Tag Archives: community

A new day for Theatrical Outfit in downtown Atlanta

Date: January 27th, 2013, 10:03 pm

By Maria Saporta Published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Friday, January 25, 2013

Theatrical Outfit will celebrate a new era on Jan. 31 — a morning when its mortgage will be burned — providing financial security for the theater company.

That morning, Theatrical Outfit will hand over the title to its downtown building to the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. The foundation will then lease the building back to Theatrical Outfit for $1 a year.
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Posted in ABC Articles | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Amid change in Oak Grove, chicken nachos never dip as a Saturday ritual

Date: January 21st, 2013, 7:47 pm

South Philly owns the cheesesteak.

The deep-dish pizza rose from the north side of the Chicago River.

The best chicken nachos ever can be found at a butcher shop and delicatessen in north suburban Atlanta.

That’s no brag, just fact, according to the regulars who swarm into Oak Grove Market every Saturday for a plate of the eatery’s number one seller.

More than a taste, the nachos are a tradition that helps keep this small business going in the recession, and gives people a one-of-a-kind experience that they won’t get at a chain restaurant. It’s the same recipe, the same day of the week, at the same place – chicken nachos transformed into a social anchor. Continue reading →

Posted in Atlanta, Michelle Hiskey, Saporta, Transformation | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Atlanta Falcons have helped revive community spirit — win or lose

Date: , 10:47 am

By Maria Saporta

The energy — and the tension — in the Georgia Dome on Sunday captures a feeling that has been lost in recent years — a feeling of being in the game.

The last five years have been tough for Atlanta, a city used to being an economic star in the country. The Great Recession hit Atlanta harder than most other cities because it targeted the real estate and banking — two industries that had helped build Atlanta.

And yet, during Sunday’s game between the Atlanta Falcons and the San Francisco 49ers, the city’s troubles are put aside as people rallied behind a team that is only one win away from the Super Bowl.
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Posted in Latest Reports, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Waffle House, Waffle Palace set stage for family memories and cult status

Date: January 14th, 2013, 7:15 pm

As a transplanted Northerner, I misunderstood Waffle House for many years. Wasn’t it just a kitschy Southern chain of roadside dives, frequented by truckers, cheapskates and all-night partiers?

So wrong. Way too many stories, families and milestones stack up at the Waffle House against that easy bias. The restaurant’s 24/7/365 reliability across a network of locations has been going so strong for so long (since 1955) that American culture – not just Atlanta’s — is scattered and covered with Waffle House stories.

Locally, the Waffle House mystique is celebrated on stage with last week’s return of the home-cooked play, “The Waffle Palace: Smothered, Covered & Scattered 24/7/365,” at the Horizon Theatre.

The play’s cast and writers met up with restaurant fans and regulars last weekend at the Waffle House Museum in Avondale Estates. The line between real waffle memories and made-up waffle drama melted like butter on a hot griddle.
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Posted in Inspiration, Michelle Hiskey, Transformation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Counting squirrels adds quirk to Inman Park

Date: January 7th, 2013, 6:53 pm

By Michelle Hiskey

In the 1880s, a dreamy question created the east Atlanta neighborhood of Inman Park: “What if… the streetcar connected downtown with a posh suburb?”

Today, a funky obsession has connected neighbors there: “What if all the squirrels came down from the trees and attacked us in an apocalyptic nightmare?”

From the imagination of local writer Jamie Allen came the acorn that grew into the Inman Park Squirrel Census. From this nutty (to some) idea unfolded a modern fable, a tale of harnessing curiosity and technology to transform how we see our surroundings.

Grounding their wildlife watch is some hard cash: through the social media incubator Kickstarter, the squirrel census recently raised $9,000 to form an LLC and print and sell vintage-style posters of where the squirrels are. Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, Michelle Hiskey, Saporta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Move over, big profit Amazon. Make room for Little Free Libraries.

Date: August 27th, 2012, 4:30 am

A computer will forever spit out a list of “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought….”

But for those of us who want books that tell us stories about our neighbors’ tastes and experiences, and bring us into conversation and community, here’s a recommendation: Little Free Libraries.

Resembling large birdhouses, the Little Free Libraries are weatherproof cabinets with a couple of dozen books inside. Borrow one, read it, bring it back, or bring another. No cards, no fines.

It’s the charm of yard art, the wonder of a message in a bottle, sprinkled with the spell cast by a deft writer.
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Posted in Atlanta, Inspiration, Michelle Hiskey, Saporta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

For Decatur’s Intown Hardware, family and creativity will survive Wal-Mart

Date: April 23rd, 2012, 7:15 pm

When big-box Wal-Mart announced plans to move into indie-minded Decatur, neighbors mobilized protests.

A legal campaign began. Anti-Wal-Mart yard signs popped up. Across the road from the planned development, Tony Powers keeps the keen eye and taste that has made his family business – Intown Ace Hardware – survive and succeed.

As the world gets more homogeneous, his answer is a more diverse identity. His store’s evolving eclecticism mirrors the funky flowering of Decatur itself.
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Posted in Life Changes, Michelle Hiskey, Reinvention, Saporta, Transformation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments