Marietta Campmeeting

East Cobb weekend events: Campmeeting; fishing rodeo; more

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Marietta Campmeeting, East Cobb weekend events

It’s been more than a year since we’ve done this: rounded up selected weekend events from our calendar listings.

While we’ll be rolling out our full calendar listings over the next few weeks, below we’ve linked to some coverage of things going on that we’ve placed on our main news channel.

That’s how we’ve been posting about the rare events that have taken place during the COVID-19 pandemic; gradually this news will shift over to our main calendar listings page.

For the time being, that listings page is under reconstruction of sorts; shortly we’ll get it back to where it was before March 2020.

Something different with this revival of the calendar is to include concerts and other special events from beyond East Cobb, but that aren’t too far away.

Now, on to some community happenings this weekend:

MARIETTA CAMPMEETING

Starting Friday and continuing through July 18, the 183rd edition of the religious revival takes place at the Marietta Campground (2300 Roswell Road). All services and other events are free and open to the public.

COBB PARKS FISHING RODEOS

Take the kiddos (ages 3-16) out to Hyde Farm (726 Hyde Road) or Ebenezer Downs Park (4057 Ebenezer Road) Saturday morning for some competitive fun. The cost is $5 per child and you’ll need to bring your own gear and bait.

FREE VACCINATION EVENT

Town Center at Cobb (400 Barrett Parkway) will distribute free COVID-19 vaccines from 1-7 Saturday with Emergent Testing. Members of the public can get their choice of the Moderna, Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccines by coming to mall’s upper level food court next to the Smoothie King. You’re asked to pre-register here: bit.ly/TCCEmergentTesting and will need to bring a photo ID. If you’re getting a second dose, you’re asked to bring proof of the first shot.

“THE SANDLOT” SCREENING

Big Shanty Park (2050 Kennesaw Due West Road) is the venue for Saturday’s 8 p.m. screening of The Sandlot as part of the Kaiser Permanente Movie Series. Bring your own food and snacks after registering at the link above.

ELTON JOHN TRIBUTE

The Mable House Barnes Ampitheater is kicking off its 2021 schedule on Saturday with “Remember When Rock Was Young,” a tribute event in honor of the retiring pop music legend. Award-winning, singer/actor/pianist Craig A. Meyer is the host. Tickets start at $25 and can be ordered at the Ticketmaster link above.

 

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Marietta Campmeeting alters schedule for 183rd revival event

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Marietta Campmeeting

The Marietta Campmeeting has been cancelled only once since it began in 1837.

That was during the Civil War.

Organizers of the summer religious revival discussed the possibility of calling off this year’s event due to COVID-19. They heard from longtime attendees, some of whom said they would not be coming under any circumstances. Others said that if there was a campmeeting, they would definitely be there.

“We tried to reach a happy medium,” said Cheryl Lassiter, president of the Marietta Campmeeting Tentholders Association, explaining the decision to go on.

“We just hated to just not completely have it at all.”

Most large-gathering festivals and events in East Cobb have been either postponed or cancelled altogether since March and into the fall, including the EAST COBBER parade and festival.

Instead of the usual 10 days of worship, music and food and social activities at the 23-acre Marietta Campground on Roswell Road, this year’s campmeeting will be reduced to one weekend, July 17-19.

Lassiter said the schedule change also accommodates the Georgia public health emergency, which is set to expire July 12.

The public is still invited to attend the campmeeting, but there will be only four services: One on Friday night, two on Saturday and another on Sunday morning. There also will be a tentholders’ meeting for those occupying the nearly two dozen cabins on the campground property.

But there won’t be the usual opening night picnic, watermelon-cutting, ice cream social, ministry feeding events and the children’s church service.

Instead of full choirs, singing will be led by a handful of people under the arbor, a covered outdoor tabernacle that’s the focal point of the revival.

Reusable programs and hymnals will be replaced by throwaway songsheets with familiar tunes.

The arbor can hold up to 400 people, but Lassiter said in recent years that daytime worship services have averaged between 25-50 people, and 150-250 people at night.

The campmeeting will follow social distancing protocols, she said, allowing for families to be able to sit together. There also will be hand sanitizing stations on the property and masks and gloves will be available.

Despite all the rearrangements, Lassiter admitted there is a chance everything may have to be cancelled, given growing concerns over continuing rises in positive COVID cases in Georgia, especially in the metro Atlanta area.

“I don’t think anyone would doubt our reasons if we did,” she said.

Lassiter noted that during the Spanish Flu pandemic which hit the United States hard in the winter of 1919, the Marietta Campmeeting went on the following summer.

That was a stroke of good seasonal fortune.

However, like so many aspects of daily life today, and especially special events like a venerable religious revival, planning for the Marietta Campmeeting has been a very fluid thing.

“It’s still pretty iffy,” Lassiter said, “but we’re gonna try.”

 

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182nd Marietta Campmeeting starts Friday with picnic and service

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Marietta Campmeeting

One of the oldest continuing events in all of Cobb County begins anew Friday night on the Marietta Campgrounds on Roswell Road—it’s the 182nd Marietta Campmeeting, a religious revival that traces its roots to the earliest settlers of what’s now East Cobb.

Friday’s opening service begins at 7:30 p.m., but it’s preceded by a picnic from 6-7, and you’re invited to bring a dish to share.

During the service, special music will be performed by the Open Door Trio, a metro Atlanta gospel group. The opening sermon will be delivered by Rev. Ike Reighard, senior pastor at the Piedmont Church in East Cobb and president and CEO of MUST Ministries.

There are twice-daily services during the week, daily services on the weekend and a number of special events during Marietta Campmeeting, including a watermelon cutting after the Saturday evening service and an ice cream social on Tuesday.

For the full schedule, click here.

The campmeeting began in 1837, five years after Cobb County was carved out of Cherokee County, on land east of Marietta on Roswell Road.

Visiting ministers came in the summers, before there were many organized churches, and many of the longtime campmeeting families lived in tents during the revival.

They include names familiar to East Cobbers today—Sewell, Garrison, Murdock, Lassiter, Allgood, Hamby and other families who farmed in the area.

Many of their descendants continue attending today, as the Marietta Campground is now part of East Cobb United Methodist Church across the street.

That’s where overflow parking is available for attendees. The main parking lot is between the Arbor and Roswell Road, at the Campground entrance at 2300 Roswell Road.

All events and services at the Marietta Campmeeting are free and open to the public.

 

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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!

East Cobb Weekend Events: Marietta Campmeeting; Sewell Mill concert; kitty shower; Board and Brush opening; Murderino movie; and more

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Marietta Campmeeting, East Cobb weekend events

If it’s mid-July, it’s time for the Marietta Campmeeting. The 181st edition of the summertime revival begins its week-long run on Friday, starting off a celebratory slate of East Cobb weekend events.

The Marietta Campground (2300 Roswell Road) is the venue for the Marietta Campmeeting, with has a long tradition in the Methodist church, starting in 1837, but now features a non-denominational schedule of speakers and music.

The Friday opening picnic starts at 6 p.m., and you’re asked to bring a covered dish to share, followed by the opening service at 7:30 p.m. The guest speaker is Rev. Ike Reighard of the Piedmont Church.

Morning services start daily at 11 a.m. on Saturday through the finale next Sunday, July 22. Evening services continue at 7:30 p.m. through next Saturday, July 21.

But there’s so much more going at the Marietta Campmeeting (full schedule here), including a children’s church, a watermelon-cutting and an old-fashioned ice cream social.

All events are free and open to the public, and extra parking is available across the street at East Cobb United Methodist Church (2325 Roswell Road).

From one of East Cobb’s oldest events to a new one: The first Sewell Mill Library Summer Concert Series show is Friday at the outdoor amphitheater at the library (2051 Lower Roswell Road), and it features the rock trio of Kienan Dietrich from Sarah & the Safe Word, the Wildfire Orchestra, Chasing Lovely, and The Good Graces.

The show is free and you’re invited to bring picnic fare, blankets or even your own lawn chairs. The amphitheater opens at 6:30 and the music starts at 7;

Saturday morning is the grand opening of the East Cobb location of Board and Brush, a DIY home decor spot with workshops and supplies, in the Woodlawn Square Shopping Center (1205 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 103). The festivities take place from 10-12;

The Good Mews Animal Foundation is holding a Kitty Shower on Saturday from 10-4 at the shelter (3805 Robinson Road), as it continues to celebrate its 30th anniversary with special prices on adoptions for kittens and adult cats. You’re asked to donate litter, paper towels, canned food and other supplies from a “kitty registry” list, and you’ll get raffle ticket in return for a chance at door prizes;

On Saturday afternoon is the latest showing of the Murderino Movie Series at the Sewell Mill Library, and it’s the 2002 film “Chicago,” starring Catherine Zeta Jones, Richard Gere and Renée Zellweger. The lights in the black box theater dim at 3 p.m., and you’re free to bring your own food and drink.

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!

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

EAST COBB WEEKEND: Pianos in the park; Campmeeting closes; mushroom gardens and more

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The second-from-last weekend before the start of school has several events geared for kids in end-of-summer mode, but there are quite a few slated for youth and adults alike.

The East Cobb News Events Calendar has all the details of every weekend event we’ve got listed (and send yours along if you don’t see it to: calendar@eastcobbnews.com). Here are a few of the highlights:Sunny, East Cobb Park ARTSCAPE!, Play Me Again Pianos

  • At 10 a.m. Saturday, there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for “Sunny,” a piano kids at East Cobb Park’s ARTSCAPE! camp have been painting this summer. It’s the latest Play Me Again Piano delivery in metro Atlanta, and “Sunny” will be a permanent fixture at the park’s upper pavilion;
  • Want to learn about mushrooms—how to grow and cook them? The East Cobb Library is holding a mini-fungi fest at 11:30 a.m. Saturday with a “Build A Mushroom Garden” seminar, and reservations are strongly suggested;
  • Another library event, this one starting at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Mountain View Regional branch: A screening of the “We Are Marshall” film, about a college football team that perished in a 1970 airline tragedy, and how those on the freshman team played on in their honor;
  • For grown-ups, the weekend ivory-tinkling continues at Red Sky Tapas Bar, with the 88 Licks Dueling Piano performances Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m. to midnight;
  • The 180th Marietta Campmeeting concludes Sunday with an 11 a.m. service, and twice-daily services are scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. The guest sermon for the finale will be delivered by Dr. Charles Sineath, a retired pastor formerly at East Cobb’s Mt. Zion United Methodist Church who’s been designated as this year’s Campmeeting Pastor.

Again, let us know if you have calendar items to share, for this weekend and beyond. We’re working to have the best calendar listings in East Cobb, so have a look around and let us know what you think!

Have a great weekend, and stay in touch!

EAST COBB THIS WEEK: Tax millage rate hearings; women’s networking; Marietta Campmeeting; Bradley’s car show

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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. East Cobb events calendar

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.

Have a great week, and please stay in touch!