It’s the week before Thanksgiving, and holiday-themed events are popping up on our East Cobb events calendar, including the Ecumenical Thanksgiving Celebration. on Thursday.
It’s the 14th annual service starting at at 7 p.m. at Temple Kol Emeth (1415 Old Canton Road), and this year’s theme is “Harmonizing the Voice of Humanity.” Representatives of Jewish, Christian, Muslim and other metro area faith communities will participate in readings, music and fellowship.
The public is invited to stay for dessert and is asked to bring canned food donations for Must Ministries and an offering for Give-a-Gobble. Overflow parking is at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3155 Trickum Road.
The elections are over, but the League of Women Voters of Marietta-Cobb is delving into lingering political matters with a discussion Monday night about gerrymandering. It starts at 7 p.m. at WellStar East Cobb Health Park (3747 Roswell Road), and the guest speaker is Elizabeth McNamara, the former president of the League of Women Voters of the U.S.
Cobb Police are continuing their community outreach events with citizens on Tuesday. Cookies With a Cop goes from 6-8 p.m. at the Great American Cookies/Marble Slab Creamery in Providence Square Shopping Center (4101 Roswell Road). Bring your questions about crime and public safety for Precinct 4 community officers to answer in an informal setting.
Check our full calendar listings for more, including a number of public library book club and other events going on during this week, and beyond.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar item you’d like to share with the community? Send it to us, and we’ll spread the word! E-mail: calendar@eastcobbnews.com, and you can include a photo or flyer if you like.
Whatever you’re doing this week, make it a great one! Enjoy!
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A Catholic Church of St. Ann priest has responded to his parish’s membership this week after the Archdiocese of Atlanta published a list priests, deacons, seminarians and other religious workers it says have been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of minors over many decade.
Two of those named in the report were a pastoral aide who was convicted of molesting two boys while working at St. Ann in 1999-2000, and a priest at a Canton parish who may have been at the East Cobb church on occasion in the early 1990s.
Rev. Wilton Gregory, the Atlanta Archbishop, said he was publicly identifying those on the list “in a spirit of transparency and the hope of continued healing for the survivors of abuse.”
On Friday, the Rev. Raymond Cadran, the St. Ann pastor, sent a letter to members of the Roswell Road parish, expressing “my deepest sorrow and anger and hurt over the actions of any LaSalette or anyone associated with our name who has caused hurt and pain to any of God’s precious children, young people and their families.”
He said that “all credible claims were handled in an appropriate and timely manner.”
The names on the Atlanta list go back to the founding of the archdiocese in 1956 and were compiled from “the best information available to us at this time,” according to the Archdiocese.
Another name on the Archdiocese list is Father Raymond Horan, who was the founding pastor of Transfiguration Catholic Church in East Cobb. He was there from 1977-1981.
Kenneth Cassity was a pastoral aide who lived at the St. Ann rectory from Aug. 1999-July 2000. He had been considering becoming a priest with Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette (of which St. Ann is a part) but was dismissed in 2000. In 2002, Cadran wrote, a “credible accusation” was made against Cassity while he was working at a Catholic church in Florida.
In June 2003, he pleaded guilty to two counts of molestation stemming from the St. Ann charges. He was sentenced to three years in prison and seven more on probation.
In December 2003, the Atlanta archdiocese and the Missionaries of LaSalette settled a $10 million lawsuit filed by the parents of Cassity’s molestation victims at St. Ann.
Rev. Ray Cadran
In August, the Catholic Archdiocese of Arlington, Va., acknowledged that it was told of an allegation of abuse by a minor against Cassity when he was a youth pastor at a parish there in 1992, and that law enforcement was notified.
That was the same year Richard Boucher, a priest at Our Lady of La Salette Church in Canton and who visited St. Ann on occasion, was accused of abusing a minor.
According to Cadran, Boucher “was immediately removed from all priestly and pastoral ministry by the La Salette Missionaries, as is still the case to this day. He may have had reason to be on our campus occasionally while he was in Canton for events such as a penance service.”
Cadran, who has been at St. Ann since 1996 and was at the Canton parish before that, also urged church members to contact the Atlanta archdiocese hotline 1-888-437-0764 with about a credible allegation of sexual abuse against a minor by a priest or religious worker.
“With you, I pray that the bishops gathered may find the strength and wisdom to create the way forward with their decisions and truly take the bold action necessary to heal the Church,” Cadran wrote in his letter.
UPDATED, SUNDAY, 1:15 P.M. Earlier today Father Fernando Molina-Restrepo, the pastor at Transfiguration, also posted a letter to his congregation regarding Horan, who later served at other churches in metro Atlanta and Georgia.
According to the Atlanta Archdiocese, Horan was removed from the ministry in 1992. He died last year at the age of 74.
“It’s obviously painful to see this news and recognize that enough evidence had been shown” for Horan’s removal, Molina-Restrepo wrote:
“Important now is that we, as a parish family, continue to pray for all victims of child sexual abuse. The Archdiocese of Atlanta is seeking to be transparent and giving assistance to anyone who may have been harmed. The Archdiocese of Atlanta, as the Archbishop has said numerous times, is always ready to assist victims with professional help and with whatever is needed for their healing.
“Here at Transfiguration, please know that we, as your parish clergy, are always willing to find a time to sit down and visit with any of you who may be struggling with this information or need advice, counsel or referral.”
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After spending this week absorbing the tragedy of the Tree of Life massacre in Pittsburgh, East Cobb synagogues will be taking part in a new national effort to promote unity and awareness during Saturday services.
It’s part of an effort called “Show Up for Shabbat,” which is being promoted by the American Jewish Committee.
Congregation Etz Chaim (1190 Indian Hills Parkway) is taking part, and here’s how the synagogue is describing the effort to its members:
Rabbi Daniel Dorsch, Congregation Etz Chaim
“It calls for all Jews, our allies, elected officials, civic and religious leaders of all faiths to come together and stand as one united community. Let us all stand in solidarity with those we mourn in light of this horrific attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.
“We urge you to stand in solidarity in this national initiative. We will #ShowUpForShabbat. We will not be afraid. We will not allow hatred and bigotry to destroy our faith. We stand together. We mourn together. Let us be a light unto the nations.”
Etz Chaim Rabbi Daniel Dorsch told a local business group Thursday that non-Jews are also invited to the service, which takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
“This has been a very challenging week,” he said at a breakfast of the East Cobb Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. He said the objective is to show solidarity, and “not to tolerate hatred and bigotry in our community.”
Etz Chaim is the Hebrew translation of “Tree of Life.” After the shootings, which killed 11 people, members of nearby Catholic Church of St. Ann created a memorial at Etz Chaim for the victims, arranging 11 chairs outside the synagogue in a circle. Each chair seat had a card with the victim’s name and a rose.
Earlier this week, Temple Kol Emeth held a solidarity service (East Cobb Newscoverage here) that included members of other faith communities in the area.
On Saturday, the Chabad of Cobb synagogue on Lower Roswell Road also is taking part in Show Up for Shabbat. According to a Rabbi Ehpraim Silverman, a special service will follow at 11:30 a.m., marking the end of Shiva, a period of remembrance for those who were murdered.
In a social media posting, Silverman said Cobb County officials, including those from law enforcement, will be discussing security matters.
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Pittsburgh native Brian Pearle (left) greeted by well-wishers at a special solidarity service Tuesday at Temple Kol Emeth. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
As he and his daughter lit a candle at an East Cobb synagogue service on Tuesday, Brian Pearle choked up talking about his hometown.
He grew up in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh where 11 members of a synagogue were murdered Saturday in the worst mass killing in American Jewish history.
Pearle also knew several of the victims who were attending a bris at the Tree of Life synagogue when they were shot to death. The alleged gunman was taken into custody after a standoff, and after authorities said he posted anti-Semitic messages online.
Reciting the names of other places of mass shootings—Sandy Hook, Charleston and Parkland—Pearle admitted it was unfathomable that the place he called home for much of his life will be included on that list.
“It just hasn’t sunk in yet,” Pearle said at a special solidarity service at Temple Kol Emeth. “It torments me that the place I’ve called home could forever be remembered as one of those places. That just hurts me deeply in my soul.”
“You can’t really describe the feeling,” he said after the service, with many participants approaching him and his daughter Rachel, who had her bat mitzvah at Kol Emeth, with shows of support.
He said Squirrel Hill, with stately homes and many schools and places of worship, felt like the safest place in the world.
Two of the victims he knew well, brothers Cecil and David Rosenthal, who were fondly remembered in Pittsburgh and beyond. Earlier on Tuesday, they were laid to rest in the first of the funerals for the shooting victims.
“Everything you’ve read about them, that’s exactly who they were,” Pearle said, fighting back some emotion. “It could not be more accurate. They were great guys, would give you the shirt off their back.”
Pearle was among those speaking during a “call to action” segment of the service, which was quickly organized by Kol Emeth leaders on Sunday.
Other attendees urged the crowd to vote, contact their elected officials and treat one another with generosity, love and kindness and emphasize those qualities with their children.
Rebecca Tullman, the synagogue’s religious school director, said it was particularly tough to address the shootings during Sunday services with youth.
“It’s really hard to explain to kids why some people hate you, because of your religion,” she said.
Tullman, Kol Emeth president Rachel Barich and Rabbi Steven Lebow offered prayers for peace and special messages. The audience recited the Mourner’s Kaddish and sang, including “If I Had a Hammer” and “Oseh Shalom.”
“There has always been anti-Semitism and there always will be,” said Lebow, but recent political discourse and rhetoric “has done little” to tone down those sentiments.
The Pittsburgh shootings took place at the end of a week that included the arrest of a man for allegedly mailing pipe bombs to members of Congress and former presidents Clinton and Obama and the shooting deaths of two black customers at a Kentucky supermarket in what’s also being investigated as a hate crime.
“When will this madness end?” asked Lebow.
He urged Cobb schools, local churches and politicians to do more to practice and preach tolerance, not just for Jews, but for others from racial and other minority groups, as well as immigrants.
Barich said she was heartened by a co-worker asking her how she was doing when she arrived at her job on Monday.
“I didn’t expect to be approached as if I needed support,” Barich said. “That was very much appreciated.”
Barich said the support from around East Cobb, especially other faith communities, at Tuesday’s service also was uplifting.
“This is the beginning of healing.”
Pearle agreed, calling this “a good beginning. “This was therapeutic, this was cathartic.”
He was last in Pittsburgh last month, as his son is considering attending college there.
“The next time I go home, I’ll probably be a wreck,” Pearle said.
On Nov. 15, Kol Emeth will hold its annual Thanksgiving Ecumenical Service. This year’s theme, “Harmonizing the Voices of Humanity,” is “still very appropriate,” Barich said.
“We’re moving forward,” she said. “That’s what we Jews do.”
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Today’s the first day of fall, and it’s starting to feel a little bit like it. Many East Cobb organizations have already begun autumn- and holiday-themed events, and they’re continuing this weekend.
The Good Mews Holiday Decor Market gets under way Friday and continues every weekend through early December, returning to the Sandy Plains Exchange Shopping Center (1860 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 202). They’re open this Friday and the last Friday of the sale, on Dec. 7, from 12-5; otherwise the hours are Saturdays 10-5 and Sundays 12-5. The kitties like the one above who are the beneficiaries of the sale won’t be onsite, but you can get an early start on gently used goods for holiday shopping. Good Mews also is accepting your donations starting Friday and through Nov. 25;
Church fall festivals are starting to gear up too, and coming up is the Eastminster Presbyterian Church Fall Festival from 12-8 Friday and from 10-4 Saturday at the church (3125 Sewell Mill Road). Games, crafts, kids activities and BBQ are on tap, and the proceeds benefit several local charities, including MUST Ministries;
If you want to get out and stretch your legs while soaking up the beautiful weather and tap into the holidays, Halloween Hikes at the Chattahoochee Nature Center (9135 Willeo Road, Roswell) is an ideal event for the whole family. They’re guided half-mile walks along lighted trails and with crafts and other Halloween decorations. The times Friday and Saturday are from 7-9:45 p.m., and the cost is $12 a person;
The high school football season is drawing to a close, with several East Cobb teams still vying for playoff position. Friday’s games kick off at 7:30 p.m, and they include Cass at Kell, Woodstock at Lassiter, Sequoyah at Sprayberry, Roswell at Walton, Campbell at Wheeler and Pope at Cambridge.
By the way, that Walton-Roswell game is going to be shown live from Raider Valley on Georgia Public Television, as the No. 2 Raiders look to stay unbeaten on the season and in region play.
If high school band music is your thing, you’ve got all day Saturday to take in the 35th Southern Invitational Music Festival, which goes from 10-10 at Sprayberry High School (2525 Sandy Plains Road). Admission is $10 for adults; $5 for students with an ID and free for kids 6 and under.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar item you’d like to share with the community? Send it to us, and we’ll spread the word! E-mail: calendar@eastcobbnews.com, and you can include a photo or flyer if you like.
Whatever you’re doing this weekend, make it a great one! Enjoy!
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Jewish food and culture, music and vendors’ goods were on display Sunday at Noshfest 2018 at Temple Kol Emeth.
One of the highlights of the first day is the Bagelicious bagel-eating contest, and it was a record-setting seven whole plain bagels in five minutes, for a $500 cash prize.
The bluesy sounds of the Alex Guthrie Band wafted through the Kol Emeth grounds, along with the aromas of kosher and Jewish delicacies.
Patrons purchased food tickets and brought canned goods to benefit MUST Ministries.
Noshfest continues on Monday from 11-4 at Temple Kol Emeth (1415 Old Canton Road). Admission is free and parking is available across the street at Eastminster Presbyterian Church.
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It wouldn’t be Noshfest without “Hava Nagila.” The Jewish food and culture festival returns at Temple Kol Emeth Sunday and Monday. (East Cobb News file photos)
Just a few days remain until two signature East Cobb Labor Day weekend events make their festive returns.
Here’s the latest info we have on the Noshfest, which takes place from 11-5 Sunday and 11-4 Monday at at Temple Kol Emeth (1415 Old Canton Road):
Admission is free, but each attendee is asked to bring two canned food items to be donated to MUST Ministries.
Once inside, you’ll purchase food and drink tickets as you please, and either with cash or by credit card. Craft items for sale can be bought with cash, credit card or debit card, depending on vendor availabilty.
The Highlights: Entertainment from the blues-and-folk Alex Guthrie Band (he’s a local musician and recording artist) returns to the Noshfest stage at 3 p.m. Sunday. Before that, starting at noon, is a cooking demonstration from Chef Wilson Gourley of the famed General Muir deli in Dectatur, and the festival’s 3rd annual bagel-eating contest (sponsored by Bagelicious in East Cobb) is at 2 p.m.
The winning contestant will win a cash prize of $500 for eating the most bagels in five-minutes.
On Monday, live music will abound, including the Dixie Saints, who will perform Dixieland and klezmer specialties at 2 p.m.
Temple tours of the synagogue will take place Sunday at 1, 2:30 and 4 and on Monday at 12, 1:30 and 3.
Admission is also free on Monday to the Holy Smoke Festival, held from 10-3 at the ball fields and south parking lot at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church (955 Johnson Ferry Road).
Food tickets for the Williamson BBQ-catered meals are $6.50 (and if they run out, other food vendors will be on hand), and the events include live music, Christian illusionist Shane Wilbanks (above), kids’s inflatables, a silent auction and a classic car show.
The Highlights: Local musician Jay Memory will perform in the Big Tent between 11-2 (that’s where and for how long the food will be served). Wilbanks’ shows are at 11:15, 12:45 and 1:45.
At 12:15, the Fort Benning Silver Wings aerial show takes place.
At 2, the silent auction closes, with the grand prize winner announced, as well as the car show awards.
Holy Smoke proceeds will benefit the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, East Cobb chapter.
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Atlanta attorney Dale Schwartz, a key figure in Leo Frank’s posthumous pardon in 1986, holds up a photo of the 1915 lynching near what is now Frey’s Gin Road. (East Cobb News photos and video by Wendy Parker)
The Leo Frank memorial that stood near the site of the infamous lynching in Marietta 103 years ago this month has been relocated and on Thursday morning was rededicated.
Across the street from that venue on Roswell Road, representatives of the Cobb and metro Atlanta Jewish community and others gathered to honor the memory of Frank, regarded as the only Jewish lynching victim in American history.
Squeezed between the new Northwest Corridor Express Lanes on Interstate 75 and a taco eatery, the marker is located in a “parklet” created by the Georgia Department of Transportation.
The small slice of greenspace, with soft soil underneath reflecting its very recent planting, also has become the new focal point for continuing efforts to fully and formally clear Frank of the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan, a girl from Marietta, in 1913.
“Leo Frank is innocent,” said Rabbi Steven Lebow of Temple Kol Emeth in East Cobb, a leader in pushing for a full exoneration of Frank.
“Your presence here today is one more step toward full exoneration.”
The dignitaries included Marietta City Council member Joseph Goldstein and State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick of East Cobb, as well as representatives of the Georgia Historical Society, the Cobb SCLC and various Jewish organizations.
Frank was a supervisor at the National Pencil Company in downtown Atlanta in 1913 when Phagan, a worker there, was found murdered in a basement. Frank was put on trial, convicted and sentenced to death and later imprisoned in Milledgeville.
When his sentence was commuted to life, a mob from Marietta traveled to the jail. The mob, which allegedly included prominent local citizens, law enforcement and elected officials, kidnapped Frank. They brought him back to Marietta and on Aug. 17, 1915, hanged him from an oak tree near what is now Frey’s Gin Road.
The trial and lynching earned national headlines, inflaming anti-Semitic tensions in America and helping revive the Ku Klux Klan, but also giving birth to the Anti-Defamation League.
In more recent years, the Frank case has inspired several films and books as Jewish leaders worked for a pardon. That effort was sparked by a 1982 admission by Alonzo Mann, a pencil factory worker, that Frank was wrongly convicted.
After a silence of nearly 70 years, Mann said he saw Jim Conley, a factory custodian, carrying Mary Phagan’s body the day she died. Mann also said was told by Conley he would be killed if he told anyone about what he saw.
At Frank’s trial, Conley was the main witness for the prosecution against Frank. The state of Georgia granted Frank a pardon in 1986, but only on the grounds that he did not receive a fair trial.
“We’re still trying to get a new trial that would, in effect, exonerate him,” said Dale Schwartz, an Atlanta attorney who also has led the charge for a pardon.
The Leo Frank saga was national front-page news for more than two years, from his trial and imprisonment to his lynching.
He retold the story of the pardon effort in detail, as well as his own Jewish family being attacked by the Klan for hiring black workers at a clothing store in Winder during the Jim Crow era.
The Leo Frank memorial was originally dedicated in 2008 by the Georgia Historical Society, the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation and Temple Kol Emeth.
It had to be moved four years ago to make way for an entrance ramp to the Express Lanes, which are scheduled to open by the end of the summer. The marker was kept in storage during that time by Georgia DOT.
Jerry Klinger, founder and president of the Jewish American Society, said the new site is the perfect venue for what he said is “an important story.”
Rabbi Steven Lebow of East Cobb’s Temple Kol Emeth.
“We have an opportunity to transform the meaning of this location beyond Leo Frank,” he said.
Klinger noted nearly a century’s worth of anti-lynching legislation that has never been passed, as well as a bipartisan bill recently introduced in the U.S. Senate.
He said his organization will soon locate a black granite anti-lynching marker on the site, also in honor of Frank, and has placed a floral arrangement near Phagan’s gravesite at the Marietta City Cemetery.
“We chose to remember the first victim but also chose to remember all the victims in the United States who have suffered the horrors of lynching,” Klinger said.
The Southeast regional office of the Anti-Defamation League in Atlanta also planted a crepe myrtle tree and invited guests to shovel dirt around it to honor the dead.
Shelley Rose, the ADL deputy regional director, said Georgia is only one of five states that does not have a hate-crimes law, and said it’s important to press for such legislation here.
Rabbi Daniel Dorsch of Congregation Etz Chaim in East Cobb offered a benediction he dubbed “A Really Horrible Thing,” based on what a supermarket clerk told him in reference to the Frank case, not long after he moved to the community two years ago.
The rededication, Dorsch said, can help “to inspire us to go out and create a world where there will be no more horrible things.”
The new Leo Frank memorial site is located between Huarache Veloz Mexican Taqueria, 1157 Roswell Road, and Interstate 75.
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 37th Apple Annie Arts & Craft Show takes place Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Catholic Church of St. Ann (4905 Roswell Road), and on Thursday, we swung by the volunteer and VIP event to get a glimpse of what’s on store for the weekend.
It’s part of a big holiday weekend of events in East Cobb. See our earlier post here, as well as our full Holiday Guide for more.
More than 120 artisanal artists and craftsmakers are selling their wares at Apple Annie—some, but not all of it—with a Christmas theme. This is one of the bigger juried arts and crafts shows in the area, and vendors are lined up not only in the fellowship area but downstairs and in classroom and meeting room space.
In addition to the arts and crafts sales, a bake sale will be available and the Apple Annie Cafe will serve soups, sandwiches and beverages, with the proceeds going to the St. Ann’s preschool.
There also will be continuous raffle prizes every 15 minutes from show artisans and there will be a separate raffle for a handmade 98″ x 98″ quilt.
Admission is $3 (no strollers), and proceeds go to church parish and local charities. Free parking is in the church lot, with overflow space and shuttle service available at the Episcopal Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (1795 Johnson Ferry Road).
To see more East Cobb holiday events, please consult our Holiday Guide. Send your holiday news (including photos) to: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
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An interfaith choir from the participating faith communities performed “Amani,” “America the Beautiful,” “I Will Sing Hallelujah” and “Take Down These Walls.” (East Cobb News photos and slideshow by Wendy Parker
A special focus on young people in need and those who serve them was part of the 13th annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service Thursday at Temple Kol Emeth, with the theme “Dare to Be.”
That formed the basis of reflections from adults and teens representing several faith communities in and near East Cobb, as well as efforts to help Cobb youths.
With Thanksgiving a week away, a packed audience at the East Cobb Reform synagogue heard about the work of the Center for Children and Young Adults, a Marietta non-profit that provides more than a roof for homeless teens. It provides education and a sense of family for the youngsters, several of whom also performed musically at the service.
Angela Thornton of the CCYA.
Angela Thornton, the CCYA’s advancement officer, spoke about the success stories of several young people her agency has taken in, including a current student at Reinhardt College.
“Our youth dare to do every single day,” she said. “It’s not just a shelter. We’re a home.”
November is Homeless Youth Awareness month, and Thornton said nearly 40 percent of all homeless people in the United States are teens and young adults.
Proceeds from the offering at Thursday’s service are going to purchase Thanksgiving food for the CCYA, as well as to the Give-A-Gobble community food support program, a longtime beneficiary of Kol Emeth’s Women of Reform Judaism organization.
Gathering music performed by the drum circle of the Emerson Unitarian Universalist Congregation and Unity North Atlanta.The Muslim call to prayer by Hassan Faye of the Roswell Community Masjid.
In another symbol of interfaith generosity, Fred Macey, a member of the Emerson Unitarian Universalist Congregation on Canton Road, presented a tapestry of Mecca he acquired on a trip to Saudi Arabia in 1975 to the Roswell Community Masjid.
Fred Macey bequeathed a tapestry of a Muslim worship in Mecca he purchased more than 40 years ago to the Roswell Community Masjid.
Macey, who also sang in the choir, explained his gesture in the service program:
“May mutual respect between worshippers flourish for generations to come, as people of all faiths grow together and work, worship, pray, share music and food—and especially listen to one another in the coming years. May we always find joy and peace in the recognition that you and I are one.”
Kol Emeth Rabbi Steven Lebow, who started the service in the aftermath of post-Sept. 11 sentiments in Amrerica, asked attendees to think about “what they saw” while taking part in a celebration of many faiths.
While some may have seen others as different when they arrived, he said, “after the 90 minutes, you came to the realization that this is what America looks like!”
He got a standing ovation, and the choir sang “Take Down These Walls” before the attendees gathered in the synagogue’s social room for “noshing” and continued fellowship.
Rabbi Steven Lebow of Temple Kol Emeth, who started the Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service in 2005.
The faith communities taking part include: Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; The Art of Living Foundation; Baha’i Faith Center for Learning; East Cobb Islamic Center; East Cobb United Methodist Church; Emerson Unitarian Universalist Congregation; Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta; Holy Trinity Lutheran Church; Interfaith Community Initiatives; Islamic Center of Marietta (Al-Hedaya); Temple Kol Emeth; Masjid Al-Muminum; Pilgrimage United Church of Christ; Roswell Community Masjid; Sikh Educational Welfare Association; Gurudwara Sahib; St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; Transfiguration Catholic Church; Unity North Atlanta Church.
More photos from the 13th Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service:
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The show continues today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the church (1770 Johnson Ferry Road). It’s an annual benefit put on by the Mt. Zion United Methodist Women, with proceeds benefitting a number of Cobb and metro Atlanta service organizations.
Among those organizations benefitting include Battered Women’s Shelter LiveSafe; Bethany Place; Blue Skies Ministries; Canine Assistance; Center for Children and Youth; Childspring International; Cobb County Department of Family and Children Services; Cobb County Community Services Board; Cobb Street Ministry; Drake House; Family Promise; Food Boxes for the Hungry; and Girl Scouts Gold Award.
More beneficiaries include: Habitat for Humanity; Hospice Atlanta; Methodist Children’s Home; Mt. Zion Preschool Scholarships; Mt. Zion Youth Mission Trip; Mt. Top Home for Boys; Murphy-Harpst Home; MUST Ministries; My Sister’s Place; North Fulton Community Food Bank; North Georgia Foster Parents’ Support; Papa’s Pantry and Red Bird Mission.
Other beneficiaries: Safepath Children’s Advocacy; Samaritan’s Purse; St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital; Sweetwater Mission; Ten Women of Hope; United Methodist Committee on Relief; United Military Care; Wesley Community Center; Youth Villages-Douglas Center.
The Mt. Zion UMC Craft Show runs from 9-4 Saturday, and attendees can sign up for door and raffle prizes. Admission is free.
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Community service has always been a strong component of the East Cobb Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service held at Temple Kol Emeth.
This year, it’s the featured theme, especially as it pertains to youth, when this year’s service takes place next Thursday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. Kol Emeth is located at 1415 Old Canton Road.
“Dare to Do!” is the theme of the 13th annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service, which will include a special interfaith effort involving Center for Children and Young Adults, a non–profit agency in Marietta providing services for homeless, abused, neglected and at-risk youth.
More than a dozen faith communities in and around East Cobb will take part in the service, which includes music, reflections and post-service fellowship, refreshments and writing on the “Wall of Words.”
The service is free and open to the public, and attendees are asked to bring non-perishable food items to be donated to MUST Ministries.
Carpooling also is encouraged, and overflow parking will be available across the street from Kol Emeth at Eastminster Presbyterian Church (3125 Sewell Mill Road).
The following faith communities will be taking part:
Henry Holley’s recent 90th birthday didn’t go unnoticed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners, who honored the longtime East Cobb resident with an official recognition before their Friday meeting.
Holley, who’s lived in Indian Hills for 45 years, is retired director of international crusades for the Billy Graham ministries, a job he held after a long career in the U.S. Marine Corps that included service World War II and the Korean War. He’s also a member of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, where he was ordained in the gospel ministry in 1995.
His wife Bettie died last year at the age of 91. They were married for 67 years, after meeting in 1948 on a blind date.
Cobb commissioners also declared Friday to be “Henry Holley Day” in the county as he gave the invocation at the meeting. Holley served under Graham in several capacities for 48 years and organized the evangelist’s largest crusades. More below the photo from the official recognition read out at Friday’s meeting:
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce and commissioner JoAnn Birrell recognizing Rev. Henry Holley. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
“Holley organized the historic Korean 1973 Crusade in Seoul in which never before had so many come to one place to hear a preacher proclaim the Gospel. On the final day, there were 1.3 million people in attendance. Across the five-day Crusade, there were over 3.2 million people that heard Dr. Graham face to face.
“In 1974, Holley was Crusade Director for another precedent shattering Crusade, The Greater Rio de Janeiro Billy Graham Crusade in Brazil held at the famous Maracana stadium-the world’s largest. More people attended this meeting than any other crusade ever held in North or South America; over 250,000 attended on closing day.
“He served as Director of Development for the International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam (1983) in which he was responsible for raising much of the budget.
“After his duties in Amsterdam, Holley prepared for Dr. Graham’s participation in the 100th Anniversary of the Korean Church Crusade held in Seoul (1984). For the second time, over one million attended the service when Dr. Graham preached at Yoido Plaza with an estimated ten million more across Korea viewing via television. In 1985-86, he was Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Amsterdam ’86 International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists (ICIE) meeting. He prepared many special meetings for Dr. Billy Graham and conducted investigation meetings for possible future crusades all over the world.
“In 1990, Holley directed the Hong Kong Crusade, which had the largest attendance ever for an evangelistic meeting in Hong Kong. In addition, the Crusade message was extended by satellite television to 30 countries in Asia in 45 different languages. Over 100 million people were reached with the Gospel in this effort.
“Holley has been to North Korea (DPRK) seventeen times. In 1992 Holley was responsible for the diplomatic and administrative preparation work for a most historic and extraordinary visit by Dr. Billy Graham to North Korea. Holley directed the small team that accompanied Dr. Graham to the capital city of Pyongyang. The significant mission to Pyongyang was highlighted by Dr. Graham preaching the Gospel in the two churches in North Korea. In addition, he lectured at Kim Il-Sung University — the first American to have this privilege. Dr. Graham and Rev. Holley also had a personal meeting with President Kim Il-Sung where he brought private messages from President George Bush and Pope John Paul II.
“Holley directed the Tokyo Crusade in January 1994 at the world famous Tokyo Dome. Audiences averaged 32,000 at each meeting with over 3,000 decisions for Christ. Thousands more attended at the 60 satellite locations around the country. In a country where less than 1% identified as Christians, this was an extraordinary response. Church leaders credited this and previous Billy Graham Crusades with the growth of the Christian church in Japan.
“These highlights in Holley’s career came after a variety of assignments in the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association during his 48 years with the organization. Holley directed Billy Graham Crusades in Taipei, Taiwan (1975); Hong Kong (1975 and 1990); Manila (1977); Singapore (1978); Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and Okinawa (1980). He also gave supervision and direction to the Paris Crusade and Helsinki Crusade (1986). He assisted in Crusade preparations in London (1966); Tokyo (1967); Sydney (1968 & 1979); Melbourne; Auckland; Honolulu; New York; and other USA cities. He also organized Christian participation in the Washington, DC “Honor America Day” celebration in 1970 and 1979.
“For each major foreign crusade, Holley spent over a year in preparation, organization, and in joint venture with the local invitational committee to mobilize the entire city for these meetings.
“This required great skill in reaching across many different cultures and languages in order to be successful. For years, he traveled an average of 150,000 miles and 200 days overseas each year and accumulated over 13 million air miles. At 85 years of age, he was still employed by BGEA and actively engaged in ministry.
“He was responsible for the cultivation and development of ministry, government, and church leaders in China. He organized and executed meetings for Rev. Franklin Graham in many cities in China, beginning in 2006.
“In addition to regular international Crusade responsibilities of cultivating and directing, Holley served as Special Assistant to Dr. Billy Graham on many projects and missions and in the cultivation and development of potential crusade opportunities for Rev. Franklin Graham. In 2005, he was honored to bring the opening prayer in the U. S. House of Representatives and in 2007 was honored, again, to offer the opening prayer in the U. S. Senate.”
A native of Texas, Holley attended the University of Houston and studied administration, law, management and leadership while in the military. He and his wife had three children, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Staying cool under the pavilion at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church’s Holy Smoke Festival. (East Cobb News photos and slideshow by Wendy Parker)
Barbecue served up by Williamson Brothers, family activities, live music by local artist Jay Memory, a parachute jump team, antique car show and more were packed into a gorgeous Labor Day Monday afternoon at the Holy Smoke Festival.
The venue and hosts were Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, and organized by its men’s ministry. We’ll just let the pictures tell the story, with a few words here and there, as East Cobb celebrated the holiday weekend in festive style (ICYMI, our photos from the Temple Kol Emeth Noshfest on Sunday).
GTO row at the antique car show, another regular feature of the Holy Smoke Festival.
With temperatures in the high 80s, sitting atop the dunk tank wasn’t a bad place to be.But kids taking aim had more fun taking him down.
More photos in the slideshow below from the antique car show and more at the Holy Smoke Festival.
Attendees of all ages enjoyed dancing to “Hava Nagila” at Noshfest Sunday. (East Cobb News photos and slideshow by Wendy Parker)
The first of the two-day Temple Kol Emeth Noshfest took place under beautiful skies Sunday, as one of East Cobb’s biggest Labor Day holiday weekend events got underway.
Noshfest continues on Monday, and Labor Day in East Cobb also includes the Holy Smoke BBQ and Festival, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Johnson Ferry Church (955 Johnson Ferry Road). Details here for what’s on tap.
The Noshfest celebration of Jewish food, music and culture included exhibitors, especially local artists, merchants and other businesses.
The festivities included the 2nd annual Noshfest bagel-eating contest.In addition to traditional Jewish folk music, The Alex Guthrie Band was among the featured acts. He’s a Lassiter HS grad whose group sports an acoustic and blues-infused sound.
More sights below from the Noshfest, which continues Monday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Temple Kol Emeth is located at 1415 Old Canton Road. Parking is available across the street at Eastminster Presbyterian Church.
Staying cool in the dunk tank at the Mt. Zion celebration. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
After an inspiring sermon message and a picnic lunch, members of Mt. Zion United Methodist Church dived into an old-style summer carnival Sunday afternoon as they celebrated the 125th anniversary of the church’s founding.
The carnival atmosphere included cotton candy, snow cones and hitting the bell.
That’s where long-time Mt. Zion member Dayle Thompson was volunteering.
Thompson said she and her family began attending Mt. Zion around 30 years ago, when her children were young, because of the church’s strong youth programs.
They had come from a bigger church where they felt they didn’t quite fit in, and found that for them, Mt. Zion “was the right size.
“They really try for a family appeal,” she said. “Especially as you get older, you find your church family becomes as important as your own family.”
She is involved in the adult Sunday School program and has been a part of Mt. Zion’s participation in the Family Promise of Cobb County outreach program, which includes 13 faith communities in the county.
Mt. Zion’s first service took place on Aug. 19, 1892. The congregation moved to its present location on donated farm land at 1770 Johnson Ferry Road in 1964. Historical messages were pinned to the walls of the gymnasium, with deeply-researched answers underneath.
The church’s original location was on Post Oak Tritt Road near Johnson Ferry and where the Mt. Zion Cemetery is still located. The current sanctuary was opened in 1976, and the Family Ministries building opened in 1985. More renovations were made in 1997, not long after Mt. Zion marked its 100th anniversary.
Caregivers are encouraged to register for the free six-week educational series designed to support a parents who are caring for a child, minor or adult, with developmental disabilities. The “Powerful Tools for Caregivers” workshop provides caregiver support while focusing on the unique challenge parents face caring for a child with health or behavioral challenges. The workshop will be held 1-3 p.m., on Mondays from Aug. 7 to Sept. 18, at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church. It will help you:
Reduce stress, guilt, anger and depression and improve emotional wellbeing
Manage your time, set goals and solve problems
Master caregiver transitions and make tough decisions
Communicate effectively with the child needing care, family members, doctors and paid helpers
It’s not quite back to school—though it is hard to believe that’s exactly two weeks from today, on July 31—and the four branches of the Cobb County Public Library System in East Cobb have plenty of activities scheduled for the next two weeks.
We’ve included a good sampling of them in our East Cobb Events Calendar, and there are plenty more to peruse on the library system website. In addition to regular storytimes, this week’s events include a picnic at the Mountain View Regional branch, monthly adult book discussion groups at East Marietta and East Cobb, the monthly Gritters STEAM team event and so much more!
On Saturday, the East Cobb branch will feature a presentation on how to grow your own mushroom garden, with some expert advice from the Mushroom Club of Georgia.
Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce is taking some heat for proposing a tax millage increase, and on Wednesday he is holding a town hall meeting at the East Cobb Senior Center to solicit more input.
The Cobb school board is holding a final public hearing Thursday before voting on setting its tax millage rate for 2017.
The East Cobb Business Association and Northeast Cobb Business Association are holding their monthly luncheons on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. On Wednesday, the Ashley Homestore on Roswell Road is holding a Red Cross blood drive, and the East Cobb Lions Club will be offering free vision screenings.
If you missed last week’s public input meeting on the Cobb Greenways and Trails Master Plan at East Cobb Library, there will be another meeting Tuesday from 5-6:30 at the Covenant Presbyterian Church, Canton Road and Piedmont Road.
Another end-of-summer event for kids takes place Thursday at Terrell Mill Park. The Fairy House Workshop, presented by the Cobb Water System’s Watershed Stewardship Program, includes story-reading before kids ages 3-13 create their own fairy houses.
The Marietta Campmeeting continues every day this week through Saturday, with services at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. and an ice cream social after Tuesday’s evening service, starting at 9:30 p.m. The final service takes place at 11 a.m. Sunday.
We’ll come back later this week with a preview of weekend events in East Cobb, including live entertainment and other community activities.
Please feel free to send your items—including photos, flyers, maps and PDFs if you wish—to: calendar@eastcobbnews.com, and we’ll post them promptly.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners and the Cobb Board of Education this week are holding required public hearings as they prepare to set their 2017 millage rates.
The commissioners will hold hearings tonight at 6:30, and at 9 a.m. on Tuesday and at 7 p.m. on July 25, the date they’re slated to vote on the millage rate. Those hearings will be in the board’s 2nd floor meeting room at the Cobb BOC Building, 100 Cherokee St. in downtown Marietta.
The school board is holding hearings Tuesday at 10 a.m., during its monthly work session, and again at 6 p.m. in the board room of the Cobb County School District main office, 514 Glover St. in Marietta.
The school board will have final hearings on July 20 at 1:30 p.m. and at 7 p.m., when it’s scheduled to vote on its 2017 millage rate.
State law mandates the hearings if local property tax digests rise and millage rates aren’t rolled back, prompting a tax increase (here’s a year-by-year chart of Cobb tax digest totals dating back to 2012, when the county began rebounding from the recession. Here’s the BOE’s millage rate notice and 5-year history of its property tax levy).
Elsewhere in this week’s East Cobb Events Calendar, there’s a new women’s business networking group meeting Thursday at Red Sky Tapas Bar that pledges a “no compete” atmosphere. Friday marks the 180th renewal of the Marietta Campmeeting, with an opening picnic and service scheduled from 6-9 p.m. The venerable tradition continues through July 23, and if you haven’t been, or even if you’re not religious, it’s a tremendous experience. I covered this years ago during my newspaper days, and I highly recommend it.
On Sunday’s Bradley’s Bar & Grill on Lower Roswell Road is holding a summer fest and car show from 3-7 p.m., and if you want your car to take part, you have until Wednesday to register. It’s all for a very good cause.
We’re just getting our engines revved up here at East Cobb News and want to make our calendar listings are simply the best in the community. Please feel free to send your items—including photos, flyers and PDFs if you wish—to editor/publisher Wendy Parker at: eastcobbnewsnow@gmail.com.
