COUNCILMAN PHILIP GOLDSTEIN kept his string alive on Monday. That is, for the ninth consecutive municipal election cycle, he was the first candidate to qualify at City Hall. Voters on Nov. 3 will pick a mayor, council, school board and decide on the $25 million parks bond.

Now in his 29th year on the council, Goldstein also can boast of being the longest-serving municipal elected official serving in the same position in Cobb County. He's served under six different mayors (in order): Dana Eastham, Bob Flournoy, Vicki Chastain, Joe Mack Wilson, Ansley Meaders and Bill Dunaway (although some might suggest one or two of those actually served under "Stealth Mayor" Goldstein).

And Goldstein is almost guaranteed to soon serve under a seventh, since Goldstein has no opponent in November, and incumbent Mayor Dunaway is retiring.

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A KICKOFF FUNDRAISER for Cobb District 3 Commission hopeful JoAnn Birrell will be Sept. 17 at the Cherokee Cattle Co. at 2710 Canton Road. Sponsors for the 6:30-8 p.m. event include state Sen. Chip Rogers, Dr. Sharon Camp, Sherry King Castellanos, Pat Chadwick, David Connell, Inger Eberhart, Barbara Hickey, Bob Shackleford, Dr. Charlotte Stowers and Waste Management. For more info, call (404) 394-9601.

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POLITICAL PATTER: The Lynda Coker-Judson Hill state Senate primary coming up next spring in the east Cobb/Sandy Springs district is for a solidly Republican seat, about 2-1, so the GOP primary is tantamount to election in that affluent district.

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Folks are complaining they can't reach U.S. Rep. David Scott on health care, but given that his district is so heavily Democratic (it has the most black voters of Georgia's 13 congressional districts), he has nothing to fear from a GOP challenger next year and probably not even after redistricting in 2011 by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

The Voting Rights Act will discourage GOP attempts to dismantle his district. It's doubtful Republican Reps. Phil Gingrey or Tom Price, Cobb's two other congressmen, would want to pick up much of increasingly Democratic south Cobb. The Census now is just seven months away (April 2010), although the Legislature won't be redrawing the maps until after 2011 regular session.

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FORMER MARIETTA SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT DR. HAROLD BARNETT is co-hosting a reception Thursday for Gen. David Poythress, who is running as a Democrat in next year's Georgia gubernatorial primary. The event will take place from 5-7 p.m. at the Vinings Bank Community Room at 4135 Atlanta Road in Smyrna. Co-hosts for the event are Coy Short and Cheryl Love.

For more, call (770) 446-2010.

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MORE POLITICAL PATTER: Supporters of David Wilkerson for state representative will have a campaign kickoff and fundraiser on Sept. 17 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Outback Steakhouse at 2345 Austell Road. The suggested contribution is $50. For details, contact Penny Wilkerson at (770) 436-7241 or visit www.wilkersonforcobb.com. Wilkerson is running against veteran South Cobb Democrat Don Wix.

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PUT ON YOUR POLO SHIRT and head up to Alpharetta Sept. 20 to support Theater in the Square’s latest fundraiser. The event will be at the Chukkar Farms & Polo Club at 1140 Liberty Grove Road in Alpharetta. Grounds will open at noon and Chukkar Farms owner Jack Cashin will host “Polo 101” at 1 p.m. for first-time polo fans. The actual match will start at 2.

In addition, there will be the “stomping of the divots,” a live auction, music, children’s activities and contests for “Best Hat,” “Best Picnic Theme” and “Best Filly in Lilly,” that is, in vintage Lillian Pulitzer wear.

Tickets to the event are $25 for Theater subscribers, $30 for non-subscribers and $10 for children.

VIP tickets are $250.

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EVENTS There will be a reception for Marietta Kiwanis President Rosan Hall as she ends her year as president on Sept. 29 from 5 to 7 p.m., upstairs at Simpatico’s on North Park Square.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Hap Hines, who set records for kickers at Marietta High and the University of Georgia, is now a coach for the Newnan High School football team. Their opening game was last Thursday at LaGrange so his father, Supreme Court Justice Harris Hines and mother, Helen, drove down to watch. Harris and Helen then traveled back to support Marietta in its opener against North Cobb last Friday.

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OPENING WEEKEND: “The Will Rogers Follies: A Life Review,” presented by the Atlanta Lyric Theatre at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre, is a bright and breezy Tony Award-winning production focusing on the life and career of famed humorist and performer Will Rogers, who was well known back in the AT columnist Bill Kinney’s younger days. It uses as a backdrop the “Ziegfeld Follies,” which he often headlined, and describes every episode in his life in the form of a big production number.

The revue contains snippets of Rogers’ famous homespun style of wisdom and common sense to convey the personality of this quintessentially American figure whose most famous quote was, “I never met a man I didn’t like.” Show girls, rope tricks, big dance numbers and Will Rogers. What more could you ask for in a musical?

Tickets range from $32 to $38 and season ticket packages are available through The Lyric box office at (404) 377-9948 or www.atlantalyrictheatre.com.

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THE HISTORIC MARIETTA TROLLEY COMPANY is celebrating Marietta’s 175th anniversary with a buy-one get-one-free offer through Nov. 15. Its “A Token to Marietta” program entitles each rider to bring along a guest for free to experience the historic sites of the Trolley’s one-hour narrated tour of historic Marietta.

The trolley acquaints riders with the heritage of Marietta: from the heart of downtown in Marietta Square, through Confederate, National and City Cemeteries, past grand Antebellum homes, to the battlefields at Kennesaw Mountain.

For more, go to www.Mariettatrolley.com or call Cassandra Buckalew at (770) 425-1006.

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COBB LIBRARY FOUNDATION President Bernice Franklin has been named one of six “Unsung Heroines” by the Atlanta Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women and will be honored on Sept. 18 at a luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Hotel.

THE PHRASE, “You can’t go home again,” does not apply to Helen Delk. After 36 years at Dorsey Manor, the Marietta Housing Authority’s nine-story senior high-rise on Lemon Street, Ms. Delk was one of the last residents to depart before MHA begins its renovation. Fittingly, she will likely return to the property which not only was her home from the time the building opened in 1973, but was once the location of Haynes Street Elementary School, which she and her late husband, Gene Delk, attended.

MHA is about to open The Retreat at Dorsey Manor, the new senior units at the location, and next year will open the renovated high-rise as The Tower at Dorsey Manor. Ms. Delk will choose one or the other for her return .Ms. Delk was one of 87 seniors relocated because of the pending renovation.

REMINDER: Marietta High School Athletic Director Paul Hall reminds that the annual Marietta Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony is at the First United Methodist Church on Sept. 18 at noon. Tickets are available in the Marietta High School athletic office. Inductees will be recognized at half-time of the Marietta-Woodstock game next Friday night.

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KENNESAW MOUNTAIN NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK will present a free program of Civil War-era music Sept. 19 at 12 and 3 p.m. by Dr. William Craig Mann. Mann is the former assistant curator for living history programs with the Landmarks Foundation of Montgomery, Ala. He plays banjo and other instruments according to study of Civil War-era instruction books.