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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Making trip itself
destination along old U.S. Highway 66
By
Bert Nasuti
Special to GwinnettForum.com
JULY 6, 2004 -- In 1996 I was in Arizona flipping through a book
about Old U.S. Highway 66 when my partner suggested, "We should
drive our old Corvettes cross country on that old road." There,
the challenge began.
Since 1996, Scott Dix, Pat O'Brien and I have driven thousands
of miles on old highways, including U.S. 66. We have covered the
entire route, Chicago to Los Angeles, and done some portions several
times. We have logged miles on other east-west highways as well,
but the "Mother Road" as it is called, is still U.S. 66.
Along
US 66: 90 foot Indian totem pole near Foyil, Okla. |
This year's trip took us to the intersection Lebanon, Mo., where
we Scott Dix and I left off last summer, coming from Chicago. You
realize right away when you cross the Mississippi, that things change.
Traveling west from Lebanon ,we avoided the dreaded Interstates
and stayed on older highways. We saw the abandoned motor courts
and service stations representing a bygone area. We ate at Grandaddy's
BBQ in Strafford, Mo. (we never eat at a fast food or chain restaurant
on one of these trips.) In Carthage, Mo. we saw the Route 66 Drive
In, which reminds you of a bygone era of family outings under the
stars.
Crossing into Kansas we saw a 1920s truss bridge and were delayed
as a herd of cattle crossed the road, in no hurry. As you enter
Oklahoma, you pass through the small towns forgotten by growth.
Yet these towns have houses with neat, manicured lawns and flowers
and American flags outside. This is the heartland of America and
when you see it, you don't think about political parties or the
problems of the world. You realize these folks are American first.
Along
US 66: The blue Whale, near Catoosa, Okla. |
Other sights not seen elsewhere: in Foyil, Okla., Ed Galloway built
a 90 foot totem pole; In Catoosa, there is a big blue whale. In
Oklahoma City, the Murrah Federal Building Memorial is moving; it's
hard to imagine why anyone could blow up a building and harm others.
As you enter western Oklahoma, the trees are more scarce and the
prairie wind is warm and strong.
Entering Texas you pass through a real ghost town - Texola. Why
folks left, no one is sure, but believe me, its empty, with a divided
four-lane going right through the middle of it. Yet, today, it is
a deserted town and U.S. 66 is deserted.
Things liven up as you enter Shamrock, Tex., home of the U-Drop
Inn. The local Chamber of Commerce has restored the place that at
one time was the only restaurant for 100 miles.
In Groom, Tex. there is a leaning water tower, and in Amarillo,
the Big Texan Restaurant will give you a 72 ounce steak, if you
can eat it and all the trimmings in one hour. Whew!
Along
US 66: Cadillac Ranch is near Amarillo, Tex. |
Just outside of Amarillo, Cadillac Ranch has 10 Cadillacs buried
half way into the Texas dirt. We were told it is "art".
Once you leave Amarillo, it is wide open spaces where you can literally
smell the land, no traffic, and no trucks. And as you cross into
New Mexico, another ghost town, Glen Rio, may be one of the more
eerie places along the Mother Road.
Entering Tucumcari, N.M., you wonder why there would be so many
hotels in such an out of the way place. But Route 66 travel guides
explain that for decades it was the logical stopping place between
Amarillo and Albuquerque. Either way, the classic Blue Swallow Motel
is everything it was described to be in the travel guides.
Tucumcari was our ending point for this year's trip. Then it was
just a boring interstate ride home with thoughts of next year, when
we head back to Tucumcari, pick up where we left off, and head west
again.
Next time you travel and you are pondering whether to get there
as quick as you can, think about taking the longer route, the older
higheways, seeing the sights along the way, or do what we did, make
the road trip itself the destination.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Georgia
primary rules give voters tremendous freedom
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
JULY 6, 2004 -- It's time for a party….that is, party selections.
Georgians go to the polls July 20 to nominate a slate of candidates
for the 2004 General Election.
 Altogether,
so far this year politics has seemed rather mild in Georgia, even
though the top office on the ballot will see the selection of our
second U.S. Senator. But otherwise, there seems to be less interest
than normal.
Some people, every primary, get upset with the way Georgia primaries
work. These people get concerned when they are asked at the polls
whether they want a Republican, or a Democratic, or even a non-partisan,
ballot. Some think this amounts to a limit on the secret ballot.
Maybe it does.
In the past, it virtually did. We're thinking of the days when
the Democratic Party dominated the state, and when the Democratic
Primary was, to use the phrase made popular then, "tantamount
to election."
Republicans, in particular, felt affronted when they had to declare
publicly, when asking for the ballot, that they wanted to vote in
that party primary. They felt, perhaps reasonably, that this amounted
to signaling that they were not of the mainstream party, and therefore,
were somehow tainted.
If Republicans once felt this way, they should be feeling much
better in Georgia today. With the state now having a Republican
governor, and with both the Senate and House presented controlled
by Republicans, with one U.S. Senator a Republican, and with a majority
of the Congressional delegation Republican, maybe today it is the
people asking for Democratic ballots that now feel they are singled
out in primaries. The Republicans should feel like more of the crowd,
rather than being targeted.
We look at having to declare your party affiliation in primaries
a little differently. In reality, we like the way Georgia (and other
states with similar rules) conduct primaries. It gives all the choices
to the voters.
From primary to primary, in Georgia voters can determine in which
party primary they want to vote. Granted, you have hard-core Democrats
and Republicans who never waver from supporting their party in primaries.
Yet Georgia law allows an individual voter to choose today for one
party, and the next primary for the other.
There are several reasons why voters may switch back and forth.
First, they may simply be attracted by a different set of candidates,
people they find they want in office. Secondly, they may be upset
with the way the party they previously supported handled their term
in office, and want a change. Or even they may find one particular
race so compelling that they are willing to forego their previous
party for the other one. And of course, you may think of other reasons.
Yet look at the freedom this process gives voters. Rather than
complain about the Georgia process, voters should be alert to the
fairness and openness of the process. Unlike some state, where you
have to register and vote by party, Georgia allows much more freedom,
so that voters may change the party of their choice virtually at
will. Now that's a good freedom to have.
* * * * *
There's an aspect of Georgia law about elections that concerns
me.
When party primaries are held July 20, Georgians will also be balloting
for the non-partisan judge selection.
Why is the election of judges held during a primary and not held
at the time of a General Election? Voting on judges in November
seems more reasonable at first blush. And with more people voting
in General Elections than in primaries, it means that the selection
would be from more of the electorate.
Georgia might strengthen its judicial selection by holding this
election during the November General Election.
ABOUT
OUR SPONSORS
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public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com
to you at no cost to readers. Today's sponsor is The River Club.
In the tradition of Sugarloaf Country Club, The River Club, a premier
gated community, is springing up in Suwanee, offers the convenience
of life in Gwinnett County with the beauty of the Chattahoochee
River. Residents of The River Club will enjoy shaded walks by the
Chattahoochee, as well as the full range of amenities and community
activities that have become Crescent's hallmark. When complete,
The River Club will include an 18-hole championship golf course
designed by Greg Norman. Homesite sales in The River Club began
this fall. Homes are priced from the $900s. To view the internet
site, go to:
http://www.crescent-resources.com/communit/atlanta/riverclub/default.asp
For a list of other sponsors of this forum, go to: http://www.gwinnettforum.com/about/sponsors.htm.
FEEDBACK
7/6: See Fahrenheit
9/11: You can learn disturbing truths
Editor, the Forum:
Presidents Reagan and Bush raised taxes because it was the right
thing for the country, and no leader had ever lowered taxes during
a war. But Bush is focused on his "legacy" of cutting
taxes and "a free and democratic" Iraq. With no WMD's
and no connection between Iraq and the 9/11 attack, we are only
there because George wants us there. So I went to Fahrenheit 9-11,
expecting it to be mindless propaganda. Instead, I learned disturbing
truths, not from the mouth of Michael Moore, but from Bush himself.
Ours is a government of the people, by the people, and for the
people. We owe it to those who have bled out on Iraqi sand, and
the countless before them who died on foreign soil for our freedoms,
to engage our brains and to hold our leaders accountable when they
take us to war. If you truly love your country, see this movie.
Like it, debunk it, debate it, but see it.
Edward R. Murrow said, "A nation of sheep will beget a government
of wolves." We must not be one of the sheep. We must not equate
questioning our leaders with a lack of patriotism, or worse, some
form of terrorism. Instead, we must start thinking again: of ourselves,
by ourselves, and for ourselves. We cannot honor our dead with anything
less.
-- M. J. Buckman, Lilburn
NEWS
Gwinnett's first park
with doggie area to open July 10
Gwinnett's first park for dogs, a two-acre fenced-in area where
dogs can play off their leashes, will be opened July 10. It is at
Five Forks Park, a 25 acre facility at 2777 Five Forks Trickum Road.
Gwinnett County Parks & Recreation will host a grand opening
Saturday, July 10 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., for Five Forks Park.
The park also boasts a "senior" area with horseshoe pits,
shuffleboard courts, bocce ball courts and a covered picnic pavilion
with permanent chess and checkerboards. Other amenities include
a small skate area, a playground, two half-court basketball courts,
several covered picnic areas, a 3/4-mile paved multi-purpose trail
and a small pond.
The park is operated by Gwinnett County Parks & Recreation
Department.
Parks Dept. seeks input
on new facility on river near Suwanee
Gwinnett citizens are invited to give input on a future 217 acre
park near the intersection of Settles Bridge and Johnson Roads.
The park is to be located adjacent to Riverside Elementary School
in Suwanee.
Gwinnett County Parks & Recreation will hold a meeting on Thursday,
July 8, at 7 p.m. for the input. The meeting will be held at North
Gwinnett High School commons, located at 20 Level Creek Road in
Suwanee.
At the meeting, residents can apply to serve on the Settles Bridge
Park Site Steering Committee, a volunteer board that will offer
input on the park's master plan. They also will have an opportunity
to complete a community recreation interest survey, which will be
used to determine what types of amenities may be offered at the
park.
Hill's award means
graduating senior will get $5,000 gift
While it is better to give than to receive, Gwinnett County Chairman
F. Wayne Hill is busy this summer doing a little of both.
In Chicago he participated in the 38th Annual Conference of the
National Association of Regional Councils, or NARC. Chairman Hill
is president of the organization, which uses the annual conference
as an opportunity to recognize and reward regional efforts to resolve
localized concerns.
In mid-July, Chairman Hill will receive the prestigious Caucus
Courthouse Award from the National Association of Counties, or NACo.
Each year, NACo awards this honor to one winner from large urban
counties and one from the rural caucus. Chairman Hill will receive
the 2004 NACo award for his vision and leadership in preserving
greenspace in this rapidly developing urban county.
As the nomination attests, Gwinnett County is a nationally recognized
leader in greenspace preservation, with a total of 7,570 acres of
parkland, of which more than 4,600 acres were acquired in the past
six years.
"Chairman Hill's vision is being translated into islands of
green amidst the rapid development of metropolitan Atlanta,"
the nomination form reads.
Chairman Hill will travel to NACo's annual conference in Phoenix
to receive the award. The award includes a $5,000 scholarship that
Chairman Hill can present to a graduating high school senior or
seniors.
BOOK
RECOMMENDATION
7/2: From Johnny Vardeman
Sr. of Gainesville
"Lynne Truss, an Englishwoman with a passion for the word,
has written Eats, Shoots and Leaves, an impassioned plea
to salvage what she feels like are dying punctuation marks. She
believes e-mail and text messaging are contributing to a diminishing
use of commas, semi-colons, apostrophes and all the other "traffic
signals" that guide the reader through our scribblings. But
there are other influences as well. You'd think a book on punctuation
would be dull, but this one is cleverly written and inspired me
to do my part to rescue punctuation.
"She throws in bits of history about the various marks and
even takes us back to the time when there was no exclamation point
on the manual typewriter. (Do you remember how you made one?)
"Okay, that's my plug. If I mis-punctuated something in this,
I promise to re-read the book."
- An invitation: What books have you enjoyed? Send us
your best recent book along with a short paragraph as to why you
liked it, plus what you plan to read next. --eeb
ENCYCLOPEDIA
TIDBIT
7/6: Chief Tomochichi
helps Oglethorpe in early colony days
Tomochichi, chief of the Yamacraw Indians, remains a prominent
character of early Georgia history. As the principal mediator between
the native population and the new English settlers during the first
years of settlement, he contributed much to the establishment of
peaceful relations between the two groups and to the ultimate success
of Georgia.
 During
the first five years of English settlement, Tomochichi provided
invaluable assistance to the new colony. One year after Oglethorpe's
arrival, the Indian chief accompanied him back to England along
with a small delegation of family and Lower Creek tribesmen. There,
Tomochichi expertly fulfilled the position as mediator for his people
during numerous meetings with important English dignitaries. He
politely followed English mannerisms in his public appearances while
pushing for recognition and realization of the demands of his people
for education and fair trade. Upon his return to Georgia, Tomochichi
met with other Lower Creek chieftains to reassure them of the honest
intentions of these new Englishmen and convinced them to ally with
the English despite previous deceitful encounters with their northern
neighbors in South Carolina.
Tomochichi and Oglethorpe participated in an expedition to determine
the southern boundaries of Georgia and helped mediate interactions
with the Spanish. Tomochichi exerted his best efforts to maintain
peace, and Oglethorpe regularly asked his friend for advice and
assistance in achieving this goal. During the summer of 1739 Oglethorpe
made an unprecedented journey to Coweta, deep in Indian Territory,
to bolster his connections to the Lower Creeks, which resulted in
a mutually favorable treaty.
Tomochichi died on October 5, 1739, and while sources differ over
his exact age, historians and contemporary observers generally agree
that he was in his late nineties.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Might have been the
type of person who would have been fun
"If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here
by me."
-- Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884 - 1980).
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