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EDITOR'S NOTE: The
GwinnettForum holiday schedule will include no issues for December
26 and 30. The next issue will be published on January 2. Happy
Holidays!--eeb
TODAY'S
ISSUE
Dacula looks forward
to centennial of city in 2005
By Jim Wilbanks
Mayor
City of Dacula
Special to GwinnettForum.com
DEC. 23, 2003 -- Anniversaries are as American as Mom, apple pie
and baseball. They are a celebration of the past and a pep rally
for the future. The City of Dacula will celebrate its incorporation
100 years ago under the name Dacula in 2005.
The Dacula area owes its existence to the fortunes of war and the
needs of transportation. As the War of 1812 loomed, the frontier
area which would become Gwinnett County was seen by Georgia officials
as a strategic position for fortification to help control the Indians
who might become English allies.
So Fort Daniel, on a ridge near Hog Mountain about four miles north
of present-day Dacula, was constructed and garrisoned around 1814.
In order to supply Fort Daniel, a road was built from Fort Daniel
to the fort near Standing Peachtree on the Chattahoochee River.
Portions of this road still exist as Old Peachtree Road. If you
can imagine, all of what is now Gwinnett County was frontier in
1814.
After the successful conclusion of the War of 1812, the United
States concluded a treaty with the Cherokees in 1817 and the Creeks
in 1818 which ceded lands in the future Gwinnett/Dacula area. It's
interesting to look as some of the names on these treaties. Most
famous perhaps is the signature of Andrew Jackson. Others have been
lost to history such as Roman Nose, Chyula, James Martin, Toosawallata,
James Bronaugh the U. S. Army hospital surgeon, A. McCoy the interpreter,
Colonel Brearly, Tuskeegee Emautla, William McIntosh and many others.
Soon after the conclusion of these treaties, Gwinnett was formed
in 1818 into a legal Georgia county. In the 1820's the Old Federal
(Athens) Highway was cut through the area about a mile north of
the present day site of Dacula. The mail was routed from the Monroe
area to the Hog Mountain area. Around that intersection there grew
a small settlement which grew in importance when a physician moved
to the area. It was called Chincapin Grove because of its abundance
of oak trees called chincapins.
In 1891, the Georgia, Carolina and Northern Railway (present day
CSX) surveyed and laid tracks through present-day Dacula and several
other Gwinnett cities. In 1928, U. S. Highway 29 was graded through
Dacula, then became paved in 1931. In the early 1980's Georgia Highway
316 opened through Dacula.
Many assume that the name, Dacula, is of Indian origin. But the
name coined by an early postmaster is really made up of letters
from the names of Decatur and Atlanta probably around 1895 soon
after the GCN RR came through. On August 7, 1905 the City of Dacula
was incorporated.
To recognize the 100th birthday, I, as mayor of the city, will
appoint about two dozen folks, from Dacula and the surrounding areas,
to form a Centennial Commission for the purpose of organizing, implementing
and promoting events and activities in celebration of Dacula's Centennial.
The main objective of the Centennial Commission will be to engage
all citizens in a spirit of cooperation to enrich the lives of present
and future generations by celebrating the factors, people, institutions
and spirit that make Dacula a wonderful place to live and work.
We really want to involve anyone who has an interest in Dacula.
The Centennial Commission will be the sounding board for activities
and events that celebrate Dacula's past and future. I invite your
comments and participation.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Modern
hardware stores making klutzs out of some of us
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
DEC. 23, 2003 -- Modern advertising is sneaky. It tries to sell
you something you don't want, or think you want, or in my case,
can't use correctly once I buy.
 Oh,
advertising is sneaky. It can make you think you can solve the world,
when it comes to modern day conveniences that you feel you HAVE
to buy.
Take the fixer-upper business. No doubt about it, I know that mostly
I'm a klutz when it comes to doing things around the house. I'll
measure wrong, or saw crooked, or drive a nail to death, and in
sideways, too.
When along came the modern hardware hawkers, like Home Depot, Lowe's
and Ace Hardware, they for a while had me in the palm of their hand,
and their hands in my pocketbook.
"Power tools!" many of us scream as we see them, and
were suckers. If it was powered, we fell for it. We assumed that
with it, we could saw better, or drill faster, or paint betterŠand
we were suckers. So one after another, we bought a power tool replacing
a perfectly good manual tool which we already had. We bought, and
for the most part, used them a few times, and then got discouraged.
Most of us have a seldom used power saw, an electric drill with
a battery usually drained between usage, and a paint sprayer, used
once. (Do you know what a mess it is to clean up after painting
with a brush? Multiply that times ten for cleaning up with a power
sprayer.)
Once the super hardware stores started selling us, they found ways
to upsell us. And they're still doing it. "Learn how to fix
a faucet," a sign read outside one of their stores the other,
telling about special classes the store gives to its customers needing
to fix a faucet. They tell you that these are easy, every-day type
of classes, one where you can learn all sorts of short cuts and
tricks to make home repairs simple.
Sure. For some professional maybe, wanting to branch out. But I
at least know better. I stay away from such classes, since no doubt
in my mind, at the end they would try to sell me another gizmo to
make faucet repair easier!
Though a sucker for years, these days I am far less tempted. But
in reading the circulars flying into the house, you learn of even
more power tools:
- Super sanders, in all sort of shapes, to do a job every better.
- Changeable heads power tools! One the other day had a reciprocating
saw (what's that?), a trim saw, stud sensor, and power drill,
six pieces in all, and just $199. Now they're packaging our toys.
- And the combo pack router? (What does a router do, though people
seem to want them?)
But no. I've just made up my mind. No more time-saving or back-saving
tools for me. I've finally, after years of trying to perform simple
around-the-house tasks, understood my limitations. I know when to
call an expert, to really save me money!
I don't need any of these new machines, for even if I could find
the on-off switch, what would I do with what I made? Only make a
box with different length sides, or drill holes in the wall at the
wrong place.
Come on, professionals, I've decided. Help me when I need you.
I know Home Depot and Lowe's are both crying right now. I'll put
my funds into something more sane: perhaps digital cameras or computers.
(Bet I can klutz-around with them, too!) Seems each new romance
with trinkets comes with even higher prices, and more complications!
Enjoy your new toys for Christmas!
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FEEDBACK
12/23: Remembers
Gwinnett when had only 70,000 folks
Editor, the Forum:
Two items for you:
First: Good to see that the Gwinnett Community Band is still
in business. My daughter and I were members of the very first
band which was organized at the High School in Duluth. Don't
remember what year.
Second: I enjoyed your two articles on the growth of Gwinnett
and the forward-looking people who guided it. You and I (not
natives to the county) moved here when the population was about
70,000. When I came, there was a three man commissioner headed
by Dudge Pruitt.
Now the population is over 600,000. There are not many old
codgers left here who have seen this growth. And maybe not many
newcomers who have any interest in those days.
But many things were set into motion which we should be thankful
for now. Water, Sewer, Schools, Roads. No, not ideal, but far
ahead of other communities. Thanks for all those who you listed,
but the ones who pushed the envelope were Wayne Mason and Wayne
Shackelford.
-- E F Stuart, Norcross
NEWS
HUD grants $7.5 million
to Gwinnett and its cities
Congressman David Scott (GA-13) announced recently that federal
grants totaling more than $7 million have been awarded to Gwinnett
County by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Grants awarded include:
-
$6,465,057 to Gwinnett County by HUD to aid
the county's ongoing efforts to provide its residents with decent
housing, a suitable living environment and expanded economic
opportunities for low to moderate income persons. Of this, $4,744,000
is allocated for a Community Development Block grant, $1,620,057
is allocated for the HOME Investment Partnership Program, and
$101,000 is allocated for the Emergency Shelter Grant Program.
-
$61,086 to the City of Norcross by HUD under
the FY2003 Capital Fund Program to fund modernization, development
and management improvements for the Norcross Housing Authority.
-
$277,153 to the City of Lawrenceville by HUD
under the FY2003 Capital Fund Program to fund modernization,
development and management improvements for the Lawrenceville
Housing Authority.
-
$700,000 to the Child Welfare Institute in Duluth
by the National Resource Center on Child Maltreatment of HHS
to fund training in Child Abuse and Neglect Discretionary Projects.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
How to ruin Christmas
for a little girl
"I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother
took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph."
-- Shirley Temple.
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