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Community Corner

Today's Greatest Person

Having spearheaded the Main Street renovation, Honey Van De Kreke has her eyes set on a cultural center for Tucker.

Most of Tucker’s longtime citizens will agree that the founders of the Main Street Tucker Alliance, Honey Van de Kreke, along with her colleagues Charlton Allen and Wynn Teale, were the determined volunteers who took on the challenge of expanding business by renovating downtown Tucker to create a more intimate feeling of a small-town community.           

As anyone knows who has been involved in politics, things move at a snail’s pace, and it takes patience, endurance and the willingness to attend endless organizational and planning sessions to tackle even the most minimal goals that are necessary in accomplishing the larger vision. 

This dynamic trio began the Main St. Tucker Alliance with the idea of addressing a possible downtown renovation. “Our goal was to beautify the corridor making it more appealing to attract new business," said Van De Kreke. "I couldn’t have done it without attorney Charlton Allen who was with me all along the way handling the huge volumes of legal work or civil engineer Winn Teale who understood all of the technical engineering necessities like traffic flow and electricity placement. He worked directly with Georgia Power to keep us on track.”

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DeKalb County Commissioner Elaine Boyer was also strategic in helping to navigate a study and visual plan, Van De Kreke explained. “Starting in 2004, Elaine guided us through the proper protocols to obtain a number of federal grants, the first of which was for $900,000 allowing the vision to actually begin materializing.”

In 2005, because Main Street Alliance did an economic study for the whole area through the Atlanta Regional Commission, the organization was awarded a Livable Center Initiative Grant for economic development.

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“We were proud to report that we were the first unincorporated area to win a Community Choices Award grant. We can be very proud of our enormous output of volunteer effort; it wouldn’t have happened without them. It was because of our strong volunteer base that Commissioner Elaine Boyer trusted that we would accomplish what needed to be done," Van De Kreke said.

Without raising taxes or relying on fund raising, the whole downtown renovation was accomplished with federal grant money. Along with the street renovation, the organization was able to buy plants, park benches, bike racks and new trash cans.

"One of the most exciting things we were able to accomplish was having traffic reduced from four lanes to two that allowed passing cars to slow down enough to see Tucker’s businesses,” said Van De Kreke.

The determination and leadership shown by Van de Kreke and her colleagues Allen and Teale typify the efforts that a handful of willing people are able to produce in their community. Without these heroic movers and shakers, nothing would happen.

To celebrate the labor of love shown by the many volunteers who played such a strategic role in accomplishing this huge task, part of the funds were used to finance the recent, hugely successful Tucker street party.

“We are so thrilled with the results we were able to produce," added Van De Kreke. "I can’t say thank you enough to the wonderful people who helped us. We just want to encourage others to come forth to help us realize the dreams we have for Tucker, which include a future cultural center.”

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