Merry Christmas
Dec. 25 — From all of us at Rough Draft, we send our best wishes for a very Merry Christmas.
⛅ We didn’t have 73° on our weather bingo card for Christmas Day, but here we are.
🚨 Police are investigating after swastikas were spray-painted on utility poles and on hiking trails in Roswell, Sandy Springs, and Virginia-Highland.
🛡️ Columbus, GA-based Aflac said that a June cyberattack exposed personal data tied to roughly 22.6 million people, as the insurer began notifying victims and offering credit monitoring.
🤢 The CDC said a salmonella outbreak linked to raw oysters has sickened at least 64 people nationwide, including cases in Georgia.
💼 Longtime DeKalb County Tax Commissioner Irvin J. Johnson will retire on Dec. 31, after nearly 26 years with the county.
🏈 According to Sports Illustrated, the Falcons have hired consulting firm Sportsology to audit its football operations, including possible front-office and coaching changes.
🎄 Listen to the 99th Annual Spelman and Morehouse Christmas Carol Concert tonight at 8 p.m. on 90.1 FM WABE.
👨👩👧 The Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta is hosting its Family Fun Day today from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.
ELSEWHERE
🇻🇦 In his first Christmas sermon, American-born Pope Leo urged Catholics to welcome the poor and strangers. “Where there is room for the human person, there is room for God. Even a stable can become more sacred than a temple,” he said.
🇭🇳 Nasry Asfura, a conservative businessman, was declared Honduras’ next president, after delays, protests, and fraud allegations marred the razor-thin vote.
🌧️ California continues to be hit by heavy rain and flash floods, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency across multiple counties.
🏈 The NFL has three games on tap today:
- Dallas @ Washington – 1 p.m. (Netflix)
- Detroit @ Minnesota – 4:30 p.m. (Netflix)
- Denver @ Kansas City – 8 p.m. (Prime Video)
🏀 There is also a robust slate of NBA games today on ESPN/ABC:
- Cleveland @ New York – Noon
- San Antonio @ OKC – 2:30 p.m.
- Dallas @ Golden State – 5 p.m.
- Houston @ Los Angeles Lakers – 8 p.m.
- Minnesota @ Denver – 10:30 p.m.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Holiday happenings
• Top art stories
AND
• Camp planning for kids
🌟 When the sun sets, the woods come alive at WildWoods: AGLOW. This after-hours experience combines art, nature and music at Fernbank Museum, featuring scenic trails aglow with light outdoors and nighttime access to museum exhibits inside. Open on select nights through Feb. 28, 2026. SPONSOR MESSAGE
1. What’s doin’ on Christmas Day?
After you unwrap all the presents and have your holiday meal, you might want to get out of the house for a bit. Here are a few suggestions:
🌟 Garden Lights, Holiday Nights: The Atlanta Botanical Garden is open tonight for its festive lights display.
🐧 Georgia Aquarium: Spend the holidays with the fish, whales and penguins as the Downtown attraction is open from noon-6 p.m. today.
🎡 SkyView Atlanta: Downtown’s giant Ferris Wheel offers great views of the skyline and Centennial Olympic Park.
🍿 Movies at The Plaza: The historic Plaza Theatre in Poncey-Highland is open this evening and showing the family-friendly “The Muppet Christmas Carol” at 6:30 p.m. (pictured), the 1974 cult horror film “Black Christmas” at 8:30 p.m., and new release “Marty Supreme” at 4:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. “The Secret Agent” and “Sentimental Value” are also in the lineup.
🎄 Christmas lights: If you want to take an evening drive, we created a map of where to see some of Metro Atlanta’s most colorfully decorated homes and neighborhoods.
Ready, Set, A GLOW!
SPONSORED BY FERNBANK MUSEUM
🌟 When the sun sets, the woods come alive at WildWoods: AGLOW.
This after-hours experience combines art, nature and music at Fernbank Museum, featuring scenic trails aglow with light outdoors and nighttime access to museum exhibits inside.
🌙 Select nights through Feb. 28, 2026.
2. Top Atlanta arts stories of 2025: Access, guidance, and remembrance
🎨 Atlanta’s arts scene didn’t follow a single script in 2025. It expanded in some places, closed down in others, and, at key moments, forced the city to reckon with what – and who – it values.
Sketchbook’s most-read arts stories in 2025 didn’t add up to a single trend. Instead, they clustered around three recurring themes: who gets in, who gets pushed out, and who gets remembered.
➡ Read more in Sherri Daye Scott’s roundup here.
🌟 When the sun sets, the woods come alive at WildWoods: AGLOW. This after-hours experience combines art, nature and music at Fernbank Museum, featuring scenic trails aglow with light outdoors and nighttime access to museum exhibits inside. Open on select nights through Feb. 28, 2026.
SPONSOR MESSAGE
4. This Atlanta startup is making camp planning easier
⛺ Winter break is here, and if you’re a parent, you know the drill. With school out of session, it is now about filling your kids’ schedules with camps.
Camps are not only popular during the summer months. They are available during every school break. The problem? Finding, comparing, and booking camps has become its own logistical nightmare that includes endless browser tabs, email chains, waitlist confusion, and missed registration windows.
Enter Atlanta-based entrepreneur Kathryn Hatcher, who has created Camply, an all-in-one platform to help parents to simplify camp planning.
➡ Read the whole story from Hypepotamus here.
🌟 When the sun sets, the woods come alive at WildWoods: AGLOW. This after-hours experience combines art, nature and music at Fernbank Museum, featuring scenic trails aglow with light outdoors and nighttime access to museum exhibits inside. Open on select nights through Feb. 28, 2026. SPONSOR MESSAGE
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