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TODAY'S ISSUE
Here's to your health, that is, your marriage health!
By John Jauregui
VP of Community Strategies
Georgia Family Council
Special to GwinnettForum.com

NOV. 7, 2003 -- Everyone these days is health conscious! We take great care that our food has minimal fat, low sugar content and low calories, while including the proper amount of exercise needed to accelerate the heart rate to invigorating levels.

But when is the last time everyone thought about the health of their marriage? Marital researchers tell us that one out of every two new marriages fail, seven out of every ten divorces happen in low conflict marriages and two out of every five children sleep in a home without their mother and father under the same roof.

These statistics are unacceptable for those who desire to create a lifetime marriage relationship. The "silent killers" within marriages are indeed just that - silent. They are quiet and subtle cracks that lead to devastation and divorce. And the long term effects inflicted upon children by unsuccessful marriages are immeasurable.

But, all is not lost! Marriage is still alive even though it might not be in the best of health. While there are those who see the glass half empty, there are those who see that same glass half full and are standing by with a pitcher in hand ready to watch it overflow.

That is what MarriageNet is all about! MarriageNet is a new community based program, created by Georgia Family Council, that is intent on providing pastors and local leaders with the skills and resources needed to help create and sustain healthy marriages. Our plan is to help reduce the divorce rate in Georgia by 35 percent over the next ten years and provide a support system that will touch every marriage in Georgia.

Georgia Family Council exists to strengthen families and communities throughout Georgia. We believe that MarriageNet is the vehicle to do just that!

Duluth-Norcross is one of three communities in Georgia that MarriageNet is currently working in. This unique effort began with the selection of a leadership team made up of church leaders from such churches as Hopewell Baptist Church, Norcross First United Methodist Church and Mary Our Queen Catholic Church.

Together, they are sharing their vision of MarriageNet with other pastors from throughout the community. This vision will bond churches together to form a network of support for marriages throughout the Duluth-Norcross area. Events are being planned for the upcoming months and both church and community leaders will have the opportunity to become a part of this life-changing network.

MarriageNet is not about a program or a process. It is about people. The desired outcome is to help healthy people engage in healthy marriage relationships.

For more information on MarriageNet or Georgia Family Council, call 1-800-FAMILY-1 or visit our website at www.georgiafamily.org.

ELLIOTT BRACK
Oldtimers, newcomers impact elections in Gwinnett
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com

NOV. 7, 2003 -- With no big elections in Gwinnett this year, the focus was on city elections. And what Gwinnett municipal voters told us…..was a mixed bag of results.

Snellville and Sugar Hill in general found the candidates associated with the newcomers the winners.

In Norcross and Lilburn, it was the people who had been long living in the city, and associated with city government, that continued control.

In Norcross, in particular, a vote earlier in the year on the licensing of mixed drinks by the city, which passed, may have had a hand in the election. This seemed to energize some Norcross voters, who turned out in a heavy fashion in the City Election, and carried the day for longtime Mayor Lillian Webb, and an incumbent council members. The third person elected in Norcross was known to voters, since he had run before.

In Berkeley Lake, the voters there returned the incumbent mayor and a former councilman, again showing the influence of the oldtimers of that town the mayor refers to as something like a "subdivision."

One election tactic bugs me. Perhaps you only see this in elections which are closest to the people, such as those in the smaller towns. I talk about the electioneering tactic of candidates standing as near to the polls as possible, trying to get one last crack at the voter to convince him or her to vote for that particular candidate, before the voter enters the polls.

In elections where more geography is included, you seldom see it. President Bush doesn't position himself in front of the Crawford, Tex. polling place to harass voters as they enter the precinct. Neither did Sonny Perdue, nor John Linder nor major office holders. The total election is far removed from a single particular precinct.

But in city elections, such as this week, you can still see it. Clustered the legal limit of 150 feet from the polling place can be candidates waving at voters. Or perhaps you see a whole sea of signs at that distance from the polls. Or even supporters of the candidate, holding up a sign with the candidates' name on it.

To me, it's not only a waste of time. Not only that, but if there are two in the race, and one was adopting such tactics, in general I would want to vote for the person who was not soliciting voters that late on the street corner.

We've always thought that the candidates had plenty of time before the election to put their position before the voters.

Election day, in itself, belongs to the voter, who doesn't need to be pestered with last-minute shenanigans by the candidates. What it amounts to is a good day for the candidates to go fishing or hiking, and let the voter do his job in peace.

* * * * *

A guy familiar to many in Gwinnett, Larry Walton, is retiring…..again. Once the spokesman for the Gwinnett County Police Department, Larry retired to Lumpkin County.

But, knowing Larry, he couldn't sit on his hands in retirement long. Soon he was at the Lumpkin County Sheriff's Department as a Community Oriented Police Officer, smiling as usual, riding his police bike around the Square in Dahlonega, making friends, and being a good up-front person for that department.

Larry, whose first police job was in 1952, is now 75. He plans to remain busy, visiting with friends, working with his goats on his farm, plus keeping busy with chores for him and his wife around the house and shop.

Walton first worked in policing for the Montgomery County, Md. police force near his hometown of Washington, D.C. He retired from the Gwinnett force in 1993, and has had property in Lumpkin since 1991. He was with the Lumpkin Sheriff's office for nine year, and brought the innovation of the bicycle patrol to downtown Dahlonega.

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Editor, the Forum:

On the ABC evening news, it was reported that, because of the dangers from Hurricane Isabelle approaching Washington DC, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment.

They refused. "No way, Sir!"

Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a serviceperson.

The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

We can be very proud of our young men and women in the service no matter where they serve. God Bless them.

-- Boyd Duncan, Duluth

11/7: Even with few, good can come from peace effort

Editor, the Forum:

A Peace Academy focused on reconciliation and finding ways to deal with conflicts other than by force is long overdue. I attended a conference at Hopewell Baptist Church last week that was sponsored by the Reconciliation Networks of Our World, based in Georgia. It was an international conference with people in attendance from all areas of the world.

Stories were shared of reconciliation and/or the need for reconciliation by individuals from various sections of Europe, the Middle East, South America, Australia, Africa, Asia, and North America. The intent was good, but the attendance was small, approximately 150 people. However, even with small numbers, good can be realized. And, we must start somewhere.

As a lifelong peacemaker, I've so often thought force, a most common knee-jerk reaction to offenses, should be the last solution. However, even as a "Christian" nation, our leaders seem to have little patience with the notion of looking deeper at a problem and working on the causes of the problem(s). It seems there is still a widely held belief that to seek different solutions than force is weakness, not strength. It takes a great deal more strength to wait and investigate a situation fully, than it does to strike back when offended.

Yes, a Peace Academy is overdue, and opportunities for our children and adults to learn the value of studying the whole problem and discovering or inventing new solutions together is much needed. Count me in if you can get something going on this.

-- Carolyn Collins, Norcross

11/7: Rotary Scholars come together to study for peace

Editor, the Forum:

Scholars for peace wanted: Rotary clubs around the world seek applicants for two-year masters-level program. Must hold undergraduate degree, be proficient in two languages (including location of study), possess proven leadership skills, be committed to peace and be a citizen of a country where Rotary is.

The program accepts 70 scholars per year to study in one of seven Rotary Centers now located in Argentina, Australia, England, France, Japan and USA.

With peace now thwarted by war, famine, poverty and disease, Rotary International has committed through this program to build world peace, goodwill and understanding. Persons may apply through local Rotary clubs.

-- Buck Lindsay, Lawrenceville

RECOGNITION
City of Suwanee wins Urban Forest Greenspace award

The Georgia Urban Forest Council (GUFC) recognized the City of Suwanee's open space initiative today at its annual awards luncheon in Columbus by presenting the City with its first award ever presented in the Greenspace Plan category. Suwanee Councilmember Jimmy Burnette accepted the award on behalf of the City.

"The project exemplifies so well the success of collaborative community process in protecting undeveloped land and committing it to low impact, non-invasive uses," said GUFC awards committee chairperson Brenda Guglielmina in a letter to the City. "These open space park and passive use projects place Suwanee ahead of the development curve."

Through Suwanee's voter-approved, bond-funded open space initiative the City has acquired 200 acres of open space to be preserved or developed as parks or trails and has begun construction or design on three new parks.

CALENDAR
Gwinnett SAR chapter to hear of Mount Vernon project

The Button Gwinnett Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution will meet Thursday, Nov. 13, at Ryan's Steakhouse in Lawrenceville, with dinner at 6:45. This month's speaker will be Carol Lincoln, president of the Allen Howard Society of the Children of the American Revolution. She will speak about their national project at Mount Vernon and their state project for the Battle of Kettle Creek Recognition.