The 2011-12 Season will mark Theatre in the Square’s 30^th anniversary season. The season will open with On Golden Pond (August 10 – September 11, 2011), which was the first production the theatre produced in September 1982. The additional four Main Stage productions include Ghost-Writer (September 28 – October 20, 2011); The Ladies Man (January 18 – February 26, 2012), based on the classic farce by Georges Feydeau, Tailleur Pour Dames; Flyin’ West (March 7 – April 8, 2012), by Atlanta’s own Pearl Cleage; and a fifth show to be announced, which will run April 25 – May 27, 2012. Season tickets are on sale now by calling 770-422-8369.

In addition to the five Main Stage productions, Theatre in the Square will bring back two audience favorites for the holidays, Sanders Family Christmas (November 22, 2011 – January 1, 2012) and The 1940’s Radio Hour (December 17, 2011 – January 1, 2012). The 1940’s Radio Hour will be performed off-site at Southern Polytechnic University’s Joe Mack Wilson Theatre. For the littlest theatre-goers, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! will run in October. This season, Theatre in the Square will also add a bonus show on the Alley Stage, Red Letter Jesus (February 4 – March 8, 2012), a premiere featuring the words of Jesus from Matthew, Mark and Luke, performed by Brad Sherrill.

Season ticket packages begin as low as $85 and are on sale now. Single tickets except for Radio Hour and Three Little Pigs will go on sale Tuesday, July 12, 2011. Those two shows will go on sale in early August.

To help celebrate the theatre’s 30^th anniversary season, a logo competition was launched in 2010 in hopes to find something fresh to coincide with the new building façade, box office, lobby and bar area. The theatre solicited local artists and students to design a totally new logo or to give the current logo, a comedy and tragedy mask, a facelift. Participants competed for the grand prize of cash and having their original artwork displayed as the logo for the 30^th anniversary season. There were over 30 logos submitted to the theatre.

One grand prize winner and two runners up were selected by the staff with the help of feedback from the Facebook community. Grand Prize winner Mita Beach was ecstatic after he found out that his logo would be used for the 30^th Anniversary. “This meant a lot to me because despite my strong ties to the theatre the contest was run anonymously and only one person knew that this logo was mine.  I loved having the opportunity to give back to the theatre where I started my career back in 1994,” said Beach. The two runners up were Tish Spalding and Roy Fleeman.

The public is invited to help select the new Georgia general issue license plate design. The winning design will be displayed on millions of vehicles in Georgia and wherever Georgia vehicles travel nationwide. Online voting ends July 8, 2011.

The winning design will be announced July 15, 2011 by Governor Nathan Deal, Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle and State Revenue Commissioner Douglas MacGinnitie.

Here are the choices for the new license plate design:

Vote for your favorite design online at https://etax.dor.ga.gov/TagContest.aspx and let us know what you think in the comments below.

The Walking Dead invaded Cobb County this week as filming for season two of the popular AMC series The Walking Dead moved into the area. The production closed some roads near the intersection of Cobb Parkway and Riverwood Parkway from 5am to 9pm on Monday. This is the second time in a week that area roads were closed for the filming of the show. Last week, motorists waited for miles as crews shot scenes on I-20 in Henry County.

The series follows is about a former police officer named Rick Grimes, who was shot on the job and later wakes from a coma to find that world has succumbed to a zombie epidemic. Production will continue in and around Atlanta throughout the summer and season two airs this fall.

In addition to being open on Saturdays from 9am to noon, the Marietta Square Farmers Market is adding additional hours on Sunday afternoon from 12:30pm to 3:30pm. More than 60 vendors participate in the Saturday market, and market director Johnny Fulmer said that thus far “forty vendors will participate in the Sunday market.”

The Sunday Farmers Market will be located from the North Park Square and Mill Street intersection to the railroad tracks, and that section of road will be closed from 11:30am to 4:30pm every Sunday afternoon through November 20, 2011.

Free parking is available on the Square and in the Cherokee Street parking deck. Handicapped parking is also available.

For more information, please visit our Marietta Square Farmers Market page.

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The Earl Smith Strand Theatre is launching a new musical theatre camp called Performula: A Musical Theatre Laboratory this July! Students will focus on music, dance, and drama in this week-long camp, culminating in a Friday night performance on The Strand’s Stephen W. Imler Stage.

Date:
Students can sign up for a week-long session July 11-15 or July 25-29, 2011.

Students will be grouped by grade level, with rising fourth through rising seventh grade from 9 a.m. to noon, and rising eighth through twelfth grade from 1 to 4 p.m.

Admission:
The price is $150 per student and only 50 spots are available per age group per week. Camp reservations will be taken exclusively in person at The Strand box office Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and noon and 1 and 4 p.m. Full payment is due at sign up and both credit card and cash will be accepted.

Address:
The Strand
117 North Park Square
Marietta, GA 30060

For more information, please call 770-293-0080

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Dobbins Air Reserve Base is home to eight C-130 Hercules aircraft that were built for Libya in 1972. After Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi paid $70 million for them, the planes were built and subsequently grounded due to political issues and were never delivered.

Georgia families can now check out free excursions to Zoo Atlanta, just by owning a library card. Announced Feb. 23 from the steps of the state capitol, a partnership between Zoo Atlanta and the Georgia Public Library Service allows adults with valid library cards access to the Zoo Atlanta Family Pass at any participating public library branch throughout the state of Georgia.

The Cobb County Public Library System has Zoo Atlanta Family Passes available to check out today. Each of the 17 Cobb County library branches has one pass. When individuals check out the Zoo Atlanta Family Pass DVD from a Cobb County library and return it to the same location, they will get a receipt. They can then use the receipt for zoo admission. The receipt is good for two adults and two children and has to be redeemed within a week.

“We are very pleased to offer this wonderful opportunity to Cobb County residents,” Jonathan McKeown, Associate Director of Central and Outreach Services said. “The treasures that are held in the Cobb County Public Library System paired together with those held at the Zoo Atlanta make for a fitting partnership with the summer just around the corner.”

The pass may be checked out once per year, per card, per household. The pass is not valid for fee-based events or programs and may not be combined with other discounts or promotions. Standard general admission will apply to families with additional children; children must be accompanied by an adult.

Passes are not ‘renewable,’ nor can it be reserved.

Library patrons can check out a Zoo Atlanta Family Pass DVD for one week. If the DVD is lost or damaged, a $30 replacement fee, in addition to any processing fees or overdue fines will be charged by the library.

Launched in 2009, the program originally applied only to branches of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System. Wednesday’s announcement marks the first time the program has been available in all 159 Georgia counties.

For more information, please call the Cobb County Public Library System at 770-528-2320.

About Zoo Atlanta
An accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), Zoo Atlanta inspires value and preservation of wildlife through a unique mix of education and outdoor family fun. From well-known native wildlife to critically endangered species on the brink of extinction, the Zoo offers memorable close encounters with more than 1,000 animals from around the world. For information, call 404.624.WILD.

Marietta Square’s popular fountain was returned to Glover Park in Marietta Square after undergoing a complete restoration. The original manufacturer of the fountain, Robinson Iron, removed the fountain and transported it to their headquarters in Alabama where the internal and external parts were restored to new condition.

The restoration was necessary because, according to the Marietta Parks and Recreation director Rich Buss, “while preparing the fountain for operation now that the weather has warmed, the staff cleaning the upper bowl noticed significant movement that had not been present before. After removing the upper bowl it turned out the fountain was rusting from the inside out.”