Maxine Wilson had heard a lot of negative stereotypes about the area, but Mableton was “the last affordable place for quality housing in Cobb County,” she said.
So, two years ago, Wilson bought a house and moved in.
She quickly realized those stereotypes didn’t do Mableton justice, and she put together a proposal for an event that would showcase “how far we’ve come as a community.”
That proposal became a reality Saturday, when hundreds flocked to the inaugural Taste of Mableton Festival, organized by the Mableton Improvement Coalition, a civic advocacy group Wilson joined right after buying her house.
Credit: Aleks Gilbert
Credit: Aleks Gilbert
The festival kicked off with a parade featuring marching bands from the area’s two high schools, Pebblebrook and South Cobb; area pastors marching under one banner; and former Gov. Roy Barnes, a Mableton native.
Starting at the Mableton Walk shopping center, parade participants marched the half mile to the festival’s dozens of tents and food trucks, which had set up shop at the historic Mable House complex off Floyd Road.
The festival was more than a showcase for local food and artisans. It was also a spotlight for local talent, with the DJ and other performers — dancers, a musician — all hailing from Mableton, Wilson said. One tent featured information about Pebblebrook and South Cobb high schools and notable people who attended or taught at the schools, including former principal and Cobb school board Chairwoman Betty Gray, actress Rebecca Grace Tobin, basketball player Collin Sexton and rapper Lil Yachty.
Credit: Aleks Gilbert
Credit: Aleks Gilbert
Cobb Commissioner Monique Sheffield, whose District 4 includes the Mableton community, marched in the parade and participated in an afternoon panel featuring Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Lisa Cupid and state Sen. Michael “Doc” Rhett, D-Marietta, and David Wilkerson, D-Powder Springs.
“I’m excited to see this (festival),” Sheffield told the MDJ, “because as we move forward in rebranding District 4, Mableton has definitely had a leg up with respect to branding its area.”
Barnes recalled his childhood in Mableton, when Floyd Road was a dirt road.
“Everything was farm and agriculture. Everything’s changed completely,” the former governor said. Now, it’s one of the fastest-growing areas in the county.
“The building department … tells me there’s more going on in Mableton than anywhere else in the county,” Barnes continued. “We welcome it, and it’s long overdue.”
Wilson said rapid growth brings challenges. She chairs the economic development committee on the Mableton Improvement Coalition, and said the organization will focus on bringing to the community amenities and infrastructure expected by new residents, such as greater walkability.
“Of course we have some wonderful parks and trails, and (new residents) have been enjoying those, but we want to add to that,” Wilson said. “Now that we got used to not driving to work everyday, we want to get used to not having to drive to the store either. We want to walk.”
Ray Thomas, president of the Mableton Improvement Coalition, said the area’s two challenges are education and Veterans Memorial Highway.
Current levels of investment in the area are not sustainable, he said, unless “our education system is equally up to par.”
SAT scores at Pebblebrook and South Cobb are some of the lowest among county high schools.
Veterans Memorial Highway, meanwhile, is one of the area’s main thoroughfares but also suffers from blight, Thomas said.
“But Veterans (Highway) is only a small fraction of Mableton,” Thomas said. “And the thing that people oftentimes don’t see is all the other stuff that’s going on.”
More ranch-style homes than, perhaps, anywhere else in Atlanta. Access to the Chattahoochee River. Access to the world’s busiest airport. The Silver Comet Trail. The Mable House complex. “Killer views of the skylines of Atlanta.”
“I can’t think of another place in the Atlanta metro area that has all these things,” Thomas said.
Credit: Aleks Gilbert
Credit: Aleks Gilbert
Shopping for houses in the area, Stacey Murphy was driving by Saturday when she saw the festival. She stopped in to check it out.
Like Wilson two years ago, Murphy said Mableton’s affordability was the main draw. But, a Mableton Improvement Coalition-branded water bottle dangling from her hip, she was impressed by the sense of community on display at the festival.
“This is more of the community I’m looking for,” she said.
It’s all par for the course in Mableton, according to Barnes.
“There’s a sense of community that’s always been here,” he said. “And this is a good example of it, of how we come together, stay together and celebrate, really, during these times of division, those things that hold us together.”
Credit: Marietta Daily Journal
Credit: Marietta Daily Journal
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