Dunwoody Community Garden Beginning

 When it was announced Dunwoody would become the new city and eventually take over the parks, a couple of people took quick action to secure a section of Brook Run Park for a community garden.  Farmer Bob (Bob Lundsten) had great connections at the county level and things moved quickly. 

I believe that part of the reason DeKalb County approved the garden was actually a snub to the DunwoodyYes crowd.  DeKalb was making one last move on Brook Run.  This is similar to when CEO Vernon Jones decided Brook Run and DeKalb needed a dog park.  Dog parks are harmful to the environment and a horrible use of limited park space.  Dunwoody has such little acreage for parks, it's a waste to dedicate a chunk of it to dogs.  The dogs from metro Atlanta run around and piss and poop everywhere, occasionally biting each other, and yapping all day.  As a bonus, the dog park was named for Vernon Jones' dog, Henry.  King John wrote about it back in 2008.  Dunwoody residents were not screaming for a dog park or a skate park, but we got both.

So back to the community garden.  A piece of dirt in the middle of the park was secured for a community garden.  I believe the location was and still is a bad choice.  The garden location really prohibits other amenities in the middle/back area.  The garden should have been in a corner of the park.  

After the garden was built, we received permission from the city to restore the greenhouse.  A few of us were heavily involved.  My father-in-law and I built a bunch of tables for plants.  Large casters were added.  This was 12 years ago and last time I peaked in the greenhouse, some of these tables are still in use.  The swamp coolers were the hardest thing to get working.  I believe our old farmer friend  Rod got them working.

I was homeschooling my kids back then, and I still recall going to the garden to pull weeds, water the plants (back then there was no in-ground irrigation system), and harvest the goods with my kids.

Dunwoody Baptist Church 1944

 Here we have a mint condition program from Dunwoody Baptist Church.  The service is for honoring Youth in the Armed Forces.

On the front cover, written in pencil, is the name Harvey Spruill.  A Spruill (not Harvey)  owned the land where the current Dunwoody Baptist Church is located. But in 1944, the DBC was around he corner, on Chamblee Dunwoody Road.  HERE is some history of Dunwoody Baptist Church.  The DBC website doesn't mention much about the church history prior to the 1960's.  

Not much information on Harvey Spruill anywhere, but I am sure someone can fill us in. Harvey Spruill is listed on the back cover as serving in the Army, stationed in California.  Perhaps Harvey was at this service, or someone grabbed a copy for him and put his name on it. The penmanship of Harvey's name on the front cover leads me to believe someone wrote his name on it.

In the program is the name Dr Arva C Floyd.  Arva does have some interesting history. See HERE for an interview  with Arva's son, also named Arva.  Look on the back of the program and you'll see Pvt Arva Floyd stationed at Ft Bragg, NC.  This matches with the last link above:

Q: You graduated in '41, before Pearl Harbor, but what happened to you? What were your plans? FLOYD: My plan was to go to college, which I did. I went to a junior college which was attached to a part of the institution of Emory University. I was 16-plus when I graduated. Then I was expecting to be called up, it was what every young man of his salt expected to have happen in those days. I was allowed to get through my two years of junior college, and was drafted immediately thereafter, in April of '44. Q: What were you looking at doing, while you were in junior college? What were your courses? FLOYD: In those days, as you know, one did a very general liberal arts education with a good deal of math and science involved. I took three or four chemistry courses, a couple of physics courses, two or three math courses, history, and German. Q: When you were drafted in '44, what did you do? FLOYD: I went to artillery basic training at Fort Bragg. From there, I went to infantry OCS (Officer Candidate School) at Fort Benning. Upon commissioning, I was sent to a couple of training assignments. Then, we moved from those into a division which was being reconstituted to go into the Pacific Theatethe 93rd Division. Then the bomb was dropped and the war ended, and I was sent to the army of occupation in Austria. 

Other surnames recognizable to the Dunwoody area in the program include Spruill, Pitts, Martin, Donaldson.

North DeKalb Cultural Arts Dunwoody

 Added in 1989 to the old Dunwoody Elementary School, this site hosts a library, the Spruill Arts Center, and the Stage Door Players.

The Original DES Dunwoody Elementary School

5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Road has hosted many facilities the past 50 years.  Currently its the site of the North DeKalb Cultural Center.  Why it is not yet called the Dunwoody Cultural Arts Center is a mystery. It should be renamed to reflect its owner (City of Dunwoody).  At this site you'll find the Spruill Center for the Arts, Stage Door Players, and the Dunwoody/DeKalb library.

If you've ever been inside the Spruill section of this building it's easy to see it is a former school, Dunwoody Elementary School.  The Stage Door Player area was the school's auditorium.  The library was added to the former school in 1989 (same time as adding the Cultural Arts component).  

The address is 5339 everywhere except the city's GIS site. showing it as 5349

Carey Spruill Plowing in Dunwoody

 Today's look back in time bring us Mr. Carey Spruill and Shorty working a field.  The year is around 1971. Can you identify the building in the background?  It is the clue to the road/lot.  Let me know in the comments. These photos from the original negatives (yes, I have the negatives)