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Suwanee plans activities around Tour de Georgia, April 24-25
By Lynne DeWilde
Special to GwinnettForum.com

SUWANEE, Ga., April 18, 2008 -- Some 120 professional bikers representing 26 nations, with 15 teams dressed in a rainbow of shorts and jerseys; add in 133 hilly miles to go to Dahlonega. That makes Suwanee the one place to be Friday morning, April 25.

The fifth stage of the 2008 Tour de Georgia gets rolling from Suwanee's Town Center Park at 10 a.m. next Friday. Show up a bit earlier to enjoy activities and the festive atmosphere.

In fact, the party takes place the evening before, Thursday, April 24. "Party in the Park" activities begin with what's being billed as "the world's largest outdoor spin class." BodyPlex Family Fitness will have 100 spin bikes at Town Center Park. Registration is $20 and includes a t-shirt and wristband; proceeds from the class will benefit Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG Foundation. Visit www.suwanee.com to download an application. At 7 p.m., A1A, a Jimmy Buffet tribute band, takes the Town Center stage for a free concert. Suwanee Creek Bicycle will be on hand conducting bike inspections, and Suwanee police officers will lead bike tours of the nearby Suwanee Creek Greenway.

The festivities continue Friday morning as hundreds of cycling fans who follow the Tour de Georgia across the state converge on Suwanee Town Center. They'll be joined by hundreds of more casual fans from throughout Gwinnett and surrounding areas who want to take advantage of the rare opportunity to witness an international sporting event in "their hometown" and mingle with professional athletes.

Jackie Tyson, director of communications for the Tour de Georgia, says it's much easier to get athlete photos and autographs during a Tour de Georgia start than at most other sporting events . "The cyclists aren't in a hurry," she says. "They'll all stop and sign autographs and pose for photos. It's a lot easier to get an autograph at a Tour de Georgia start than it is at a Braves game, for example. The starts really offer quality time to hang out with athletes." Riders will begin showing up 60-90 minutes before the official start.

The race itself will begin at 10 a.m. Fans with flags and signs are expected to be three-four deep along the perimeter of Town Center Park as the cyclists begin their "neutral" lap through Suwanee, traveling up Brogdon and Tench roads, then across Suwanee Dam, and back by fans at Town Center Park once more. Shortly after that, riders will be given the green light to shift into race mode and a colorful blur will travel along McGinnis Ferry Road and across the Chattahoochee as the peloton begins its four- to five-hour journey to Dahlonega.

Among the riders that cycling fans will be watching are several who also will be racing in the Tour de France. George Hincapie, of nearby Greenville, S.C., with Team High Road, has previously won a stage of the Tour de France. Britain David Millar of Team Slipstream and U.S. Olympian Bobby Julich of Team CSC, the world's top team, are fan favorites, too.

One more thing that will make your Tour de Georgia Stage 5 start much more enjoyable: Use the offsite parking locations and free shuttle. No parking will be available at Town Center Park. Offsite parking locations served by the shuttle are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 4833 Suwanee Dam Road and Shadowbrook Baptist Church, 4187 Suwanee Dam Road.

Waffle House Restaurants has been named the official restaurant of the Tour de Georgia. This marks the 24-hour restaurant chain's third consecutive year as a partner of the Tour and its most extensive sponsorship activation yet.

State legislature showed ineptness, but that's not all bad
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher

APRIL 18, 2008 -- From our spot on the sidelines, we thought that the Georgia General Assembly was especially inept this year. It was so bad, apparently, that the governor feared not when he left the country for China in the final days of the Legislature. Though that seemed implausible when thinking of governors and legislatures in the past, this time perhaps Dr. Sonny Perdue knew what we did not: the legislature was too inept, or concerned with fighting one another, to get anything done.

Now we have confirmation of how bad the Legislature was. None other than the Republican cheerleader, Dick Williams himself, he of both newspaper and panelist fame on TV's Georgia Gang, was writing of how bad the Legislature, and in particular the Republicans leading it, was. He called their performance a "meltdown" between House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. He also said of the House and Senate: "The two bodies controlled by the Republicans completed a second consecutive session best described as a circular firing squad." He said in the Atlanta Business Chronicle that the session "ended with little to show for itself."

That was the good news. Limiting legislative enactments are better than having expansive new laws. At least the inability to get a lot of their agenda agreed upon by the two houses was a good thing for us citizens, who don't want these bodies enacting often special interest or frivolous laws.

What really had us worried was that some in the Legislature wanted to change our system of taxation. We all know that each time you change the way that taxes are collected, somebody's ox gets gored. All too often, it's the little guy, the ones on the bottom, or the ones on fixed income, that come away with less than they had before, while Fat Cats grin all the way to the bank. That may be simplistic, but the changes the House leadership was pushing, to move more taxes to consumer levels and away from property, pointed to being another victory for the wealthy.

Many Republicans have come to power in recent years all across the nation after promising their voters that they would reduce taxes. That's not necessarily the best way to go.

No one want to pay an unnecessarily high tax. But all government is not bad. Some of it keeps us civil, and is helpful. We need our standard and necessary governmental services of keeping the peace, educating our children and maintaining a good quality of life. You keep cutting taxes, and you eat into that essential base of good governmental services.

And worst of all, the way that the House leadership was proposing to cut taxes was to eliminate property tax, and let the state collect a sales tax. In other words, these Republicans were saying, of all things, "Let state government do for you what you have previously allowed local government to do."

What? This is good government, further away from the people? That's why a lot of people around the state, with local government, schools and ordinary citizens, mistrusted the House leadership. It made no sense to let the state or federal government take away the decisions being made locally.

We have said before: taxes are not necessarily bad. We need a certain flow of taxes to supply essential services.

So hurrah that the state legislature could not get all its agenda done. We don't need more heavy-handed government. We need sound government, but not change for the sake of change….to benefit the few.

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Editor, the Forum:

Your solution for solving the nation's housing crisis (GwinnettForum April 15) could be carried one step further. Have you ever been on one of Gwinnett's major freeways and seen cars jammed up in both directions?

My thought is this: for every car going, for example, northbound, match it to a car going southbound. For example, a doctor is driving northbound to go to work; another doctor is driving southbound to work. Just have them switch jobs and voila! less traffic congestion!

You would do the same with the rest of the commuters. For each secretary traveling from Gwinnett County to Atlanta, there has to be a secretary traveling from Atlanta to Gwinnett County! Okay now...everybody...switch!

Norcross Cooperative Ministry marks 20th anniversary

The Norcross Cooperative Ministry will celebrate its 20th anniversary of serving the community with an open house on Sunday, May 4 from 3-5 p.m. at the co-op on Mitchell Street. It was the first cooperative ministry founded in Gwinnett.

Shirley Cabe, director of the co-op, says: "It's hard to believe it's been 20 years since the Norcross Cooperative Ministry (NCM) first opened its doors at the little house next to Norcross First Baptist Church. It was a simple idea that a few pastors had: to pool their resources to serve the needy of the area. Oh, how that need and NCM's response has grown! And God works in the lives of those who serve Him and the clients we serve."

The ministry has grown to hundreds of volunteers, support from 21 churches and numerous businesses and civic organizations, plus individual contributors, which is transforming the lives of thousands of clients each year at its facility, the Greg Ellis Center.

Staff and volunteers will be conducting tours for those new to NCM and showing ways to be a part of this ministry of helping those in crisis by collaborating with the community to offer programs and services that transform lives. Cabe says: "We want as many people to come out as possible to celebrate this important milestone!"

Ten finalists will meet on April 24 to find out who has won the state's oldest and most distinguished literary prize. A reception for the 2008 Townsend Prize for Fiction will be held at the Old Courthouse on the Square, Decatur, beginning with a book signing at 6 p.m. The reception is from 7 to 9 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The Townsend Prize is presented to the Georgia writer judged to have published the best book of fiction in the previous two years. The award, sponsored by the Writers' Institute of Georgia Perimeter College, honors the legacy of Jim Townsend, founder of Atlanta Magazine. The Georgia Center for the Book is the presenting sponsor.

Norcross First United Methodist Church will hold its Third annual Great Day of Service on Saturday, April 19. With over 100 people working at more than 15 projects simultaneously, the church expects to make an impact in Norcross and surrounding communities! Other local churches are invited to join in the effort.

The highlight of the GDOS this year will be framing a house in the church parking lot to be shipped to a family affected by a natural disaster. The church is working in partnership with Square Foot Ministries. It'll also host a Health Fair and Screening (in English and Spanish) led by Mercer University Pharmacy School to reach many in the community who have no health insurance. Also on tap is building a memorial garden at Summerour Middle School, providing landscaping and an outreach event at Adelaide Park Apartments, holding food drives and preparing gift bags and cards for homebound people and prisoners.

It may be safe to say that no other city in the United States has a mayor who moonlights occasionally as a drummer in his jazz quartet. Norcross residents visitors alike will get to see Mayor Bucky Johnson's musical talents when he and the "Jazzlites" perform in the First Thursday event, May 1, 2008 in historic downtown Norcross.

In a time when the news is overwhelmingly saturated with coverage of national politicians, the idea of a local leader who can blur the partisan lines and just make everyone smile is a story in itself. As the Georgia Tech band leader and music chair for 20 years, Johnson brings an exemplary combination of leadership and fun to the City of Norcross.

Skip Nau, chairman of the Norcross Downtown Development Authority, says: "We are hoping to brand our city to be a place where creative people can come and enjoy living. The City of Norcross offers people an exciting opportunity to be part of a progressive and close-knit community. Mayor Johnson's values and talents are an excellent example of what makes this place such a great to be part of."

Mayor Johnson and the "Jazzlites" will perform from 6-9 p.m. on the sidewalks of historic downtown Norcross.

The Norcross First Thursday is a monthly outdoor event running through October, in which local artists, performers and musicians share their talents for the free enjoyment of visitors. Local merchants and restaurants will offer free food and wine tastings, and special discounts to visitors.

The initial phase of development of a new county park off Scenic Highway near Sugarloaf Parkway in Lawrenceville has been approved by the Gwinnett Board of Commissioners. The 91-acre Alexander Park will initially include a plaza area, horseshoe courts, picnic shelter, playground, open space play area, a disc golf course, outdoor classroom, small lake with a picnic shelter and fishing piers, a gazebo overlook, 1.5-mile multi-purpose trail and a one-mile soft surface trail loop along with other park amenities. The park is expected to be open in the spring or summer of 2009.

The 18-hole disc golf course will be the county's second, similar to one at Lenora Park in southern Gwinnett that has been extremely popular for many years.

Gwinnett County purchased the land in 2002 from the estate of J. T. Alexander, a former Gwinnett County Extension Agent, and named the park in honor of the Alexander family. The construction contract went to CMES, Inc. of Lilburn for $3.77 million. The park development will be funded through the 2005 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) program for parks and recreation.

Gwinnett County has hired John A. Matelski to be its new Director of Information Technology Services.. Chief Operating Officer and Deputy County Administrator Mike Comer said Information Technology became a standalone department back in October and the data center is now moving to a larger space at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center.

Matelski served as Chief Security Officer and Deputy Chief Information Officer at the City of Orlando for 10 years. He has also worked for various federal government units and as Director of IT for Kay Jewelers. He graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University with a B.S. in Management Information Systems and an M.B.A. from the College of Business

In the late 19th century most southern children, particularly in rural areas, received little more than an elementary education, which often meant no more than five or six years of schooling, during only three or four months per year, as dictated by the seasonal demands of agricultural work. Only about half of Georgia's children attended school at all.

Progressive reformers made the standardization of school attendance a priority, including compulsory attendance laws. Under Hoke Smith's leadership, Georgia's legislature, like those of other southern states, committed funds to the expansion of school facilities and the replacement of one-room schools with consolidated schools, more teachers, and higher grade levels. In 1916 a new Georgia law required school attendance for children between ages eight and fourteen for at least four continuous months a year.

In addition to state support, many of these education reforms were funded by northern philanthropic efforts, such as the Southern Education Board, established in 1901, and the General Education Board, a foundation sponsored by philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, who gave more than $53 million from 1902 to 1909 to study, publicize, and campaign for improved conditions in public education throughout the South. While Georgia still lagged far behind the rest of the nation, and even much of the South at the end of the Progressive era, statistics from the early twentieth century indicate substantial improvement. In 1900 the average length of the school term was 112 days; in 1920, it had expanded to 145 days.

Over the same period, per pupil expenditures in Georgia rose from 89 cents in 1900 to $3.13 in 1920; white teachers' salaries also increased substantially. Between 1912 and 1919 new legislation and amendments to the state constitution incorporated high schools into the public educational system and required that state and local funding go toward their support as well as that of elementary schools.

Few in-state efforts incorporated black schools into their reforms, though the northern philanthropic movements often made industrial education for African Americans a priority. Rockefeller's General Education Board and the John F. Slater Fund provided considerable funding of county training programs for black teachers of industrial arts. Anna T. Jeanes, a Quaker from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, gave more than $1 million to provide "rudimentary" education for rural southern blacks in 1907, and a year later she established the Jeanes Fund to train black teachers, again with industrial education as the primary focus. The program in Georgia began with six Jeanes teachers and eventually grew to 53 by 1939. Beginning in 1912, Julius Rosenwald gave money for the construction of more than 5,300 school buildings for black children in the rural areas throughout the South, of which 242 were located in Georgia.

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