Down-Home, Country Fun Returns Oct. 6-16 at Fairgrounds
The Cumming Country Fair and Festival returns Oct. 6 - 16 to the Cumming Fairgrounds with blockbuster concerts, carnival games, rides, craft exhibits and fun for the entire family.

New this year is Johnny Rockets' Cycle Circus Live, the largest FMX freestyle entertainment show of its kind in the world, featuring precision cycle riding, death-defying maneuvers, steel cage riding, high tech pyrotechnics, music and lighting. Cycle Circus Live provides a unique, one-of-a-kind experience the entire family will enjoy and remember for years.

Returning favorites include: Chainsaw artist Brian Ruth, who transforms logs into works of art throughout the fair's run; Oscar the Robot, a free-roaming people magnet; North Georgia Petting Zoo and Pony Rides; Sea Lion Splash and Michelle's Magical Poodles, daily ground acts; Marvel Super Heroes on Oct. 12; and American Bull Riders Tour on Oct. 15 & 16. History will again be brought to life through shows and demonstrations found throughout the Heritage and Cherokee Indian Villages.
  
Concert headliners include Atlanta Rhythm Section on Oct. 7; Lonestar on Oct. 11; and returning favorite Charlie Daniels on Oct. 13. All concerts begin at 8 p.m. and are included with fair admission.
  
Please note that admission fees have changed slightly for 2016. Everyone age 11 and older pays $7, while everyone age 10 and under is admitted for FREE. All parking in Fairgrounds lots is $5.

Hours are 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 4 p.m. to midnight Friday; 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday; and 12:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Come out for some down-home, country fun! Click here for complete fair information.
Did you know? Charlie Daniels, who has performed at numerous Cumming Fairs throughout the years, will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville just a few days after his appearance at the Cumming Country Fair and Festival.
Council Honors Exemplary Work by Cumming Utilities Employees
Employees of the Cumming Advanced Water Reclamation and Water Production facilities were honored during the September City Council Meeting.
Cumming Utilities employees from the Water Reclamation and Production facilities were honored by the Cumming Mayor and City Council in September. Employees of the Reclamation facility were presented with an 18-year Platinum Award, and employees at the Production facility were presented with their second-year Gold Award. After a facility meets all requirements of the Gold Award for five years in a row, it then receives Platinum level status.

Pam Burnett, Executive Director of Georgia Association of Water Professionals, presented the awards, noting that Cumming Utilities facilities and employees are among the best in the state, allowing the City to provide safe, reliable drinking water to the community and return that water safely back into the environment. The awards represent "perfect compliance" with all permits and requirements of state and federal regulatory agencies such as the EPD and EPA, Burnett stated. "These awards are not easy to come by...they require total perfection," she said. "The City should be very proud of these employees and facilities."

 
Also during the September meeting, the Cumming City Council:
  • Approved an Intergovernmental Agreement with Forsyth County for maintenance of isolated portions of annexed roads. City staff recommended approval of the agreement, with the exception of maintaining Mary Alice Park Road and Ronald Reagan Boulevard as the City has never maintained either of these roads.
  • Approved an Intergovernmental Agreement with Forsyth County for installation and maintenance of guardrails along a portion of Sanders Road.
  • Mayor Ford Gravitt announced that with the addition of two new book collections which include more than 30,000 volumes, Cumming's Bell Research Center - which already contains hundreds of books, films, periodicals, reference materials and artifacts - has outgrown its space at the Cumming Playhouse. Council approved a request to relocate the Bell Research Center to the building adjacent to the historic Sinclair gas station.
  • Approved a bid of $10,950 from Flex Fab for maintenance work, which includes sandblasting and painting of 1,250 linear feet of wrought iron fencing.
  • Approved a bid of $18,955 from Worldwide Macs for 1,600 reversible basketball jerseys, and approved a fee schedule and lists of rules for the new City Park Building's conference center. Greg Little, Recreation & Parks Director, also presented an update on the City Park renovation project. He said progress is being made on the new covered picnic pavilion and playground area, which will include equipment for special needs children thanks to a donation by the Cumming Civitan Club. He hopes to have a dedication for the new park and its facilities sometime in the next few weeks.
  • Approved a bid of $102,872 from North Georgia Pipeline for a sewer project on Webb Street, and a bid of $444,655 from Georgia Development Partners for replacement of a segment of a water main in the Chattahoochee River Club. 
  • Approved a request to advertise for bids for the Bald Ridge Acres Drive wastewater pumping station project, which will provide sewer to several existing homes along Bald Ridge Acres Drive as well as to a new development behind Costco.
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Click here to view meeting videos.
Leaders Recognize Civitan Club, National Spelling Bee Participant, Retired Educators, and Constitution Week

Mayor Ford Gravitt opened the Council's September meeting by recognizing the following:

  • Cumming Civitan Club, which recently donated funds for new handicapped-accessible playground equipment for Cumming City Park. Gravitt noted that organizations like the Civitan Club make Cumming a great place to live and work.
  • Lambert High School freshman Akshat Gautam, who was named the Georgia State Spelling Bee Champion in March while still an eighth grader at South Forsyth Middle School. Gautam earned the right to compete in the National Spelling Bee, where he placed 46th out of 252 spellers.
  • Council honored retired educators with a resolution proclaiming Sunday, Nov. 6 Retired Educators Day. The resolution noted "retired educators of Georgia donate thousands of hours of volunteer service and make invaluable contributions to their communities ... for the betterment of human lives and society."
     
  • September 17, 2016 marked the 229th anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution of the United States of America by the Constitutional Convention, and members of the Chestatee River Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution accepted a Council proclamation recognizing Constitution Week, which was Sept. 17 - 23. The Council's resolution urged "all citizens to study the Constitution and to express gratitude for the privilege of American citizenship."
McKenzie Coan poses with her gold and silver medals from the Rio Paralympics. (Photo courtesy  Micah Green of the Forsyth County News)
Paralympic Gold and Silver Medalist is Cumming Aquatic Center Alumna
Former Cumming Waves swim team member McKenzie Coan made plenty of waves of her own at the recent Paralympic Games in Rio. Coan took home three gold medals and one silver. After returning home, she gave kids at the Cumming Aquatic Center - where she spent many years training and competing - an opportunity to check out those medals and to hear her story. Born with osteogenesis imperfect, or "brittle bone disease," Coan at an early age found a home in the water. The Loyola University student, who is slated to graduate in 2018, also competed in the 2012 London Paralympic Games, where she placed sixth in the 400-meter freestyle. Congratulations, McKenzie, from all your friends at the City of Cumming!


Cumming and Forsyth County Under Level 1 Drought Warning
Persistent dry conditions have prompted the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to declare a Level 1 Drought Response in 53 counties, including Forsyth. This means local water utilities in affected counties are required to begin a public information campaign to help citizens better understand drought, its impact on water supplies, and the need for water conservation. Please be conservative in water use, especially outdoor watering, to help our region avoid full drought conditions! Click here for easy ways to conserve water at home.
Last Chance to Take Part in Community Survey: Closes Oct. 7 
The City of Cumming's Community Questionnaire, which is being offered as part of a Comprehensive Plan update process, will close at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 7. The Comprehensive Plan serves as a planning guide for the City's next 20 years. A steering committee has been working and will continue its work over the next few months to draft recommendations for the plan update. The steering committee will review all feedback received through the Community Questionnaire, as well as through several public hearings that were held in August and September, and take all suggestions and comments into consideration. The questionnaire, accessible through the link below, only takes about 10 minutes to complete.
 
Community Questionnaire

Coming Soon
 
To the Cumming Fairgrounds
  • Cumming Country Fair & Festival - Oct. 6-16: 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 4 p.m. to midnight Friday; 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday; 12:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday

To the Cumming Playhouse
  • "Smoke on the Mountain" - 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and 3 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 16
  • Banks & Shane in Concert - 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Oct. 22

Meetings
  • Planning & Zoning Board - 5 p.m. Oct. 18
  • City Council - 6 p.m. Oct. 18
Both meetings are open to the public and held in the third-floor Council Chambers at City Hall, 100 Main Street. For all meetings after 5 p.m., please enter through the rear parking lot entrance. Click here for previous meeting videos. 
It's our favorite time of year! Be sure to check out the Cumming Country Fair & Festival Oct. 6-16.

Sincerely,   
City of Cumming
Division of Public Information