Who Wants to Work for Dunwoody Bakery?

Announcements have popped up on John's blog and the Aha!Connection about Dunwoody Bakery opening up a retail location in the strip mall between Jett Ferry/Dunwoody Club/Mt Vernon.  This is a Dunwoody-Mom-owned firm that not only uses organic ingredients, but also has a line of gluten-free products.
Here's the ad from today's Crier:

Not only are they increasing their visibility, and improving their sales, they're creating jobs too, right here in town!

Click to email your CV:  jbakerlesperance@thedunwoodybakery.com

(Hint to the owners:  show up with cupcakes at a Dunwoody Chamber networking event and you'll be beating away the traffic with a stick!)

New Restaurant in Dunwoody Village

Ya Shu Yuen left a gaping hole with red doors when it closed suddenly.
In its place is now Carbonara Trattoria with new doors.

I haven't tried it yet, but my next-door neighbor has and they had a wonderful time.

Here's their website  (bare bones) and here's Facebook If you know the story behind this restaurant and its owners (or, if you are the owners) post a reply and bring us up to speed!

Support Dunwoody business and support our city!

Bone Marrow Drive for Marist Sophomore

I received the following via Holy Redeemer's email network this morning:

Dear Holy Redeemer Families,


On Friday September 30th friends of Isaac Del Valle—former Holy Redeemer student and now a Marist sophomore-- have organized a ‘Bone Marrow Test Drive’ to be held at Marist School, 12pm to 8pm, in the Centennial Center.

The Kashi Lab has agreed to lower its cost per test to $115 per person. Some sponsorship is available and more is hoped for! Note that this testing is still specific to Isaac, and is not for the National Bank of Bone Marrow Donors [sic] (National Marrow Donor Program)

The testing range is between 16 years and 60 years. Children (16 and 17) WILL REQUIRE a waiver from their parents.

Channel 11 has taken up Isaac’s need and it will have the first airing of his story tonight at 11.00pm on Channel 11. They will continue to air his story throughout next week and will give specific messaging on the testing that will be done and even the population they are hoping to attract so the best possible match might be found.

You will find helpful information about becoming a bone marrow donor at this website. http://www.marrow.org/Registry_Members/Donation/Donation_FAQs.aspx#happens

If you are willing to be tested and/or can contribute towards a sponsorship, please contact Ana Shields at anashields@comcast.net

Thank you.

This subject is near and dear to my heart because I worked in Pediatric Oncology back in the day, as well as in the Blood/Marrow Transplant department (currently called Stem Cell Transplant).  In 1996, I registered with the National Marrow Donor Program as a potential donor and had my HLA types recorded for this kind of emergency.  I haven't received a call, so that means my tissue type has already been screened and is not a match.  There are MILLIONS of potential donors tissue screened and listed on the database.  They got one match - ONE out of 8 million - and it fell through.  He's still waiting.

This story is more common than not:  tissue types have to be very close matches and more people die waiting for a match to appear than actually get one.  People of mixed racial heritage are even more difficult to match because of the unique genetic scramble. 

If you would consider being a bone marrow donor, please use the links above for more information and have your tissue type tested ASAP or at the drive next Friday.  If you are unable to potentially donate marrow, please consider donating the cost of a test so someone else can. 

You can also register to potentially match other patients in need.  Contact the NMDP at the link above for more information.

Come on, Dunwoody - time is of the essence and a life is in the balance.

Takorea - a New Dunwoody-Resident-Owned Restaurant

Buying local isn't just measured in miles.  You can buy local by supporting businesses owned by your neighbors, wherever it is!  Their website describes Takorea as "the best of Mexican and Korean street food ... East Meets Mex"  Interesting idea!  Check them out at http://www.mytakorea.com/ and at their Buckhead location on Juniper Street.

Volunteer Websites - Keeping a Good Relationship with your Webmaster

A lot of not-for-profit organizations and ultra-small businesses are caught in a catch-22 when it comes to their online promotion.  They need a professional website presence to give a first good impression online, but they don't have the money to pay for a truly high-end custom job.

Many of these organizations solicit a donated website like any other donation.  But building a professional website is not the same as simply writing a check or dropping off a load of supplies.  There are numerous factors involved and good communication is essential to a good working relationship.  Here are some tips for working with a volunteer webmaster that will make everyone's life easier.

If your organization's membership includes a web professional, DO ask them if they would be willing to donate their time and/or other resources to a project.  Some pros are happy for the chance to contribute to their favorite cause or need to build their portfolios.  DON'T merely assume that their skills are yours for the taking.  Freelancers may not have the time or may not be able to afford to donate their resources.  Salaried employees may not be permitted to use company assets in this fashion.

If you are not able to pay for a webmaster's services, DO consider other forms of compensation.  Like promoting their services via advertising in your organization's publication.  Or endorsing them on LinkedIn, Yelp, Yahoo Local, Google Local, etc.  Or providing them with a testimonial to use in their advertising.  It is very difficult for web professionals to write off their services on their taxes.  A creative approach I learned from a colleague involves exchanging checks for the same amount:  the webmaster gives a donation to the org, the org pays the webmaster.  Both sides break even but the advantage is reporting to the IRS.  Yes, it's legal.

DO decide what your site is going to entail before embarking on the project.  DO include the webmaster in the conversation to determine exactly what services they will be able to provide, and how much time.  DO put these decisions in writing so both sides know what to expect of each other.  DO allow the webmaster to set some limits.  DO agree to a "sunset" time when further development or maintenance is turned over to another group member internally.  Remember, they have to work their pro bono assistance in with the jobs that pay the bills!

DO appoint one or two people as the webmaster contact for your group.  It is easy to let a creative endeavor like designing a website become a tug-of-war between personalities.  DON'T drag the webmaster into any internal conflicts.  It will sink your project as well as alienate the very person trying to help you.

DON'T add more features or requests on to the project after it starts.  The webmaster has to measure the amount of time they can donate.  Additional development not previously discussed may be infringing on time that someone else has already bought and paid for.  There's even a term for it:  "scope creep".  Unless there has been a critical oversight, or a significant change in the organization, avoid last minute additions or "emergency changes". 

DO invest time and effort into learning to maintain the site, if you don't already know how.  DO know if you require any software, or how to manage the content management system (CMS) that is going to run the site.  The more the organization can handle itself on the web, the less likely you'll get into a bind if you need changes made and your volunteer is no longer available.

DON'T assume that you'll have your webmaster's services indefinitely.  Situations change, business picks up, life moves on.  Besides, some people get very comfortable having a professional at their side, and forget that they're working with a volunteer, not a paid contractor.  That's the fastest way to destroy an otherwise good relationship.  Service-on-demand-without-question is a commodity that you pay for.  See the comment above re:  sunset time.

Finally, DO take the opportunity to learn all you can from your volunteer.  You'll be able to apply their insight and technical tips to future communications.

Come Buy Our Stuff

A while back I posted in "You Know You're in Dunwoody When...." that no one pays retail for kids' stuff.

It's true!

This weekend is the Kingswood KidStuff Consignment sale, one of many held in churches around Dunwoody. Buyers get deep discounts on good quality childrens' clothing, toys and supplies, sellers get some pizza and beer money, and Kingswood UMC gets funding for its mission programs.  Everybody wins!

This is my first time as a seller.  Be gentle with me!  I managed to save lots of great stuff and now that my kids have outgrown it, it's up for sale!
Here's the official verbage.....

KidStuff & More Consignment Sale

Come shop with us!
Incredible bargains on everything for babies & children!

• Fall and winter clothing, shoes, and accessories
• Costumes and dress-up clothes
• Baby equipment, bedding, room décor
• Books, games, toys, movies, music, software, video games
• Bikes, trikes, scooters, skates, athletic gear

 

Sale Times:
Thursday, September 22, 5 pm – 9 pm (no children under 10, please)
Friday, September 23, 9 am – 2 pm
Saturday, September 24, 8 am – 1 pm (many items 1/2 price!)

 

Kingswood United Methodist Church
5015 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, GA 30338
(corner of Tilly Mill Rd. and North Peachtree Road)
Community Life Center Gymnasium
(Use North Peachtree Road entrance)

 

For more information:
http://www.kingswoodumc.org/missions/kidstuff.htm

Who Likes Mike?

Anyone else running for office who'd like to post an announcement for their event, feel free to send it on over.  :-)
I've got questions of my own for everybody coming up....

FREE - Two Tickets to Jazz and Art from the Heart

SDOC is a corporate sponsor of the Dunwoody Friends of Childrens' Healthcare of Atlanta.
Check out my earlier post for the story behind that decision and our involvement in Taste of Dunwoody.

This Saturday is Jazz and Art from the Heart, also benefiting CHOA.

Normally my husband and I would be here with bells on but, alas, we have a scheduling conflict.

So the tickets that go along with our sponsorship are up for grabs!

First Dunwoodian to send me an email at duncan@sdocpublishing.com to request the tickets gets them.  That's $125 gala tickets free for typing fast! 

Include in your email the two names of the people who would like to go, so I can get you on the guest list.  Enjoy the gala with my compliments!

Opportunity Knocking - Now that we have it, what do we do with it?

According to Dunwoody Patch, the PVC purchase is now a done deal.  Right or wrong, whatever the reason was, we the City now own it.

Now what?

Everyone and their dog has an opinion about what should be done with this property, usually centered around their own personal priorities.  That's normal.  However the City can't use an individual's single perspective in this kind of decision.

My opinion is it should be used for some facility that we do not already have, and can be created on a reasonable budget.  (I'm leaving the definition of "reasonable" to whichever CPA is holding the City's pursestrings.)  The City should also not compete with the private sector.  The latter pays taxes - don't drive them out of business. 

We already have tennis courts, baseball/softball fields, youth soccer fields, a nature center, community garden, greenhouse, playgrounds, and nature trails.  These already exist in other parks, and private facilities like church campuses.   Some of them are very underutilized.  Paying for something twice isn't a good use of tax money, by any standard. 

There are two things that Dunwoody doesn't have:
1)  A freestanding municipal center for our government
2)  A multiuse football/soccer/track field for Dunwoody cluster schools.

The first idea is not original - it has been bandied about ever since the first news broke about this land deal.  There's nothing wrong with renting space temporarily.  Dunwoody only had a few months to get its feet under it and start operations and leasing a space was the only option feasible for that timeframe.   But for the long haul, leasing can be more trouble than its worth.  Buildings get sold, landlords go bankrupt, mortgages go into foreclosure.  Time to start thinking about developing a municipal space wholly owned by the city that doesn't exist according to outside real estate machinations. 

There's been a lot of chatter about "what to do with Georgetown" as in, how should it be developed, improved, etc.  The general opinion I've heard is that it just "isn't a nice area".  I haven't seen any crime statistics but when I go down there for a bottle of milk or baby formula at some obscene hour because I didnt' get to it during the day, I don't feel unsafe.  Sure, the shopping center is an older building, that doesn't make it "bad" or blighted.  But if there are concerns about public safety, try putting your police precinct smack dab in the middle of the development.  Any remaining do-bads will scatter like roaches in daylight. 

The idea for the second option came from the last DHA public meeting where a gentleman representing DHS girls' lacrosse appeared with two ladies from the team requesting financial support to refurbish a field on Peachtree MS' property for practice.  My head has nearly exploded more than once from the twisted logic that is DCSS so I don't try to make sense of it.  There's good and bad news here.  The good news is that the kids team members at DHS are willing to put in the sweat equity to earn their money and pay for what they need, even going so far as to rebuild a field in a flood plain that DCSS owns.  They'll do what it takes to provide for themselves.  The bad news is the same 'ole story:  DCSS isn't going to provide facilities for Dunwoody, they don't give a damn about the increasing student population on the north side of the County, and maintaining the status quo in Stone Mountain is Priority One. 

There's nothing stopping the City from creating a sports complex with scholastic sports in mind.  Dunwoody HS doesn't have a home stadium - even for this Yankee that's ridiculous, moreso in the heart of SEC country.  The girls' lacrosse team is willing to rebuild a flood plain because North DeKalb Stadium is too booked for any additional teams to use.  Add to that boys' lacrosse, football, soccer, track & field, and you have one very busy athletic calendar. 

A municipal sports complex geared toward scholastic athletics would provide teams from high school (and middle school, if necessary) the space to get practice and workouts in and a place to call "home field".  The PVC farm has easy access to Peachtree and DHS, as well as 285.  There's room for parking, and even access to MARTA.  Bring in private vendors to manage concessions and maintenance, so you create jobs - hopefully for Dunwoody-area firms. 

If DCSS should want to use the field for official season games, they would be able to negotiate a reasonable fee.  (Clarification:  this does not mean that DCSS would have priority over a Dunwoody stadium or even that they would have any rights to it at all.  This does mean that if a regular game between Dunwoody and another DCSS school were to take place in this hypothetical stadium, DCSS would have to pay up to some degree.)

Thus Dunwoody scholastic athletics would have a place to play, and room to expand.  If the "charter cluster" concept, where local authorities/boards could manage the local schools, comes to fruition, or even if Dunwoody should find itself in another county, the infrastructure is there to support the schools' athletic needs.

With all of this said, the City should never again have to ask the opening question in the title.  "So now that we have it, what do we do with it?"  Plan first, the negotiate and buy.  Not the other way around, unless someone at City Hall thinks we have money and karma enough to squander. 

You know it's election season when....

OK, kids, time to fess up:

Who contracted the robo-survey that I got at dinner time tonight regarding the Mayor's race?

Opportunity Knocking - Transportation Growing Pains

John's blog has a new article today about a severe wipeout on North Peachtree Rd this past Friday, near Kingsley Lake.

A week doesn't go by without hearing someone complain about traffic and the dangers thereof.  You have speeding everywhere, most notably on North Peachtree (commuters getting to/from 285) Tilly Mill (students at GPC) Womack Road (ditto) and on Roberts Road (commuters cutting through to 400).  Local neighborhoods (like Village Mill) have had to make modifications to keep traffic and speed down and they get very sensitive when cars start backing up or parking on their streets.  (Like when Dunwoody High was being renovated.)

Add to this the MARTA bus stop at Tilly Mill and Womack where riders heading to class jaywalk around the bus to get to the building sooner.  Right where other students may be speeding in their cars.  Someone's going to get killed there.

It's getting even more complicated:  there is now a greater push to rebuild the streets so pedestrians and bike riders can make better use of them.  However - who remembers what all the "rules of the road" are for pedestrians and bikes as well as for cars?  I'll bet money a lot of people either flat out don't know or misunderstand them.  Then you have a subset of pedestrians and bicyclists who think that because they may have the "right of way" they can defy the laws of physics by venturing out too close to an approaching car.  There's an effort to incorporate different kinds of transportation on the streets but what kind of effort is there to fully integrate them safely?

Finally, "Dunwoody" is not just the 48,000 people counted in the last Census.  During the day, the population is up around 110,000 at least.  That's people who come in to work, go to school, worship, use recreational facilities (including the JCC), socialize, and just drive through.  Any effort at preventing accidents before they happen has to include that larger community.  Dunwoody groups and blogs - including John's post above - isn't going to get out to the majority of the people who need to hear it. 

So how do we do it?

Enforcement is a big part.  I'll leave that one on Chief Grogan's desk, he understands that process better than I ever will. 

Basic PR outreach to all of our organizations - especially those that cater to a large number of regular "out of towners" like GPC - is also critical.  The City is going to have to partner with the organizations in town to get info into people's heads about staying safe on the roads.  GPC, all houses of worship, the JCC, and the CVB and Chamber of Commerce.   I'll even start you off:  "Drive Safe in Dunwoody".   If you must, drag one of the "Smart" phrases out of the branding style guide - "Smart Commute" could be reinterpreted for a campaign.  "Smart Travelling" would work too. 

Get local businesses behind a "safe roads" ad campaign and position it as a win-win for everybody.  Make it part of one of the usual fairs (Music Fest, Lemonade Days, 4th of July, Art Fest, etc etc etc) or create a new festival or fair.  I'd suggest one at GPC where there are plenty of games and opportunities to win free stuff.   The college kids will flock to it.  Bottom line, create a fun and social event designed to inform attendees about the rules of the road.  Interested businesses could offer up freebies, contests, or even merch for sale.  Imagine Sports Authority selling workout wear and sneakers.  Auto Zone showing off the latest car rims.  That bike shop in Roswell (I think it's Roswell?) displaying the latest models.  Even MARTA could try to promote its bus routes for school and work.  Even local gas stations, car washes, and auto shops could get into the act both advertising and promoting safe driving.  Since parks like Brook Run and the Nature Center see visitors from all over, how about posting signs/literature at their exits, reminding everyone using the road to use caution and know the law.

That's the "off the top of my head" approach.  Get the authoritative final word on what are the rules of the road for multiple types of vehicles and pedestrians.  Step up enforcement.  Make it a full-scale PR/Awareness campaign.  I believe it will be a lot more effective than an obscure "golden sneaker award" that the general populace doesn't care about.

(Bumped to the top - bad timing w/ 9/11. )