Full issues

7/23: Helping Young Eagles; Freedom from fear; Stalking law

July 22, 2019 6:01 pm·

GwinnettForum  |  Number 19.32 |  July 23, 2019

CROWDED DAY: The hazardous waste collection at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds by Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful was a successful project, as hundreds of pounds of waste from 1,800 households was brought in by Gwinnett residents, to recycle or take to the landfills. Traffic backed up on Sugarloaf Parkway for about a mile as the site was popular. Though she had to wait more than an hour, one lady reported “We felt a real sense of accomplishment and civic pride at having participated.” 
IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: Veteran Pilots Give Flight Time to Young Eagles 
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Freedom from Fear Is One of Our Basic Rights in the USA
ANOTHER VIEW: Recent Parking Lot Encounter Covered by Georgia’s Stalking Law
SPOTLIGHT: Peach State Federal Credit Union 
FEEDBACK: Applying 19th Century Imponderables to Today’s Production World
UPCOMING: Sugarloaf Rotary Plans Fifth Annual Gwinnett Duck Derby August 3
NOTABLE: Sugarloaf CID Installs License Plate Readers To Improve Safety
RECOMMENDED: The Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Great Depression Was Hard on the Music Industry in Georgia
MYSTERY PHOTO: What Is In This Vast Array In Mainly Red and Yellow? 
LAGNIAPPE: Using a Local Asset: Having Fun on the Chattahoochee River
CALENDAR: Some coming events

TODAY’S FOCUS

Veteran pilots give flight time to Young Eagles hoping to be pilots

(Editor’s Note: Veteran pilots routinely give young hopeful pilots assistance in earning their flight wings. Here’s an account of one recent mission by Bill Bell of Peachtree Corners, who has been flying since after college graduation.—eeb)

By Bill Bell

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga.  | The sun rose on June 15 to a beautiful day with fair skies and still air.  Sandy Asman and I pulled our airplanes from hangers at DeKalb Peachtree Airport and headed early for Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville (LZU). Our mission is to give Young Eagle members of the Experimental Aircraft Association flight time.

Bell

There we were joined by pilots Alex Kirkland, Bill Thomasson, Brian Michael, Chuck Roberts, Chris Serra, Duane Huff, Francois de Fromont, Jeremy Welch, John Post, and Mark Sirull for the monthly Young Eagles Rally at EAA690, the local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association.  

For many of our Young Eagles this would be their first airplane flight.  They registered for the event with a staff comprised of Barbara Epstein, Marina Yorish, and Gay Roberts, who handled the paperwork required for each flight. 

Their first stop was a ground school briefing conducted by Dr. Debi Huffman, recently retired from the Fernbank Science Center.  Her briefing included basic instruction in the physics of flight and what to expect during their flight.  

Next they had the option to fly one of several flight simulators on site under the tutelage of Wes Riddick, an employee of Delta Airlines.  When their number was called, they were escorted to the waiting aircraft by a member of the ground crew.  Serving this day were Ben Davis, Larry Wallis, Tom Hilborn, Paul Kyser, Joshua Foster, Dennis Crosgrove, Allen Maynard, Jeff Coffey, Chad Cheek, Fred Yoder, and John Morrow. 

The pilots give each Young Eagle a short preflight briefing before departing LZU for a one-half hour flight to either Lake Lanier or Stone Mountain.  Today I would be flying to Lake Lanier.  The airport’s recorded ATIS alpha identifier midmorning was information “DELTA” and advised us of local winds, ceilings, the local barometric pressure (which we use to adjust our altimeters to current pressure), the runway to use, and local conditions that might affect the flight. 

After being cleared by the ground controller, we taxi to Runway 7.  After a preflight run-up to check the magnetos and carb heat function, we are cleared for take-off with a left turn north on course for Lake Lanier. 

Lake Lanier Islands is about 13 nautical miles from LZU and we climb out at 90 knots and about 500 feet per minute for a cruising altitude of 3,000 feet above sea level.  That’s about 2,000 feet above ground level as the Atlanta area is about 1,000 feet above sea level.  Our cruising speed will be 115 knots, about 132 statute mph.  Within eight or nine  minutes we are over the lake and circle over Lake Lanier Islands and Holiday Marina, then fly northeast for several minutes so the passengers can get a glimpse of this magnificent lake.  

Many Young Eagles have never been to Lake Lanier Islands and are enthralled by the seven water slides, beaches, and the wave pool.  Soon, we turn back. About 10 miles out we contact the control tower at LZU and are ushered into the arrival sequence for Runway 7.  After a short debriefing, each Young Eagle is awarded a certificate of participation and a logbook to document his or her flight.  

By the end of the day we have flown 53 young people.  It is a great joy to share this enriching hobby with young people.  The local chapter has flown over 8,000 Young Eagles since 1992.  It flies Young Eagles to rallys every third Saturday, weather permitting.

EEB PERSPECTIVE

Freedom from fear is one of our basic rights in the USA

By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum

JULY 23, 2019  | It was the way that President Trump went about trying to deport people that bugged me.  He made several announcements and pronouncements well in advance that on a certain Sunday there would be raids to “send ‘em back” to their home country.

This caused great fear among people, many of them working steadily for their citizenship, fearful that they somehow would be caught up in this rush to judgment, and be deported.

It was the “fear factor” that concerns me. If you really want to intervene and return people to the country they came from, why announce it in advance?  Simply without any advanced publicity, immediately start rounding up people and try to deport them. Of course, I don’t support rounding up anyway.

But signal in advance?  That only instituted a great fear among many groups that was unnecessary.

Not only that, but people in the United States have unsaid rights that are not in the Constitution. President Franklin Roosevelt, back in 1941, proclaimed our four freedoms.

  • Freedom of speech.
  • Freedom of worship.
  • Freedom from want.
  • Freedom from fear.

The first two are basic in the First Amendment of our Constitution. President Roosevelt added two more items that Americans now feel key to their survival.  

The freedom from want speaks to our land of opportunity for everyone, where a person can by his own efforts get an education, then a decent job, provide for his family, and do so without any limits imposed by others. While some people have not attained this desirable goal, it has worked for so many, rising from their birth status with some reaching the highest of economic levels.

Norman Rockwell’s depiction of “Freedom from Fear.”

One way these people attain freedom from want is that they can do so in an atmosphere where they are not afraid. They know that the Constitution gives them certain protections, that their house cannot be invaded without cause; that they cannot be tried in a court of law without evidence; and that they can live in peace at home, knowing that their government provides them with protections, including police, fire and emergency personnel, should they need them.

This lets you sleep peacefully and soundly at night.  It gives you the strength to rise and shine and tackle the world the next day.

Compare living in this climate in the United States with living in a country where there are no such guaranteed protections. Perhaps that country is run by a dictator. Would you feel peace trying to go to sleep at night if your leader was tyrannical?

Think about this when you go to bed tonight.

EVER HEARD of the Roosevelt Institute?  It exists to honor individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to the four freedoms. 

A medal has been awarded, beginning in 1982, for such individuals. Ceremonies take place in Hyde Park, N.Y. and Middleburg, Netherlands, during alternate years. The first award came on the centenary of FDR’s birthday, which was also the bicentenary of diplomatic relations  between the United States and the Netherlands. 

Among the laureates have been three Georgians, Jimmy Carter, Coretta Scott King and Joanne Woodward. The complete list: 

Have a comment?  Send to: elliott@brack.net

ANOTHER VIEW

Recent parking lot encounter covered by Georgia’s stalking law

By Raleigh Perry

BUFORD, Ga.  | The other day I had an encounter with someone while discussing politics with a third party.  The man cursed the Democrats for the innocuous reason that some of the candidates did not wear American Flag pins on their lapels.

Perry

I turned to the man, who is old enough to have served in the military and asked him if he had ever been in the military, served during a war, or ever wore one of those flag pins on his lapel.  The answer to all was NO.  

The interesting thing about those flag pins, and most of the flags that people have on their houses, is that they are made in China.  I am sure that some are made in the USA, but they would be precious few and cost far more.  

There was an encounter in Gwinnett last week where a man, seeing a car with a lot of pro-Democratic stickers on it, put a couple of Trump stickers on the car.  When the owner of the car returned, he screamed obscenities at her. Then as she left the parking lot, he followed her.  He called her, as reported in the paper, an “expletive” traitor. 

The Georgia law that would handle this is: Georgia Stalking, Title 16, Chapter 5, Article 7. Stalking in Georgia is defined as someone following, placing under surveillance, or contacting a non-consenting person for the purpose of harassing or intimidating that person.

If someone follows you or harasses you and you feel threatened and unsafe, you can report that person. Unlike many other states, under Georgia’s stalking law, it is a crime the first time it happens.

Stalking was not mentioned in the news article, but according to the fact that this man said something out of line to her and then followed her, that is stalking.  They knew who the man was by the time the article was written. The police are looking into it.  

This is where politics have caused a big problem.  Why is it that many Republicans, in particular, seem to think that this country is theirs and no one else’s? Judging from the most recent election, they get a surprise in the next election. 

I am beginning to think that it would be wise for me, a political being myself, to start carrying a firearm.  I have firearms, pistols included, but never once have carried one.  I do have a Carry Permit, but the only reason I have that is when I am going to a range for target practice.  I have never carried a gun, not even during the times I was in the jungles of Vietnam.  If it appeared that I needed to kill someone in Vietnam, I guess the government thought I would be able to just stare at them and “ugly” them to death. They were probably right.  

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Peach State Federal Credit Union 

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Peach State Federal Credit Union is a $570 million credit union that serves more than 60,000 members throughout Georgia and South Carolina. Operating as a not-for-profit financial cooperative, Peach State’s mission is to provide quality financial services that meet the needs and exceed the expectations of its member-owners.

  • For a list of other sponsors of this forum, click here

 FEEDBACK

Applying 19th century imponderables to today’s production world

Editor, the Forum: 

Karl Marx responded to the industrial revolution with his first three manuscripts as masses moved from the farms to cities into factories for new work.  Now the workers may not even use their own tools. As things developed, they became machine tenders and the end product had nothing to do with them as it did in the past. Alienation was his term. Capital formation created great power against any effort of labor and opposition positions evolved.   

A hundred years later, we struggle to solve a new production situation and new social situation. Go to a production facility today. There aren’t many people and most are degreed engineers tending robots.  Small vendors are succeeding by using the Internet. Service companies do well in support to maintain most everything. Professional services may be replaced by robots.   

“Each according to need” may be obsolete in Karl’s own terms.  Socialism is an obsolete 19th
Century reaction to a social and industrial revolution.  It may become a matter of humanity or faith.   Are we going to take care of one another, or is it truly survival of the fittest?

— Byron Gilbert, Berkeley Lake

Thanks, Byron. In today’s Instagram and Twitter world, we don’t get a lot of deep imponderables like you set out. What!  Causes us to think!–eeb 

Send us your thoughts:  We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum.  Please limit comments to 300 words. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to:  elliott@brack.net

UPCOMING

Sugarloaf Rotary plans 5th annual Gwinnett Duck Derby Aug. 3

Members of the Rotary Club of Sugarloaf herd the ducks prior to the race.

Children, youth and those most vulnerable are the winners as the Rotary Club of Sugarloaf hosts the fifth Annual Gwinnett Duck Derby at the West Gwinnett Park Aquatic Center in Norcross on Saturday, August 3. Gwinnett businesses have sponsored this fun, family event, while individuals are adopting ducks for $5 each.  All are invited to come to the free event, scheduled for 3 to 7 p.m., to swim and to see the ducks race.

Proceeds will go towards the club’s local and international programs.  The Rotary Club of Sugarloaf, founded in 1982, is part of Rotary International and is known for its service to the community and support for such organizations as the Lawrenceville Boys and Girls Club, Corley Elementary School, Gwinnett Medical Center, Annandale Village and Nothing but the Truth Ministries.

The Rotary Club of Sugarloaf is made up of business owners and community leaders with a heart to serve others. By raising funds each year, the club has been able to: 

  • Outfit a recreation room for the Lawrenceville Boys and Girls Club;
  • Fund a reading room for Corley Elementary School;
  • Purchase equipment for The Concussion Institute at Gwinnett Medical Center;
  • Provide sidewalks for Annandale Villagers;
  • Provide weekend meals for Gwinnett school children; and 
  • Continue the Polio Plus effort of Rotary International aimed at eradicating polio.

The racing of the ducks occurs at 4:30 p.m., while pool games, a food truck and a DJ will add to the fun.    Approximately 3,500 ducks will be launched from a slide into a lazy river preceded by the club’s duck mascot. The ducks will flow into a catch basin and the first three finishers will be awarded prizes.  The first place prize is $2,500, the second place prize is $1,000, and the third place prize is $500. Even the last place duck will earn its adoptive parent a cash prize of $10.

Georgia Gwinnett College’s summer commencement to be on July 25

Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) will hold its summer commencement ceremony at 10 a.m., July 25 at the Infinite Energy Center Arena. Almost 180 students will receive their bachelor’s degrees.

This will be the first commencement officiated by the college’s new president. Dr. Jann L. Joseph, who began working at GGC July 1. 

Courtney Williams will speak on behalf of her fellow graduates. A DeKalb County native, Williams has already put her degree in business administration into action by founding two businesses and an online presence as a social media influencer in her professional field of natural hair care. 

The arena doors for the event will open at 9 a.m. Attendees are advised to arrive early due to the ongoing construction around the Infinite Energy Center and its parking lots.

NOTABLE

Sugarloaf CID installs license plate readers to improve safety

The Sugarloaf Community Improvement District (CID) has installed 10 new automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in the district. The cameras were installed in locations determined in partnership with the Gwinnett County Police Department with the goal of catching criminals at the entry and exit points to the CID for the benefit of CID members.

The solar-powered, wireless cameras are provided by Flock Safety of Atlanta (https://www.flocksafety.com) and have the ability to capture a vehicle’s license plate day or night, as well as the make, model, and color. Timestamps are also included in recordings, making it easy to search for a specific vehicle. As a part of the agreement with Flock Safety, the Gwinnett County Police Department, with the permission of the camera owners, is provided with access to recordings made by the cameras in order to quickly respond to any incidents in the district.

According to Flock Safety, the FBI estimates property crime victims suffered a collective loss of $15.6 billion in 2016, and that approximately 87 percent of nonviolent crimes in our country remain unsolved. This is often because of a lack of evidence that police say starts with the license plate. The Atlanta Police Foundation notes that when an area is properly covered, crime can be reduced by 30 to 50 percent as better evidence necessary to solve crimes can be provided from the footage cameras capture. 

Gwinnett Police Department Major Chris Smith says: “Technological advancements are changing law enforcement and how we police. These new technologies are enabling large corporations, small businesses, communities and even the everyday citizen to be more active in their own safety and protection.  They can provide real time data and information that can then be shared with Law Enforcement to make for a more collaborative effort in reducing, deterring and identifying crime.”

The 10 cameras, leased at a total cost of $15,000 a year, have already proven to be a valuable asset to the community. Earlier in the year, a one-year-old girl who was the subject of a statewide Amber Alert was found safe, because, in part, to the Sugarloaf CID’s cameras. The vehicle in question in the Amber Alert, a white GMC, was spotted by one of the district’s cameras, and the footage was released to the Gwinnett County Police Department to aid in the search efforts. 

CID Chairman Brand Morgan says: “The CID believes the program will not only be critical to helping police solve crimes, but that it will also be a major deterrent to crime. We think criminals will quickly get the message that if you commit a crime in the Sugarloaf CID, you won’t get away with it.”

RECOMMENDED

The Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman

From Karen Harris, Stone Mountain: A knock on the door of Ethan and Jorie’s home one morning upends their lives and dark secrets emerge in a nightmarish flood reshaping the lives of everyone in the town which undergoes an existential crisis. The book shows how truth can be stretched and snarled when an evil deed is revealed, and the world as understood is forever swept away The names of the chapters; “The Hanged Man,” “The Conjurer,” “Mercy,” “Blackbird,” and “Nightshade,” provide a glimpse of each turn in the story.  Alice Hoffman readers will be unable to put down the title until it ends because of her fluid and descriptive writing style and her ability to describe the feelings of the characters. The Blue Diary is not an easy read as the subject matter is heart-rendering. Still it is worth the reader’s time.”

  • 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.  Send to: elliott@brack.net 

GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA TIDBIT

Great Depression was hard on the music industry in Georgia

(Continued from previous edition)

A religious music influence is strongly apparent in the Yellow Hammers’ recordings. The Calhoun Times of the 1920s reveals that religious singing was as popular in Gordon County as it was throughout the South. Newspapers often announced a “singing.” Landress was an officer in singing conventions. He read shape notes and sang a strong bass.

“Pass Around the Bottle” and “Fourth of July,” with their trio harmonizing (featuring Meadows as tenor, Landress as lead, and probably Chitwood as bass), set the style for the Yellow Hammers’ recordings. Only Chitwood and Landress sing on “Midnight Train,” and “Grey Mule” features Chitwood, who sings by himself with mule-snorting effects. Typical of the era, these recordings were made on a flat-fee, no-royalty basis—an arrangement the group was able to change from the next session onward.

The quartet reassembled for a couple of sacred selections, accompanied on pump reed organ by J. M. Barnette, issued under the name of the Turkey Mountain Singers. One of the tunes recorded by the Yellow Hammers at this time, and the only strictly instrumental selection, was “G Rag,” for which, as several sources have confirmed, Andrew Baxter took over the fiddling from Landress, who instead contributes the humorous spoken introduction. 

Baxter was an older black fiddler who occasionally performed with the band, making the Yellow Hammers one of the few integrated bands of the time.

Also recorded at the 1927 session was the coupling “The Picture on the Wall”  “My Carolina Girl,” which proved far and away the best-selling record the Yellow Hammers ever had and one of the top sellers of the late 1920s southern market. The record became a hit and sold more than 60,000 copies in 1928 alone and probably more than twice that in all.

The Great Depression was hard on the record industry. It brought to an end not only the Yellow Hammers’ recordings but also the Moss music store, the center of so much music activity in Calhoun. 

Reeve went to work for the Georgia Department of Agriculture. The others, except Landress, turned to other work as well. Landress continued performing into the 1940s with a group called the Georgia Mountaineers, who also played over WRGA in Rome. Landress died in 1966, Reeve died in 1949, Chitwood died in 1961, Clyde Evans died in 1975, and Ernest Moody died in 1977.

MYSTERY PHOTO

What is this vast array of mainly red and yellow?

Here’s a modern-looking inside-the-building scene. Some of you may have been there, or have seen it in other publications. So, can you identify it?  Send your answers to elliott@brack.net, including your hometown!

First in spotting the most recent mystery photo was Lou Camerio, Lilburn: “This is the Roman Amphitheater in Arles, France. Once used for chariot races and Gladiator fights, now still used for bull fights, plays and concerts.”  The image came from George Graf of Palmyra, Va. Also recognizing it were Theirn Scott, Lawrenceville; Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; and Jim Savedelis of Duluth.

Allan Peel, San Antonio, Texas: “Today’s mystery photo is of the Arles Amphitheater, an ancient, First Century Roman Amphitheater located in the southern French town of Arles, on the western edge of the Provence Region of France. This two-tiered UNESCO World Heritage site measures 446-ft long and 358-ft wide and was built in 90 AD. It features 120 arches, one of which was used to frame today’s mystery photo.

“The Arles Amphitheater design was very much inspired by the Colosseum in Rome (circa 72-80 AD), but on a much smaller scale. Just like the Colosseum, the Arles has an oval arena surrounded by terraces, with arcades between the arches on two levels, bleachers around the top of the structure, a drainage system in many corridors of access and many staircases for a quick exit from the crowd.  Designed to seat ‘only’ 20,000 spectators (in contrast, the Colosseum which could seat from 50,000 to 87,000 people), the Arles was built to provide entertainment in the form of bloody hand-to-hand gladiator battles, chariot races and theatrical performances.  Today, the Arles Amphitheater is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in the city of Arles and it draws large crowds for bullfighting events during several Ferias d’Arles (spring and fall festivals) as well as plays and concerts during the summer months.”

LAGNIAPPE

TAKING ADVANTAGE of a local asset, lots and lots of people, possibly 400, came to Rogers Bridge Park on the Chattahoochee River last Saturday for a day of tubing. Roving Photographer Frank Sharp caught this scene. Note people standing in the middle of the river, indicating its depth on this day. 

CALENDAR

Health Fair and Back To School Event will be Saturday, July 27, at Bogan Road Park, 2723 North Bogan Road, in Buford from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. The event will prepare attendees for the school year with free health screening, plus activities for the kids. There will be free school supplies for students. The health screenings will be for all ages.

Writer’s Workshop: When it comes to writing, every writer is unique.  But mistakes made by first-time authors are not unique.  Author and publisher, Nury Crawford, will discuss the most common mistakes new writers make, how to find a competent and affordable editor, the three ways to get your work published, and your writer’s “rights.”  Presented by Gwinnett County Public Library, this workshop will take place on Saturday, July 27 at 1 p.m. at the Suwanee Branch, 361 Main Street, Suwanee. It is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.gwinnettpl.org or call 770-978-5154.

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Author: GwinnettForum.com is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA. We encourage your opinions. Send Feedback to: elliott@brack.net.
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