Monthly Archives: August 2016

“IT TAKES A VILLAGE…”

My mother’s belief in community involvement extended beyond her desire to make the community where she lived one in which there was land that could be a viable greenspace.  She also believed that children should grow up in a community, a village, which provided input and guidance that would influence and shape their view of the world.  My friends remember her as “the mother” who provided them with pamphlets and brochures on all aspects of “growing up” during our pre-teen and teen-age years.

Linda Graves (now Linda Stewart) and I met in first grade and, for the last 2 1/2 years of high school, lived around the corner from each other.  Like so many of my childhood friends, we have remained friends throughout the many years since high school graduation.  She has known about Jennie Drake Park from its conception and has followed and supported its progress through the official naming, the brick fund-raising, and, most recently, the applcation for wildlife sanctuary status.   She will always be a part of “the village” that helped shape her and we thank her, her husband Chet, and her son Lyndon for their generous gifting of the two bird feeders that we could include in our wildlife sanctuary certification application.

Millicent Drake Norman

Daughter of Jennie Drake

Linda 1 Linda 2

July and August Work Sessions

JDP Path_001

The July and August work session were spent clearing invasive plants, spreading the remaining crush-and-run walking trail material, planting flowers, and picking up trash.

Volunteers for July were: Michael Drake, Pauline Drake, Gerald Evans, Bryan Jenkins, Leola McKinney, Natasha Nichols-Freeman, Millicent Drake Norman, Isaac Robinson, and Annette Smith.

August student volunteers were:  Malik Norman from Best Academy; Isaac Robinson and Calieb Young from Kipp Atlanta; Mohammed Hashim, Naggee Norman,  Khyron Perkins, and Brooklyn Tucker from North Atlanta; Hassan Hashim from Sutton Middle School; and Rahsaan Norman from Wesley International Academy.  Other volunteers were Sarah Abdalla, Michael Drake, Pauline Drake, Jim Gantner, Miriam James Miller, Joseph Mitchell, Ben Norman, Millicent Drake Norman, and Kymberli Warner.