georgia news

COMPILED BY JENNIFER J. HEWETT

Battling childhood cancer

After a three-year battle, Joanna McAfee lost her life to cancer in December 2005 when she was 6 years old. Her parents, Jeff and Misty McAfee of Warner Robins, established the Joanna McAfee Childhood Cancer Foundation to raise awareness, provide support and help fund research for childhood cancer. Their latest project is a specialty license tag called the “Joanna Tag,” which will be available for the state of Georgia.

The foundation, staffed completely by volunteers, relies on individual donations, company and corporate sponsorships, and grassroots funding initiatives to help with their projects.

Reservations for the “Joanna Tag” began Jan. 2, but the actual production of the tag cannot begin until 1,000 tags are reserved. The tag’s cost includes a one-time manufacturing fee of $25 (at the time of the application) and an annual renewal fee of $25, along with the tag fees that normally occur. The foundation receives $10 of the manufacturing fee and $10 of the annual renewal fee for each tag. As of last month, more than 420 tags had been reserved.

To reserve the “Joanna Tag,” submit an application to your local tag department with the appropriate payment or go online for an application at www.supportcancerkids.org.

—Ashley Spillers

Celebrating jazz

The largest free jazz festival in the country kicks off May 1 with a monthlong celebration of jazz in metro Atlanta, culminating in a three-day event set for Memorial Day weekend in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park.

The 30th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival offers performances from Georgia-based youth ensembles and international jazz legends to master class workshops and the REEL Jazz Film series throughout the month of May in various venues, including restaurants, amphitheaters, hotels and parks throughout the metro area.

For a schedule, visit www.atlantafestivals.com or call (404) 853-4234.

Bogue wins poetry ‘bee’

Roswell High School 10th-grader Kelsey Bogue was named the 2007 statewide winner of Georgia’s Poetry Out Loud competition, held March 18 at the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta, for her delivery of the poem “Sentimental” by Albert Goldbarth. The Poetry Out Loud program encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization and performance, with local competitions taking place in the classroom and school-wide events with winners moving on to the statewide challenge.

Bogue took home a $300 prize and advances to the national finals in Washington, D.C., where she will compete May 1 for a chance to win a $20,000 scholarship. Roswell High, where Bogue plays trombone in the band, also received $500 toward the purchase of poetry books.

Poetry Out Loud is a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, and in Georgia was sponsored by the Atlanta-based Center for Southern Literature.

For more information, visit www.poetryoutloud.org.

Before you fish

Georgia’s new 2007-2008 sport fishing regulations are available online through the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) at www.gofishgeorgia.com. Printed versions are also available at WRD offices, state parks and more than 1,000 fishing license retailers statewide. Contact your local WRD office, or call (770) 918-6406 for more details.

Georgia glimpses

• Georgia’s night sky is featured in “Georgia StarWatch,” (Voyageur Press, $26.95) a user-friendly guide for beginning and intermediate stargazers living in Georgia, by Minnesota-based broadcast meteorologist and writer Mike Lynch. Listing the brightest stars seen in Georgia, the hardcover book details monthly star maps and explains what readers can expect to see in their own back yard.

• The World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta will re-open May 24 after moving to a new facility downtown at Pemberton Place, next to the Georgia Aquarium and Centennial Olympic Park. More than doubling the size of its former location at Underground Atlanta, the new World of Coca-Cola will feature 1,200-plus pieces of soft drink memorabilia, a 4D theater, interactive exhibits and a tasting lounge where visitors can sample 70 company beverages from around the world. For more, visit www.worldofcoca-cola.com.

• Marietta-based Friends of The Strand have reached the halfway mark of their $4.5 million fund-raising goal, allowing them to begin restoration of the city’s historic Strand Theatre. Opened as a high-tech, air-conditioned Art Deco movie house in 1935, the theater eventually closed its doors in the 1970s. After several businesses occupied the venue, it closed for good in 2002 and fell into disrepair. In 2004, the Friends of the Strand mounted a campaign to renovate the historic theater, which, upon completion, will showcase a range of entertainment, movies, concerts and stage shows. For more information or to make a donation, visit www.friendsofthestrand.com or call (678) 569-1321.