NEW for 9/2: On Appalachian Trail, stadiums, lots of letters

GwinnettForum  |  Number 21.65   |  Sept. 2, 2022

MOXIE WINNER: Adorned with garlands of congratulatory flowers, seven winners were recognized from more than 100 finalists at the Gwinnett Chamber’s 2022 Moxie Awards this week. Established to honor women professionals, the Moxie Awards program welcomed its largest crowd in program history with nearly 600 attendees. This year’s winners included: Carol Burrell, Northeast Georgia Health Systems; Lisa Anders, Explore Gwinnett Tourism and Film; Melissa Meeker, The Water Tower; Jennifer Fennell, Jackson EMC; Jasmine Billings, City of Lawrenceville; Hilda Abbott, RudHil Companies; and Jennifer Hibbard, ViewPoint Health.  (Photo  by Kate Awtrey-King, Awtrey Media Group.) 

IN THIS EDITION

TODAY’S FOCUS: Dahlonega family is flip-flopping the Appalachian Trail
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Baseball stadiums, beautiful medians, shoe soles and $50 co-pay
SPOTLIGHT: Georgia Banking Company
FEEDBACK: Big count: six letters to the editor on varied subjects
UPCOMING: Georgia Gwinnett bucks trend, with freshman enrollment up
NOTABLE: Sugar Hill gets Historical Record grant for digitizing records
RECOMMENDED: Bicycles Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni
GEORGIA TIDBIT: GEORGIA Magazine is publication of EMCs of the state
MYSTERY PHOTO: This mystery is not quite a Cream Puff, but should be easy
LAGNIAPPE: Ninth annual run at Annandale Village raises $125,000
CALENDAR: Public Health law scholar speaks in Norcross September 8

TODAY’S FOCUS

Dahlonega family is flip-flopping the Appalachian Trail

From left are Jasper, Grayson, Darrell, Baxter and Joni.

(Here’s an account of a family of Gwinnett residents on an adventure. Joni Skogman is a graduate of Parkview High, then Clemson for her BS, and the University of North Georgia for her M. Ed. Darrell Skogman went to West Hall High School, then to the University of North Georgia for his BS and M.Ed. Joni’s parents, Susan and Jordan Shenefield live in Lilburn, and in retirement, have worked out west during the summers at various national parks.—eeb)

By Jordan Shenefield

LILBURN, Ga.  |  After three years of planning, the Skogman family of Dahlonega began their flip-flop hike of the Appalachian Trail (AT) on May 31.  My wife and I drove our daughter Joni, her husband, Darrell, and their three  sons (Jasper, 15; Baxter, 13; and Grayson, 11) to their jumping off point, High Point State Park, N.J. Their grand adventure began at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy headquarters in Harpers Ferry, to get their AT hangtags.  (This is an outdoors family. Note the boy’s names: Grayson from Grayson Highlands State Park, Va; Jasper from Jasper National Park, Canada; and Baxter from Baxter State Park, Me.)

Shenefield

Discovering that there was bear activity along the AT between Delaware Water Gap (their original starting spot) and High Point State Park, we drove further north into the “deli states” (food near the trail) to avoid the bears.   

To hone their trail legs, Joni and Darrell initially planned shorter hiking days (7 to 10 miles) with lots of distractions: swimming holes, reasonably flat hikes and easy food.  At one shelter, they ordered Chinese food…delivered to the shelter!  One unexpected surprise was going to a drive-in movie theater in Warwick, N.Y., just off the AT and saw Top Gun Maverick. The theater owner supplies sound-track radios to AT hikers, so the family set up their tents, tuned in the radio, and watched.

The hiking got longer (12-15 miles) but the entertainment never stopped.  Darrell is a math teacher in the Hall County School System and Joni home schools the boys.  So they are using the AT as their school room for six months, practicing writing in their journals, learning about people they meet, and biology is everywhere!  (The boys have counted over 100 red efts, an Eastern newt.)  On their cell phones, they use the app to identify plants and birds. They’ve been dive bombed by blue jays, as they got too close to that nest? Everyday is a new and different learning experience, whether it’s the logistics of food, packing up their gear, and getting to the trailhead on a shuttle; hiking between the rocks of the lemon squeezer or Moosilauke; or swimming in the lakes and rivers they come across.  

Unfortunately, Joni developed shin splints about four weeks into their hike, so they had to slow their pace, taking “nero days” followed by four zero days in Williamstown, Mass.  Can you imagine hiking 2,194 miles without an injury?  Now multiply that by five.  The Skogmans had built-in days for situations like this.  When they passed the 100-mile mark, Jasper said, “One down, 21 to go.”  

They’re now over 400 miles and headed to Katahdin Mountain and the end of the trail.  Grampa and Grandie (Darrell’s parents) have been a huge help.  They drove their RV from Gainesville to Rutland, Vt. and have been meeting the family at road crossings with resupplies and other trail magic.  This has allowed the hikers to lighten their loads (which really helped Joni’s injury) and make some bigger mile days.  The hikers got shuttled to Hanover, N.H., so they could stay a little ahead of “the bubble.” Eventually, they’ll come back to get the 60 miles they missed between Rutland and Hanover.   

If you’d like to follow where the Skogman Family is in real time and read Darrell’s journal, they have set up a Linktree account.  https://linktr.ee/skogmanfamily  To get to the map, the password is “threeamigos.”  On a previous trip to Maine, they summited Katahdin.  They’ll do it again…get a shuttle back to High Point State Park…and start walking back home to Dahlonega.   

EEB PERSPECTIVE

Baseball stadiums, Social Security, shoe soles, $50 co-pay

By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum

SEPT. 2, 2022  |  Let’s have a little fun today.

Many of you are baseball fans.

So how well do you know your major league teams, and also know the name of the stadium which is home for each team?

Try your luck. Right below is the list of teams, and the lists of the stadiums.  Can you match the team and their stadium?  We’ll make you a “gimme.”   The answer for the Atlanta Braves will be C-28.

And there are some easy ones, such as the teams playing at Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field and Dodger Stadium.  But what team plays at Globe Life Field, or Guaranteed Rate Field?  Yep, some tough ones, unless you are on your toes about major league baseball.

Answers will be coming in the Tuesday edition. Meanwhile, enjoy this exercise.

Pristine medians: have you noticed the care that three cities are taking to the medians of Peachtree Industrial Boulevard? The cities of Duluth, Suwanee and Sugar Hill have taken the medians, originally planted in grasses, and added a variety of bushes and trees and cultivated them into attractive sites. That not only beautifies the area, it reduces the amount of grass space that the cities have to cut. So it’s pretty and less costly. Just like Community Improvement Districts beautifying their exits, the areas in Duluth and Suwanee are planted with shrubs and plants that require a minimum of water to survive. Sugar Hill uses a different approach, planting clumps of trees dispersed along the way. It all adds up to most  comforting, caring medians.

New fashion statement: What is it with men’s shoes these days?

Have you noticed how many of the guys are walking around in shoes with…of all things … .white soles?  Yep, brown, cordovan, black and even colored shoes, with a pure white sole.  

Can’t imagine why you would want white sole shoes. It really draws attention to the foot, the lowest part of the fashion world, especially the sole!  

Maybe it’s just a gimmick by the manufacturers to sell more shoes. It seems to be working, even with the catalog stores now offering this trend.

And yes, we’ve even seen a few shoes with colorful red or orange soles. Can’t imagine why, unless you are a Bulldog or Clemson fan.  But promote your team with a colored sole?  

Where and when did this $50 copay for medical visits come from? Seems every time I see someone in the medical field these days, no matter how minor, there goes another $50 copay fee.

Was I out of the loop, in another world, or maybe just plain not paying attention when someone imposed that fee on us?

(Reminds me of adverbs. I think I was out of the class for some reason the time they came up.)

That new fee is probably something that some governmental agency or bureaucrat thought up.  Or maybe it was the insurance companies, not wanting to charge us higher premiums, but requiring that we pay an added $50 every time we visit a doctor.  That way the insurance companies are “hands off,” free and clear of harming our pocketbooks.  I can hear them now: “We didn’t raise your premium,” at least for that.

Yet how come I am paying this fifty dollar outgo every time I turn around? 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Georgia Banking Company

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Georgia Banking Company (GBC) is custom-built to be the perfect fit for small to mid-sized businesses. Local decision-makers along with premier technology and personalized service are the most distinguishing traits that separates GBC from the current banking landscape. Every individual hired for this team has been specifically chosen for their ability to provide a high level of expertise and service as a banker who is invested in getting to know their clients at an authentic relationship level. Cultivating opportunities for growth, supporting communities, and ensuring businesses and individuals are positioned to prosper and thrive make GBC a banking partner business owners can rely on. GBC is a company that invests the time it takes to do things the right way. A company that lives and prospers by its values of service, expertise, and relationships. A company that has taken the best of banking, built a team aligned around those goals and is on a mission to deliver that relationship-based value to Georgia businesses. 

FEEDBACK

Foreman says there’s plenty of oil for U.S. in Alaska

Editor, the Forum: 

A friend of ours sent us this write-up of a conversation with a foreman who works at the oil fields at Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska, the most forsaken place this side of Siberia. Let me pass along some of his comments for your consideration.

“Our environmentalist friends say we have forced gas prices up to an impossible rate, forcing us to buy oil from our enemies. For whatever reason, that simply isn’t true.  There is enough oil in ANWR, alone, to supply the States, at our present rate of usage, for more than 200 years. The space that ANWR occupies in Alaska is equivalent to a postage stamp in the Mojave Desert.

“I would like to add a little more information.  First, a new pipeline across Alaska isn’t required, since the location for drilling in ANWR is about 160 miles from the North Slope Prudhoe Bay pipeline where it would be connected.  Secondly, the wildlife love the pipeline since it is heated and provides a shelter during the worst times during the winter.  The area where they are talking about drilling is a barren wasteland.  Check out Google Earth to see for yourself.”

– Lee Klaer, Duluth

Saddened to see end of Senior Leadership Gwinnett

Editor, the Forum: 

It was with sadness that I read of the disbanding of the Senior Leadership Gwinnett program. I went through it in 2006-2007 and the knowledge that I gained of Gwinnett and its workings was invaluable.  I was also involved as a facilitator for many years afterward. I am sorry that this program will not be available for future Gwinnett residents’ involvement.

I thought the recent Mystery Photo was of the Lock Bridge in Paris. Al and I put our lock on it in 2014!

– Barbara Grastat Karnitz, Norcross

Roe viewed by some with Feds taking power unlawfully

Editor, the Forum: 

Jack Bernhard inflates the recent SCOTUS abortion reversal to red vs. blue politics, ignoring the fact that Roe has always been viewed (by some) as the federal government taking power that didn’t belong to it. The United States is 50 states sharing common defense, trade, and foreign policy. Unless Jack cedes that a fetus has civil rights, then he must agree that the issue doesn’t belong with the federal government. 

Abortion, like murder, is a state issue. So we need to get on to the business of thinking the issue through, and constructing a ballot that the people can vote on and feel as though their voice has been heard and that puts the issue to rest in our state.  We need to know through a ballot if people accept the use of abortion as birth control, and if so up to what point in the pregnancy. We need to know if a medical issue arises beyond the birth control cut off that a licensed doctor can advise and conduct termination. We also need to know if public funds should be made available for birth control abortions.  

The guttmacher.org website gives a good framework for doing this:

Current Georgia law allows abortion performed by a licensed physician up to six weeks with public funds limited to life endangerment, rape, and incest. I don’t like abortion but think this is a reasonable compromise.

Joe Briggs, Suwanee

(Dear Joe: Ask around. You’ll find that many mothers never knew they were pregnant during their first six weeks. As some people say, that’s common knowledge.—eeb)

Finds Jack Bernard’s different perspective is “fun to read”

Editor, the Forum: 

Even though “tax refunds” are not likely to go the actual tax payer, that sounds preferable to outright debt forgiveness; but either one may appear to be  politically motivated.  Jack Bernard’s perspective is fun to read, but we usually differ in our perspective; I like the Supreme Court, even our Chief Justice.  The Justices  work independently on the cases they hear and then rule based on existing statute and precedent. Having three branches of the government is essential to keep our republic in balance .

– John Moore, Duluth

Agrees with Briggs position on student loans

Editor, the Forum: 

I am in complete agreement with Joe Briggs concerning the government and student loans.

In the 1960s my family had to donate land to Gwinnett for a right-of-way for the county to pave the road by our house. Now-a-days, Gwinnett County pays people for right-of-way property. 

Several years ago Gwinnett County installed a sewer line on the back side of my property. Their offer of property rights was tens of thousands of dollars. I felt very conflicted as I knew that if I were to accept their offer, it would be like kicking my parents in their teeth. So, yes, I feel your pain.

– Hoyt Tuggle, Buford 

Government paying off college loans is unfair 

Editor, the Forum: 

It is unfair to those who had to finance our own college costs. (In my case, I had multiple jobs when in college).  Giving money to a bunch of people that skated through college and then a bunch that never paid their loans off yet, is unfair to the bulk of American students who had to bust themselves to go to college.  In my case, a job that I had at the university owed me money after graduation and when I arrived home from college, there was a check waiting for me. 

Raleigh Perry, Buford 

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, and include your hometown.  The views of letters are the opinion of the contributor. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length.  Send feedback and letters to:  elliott@brack.net.

UPCOMING

Georgia Gwinnett bucks trend, freshman enrollment up

Georgia Gwinnett College has bucked enrollment trends for the fall semester with new student enrollment up 14 percent from fall 2021 and up 15 percent from fall 2020. The college’s total enrollment—new, returning and transfer students—is trending up a percentage point from last fall.

Michael Poll, GGC’s vice president of Enrollment Management Services, says that the college is working to reverse the enrollment declines caused by the global pandemic. 

“As pandemic restrictions have lifted, we have been able to meet with prospective students both on campus and in the high schools,” he says. “Both our admissions and financial aid offices have been most active hosting students on campus through tours, workshops, free testing and individual appointments.”

Poll adds that GGC’s outreach to high school campuses has been crucial in the college’s recruitment efforts. Unique programs such as instant decision days, as well as services such as transcript pick up, counseling appointments and college workshops have been well received by high school seniors.

“Offering extra assistance and guidance is particularly meaningful to students as they navigate the college enrollment process,” says Poll.

Although student enrollment numbers in the initial few weeks of the semester are typically fluid and subject to change, Poll feels all signs point to a robust fall enrollment. These numbers will be verified later this fall by the University System of Georgia. Other notable gains include:

  • New international students more than doubled over last year with an increase in students from South Korea, Vietnam and India.
  • New transfer student enrollment increased 33 percent over last fall.
  • Registered Hispanic students now stand at 27 percent, up a percentage point from last year.

With increases in enrollment come increases in students seeking the “full campus experience.” Toward that end, students living in campus housing increased 16 percent from last year.

“It appears we have turned the corner and are heading back to enrollment growth,” says Poll. “I expect this trend to continue for GGC.”

Gwinnett Elections Board seeking poll workers 

Gwinnett County’s Elections Board looks to hire nearly 2,500 elections workers to help at the polls. Several hiring events are scheduled in September to fill needed positions.

Depending on the position, a poll worker can make up to a $390 stipend.

Those who qualify and are interested in applying online may do so at GwinnettCountyJobs.com. Those who would like to apply in-person may do so during several hiring events scheduled next month.

Gwinnett’s Elections Department will hold several hiring events on the following dates: 

  • Sept. 6 from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Five Forks Branch Library, 2780 Five Forks Trickum Road in Lawrenceville;
  • Sept. 8 from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Centerville Branch Library, 3025 Bethany Church Road in Snellville;
  • Sept. 13 from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Duluth Branch Library, 3180 Main Street in Duluth;
  • Sept. 19 from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Dacula Branch Library, 265 Dacula Road in Dacula; and
  • Sept. 24 from noon until 4 p.m. at the Norcross Branch Library, 5735 Buford Highway in Norcross.

NOTABLE

Sugar Hill gets grant for digitizing historical records

The Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council (GHRAC) seeks to enrich the culture and protect the rights of Georgians by fostering activities that identify, preserve, and provide access to the state’s documentary heritage. 

Using funds awarded to the University of Georgia Libraries and the Georgia Archives by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission GHRAC has awarded grants totaling $35,000 to the following entities to develop and/or implement projects to identify, preserve, and provide access to historical records:  

  • Middle Georgia State University Library 
  • Okefenokee Heritage Center 
  • Charles D. Switzer Library 
  • Upson Historical Society 
  • Sugar Hill HPS 
  • Atlanta History Center 
  • Alexander Campbell King Law Library 
  • Booker T. Washington High School 
  • Chipley Historical Center 

One award is to the City of Sugar Hill and Sugar Hill Historic Preservation Society. The amount is up to $4,765 to digitize city council records from 1992-1995.

Kathryn Baskin, chair of the Sugar Hill Historic Preservation Society, says “We are ecstatic to receive these funds so the Sugar Hill City Council minutes will be preserved.  The earlier years, beginning with 1939, are already in the works at the Digital Library of Georgia. They will also be working with us on the years covered by the GHRAC grant.”

PCOM physician assistants, therapists gain their white coats

PA students celebrate getting their white coats.

The song “Heal the World” by Michael Jackson, sung by Alison Ritter (PA ’24), a student in the Physician Assistant Studies program at PCOM Georgia in Suwanee, marked the beginning of the Physician Assistant White Coat Ceremony August 19 at the Gas South District in Duluth.

Thirty-two first-year PA students, members of the Class of 2024, received their white coats, which PCOM Georgia PA-Site Director Rebekah Thomas, says symbolize professionalism, integrity and the highest commitment to caring for the sick. She adds: “It conveys respect and is a visual reminder of the trust we must earn from our patients.”

Later in the afternoon, 38 second-year doctor of physical therapy students, also members of the class of 2024, received their white coats as a symbol of “your transformative journey in becoming a healthcare professional,” Ruth Maher, chair of the physical therapy program, says. “Your white coat is an everlasting symbol of the physical therapy profession’s purity of purpose – placing the interests of patients first and above self-interest. It’s a symbol of your integrity, trust and compassion in addressing the rights and needs of your patients.”

The two ceremonies, attended by family members, friends and faculty members, were a time of celebration and transitions for these future healthcare professionals.

A 2014 graduate of the PA program at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Tsitsi Masviba addressed the physician assistant students. After working at the Georgetown University department of neurosurgery for eight years, she recently moved to Georgia and works as part of the neurosurgery and neurointerventional team in the Northeast Georgia Health System’s physician group.

She says: “You are officially becoming a part of a community that meets people at some of the lowest points in their life, but you are now being trained and will have the privilege, trust and honor to heal in your community.”

Remi Onifade provided remarks for the Doctor of Physical Therapy White Coat Ceremony. She serves as the clinic director at Team Rehabilitation Physical Therapy, is an adjunct professor at Morehouse College, and co-founded the National Association of Black Physical Therapists. In addition, she serves as the American Physical Therapy Association, Georgia chapter, vice president and the chair of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee. 

Dr. Onifade urged the physical therapy scholars to “embrace change that is needed to improve diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in our society.”

Gwinnett’s budget review team already working for 2023

Gwinnett County department directors and elected officials – from the Sheriff’s Office to the Clerk of Courts – began presenting their 2023 business plans to a Citizens Review Team on August 29.

Veteran team members Hilda Abbott, David Cuffie, Michelle Kang and Asif Jessani will again lend their expertise. New to the review team this year is Buzz Brockway, vice president of public policy at the Georgia Center for Opportunity and former member of the Georgia House of Representatives.

  • Abbott is the founder of RudHil Companies, co-chair of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Hispanic Business Center and member of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. 
  • Cuffie is CEO of Total Vision Consulting LLC and director of church ministries for Berean Christian Church Gwinnett. 
  • Kang is with the Korean American Public Action Committee of Atlanta
  • Jessani is a principal marketing and technology consultant with CCS. 
  • Have a comment?  Send to: elliott@brack.net

RECOMMENDED

Bicycles Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni

From Karen J. Harris, Stone Mountain: Nikki Giovanni’s Bicycles, Love Poems is a delightful collection of whimsical, humorous, and filled with pictures about life and relationships.  There are several free verse pieces that tell a story about the topics.  Examples include Blacksburg Under Siege August 2004, Good Books, We are Virginia Tech April 2007 and Free Huey, which tell stories about events and also create scenes filled with possibilities.  A great short exploration of poems filled with resonance and the full range of feeling.

  • An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (150 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next.  Send to: elliott@brack.net 

GEORGIA TIDBIT

GEORGIA Magazine is publication of EMCs of the state

GEORGIA Magazine is the state’s largest-circulation monthly magazine, a general-interest publication that averages more than half a million monthly subscribers with an estimated readership of more than one million. The magazine is the official publication of Georgia Electric Membership Corp. (Georgia EMC), the trade association that serves the state’s forty-one consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperatives.

The state’s oldest monthly magazine, GEORGIA Magazine launched in July 1945 as RURAL GEORGIA, a newspaper tabloid mailed to rural homes served by the state’s EMCs. Originally, the magazine was produced by Georgia EMC staff members. The periodical’s first editor, Belmont Dennis, was hired in 1945. Since then, there have been 14 editors, including the current editor Laurel George.

In 1951  Georgia EMC Manager Walter Harrison became editor of the tabloid, which operated out of Georgia EMC offices in his hometown of Millen. Instrumental in organizing the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), Harrison served three separate turns as editor of the state association’s publication and contributed a monthly column.

In 1958 RURAL GEORGIA expanded to 16 pages. Later, it moved from a sheet-fed press to a web press and significantly raised advertising revenue. Along with Georgia EMC, the newspaper tabloid moved its offices from Millen to Atlanta and, under the leadership of Bill Blankinship, became a 32 page, four-color magazine in 1977. Emphasis was put on special editions to build advertising and circulation, which, in 1980, surpassed 200,000.  That same year, the magazine surveyed its readers and, based on the results, created what continue to be its most popular departments: a calendar of events and cooking and gardening columns. The magazine was named the best electric cooperative magazine in a NRECA national competition in 1980.

In 1990 RURAL GEORGIA changed its name to GEORGIA Magazine to reflect its readership, which had grown to include those in both rural and suburban communities.

As the magazine’s circulation increased to a monthly average of more than 500,000, a more efficient means of printing was sought. In 2002 the publication partnered with Quad/Graphics, one of the largest printers in the nation near Forsyth. Simultaneously,  the magazine embraced new technical trends, winning national industry awards for its website and offering readers a digital edition of the magazine in a flip-page format.

Along with its statewide edition, GEORGIA Magazine serves 29 of the state’s EMCs which incorporate their own newsletters into the magazine’s centerfold, bringing local co-op news as well as state EMC news to their members.

In 2016 the publication partnered with the Digital Library of Georgia, which archived the magazine and provided online access to past issues.

MYSTERY PHOTO

This mystery is not quite a Cream Puff, but should be easy

It’s obvious that this is a library from what it says over the building. But where is it located?  Join in the search, and try to identify the location of this building. Send your answer to elliott@brack.net and include your hometown. 

The last cream puff mystery got a lot of answers.

Billy Chism of Toccoa wrote: “Mystery photo is the Butterfly House at Callaway Gardens. But where is the wooden cupola that adorns it?  Maybe the angle of the photo obscures it.

“The cupola came from atop the Victoria Hand house in Pelham, Ga. (my home town). Placing it on the butterfly house was a tip of the hat to Virginia Hand Callaway, who married Cason Callaway.  Together, they conceived and developed Callaway Gardens. In fact, the visitors center is named the Virginia Hand Callaway Visitors Center. By the way, inside the cupola were butterflies, carved into the wood in the late 1800s when the house was built.” The photo came from Pamela Brooks of Norcross.

Elaine Still of Braselton recognized “the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Garden located at Callaway Gardens.   It is a wonderful place to visit, as you will enjoy the beauty of the butterflies as they fly freely around the area.” 

Others recognizing it were Cindy Evans, Duluth; Tim Sullivan, Buford; George Graf, Palmyra, Va.; Bob Foreman, Grayson; Marlene Ratledge Buchanan, Snellville; Virginia Klaer, Duluth; Lou Camerio, Lilburn; John Moore, Duluth; Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; and Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. 

Peel wrote: “The center opened on September 25, 1988 and was one of the first three butterfly centers in the U.S. and is North America’s largest glass-enclosed tropical conservatory. There are over 50 different species and more than a thousand butterflies housed in the center at different times of the year. The center actually buys the butterflies from farmers in six different countries: Malaysia, Tanzania, Costa Rica, the Philippines, El Salvador and Ecuador. When the butterflies are in the pupa stage of their life (i.e. when the caterpillar is fully grown and stops eating), they are sent to Callaway Gardens via the U.S. Mail, FedEx or UPS in small cardboard boxes padded with cotton.

“The butterfly center was named after Cecil B. Day (1934-1978), an American hotelier from Macon who was best known for founding the hotel chain Days Inn. At age 22, Day, who was a real-estate salesman at the time, was instrumental in helping Developer Scott Hudgens Jr. (1923-2000), purchase a number of properties in the mid-1950s.” 

LAGNIAPPE

Ninth annual run at Annandale Village raises $125,000

Supporters helped raise $125,000 during Annandale Village’s 9th Annual Extra Mile 5K and 1 Mile, held recently in downtown Suwanee. Along with the more than 400 in-person and virtual participants, this makes it Annandale’s largest 5K to date! Proceeds raised benefit Annandale Village, one of only three organizations in the entire United States providing a full continuum of service and care for adults living with developmental disabilities and acquired brain injuries. Brian Post was the overall male winner and Kelly Gilliam was the overall female winner at Saturday’s event. The complete list of category winners and overall times can be found on the event’s website via annandale.org.

CALENDAR

Meet the author: A talk with Professor Polly J. Price will be Thursday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Norcross Public Library. She is a Public Health Law Scholar who will discuss her new book Plagues in the Nation. Her book sheds light on the U.S. government’s response to epidemics through history–with larger conclusions about COVID-19 and reforms needed before the next plague. 

The 21st British Car Fayre will be Saturday, Sept. 10 in downtown Historic Norcross, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Join as many as 15,000 who visit this annual event, showing British automobiles and motorcycles from the past. The featured vehicle this year is a 2022 Land Rover. There will be awards, raffle and “boot” sale, with all earnings going to the Amanda Riley Foundation. Visit https://www.atlantabritishcarfayre.com for more details. 

Put on your calendar:  The 43rd Annual Elisha Winn Fair will be Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 1-2, at the Elisha Winn House, Gwinnett’s birthplace, at 908 Dacula Road in Dacula. Enjoy a living history exhibit, good food, craft vendors, music, blacksmithing, weaving, spinning and military enactors. The fair is sponsored by the Gwinnett Historical Society.  

OUR TEAM

GwinnettForum is provided to you at no charge every Tuesday and Friday.   

Meet our team

More

  • Mailing address: P.O. Box 1365, Norcross, Ga. 30091
  • Work with us:  If you would like to learn about how to be an underwriter to support the publication of GwinnettForum as a community resource for news and commentary, please contact us today.

SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE

Subscriptions to GwinnettForum are free.  

  • Click to subscribe.
  • Unsubscribe.  We hope you’ll keep receiving the great news and information from GwinnettForum, but if you need to unsubscribe, go to this page and unsubscribe in the appropriate box.

© 2022, Gwinnett Forum.com. Gwinnett Forum is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA.

Share