???? So many opinions

It’s not just pollen in the air

March 25 — It’s Cathy from Rough Draft with my weekly newsletter on Dunwoody. This week has been two weeks, if you know what I mean, with a lot more than yellow dust swirling around the city. Here are a few newsy items before we get to the crux of it.

The Dunwoody Young Men’s Service League recently completed its annual Ultimate Gift Project, partnering with the Community Assistance Center to improve the grounds and interior of the Sandy Springs-based nonprofit’s facility. 

Join Dunwoody City Council Member Joe Seconder on March 29 for a special Community Bike Ride celebrating Dunwoody’s new neighborhood path connection linking Eidson Road and Cherry Hill Lane. Here’s more information.

 The Student Assignment Project road show is traveling to Dunwoody High School tomorrow, March 26, for the second round of feedback about school closures and consolidations. We covered the Lakeside cluster meeting on March 23, and suffice to say, it didn’t go well.  

⁕ Don’t forget that Stage Door Theatre is opening its production of “Steel Magnolias” on April 4, and Spruill Center for the Arts’ big shindig, Artistic Affair, is this Saturday. Click on the links to buy tickets.

Let’s go,
Cathy 

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra presents Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” Live in Concert. Get ready for the ultimate cinematic experience as you watch the full movie on a 40-ft screen while the ASO performs the score live! March 28 & 29. Get your tickets now! SPONSOR MESSAGE

DeKalb County Celebrating Women’s History Month

SPONSORED BY DEKALB CEO LORRAINE COCHRAN-JOHNSON

 This Women’s History Month, DeKalb County invites you to a powerful evening of leadership and inspiration on Wed., March 25 at the Fernbank Museum.

CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson will join chairwomen from Cobb, Clayton, Gwinnett, and Henry counties, five leaders representing more than 3 million Metro Atlanta residents. This dynamic conversation will explore leadership, service, and the future of our communities.

➞ This event is SOLD OUT! You can livestream the event on DCTV. Learn more here.

SAP positions aired at DHA meeting

  The Dunwoody Homeowners Association at its March 22 meeting heard a variety of opinions about the DeKalb County School District’s sweeping Student Assignment Project, including two school parent representatives tentatively in support of the changes at their schools, and one firmly against it.

The DHA offered the school representatives the opportunity to discuss their views on the plan, which proposes expanding Chesnut Elementary and closing Kingsley Elementary School. It proposes that Vanderlyn, one of the county’s highest-achieving schools, be closed or converted to an annex for Dunwoody High School.

 Read more about what the reps like and dislike about the plan.

Dunwoody to resurface 32 streets as part of 2026 paving plan

 The City of Dunwoody will begin its 2026 Street Paving Plan next week, resurfacing 32 streets spanning 13.8 lane miles. The city has budgeted $2.75 million in Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds for the project, with an additional $564,000 provided by the Georgia Department of Transportation through the Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG).

A citywide paving assessment completed in 2023 established project priorities and set paving plans through 2028. Paving schedules and project updates will be posted on the city’s website.

“Regular resurfacing is essential to keeping our road network in good condition,” said Dunwoody Public Works Director Michael Smith. “Over 90 percent of the city’s streets are in fair or better condition, and pavement repair costs have been cut in half as a result of the city’s steady investment in resurfacing.”

 Visit here to see which 32 streets are included in the project.

A much more terrifying jump

I’m going to take a personal point of privilege to discuss Dunwoody-born Max Woodburn, whom I’ve known most of his life.

I’ve seen him grow from a precocious kid to a headstrong teenager to a dedicated young businessman who has made it his life’s work to pursue his passions, whether it be his landscaping business or jumping out of perfectly good planes hundreds of times. (In fact, he convinced me to make the leap in 2021 – probably the most terrifying and mentally challenging thing I’ve ever done.)  

Max (pictured above on the right with his brother, Zach) has been recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, after experiencing serious health complications that led to this unexpected news. He is currently undergoing intensive immunotherapy to build strength and energy, and will soon begin a six-month course of chemotherapy.

If you feel so moved to support his treatment and recovery, here’s a GoFundMe page started by his friends.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra presents Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” Live in Concert. Get ready for the ultimate cinematic experience as you watch the full movie on a 40-ft screen while the ASO performs the score live! March 28 & 29. Get your tickets now! SPONSOR MESSAGE

What’s it Worth?

SPONSORED BY ATLANTA FINE HOMES SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY

This gated Buckhead estate on 2.2± acres features soaring ceilings, refined interiors, a heated pool, and a designer pool house surrounded by private wooded grounds.

Guess the price below!

Spruill Gallery’s ‘Night Swim’ pairing 

There is something Shannon Morris has learned about pairing artists: the through line eventually comes. You just have to be patient enough to recognize it when it does.

For Morris, curator at Spruill Gallery, that moment arrived when she found herself standing in Thomas Flynn II’s Atlanta studio, looking at his layered, swamp-dense paintings, and thinking immediately of Hannah Ehrlich and the way both artists wrestle material into something psychological.

“I can just sometimes see people’s works together,” Morris said. “And then they really filled in all of the depth themselves.”

 Read Sherri Daye Scott’s story about the gallery pairing here.

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