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Light up the night Friday, May 8 — Sandy Springs will be aglow Saturday night as it celebrates a decade of the Lantern Parade. The festivities will kick off at 6 p.m. with food trucks and family-friendly activities before the parade begins at 8:30 p.m. Get all the details here, and send us a picture with your homemade […] The post ???? Fire station overhaul appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta.

May 9, 2026 - 08:00

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Light up the night

Friday, May 8 — Sandy Springs will be aglow Saturday night as it celebrates a decade of the Lantern Parade. The festivities will kick off at 6 p.m. with food trucks and family-friendly activities before the parade begins at 8:30 p.m. Get all the details here, and send us a picture with your homemade lanterns!

Be prepared to dodge some raindrops this weekend, but it looks like the weather isn’t going to rain on our parade — the lantern parade, that is!

If you’re planning to celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday, you may want to do it close to home as traffic is expected to be heavy around much of the city due to major roadwork on parts of I-285.

Several Sandy Springs restaurants are offering Mother’s Day specials, including The Select, Ray’s on the River, Tre Vele, and Southern Bistro.

Food That Rocks Sandy Springs is returning on Thursday, June 4, featuring food from more than 25 area restaurants, craft cocktails, and live music from Band X. Get more information here.

The Sandy Springs Education Force recently honored volunteers and program partners who support the city’s public school students year-round. The nonprofit works with more than 8,000 kids each year, offering STEAM programs, literacy coaching, college and career mentoring, and after-school support.

More than 400 people attended Envision Perimeter’s State of the District meeting this week to hear how highway improvements and real estate development projects are impacting Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, and Brookhaven.

SANDY SPRINGS SNAPSHOT: Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul attended the April 28 ribbon cutting for the new ceramics studio at the Abernathy Arts Center.

Have a great weekend!
The Rough Draft team

Sandy Springs residents rally against SR 400 construction

Acres of trees have been cleared between Huntingdon Trail and State Route 400 in Sandy Springs, and the Northridge Forest neighborhood is organizing to protect their homes from the impact of the construction.

The noise of traffic on the eight-lane state route is noticeably louder, neighbors agreed at a specially called May 4 community meeting at one of the affected homes along Huntingdon Trail. (pictured)

At least six neighbors along the SR 400 Express Lanes project corridor border the widening project’s construction zone. Instead of a forest between them and an eight-lane highway, there’s a sparse area that offers little protection.

Read Hayden Sumlin’s full report.

Gonna be a homebody… Gonna have a house party

SPONSORED BY ATLANTA HOMES & LIFESTYLES

The Southeastern Designer Showhouse benefiting Solidarity Sandy Springs is open to the public for tours now through May 10 (Mother’s Day!).

Located near Chastain Park, the newly constructed private residence features the work of Suzanne Kasler and 20 other celebrated interior designers. From a pool with sunken firepit to a wellness “hub” with sauna, steam, cold plunge and gym to an F1-inspired game room, the 10,000-plus-square-foot house delights at every turn.

Tickets are on sale now.

Sandy Springs unveils preliminary plan for fire station overhaul

After issuing $50.5 million in debt last summer, the City of Sandy Springs is unveiling site plans, building designs, and a project schedule for its fire station overhaul.

When construction on three fire stations is completed around December 2027, Sandy Springs will have rebuilt or renovated all of its fire stations within the city in roughly five years.

The city’s bond issuance includes a new location for Fire Station 4 off Roswell Road, a rebuild of Fire Station 1 on Spalding Drive, and renovations to Fire Station 3 across from Riverwood International Charter School. Construction on stations 1 and 4 is expected to begin this October.

Learn more about the changes to Sandy Springs’ fire stations.

‘Mean Girls’ makes fetch happen at City Springs Theatre

Recreating iconography is hard. And there might not be a more culturally recognizable mid-oughts artifact than that of 2004’s “Mean Girls,” directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey.

But, the difficulty of recreating mythos has never stopped anyone from trying. The musical version of “Mean Girls” hit Broadway in 2018, updating the movie for a new generation of teenagers. And now, City Springs Theatre Company’s recent production of the musical, which opened on May 1, is pulling a Gretchen Wieners and trying to make fetch happen all over again – to pretty stellar effect.

City Springs’ production of “Mean Girls: The Musical” stars Adagia Rueda as Cady Heron, a teenage girl who has spent her formative years living in Kenya with her scientist mother. When her mom takes a job at Northwestern University, Cady will have to navigate a far more wild place than the Savanna – public high school in suburban Illinois.

Read Sammie Purcell’s review.

What’s doin’ around Sandy Springs

May 8:A First Lady’s Guide to Killing the President at Georgia Ensemble Theatre (multiple dates)

May 11:1776 Musical auditions at Mt. Zion UMC

May 12: Chattahoochee River Art Exhibition at Gallery at City Springs

May 14:Personal Care Open House at Campbell-Stone Sandy Springs

Find more events here.

The Sports Section

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SCORE ATLANTA
BOYS BASEBALL

Holy Innocents’ (26-7): May 14-15 vs. Lovett (24-9)/King’s Ridge (28-4) (GHSA Playoffs)
Lovett (24-9): TBD (GHSA Playoffs)
Mt. Vernon (13-12): Season Complete
North Springs (12-20): Season Complete
Pace Academy (15-15): Season Complete
Riverwood (12-18): Season Complete
Westminster (8-20): Season Complete

BOYS LACROSSE