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TODAY'S ISSUE
International canoe/kayak racing at Lake Lanier
By Donna Stephens
Lanier Canoe 2003
Special to GwinnettForum.com

JULY 3, 2003 -- Seven years ago, after the international spectators, athletes and media from the 1996 Olympic Games returned home, something remained at Lake Lanier. By bringing the Olympic rowing and canoe/kayak competition to Lake Lanier, the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games had given the community a gift and a mission. The gift was a facility that would allow Gainesville to create a sustainable, world-class rowing and canoe/kayak program. The mission was to make that dream happen.

On Tuesday, June 3, supporters of the Lake Lanier Olympic Center took one more step towards achieving that mission. In anticipation of the 33rd International Canoe Federation Flatwater Racing World Championships in September, a crowd of nearly 100 civic, business and government leaders celebrated the groundbreaking on a $1.4 million project that will solidify the Center's position as a world-class paddling venue.

The Lanier Canoe 2003 World Championships are scheduled for September 10-14, 2003 and are the major qualifying events for the Athens, Greece 2004 Summer Olympics. It will be the first canoe/kayak World Championships ever held in this country.
The construction project now underway will expand on the racecourse, boathouse and timing tower built for the 1996 Olympics to include a paved plaza, bathhouse, permanent seating for more than 1,600 spectators and temporary seating for an additional 1,000..

"The renovation is yet another way to expand on this Olympic legacy site for the long-term benefit of the community," says Connie Hagler, executive director for the Lanier Canoe 2003 Organizing Committee. "Not only will it enhance an already world-class racing venue, it will leave behind an amphitheatre that can be used for concerts and other outdoor performances for years to come."

The Lake Lanier site, praised in 1996 by the international paddling community as a first-class racing site, is proving to be a big draw for competitors eager to return.

"The response has been overwhelming," says Hagler. "We already have more than 60 countries registered to compete and 76 national federations have contacted us in all. At this rate, we will set a new record for the most countries participating in an ICF World Championships."

As the event draws nearer, Gainesville is gearing up. More than 750 athletes and officials from all over the world are expected to arrive beginning September 1, when the Athlete's Village opens in downtown Gainesville.

Special events and ceremonies are in the planning stage, and the volunteer recruiting effort is in full swing. Hosting the competition promises to be an economic boon for Gainesville and surrounding areas --4,400 hotel nights for athletes, officials, and coaches have already been booked, and more than 23,000 meals will be served. All told, the event is projected to bring $6 million in revenue to the region.

"The Lake Lanier Olympic Center is the living legacy of the 1996 Games," said Hagler. "We invite residents of Gwinnett County and all Georgians to come and enjoy it - as spectators, participants or both."

ELLIOTT BRACK
Grayson inaugurates new festivities on Saturday
By Elliott Brack
editor and publisher
GwinnettForum.com

JULY 3, 2003 -- More and more local communities are finding ways to celebrate together. In Grayson this week, a new celebration promises well for the future. Army Lt. Col. Julius Goodman will be among those honored Saturday. When he left in November for Kuwait, his neighborhood threw him a party. Now on his return, he gets not only a party, but a parade also!

Goodman will be guest of honor and parade marshal for the initial Bay Creek Neighborhood Patriots' Parade. The parade will honor all the neighborhood's military personnel, and starts at 10:30 a.m. down Bay Grove Rd. It will feature a Boy Scout Color Guard, a neighborhood kazoo band, a riding lawn mower brigade, and a local fire truck plus wagons, strollers, bicycles, skateboards, scooters, and pets decorated by neighborhood children. Over 100 people are expected to participate in this parade of residents from the Cove, Landings and Plantation at Bay Creek subdivisions. (Don't you just love the lawn mower brigade?)

Special guests for the parade will be Bay Creek's three World War II veterans, who will ride with Colonel Goodman. They include Hillman Ryan, Norbert Lorentz, and J. P. Smith.

Goodman served for seven months at Camp Doha in Kuwait with the U.S. Army's 132nd Engineer Detachment. His group provided the satellite imagery and mapping support that guided the U.S. military forces on the battlefields of Iraq.

While he was in Kuwait, Goodman stayed in contact with his neighbors, e-mailing them on a regular basis and sending back pictures and reports about the war and about life as a soldier in Kuwait. He even corresponded regularly with a fifth grade class at Grayson Elementary. In return, his neighbors sent him cookies, pictures, cards and treats from home.

Then in May, while the Goodman was still in Kuwait, his wife, Pamela, a Staff Sergeant in the U. S. Army Reserves, was called to duty and sent to Fort Bragg with the Army's Med Command, where she is still on duty.

Several persons from Gwinnett will take part in the Regional Leadership Coalition in the coming year. They include Laura Beall, Council for Quality Growth; Doug Cotter, Cotter & Moss; Clifton Lambert, JJ&G consulting engineers; Bill McCargo, Scientific Atlanta; Steve North, Gwinnett County government; and Suzanne Adams, Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. Congratulations to you all!

The Regional Leadership Institute (RLI) is an intensive, weeklong program in which leaders from the business, government and non-profit sectors come together to study the dynamic forces shaping the Atlanta Region and build regional partnerships. Since 1991, over 600 leaders from the Atlanta Region have completed RLI's intensive program of classes and team-building exercises.

The Olympics did themselves a favor, we feel, in picking Vancouver, British Columbia as the site of the Winter Games in 2006. Vancouver is already one of the great cities of this world, and has great climate. Many Americans will find reason to book themselves into Vancouver for these Games, we predict.

Gwinnett will celebrate this Fourth of July with what county officials are calling the biggest and best fireworks display in the Southeast. The 23-minute fireworks, to cost $55,000, starts at 4 p.m. at the Gwinnett and Justice and Administration Center.

The fireworks are sponsored by local businesses. Live coverage on most cable providers' Channel 23 begins at 6 p.m. The Fireworks Show begins about 9:30 p.m.,
More than 60,000 people attended the Gwinnett Glows celebration in 2002. So, get there early, or find a spot to view from a distance. The fireworks can be seen for up to several miles from Lawrenceville.

By the way, the City of Norcross fireworks is tonight (Thursday), July 3, with the fireworks starting at dark. The downtown area is blocked for through traffic from 5 p.m. until midnight.

McLEMORE'S WORLD
Let Freedom Ring

Another offering by our cartoonist, Bill McLemore:

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FEEDBACK
7/3: CID is just another means of taxation for consumers

Editor, the Forum:

At what point does the taxpayer say enough?

The recent article on the Gwinnett Place CID is yet another example of how we are "duped" into paying another form of taxes.

Recently the buzzword is "CID", "Community Improvement Districts". A group in an area gets together to form a CID in which property owners agree to pay an additional tax to improve the area that they are in. The businesses operating within these districts will pay an additional tax that will be reflected in the prices paid by the consumer that patronize these places.

These businesses and the consumer are already paying taxes to the county, so why doesn't the county allocate funds for these improvements? The underlying theme is that this is just another form of taxation in disguise. In good times and bad times, politicians are always looking for another means of taxation rather than looking at how to better utilize existing revenues.

-- Lee Baker, Lilburn

7/3: Yellow ribbons have special meanings at this church

Editor, the Forum:

Your treatment of the yellow ribbons was a bit harsh, but thought provoking.

My church, First Baptist of Duluth, uses the yellow ribbons in a more positive, uplifting manner. To honor the dozen or so church members who have served in the Iraqi conflict, we have a ribbon for each one in the worship center. Upon the safe return of their family member from duty, each family comes forward and removes the ribbon.

Each time is a very moving and honorable occasion for the church family and the family of the person being honored. This past Sunday we welcomed back Eric Wilson, who was with his wife and two daughters. He saw a church family which appreciated the sacrifice that they all had made over the past few months. It's also a way of saying, let's don't ever let what happened after Vietnam, occur again. We can separate public policy from service to our country and show our appreciation with something as simple as a yellow ribbon!

-- Charles Summerour, Duluth

7/3: Belatedly finds "Band of Brothers" especially well done

Editor, the Forum:

Beause of a recent surgery, and being out of work since mid-May, I"ve had the opportunity, finally, to rent the videos and watch the HBO series "Band of Brothers". It is especially meaningful that I viewed it as July 4th approaches and considering the war in Iraq and that our soldiers are still in harm's way there.

What a well crafted series this is....and it's true! Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg outdid themselves producing this one. It is a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances.

At the same time, I've been reading David McCullough's book, "John Adams" and reminded how much was given by men (and their families) who were willing to dedicate their lives to the founding of this incredible republic.

We are a much blessed nation, then and now.

-- Barbara Smith, Tucker