Five Things Happening This Week

Are you the top bannana when it comes to peaches?

You can show off your culinary peach prowess in the Peach Jam contest this Saturday at the corner of 2nd Ave. SE & Hosea L. Williams Dr. SE.

Join judges state Sen. Jason Carter and State House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams at 10 a.m. to vote for the best peach dishes in the Amateur and Professional categories.

A $10 contribution gets you tastings of all entries and proceeds benefit the East Lake Schools Coalition. The amateur winner walk away with $100 and the professional winner gets bragging rights plus the Peachapalooza 2012 plaque.

Afterward, come to Steinbeck's in Oakhurst Village for an afternoon of drink, food and music all to benefit the ELF Market and Slow Food Atlanta.

Entry deadline is June 26 and you may click here for an entry form.

Saturday's event is part of a number of Peachapalooza festivities which includes East Atlanta Farmers Market Peach Cocktail Contest on Thursday, June 28, that begins at 5:30 p.m. The Grant Park Farmers Market hosts a Peach Cobbler Contest on Sunday, July 1 beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Here's what else is on tap this week:

• MON-JUNE 25: The , 101 Auburn Ave. NE, is hosting the exhibit, Music through My Lens, by critically acclaimed and former Death Row Records photographer, Simone Green.  The exhibition, a photographic journey through Green’s experience in the entertainment industry, includes an intimate behind-the-scenes look at iconic superstars including Nate Dog, The Fat Boys, Full Force and Snoop Dogg.
  • Neighborhood Planning Unit-M, which includes Old Fourth Ward, Downtown and Castleberry Hill, meets at 6:30 p.m. in the Helene S. Mills Senior Center, 515 John Wesley Dobbs Ave. NE.
• TUES-JUNE 26: Neighborhood Planning Unit-O, which includes East Lake, the Villages of East Lake, Kirwood and Edgewood, meets at 6:30 p.m. at the Branham Recreation Center, 2051 Delano Dr. NE.
  • Coan Middle 6th Grade Orientation at , 145 4th Ave. SE. A parent orientation will be held from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Betsy Bockman, principal, will meet with parents from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Students only will attend the remaining days of orientation on June 27 through June 29. The orientation will provide students an opportunity to learn skills and strategies to become successful in middle school, student expectations, how to navigate the middle school schedule, how to organize materials, how to seek assistance when needed, strategies for getting along with peers and adults and even how to open a locker. For questions, call Bevin Carpenter at 404.514.5511 or Barbara Coble at 770.598.7304.