Marietta Stories | Crazy Cool Stories From The Community Builders Of Marietta, Georgia

Dan Fisher met his wife Nicole in bar she didn’t want to be in. He sang to her and she took the bait, 31 years to the date that his parents met.   For their current adventure, they have a new little girl, Kennedy, and they started their very own company, American Axes on Franklin Gateway area very close to Schoolhouse Brewing.    My girlfriend and I had a terrific time and it is way easier than you think.    Check them out!   https://american-axes.com

Thomas Monti has a lot going on. Bill sat down in the principals office of Schoolhouse Brewing on Franklin Gateway to reconnect on Thomas’s and Justin Waller’s business, now one year old, the award they’ve one and most importantly, their philosophy at schoolhouse brewing and local businesses in general.  Here’s some things mentioned in the show. Schoolhouse Brewing https://www.schoolhousebeer.com   Best of Cobb, Schoolhouse Brewing Link https://www.mdjonline.com/cobblife/bestof/#/gallery/194177930/   Beer Guys Radio, Best Brewery in Georgia https://beerguysradio.com/2019/12/28/best-georgia-beer-winners-2019/   Restaurants on Franklin Gateway Jerusalem Bakery https://jerusalembakery.restaurant Silla Del Toro (tappas) https://www.silladeltoro.com Golden Tropics (Jamaican) https://golden-tropics.business.site Brisas De Tela (Honduran) Costa Mar (Mexican Restaurant and Seafood) https://qmenu.us/#/costa-mar-mexican-restaurant Haveli (Indian Cuisine) https://havelidining.com   Other Local Businesses in the Episode

Bill takes to the road to ATL's Big Bethel AME church for a special behind the scenes look at Heaven Bound, a morality play started 89 years ago has been going strong every year since. We learn what the play is all about, talk about the AME church with both the bishop and the senior pastor and speak to a couple of the actors in the play.  

I met Dr. Lamar Sneed over a grave of one of his ancestors in the city cemetery. We talk through the life of TJ Jackson and why his leg is buried next to the rest of his body. Dr. Sneed also discusses several parts of the history of the Cherokees in Georgia and some of the misconceptions of native American heritage.  https://www.georgiatribeofeasterncherokee.com    

Bill talks to several players, politicians and school employees on the first Marietta football state championship since 1967.  The parade started at the location of the African American high school, called Lemon Street and several of the interview talked about this historic location.

The Emmy Award winning actor, Ed Asner is coming to Marietta! and we talk through his life from his humble beginnings in Kansas City, Kansas to the theater, TV and movies.  Checkout his one man play at the Strand Theater this weekend. https://earlsmithstrand.org  

Bill caught up Stace Huff and Amanda Seals of the Marietta Pilgrimage. Six beautiful, cottage style homes in the Forest Hills neighborhood are on the tour. There is also an artisan market at Cobb Landmark's, Root House and a lot more. Buy your tickets for the Pilgrimage, the Pilgrimage Gala and volunteer to help at: http://www.mariettapilgrimage.com    

Bill toured the re-vamped Mistletoe Market, a classic holiday shopping and fundraising event of the Junior League of Cobb-Marietta. The organizers are bringing together over 40 specialty merchants from across the Southeast for a premiere holiday shopping experience. Shoppers have access to onsite monogramming, holiday décor, jewelry, luxury dog beds, and much more! The event will take place at the Cobb County Civic Center, November 14-17, 2019. Find more information regarding hours and ticket sales at www.jlcm.org. Junior League of Cobb-Marietta is an organization of women working together to benefit women and children in the Cobb-Marietta community through fundraising and community service.

Why buy a blueberry farm near Marietta and start a whole new life? Because Jennifer Maxwell and her husband Matt care deeply about  eating and buying local as an alternative to the organic movement.    The host, Bill Nowicki, met Jennifer while eating at the Marietta Square Market and Bill was intrigued by Jennifer’s journey from a dairy farm in Central New York to Marietta. Now Jennifer and Matt own Tiny Apple Farms,  a reference to the crab apples that Jennifer saw on the farm. Now with blueberries, bees, figs, pears and chickens they are starting their journey as small farm owners. They hope to work with other local farms to produce dishes that are delicious and very local.   Check out the farm on Instagram and hopefully at the Marietta Square Farmers Market next spring.    https://www.instagram.com/tinyapplefarms/

We start Season 4 with Chris Brown, a long-time member of St James Church and someone who has painstakingly gone through the meeting minutes of the lay leadership and the records of the births, deaths, marriages and ceremonies that made the St James community from the 1840's until today. Chris's story of the early church and the transition through the Civil War years is remarkable. For example, could slaves marry in the church? Could they be buried in the cemetery? Where did the church spend their money? Chris Brown has the whole story.  https://www.stjamesmarietta.com Also checkout: https://www.archiveatlantapodcast.com https://www.mariettahistory.org https://www.cobblandmarks.com  

How do you get a historian excited? You rebuild a historical building that was torn down and you bring it back to life.    That’s exactly what Grant Rivera and the Marietta School Board have decided to do. The site of the old Lemon Street High School, the black high school in Marietta, was torn down after integration in the 70’s. Now it is being rebuild to house Marietta City Administration offices. There is also work being done to use the Lemon Street grammar school across the street.    Grant Rivera has spearheaded the effort and he shares the story of the importance of telling the whole story of Marietta and building community at the same time.   Also, his daughter beat cancer and a fundraiser is coming up at Glover Park Brewery on 9/19/19 from 6 to 9 pm. Get your tickets here: https://give.choa.org/site/Ticketing?view=Tickets&id=101521

Rabbi Albert Slomovitz grew up in a divorced family and found solace in the synagogue near his home in North Miami Beach, Florida. So much so, that he decided to dedicate his life to educating young jews. After preaching in front of a congregation, all that changed and he shifted over to becoming a rabbi and then joining the Navy as a chaplain -- one of the few jewish captains in the armed forces. Now he has a podcast, a professor and author and leader of the Jewish-Christian Discovery Center. His new book and podcast explore Jesus as a Jew and how his jewishness informed his whole life.  Find links to his podcast and his new book, which is coming out soon. https://therabbijesus.com    

Ria Uppapati started a non-profit at 15 years old: Forever Earth, Inc. Bill met Ria and her Mom at a North Marietta Community Garden event and she had a lot to share, so we decided to do an interview. She is working to reduce plastic locally, starting at her Dad's restaurant (Hemingways). She has also reached out to other businesses to recruit them to use metal plates with paper on top, a step in the right direction to reduce plastic waste. She is also leading a battery recycling program (September 21th at Tucker park), sponsoring a child's college education in India and getting her classmates to join in. Busy young woman! Checkout these links to learn more and get involved. https://foreverearthinc.org Email Ria: ria@foreverearthinc.org North Marietta Community Garden https://www.cobbmastergardeners.com/project/north-marietta-neighborhood-community-garden/ Hemingway's https://www.hemingwaysmarietta.com  

Vivian Hansen grew up in Mississippi and Alejo Porras in Costa Rica. Even though they had very different backgrounds, they ended up in the Savannah School of Art and Design and fell in love. They recently started a family and a business called Two Rivers Creative. They create book illustrations and many other wonderful art projects. Bill met them at a storytelling festival at Sewell Mill and knew they had a really cool story. Here it is... https://www.tworiverscreative.com https://www.alejoporrasart.com https://www.etsy.com/shop/vivianhansenart/  

It seemed like everyone made it to Taylor Park to celebrate an exceptional mail carrier, Floyd Martin. He retired on Thursday after 35 years and has touched many lives in a special way. This is a story of community, love and the impact of one person's life on so many.

Justin Waller and Thomas Monti are teachers at heart with a passion for beer brewing. They met as middle school science teachers and became friends. When Justin's wife got him a home brewing kit, Justin and Thomas became interested and then obsessed with making beer and the science behind it.  Now they run, Schoolhouse Brewing in a new location in the Franklin Gateway area of Marietta. They have cool touches, globes you might remember from middle school as well as school bus bench seats.  Check it out. https://www.schoolhousebeer.com  

Tom Dugan brings his one man play, Wiesenthal, to Marietta's Strand Theatre May 29th through June 2nd.  Tom's dad was a veteran who experienced the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp. Tom became a playwright and wrote the play after researching Simon Wiesenthal's Nazi hunting work.  However, this play is a mixture of laughs (it starts with a joke) and the quest for justice. Get your tickets soon, they are going support fast. Strand Marietta 770-293-0080 Tickets https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1005795

Jerry King grew up in rural Mississippi and wanted out when he knew his life would be limited. So at 18 he joined the Army and ended up in operation Desert Shield to liberate Kuwait.  After 10 years, he got out and worked as a policeman and enjoyed interacting with people and dealing with every person uniquely. Eventually, Jerry joined the SWAT team and took part on 1800 missions, but SWAT was not like being a patrolman, he missed the interaction with the public. So photography was a way to re-connect with people and bring out there story through getting the right shot.  That was how J King Images was born and he continues to wow customers with his images. jkingimages.com  

Today I met with Diona McIntire, Dr. Tim Boone and Rebecka Kern at Park Street Elementary School.  Diona McIntire is the principal and is called to help change children's lives. Her passion started from the beginning. She redecorated the school and on this day was wearing pajamas so the children are reminded to get "lots of rest for the test", in preparation for skills testing. I also spoke with Tim Boone, the secretary of the PTA and coordinator of the 75th Anniversary Gala and Rebecka Kern, the PTA president and a mom of a student at the school. Checkout the gala and the programs at this school. They are always looking for help and it is a special place.  Attend the Park St Gala https://park-street-pta.square.site/product/single-plate/15 Park Street's Website https://www.marietta-city.org/parkstreet  

In our second update, Stace Huff and Amanda Seals talk about the process of getting 6 homeowners to agree to have 4,000 people tour their homes. Does it help that Stace is a therapist? You bet! Forest Hills is a terrific place for this year's Marietta Pilgrimage. It has lovely homes that harken back to days when the roads into Marietta were dirt and central air conditioning was only a dream. Enjoy!