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THURSDAY. APRIL 22. 2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
B Books & Writers El
Secret Atlanta: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure
Unique destinations for Atlanta visitors
jonah McDonald
Get to know Atlanta’s secrets in Jonah McDonald’s book
Between the
Bookends
Pickens County Library
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
Did you know Atlanta is
home to a garden that has the
most species of fern in the
country? Or that one univer
sity campus is home to the
“Crypt of Civilization,” a
time capsule set to be open in
8133 CE? Or that the comer
of Dekalb and Moreland av
enues is where artists stood to
paint the historic Atlanta Cy-
clorama, an 1886 painting
that depicts the Battle of At
lanta?
Secret Atlanta: A Guide to
the Weird, Wonderful, and
Obscure explores the lesser-
knowns of Georgia’s capital.
With Atlanta just an hour
away from Pickens County,
most residents here know
about the city’s most popular
attractions and destinations -
but naturalist, park ranger,
historian, storyteller, and au
thor Jonah McDonald takes
readers off that all-too-famil-
iar path into the city’s secret
side. In an easy, fun-to-read
format, he weaves together
place and story and creates a
richer, tidier view of Atlanta,
a place residents may not
know as well as they thought
they did. McDonald de
scribes the collection as
“more than a tour guide
book” where the story ele
vates the locations, with
those stories ranging from the
light-hearted to the more dark
and serious.
“I want people to enjoy
the city and have a sense of
humor about things,” he said,
“but there are harder stories,
too. I didn’t want to shy away
from what [Atlanta] didn’t do
right,” he said.
But, how does someone
find out about a city’s secrets
when they’re secret?
In addition to more tradi-
I
Author Jonah McDonald
is also a storyteller, histo
rian, and naturalist at
Dekalb County Park. He
“believes that there is a new
story to learn and tell
around every bend. ”
tional research methods, “I’d
use the question as an ice
breaker at parties, or dinner
with friends and friends of
friends with a variety of
backgrounds and ethnicities,”
McDonald said. “I’d ask,
‘What do you know about
Atlanta that I don’t know?’
By talking about these secret
places it connects us,” he
said.
The result of his research
is a book of around 100 ob
scure places that range from
natural features, to forgotten
historical spots, to oddities,
to obscure activities, and
more.
Here’s a small sample of
what you’ll leam about. Each
location includes details
about why the place is inter
esting, where to find it, and
pro tips about visiting, in
cluding cost (if there is one).
•Jones Bridge - The site
of a bridge over the Chatta
hoochee River that “just
might have been stolen” in
the 1940s during WWII, after
the price of metal skyrock
eted.
published by Reedy Press.
•Doll’s Head Trail -
Creepy folk art exhibit at
Constitution Lakes Park.
What started as a trash pick
up for one man ended up as a
quirky installation of doll’s
heads, arms, torsos “in the
spirit of Howard Finster’s
Paradise Garden.”
• Tiny Doors ATL - A pub
lic art project that is a collec
tion of tiny doors “hidden in
plain sight” around the city
and “designed to inspire
wonder.” Travelers to Atlanta
are encouraged to take photos
of the doors when they find
them and post on social
media with #TinyDoor ATL.
•Millennium Gate Mu
seum -An eight-story classi
cal arch housing a museum
of Atlanta history at Atlantic
Station. The Millennium
Gate opened in 2008, “...
built to commemorate all
peaceful movements since
the birth of Christ.”
McDonald was ap
proached by Reedy Press to
contribute to their Secret city
series after he published his
popular guidebook Hiking
Atlanta s Hidden Forests: In-
town and Out, which details
over 60 hiking trails within a
30-mile radius from the Gold
Dome. His books can be pur
chased on www.secretat-
lanta.com, Amazon, or where
ever books are sold.
Leam more about Jonah
McDonald at www.jonahmc-
donald.com.
Garden Storytime at Roper
Park, May 11, 10:30 a.m.
Join the Pickens County
Library at Roper Park for a
special garden storytime
featuring fun books,
singing, dancing, and a gar
den craft. Attendees are ad
vised to wear protective
face covering and follow so
cial distancing guidelines.
To join this event, please
visit calendarwiz.com/se-
quoyahreglib.
Paint Along at Roper Park
May 24, 10a.m.
Join the Pickens County
Library at Roper Park for a
very special paint-along. All
materials will be provided.
Attendees are advised to
wear protective face cover
ing and follow social dis
tancing guidelines. To join
this event, please visit cal-
endarwiz.com/sequoy-
ahreglib.
Pickens County Library
May 2021 Pick-Up
Programming
DIYBird Feeder Pick-Up
Kits, May 3-7
Take and make your very
own birdfeeder. Attendees
are advised to wear protec
tive face covering and fol
low social distancing
guidelines. Pick up your
materials (while supplies
last) and then join Mrs.
Mary on the Sequoyah Re
gional Library System’s of
ficial Facebook page on
May 7 at 6 p.m. for our DIY
Birdfeeders program.
Twirling Rainbow Spinner
Pick-Up Kits, May 4-7
In honor of National
STEM Day on May 7, pick
up bags with materials
(while supplies last) to cre
ate your very own Twirling
Rainbow Spinners. All ma
terials will be provided, in
cluding instructions on how
to make your rainbow spin
ner. Attendees are advised to
wear protective face cover
ing and follow social dis
tancing guidelines.
Children s Book Week:
Write Your Story Pick-Up
Kits, May 4-9
Join us in celebrating
Children’s Book Week by
writing and illustrating your
own book. Pick up your ma
terials while supplies last.
Be sure to share a picture of
your literary masterpiece by
tagging @Picken-
sCountyLibrary and #Se-
qLib. Attendees are advised
to wear protective face cov
ering and follow social dis
tancing guidelines.
Pipe Cleaner Constellation
Pick-Up Kits, May 10-15
Travel the stars and leam
more about constellations.
Pick up kits (while supplies
last) to create your very own
galaxy. Attendees are ad
vised to wear protective
face covering and follow so
cial distancing guidelines.
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Pickens Library opening
temporary service location
during renovation/expansion
beginning in June
The Pickens County Li
brary in Jasper, located at 100
Library Lane, will be reno
vating and expanding its fa
cilities in 2021 through 2022.
The project, which is sched
uled to last approximately
10-12 months, includes a ren
ovation of the Pickens
County Library, built in
1996, and the addition of
8,200 square feet to the
building. With an expanded
and renovated library facility,
the Pickens community will
have more space for books
and technology; larger areas
for programs, meetings, col
laboration, and creation; and
additional seating for study
and quiet reading. Construc
tion is projected to begin this
June.
Partial funding of
$1,800,000 for this project is
available from Pickens
County’s SPLOST program.
To fund the remaining por
tion, the Sequoyah Regional
Library System (SRLS) ap
plied to the State for a
$2,000,000 Capital Outlay
Grant, administered by the
Georgia Public Library Serv
ice. These grants are funded
by the sale of bonds and must
be approved by the state leg
islature. The Capital Outlay
Grant for the Pickens County
Library’s renovation and ex
pansion was approved for the
fiscal year of 2021.
The Pickens County Li
brary building will be closed
to the public, beginning May
17, for the entirety of the con
struction. After the library
closes, a temporary, limited-
service library location called
“Pickens Grab & Go” will be
available inside the Mountain
Education Charter High
School building, located at
339 West Church Street. The
Grab & Go location is antic
ipated to open to the public in
early June 2021, where li
brary patrons will be able to
check out and return materi
als, place and pick up library
holds, request interlibrary
loans, pay fines, and browse
a selection of items from the
library’s collection. Express
computer stations will also be
available for users to access
Wi-Fi, print, and make
copies. Free Wi-Fi will still
be available in the parking lot
of the Pickens County Li
brary until construction be
gins in June.
Library programming,
such as storytimes and paint
ing events, will continue and
take place at Roper Park. To
view the library’s full pro
gramming schedule and reg
ister for events, visit
calendarwiz.com/sequoy-
ahreglib
“During the Pickens
County Library renovation,
our community can still
maintain library access by
using their library card at the
Pickens Grab & Go service
location or any of our neigh
boring libraries in Sequoyah
Regional Library System”,
says Anita Summers, Execu
tive Director of SRLS. “We
encourage Pickens County
Library residents to visit
these locations, which offer
the full range of library serv
ices they are accustomed to.”
The nearest SRLS libraries to
Pickens County are the Ball
Ground Public Library at 435
Old Canton Road and the
Gilmer County Library at
268 Calvin Jackson Drive in
Ellijay.
Pickens County residents
may continue to contact the
library online or via social
media to receive assistance
and information about serv
ices and programming. Resi
dents are encouraged to visit
sequoyahregionallibrary.org
to access up-to-date informa
tion about library services,
hours, and locations. A spe
cial Pickens County Library
Project webpage will be fea
tured on the SRLS website
where the community may
check frequently for updates
and announcements about the
renovation project, as well as
the opening date and service
hours of the Pickens Grab &
Go temporary service loca
tion.
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