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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Lifeguarding ... not
just for teens and younger adults
By
Tammy Gibson
Gwinnett Parks and Recreation Department
Special to GwinnettForum.com
MARCH 25, 2005 -- With many senior citizens now deciding not to
completely stop working after they retire from the work force, a
few have turned to part-time jobs to either supplement their income
or as a way to keep themselves active and busy.
While most of the time senior citizens may think of working part-time
in traditional positions either at a retail store, grocery store,
or other businesses, a few have taken the plunge and dived into
lifeguarding at Gwinnett County pools and aquatic centers.
Register |
Two such senior citizens who are both retired. Jim Register, 62,
and Dick Haglund, 73, work part-time for Gwinnett County Parks and
Recreation (GCPR) as lifeguards at Bogan Aquatic Center in Buford
and Mountain Park Aquatic Center in Stone Mountain.
Register retired from his career at AT&T in 1998. As a way
to supplement his retirement income, he took the lifeguard training
course offered by GCPR a few years ago to become a lifeguard. Although
he had not swam on a regular basis for 40 years, he was able to
get back up to speed through the course and training that was offered
by GCPR.
Haglund took up lifeguarding in early 2004 in order to keep himself
busy and to stay in shape. He and his wife would swim regularly
at the old Mountain Park Pool. When the new Mountain Park Aquatic
Center opened last year, he was so impressed with the facility that
he signed up for the lifeguarding course offered there.
Haglund |
Haglund's son, Richard, thought that his father becoming a lifeguard
was "the coolest thing he had ever heard. So many older people
just don't take chances, and they think automatically I can't do
that, but not my dad. He went out there and did it, and I have never
been so proud of him in my life."
Although both worked as lifeguards previously, Register during
his time in the Army, and Haglund during his high school and college
years, times have changed as far as the skills needed to become
a lifeguard. Both say the course taught GCPR gave them the skills
they needed.
Prerequisites for becoming a lifeguard are very simple - the ability
to swim. Speed is not a concern, and lifeguarding experience in
the past is not a requirement, as all of the tools needed are taught
in the lifeguarding course.
GCPR operates six pools throughout Gwinnett that include three
outdoor seasonal pools, the newly-renovated Best Friend Pool in
Norcross that will re-open this summer; Dacula Pool in Dacula; and
Rhodes Jordan Aquatic Center in Lawrenceville, It also has three
aquatic centers that include both indoor and outdoor pools that
operate year-round: The Bogan Center in Buford, Collins Hill Center
and the Mountain Park Center.
Anyone interested in learning more about becoming a lifeguard can
call Christine Kinsella at (770) 564-4686.
Upcoming lifeguard training courses offered by Gwinnett County
Parks will take place on the following dates:
- April 4-7 daily from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at Collins Hill Aquatic
Center, 2200 Collins Hill Road in Lawrenceville.
- April 4-7 daily from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at Mountain Park Aquatic
Center, 1063 Rockbridge Road in Stone Mountain.
- April 16-30 on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sundays from
1:30-5:30 p.m. a Bogan Aquatic Center, 2723 North Bogan Road in
Buford.
- May 2-12 daily from 5-9 p.m. at Collins Hill Aquatic Center,
2200 Collins Hill Road in Lawrenceville.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
20
years later, county needs more office space once again
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
MARCH 25, 2005 -- Those of you who have arrived in Gwinnett in
the last 20 years might not recognize what our Gwinnett County government
is going through now.
Perhaps you can understand it this way: "Government is busting
at its seams." In effect, there is not enough space in the
Gwinnett courthouse for the offices that are needed.
It's similar to what was going on 20 years ago, in 1985, before
the Gwinnett Justice and Administrative Center was built. County
government had long run out of space in what is now the Historic
Courthouse. It had rented virtually every vacant office in Lawrenceville.
Back in those days:
- Court rooms were operating in an old furniture story on Pike
Street, in a former theatre and in a former A&P Supermarket,
both on Perry Street, and in the former Lawrenceville post office
on Crogan Street.
- County commission offices were "on the hill" in a
converted high school building. Later on the commission had its
offices in the former Button Gwinnett hospital on Scenic Highway.
- The county personnel office shared the old high school gymnasium
with the then-fledging county computer system.
- The transportation department was in a seven acre complex on
Hurricane Shoals Road.
- Public utilities was also on Hurricane Shoals Road, between
Pike Streets and Highway 20.
Fast forward to 2005. A few years back Gwinnett County purchased
the four-story building at 750 Perry Street, then occupied by the
Associated Credit Union, for additional offices. Recently it purchased
the virtually-new office One Justice Square building at Langley
Drive and Crogan Street for additional offices, at a cost of $13
million for $102,000 square feet. It's now occupied by the several
county offices, including Planning and Development, plus state offices.
And in the last few years, the Public Utilities Department has consolidated
its operations in the county on Highway 29 east of town
Meanwhile, just as the county's population grows, so does the need
for more county government office space. One particular area requiring
more space is court operations, and and especially today, with security
in mind.
That's led some observers to suggest that the county utilize its
sprawling Justice and Administration Center virtually as entirely
a court facility. Locate other offices that need less security in
other areas, they say, for the best use of the building.
One idea being floated is to move some government offices not required
to be in the county seat to the Gwinnett Place area. That area is
convenient and has ample parking. Plus it would serve as a boost
to help re-vitalize and breathe new life into Gwinnett Place, make
the area more viable, and continue to pay for itself in taxes.
Gwinnett County funded its space problems in 1986 by passage of
the first SPLOST one cent sales tax, which paid for the new courthouse.
Back when Gwinnett had fewer people then, (249,000 in 1985), it
took 24 months to generate $65 million coming from sales tax to
pay for the Justice and Administrative Building.
Today the county sales tax brings in more than $10 million a month.
Gwinnett could generate that $65 million in about six months now!
A new SPLOST may eventually prove to be the answer to Gwinnett's
space problems to fund additional facilities needed by the county
as it continues to grow with people and space needs.
* * * * *
We had an old figure for the number of jobs in Gwinnett in the
past issue. Alfie Meek of the Finance Department now tells us that
there are 302,276 jobs in Gwinnett as of the second quarter of 2004,
the last figure available.
ABOUT OUR SPONSORS
 The
public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com
to you at no cost to readers. Today's sponsor is Hayes Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep
of Lawrenceville, Gainesville and Baldwin. General Manager Mike
Hayes of Lawrenceville, Tim Hayes of Gainesville and Robin Haynes
of Baldwin invite you into their showrooms to look over their line-up
of automobiles and trucks. Hayes has been in the automotive business
for over 30 years, and is North Georgia's oldest family-owned auto
dealership. The family is the winner of the 2002 Georgia Family
Business of the Year Award. Hayes Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep is affiliated
with Hayes Chevrolet in Cornelia. Check out their web site at: http://www.hayeschrysler.com.
For a list of other sponsors of this forum, go to: http://www.gwinnettforum.com/about/sponsors.htm.
McLEMORE'S
WORLD
3/25: About husbands
Another great cartoon by Bill McLemore:
FEEDBACK
3/25: Forum suggests 10 Letterman-style reasons
USA is great
Editor, the Forum:
Tuesday's forum struck me as a David Letterman list of 10 reasons
why this country is so great.
Where else are you free to:
1. Denounce government policy with information that has little
or no basis in fact.
2. Reminisce about the good old days only to discover they probably
are today.
3. Take personal responsibility to eliminate an unsafe intersection.
4. Examine the relative benefits of interval wipers versus vacuum.
5. Proclaim evolution illogical while being illogical.
6. Celebrate the arts in our schools.
7. Celebrate the arts in our communities.
8. Conjure up Power Games in Washington
9. Extol the virtues of our locally produced war birds.
10. And best of all, this was all sponsored by one of the basics
of life as we know it - a Jentle Jet jetted laundry sink.
Is this a great country or what? Great work by the editor.
-- Patrick Malone, Snellville
3/25: Questions DeLay's
actions to ensure chance "we all deserve"
Editor, the Forum:
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has sanctimoniously proclaimed
his concern for the well-being of Terri Schiavo, saying he is only
trying to ensure she has the chance "We all deserve."
Just last week, DeLay marshaled a budget resolution through the
House of Representatives that would cut funding for Medicaid by
at least $15 billion, threatening the quality of care for people
like Terri. Go figure.
-- Ralph Greene, Snellville
CALENDAR
Volunteers can earn cash prizes in Great American
Clean-up
Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful has announced the kick-off of the
Great American Cleanup Gwinnett Challenge.
C&B Director Connie Wiggins says that the object of the challenge
"Is to demonstrate community pride by getting people involved
to make their community safer, clean and healthier. Groups will
receive cash awards and public recognition for the best efforts
at cleaning up an eyesore in their community or neighborhood."
The Challenge runs from March 15 to May 12, 2005.
Groups of people can choose a project, recruit volunteers, conduct
the project and then submit a Project Summary Form by May 12 with
five to ten "before and after" digital photos of the work
they did. Forms are available on the Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful
website (www.gwinnettcb.org)
or by calling Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful at 770/822-5187.
Eligible projects should promote a safer, cleaner community and
might include activities such as tree plantings, community gardens,
litter clean ups, dumpsite clean ups, graffiti eradication, recycling
or neighborhood clean ups.
Cash prizes up to $500 will be awarded to the top two projects
in each category. The categories have been set up so that similar
groups will be 'competing' against each other: neighborhood/tenant
associations, school groups, civic groups and businesses. Winners
will be chosen based on the biggest transformation, use of innovation
and the number of volunteers involved.
"People in Gwinnett will have an opportunity to select the
Grand Prize winner," said Wiggins. "We will put information
about the winning projects on our website. Then people can 'vote'
from May 17-24 for the Grand Prize Winner. The Grand Prize Winner
will receive a cash prize of $2,000."
Junior League golf tourney set for April 19 at Bear's Best
The Junior League of Gwinnett and North Fulton Counties (JLGNF)
is hosting its Second Annual Junior League Golf Classic at Bear's
Best Golf Course in Suwanee, on Tuesday, April 19, 2005.
The Junior League Golf Classic consists of 36 foursomes. Participating
golfers have lunch and dinner, a post-game raffle, along with greens
fees, cart and range balls, plus complimentary gift bags for each
player.
There are limited spaces available to play the Junior League Golf
Classic. If you would like to play one of the area's best golf courses
while making a contribution to your community, register at www.jlgnf.org/golftournament.htm.
Registration must be received prior to April 1. If you are interested
in sponsoring this event, please also see the JLGNF web site.
The Junior League of Gwinnett and North Fulton Counties (JLGNF)
provides volunteer and financial help to non-profit organizations
supporting women's and children's issues. For more information about
JLGNF, please visit www.jlgnf.org
or call 770-476-3090.
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
3/25: Georgia's Flannery
O'Connor among top fiction writers
Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964) is considered one of America's greatest
fiction writers and one of the strongest apologists for Roman Catholicism
in the 20th century. Born in Savannah on March 25, 1925, after the
family's move to Milledgeville in 1938, she continued her schooling
at Georgia State College for Women (GSCW), now Georgia College and
State University.
 When
she was 15, O'Connor, an only child, lost her father to systemic
lupus erythematosus, the disease that would eventually take her
own life at age 39. Devastated by the loss of this close relationship,
O'Connor elected to remain in Milledgeville and attend GSCW as a
day student in an accelerated three-year program. In 1945 O'Connor
received a scholarship in journalism from the University of Iowa.
In her first term, she decided that journalism was not her metier
and O'Connor is now numbered among the many American writers who
are graduates of the Iowa program.
Following the completion of her M.F.A. in 1947, O'Connor won the
Rinehart-Iowa Fiction Award for a first novel. In 1950, O'Connor
was stricken with lupus, the incurable, autoimmune disease that
was then treated only by the use of steroid drugs. O'Connor survived
the first life-threatening attack, but she was forced to return
to Milledgeville permanently. Remaining in this historic central
Georgia town for the rest of her life, from 1951 until 1964, O'Connor
lived quietly at Andalusia, the family farm just outside town.
An early 1964 surgery for a fibroid tumor reactivated O'Connor's
lupus, which had been in remission, and her health worsened during
the following months. On August 3, 1964, she died in the Baldwin
County Hospital. At the time of her death, the Atlanta Journal observed
that O'Connor's "deep spirituality qualified her to speak with
a forcefulness not often matched in American literature."
In 1972 the posthumous collection The Complete Stories received
the National Book Award, usually given to a living writer. The judges
deemed O'Connor's work so deserving that an exception was made to
honor her lifetime achievement.
O'Connor was a Roman Catholic in the Bible Belt South; her fiction,
though, is largely concerned with fundamentalist Protestants, many
of whom she admired for the integrity of their search for Truth.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Making progress means
you can do two things at same time
"You can't wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the
same time."
-- Michele Brown, via Deb Roberts, Duluth.
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is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible
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