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Issue 9.43| Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 | Forward to your friends! |
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McLEMORE'S
WORLD ARCHIVE FEEDBACK UPCOMING NOTABLE ALSO INSIDE _::
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Meet a sponsor |
ABOUT US GwinnettForum.com is a twice-weekly online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA. Contact us today. SEARCH GWINNETT FORUM |
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TODAY'S
FOCUS LAWRENCEVILLE,
Ga., Aug. 28, 2009 -- In the midst of companies looking for ways to trim
costs and reduce budgets, Chick-fil-A continues its 36-year commitment
to education with founder S. Truett Cathy reaching his $25 million Leadership
Scholarship milestone. This comes during a year when the restaurant chain
has allocated $1.4 million in scholarships to be awarded to its restaurant
team members.
Mr. Cathy says: "I realized very early in my career that our restaurants present an opportunity to do more than just provide great service and food. They enable us to mentor our restaurant team members by teaching them core values and how to achieve excellence, as well as encouraging continued education with scholarships. In these challenging economic times, we're thrilled to be able to help Jamie and some 1,400 other team members this year reach their academic goals so they will have the necessary tools to secure a bright future for themselves and our nation." Restaurant team members such as Dyche, who will be attending Centenary College in Shreveport, La., in the fall, have attended more than 2,400 colleges, universities and other educational institutions across the country with the aid of the Chick-fil-A Leadership Scholarship. In Georgia alone, more than 4,800 recipients have attended over 190 schools. The Leadership Scholarship program provides $1,000 scholarships to its restaurant team members who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of work, education, community and personal leadership development. Chick-fil-A also awards S. Truett Cathy Scholar Awards, which provide additional $1,000 scholarships to the top 25 Chick-fil-A Leadership Scholarship recipients each year. Implemented in 1996 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Chick-fil-A's scholarship program, this year's S. Truett Cathy Award recipients brought the total awarded to $325,000. Additionally, Chick-fil-A's WinShape Foundation provides thousands of dollars in scholarships to qualifying students enrolled in Berry College in Rome, Ga. WinShape's partnership with Berry College offers joint four-year scholarship funding to students of up to $32,000. To date, the foundation has awarded approximately 951 scholarships to students from across the nation to attend Berry, one of the top regional liberal arts schools in the country. The Council for Aid to Education has indicated that no other company in terms of size does as much in the scholarship area as Chick-fil-A. "Like the name of our foundation, WinShape, it has always been my goal to help shape winners out of young people," adds Cathy. Gwinnett students who have won Chick-fil-A scholarships this year, and the colleges where they will study (if available) include:
EEB
PERSPECTIVE AUG. 28, 2009 -- Have the frustrations that Gwinnett citizens are feeling toward an out-of-sync county commission enough to bring about major change in local government….and the election of Democrats to the county commission?
It's not such a far-flung thought. After all, in the 2008 race for chairman of the county commission, an unknown Democrat, with no campaign war chest, polled 43 percent of the vote. Vincent Passariello amazed even Democratic party stalwarts with his performance. Realize, of course, that a race for the chairman's post is not scheduled until 2012, which is a long time away from the time when the machinations that have come out of the Gwinnett County Commission this year. Only two district posts on the commission are up for voting next year, that of Kevin Kenerly, who has announced he will not seek the position; and of Bert Nasuti, who has not announced his intention. Those watching the political scene will probably tell you that Gwinnett is basically a conservative, Republican county, and that a Democratic newcomer would find it difficult to get elected next time. We'll agree with that. Yet the way that Vince Passariello scored votes in the past chairman's race makes you wonder. With a slowly-growing Democratic base in the county, and with deep voter dissatisfaction toward the county government, will this stir the voters to cause them to elect political unknowns in the Democratic Party? We say "Political unknowns" since there has been no local Democrat on the county-wide scene who has made a name for him or herself in recent politics. There is no obvious challenger to any of the sitting Republicans on the commission. However, you might put Mr. Passariello in the position of a future challenger, since he's the most successful losing Democrat in recent memory. Mr. Passariello, of Snellville, is a professional engineer who was making his first bid for office in 2008. He was once retired after selling his professional engineering business, but found he wanted to stay more active. Today he is the assistant county engineer in neighboring Newton County. He's not your average candidate. He's a native of Italy, who at age 6 immigrated with his parents to Venezuela. He came to the United States, to Michigan Tech, to study engineering, obtained his degree, and returned to his parents' home in Venezuela, and taught for five years at a college there. He eventually headed that school's co-op program, working with students to get them jobs between terms in school, similar to the Georgia Tech co-op program. He met his wife, also an engineer, while at the college. Mr. Passariello and his wife came to this country in 1979. While Vincent Passariello got more than 40 percent of the vote in the General Election, so did other Democratic challengers for seats in the House of Representative. One was a winner as Democrat Lee Thompson won a house seat with 52.35 percent, upsetting Rep. John Heard. Democratic Challenger Allan Burns scored 45.58 percent against Republican David Casas, indicating major change in the voters in that part of Gwinnett. And Tony Lentini scored 42 percent of the vote in losing to Republican Melvin Everson. The trend would appear to anticipate more Democratic winners against Republicans, as the political make-up of the county changes. But the
next election is more than 12 months away. Lots can happen meanwhile,
as we have so easily found in the last 12 months. ABOUT
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The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today's sponsor is E.R. Snell Contractor, Inc. of Snellville. Founded in the 1920s, ERS was built on Christian beliefs with honesty and integrity leading the way. Specializing in roads, bridges and culverts, its goal is to build a safe and modern highway system while preserving our natural environment. Through quality production and high safety standards, it strives to be the best contractor possible, while continuing to be a positive influence on its employees and the community. Internet access is available at www.ersnell.com.
McLEMORE'S
WORLD ARCHIVE
FEEDBACK Editor,
the Forum: What Mr. Baxter (GwinnettForum, August 21) failed to mention was that, while the "event location" could only hold a crowd of about 3,000 (i.e. State Capitol Avenue directly in front of the capitol building) the crowd, cramped shoulder to shoulder, wrapped around the entire capitol building and was spread out for city blocks in all directions. I spoke to an EMT that was working the event and he confirmed that they were not expecting even a fifth of the number that showed up. That said, I believe Mr. Baxter is missing the bigger picture. The folks I talked to at the event and while riding MARTA to/from the event were far from the union or ACORN "rent-a-crowds" that have been showing up with professionally printed signs at town hall meetings as of late. Most I spoke with had never attended a rally in their lives but felt compelled to have their voice heard. It's not uncommon for true non-believers to have their heads in the sand and not see that a majority of Americans will not stand for the recent march towards socialism.
UPCOMING Representatives of Gwinnett County's diverse business, government and cultural communities will gather inside the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District (CID) Friday to open the new Assi Plaza Duluth. Assi Plaza Duluth will mark its grand opening beginning at 9 a.m. Friday. The center is located at 1630 Pleasant Hill Road in the Pleasant Hill Square shopping center at the site of a former Wal-Mart. Local leaders representing Korean, Chinese, Hispanic and Indian communities will participate in the opening celebration. The Assi Plaza will offer 140,000 square feet of shopping and retail options as Plaza owners Rhee Brothers Inc. created the new CID-based location to serve as the nation's largest international supermarket. Rhee Brothers Inc. is based in Columbia, Md., and is one of the largest Asian food distributors in the world. The company maintains operations on six continents and in 145 counties. The Duluth location is the second Assi center to open in Gwinnett County. Rhee Brothers previously introduced their unique shopping experience with the opening of their center at the Satellite Boulevard and Old Peachtree Road in 2005. Senior living seminar at Heritage Center on Saturday A seminar aimed at active living for those over 55 years of age is set from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center. The Active Living 55-Plus Expo will present workshops on different topics aimed at seniors. In today's busy world, retirement oftentimes creeps upon us. That's why this is a can't miss event for anyone soon to reach, at or past retirement age. Sponsors will offer workshops focusing on key integral parts of retirement, such as:
Attendees will also have the opportunity to meet with approximately 30 exhibitors targeted especially for the needs of the 55-plus market. NOTABLE Starting
August 29, the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center (GJAC) will
be closed on weekends and holidays and at 10 p.m. most weekday evenings
to reduce operating costs. It will be kept open as needed for public hearings,
court activities or other scheduled events.
The building has been previously open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Mike Plonowski, director of Facilities Management, anticipates that the county could save approximately $200,000 annually with this move. Most of the savings will come from not having to employ Sheriff's Deputies during the down time. There will also be energy savings. The Board
of Commissioners approved the new policy on July 21. "We regret that
this action is necessary due to reduced revenues and increased operating
expenses," said Commission Chairman Charles Bannister. "We have
had to cut back in all areas of county government."
GEORGIA
ENCYCLOPEDIA (Continued from previous edition)
Once the delegates convened at the Secession Convention in Milledgeville on January 16, 1861, they wasted little time in testing the mood of the convention. After the rules and procedures for the meeting were established on the first day, countering proposals alternated between such immediate secessionists as Eugenius A. Nisbit and cooperationists like Herschel Johnson. Early votes indicated that there might be a close contest: one resolution demonstrated that the split between the immediate secessionists and the cooperationists was as close as 166 to 130 respectively. In the end, however, the final vote on January 19 revealed a major shift in the convention for immediate secession, when the cooperationists failed by a tally of 208 to 89. With this vote at two p.m. , the convention president, George W. Crawford, proclaimed Georgia officially seceded from the Union. Celebrations across the state drowned any lingering dissent from cooperationists or Union loyalists. The delegates reconvened on January 21 to begin a new phase of the convention-that of writing a new constitution for the state. In many aspects the Georgia Constitution of 1861 resembled that of the Constitution of 1798. There were, nevertheless, some notable differences. The 1861 document made specific provisions for the protection of slavery in the state. The new constitution also took away the amending power of the assembly and gave it solely to a constitutional convention chosen by the people of Georgia specifically for that purpose. The convention adjourned temporarily to allow a committee time to write the new constitution and to await the outcome of the Confederate Convention at Montgomery, Ala., in February 1861. Reconvened in March, the Georgia Secession Convention, now a constitutional convention, ratified the new Confederate Constitution and voted to submit the new Georgia constitution to the people by ballot in July. The delegates adjourned for the last time on March 23, 1861. Several days later, on April 12, Confederate batteries fired on federal troops at Fort Sumter, and thus began hostilities in the Civil War. 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
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TODAY'S
QUOTE "He who refuses to embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had tried and failed."
MORE RECENT COMMENTARY
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