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Local Group Seeks to Connect Neighbors to Work on Issues Affecting the EAV Community

By Lyn Hillman The East Atlanta Village Neighborhood Assembly (EAVNA) is holding monthly meetings to discuss several issues of interest to the community. EAVNA is a grass-roots organization that is working to identify issues of importance to residents of the East Atlanta neighborhood and beyond. The group held its initial meeting this past February in…
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In Memoriam: Jay Botwinick, Grant Park Family Man, Entrepreneur, and Respected Community Member

Obituary Originally Posted by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care Jay David Botwinick, age 66, passed away peacefully at home on August 7. Born on September 11, 1959, Jay was the son of Jerome and Joan Botwinick of Patchogue, NY. He graduated from Patchogue-Medford High School and Emory University. He met his wife Michelle during the first…
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A Cleaner Neighborhood, One Hour at a Time

By Leslie W. Colley Every day there seemed to be more trash on the sidewalks. An East Atlanta resident watched her aging dogs, who were losing their ability to walk, stumble into it on their daily walks. She thought about parents with strollers trying to navigate around the piles. And she kept asking herself the…
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Monday Night Singing at Ormewood Church

By Sophie Cox Do you like to sing? A small group of neighborhood people gather informally once a week to sing together. We sing a variety of songs including traditional rounds which make learning and hearing harmonies easy. Please join us for an hour of relaxed, uplifting, and easy singing. All are welcome! Time: Monday evenings…
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East Atlanta Library Programming Gets a Boost

By Shannon Sanders The Friends of the East Atlanta Library (FEAL) and the library staff work hard to make the library a great resource for the community. The new branch manager, Hannah, and the relatively new youth librarian, Eden, are offering programming for all ages. FEAL supports their endeavors where needed financially and in promotion…
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Fall Planting in Atlanta

By Sydney Sevdalis By late August, many Atlanta gardens look finished. Tomato plants are struggling from heat and disease, squash vines have summoned every squash bug in the neighborhood, and gardeners are tired of watering a desert. Yet this is also the beginning of one of the region’s best planting seasons. Atlanta’s relatively mild winters…
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Zesto, Zesto, Zesto!

By Tom McGowan As you can see from the title, I can’t say enough about this iconic hamburger and ice-cream emporium. There are only two locations left in Atlanta: one in East Atlanta at the corner of Moreland Avenue and United Avenue, and the other in Forest Park. Per their website (zestoatlanta.com), Zesto’s history starts…
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EACA Meeting Minutes – Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Call to Order / Recording Start: 7:00pm. Approval of June 9, 2026 Meeting Minutes – Approved. Approval of June 2026 Treasurer Report – Approved. Elected Officials’ Reports Council Member Bakhtiari’s Office: Not present; however, they sent slides with the following updates: Displacement remains a top concern of Councilmember Bakhtiari’s because District 5 has witnessed its…
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GPNA Meeting Minutes – Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Time: 7:30 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. Location: Oakland Visitor Center (2nd Floor) / Zoom. Call to Order and Welcome: President Robert Selby called the meeting to order at approximately 7:35 p.m. He thanked the Oakland Visitor Center for hosting and provided an overview of GPNA membership and voting eligibility (attendance at one prior meeting required…
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Why Heirloom Tomatoes Taste Better

By Sydney Sevdalis There is a moment in summer when a tomato stops being an ingredient and becomes the whole meal. It is warm from the garden and perhaps a little misshapen. Its delicate skin splits easily, and its colors may be anything but uniform, but add a little salt, and the whole tomato comes…
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What We Save When We Save Seeds

By Sydney Sevdalis At the end of the growing season, a gardener faces a small but consequential choice. We can eat the last perfect tomato, or we can pause. We can scoop out its seeds, clean and dry them, tuck them into a paper envelope and write the variety and year across the front. It…
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Where Housing and Harvest Meet

By Sydney Sevdalis For nearly two decades, seven acres along Locust Lane in Southeast Atlanta sat empty. The land was once part of the Leila Valley public housing community. After the apartments were demolished in 2008, the property remained unused, a familiar sight in neighborhoods where disinvestment has left land waiting years for a new…
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A Roof Over Your Head: Help St. Paul Continue Its Legacy of Serving Thousands of Neighbors

By Rebecca Wallace For years, St Paul United Methodist Church has worked to be a good neighbor to local residents, community organizations, and businesses. From offering children and youth activities and sharing meeting spaces to hosting Halloween hospitality and the Candlelight Tour of Homes, the church has supported countless people and organizations over the years.…
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Recent Burglary Incidents

By the Grant Park Security Patrol Since the COVID-19 pandemic, burglaries in the neighborhood have been very low. Unfortunately in the past four weeks, there has been a cluster of daytime burglaries in the southwest corner of Grant Park. Houses on Woodson Street, Hill Street, Bass Street, and Augusta Avenue have been targeted. There might…
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Update in Rental Costs

By Paul Bolster Given the neighborhood discussion of the future of Trestletree Village Apartments, it is important to keep in mind the cost of rental housing in our neighborhood. It takes a good income to rent apartments in the Porch Press area. The recent annual report from the Low Income Housing Coalition says it takes an hourly…
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Vultures

By Jeremy Varner On a rainy Monday this past spring, I was driving my son to school when we were delayed behind a garbage truck. We started talking about garbage collectors and waste management. Given how hard the garbage men work outside all day in the rain or heat, he thought they should earn $100,000/year.…
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Posts published by “Tom McGowan”

Zesto, Zesto, Zesto!

Zesto, Zesto, Zesto!

By Tom McGowan on September 13, 2026

By Tom McGowan As you can see from the title, I can’t say enough about this iconic hamburger and ice-cream emporium. There are only two…

STEM, STEAM – It’s All About Teaching!

STEM, STEAM – It’s All About Teaching!

By Tom McGowan on March 24, 2026

By Tom McGowan I was teaching young school children how to do stage carpentry, how to wire a model of a house, about solar energy,…

Go Fly a Kite (Or, A Gift from the Kite Man)

Go Fly a Kite (Or, A Gift from the Kite Man)

By Tom McGowan on November 18, 2025

By Tom McGowan I dream of there being a kite college, a place of kite making and flying. I envision them at a pep rally…

Bolts, or “He Can Fix Anything but a Rainy Day”

Bolts, or “He Can Fix Anything but a Rainy Day”

By Tom McGowan on April 17, 2025

By Tom McGowan Coming across a speech a relative gave many years ago on the importance of apprenticeship caused me to reflect on the importance…

The Poet and Her Poems

The Poet and Her Poems

By Tom McGowan on November 23, 2024

By Tom McGowan Oh Riki. I have to admit I don’t like poems. That is not quite right… I do like some poems and occasionally…

A Neighbor Remembers: Ethel Mae Copeland

A Neighbor Remembers: Ethel Mae Copeland

By Tom McGowan on May 22, 2024

By Tom McGowan I once told a story titled Disappear. It was about people passing away and disappearing from our lives. When I sent it to…

Higher Education Has Its Own Set of Nightmares

Higher Education Has Its Own Set of Nightmares

By Tom McGowan on October 15, 2023

By Tom McGowan There is north and south, and south it was in the long run. I left New York City and moved to Georgia…