MABLE HOUSE HARVEST FESTIVAL SET FOR OCTOBER 9

The Mable House Harvest Festival is set for October 9 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The festival is presented by Cobb PARKS, and sponsored by Friends of the Mable House. It will be held at the Mable House, 5239 Floyd Road, Mableton. This family-friendly festival offers free parking and free admission.  

There will be lots of activities, including storytelling, children’s crafts, petting farm, old time games, a visit from Mother Goose and her helper, hayrides, tours and demonstrations in the Historic House: spinning, weaving, quilting and a blacksmith.  South Cobb Lions Club will be selling BBQ.  There will be live music all afternoon:  Strand Ole Opry, Katy Ruth Camp & Friends, Travis Cottle, Possum ‘n Taters, a bagpiper and Scottish dancers.

Fall Book Sale

ANNUAL PUMPKIN SALE BEGINS AT SMYRNA FUMC

Photo by Cathy Lipsett

Pumpkins as far as the eye can see. The lot adjacent to First United Methodist Church, Concord Road, Smyrna, is filled with pumpkins large, small and in-between. The church youth are selling the pumpkins as part of their annual fundraiser for their Youth Ministries at SFUMC.

There is an honor box for payments outside of those times when staff is present and payments can also be made at Smyrnafumc.org

This Sunday, October 10, will celebrate a faith and blue initiative from 1 – 4 p.m. The police officers will be accepting donations of baby items for Tillman House. Donate two or more baby items and the police will buy the donor a pumpkin to decorate or keep. There will be a pumpkin contest for the best decorated pumpkin.

IMPORTANT DATES & ABSENTEE BALLOT INFORMATION ABOUT THE UPCOMING ELECTION IN NOVEMBER

Cobb County voters can now apply to vote absentee in the November 2021 election. Many had applied too early under new elections laws recently passed, and those applications were rejected, 

  • All precincts will have an education SPLOST question on the ballot.   
  • Precincts within incorporated cities will also have municipal offices on the ballot.
  • Voters must register to vote or update their address by Oct. 4 at MVP.sos.ga.gov.
  • Voters may submit an absentee ballot application only between Aug. 16 and Oct. 22.
  • Absentee ballots will be mailed to voters beginning Oct. 11.
  • Voted absentee ballots must be received by Cobb Elections staff before 7 pm on Nov. 2, 2021. 
    • Ballots can be returned by postal mail, or
    • hand-delivered to the ballot box inside the Cobb Elections office, or
    • hand-delivered to any early voting location during voting hours.
  • In a pilot program, Cobb Elections staff will also accept voted ballots at certain libraries starting on Oct. 25.  A schedule of dates, times, and locations will be published soon.
  • Early voting will begin on Oct. 12. A schedule of dates, times, and locations will be published no later than Sept. 27.

For questions and for more information, visit cobbcounty.org/electionsemail info@cobbelections.orgor call 770-528-2581.

2021 RIVERS ALIVE! RESULTS

Cobb & Douglas Public Health is hosting a diaper drive to benefit the Healthy Start program. Diapers can be dropped off from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 14, at the South Cobb Public Health Center. The address is 875 Riverside Parkway, Austell GA 30168. 

The Healthy Start program promotes positive birth outcomes in an effort to reduce low weight births and infant mortality. The program is in need of diapers to distribute to the families they are serving. If you have any questions please contact the program director Sara Harmelin at sara.harmelin@dph.ga.gov

DIAPER DRIVE TO ASSIST FAMILIES

Cobb & Douglas Public Health is hosting a diaper drive to benefit the Healthy Start program. Diapers can be dropped off from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 14, at the South Cobb Public Health Center. The address is 875 Riverside Parkway, Austell GA 30168. 

The Healthy Start program promotes positive birth outcomes in an effort to reduce low weight births and infant mortality. The program is in need of diapers to distribute to the families they are serving. If you have any questions please contact the program director Sara Harmelin at sara.harmelin@dph.ga.gov

Lawn Chairs Now Okay At Renovated Amphitheatre

Visitors check out the new terraced seating area that allows lawn chairs at the Mable House Barnes Amphitheater during a recent open house.

The Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre’s season is underway and concert goers and performers are benefitting from extensive renovations.
“We have a robust concert series that we are this hosting on behalf local promoters,” said Robert Edwards, general manager. The amphitheater is a rental only facility.

“One of our promoters, Royal Entertainment, has brought in some 20 concerts over the summer.”

Royal also helped facilitate moving all of the Kiss 104.1 Flashback series from Lakewood Amphitheater. Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends have back to back concerts.

“It’s going to be a fun series over the summer,” Edwards said during an open house at the facility in May.

A new movie series on the first Friday of each month called Movies , Band and Brew, will be a nostalgic evening with the theme of an individual artist and film.

“We are teaming up with the Arts Center so the first Friday in July is a Prince experience. A national touring, exhibit, then have Hero, The Band playing music of Prince and the movie Purple Rain.

An Evening of Jazz series is already underway.

Edwards said that in the winter of 2017 renovations began the backstage area, including the green room and dressing areas.

“We ripped up all the floors which now with polished concrete, bought new furniture, and gave it a new look. We really spruced up the place to give the artists a better impression of our backstage,” he said.

“This past winter we redid the lawn area so it is now terraced instead of a steep hill. Now we allow all of our patrons to bring in their own lawn chairs. It’s a big deal since we never allowed that in the past. We have new bar areas in the venue so we have full cash bars available to the public,” he said.

The entire SPLOST renovation was $2 million spread out over two years.

The seating area remains the same capacity at 2,500 with 1,500 under the roof and 1,000 on the lawn.

“It’s just a more user friendly lawn area,” he said.

Here are some of the shows coming this summer and fall at the Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre.

An Evening of Jazz series:

• June 22 – featuring Gregory Porter, Ken Ford and Kathy Kosins.

• July 6 – featuring Boney James, Avery Sunshine and Alex Bugnon.

• Aug. 3 – featuring Brian Culberson and Najee.

• Aug. 17 – featuring Jeffrey Osborne and Jody Watley.

• Sept. 21 – featuring Jonathan Butler, Kirk Whalum, Eric Darius and Nick Colionne.

July 20 – The Gentlemen of Soul featuring Peabo Bryson, Freddie Jackson and Howard Hewett

Kiss 104.1 Flashback Festival:

• Aug. 31 – The Whispers with Ruben Studdard, and Evelyn Champagne King.

• Sept. 1 – Cameo with Midnight Star, and Glenn Jones.

Also, Sept. 7 – Sounds Good Medicine with Dave Koz, Gerald Albright, Rick Braun, Kenney Lattimore, and Bryan Thompson, hosted by M.C. Lightfoot.

The Wednesday night children’s series, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, will feature free movies such as Black Panther on June 12; Spiderman Into the Spiderverese on June 26; A Wrinkle In Time on July 10; and How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World on July 24.

First Fridays feature Movie, Bands and Brews:

• July 5 – Purple Rain, featuring Hero, the Band, playing Prince music.

• Aug. 2 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, featuring The Neon Queen.

• Sept. 6 – Nine to Five with a performance by Diva Royale.

• Oct. 4 – Bohemian Rhapsody featuring a Queen tribute performance by the Georgia Players Guild.

For showtimes and tickets visit mablehouse.org or call 770-819-7765.

From the June 2019  issue of The Bright Side, Cobb County Georgia’s Newspaper covering Smyrna, Vinings, Mableton, Powder Springs and Austell, GA.

Group Plans For City In South Cobb

Mableton could be the “the next best city in Cobb County” within two years if the South Cobb Alliance wins funding and support from the legislature.

Enthusiastic supporters recently held a town hall meeting at South Cobb Regional Library.

“The time has come for us as a community to determine if it is feasible for us to become Cobb County’s next city,” said Tre Hutchins, an organizer of the cityhood effort. “This will allow us an opportunity to customize our needs as it relates to the quality of life we deserve in South Cobb.”

Mableton, an unincorporated community in south Cobb, would be joined with the unincorporated part of Austell to create Cobb’s newest city, which would also be called Mableton.

The new city would be bordered on the north by Hurt Road just north of the East-West Corridor, on the west by Austell, on the east by Smyrna and go southward all the way to Cobb’s southern tip.

The first step is having a bill introduced in the General Assembly. Hutchins said State Rep. Erica Thomas, D- Austell, has agreed to do that.

Hutchins said the group needs $30,000 for a Feasibility Study.

“We have 1/3 of it and need another $20K to make sure this happens,” he said. “The South Cobb Alliance is dedicated to securing the funds to complete the study. For more information: www.SouthCobbAlliance.org/.

Hutchins said he thinks the study will show the city of Mableton will be able to provide at least three of the 16 state constitutionally mandated municipal services currently provided by the county without raising taxes on its residents.

Harvest Festival To Be Held at Mable House

The Harvest Festival will be held at the Mable House Historic Grounds on October 12, 2019.

Produced by The Friends of The Mable House in partnership with Cobb Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, The Harvest Festival was formerly the Storytelling Festival.

“The Friends organization wanted to rebrand the event to create an enhanced family experience,” said Libby Geiselmayr, Mable House Arts Center Coordinator.

Professional storytellers Josie Bailey and Joanna Maddox will be telling tales, plus, there will be musical performances, food and other activities.

This free event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. will include Hay Rides given by the South Cobb Lions Club, a sweet potato garden, corn shucking, butter churning, homemade Johnny cakes, professional blacksmith Wind Chapman, farm animals, live storytellers, arts and crafts with clay throwing demonstrations, old time games, sweets and drinks by the girl scouts, live musical performances, Mother Goose, and gold panning.

There will be Historic House Tours with live demonstrations of quilting, spinning, weaving and sewing.

The South Cobb Lions Club will be selling BBQ both Saturday and Sunday.

Musical performances are set by FlatPickin’, Inc., and Soulful Praise, the Pebblebrook High School Gospel Choir.

From the October 2019 issue of The Bright Side, Cobb County Georgia’s Newspaper covering Smyrna, Vinings, Mableton, Powder Springs and Austell, GA.

WellStar Cobb Celebrates 50 Years

WellStar Cobb Hospital, one of the premier healthcare providers offering top quality, community-based professional healthcare services to the residents of Austell and South Cobb communities, marked the 50th Anniversary of its opening on June 3.

What began as a 50-acre peach orchard is now a nationally recognized campus for hope and healing with 382 licensed beds and 2,200 staff members who care for more than 104,000 patients annually. From the first patient treated 50 years ago, to the millions seeking care and comfort since, WellStar Cobb Hospital continues to fulfill its founding vision of being there for patients every minute of every hour of every day.

“For 50 years, this hospital has been a proud example of what a community can accomplish when they come together for the better of all,” said Callie Andrews, president of WellStar Cobb Hospital. “This year isn’t just a celebration of the hospital and our team, but also for the surrounding communities as we reflect on what we’ve been able to accomplish together. As we look toward the future, we will continue the hospital’s legacy of focusing on patient experience and quality care to create a healthier, hope-filled community.”

No history of WellStar Cobb Hospital would be complete without recognizing the tireless dedication and support of Charles “Pete” Wood. From his participation in 1962 as founding Trustee of the Hospital Authority of Cobb County, to his leadership as Chairman of the WellStar Board of Trustees, Wood gave freely of his talents and time to ensure quality healthcare for Cobb County residents. WellStar Cobb Hospital’s Therapeutic Horticulture Garden – completed in 1993 for recovering patients and their families – was dedicated and renamed the Charles “Pete” Wood Garden in 2000 to honor him for his many decades of service.

The 50-year history of the hospital is filled with many milestones, most notably its merger with Kennestone, Douglas, Paulding and Windy Hill hospitals in 1993 to form a robust health system, Northwest Georgia Health System, Inc. On March 6, 1998, the name WellStar was introduced as the umbrella for these community hospitals. The words “Well” represent the mission of providing for the health of the community, and “Star” represents leadership, innovation and commitment to excellence.

“WellStar Cobb Hospital has a longstanding history of providing high-quality healthcare services focused on improving the health and wellbeing of the individuals and communities served. For the past 50 years, the physicians, caregivers and team members at WellStar Cobb have strived to exceed the expectations of our patients and consumers by creating an outstanding hospital and medical community that has expanded and thrived,” said Candice L. Saunders, president and CEO of WellStar Health System. “We are excited to celebrate this milestone and look forward to building upon our legacy as the healthcare partner of choice for greater South Cobb and its surrounding communities.”

Dedicated physicians work hand-in-hand with nurses and others to bring the best in modern medicine at WellStar Cobb Hospital. The hospital offers several exemplary programs, including a recently renovated burn and wound unit, a state-of-the-art cardiac program and women’s center and a leading cancer program that will have a new facility unveiled in late 2018.

“Physician leadership was instrumental in the hospital’s early history,” said Thomas Gearhard, MD, family medicine for WellStar Cobb Hospital and member of WellStar Cobb regional health board. “Dedicated medical staff provided family care, delivered newborns and served those in need in Cobb County where healthcare services were warmly welcomed in 1968. As the hospital has grown, it’s always enjoyed a close relationship with the community, through local governance, staff outreach, vibrant volunteer support and events.”

From the July 2018 issue of The Bright Side, Cobb County Georgia’s Newspaper covering Smyrna, Vinings, Mableton, Powder Springs and Austell, GA.