The Ranger Report #005

Mais Oui

Author

Reynoldstown Rangers
April 01, 2024

May We?

Think back four years and two weeks.

It’s March 18, 2020. 

The global big ugly is just now really real. A ranger wakes up with a bright idea.

He takes a stack of poetry books out onto his front porch, and start asking every person who walks by this simple question: 

‘May I Read You A Poem?’

For the next 6 weeks, every day, he treats ‘May I Read You a Poem?’ like it’s his job. Three out of four people who actually hear the question (many earbuds out there) say ‘yes.’ They, together, then have a surprising human moment, at a time when those are in very short supply. In six weeks, he reads over 500 poems.

He’s asked the right question.

‘May I Read You a Poem?’ has returned several times over the last four years. It’s one of the moments of surprise and connection that led to the birth of Reynoldstown Rangers. So it seems natural that, next month, the month of ‘May,’ we’re bringing it back. This time though, we’re looking for new readers. 

Like the idea of giving strangers a tiny gift? Want to embrace risk, and cultivate bravery? Seeking ways to unlock the power of words? Need to make yourself heard?

The Rangers will hold three one-hour training sessions, throughout the month of April, on a tba schedule. We’ll provide poems, a porch, and an experienced public reading coach. 

Reynoldstown will supply the passersby.

Top Secret

The Rangers are planning a big surprise for someone we love (hint: it’s you). Because we understand how surprises work, we can’t tell you what it is yet.
But —
If you love Lego, miniatures, or model making, we should talk.
Drop us a line, here.

Know Fooling

(Okay, Some Fooling)

Look at the date. Once again, the most wonderful time of the year — the one day that Rangers put up with foolery. 

Time for us to play a short round of ‘Know Fooling.’ 
Which of these are True (no fooling) or False (fooling)?

  1. Perhaps the very first journalistic mention of Reynoldstown is a newspaper account from 1883, about a serial neighborhood cattle thief, described as ‘the ubiquitous bovine burglar.’

  2. CeeLo Green recorded parts of an album in a soundproof chamber, within a state-of-the-art recording studio, on the first floor of the historic I.P. Reynolds Store on Wylie Street.

  3. Reynoldstown is named for Reynolds Wrap, and its prevalent neighborhood use as a decorative accent.

  4. The Kentucky Coffeetree (featured in the Beltline-adjacent alley along Fulton Terrace) is named for its seeds, which unroasted, are toxic to people and get dogs drunk; or roasted, can be used as a (terrible) coffee substitute.

  5. Muhammad Ali trained for two weeks in an arena that stood at the corner of Chester and Memorial.

  6. Our unflappable and hardworking RCIL President was named after her father’s job in the finance department of a car dealership, where he was known as the ‘lender-leaser.’

(2, 3, and 6 are Fooling. All the rest are No Fooling.)

This Month’s Ranger Calendar

Walks With Resident Experts 003: ‘Trains’ with Angel Poventud
Saturday, April 6 at 9am (Sold Out - Join the Waitlist)

New Reynoldstown Quilters, Sunday, April 14, from 3-6p (Blue House)

New Reynoldstown Quilters, Sunday, April 28, from 3-6p (Yellow House)

Confused by the Quilters location code? Contact J. Gibson to get in the know!

FARQs (Frequently Asked Reynoldstown Questions)

Hey Wylie,

What’s up with all your skinny little streets in Reynoldstown? How are we supposed to maneuver at full speed, with so much on-street parking choking most neighborhood thoroughfares down to a single lane? And when I meet someone headed toward me, who even has the right of way?  I am in an enormous hurry, and Reynoldstown is like a four-square-mile speed bump.

Frustratedly,

Someone From Elsewhere

Dear Elsie,

Welcome to Reynoldstown, where our official slogan is ‘Slow Your Roll.’ We're here to remind everyone of a simpler time and a slower pace. Yes, our streets are skinny — because most of them were laid out between 1870 and 1920. Most people walked most places then. Very few cars. And today, many of us are walking, biking, and rollerblading a lot. One of the charms of the place is that it makes a terrible shortcut. Hulsey Yard cuts off the North/South, and a few strategic one-ways limit the East/West. There is only one great way to get through Reynoldstown in a hurry: on MARTA.

You raise (just) one good question: Who has the right of way? By long standing tradition, you should yield if cars are parked on your side of the street. Where parking exists on both sides, try feeding your karma, and always giving way. Remember: you can’t spell ‘Reynoldztown’ without ‘Zen.’

Glossary

Battle of Atlanta
(The Ranger Report takes itself not very seriously, and yet the story of our neighborhood is often fraught. It’s hard to overstate the weight and importance of what transpired in and around Reynoldstown on July 22nd, 1864. Because the Union won the Battle, Lincoln went on to win the Presidency, and the world changed. Over 9,000 soldiers, from both sides, died on that day, and what had been railroad track through pasture land became — well, go on up to the Atlanta History Center and have a look at the Cyclorama. That was here, then. 160 years later, your backyard likely still contains lead shot.)

(cont’d)

Bill Kennedy Way (Named for Bill Kennedy, the head of Atlanta’s Zoning Department from 1979 to 1994. Kennedy was [astonishingly, for one in such a hot seat for so long] regarded with respect and admiration by those on every side. Developers, neighborhood leaders, and preservationists all spoke of him as a peacemaker and consensus builder. For urban land use geeks [like us] Bill Kennedy was one of the good guys. Ironically, the street named in his honor is now one of the trickiest needles the Atlanta Beltline must thread, and has become more associated with chicken sandwich-related backups than with good planning.)

Next Issue: We get to the letter ‘C’! 
Woot.

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