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TODAY'S ISSUE
Dacula poised to mark 100th birthday of town on Aug. 6
By Jim Wilbanks
Mayor
City of Dacula
Special to GwinnettForum.com

JULY 6, 2005 -- A city in Gwinnett which started as a railroad way station, gained fame from a fiddle players and girls basketball team, will mark its 100th birthday in August with an all-day event.

The big day for the City of Dacula is August 6, officially marking the 100th anniversary of its lowly founding. The city was first known as Hoke, but later an early area postmaster took three letters from nearby cities of Atlanta and Decatur, and formed the name Dacula. There is no other city by that name in the country.

Dacula has been working for 18 months on preparations for a big celebration for its birthday. The City Council appointed a 32 person committee, which has been meeting regularly. They have involved many in the wider Dacula community in focusing on the town history, its people and events of the past, to bring them up to date with the present day.

Among the activities on tap for August 6 will be a parade centered around the agricultural and transportation aspect of Dacula's past, with period costumes, hearses, wagons and antique cars and tractors. Among other events are a pie baking contest; sampling of period music for which Dacula was once famous; a marbles demonstration of the way folks once passed time; a craft fair; and an assortment of vendors throughout the downtown area. A street dance, starting with square dancing, will be held that night as dark falls.

In 1891, the Georgia, Carolina and Northern Railway (present day CSX) surveyed and laid tracks through present-day Dacula. Several other Gwinnett settlements came along the tracks, including Gloster and Luxomini, which no longer exist.

In 1928, U. S. Highway 29 was graded through Dacula, then became paved in 1931, and served as the main road between Athens and Atlanta. In the early 1980's Georgia Highway 316 opened through Dacula, though it bypasses the downtown area.

But it was not until August 7, 1905 that the City of Dacula was incorporated. We're having the 100th birthday celebration on the Saturday closest to that date!

Live music will be heard throughout the downtown area after 1 p.m., which will segue into street dancing at night. Dignitaries will be on stage at noon.

Dacula's music heritage stems from a former resident, Gid Tanner, who won fiddling contests and appeared on early radio in Atlanta. Tanner's group, the Skillet Lickers, were widely famous throughout the south, with its distinctive musical style, compared to "bluegrass" today.

The Dacula area was most prominent during the early days of Gwinnett around the time the county was being formed in 1818. A farm location nearby, the Elisha Winn House, was where the meeting to form Gwinnett County was held, as Dacula was the most populated area of the county in its early days.

Perhaps the most distinctive part of the Dacula Day will be a marbles demonstration, given by the Franklin family. They will demonstrate a marbles game technique that dates from an earlier time and is still played by old timers in the Dacula area. The demonstration promises to be a highlight of the event.
Local institutions and individuals have joined to help sponsor the 100th birthday celebration. Among them are:

ELLIOTT BRACK
Let Gwinnett arena be venue for next Garrison Keillor visit
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com

JULY 6, 2005 -- Ah, enjoying a show at Chastain Amphitheatre! How wonderful! How romantic! What a good venue!

Not so if you are Garrison Keillor. The host of Prairie Home Companion had some harsh words after his Chastain performance on June 24, in a posting on his Internet site under the heading "An apology to our audience in Atlanta."

He wrote: "It was troubled by a large number of loud drunks sitting in the expensive corporate seats down close to the stage. This is an odd experience for me, to be standing at the lip of the stage and telling the news from Lake Wobegon and hearing people yell at me, 'Tell the one about the dog' and 'How's the fishing this year?' and so forth. You could hear the wine bottles clanking for two hours. There were 6,000 other folks in the audience who seemed to be fans of the show, but all I could hear were the drunks sharfling and bellowing down below."

He also said that he opted to walk offstage at the conclusion, choosing not to return for a bow. "I have never felt so miserable onstage….If Chastain Park were par for the course, I would've quit years ago."

We were in the audience for the Keillor performance, thanks to a friend who had extra tickets. No, we weren't in the ritzy up front seats, but way back in the double letter seats, but right in the center of the audience.

Our group had wondered why Mr. Keillor had not returned to take a bow, or present a encore at the conclusion of the show. But from where we were seated, we had no idea that the up-front audience was showing less than the best Southern manners.

We, too, are appalled at the audience lack of courteousness to Mr. Keillor of any visiting performer. But, remembering the days when we, too, were near the stage in the fancy table section (you guessed it----a friend had extra tickets), we recognize just how troubling this was to Mr. Keillor. For all that separates the initial tables from the stage is an aisle.

Perhaps we can venture a guess as to why some of those people are so rowdy. As was said, those are often corporate tables, or provided free to City of Atlanta and Atlanta Education Board dignitaries without cost. It's part of their perks.

Perhaps Chastain would serve itself by placing those free-loaders farther back in the audience.

Garrison Keillor has thousands of fans of Prairie Home Companion in the Atlanta area, many more than the 6,000 seats of Chastain. No doubt these faithful public radio listeners would welcome a return of the show to Atlanta. (It has been here two previous times.)

Georgia Public Radio, step up to the plate, and invite Mr. Keillor and Prairie Home Companion back to Atlanta. But change your venue from Chastain to an area what would be more courteous. We suggest the Gwinnett Arena for the venue.

Several factors make the Gwinnett Arena a formidable site. First, the audience would be more polite, since there would not be freebies down front. And there can be no weather problem at the Arena (rain at Chastain can ruin an evening), and it's also much larger, holding up to 13,000. We suspect the Arena would be packed.

Act after act booking the Gwinnett Arena has enjoyed its modern convenience, welcoming personnel, and happy audiences. Once playing the Gwinnett Arena, we suspect Prairie Home Companion would return.

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today's sponsor is the Gwinnett Philharmonic which will begin its second decade of offering great music to the community on October 18, 2005, in the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center. The Gwinnett Philharmonic's upcoming seven-concert season will present events featuring the full orchestra and a variety of acclaimed chamber ensembles. The October 18 concert will feature the full orchestra and is titled From Russia With Love. Pianist Brent Runnels will perform Prokofiev's First Piano Concerto, and the program will also include music by Khachaturian, Borodin, and Tchaikovsky. For tickets call Ticketmaster at 404-249-6400 or visit the Web site for information on the Gwinnett Philharmonic's exciting new season: www.gwinnettphilharmonic.org.

FEEDBACK
7/6: Atlanta native in Nashville finds no smoke-free environment

My life has been nuts since we last communicated (August?). This Atlanta native moved to Nashville five weeks ago---for a great job, but mainly to be near one of my daughter's and my two grandboys, ages two and three!

Thankful for Gwinnett Forum to keep me up on Gwinnett---where I've lived since 1970 until June! Nashville is great but Atlanta/Gwinnett will always be home.

Tell you what's stunned me here....all the tobacco smoke! Just gotten used to more smoke free environments; and had taken Atlanta progress for granted, I guess. And I miss WSB radio. I grew up with it and miss Scott Slade in the a.m. But thankfully there's no need for 24/7 every six minute traffic reporting here...yet....but it's coming!

Trying to find a new church in my denomination. I was in a small, sweet church in Stone Mountain that was mixed race and that really worked. Been there nine years...that truly was the hardest part of leaving; much more than 55 years of Atlanta memories.

My parents are buried in Westview. I"ve got a plot. I'll be back in Atlanta for sure one day! By the way, the Nashville metro yellow pages are about the size of Gwinnett's!

The Gwinnett Council for the Arts has again received designation as the re-granting agency for the Governor's Grassroots Arts Program. State funding will be shared with area counties to present arts programs from July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006.

The Grassroots Arts Program (GAP) was developed in 1993 to help community groups provide cultural and educational opportunities wanted and needed at the local level. Gwinnett County non-profit arts groups are encouraged to apply. Applicants must provide a 50 percent cash match. September 2, 2005 is the deadline for applications to be received.

Nancy Gullickson, executive director of the Gwinnett Council for the Arts says: "This is an exciting opportunity to present programs of interest to our community, to support local artists and to activate an exciting partnership of state government and local communities."

Among the many projects eligible for funding are visual arts exhibits, concerts, theatrical and dance performances, readings, film programs, storytelling, folk art projects, technical assistance programs and arts festivals.
Awards will be made to groups with tax exempt status or with a co-applicant organization which does. All funded projects must be accessible to the general public and demonstrate outreach to underserved populations. GAP funding is available statewide; half the funds are based on population and the remainder is given as an equal amount per county. For applications or additional information contact: the Hudgens Arts Center at 770-623-6002.

GPS helping county locate, repair leaks in water, sewer lines.

Gwinnett County crews that fix leaks and breaks in water and sewer lines are now using digitized drawings and Geographic Positioning System (GPS) coordinates to locate key components from laptop computers in their work trucks.

Frank Stephens, Director of Public Utilities, says: "Having this information easily available in the work vehicle helps get repairs done faster. The crews and records staff are most appreciative of this improved method of locating underground assets." Before this technology was put in place, when a water line broke at night the county had to call a records person in to the office to look up the drawings and tell crews by radio the location of the valves and other equipment information they needed.

Stephens added: "Breaks interrupt water service to our customers and sewer spills impact our streams, so anything we can do to speed up repairs is on our front burner. Our staff is the best and these tools will enable us to be even better."

The department's Geographic Information System group is headed by Jodi O'Brien and managed by Ron Peters. Deputy Director Jim Scarbrough adds: "We intend to continue to improve the system by providing laptops for storm water crews in the future."

"I just finished Georgia Rivers, by various writers. This book was copyrighted in 1962. The rivers listed are the Savannah, Ogeechee, Altamaha, St. Marys, Suwannee, Coosa, Flint, and the Chattahoochee. I was surprised that the Ohoopee and the Satilla weren't mentioned.

"All the stories came from articles in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution Magazine. Very interesting reading, with a lot of history in each one. I highly recommend it. As I live on a high bluff overlooking the mighty Altamaha, I was, naturally interested."

GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA
Dean Rusk Center focuese on international legal affairs

The Dean Rusk Center for International, Comparative, and Graduate Legal Studies serves as the principal focus for the international activities of the University of Georgia School of Law. The center was established in 1977 to expand the scope of research, teaching, and service at the University of Georgia School of Law into the evolving international dimensions of the profession.

The center is named for Dean Rusk, the U.S. secretary of state (1961-69) and Samuel H. Sibley Professor of International Law at the University of Georgia (1970-85), who provided the inspiration for the center's creation and its continuing role at the School of Law and the university. The Rusk Center merged with International and Graduate Legal Studies in 1999, and today the center plays an active role in international law and policy and comparative law projects, organizes conferences and colloquia, hosts visiting scholars, and undertakes international research and outreach projects.

The Rusk Center serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas and the development of concrete international projects among students, faculty, staff, practitioners, and alumni, and with diverse international partners on international and transnational legal and policy matters.

Through collaboration, partnership, and exchange, the Rusk Center integrates international scholarship at institutional, state, national, and international levels. Members of the center staff identify feasible research, outreach, and service projects; find appropriate partners at the University of Georgia and at other universities and national and international funding organizations; and make proposals for such projects and manage the projects when funded.

The center works with an alumni advisory board whose members lead and participate in center projects, and with members of a variety of other disciplines. Nationally, the center cooperates with academic and professional legal institutions active in international and comparative law. It also plays an active role in international exchange and outreach in Europe, the Americas, and other parts of the world. Moreover, collaboration with foreign universities, judiciaries, and governments has the goal of furthering institutional reform, capacity building, and legal scholarship in Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

"People who have no weaknesses are terrible; there is no way of taking advantage of them."

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