Tucker
Civic Association to Join Rivers Alive and DeKalb County Creek Cleanup – August
13, 2008
(Tucker, GA)
- Tucker Civic Association (TCA), Rivers
Alive and DeKalb County are asking for volunteers to help conduct a
clean-up on a very important waterway in Tucker - the south fork of Old
Peachtree Creek from Cowan Road to Elmdale Drive,
behind Idlewood Road. The clean-up is scheduled
on Saturday, October 4, 9 a.m. to noon.
Anyone
8 years old or older can help. To volunteer, please email Becky
Lancaster, TCA Chair of Membership and Community Outreach, at membership@tuckercivic.org.
TCA
is also seeking sponsors who can contribute food, drink and cash support.
To learn more about sponsoring the event, email Cara Schroeder, TCA Chair of
Parks and Greenspace, at parks@tuckercivic.org.
Rivers
Alive is Georgia's annual volunteer waterway cleanup event that targets all
waterways in the state including streams, rivers, lakes, beaches, and wetlands.
The mission of Rivers Alive is to create awareness of and involvement in the
preservation of Georgia's water resources. Rivers Alive is held annually
each October and is sponsored by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Environmental Protection Division's Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Program and the
Georgia Department of Community Affairs' Keep Georgia Beautiful Program, in
cooperation with Help the Hooch.
With
a growing interest in environmental and recreational issues, the TCA Board of
Directors this year created a Parks and Greenspace
Committee. Led by Chair Cara Schroeder, committee members have created an
inventory of public and private parks and greenspaces
within the Tucker community, identified priorities for improvements, organized
clean-up events, and are working with other area organizations to address a
variety of issues.
Tucker
Civic Association to Host its August PR Meeting – August 13, 2008
The TCA PR/Communications Committee will hold
its monthly meeting on Thursday, August 21st from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM at
Taco Mac, 2845 Mountain Industrial Blvd.
Tucker, GA 30084
(770) 621-3601 phone
The August meeting agenda features a special guest speaker: Julie
Herron Carson, owner of Julie Herron Carson Public Relations, will share
her thoughts on the topic of effective PR for non-profit organizations. We
will also address any other TCA PR needs that may come up as a result of the
August board meeting, including the September Voter Registration Drive and
October Rivers Alive/DeKalb County Old Peachtree Creek clean-up. This is a great opportunity
to get involved with TCA and the Tucker Community!
For more information contact
Keith Kozicki: 678 421-6830 or prcomm@tuckercivic.org
Tucker
Civic Association to Honor “Tucker Citizen of the Year” -- July 8, 2008
Tucker Civic
Association (TCA) will recognize the 2008 “Tucker Citizen of the Year” at its
membership meeting in September. Anyone is invited to submit a nomination by
Friday, September 5. The “Tucker Citizen
of the Year Award” is designed to honor someone who has contributed to the
progress and preservation of Tucker. Boy Scout and Girl Scout leaders,
teachers, neighborhood activists -- anyone who has worked for the benefit of
the community is eligible. Past winners of the award include Chip Cofer (head of Cofer Brothers
Building Supplies and a community philanthropist), Honey Van De Kreke (a small business owner in Tucker and leader of Main
Street Tucker Alliance), and Ken Streater (a small business owner who has
participated in community and church activities).
To nominate someone,
write a short essay on why the person deserves to be “Tucker Citizen of the
Year.” Either email your nomination to vicepresident@tuckercivic.org
or mail your nomination to CITIZEN OF THE YEAR, Tucker Civic Association, P.O.
Box 1916, Tucker GA 30085. For more information, check
the TCA website at www.tuckercivic.org.
Volunteers
Help Restore DeKalb’s “Gateway to Tucker” -- June
13, 2008
About a dozen
volunteers joined members of the Tucker Civic Association, Tucker Historical Society and DeKalb County Parks & Recreation
Department on June 7 to clean up DeKalb’s “Gateway to Tucker” -- the
47-acre John’s Homestead property off of Lawrenceville Highway. Consisting of an 1820’s style historic home
and 23 acres of wooded land, the property was purchased by DeKalb County in
2004 under the 2001 Parks Bond program. In addition, the 24-acre Twin Brothers
Lakes tract was purchased in 2006. Together, these properties will be developed
as a county park for recreation, historic interpretation, and fishing.
Tucker Civic
Association’s parks and green space committee chair, Cara Schroeder, helped
coordinate the cleanup effort. “It is very gratifying that various groups came
together and gave up their Saturday morning to ultimately make Tucker a better
place to live,” Schroeder said. The
original John’s house dates from before 1850 and is typical of vernacular
houses in Georgia, which expanded with family size and as resources became
available. According to Dave Butler, Green Space Environment
Manger for DeKalb County Parks’ Bond & Green Space Office, “Families with
small farms in the 1830s were very resourceful, building their own homes and
outbuildings, growing their own food, and making their own tools and clothing.
They reused just about everything, and you can often tell when a beam from an
old barn or something was taken out and used to build an addition to the
house.”
The property has
several outbuildings, two of which, a smokehouse and well house, are in good
conditions and will be preserved.
The DeKalb County
Parks and Recreation Department will develop a Master Plan for the John’s
Homestead property later this year. The plan will cover all 47 acres with the
historic house, the wooded areas that were previously farmland, and the two
lakes and streams at the south end of the site. The public will be invited to
participate in the planning process.
Tucker Civic
Association Honors Community-Activist Graduating Senior -- May 15, 2008
The Tucker Civic
Association (TCA), at its spring membership meeting in May, gave an award to a
graduating senior from Tucker High School who has demonstrated community
involvement. “Students in Service to
Their Community,” a program under direction of TCA Membership Chair Becky
Lancaster, gives an award open to the graduating senior of Tucker High School
who has best demonstrated community service in the Tucker school district
during the past year. A selection committee of TCA volunteers reviewed the
applications. Recipient of the Student of the Year Community Service Award
receives a plaque and a check for $300. This will be an annual award, and the
winner for 2008 is graduating senior
Kye Hilson.
She built homes with Habitat for Humanity in 2007-08. She also participated in
cancer walks, wrote to soldiers and visited nursing homes with the Christian
Club, and assisted a second grade class at Livsey
Elementary and helped Tucker High School’s teachers as part of the Teacher
Cadet Class.
At the membership
meeting, TCA also presented a community update on plans for the new Tucker High
School, the new Tucker Library, and coming renovations to Tucker’s Main Street.
There was also discussion of Tucker’s options for becoming an incorporated city
or a township, as well as information on the DeKalb Police Department’s new
neighborhood interactive program.
Tucker Day Drawing Winners Enjoy Restaurant Gift Certificates -- May 2008
At this year’s Tucker Day annual street festival, the Tucker Civic Association offered a drawing for gift certificates from three area restaurants, Applebees, Grecia Gyro and Rotagilla. The winners were from all four of TCA's districts. Listed by restaurant, the lucky winners were:
Applebee's:
Barbara Ketchie, District 2
Charles Marvil, District 4
Tom Simon, District 3
Grecian Gyro:
Tony Brischler, District 3
Nina Lutz, District 1
Steve Sobczyk, District 4
Rotagilla:
Diana
Bensyl, District 3
Peggy Duke, District 2
Wiley Stone, District 4
TCA appreciates the generous contributions of Applebee’s, Grecian Gyro and Rotagilla and thanks all who stopped by our booth and entered the drawing.
Tucker Overlay District Approved -- March 25, 2008. The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on March 25th to approve the Tucker Overlay District as proposed by Main Street Tucker Alliance (MTA). TCA has worked as a partner with MTA on this Overlay District, and the TCA Board of Directors at its most recent meeting voted to recommend approval of this proposal. With the County Commission's approval of the Overlay District, work should shortly commence on renovation of Main Street.
New TCA Officers and District Representatives Elected -- February 25, 2008. At the TCA annual membership meeting on February 25th, the following officers and District Representatives were elected to the TCA Board of Directors for 2008-09:
Paul Ellingson, President
Heather Honerkamp, Vice President
Donna Raposa, Secretary
Tom Democko, Treasurer
Ken Streater, District 1 Representative
Joe Scarpaci, District 2 Representative
Rickard Livingston, District 3 Representative
Harriett Gess, District 4 Representative
Emory University to purchase the former Northlake Medical Center -- November 15, 2007. In a November 15th press release, Emory University announced its intention to purchase the former Northlake Medical Center near Lawrenceville Hwy and I-285. The new facility will be called Emory University Hospital Northlake and will offer diagnostic services as well as support services required for inpatient care.