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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Day trip methodology
+ ownership can save on air travel
By Mickey Freeman
CEO, BizAir
Special to GwinnettForum.com
DULUTH, GA. Aug. 30, 2005----It's 4:30 a.m., and you're already
behind schedule for a 7:30 a.m. departure from Hartsfield-Jackson
International Airport. You could use another 90 minutes of sleep,
but the plane won't wait. You creep out of the quiet house, and
launch the first half of your two-day trip to Charleston. Two
unnecessary days, you remind yourself, because experience tells
you that it's too hard and expensive to get there and back in
a day, your preference.
Freeman
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You start your journey, merging with an astounding level of early-morning
traffic (are they all on the same flight?) and make your way down
I-85 from Gwinnett County to Hartsfield-Jackson. You arrive only
to realize you're on airport property but still only halfway to
your plane. You wind your way through the parking lot and rush
to unload your bags while the shuttle bus and it's yawning, grumpy
occupants stare you down. Finally in the terminal , you must choose
between the quirky self-service kiosk and the 50-person line for
the counter attendant. With boarding pass finally in hand, you
rush to the next queue, a 200-person log jam at the security lines,
then onto the crowded train, then up the escalators to your terminal.
You still wait to board, take-off, and clear 10,000 feet before
you can actually work on your laptop.
You've done more than most by 8 a.m., but your day is only beginning.
You're on a connecting flight through Reagan National Airport
to get to Charleston, saving your company $125 vs. a direct flight.
Upon arrival, it's more lines for rental cars, hotel check in
and check out. You think: I've got to repeat the process to get
home!" If this sounds familiar and you fly frequently, you
should consider BizAir and its fractional ownership model. Fly
when you want, where you want, and with whom you want. Skip the
commute, airport lines and hassles, and unnecessary layovers and
overnight stays.
In a real-life example a seven-day advance purchase on Delta
Airlines to Charleston would cost $557.90 for a direct flight
and $432.30 for a connecting flight through Washington. For one
day's advance purchase, you would pay a staggering $1,073.89 for
a non-stop flight.
By comparison, if you purchased a 75-hour annual fractional ownership
share from BizAir on a high-performance Cirrus SR22, the same
flight would cost you, the owner, $404.49 per person (assuming
three travelers) on a "fully-apportioned" basis, meaning
factoring in an upfront payment, standard ownership obligations,
and usage fees. On a purely incremental basis, that flight would
cost $179.83 per person (still assuming three travelers). In either
scenario, BizAir is cheaper and lets owners fly on their schedule,
leaving and returning at their whim, with known fellow travelers
and none of the irritants of commercial flights. Plus, you're
in a modern, high-tech "glass cockpit" airplane where
every seat has a great view, reminding you that flying should
be not only convenient, but luxurious and fun. And you could have
slept in until 6 a.m.
For that same Charleston example, owners could meet at Gwinnett's
Briscoe Field for a 7:30 a.m. departure, park and walk right onto
their plane, and be in Charleston in little over an hour. Owners
could meet a client, prospect, or regional employees from 9 a.m.
until noon, and be back in Gwinnett by 1:30 for an afternoon in
the office. Owners would save their company money and increase
business and personal productivity. Best of all, owners could
put their kids to bed and sleep in their own bed, too.
BizAir employs safe, fast, and luxurious aircraft, offering fractional
shares of the Cirrus SR22 high-performance aircraft and, exclusively,
the Eclipse 500, the forthcoming, long-awaited "very light
jet" or "microjet" that is anticipated to change
private aviation.
For more information, please contact me at mickey@bizair.com
or (770) 291-2205.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Jim Parker: born in Macon, but someone we
never met
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
AUG. 30, 2005 -- The item in the newspaper was a reminder of
the way we once lived in the South, and the way I grew up. Things
have changed dramatically since then.
The item told of the death of Jim Parker, age 71. I never met
Mr. Parker. The first time I ever heard of him I was in college,
sitting on my parents' front porch in Macon when the afternoon
newspaper arrived. I read that a football player from Macon had
been honored with All-American status. I was surprised for I had
never heard of him,. In Macon, most of us thought we "knew
everyone" of our age in Macon, since all boys in Bibb County
went to the same high school. White boys, that is.
He made All American as a tackle at Ohio State. And he was a
native of Macon, and I had never heard of him? It perplexed me
at first.
There were two reasons I had never heard of him. The first was
that nearly all of us in the South then went to segregated schools.
And Jim Parker was black. The second reason: though being born
in Macon, he had eventually left town, and graduated from high
school in Toledo, Ohio.
How he got to Toledo, I do not know. But playing football in
Toledo earned him a scholarship to Ohio State, and that set the
tone for his life. Twice named All American in college, including
being named the 1956 Outland Trophy winner as the nation's outstanding
lineman, he became the Baltimore Colts' No. One draft pick.
His professional career was legendary, some saying he was the
best lineman ever. His main job was to protect the Colts' quarterback,
Johnny Unitas. And he did that superbly. His Colts' won the National
Football League championship twice. His football career was so
highly regarded that he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of
Fame the first year he was eligible.
After football, Parker lived in Columbia, Md., a suburb of Baltimore.
For 35 years he owned a liquor store in Baltimore, working long
hours until he closed it in 1999.
Jim Parker's career took him to the heights of his profession.
But he had to get out of the South of that day to do it. And that's
why I had never heard of him. That says a lot about the South
of that day.
It also says a lot about the football, too, for seldom back then
were the real powerhouses of football from the South. They were
mostly from the Mid-West, the Big Ten or Big Eight, or possibly
the Far West.
Why? One reason is that the South was unknowingly exporting talented
young black football players. They went north where he could play
for big colleges, did well, became famous, and never looked back
or considered their birthplaces. Why should they?
Desegregation of schools meant that black players suddenly had
new doors open to them at universities and football powers either
in their home state, or nearby states.
Had Herschel Walker been playing high school football back in
those segregated days, he might have been the toast of Ohio, or
Michigan or Nebraska or Southern California. And look at the loss
the University of Georgia fans would never have recognized!
As far as that goes, UGA or Alabama or Georgia Tech fans never
recognized the loss they had when Jim Parker didn't make All-American
at one of those schools.
Jim Parker:1934-2005: may you rest in peace.
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 Wheeler/Kolb
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. More: http://www.wheelerkolb.com
For a list of other sponsors of this forum, go to: http://www.gwinnettforum.com/about/sponsors.htm
NOTABLE
Change
in law for Gwinnett homestead exemption filing
Georgia law recently changed the homestead exemption application
filing period for property owners. The law provides for different
filing periods for 2006 and afterwards. Property owners filing
homestead applications for 2006 need to apply from June 1, 2005
through March 1, 2006..
Gwinnett County offers special homestead exemptions to eligible
property owners, disabled and senior citizens. Special exemptions
are based on age, disability and/or income. If you feel that you
may qualify for a special exemption, please contact the customer
service representatives at 770.822.8800. Since many of the special
exemptions have income limitations, a copy of the individual's
Federal and State Income Tax Returns for 2004 should accompany
the application for a special exemption.
The Office of the Tax Commissioner provides this service at no
charge to the homeowner. The Gwinnett County Office of the Tax
Commissioner is located in the Gwinnett Justice and Administration
Center, 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville.
Also, the Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner collects property
taxes for the cities of Berkeley Lake, Dacula, Grayson, Lawrenceville,
Lilburn, Snellville and Sugar Hill. Property owners residing in
these cities' limits and who apply for a county exemption will
also receive applicable city exemptions to which they may be entitled
UPCOMING
Olde Atlanta Clubhouse
to host "Celebrate Hope" on Sept. 11
Cancer survivor Linda Devenney and friends in Metro Atlanta are
seeking to raise awareness for the early detection and treatment
of a disease that Devenney had to fight two years ago. Devenney
and friends are now planning the second annual "Celebrate
Hope" luncheon and live auction at a larger location to meet
an overwhelmingly positive response to the event.
It will be Sunday, September 11 at1 p.m. at the Clubhouse at Olde
Atlanta Club, 5745 Olde Atlanta Parkway in Suwanee.
Attendees will be treated to lunch, door prizes, a Longaberger®
Horizon of Hope® basket, and a special presentation on "hope".
The guest speaker will be Susan Lucier, the breast health coordinator
at the Breast Care Center at Northside Hospital.
Tickets for the event are $55 each, and are available by contacting
Devenney directly at lsdbaskets@aol.com
or 770-886-9948. Proceeds benefit The American Cancer Society.
Alliance offers tick, tick, BOOM! with opening on Sept. 14
Before his smash hit Rent, Jonathan Larson had another
story to tell. His own. Atlanta‚s nationally acclaimed Alliance
Theatre proudly presents tick, tick BOOM!, a story with
the same hope, heart and energy as Rent.
This explosive rock musical explores the dilemma of a young,
struggling composer who must choose between his dream of being
an artist and the realities of turning 30 years old. Directed
and choreographed by Alliance Theatre Associate Artistic Director
Kent Gash, the energy from this rock musical will sweep you along
for an intensely satisfying musical ride.
Opening Night is Wednesday, September 14, 2005 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets
are available at the Woodruff Arts Center Box Office by calling
404.733.5000 or online at www.alliancetheatre.org.
REVIEW
- An invitation: What
Web sites, books or restaurants have you enjoyed? Send us your
best recent visit to a restaurant or most recent book you have
read along with a short paragraph as to why you liked it, plus
what book you plan to read next. --eeb
GEORGIA
TIDBIT
8/30: Lyman Hall was minister, doctor, governor
and signer
(First of a series about signers of the Declaration of Independence
from Georgia.)
Lyman Hall was one of three Georgians to sign the Declaration
of Independence. He served as a representative to the Continental
Congress and as governor of Georgia (1783-84).
 Hall
was born April 12, 1724, in Wallingford, Conn. He graduated from
Yale University in 1747 Lyman Hall and became an ordained Congregational
minister. By 1753 Hall had abandoned the ministry for medicine.
He moved to South Carolina in 1757 and was granted land in Georgia
near the Midway Meeting House in St. John's Parish in 1760. An
active and early leader in the Revolutionary movement, he was
elected to represent St. John's Parish in the Second Continental
Congress in 1775. He participated in debates in Philadelphia that
year but did not vote, as he did not represent the entire colony.
A year later, as an official representative of Georgia, Hall signed
the Declaration (along with Button Gwinnett and George Walton
of Georgia). He left Philadelphia in February 1777, though he
continued to be elected to Congress until 1780.
After the Revolution, Hall resumed his medical practice in Savannah.
In January 1783 he was elected governor. During his administration
he had to deal with a number of difficult issues, including confiscated
estates, frontier problems with Loyalists and Indians, and a bankrupt
and depleted treasury. One highlight, however, was the role he
played in helping to establish the University of Georgia in 1785.
That same year he sold his plantation, Hall's Knoll, and in 1790
he moved to Burke County, where he purchased Shell Bluff Plantation.
He died there on October 19, 1790, at the age of 66. Hall County
is named for him.
THOUGHT
OF THE DAY
It might be more
important to see what they do
"As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say.
I just watch what they do."
-- Steel Magnate and Library Supporter Andrew Carnegie,
(1835 - 1919), via Marshall Miller of Lilburn.
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