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The LearnShop: a continuing-education buffet

The LearnShop: a continuing-education buffet

They say learning never ends and at just $50 per month for unlimited workshops at the new LearnShop in Atlanta, it doesn’t have to. The only question left is: What do you want to know?

In a recession, all things financial tend to get put on hold, including schooling. But what if learning new skills were still accessible, even during the economic downturn? That's the anti-recession rationale behind the LearnShop Learn Store, says founder Rishan Tesfamichael, a registered architect and real estate licensee. 

Like thousands of others, Tesfamichael suffered the shocking blow of unemployment in January 2009, despite her hefty résumé. Instead of wallowing in her misfortune, she decided to turn her own tide.

“I decided this was the last time I would hang my financial stability on a job, and I would lift others wit

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Published: Jun 30, 2009

Dillon Candy Company: they're nuts about sweet traditions!

Dillon Candy Company: they're nuts about sweet traditions!

It's always a sweet life when it comes to the Dillon Candy Company in Boston, Georgia. The family candy factory should be on the must-see list of every sugar lover!

When George Dillon began mixing up batches of candy in the back room of a grocery store in Brunswick, Georgia during 1918 he had no idea the iconic history he was making. Over the years, with moves from Brunswick, to Thomasville, to Jacksonville, Florida and finally to Boston in 1956, the company has made a name for itself  as one of the premiere manufactures of speciality nut candies.

"The art of fashioning handmade brittles and other nut candies has been kept alive by the Dillon family," said company representative, Amy Cook.

For three generations, the company has managed to stay true to its roots and steer away from the modern processes of mass production. Dillon utilizes the tradition of concocting small hand-made batches in open copper kettles on old-fashioned candy stoves to p

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Published: Sep 4, 2010

New Discovery Center gets visitors back to nature

New Discovery Center gets visitors back to nature

For years, the Chattahoochee Nature Center has connected people with their environment. Now the nature center's new state-of-the-art Discovery Center is extending the connection to the river that sustains all of metropolitan Atlanta — the Chattahoochee itself.

The highly anticipated $9.7 million Discovery Center and Pavilion opened in June  after five years of fund-raising and campaigning by the who’s who of local leaders.

“It’s been a long time coming, but we’re finally here,” campaign chair Christopher Sawyer said.

The result is a place where visitors can learn about the profound relationship between humans and the river.

The Discovery Center sits perched on a hillside overlooking the pavilion, a pond, garden terraces and an eagle aviary on the 127-acre Chattahoochee Nature Center campus.

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Published: Jul 1, 2009

Sweet Auburn Historic District: Growing sweet once again

Sweet Auburn Historic District: Growing sweet once again