😳 Cows, watch your backs
Wednesday, Oct. 14 — It’s Cathy from Rough Draft with my weekly newsletter on Dunwoody. Gird your loins, people. The Chick-fil-A on Jett Ferry Road will be closed starting Oct. 16 for renovations with a vague reference to “see you in the new year,” according to a sign on the door. It’s “my pleasure” to point you to their other locations – here,here, and here. You’ll live.
Before we get to the news, here are a few items of general information.
🗳 High Street will hold a “Haunting on High” event on Oct. 31, with live music, entertainment, face-painting, and much more. It’s free, but you need to register.
Pebble Tossers, a Dunwoody-based youth service-learning nonprofit, has opened applications for middle school students to join its third Middle Years Leadership Program (MYLP) cohort, which will launch Jan. 9, 2027. The deadline to apply is Dec. 11, 2026.
🗳️ Advance voting started on Tuesday. Anytime between now and Oct. 30, go to the Dunwoody Library, which typically has a wait time of no minutes.
🐈⬛ Let’s enjoy a kitten story before we get to the Dunwoody news,
Cathy
🎨 Join Doraville Art Center for our Doraville Art & Culture Festival, Sat., Oct. 24, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at Assembly Park. Live performances, artist vendors, and family fun for all ages. Free admission. Learn more here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
A High Street pivot
👍 The Dunwoody City Council responded positively to GID Development Group’s request to modify plans for the $2 billion High Street campus along Perimeter Center Parkway at the DeKalb-Fulton border.
The property owner is requesting to amend its approved site plan, swapping proposed apartments for a central greenspace and luxury retail in the next phase of its 10-block development. The first of two public hearings took place on Oct. 13, and council members will vote on Oct. 26.
Mayor Lynn Deutsch said she thinks the proposed swap at High Street is critical. The change is exclusive to Block 6, in the center of the proposed 10-block development along Perimeter Center West.
🙌🏾 Read more about it in Hayden’s story.
What’s it Worth?
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Going door to door for prizes
👀 Active Dunwoody is bringing a creative twist to community movement with its free Doorwoody Scavenger Hunt on Thurs., Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m.
The event will start at Vintage Pizzeria, with participants walking or running through Dunwoody Village, solving clues, completing challenges, and searching for miniature art installations created by Dunwoody High School students.
According to a release from Active Dunwoody, the scavenger hunt “brings together several of the things that make a community thrive: movement, local businesses, creativity, and connection.”
🎨 Join Doraville Art Center for our Doraville Art & Culture Festival, Sat., Oct. 24, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at Assembly Park. Live performances, artist vendors, and family fun for all ages. Free admission. Learn more here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
AMPLIFY finalists announced
👨🏼🎨 The Spruill Center for the Arts has selected three finalists for its AMPLIFY mural contest, an annual competition to paint a mural on the historic Spruill Smoke House on Ashford Dunwoody Road. The artists were selected out of 140 submissions and include the first ever out-of-state finalist.
“This year’s submissions were incredibly competitive,” said Spruill CEO Alan Mothner in a press release. “The Smoke House mural is an iconic Dunwoody landmark, and we are excited to add another chapter to its legacy.”
The three finalists include Tamar Atik, a muralist based in the U.S. and Mexico, Chad Creasy, an Atlanta-educated and based oil painter who also serves as a painting instructor at Spruill Center, and Ayana Ross, a SCAD graduate and Atlanta-based oil painter.
❤️ One of my favorites, Manty Dey’s 2024 winning artwork, is pictured above. Read more here about this year’s finalists.
Israel Baseball tosses it over to Dunwoody
🇮🇱 + ⚾️ Israel Baseball is welcoming high school baseball players to meet professional coaching staff and decision-makers at a prospect showcase on Sun., Oct. 18, in Dunwoody.
Players in 15U and 18U age groups will demonstrate their talent and receive high-level instruction, as well as build their own profile. They’ll learn what it’s like to be on the Israel baseball team, which has participated in three World Baseball Classics.
The event will feature Nate Mulberg, an Israel Baseball coach for the 2020 Olympics and current head coach at Johns Hopkins University; Chase Engelhard and Ari Fabain, two Atlanta natives who played for Israel’s national team; Danny Pralgo, founder of 643 DP Athletics; and David Frankel, the head coach of the Maccabi baseball program in Atlanta.
🧢 Read Logan C. Ritchie’s story here.
PICTURE THIS: NO BATS HERE
🔔 Last Friday, I was driving along Jett Ferry and noticed something you don’t often see in the area: a large crane at All Saints Catholic Church. I think it’s part of the church’s Renew & Restore program that includes work on the church bells and other capital improvement projects, but I could be wrong. Let me know.
