TOP PRIZES: Members of the Lilburn Woman’s Club took home top prizes in district Georgia Federation of Woman’s Club activities recently. Look at all that silver! See Notable below for more details. On the back row are Pat Swan, Karen Snavely, Jeannie Schweck, Sandra Langston, Nancy Chilcoat, Lori Bottens, Kathy Shepherd and Linda Newton. Seated are Lee Jurjevich, Patty Gabilondo and Diane DeGaetano.
Issue 14.102 | March 30, 2015
IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: Mother Finds New Joy in Cheering for a Traveling Program
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Only in New Orleans……from One Type of Parade to Another
FEEDBACK: Likes Idea of Less Legislation, While Another Appreciates Nu-Way
UPCOMING: Summer Program Planned on Youth Creativity; Communications Workshop
NOTABLE: Lilburn Wins; Ohio Electric Firm Chooses Duluth for SE Distribution
RECOMMENDED READ: Supreme City by Donald L. Miller
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Cartoonist Creates Character in Okefenokee Swamp
TODAY’S QUOTE: Prime Minister Views Thought on What a Conservative Government Is
MYSTERY PHOTO: Several Recognize The Mall in Central Park, New York
LAGNIAPPE: Spring Has Sprung at Kudzu Art Gallery
TODAY’S FOCUS
Mother finds new joy in following traveling basketball squad
By Arlene Beckles
NORCROSS, Ga. March 31, 2015 — Nestled in the partner cities of Peachtree Corners and Norcross is a family-first sporting organization called InnerMan Community Sports. This group started in 2011, with the vision to invest both in youth and the communities in which we live and play. Coach Ali Patrick of Summerour Middle School Girls Basketball team recommended that my daughter (Nyasia) try-out for the InnerMan basketball team.
InnerMan has seen the successful representative at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and Youth Basketball of America (YBOA). The 2015 squad is divided into two grade level teams, each representing either Lady Red or Lady Grey, and each has their own coaches and traveling parent- cheerleaders. The girls hail from middle schools throughout Gwinnett County and had their first retreat earlier this month. They practice twice a week and have a small mentoring session once a week led by Jennifer Bates, whom the girls affectionately call “Mama Jay.”
With my newfound title of Basketball Mom, I traveled with the 8th Grade Lady Rebels Red Team for the 2015 AAU North Atlanta Invitational at Pope High in Marietta, under the leadership of Sheryl Porter of Lilburn, Coach Porter was selected out of 300 collegiate athletes to be part of the 1987 Olympic Festival Basketball Team.
This group of young, strong determined ladies, with a camaraderie growing since their first few meetings and practice sessions, has a bond that will help them build lasting relationships and the sportsman-like friendships starting with team building and mentoring.
Sports for me is rooting for the underdog just to tease my friends and family. However, experiencing the games that first tournament weekend left me with sweaty palms, and sore legs. I know my heart missed a beat or two when I saw some of the fancy footwork on the court.
The Tournament started Friday night and on day three of game three, I learned that the Terminator (Hayley Moore from Dacula) is real and does a mean short shoot, while the Triangle (Kendall Bollmer also from Dacula) is a three-pointer to be reckoned with. For the short time that these girls were matched up, it was amazing to see them in this tournament. They made it all the way to the semi-finals on Sunday evening. To earn Kool Mommy points, I promise myself to learn all the names of Lady Rebels Red by now and the next tournament, and to score extra points I must learn the Lady Rebels chant, not to mention being able to bust a move in the bleachers!
For the next couple of months I can proudly say, I quit my doctorial program and took up traveling basketball. I am happier yet to sit in the stands and crochet while this awesome group of young ladies works to bring home their trophies and championship titles!
- For more information and/or to support InnerMan please contact Coach Torrey Bates at InnerManGroup@gmail.com or by phone at 678-492-0907.
- Visit their website http://www.innerman.com/. Follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/InnermanSports.
Until the next tournament, “Let’s go! Lady Rebels!”
EEB PERSPECTIVE
Enjoying a return to New Orleans, including one of many parades
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher, GwinnettForum.com
MARCH 31, 2015 — New Orleans was our recent destination, one of our favorite cities in the USA, for after all, we had not been in several years. While you still see problems left from Katrina, the city seems to be enjoying a new vibrancy, moving forth as always, happily.
Boosted by continual tourism, which seems to have bounced back nicely, its prices for hotels, foods and trinkets remain high.
With four of us going, we chose to rent a short-term apartment, through Vacation Rental by Owner (VRBO), deciding finally on one rental of the many we viewed on the Internet. Our place turned out to be a half block from St. Charles Avenue (and its handy trolley). It was costly, though no more than a good hotel, and spacious. We had parking inside a gate, and a beautiful back garden, and plenty of space.
We were there during Lent (and across the street from the Episcopal cathedral), but New Orleans doesn’t mark Lent like other cities. On the Saturday we were there, four St. Patrick’s Day parades were on tap, each in different areas of the city. The parade we saw was in the Garden District on St. Charles Avenue. It lasted four hours, and oh!, the fun these people were having.
Take a look at these photographs. (Click here). Note the many characters, decked out in costumes, in the parade, accented by the color green in uniforms, in hats, in flowers….amid the welcoming crowds also often decked out themselves. You can tell these people are celebrating, whether in the crowd or in the parade.
Note the last photograph…..which we shot of the street after the parade went by. There was all kind of debris from the celebrating, from flower, paper, candy, beads, beer bottles…..all along the street.
As we left, we spotted a crew of street sweepers. Talking to the crew chief, he told us that cleaning up after the many parades throughout the year in New Orleans is a routine happenstance. On this part of the parade route, he had about 20 people with bright yellow vests on ready to start cleaning the route as soon as the last unit went by. “Altogether, throughout the city today, we’ll have about 350 people working in this clean-up,” he said.
Sure enough, two hours after the parade went through this neighborhood, you could find nary a piece of discarded parade junk around. The city does a magnificent job in making neat what after every parade must be a mess!
* * * * *
Brennan’s Restaurant in the French Quarter is back in business after being renovated. When having (yes) breakfast there on that Saturday, you could tell something was about to happen, as a large, colorful crowd had gathered. We were seated inside, overlooking the courtyard, and soon the activities began, amid people dressed for partying! While we couldn’t hear what was going on, later I asked the guy who seemed to be in charge. He identified himself as Ralph Brennan.
Seems like the turtles, who had previously lived in a pool in the courtyard, had been moved when the renovation started. So, it was the turtles returning to Brennan’s, and like happens in New Orleans, they had a parade to honor their return. The restaurant even had the nearby Catholic monsignor to come and say a few words over the festivities.
Only in New Orleans.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce
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FEEDBACK
New way to think about Statehouse representation
Editor, the Forum:
I agree wholeheartedly with your plan to limit the Atlanta circus to every other year! And while we’re at it, let’s lengthen their terms to four and six years and get them out of constant campaign mode.
— Myra Blackmon, Athens
Dear Myra: Never thought of adding to their terms as a benefit. Might as well, since most don’t have serious opposition. Might mean for better representation. Appreciate your thoughts as we had not thought of it this way.-eeb
Always loves stopping in Macon for Nu-Way “weiner” fix
Editor, the Forum:
I hated to hear the news that one of my favorite haunts while at Mercer (in Macon), the Nu Way, was destroyed by fire. As I am heading through Macon on trips south, I always stop at the Cotton Avenue location to get my “fix” of “weiners!” Love the Varsity, but the thought of Nu-Way or Mama Louise at H&H take me back to my younger days and great eats. Just glad that they are rebuilding. Good job on the article.
— Walt Britt, Buford
UPCOMING
Gwinnett Tech offers youth summer camp in technology creativity
Gwinnett Tech College (GTC) is now offering a unique option for the younger set. GTC will partner with Kids 4 Coding, a provider of technology education for kids, to host a Summer Tech Camp series on the college’s Lawrenceville campus. Rising second through eighth grade students will learn to be creators and innovators during week-long camps held from June 1–July 31.
Co-ed tech camps will be offered in Minecraft EDU, game design, web design, app development, computer programming, graphic design and electrical engineering. A girl’s class called “Techie Girlz” will be available for children entering grades 3-5.
The camps are designed to be a hands-on experience that combines a child’s passion for computers with top instructors and exciting curriculum to create amazing things. All summer tech camps are meant to be enjoyed without any previous experience. Students who have intermediate tech skills will be challenged with additional steps.
To register, visit www.kids4coding.com and select the Gwinnett Tech Camp section. Camp prices range from $309 to $339, with a T-shirt and daily snack included. Early bird savings of $30 are available until March 31. Camp sessions run Monday through Friday. Call 770-642-0004 for more information.
Sorority sponsors teen forum in April to bridge communication gap
A teen forum for youth ages 11-18 is being planned to help bridge the communication gap between youth and local police. The Gwinnett County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is partnering with Gwinnett County Government and law enforcement officials from the Gwinnett County Police Department and the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office for a teen forum. It will be held on Saturday, April 25, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Rhodes Jordan Park Community Center, located at 100 E. Crogan Street. in Lawrenceville.
The forum will use open dialogue to create better understanding and improved interaction between youth and law enforcement.
The interactive forum will familiarize students with law enforcement officers as real people, reasons for police stops, appropriate and inappropriate behavior during police stops, citizens’ rights, filing complaints, and students’ responsibility and accountability for behaviors that may result in police contact. In addition, participants will be able to watch a live police pull-over simulation.
Latabia Woodward, president of Gwinnett County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, says: “We are excited about this partnership and the opportunity to strengthen the relationships in our community. We believe there are both tangible and intangible benefits to strong community partnerships such as improved public trust, reduced fear, saved lives, and potentially reduced crime rates or crime prevention.”
- To register teens for the forum, visit, www.gwinnettdst.org/events3.htm. To learn more about the Gwinnett Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., visit www.gwinnettdst.org.
Lithonia Gwinnett Tech student wins two scholarships
Tracy Sewell, a horticulture student at Gwinnett Tech, has been awarded scholarships from the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) and from the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET). Sewell, from Lithonia, received $2,000 from PGMS and $1,000 from PLANET.
Sewell
Aaron Poulsen, horticulture program director at Gwinnett Tech, says: “Tracy is an exceptional student. Her passion for horticulture has led her to develop talents in both ornamental horticulture and food production — in other words she is a landscaper and a farmer.”
Along with the cash prize, Sewell was provided a complimentary registration to either the PGMS Summer Education Conference in Sacramento, Calif. or the PGMS School of Grounds Management and GIE+EXPO in Louisville, Ky. From PLANET, Sewell earned the 2015 PLANET Academic Excellence Foundation scholarship. She will be honored at the PLANET AEF Scholarship Recognition Reception this month in Raleigh, N.C.
NOTABLE
Lilburn Woman’s Club sweeps 9th District award honors
The volunteers of the Lilburn Woman’s Club (LWC) brought home top honors in a clean sweep across the six areas of focus recognized by the Georgia Federation of Woman’s Club Georgia Ninth District. This area spans from Gwinnett County up to Fannin and Rabun counties in the North and across to Elbert county on the east.)
The club has grown to 78 members and now stands at the forefront as one of the largest and most active grassroots women’s volunteer organizations in the state providing crucial support to women, children and families in the greater Lilburn and Gwinnett communities.
President Patty Gabilondo says: “The year 2014 was another milestone year for the club. It has been an honor to serve as president for this amazing group of women. We have:
- Increased our annual scholarship awards portfolio by several thousand dollars;
- Welcomed six new members;
- Presented the inaugural “Behind the Garden Gate” tour of Lilburn area gardens;
- Achieved our 501(c)3 tax-exempt status;
- Unveiled our new Lilburn Cooks Fresh cookbook;
- Helped raise over $50k for the Side by Side Brain Injury Club house;
- Added Domestic Violence Awareness as our seventh program;
- Hosted a public candidate forum for Lilburn City Council election;
- And so much more!”
This year the Lilburn club was voted “Best Overall” club in the District! It also won Best in Leadership and Best in Membership.
It took home six first place awards, in Home Life Community Service; Education Community Service; Conservation Community Service; Arts Community Service; International Outreach Community Service; and Public Issues Community Service.
Ohio electric firm chooses Duluth for southeastern operations center
Madison Electric, with headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, has made 2605 North Berkley Lake Road in Duluth their Southeastern Distribution Center and new home.
About to cut the ribbon at Madison Electric’s new Duluth operations are, from left, Kirk Place, Madison’s director of operations; Will Corbin, economic development specialist; Brad Wiandt, Madison president; Mayor Pro Tem Greg Whitlock; and Chris McGahee, Duluth Economic Development Manager
Madison Electric President Brad Wiandt says: “Extensive thought and careful consideration went into deciding where to locate our new Southeast Distribution Center. Considering the easy highway access, a heavy concentration of electrical distributors and warehousing, along with the comfortable and well maintained surroundings, Duluth became the easy and logical choice. We are proud to call the city of Duluth home to Madison Electric product’s newest facility.”
Mayor Pro Tem Greg Whitlock responds: “Attracting innovative companies like Madison Electric who are leaders in their industry and who engage the community is the continued vision of Duluth. We are excited they chose Gwinnett County and Duluth as the home of their Southeast distribution center.”
The 55,000-square-foot warehouse, with 10 to 12 new employees, will serve as the Southeast hub for Madison Electric Products and house more than 2,000 different products. As a result of the new location, the company anticipates faster turnaround on orders and improved customer service.
Founded more than 80 years ago in Cleveland, , and still headquartered in northeast Ohio, the company serves a variety of inventors and businesses with a coast-to-coast network of sales agents and distribution centers, as well as offices in California and Shanghai, China. For more information, visit www.MEproducts.net.
Peachtree Corners boasts outlet for gourmet popcorn
Now Peachtree Corners can boast that it is home to a gourmet popcorn store that would surely rival any specialty shop that sells the popular treat.
Popcorn Palooza, owned and operated by Sandra Cox and Keith Gispert, opened the doors to their new shop on March 19. Friends, neighbors, and the city officials were on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to help launch the new Peachtree Corners business.
Mayor Mike Mason says: “What a nice addition to the city. For popcorn enthusiasts, this will no doubt become a favorite hangout. It’s amazing just how many choices are available.
Deciding on a favorite flavor might be the toughest part.” Shoppers can choose from the more common flavors of butter and caramel – or venture out with such flavors as Spicy Taco, Cotton Candy, Key Lime or White Truffle Mocha.
But this list is just the tip of the iceberg. You’ll find the complete inventory on the store’s website, www.popcornpalooza.com, which sells bags, tins, gift baskets and more. Popcorn Palooza is located at 6050 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 200, in Peachtree Corners, , just a few doors from Dick’s Sporting Goods. It’s open seven days a week.
RECOMMENDED READ
Supreme City, by Donald L. Miller
This is a fascinating book of how the central part of New York City, Manhattan, developed in the fast building skyscraper era of 1920-30. It’s presented in chapters about the key people of that era, from Walter P. Chrysler, to Jack Dempsey, Duke Ellington, Adam Gimbel, Clifford Holland (think tunnel), Bill Paley, Tex Richard, Babe Ruth, David Sarnoff, Mayor James J. Walker, Florenz Ziegfield, and many more. One was William J. Wilgus, chief engineer of the New York Central Railroad, who recognized the acre-after-acre gulch of railroad tracks in west Manhattan, and came up with the way to use steel girders and bridge this unsightly area, opening up the area for development, then selling what he termed “air rights” to pay for all this work, the first such use of “air rights.” The characters make this book, one you’ll find hard to put down. — eeb
An 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 TIDBIT
Okefenokee Swamp character captures attention of the nation
The comic strip Pogo, created by Walt Kelly, ran in daily newspapers from 1948 to 1973. The strip was set in Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp and was populated by animals talking in a fractured southern dialect.
Cartoonist Walt Kelly
Over the years Pogo often referred to Georgia and to several of the state’s locales, such as Waycross, Fort Mudge, and Ware County. In one story line, involving cold war themes, the swamp characters used the state as a counterpoint to the Soviet Republic of Georgia. Overall, Pogo provided the American newspaper-reading public with a humorously stereotyped view of Southern life, complete with folksy sayings, strange food (such as chicken foot perloo), corncob-smoking females, and images of chivalrous southern manhood. For the animals of the Okefenokee, the Confederacy still existed, with Jefferson Davis as its president and Richmond, Va., its national capital.
For all its superficial identification with Georgia and the South, Pogo was a comic strip written by a northerner for a national audience. In the 1950s it was the most popular daily strip in America, primarily because of its blend of slapstick humor and engaging characters. It was unique for its occasional forays into political satire. Pogo’s most famous target in the 1950s was an odious wildcat named Simple J. Malarkey, who had the unmistakable face of U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin.
Kelly was one of the few cartoonists of the era willing to satirize McCarthy and his bullying tactics. In the spirit of cold-war liberalism, however, Kelly also lampooned the ideas and policies of communism by introducing into the strip a pig with Nikita Khrushchev’s face and a goat with Fidel Castro’s. Over the years Pogo also critiqued such controversial issues as the South’s resistance to desegregation and the turmoil surrounding the Vietnam War (1964-73). Editors would occasionally censor such topics, either by altering the strip’s artwork or by dropping certain political sequences altogether. Some editors simply began to run Pogo on the editorial page.
The comic strip’s popularity and satirical relevance began to fade during the 1960s. Some critics have contended that the middle-of-the-road liberalism of the previous decade, which had challenged McCarthyism and communism simultaneously, now appeared to be out of step with the complex problems of the decade.
After Kelly died in 1973, Pogo was continued for a while by Kelly’s children, Carolyn and Pete. The cartoon is still being reprinted in books. That the strip’s Okefenokee characters live on and are still fondly remembered is perhaps most visible each year in Waycross, which sponsors Pogofest, complete with arts and crafts, street dancing, and visits by well-known cartoonists. The celebration is a fitting commemoration of Pogo and its relationship with Georgia.
MYSTERY PHOTO
Artistic stairwell
CLUE: It’s artistic, the entrance to a stairwell. The blue painting on the wall look much like stitches on a baseball, but don’t let this throw you off. Can you figure out where this is? Send us your idea to elliott@brack.net, and be sure to include your hometown.
First in identifying last week’s photo was Philomena Robertson, now living in Flowery Branch. She said: “It’s Central Park in New York, The Mall, a quadruple row of American elms, and known as Central Park’s most important horticultural feature, and one of the largest and last remaining stands of American Elm trees in North America. Originally called the Promenade, the Mall was the place to stroll, wearing one’s Sunday best. The southern end of the Mall is known as Literary Walk. The statue of Christopher Columbus is the only one out of the five statues that does not depict a prominent writer – the other four statues — writers Fitz-Greene Halleck, Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and William Shakespeare.”
The photograph came from Susan McBurney of Sugar Hill. Michael Green of Milton wrote: “Pictured in the photograph is The Mall and Literary Walk in Central Park, New York City. The double row of American Elms is one of the largest groups of American Elms in the United States.”
Bob Foreman of Grayson said: “Looks like Central Park in New York City.” And Channing Haskell added: “Today’s picture looks like the Mall in Central Park.”
LAGNIAPPE
Spring has sprung
Spring has come to Kudzu Art Zone in Norcross with a new exhibit, exciting new classes and workshops and many opportunities to explore your creativity. The current exhibit is “Look on the Bright Side” an eclectic show, glowing with colors and light, expressed in many media – oils, watercolor, acrylic and photography by talented member artists. Among them is Sweet Change by Anne Labaire.
CREDITS
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