The Bluebird Patch

Do you have a way with words? Put your spelling skills and Scrabble talents to the test on June 4, 2015 for the annual Spellabration to benefit Literacy Action, Georgia’s leading provider of adult education. Hosted at the Fabulous Fox Theater, Spellabration is a unique celebration of literacy including a speed Scrabble Tournament and a Spelling Bee. The evening begins with a Spelling Bee, followed by a round of Speed Scrabble. Two more entertaining and taxing Bees and then onto the final Scrabble round. Many of the region’s top companies purchase tables and send teams to compete. King & Spalding LLP has won the completion the past two years.  “ Literacy Action builds better futures for undereducated adults by teaching literacy, life and work skills that empower them to reach their highest potential,” said Austin Dickson, executive director of Literacy Action, “We look forward to bringing together Atlanta’s top companies for an exciting and competitive Spell...

There is a super cool event coming to the city of Decatur in celebration of the 30 th anniversary of the Decatur Business Association. Slide The City is a family fun day in the sun featuring a 1,000ft waterslide that will stretch down W. Ponce de Leon Avenue, from Clairemont Avenue to Ponce de Leon Place. Slide the City takes the concept of the backyard Slip'N Slide and super-sizes it. The event is not free and you need to register online. For more information please visit: www.slidethecity.com .  

A day full of fun and family-friendly activities at the Georgia Veterans State Park - SAM Shortline Depot. Call for more information. Come celebrate National Train Day at the Cordele-Crisp "Touch-A-Train" event presented by SAM Shortline! Young and old will be able to get up close and take pictures with our train, including our Heart of Georgia engine and the train conductors. Other equipment will be on display including tractors and big trucks too. There will also be oppportunities to take a short train ride over Lake Blackshear. There will be plenty of activities including bouncy houses, putt-putt golf, bean bag toss and plenty of great food! Meet Smokey the Bear, the Chick-Fil-A Cow and the Georgia State Parks Gopher! Event is Saturday, May 9th from 10am to 4pm at our Georgia Veterans State Park Depot in Cordele, Georgia at beautiful Lake Blackshear! Admission is $2 per person (under 2 free). Train rides over Lake Blackshear are $5 per person (under 2 free) This...

Peachtree and Ponce Celebration Is a Thank You to Atlanta for Saving the Theater The Fox Theatre proudly announces  The Fox Theatre Block Party  on Sunday, June 7 from noon – 6 p.m. The celebration is a thank you to Atlanta for supporting the Save the Fox campaign in 1974-1975 and an opportunity to share the icon with a new generation of fans. In 1974, the future of the legendary Fox Theatre was uncertain. Citizens rallied to “Save the Fox” and raised $1.85 million to restore the beloved Atlanta landmark, resulting in the Fox’s triumphant return in 1975 as an opulent performance venue. The block party will provide guests the opportunity to experience the magic of the Fox through live entertainment on two stages, special tours, food and drinks, activities, and prizes. Confirmed music includes Francine Reed, Bogey & the Viceroy, Orquesta MaCuba, and Tribute – A Celebration of the Allman Brothers Band. More ac...

The DeKalb Choral Guild, in partnership with the Jim Cherry Memorial Planetarium, presents a choral concert inside the Fernbank Planetarium on Friday, May 8th, 2015, at 8:00 pm. “Sure Stars Shining” is a concert of songs about the night sky presented under the night sky. Stars will twinkle and dance on Fernbank’s dome, and other images of the universe will appear and recede, while the guild sings songs highlighting this stellar theme. Of particular note on the program is Eriks Esenvald’s “Stars,” which uses wine glasses as accompaniment. Other works include David Dickau’s “Stars I Shall Find,” Randall Thompson’s “Choose Something Like a Star,” and Imant Raminsh’s “In the Night We Shall Go In.” The evening’s highlight will be a song composed specifically for this chorus and concert by N. Grant Pfeifer. This work, titled “The Voiceless Silence,” is a setting of poetry by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Pfeifer’s “A Star,” which sets poetry by Grace Noll Crowell to music, is also on the ...

Local Letter Carriers Join in Effort To Stamp Out Hunger! (Duluth, GA) – The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will conduct its 23rd annual nationwide  Stamp Out Hunger!  Food Drive on Saturday, May 9 th .   Stamp Out Hunger!  is the nation’s largest single-day food drive.  Last year, with the help of thousands of volunteers, letter carriers all across America collected more than 74.4 million pounds of non-perishable food—the second-highest amount since the drive began in 1992, bringing the grand total to just under 1.3 billion pounds, with more than 186,000 pounds collected in metro Atlanta.              Making a donation is easy.  Customers should leave their non-perishable food donations in a bag near their mailbox on Saturday, May 9 th , before their letter carrier arrives.  In the days leading up to the Food Drive, letter carriers will be delivering special bags, al...

Music & Lyrics by Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx Book by Jeff Whitty Tony-Award Winner for Best Musical, Book, & Score!  Winner of 7 Suzi Bass Awards (2011), including Best Musical! Smart, hilarious, risqué and full of heart,  Avenue Q  is Broadway’s smash-hit Tony award winner for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book and a worldwide sensation.  Horizon Theatre is back for an encore of Avenue Q , winner of 2011 Suzi Bass Awards for Outstanding Production of a Musical and 6 other Suzis Awards.   The neighbors are nice on Avenue Q, the only address you can afford when you’re fresh out of college, out of a job, or just trying to find your way in life. Princeton, Gary Coleman (yes, that one!), Christmas Eve and their newfound friends (played by talented actors and puppets) valiantly seek jobs, dates, and their ever-elusive purpose in life.   Sesame Street  meets  The Simpsons  in this upbeat musical for grown-u...

Artist performance schedule announced ahead of  May 2  event ATLANTA — Black Lips guitarist and co-founder Cole Alexander rounds out the lineup of artists performing at Historic Oakland Cemetery on  May 2  at  Arts At Oakland Presents: ROAMtransmissions’ The Cryptophonic Tour .  Performing as Old King Cole Younger, Alexander will cap off the evening with a solo performance on the steps of Oakland’s Dodd Mausoleum. The first in what is to become an annual art event at the cemetery, The Cryptophonic Tour is a one-day celebration and exploration of Historic Oakland Cemetery’s unique musical history.  The Cryptophonic Tour features performance art, sound art and music inspired by the cemetery’s musical past, with work from: Paige Adair, Madeline Adams, Shorty Bedford, Tera Buerkle, Chris Childs, Chris Devoe, Chelsea Dunn, Dust-to-Digital Sound System, Jane Garver, Meta Gary, Jesse Karlsberg, Meredith Kooi, Michika McClinton, Ryan Peoples, Gr...

PIPPIN is back on Broadway for the first time since it thrilled audiences 40 years ago… and now it’s won the Tony Award® for BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL! With a beloved score by Tony nominee STEPHEN SCHWARTZ (GODSPELL, WICKED). PIPPIN tells the story of a young prince on a death-defying journey to find meaning in his existence. Will he choose a happy but simple life? Or will he risk everything for a singular flash of glory? PIPPIN  takes the stage at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre from May 5-10 as part of the Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta 2014/2015 series.  Tickets go on sale February 15. Tickets start at $33 and are available by visiting  foxtheatre.org/pippin , calling  1-855-285-8499  or visiting the Fox Theatre Box Office (660 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30308). Group orders of 10 or more may by placed by calling  404-881-2000 . The performance schedule is: Tuesday-Thursday      ...

Fernbank Science Center in Decatur is now accepting applications for its 2015 sessions of AviationCamp , a one-week summer day camp for rising 4 th to 6th grade students this summer. Two sessions will be held, June 15-19, and June 22-26, 2015. First-time campers learn about the principles of flight. Advanced campers with more experience will try out flight simulators and fly remote-control helicopters. Cost of the camp is $300 per week. Full or partial scholarships, made possible by program sponsor Lockheed Martin, may be available for students who receive free or reduced-price lunch at their school. Fernbank Science Center is owned and operated by the DeKalb County School District, but Aviation Camp is open to students from anywhere. Deadline to apply is May 4.

Las Mujeres Verdaderas Tienen Curvas Real Women Have Curves  is a  stage play  by  Josefina Lopez  and is set in a tiny  sewing factory in East  Los Angeles  in September 1987. It's marked by the issues of  gender politics  and the  Latina   immigrant  experience. The story is told from the point of view of Ana, the youngest employee at the factory. Ambitious and bright, Ana yearns to go to college , but doesn't have the  money . The action foll ows the course of a summer at the factory, as the women talk about their lives, loves and deepest desires while attempting to meet impossible production deadlines. Recommended for teens and adults interested in culture, Real Women Have Curves plays the Aurora stage  April 10-26.  This is the first time this play is presented in Georgia.  If you have never seen this wonderful play, here are 5 reasons why you should bri...

Scholarships to be awarded to four organizations Atlanta Track Club announced today its scholarship competition for the 2015 Peachtree Junior. Four group scholarships totaling $5,000 will be awarded on behalf of Atlanta Track Club’s Kilometer Kids youth running program. The 29 th running of the Peachtree Junior will be held on Saturday, May 16 at Piedmont Park. The Peachtree Junior Challenge will award scholarships to the four organizations that have the most kids register for the Peachtree Junior events. The scholarships are used to fund the organization’s future physical activity programs. Participants must pre-register online and include the name of the school or youth running club to be eligible for the competition. For the first time, Peachtree Junior will offer three distances instead of two: A 3K (ages 7-14), a 1/2K (ages 5-9) and 50m Dash (ages 6 and under). The family friendly event allows kids to experience the excitement and prestige of the AJC Peachtree Road R...

Families invited to whip up some fun and give back to their community during special cooking event at Mall of Georgia, Northlake Mall and Town Center at Cobb Mall of Georgia, Northlake Mall and Town Center at Cobb are set to stir up some fun during their annual Simon Kidgits Club Lil Chefs event on Saturday, May 16! Young foodies will enjoy a variety of appetizing activities for the whole family, including cooking demonstrations, prize giveaways and more. Attendees are also encouraged to help those in need by bringing a non-perishable food item to be donated to local food banks.

Second annual Silence the Growl kicks off United Way of Greater Atlanta is kicking off its second annual Silence the Growl – its campaign to fight summer hunger among children who receive federally funded free and reduced meals during the school year. Last year, United Way and its partners fed more than 7,000 meals to children that are not part of a summer lunch program. This year’s goal is to provide more than 15,000 meals. The campaign ends June 1. “ Throughout the 13-county region, more than 350,000 children run the risk of losing one or more meals each day during the summer,” says United Way of Greater Atlanta president Milton J. Little, Jr. “No child should go hungry. Last year our community stepped up and provided more than 7,000 meals to children. This year, we hope to double that.” There are several ways you can get involved and partner with United Way’s Silence the Growl campaign.

We recently visited Little Tart Bakeshop at Kroger Street Market for a quick breakfast bite. This picturesque french-inspired pastry shop run by baking whiz Sarah O’Brien offers hand-made artisan bacon-cheddar scones, crème fraiche quiche made with cheese from Sweet Grass Dairy, muscadine galettes & tarts, cookies, and the most amazing buttery almond croissants. They make everything from scratch, by hand, with the finest local ingredients they can find. Named one of the top 10 restaurants in Atlanta by The Guardian newspaper and one of America's Best Bakeries by Travel & Leisure magazine, and featured in shows like the Layover with Anthony Bourdain and The Best Thing I ever Ate, Little Tart Bakeshop is one of those places you must visit if you are in Atlanta. Everything they make is absolutely ahh-mazing. You go with a preconceived notion of what a good pastry should taste like, then you take a bite and you realize you have ...

Food is essential to life. So why is it so hard to find good food close to home? We are so excited Carver Neighborhood Market is coming to South Atlanta. It wasn’t too long ago that almost the entire City of Atlanta was a food desert and people had to travel to DeKalb's Farmers Market to get their produce. But not anymore, the Carver Neighborhood Market will be opening a 2,000-square-foot grocery store in the middle of an area lacking healthy food options. Carver Neighborhood Market​ believes that food can unite people and communities together across lines that too often divide us. The market will be located at 1297 Jonesboro Rd Atlanta GA 30315. For more information please visit: www.carvermarket.com

Every now and then we come across families that are doing a magnificent job at helping kids embrace, encourage and empower the love for animals and their habitats. Today we wanted to introduce you to the Curren family from Pierce’s Scaly Adventures, an Internationally broadcast television series for children and families that focuses on offering positive, educational and COOL programs for kids - especially teens! The Scaly Adventures Crew, composed of Pierce, Tanya and Rick Curren, travels the world featuring many different animals, as well as their own 32 reptiles. The purpose of the show is not only to teach what reptiles are really like, but also to inspire kids through family-friendly programming. Each episode focuses on teaching kids how they should "interact with, care for, and protect animals." They are passionate about inspiring kids to follow their dreams, overcome their fears and to live a life of passion. If you have a teen or a little one t...

Annual Spanish Language programming celebrates Gwinnett’s Hispanic community Celebrate the power of womanhood, as five Mexican-American women venture down the road of self-discovery in a coming-of-age drama that will shower audiences of all ages with inspiration and courage! As part of Aurora Theatre’s annual Teatro del Sol, a Spanish language theatre initiative with a goal of the preservation of Hispanic cultural heritage, Real Women Have Curves plays April 10-26, 2015. Based on playwright Josefina Lopez’s own young adult experiences, this widely recognized portrayal of immigration and its impact on women and their families has sparked a greater conversation and call to action for young immigrants struggling to defy the odds and achieve the American dream.

Zoo Atlanta unveiled a new s tate-of-the-art amphibian and reptile complex featuring more than 70 species on Thursday April 2, 2015. Scaly Slimy Spectacular: The Amphibian and Reptile Experience is an $18 million project housing around 100 individual animals representing more than 70 species from around the world. This exhibit includes more than 65 animal habitats and some 60,000 gallons of water in its aquatic environments, including a 30-foot naturalistic waterfall and a river designed to replicate Georgia’s own Flint River system.  Habitats represent some of the world’s most iconic wild places, including a windswept desert, African savanna, Australian billabong, mangrove swamp, Georgia tidal creek, Pacific Northwest stream and many more. The complex’s Georgia eXtremes section houses native species and showcases Georgia’s role as a North American hotspot of biodiversity. “ This is a truly special moment for the Zoo Atlanta family. This is a...