DHS teacher Chris Billingsley writes in…

DHS English teachers Ms. Ayoka Shakir and Ms. Nora Bergman organized an excellent field trip for 9th grade students this afternoon at the Decatur Library. Students were able to listen to Maggie Stiefvater, author of the teen best seller, Shiver. Ms. Stiefvater talked about setting goals, read a passage from Shiver, and answered questions. A member of the audience asked her what she would do differently if she could re-do her 9th grade year in high school. Surprisingly, she told students that she was home-schooled until the 8th grade, skipped high school entirely, and entered college as a fifteen year old. Wow!

Introducing Ms. Stiefvater was Ms. Terra Elan McVoy, author of the highly acclaimed teen novel, Pure.

Ms. Ayoka Shakir, Ms. Nora Bergman, Maggie Stiefvater (author of Shiver) and Terra Elan McVoy (author of Pure, a novel set in and around the City of Decatur) are shown in one of the attachments.

I asked the city to send me a list of city commission and school board candidates once the qualifying period closed this afternoon.  Here’s the list of residents that applied for city commission candidacy.   Dobbs is noticeably absent.

Name                              Office                         District      Paid

Fred Boykin                    City Commission        1           $144.00 incumbent

James E. Radford Jr.   City Commission        1            $144.00

Kyle Williams                 City Commission         2           $144.00 Kemp post

Patti Garrett                    City Commission         2            $144.00 Kemp post

The Decatur alcohol gods taketh and giveth.

Beer Fest tickets may be sold out, but Decatur Wine Festival tickets just went on sale!

Get ‘em here while they’re nice and fresh.

First on DM: An anonymous tipster informs DM that the 4,500 tickets available for the October 17th Decatur Beer Festival have sold out.

Let the Craigslist price-gouging commence.

I’ll soon have a new way for business to promote events they are hosting on DM, but in the meantime I figured this was a good time to give a little love to our local businesses!

• The Grange is celebrating its one-year anniversary this evening with “live tunes, Mitch Miller smoking off BBQ all day, loads of great beer.” The celebration starts at 6pm and goes “late”.
• With the recent closing of Mocha Match, Duck’s Cosmic Kitchen will soon be serving coffee and espresso drinks.
• Decatur photographers, James and Michelle Hill, are “hosting a model search with a boutique in Atlanta” on September 12
• Love at the Pub’s Mary Jane Mahan will be hosting a “Pre-Launch Reception” at Twain’s on Sunday from 2p-3p and speaking at the Emerging Author’s Stage on the Gazebo on Sunday from 3:15p-3:30p.
• Several Dancer’s Core will be performing our kids’ show, “Loco-Motion“, at the Decatur Book Festival on Sunday at 4:30. And starting September 10th will premier their 10th Season of their “Lunchtime in the Studio” series.
• Whit’s End is in the midst of a Summer Clearance Sale.

The Decatur Minute also has a list of business events going on this weekend.  Check ‘er out here!

If I missed anything, feel free to add your events and sales in the comments section below.