Schools “Transparency” Bill Offered After School System’s Year from Hell

By Tom Doolittle

The DeKalb County School System has had a tough year—certainly with its administration in the media. Regional print journals and television news have covered Superintendent Crawford Lewis’ under-market surplus car purchase, bullied student Jaheem Harrera’s suicide and $400,000 investigation payment to a former judge, a state-level review of scholastic testing fraud, the condition of Cross Keys High School, school board member Eugene Walker’s influence in a tax abatement case and recently and a GBI investigation involving a high level school administrative official (Pat Pope) in charge of over $200 million in SPLOST 1 and 2 capital projects. These issues all have at least one thing in common: they involve expenses and effort having little to do with educating students.

At least two of these matters, the Pope and Walker cases are related to a question of undue influence stemming from conflicts of interest. In turn, relating to employee hiring ethics, the DeKalb School Watch blog has highlighted the names of nearly a dozen highly paid school administrative executives who have family members in positions to have influenced their being hired. The blog has also pulled the number of administrative positions that pay over $100,000 a year from state Department of Education records, some for non-teaching positions initiated this year as tax revenues have plummeted.

All of these issues might at least partly explain why Georgia House Representative Kevin Levitas (D-Northlake/Tucker) has authored "The DeKalb School Board Transparency Act" which among other things would regulate conflicts of interest among school board members and DCSS employees. When asked about the process for the local legislation’s passage, Levitas e-mailed, “I think that we need to pass this bill as quickly as possible… to install a much-needed check in the system...”

The school system has no specific ethics code while the county government’s rules, legislated and passed by public referendum in 1990, do not apply to DCSS. After Levitas made his state legislative proposal public, the school board proposed its own ethics code. A vote to implement the DCSS policy was deferred at the last open school board meeting, to the dismay of at least one member, District 4’s Paul Womack. Womack said, “Either the board passes policy that is strong or stronger (than Levitas’ bill) or I will actively support his proposal.” With regard to the school board’s failure to vote last week, Womack mused, “It’s a mystery to me why anyone would oppose it.” Board members Walker, Roberts, Redovian, Copeland-Wood and Cunningham voted to defer the item.

Levitas e-mailed that he had not seen the school board’s rules draft, so he had no comment about it. The legislative bill, as currently crafted is ten (10) pages versus a three-page DCSS draft “policy”. One fundamental difference is that Levitas’ 10-page bill governs employees as well as school board members, in fundamentally stark contrast to the school board proposal which in part, seeks specifically to stay out of the administration’s business. Levitas stated, “I think it is important that neither DCSS employees and administrators nor elected officials have a conflict (potential or actual) regarding their exercise of their respective duties.” Regarding employees, many of Lavitas’ stipulations would have an impact on cases such as the highly-publicized Pat Pope investigation. For example, employees could not, “Engage in or accept private employment … for private interests when such employment or service is incompatible with the proper discharge of such person's official duties or would tend to impair his or her independence of judgment or action in the performance of his or her official duties.”

Not all prohibitions in Levitas’ legislation would necessarily be judged by an ethics commission. For most “business” conflicts, the law’s emphasis is on “transparency” or disclosure, stating, “Any board member who has a financial interest in any contract or matter pending before the board shall disclose such interest (in board records).” A board member’s or employee’s business or familial relationship, sometimes framed as “cronyism” and “nepotism”, is then advertised to the public, and subjected to discussion in a school board meeting after a 45-day public review period. In essence, if undue influence is deemed to exist by the school board, a contract or purchase is killed and punishment or sanction is not at issue—there is no role for an ethics body in such cases.

However, one type of conflict of interest is directly prohibited by Levitas, without any involvement by school board or ethics commission. In what the state representative termed as an “inherent” conflict at a recent public forum at Henderson Middle School, school board members would be prohibited from holding other public appointments or elective offices. If the regulation had already been in place when he was elected to the school board this year, Dr. Eugene Walker would have been forced to resign a position on the DeKalb Development Authority which he had held for several years. Walker resigned by choice after a public uproar when the finance authority proposed a tax abatement for the Sembler Company’s Town Brookhaven project, an action that would have reduced school system tax revenue. Sembler and individuals associated with the company had earlier made financial contributions to Walker’s school board candidacy.

Of course, as in all appointed commissions, public satisfaction is primarily dependent on the members chosen and the public’s trust in what interest they serve. In Levitas’ bill, the DeKalb Legislative Delegation chooses the commission members. An interesting twist in the proposal is the Delegation has the option of requiring that all members be from outside of DeKalb County.

Levitas said he expects the county-wide legislative Delegation to support the proposal because, “I have had very positive feedback from people across the county and hope that they will express their support to their respective legislators.”


Tom Doolittle is a 16-year resident of the Northlake area, was a columnist for former Community Review newspaper and now distributes news to several local blogs and websites. The writer has two children who have attended Lakeside High School.

Lakeside High Partner Offers H1N1 "After School" Vaccine

Our Partner in Education, North Atlanta Urgent Care (NAUC), has received a large shipment of H1N1 immunizations. They will be at Lakeside this Friday afternoon, December 11th, from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. to immunize Lakeside families and members of the community. Due to traffic and parking concerns at dismissal, we recommend that community members arrive after 3:45 p.m. to get their shots.
NAUC can give the immunization to anyone over 6 months of age. Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to sign the consent form.
The cost is $20/shot. You can pay for the immunizations at Lakeside by cash or check.

North Atlanta Urgent Care currently has a limited number of seasonal flu vaccines available as well. If they have any left Friday, they will bring them to Lakeside. The cost is $25.

NAUC will also have H1N1 and seasonal flu immunizations available at their office at 2700 Clairmont Road any time this weekend or during the week. They invite the Lakeside community to come by their office before Friday to get flu shots-especially if you are interested in the seasonal flu shot, since those quantities are limited.

Their hours are: Monday - Thursday: 9AM - 8PM, Friday: 9AM - 7PM; and Saturday & Sunday 10AM - 6PM. Their phone number is 404-327-8744 if you have additional questions or want to find out if they still have seasonal flu shots.

Remember: Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to sign the consent form.

Our thanks to North Atlanta Urgent Care, a great Partner in Education, for letting us know the H1N1 shipment has arrived!


Lakeside High School PTSA

Lakeside High School

Henderson Park Community Garden Progress

Subject: Henderson Park Meeting Summary

Presenters/Speakers:

Revonda Moody, Park Planning and Development

Marti Watts, Silverman Construction Program Management

Steve Provost and Regan Carr, jB+a (the landscape architects awarded the master plan contract)

Revonda and Marti provided an overview of the master plan process for the 7 acres adjacent to the Henderson Park soccer fields. The second meeting will be held on January 20. A third meeting will be held sometime in February. During the second meeting, jB+a will present a preliminary master plan. The master plan process is scheduled to conclude end of February/early March. Master plan construction should be completed by December of 2010.

Steve and Regan presented aerial photos, a topographical survey, and a site analysis, which included the locations of specimen trees. Before they’d finished, it was clear to attendees (including TYSA’s representative) that the site isn’t appropriate for another soccer field.

One attendee, who uses the hiking trails, said he’d like to keep the site as a natural area and make the trails more accessible. The community garden suggestion seemed to get a lot of support. Another attendee suggested a picnic area with grills and shelters (which would be perfect next to the community garden!), which the TYSA rep said would be useful for soccer families, giving them a place to gather before and after games. The TYSA rep had one word of caution, though: he said that parking should be addressed for any additional amenities, explaining that the soccer parking lots are already overflowing during weekend games.

Important and encouraging news for the community garden:

1. In January, DeKalb County will launch its community gardening initiative. Its purpose is to define the relationship between community gardening clubs/groups and the County (for ex, the County rents the site to the club for a fee and the club assumes certain responsibilities, including individual plot rentals), and to set forth rules for community gardens operating in DeKalb parks. Revonda said that a list of available sites will be included and that Henderson Park made the list. (If fact, she said that our proposal from last February can still be used; we’ll just need to attach the additional initiative-related paperwork to it. I’ll look into that once the initiative is launched.)

2. If our community garden is approved (that is, if there is no opposition to it from the community), Revonda said that we shouldn’t have to wait for the master plan to be completed, but that we can get started based on the County’s initiative.

The Henderson Park Master Plan project will be added to the DeKalb County Parks & Recreation web site (http://www.co.dekalb.ga.us/parks/) (see Mason Mill Park Master Plan Development as example). Minutes from the meeting will be included.

Short notice and dreadful weather contributed to very low attendance, with as many county and consultant representatives attending as community members. Thanks to those of you who were able to make it. I hope we can improve our turnout for the next meeting, not only as a show of support but also for the opportunity to review and provide feedback on the preliminary plan.

Regards,

Susan Farrar

Northlake's Henderson Mill Elementary Has Guide Dog

(borrowed from DeKalb School News Advisory, 11/18/09)

Guide Dog in Training Teaches & Learns at Henderson Mill ES

When Nike enters Ms. Kosik’s classroom at Henderson Mill Elementary; he is there to learn. He takes a seat, is quiet and waits for instruction. But Nike isn’t like the other fifth graders around him; he has four feet, a furry tail, and he already knows for sure what he is going to be when he grows up. In fact, he’s already landed a job.

Nike is a black Labrador retriever who belongs to the Guide Dog Foundation and in a few months, he will be a guide dog for the blind. In the meantime, he’s in ‘guide school’; and being a member of Henderson Mill’s family is all a part of his training.

“The foundation was so excited that Nike could come to school because mostly, the folks that have the time to raise these puppies don’t have young children. Then you have cases where the dogs are not exposed to young children and they’re afraid of them. This pup has been used to 400 kids loving on him from day one,” said Judith Kosik, a Henderson Mill teacher in the school’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program.

Born in New York on January 23, 2009, Nike began coming to Henderson Mill when he was only seven weeks old and nine pounds in size. Back then, Ms. Kosik was just beginning her involvement with the Guide Dog Foundation after accepting an appeal that came via email from an advocacy group for blind children.

Nike is raised by Ms. Kosik on weekends. Her job is to take Nike into public places so he can get used to large numbers of people, different noises and different situations where he will likely guide his blind owner. The nine and a half-month old pup comes to school each Monday and visits with different classes.

Tuesday to Friday, Nike is raised by the women of the Metro State prison who participate in the Vision Project. They provide care and training for ten or 12 dog puppies each year. In return, the women earn college credit from Middle Georgia College and have employment skills and certification as veterinary technicians when they leave jail. Fifty women have participated in the program so far, with 15 finding work in the field later. There have been no repeat offenders among these women. A similar program will open at the men’s jail in Macon in June.

Kosik explains that since many guide dogs do not get the chance to be around young children during their training, it is the number one reason they do not make the “final cut” for guide dog training. Thus, Henderson Mill is helping Nike become a better guide dog.

“He truly is an affectionate little guy and he really loves being here…Nike goes to restaurants and stores and banks and post offices—he goes everywhere I go on the weekends, but this is clearly his favorite place to be,” said Kosik.

Henderson loves Nike’s time at the school just as much as Nike, but at the idea of him coming to school Principal Rebecca Jackson admits there was a tiny ounce of hesitation.

“I grilled her,” she laughs recalling Ms. Kosik’s proposal. But Principal Jackson’s end-all response was, ‘Bring the puppy and let’s see how it goes.’

“You have to think what benefits the children. There’s always that question. You know the benefit for the dogs, but you have to ask, ‘what’s the benefit for the students?’ and I think they have benefited,” said Jackson.

Benefited, they have. Nike is helping Henderson Mill by providing some inspiration for standards-based lessons, and for providing ongoing behavior incentives for special needs students. He also provides a willing audience for the school’s struggling or very young readers. Last year, he even helped one fifth grader get over her fear of dogs.

Nike helped bring life to a third grade reading series book about a guide dog and was also interviewed by hearing impaired third graders so that they could better understand how dogs like Nike are raised.

As tempting as it is, Nike’s classmates know not to pet him when he’s working (when he’s donning his yellow cape), but there are special occasions when the students are allowed to cuddle up to the Labrador and show their affection.

When he graduates from ‘puppy school’ as Ms. Kosik calls it, there will be guaranteed tears from the Henderson Mill family, but Nike will return to the Guide Dog Foundation’s New York campus well prepared thanks to the students and staff at the DeKalb elementary school. From there, he will undergo four to five months of very intensive training on their campus and in and out of New York city in order to get acclimated to the transit system of which blind persons often use for mobility. Nike will also be trained with blind clients to see with whom he best fits. There is also the possibility that Nike may become a service dog for disabled veterans.

Fortunately for Ms. Kosik, the day Nike departs, she will begin taking care of a new 7wk to 10wk old pup. Until then, the school is savoring every second it has with Nike. He’s been an exemplary student, a great friend and whether sleeping or moseying around the cafeteria with Ms. Kosik, one thing for sure is Nike makes Monday mornings at Henderson Mill a joy!

Vista Yoga Joins Vista Dance at Vista Grove

That’s a lot of “Vistas”. The Vista Grove Shopping Center (y’know, Quinnie’s home cooking) has a new neighborhood-owned wellness shop to go with long-standing Vista Dance (Dance Atlanta). Yoga guru Marti Yura starts realizing her dream of teaching at her own studio at this Saturday’s (November 14) grand opening of Vista Yoga. Local families will recognize (Mrs.) Marti and her husband (Mr.) Marty from over 20 years in schools, athletic leagues and other community activities. The married business partners combine Mr. Marty’s commitment to helping people “discover possibilities for themselves that they weren't able to see before”, and “classes that are infused with (Mrs. Marti’s)…nurturing spirit and a sense of humor”, according to the studio’s website.

Vista Yoga is at the back of the shopping center, so it can have its own parking and adds comfort in anonymity to folks in workout cloths. Before you think the lack of visibility will hurt the business, you have to consider business manager (Mr.) Marty’s ideas about “visibility”—lots of people knowing lots of people in Northlake (Lakeside) neighborhoods. “Mr. Marty” says, “this community is cool”, explaining, “we know what we have in common: school, stability, longevity and we don’t have to drive far”.

“We’ll be e-mailing to the world”, Marty, the business manager says. The studio has a Facebook page that is covered with Facebook “fans”, confirming what Marty says is a hallmark of Northlake neighborhoods, “expressing our support for each other.” A long-standing list of clients from “Mrs.” Marti’s days at N.E. Athletic Club and years of practice as a physical trainer will no doubt be an immediate source of revenue. Vista Yoga's website profile's about a dozen instructors.

To symbolize the Yura’s attention on community service and a focus on the area’s education complex, teachers will get the same typical discounts as students and seniors.

I’ve known the Yura’s for a long time, from my kid’s schools, swim leagues and soccer programs—even catching Mr. Marty for coffee occasionally. The Yura’s youngest; Adam currently plays on Lakeside High’s champion school soccer team. Man and wife have always been extremely gracious and made you feel like you are the only person in the room.

So check out Vista Yoga starting with the Grand Opening this Saturday.

Cravey/Briarmoor History--A 12-year old's Treasure

Check this out--written by a Northlake area elementary school student in 1987!


WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD?
By Damon Remigailo. December 14, 1987

note, August 2006: Damon was born in Atlanta in 1975, the son of Alice & Richard and brother of Richard, Jr. His family then and now resides on Silver Lace Ct. He graduated from Hawthorne Elementary, Lakeside High, and UNC, Chapel Hill. He and his wife, Heidi are expecting their first child in September 2006. They live and work in the inner city of Memphis, TN, he a youth minister, she a nurse practitioner.


Outline

What is the History of My Neighborhood?
I. Introduction

II. History of the Land
a. Indians
b. Families
c. Mills
d. Civil War
e. Farming

III. State Game Preserve
a. Quail
b. Zack D. Cravey as commissioner

IV. Development of the neighborhood
a. Lilian Grovenstein
b. John Taylor, Jr. and Sr.
c. John Honea
d. Margery Cravey Taylor Gambrell

V. Neighborhood growth
a. Hawthorne School and Lakeside High School
b. Neighborhood Pool
c. Northlake Mall

VI. Future of the Neighborhood

VII. Conclusion


The purpose of this project is to learn about the history of the land where my family lives. It is also to learn about who owned the property before us, how the land was used and how the neighborhood developed.

A piece of property has a street address and a legal description. I live at 2531 Silver Lace Court in Atlanta, Georgia. The property 'deed says that it is lot 18, Block J, Briarmoor Manor Subdivision, land lot 247, district 18, DeKalb County. My parents bought it from Peachtree Development Corporation in June of 1979 and the deed was registered at the DeKalb County Courthouse.

The first people to own this land were the Creek Indians. By the eighteenth century there were around twenty thousand Creek Indians in Georgia and Alabama. White settlers moved into Creek Indian Territory, and Andrew Jackson defeated the Creeks in 1814 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Alabama. The Creek land was divided into five Georgia counties which were distributed by a lottery in land lots of two hundred two and a half acres each. Among these lands was the property where my family lives. It is in land lot 247 in DeKalb County which was originally granted to John E. Gilbert on December 18, 1821 for the grant fee of nineteen dollars.

Archibald Darrough bought land lot 247 for one hundred dollars on March 9, 1822 and sold it to John Blake for "two hundred dollars on July 24, 1822 •. John Blake operated Blake's Mill on the north fork of Peachtree Creek until his death in 1854. An. historical marker now stands on the site on Shallowford Road.

John Blake was also a farmer and owned twenty-three slaves. In his will he listed land lots 265, 266, 249: 264, 284, 232, 231, 283, 282 and 247, but land lot 247 was the most valuable because Peachtree Creek went through the property and was the source of power to run the mill. John Blake had three sons who lived in Randolph County, Alabama.

William W. McElroy bought land lot 247 for three thousand two hundred dollars on October 3, 1862. He was a farmer who fought in the Civil War. He married Margaret Tilly McElroy in 1840. They were founding members of the Doraville Associate Reform Presbyterian Church and were opposed to slavery. They are both buried in the Prospect Cemetery on North Peachtree Road in Chamblee. The church is now used as an antique shop and-the McElroy’s graves are behind the church.

When William died, the land was passed to J. W. F. Tilly and then to Stephen T. McElroy on February 18, 1868. S. T. McElroy was one of three children and was raised on the McElroy farm in Norcross. There is now a McElroy Road which runs south from Buford Highway in Doraville.

Stephen T. McElroy was born in 1845 and fought in the Civil War at Baker's Creek, Mississippi, where he was wounded in the left leg on November 18, 1862. His leg was amputated and he was given a disability discharge in 1863.

Stephen McElroy owned land lot 247 until he sold it to the Clark Stewart Company of Fulton County on February 3, 1921. The John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company foreclosed on the property on September 1, 1931, during the great depression. Lum C. Pitts bought it from the John Hancock Company on January 29, 1936.

On February 1, 1936 the Georgia Commissioner of Game and Fish, Zack D. Cravey leased land lot 247 from L. C. Pitts to be used for a game preserve. Pitts reserved the right to quarry any rock and granite for one year and to cut standing timber for two years.

For five years the game farm was used to breed and raise Georgia Native Bobwhite Quail, Asiatic Chukar Partridges, wild turkey and deer.

The quail hatchery was located where Hawthorne Drive divides into Hawthorne and Caladium Drives. The stone house which you can see today on Briarcliff Road near Hawthorne Drive was where the manager of the game farm lived. His first name was Barney.

The property lease was not renewed because the Atlanta climate was not appropriate for raising Quail.

Zack D. Cravey bought the land from Lum C. Pitts for himself and his family on January 11, 1944. He built a lake for fishing where the quarry had been. He built a cabin and stable. When Cravey Lake was being built, there was a rock crusher left from the quarry.

Briarcliff Road was already a state road from Atlanta to Tucker. It had been paved to Cravey Drive by Scott Candler, the Commissioner of DeKalb County, when the game farm was operating. Georgia Power Company built electric lines and the county extended the water system to the game farm. Cravey Drive was a dirt road then.

In 1950, John L. Taylor Sr., Zack Cravey’s son-in-law, built a house at the corner of Cravey Drive and Briarcliff Road and lived there until 1953.

Zack D. Cravey sold land lot•247 to his two sons and John L. Taylor, Sr. They formed the Peachtree Development Corporation to develop the land into lots for houses. They named the subdivision Briarmoor Manor. In 1954 Peachtree Development Corporation built the streets Cravey Drive, Briarmoor Manor Road, Sylvan Ramble and Hawthorne Drive. By 1961 Caladium Drive, Cosmos Court, Cosmos Drive and Hawthorne Place were developed. Some of the builders who built houses on these streets were :Fred Jones, Frances Milam and Joe Honea. In the 1970' s and 80' s Cravey Drive and Hawthorne Drive were extended and Canna Ridge Circle, Jasmine Court, Cravey Trail, Silver Lace Court and Hawthorne Cove were built. Joe Honea is now building on the last vacant land.

In an early plat my cul-de-sac, Silver Lace Court, was drawn as a through street named Begonia Way, I think the change was made because there was too much rock to continue the street.

The streets were named for flowers and trees by Margery Cravey Taylor, now Margery Gambrell, who is Zack Cravey's daughter. The land for Briarmoor Manor Recreation Club was donated by Peachtree Development Corporation which also gave the land for Hawthorne Elementary School.

Hawthorne School was opened in 1960. Its architect was John Portman who designed the Hyatt Regency, Peachtree Plaza and Marriott Marquis Hotels in downtown Atlanta. His architectural firm was called Edwards and Portman at that time.

At one time there were almost one thousand students at Hawthorne. That is why Henderson Mill and Heritage Schools were built.

Hawthorne School has had five principals. Their names are Bob Rowlet, Bill Strain, Norman Dasinger, Tedd Briggs, and Gary Durham. Now Hawthorne School has fewer than four hundred students.

Northlake Mall was built on the Cash, Priest and Weed family properties. Zack Cravey wanted his sons to buy the land where Northlake Mall is today but they said they already owned too much •land.

Before the shopping center was built, the land was used for farming cotton and soybeans. Briarcliff Road was just a dirt road east of Cravey Drive. The WSB radio tower has been a landmark on La Vista Road since about 1935.

John Henry Honea, Joe Honea's grandfather, was one of the first people to live in this area. In about 1898 he bought a large farm south of the present Briarcliff Road from about Hawthorne Drive to Briarlake Road. His farmhouse was at the corner which is now Briarcliff and Payton Roads.

Lilian Grovenstein has lived on Briarmoor Road since 1956 when she and her husband, Erling, were two of the first residents of Briarmoor Manor. John Taylor, Sr., built her house and several others on the street. The Westbrooks have also lived there for over thirty years.

One of the people who lived on Briarcliff Road during the 1950's was Mr. Armstrong, a football coach who lived at Shallowford and Briarcliff Roads. Dr. Gaines and Sally Richardson lived in stone houses on Briarcliff Road. The white house across from Echo Lake was where Dr. Pruit lived. Margerite Stedman, who worked for the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, lived on •Briarcliff Road across from Hawthorne Drive.

In the 1950[‘s, there was a poor country family, named Pugh, who lived on Briarcliff Road, east of Cravey Drive. They lived in a wooden shack with no plumbing. Their two sons were named Rupert and Dean. The family lived on the food they could find or catch. Before Neal Pope built his house on Briarcliff Road in 1980, another family lived on the more than ten-acre property for many years. They built the stone foundation and gateposts for a house. They moved into the foundation and were going to wait until prices went down to finish building the house. Eventually they added a small frame upper level. After her husband died, the lady sold the property to Mr. Pope. She continued to live in her house and his house was built behind it. In 1987 the small house was torn down and the foundation was made into a greenhouse.

Varner Drive was named for a policeman in DeKalb County who fought in World War II. He gambled with other military men on his ship and sent the money he won home to his wife. He used the money to buy the property along what is now Varner Drive.

Shallow Ford Trail and Briarcliff Road

Shallowford Road was part of the old Shallow Ford Indian Trail which went from the present Decatur Courthouse to the Chattahoochee River where Roswell Road• now crosses it. The trail went north on Clairmont Road to La Vista, east to Oak Grove Road and north to Briarcliff Road where Lakeside High School stands now. The trail turned eastward again to the present Shallowford Road where it turned to the north. The shallow ford, for which the trail was named, is two miles south of the town of Roswell.

Briarcliff Road follows the ridge of the hills. That is why there are so many curves in the road. The ridge also•serves as the watershed for the area. Water which falls on the west side flows toward the Gulf of Mexico and water on the east side works its way to the Atlanta Ocean.

Briarcliff Road was straightened a little and moved to the north when it was paved in about 1938. Before then, it followed what is now Payton Road which was called old Briarcliff Road between about 1938 and 1960. Payton Road was given its current name in about 1960 when it was paved.

General ,Sherman's Union Soldiers March Nearby

There are two historical markers in my neighborhood which tell about General William T. Sherman's troops who marched through here on their way to Atlanta. One is on Shallowford Road in front of Thriftown Shopping Center. The other is on the west side of Briarcliff Road, just north of Shallowford Road.

On July 18, 1864, Blair's 17th A. C. of McPherson's Army of the Tennessee camped at the site of Blake's Mill where Thriftown now stands. The next day Blair's troops marched down the old Shallow Ford Road and east on what is now Briarcliff Road to join Logan's 15th A.C. at the present Midway Church at Henderson Mill Road. The two corps of federal soldiers were on their way to Stone Mountain to destroy the Georgia Railroad.

On July 19th, Dodge's 16th A. C. also marched south on the old Shallow Ford Road. They followed the indian trail to Decatur to report to General James B. McPherson, who was killed three days later by a Confederate soldier.

John Taylor Jr, and the Elephant Bone

When John Taylor Jr. was a boy living on Briarcliff Road in the early 1950's, he heard a story about a circus which had come to town years before. One of the elephants had died•and needed to be buried. This area was country then and so it was chosen for the grave.

John was playing in the woods one day when he found the elephant's leg bone. He dragged it back to his house. He used it as a bench in the yard and would sit on it and wave to people as they went by.

The Legend of Whitey

The land west of Briarcliff Road, between Shallowford•and Henderson Mill Roads was inhabited by wild animals before it was developed in the 1950's. There were stories about a monster which lived in the forest but they were never proven.

The so-called monster made lots of noise. It was probably nothing but the great white owl which the people called Whitey.

Whitey passed away in about 1960.



My study of the history of my neighborhood has taught me the answers to several questions and how to look for answers to my questions. I learned how to find the record of a transfer of deed at the courthouse. I learned how to plan and do interviews and how to look up family histories at the historical society. In my neighborhood, I looked for historical makers and for old gravestones.

I found out how the land was used before I lived here. My project also taught me how much the land and people have changed over the years. I enjoyed learning to know my neighbors better. Several of them shared their time and stories with me.

I hope people in the future care for this land as well as the people in the past. I would like them to remember the indians, the miller, the soldiers, the farmers, the animals, the developers, and builders and the homeowners. I like to think about the indians and the animals who once lived where my family and my neighbors live now.



Bibliography

The Collections of the DeKalb Historical: Society, Volume 1, The Year Book—1952. Decatur, Georgia: Bowen Press, 1952.

Cravey, Zack .D. “Game Farm in DeKalb,” The Atlanta Journal, 1936

Davis, Elizabeth L. and Ethel W. Spruil. The Story of Dunwoody. Atlanta, Georgia: Williams Printing Company, 1975.

DeKalb County Courthouse, Real estate documents section,• October 21, 1987.

"DeKalb County Elementary Schools: Ten Year Self Study”, 1982-1984, “Hawthorne.”

DeKalb Historical Society Archives, November 4, 1987 and November 9, 1987.

Margery Cravey Taylor Gambrell, personal interview, November 6, 1987.

Lilian Grovenstein, personal interview, November 5, 1987.

Joe Honea, personal interview, October 27, 1987.

Hudgins, Carl T. "Mills and Other DeKalb County Industries and Their Owners." Read at the November, 1951, meeting of the DeKalb Historical Society.

Prospect Cemetery, United Methodist Church, Chamblee, Georgia, November 11, 1987.

John Taylor, personal interview, October 27, 1987.

Vanishing DeKalb. DeKalb Historical Society, 1985.



Special. Credits

Thank you:
Marie Brown, teacher
Gary Durham, principal of Hawthorne School
Delia Gilliland, DeKalb Historical Society archivist and genealogist
Lilian Grovenstein, neighbor• and early resident
Joe Honea, builder of many homes in my neighborhood
Alice Remigailo, mother
Richard Remigailo, father
John Taylor, Jr., neighbor and grandson of Zack D. Cravey
Margery Cravey Taylor Gambrell, daughter of Zack D. Cravey

Lakeside High Debate Team Wins

Don't Debate Them!


The Lakeside Debate Team showed their stuff at the Bruce Rogers Speech & Debate Tournament October 23rd -24th in Warner Robbins, GA. Two Lakeside teams shared the Varsity Championship: Vincent Li and partner Jacob Altman with a 3-2 record in 5 rounds and Alex Lotito and partner Casey Williams, with a 4-1 record. Alex, Casey and Vincent also won speaker awards: 3rd, 5th and 6th place respectively.