The evening started last Thursday with the anxious anticipation of parents, cameras in hand, waiting for the Northlake Children’s Chorus to ring in this year’s holiday season. Tucker resident Jeff Sears watched while daughter Annabelle sang Jingle Bells and Christmas is Coming with her fellow carolers. “The best yet,” acknowledged Sears. “They picked a good day of the week, in conjunction with the (Tucker) Farmer’s Market. More people are here this year.” Ester Davis agreed this year has been the best Christmas on Main Street yet. “We come to almost every event downtown. It makes you feel …

It was the spectacle of all spectacles. The monster tractor tire had been in the South Fork Peachtree Creek by Cowan Road for over five years. Many of TCA's annual volunteers have tried and tried again to get that bad-boy out of the creek, but to no avail. With an old-fashioned heave-ho, a dozen men pushed the 800 pound, five foot by two foot monster from the creek onto the shoreline. But it’s not over yet. More rolling, pushing, chaining, and dragging; the monster tire nicknamed “Cara” finally makes its debut back to civilization.  The cheers were heard by many and the glee felt by all. It …

If you’ve never noticed the line of litter along Lawrenceville Highway at the bend with Hugh Howell road, you’re not paying attention. Or you’re living under the railway bridge. But that’s a different story. That strip of roadway by the MARTA bus stop has been an on-going eye-sore for years now, with people pointing fingers trying to figure out who’s responsible for picking up the garbage. Tucker Civic Association’s Parks and Green Space co-chair, Beth White Ganga, decided to do something about it, and, along with her fellow green space committee members, has managed to pick up 550 pounds of …

Kathy and Harry Powell are the Tucker Team helping make our history, well, historical. She founded the Tucker Historical Society 11 years ago, and he’s been President for the past five years. With over 100 members, and a big event planned for next month’s 120th Tucker Celebration, they have their hands full. You can learn a lot by flipping through Tucker Historical Society’s many photo albums. “The majority of our archives come from local families,” says Harry Powell. “The idea is to bring all this together to allow folks who live here to understand how much history there is in this small …

The day flowed like a winding creek familiar with its own twists and turns. We’re old pros now, all in our work gloves, long pants, and sun screen. Over fifty volunteers, shovels and pitch forks in hand, marched down the newly blazed walking trail at the Tucker Nature Preserve. Our mission? Clear the outdoor classroom area, cut a fallen log into seats for the kids, and remove invasive plants. Tucker Civic Association has sponsored the Great American Clean Up for the past two years, hoping to make it an annual tradition. “The toughest job is definitely the invasive plant removal,” explains …

Just about every weekend for the past eight years, DeAnn Peterson and her son step outside their back door in Tucker to walk their small corner of Camp Creek. Their typical creek-bed journey brings Great Blue Heron visits, darter fish watching, and your typical floating trash pickup. But over the last two months Camp Creek brought them a very different story down her riverbed... Thick black sewer water that stuck around for days before Mother Nature was able to flow it further downstream. The Culprits? Two sewer force main breaks. One from lift station #28 by the old Sears building and the …

A beautiful sea breeze kissed our faces as we climbed down the hill at Highland House Farms towards the five-acre garden. Filled with organically grown fruits, herbs, and vegetables this special corner of the world has some big plans in the works for the children of Jamaica. Highland House Farmer Mark McBean used a machete to open fresh coconuts for us to drink as we inspected the rows of healthy plants, including Ackee trees (Jamaica’s national fruit), bananas, arugula, scotch bonnet peppers, mango, papaya, callaloo, and bok choy. Brenda Isaac, owner of Highland House Farms and Founder of …

It was a bright, crispy, cold Sunday afternoon in Tucker as parents, grandparents, and kids gathered around the playground in Henderson Park, awaiting their instructions. You could feel the anticipation in the air. After receiving their clues and maps, it was READY, SET, GO for these 80 participants in the Great Henderson Hunt - Henderson Park's 1st Annual Treasure Hunt. Twenty-five teams raced to the finish line to win prizes donated by local Tucker businesses. Local 7 donated three $50 gift certificates, Stars and Strikes donated a family fun pack worth $60 plus two $25 game cards. Movie …

It’s 8 p.m. on Wednesday night and Swami Gone Bananas sits down to the microphone at the WATB 1420am radio station on North Decatur Road in Scottdale. The ambiance is like no other radio show - candles lit, strobe lights on, and blue lighting overhead. “I just scanned the dial one day and came across 1420am radio and I realized where they were broadcasting from… I’ve passed (the station) 20 million times on North Decatur Road," explains Swami on how he got started as a radio show host. WATB can be heard world-wide on the Internet at WATB1420.com, but Swami doesn’t consider it global. “It’s …

We have an Award-winning company in our midst! The Southeast Business Unit of Quest Diagnostics Inc. based in Tucker, was honored last month by winning Keep DeKalb Beautiful’s “Green Business Award.” Quest Diagnostics is a leading provider of diagnostic testing information for cancer, gene-based testing, and drug of abuse testing. According to Newsweek Magazine’s 2011 Green Ranking system, Quest Diagnostics is now #118 on the U.S. 500 Green Company Score List, up 240 spots from last year’s ranking. The Tucker location has also been awarded “Top Workplaces” recognition by the Atlanta Journal …

The day was picture perfect. Cool breeze, bright warm sun, and a blue sky so clear it looked violet. Dozens of teenagers, tweens and adults marched down Stapp Road on the western end of Tucker last Saturday morning towards their work project for the day - a 160-person “Rivers Alive” cleanup at Twin Brothers Lakes on the historic Johns Homestead property. This 47-acre piece of incredible Tucker green space has two lakes and wetlands teeming with wildlife such as beaver, blue herons, hawks, ducks, turtles, snakes and fish. The lakes were originally created 60 years ago as a pay fishing lake. …

We all tend to day dream during the hot summer Georgia months about “sweatshirt weather.” You know, those lovely autumn days with a cool chill in the air and colorful leaves on the ground. With colder weather on the horizon, let’s take this last opportunity before old man winter comes to upgrade and improve our lawns and neighborhood front entrances. How about a little friendly competition... Let’s light a fire under our neighbors to make a change for the better. Let’s clean up and decorate our lawns and front stoops, as well as plant some autumn flowers and shrubs around our street entrances…

If you haven’t driven down Henderson Road lately, you may not recognize the park area just west of the Henderson Park soccer fields. We Tucker park enthusiasts were thrilled a year and a half ago when the Henderson Park Community Garden broke ground on the empty, County-owned lot adjacent to where the Tucker Youth Soccer Association (TYSA) hosts many of their games and practices. From sunflowers to scarecrows, it’s always refreshing to drive by and witness the community garden grow and change season to season. Over the past few months, I have been taking photos occasionally of the upgrades …

Have you ever experienced a waterway cleanup? It’s quite entertaining, I must say. Expect the obvious - you’ll get wet and dirty climbing down creek beds and sloshing around steams, but you also may experience the unexpected. You may find hundreds of dollars worth of stainless steel as we did during last year’s Rivers Alive cleanup. You may pull out a 1920s Orange Crush glass bottle from deep down in the silt of the river bed. I now have an old “OC Beverage” bottle gracing my home, with the patent date of July 20, 1920 embossed right into the bottle itself. They sure don’t make things like …

As Lead Coordinator for this year’s annual Rivers Alive cleanup, I have the down and dirty yet entertaining job of driving around the nooks and crannies of our town to find the dirt. The old junk. The illegal garbage dumping grounds of Tucker, Georgia. With our rivers, lakes and streams in mind, I scout out used and abused locations around town that need a little love and attention. Twin Brothers Lakes, various small local parks, South Fork Peachtree Creek, just to name a few sites. If you’re friends with me on Facebook you may recall my upsetting rant a few days after last year’s Rivers …

Ever hear of something called a Road Diet? Think of it as the equivalent to Weight Watchers, only for roadways. Many of us need tummy tucks and tightened buttocks. Well, communities across our country are trimming the fat off their wide streets, adding bike lanes and center turn lanes for a leaner look. Three weeks ago, Tucker resident Jennifer McKillop heard what sounded “like a bomb going off” in her front yard. She and many of her neighbors ran from their homes to find a car flipped over in her front yard (see photos). Two Tucker teenagers drag racing down Chamblee-Tucker Road caused a …

Your local public park may not be something you analyze often but it does affect your quality of life. The next time you’re relaxing in your hammock or watching the little ones jump off their swing set, take a minute. Ask yourself, what’s my personal dream-o-vision for my favorite corner of the world? We have some hidden gems right here in Tucker, some tucked away sweet spots that are underutilized or sadly, not utilized at all. Not a visitor. Nada. No one. And many are worthy of our enjoyment. Ever hear of Twin Brothers Lake at Johns Homestead off Lawrenceville Highway? Most Tuckerites don’t…

It all starts with this unworldly characteristic of the mind we call vision. Susan Farrar, the founder of Henderson Park Community Garden, had it. It’s the kind of thing that keeps you up at night. Those nagging, wonderful, lovely little details you wish would stop going round and round in your head but can’t wait to work on. Tucker Civic Association’s May membership meeting last Monday night brought together park and garden visionaries of all types. Curious community members to DeKalb County staffers, all of whom work tirelessly to improve our local parks and community gardens. These staff …

Tucker’s “Great” American Clean Up last weekend was a bitter sweet experience. As organizer, I was so very impressed with what we accomplished, yet I couldn’t help but be disappointed in the number of attendees. The 50 or so folks who showed up last Saturday made a huge difference at the three clean-up locations around downtown Tucker. The Trees of Tucker pathway around the Rec Center looks fantastic, and the Tucker Nature Preserve's front entrance and clustered trees have been given a gorgeous new facelift. If we had the expect 100 people we had planned for, we could have finished the job. …