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TODAY'S ISSUE
North Gwinnett High is far cry
from Suwanee school years ago
By Loretta Roberts
Suwanee
Special to GwinnettForum.com

(Editor's Note: Recently North Gwinnett High of Suwanee was named a Gwinnett High School of Excellence. Years ago, having an accredited high school in Suwanee was a dream. Let Suwanee Native Loretta Roberts tell you about it.--eeb)

OCT. 8, 2002 -- SAT and other acronym scores? Never heard of 'em when I finished 10th grade in Suwanee in 1930. My classmates and I (probably five or six) were much more concerned about finding a way to graduate from an accredited high school.

Suwanee was not accredited and our teachers insisted that it would be smart to finish at an accredited high school if at all possible. They also reminded us that we should continue to attend and learn all we could wherever we were.

Suwanee School was small, essentially ungraded, and had few maps or reference books. Our only library was made up of the books students or teachers could borrow or buy. Most were second-hand, well worn and often had paper covers with advertisements of local banks or paper manufacturers----Blue Horse and Write-Rite come to mind. There were no typewriters and only one musical instrument---an upright piano.

Students sat in double desks and took assigned turns to do necessary chores to keep the coal in, the ashes out, the blackboard washed, erasers dusted and the room swept. I should note that on hot days we threw open the large windows facing the railroad tracks to get what breeze was available and to hear the train whistles as they moved along the double-tracked railroad or stopped to take in water for steam.

Other physical facilities included outdoor privies, wood or coal heaters and water from an open spring down toward the branch (of Suwanee Creek.) The playground challenged everyone's imagination but we had fun. I learned to polish fingernails, which I had no experience with before.

We played with a basketball, which had outside ridges on its cover made especially for use on outside courts like ours.

We loved our teachers and classmates and Suwanee! So should we really push hard to go to an accredited school? Most of us knew something of the costs and our family limits on money.

Many of our parents had not finished high school or even elementary school. Attitudes ranged widely as to the importance of one going to another high school.

What were the possibilities? Buford, Duluth, or Lawrenceville (Norcross was too far.) You'd have to drive every day or board. Driving was no problem for any of us whose family had a car or truck because we learned at least by age 12 or 13. No license was required!

All roads were deep dust when dry and deep clay-red mud when wet. But most of us had no car and not enough money to board unless you were lucky enough to have relatives you might "board" with.

So Grade 11 from an accredited school was somewhat a fantasy. (There was no 12th grade in those days in Georgia). For me an accredited school was out of sight.

Then a surprise in late summer 1930! Mr. Bratton, the president of Reinhardt High School and Junior College, visited my family one rainy afternoon because one of my teachers had told him I "had potential." In a few short weeks I was off to boarding school to return home only at Thanksgiving and Christmas vacations.

You see, the trip from Suwanee to Waleska was too long and expensive to make often. I survived my homesickness and finished at an accredited High School!

I went back to finish two years of Junior College by working in the kitchen at nine cents an hour to pay room board, tuition. (Incidentally, boys were paid 10 cents.)

Doug Gibson (now a minister) of Lawrenceville, who shared duties in the kitchen, and I have fought about this many times. back to top

ELLIOTT BRACK
New four-story building may become
best address in vibrant Sugarloaf area
By Elliott Brack
editor and publisher
GwinnettForum.com

OCT. 8, 2002 -- It may end up the best address in Gwinnett County, simply because of its location.

We're talking about the four-story office building of 100,000 square feet going up at 6340 Sugarloaf Parkway. That's near the intersection of Sugarloaf and Satellite Boulevard, smack in the vibrant heart of developing Gwinnett.

Its neighbors are significant: adjacent on Sugarloaf is the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. Behind that building is the new Gwinnett Arena, while the Gwinnett Civic and Cultural Center is on the southern edge of his property. Land across the parkway promises another prominent spot for development, while across the interstate is Discover Mills Mall and several mid-rise office buildings. It's a terrific location!

This project is the development of R.C. Patel and his brother, Mike, who came to this country in 1980, started in the hotel business, and now are expanding to office buildings, insurance and banks.

Mr. Patel, with his wife, Shama, were among the first residents at Sugarloaf Country Club. They have three sons, one in college and two in high school.

The Patels will be transferring the headquarters of their Horizon Bank, now in Decatur, to the new building.

R.C. Patel

One of his other firms, Diplomat Companies, a hotel operations company with 60 employees, will also be located in the building. Altogether, the firm has 11 hotels, all in the metro area, with three of them in Gwinnett County. This includes a Red Roof Inn on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, and a Day's Inn and Ramada Inn in Suwanee.

"We found a big difference in the people between the north and the south. It suited us basically," he says.

Mr. Patel's parents, originally from India, owned a coffee processing and exporting company in Uganda back during the 1960s. His family, consisting of eight people, had to leave Uganda when Idi Amin came to power in 1968. They were allowed to take only 200 English pounds with them as they fled to London.

In London the family first bought a convenience store, and later got into hotels and a B&B. R.C. Patel, now 43, was 11 years old when he arrived in London, where he was schooled. At age 21, he and his wife came to the United States. After looking over 200 opportunities throughout the country, he purchased his first business, a Holiday Inn, in Pell City, Ala. Soon he and then his brother were into other hotels, first in Montgomery.

The Patel office building in Gwinnett is to be a Class A office facility. Besides the four stories, there will be a roof top courtyard, jogging track and outdoor patio for tenants. A restaurant is scheduled for the ground floor.

So far, Mr. Patel has about 50 per cent of the building leased. The CEO Business Center has already taken one floor of the building. He anticipates occupying the building in March, 2003.

There's more. You guessed it. The Patels are planning a six story, full-service 143 room upper-end hotel adjacent to the office building.

Meanwhile, he has plans for a free-standing restaurant of 5,000 square feet adjacent to the hotel. "We are talking fine quality, steak and seafood type of restaurant," he says. While he is in negotiations with firms, no contracts have yet been signed.

Look for fast progress on the site in coming months, since the steel is up already. It could become one of the hottest office properties in the county! Back to top

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FEEDBACK:
10/8: Must know the background about anywhere

Editor, the Forum:

Couldn't let your Baptist story (October 8) go by without commenting. Can't really disagree with anything you said--but I may be the exception in that I have attended the same Baptist church all my life. Also the reason for the numbers you cite is that for the most part, Baptist focus on reaching, teaching and ministering, which I think accounts for the numbers you cite.

I was in Windsor, Ontario last weekend and its interesting that you can't understand that area without understanding the Irish Catholics. Knowing the religious backgrounds may be necessary to understand almost any area of the country. But I choose the South!

-- Charles Summerour, Duluth Back to top

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
About having a psychiatrist

"I do not have a psychiatrist and I do not want one, for the simple reason that if he listened to me long enough, he might become disturbed."

-- James Thurber, "Carpe Noctem, If You Can", in "Credos and Curios" (1962)
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