Gwinnett Forum.com -- Gwinnett County's community forum and idea exchange

TODAY'S ISSUE
Sunday buggy outing on family farm turns out different
By Bill Miller
Special to GwinnettForum.com

DACULA, Ga. Feb. 11, 2005 - - It was a typical Sunday, and the Henderson's had friends visiting with small children. My friend Ernie and I entertained three girls, showing them the new calves, and piglets.

In the barn we discovered an old horse-drawn buggy. It looked like it had not been used for quite some time, now a dirty black, with red trim and yellow wheel spokes. We were all fascinated with this oversized toy covered with dust. We took an old broom and made an attempt to clean the buggy. After the clean sweep action, we fantasized about how it must have been riding in a buggy behind a large horse. We opened the door and pushed the buggy out. It rolled to a stop at the bottom of the barn bridge.

Ernie and I got between the shafts and found that it rolled very easily so we thought we could pull it with the girls sitting on the seat. They got up on the seat and we pulled the buggy round and round in the area in front of the barn. That was so much fun we decided to go part way up the hill toward the pig barn.

Wow! What a ride! The girls were excited and giggling. We then pulled it farther up the road where the terrain was steeper. We found a flat spot and turned it around for the trip back to the barn. Neither of us realized the speed that would develop because of the incline of the road. Nor did we realize how rough this part of the road was with all the bare rocks in the road bed.

We began to pull on the shafts. Before we realized it we were not in control of the situation.

At a point near the pig barn, Ernie stumbled and fell knocking me down as well. The buggy passed overhead, missing us both as we were in the center of the buggy's path. Helplessly we watched…..from our prone position.

The shafts were bouncing up and down as they struck rocks in the roadway. The girls were screaming. We watched as one shaft struck a large rock and snapped in two pieces, turning the wheels sharply to the right. The buggy came to rest upright, its shaft broken, in the midst of berry bushes a few feet from the silo near the corner of the barn.

Ernie and I were skinned up with torn pants and abrasions on both legs and arms, plus berry bush scratches. The girls were frightened and crying they were not hurt in any way, only wanting desperately to get off that buggy.

This part of the ride, which to us seemed like an eternity, actually happened in a matter of seconds. Ernie and I got up and ran as fast as we could to the wrecked buggy. The broken shaft lay flat on the ground.

Later my mother asked about my torn pants, and I responded that it happened when "playing on the farm." Mr. Henderson, the owner of the buggy, was amazingly calm, saying "The buggy got broken, but thank God no one got hurt."

Needless to say that ended the saga of the horseless carriage. These two small boys never attempted to be a horse again.

ELLIOTT BRACK
Hurrah for Valdosta and Sci-Trek; Gwinnett was a possibility
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com

FEB. 11, 2005 -- There's more to the announcement last week that the Sci-Trek Museum of Atlanta will move to Valdosta State University than it appears at first blush.

The best news is that the museum will continue, albeit in South Georgia. The decision by people in Valdosta to seek to move the Museum to South Georgia has wide implications. It shows that the people of that part of Georgia, and in particular the University, understand the benefit that a science and technology museum will provide this area. It also broadens the tremendous opportunities school children throughout South Georgia will have to explore modern day science in a creative manner. We rejoice for the area, and most especially the students of South Georgia in finding this Museum coming their way.

Now here is the Gwinnett angle. You see, Gwinnett had an initial chance to get the innovative Science Museum, but blew its chances, as did Cobb County. Sci-Trek officials, in talking to people in the two wealthy suburban counties, figured that there would be enough business and educational support for location of such a worthy educational institution in one of the two counties. After all, both counties are loaded with major high-tech companies. But….they were wrong.

In fact, from what we hear, Gwinnett not only had a chance, but a good inside chance to snare the science museum when it was first became clear that the museum would have to close in Atlanta.

Initially, several local firms and foundations showed some interest in the museum. At first one non-profit, then another, and then even public bodies, showed interest….then had little energy toward securing the museum.

When it operated in Atlanta, Sci-Trek was a field trip destination museum for school-age children, where they could manipulate cutting-edge tools to understand science and technology better, and perhaps even stimulate an interest in the sciences. Such an institution within a metropolitan area like Atlanta would be a natural, you would think, to which people and especially school children from the entire area would flock.

Not so. We have no understanding of why the museum failed. However, its failure is no talking point when promoting Atlanta. It tells us that perhaps Atlanta is not the booming metro area that it sometimes thinks it is, at least when it comes to creating a wide environment for exploring the world for its children.

Granted, there are other educational facilities in Metro Atlanta that can provide some of this creative energy for students. But it's a black mark on the city for losing such an institution. And it also says a lot about suburban areas when they do not show an interest through their funding such a museum. Happily, at least Sci-Trek worked out an arrangement with the Fernbank Museum so that the Challenger Learning Center, will remain in Metro Atlanta, allowing students to simulate space travel.

But mainly: hurrah for South Georgia, and Valdosta and its University, for encouraging its students in locating Sci-Trek there. In the long run, such a modern facility in an area where there are few museums, could turn out to be a shining example of what smaller communities can do to provide amenities for their people.

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Internet shopping for new and used automobiles is easy at Dwight Harrison Volkswagen in Snellville. Just click to our site at http://www.dwightharrison.com/en_US/ and see how easy it is to navigate for cars with Dwight Harrison. Or come by our location at 3500 Stone Mountain Highway in Snellville and look for yourself. Don't forget Dwight Harrison offers top-of-the-line automotive service to customers. Our state-of-the-art facility features the most current diagnostic and repair equipment available, and our factory-trained technicians will deliver the most efficient and quality vehicle care. Telephone 770 979-2000.

FEEDBACK
2/11: Feels writer did not listen to part of State of Union speech

In response to Kathryn Hill's comments of George Bush and Social Security reform: perhaps she needs to re-listen or read the speech. She made a few bold statements that are untrue.

President Bush listed the ideas discussed in the past and said they were all on the table. He also said he would listen to anyone who has a good idea to offer. He never said anything about "privatization" but did mention personal retirement accounts and why, for younger workers, they could be a better deal. Further he noted that there would be no change for those retired or nearing retirement.

As for her remark about the President's "Wall Street friends," she should consider that every member of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, have a very close relationship with big business and Wall Street, is no exception.

The fact that so many rely on Social Security is more than enough reason to fix it. She is far off the mark however when she called it a "guaranteed benefit." There is NO guarantee that you will ever get a penny that was paid in; it has never been guaranteed. If it were guaranteed, the money collected would be in a bank account, instead of the General Fund, where it is spent as fast as it can come in. President Bush wanted Congress to implement a guarantee for current and soon-to-be retirees.

Perhaps she missed this: (quote)" Personal retirement accounts should be familiar to federal employees, because you already have something similar, called the Thrift Savings Plan, which lets workers deposit a portion of their paychecks into any of five different broadly based investment funds. It is time to extend the same security, and choice, and ownership to young Americans."

Sounds like she only heard the Democrat scare tactics and never listened to his speech.

In honor of Rotary International's 100th anniversary this month, Rotary clubs in Gwinnett will sponsor landscaping of a previous Rotary initiative at Unity Place at Bay Creek Park near Grayson.

About 100 Rotarians will gather at the park on February 19 at 9 a.m. for the service project. The park area was designed to integrate children with and without disabilities, so that special needs children have the opportunity to play with other children in the community.

Unity Place has playgrounds, one of which is handicapped-accessible, ball fields, and a paved multipurpose trail. The Gwinnett Rotary clubs led efforts to raise $250,000 to fund the handicapped playground at Unity Place in December 2003.

"Unity Place has provided a tremendous opportunity that many special needs children have never had before because they get to play with other children or their own siblings for the first time," said Cathy Smith, director of the Grayson Athletic Association Special Populations Program.

The group of volunteers will be made up from members of the seven clubs that are located within the county, which include Lawrenceville, Peachtree Corners/Norcross, Snellville, Duluth, Gwinnett, North Gwinnett/Buford, and South Gwinnett. They will be working with officials of the Gwinnett Parks and Recreation Department in the landscaping effort, according to a master plan adopted by the Department.

The year 2005 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of Rotary International. The first club, organized by Founder Paul Harris, was in Chicago. Today Rotary is a worldwide organization of businesses and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. Approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 31,000 Rotary clubs located in 166 countries..

Dawg Days within Diversity Awareness set at UGA-Gwinnett

The University of Georgia at Gwinnett is sponsoring Diversity Awareness Week - or DAWG Days - beginning February 14. The featured event of the week is a luncheon speech by Elizabeth Omalama, the daughter of the late civil rights activist Hosea Williams, on Thursday, February 17, at noon in the atrium of building B on the Gwinnett University Center campus.

Omalama, who is chair of Hosea Williams' Feed the Hungry program, will deliver a talk titled "Diversity as a Humanitarian Movement." She will discuss the civil rights movement as a humanitarian effort where people of all races, genders and ethnicities came together to join the efforts of the movement. The speech is free and open to the public; lunch will be served on a first come first serve basis.

ENCYCLOPEDIA TIDBIT
2/11: Savannah plan creates distinguished, innovative design

Savannah's remarkable city plan is distinguished from those of previous colonial towns by its repeated pattern of connected neighborhoods, multiple squares, streets, and designed expansion into lands held by the city (the common). It is unique in the history of urban planning in a number of respects, not the least of which is that the squares allow for more open space in Savannah than in any city layout in history.

Founded in 1733, Savannah is situated on a 40-foot-high bluff overlooking the Savannah River, 18 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Laid out by General James Edward Oglethorpe, it was the last colonial capital to be established by Britain in America.

The basic plan unit is a ward, 600 feet to a side in the north-south direction, and 540 feet to 600 feet in the east-west direction. Streets and building lots are organized around a central open space or square. Each ward has a name. Wards were originally organized as urban neighborhoods with direct correlation to garden and farm lots in Oglethorpe's expanded regional plan system.

The streets bounding the wards allow uninterrupted movement of traffic. Internal streets are interrupted by the squares to create a pedestrian-friendly scale. The resulting pattern features eight blocks to a ward. The larger four blocks on the north and south sides of the square are called tything blocks and are further divided by east-west lanes. Four smaller blocks front the squares on the east and west. These are called trust blocks. Tything blocks are subdivided into lots 60 feet in width that are sometimes further divided into increments of 20 or 30 feet, thereby creating a diverse pattern of building sizes and types.

Savannah's plan reflects political and organizational considerations of the day. Each ward had tythingmen, who shared guard and other duties. Wards were tied to a larger regional plan of garden and farm lots. The repetitive non-hierarchal placement of wards, squares, and equal-sized lots points to the utopian ideals of the colony. The regularity of these lots controlled the size and rhythm of development in the third dimension to create a visually diverse and humanly scaled city.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
One sure-fire method of finding the secret of success

SEND YOUR FEEDBACK

Send your thoughts, 55-word short stories, pet peeves or comments on any issue to Gwinnett Forum for future publication.

===========================================