Family members and Peachtree Corners officials are mourning the death of Debbie Mason, the wife of Mayor Mike Mason who took pride in being the "First Lady" of the city.
The city announced her death on Thursday. In a Facebook post, her son, Nick, said she had been battling cancer for awhile.
City officials said Debbie Mason "represented the best of Peachtree Corners."
She played a key role in the creation of Peachtree Corners as the campaign chairwoman for the Peachtree Corners YES Campaign. She also served on the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association's Board of Directors.
State Rep. Scott Hilton, who is a former president of the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association, called Mason a "pillar of our community." He said she was also involved in the annual Peachtree Corners festival and played an active role efforts to improve the aesthetics around the city in addition to her efforts to help get the city created.
On her Facebook page, Mason identified herself as the "first First Lady of Peachtree Corners." In fact, she is the only first lady that Peachtree Corners has ever had in the 10 years since it became a city. Gov. Brian Kemp and his wife, Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp, and their daughters expressed their sympathies for the Mason family on Thursday as well.
“The community theatre scene in metro Atlanta is a true community,” said Brandi Kilgore of Norcross’ Lionheart Theatre.
“Our theatres are constantly borrowing costumes, set pieces, and props from each other for our respective productions.”
It makes sense, then, that Lionheart has offered their stage for a unique “Ten Minute Community Theatre Play Festival” which runs Jan. 13-22.
The Festival will be the first production of Lionheart’s 2023 season, and it promises to be a fast-paced event that will introduce theatre-goers to new artists from across the Atlanta area.
Performances will be on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and on Sundays at 2 p.m. All performances are at Lionheart Theatre, located at 10 College Street in Norcross.
The scripts that will be performed come from a group called Merely Writers which is sponsored by Merely Players Presents, a group that gathers to hear works in development read aloud by actors. During this process, writers can hear their own words and get feedback. Lionheart Theatre Company will present “Dead Giveaway” by Daniel Guyton and “Wedding Reception Rewards Program” by Peter Dakutis.
Live Arts Theatre is also a Gwinnett nonprofit arts organization. The group will perform “Bump in the Night” by John Mabey and “Speed Dating” by Nedra Roberts.
Main Street Theatre hails from Tucker. The group will present “Accusations” by Steven D. Miller and “Pre-Need” by David Davis.
Merely Players Presents is located in Doraville. Their two plays are “Roughing It” by Judy Klass and “Broken Hearts” by Karen Ruetz.
Onstage Atlanta is located in Scottsdale. The group will perform “The Wedding Night Tweets” by Daniel Guyton.
The stage manager for the festival is Janet Conant.
This nine-play collection was selected to be a combination of dramas and comedies. Scripts were divided up among the five theater companies, and each theater is responsible for casting its plays and each play’s direction.
Gatorade announced Friday morning that Mill Creek standout Caleb Downs is the 2022-23 Gatorade Georgia Football Player of the Year.
Downs, who begins classes at Alabama this month, is the first Gatorade Georgia Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Mill Creek High School.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Downs as Georgia’s best high school football player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Football Player of the Year award to be announced in January, Downs joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Trevor Lawrence (2018-19 & 2016-17, Cartersville High School), Matthew Stafford (2005-06, Highland Park High School, Texas) and Emmitt Smith (1986-87, Escambia High School, Fla.).
The 6-foot, 195-pound senior safety and running back led the Hawks to a 14-1 record and the Class AAAAAAA state championship this past season. Downs recorded 76 tackles and made five interceptions, returning two of them for touchdowns. Downs also rushed for 390 yards and 20 scores, including three TDs in the Hawks’ 70-35 win over Carrollton High School in the state final. Ranked as the nation’s No. 13 recruit in the Class of 2023 by 247Sports.com, he also had 36 receptions for 422 yards and three scores.
Downs has volunteered locally with Gen50, a faith-based peer leadership group, and as a youth football coach. He has also donated his time as a member of the Mill Creek High School football leadership council and as part of local food drives.
A company that specializes in nuclear fuel cell technology and consulting solutions has signed a lease for an office in Peachtree Corners.
Lincoln Property Company Southeast announced NAC International signed the lease for 23,000-square-feet of space at the 2 Sun office building in Technology Park Atlanta. The 98.040-square-foot 2 Sun building was recently renovated to add campus-wide Wi-Fi internet, food delivery service for tenants and an outdoor patio.
Lincoln said the northeast Atlanta submarket has outperformed other submarkets in recent years and its 15.9% vacancy rate is the lowest among major areas in metro Atlanta.
Looking for a fun way to start off the new year with your kids? The Children’s Museum of Atlanta has you covered as it opens a new exhibit at the end of the month.
“Splash and Bubbles: Dive In, Lend a Fin!” opens on Jan. 21. The exhibit is based on the popular PBS Kids TV show, “Splash and Bubbles,” a hit animated series that encourages children to explore ocean science and marine biology through character-driven comedy. The series is co-produced by The Jim Henson Company and Herschend Entertainment Studios. According to museum officials, the new exhibit builds on kids’ connections to the characters and their habitats, immersing them in a larger-than-life marine environment and introducing them to the incredible world of ocean exploration.
While exploring the early childhood STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) based exhibit, children will be encouraged to build both scientific inquiry and social-emotional skills as they learn how to protect the ocean and its ecosystems, museum officials said.
Ocean conservation is a key message within the exhibit, encouraging families to understand that they can create “a small ripple to help our big ocean.” Featuring a variety of hands-on exhibit components, “Splash and Bubbles: Dive In, Lend a Fin!” invites children to discover a whole new world as they navigate an under-the-sea maze in a kelp forest, explore a sunken ship that has become an artificial reef, interact with puppet characters created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and more.
The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum served as the creative producers for the new exhibit, created in partnership with The Jim Henson Company and Herschend Enterprises.
The exhibit is made possible thanks to generous support from Tim and Elizabeth Swank, Anna and Jim McKelvey and the Graybar Foundation. Local media sponsorship is provided by the Nine Network.
The exhibit will be at Children’s Museum of Atlanta through April 30 and is free with museum admission.
For more information, go to: childrensmuseumatlanta.org.
The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners was scheduled to appoint Commissioner Jasper Watkins III as its vice-chairman for 2023 on Tuesday.
That was the way it was listed on the board's meeting agenda. Things changed during the meeting, however.
When the item came up for a vote, Watkins instead nominated fellow Commissioner Ben Ku for the position. The commission then voted to affirm the choice. So, Ku will now serve as the second-in-command on the commission for the next 12 months. That means he will be the person who presides over meetings when Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson is unavailable to do so.
It's probably not too surprising that Watkins was not the person who ended up getting picked to serve as vice-chairman, however. The commission has traditionally rotated the vice-chairmanship between its members and Watkins was the vice-chairman in 2022.
Ku, who has served on the board longer than any of his colleagues, previously served as vice-chairman in 2019.
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