Steamhouse Lounge to host 38th annual Oysterfest in Midtown Atlanta
Steamhouse Lounge’s 38th annual Oysterfest will return to Midtown Atlanta on Saturday, February 21, and Sunday, February 22, 2026, offering two days of seafood, live music, and fundraising for local organizations. The street festival, produced by Rival Entertainment and promoted as “Atlanta’s Original Oysterfest,” will take place near Steamhouse Lounge at 11th Street and West Peachtree Street.
Attendees can purchase a range of seafood options, including fresh roasted and chargrilled oysters, fried oyster po’boys, Lowcountry shrimp boil and the restaurant’s lobster bisque. A full bar will operate throughout the weekend.
The music lineup features Francisco Vidal, Family Truckster, Tyler Neal Band, Classic City Jukebox and Nashville Nation on Saturday, with performances by Francisco Vidal, Andrew Holley, Hallpass and Mo Lowda & the Humble on Sunday.
Weekend tickets are on sale for $25 plus fees and include access to both days of live music. Food and beverages will be sold separately. The event is cashless, and organizers encourage attendees to use MARTA’s Midtown station.
Proceeds will benefit the Atlanta Leadership Club, Shells To Shore’s oyster shell recycling efforts, and Giving Kitchen, which provides emergency assistance for food service workers.
— Derek Prall
Kathy Colbenson receives Buckhead Rotary’s Humanitarian Award
The Buckhead Rotary gave Kathy Colbenson its top annual award — the Rev. Robert Ross Johnson Humanitarian of the Year Award — on Feb. 9 in recognition of her work at CHRIS 180 spanning more than 36 years.
In her acceptance speech, Colbenson spoke openly about the pain she suffered after losing her husband, Pete, and her daughter, Shannon, within months of each other.
“My responsibility as a person, a leader, a humanitarian, is to treat people with dignity and respect, speak truth, act in love, be a voice for those whose voices are not heard, and keep my side of the street clean,” she said.
The question, she said, is what we will do with the time we’ve been given.
For Colbenson, there’s a next act. She announced that she is joining the Cooper Charitable Foundation to expand its work in Atlanta. John Cooper, founder and CEO of Cooper Tacia General Contractors, based in Raleigh, N.C., matches every dollar donated to the Foundation. Scott Stamey, president of CooperTacia’s Southeast region, was present at the Buckhead Rotary meeting.
The foundation has no overhead, so 100 percent of donated funds go directly to working people who need help securing or maintaining housing.
The need in Georgia is great.
“Over 4 million Georgia adults and children are living on the edge; too many have lost healthcare and are living in fear; too many are hungry; too many are homeless,” said Colbenson, who ended her remarks by inviting everyone to join her and others “in the work of humanitarianism.”
— Maria Saporta
Tim Keane, Atlanta’s former head of planning, making moves in Baltimore
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced he has nominated Tim Keane to become the city’s housing commissioner. Keane joined the Scott administration less than six months ago to lead the city’s department of planning.
Keane’s nomination came after the city conducted a national search.
The mayor also added that Keane would lead a six-month study on whether the planning department and the housing agency should be combined.
“We believe that there are serious potential benefits to getting those planners together in one room, working on projects together,” the mayor said in a release.
“The residents of Baltimore deserve a city government that can excel and fully deliver on its promise,” Keane wrote in a text. “Perhaps nowhere is this more important than in the areas of housing, development, permitting, planning and design. The place we share has much to do with our prosperity. It’s exciting that Mayor Scott and his team are fully committed to action and I feel a deep sense of responsibility to make the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Department of Planning the most effective in the United States.”
Keane left Atlanta in February 2022 after serving as the city’s visionary planning commissioner for more than six years. Since then, he has served as the head of planning in Boise, Idaho; Calgary, Canada; then returned to his home in Charleston, S.C. in June 2024. He became Baltimore’s planning commissioner in October 2025.
While in Atlanta, Keane worked with planner Ryan Gravel, of Beltline fame, to develop a conceptual vision of how the city should grow, the Atlanta City Design, which Mayor Andre Dickens recently said continues to be a good framework to guide future development.
— Maria Saporta
Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta chef earns national executive certification
Executive chef Axel Torres of Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta has earned the Certified Executive Chef (CEC) designation from the American Culinary Federation, a credential regarded as one of the most demanding professional certifications for chefs in the United States.
The CEC designation is held by a relatively small number of working chefs nationwide. Candidates must demonstrate years of executive-level kitchen leadership and verified education, and they must pass both a comprehensive written exam and a full-day practical exam judged by certified master and executive chefs.
The certification process assesses culinary theory, sanitation and food safety, nutrition, cost control, beverage management and leadership, along with the execution of classical and contemporary cooking techniques under time pressure.
General manager Nancy Chacon said the certification reflects Torres’ daily leadership in the hotel’s kitchens and supports the property’s focus on personalized guest experiences.
Torres’ career includes roles at AAA Five Diamond and Forbes-rated properties, with experience at Ritz-Carlton and Park Hyatt hotels and work alongside chefs José Andrés and Wolfgang Puck. He also holds a sustainability certification from MAD Academy in Copenhagen and emphasizes responsible sourcing, local partnerships and mentoring emerging culinary professionals.
— Derek Prall
Spelman College hosts fourth annual HBCU Game Jam to grow diverse gaming talent
Spelman College will host its fourth annual HBCU Game Jam Feb 20 to 22, aiming to expand representation in the video game industry by introducing more Black students to game development careers. The event comes as the global gaming market generates more than $159 billion annually, while only 4 percent of game creators identify as Black and 23 percent as women.
For the first time, the Game Jam will be held in Spelman’s new Mary Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation and the Arts and will be led by the College’s Innovation Lab, a campus-wide makerspace focused on the intersections of art, science, technology and engineering.
The weekend program includes a Game Development Day conference with workshops and seminars, followed by a 24-hour overnight hackathon where student teams will build original video games. The event concludes with a Game Jam Expo, where participants present their projects to a panel of judges.
Up to $5,000 in prizes will be awarded. Spelman assistant professor of interactive media and CodeHouse co-founder Jaycee Holmes, a 2016 Spelman graduate recognized by Forbes and AFROTECH, is among the leaders helping guide the initiative.
— Derek Prall
Chattahoochee Nature Center marks 50 years with yearlong celebration
Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2026 with a series of special programs and events highlighting its growth from a small grassroots effort into one of Georgia’s leading environmental education centers. Founded in 1976 by local citizen activists, the nonprofit now spans 127 acres along the Chattahoochee River and welcomes more than 150,000 visitors annually.
Over five decades, the center has expanded its facilities and programming, adding a marsh boardwalk, expanded wildlife habitats, Camp Kingfisher, the Discovery Center, Ben Brady Lakeside Pavilion, a wildlife rehabilitation center and the Unity Garden, which donates produce to North Fulton Community Charities. Recent additions include the River Boardwalk Trail, “The Flow” stairway mural and the $9.8 million Growing Tomorrow’s Nature Enthusiasts campaign.
Anniversary activities include a “50 Things to Do at Chattahoochee Nature Center” challenge, with participants completing themed activities for a chance to win prizes. Official 50th birthday events will be this summer, featuring an adventure evening with canoeing and archery, a Camp Chattahoochee gathering for Camp Kingfisher alumni, and a free community celebration.
— Derek Prall
Georgia-Pacific appoints Nate Medina senior vice president and general sales manager of GP PRO
Georgia-Pacific has named Nate Medina senior vice president and general sales manager of GP PRO, the company’s professional products business. In his new role, Medina will oversee field sales, national accounts and distribution teams, with a focus on commercial execution and strengthening customer partnerships.
Medina has spent 14 years with Georgia-Pacific, holding leadership positions across the Consumer Products group in sales, sales strategy and commercial finance. He previously served as vice president and general manager of Retail Tissue, Towel and Napkin, where he led the customer brands TTN business. Most recently, he was vice president and general manager of GP PRO’s Towel and Napkin business.
As senior vice president and general sales manager, Medina will focus on accelerating growth, deepening customer collaboration and delivering long-term value for GP PRO and its partners.
— Derek Prall
