Lassiter played Walton last weekend in the Class 7A state volleyball finals, but Trojans teams and those from Wheeler may compete next year in Class 6A. (ECN file)
After competing in sports in Class AAAAAAA (7A)—with the biggest high schools in the state—Wheeler and Lassiter may be dropping down for the next two school years.
The Georgia High School Association on Tuesday announced its reclassifications for 2020-22, and changes are proposed for those two East Cobb schools.
The listings that were made public (you can read them here) have Wheeler and Lassiter in Class AAAAAA (6A), where Pope and Sprayberry have been competing.
Kell would remain in Class AAAAAA (5A), and only Walton would be in Class 7A from East Cobb.
Currently, Walton and Lassiter are in the same Region 4 in Class 7A. Wheeler has been in a more far-flung region with Pebblebrook, Campbell, Newnan and East Coweta.
The GHSA reclassifies schools every two years, and it’s based strictly on enrollment figures. New region alignments also will be drawn.
Wheeler’s full-time enrollment in 2019-19 was 2,179, with a classification count of 2,654, which would be the largest school in Class 6A. Lassiter’s enrollment is 2,340.
They would be among 56 schools in Class 6A. Pope would remain there, with an attendance of 2,082, as would Sprayberry, which has 1,881 students.
Class 5A also would have 56 schools. Kell’s attendance last year was 1,502.
Walton’s attendance had held steady at 2,655 last year. Class 7A would have 47 schools.
The Walker School and Mt. Bethel Christian Academy would remain in Class A, private school division.
Schools can appeal their reclassification assignments until Nov. 11, and the GHSA will begin hearing any challenges the following day.
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Bill Simon of the East Cobb Alliance contacted East Cobb News to report that the meeting on Thursday has been cancelled.
ORIGINAL STORY:
The anti-cityhood group East Cobb Alliance, which has been critical of pro-cityhood efforts conducted in secret, is meeting on Thursday to prepare for cityhood-related events next week.
But the Alliance meeting at a public facility is not open to the public. The meeting is scheduled from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road).
The purpose of the meeting is to help formulate questions and responses before two cityhood-related events next week.
The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb is holding a town hall on Monday at Wheeler High School, and next Tuesday, the cityhood group and the East Cobb Alliance will appear at a forum organized by the East Cobb Business Association.
The e-mail urged recipients not to post the meeting notice on Nextdoor or to forward the message, because “we do not want the press or the media or the pro-cityhood people to see what we’re up to. Nothing nefarious, mind you, but we’re trying to serve our members of ECA to help with planning and execution of our team strategy with as little interference as possible.”
When East Cobb News asked Bill Simon, a leader of the East Cobb Alliance, why the meeting isn’t open to the public, he said that it’s “because it’s a private meeting, paid for by private funds.”
(The cost to reserve the meeting room at the East Cobb Government Service Center is $25, the standard fee for any group wishing to meet there. The room has a capacity of 85 people.)
The East Cobb Alliance, which was formed this summer, has been critical of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb for what it calls a lack of transparency. The proposed City of East Cobb, according to the Alliance, “is a concept secretly planned by a small group of people for nearly a year before there was public notice of it. Since this group is being rather secretive about several things regarding the PCEC (including their professional backgrounds & why they might be involved), ECA has a page dedicated to exposing (via public records) who is who, and what does who do.”
(East Cobb News last year published stories along similar lines, including the resignation of a citizen from a cityhood ad hoc committee because he was told “it’s none of anyone’s business” who’s all behind the cityhood effort.
While some private, closed groups on Facebook do appear in search results, Residents Against East Cobb City Task Force is completely hidden.
In the e-mail, the message stated that “if you are on Facebook, there is a Closed FB Group that, upon you answering the two entry questions, you will be allowed to join: Residents Against East Cobb City Task Force Group. If the questions are ignored, you cannot gain entry.”
The East Cobb Alliance does have a public Facebook pagethat updates with links and financial analysis of proposed city services but does not include information about the group’s innerworkings.
In a followup response to an East Cobb News request to attend the meeting, Simon said he would “politely decline your request. . . . There is a stated maximum room limit of the number of people who can attend, thus the reason why it is specifically NOT a public meeting accessible to the public, regardless of the subject matter we are discussing. . .
“Also, if you feel you have some First Amendment right on your side to crash this event, and you appear there on Thursday, just be aware of the potential consequences to your reputation if you are proven wrong.”
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The Tunnel Rats, a local string band, will perform at the East Cobb Senior Center on Friday. (ECN file)
Over the weekend we posted a story about how an East Cobb-based organization is providing assistance to veterans, including community outreach at a cookout on Saturday.
This coming Friday, representatives from United Military Care will be at the East Cobb Senior Center for an official Cobb County government salute to veterans.
The event is from 11-2 p.m., and includes a catered meal from Carraba’s Italian Grill. Also performing will be a Woodstock-based string band that appeared at Saturday’s cookout. The Tunnel Rats, named after the Vietnam War troops who performed underground missions, will play tunes from that era.
The East Cobb Senior Center event is free for veterans and their spouses. Space is limited and registration is required. For event contact info call 770-509-4900. (3332 Sandy Plains Road).
The Tunnel Rats will be playing Tuesday in a Veterans Day concert at the Jennie Anderson Theater at the Cobb Civic Center, starting at 6 p.m. It’s a fundraiser for the Georgia Vietnam Veterans Association, and will include a film screening, “In the Shadow of the Blade.” The cost is $10, $5 for veterans and seniors age 62 and older.
On Friday, the McCleskey-East Cobb Family YMCA Veterans Day event is from 5-8 p.m. at the Piedmont Church (570 Piedmont Road).
The cost is free for veterans and family of those who have served. Registration is open for those ages 18 years and older.
Please contact Gayle at 770-977-5991, or by email at GayleB@ymcaatlanta.org.
On Sunday, the Cobb Wind Symphony Veterans Day Concert will take place starting at 3 p.m. at the Lassiter Concert Hall (2601 Shallowford Road). Admission is free.
Also this weekend, The Art Place is staging “Piece of My Heart,” which portrays the stories of six women who served as nurses in the Vietnam War and how they were affected by the experience.
The performances will be at 7:30 p.m, on Friday and Saturday, and the suggested donation of $10 (3330 Sandy Plains Road).
Veterans Day is next Monday, Nov. 11, and on that day U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath will hold a ceremony at 2 p.m. at American Legion Post 201 (201 Wills Road, Alpharetta).
This ceremony will honor Vietnam veterans, who will receive a commemorative lapel pin and certificate of special recognition.
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Some more details on next Tuesday’s East Cobb Business Association forum on the subject of East Cobb cityhood that we first noted a couple weeks ago:
The ECBA says that to ensure you get a seat, you must make a reservation online, ideally by Sunday, when the cost goes up.
The forum featuring representatives from the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb and the anti-cityhood East Cobb Alliance is part of the ECBA’s monthly luncheon event, from 11-1 on Nov. 12 at the Olde Towne Athletic Club (4950 Olde Towne Parkway).
Seating will be limited to the first 250 people (most ECBA luncheons are around 100) who register and pay online. You can pay at the door, but the cost does go up and there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to get in.
Jen Starks of the ECBA said 78 people have registered thus far.
This is the only time pro- and anti-cityhood groups have appeared together in a forum-style event; the cityhood group is having a town hall meeting on Nov. 11 at Wheeler High School.
The advance registration cost (click here to sign up) is $20 for ECBA members and $25 for guests. After midnight Sunday and up to the door, the respective costs are $25 and $30.
The same event will honor the ECBA’s 2019 business person of the year, which was started last year. The finalists are:
Cindy Trow, health coach, Wellness Now
Tom Gonter, development officer, MUST Ministries
Butch Carter, owner, Honest-1 Auto Care East Cobb
Ann Lafferty, owner, Rakers Junk Removal
NCBA Events
The Northeast Cobb Business Association is holding two events this month, a Nov. 14 Alive After Five networking event from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the Governor’s Gun Club (1005 Cobb Place Blvd., Kennesaw) that’s free to attend with registration.
The NCBA monthly luncheon is Nov. 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Piedmont Church (570 Piedmont Road), and the guest speaker is Sharon Mason, CEO of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. For details and to sign up, click here.
East Cobb Citizen of the Year breakfast
On Dec. 3 the East Cobb Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce will have its annual East Cobb Citizen of the Year breakfast.
Last year’s winner was Brenda Rhodes of Simple Needs GA, and the award goes to individuals who demonstrate exceptional leadership and community service.
The breakfast is from 7:30-9 a.m. at Indian Hills Country Club (4001 Clubland Drive). The cost is $25 for Chamber members and $25 for guests. To sign up, click here.
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Walton players and coach Suzanne Fitzgerald (standing at right) savor another GHSA state championship. (East Cobb News photos and video by Wendy Parker)
The first few minutes of Walton’s state volleyball title game were very un-Waltonlike.
Lassiter got off to a hot start, leading the first set 5-0 before Walton coach Suzanne Fitzgerald called a timeout to settle down her team.
“I just reminded them why they’re here, what they’ve been playing for,” Fitzgerald said. “They responded very aggressively.”
The Lady Raiders were able to come back with such a flourish several times as they downed their East Cobb rivals 25-18, 25-17 and 25-14 Saturday night at Marietta High School.
For Walton (32-8) to win a fifth consecutive Georgia High School Association Class 7A title was not a surprise.
The dynasty Fitzgerald has maintained—nine state titles in the last 10 years, and the school’s 13th in all—is as strong as ever.
But after last year’s seniors departed—and they were an integral part of Walton’s 2017 team that won the MaxPreps national title—some new leaders and a good number of new starters had to step forward.
“Every team is so different,” Fitzgerald said. “With this team, we had a lot of kids who have been in the program a long time. They were representing something larger than themselves, and they showed it tonight.”
Some of those players have been part of Walton’s feeder system since the third grade. That experience, and that sense of togetherness, paid off when the Lady Raiders needed to separate themselves from Lassiter.
In the second set, Lassiter (32-8) also led early, with Fitzgerald calling another timeout. Walton responded in a similar fashion, roaring to a 20-15 lead that the Trojans could not match.
During the break, Fitzgerald said was overcome with some emotion as she prepared her team to try and close out Lassiter in a sweep.
“I saw that they realized they really were playing for each other,” she said. “We played a very clean match today.”
In the final set, Walton never trailed, taking a 6-1 lead, then 13-4, before putting Lassiter away for the third time this season.
Like the senior class before them, this class of Walton seniors has never known anything but winning a state title: Madison Morey, Kendall O’Brien, Phoebe Awoleye, Sydney Barrett and Katie Strickland.
“This senior class has left a legacy of selflessness,” Fitzgerald said.
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“It’s real nice to know that there are people who want to appreciate veterans,” Vietnam vet Ed Reynolds said. (East Cobb News photos and videos by Wendy Parker)
Amid the aroma of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and with the sounds of his generation playing in the background, Ed Reynolds talks a little about his days serving in the Vietnam War, but mostly about what’s happened since then.
The Connecticut native, who’s lived in Kennesaw for the past couple of decades, served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the early years of full American ground operations.
That was in 1965 and 1966, before hundreds of thousands of troops came over in military transport planes, like the C-5 manufactured at Lockheed’s Marietta plant.
“Got there before the big guns came,” Reynolds recalls. “We landed by boat.”
His combat experience was intense, and being a radio operator “was not a healthy occupation to have.”
The retired building construction supervisor said he didn’t endure the wrath of anti-war protestors like some Vietnam veterans. However, as the years continued, so did the frustrations of dealing with a system designed to help veterans like him.
Reynolds says he suffered a heart attack in 1992, and thinks it could stem from exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Other maladies have added up, and he noted he came back with one that lingers—ulcers.
“I was 20 years old,” Reynolds said. “Imagine that.”
On Saturday, an East Cobb non-profit that helps veterans in need treated Reynolds and other veterans to food, music and to give thanks for their service, with Veterans Day being observed in the coming week.
United Military Care, which moved to a building on Old Canton Road near Roswell Road 11 years ago, entertained a few dozen veterans on a sunny, blustery afternoon.
UMC helps veterans who are in danger of experiencing, or who have experienced, hunger, homelessness and lost hope.
“When you leave the military, you lose two things,” said Leenie Rubin of United Military Care, which began assisting active-duty personnel but has expanded to reach out to veterans.
“Your rifle, and your buddy. Our mission is to serve as a ‘battle buddy’ ” for veterans who often don’t know where to turn for help.
The Tunnel Rats, a local string band that includes Vietnam veterans, performed Vietnam-era pop tunes as well as country/bluegrass songs.
UMC served more than 8,000 veterans in 10 counties across metro Atlanta last year, and expects to serve more this year, according to President Kim Scofi.
That’s because word’s growing about how the organization is trying to fill the gaps in veterans’ assistance.
UMC has two food pantries, and delivers food regularly at Fort McPherson for distribution around the Atlanta area.
The assistance includes help with clothing, government and agency referrals, home visits and phone calls and special events, such as Saturday’s cookout.
Making human connection is often the most important thing UMC does, Scofi said.
“It’s offering hope.”
She said she got a call several months ago from a staffer at the East Cobb Senior Center, about a regular visitor there who’s a Vietnam veteran and who was threatening suicide.
Scofi got in phone contact with the man, and offered up some tough love—military-type directives about getting help, and how to do it.
“Now he’s living in Mississippi, near his family,” and isn’t in deep isolation any longer, she said.
Raffling off items for veterans that were donated by local businesses and organizations.
Reynolds has stayed involved in Marine League and other veterans events. But as he got older, and as his health declined, he grew frustrated in getting health care and other veterans benefits for himself. He had to quit work to care for his wife for six years (she died in 2012), while he was seeking to 100 percent disability payments from the Veterans Administration.
“It took me 14 years,” he said.
His experience is common. Scofi said that some so-called “blue water” Navy veterans—those who transported Agent Orange to Vietnam—are only now getting VA benefits. That’s because of bureaucratic red tape that denied them to veterans who literally didn’t step foot on Vietnamese soil.
While much is made of the suicide rate of veterans from the Iraq War, Scofi said the largest percentage of veterans who take their own lives is in an age group of 50 and older—from Vietnam to those who served during the first Iraq War, in the early 1990s.
Reynolds noted that it’s groups like UMC, more than those from the larger civilian world, that are reaching out to veterans.
“It’s real nice to know that there are people who want to appreciate veterans,” he said.
If you’re a veteran or know of a veteran who needs assistance with food, housing or just need someone to talk to, you can reach United Military Care by clicking here or calling 770-973-0014.
UMC also accepts donations to carry out its services. You can donate online by clicking here.
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The Walton boys cross country team placed two runners in the Top 10 of the Georgia High School Association Class 7A state meet on Saturday, and that helped the Raiders claim the team title.
Walton finished with 98 points, ahead of Lambert, West Forsyth and Marietta, on the course in Carrollton.
Connor Old of Walton was 5th with a time of 16:18, and teammate Zac Shaffer was 7th with 16:21. The other Raider team includes:
Sam Balboa, Brick Conway, Evan Sommer, Wylie Bingham and Harrison Waddell.
The Walton girls finished in 3rd place, behind Hillgrove and South Forsyth. In the individual standings, Walton’s Sarah Burwell came in fourth, with a time of 19:31. The Raiders girls team also includes:
Isabella Bazan, Hannah Walker, Ellen Chamberlain, Arden Keeter, Emily McNiece and Riley Michaud.
On Friday, Pope’s teams finished among the top teams in the Class 6A state meet, also in Carrollton.
The Greyhounds boys were seeking a second state title in a row, but finished second behind Cobb rival Harrison. Three Pope runners finished in the Top 10:
Cole Heron (2nd), Will Brown (4th) and K.C. Heron (8th).
The Pope boys team also includes:
Zane Pizutti, Nicholas Corso, Carter Spohn and Alec Wark.
The Pope girls finished third, behind Cambridge and Allatoona, and their team members include:
Charlotte Dunn, Sophie Boice, Lorel Golden, Rachel Dodsworth, Isa Blair, Bella Hock and Sarah Juhn.
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A townhome developer who wants to build a dense project on undeveloped land on Canton Road has asked for a delay in having its rezoning case heard until December.
Garvis Sams, the attorney for Smith Douglas Homes, notified the Cobb Zoning Office on Oct. 25 that his client was seeking a continuance.
The Smith Douglas proposal was for 61 attached units on 6.6 acres at Canton Road and Kensington Drive. It was to have been heard Tuesday by the Cobb Planning Commission, but has been continued to Dec. 3, according to the meeting agenda (view it here).
The Cobb zoning staff had recommended denial of the proposal (read it here), which would convert land zoned for office and industrial (it’s located across Canton Road from retail and commercial properties) to RM-12, a dense multi-family residential category.
Surrounding land is zoned RA-6, for lower-density homes, and in his letter, Sams indicated Smith Douglas Homes would be reducing the density of the proposal, likely for detached homes (read the letter here).
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The following East Cobb food scores from Oct. 28-31 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing to view details of the inspection:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Greyhounds boys were seeking a second state title in a row, but finished second behind Cobb rival Harrison. Three Pope runners finished in the Top 10:
