Do you remember where you were when  you heard the news? The news that  EAST COBBER founder, Cynthia Rozzo, was  retiring. I remember very well. I was driving  to Augusta to watch my oldest son pitch in  his final college baseball game when I got a phone call from Cynthia telling me that after 29 years, it was time for her to retire.  

My son did pitch in his last game, Cynthia did retire, and I am now the new publisher of the EAST COBBER! I am so honored to continue the legacy that Cynthia created. 

I was born in Oklahoma, raised in Texas, met my husband, Jon, in Virginia  and (for the past 22 years) have been raising our family in East Cobb. That’s  typically what I say when asked where I am from. I never lived in any one  place for very long, but when we landed here in June 2000, with my 5-year-old  daughter, Ashley, and 6-month-old son, Alex, we made East Cobb home. Since  then, we have added three more boys to our crew: my sons, Jon Walker and  Nathan; and my first grandson, “J”. You can read more about me on page 8. 

My children have been in Cobb County schools 22 years– with 7 more to go!  And probably like most of you, chose to live where education is top priority.  But what has kept us here are the East Cobb residents that step up and make  our community a better place to live. Like Fay Morris selling books so kids with  cancer can have a good read while being treated at Children’s Healthcare.  You can read that story on page 12. Or the East Cobb Rotarians who are  producing their 17th annual Dog Days Run that has raised almost one million  dollars for local nonprofits (see page 19) and the Lutzenkirchen family making  it their life’s work to educate teens to drive safely (see page 24). This is what  makes East Cobb such a great place to live. As the new owner and publisher,  I am thrilled to continue the EAST COBBER’s mission of shining a light on these  good people and their good works. 

Feel free to email me (laren@eastcobber.com) your ideas or tell me about  your neighbor(s) doing good, so we can feature them in an upcoming issue. 

—

Laren Brown, Publisher 

laren@eastcobber.com