The Decatur Minute

Photo: Jonathan Phillips
Sage Powell steers a squid down Madison Ave. in Decatur during the 4th annual Madison Ave. Soap Box Derby on Saturday, September 27, 2014.

The Madison Ave Community Fund (MACF) is excited to announce the 6^th annual Madison Avenue Soapbox Derby will take place on Saturday, October 1, 2016.

Registration for the race is now open at www.madisonavesoapboxderby.org

Founded in 2011 by the Madison Ave Community Fund (MACF), this unique competition challenges amateur racers to design, build and race non-motorized, gravity-powered soapbox cars. With the support of the community and neighborhood businesses, it has grown from about 20 drivers in 2011 to almost 100 drivers in last year’s derby. Derby day will include local vendors with food and drinks along with live music after the race.

This year, one hundred percent of all proceeds raised by the Derby will benefit Reading is Essential for All People (REAP).

It’s crucial for a child’s educational development that he or she become a proficient reader by the end of third grade. This is when kids start reading to learn instead of learning to read. Unfortunately, 32% of Georgia’s 4^th grade students read below grade level.

Reading is Essential for All People (REAP) is a non-profit dedicated to improving reading proficiency in public school students through teacher training and enrichment. Teachers leave college without all the tools they need to reach all their readers. Shrinking school budgets and increasing time constraints make is difficult for teachers to access the necessary professional development required to meet all their readers’ needs once they are in the classroom. REAP provides teachers with specialized approaches to reading instruction that makes all readers stronger but are critical for those students who struggle.

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The Decatur Downtown Neighbors are hosting a Park Presentation on Saturday, August 20 from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. at the Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore Street.  All Decatur residents and interested parties are invited to attend.

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The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation selected The Task Force for Global Health (The Task Force), an international organization dedicated to addressing large-scale health problems primarily affecting people living in extreme poverty, as this year’s recipient of the Hilton Humanitarian Prize—the world’s largest humanitarian prize.

The Task Force has been a pioneer in global health since its founding 32 years ago, and it currently reaches hundreds of millions of people in 151 countries through programs focusing on neglected tropical diseases, vaccines, field epidemiology, public health informatics, and health workforce development. The organization collaborates with partners in diverse sectors, including pharmaceutical companies and health agencies in other countries, on comprehensive disease control and elimination programs.

They will receive $2 million in unrestricted funding and join 20 other nonprofit organizations that have received this Prize during the last two decades, and will be honored at this year’s international Humanitarian Symposium in New York on September 30.

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The City of Decatur Municipal Court announces the upcoming 2016 Amnesty Program. The program, which begins August 15, 2016, and goes through October 15, 2016, offers amnesty to individuals to resolve past-due traffic citations and active bench warrants for failure to appear in court. It is important to note that a failure to appear in court may have resulted in a driver’s license suspension.  The goal and purpose of the Amnesty Program is to help restore as many drivers as possible to legal status to drive on Georgia roadways, and to avoid more harm to their driving history with additional charges and fines. Amnesty will save individuals money because warrant and other fees, if any, will be waived.

Individuals with outstanding violations may walk in to the City of Decatur Municipal Court, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from August 15, 2016 to October 15, 2016, and from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, October 8, 2016 to resolve their outstanding violations without facing any additional charges or costs. Any person with a failure to appear warrant, which resulted in a license suspension, who pays the fine to resolve the original citation violation, will receive documentation to submit to the Department of Drivers Services to have their driver’s license reinstated. If the original violation, such as DUI, driving on a suspended license, or no insurance, requires a mandatory court appearance, individuals should appear on Amnesty Saturday, October 8, 2016.

The court encourages anyone who believes they may have an outstanding matter in the City of Decatur Municipal Court to take advantage of the Amnesty Program.  The City of Decatur Municipal Court is located at 420 W. Trinity Place, Decatur, GA, 30030. Contact us at 678-553-6655 or visit the city’s website at https://www.decaturga.com/city-government/city-departments/municipal-court/2016-amnesty-program for more information.

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This is a weekly blog post that lists all of the events and sales going on around town. It will be updated daily. If you would like to add an event, email Catherine.lee@decaturga.com.

Wednesday, Aug. 10
• Decatur Farmers Market, 4-7 p.m
• Hands-on Tapas Making Class at The Iberian Pig, 7 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 11
• Wine Tasting event at Wahoo! Grill, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 13
• Decatur Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Decatur BBQ Blues & Bluegrass Festival, noon-8 p.m.

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The Decatur Police Department would like to announce that Scott Richards has been promoted to Deputy Police Chief.  Deputy Chief Richards is taking over for Deputy Chief Keith Lee who retired last Friday, July 29, 2016 after 27 years of service.

Deputy Chief Scott Richards.

Deputy Chief Richards grew up in Stone Mountain and joined the Decatur Police Department in 1994.  He is a graduate of Georgia State University, with a B.S. in Criminal Justice and a graduate of the University of Louisville Southern Police Institute’s Administrative Officer’s Course where he achieved Dean’s List recognition for academic achievement. Throughout Deputy Chief Richards’ career with the Decatur Police Department he has worked as a patrol officer, field training officer, patrol supervisor, instructor, supervisor over the training division and served as captain over the patrol, special units and support services divisions.  Deputy Chief Richards most important role is that of being a husband and father to two beautiful daughters.  Congratulations to Deputy Chief Richards!

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 Photo Credit: Jenna Mobley

The Decatur Farmers Market has been chosen to be a site for the USDA’s Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program this year! This grant provides low-income seniors with coupons that can be exchanged for fresh fruits and vegetables with authorized farmers at local farmers markets. This project came to the Decatur Farmers Market as a partnership between the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Georgia Department of Public Health, and Wholesome Wave Georgia.

The goals of this program are to provide fresh, nutritious, locally-grown fruits, vegetables, herbs, and honey from farmers markets to low-income seniors and to aid in developing and expanding local farmers markets. Eligible participants in the program are those that are at least 60 years old and who have household incomes of not more than 185% of the Federal poverty income guidelines.

Participating seniors first attend an information session at their housing center which includes a demonstration of how to prepare the local, seasonal produce that is available at the market, along with an explanation of the nutritional value and benefits of choosing locally-grown, seasonal produce.

The following week, the seniors visit the farmers market for a market tour, a demonstration on doubling their SNAP benefits at the market, and for the distribution of their vouchers with an introduction to our authorized farmer – Ronnie Mathis from Mountain Earth Farms in Clarkesville, Georgia.

In Decatur, this program will run through July and August and will provide 200 seniors with $20 vouchers, that are then doubled to $40 through a partnership with Wholesome Wave Georgia, to bring a total of $8,000 into our farmers market.  Nationwide, this program serves almost 800,000 seniors purchasing local produce grown by about 20,000 farmers at almost 4,000 farmers markets annually.

For more information, contact the CFM Director of Educational Programming at jenna@cfmatl.org.

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The Possibilities Are Boundless
Opening Reception
Friday, August 26 | 7-9 pm

Book Festival
Extended Hours
Saturday, Sept. 3 | 9 am-6 pm
Sunday, Sept. 4 | Noon-5 pm

White Glove Nights
Thursday, Sept. 15 and
Sept. 29 | 7-9 pm

Bookmaking for Kids
Thursday, Sept. 22
4-5:30 pm

Artist books take many forms – from handmade and lusciously tactile to linear and informative, abstract and questioning to sculptural and monumental. This juried show celebrates the book with a wildly varied collection of inventive and spectacular work that challenges expectations.

This year is the fourth edition of the artists’ book exhibition and we have a new location — the Periodicals Gallery of the Decatur Library!

Get a sneak peek of the collection at bookasart.com.

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