On Saturday, Candler Park's younger set took to the park to find the 2,000 hidden (and not-so-hidden) eggs filled with tasty treats. The hunt was divided up into three age categories -- 0-3, 4-6, 7 and up -- and it took all of several minutes for the kids to track down all the eggs with laser-like focus. Following the hunt, kids made themselves at home in the picnic pavilion and surrounding areas to assess their bounties and shove it all down their gullets.

Moments before the start of the hunt for the 4-6 year old group:

Let the mayhem begin! The 4-6 year olds tear it up:

Here the 0-3 year olds hunt for treasure with a little help from their parents:

And here the seasoned pros (age 7 and up) show us how it's done.

Once all the eggs were found, the mighty hunters set a spell and ate til their bellies were full. Or, until their parents stepped in to save some for later, or in some cases join in the candy eating themselves.

And of course, no Easter egg hunt would be complete without the Easter bunny himself, who made his annual appearance and posed for photos.

Thanks to everyone for coming out, and to the many volunteers who helped stuff eggs on Friday night or hide them on Saturday morning. Also, a big thanks to the men from Clifton Sanctuary who came out early Saturday morning to help with set-up and egg hiding. We're already looking forward to next year!

Submitted by Eric Dusenbury:

At the May Candler Park Neighborhood Organization meeting the Friends of Iverson Park will request the membership of the CPNO to approve our revised plans for improvements to the park and additional funding of up to $10,000 to help implement the plan.  About 18 months ago the neighborhood approved a preliminary plan and also gave the FIP the $10,000 proceeds from the ING marathon as a matching grant for the project.  Since that time the Friends of Iverson Park have been working to raise additional funds and to refine the approved plan.

We have had many meetings to review designs with neighbors and with the City.  After much back and forth, we have decided to postpone the trail around the perimeter of the park.  This was done because the city wanted the trail to be  ADA compliant and to be made of an easily maintainable material such as concrete or asphalt.  Members of FIP felt this would make the trail too intrusive and also contribute to run-off issues.  We have instead decided to dedicate the ING funds, which must be used for recreation, towards adding additional playground equipment to the park and to repair the backstop.  The plan retains the construction of a low granite wall along the front of the park, grading and landscaping behind the wall to reduce runoff and improve visibility into the park, plus an environmentally sensitive set of steps (stone embedded into the side of the hill) at the northwest corner of the park near Oakdale.

The Friends of Iverson Park have raised almost $35,000 in additional to the earlier CPNO commitment of $10,000.  Unfortunately, our budget, based on a couple preliminary bids, is just under $65,000.  This leaves us almost $20,000 short of our goal.  We are therefore coming back to the neighborhood to request a matching grant of up to $10,000 to help us cross the finish line.  This money will have to be matched (on top of what we have already raised) and will only be used to cover the cost of the items outlined in our request.

The Friends of Iverson Park gave an overview of our plans and funding request at the April CPNO meeting.  A few folks inquired as to how they might be able to support our efforts.  You can easily make a donation online through the website of Park Pride (our fiscal partner) using this page.  The “click here”  in green at the bottom of the page will allow you to make a secured payment to the Friends of Iverson Park (make sure you specify the proper organization in the Donor Designation drop down).  If you are more ambitious and would like to save the Friends of Iverson Park a processing fee, you can mail a check to PARK PRIDE – Development Department,   233 Peachtree St., Suite 1600 ,   Atlanta ,  GA  30303 .  Please make sure to put “Friends of Iverson Park” in the memo line of the check.

While we await CPNO approval for the plans and the additional funding, we are moving forward with The City to get the plans permitted.  We expect that, if we receive CPNO funding, we will be able to raise the remaining funds and complete the project by the end of the year.  Please feel free to contact Eric Dusenbury at 404-522-7130 or dusenbur@bellsouth.net if you have any questions or would like to get involved with the Friends of Iverson Park.

For additional information, please see The Friends of Iverson Park grant application and drawings of the proposed changes.

From Peter Lefkowicz, Chair of Mary Lin Elementary Local School Council

The Mary Lin Local School Council is hosting an open community meeting on Wednesday, May 4 at the Mary Lin Auditorium, from 7:00 - 8:30 pm.

The purpose of the meeting is to give residents of Candler Park, Inman Park, and Lake Claire an opportunity to discuss issues related to the upcoming Phase II demographic study commissioned by the Atlanta Board of Education, and the possible implications of that study on our communities.

We are inviting our APS Board members, city and state government representatives, and community leaders to join us, as well as certain Atlanta Public Schools administrators.

We are hopeful that this forum will help assure residents that their voices are being heard.  It will also give our elected leaders a better sense of the educational issues that are most important to our communities, which we hope will guide their decision-making in the months and years to come.

At this critical juncture for the Atlanta Public Schools, strong, informed leadership is essential. I do hope you can find time to attend this important event.
 

From Jimmy Bligh:

We had our first meeting of the Candler Park Dog Park Committee last week. We have a very motivated group that generated a lot of great ideas. Currently, we are in the process of exploring the viability of a few different locations in/around Candler Park which we think could support a dog park.
 
As we move further along in this process, we will be in need of the services of:

1) A landscape architect to help us evaluate these sites and plan out how the dog park will look so that we can present it to the city as well as any other interested parties. We are hoping to find someone in the neighborhood who is or knows of a landscape architect that would able to volunteer their time on this project. Especially, anyone who has experience with dog parks!
 
2) An individual who has zoning experience that will be able to help us interact with the city.

If you can help with either of these roles, or if you have questions, please contact Gordon Rose.

From Boyd Baker:

3rd Annual Mary Lin Rocket Run 5K is Sunday, May 1, during the 40th Annual Inman Park Festival. This year's race is moving to Inman Park (corner of Euclid & Hurt) so and adding some color. Atlanta's Funkiest Footrace invites joggers, walkers, sprinters, as well as COSTUMED RUNNERS, CLUB/CORP/SCHOOL CHALLENGE, and CATERPILLARS (7 or more runners tethered together in costume or not) to the run. So come out and bring your craziest friends to have some fun. Don't like to run? Find a creative way to cheer on racers in Atlanta's Funkiest Footrace! Race is open to first 500 runners. All proceeds benefit Mary Lin Elementary in Candler Park.

CLICK HERE to register for the race.

CLICK HERE to volunteer.

Thanks! boyd (4-895-9276)

From Dave Aynes:

Festival volunteers are urgently needed to help with a variety of tasks. To help with the festival, please go to the volunteer check-in at the main park entrance on McLendon Ave. and ask for JP. To help with the 5K set-up, please call Dave Aynes at 678-665-3283.

As you may have noticed, Candler Park has been transformed into a festival staging ground. Lots of activity to get ready for the busy weekend ahead. Here's the 411 on the 420. More information is available at sweetwater420fest.com

GENERAL INFORMATION

• The festivities begin on Friday, April 15 at 4:20 PM and will go strong until 10:00 PM. Doors will open on Saturday, April 16 at 12:00 PM and on Sunday, April 17 at 12:30 PM.
• 420 Fest is a free event open to the general public. Guests who are 21+ with a valid ID and would like to enjoy SweetWater's brews can purchase a $5 wrist band. Proceeds from the wrist band go toward Park Pride for Candler Park improvements.
• For the convenience and safety of all attendees, no outside beverages, coolers, glass bottles, pets, illegal substances or on-site soliciting will be permitted on the festival grounds.

OFFICIAL MUSIC LINE-UP

The official lineup for this year's bands, including new additions Arrested Development, Rusted Root and Gurufish, has been released! Plan your weekend accordingly, knowing exactly when to hit up the stages to see your favorite artists or check out some hot new music. For a full listing of all performers, go to sweetwater420fest.com.

5K ROAD RACE

The 420 5K race is Saturday, April 16 at 11 am. See the course map here.

TRAFFIC PLAN

Residents should expect festival-related foot traffic and many parked cars throughout the weekend.

Here is the traffic and safety plan submitted by Jennifer Bensch, event promoter and organizer. This plan was created in response to Candler Park resident concerns. Some residents expressed concerns about “emergency no parking” signs being removed on certain streets that would then cause visitors to park there on the day of the event. If you see an “emergency no parking” sign removed, please don’t hesitate to call 911 to have the sign replaced. If the sign is gone, police cannot ticket or tow cars because there is no notice.

Sweetwater 420 Plan
1. We will be increasing emergency signage along the roads nearest the park to allow for towing in those areas. This law must apply to all, as the laws are not allowed to be discriminatory. Therefore, if a resident parks in one of these places they will be towed. Please be advised and follow all parking laws.

2. We have increased the staffing level of the police officers, to include three motorcycle officers that will patrol the neighborhood for illegal parking and to ensure that traffic flows throughout the neighborhood. Motorcycle officers and internal police officers will be placed along the route back to MARTA to monitor any unwanted behavior in these areas during peak hours of flow to this area.

3. Trash will be monitored more heavily on the route to MARTA as well.

4. We will be more heavily advertising that we are a green event and we want everyone to take MARTA.

5. We have been advised by the City of Atlanta Police Department that we are unable to close down the streets requested. They will not allow this as it will impact traffic greatly and be a large safety concern for the local residents.

The CPNO monthly meeting is this Monday, April 18. We'll start with socializing (wine, beer, and snacks) at 6:30 and move on to general business at 7pm.

REMINDER: We now have child care available! It will be in the playroom below our meeting room. Please, no children younger than 2. We have room for about 15 kids -- if you're planning to bring children, please e-mail Randy Pimsler and let him know their names and ages.

On the agenda this month:

• Discussion about neighborhood school overcrowding and concerns about possible redistricting
• An update from the Beltline
• Introduction of grant proposals from the Olmstead Linear Park Alliance and Friends of Iverson Park

Snacks this month will be provided by The Mercantile!Many thanks to The Mercantile for supporting the CPNO and our community.

Where

First Existentialist Congregation (470 Candler Park Drive) -- Across from the golf course

When

April 18th (this Monday) -- socializing begins at 6:30 pm, meeting starts at 7:00 pm.

Significant Votes

We will vote on several important issues at this meeting, including 2 zoning variances (both were recommended for approval by the Zoning Committee):

1) 345 Brooks – set back variance for porch enclosure
2) 1240 Euclid – Montessori School, special use permit

We will vote on a bylaw change to add a Communications Officer position to our board.

The full text tof the change is below. If passed, it will be added as Article IV, Section 2(j):

Communications Officer: The communications officer shall be responsible for the neighborhood organization’s activities related to coordinating strategy around the distribution of information via print, web, email and other mediums. The communications officer shall have such other duties as the neighborhood organization or the bylaws may prescribe.

Article IV, Section 1 (Designation) will be replaced with the following text:
 
The officers of the neighborhood organization shall be a president, a vice-president, a recording secretary, a membership secretary, a treasurer, a zoning officer, a public safety officer, an environmental officer, a special projects officer, and a communications officer.

The board of directors recommends that this amendment be passed.

More People = Less Work + More Fun

This year’s 5K has sold out in record time!  The only way to still get a t-shirt (and raise funds for the hood) is to volunteer.  So come on, take 2 - 4 hours out of your day to help.  To volunteer, please e-mail treasurer@candlerpark.org.

In the subject line, just write “volunteer".  In the message, let us know what Team(s) you’d like to be a part of, your t-shirt size and your phone number.

Registration Team

Need: 8 More People

Registration and all other "Day Of” Teams meet at Epworth UMC – 1561 McLendon Ave
When: April 16^th – 9 AM to 11:30 AM (or stay until 1:00 to help hand out shirts and wristbands)
Why: We need 24 adults to help hand out packets to runners and operate a bag check.  Sixteen people have already volunteered.  Experience being calm is helpful...but this will be lots of fun because all the packets are already stuffed and we're going to have adequate volunteers.

Water Team

Need: 3 More People

When: April 16^th – 9 AM to Noon
Why: We need 24 people (ages 7+) to set up water tables along the course.  Experience pouring water into cups is a plus.  This is a great family activity!  Euclid Court Apartments and a Farview Ave resident have generously donated their water spigots (and front yards) to our cause so there will be no heavy lifting.

Finish Team

Need: 8 More People

When: April 16^th – 10 AM to Noon
Why: We need 10 adults to assist runners as they finish the race.  Remove their electronic timing chips, show them where the bananas are, etc.

Photo/Video Team

Need: 2 More People

When: April 16^th – 10 AM to 1 PM
Why: We need 4 people who can mingle around the event and make runners look like they’re in Chariots of Fire.

T-Shirt / Wrist Band Team

Need: 12 More People

When: April 16^th – 10:45 AM to 1:30 PM
Why: We need 20 adults to help distribute t-shirts, check ID’s and put wrist bands onto runner’s wrists.  The registration team is welcomed to be on this team too…after all, this is where the beer gets poured!

The Georgia Department of Transportation is planning to make some changes to the ever-busy Moreland / Briarcliff intersection. Changes include adding turn lanes and adjusting the traffic signals. Here are the details that have been gathered to date:

• Work hours are 8 p.m. Sunday May 1st until 5 a.m. Monday the 2nd. (Weather permitting)
• Portable message boards are up notifying the motorists about an upcoming striping change
• The left northbound lane on Moreland will be converted to a left turn only and the arrow signal will remain
• One left northbound lane on Briarcliff will be converted to a southbound left turn lane – leaving one northbound and two southbound through lanes
• An arrow signal will also be added to the southbound left turn from Briarcliff to Ponce
• Span wire signs will be eventually added over Moreland at the bottom of the hill to show lane designations ahead
• A new crosswalk will go in at St. Charles Place and Briarcliff
• Left turn only striping will be added on Briarcliff and Moreland

Stay tuned!