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Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7 2013

This winter, the City of Decatur celebrates the 31st annual Decatur Holiday Candlelight Tour of Homes by featuring the Sycamore Historic District, Decatur’s original main thoroughfare. The tour benefits three outstanding local non-profit groups- the Mary Miller Decatur Youth Fund, the Decatur Education Foundation, and the Wylde Center. In addition to touring seven beautiful Decatur homes, tour goers are invited to visit the newly renovated Decatur Recreation Center and Sq/Ft, a wonderful boutique located on the Decatur Square that received a 2013 Decatur Design Award.

This year’s Tour has been designed to be very pedestrian friendly, we encourage you to park your car and stroll through downtown Decatur, visiting each of these remarkable homes. We are also very excited to partner with ATL-Cruzers to provide complimentary Gem car shuttles for the event thanks to support from DeKalb Medical.

Friday, December 6th and Saturday, December 7th     5:30-9:30pm

Tickets available now at  www.decaturtourofhomes.com, The 17 Steps, The Decatur Visitors Center, and Oakhurst Market

$20 in advance, $25 at the door

Smart911 in November

November hosts a number of health awareness campaigns, including: National Epilepsy Awareness Month, National Diabetes Month and National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. At the same time, it’s National Family Caregivers Month, and each year more and more Americans are caring for loved ones with chronic conditions, disabilities or health issues related to old age. With this in mind, the city is encouraging family caregivers to take advantage of Smart911, a service that brings a new level of support and peace-of-mind to those with such conditions and the family members who provide assistance.

Smart911 allows individuals and family caregivers to create a free, private and secure Safety Profile at www.smart911.com, which can include any information they want 9-1-1 to have in the event of an emergency. The profile is then delivered automatically to the 9-1-1call-taker when an emergency call is made. Details in a Safety Profile allow 9-1-1 to have a better understanding of a situation and can be passed on to emergency response teams in the field to help support fast, precise action.

A Safety Profile can include such things as medical notes that enable emergency responders to approach and treat a person with Alzheimer’s, epilepsy or diabetes properly and quickly; a particularly useful feature if the person cannot communicate, is suffering a seizure or is confused. Information can also include family caregiver emergency contact details. Should someone with Alzheimer’s dial 9-1-1 and be unable to recall personal details, the Safety Profile can provide a name and exact address. If they wander away from home and a family caregiver dials 9-1-1 from a phone number included in the profile, a photo can be immediately distributed to emergency responders to expedite a search.

For more information about Smart911 and how we’re using it in the City of Decatur, contact Fire Chief Toni Washington at toni.washington@decaturga.com or 404.373.5092.

natural body

Natural Body in Decatur is hosting its customer appreciation event on Sunday, Nov. 17 and Monday, Nov. 18. Customers will receive 20 percent off any purchase of $50 or greater and those that bring in 3 or more non perishable food items will receive an extra 5 percent off. All one hour services are 15 percent off.

Natural Body
225 E. Ponce de Leon Ave., Suite 150
404-370-1330
naturalbody.com

East Trinity Construction

East Trinity Place will be reduced to one lane only today while DeKalb County Watershed Management replaces a sanitary sewer manhole. Traffic delays are expected.

Tweed & Vintage Bicycle Ride

tweed_ride13_11x17 Cream

This is a post I stole borrowed from Be Active Decatur‘s blog but it is such a cool and super fun event, it deserves double coverage.  Our friends at Houndstooth Road have planned their annual Tweed & Vintage Bicycle Ride for this Saturday, November 16th. The ride begins at 2:00pm but check-in is at 1:30 at Sq/Ft.  So, make your plans now and start putting together your best tweed or vintage inspired outfit and be sure to take lots of pictures!

 

Sgt. Jennifer Ross, Community Information & Education Officer with the City of Decatur Police Department, shares the following information:

Free 1-hour “Street Smarts Seminar” will be held at the Decatur Recreation Center on November 20th

Please join us for a comprehensive 1-hour presentation from The National Crime Prevention Task Force to learn the answers to these questions and more:

  • How can your security system be disarmed?
  • How can a criminal obtain a key to your home?
  • What should you do if approached by someone in a parking lot?
  • How do criminals get access to your office during working hours?
  • What makes you an attractive target to a criminal?
  • What two things make women an easy and attractive target?
  • What should you do if a stranger gets in your car?
  • Where do most carjackings take place?
  • What is the biggest mistake we make while shopping?
  • Holiday tips to reduce crime to you and your home

All of the highly trained instructors at The National Crime Prevention Task Force are crime prevention specialists, who receive continuous training and constantly research and evaluate current crime trends. Their research assists them in developing the best and most effective crime prevention tactics and procedures applicable to today’s lifestyle, and in eliminating outdated tactics that could prove to be dangerous in today’s world.

National Crime Prevention Task Force’s Street Smart Seminar is designed to educate in areas relating to crime prevention, personal safety and awareness. Seminar topics include:

  • Educate you on the most recent crimes, cons, scams and methods of victimization used by today’s criminal, by delving into the criminal’s thought process and informing you as to how and why the criminal selects his or her targets, teaching you the signs and situations to look out for during your daily travels. 
  • Raise your awareness level by discussing some of the common mistakes that we tend to make during our day to day business that make us desirable targets to the criminal. 
  • Teach you preventative methods and techniques related to personal safety and awareness to implement in your everyday life in order to make yourself a less attractive target to a criminal predator. 
  • Instruct you on some simple things that you can do around your own home or apartment relating to existing locks, lights, and security systems as preventative measures against crimes such as burglaries or home invasions. 

Representatives from the Decatur Police Department will be in attendance.

When:        Wednesday, November 20, 2013 from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Where:       The Decatur Recreation Center, 231 Sycamore Street, Decatur, GA 30030

Cost:           FREE, but a reservation is required.

Who:          This seminar is open to the public but restricted to adults, 18-years-old and up. 

***To make a reservation, please call 678/553-6613 or email Sgt. Jennifer Ross at jennifer.ross@decaturga.com.

wine fest

Break out your coats and hats and stroll on over to downtown Decatur tonight for the annual Wine Festival Art Walk.  Want to join in the fun tomorrow too? There are about 50 tickets remaining for tomorrow’s event so click here to buy your tickets now!

storm water
Reeves Contracting  will start laying storm drainage pipe across East Trinity Place tomorrow, installing new inlets on both sides of the street and working its way to the eastern end of the project at Decatur Fire Station No. 1.

Reeves will use lane closures and short detours in order to keep East Trinity Place open for two-way traffic, so expect traffic delays.

storm drainage image

Update 11/7/2013: The 2013 Decatur Wine Festival is sold out!

There are few things I like better in this world than a crisp Fall day, a few  (read 2200) of my favorite friends and neighbors, and tasting over 100 different wines from around the world. Add food from the best restaurants in town and you have the Decatur Wine Festival! If you haven’t purchased your tickets yet, there are still a few to be found (click here).

The Wine Festival is the biggest fund raiser for the Decatur Arts Alliance and helps to fund the Decatur Arts Festival, the Oakhurst Arts & Music Festival, and the YEA! Art Event.

The weather this weekend looks to be just about perfect to stop reading this and go buy your tickets!

 

 

Tomorrow is the first Wednesday of November so we’ll be testing the tornado outdoor warning sirens at 5:00 p.m. The test should last approximately one minute. Should the weather become inclement, the test will be postponed until Thursday, 7 November 2013.

siren

If you have questions or want more information about the siren system, check out the Siren page on the City’s website or contact the City at 404-370-4102.