Kittens and Mama Cat Looking for New Homes

A Mountain Park family helped out a pregnant stray cat by giving her a safe place to have her litter and now they have three baby kittens and the mom to give away to good homes.

"We first started seeing the mom cat around our yard in November," Alicia Phillip says. The black cat was friendly and young, so the Phillips assumed she had a nearby home. But posters around their Mountain Park neighborhood didn't evoke any response, so the cat went to someone who was willing to take her. But two weeks later, there she was again at the Phillips' house. With a little belly. "Knowing she was likely pregnant, we decided to keep her just long enough for her to have her kittens" Alicia said. Which the cat did on Feb. 27. The three mostly black kittens are now ready for new homes, and the mama cat, too. She will come spayed, so no need to worry about more kitties. The kittens are healthy and very playful, Alicia said. They are…

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Principal Spotlight: Valerie Robinett, Mountain Park Elementary

Return to hometown is a perfect fit for Parkview High grad.

The older Valerie Robinett gets, the smaller Lilburn seems. The Mountain Park Elementary principal has lived her entire life in Gwinnett County's southwest city of about 11,500, and after attending one of the state's biggest high schools and its biggest university, she's leading one of the county's tiniest schools -- and loving every minute. "It amazes me that (30 some) years can go by, and yet so much remains the same," the fourth-year principal once wrote. "The neighbors I knew growing up are still right where I left them (for college), only now their children are grown and some of them even have grandchildren." Robinett attended Lilburn's Camp Creek Elementary and Trickum Middle and graduated from a Parkview High of about 2,400 students…

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Dispatches: The Changing American Dream

We're excited to inaugurate a new series for our Patch Readers: "Dispatches: The Changing American Dream."

We're excited to inaugurate a new series for our Patch Readers: "Dispatches: The Changing American Dream." Every day, the national media is full of stories about how American families, businesses, and neighbors are adjusting to these trying times. There are so many changes happening so fast that it's dizzying: national debates about unemployment, foreclosures, debt, religion, government and private enterprise all touch on fundamental ways in which we see ourselves and our communities. At Patch, we want to explore that conversation on a daily basis so we can better understand how our neighbors are adjusting to the challenges and opportunities that surround us. We don't think there's one American Dream, but a multitude of American Dreams …

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Bites Nearby: Colossus Pizza

Mountain Park eatery serves Greek, Italian and American favorites.

You could stand on a corner and look around until a restaurant sign draws you in. But we've got a better idea. Each week, Patch picks a great restaurant either in town or nearby that is worth checking out. Here is this week's choice: Colossus Pizza Colossus has been serving Greek, Italian and American food in Mountain Park since 1983, when two Greek families wanted to share their favorite recipes with their community. Since then, the casual restaurant located at 5385 Five Forks-Trickum Road has been a local favorite, especially for its Greek-style pizza. Also known as Colossus Restaurant — as it’s referred to on its menu — the eatery is owned by Rick Johnson, a military-trained chef who purchased the restaurant in 2004 after almost 20 …

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Barbara Barth

1:55 am on Sunday, June 26, 2011

I have joined two lunch meetings there and the food was yummy!   more ›

Pool, Tennis Upgrades OK'd in Mountain Park

Renovations at aquatic and tennis centers will be paid for with SPLOST funds.

Pools and tennis courts in the Mountain Park area will get upgrades, the county Board of Commissioners approved Tuesday. The projects will be paid for with SPLOST sales tax funds, according to a press release. The indoor lap and instructional pools at the Mountain Park Aquatic Center on Rockbridge Road will be renovated with sandblasting, bonding and plaster installation, and the replacement of tiles, grates, lights and skimmers. The renovation is part of a $186,297 project that also will include renovations at the Collins Hill Aquatic Center in Lawrenceville. The pools will be closed from Aug. 8 until early October. Commissioners also approved a $149,250 project to renovate six tennis courts at the Mountain Park Tennis Center on Five …

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Green Bins Hungry for Your Books at Local Libraries

Gwinnett Public Library partners with Better World Books to collect unwanted books.

Leading into Earth Day April 22, the Gwinnett County Public Library announced a partnership with the popular online book retailer Better World Books. Better World Books (BWB) has installed green book collection bins at each library branch. Books collected at these bins will be sold, donated or properly recycled. A portion of the sale of these books will benefit the library.  Filling these bins will not only benefit Gwinnett’s libraries but the environment as well, according to press release. Every book that BWB collects whether from these bins or some other method, never makes it to a landfill. To date, Better World Books has successfully re-used or recycled more than 40 million books while raising more than $9 million in funding for …

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Food & Dining

Mama Mia's Moves into Mountain Park Location

A Stone Mountain favorite for more than three decades reopens on Five Forks-Trickum Road

For a girl who started out as a salad clerk in the “old” Mama Mia’s location in Stone Mountain Village, Karen Parker seems happy with her decision to move her restaurant to Mountain Park. Many folks, who regularly ate at the Stone Mountain location, are making the drive over to Mountain Park – to eat the food, and to see Parker, the lady in charge. Mama Mia's is now located at 5394 Five Forks-Trickum Road, just north of Rockbridge Road. During her opening week, customer after customer came in to say hello and give her hugs. She’s kind and happy to see them, but keeps her eye on tables and the kitchen. “I need bread on table 2,” she says while pulling away from an embrace. “Where is this cannoli going?” And on it goes. Like an oiled machine…

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