GwinnettForum | Number 25.92 | Nov. 25, 2025
LIFE SAVERS: A Jackson EMC crew was awarded a Georgia EMC Life Saving Award for their efforts helping two people involved in a severe two-car accident in Gwinnett County. The crew members are, from left, Michael Simmons, Jacob Miller, Kyler Hosch, Andrew Quint and Paul Everett. See more details in Notable below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Couple finds surprise on Portugal cruise
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Carter campaigns on sending ICE agents to Atlanta
FEEDBACK: The voting system that should be secure, safe and easy
UPCOMING: Regents vice chair is GGC commencement speaker
NOTABLE: Jackson EMC crew win statewide distinction
RECOMMENDED: Presumption, by Julia Barrett
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Yellow Hammers were a fiddle string band
MYSTERY PHOTO: Take a little caution when identifying this photo
LAGNIAPPE: Blended global tradition highlight GGC Thanksgiving
CALENDAR: PDC asks Wednesday: What we are thankful for?”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This week’s issue is a day late due to technical issues on Tuesday. Additionally, GwinnettForum will pause for Thanksgiving. The next issue will appear Dec. 2. Meanwhile, we hope your Thanksgiving is a good one. –eeb
Couple finds surprise on a Portugal cruise
(Editor’s note: A Gwinnett couple recently returned from a Viking cruise on the Douro River in Portugal — and came home with a surprising new appreciation for one of the world’s most unusual natural materials: cork.”—eeb
By Tom Ferrin
SUWANEE, Ga. | Our journey began with a brief stay in Lisbon, followed by a bus ride to Porto, where the cruise embarked. The route wound through the heart of Portugal’s port-wine region — mile after mile of steep vineyard terraces rising above the river. Port wine is produced exclusively in the Douro Valley, and tastings accompanied the trip from start to finish.
But the unexpected highlight wasn’t wine at all. It was cork.
Most travelers know cork as a simple wine-bottle stopper. Few realize that Portugal is the world’s leading producer of cork — and that it comes from the bark of the cork oak tree, a remarkable species found primarily in the Iberian Peninsula.
Cork trees take 25 years before their first harvest, known as “virgin cork,” which is too dense and rough for wine stoppers. A second harvest comes nine years later. But it is only after the tree reaches 43–45 years old does it produce the finest quality cork. The trees themselves may live 180 to 250 years.
Cork’s properties explain why it has been valued for centuries. It is:
- waterproof and naturally antimicrobial;
- lightweight (about 90 percent air);
- elastic and compressible;
- fire resistant;
- chemically inert and hypoallergenic; and
- an excellent thermal and acoustic insulator.
Even more impressive, cork is one of the most recyclable natural materials on earth. It can be ground, shaped, shredded, and remolded repeatedly without losing its essential qualities.
Modern Portugal turns cork into much more than bottle stoppers. Travelers now find cork handbags, hats, wallets, jewelry, coasters, flooring, and even art — durable, attractive, and environmentally friendly.
The cruise also included an excursion to Salamanca, Spain — a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its cathedrals, monasteries, and the oldest university in Spain, founded in 1218.
One unexpected personal connection to the cork industry made the experience even more meaningful. Years ago, a writer built a functioning sailboat out of wine corks and sailed it down the Douro River. His book about the adventure, titled Cork Boat, has long been a family favorite, and seeing the cork forests in person brought that story to life.
The only regret of the trip was not having more time in Porto before the flight home. But the biggest takeaway was simple: never throw away a wine cork.
For those who collect them, there are local drop-off points in the Atlanta area where corks can be recycled and turned into new products, a small way to support one of Portugal’s most sustainable industries. Or, with some inspiration and a lot of work you could build your own Cork Boat and sail it down the Chattahoochee River.
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Rep. Carter campaigns on sending ICE agents to Atlanta
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
NOV. 25, 2025 | The coming year will be a political one, with U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff expected to draw several Republicans challenging him. The first Republican to announce for this Senate seat is U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, who represents the First District of Georgia, a coastal district that stretches from Savannah to Baxley to Waycross and St. Marys.
Last week Rep. Carter took an unusual way to campaign for that Senate seat. He sent a formal letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and to the director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, asking for federal immigration enforcement and ICE agents be ordered to Atlanta “to protect against record levels of illegal immigrants and to confront safety concerns.”
No elected official, Republican or Democrat, joined Rep. Carter in making that call. Certainly elected officials of the Metro Atlanta area haven’t asked for these agents, or suggested an unsafe Atlanta because of immigrants.
Rep. Carter seems to want federal immigration agents patrolling the streets of Atlanta, as they have in Los Angeles, Chicago and most recently in Charlotte. Americans all across our nation shudder at such a policy of government stormtroopers invading their communities.
ICE agents for Georgia? That’s a funny way for Rep. Carter to campaign for the Senate. It may bounce back to haunt his Senate attempt.
Would Rep. Carter like to see military-style stormtroopers patrolling in other cities of Georgia? How about Savannah, the key city in his district? How about Pooler, where Rep. Carter was once mayor? How about ICE agents in lovely St. Simons Island, where Rep. Carter recently moved?
We suspect that few Georgians don’t want military-style ICE agents in their neighborhoods, as some have appeared in masks in other cities. And while we have diverse immigrants in most Georgia communities, most of them are peaceful. Not only that, but these people are routinely working in many Georgia companies, trying to make a life of their own in peaceful Georgia, and contributing to our bustling economy.
No thank you, Rep. Carter. We suspect First District citizens wonder about your ill-advised idea of sending ICE agents for Atlanta, or any other Georgia city. Georgians, too, will remember your ICE agent request the next time your name is on the ballot!
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The voting system that should be secure, safe and easy
Editor, the Forum:
Among the various comments on Jack Bernard’s article, I want to comment on only one issue. That issue is voting.
One person wanted voting restricted as follows: Photo ID, a voting day and paper ballots. The states are given the responsibility of conducting voting and establishing laws under which it is conducted.
The various ways in which voting was conducted in 2020 was in response to the Covid epidemic and designed to make it easier and safe. The 2020 election was rated by all the state secretaries of state in charge of elections as being very secure. The President’s Cybersecurity Chief stated it was secure. In Georgia our Governor and Secretary of State followed the law and refused President Trump’s attempt to steal the election in our state.
My opinion is also that voting should be secure, safe and easy. That means that only eligible voters should be able to vote and be identifiable in some way. Safe means that they should be able to vote easily without fear of intimidation.
Limiting voting to in-person on one day does not take into consideration the elderly, disabled or others who have difficulty getting to the polls. What about mobile voting vehicles with disability access sent to various neighborhoods to make it easier?
Why not mail in ballots? Why not early voting? All this questioning about voting resulted from Trump’s refusal to accept the fact that he lost and birthed a host of election deniers.
If we can design a way to land a man on the moon, we can certainly design a voting system that is secure, safe and easy.
– John Titus, Peachtree Corners
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: ebrack2@gmail.com.
Regents vice chair is GGC commencement speaker
There will be a doctor in the house when the 2025 fall graduates from the Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) cross the stage to receive their diplomas.
Dr. Deep J. Shah of Johns Creek, vice chair-elect of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, has been named the keynote speaker for both of Georgia Gwinnett College’s fall ceremonies, which are being held in GGC’s Convocation Center at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday, December 12.
Dr. Shah says: “It is truly an honor to be invited to address the Class of 2025, and a monumental occasion I am looking forward to it. Commencement marks a powerful moment of possibility, and I am excited to celebrate this milestone with the graduates and their families.”
Dr. Shah is an active member of the northeast Atlanta community, a practicing primary care physician and an owner/operator of Gwinnett Clinic, an independent medical practice based in Lawrenceville. An authority on health care delivery and health finance, Dr. Shah has published perspectives in The New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association. He has been named a Top Doctor by both Georgia Trend and Castle Connolly for each of the last several years.
In addition to his work at Gwinnett Clinic, he advocates for patients and physicians at the state and federal levels. In 2021, Governor Brian P. Kemp appointed him to serve on the board of Augusta University Health System (now Wellstar MCG Health). In 2022, Dr. Shah was named a Director of Touchmark National Bank, an FDIC-insured Minority Deposit Institution in Alpharetta that focuses on locally owned small businesses. He was appointed to the Board of Regents in 2024.
A native Georgian, Dr. Shah graduated with highest honors from the University of Georgia as a Foundation Fellow. He won Truman and Rhodes scholarships to study at Oxford University, where he earned a master’s degree in social policy. Dr. Shah earned his medical degree from Harvard University and trained in internal medicine at Emory University.
Jackson EMC Crew members win statewide distinction
A potentially tragic incident turned into a story of heroism and hope, thanks to the quick thinking, extensive training and courageous actions of a group of Jackson EMC employees. Their extraordinary efforts were recognized with the prestigious Lifesaving Award by Georgia EMC during the state association’s recent annual meeting in Savannah.
On April 16, a Jackson EMC crew based in Gwinnett County consisting of Paul Everett, Kyler Hosch, Jacob Miller, Andrew Quint and Micheal Simmons, witnessed a severe two-car accident. One of the vehicles overturned and came to rest on its roof. Inside the overturned car were an elderly man and woman, both trapped upside down in their seatbelts. The woman was conscious and screaming for help, while the man was unconscious, adding urgency to the rescue.
Acting swiftly and with precision, the Jackson EMC crew carefully removed the woman from the vehicle, ensuring her safety before turning their attention to the unconscious man. After cutting the seatbelts, they extricated him while taking great care to avoid exacerbating potential spinal injuries. Once outside the vehicle, they confirmed the man had a pulse and was breathing. They monitored both victims until emergency responders arrived shortly thereafter. Their actions undoubtedly prevented further harm and may have saved lives.
In addition to receiving the Lifesaving Award, Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services earlier recognized the crew’s bravery with the Meritorious Civilian Award, further highlighting their selflessness and commitment to helping others in critical moments.
Stephen Poole, director of safety and training at Jackson EMC, says: “The Jackson EMC crew’s response to this emergency truly embodies the values we uphold as an organization. Their quick thinking, courage, and commitment to the safety and well-being of our community make us incredibly proud. They represent the very best of what it means to serve.”
Presumption, by Julia Barrett
From Karen J. Harris, Stone Mountain: This book continues what might have happened in the Pride and Prejudice families Bennet, Darcy, Collins and de Bourgh. It begins with the happiness of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet Darcy in the fine estate of Pemberley. The story focuses upon Darcy’s sister Georgiana who is coming of age and is headstrong and on occasion intractable. She attracts two suitors, one a Navy captain, the other a brash, young architect. Having already experienced disappointments in love, Georgiana is determined not to be easily misled by questionable intentions. There are several side plots, one involving a Bennet family member in travail, Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s influence on events in the families and the marriage of Elizabeth’s good friend Charlotte Collins. The story is bracing, intricate and will quickly invest the reader in the possible outcomes for each character. Julia Barrett writes a delightful book revisiting characters. The full title is Presumption, A Sequel to Pride and Prejudice.
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Georgia Yellow Hammers were a fiddling band
The Georgia Yellow Hammers, an old-time fiddle string band from Gordon County, were active from the mid-to late 1920s. Members consisted variously of Bill Chitwood, Clyde Evans, Bud Landress, Charles Ernest Moody, Phil Reeve, and sometime recording associates Andrew Baxter, Jim Baxter, and Elias Meadows.
George Oscar “Bud” Landress was born in Gwinnett County in 1882 and moved to Gordon County in 1905. William Hewlitt “Bill” Chitwood, born in Resaca in 1891, was the youngest of twelve children. Chitwood’s older brother had a homemade fiddle that Chitwood sneaked out on occasion and learned to play. He also learned to play the banjo but never liked the guitar. Landress had the same versatility and also preferred the fiddle and banjo. During this period of pre-country southern music, the fiddle and banjo were predominant, and the guitar somewhat newfangled.
C.P. “Phil” Reeve, born in 1896 and the third member of the band, came to be business manager of both the Georgia Yellow Hammers and also of Andrew and Jim Baxter, fiddler and guitar player, respectively. The Baxters, who were African American, were also from Gordon County.
Reeve’s father died in 1900, leaving Reeve’s mother to care for four small children. To support them she sold musical instruments. From age nine, Reeve drove a mule wagon around Gordon County delivering parlor pump reed organs. He even went to a school in Indiana to learn piano tuning and player piano maintenance. In 1906 his mother married Lawrence Moss, who owned Moss Music Company in Calhoun—subsequently a music center for the Yellow Hammers and others. Reeve’s stepfather encouraged him to stay in the music business. Somewhere Reeve had also learned to yodel. As can be heard on later records, his voice was somewhere between that of a Swiss yodeler and country music singer (and yodeler) Jimmie Rodgers.
This was the heyday of recording, especially of the newly “discovered” hillbilly music. In 1925, before the Georgia Yellow Hammers began playing together, Chitwood and Landress traveled to New York to record for Brunswick Records. Chitwood played the fiddle and Landress the banjo on these recordings.
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.
The quartet reassembled for a couple of sacred selections, accompanied on a pump reed organ by J. M. Barnette, issued under the name of the Turkey Mountain Singers
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.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Take a little caution when identifying this photo
Here is hoping you can identify today’s Mystery Photo, but be careful. Sometimes things are not what they appear. Send your ideas to ebrack2@gmail.com, and tell us where you live.
The most recent mystery was solved by Ruthy Lachman Paul of Norcross. She wrote: “La Scala Theatre (Italian: Teatro alla Scala) in Milan, Italy, is one of the most famous opera houses in the world.
‘You don’t have to be a die-hard opera fan or even a theater fan to visit La Scala. It is probably the most important opera house in the world and one of the most well-known halls. The place is defined as the pinnacle of ambition for many singers, actors, dancers, musicians and conductors, who dream of stepping onto the stage where the greats of music have performed for centuries.
“The opera house was founded in 1778 and designed by the renowned Italian architect Giuseppe Piermarini. The impressive building burned down once and was rebuilt, then destroyed again in World War II when it was damaged by bombing. It was renovated and reopened. The building itself is very large and elegant, and inside there are exhibits that tell the story of La Scala’s past. You can find costumes, set pieces and statues. The feeling of being inside a temple is clear from the first moment. The building also houses the theater museum.” The photo was sent to us years ago by Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill.
Others recognizing La Scala were Dick LoPresti, Berkeley Lake; Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C.; George Graf, Palmyra, Va.; Stew Ogilvie, Rehobeth, Ala.; and Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, who added: “La Scala was heavily damaged during World War II. Bombing in 1943 destroyed much of the interior, but reconstruction began almost immediately after the war ended, and the theater reopened by 1946.”
SHARE A MYSTERY PHOTO: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!)
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Blended global tradition highlight GGC Thanksgiving
Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) kicked off the holiday season with a celebration that blended global traditions, good food and great company.
The college’s annual International Thanksgiving brought together faculty, staff and students for an early feast that honored both American and international cultures. Alongside turkey and stuffing, guests sampled dishes and desserts from around the world — a culinary tour that delighted every palate.
Adding to the festive mood, GGC faculty musicians filled the room with smooth jazz, creating a lively and welcoming atmosphere. History professor Dr. Richard Rawls also entertained the crowd with little-known facts about Thanksgiving, keeping spirits high throughout the afternoon.
A highlight of the event came when the Internationalization office presented the college’s Award of Excellence in Internationalization to Dr. Kristina Watkins-Mormino, professor of French and associate dean of the School of Liberal Arts, for her outstanding contributions to global education at GGC.
Throughout the celebration, faculty and staff shared opportunities for students to study abroad in more than 20 countries, including Germany, Mexico, France and Cameroon — a reminder that the world is well within reach for GGC Grizzlies.
Hosted by GGC’s Office of Internationalization, the event is part of the college’s ongoing commitment to global engagement and coincides with International Education Week, a nationwide observance that promotes the value of cultural exchange and global learning.
PDC asks Wednesday: What we are thankful for?
Enjoy a free holiday quilt exhibition at the Norcross Welcome Center and Museum, 17 College Street, from November 24 to December 30. See more than 15 festive quilts created by members of the Spirited Quilters Guild. Open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. , except holidays. After-hours and weekend visits available by appointment. Contact exhibition organizer Linda DeMaris with questions at 414QuiltsnMore@gmail.com.
The Norcross PDC (people drinking coffee) meets each Wednesday at 8:15 a.m. at the 45 South Café in downtown Norcross. There will be no speaker on November 26, as the subject will be “What we are thankful for,” as described by those present. The event is free and visitors are welcomed.
The annual Cravin’ Bacon Walk in Braselton will be on December 4 (a Thursday) from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Squealer Tickets will include a map of stop locations where walkers pick up a creative bacon-inspired tasting from each participating business. All walkers will be eligible to win a $100 Buy Local Braselton e-gift card.
The Suwanee Creek Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is hosting a traveling exhibit, The American Revolution Experience. It will be at Sugar Hill City Hall, the only stop in Gwinnett County. The exhibition will be open December 4 and continue through December 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. This innovative pop-up experience features display panels and interactive digital kiosks that blend storytelling, illustration, technology, and rare artifacts to connect modern audiences with the people and places that shaped our nation’s founding.
The Gwinnett Symphony and Chorus will present Vivaldi Gloria and Holiday Pops on Sunday, December 14, at the First Global Methodist Church in Norcross at 5 p.m. Doors will open at 4 p.m. as attendees can shop for holiday goodies at the Merry Music Market.
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