On June 18, Lauren Berens and Todd Hughes celebrated their engagement at party hosted by maid of honor, Lauren Fierman, and her parents, Bob and Linda Fierman, at their Marietta home. Mother Nature doled out a summer thunderstorm, but she didn’t dampen the celebration. Partygoers moved inside where they enjoyed Todd’s delicious barbeque with his “Special Sauce.”

Guests from Knoxville, Tenn., to Valdosta attended along with locals including bride’s parents, Irene and Bob Berens; grandparents, Pat and Jack Beverstein; groom’s parents, Zina and Bill Hughes; along with Carmen and Ryan Berens, David Berens, Courtney and Adam Clayton, Megan Dusterhoff, Megan Ostendorf and Tim Griffin, Caroline Cole and John Hahn, Wayne Iddins, Laura Schmid, and Meredith Sykes — just to name a few.

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On June 11, more than 50 people gathered poolside for a beautiful evening at the home of Terri and Steve Cole to congratulate and celebrate the graduation of their daughter, Anna, from the University of Georgia.

Anna graduated summa cum laude with a major in psychology and a minor in history. She was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa fraternity and the Order of the Omega Greek honor society. She will return to Athens next fall to begin her masters program.

Among the attendees were the Cole and Strickland families, Kim and Brad Barfield, Robin Burkett; Ryan, Cathy and Rick Chabot, Jessica Diamond, Morgan, Mary and David Hale, Elaine and Greg Lucas, Angela and Nick Massengill, and Ryan, Adam, Sally and Dan McTish.

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Members of the Kiwanis Club of Marietta and volunteers from Eastminister Presbyterian Church, the Atlanta Sewing Guild, and community volunteers recently prepared dolls to be sent to children in Japan following the devastating tsunami. The dolls were void of decoration so that doctors can explain treatments and children can identify where they hurt as well allowing them to decorate the dolls themselves. The dolls will be stuffed and sewn shut at the Kiwanis Georgia District Convention in August 2011 and sent to Japan.

The project is in response to a request by the Georgia District Young Children: Priority One Committee Chair.

Sally Litchfield is a longtime Marietta resident. She formerly practiced law in Marietta and now stays home to raise her two children. Send Sally news at sallylit@bellsouth.net. Call Sally at (770) 425-7122.