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Issue 11.84 | Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 TODAY'S FOCUS ELLIOTT
BRACK'S PERSPECTIVE FEEDBACK UPCOMING
NOTABLE ALSO INSIDE IN
THE SPOTLIGHT RECOMMENDED GEORGIA
TIDBIT GWINNETT
CALENDAR TODAY'S
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TODAY'S FOCUS LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga., Jan. 27, 2012 – For the Georgia Gwinnett College students enrolled in Robert Anservitz’s Marketing 4300 class last fall, marketing was anything but a theoretical concept. It was an opportunity to get out and make a difference in their local community.
This fall, the American Red Cross’ Northeast Georgia Chapter was selected as the class’ client. Senior and marketing student, Elizabeth Smith, suggested the Northeast Chapter, after having volunteered at the organization. Other students involved included Tisha Rowland, Megan Gourdeau, and Erin Golden. Anservitz, a GGC assistant professor of marketing with a 29-year teaching career, says: “This was not a theoretical class project. The students had a real client. Working with a tangible client with actual needs and expectations allows students to plug the classroom material into the real world, while providing support to an organization in need.” The students created a marketing strategy that each project group would focus on. It had three taglines:
Students created promotional videos that were posted on a dedicated YouTube channel and developed strategies to effectively use Twitter and Facebook as marketing tools. “We wanted to produce materials that are worthy of the media,” says Rowland, a senior. “I think we succeeded.” They also targeted recruitment by creating PowerPoint presentations and videos that the Red Cross staff could use in explaining their work. Signage was another deliverable. One team was even able to secure a spot for the American Red Cross in the City of Helen’s annual Christmas parade. While working with the regional chapter and national Red Cross, along with the Helen parade organizers, the students independently coordinated all of the details necessary for the organization’s inclusion in the parade. The group created custom signage, in both English and Spanish, which featured messages such as “Become a Red Cross Volunteer today,” “Drive vehicles” and “Set up and run shelters.” The students gathered volunteers to march alongside Red Cross in the parade, and they created a video that showed viewers the multiple volunteer opportunities available, aside from donating blood, in which they could participate. All marketing deliverables were turned over to Northeast Georgia Red Cross for use in future promotion and recruitment activities. The students retained the lessons, however. Philip Reed, executive director of the Northeast Georgia chapter, says that “the students' new approaches to recruiting Red Cross volunteers and donors included the effective use of social media and localized messages with new audio and video, including Spanish language versions, which we are excited to be able to put to use to help us fulfill our humanitarian mission. We are very appreciative of the valuable work the Georgia Gwinnett College students did on our behalf.” EEB
PERSPECTIVE JAN. 27, 2012 – Their company’s main work may be heating and air conditioning, but their recently-found charitable foundation has created a whole new way to increase collections for Gwinnett’s food ministries….in reality, a multiplier effect.
We write of Holtkamp Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc., a Suwanee-based firm. Matt Holtkamp, who employs nine people during the winter and 13 in the summer, creates comfortable temperatures in homes around Gwinnett. He and his wife, Suzanne, have come up with an original idea to help Gwinnett food banks. He says: “We think it is part of our responsibility as a corporation and as individuals.” The couple live in Buford and are members of the Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Flowery Branch. What they have created is the Gwinnett CAN Challenge, a way to fight hunger 365 days a year. The Holtkamps encourage non-profit groups, such as churches or Boy and Girl Scout troops, to collect items for the food banks. (Each must be a 501c3 charitable group to get approved.) When the group has collected 1,000 cans of nonperishable items, the collecting unit earns $250 from the Holtkamp Family Foundation, to spend on their own projects. (About 30 percent even donate this money back to the food banks.) Each unit collecting food can earn up to $1,000 a year. And the group which collects the most during the year wins an extra $1,000 for their own use. The Gwinnett CAN champion for 2011 is Boy Scout Troop 509 in Lilburn. Becky Knake is the troop leader, and the troop meets at Lilburn Christian Church. Suzanne Holtkamp says: “Becky has an uncanny (no pun intended) knack of couponing which really pushed this troop into the lead. (More on Scout Troop 509 in later articles.)
The Holtkamps have made food collection efficient. The various groups collecting take their items directly to one of nine Gwinnett food bank locations listed on the Holtkamp site, and get a receipt. When their collection totals 1,000 items, they then mail the receipt to the Foundation to get a check for their efforts. The idea that the Holtkamps have is not necessarily to reward people for supporting food banks, but to get others involved in the work, and in effect, have a multiplier effect in collecting the food. “We want to set a higher goal,” Matt says. Always needed are canned protein items, such as beans, meats, tuna and peanut butter. During 2011, the Holtkamps sponsored several events to spur the collections. That included a Memorial Day Concert in Suwanee, a cooking school with the Gwinnett Daily Post, and forging competition at five key rival high school football games. “We give $500 to the school which collects the most food, with the other school getting $250 if they amassed at least 1,000 food items. We hope the rivals allow us to do this again in 2012.” The Gwinnett CAN Challenge is an amazing program, one that has immediately worked. Suzanne Holtkamp says: “We want to thank Paige Havens of Buford for coming up with this idea. When we told her we wanted to expand food collections, she immediately thought of food drives. And look where it has taken us.” ABOUT OUR SPONSORS
FEEDBACK Editor, the Forum: Politics has little or nothing to do with philosophy or economics. It has to do with power and gaining control of the government.
There are the Ins and the Outs. The Outs will say anything, promise anything and do anything to get in. And the Ins will say anything, promise anything and do anything to stay in. Don’t pay any attention to all the empty words about the economy and what this one or that one will do to fix it. All you can do is hang on and not fall off or get run over. The economy will take care of itself. It has a mind of its own, evidenced by the fact that there has been a recession in this country, on the average, of one every five years since 1798---regardless of who was in power. So don’t be misled by what is being said by the talking heads on both sides. When you go to the polls to vote, vote for the person or persons whom you of one of your friends can get on their phone---to get what you want done.
Gwinnett needs better way of addressing stray dog problem Editor, the Forum: Gwinnett Animal Control continues to kill close to 1,000 pit bulls every year. We can not adopt our way out of killing pit bulls. That goal will only be reached when our county leaders have the courage to pass a breeder licensing law and promote spay/neuter for all dogs and cats who are not licensed to breed. Note: The exact number of pit bull mixes that enter the shelter isn't a figure our shelter tracks (which is a problem in itself). That number is based on a national/state average of 40 percent of intake being bully breeds. Gwinnett took in 5,021 dogs last year with about 2,000 being bully breeds. That number is balanced with a national/state save rate of around 20 percent who are either returned to owners, adopted or transferred to rescue, meaning close to 80% who are killed during this shelter stay. In Gwinnett that number could be as low as 1,000 killed to as high as 1,400. Cesar Millan of Cesar's Way addresses our stray and unwanted dog problem: “I was impressed by how many things Germany is doing right with its animals. For example, it is mandatory to have your pet spayed or neutered. If you want to breed your dog, you can apply for a license, but otherwise every pet is spayed and neutered. And you know what? They don’t have the kind of stray animal problem that we have in the U.S. Their tax dollars aren’t spent on euthanizing helpless animals. They have things so under control that they are able to adopt rescue animals from other countries. Can you imagine?" To see his views, visit this link.
Atlantan doesn't like work of Gwinnett Sheriff’s Department
My dear Sheriff Conway: My compliments on a splendid operation! At a time when our economy and society is collapsing, it is nice to know that so many resources are being made available to law enforcement, because like all government, you produce so much! There is one thing however. It would be nice if your staff could determine that they have the right man before they cause him bodily injury! Your jack-booted thugs are far more dangerous than any private criminal and far more dangerous that any terrorist. But have fun helping unconstitutional, out-of-control agencies like the Department of Homeland Thugs turn America into a police state and military dictatorship. The militarization of local domestic police must be stopped now! And quit getting in bed with federal agencies. Also: Don’t taze my dog, Bro.
UPCOMING There’s
a sweet deal for runners who sign up together for the Suwanee Sweetheart
5K Sprint on Saturday, February 11. The registration fee is $25 for individual
runners, but pairs (sweethearts, friends, neighbors, etc.) can sign up
for $40. Registration is available at www.active.com
and www.northgwinnettrotary.org. Peachtree Corners residents to get new precinct ID cards Registered voters in the City of Peachtree Corners will soon receive new precinct identification cards indicating the polling place where they are eligible to vote. Lynn Ledford, elections supervisor, says: “Georgia law requires that we issue new cards to notify voters when their political districts have changed, so we started sending out the cards last Friday in preparation for the city election on March 6.” The cards
will include the voter’s polling location and all political districts
for the residential address. Voters can also visit the Georgia Secretary
of State’s My Voter Page at www.sos.georgia.gov/MVP/Login.aspx.
Voters may also view a sample of their registration and absentee ballot
request status, find early voting locations and a view sample ballot for
the upcoming election on the Web page. NOTABLE Duluth’s
Margaret Parsons Andrews is the major honoree of the first Artworks! Gwinnett
awards program, announced last week at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center.
Mrs. Andrews,
a long-time supporter of the arts community, help found and was instrumental
in the initial funding of the Gwinnett Fine Arts Center. She is also a
former president of the Arts Council. Another accomplishment was her role
in establishing the Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts, built
adjacent to the Fine Arts Center. She is a lifetime artist, beginning
in portraits, and later migrating to landscapes. One of her daughters,
Kathy Fincher, is also an artist. Many other
honorees of the Artworks! Gwinnett’s initial recognition were announced.
The list of winners includes:
Aurora’s
2012 Barbara Award to go to Kathryn Parsons Willis Gwinnett’s Aurora Theatre is honoring Duluth’s Kathryn Parsons Willis with its 2012 Barbara Award for her tremendous legacy of support for Aurora Theatre. The award will be presented on Monday, February 13, a fund-raising event at the Theatre. The award is named in honor of arts philanthropist Barbara Howard, a key supporter of the Theatre.
Ms. Willis served on Aurora Theatre’s original Board of Directors and has been a vibrant part of the arts community for many years, lending her talents and heading for years the Duluth Fall Festival. She is a member of the Gwinnett Hospital Foundation and demonstrating a tireless passion for the Gwinnett non-profit community. The Barbara Award is now awarded each year at a festive fundraiser that celebrates community members who shine a bright light on the cultural arts along with those artists who have become Aurora audience favorites. At this year’s event the awards ceremony will recognize the best shows and individual performances from Aurora’s 2010-2011 season as voted on by the attending public. Anyone can view the nomination list or place a vote for their favorites online at the Aurora Theatre Web site. Tickets
for the Barbara Awards program are $40 per person or $75 per couple and
include a $25 per person tax-deductible donation. Six Georgia cities were recognized as Trendsetters by the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) and Georgia Trend magazine at GMA’s annual Mayors’ Day Conference recently in Atlanta. Albany, Athens, Duluth, Greensboro, Stone Mountain and Suwanee were named by GMA and Georgia Trend as the 2012 “Trendsetter Award” winners for 2012 and will be featured in the February issue of Georgia Trend. The cities were chosen from among 41 nominations that covered the gamut of city services.
Duluth
was recognized for its Korean Task Force, created to help bridge cultural
and language barriers between the city’s Korean residents and businesses
and city hall. Judges noted that other cities could use a similar approach
in reaching out to residents and business owners from other cultures as
well. Brothers Bright turn obstacles into opportunities Whitestone Motion Pictures, a boutique film company, released its latest short film, “Jack and the Dustbowl,” online this week. The film tells the story of a family overcoming extraordinary obstacles during incredibly tough times. The Whitestone family had their own extraordinary obstacles to overcome.
The Brothers Bright is the writing duo responsible for every song in every Whitestone film produced. Composer/songwriter Nick Kirk of Braselton and singer/songwriter Billy Wilkerson of Dacula have written together for 15 years and eight years for Whitestone Motion Pictures under the name of The Brothers Bright. They first met when in the Dacula High marching band. On July 31, 2011, Wilkerson, along with best friend Ron Bailey, Jr., was struck by a drunk driver in Decatur. Both were hospitalized with severe traumatic brain damage. Wilkinson was in a coma for over a week, while Bailey remains in a coma. Wilkerson has undergone nine surgeries, ranging from facial reconstruction to tracheostomy. After 16 days in the ICU at Grady Memorial Hospital, Wilkerson was transferred to the Shepherd Center for rehabilitation, where he remained for four weeks. After a miraculous recovery, he was able to go home. Family and friends feared Wilkerson might have lost his ability to write and sing because of the traumatic brain injury and tracheostomy. However, with the encouragement of his wife, Jill, Wilkerson called Kirk to try to write again. In December 2011, just months after his nearly life-ending accident, the two wrote the song “Around The Bend.” Wilkerson recorded all the vocals with his tracheostomy tube still installed. The song is featured on “Jack and The Dustbowl” and is on sale on iTunes. Wilkerson had his last surgery on January 19, 2012 and will soon have his tracheostomy tube removed. Currently, the Wilkerson family is nearly $1 million in medical debt. They hope that his story can encourage one million people to buy “Around the Bend” by the Brothers Bright on iTunes. For further information, contact Wilkerson at 678-779-6448 or by email. To check out the video story, click here. RECOMMENDED
GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA
Designs by minister-architect Charles E. Choate have been documented in more than two dozen Georgia towns and cities, as well as at sites in Florida, Alabama, and the Carolinas. Choate's buildings are often located in railroad towns, and the largest concentration of his work is found in Sandersville and Tennille in Washington County, where Choate settled at the turn of the century.
At the same time, Choate began his career as a Methodist minister, serving churches across middle Georgia. He studied at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., from 1897 to 1898, and the next year a newspaper account announced that Choate would begin collaborating with the Rev. George C. Thompson. Thompson, a minister-architect specializing in church design, was the architect of the Methodist church in Dublin. Choate's church designs include the brick Romanesque revival Tennille Baptist Church (1900), showing the influence of H. H. Richardson; Methodist churches for Wrightsville and Stillmore, in Georgia (1907); the Second Presbyterian Church (1908) of Greenville, S.C.; and the grand Park Street United Methodist Church in Atlanta (1912). His early work is best evidenced by the several buildings in Sandersville and Tennille that he built between 1896 and 1903. These include two banks, one built in 1900 in Tennille, where commercial businesses shared an arcaded brick one-story structure with crowing cornice, and the more urbane Holt Brothers Banking Company building in Sandersville (1898), as well as the Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad Building of 1903. During most of the first decade of the 20th century, Choate lived and practiced out of Augusta, where several of his houses survive in the Green Street Historic District. By 1909 Choate and Cyril B. Smith had opened an office in the Candler Building in Atlanta. In 1925 financial difficulties resulted in Choate's moving to Florida, where he worked in Tampa and Orlando before moving to Montgomery, Ala., where he spent the final two years of his life. In 1929 he moved to Maysville, Ky., the hometown of his wife, Agnes Dodson. He died there that same year. CREDITS GwinnettForum is provided to you at no charge every Tuesday and Friday. If you would like to serve as an underwriter, click here to learn more. Send
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TODAY'S QUOTE “Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”
MORE COPIES AVAILABLE NOW
The book includes 143 demographic and historic tables, with more than 4,000 names in the index, and 10,000 names in the appendix. Two versions of the book are available. The hardback edition is priced at $75, while a softback edition is $40. Books are available at:
You can also order
books through the Internet. To do that, go to www.elliottbrack.com
to place your order. For mail orders, there is a $5 shipping and handling
fee. Purchases are also subject to the 6 percent Georgia sales tax. SEARCH GWINNETT FORUM Loading
IN THE COMING WEEK Redevelopment Forum: 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Jan. 27, Atlanta Marriott at Gwinnett Place in Duluth. Keynote speaker is Chris Leinberger, a Brookings Institute fellow. Presented by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and the Council for Quality Growth. Tickets are $55. More info online. Clown around: 10:30 a.m., Jan. 27. The "Ambassadors of Laughter" from the Ringling Brothers Circus at the Hamilton Mill Branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library. Enjoy and hear a special story too. Ask questions at the end of the program and find out what it's like to be a Clown! This program replaces the regular story time. The library is located at 3690 Braselton Highway. Grand Opening of The Norcross Arts Center, known as The Nest: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Jan. 28, 17 College Street, Norcross. There will be a groundbreaking, live music, free beer and wine and an interactive sculpture-building project. For more info, visit www.NorcrossArtsAlliance.org. Candidate forums for the Peachtree Corners election. Three forums will be held on 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 30, Jan. 31 and Feb. 6, sponsored by the United Peachtree Corners Community Association. All forums will be at the Christ the King Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall, 5575 Peachtree Parkway, Norcross. The election is to be March 6, the day of the Georgia presidential primary. NEXT WEEK AND ONGOING Port of Call in Savannah by the Schooner, Tara: Today through Jan. 25. This research vessel provides samples and data for the scientific community about climate change and ecosystems. More. Second Samuel, a play, will be presented by New London Theatre in Snellville through Jan. 29 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Set in a sleepy South Georgia town in the late 1940s, it's the year Miss Gertrude passed away, and dark secrets are about to be revealed. More. Capturing the Light: Open daily through Feb. 22. This new artists' show, a project of the Buford Artists' Group, will be held at George Pierce Park Community Recreation Center, 55 Highway 23, Suwanee. Exhibit Continued: The Living in Space exhibit at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center will continue now through March 3. Extremely popular with visitors and school groups, the exhibit now is open for an additional two months. More. Song in My Heart, a new art exhibition: Opens Feb. 3, Kudzu Art Zone, 116 Carlyle St., Norcross. The opening reception is 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Feb. 10. More. Aquatics Job Fair: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Feb. 3, Bethesda Park Aquatic Center, Lawrenceville. Learn about lifeguarding and instructor opportunities. Attendees must bring their own swim suit. Parents are welcome to attend. Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Masterworks II program: 5:30 p.m., Feb. 12, Gwinnett Performing Arts Center. The program, "A Romantic Valentine's Datenight," includes Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48; Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Suite, Op. 20; and Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor: Choral, Op.125, Mov. 4. More. State of the County Address: 11:30 a.m., Feb. 15, Gwinnett Center, Duluth. Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash will give her views on the present state of the county. For reservations, visit this site online. (NEW) Take the Pledge for a Healthy Heart: 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., Feb. 18, Gwinnett Center in Duluth. Features include heart healthy exhibits, screenings and educational booths, cooking demonstrations by an award winning chef, fitness classes, and giveaways every 30 minutes including iPads and iPods. Registration for screenings is required and time slots are limited. All who plan to have screenings must fast at least eight hours prior. This event is free and includes breakfast. To RSVP, call 678-312-5000 or visit this site and choose Take the Pledge Event. Run the Reagan mini-marathon: Feb. 18, regardless of weather. You can register late and pick up information at Academy Sports and Outdoors, 1585 Scenic Highway, Snellville. Proceeds benefit the Gwinnett Community Clinic and Young Life Ministries. For more information, go online here. Ronald Reagan Parkway will be closed from 2 a.m. until 2 p.m. the day of the race. MORE EEB PERSPECTIVE
MORE
RECENT COMMENTARY
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For
the final six weeks of the fall semester, students teamed up to provide
a local non-profit with valuable marketing expertise. The goal was to
increase organizational awareness and generate volunteer interest from
the communities in which the non-profit operates. Accomplishing
this task required the students to develop totally turnkey marketing deliverables
– radio ads, banners, videos, posters, fliers and social media strategies
that inspire action.
In
2011, the Holtkamps had as their goal the collection of 10 tons of food
for the ministries. “We were thrilled that 31 tons were actually
collected by various groups,” Suzanne says. The collecting earned
for various groups $20,000 from the Holtkamp Family Foundation. “Our
goal for 2012 is for 20 tons, which we feel is very reachable.”
The
public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com
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Some
do it with guns, and some do it with winning a popularity contest; both
do it with the use of gullible people, true believers or worker bees,
who are driven by slogans, rhetoric and blind emotion and, who, in the
end, have little or nothing to do with the running of the government.
The government will be run by those who have always run it, the upper-level
bureaucrats who operate just below the surface and out of sight.
Hosted
by the Rotary Club of Buford/North Gwinnett, the Suwanee Sweetheart Sprint
will begin at 9 a.m. Race-day registration and packet pick-up will begin
at 7:30 a.m. at Town Center, which is located at Buford Highway and Lawrenceville-Suwanee
Road. The race will start on the other side of the pedestrian tunnel on
Main Street and wind through historic Old Town.
But
that is not the main story. This is another story is of a marvelous recovery
by a Dacula resident. 
“A
book I recommend is 'Blood Stains in Paradise,' by my brother, Paul Jean
Foreman. The book reads like a novel or a series of short stories.
It is autobiographical and tells about his experiences as a rookie law
enforcement officer on the west coast of Florida in the 1970s. Events
described in the book actually happened to my brother but the names have
been changed. It is an easy read and I couldn’t put it down. Anyone
familiar with the cities of Naples, Sarasota and Venice will find familiar
territory. This book will be of interest to policemen, sheriff’s
deputies or highway patrolmen, or anyone interested in a career in law
enforcement. The gritty nature of law enforcement is apparent, but the
book is free of profanity and crude language, though has vivid descriptions
of crime scenes. The book is at 
