January 2019
Features
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Lassiter High School Band teaches discipline, love for music, and—most important—belonging
Lassiter High School Band, a nationally recognized ensemble that will perform in this month’s Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, teaches discipline and love for music. But most important, for students on the brink of adulthood, it’s a place to belong.
How you can help Atlanta: A guide to volunteer opportunities
Throughout metro Atlanta, about 5,000 nonprofits strive to make their communities stronger. Helping out can be as simple as tutoring from your office computer or as deep as committing to a long-term mentorship. Whether your priority is the cause, the location, or the schedule, here are some worthwhile organizations that depend on volunteers.
We asked prominent Atlantans what drives them to volunteer—and why you should too
John Lewis, Michelle Nunn, Rodney Bullard, Warrick Dunn, Ann Wilson Cramer, and Gracelyn Leath—we asked prominent Atlantans seven questions about what drives them to volunteer. Here’s why they give their time—and where you can give yours.
Georgia pecan farmers have thrived for a century. After Hurricane Michael, they’re unsure if they’ll survive another generation.
After Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Hurricane Irma in 2017, and Hurricane Michael in 2018, Georgia’s pecan farming industry is suffering. Georgia lost a sixth of its total pecan trees from Hurricane Michael and generations of farmers lost their crops—giving them a long road to recovery. Combined with increasing tariffs, many farmers are uncertain about their future.
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The Connector
Don’t Miss List: Our top 5 event picks for January
Fahamu Pecou has come back from tragedy to host a solo show at Emory’s Michael C. Carlos Museum, Justin Timberlake is coming to State Farm Arena, and Atlanta is celebrating what would have been Martin Luther King Jr.’s 90th birthday.
By the Numbers: What Atlanta can expect as Super Bowl LIII comes to town
What does it take to host a Super Bowl? The host committee is expecting a wave of more than 1 million visitors over the 10-day hoopla that culminates in the Big Game on February 3 at the 75,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The event will mark Atlanta’s third Super Bowl and the first in 19 years. Let’s hope for zero freak ice storms this time.
After her mother’s death, a successful Atlanta metalworker is exploring her softer side
For the past 20 years, Corrina Sephora’s name has been synonymous with metal. But when the artist’s mother was died to cancer in 2017, Sephora wondered: Had she done everything she wanted to do? Sephora decided to “throw myself into my work in a new way. To really touch on my emotions, my intuition. I see [my new work] as a sort of storytelling, a form of meditation in the making.”
Exit interview: Nathan Deal on the issue that brings him to tears, why he didn’t expand Medicaid, and more
On January 14, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal hands the keys to Brian Kemp and will settle in Habersham County, where he and his wife, Sandra, will retire. He looks back at criminal justice reform, the issue that brings him to tears, why he didn’t expand Medicaid, the religious liberty bill, and the importance of baby steps.
Soul Food Cypher taps hip-hop’s competitive spirit to foster fellowship
Soul Food Cypher’s One Hundred is one of 26 events the seven-year-old organization hosts each year that aim to turn hip-hop artists into community leaders by building camaraderie, encouraging collaboration, and providing a platform.
The Bite
The verdict on 3 newcomers to Atlanta’s dining scene: Banshee, Pho Nam, and Root Baking Company
You have to try the pepperoni butter at East Atlanta Village’s Banshee, the pho at Krog Street Market’s Pho Nam, and the bread at Ponce City Market’s Root Baking Company. Our mini reviews of the newest restaurants in Atlanta.
The Christiane Chronicles: For the love of casseroles
Betsy McKay has kept the art of the casserole alive for almost eight years at a refined little spot in Morningside called…Casseroles. I can’t drive past the small easel she sets out on Lanier Boulevard without craving her tamale pie, chicken and biscuits, and eggplant Parmesan. Also: Why restaurant terraces and patios are almost always a bust.
Keio Gayden gives aspiring chefs a competitive edge at a high school where most lunches are free
Miller Grove High School, located in southeast DeKalb County, is the largest high school in the district. The population is 96 percent black and 76 percent low-income, and a majority of students receive free or reduced-price lunch. And for more than 10 years, one of Miller Grove’s bragging rights has been its culinary program, headed by chef Keio Gayden.
Take a tour of Indian food in Decatur with Chai Pani’s Meherwan Irani
As Meherwan Irani of Chai Pani’s dynasty grows, so does Irani’s eagerness to explore local Indian restaurants. He frequents the small, mom-and-pop places around Decatur, near Patel Plaza. Here are four of Irani’s top spots for that Indian family vibe—and some superb vegetarian grub.
The Goods
Where to shop in Atlanta now: Gunner & Lux’s J.Crew collaboration; Peridot on the Line, Ink + Alloy open
Atlanta’s favorite nine-year-old jewelry designer Riley Kinnane-Petersen has a new necklace at J.Crew; Ink + Alloy, which sells Bohemian-inspired accessories, opened in Decatur; and Peridot on the Line offers vintage finds.
3 tips from Atlanta experts to make meditating less intimidating
Meditation doesn’t require fancy gear, but it does require sitting still and being silent, which can be intimidating to the uninitiated. Here, three experts—Meryl Arnett of Sacred Chill West, Shannon Salter Sliger of SAMA: Food for Balance, and Daniel Phillips of the Atlanta Shambhala Center—share their tips.
Room Envy: This den has a Western lodge vibe and a built-in bar
Combine a ’70s lounge with an old-school Western lodge, and you’ll get this funky den, says interior designer Beth Kooby Sobbott. She created a cozy place for the Marietta homeowner to play slide guitar and wet his whistle.
My Style: Emily Sistrunk, photo stylist and creative director of Pixhouse Studios
Emily Sistrunk’s style hasn’t changed in 20 years. It has always been bold, eclectic, and a mix of high and low fashion. The stylist-turned-studio owner got her start working for music producer Dallas Austin. Now she’s known as a go-to stylist for commercial advertising who opened her own studio, Pixhouse, six years ago.
Miscellaneous
Flashback: The first transcontinental phone call was made from the Jekyll Island Club in 1915
Theodore Vail, the president of AT&T, had hoped to be alongside Alexander Graham Bell in New York when the inventor made the first transcontinental call to his trusted assistant, Thomas Watson, sitting 3,400 miles away in San Francisco. Hobbled with a leg injury on Jekyll Island, where he and other titans of industry escaped hard northeast winters, Vail instead participated from a parlor in the Jekyll Island Club as J.P. Morgan Jr. and William Rockefeller stood nearby.
