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Issue 11.77 | Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011 TODAY'S FOCUS ELLIOTT
BRACK'S PERSPECTIVE FEEDBACK UPCOMING
NOTABLE ALSO INSIDE IN
THE SPOTLIGHT GEORGIA
TIDBIT GWINNETT
CALENDAR TODAY'S
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TODAY'S FOCUS SNELLVILLE, Ga., Dec. 29, 2011 -- Throughout his childhood, Aaron Smith struggled with his weight. For the past several years, he had gained 10 to 20 pounds per year due to unhealthy eating habits and a lack of physical activity.
In the fall of 2010, Aaron's pediatrician suggested to his mom, Lisa Smith, that Aaron consider making an appointment with the Health4Life Clinic at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Since seeing the specialists at Children's, Aaron's weight has stabilized and most importantly, he's adopting a healthy and active lifestyle for the first time. His Mom now says: "The biggest thing for us is that Aaron is being active for the first time. Before we visited the Health4Life Clinic, Aaron had never played a sport before. However, the doctors at Children's encouraged him to find an activity he enjoyed. He's now a member of the Shiloh High School freshman football team and absolutely loves it." Aaron worked hard throughout the fall and despite being a beginner, saw some playing time towards the end of the season as a right guard. He has even begun weight training to prepare for next fall. Lisa realizes that Aaron can't live a healthy lifestyle by himself. "Being a part of the Health4Life clinic has made me more conscious of how I cook," says Lisa. "I try to include a vegetable in every meal, and I am thrilled that Aaron is eating foods he never would have tried before, like lettuce and green beans." As the Smith family approached the holidays, Lisa says they are committed to staying healthy throughout the next few months. "We will enjoy ourselves on holidays, but I'm going to be mindful not to have so many leftovers so we're not tempted to overeat for days afterwards." Most of
all, Lisa is thankful that Aaron is living a healthier life and has such
a great attitude. She says: "Aaron is an inspiration - he is so upbeat, no matter what." EEB PERSPECTIVE DEC. 29, 2011 --Waking up in the morning, often an unexpected song will pop into my mind. Sometimes it remains in my head most of the day, certainly in my head as my dog, Hercules, and I walk around the block each morning.
Such songs may be a popular (older) refrain, or it might be a gospel or country melody, or even a military march. No matter what I do, it stays with me. Usually, there's no particular reason for the song to be in my conscious mind, though a few times you can point to particular events as making the mind aware of it. Does this happen to you? Do you have any idea why such songs appear? Sometimes it's the lyrics that are in my head, and before long, I may even be quietly singing to myself. At other times, there may be no lyrics, but just the beat and cadence of a classical piece, or even military marches from my participation in parades in ROTC or even military days.
It's not a bad feeling, though you do wonder what made your mind find that song on that day. These songs are not unlike a dream, for who knows how your mind works at night? No, there's not an obvious tie to any dream that particular night and the songs that pop into the mind each morning. They are just there. All this caused me to write down for about two months the song that was in my mind that day. Note that it doesn't happen each day, and that I can't predict when a song might be within my brain. Here is a recent list. Note that all these are not titles, but sometimes the key words of a song:
Now that I've opened up my morning mind to you, who's going to offer an explanation, or even tell us about what is in your head in early morning? ABOUT OUR SPONSORS
FEEDBACK Editor, the Forum:
I have been a church audio engineer for 35 years, working with numerous choirs and vocal groups. I have also done some choral singing, and Rutter is one of my favorites.
UPCOMING Did you know that Americans travel more and produce more waste between Thanksgiving and Christmas than any other time during the year?
Recycle Yule trees to help Gwinnett keep recycling title Beginning the day after Christmas, the Gwinnett community will continue its annual tradition of Christmas Tree Recycling through Georgia's "Bring One for the Chipper Program."
Gwinnett's annual tradition of Christmas Tree Recycling began in 1984 as a partnership between Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, 13 local governments, Georgia Power and Jackson EMC, to reduce the illegal dumping of trees on roadsides. Since the beginning of the program, it is estimated that more than 1,300,000 trees have been recycled and diverted from landfills. Residents are encouraged to give back to nature and bring their Christmas tree, stripped of all lights and decorations, to one of approximately 30 local drop-off locations between now and January 16. Artificial trees will not be accepted. In addition to providing an easy and environmentally conscious tree disposal solution for residents, recycled trees will be put to good use through the creation of valuable mulch. Most of the mulch will be used to help beautify Gwinnett County parks. Precious landfill space will also be saved as the average Christmas tree weighs twenty pounds and fills up almost as much landfill space as a washing machine. Once the trees are collected from the drop-off locations, community volunteers will chip them into mulch at the "Bring One for the Chipper" event, scheduled for Saturday, January 21, from 9 a.m. until noon, at Bethesda Park in Lawrenceville. Residents interested in volunteering at this event should visit the Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful website at www.gwinnettcb.org or call 770-822-5187. All volunteers must be at least 12 years of age to participate. Annually, Gwinnettians recycle one out of every five Christmas trees recycled in Georgia. For the past eight years Gwinnett has recycled the most trees in the state. Placed end to end, the trees collected in Gwinnett last year would stretch from Norcross to Forsyth, Ga.
NOTABLE Visitors
to Rhodes Jordan Park on Friday will finally get to see the improvements
from a major renovation project. The park now offers better lake access
and enhanced recreational opportunities Women in Electronics surpass $200,000 in giving in 27 years The Atlanta chapter of Women in Electronics (WIE) has awarded GeorgiaFIRST with a $1,300, enabling WIE to reach a milestone of giving $200,000 in academic scholarships and charitable donations since 1985. The award came at a meeting at Berkeley Hills Golf Club.
WIE chose GeorgiaFIRST as the recipient of their milestone donation because they are a highly effective non-profit organization that relies on volunteers, sponsors and donations to operate in order to support their educational programs designed to inspire our youth to be successful in science, math and technology. WIE officers are Laurie Steward, president; and vice presidents Laura Truong, programs; Susie Gray, membership; Ellen Panssenko, Sponsorship; and Kathy Hargrove, Ways and Means. The treasurer is Susan Williams; RoseMarie Odom is recording secretary; and Nancy Ruzsa, is director of meeting arrangements.
GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a major Protestant denomination in Georgia and the largest Methodist denomination in the state. Created in 1968, the UMC was formed by the union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren, both of which were the products of earlier unions. All had similar beliefs and institutional structures, as well as a long historical association with one another, and their mergers were representative of a larger ecumenical trend among 20th century Christians.
During the 19th century, the Methodist Episcopal Church suffered from divisions at the national level, the effects of which were evident in Georgia. First, reaction against centralized authority led to the organization in 1828 of a new denomination, initially called the Associated Methodist Churches. At an 1830 meeting in Baltimore, the leaders of this new denomination officially adopted the name Methodist Protestant Church, and that same year they formed the Georgia District of the Methodist Protestant Church in Newton County at the Salem Camp Ground. In 1853 membership in the Methodist Protestant Church in Georgia totaled more than 3,000. In 1844, as the abolitionist movement gained momentum in the North, a rift between northern and southern congregations of the Methodist Episcopal Church occurred at the denomination's General Conference. The dispute centered on the bishop of Georgia, James Osgood Andrew, who had inherited slaves two years earlier upon the death of his first wife. In a vote of 110 to 69, delegates to the convention passed a resolution asking Andrew to step down as bishop while he remained a slave owner. Southern delegates, in response, chose to break with the General Conference and form the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS) through an official Plan of Separation. The MECS remained a separate entity, with its own General Conference, until 1939.
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© 2011, 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. |
NEXT ISSUE TODAY'S QUOTE "The merry year is born, like the bright berry from the naked thorn."
MORE COPIES AVAILABLE NOW
The book includes 143 demographic and historic tables, with more than 4,000 names in the index, and 10,000 names in the appendix. Two versions of the book are available. The hardback edition is priced at $75, while a softback edition is $40. Books are available at:
You can also order
books through the Internet. To do that, go to www.elliottbrack.com
to place your order. For mail orders, there is a $5 shipping and handling
fee. Purchases are also subject to the 6 percent Georgia sales tax. SEARCH GWINNETT FORUM Loading
Volunteers needed: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Dec. 31, for the Lawrenceville Rings celebration. Total of 16 people needed and another four volunteers needed from 9 p.m. until midnight. Call 678 226 2639 for more info. Model Train Exhibit: At George Pierce Park Community Center through January 2. This is a "G" Scale train, and is presented by the Vines Garden Railroad Club. Exhibit is open Monday through Saturday. Recycling Christmas Trees will again be led by Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful. Drop off trees through January 16 at most fire stations in Gwinnett for them to be ground into chips. For more information, call 770 822 5187. (NEW) Second Samuel, a play, will be presented by New London Theatre in Snellville Jan. 13-29 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Set in a sleepy South Georgia town in the late 1940s, it's the year Miss Gertrude passed away, and dark secrets are about to be revealed. More. New Exhibit, "Lateral Thinking," is up now through Jan.14 at Kudzu Art Zone, 116 Carlyle Street in Norcross. Admission is free. Artists were challenged to construct images from a list of unrelated objects to explore their reaction to disparate items. (NEW) Gwinnett Technology Forum: Jan. 17, Busbee Center of Gwinnett Technical College. Speakers will be from the health care industry: Dr. Mark Braunstein, Georgia Tech's Health Systems Institute;Tom Chambers, Cisco Systems; and Dr. Tom Upchurch, AllMeds. More. (NEW) Exhibit Continued: The Living in Space exhibit at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center will continue now through March 3. Extremely popular with visitors and school groups, the exhibit now is open for an additional two months. More. MORE EEB PERSPECTIVE
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© 2001-2011, Gwinnett Forum.com is Gwinnett County's online community forum for commentary that explores pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA. PHONE: 770.840.1003 |
Usually,
these songs brighten the day, arriving as they do without any particular
reference. It doesn't even have to be a song that I especially like, but
for some reason, it's in the brain and going to stay there for a while.
The
public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com
to you at no cost to readers. Today's sponsor is Hayes Family Dealerships
with Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC. Mike,
Tim and Ted Hayes of Lawrenceville and Gainesville with Terry Hayes of
Baldwin and Stan Roberts of Toccoa invite you into their showrooms to
look over their line-up of automobiles and trucks. Hayes has been in the
automotive business for over 40 years, and is North Georgia's oldest family-owned
dealerships. The family is the winner of the 2002 Georgia Family Business
of the Year Award. Check their Web sites at: 
Being
very involved in church music, I enjoyed the article listing the favorite
carols from choirmasters. I could not help but spot a typo however. The
most recent version of What Sweeter Music was by John Rutter, not John
Ratter.
Here
are several ways you can help by being more "green."
Gwinnett
County led Georgia in Christmas Tree recycling in 2010, grinding 31,000
trees out of Georgia's total of 161,319 trees. Glynn County was second
with 25,513 trees recycled. These two counties accounted for 46.3 percent
of trees for recycling in Georgia. Cobb County was third with 15,600 trees.
WIE's
mission is to help organizations and individuals identify and support
programs and opportunities which positively impact local communities with
the presence of women in the electronics/technology industry.
