CHAMPS: The Georgia Gwinnett College men’s tennis team spent the entire season as the undisputed No. 1 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics team. The Grizzlies ended their season by beating Embry-Riddle 5-0 to win a second consecutive NAIA National Championship at Mobile Tennis Center on Sunday. From left are Head Coach Chase Hodges, Luke Morland, Lachlan McPhee, Kevin Konfederak, Connor Clements, Tony Licata, Jordan Cox, Matias Hatem, Athletic Trainer Andy Jarosz, Assistant Coach Alex Ruiz, Assistant Coach Bruno Tiberti and Assistant Coach Adam Jackson. GGC, which now owns an 8-0 all-time record in NAIA Championship matches, finishes its second year of postseason eligibility with a 16-2 record and a 9-0 mark against NAIA competition, blanking all nine. (Photo Credit: Bill Kallenberg.)
ISSUE 15.15 | May 22, 2015IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: Public Art To Be Focus of City of Duluth Economic Development
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Boyce Firm Named Atlanta Area Contractor of the Year
EEB EXTRA: Win Four Gwinnett Braves’ Tickets If Your Book Bid Is Successful
ANOTHER VIEW: Say No To Congressmen Who Want More Jobs in Their District
UPCOMING: New PCOM Graduates To Hear Dr. Bruce Feinberg on May 29
NOTABLE: Providence Christian Academy Breaks Ground on New Athletic Complex
GEORGIA TIDBIT: William Stephens Was Key Person During Early Stages of Georgia
TODAY’S QUOTE: Why Civilians Head War Efforts
MYSTERY PHOTO: Three People Recognized Recent Photo Mystery. Too close to home?
LAGNIAPPE: Peachtree Corners Area Interested in Business Incubator Program
TODAY’S FOCUS
Duluth public art to be a tool for city’s economic development
By Alisa Williams
DULUTH, Ga., May 22, 2015 | The City of Duluth began a journey to define its unique character and translate it into public art throughout the city in October of 2014. Workshops were held to allow citizens to help fill Duluth’s canvas with art that tells the one-of-a-kind story. The Duluth Public Art Master Plan knits the diverse community together by defining and implementing the city’s expression—its signature — to the world.
Duluth’s Ascension Art Project.
Public art is accessible to everyone. It encourages dialogue. Not only do the arts provide a much needed social escape for many communities—they also help drive local economies. Having an abundance of unique arts and events means more revenue for local business. It also makes the community more attractive to young, talented professionals—whose decisions on where to start a career, business, or a family are increasingly driven by quality of life and the availability of cultural amenities.
The City of Duluth was inspired to create a public art master plan to provide a framework for future art projects that will be appropriate for the community. The Duluth Public Art Master Plan will be implemented by the Duluth Public Art Commission, under the auspices of the City Council, to ensure that a high quality of art, as well as a variety of artistic experiences, are available to Duluth citizens and visitors.
Cities all over the world gain value by weaving arts and culture into their physical, social and economic fabric. One way to express a city’s arts and culture is through public art. Residents can share distinctive parts of the city’s history and its ever-changing culture.
We can also reflect and reveal our society, add meaning to Duluth, and create attachment to our community for citizens and visitors alike. Public art is valuable to Duluth because it enhances our culture and our economy. It also celebrates our rich history, points to our aspirations, and reflects who we are and how we want the world to see us.
This public art master plan will cause our unique built environment to become even more distinctive. It also invites new ideas and conversations into our public realm. Public art in Duluth should also be easily accessible to all of our citizens.
Duluth’s vision for public art stems from a long tradition of valuing the connection between the citizens of Duluth and the city itself. Public Art is one of many tools the City of Duluth has used to promote community excellence. It will be a tool that is used to define Duluth for years to come.
This public art master plan resulted from a vision for creating a deeper sense of civic identity and stronger connections between people and places that are important to community and civic life. To view Duluth’s Public Art Master Plan go to www.duluthga.net/publicartmasterplan.
EEB PERSPECTIVEDacula firm recognized as Atlanta Contractor of the Year
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher
MAY 22, 2015 | For the fifth year in a row, a firm started in Dacula when Thomas Boyce turned 16 years old has been named the Contractor of the Year for Atlanta by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI). Boyce Design and Contracting of Dacula focuses on high end residential remodeling projects in the Northern Atlanta area.
The firm is owned by brothers Thomas 30, and John Boyce, 28, sons of Carole and Peter Boyce of Dacula. Carole is a member of the Gwinnett School Board, while her husband is an attorney.
Thomas Boyce had just turned 16 in 1999 when he started mowing lawns and caring for the landscaping in order to make a little extra money. His brother, John, helped him in this work. Later when Thomas left the area to attend the University of Louisville, John kept the part-time business going. Thomas played football at Louisville, a tight end, but eventually transferred to the University of Georgia and graduated in business management.
Thomas Boyce
They both continued the business while they were in college. Thomas began full time after graduation, and John joined him as a partner in 2008 after graduating from UGA, majoring in real estate.
Boyce Design and Contracting didn’t become the trusted design and build firm they are today instantly. The Boyces worked strategically to develop their craft and refine the collaborative designing, planning and building process. Early on they worked with UGA’s landscape architecture program, and hired people out of that school to be designers for them.
Their work has found acclaim in the area. One customer wrote: “They transformed our backyard into an oasis! They started by helping us envision how to use the space. In the end, they constructed a spa, pool, patio, fire pit, fence, landscaping and screened cedar porch.” The firm specializes in outdoor features, based on each client’s outdoor canvas and lifestyle preferences.
Thomas Boyce explains how the firm works this way: “We seek to build on relationships and trust, to make sure the client understands the process, and then we work hand-in-hand with the owners, always seeking high quality.”
The Boyce firm now has 12 full time employees, and 30 hourly employees. The firm acts as a general contractor, hiring out sub-contractors for specific projects.
John Boyce
Both the owners are now married. Thomas has been married to the former Mary Williams of Snellville for four years now, his high school sweetheart. John’s wife is the former Jaclyn Price of the Hamilton Mill area. They are expecting their first child this summer. The brothers live adjacent to one another in Dacula.
In addition to the recognition from NARI this year, Boyce Design has also been awarded the “Best of Houzz” 2015 award for customer service and for design. The firm is a national platform for home remodeling and design, bringing homeowners and home professionals together in a uniquely visual community.
Boyce Design is also members of the 2015 “Bulldog 100” Club.
This recognition is not too bad for boys just seeking to put some spare change in their pockets back when they were high schoolers in Gwinnett. Our congratulations!
Bidding for last Gwinnett history book continues with new wrinkle
Bidding continues if you are interested in buying the 850-page Gwinnett history book, Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta. Only four books remain from the second printing; there will be no additional printing of this award-winning book. However, if your bid for the book is successful, you automatically win four
“anytime” field level seats to see the Gwinnett Braves this summer.
Anyone wanting this copy should send in email bids. The minimum bid is now $50, and increases must go up by $5 a bid. The bidding for this copy of the book ends at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26. Part of the proceeds benefit the Salvation Army. Those bidding will be kept alert to the developing bids by email.
ANOTHER VIEWSay no to congressmen who want more jobs in their districts
By George Wilson
MAY 22, 2015 | House Republicans nearly doubled the Department of Defense’s budget. However, lawmakers are legally obligated to trim billions from the Pentagon’s budget, but GOP members in the House have a different idea. The Pentagon requested $51 billion in war funding for 2016, money that’s supposed to go toward overseas military operations, including in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Republican dominated House Budget Committee plan would boost that to $94 billion — but does not detail how the extra funds would be spent. Here are a few examples of waste in the defense budget:
Wilson
The Pentagon cannot account for more than $500 million in U.S. military aid given to Yemen, amid fears that the weaponry, aircraft and equipment is at risk of seizure by Iranian-backed rebels or al Qaeda
In the USA, Abrams tanks are produced, which the Pentagon has said they have no need for, but we keep right on budgeting and making anyway. Currently over 3,000 are in storage and we are producing more. The Army experts say it is not needed.
Finally, the Osprey airplane along with the F-35 is a bottomless pit of wasted taxpayer’s dollars.
Also, don’t forget that our military budget already exceeds the total of the next top ten countries. In conclusion, instead of more money for the military industrial establishment they would do better ferreting out waste, fraud, mismanagement, and abuse at the Pentagon. But above all, say no to Congressmen who want a jobs program in their district. Let’s hope the executive branch gives this mess the deep six.
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New PCOM graduates to hear Feinberg on May 29
Featured speaker for the seventh annual commencement at the Georgia Campus of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s (GA-PCOM) will be Bruce A. Feinberg, DO. The 3 p.m. ceremony will take place Friday, May 29, at Gwinnett Center in Duluth.
Feinberg
Dr. Feinberg, the Chief Medical Officer of Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions, has more than 25 years of cancer-care experience and hosts The Weekly Check-Up on WSB Radio in Atlanta where he provides information and an opportunity for the community to express their views on health and medicine.
Dr. Feinberg is a speaker on cancer-related topics, author of the bestselling “Breast Cancer Answers” and its follow-up book, “Colon Cancer Answers,” and has been consulted by national media outlets. Additionally, he has been credited in peer-reviews and has presented abstracts and posters of his research at international meetings with International Oncology (ASCO).
Before his time at Cardinal Health, Dr. Feinberg was founder and CEO of Georgia Cancer Specialists (GCS), one of the first integrated oncology specialty practices in the Southeast. At GCS, he pioneered health information technology, the Pathways movement and the oncology medical home, publishing the first impact report on financial and clinical outcomes in 1998.
Dr. Feinberg earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Bio-Chemistry from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Penn., and an MA in Chemistry from Temple University in Philadelphia, Penn. An alumnus of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, in Philadelphia, Dr. Feinberg received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Degree in 1982. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Delaware Valley Medical Center in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, where he also served as Chief Resident. Dr. Feinberg was appointed Chief Fellow at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, where he completed a fellowship. He is a board certified medical oncologist in Georgia.
Sugarloaf Market coming to Duluth area with shops, apartments
Atlanta-based Fuqua Development, along with The Worthing Companies and officials from the City of Duluth, recently broke ground for Sugarloaf Market, a 31-acre, mixed-use project located at the intersection of Sugarloaf Parkway and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.
To be anchored by Sprouts Farmers Market, Sugarloaf Market will include 75,000 square feet of retail and 330 luxury apartments. Fuqua Development is the master developer for the project. Fuqua Development is developing the commercial component of the project and The Worthing Companies is developing the residential component.
The initial line-up of restaurants and shops coming to Sugarloaf includes Chipotle Mexican Grill, Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, Orange Theory Fitness, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, Zoe’s Kitchen, RaceTrac, Waffle House, Panda Express, Banfield Pet Hospital, Supercuts, Luxury Nail, Pie Five Pizza and AT&T. These establishments are expected to open for business starting Spring 2016.
Named The Heights at Sugarloaf, the residential component of the new project will include five residential buildings with one, two and three-bedroom luxury apartments. Preliminary site work is currently underway with vertical construction set to commence by July.
Jackson EMC seeking “Bright Ideas” for educational innovation
Time is growing short for area educators to submit an application for Jackson Electric Membership Corporation’s (EMC) Bright Ideas grant program. Bright Ideas grants fund creative, innovative classroom projects developed by state certified public middle school teachers in Jackson EMC’s service area that aren’t funded through general educational funds.
Applications are due online by midnight Monday, June 1. Please review criteria on what is and isn’t considered, otherwise applications are disqualified. Educators can earn up to $2,000 for classroom projects that would otherwise go unfunded.
Grants will be judged by an outside panel of experts and grant winners will be recognized by the Bright Ideas Prize Brigade in October and November. For a complete list of guidelines, criteria and to apply for a Bright Ideas grant visit the website at www.jacksonemc.com/brightideas.
NOTABLEProvidence Christian Academy breaks ground on new athletic complex
Ground has been broken and construction is beginning on a new athletic complex at Providence Christian Academy in Lilburn. Known as the Lamar Lussi Athletic Complex, this facility will provide new venues for football, soccer, softball, tennis and track and field for one of Gwinnett County’s oldest and most recognizable Christian schools.
Board members and the honoree taking part in the groundbreaking are, from left, Trevor Woollery, State Senator P.K. Martin, Lamar Lussi, Dr. Jim Vaught, Brad Williams, John O’Connor and Matt Lowery.
For years, Providence athletes who participate in football, softball, tennis, and track and field have been traveling off campus to play because there wasn’t room on the school’s property for adequate facilities. The acquisition of 11 acres behind the school made this new expansion possible.
The project is named in honor of Lamar Lussi, a former member of the school staff who spent decades encouraging students and alumni. Dr. Jim Vaught, the Head of School at Providence, says: “Mr. Lussi has had a tremendous impact on our school family since the day we opened our doors. He was the unanimous choice when we were considering naming this long awaited complex.”
Providence plans to dedicate the new complex sometime during the 2015-16 school year, which is also the school’s 25th anniversary.
New bridge coming on Fountain Road; Ingram Road to get fix
A new bridge across the Alcovy River is coming to Old Fountain Road, plus safety and alignment upgrades are in store for Old Norcross Road at its intersection with Ingram Road. Gwinnett commissioners awarded construction contracts for both projects on Tuesday using funds from the 2009 SPLOST program.
The bridge replacement project will raise the roadway to improve sight distance and add a center turn lane to provide for left turns into neighborhoods adjacent to the bridge. Sidewalk, curb and gutter and drainage improvements are also included in the $2.8 million contract. Massana Construction was the lowest responsive bidder. Old Fountain Road will be closed for approximately four months after clearing and utility relocations. Work is expected to be completed in the middle of next year.
A second project will raise Ingram Road to improve sight distance and safety at its intersection with Old Norcross Road. The project will add a right turn lane from Old Norcross Road onto Ingram Road along with sidewalk, curb and gutter and drainage improvements. CMES Inc. was the lowest responsive bidder at $502,905.50. Work should be completed by the end of the year.
PCOM professor named to new commission on marijuana
Reece
An assistant professor and vice chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) School of Pharmacy, located in Suwanee, is being appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal to the Commission on Medical Cannabis. She is Dr. Sara (Mandy) Reece, a resident of Gainesville.
Dr. Reece earned a doctor of Pharmacy degree from Mercer University College of Pharmacy. Chaired by Macon Representative Allen Peake, the commission is comprised of nine members who will advise the General Assembly on implementing the medical marijuana law and making possible changes. The law allows doctors to prescribe a form of cannabis oil for people facing different types of medical conditions.
RECOMMENDEDAn invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (100 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. –eeb
GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA TIDBITStephens was key person during early stages of Georgia
William Stephens migrated from England to Savannah in 1737 to serve as secretary of Trustee Georgia. He became actively involved in the administrative and socioeconomic life of the colony, and served in the office of president from 1741 to 1751.
Stephens was born on Jan. 28, 1671, to Elizabeth and Sir William Stephens, lieutenant governor of the Isle of Wight in Hampshire, England. Stephens received an extensive education, which included a master’s degree from King’s College, Cambridge, and entrance to the Middle Temple, for the study of law, in 1691. In 1696 he married Mary Newdigate, and they had seven sons and two daughters.
Stephens served in Parliament from 1702 to 1727, and his political activities created financial difficulties. His effort to find employment took him to British America in 1736 to conduct a land survey in South Carolina. He briefly traveled to Georgia, and there met the colony’s leader, James Edward Oglethorpe, whom he had known in Parliament.
Stephens returned to England and submitted a report of his travels to the Trustees. The members expressed delight with Stephens’s lucid style, detailed descriptions, and cool-headed temperament. The Trustees hired Stephens, then in his mid-60s, as their secretary. They considered his appointment a perfect solution to Oglethorpe’s lack of regular updates about the state of the colony, the attitude of the colonists, and the progress of appointed officials.
Stephens arrived in Georgia on Nov. 1, 1737, and found the new colony a hotbed of personal rivalries and factions. Colonists criticized the Trustees’ policy on tail-male land tenure (a system prohibiting daughters from inheriting land, thus ensuring that all freeholders would be soldiers who could defend the colony), the prohibition of rum and slaves, and appointed officials.
Stephens possessed no authority to make executive decisions, but he acted as an impartial observer and used his legal knowledge to provide sound advice. Stephens laid out his observations about the colony in a series of reports that contained a wry and caustic description of the people and character of early Georgia. For the most part Stephens supported the Trustees’ policies, but he perceived future difficulties concerning land tenure. He urged the Trustees to accept full female inheritance, but Oglethorpe, who had returned to England, convinced his associates to maintain the tail-male policy. Stephens received a sharp rebuke for his efforts and temporarily experienced a decline in the confidence of the Trustees and disgruntled colonists.
Stephens hoped that Oglethorpe’s return in September 1738 would ease tensions in the colony. But Oglethorpe could not allocate enough time to handle the daily concerns of the people in addition to negotiations with the Creeks, defense concerns, and a war with Spain by 1739. He left most decisions to Stephens. At first the secretary could not act without Oglethorpe’s approval and fumed about wasted time and unanswered questions. The situation eased slightly when Oglethorpe permitted Stephens to undertake a few administrative responsibilities.
Then in 1740 the Trustees placed Stephens and Thomas Jones, the new Savannah storekeeper, in charge of finances to control Oglethorpe’s spending frenzy and poor recordkeeping habits. The following year the Trustees divided Georgia into counties named Savannah and Frederica. Stephens served as president of the former, while Oglethorpe directed the latter.
(To be continued)
- To access the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Just where, not the name
CLUE: For this edition’s Mystery Photo, we won’t ask you the name of this art work, but try to figure out where it is located. Send your idea to elliott@brack.net and be sure to tell us where you live.
Only three persons recognized the last Mystery Photo. May be, just may be, last edition’s Mystery Photo was too close to home.
Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill wrote: “OK, that statue threw me because we’ve been having so many out-of-town mystery photos lately, I automatically expected it to be elsewhere. But it’s right here in Atlanta. This is one of those running/leaping women in front of the Sun Trust bank downtown.” She’s right.
Joseph Hopkins of Norcross also recognized the statuary. He wrote: “This statue is one of two dancers in front of the SunTrust Plaza in downtown Atlanta. I worked in the building when they were placed there. It was around the time of the Olympics and I think there was some connection. I recall the statues had a name but after 20 years, I have forgotten it.”
Karen Harris of Stone Mountain not only recognized the statue, but said: “Conceived and designed by John Portman, this group, called the Ballet Olympia, was adapted from Paul Manship’s bronze figure 1953) as a tribute to this renowned American sculpture.”
Cindy Adams of Lilburn, who works in the building, suggested the photo. It’s statuary in front of One Peachtree Center, only one of the two 32-foot playful nude women in front of the building. Architect John Portman designed and installed “Ballet Olympia” as a tribute to Paul Manship, who created the famous “Prometheus” sculpture outside Rockefeller Center in New York. At first, there was criticism, especially from feminists, but now most people have gotten used to it, and the sculptures are often the subject of photographs.
LAGNIAPPEIncubator study
Nearly 220 excited hopeful entrepreneurs, business owners, investors, community leaders and citizens arrived in Peachtree Corners to learn more of the city’s plans for a business incubator. Peachtree Corners, partnering with Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, teamed up to bring the event to the community. Georgia Tech will provide a study to see if the community would support an incubator. The study is expected to be complete by June. “Often organizers fail to focus on what really matters in the process of setting up an incubator, cautioned Georgia Tech’s Don Betts. “Remember, incubation is a process, there is a tendency to focus on a building – instead focus on the nurturing, the assistance and leadership. That’s what it takes to be successful.” Focusing on the program, the process and support are important to an incubator’s success said Betts. “Find your sweet spot, do what’s right for your community. I look forward to coming back in five years to see what you’ve done. You have the energy to be successful.”
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