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City sets May 5 premiere of documentary,
"Duluth Revisited"
By
Alissa Williams
Special to GwinnettForum.com
DULUTH, GA., APRIL 27, 2007 -- A premiere documentary entitled,
"Duluth Revisited," will be presented at the Duluth Town
Green and Amphitheater on Friday, May 4. The program will begin
at dusk (around 8:15 p.m.) and is free to all. This historic presentation
will be the first of a "Flicks on the Bricks" series for
this summer.
Duluth Mayor Shirley Lasseter and the city council suggest those
interested in Duluth's past come to the event to meet the stars
of the show, people who were interviewed and taped with their recollections
of the past.
Learn all about Duluth and what makes it such a special place to
live, work and play.
Those interested in this presentation may pre-order their own copy
of the presentation, "Duluth Revisted," at this event.
Available on DVD, they will also be available for sale through the
Duluth History Museum shortly after the premiere.
Duluth's Oral History project, "Duluth Revisited," is
designed to record and disseminate information about Duluth's rich
history over the last 100-plus years from the standpoint of many
long-time residents.
In many small towns, the downtown areas are being revitalized.
While it is important to focus on revitalization and redevelopment
in creating our "live, work, play" communities, it is
also important to remember the past, from economic, social and philosophical
viewpoints.
This filmed story, "Duluth Revisited," presents history
and a glimpse of yesteryear, "straight from the horse's mouth."
Many presentations are from elder citizens, who tell how they remember
the activities of the past.
This project was undertaken by the City of Duluth to preserve its
unique history by videotaping oral interviews with approximately
50 longtime community residents in a 90 minute film. The information
represents diverse perspectives on Duluth history including views
on business, education, government, leisure, general life and much
more.
Additionally, the raw interview footage (over 19 hours) will also
be on file later this summer at the Duluth branch of the Gwinnett
Public Library as well as at the Duluth History Museum. Duluth's
slogan, "Pride in Old and New" gives this project a reflection
of the pride which its resident have had, which is so evident in
Duluth.
For more information contact Bebe Samples at 678-475-3512 or bsamples@duluthga.net
or me (Alisa Williams0 at 678-475-3506 or awilliams@duluthga.net.
Visit to Missouri turns up high water on roads
and in river
By
Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher
GwinnettForum.com
APRIL 27, 2007 -- Headed for Missouri and driving between Chattanooga
and Nashville last week, the heavy rain started as we left Nickajack
rest area on Interstate 24. About halfway up to Monteagle, we spotted
autos at two different places which had spun out of control, and
careened left on the road, or toward the mountain.
Brack |
With the rain heavy, all traffic had slowed. Seeing these two vehicles
in trouble, immediately I thought: hydroplaning! And then I really
slowed down, and at the top of the mountain, pulled over to let
the rain abate.
It had never hit me before then that hydroplaning can occur when
ascending a hill. But think of it: heavy rain creating a virtual
water slide as it angles across the road, a car slowing to 40-45-50
MPH, the most dangerous speeds for hydroplaning, and there you are.
Somehow, these two vehicles were lucky, going left into the mountain,
instead of going right….and over the edge.
When we got back from Missouri, I found an email about another
aspect of hydroplaning. The warning from this: never use cruise
control when the pavement is wet, since it can cause hydroplaning.
This email said that when cruise control is on, during rain, your
tires ride on the water and lose contact with the pavement. The
cruise control sends a signal for the car to accelerate, and you
take off at a higher speed. Imagine all that can happen!
* * * * *
Statues
of Lewis and Clark were submerged by the Mississippi in St.
Louis last week. |
When in St. Louis, friends we were visiting suggested going to
a new Missouri state park, where the two major rivers, the Mississippi
and the Missouri come together. It's called Confluence State Park,
with funds for the park from Edward Jones, the stockbroker, which
is headquartered in St. Louis.
Approaching the park, the delta land is quite flat. Once at the
parking lot, it's about a quarter of a mile to the actual confluence,
which is marked with a passive display, and has several plaques
down to the point where the two rivers actually meet. What we found
surprised our friends, who had been there once before. About three-fourths
of the monument was under water, as rain had swollen both rivers.
Water lapped over the markers, which step down gradually to the
point.
Later on, in downtown St. Louis, we spotted another monument partly
submerged by the high river. This is a statue of Lewis and Clark,
the explorers, as they returned from their two year trip to the
Pacific Coast. One is standing, and waving. But the other statue
is normally seated with water up to the throat level. The statuary
also includes their dog….but he was totally submerged! Luckily,
the rivers stayed within their banks, but were high when we visited
last week.
* * * * *
We had lunch at a club at Washington University, that highly-ranked
private school in the middle of the city. We liked their consistent
architecture, and the way the school was tightly-knit about a central
quadrangle. (Its medical school is on another campus.) This school
has a wonderful reputation. Emory University has its Coca-Cola financial
tie, while Washington University has its Ralston Purina link.
* * * * *
These
boulders of granite are known as Elephant Rocks in Southeast
Missouri. |
Elephant Rocks State Park? It's a granite formation as is our own
Stone Mountain. However, where Stone Mountain is one major outcropping
of granite, Elephant Rocks are many huge rounded individual boulders,
some three and four times larger than elephants. They're grouped
together, looking somewhat like a herd of elephants sleeping on
their sides, in Southeast Missouri. They are "Missouri red"
granite, which occurs in other places in the area, and is mined
for use in monuments. This is north of Ironton, off Missouri route
72. A one mile trail lets you up close to see and climb over the
rocks.
 The
public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com
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people who are touched in some way by the activity centered in Gwinnett
County, Georgia. Nobody reaches Gwinnett like Gwinnett Magazine.
For more information, call Kelly Greer at 770-236-8703 ext. 101,
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Suggests
value of Georgia capitol (and grounds) has gone up
Editor, the Forum:
I read in the AJC the other day an article about the Atlanta zoo
that elephant dung is worth quite a bit as fertilizer.
If that is true, with the GOP in charge of the Legislature and many
elected offices, the State Capitol building must be worth a fortune.
-- Bob Hanson, Loganville
Lauds Gwinnett Village
CID for policy of hiring extra police
Editor, the Forum:
Congratulations to the Gwinnett Village CID for finally recognizing
that until an area is safe there will be no "community improvement."
Let's hope it doesn't take the Gwinnett Place Mall and Highway
78 CID's as long to come to the same conclusions. Perhaps the reduction
in crime in these three areas because of increased police patrols,
will provide our lethargic county commission with the inspiration
to do something about the crime problem in the rest of our county.
-- Patrick Malone, Snellville
Gun culture
Another great cartoon from Bill McLemore:
Suwanee
plans initial work on 2030 master plan May 3
Rather than MapQuest, Suwanee and other Georgia communities rely
on their comprehensive town master plans as their roadmap to their
community-of-the-future. The City of Suwanee is set to embark on
the process for creating its roadmap to 2030 with a communitywide
meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 3, at the George Pierce Park
Community Center.
Suwanee's Planning Director Marty Allen notes the importance of
community visioning and citizen participation. "If citizens
have ideas related to what kind of community Suwanee should be in
the future, this is the perfect opportunity for them to share their
thoughts and help shape that future," Allen says.
Planning consultants Urban Collage and Glen Coyne Planning Associates
will guide the City through the approximately eight-month comprehensive
planning process.
A task force of citizens and other stakeholders will be formed
and likely will meet every other month beginning Thursday, May 17.
A smaller working group will be created from task force members
and will meet monthly. If you're interested in serving on the task
force, contact Marty Allen at mallen@suwanee.com
or 770/945-8996. The May 3 kick-off meeting is open to the entire
community.
Baby boomers' dream
concert set for Snellville Day
Bring your friends and family and enjoy a concert under the stars.
This year's Snellville Days Concert is scheduled for Saturday, May
5th at 7 p.m. in T.W. Briscoe Park on Lenora Church Road, Snellville.
The concert, a baby-boomers' dream, will feature music dating from
the roots of rock n' roll in the 50s and up through today.
The concert will open with Mark Puette performing "A Salute
to Elvis". The headliner for 2007 will feature the Swingin'
Medallions; dubbed the "Party Band of the South". The
original Swingin' Medallions, who have been performing since the
early 60's, are joined by new performers who will help provide a
"Double Shot" of your baby's love.
The Snellville Days Concert is free. Door prizes will be given
during the event. Concessions will be available. It's suggested
that attendees bring lounge chairs, blanket and dancing shoes and
enjoy an evening of fantastic music. Visit www.snellvilledays.com
for more information.
Tom O'Rourke new head
of NE Atlanta Realtor group
Tom O'Rourke is the new executive vice president of the Northeast
Atlanta Metro Association of Realtors, based in Gwinnett. O'Rourke
will oversee all activities of the association, including political
affairs and community service projects.
O'Rourke |
He replaces Betty Romig, who has been with the Board for 34 years.
She will remain a consultant to the board.
Peggy Slappey, president of NAMAR states, "We are fortunate
to have Tom in this capacity. His leadership and creativity will
be key to the organization's continued growth and success."
Earlier, O'Rourke served as services manager for the Greater Atlanta
Home Builders Association. He also served as staff director for
the 50-Plus Housing Council. O'Rourke also helped the Remodeler's
Council have the third largest membership increase in the country
in 2005 when he served as staff director for that council.
O'Rourke's previous work experience includes serving as the senior
vice president of operations and production for the Miss America
Scholarship Organization from 1990 to 2002. He is a native of New
Jersey, and moved to Georgia about five years ago. Tom and his wife,
Kelly, live in East Cobb County, and plans to move to Gwinnett soon.
He and his wife have three children, Patti, Heather and Brian.
Established in 1969, The Northeast Atlanta Metro Association of
Realtors promotes professionalism and ethical real estate practices.
One of the largest Realtor associations in Metro Atlanta, the association
is dedicated to the real estate industry and private property rights.
For more information, call 770-495-7300 or visit www.NAMAR.org.
Kudzu
Art Zone facility open now in downtown Norcross
Kudzu Art Zone is a non-profit (501c3) art group headquartered
in Norcross. It started operations in March, 2006 in temporary quarters
and has recently moved into a newly renovated building owned by
the City of Norcross at 116 Carlyle Street, the space previously
known at the Norcross Art Gallery operated by the Hudgens Center.
The facility has gallery space, workshops, demos and sketch groups,
studios and talks by art-related speakers. Kudzu sponsors exhibits
in other locations, including the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse (set
for December, 2007).
Currently Kudzu has art in two downtown Norcross restaurants, Dominicks
and Paizano's. There will be a public open house on June 2 from
11 a.m. until to 3 p.m.
Braselton mayor on
task force on governmental services
Braselton Mayor Pat Graham has been named by Governor Dr. Sonny
Perdue to a task force to focus on governmental service delivery
issues.
The Commission for a New Georgia, a non-profit corporation, is led
by CEOs and business leaders. Under its direction, 18 task forces
are charged to carry out its mission "to bring breakthrough
thinking and a fresh perspective to ways state government can better
manage its assets and services and map its strategic future."
Graham also serves on the Georgia Municipal Association's Legislative
Policy Council, its Board of Directors and is president of its District
5 leaders.
NE Ga. Community Foundation
announces $449,400 in grants
2007 Grants from Northeast Georgia Community Foundation:
Gwinnett Medical Center
wins award from cancer commission
The Commission on Cancer (CoC), an affiliation of the American
College of Surgeons, has awarded Gwinnett Medical Center with the
CoC Outstanding Achievement Award. GMC was one of only 30 programs
to receive the Award this year, and places them in the top six percent
of facilities surveyed in the nation.
Established in 2004, the CoC Outstanding Achievement Award is
designed to recognize cancer programs that strive for excellence
in providing quality care to cancer patients. GMC received the Award
following an on-site evaluation by a physician surveyor during which
GMC demonstrated a Commendation level of compliance with seven standards
that represent the full scope of the cancer program. These include
cancer committee leadership, cancer data management, clinical services,
research, community outreach and quality improvement.
"The
New Georgia Encyclopedia Companion to Georgia Literature"
"An impressive list of literary figures are included in this
compilation, which has biographical and critical discussion of many
famous and some not-so-famous but good Georgia writers. This book
makes a great edition to have around and dip into as the mood hits
you, since it has such a wide scope of information about these writers.
The book discuss the writer's work and life, and contributions to
literature and culture. One of the authors, Hugh Ruppersburg, is
a professor of English at the University of Georgia, and the other,
John Inscoe, is the editor of the New Georgia Encyclopedia (available
online and below), and professor of history at UGA. It was published
by the University of Georgia Press on April 1, comes softbound,
and at 474 pages, sells for $22.95." --eeb
- 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
Key 1964
ruling changes legislatures throughout the nation
In its 1964 ruling in Wesberry v. Sanders -a suit pursued
by a group of Fulton County voters against Georgia officials, including
Governor Carl Sanders-the U.S. Supreme Court built on its previous
ruling in Gray v. Sanders (1963) to hold that all federal
congressional districts within each state had to be made up of a
roughly equal number of voters. In so ruling, the Court radically
altered how state legislatures would thereafter draw congressional
districts, which before Wesberry often reflected long-established
groupings of counties that ignored intervening urbanization and
other major shifts in population.
Within four months of Wesberry, the Court ruled in its most famous
reapportionment case, Reynolds v. Sims (1964), out of Alabama,
that the U.S. Constitution required the equal valuation of votes
in virtually all elections for officials from legislatively drawn
districts, including representatives who served in either chamber
of any state legislature. As a result, the Court scuttled the legislative
electoral systems of most states, including often-used "little
federalism" systems that structured districts for one house
of the state legislature according to geography, rather than population,
in keeping with the model of the Constitution's treatment of the
U.S. Senate.
The reapportionment decisions of Chief Justice Earl Warren's court,
beginning with Gray and Wesberry, dramatically reshaped the nature
of representative government in Georgia and in the nation. No less
important, the principle of electoral equality that underlies these
decisions has continued to generate important rulings in more recent
times-most prominently the Supreme Court's controversial decision
in Bush v. Gore, which brought an end to the high-profile
legal challenges triggered by the presidential election of 2000.
Consideration of difference
between fools and wise men
"Wise men talk because they have something to say, fools
talk because they have to say something. "
-- The Philosopher Plato, via Roy McCreary, Dacula.
Send your thoughts, 55-word short stories, pet peeves
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Forum for future publication.
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is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible
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