It’s A Wrap

Would you believe that there are only 72 more shopping days until Christmas? More importantly there are only 39 more days until the holiday events start along the Divine 9.

What, you’ve never heard of the Divine 9? To us local folk, that’s Georgia Highway 9, here in Roswell and Alpharetta. Each year, starting with Thanksgiving week, Roswell and Alpharetta host some must-attend events and celebrations all up and down the Divine 9.

To unveil the Holidays along the Divine 9 publication a very special, fun event is scheduled on Monday, October 17th at 11 am at Northpoint Mall. Mayor Jere Wood of Roswell, Mayor Arthur Letchas of Alpharetta, and their wives, Judie Raiford and Sally Letchas will participate in “The Mayor’s Holiday Wrap-Up.”

Each husband and wife team will be in a race to see which team can wrap the most toys in 19 minutes. Santa himself will give special acclaim to the team with the most wrapped gifts and a few other select categories. Performers from the Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance production of The Nutcracker will be on hand providing additional holiday merriment. All gifts will be donated to North Fulton Community Charities.

I’m not sure what will be the most fun – cheering on my favorite mayor and wife team or getting some great ideas for how to wrap those funny shaped packages that I have to deal with each year. I wonder if Santa will let me sit on his lap, at my age? Guess I’d better focus on the beauty and majesty of the Tolbert Yilmaz Nutcracker dancers and be content with being awed at their skills.

The best part about this event is being the first to find out about the 84 (yes, I said 84) events in the Holidays along the Divine 9 publication. I know for a fact that some of them are of the “fills up fast, gotta reserve my spot, now” type of events.

Join us at Northpoint Mall on Monday, October 17th for the thrill of competition, the beauty of the dancers, and I bet you’ll even hear a jingle bell or two – you just have to be there in person to find out what I mean.

If you ever snuck under the tree as a kid, carefully opened a wrapped package to see what you were getting, and then taped it back up, I bet you can’t wait for Monday to see what all the Holidays along the Divine 9 has to offer. Guess what? You don’t have to wait. Just go to www.visitroswellga.com/divine9.html and click on the link to view all of the events.

A Taste-Y Time in Roswell

Ladies and Gentlemen – Start Your Tastebuds! It’s time for the yummiest fall event in Roswell - The Annual Taste of Roswell.

Come on down to the Historic Square, this Saturday, October 15th, noon – 5:30 pm for a great chance to enjoy a beautiful fall day while sampling food from Roswell’s favorite restaurants. Throw in a radio station playing great music and fun family-friendly contests and you have a great recipe for a fun afternoon.

If you’re not from “around here,” the Historic Roswell Square is located at the intersection of Marietta Highway (GA 120) and Atlanta Street (GA 9).

On this fine fall Saturday, over 25 Roswell eateries will be selling samples of some of the items on their menus on the square in downtown Roswell. Make the ticket tent your first stop to visit the smiling volunteers and purchase your food tickets for 50 cents each. Samples are one to six tickets (50 cents to $3 in value). I usually start with $5 worth of tickets, scope out the tents to see what each restaurant is selling, buy my samples and chow down. If I still have room left in my stomach, I figure out how many more tickets I need and purchase a few more and start the fun all over again.

After you’ve eaten your fill, make sure you stop back by the ticket tent and vote on your favorite restaurants. The friendly competition between restaurants includes: Friendliest, Best Decorated, Favorite Item, and the coveted Most Popular, which is determined by YOUR taste purchases.

While you’re digesting your food and deciding if you really need just one or two more desserts, grab a chair in front of the bandstand and enjoy the music and dance contests. In addition to the music from 106.7 Atlanta’s Greatest Hits, you and your family can participate in:
Hula Hoop Contest
Bean Bag Toss
The Twist Dance Contest
Hokie Pokie
Electric Slide
Line Dancing

So stop reading, get out your calendar, and mark it down to be at the Historic Square in Roswell, this Saturday, October 15th from noon – 5:30 pm. See you there!

For more information on our sponsors and participating restaurants, check out www.visitroswellga.com/taste-roswell.html

Celebrating 20 Years of Heads in Beds and Faces in Places

On October 8, 1991, the Roswell community showed strong support for a tourism program in Roswell by donating more than $20,000 at a kick-off meeting. Thus began the strong focus on tourism and the creation of a vital organization to carry that work forward.

The Roswell CVB operates as the Destination Marketing Organization for the City of Roswell, working with partners throughout the city to attract visitors to our area. Visitors’ spending adds to the economic vitality of Roswell which increases our quality of life.

On May 1, 1992, we opened the doors to the Historic Roswell Convention & Visitors Bureau at 617 Atlanta Street and have been staffing it 7-days-a-week ever since. Here, visitors to Roswell and residents alike, receive information about our city, our tourist attractions, lodging, restaurants, shopping, events facilities, community services, city services, directions and more. Through the Visitors Center we are the welcoming face of the community, providing information, answering phone calls, responding to e-mail inquiries, and fulfilling requests generated by our advertising programs.

We work to put Heads in Beds and Faces in Places, utilizing dynamic advertising, marketing, and promotional programs to reach people near and far.

Planning a wedding, reunion or special occasion in Roswell? The CVB provides free services and assistance to make your job easy.

Arranging a business meeting? We are here to help you.

Want to have fun with your family and friends? Let us tell you the possibilities.

Looking for things you can do free of charge? Try the walking tour or the free downloadable Civil War/Mill Village tour on our webpage.

Stop by the Visitors Center to learn more about the Roswell community, or visit our website at www.visitroswellga.com Our hours are 9-5 Monday – Friday; 10–4 Saturday; Noon – 3 Sunday; with extended hours for festivals and special activities as needed.

As we celebrate 20 years of serving the community, we invite you to experience and celebrate Roswell!

Canton Street Wins Great Places in Georgia Award

The secret is out about Roswell's historic treasure - Canton Street! The setting for great shopping, dining and special events like Alive After 5 was recently awarded the "2011 Great Places in Georgia - Great Street" by the Georgia Planning Association (GPA). Canton Street was described as "the hottest scene OTP" (OTP-outside the perimeter.)

The GPA award acknowledges that good planning has been crucial to preserving Canton Street and making it the vibrant "Great Street" it is today. Canton Street received this award because of the alfresco dining craze, being a walker's dream street and for the people looking for "the Virginia Highland experience OTP, Canton Street has it covered." According to the award application, 'Historic commercial buildings and historic homes house restaurants, offices, retail and residential space. The Heart of Roswell Park provides a public park space in a historic commercial area and narrow streets with brick sidewalks and street trees provide character-defining elements that contribute to an enjoyable experience for all and provide the setting for a variety of experiences including shopping dining and festivals. Good planning has been crucial to making Canton Street a "Great Street in Georgia"! Citizens and visitors alike enjoy this historic and memorable sense of place.'

The Georgia Planning Association (GPA) is an official Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA). GPA is a 1,000-plus member organization of professional planners and planning officials who serve Georgia's communities in many ways, at all levels of government, the private sector and not-for-profit organizations.

A special presentation will be made at the upcoming Roswell Mayor and City Council Meeting in recognition of the award on Monday, October 10 at 7 p.m.

Art Captures History and Nature in Roswell

What happens when you take a city full of picturesque historic and natural attractions and combine it with the creativity of middle schoolers? The result is awesome artwork and a great excuse for some friendly competition between the student artists.

Last year, when the “Roswell Connect,” networking and social event for Roswell businesses, was held at the Atlanta Academy, the Roswell Convention and Visitors Bureau was amazed at the size of the art gallery area and the work the students had created. This year, as part of the Roswell Paint Out, Atlanta Academy Students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades were busy creating scenes of historic areas in Roswell.

So many great works of art were created that it was a challenge for the school’s art director and panel of judges to narrow it down to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and honorable mention awards for each of the grades. The October 4th ceremony to announce the winners was a great time to showcase the students’ work and of course, for a photo op.

Bank of North Georgia, as part of their support of the CVB and the arts, provided the ribbons and cash awards given to each student. Kevin Bamford with Bank of North Georgia, joined Mayor Wood, Rich Dippolito, Becky Wynn, Betty Price, Steve Stroud, administrators and instructors from Atlanta Academy, Dotty Etris and Marsha Saum from the Roswell Convention & Visitors Bureau in congratulating the students and celebrating their works of art.

Wing Your Way to the Chattahoochee Nature Center

Hundreds of wings will be flying at the Chattahoochee Nature Center, this weekend. No, the birds at the Nature Center don’t have a lot of chicks ready to leave the nest. It’s not a convention of angels, either. It’s the 2011 Flying Colors Butterfly Festival!

Tickets are just $10 for the General Public ($8 if you’re a CNC Member) and children ages 2 and under are FREE.

Here’s a glimpse at what will be going on Saturday, July 16 and Sunday, July 17:

Butterfly Releases
Witness the thrill of a live butterfly release including swallowtail butterflies! Butterfly releases occur at 11 AM and 1:30 PM on Saturday and at 1:30 PM and 3:30 PM on Sunday.

Plant Sale
Find the perfect host plants and nectar plants to take home to your garden to attract butterflies to your backyard! CNC Horticulture volunteers will be on-hand at the plant sale and in the butterfly garden to answer your questions about how to attract butterflies and other pollinators to your yard!

Butterfly Crafts and Face Painting
We have crafts for everyone! Kids can make butterfly inspired sun catchers, butterfly antennae, silly straws, and bouncy caterpillars. Come visit us in Kingfisher Kids can get their faces painted with beautiful butterflies and creepy caterpillars!

Butterfly Sidewalk Art & Fairy House Construction
Butterflies provide the perfect inspiration for our on-going art project. Create a "butterfly path" from the Ben Brady Lakeside Pavilion all the way to the "fairy village!"
Fairies are among us. Stop by the free play area and build a fairy house or gnome home during the Butterfly Festival. Fairy houses and gnome homes are made from nature objects for real and imaginary creatures. Nature materials provided; bring your imagination. One house per family please.

Butterfly and Caterpillar Costume Parade
Come with your very best butterfly wings or your best caterpillar colors on and join us for our butterfly parade at the end of festival each day with grand marshal Ms. Chrysalis!

Entertainment for the Entire Family
Saturday and Sunday will bring out our friends from Atlanta Dance Central as they showcase some of their up and coming dancers!

On Saturday, Piccadilly Puppets will have you laughing and learning as they present Butterfly Ballad at 11:30am and 2:00pm.

Captain George will have us dancing and singing along to old favorites on Sunday with some help from YOU!

Exhibitors and Vendors
We will have groups with us that will help you learn about the importance of pollinators in our environment. We will also have some environmentally friendly vendors on hand to help you green your life!

Girl Scout Butterfly Badge
Junior Girl Scouts can work on the requirements for the Butterfly Badge on their own with self-guided activities on Saturday OR come on Sunday and complete the requirements through an interactive program with Cadette Scout Mary Ann H. from Troop 24324 as part of her Silver Award! If you would like to sign-up for the Sunday program please contact scouts@chattnaturecenter.org The program is included with admission to the festival!

For full details, just click on www.chattnaturecenter.org/flying-colors-butterfly-festival.html

Bike Ride Will Shut Down GA 400

Bicycles on Georgia 400? Isn’t that normally illegal? This coming Sunday, for the third year in a row, Georgia 400 will be shut down so that bicycles can ride in the “Hospitality Highway Century” to benefit the Georgia Transplant Foundation (GTF). It’s your chance to be one of the few folks who can say that they shut down Georgia 400 and did something good for someone else at the same time.

Registered riders will promptly start at 6:30 a.m. from the former Home Depot parking lot in Roswell, at the intersection of Holcomb Bridge Rd. and Market Blvd., and pedal their way down GA 400 from exit 7 to exit 6. Cyclists will then wind through the cities of Roswell, Sandy Springs, Milton, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, and other scenic areas of north Fulton, Forsyth, and Cherokee counties. The route includes rest stops, complete with bathrooms, full mechanical support, and a variety of snacks and drinks. Whether it’s the 9-mile “I Did It” ride or the 22-mile, 60-mile, and 100-mile options, this event promises to be filled with fun, excitement, and the opportunity to say, “I closed down 400!”

The start/ finish point is located in the former Home Depot parking lot, next to the Publix, in the Kings Market shopping center, in Roswell. The exact address is: 1425 Market Blvd. Roswell, GA 30076. All persons involved with the ride - cyclists, fans, volunteers, staff, etc. - should only park their vehicles in the former Home Depot parking lot, NOT in front of Publix. Additional parking will also be available in the former Comp. USA parking lot, located off of Market Blvd., in the same shopping center

Registration opens at 5:15 am. Only registered cyclists who arrive before 6 am will be able to ride on GA 400 during the specific window of time allotted by the Department of Transportation. Registration is $45, including the day of the event. Registration includes a t-shirt, food, water, and full mechanical support along the way. The ride is open to anyone 14-years-of- age or older. For details about the ride and to register for the “Hospitality Highway Century,” please visit www.400century.com

Need a place to spend the night so that all you have to do is fall out of bed and get to registration early, early, early? The host hotel for the event is the Courtyard by Marriott, Roswell. You can leave your car at the hotel and just pedal a few feet to the start of the race. Call them at 770-992-7200 to take advantage of their special $59.00 rate for the ride. But wait, there’s more! Check out the other Roswell hotels, many located right on Holcomb Bridge where the race starts: www.visitroswellga.com/lodging.html

Founded in Atlanta in 1992, the Georgia Transplant Foundation is a non-profit organization providing financial, educational, and emotional support to transplant candidates, recipients, living donors, and their families throughout the state of Georgia. GTF is funded through the generosity of the Carlos and Marguerite Mason Trust, corporations and individuals. Eighty-four percent of all funds raised directly support Georgia’s organ transplant community. For more information, please visit www.gatransplant.org