Break out the green top hats, wigs, feathered boas, sunglasses, shamrock-themed T-shirts, and whatever else helps you get in touch with your Irish spirit because there are going to be some St. Patrick’s Day parties happening in Gwinnett County this weekend.
There are six main St. Patrick’s events taking place between Friday — which is the actual St. Patrick’s Day — and Saturday. Two of them are in Lawrenceville, two more will happen in Suwanee and the others are in Norcross and Lilburn.
Cosmo’s Pizza + Social is kicking things off on today with the Cosmo’s St. Paddy’s Party, which will begin at 4 p.m. The event will include outdoor patio games, live music, a DJ, green beer, festive drinks, prizes and giveaways, as well as Irish food specials, such as corned beef and cabbage. Cosmo’s is located at 144 Crogan St. in Lawrenceville. On Saturday, there will be events taking place in Lawrenceville, Norcross, Lilburn and Suwanee.
The Suwanee Kiwanis Club will hold its annual Shamrock 5K at Suwanee Town Center Park at 8 a.m. on Saturday. The race, which raises money for the Kiwanis Club, is St. Patrick’s themed. Runners are encouraged to run while wearing the most St. Patrick’s-inspired outfit they can come up with.
Runners have until 9 a.m. on today to sign up. Norcross will hold its annual Irish Fest from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. in historic downtown Norcross. The event will include music, dancing, face painting, a balloon artist, food tastings and other Irish-inspired activities. Attendees are also encouraged to visit downtown Norcross’ shops and restaurants for specials throughout the day. One of the biggest St. Patrick’s traditions in Gwinnett is the annual Suwanee Beer Fest, where attendees are encouraged to show up decked out in green to enjoy a broad array of craft beers.
This year’s event will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday and last until 5 p.m., at Suwanee Town Center Park, which is located at 330 Town Center Avenue in Suwanee. This year’s event will include 350 different beers, as well as food, entertainment and vendors. Tickets cost $70 on the day of the event, but can be purchased in advance at suwaneebeerfest.com. Meanwhile, the annual Lilburchaun St. Patrick’s Celebration in Lilburn will take place from 2 until 5 p.m. at City Park, which is located at 76 Main St.
The event will include a walking parade, which begins at the band shell at 3 p.m., a DJ, the Athens Piper and Leprechaun Fiddler, kids activities, green sweet treats, food trucks and “maybe even a little leprechaun magic, according to city officials.
Parade attendees are asked to dress up in festive St. Patrick’s-inspired attire for the parade. Pets, bicycles, wagons and strollers are allowed in the parade. And, McCray’s Tavern on the Square in Lawrenceville will host St. Patty’s on Perry from 3 until 8 p.m., on the block of Perry Street located between Crogan and Pike Streets. The event will include live music, bangers and mash, corned beef and cabbage, Shepherd’s Pie, and cold beer. An afterparty will be held at McCray’s.
The Salvation Army of Gwinnett County hosted the 9th Annual “Doing The Most Good” Luncheon on March 7 at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta NE located in Norcross.
The luncheon supports year-round services provided by The Salvation Army such as housing, utilities, groceries, and emergency disaster services, to local families in Gwinnett County. In addition, local youth are served all year long through a free year-round School for Performing Arts, summer camp and by offering school supplies to those who need them.
In 2022, The Salvation Army of Gwinnett County provided 60,843 pounds of food to 1,018 households, 2,717 nights of shelter, 267 households received rent/mortgage and utility assistance and 566 families/1,464 children received gifts at Christmas through its Angel Tree program.
Guests enjoyed a live and silent auction, a seated lunch, and heard from keynote speakers Chad Gundersen and Chris Juen, the executive producers of the hit series “The Chosen,” about what inspired them to make the show and how The Salvation Army camp in Texas turned out to the be the perfect location for filming. This year’s presenting sponsors are Metro Waterproofing, Inc. and Sandra and Clyde Strickland.
For more information about The Salvation Army of Gwinnett County, and its local impact, visit Gwinnett County Corps salvationarmyatlanta.org.
The City of Norcross recently announced that it has awarded $65,000 in American Rescue Plan Act Small Business Grants to six local small businesses.
Three years after the COVID-19 global pandemic began, aftershocks are still being felt by many small business owners, Norcross officials said.
With award amounts based on 2019 annual revenues, this year’s ARPA Small Business Grant recipients include:
CNU Medical Institute
Kiian Silver
The Local Peach
Silky Corp DBA Ladlee
And HNS Logistics
To qualify, small business grant applicants must represent a domestic corporation in good standing in the state of Georgia, have an active Norcross business license, have experienced an annual revenue decline of 25% or more for tax years 2019 and 2020 because of COVID-19, and either operate a commercial operation within Norcross city limits with 1-10 full-time employees or a home-based operation within Norcross city limits with 2-10 full-time employees. ARPA grants may be used to pay rent, lease, or mortgage costs; utility bills; payroll; business-related insurance; inventory expenses; and other operating expenses.
Georgia Gwinnett College will host its final in-person Preview Day for the spring semester from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on March 25.
Prospective students will hear from members of the Grizzly family about programs of study, admissions, financial aid, student housing and more. Participants will be able to tour GGC’s campus and talk to student ambassadors about their experiences at GGC. The event will include food, music and fun giveaways. GGC team members will host selected breakout sessions in Spanish. GGC application fees will be waived in March.
You can register for Preview Day at ggc.edu/preview.
The Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia will host its Nonprofit Academy: Starting Point on March 23.
Community Foundation officials said the intensive, half-day of learning and networking for nonprofits will be the “starting point” for the rest of the Nonprofit Academy 2023’s events. Held from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Gas South District Convention Center, the event costs $150 for general attendees.
Participants can choose to attend four tracks with two sessions within each track, plus a special panel Q&A open to all attendees for a total of eight session options. The four tracks are fundraising, leadership development, storytelling and organizational development.
Session topics include:
For a full list of speakers and topics and to register, go to cfneg.org/nonprofitacademy.
A Florida-based Tex-Mex restaurant chain is preparing to expand into Georgia with locations in Peachtree Corners and Johns Creek that are set to open this spring.
Capital Tacos announced the locations will be its first restaurants in the state of Georgia. The Johns Creek location will open first, in April, with the Peachtree Corners location expected to open “soon after,” according to officials with the dining chain.
Capital Tacos was launched in 2013, and features scratch-made dishes using high quality in-house ingredients. The new locations will feature an “Atlanta-inspired” menu item, the Lemon Pepper Wet Taco, which includes fried shrimp coated in garlic butter and topped with a signature creamy slaw, grilled onions, buffalo ranch and a lemon pepper seasoning mix.
Customers can download Capital Tacos’ Capital Rewards app or sign up at CapitalTacos.com to order online, be eligible to earn and use rewards, and take advantage of exclusive offers.
For more information be sure to visit www.bgpodcastnetwork.com
https://www.lawrencevillega.org/
https://www.fernbankmuseum.org/
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