Wanna rock? Decatur's Firehouse Guitars & Music will allow you to do just that - even if you haven't picked up an instrument in years! The Spring semester of the Academy of Music Performance (AMP) program is starting up the first week of February and takes students of all ages. Whether you have a kid or teenager who is ready to jam with others or are wanting to pick up an instrument where you left off, the program has something for you. To top it off the final performance will be held at Decatur's famous Eddie's Attic - where acts such as John Mayer and the Indigo Girls got their start!

Sign up deadline has been extended through the first of February - sign up sheets can be found here.

For additional info on the program email lori.murphy@guitarsatlanta.com

Dear neighors and friends concerned with in-town development and local efforts to protect in-town greenspaces.

The next hearing for the appeal to the Atlanta Tree Conservation Commission concerning existing trees and the greenspace located at 292 Gordon Ave. NE, in Lake Claire, will be held on Wednesday, 20 January 2010 at 6:30 p.m. in Committee Room 2 at City Hall, 55 Trinity Ave. SW, Atlanta, GA.

Please find the time to attend the appeal hearing and support efforts of our neighbors on Gordon Ave. to protect the Granmaw Gordon greenspace for the use and enjoyment by the neighborhood and other Atlanta residents.

This effort to protect the greenspace needs your support through participation in the appeal hearings and financial contributions to help meet legal expenses associated with the appeal process.

For further information on how you can help, please call Teri Stewart at 404-370-1003 or 404-373-7672.

Thanks in advance for your support of this important community-based initiative.

Hi folks, during the next CPNO meeting on January 18, there will be a vote on the SweetWater 420 Fest. An email will also be sent out to give notice of the vote being on the agenda. If anyone has questions prior to the meeting, please talk to Walt Weimar or any of the other CPNO officers (all contact info is in the right rail of this web site).

Dear Neighbors, In honor of Leroy's life, Epworth United Methodist Church (1561 McLendon Ave, across from Candler Park) will host a Remembrance Concert for Leroy Freeman this coming Sunday evening. An invitation from Pastor Lisa to the Candler Park community is below. Elise Cormier (Lake Claire neighbor)

====
Hello Folks,

The Medical Examiner has not made enough progress to get in touch with any of Leroy's family. I was not given any time line that this would be complete, so am suggesting that we go foward to remember and honor Leroy in our community.

We have a free blues concert scheduled for Sunday evening at 5 pm at the Church in Dobbins Hall. Leroy would always come to listen to this band practice, and to Dobbins Hall on Sunday morning for coffee and a biscuit, so it seems fitting that we do his remembrance in this space, with the music he enjoyed.

Please pass this on: invite Lake Claire and Candler Park, and other groups that may have interest to join us this Sunday as we have a great blues concert and remember Leroy. We will center the remembrance part at the beginnning at 5 pm, so if folks don't want to stay for the whole concert, they can participate (we will open up the floor for folks to share thoughts and remembrances) and leave.

I hope to see you there.

Peace,
Rev. Lisa Dempsey
questions? 770-598-5066

Keep Georgia Beautiful, Keep Atlanta Beautiful, The Home Depot, and The Davey Tree Company and 11-Alive’s Earthwatch, and Ferry-Morse Seed Co. want to “chip” in and help you get your house back in order after the Christmas holidays. We have made at least one household decision free, easy and eco-friendly during this holiday season.

Bring One for the Chipper, the state’s annual Christmas tree recycling program, invites Georgia residents to bring their trees to local drop-off centers on Saturday, January 9, 2010 from 9AM-4PM. Atlanta residents can drop off at the Home Depot parking lots on Ponce de Leon Avenue and Sidney Marcus Boulevard, where Keep Atlanta Beautiful will be assisted by Boy Scout Troop 298. All Georgia residents can visit www.KeepGeorgiaBeautiful.org for a zip code-based listing of drop-off centers throughout the state. Georgia residents can visit www.KeepGeorgiaBeautiful.org for a zip code-based listing of drop-off centers throughout the state.

The Chipper program produces high quality, pest-free and weed-free mulch which The Davey Tree Company will deliver free of charge for large-scale landscaping projects. Since its inception, the program has recycled more than 4 million Christmas trees. The mulch from these trees has been used for playgrounds, local government beautification projects, and residential yards. Just as important, our already over-burdened landfills were not further burdened with 4 million trees.

On the wings of Oakhurst Community Garden Project's wildly popular "Chicks in the City" classes comes a full morning of urban poultry-keeping. On February 6 the Chicks in the City Symposium offers attendees a full plate of essentials on backyard chickens. Taught by local experts, the six sessions highlight how-tos from coop design to breeds and from chicken illnesses to getting started with backyard poultry.

Along with partners Georgia Organics, Decatur Active Living, and the Chicken Whisperer, Inc., the Oakhurst Community Garden turns our attention toward local food and sustainable practices with this community-focused event. "The interest in growing or raising anything food-related is soaring," said Stephanie Van Parys, Executive Director of the Oakhurst Garden, and " . . .chickens are a small animal who easily incorporate into a backyard." The Symposium will bring together many of these ideas—from the basics of keeping a healthy flock of chickens to growing and keeping food locally to connecting more closely with the environment.

Urban coop-keeping provides the newest in green and local food. As one of their primary attractions, "chickens produce food," said Van Parys, regarding both daily egg supply and their meat. Backyard birds also provide organic fertilizer for home gardens. "I consider chicken manure as valuable as the fresh eggs," said presenter and organic gardener Allison Adams. "All that poop and soiled hay goes right into my compost!"

With urban farming on the rise, and as concerns about how food is made increase, this timely workshop will engage and enlighten both the committed "locavore" and the merely curious alike. Van Parys summarizes: "raising some of your own food is an environmental act." Symposium presenters will address local ordinances along with more practical, day-to-day concerns of attendees such as how to keep chickens healthy and coop maintenance.

The Chicks in the City Symposium runs from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 on February 6 and will be held at the Decatur Recreation Center, 231 Sycamore St., Decatur, 30030. Cost is $65. Oakhurst Community Garden Project members, Georgia Organics members, and City of Decatur residents pay just $50. Pre-registration is requested and limited to the first 100 registrants.

Register (https://app.etapestry.com/cart/OakhurstCommunityGardenProj/cart2/index.php)

For additional information contact:
Stephanie Van Parys, Executive Director
Oakhurst Community Garden
director@oakhurstgarden.org,
678-642-4977, and www.oakhurstgarden.org

Hope everyone is keeping warm and staving off cabin fever. Here's an idea: cozy up in front of a fireplace, grab a hot chocolate (or better yet, a hot buttered rum), and check out the January Messenger. As usual, lots of good stuff in there, and a fine and dandy way to keep up with the happenings in the 'hood!

CHANGE GEORGIA NOW!!!

Join the Statewide Movement for Progressive Change in Georgia
Monthly Potluck and Meeting
2nd Sunday of every month, same time, same location starting--
Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010

1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
265 Arizona Avenue
Atlanta, Georgia 30307

(Children are welcome and childcare is provided)

January Speakers Include:

Jason Carter, Senate Candidate
Elena Parent, Candidate for State Legislature

Other office holders, candidates and organizational representatives will be present to meet, answer questions and accept donations of finances, time and energy.

The January Hosts of CHANGE GEORGIA NOW are:
Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield,
Sheri Mann Stewart (Activist, TV Producer All the Latest ATL)
HD 84 Democratic Party Committee,

Directions
From Edgewood/Candler Park MARTA station: head East on Dekalb Ave. approx. 1/2 mile. Make a Left on Nelms, Right on Adolphus, Right on Arizona, to 265 Arizona, last structure on left at cul-de-sac (Common House of Lake Claire Cohousing
Community).

From intersection of Clifton Rd. and McCLendon Ave., Atlanta, 30307: Go 2 blocks East on McCLendon (Flying Biscuit would be on right), Right on Arizona, to 265 Arizona, last structure on left at cul-de-sac (Common House of Lake Claire Cohousing Community). Neighborhood street parking on Arizona Ave., New York Ave. and Connecticut Ave.

For more information email sheribarry@hotmail.com.

Sheri Mann Stewart, M.A.
Actor, Writer, Director, Filmmaker, Media Coach, Teacher, Activist, Mother