Happy Halloween Roswell!

Happy Halloween!  It seems only fitting to submit an entry related to something along the lines of a ghost story or a haunting.  What better topic than Historic Roswell’s Founders Cemetery?  Founder’s Cemetery was the first burying ground for Roswell from 1840 to 1860. Among the distinguished dead who rest there are Roswell’s founder, Roswell King; Major James Stephens Bulloch, grandfather of president Theodore Roosevelt and grandson of Archibald Bulloch, first president of Georgia; and John Dunwoody, builder of Mimosa Hall and his wife, Jane Bulloch Dunwoody.  In 1841, an outbreak of scarlet fever resulted in the death of many children including Charles Irving Bulloch, infant son of Major and Mrs. James Stephens Bulloch and three-year-old Ralph King Hand, son of the widowed daughter of Roswell King, Eliza Hand, for whom the first permanent home in Roswell was build, Primrose Cottage.

Roswell’s Early Voting Opportunity

If you haven’t taken advantage of advance voting prior to Tuesday’s election, tomorrow is your last day.  The elections office is predicting about 150,000 voters will participate by voting early, advance voting and absentee balloting.  By the end of day last Thursday, 19,963 votes had been cast at the North Fulton Service Center in Sandy Springs.  Countrywide, 67,159 votes had been cast through early voting. 

The North Fulton Service Center in Sandy Springs was the closest location for early voting for North Fulton residents, but now in Roswell, votes can be cast at Hembree Park, 850 Hembree Road (between Hwy. 9 and Houze Road).  Polls are open from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Roswell’s Fiscal Fitness

The City of Roswell has some thrifty habits, the City’s expenditure budget for the 2008 fiscal year was $66.2 million, but it only had expenditures totaling $61.5 million.  In a report presented by the Strategic Planning and Budget director to the City Council on October 20th, revenues for the fiscal year were $62.4 million.  Roswell, whose fiscal year ends on October 1st, has almost $900,000 more funds than what was spent. 

On this same night, City Council members approved the carryover of $927,732 in unspent funds from 2008 to 2009, including almost $100,000 to complete a list of ‘quick fix’ transportation projects, $350,000 in contingency for grant matches and $361,667 in operating contingency.  Approval was also given to add $194,390 to the 2009 budget.

Roswell’s Diesel Pizza is a Hit

One of the newest restaurants in Historic Roswell is Diesel.  Having had their grand opening on the evening of September’s Alive After Five, Diesel is already a Roswell favorite.  The restaurant is located on the corner of Alpharetta and Norcross Streets, in Historic Roswell right next to the Roswell Fire Station.   Diesel occupies a former gas station owned in the 1930’s by Jim Wright.  A long-time Roswell resident, Mr. Wright also owned Wright’s Chevrolet dealership, which was sold to the City of Roswell in 1980 and now houses the Roswell Fire Station.

A Roswell Fixer-Upper

In scanning listings for a client the other day, I came across a great deal in Park Bridge.  Park Bridge subdivision is in a great location backing up to Roswell Park on Woodstock Road.  This particular home is priced at $211,500.  It is a two story on a crawl space, 3 bedrooms and 2 ½ baths with approximately 2,100 square feet.  The previous owners had converted the garage to make a large bonus room, but could be easily converted back to its original state.  There is a storage shed on the property that could be used to store a lawn mower and tools.  The yard is completely fenced in and the house is located in a cul-de-sac at the back of the community.

Historic Roswell Ghost Tour

My friend and I decided to get into the spirit of Halloween and thought it would be a good idea to go full steam ahead and participate in an actual Ghost Tour.  What better place to do this than Historic Roswell with all it’s rich history and graveyards dating back to the 1800’s!

We registered with Roswell Ghost Tours for our 2 hour walking adventure.  Stops included Bulloch Hall, Mimosa Hall, The Bricks, Founder’s Cemetery and the gazebo in the square.   Our guide told us ghost stories at each of the sites.  Bulloch Hall, the former childhood home of Theodore Roosevelt’s mom, was our first stop.  There were many stories involving Bulloch, many of which ended with people’s unwillingness to go back into the house, including former docents.  

Taste of Roswell 2008

One of my favorite activities in Historic Roswell is the Taste of Roswell.  This year’s festival yesterday did not disappoint.  The weather was absolutely perfect, a lovely fall day.  Popular Roswell restaurants offered delicious tastes of their favorite foods including Aqua Blue, Relish, Fickle Pickle, Diesel and Sugo.  Sugo has been voted one of the top 10 restaurants in Atlanta.  This Roswell tradition takes place every 3rd Saturday in October at Historic Town Square.  Tastings began at noon until 5:30.   Live entertainment was provided by Old Enough to Know Better, Gold Rush and Hair of the Dog.  The band, Old Enough to Know Better is known for their wide variety of styles including pop, rock and roll and folk songs.  Gold Rush is known for their traditional Blue Grass and Hair of the Dog is easily recognizable by their Cajun style.

Roswell’s Riverwalk Townhomes

Roswell’s Riverwalk Townhomes are just that!  Only steps to Roswell’s Riverside park where there’s an abundance of outdoor activities including rafting, kayaking, walking, running, rollerblading or just sitting on a park bench and enjoying the view of the Chattahoochee River.

This townhome community offers two, three and four bedroom units built with solid exteriors of brick and Hardiplank siding.  Riverwalk is a charming community, lucky enough to be nestled among a literal forest of 32 acres overlooking the Chattahoochee River.  Built in the early 1980’s, Riverwalk has become even more desirable due to it’s location; less than a mile and a half from GA 400, minutes to Sandy Springs and just around the corner from historic Roswell.  The units offer lots of architectural details, hardwood floors and various floorplans.  Some have lovely sunrooms where you can watch the seasons change.  All have fireplaces and some even have two! 

The Historic Roswell Streets were Alive After 5!

Last night was the final night in 2008 for Historic Roswell’s popular Alive After 5 Street festival.  The weather was perfect and there was a huge showing of Roswell locals.  The Alive After 5 concept is dubbed as an ‘after work get together’.   The event takes place every third Thursday from April through October.  Historic Canton Street in beautiful Historic Roswell is bustling with street vendors with specials for the evening, live entertainment at strategic trolley stop locations, non-profit organizations are set up to inform and educate and all the merchants along the street stay open until 9:00.  This month’s entertainment included music from Audio Cage, Backtrax and the Dennis Fermin Project, not to mention all the various groups hired by individual restaurants.  What a great opportunity to relax and catch up with friends and Roswell neighbors as all the patios of the local restaurants are lit up and ready to serve you your favorite meal. 

Get Your Forks Ready!

The annual Taste of Atlanta is this weekend, October 11th and 12th.  The streets of Atlantic Station will be filled with over 70 of Atlanta’s favorite restaurants and live cooking demonstrations by local and national celebrity chefs.

There will be live entertainment, wine tastings at Twelve Hotel and Bowling & Brews at Ten Pin Alley.  The VIP event at Twelve Hotel is offered on both days from 12:30 – 6:00 and includes educational wine seminars on topics ranging from Georgia wines and cheeses to tasting Australian favorites.  Patrons interested in this wine experience must register at 11:00 a.m. on the day you’d like to attend. Bowling & Brews at Ten Pin Alley is a new VIP event this year.  Ticket holders are offered the opportunity to sample various ales and lagers at the upscale bowling alley.

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