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Issue 8.89 | Friday, Feb. 13, 2009 | Forward to your friends! |
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McLEMORE'S
WORLD ARCHIVE FEEDBACK UPCOMING NOTABLE ALSO INSIDE ___::
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Meet a sponsor |
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TODAY'S
FOCUS NORCROSS, Ga., Feb. 13, 2009 -- A recent survey of 1,190 consumers from across the country revealed that 98 percent of consumers dine out or order take-out at least once a week. However, 43 percent are spending less than they did compared to a year ago. Coupon use at restaurants is up among consumers, and offering meal discounts
or free items are two key ways restaurants are attracting new customers.
The survey also revealed a strong relationship between restaurants that
offer membership programs with loyal patrons. The hospitality research
firm, A Closer Look, based in Norcross, conducted the online survey in
November and December, 2008.
Consumers who prefer to receive restaurant coupons and special offers
via email, for which they have opted in, accounted for 42 percent of respondents,
and 33 percent of respondents said their preference is for coupons to
arrive via traditional mail. Only 13 percent of respondents said a newspaper
insert is their first choice; 6 percent said they like to receive coupons
with their meal at the restaurant; and 6 percent named a restaurant web
site is their preference. David McAleese, CEO of A Closer Look, says: "The fact that email
ranked so high among consumer preferences is good news for restaurants
because it is so cost effective. One of the best ways to create an email
database is to include a line at the bottom of each guest check that invites
patrons to participate in a web survey, which not only helps to build
your database, but also provides feedback about a location's food, service
and atmosphere." ELLIOTT
BRACK FEB. 13, 2009 -- An issue topmost in the minds of many Gwinnettians these days is the current ruckus over the waste-hauling (garbage) collection method that the county will use.
It's a convoluted situation, exacerbated by the county being under a temporary restraining order from implementing a new waste hauling procedure. At center is the Gwinnett County Commission, who asked Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful to study the problem several years ago. After a lengthy process, where there was heavy citizen and waste hauler input, Clean and Beautiful completed the study, with what appeared to us to be substantial results and a new plan for garbage pick-up. It appeared that a new waste hauling program would be put in place January 1. However, after a lawsuit, the entire process has been thrown topsy-turvy and sits unresolved and un-implemented because of a judicial ruling. It has even brought the original formation of Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful into what you might call purgatory, certain limbo. That's too bad. Gwinnett C&B took on the county commission request to examine the waste hauling methods, and came up with what seemed to be a reasonable plan. They did what they were charged with. Historically, for over 30 years Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful has run the county re-cycling operation, and as well, it monitored and reduced what was once a proliferating graffiti painting craze. The non-profit meanwhile had championed a cleaner county, producing benchmark and showing impressive results in making the county a neater place to live. The work of Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful in these original programs has been exemplary. One outcome of the judicial procedure has been to raise questions if the way the county originally set-up Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful was legal. That question aside, we can find few people in the county who would say that Clean and Beautiful has not done a good job in the tasks it has been assigned. However, with legal ramifications---and perhaps the best solution to the current imbroglio---it may be time for the county to step back, re-evaluate, and re-organize efforts both at trash hauling, and keeping the county sparkling clean and beautiful. Taking a page out of Gwinnett history, one idea that has worked most successfully for the county to handle many of its other operations is to create a stand-alone governmental authority for specific tasks. (This was an original recommendation from Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful to the county, which did not initially take that approach.) Much like the Airport, or the Water and Sewer Authority, an authority to oversee waste hauling, and another authority to handle recycling and other duties previously held by Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, makes sense. Such a program would still be under the overall direction of the county commission, who would appoint members to these independent authorities, as it did to Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful. But these authorities would be under county operations, but run by the Authorities who would get the day-to-day job done for both trash hauling and beautification. One element Gwinnett County should shun: the county government itself operating such operations. Years ago, before privatization became popular, previous Gwinnett County commissions saw the dangers of getting into the trash hauling business, which has been handled since by private companies. Recently, with the growth of the county, government realized the waste and trash hauling needed to be revised and improved, and hence the long recent study which resulted in the current legal impasse. We urge quick action to form authorities for these important tasks. We also urge the commission to recognize the good work that Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful has successfully undertaken over the years. This group of people could form an advisory board for a new Beautification Authority, and continue their good work, for the benefit of the county. Decisive, quick action is needed.
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 Chamber of Commerce. From answering your questions and providing a host of useful information, to promoting growth in our county, there are people working every day to help make Gwinnett a place where businesses thrive and success lives. For more detail, go to www.gwinnettchamber.org.
McLEMORE'S
WORLD ARCHIVE
FEEDBACK Editor, the Forum: I write in response to the Gwinnett County Commission's consideration of constructing a solid waste transfer plant on the property adjoining the Holy Vietnamese Martyr's Church near Norcross. Recently I was in Vietnam on business. I had the opportunity to attend mass with several other congregants in Saigon. We knelt and prayed together all while under the watchful eye of the Communist police. I was later detained and charged with possessing a false passport which was miraculously cleared up with payment of $1,000. The priests told me that this type of intimidation of Christians in Vietnam is a regular occurrence. In fact, currently several Catholic and Buddhist priests are held in captivity for crimes considered preaching insurrection against the people's interest. Vietnamese martyrs gave themselves freely in the imitation of Christ and fought abuses through forgiveness and unselfish love, winning others to convert from Communism to Christianity. It was the humbleness of love that others saw through these martyrs that brought about the conversion of their hearts. Fear of the Catholic Church in Vietnam is so grave by the Communist that they steal the church's property through nationalization in the furtherance of the people's progress. Their building would be destroyed, thinking that this would also destroy the Church; but Christ lives on through his faithful followers. I am not implying that the Gwinnett County Commission is communistic; nor am I saying they are bad and immoral people. I do think the reasoning that a waste management facility is not an imposition upon the sanctity of the body of Christ is misplaced. The church is the body of Christ. It is the tabernacle of his flesh and blood. Jesus gave us the Eucharist as his promise to stay with us always until his kingdom has come. Disrespecting the church will not destroy our faith. However, the Gwinnett County Commission must reconsider their position and not abandon Christ on the cross.
UPCOMING Downtown Suwanee is going green with two events scheduled February 20 and 21.The City of Suwanee will celebrate Arbor Day with a tree planting at noon Friday, February 20, at the red caboose on Main Street. Suwanee will plant an approximately 10-foot hemlock tree in celebration of its 19th year as a National Arbor Day Foundation Tree City USA. The tree will serve as the community's Christmas tree and will be magically lit by Santa each year during the Old Town Holiday Festival and Caboose Lighting. The City will provide cherrybark oak and green ash seedlings to interested residents during the event. On Saturday, February 21, the City will celebrate the opening of its pedestrian underpass linking the Town Center area and historic Old Town. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 8 a.m. across from the Gwinnett County Public Library on Main Street. The 62-foot-long underpass, with entrances behind the current City Hall and across from the library, travels beneath the railroad track. It will allow people to walk more easily and safely between the two areas of downtown Suwanee. Work is expected to begin next month on a related project. Two pedestrian-activated crosswalks will be installed at the Buford Highway/Lawrenceville-Suwanee intersection and between the current City Hall and Town Center Park. Five Forks Library hosts author during Black History Month Celebrate Black History Month with critically acclaimed author Daniel
Black, author of two novels, They Tell Me of a Home and The Sacred Place
on February 24 at 7 p.m. at the Five Forks Branch Library of the Gwinnett
Public Library.
His first book, They Tell Me of a Home (2006) tells how fate brings
a young African American teacher back to his rural origins, where he seeks
to understand himself and the black community of his youth. Dr. Black has returned to Clark College as an associate professor. They Tell Me of a Home was nominated for the 2006 Townsend Prize in Fiction, an award given to the Georgia writer who publishes the best work of fiction in a two-year span. The Sacred Place (2008): The story of a brutal, racially-motivated murder in 1955 Mississippi that depicts the galvanizing strength of the local black community. His third novel, Perfect Peace, has just been completed and will be published soon. Duluth Historical Society hosting benefit basketball game The Duluth Historical Society is sponsoring a celebrity basketball game
between the Harlem Legends and the Duluth All Stars on February 28 at
5 p.m. at the Duluth High School Gym. Proceeds will benefit the Strickland
House Fund. Tickets are $10 each and are available by calling 770-476-0335
or emailing duluthhistorical@gmail.com.
The event is part of the Historical Society's effort to save the Strickland House as a museum, a wonderful piece of history for Duluth for years to come. The Society also has a membership drive underway. It needs people to
be greeters, help with a website, design brochures, conduct research,
teach classes, do scrapbooks, etc. Contact the Society at duluthhistorical@gmail.com. NOTABLE Gwinnett Medical Center will be the official healthcare provider for the Gwinnett Braves when the team's inaugural season begins in April.
Gwinnett Braves General Manager Bruce Baldwin says: "We are excited to partner with Gwinnett Medical Center. We welcome the opportunity to become part of the GMC family and look forward to building a long-lasting, winning relationship." The Gwinnett Braves begin their inaugural season on April 9. Their first game in Gwinnett will be on April 17. Norcross to have farmers' market from June to October Beginning in June, the City of Norcross will have its own farmers' market each Tuesday. It will sell fresh and many organic items, locally-grown seasonal produce, honey, baked goods, herbs and spices, artisan soaps and beauty products, plants and flowers, and other items. In addition, there will be special entertainment, such as cooking demonstrations, children's activities, and presentations on topics like composting, growing vegetables, installing rain barrels, organic gardening and pesticide-free lawn maintenance throughout the market season. The market will operate Tuesday evenings from 4 until 8 p.m., from June 2 until October 27, and will be located at Thrasher Park. RECOMMENDED "My husband, adult son, and I recently had a pleasant dining experience at Hidalgo's Mexican Restaurant on the corner of Sugarloaf Parkway and Five Forks Trickum Road. With a friendly staff and attractive surroundings, Hidalgo's is perfect for families, as well as for a romantic dinner for two. My husband chose their lunch buffet ($6.75/adult) and found a wide variety of tasty dishes. My son chose a dinner menu combo, while I chose a smaller lunch selection ($8.50, $5.95 respectively). All the portions were perfectly sized, and each dish had an authentic, homemade taste. Be sure to save room for their Sopapilla con Nieve - an enormous goblet full of creamy ice cream, whipped cream and soft, warm sopapillas drizzled in chocolate sauce (perfect to share and only $5)!"
GEORGIA
ENCYCLOPEDIA With native performers ranging from Johnny Mercer to Little Richard and musical styles ranging from Sacred Harp singing to hip-hop, Georgia boasts a proud popular-music past and a growing future. Many archives, museums, libraries, and historical societies in Georgia preserve the state's music and make it available to researchers.
The Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon has been designated the state's official music museum. Opened in 1996, the museum houses and displays a collection of costumes, instruments, sound recordings, photographs, recording equipment, sheet music, and memorabilia covering all genres of Georgia music. Permanent and changing exhibits highlight instrument makers, songwriters, and performers. Featured items include performance attire worn by the B-52's, Ray Charles, and Travis Tritt, as well as Max Steiner's overture score from the film Gone With the Wind. In addition to the exhibits, the Hall of Fame houses the Zell Miller Center for Georgia Music Studies, the museum's library and archives. CREDITS GwinnettForum is provided to you at no charge every Tuesday and Friday. If you would like to serve as an underwriter, click here to learn more. Send your thoughts, 55-word short stories, pet peeves or comments on any issue to Gwinnett Forum for future publication.
© 2009, Gwinnett Forum.com. Gwinnett Forum is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA. |
TODAY'S
QUOTE "All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!"
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As
one of only a few founding partners, GMC will work with the Gwinnett Braves
on events benefiting the Gwinnett Medical Center Foundation and offer
co-branded special promotional items.
