Mabry Park Master Plan Meeting

1. County staff and Friends of Mabry Park volunteers will host the first public meeting to provide input on the Mabry Park Master Plan from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the cafeteria in Garrison Mill Elementary School, 4111 Wesley Chapel Road. Mabry Park was purchased using funds from the $40 million parks bond overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2006. The bond money only provided for the purchase of the green space land, not its development. Friends of Mabry Park is a nonprofit volunteer organization formed in 2009 to work with the local community, public officials and experts to support development of the park, located on the corner of Sandy Plains Road and Wesley Chapel Road. For more information on the Friends of Mabry Park, visit mabrypark.org, or visit www.cobbcountyegov.org/secure/prca/mabry-park.htm.

If you attend the meeting, please stop by Northeast Cobb Patch and tell us about it in the Comment Box or Shout Box (on the main page).

2. The Art Station-Big Shanty will host its 2011 summer camp, "Art Wars." Campers will explore different art styles and then apply what they learned to their own art work using a variety of media, including clay, acrylic, drawing pencils, watercolor, scissor work, ink and recyclables. There are three different themes to choose from: Master Mash-Up, Imagination Nation and Great (but not late) Artists. You may choose one, two or all three sessions. There are also specialty camps such as drama, pottery on the wheel, clay hand-building, digital photography, manga, paper sculpture and themed days. Camps are for children ages 4-13. Camp fees are $90 and themed day fees are $10. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m . The Art Station-Big Shanty is located at 2050 Kennesaw Due West Road, Kennesaw. For more information, call 770-514-5930.

3. Did you know that the magnitude-8.9 earthquake that hit Japan caused the island to move closer to the U.S., changed the balance of the planet, and made Japan wider? According to a report in the New York Times, it happened. Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/world/asia/14seismic.html

4. We recently experienced a flood watch, and surely we'll experience another. Do you have flood insurance? If you live next to a body of water, you may want to consider it. The average flood insurance policy costs less than $570 a year. Just 1 inch of water in a 2,000 sq ft home costs $20K. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) explains: http://go.usa.gov/4nv

5. Apple Inc. has changed how purchases of iPhone and iPad games are authorized after customers complained that their kids were racking up hundreds of dollars worth of charges. Read more of this AJC article: http://bit.ly/fKw2RM