Month: July 2010

Julia Roberts’ Decatur Years

Well now this paragraph in the New Georgia Encyclopedia’s entry for Julia Roberts is sorta interesting for more than one reason…

In 1957 [Roberts’ parents] left the air force, and Walter enrolled at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1960 the family moved to Decatur, Georgia, where Walter began working with Atlanta’s Academy Theater and the Harrington Scenic and Lighting Studio. In 1964 Walter and Betty Lou began production on a local Saturday morning children’s television show called Bum Bum and His Buddies, which they financed themselves. Later that year they founded the Actors and Writers Workshop, which ran for six years. During this time they had two more children—Lelisa (called Lisa) Billingsley in 1965 and Julia (called Julie) in 1967.

Anyone know where in Decatur the Roberts family lived way back in the 60s?

John Kessler’s Kitchen Renovation

AJC food writer John Kessler is in the midst of a kitchen renovation at his Decatur abode and is documenting progress in the paper and on his blog Food and More.  Of his old kitchen, he recently wrote…

…the open floor plan of our former kitchen invited everyone to come and congregate between the range and the cook’s work area, turning every dinner party into a frottage fiasco. Like many open kitchen plans today, ours brought too much of the action into the cooking area.

With a pre-World War II floor plan surrounding us, my wife and I find we often have a somewhat opposite problem in our home.  Instead of inviting everyone in, our galley kitchen at the rear of the house – attached only to the dining room – often segregates the cook from his guests, or just his wife, as he hacks up yet another Springer Mountain chicken.  (I figure that one skill as saved us a couple hundred bucks on pre-cut meat at this point)

I guess a kitchen renovation is like anything else.  It isn’s so much about size, but design.

Decatur High Cheerleader Car Wash Today

Forwarded by Mr. Chris Billingsley…

The [Decatur High School] Varsity Cheerleaders would like to invite all of you to come to the Varsity Cheerleader’s DONATIONS ONLY Carwash. The carwash will be held:

  • When: TODAY
  • Time: 10:00 am – 3:00 pm.
  • Location: Smith “Ace” Hardware 601 East College Avenue (approx. 5 minutes from the school).

Thank you for your support!!

AJC Picks Up On Trailers v. Westchester

Though the opening of a new 4/5 Academy is supposed to relieve pressure on Decatur’s school system next year, the “temporary trailers for 1 year” v. “free Westchester” debate rages on.  Days before the start of a new, extra early school year, the AJC picks up the story and quotes all our favorite quotables.

Some interesting tidbits for your reading pleasure…

CSD’s Bruce Roaden tells the AJC that it would cost $300,000 a year to lease a new facility for the administration, while the 10 trailers strewn across school properties currently cost just $75,000 total.  As for why the administrators don’t work out of portables, Roaden cites the need for a central location for parents to get service.

In the meantime, as has been mentioned by parents here before, while trailers relieve pressure on classrooms, cafeterias, libraries and gyms are becoming even more crowded as the schools grow outside their brick-and-mortar footprints.

Not to mention issues with overcrowded sewers.  The article cites how sewage backed up into one of the portables last year.

Ultimately, the trailers are a done deal for the coming year.  And with the 5th Avenue Academy now a sure reality for the 2011-2012 school year, only time (and enrollment levels) will tell whether this issue of trailers will again rear its ugly, prefab head.

Free-For-All Friday

Use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not discussed here in the past week.  Comments close Monday.

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This week’s Free-For-All Friday is brought to you by: Kick in the Fit, offering a free month of boot camp (morning or evening) to one Decatur Metro reader.  www.kickinthefit.com

To enter, just send an email with the subject line “Decatur Metro Giveaway” to [email protected]  Make sure to include your name and address in the email.  Kick in the Fit will pick the winner at random on Monday morning.