Welcome to the July issue of Stroll Historic Brookhaven! In this issue, we celebrate our neighborhood’s 35 high school graduates who hail from a variety of area public and private schools. Along with the listing of all graduates, we include a break-out page with more details on seven of these students. All had stellar high school careers and are onto great things. Congratulations to the Class of 2026!

 

Note, our listing is compiled from your contributions as well as my scouring the neighborhood street-by-street for graduate yard signs. If we missed your graduate, just send me an email at lgwargo@aol.com and we will include them in a future issue.

 

Keeping with the theme of graduates and college plans, our cover family is the Addicks. Mom Trisha is the country’s leading sorority recruitment consultant. When they moved to Historic Brookhaven in 2014, she was a stay-at-home mom with a side photography business. A few years later she turned her passion for helping friends’ daughters with sorority recruitment into a business. It’s All Greek To Me took off, and gained national fame when Trisha was part of MAX’s documentary Bama Rush.

 

Read on to learn about her latest venture, a book called The Rush Bible, how she and husband Greg met at a fraternity party, their adult sons, favorite activities, and more. We also share rush tidbits from the expert, just as rush season is about to start at colleges across the country.

 

July’s Precious Pet is Georgie, a White English Labrador Retriever. Susan and John Higley named her for the song “Georgy Girl.” Georgie is playful and happy, loves morning walks, hums at dinnertime, and rolls in moss. Turn to our pet section to learn more about this 11-year-old pup, including her solution for post-dinner quiet time.

 

In this month’s Landmarks with Lisa column, we introduce you to Brookhaven Bobby. He was an area fixture in the 1970s and early 1980s as he stood outside the nearby Amoco station waving to passersby and directing station traffic. Residents who lived or grew up in Historic Brookhaven have told me about Bobby for years. This month, we share details on the individual who many considered the unofficial mascot of our part of Brookhaven.

 

Our featured charity is Cross Cultural Ministries (CCM), a Chamblee-based educational after-school program for children from immigrant families. Along with homework help and tutoring, CCM teaches the Bible and hosts several fun events throughout the school year as well as summer. camps. If you are interested in helping with a summer camp or looking for a school-year volunteer activity, this might just be for you.

 

Searching for something fun to do inside on those hot July days? Consider a trip to the Atlanta History Center for the new exhibit “More Perfect Union: The American Civil War Era.” The exhibit opens July 10 and includes never-before-seen artifacts, including an original copy of a Frederick Douglass speech and the Confederate flag that flew over Atlanta when the city surrendered. Turn to Upcoming Events for more details.

 

Our Why I Read contributor this month is Diane Jones, whose son Harrison just returned from 326 days at sea on the USS Gerald Ford. The ship made history as the longest deployed vessel since the Vietnam War. Flip to the section for Diane’s comments and more info on Harrison’s historic and patriotic mission.

 

This spring was busy in the neighborhood. The Little Nancy Creek Park hosted its annual Spring Concert. Hundreds of residents from Historic Brookhaven and North Buckhead turned out for the event. In May, Stroll Historic Brookhaven partnered with Stroll Ansley Park to offer an evening of cocktails and jewelry at our sponsor Solomon Brothers Jeweler’s Buckhead location. We covered both and more.

 

We hope you are enjoying the slower pace of summer. As I write about our graduates and sorority rush, I can’t help but recall my own experience. Like Trisha, I was a sophomore pledge. I withdrew early from rush my freshman year at University of Florida because I was overwhelmed. My mom was an Italian first generation American and none of our family had ever gone Greek. I knew nothing about the system and was scared to death. I took a year to make new friends and try a variety of other activities. I had a successful sophomore rush and pledged Alpha Omicron Pi.

 

Sororities sometimes get a bad rap but I found it to be a great way to create a smaller community in a school of 36,000 students. Not only did I make lifelong friends, but I also made connections and learned skills that have helped me throughout my career and personal life. I was thrilled to hear today’s sorority members talk more about philanthropy during rush than sing songs and perform skits. Greek life certainly isn’t for everyone. Neither of my girls rushed and they had wonderful college experiences.

 

Along with celebrating our country’s 250th birthday, this July is a time for travel. How did you celebrate July 4th? Are you taking a trip? Have a story you’d like to tell or historic item you’d like us to investigate? Send me an email at lgwargo@aol.com. I’d love to hear from you!

Best,
Lisa Wargo