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TODAY'S
ISSUE
County Seat Players
invite help for 2006 play selection
By
Starshine Stanfield
Artistic Director, County Seat Players
Special to GwinnettForum.com
MARCH 4, 2005 -- "Action is eloquence," said William
Shakespeare. County Seat Players, part of the action in Gwinnett
County since 1993 with shows from Steel Magnolias to Once Upon A
Mattress, is planning its next season.
On March 12, its Play Selection Committee will meet to plan their
2006 season. Anyone interested in directing a play for CSP is encouraged
to attend the meeting, and be prepared with information on the show
they would like to direct. The committee looks at cast size, venue
limitations, and play content when selecting plays for the season.
The mission of County Seat Players is to encourage participation
and involvement in all aspects of theatrical production with a goal
of providing quality community theater to Gwinnett County.
Since its inception, County Seat Players has been affecting the
community theatre scene, striving to maintain and develop their
talent pool, to seek new talent to expand it, as well as to continuously
be a positive force in Gwinnett County. With an eclectic array of
venues, County Seat Players has woven in and out of a variety of
towns within the county. As Katy Clarke, managing director of CSP,
once put it: "You never know where we'll pop up next!"
Most recently, CSP's November production of the British play Gas
& Candles at the Royal Gallery in Norcross proved a cozy success.
After opening the 2005 season with the triumph of Breaking Legs,
performed at Berkely Lake Chapel in Berkeley Lake, CSP is looking
forward to solidifying an outstanding 2005 season with the upcoming
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) by Jess Borgeson,
Adam Long, and Daniel Singer.
The Flying Saucer in downtown Lawrenceville has agreed with County
Seat Players to bring The Complete Works to their stage. Presented
as dinner theatre, the Flying Saucer will cater to patrons of the
show as veteran CSP actor Steven Miller takes the stage with new-to-CSP
(but certainly not to the stage!) actors Marcus Stanfield and Meredith
Jones. Under the direction of CSP board member and Treasurer Bob
Seelig, these three thespians will condense the entire body of Shakespeare's
work into one hilarious, fast-paced show.
Continuing the 2005 season will be productions of The Hobbit, and
Jerry Finnegan's Sister. CSP's final production of the year will
be A-Caroling Wee Will Went, a Christmas show by local playwright
and actor Steven Miller.
With the 2005 season well under way, County Seat Players is ready
to start setting the stage for an exciting 2006 season. CSP is open
to newcomers, encouraging volunteer participation on all levels.
Membership in CSP is not a pre-requisite for any type of participation.
For more information on County Seat Players, and it's 2005 season,
visit www.countyseatplayers.org. The website displays photos from
previous productions, information about the current production,
and audition information for upcoming productions, as well as membership
information. For more information on CSP's Play Selection Committee,
please contact Starshine Stanfield, artistic director of CSP at
678-371-0743 or beautifuljourney@justemail.net.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Legislation
would keep most people more in the dark
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
MARCH 4, 2005 -- Two rather ironic twists are emanating from the
Georgia Legislature this year, both concerning Open Records bills.
The most ironic aspect is that the Republican administration, and
apparently Dr. Sonny Perdue, are pushing a bill that had nothing
but "Don't Touch. It'll Bite!" written all over it. The
GOP need not pick this bill to be their Gangbuster in the first
year they have controlled the General Assembly. Many more serious
bills need their attention than trying to close the record to the
average guy, and promote government secrecy.
Yet the GOP is playing hard ball when they would be far more well-placed
to pick a softer target to tackle.
The second ironic aspect is that the people who have controlled
the Legislature for years, the Democrats, are coming up as the good
guys in opposing efforts by the Republicans to impose more secrecy
in government. For us average onlookers, this is amazing, for back
just a year ago when the Democrats were in control, they would have
been the ones pushing for more behind-the-doors government.
You wonder how the Democrats even know how to act when pushing
for openness in government! Stranger happenings take place all the
time in politics. But an onlooker can only chuckle that the Democrats
are now the heroes of the openness in government. How funny!
What has surprised lots of Georgians is how strong the reaction
has been throughout the state to the efforts to create more closed
government. People all over are upset over this, and letting their
legislators know.
It's like the Republicans getting hit by a Mack truck when all
they saw was open highways. Hurrah for the Mack trucks.
And efforts to close more government meetings are not some blow
against the media: it is a measure affecting the right of all people
to know what local, regional and state government is about.
The big issue, in House bill 218, would exclude the public from
meetings when developers were trying to work out arrangements with
some government entity.
What the bill does is remove protection for the public's right to
know how government and businesses are cozying up to one another
with development agreements.
In effect, not allowing the public to know what is happening in
development of an area is tantamount to signing away your community
rights. Who wants to wake up one morning and find bulldozers knocking
down trees in your neighborhood, before local input? That's what
this bill seeks to do, that is, keep you out of the loop on what
is happening around you.
In effect, H.B. 218 is bad public policy, no matter what the Republicans
say. Yet people in power often want to garner more power. This bill
would giver public officials unprecedented power, and keep the people
who put them in office in the dark until it is too late to change
the outcome. That's why we say it is bad policy.
The bill would allow tax abatements, financial incentives, or worse
of all, even possibly locate the firm next door to your house, and
you will be barred from knowing anything about it until the deal
is done. Local officials could give the new business tax breaks
that could cause you to have to pay more taxes yourself and you
won't know it until it's too late to stop it.
The law is being touted as a help in Georgia's efforts to recruit
new business and industry. Baloney. Your individual rights are more
important than locating business in Georgia in the dark.
Something doesn't ring true here.
Talk to your senator or representative (or governor) and tell them
that House Bill 218 doesn't wash.
ABOUT OUR SPONSORS
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Management Co. The company evolved from the name change
of Hudgens Management Company in November, 1991. Tom Wheeler and
Tom Kolb have been principal owners since 1985. Wheeler/Kolb has
offices in Duluth and has 28 employees.
For a list of other sponsors of this forum, go to: http://www.gwinnettforum.com/about/sponsors.htm.
McLEMORE'S
WORLD
3/4: A commanding presence
Another great cartoon from Bill McLemore:
CALENDAR
Economic Development Forum set for Gwinnett
on March 17
The 2005 Gwinnett Economic Development Forum is set for Thursday,
March 17, from 7:30 a.m. until noon at Gwinnett Technical College.
Sponsored by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, this once-a-year
event will include the Gwinnett Economic Outlook; sessions on Workforce
Development; and on biosciences and technology.
It will be held at the Busbee Center of Gwinnett Technical College.
The event will start with a breakfast, with program at 8 a.m. Reservations
are suggested, with a cost to member of $50 and non-members $75.
Duluth Railway Museum
plans first Easter brunch
The Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth is having its first Easter
Brunch fund raiser. Sunday, March 27 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Adults and Senior are $35 plus tax and children are 2-14 are $12.50
+ tax. Children under 2 will be admitted free. Call the administration
office at 770-495-0253 x3 to make your reservation.
Funds raised will go towards matching a $10,000 challenge grant
for developing the museum site and expanding facilities to better
preserve history.
Through March 26 the museum is open for general admission on Saturdays.
Effective March 31, 2005 the museum will expand days of operation
to include Thursday and Friday for the rest of the year.
The Southeastern Railway Museum has been in operation since 1970
and is "Georgia's Official Transportation History Museum".
The museum has over 80 other pieces of retired railway rolling stock
including vintage steam and diesel locomotives, passenger coaches,
private business cars, a World War II army troop kitchen, wooden
freight cars, railway post office car and maintenance of way equipment.
Transit history is represented with a cross section of busses and
trolleys from the early 1900's through the mid 1980's. The museum
is also home to MARTA's historic bus fleet which includes busses
from many of the predecessor systems to MARTA. Many other items
from Georgia's transportation history are also presented on the
museum's 30-acre site.
RECOMMENDED
READ
- An invitation: What Web sites or books have you enjoyed?
Send us your best recent read along with a short paragraph as
to why you liked it, plus what book you plan to read next. --eeb
ENCYCLOPEDIA
TIDBIT
3/4: "Three Governors"
controversy gave state black eye
Georgia's "three
governors controversy" of 1946-47, which began with the
death of Governor-elect Eugene Talmadge, was one of the more bizarre
political spectacles in the annals of American politics. In the
wake of Talmadge's death, his supporters proposed a plan that allowed
the Georgia legislature to elect a governor in January 1947. When
the General Assembly elected Talmadge's son as governor, the newly
elected lieutenant governor, Melvin E. Thompson, claimed the office
of governor, and the outgoing governor, Ellis Arnall, refused to
leave office. Eventually, the Georgia Supreme Court settled the
controversy.
Melvin Thompson |
In the summer of 1946 Eugene Talmadge won the Democratic primary
for governor for the fourth time. However, Talmadge was not healthy,
and his close friends began to fear that he would not live until
the November general election or would die before his inauguration
in January 1947. Eugene Talmadge died in late December 1946. When
the General Assembly convened in January 1947, the immediate order
of business was to fill the vacant governorship.
The Talmadge forces wanted the legislature to elect Herman Talmadge
, while Thompson's allies lobbied for the General Assembly to declare
Thompson the governor. According to the state constitution, election
results were not official until certified by the General Assembly.
On January 15, 1947, the General Assembly elected Herman Talmadge
as governor. Meanwhile, Thompson began legal proceedings to appeal
to the Georgia Supreme Court.
However, the outgoing governor, Ellis Arnall , announced that he
would not relinquish the office until it was clear who the new governor
was. Although the two protagonists maintained their decorum, fistfights
broke out among their followers.
On January 15, the day of the legislative election, both Herman
Talmadge and Ellis Arnall claimed to be governor of Georgia and
shared the same offices in the capitol. By the next day Talmadge
had seized control of the governor's office and had the locks on
the doors changed. Arnall continued to maintain his position as
governor and even set up a governor's office in exile in an information
kiosk in the capitol. Ultimately, Arnall relinquished his claim
as governor and supported Thompson.
After Ellis Arnall surrendered his claim to the governorship, Georgia
was still left with two governors, each of whom had appointed government
officials. The result was two months of chaos.
In March 1947 the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that Melvin Thompson
was the rightful governor because he was lieutenant governor-elect
when Eugene Talmadge died. Within two hours of the court decision,
Herman Talmadge left the governor's office. Almost immediately he
began campaigning for the special election in September 1948, which
he won to fill out the next two years as governor.
In hindsight, the controversy seems almost comical, a relic of
an era of Georgia politics that is long dead. At the time, however,
it was a source of great embarrassment for business leaders of the
state. Georgia's national reputation, already unsavory, took an
even further blow.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Comparing a book and
a man, via John Steinbeck
"A book is like a man -- clever and dull, brave and cowardly,
beautiful and ugly. For every flowering thought there will be a
page like a wet and mangy mongrel, and for every looping flight
a tap on the wing and a reminder that wax cannot hold the feathers
firm too near the sun."
-- Author John Steinbeck (1902-1968).
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