employee relations committees.
Johns Creek agent Maura Neillreceives President’s AwardATLANTA – Johns Creek real estate agent Maura Neill was awarded the 2014 President’s Award by Atlanta Board of Realtors President Todd Emerson at the annual business meeting and awards breakfast recently.
The award recipient is personal-ly selected by the president and is given to the member for outstand-ing service and contributions to the board, going far beyond any particular assignment. Neill was recognized for her dedication and sharing of her time and experience with others.
In addition to being a top-producing real estate agent with Re/Max Around Atlanta, Neill is a volun-teer and served as chair of the professional develop-ment committee for the Atlanta Board of Realtors for 2014. She was also sworn-in as a member of the board of directors for 2015-2017 and serves on various committees with the Georgia Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors, as well as serving as a national real estate instructor for NAR and the Real Estate Buyer Agent Council.
HEALTHCARE »
Jackson Healthcare named ATL’s healthiest large employer ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Jackson Healthcare was named Atlanta’s Healthiest Large Employer at an awards breakfast presented by the Atlanta Business Chronicle in partnership with Healthiest Employ-ers, which recognizes companies that succeed in promoting wellness in their workplace.
“Our mission is to improve the lives of everyone we touch,” said R. Shane Jackson, president of Jackson Healthcare. “This means creating a culture that values associates and works hard to provide each and every one with an environment in which they can thrive.”
Live Well, Jackson’s wellness initiative, begins on the first day for each associate with a health risk assessment. Jackson offers associates a free on-site clinic, health club and in-house café and hosts well-ness rallies and fitness challenges throughout the year.
BUSINESS »
FirstLight launches program to assist local seniorsROSWELL, Ga. — FirstLight HomeC-are, a provider of non-medical, in-home care for adults, has launched Spring Assist, a program to prevent seniors from falling by offering to change smoke detectors batteries for free this spring. The program is open to the first 200 se-niors requesting the service.
“We look at Spring Assist as an opportunity to help seniors by reducing their fall risk while keeping up with basic housekeeping such as changing the smoke detector batteries,” said FirstLight owner Jeff Duren.
To register for the program, call 770-580-0102 or email to [email protected].
In addition to light housekeeping, FirstLight HomeCare services include bathing and hygiene, walking and mobility assistance, continence and toileting assistance and live-in services.
Intelliverse expands partner programALPHARETTA, Ga. — Intelliverse, a global leader in sales acceler-ated solutions, announced the expansion of its partner program, which enables sales consultants, sales trainers and cloud software con-sultants to bring Intelliverse’s man-aged services and sales acceleration software to clients in all market seg-ments.
“Intelliverse’s mantra is simple – deliver industry-leading solutions that bring qualified prospects to our clients. All of our offerings are based solidly on sales enablement strate-gies, so we have found that sales consultants, sales trainers and cloud consultants are a natural fit for partnership,” said Sean Gordon, Intelliverse chief executive officer and president.
A partnership with Intelliverse enables consul-tants to be part of the $40 billion CRM software market and leverage Intelliverse’s research and development in sales acceleration.
Partners can earn up to 35 percent of recurring monthly revenue for the duration of the customer relationship.
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SEAN GORDONIntelliverse chief executive officer and president.
Forsyth Herald | March 4, 2015 | 21CALENDARSubmit your event online at forsythherald.com
MUSIC:
VIRTUOSO STRINGSWho: Johns Creek Symphony OrchestraWhat: This wide-ranging program features repertoire from Bach and Bartok to Tchaikovsky and Copland.Where: Johns Creek High School, 5575 State Bridge RoadWhen: March 7 at 8 p.m.Cost: Adults $30, Seniors $25, Students $15.Web: johnscreeksymphony.org
THEATER:
JERRY FINNEGAN’S SISTERWhat: Presented by Act 1 TheaterWhere: Alpharetta Presbyterian Church, 180 Academy StreetWhen: Friday, March 6 at 8 p.m.Cost: $15 adults, $12 children and seniorsWeb: act1theater.com
JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOATWhat: Fellowship Christian School presents “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”Where: Fellowship Christian School, 10965 Woodstock Road in RoswellWhen: Thursday, March 12 through Saturday, March 14Cost: $10Contact: 770-993-1650Web: fcspaladins.org/news_resources
EVENTS:
ONE ENCHANTED EVENINGWhat: Who says prom is just for high-schoolers? All adults are invited to slip into their fanciest attire and dance the night away at “One Enchanted Evening.”Where: Roswell Adult Recreation Center is located at 830 Grimes Bridge Road in RoswellWhen: Friday, March 6 at 6:30 p.m.Cost: $30 for individuals, $55 per couple $11 for dance only Web: http://thecurrentplus.com/2015/02/one-enchanted-evening
“FOSTEROPOLY” ALL KIDS COUNT GALAWhat: Monopoly-themed, annual “All Kids Count” Gala brings hundreds of guests together in an effort to raise supporting funds for foster and displaced children in foster care homes. Dining and entertainment, complete with open bar, both live and silent auctions to help our cause. Black tie optional.Where: the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead, 3300 Peachtree Road
NortheastWhen: March 7Hours: 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.Cost: $175 a ticket, $300 for couplesWeb: fostercares.org
FOOTNOTES DANCE SHOWCASEWhat: Come to the 4th Annual Dance Showcase featuring 65 talented young dancers performing various styles including jazz, lyrical, hip-hop and tap.Where: Cambridge High School, 2845 Bethany Bend in MiltonWhen: Saturday, March 7Hours: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.Cost: $15 advanced purchaseWeb: footnotesdance.net
BOOK SALEWhat: Gently used books and media for all ages for sale at great prices.Where: Northeast Spruill Oaks Library, 9560 Spruill Road in Johns CreekWhen: March 6 through 8Contact: 770-360-8820 or [email protected]
EDIT
OR’S
PIC
KS
GUYS AND DOLLS“Guys and Dolls” presented by Forsyth Central Stage at Forsyth Central High School, 520 Tribble Gap Road in Cumming. Saturday, March 7 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors. Visit forsythcentralstage.com for more info.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY MOVIEThe movie “Iron Jawed Angels” portrays young activists Alice Paul and Lucy Burns who risked their lives to help American women win the right to vote at the Post Road Library, 5010 Post Road in Cumming. Saturday, March 7, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Contact Anita Tucker at [email protected] for more info.
HABITAT VOLUNTEERINGThe Habitat for Humanity ReStore needs volunteers at 11060 Alpharetta Highway in Roswell. March 3 through March 20, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (except Sundays) Email [email protected] or call 770-415-1636 for more info
SHAMROCKIN FOR A CURECome eat, drink and help cure Cystic Fibrosis with a night filled with music that will rock the stage at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, 2200 Encore Parkway in Alpharetta. Saturday, March 7 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $85. Visit awesomealpharetta.com for more info.
SHANNON WEAVER
Calendar Editorcalendar@
appenmediagroup.com
Submit your event to northfulton.com or email with photo to [email protected]. For a more complete list of local events including support groups, volunteer opportunities and business meetings visit the calendar on northfulton.com.
Send me your event...
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22 | March 4, 2015 | Forsyth Herald Submit your news to [email protected] WOMAN
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Sponsored Section • Forsyth Herald | March 4, 2015North Atlanta’sNews and advertising for new homes, realtors, developers, commercial properties and more.
By Bill RawlingsVice President/Managing Broker, Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty
Before you begin the search for the perfect home, take time to scout out neighborhoods. Selecting the right neighborhood plays a critical compo-nent in your everyday life. Take into consideration the factors most impor-tant to you – do you want to walk to the park? Have a short commute to the office? Reside in an award-winning school district? Enjoy easy access to shopping and restaurants?
You can begin the process from the comfort of your home by visiting Atlan-taFineHomes.com/videos and clicking on the ‘Community Profiles’ tab. Our ‘Live the Life’ video series showcases more than 50 of Metro Atlanta’s most popular cities, neighborhoods, areas and communities. The videos provide insight on pricing, home styles, com-munity events, surrounding schools and nearby shopping and dining. Once you have your short list of possibilities, hop in your car and drive around to determine what neighborhoods appeal to you.
Explore the area and consider talking to residents who are out and about. Give con-sideration to the ap-pearance of the homes in the neighborhood, noting if they are well maintained and nicely landscaped.
Our Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty agents are experts in the field and their familiarity with all the neighborhoods in the area can help guide you in making the right decision.
You benefit from an agent’s ex-pertise and intimate knowledge of the schools, crime and home values. Every neighborhood has its strengths and weaknesses and a REALTOR® can as-sist you in determining the most impor-tant factors to consider.
School districtsEven if you do not have children,
buying a home in an award-winning school district will be in your best inter-est. If and when you sell in the future, neighborhoods with great schools are
often a top priority for homebuyers. There are several sites on the Internet in which school reports based on geo-graphical area and zip code are just a few mouse clicks away.
Do your due diligence: • Ask your REALTOR® to share
school information.• Talk to people in the neighborhood,
especially people with children.• View standardized test scores (avail-
able on the Internet). • If you have children, visit the
schools and take a tour to form your own opinion.
Crime statisticsNo matter where you live, you can-
not escape crime. Although the suburbs generally have lower crime statistics, you may have to drive a little further to the store or to work. Living in a city may offer more convenience, but often you will find a higher crime rate. Home-store is a website where you can search for crime data by city or zip code. • Research crime statistics: • Talk to neighbors.• Talk to the police or sheriff’s depart-
ment.
• Keep an open mind. If you are gravitating toward living in the hustle and bustle, you may not be able to get away from everything you consider unappealing, such as noise and traffic.
Think about now – and the futureThere are a multitude of compo-
nents to consider before buying a home.
Envision your current needs and factor in what may be of greater impor-tance five to 10 years down the road. The community and neighborhood you select become an integral part of your identity.
With spring finally on the horizon, make your ultimate neighborhood wish list so you are ready to hit the ground running.
At Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, we are dedicated to providing you with an exceptional experience throughout the buying and selling process.
If I can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Article adapted from Realty Times.
Find the perfect neighborhood
RAWLINGS
Forsyth Herald | forsythherald.com REAL ESTATE REPORT • Sponsored Section March 4, 2015 23
Do your kitchen and bath-rooms look a bit drab? If you don’t have the time or budget for a full remodel, there are still many simple updates you can do to refresh these spaces and invigorate each with im-pressive style. From affordable faucet updates to pretty paints, each takes one day or less to complete, instantly providing a dramatic effect.
Freshen the faucet Almost anyone who enters
the bathroom or kitchen will use the faucet, which means it’s a functional focal point of the space.
Installing a new faucet is a simple way to redefine interior design and reflect your own personal style.
The new line of Kohler fau-cets available at Home Depot offers exceptional quality at an affordable price. For example, set the ambience in your bathroom with the Georgeson line of faucets, inspired by the Gatsby era with chic detailing and unique shapes to provide a decorative, eclectic touch.
For those who prefer tradi-tional silhouettes, the Mistos kitchen faucet’s soft lines and classic aesthetic provide a timeless, upscale look.
Update hardware and ac-
cessories Cabinet hardware and
other accessories do for a room what jewelry does for an outfit - they provide the finishing touches that really elevate the space.
Fortunately, it’s simple and economical to swap out dated hardware for new handles, knobs and pulls. Popular metal finishes include brushed nickel, oil-rubbed bronze and chrome.
For bathrooms, update accessories to match your new Kohler faucet - each line
includes coordinating acces-sories like towel bars, shower-heads and tub fillers.
Experiment with paint Paint is one of the most
affordable ways to dramatically change the look and energy of a space. If you have dated tile, research if tile paint is an op-tion for your kitchen or bath. Don’t be afraid to experiment with color - a rich or vivid color on a focal wall can add instant style, like on the wall behind the tub or stove.
Don’t forget the fifth wall:
a fresh white ceiling instantly brightens the area and visually heightens the room, which can make the space feel larger and more modern.
Frame the mirror Every bathroom has a
mirror, and some kitchens and adjacent dining spaces feature mirrors as well.
A mirror provides a focal point while reflecting light to make it appear brighter. But if you have a builder-grade mir-ror, you’re probably longing for more style.
Instead of investing in a costly new mirror, simply add a new frame around your cur-rent one.
You can buy a prefabricated frame or create one yourself fairly easily from supplies at your local craft store.
Your boring old mirror will be transformed immediately into an upscale alternative.
Swap light fixtures and bulbs
If your current bathroom and kitchen light fixtures evoke nostalgia from a lost era, it’s time for a swap. Pick out a new overhead fixture to instantly dress up the room - modern chandeliers, track lighting and recessed lighting are popular options. For bath-rooms, installing task lighting by the mirror can help stream-line daily routines.
Keep in mind, cool, bright white bulbs with a high color-rendering index (CRI) closely reflect natural light and therefore are a good option for bathrooms as well as cooking spaces.
Harry Norman Realtors®, Forsyth/Lake Lanier Office1664 Market Place Blvd.
Cumming, GA 30041Used with permission, Brand-
point, 2015.
5 easy kitchen and bath upgrades that take only hours to complete
Call today for pricing & info! 770-442-3278 x100
319 North Main Street • Alpharetta [email protected]
Put it in the paper!
Your Engagement, Wedding, Anniversary, Birth, or Graduation!
24 | March 4, 2015 | Forsyth Herald | forsythherald.com Submit your news & photos to [email protected] | Recycled paper
Whether your child attends Catalina Sea Camp or Astro-Camp depends on your child’s specific interest. If your child is interested in the wonders of the ocean world or just wants to spend summer with friends on an island, Catalina Sea Camp is the best choice
with scuba certifications, sailing courses, marine biol-ogy classes, Island exploring, sea food cookery and lots of traditional fun social activities like Talent/No Talent, carni-val night, dances and color Olympics. Our Island Campus has a unique charm with it’s
Spanish California architec-ture and private cove. Some activities are age specific and there are many more activities than are listed here so check out the sea camp website at catalinaseacamp.org If your child loves science activities, space exploration, Astronomy,
rock climbing, LARP, dungeons and dragons, and good old fashioned summer camp fun, AstroCamp is a great choice. There are many more activities so check our website at astro-campsummer.org.
Whichever camp you choose, you can rest assured that your child will get the highest quality program, com-fortable accommodations, great food and memories that will last a lifetime.
All of our staff are hand picked for there fun loving per-
sonalities and ability to work with young people.
Astrocamp and Catalina Sea Camp are owned and oper-ated by the non-profit corpora-tion Guided Discoveries.
Guided Discoveries hosts over 50,000 students, parents and teachers from over 1,000 schools annually in it’s outdoor education program.
Guided Discoveries has been running summer camps for over 35 years. For more information, go to our website at gdicamps.org.
Sponsored Section
Forsyth Herald | March 4, 2015
A fun-filled summer of wonder and adventure!
The Best Summer Camp in Town is at Kids ‘R’ Kids #52, on Old Atlanta Road.
Kids ‘R’ Kids Learning Academy is a SACS Accredited, privately owned and fam-ily operated learning facility. From the well trained staff to the state-of-the-art innova-tive school, your child is given the opportunity to explore the summer of a lifetime. We have put together everything you are looking for in a perfect camp setting. We offer both junior
and senior camps. Parents are able to select any weeks or days of their choice. This year’s summer camp theme is “American Road Trip” We will embark on an action packed road trip stopping to see sites along the way. Grab your map and plot your course for a fun filled summer across the United States. Our summer camp themes include:
Getting from here to there, Heading down South, Water,
“American Road Trip”
See KIDS, Page 25
Forsyth Herald | forsythherald.com SUMMER CAMPS • Sponsored Section March 4, 2015 25
Camp listingsDay CampsDance
A summer of exciting theatre awaits your child at Off Broadway Performing Arts Center. Located in the heart of Crabapple, Camp Off Broadway offers 1 week and 2 week camps for kids ages 4-17 in a profes-sional yet family oriented environment. Immerse your child in the worlds of “Legally Blonde Jr.”, “Junglebook Kids” and “Honk” as they learn life skills, make new friends and memories to last a lifetime. At Off Broadway, we give every child a chance to shine. To register, visit us online at offbroad-waydance.com or call us at 770-664-2410
Have a budding ballerina wanting to dance her way through summer? Metropoli-tan Ballet Theatre’s Summer Trainee Camp definitely fits the bill! Known for serious training of pre-professional dancers, MBT has an exciting and informative summer camp tailored just for younger dancers – boys and girls – ages 4 to 8. Experienced in-structors cover foundational technique while encouraging campers to have fun and build friendships, and a variety of enrichment sub-jects introduce campers to the wider world of Dance.
June 15-19 & June 22 -26A day at Trainee Camp includes:Ballet, Jazz, Dance-related crafts, Tales
from dance history, Professional perfor-mance review, Learning and rehearsing ballet variation, Get the details! Metropoli-tanBallet.org!
HorseWillow South Riding School, Celebrating
15 years of excellence in riding! NEW Johns Creek location with INDOOR ARENA. United States Pony Club Riding Center. We offer all levels of instruction. Ages 5-12. 9a.m.-1p.m. Learn to ride in a fun, safe program with skilled instructors and experienced horses. For the true horse enthusiast! www.willowsouth.com $375 includes camp shirt and horse show! Send email to [email protected]. Sign up early to reserve your spot! June 1-5, June 8-12, June 15-19, June 22-26, July 6-10, July 13-17, July 20-24, July 27-31.
MusicThe 8th Annual Vivace! Summer Middle
School Band Camp is for band students in the North Metro Atlanta area. Students expe-rience full band, master classes, jazz band/improvisation, marching band techniques, music composition taught by certified teach-ers. Eligibility: For current 5th-8th grade band students who have been in their public or private school band program OR have taken private lessons at least 1 school year. Also, we have recreation time, end of camp ice-cream party & concert. $205 by May 1st, $225 thereafter. Sibling, District, & All State discounts are available. REGISTER AT www.vivacecamps.com. Location: June 15-19 at Mt. Pisgah Christian School in Johns Creek. Jay Hutcherson, [email protected]. 678-278-9210
Atlanta Celtic Camp:. Irish Music and Language Camp for kids and teens ages 6 to 17 years. Fiddle, flute, song and more! June 8-12 (9am to 1pm) in Roswell; sponsored by The Atlanta Irish Music School. Register online at: www.atlantairishmusicschool.com. 770-712-9334
RowingLearn the Olympic Sport of Rowing with
Atlanta Junior Rowing Association! Ages 12-
Christian Camping for boys & girls
6-17
Weekly overnight and day camp sessions.
Activities include horses, climbing tower,
wakeboard & more!
Visit our Open House Saturday, March 28th
10am-2pm
Register Today!www.campwestminster.org
770-483-2225IN CONYERS, GA
See CAMPS, Page 28
Water Everywhere, Rodeos Barbeque and Boots and Lights Cam-era Action!
One of the most popular attractions at our Summer Camp is the onsite Water Park!
Some of the exciting field trip opportuni-ties include: Medieval Times, Tellus Science Museum, Tree Top Quest, Sky Zone and Chattahoochee Nature Center! Of course, no summer would be com-plete without a trip to The Georgia Aquarium and an overnight camp-ing adventure. Stop by for a complimentary tour, meet the teachers, see the summer camp grounds and see what Kids ‘R’ Kids can offer you and your child this summer.
Get ready for the adventure of a lifetime! Kids ‘R’ Kids Learning Academy, 3036 Old At-lanta Road, GA 30041, 678-648-3175, www.kidsrkidscumming.com [email protected]
Continued from Page 24
Kids:
26 March 4, 2015 Sponsored Section • SUMMER CAMPS forsythherald.com | Forsyth Herald
Deer Run Camps: Deeper faith, greater adventures Adventure is waiting for
your kids AND your family at Deer Run summer camps — located on 100 scenic wooded acres just four hours north-west of Atlanta, near historic downtown Franklin, Tennes-see. Deer Run is a nondenomi-national Christ-centered camp where campers experience “Deeper Faith and Greater Adventures.” Exceptional staff lead well-organized activities creating positive lifetime mem-ories and building character, confidence and relationships. Overnight camp sessions are
age-graded: • Preteen camps (completed
grades 3–5)• Middle school camps (com-
pleted grades 6–8)• High school camps (com-
pleted grades 9–12)
Camps begin Sunday afternoon and end Saturday morning with a parent-camper celebration time. Each camper receives a themed camp shirt and a DVD video and slide show of their camp week so they can remember their ex-perience throughout the year
... and for years to come! If your child is coming to camp by plane, Deer Run provides a supervised airport shuttle service to and from Nashville International Airport.
The shuttle service is provided by Deer Run — not a third party. Campers are divided into small groups by age and gender. Activities are all-inclusive: Lake fun (zip line, water slide, kayaks, swim-ming, aqua park), horseback wooded trail rides, climbing tower, paintball, low and high ropes, cardboard boat regatta,
archery, BB guns, wiffle ball, games, skits and fun songs. Each small group has daily Bible study plus each night there is a large-group wor-ship with an engaging speaker. Have you often wanted to go to camp yourself — to play, go down the water slide, enjoy the camp experience together as a family?
You can at Deer Run! For families looking for a unique and fun outdoor experience together, there are two 3-night Family Camps (ages 5 and up) — May 31–June 3 and July 26-29. Playing together strength-ens relationships! Camp begins Sunday afternoon and ends Wednesday afternoon.
Accommodations are at the upscale lodge at Deer Run. All rooms are private. No more “camp” food! At Deer Run meals are an important part of the camp experience. Our chefs cook healthy, delicious meals made from fresh ingre-dients.
A full salad bar and fresh fruit are available each day.
Camper families are invited to three open houses (2:00 to 4:00 p.m. CST) to meet the camp directors and some of the summer staff: March 8, April 12 and May 3.
Reservations are not nec-
essary for this guided walk-ing tour of the facilities. The relationship of the summer staff and the camper is vital to a successful camper experi-ence, so this is a great way to connect with summer staff by meeting some of them before camp starts.
Deer Run has an inten-sive application, referral and interview process including a background check. College-age students are selected who are mature and are great role models.
There are no registration deadlines, but spaces fill up quickly, so register soon to get your preferred camp dates. Go to Camps.DeerRunRetreat.org to view session weeks and to register. If you have questions about the Deer Run camp pro-grams, call 888-794-2918. Georgia’s First Basketball & Indoor Beach Volleyball
Training & Fun Facility! Now Open! 8,800 square feet facility
1710 Redi Road, Suite 100, Cumming, Ga 30040 Open 7 days a week
• Basketball Camps• Indoor Volleyball• Sand Volleyball• Individual Training
• Team Training• Court Rentals• Open Gym Times• Travel Teams
• Field Trips• Birthday Parties &
Events • X-treme Gaming 360
• Martial Arts• Speed & Agility• Day Care
Phone: 470-297-5620 Website: hoopsnsand.com
Summer and Spring Break
Camps Now Available!
Up With Kids Sports, Inc. (UWKS) is a youth program designed to pro-vide instructions in fundamental basketball and volleyball skills through after school enrich-ment programs, private or group coaching.
The program also provides children the opportunity to learn a lot about social skills while competing in a fun en-vironment. UWKS evaluates a player’s skill set and utilizes the appropriate tools to im-prove the player’s knowledge of the game, skills, physical con-dition, confidence, self-esteem, hand-eye coordination, listen-ing skills, and much more.
With more 20 years of do-mestic and international com-munity service, he has dem-onstrated a dedicated passion for working with children of all ages and backgrounds.
Coach Hines has now opened his own state of the art training facility in Cumming, Georgia, Hoops N Sand-www.hoopsnsand.com. This 8800 square foot facility will house
a full size basket-ball and volleyball court, a half bas-ketball court and a sand volleyball court.
Through Up With Kids Sports, Inc. a youth train-ing program oper-ated
by former pro-fessional basketball
player, Samuel Hines, Hoops N Sand will offer a variety of year round training opportunities.
Hoops N Sand will also be a unique and fun entertainment facility for both children and Adults!! Game room, basket-ball, volleyball and beach vol-leyball court rentals, lacrosse, futsal, hockey, open gym, leagues, parties, and corporate events. The facility is great for AAU teams, volleyball clubs, feeder teams, school teams, home schools, daycares, religious organizations, boy scouts/girl scouts, field trips, birthday celebrations, and team bonding.
A wide variety of profes-sionals including lawyers, correctional officers, social workers, educators, profes-sional athletes, and clergy have partnered with UWKS.
Hoops N’ Sand
Forsyth Herald | forsythherald.com SUMMER CAMPS • Sponsored Section March 4, 2015 27
BUILD > CHARACTER, CONFIDENCE, RELATIONSHIPS
OVERNIGHT CAMPS
Preteen grades 3–5
Middle School grades 6–81 or 2 weeks
High School grades 9–12
FAMILY CAMPS
ages 5 & up
Camps.DeerRunRetreat.org • 888.794.2918
DEEPER FAITH. GREATER ADVENTURES.
Camper Shuttle available to/from Nashville International Airport
4 hours northwest of ATLANTA > NEAR HISTORIC FRANKLIN, TENN.
OPEN HOUSEMARCH 8 • APRIL 12 • MAY 3
2 to 4 p.m. [CST]Come & Go Walking Tour
Meet the camp directors & some of the summer staff!
son
Pa ead
ers Pol
aff!
ssoonn
PPaa
CAMPEXPERIENCES
CAMPS & RETREATS
PSALM 42:1
OVERNIGHT & FAMILY
28 March 4, 2015 Sponsored Section • SUMMER CAMPS forsythherald.com | Forsyth Herald
18 co-ed, no experience necessary. Five 2-week sessions with USRow-ing certified coaches: choose from 2 morning or 1 evening sessions, $175/session. Also for 2015, back by popular demand, 3 1-week ses-sions are available for High School campers only, $125/session. Held at the Chattahoochee River, 245 Azalea Drive, Roswell. Learn the fundamentals of sweep rowing and begin a basic workout program with the largest and most suc-cessful youth rowing program in Georgia! All campers are grouped each session by age, size, and skill level. To register, or for more info: www.ajracrew.com, or Sarah Low [email protected].
ScienceScience Camp conducted
by High Touch-High Tech, Inc. since 1994. Degreed professionals instruct fun science from CSI dis-coveries, Robotics, Bugs & Rock-ets, to Fossils, Flowers, Space,& Volcanoes- Your older child can experience science coming to life in the fields of Chemistry, Physics, Light, Sound, and Electrical en-ergy. Does your younger child like dinosaurs, gemstones, or animal studies? Then our age appropriate camps are for them. Also- STEM camps- Science, Technology, Engineering & Math camps too! Snacks and recess games will be provided. ‘Pizza Fridays’ available at an additional charge. Completed K-5, 9am-3pm. 770-667-9443.
Locations: Roswell, Cumming, Marietta, Lawrenceville,Vinings, and Dunwoody. www.sciencemade-funatl.org
SoccerSoccer Camps at Emory Uni-
versity
Boys CampsEagle Full Day Camps - June
8-12 / June 15-19 for boys ages 7-14, extended care available
Eagle Elite Residential/Com-muter Camp - July 10-12 for boys ages 15-18
Info available at www.eagle-boyssoccercamps or contact:
Sonny TravisEmory Men’s Head Soc-
cer Coach [email protected]
Girls CampsFull Day Camps - June 1-5 /
July 6-10 for girls ages 7-14, ex-tended care available
Info available at www.emorys-portscamps.com and scroll to girls soccer or contact:
Sue PatbergEmory Women’s Head Soc-
cer Coach [email protected] traditionally fill up so
sign up early, Day Camp cost for each week $320 includes lunch.
Overnight CampsAdventure & Travel
Catalina Sea Camp and As-troCamp are two amazing adven-
ture summer camps. Located on beautiful Catalina Island in Southern California, Catalina Sea Camp offers ocean adventure activities for boy and girls ages 8-17. We have 1-week sessions for ages 8-13 and 3-week camps for ages 12-17. Located in beautiful Idyllwild California, Astrocamp is a mountain adventure science sum-mer camp for boy and girls ages 8-17. These two great summer camps were developed by the non-profit corporation Guided Discov-eries in order to provide boys and girls with summer opportunities that enrich and inspire their lives. Check out our websites at www.californiasummercamps.org for a list of activities.
MississippiCamp Iti Kana and Camp
Wahi - Summer Camps for girls ages 6-17. Located in Wiggins and Brandon, Mississippi. Owned and operated by Girl Scouts of Greater Mississippi. Non-Girl Scouts welcome. Three and four day overnight sessions. Traditional summer camp activities – swim-ming, archery, nature, crafts, sci-ence, trip units, games, leadership, hiking, cook-outs, campfires and sing-alongs. Contact: [email protected] or 601.660.2847. www.gsgms.org
Special NeedsCamp Lee Mar: For children
and teenagers with mild to moder-ate learning and developmental challenges. Since 1953, A Special Camp in beautiful Pennsylvania Poconos, co-ed, ages 7-21, with mild-moderate developmental
challenges. Our 63rd anniversary, 6/25 25-8/11. Fun, traditional camp activities. academics. speech & language therapy. daily living skills. weekly social dancing & end-of-summer “prom” for older campers. Therapeutic horseback riding and optional day and overnight trips during summer. Exceptional facilities featuring air conditioned bunks & buildings, Junior Olympic heated pool, car-ing, nurturing staff. In 2015 we are excited about the launch of the Lee Mar L.I.F.E. program (Living Independently Functional Educa-tion). Visit us on the web at www.leemar.com. 215-658-1708. [email protected]
TennesseeGreat Smoky Mountains In-
stitute at Tremont offers nature, backpacking, science adventure and family camps inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Imagine splashing around in an icy-cold mountain stream, climb-ing ridges to an unbelievable view, or choosing from a variety of activities to discover nature through hands-on explorations, day hikes and crafts. Options for beginning campers as well as outdoor enthusiasts - ages 5 to 95. Tremont Institute creates space for discovery, personal develop-ment and opportunities to unplug and explore. Call (865) 448-6709 or visit www.gsmit.org/GA.html. Located on the Tennessee side of the national park. Find us on Facebook @GSMITremont to see pictures and videos of the adven-ture that awaits!
Voted the No. 1 Summer Camp in Nashville for the past six years, the YMCA Camp Widjiwagan is an action-packed summer adventure where confidence is built through skill development, and new friends are made as a result of teamwork.
Camp Widjiwagan offers pro-gressive Day, Resident and Equestri-an one-week programs for children ages 5-17. We offer a wide variety of water activates such as swimming, ski and surf school, the Blob, and an advanced sailing program. Land activities include field sports, climb-ing, double zip line and archery. Arts, crafts and theme production are also offered at camp. Go to www.campwidji.org to learn more or call us at 615-360-2267.
Deer Run Camps & Retreats: 3845 Perkins Road. Thompson’s Station, TN 37179. 888-794-2918. Camps.DeerRunRetreat.org. [email protected]. Nondenominational, Christ-centered camp on 100 scenic wooded acres. Campers experience “Deeper Faith and Greater Adventures.” Age-grad-ed sessions, grades 3 through12 plus 3-night Family Camps for ages 5 and up.. Exceptional staff lead a well-organized experience creat-ing positive lifetime memories and building character, confidence and relationships. All-inclusive activities: lake fun (zip-line, water slide, kay-aks, swimming, aqua park), horse-back wooded trail rides, climbing tower, paintball, low and high ropes, cardboard boat regatta, archery, BB guns, wiffle ball, games, skits, fun songs. Daily small group Bible study plus nightly large group worship with an engaging speaker
Continued from Page 25
Camps:
forsythherald.com | Forsyth Herald | March 4, 2015 | 29Recycled paper | Submit your news & photos to [email protected]
up with actions to be done as a result of each finding.
“FCS will continue to pur-sue external funding,” Bray said. “FCS will explore options for after-school lab availability. We will also gather and com-municate low cost access op-tions to be sure we’re leverag-ing that full amount for access to everybody.”
The second group, and the most vocal, said Bray, was the teachers.
He said they think itsLearn-ing is a great way to make up snow days.
“They do think we need to provide more support from oth-er personnel like English Lan-
guage Learners (ELL) teachers and support teachers,” Bray said. “Some content area, such as physical education and younger students, needs more concrete content that’s less iconic in terms of texting and discussion boards.”
Some teachers reported lack of parental support, Bray said, which surprised him, but he said there are areas in the district where parents are not as involved as others.
“Especially for elementary schools, we are just on the cusp of rolling that out and we’re a bit behind middle and high, and I don’t think the parents are quite as aware of what’s go-ing on there,” Bray said.
There will be additional training for teachers and sup-port staff, including training on use of itsLearning at the
beginning of the school year, especially for younger stu-dents, Bray said.
Students enjoyed the op-portunity to complete as-signments online, Bray said, and they also appreciated the ability to collaborate activities while not in school.
“They said they needed more direction for submitting assignments online,” Bray said. “Some students did not participate due to lack of Inter-net, parental support or ELL – which we’re rolling out and working on.”
Another issue students faced was not being able to use smaller devices to do their work, Bray said.
“We want to work with its-Learning to improve the mobile experience,” Bray said. “Many students, especially older,
bring cellphones and they’re using that for Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) and we want itsLearnnig to provide more mobile-friendly experi-ences so they have more flex-ibility of being able to access those resources.”
ItsLearning’s focus was initially on delivery through the Web, so mobile programming will take a bit more work, Bray said.
Bray said they’re working on it and they have a mobile app, but there’s room for im-provement.
Parents thought it was easier than expected, and Bray said that’s thanks in part to a series of parent training nights that they found valuable and requested more.
“We want to rework and redesign the FCS parent tool-box and make more resources available through that,” Bray said. “Not only for itsLearning, but how these things actually play out in terms of how are students actually learning.”
The administration also requested more training on itsLearning, and Bray said they will increase communication about specifics of the drill, and more. They also found they need to provide a template for communication to make every-thing consistent.
All in all, Bray said it’s work-ing pretty well considering it has only been used a few times.
“This is not just to benefit for terms of what we’re doing again here at the district level, but it’s a benefit for the kids as well, because this is the world they’re operating in,” Bray said.
Some have criticized the program, but Bray said this gives the county a chance to err on the side of caution dur-ing bad weather.
“It’s a lot better for us to say this is much better than having a school bus in an ac-cident because of an icy road,” Bray said.
For more information on itsLearning, visit https://for-syth.itslearning.com.
Foster Bennett , 86, of Cumming, passed away February 19, 2015. Arrangements by Ingram Funeral Home.
Roger Ben Gilleland, 82, passed away February 19, 2015. Arrangements by Ingram Funeral Home.
Ruby Clarice Hale, 94, of Cumming, passed away February 16, 2015. Arrangements by Ingram Funeral Home.
Lester W. Kaiser, Jr., 86, of Cumming, passed away February 19, 2015. Arrangements by Ingram Funeral Home.
Marie Martin, 77, of Cumming, passed away February 19, 2015. Arrangements by Ingram Funeral Home.
J. C. Munda, 86, of Cumming, passed away February 19, 2015. Arrangements by Ingram Funeral Home.
Tracy Suzanne Savor, 28, of Cumming, passed away February 21, 2015. Arrangements by McDonald and Son Funeral Home.
Tommy Wayne Smith, 68, of Suwanee, passed away February 24, 2015. Arrangements by Byars Funeral Home.
Lucille Stancil, 79, of Cumming, passed away February 20, 2015. Arrangements by Ingram Funeral Home.
Roy Eugene Westray, 87, of Cumming, passed away February 18, 2015. Arrangements by Ingram Funeral Home.
DEATH NOTICESContinued from Page 1
FCS:
Car tampered with in apartment complexFORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — A man went to Sandy Springs and back after noticing his car had been tampered with, but didn’t call the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office until later Feb. 16.
The man reportedly told officers he left his apartment that morning and noticed his car was not where he left it. He said he backed his car into a spot across from his apart-ment, but when he went to get in it the next morning, it was about five spaces down.
He opened the car door and
noticed the driver’s seatbelt was tied around the steering wheel and the driver’s seat was pushed all the way forward.
He told officers he didn’t think too much about it and thought it was his girlfriend playing a trick on him. He drove to Sandy Springs and back, but later talked to his girlfriend and realized she had nothing to do with the car.
The man then looked throughout the car to see if anything else was wrong and saw his district attorney’s badge was missing and that there were scratch marks midway up the driver’s side door and on the door lock and unlock buttons and a smudge on the driver’s side window covered up with some paper.
The officers noticed distinc-tive drag marks from the tires that left the parking space and went up the street for a
couple hundred feet and then stopped, as if the car was dragged from its space.
The officer reportedly thought all the damage was consistent with a Slim Jim tool being used to enter through the door frame and push the unlock buttons.
No prints were able to be taken inside or outside. The man reported the only thing missing was his badge. There were no cameras in that direc-tion and the deputy asked the front office to review the cam-eras for any tow trucks coming or leaving the area during the incident time frame.
Woman worried about nephew overdosingFORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — A woman called the Forsyth
County Sheriff’s Office Feb. 15 after she couldn’t get her neph-ew to answer phone calls or texts and suspected a possible drug overdose.
When the deputy arrived on the scene, he noticed all the doors were unlocked, seven cars were parked out front and there were numerous beer cans and other items in the yard.
When no one answered the door, the deputy went to his patrol car and activated his siren in short intervals.
A man then came to the door, and the deputy asked if the nephew lived there. The man said the nephew lived in the basement, but he didn’t think he was home.
As the man showed the door to the nephew’s room, the deputy reported he saw numerous drug-related items on the table inside and other
possible narcotics throughout the room.
When the resident went back inside, the deputy said he could see the man attempt to hide the drug-related items and approach the nephew, who appeared to be laying on the bed unresponsive. The man came back outside and told the deputy the nephew wasn’t there.
After the deputy told the man he watched him go inside, the man changed his story and said he didn’t move anything but that he did go in the room and the nephew wouldn’t move or wake up.
The deputy arrested the man for obstruction, and tried to verbally and physi-cally shake the nephew awake. When the nephew didn’t respond, the deputy called for a medical unit. He was later medically cleared.
Continued from Page 2
Blotter:
How is itsLearning really doing?We asked parents on Facebook to describe their students’ experiences with the county’s new policy to use the online itsLearning program on snow days. The following are some of the responses we received.
“ItsLearning has been working well for us. My daughter is in first grade and her assignments are fairly easy. Reading a book or watching an educational video and answering questions or measuring objects around the house and comparing. My son is in 10th grade and his has been a little overwhelming with so many teachers posting and the assignments taking a while to complete. In regards to high school, the assignments should be simple and shouldn’t take that long to complete since there are seven teachers posting. Some of my son’s assignments take an hour, if not more, to complete. He said that the itsLearning online is like a normal day of school except at home instead of school, and I don’t think that was the intention when Forsyth County Schools created this for inclement weather days. Students shouldn’t have eight or more hours of assign-ments to do online for a snow day.” Melinda Hays
“I’ve really liked it for my kindergartener. I had some issues with the initial login, but my son’s teacher was able to get me through it. My son really enjoys it and I like seeing what he learns and how much he knows.” Katie Chavez
“In theory, I like the idea. In practice it has gone very well with my fifth-grader, but not as well with my high schooler. Since the teachers have until 5 p.m. the day after they return to school to post, assignments have trickled in between 8 a.m. and as late as 8:30 p.m. Even if the task can be easily completed, my child is still tied to the computer all day checking for new assignments. Even with the five-day grace period to have work turned in, the more rigorous classes have been stressing that the lessons taught those days need to be learned or the student will be behind when they return. I can’t fault Advanced Placement and advanced teach-ers for that; it is just the reality of the situation. Our experience with it has varied greatly depending on the teacher and the subject matter. I think the kinks can be worked out, but they are going to have to change the way it works for high school students in order for it to be truly successful.” Lynn Wyche Dotson
“ItsLearning is a modern necessity now. So much of college work can be done online so this is a wave of the future. Having said that, it is not a smooth program because it is not well organized. The kindergarten work was hard to navigate through, it wasn’t clear what the assignments were or where they were and it is cluttered with many files. The work that was turned in did not always update as completed and tech support was not instant. Some learning links didn’t work and awkwardly, some of the work had to be hand-written and then typed onto a different page. Initially, I wasted time because I couldn’t open the files at all, just see them. I was signed in as a parent and it didn’t give me access to the files but I didn’t know it. I felt so stupid. I’m getting the hang of it now but wish it had been intuitive and simple to navigate.” Cynthia Alsup
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www.HandyHero.net30 yrs. exp./FREE ESTIMATES1 YR WARRANTY/Lic. & Ins.
WANTED OLD JAPANESEMOTORCYCLES
KAWASAKI-- Z1-900(1972-75), KZ900, KZ1000(1976-1982), Z1R, KZ1000MK2(1979,80), W1-650,
H1-500(1969-72), H2-750(1972-1975), S1-250, S2-350, S3-400, KH250, KH400, SUZUKI--GS400, GT380,
HONDA--CB750K(1969-1976), CBX1000(1979,80)
$$ CASH $$1-800-772-11421-310-721-0726
32 | March 4, 2015 | Forsyth Herald | forsythherald.com Submit your news & photos to [email protected] | Recycled paper