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East Atlanta Community Association Newsletter
Weekly Update
December 15, 2008
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New This Week
 
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Just a note to let everyone know, the EACA Newsletter will be taking a break for the Holidays.  This will be the last mailing until 2009.  Look for the newsletter to start back up on Monday, January 5th.  Until then, enjoy the time with friends and family, and we'll all look forward to a great new year! 
In this issue:
EACA Election Results
Toys for Tots
School News
Public Safety
East Atlanta Meetings and Deadlines
Local Events
Local News
 
EACA Election Results
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The results of last week's EACA elections are as follows:
 
President - Jelena Crawford
Vice-President - Austin Dickson
Secretary - Lea Johnston
Treasurer - Loyal Berger
 
Congratulations to our new officers, and thanks for agreeing to serve our community in 2009.
 
In addition, Genie Strickland was recommended by EACA for another three year term as one of EACA's three representatives to the Porch Press Board.
 
East Atlanta Santa Returns! 
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Due to an overwhelming response, The Galish Group is proud to that they have added an extra day onto "Free Pictures with Santa".   On Thursday December 18th, Santa will be at The Galish Group office, located at 752 Moreland Ave (corner of Moreland and Ormewood).  Just call 404-213-0007 or e-mail [email protected] for a 30 minute appointment window.  Pictures with Santa are absolutely free.
 
Toys for Tots in the East Atlanta Village
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The newly formed Decatur Chapter of Kiwanis International has partnered with the United Sates Marines this holiday season to host a Toys for Tots toy drive in Decatur, East Atlanta Village, and surrounding communities.

The mission of our Toys for Tots campaign is to collect new, unwrapped toys during the months of November and December for transfer to the local US Marines Reserve Unit for distribution as Christmas gifts to needy children in the Atlanta area.

The primary goal of this campaign is to deliver, through a shiny new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to needy youngsters that will motivate them to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens and community leaders. Various businesses in the East Atlanta Village will have drop off bins so make sure to keep an eye out as you're doing your holiday shopping and enjoying the festivities of the season.
 
Inman Park Cooperative Preschool
 - Prospective Family Meeting
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IPCP Is Holding Prospective Family Meetings for the 2009-2010 School
Year on January 11th.

Do you want to be an integral part of your child's preschool experience?

Inman Park Cooperative Preschool, Atlanta 's premiere parent-owned
preschool, has just completed a half-million dollar campus renovation.
Please join us on January 11th at 1pm to learn more! Enjoy a tour of our completely renovated Edgewood building dedicated to three-, four- and five-year olds and the new Annex space
designed for our one- and two-year olds. In addition, explore our
Outdoor Classroom, which is a Certified Wildlife Habitat.

We offer our children a play-based, discovery curriculum, inspired by
the nationally acclaimed Creative Curriculum. Our curriculum is
designed to take each child on an optimal journey of growth and education.

We accept children one year through five years old for preschool,
extended day and enrichment, and summer camp programs.

Come see what the buzz is about!

*Attendance at a Prospective Parent meeting is strongly encouraged for
all new applicants. For questions or to RSVP, please contact
[email protected]
 
Imagine Wesley International Academy Announces Open House Dates
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Join Imagine Wesley International Academy at an Open House Meeting.  2009 is sure to be another exciting and great year for Imagine Wesley International Academy - A Tuition-Free, Public Charter School.  Settling into our new state-of-the art educational facility and serving students kindergarten through eighth grade, in a single-gender classroom setting, parents in the Atlanta City school district have an exceptional educational choice.  Open House meetings, with campus tours, will be held on Thursdays from 6:30-8:30 p.m.  Registration begins in January.  A schedule of Open House dates is listed below.
 
Open House Dates:
 
January 8, 2008
January 29, 2008
February 12, 2008
February 26, 2008
 
Prospect Parent Information Meetings
 
Imagine Wesley strives to meet the specific needs of the families it currently serves and will serve in the future.  As such, those interested in hosting a Parent Information Session in their home, for a church, community, feeder schools, civic and private organizations/businesses, let us know immediately.  To ensure proper scheduling and adequate accommodations are made, please contact the Prospective Parent Chairperson, Lawanda Holliman, by email at [email protected] or phone at 770.309.8777.
 
SAND Begins Trolley Patrol
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After working this Fall with volunteers to finalize the organizational details, the Trolley Patrol is pleased to announce that it is now accepting membership for patrols to begin on December 15, right before the holidays. As of Tuesday, November 25th, the Trolley Patrol is an official non-profit corporation.  

The Trolley Patrol has partnered with MDS Protective Service, Inc. to provide security   patrol services using off-duty City of Atlanta officers.  MDS officers will be operating in   uniform, but in unmarked cars, at a minimum of 15 hours per week. MDS will be focusing on increasing neighborhood security by using police and community information to make arrests and deter criminal activity, as well as monitoring 911 calls to provide quicker response to incidents in the SAND communities coverage area. 

Trolley Patrol membership costs $30 per month, collected quarterly. The website at
www.trolleypatrol.com will launch in early December and have the ability to accept new members using online payment via Paypal. In the meantime, you may visit the site, download a form and mail your check for $90 to the address shown on the form.  

We're looking for volunteers to forward this email to neighbors and   friends as well as help distribute flyers to neighbors advertising the new   service. Please let me know if you're interested in helping out.  The more members that belong to the Trolley Patrol, the more hours we can employ MDS to patrol. We need to increase membership quickly to put this service on solid financial footing in the first couple of months.

Thanks for your help in making our neighborhood a safer place.  Feel free to call or email me with any questions you may have about the Trolley Patrol.

Amanda Blocker
[email protected]
404-247-3322
East Atlanta Security Patrol
 

The East Atlanta Security Patrol is an effort to provide additional police patrols for both residential and commercial properties here in East Atlanta.  Currently the Security Patrol is providing about 30 hours per week of coverage, mostly on days and times where we're experiencing the highest dates of residential burglaries.  Coverage is focused on our member households, with extra emphasis for residents who are out of town.  Time spent near any given member household is also adjusted based on current crime patterns.  Additional foot patrols are provided in the East Atlanta Village, with the number of hours dependent on the contributions of member businesses.
 
If you wish to join the Security Patrol, be certain that you live in the city of Atlanta, and within EACA borders.  The patrol does not currently extend to unincorporated Dekalb County since it is staffed by off-duty Atlanta police officers.

To learn more or to enroll, visit the East Atlanta Security Patrol website.   The next deadline for enrollment is December 31st.  The cost to join the patrol is $50 per quarter, with a 50% discount for longtime residents and those age 65 and above.
 
If you have additional questions, please direct them to [email protected], or call EACA President Myron Polster at 404-429-8815.
 
Inform APD of Christmas Vacations
 
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As you read many of the detailed crime reports, you may notice that many of the victims of residential burglaries are out of town when the crimes occur.  APD offers directed patrols for any resident who will be out of town, and all that is required is faxing a form to Zone 6.  Please be sure to take advantage of this service, as your beat officers will make use of these forms as they patrol the neighborhood.

 
If you have any questions, or would like to get involved with the EACA Public Safety Committee, contact [email protected].
 
East Atlanta Meetings and Deadlines

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Branan Bingo for Seniors
Tuesday, December 16 - 6:00 p.m.
Branan Towers (1200 Glenwood Avenue)
For more information, or to volunteer, please contact Dennis Madsen ([email protected]) or Jeff McCord ([email protected]).
 
NPU-W Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, December 17 - 7:30 p.m.
Martha Brown United Methodist Church (468 Moreland Avenue)
For more information, contact NPU-W Chair Ed Gilgor at [email protected]
 
NPU-W Land Use & Zoning Committee Meeting
Tuesday, January 6 - 7:30 pm
Location TBA
For more information, contact NPU-W Chair Ed Gilgor at [email protected]
 
East Atlanta Community Association Monthly Meeting
Tuesday, January 13 - 7:00 p.m.
Branan Towers (1200 Glenwood Avenue)
For more information, contact EACA President Jelena Crawford at [email protected]. For a copy of the November meeting minutes, click here.
 
If you're interested in submitting an article to the EACA weekly newsletter, send it to [email protected] by the end of the day on Friday. Include relevant dates, times, locations and contact information, as well as details of the event or announcement.
 
If you're interested in submitting an article to the Porch Press, the deadline is the 25th of each month, for inclusion the following month (the issue usually appears around the 15th). Proofreading/Paste up is always the first Monday (unless there is a holiday or crisis). You may submit your articles to [email protected].  Don't forget that the next deadline to submit articles is January 25th, as there will not be a January issue.  The next issue will come out in mid-February.
 
Local Events
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Village Holiday Decorations Are Up
 
The holiday lights and tree at the intersection of Flat Shoals and Glenwood have been put up thanks to a combination of the EACA Beautification
committee and members of the East Atlanta Business Association (EABA).
 
The EACA group, led by Mellissa Dobraski, did great work by cutting the old lights out of the trees on the west side of Flat Shoals and putting new
low voltage LED lights up.  Members of EABA put up the tree at the intersection and decorated it on Saturday morning.
 
Special thanks goes to Neighborhood Commercial Redevelopment who had the power outlets put in at those trees a few years ago and pays the
electric bill during the holiday as a great service to their tenants.
 
Thanks again to the following small business owners who helped to decorate the village by supplying lights, a tree, other necessities and most importantly,
their time and good cheer:

Traders 
Park Pet Supply
Village Hardware (Ace)
Marc Takacs - Keller Williams Realty
Callie Nix - Origins Realty
Rick Gagnon -  My Coach Pro
Chad Becker - The Capital Image Promotional Products
 
Make sure to support the businesses who go out of their way to support your neighborhood and have a great Holiday.
 
 
Bound To Be Read Books
Book Club
Thursday, December 18th - 7:00 p.m.
This Month's Selection - Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (Vintage, 2000, 298 pp., pbk., reg. $13.95; sale $11.16).

This stunning and elegiac novel by the author of the internationally acclaimed Wind-Up Bird Chronicle has sold over 4 million copies in Japan and is now available to American audiences for the first time.  It is sure to be a literary event.

Toru, a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before.  Toru begins to adapt to campus life and the loneliness and isolation he faces there, but Naoko finds the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable.  As she retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself reaching out to others and drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman.

A poignant story of one college student's romantic coming-of-age, Norwegian Wood takes us to that distant place of a young man's first, hopeless, and heroic love.

Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949 and now lives near Tokyo. His work has been translated into thirty-four languages, and the most recent of his many honors is the Yomiuri Literary Prize, whose previous recipients include Yukio Mishima, Kenzaburo Oe, and Kobo Abe.

The book club meets on the third Thursday of every month at 7:00 p.m. No membership is required. This is a free event open to all. Come join us! For more information, please call (404) 522-0877, or email [email protected].

 
Local News
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EABA Website and Discounts
 
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For lists of local businesses, information on special events and happenings, and for all you need to know about each and every business in the EAV: hours, contact info, deals, specialties - check it out at the website for the East Atlanta Business Association.

 

And, as if you needed more incentive to become a member of EACA, now you can use your EACA membership card to get discounts and specials at participating East Atlanta businesses! If you aren't an EACA member, you can join at the monthly EACA meeting (next one is Tuesday, January 13, 7:00 pm, at Branan Towers) or send an email to [email protected]. Become a part of your community organization, and reap rewards for doing it!

 
Check out the EABA Website
 
EACA Membership
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Join EACA Today!

You can sign up for your 2009 EACA membership and order EACA Yard Signs on-line! You can pay electronically through your online banking site or via Paypal. Click
HERE to pay for your 2009 membership or yard sign online.  You can also view the official list of EACA member discounts in case you need an additional incentive to become a member.  In order to vote at EACA meetings, you must be a paying member.
 
Be a part of your community!
 
"How Do
I Contact EACA?
"
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One of our most frequently asked questions is how to contact an EACA officer or committee chair.  The answer is quite simple.  Visit our contact page and find the name of the person or committee that you wish to contact.  You may also travel directly to our contact page by clicking on the Contact link from anywhere on the EACA website.  If you aren't sure who the correct person or committee to contact is, feel free to direct your inquiry to the EACA president.

 

Once you arrive at the contact page, you can either fill in the online form, or you can click on a person's name if you'd rather send a message from your own e-mail program.  The advantage of sending a message from your own e-mail is that you can keep a record of what you sent, when you sent it and to whom it was directed. 

 

"What are some of the reasons I would contact EACA?"

  • You have a problem that you think we may be able to help resolve, such as an issue with safety on your street;
  • You have an idea on how to improve the neighborhood;
  • You would like to volunteer to help with an event like a cleanup of the Village;
  • You would like to join an EACA committee;
  • You have a topic you'd like to present at an EACA meeting. 
The East Atlanta Community Association is here to serve you!
Contact Information
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email: [email protected]
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