It's Fair Time! Oct. 4-14; Discounted Tickets Now Through Oct. 2 
All the fun of the fair will be here soon! Opening day is Oct. 4 with plenty of entertainment for the whole family continuing daily through Oct. 14! 
Some of this year's attractions include an Olympic high drive and grizzly bear educational performances, as well as Trace Adkins on Oct. 11. 

Performing under the covered arena this year will be country music favorites Confederate Railroad on Oct. 9 and Trace Adkins on Oct. 11. Both concerts begin at 8 p.m. and are included in the cost of admission.  Marvel Superheroes return this year for two performances on Oct. 10 at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., and the American Bull Riders Tour closes out the fair at 8 p.m. Oct. 13 and at 7 p.m. Oct. 14. 
Confederate Railroad performs Oct. 9. 
Daily ground acts this year include returning favorites Oscar the Robot, Brian Ruth: Master of the Chainsaw, Tree Man/Cowboy Woody, Lady Houdini, Atlanta Puppet Show, and North Georgia Petting Zoo and Pony Rides. New this year will be the Olympic High Dive Show, Grizzly Experience, and David Smith: Human Cannonball. 
New this year: Space Wheel

Of course the James H. Drew Exposition will be back with their classic carnival midway featuring rides and games for all ages, sky buckets, and delicious fair food. Families will also enjoy historical exhibits at the Heritage and Cherokee Indian Villages. 

Admission is $7 at the gate for ages 11 and up; kids 10 and under are admitted free. Now through Oct. 2, advanced tickets can be purchased for $5 at the Cumming Fairgrounds Office (the large, log cabin-style building across the street from the Cumming Police Department). 

Click here for complete fair information, including costs, show times, and daily specials. Hope to see you at the fair! 

Did you know?  The Cumming Country Fair & Festival was first held in 1995 and ran for just five days. 
Playhouse: Last Weekend for "Smoke"; "Annie" Kicks Off Oct. 19 
"Smoke on the Mountain," a Southern Gospel musical, ends on Sept. 30 at the Cumming Playhouse, and family favorite "Annie" begins its four-weekend run on Oct. 19. 

In "Smoke," young and enthusiast preacher, Mervin Oglethorpe, has recruited the Sanders Family to help bring his 1938, rural Baptist congregation into "the modern world" by leading the church's first-ever Saturday night singing. Y oung Pastor Oglethorpe soon realizes he's in for much more than he bargained when the Sanders' zany personalities quickly take over his pulpit. Hilarious antics - tempered with genuinely heart-warming moments - quickly ensue, making the evening one that the Mount Pleasant Baptist congregation (and Cumming Playhouse audiences) won't soon forget! 

BK Productions brings "Annie," the classic tale of a little redhead with big dreams, back to the Cumming Playhouse stage beginning Oct. 19, with shows running Thursdays-Sundays through Nov. 11. 

In this classic musical set in the 1930s,  Annie - a fiery, young orphan - is forced to live in a miserable girls' orphanage run by the tyrannical Miss Hannigan. But her seemingly hopeless situation changes dramatically when she is selected to spend a short time at the residence of the wealthy industrialist, Oliver Warbucks. 

Quickly, she charms the hearts of the household staff, and even the seemingly cold-hearted Warbucks cannot help but learn to love this wonderful girl. He decides to help Annie find her long-lost parents by offering a reward if they would come to him and prove their identity. However, Miss Hannigan, her evil brother Rooster, and a female accomplice plan to impersonate the parents to steal the reward, putting Annie in great danger.

Click here for tickets to the final weekend of "Smoke on the Mountain", and here for tickets to "Annie." 

Piney Grove Middle Students Tour City Hall
Piney Grove students and their teachers pose for photo in the Council Chambers.
A group of special needs students from Piney Grove Middle School, along with their teachers and several peer buddies, toured Cumming City Hall on Sept. 21. 

While at City Hall, the students learned about the various City departments, the role of the Mayor and City Council, and Utilities employee Webb Hansard taught them about the water cycle, including water and wastewater treatment. 

Thank you, Grizzlies, for visiting with us! 

Several Honored by Mayor and Council In September 
Mayor and Council presented three proclamations during their regular meeting on Sept. 18. First, pictured at left, Council honored retired educators by proclaiming Nov. 4, 2018 as Retired Educators Day. Members of Forsyth County Retired Educators organization accepted this proclamation. 


Council also presented members of the Chestatee River Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution with a proclamation declaring Sept. 17-21, 2018 as Constitution Week, in honor of the 231st anniversary of the drafting of the United States Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787. 

Finally, Council presented a proclamation declaring November as Diabetes Awareness Month and Nov. 14, 2018 as Diabetes Awareness Day. South Forsyth High School DECA students,  Srishti Singh and Ronit Ganguly, accepted the proclamation as part of a marketing project to promote diabetes awareness. 



Among other business during the September meeting and work session, City Council:   
  • Approved an agreement with Square Ice, Inc. to provide a seasonal, outdoor ice skating rink at the Cumming Fairgrounds beginning around Thanksgiving and continuing until around New Year's Day. The City would be responsible for providing an approximately 60' x 100' tent and power for the rink at a estimated cost of $20,000. The City could recoup some of the expense, however, by selling advertising around the rink and perhaps selling concessions.  
  • Approved an emergency repair to a portion of the stone wall along Veterans Memorial Boulevard. It is unknown how the damage occurred, but the repairs included hauling away broken pieces of concrete and rock, and installing new stone along the wall at cost of just over $11,115.00. 
  • Approved the low bid from Jasper Grading & Pipeline for resurfacing of Ingram Avenue. The project is a SPLOST VII expense. 
  • Approved additional cyber security protection for all workstations and servers on the City's network from Serene IT. 
  • Voted to revoke a business license held by Rosy Enterprises after the Cumming Police Department investigated complaints that the business known as King Puff had sold vape products illegally to minors under age 18. Cumming PD conducted a controlled buy with a minor in which employees did sell illegally to the underage customer. 
  • Approved a temporary construction easement for Forsyth County to allow for work to be performed at the proposed Big Creek Greenway Phase 5 Extension. 
  • Approved a conditional use permit for Brave Acres, LLC with several conditions from the Planning & Zoning Board and City Council. 
  • Approved an ordinance to amend several portions of the City's Zoning Ordinance covering permissible uses, permissible structures, temporary structures, conditional uses, procedures and other purposes. 
  • Approved the low bid from Legacy Water Group, LLC for a water system in the Mountainside subdivision which will replace many leaking pipes and add a water booster station and a 250,000-gallon storage tank. The total project will provide better fire protection for the community. 

Coming Soon
 
To the Cumming Playhouse
  • "Smoke on the Mountain" - Through Sept. 30; 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday
  • "Annie" - Oct. 19-Nov. 11; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays

To the Cumming Fairgrounds
  • Cumming Country Fair & Festival - Oct. 4-14; 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 Aquatic Center 
Meetings
  • City Council Work Session - Oct. 2 at 6 p.m. (Location: Gallery B, City Hall Second Floor) 
  • Planning & Zoning Board - Oct. 16 at 5 p.m.  
  • City Council Regular Meeting - Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. 

All meetings are open to the public and held in the third-floor Council Chambers at City Hall, 100 Main Street, unless otherwise noted. For all meetings after 5 p.m., please enter through the rear parking lot entrance. Click here for previous meeting videos. 

 

We hope everyone enjoys the Cumming Country Fair & Festival, and all that the City of Cumming has to offer this fall! 

 

Sincerely,   
City of Cumming
Division of Public Information