Johns Creek Magazine Spotlights Retiring Theatre Director, Local Families, and Best of 2026

Debbie Prost, the Johns Creek High School theatre director who built the school's arts program across a long career, is retiring in May. The Creek, the community magazine serving Johns Creek and surrounding north-metro neighborhoods, made her farewell the centerpiece of its April-May 2026 issue, which went live April 1 with community profiles, arts coverage, and a four-page events calendar.

Prost's retirement gives the issue its emotional weight. Her long tenure placed her at the center of Johns Creek High School's performing arts identity, and her exit this May marks one of the more significant transitions in the local arts community this spring.

The issue also profiles five families the magazine identifies as civic contributors: the Mumas, the Saads, Catalina GomezBeuth and Jose Cellario, the Cerejo family, and the Ip family. Their longform profiles form the backbone of an issue that balances community character with commercial life, though the reader-voted "Best of Johns Creek 2026" results bring restaurant, service, and business winners into the mix, giving the edition a practical utility alongside its longer reads.

Local musician Brett Ryder received a dedicated profile as a homegrown act to watch, adding a music dimension to an arts-heavy issue. Tourism strategist Kristin Edwards contributes a separate forward-looking feature on Johns Creek's tourism strategy, a signal that the city is actively working to draw visitors from the broader north-metro region, Forsyth County included.

The four-page events calendar spanning April and May is the issue's most actionable offering for anyone considering a spring weekend built around a performance, a meal from a Best-of winner, or a community event south of the county line. The digital edition is available now.