FLOWERY BRANCH - The pilot known as the Candy Bomber for air-dropping handkerchief-tethered chocolate and gum to the children of Berlin in 1948 will recreate the historic drops in Flowery Branch Saturday.
Between 10:45 a.m. and 11 a.m., 88-year-old retired Air Force Col. Gail Halvorsen will drop more than 600 candy parachutes in an open field behind the industrial park on Thurmon Tanner Parkway.
To further mark Georgia's April 25 ``Day of Service'' declared in a proclamation by Gov. Sonny Perdue, attendees are being asked to bring canned food to donate.
June marks the anniversary of the Berlin Airlift of 1948. When the Soviets formed a blockade around Berlin after World War II, Halvorsen and other U.S. pilots airlifted food and other supplies into the city.
They dropped 23 tons of candy too.
The candy drop is one of several Day of Service events in Georgia. (See list below.)
In addition, a number of unrelated events in the Gainesville area on Saturday are also expected to draw large crowds: Murrayville Days, the Spring Chicken Festival in Gainesville and Arcade's Centennial celebration.
................................................................................
APRIL 25 "DAY OF SERVICE" ACTIVITIES IN METRO ATLANTA AND OTHER PARTS OF NORTH GEORGIA
"HELPING HANDS AND LINKING ARMS"
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS)
www.dayofservice2009.org
BARROW COUNTY
AUBURN AREA
TIME/PLACE: 9a - 4p at Kiesel Park
·2009 City Fest Auburn Kiesel Park -- Local LDS congregations in the metro Columbus area will be providing some 70 volunteers to freely give of their time to help staff the City of Auburn's major festival.
BANKS COUNTY (SEE ENTRY UNDER CLARKE COUNTY)
BARTOW COUNTY
CARTERSVILLE AREA
TIME/PLACE: 8a (Kick-off at LDS Church located at 870 Peeples Valley Rd, Cartersville / estimate 400 volunteers participating)
·Flowing Branch Troubled Youth Home -- Refurbishing of bathroom including painting and installing new toilet, painting and installing new screen on screened porch, backfilling an open area, putting up gutters along a 44-foot stretch of the building and repairing erosion around foundation. Other tasks include building a new wall and adding shelving to an existing wall in this same building, digging a fire pit and improving the border adjacent to the walking path.
·Boys and Girls Club of Bartow -- Painting/stripping parking lot, repairing and painting under the drive-through.
·Bartow County Woman's Shelter - Building a stepping stone path, sand & paint two picnic tables, & paint an existing adult swing
·Dillinger Park - Collecting trash, painting, and a roofing project
Partners - Flowering Branch Troubled Youth Home, Woman's Shelter of Bartow Co., Boys and Girls Club of Bartow Co., City of Cartersville at Dillinger Park
CARROLL COUNTY
CARROLLTON AREA
TIME/PLACE: 9a - 2p at the LDS Church at 601 Stewart St., Carrollton 30117
·Clothing Swap - Clothes will be collected at various locations throughout the county (churches, businesses and county offices), and then taken to the church to be sorted for donation with community coming to Free Swap. Leftover items will be donated to those in need.
Partners - Boy Scouts of America, Church of Christ
CHEROKEE COUNTY
WOODSTOCK AREA
·Downtown City of Woodstock - Clean and paint in the downtown public areas (100 volunteers)
CANTON AREA
·MUST Ministries - Clean and organize food pantry areas (30 volunteers)
CLARKE COUNTY (ALONG W/ BANKS, ELBERT, JACKSON, MADISON, MORGAN, WALTON, AND WHITE)
ATHENS AREA
TIME/PLACE: 10a - 12p at the LDS Church at 706 Whitehead Road Athens, GA 30606
·Food Drive - Starting April 10, 10 LDS congregations will team up with local churches to collect food for the Northeast Georgia Food Bank and other local food banks in eight counties including Banks, Clarke, Elbert, Jackson, Madison, Morgan and Walton. Food will be organized and then delivered to the organizations on April 25 with volunteers also helping to sort and shelve food at delivery locations.
Partners -- Northeast Georgia Food Bank, White County Food Pantry, IGA, Ingles, Piggly-Wiggly and local churches
COBB COUNTY
MARIETTA AREA
·Marietta National Cemetery - Clean and straighten headstones, plant sod (100 volunteers)
New Hope Cemetery Service - Clean historical cemetery
·Bullard Farm (Park) Cleanup - Work with community beautification effort to clean large parcel of land recently acquired for a park in W. Cobb County (200 volunteers)
·MUST Ministries - Clean and organize food pantry areas (60 volunteers @2 facilities)
TIME/PLACE: 8-9a (kickoff at Aviation Softball Complex where people will be assigned areas to clean from 9a-1p)
·Keep Marietta Beautiful - Marietta's 175th Anniversary - Volunteers (estimate 500) from Keep Marietta Beautiful, Treekeepers, Marietta Parks & Recreation, Marietta PD, Sawyer Road School, Global Youth Service Day, First United Methodist Church, Islamic Center of Marietta, East Cobb Islamic Center and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as helping hands come together to make our community a better place including graffiti cleanup, landscaping, tree planting, weeding, mulching and maintenance, stream bed cleanup and electronics recycling. Working on the following:
1.Electronics Recycling
2.Creek Clean-up at the Aviation Softball Complex
3.Sawyer Road Elementary School Nature Trail Creation and Seedling Planting
4.Marietta Police Department Painting
5.Lewis Park Bleacher Painting
6.Merritt Park Mulching and Land Maintenance
7.Graffiti Paint Over
8.Cole St. & Lemon Street Mulch, Prune & Trash Pick-up
9.Bellemeade Mulch & Trash Pick-up
Partners - Keep Marietta Beautiful, County Parks and Recreation, Cobb County Collaborative (GYSD), Marietta
Kiwanis Club, First Methodist Church of Marietta, St. James Episcopal Church of Marietta
PAPER MILL AREA
TIME/PLACE: 9a - 2p at Cobb Street Ministries
·Cobb Street Ministries - Services include cleaning the vans and buses used to transport children, planting flowers, pressure washing outside decking, washing windows in the facilities, and general landscaping.
POWDER SPRINGS AREA
TIME/PLACE: 9a - 12p at The Square and City Hall
·Powder Springs Flowers on the Square - Cleaning and planting at the Square and City Hall.
DEKALB COUNTY (SEE LISTING UNDER FULTON COUNTY)
DOUGLAS COUNTY
TIME/PLACE: 9a - 12p at the Liberty Grove Cemetery and Old Miner's Cemetery
·Cemetery maintenance and indexing - Cleaning up, maintaining, and inventorying the cemeteries in Douglas County to preserve history and to provide the public with an on-line cemetery database for research purposes. (200 volunteers)
Partners - Douglas County Cemetery Preservation Commission, Douglas County Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals
ELBERT COUNTY (SEE ENTRY UNDER CLARKE COUNTY)
FULTON COUNTY (SOME AREAS OF DEKALB COUNTY)
ATLANTA AREA (SOME AREAS IN DEKALB COUNTY)
TIME/PLACE: 9a - 12p with lunch held for volunteers at the LDS Church at 1450 Ponce de Leon Ave. with 4 check-in sites at:
1. Lionel Hampton Trail-meet at the North end of the trail at Willis Mill Rd in SW Atlanta.
2. Freedom Park-meet at The Carter Center parking lot
3. Stone Mountain Trail-meet behind Agnes Scott College-follow the signs
4. Whetstone Creek Trail-meet near Bolton Academy, follow the signs
FULTON COUNTY CONTINUED (SOME AREAS OF DEKALB COUNTY)
·Pick-a-Path Project - Volunteers will "pick a path" in the Atlanta City limits to clean. Their efforts will include major and minor debris removal, planting, pulling invasive species, painting the bottom half of light poles, removal of litter, limbs, leaves, and unwanted pine straw, mulching around trees, weed beds, wiping down signs, benches, bike racks, and trash receptacles, clean or paint graffiti out, and bag all debris (expecting 300+ volunteers).
Partners - PATH Foundation, Atlanta Area Council of Boy Scouts, Atlanta Bike Coalition, Park Pride, TREES Atlanta, The Trust for Public Land, The Home Depot Foundation, The PATH Foundation, Park Pride, Skanska, The Beltline Partnership, Atlanta Community Tool Bank, WAWA, WAMBA, Freedom Park Conservancy PIC, Cox Conserves, EarthShareGA and Habitat for Humanity.
ALPHARETTA AREA
TIME/PLACE: 8am Wills Park
·Birmingham Park - Clean up the Willis Park dog area for additional park use.
Partners - City of Alpharetta Recreation and Parks Department.
MILTON AREA
TIME/PLACE: 8:30a at Birmingham Park
·Birmingham Park - Volunteers will reclaim an area used for years as an old dump, remove barbed wire and other cross-fencing in the existing hardwood forest, repair existing roads and provide barriers for unsafe areas, mow existing pastures and clear debris from Little River.
Partners - City of Milton, Milton Grows Green and Milton Business Alliance.
GWINNETT COUNTY
CENTERVILLE AREA
TIME/PLACE: 9a, LDS Church located at 3930 Mink Livsey Rd, Snellville
·Storm Drains - Stencil local storm drains to help stop storm water pollution.
Partners - Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, Comets in Action (student service club at South Gwinnett High School), and several local homeowners' assoc.
DACULA AREA
TIME/PLACE: 8:30a at 701 Hi Hope Lane, Lawrenceville 30043
·Non-Profit Organizations Cleanup - Partnership with Community of Christ Church in providing service for Lawrenceville-based Creative Enterprises (non-profit organization working with disabled adults) and United Cerebral Palsy. Projects including landscaping, painting and general repairs.
DULUTH AREA (JOHNS CREEK LDS CONGREGATION)
TIME/PLACE: 9a - 12p
·River Trail Middle School Clean Up - Beautification of the school in Duluth.
GRAYSON AREA
·Harbins Park Clean Up - New park opening is being worked on so it's ready for its April opening.
LAWRENCEVILLE AREA
TIME/PLACE: 8a at 225 Bethesda Church Rd., Lawrenceville
·Bethesda Park Clean Up - Help to enhance and beautify the park, volunteers earning free pool pass.
Partners - Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation.
LILBURN/SNELLVILLE AREA
·Homebound Seniors - Help spruce up homes of homebound seniors by doing clean up and yard work and some in-home help.
Partners - Gwinnett County Senior Services.
NORCROSS/PEACHTREE CORNERS AREA
TIME/PLACE: 9a
·Norcross Cooperative Ministries - Canned food drive in addition to gathering critical baby needs such as diapers and children's books and toys.
·Norcross Outreach Center (9a at the 128 Lawrenceville St., Norcross, 30071) of the Latin American Association -- Preparing food boxes and landscaping. ·Rainbow Village - Landscaping and repairs.
·Perimeter Church Home Repair Ministry - In cooperation with the group to provide home repair for Senior Citizens.
Partners - Norcross Cooperative Ministries, Norcross Extended Stay, and Rainbow Village.
GWINNETT COUNTY CONTINUED
TIME/PLACE: 9a at 128 Lawrenceville St., Norcross, 30071
·Norcross Outreach Center (9a at the 128 Lawrenceville St., Norcross, 30071) of the Latin American Association -- Preparing food boxes and landscaping.
SUGAR HILL AREA
·Five Loaves and Two Fishes Project - Canned food drive to feed the hungry in our community April 4-25.
(website www.fiveloavesandtwofishes.org
Partners -- Mountain View Clinic (Dr Parker), Crown Mountain Clinic, St. Luke's Church, Chestatee Regional Hospital, "Helping Place" in Dahlonega, "The Place" in Cumming, United Methodist Church - Suwanee
·Free Community Concert April 25 & 26 - 65-voice Sugar Hill LDS Choir and the 60-piece Gwinnett Community Choir present their "In Praise of Heroes" themed concert series at 7 p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church located at 4833 Suwanee Dam Rd., Suwanee near North Gwinnett High School with attendees asked to bring canned food to support Five Loaves and Two Fishes project (website www.sugarhilllds.org).
·Berlin Candy Bomber U.S. Air Force Pilot Gail Halvorsen - Recreates 60-year-old historical candy parachute drops over sites in North Georgia on April 25 with attendees invited to bring canned foods to site. Halvorsen being honored at concerts.
HARALSON COUNTY
BUCHANAN AREA
TIME/PLACE: 9a - 12p, Buchanan Town Square
·Flowers on the Square - Create flower baskets for the town square as well as other places in historic downtown Buchanan. Workers will be planting, sprucing up and cleaning out the areas as well extending services to outer areas such as the elderly.
Partners - CHL Corporation, Blossman Gas, Hardin Fine Photography, Advanced Logistics, Master Gardeners Association, Evan Cook Eyewear, Jim Cash Pharmacy, Sherry Bookkeeping, United Methodists, Master Gardener Interns of Haralson County, Buchanan Women's Club, Haralson County Historical Society, Friends of the Library
JACKSON COUNTY (SEE ENTRY UNDER CLARKE COUNTY)
MADISON COUNTY (SEE ENTRY UNDER CLARKE COUNTY)
MORGAN COUNTY (SEE ENTRY UNDER CLARKE COUNTY)
NEWTON COUNTY
CONYERS/COVINGTON AREA
TIME/PLACE: 8a at camp off Hwy 36 South of Covington (720 FFA FHA Camp Rd., Covington 30014)
·FFA (Future Farmers of America) Camp - Help clean the facilities, clear hiking paths, and many other projects to prepare the camp for the new season.
PAULDING COUNTY
DALLAS & HIRAM AREAS
TIME/PLACE: 9a
·New Hope Cemetery, The Silver Comet Trail and Downtown Hiram - Cleaning up these areas (250 volunteers).
Partners - 1st United Methodist Church of Dallas, Paulding County Board of Commissioners, local Boy Scout Troops
WALTON COUNTY (SEE ENTRY UNDER CLARKE COUNTY)
WHITE COUNTY (SEE ENTRY UNDER CLARKE COUNTY)
(AccessNorthGa.com's Ken Stanford contributed to this story.)
Monday
October 7th, 2024
7:40PM
