GwinnettForum | Number 25.94 | Dec. 5, 2025
WHITE FAWN: The sighting of white squirrels in Norcross prompted Daren Perkins of Buford to send a photo of a white deer to GwinnettForum. Perkins was sitting in the yard with his daughter, Abbi, last week in Early County, Ga. about 5 p.m. when they spotted three deers was white,” he says. Perkins’ wife, the former Lynn Bell, is from Clay County, and they were visiting during the Thanksgiving holidays. Perkins is superintendent of the City of Buford Gas Department.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Returning to college is successful for this grad
EEB PERSPECTIVE: True or False: Will electric rates rise soon?
SPOTLIGHT: The Southwest Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce
ANOTHER VIEW: What it’s like to be a food show contestant
FEEDBACK: Send us your comments
UPCOMING: Jackson EMC promotes three corporate executives
NOTABLE: ARC relocates Career Resource Center to Duluth
RECOMMENDED: Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Official art museum of Georgia is located in Athens
MYSTERY PHOTO: Where was this streetcar operating 100 years ago?
CALENDAR: Sugar Hill hosts traveling exhibit on American Revolution
Returning to college is successful for this grad
By Teresa Araque
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. | “History is interesting because of the high stakes,” says Malik Watkins, a December 2025 graduate of Georgia Gwinnett College. “Everyone is a historian because storytelling is the most basic human instinct, and the stories we tell have more power than anything else.”
Watkins’ story begins in Macon, Ga., where he was born to mother, Lisa, a social worker and therapist, and father, Matthew, a warehouse manager. The family moved frequently when he was young, with stints in Byron, Dublin, and Lawrenceville, before finally settling in Sugar Hill when Watkins was seven.
Watkins graduated from Lanier High School in 2021 and started attending Georgia Gwinnett College the same year. “I chose GGC because of the convenience,” Watkins explains. “I graduated from high school with no real plan.”
His story took a turn in the Spring of 2022, when severe health issues forced him to withdraw from all of his classes and prevented him from returning in the fall. “I truly believed my collegiate experience was over,” he recalls. It would be more than a year later, the Fall of 2023, when he was finally healthy enough to return to school full-time. “This gap seemed like a severe setback that I would never be able to recover from. I felt like everyone was leaving me behind, and I wanted to give up entirely.”
His parents pleaded with him to go back to school, so he re-enrolled to appease them. His expectations were low, but what he found upon his return surprised him. “Far from being a dead end, returning to GGC was a fresh start,” he says. “I was amazed at the network of support waiting for me.” As part of his fresh start, he switched his major from computer science to history.
“This was a difficult move, because computer science came much more naturally to me, and it was the degree most of my friends were pursuing,” he explains. “But I took the chance to do something new. I discovered I have an incredible passion for history.”
Studying the past has helped him today and for the future.
“I try to use the lessons of the past every day in my life to better the world,” says Malik. “Studying history has taught me empathy and to consider all viewpoints, as well as to listen to the voices that are often not heard. It’s helped me to ask bigger questions about the world and myself.”
Watkins said his professors met his passion, and the small class sizes allowed students to really engage with complex ideas.
“My reading and writing skills improved dramatically, and I am a much better thinker and speaker now than I was just a couple of years ago,” he feels.
Beyond his academic success at GGC, Watkins said he found a community. “I have met all types of people from all different backgrounds, ethnicities, nationalities, ages and classes,” he says. “I’ve met lifelong friends and have even found love. Most importantly, I was able to find myself.”
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True or false: Will electrical rates rise soon?
By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher, GwinnettForum
DEC. 5, 2025 | True or false: Your home electric bill will go up in the coming months?
The answer is obviously true.
There’s little doubt that Georgians will pay more in the short term future for electricity. For years, Georgia’s growing population fueled this growth. But that will not be as significant in the future.
It’s not people driving the rates up. It is the arrival in Georgia of large data centers, which use enormous amounts of electricity, which will drive rates higher.
Note this fact: Within 60 miles of Atlanta, there are 26 data centers now under construction. And 52 more are planned! That’s why you can predict with almost certainty that the many data centers will require so much more power that electricity rates will rise.
One individual data center can consume enough electricity to power thousands of homes. Large data centers can consume 10 megawatts of power, enough to provide electricity to tens of thousands of homes.
Why do the data centers use so much power? Running mega-large computers continuously creates a tremendous amount of heat, so lots of water runs through these centers to cool the computers. (Another subject for another time maybe: is our water supply also in danger of running low because of these large data centers?)
Continually-rising electrical rates may be creating another major change for Georgia: the political arena.
Look at the recent outcome of the off-season races for Public Service Commission. Where the PSC has been run by Republicans for years and years, the two Republican incumbents weren’t even a close race: the Democrats prevailed by 20 points in a whopper of an upset!
No doubt about it: the Public Service Commission’s granting of six electrical rate increases to Georgia Power in the last two years had to have been a significant factor in this election.
Therefore, is there any doubt that the two Republican PSC members up for election next year are sitting on particularly shaky ground? We may see Democrats controlling the PSC for years to come. But even they will still face the question of providing sufficient power for Georgia’s citizens while also needing to find ways to do this to supply growing commercial needs at reasonable rates.
Why do data centers come to Georgia: counties welcome them as a quick way to provide more local tax dollars and services through ad valorem taxes. But for sure, these local counties should not be allowed to provide incentives, since these data centers are raising so many problems.
Back to the political scene: Georgians upset with electrical rates are also seeing significantly higher costs for everyday items, such as groceries, gas, housing and other everyday items.
And combine that with an increased rumblings about our national policy and the way Donald Trump is running the country, it all boils down to a big question: will all these many factors mean a possible change in our local and state politics?
Because of all this, will Georgia vote for a Democrat for governor this year? How many Republican legislators will fall?
Will the Congress be turned around and see Democratic leadership?
Is it all because of high electrical rates? Are the new and power-consuming data centers driving these changes?
For sure, 2026 will be busy from the very start, and possibly all year long.
Get your score card ready to keep up in the coming political year.
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The Southwest Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce
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What it’s like to be a food show contestant
(Editor’s note: Readers of GwinnettForum know of George Graf, who regularly identifies Mystery Photos. Today he writes about appearing on a televised food contest in the Napa Valley. What inspired him to write was the photo of a movie theatre in Napa in the last issue.—eeb)
By George Graf
PALMYRA, Va. | A few years back, I entered a contest for amateur chefs in the Napa Valley. My wife, Diane, convinced me to enter the recipe that I devised for filet mignon.
Out of 1,600+ entries of recipes, I was selected in the Top 30. They sent me a movie camera and asked me to make a homemade video of the cooking of my recipe. I sent it in, and a few weeks later was told I was selected in the Final 10 and won a trip to Napa, sponsored by the Cooking Channel and Beringer Wine. It was hosted by Paula Deen’s two boys, Jamie and Bobby. The production crew would be from Rachael Ray. Bobby Dean was so much fun and hilarious during the shooting.
We got first class tickets from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco, where a limo picked us up and took us to the hotel on the Napa River. We also got a $1,500 cash card for “incidentals.” Top prize was $25,000 . We were there for five days.
There were eight women and two men in the finals, which was broadcast 10 times on the Cooking Channel. I did not win, but had a great experience even under the scrutiny of the judges who sometimes were not so complimentary. That’s their job, I guess.
All us “chefs” were sequestered each day from morning until evening at the Beringer Mansion while undergoing interviews, practices, recipe ingredient approvals, dress code rules and directions while on television. However, the spouses of the chefs were wined and dined all day throughout the Napa Valley vineyards. By the time they returned to us in the evening on the bus, they were “Three Sheets to the Wind.”
The woman who won was a favorite of the chefs. She owned a foreign movie theater that was going bankrupt in Arizona, and the bank told her if she won the top money prize, she could own the theater and be out of debt. She was the happiest person on the planet when she won along with her female partner who accompanied her.
This is a short clip I found online. I’m the one in the black hat and black shirt in front of the critical judges. Click here to see the video.
During the final cookoff filming, there was a countdown clock that showed how much time you have left to be finished. We had 30 minutes. The audience was made of guests, spouses and other onlookers. The film crews and moderator worked the crowd and us during the finals. There were problems periodically with their microphones.
Anyway, I finished first with 10 minutes remaining and all the other chefs finished with under five minutes left according to the countdown clock. So the production crew said they were going to move the countdown clock to 30 seconds and to shout the time left while we were to look busy at the grills. Prior to the final filming, all our clothing was inspected except for the aprons that were furnished by Beringer.
The best part of the whole trip was the fantastic time Diane had. She loved watching television cooking shows and was awestruck with the Deen boys, who gave her a number of autographs. She had the best time which made my time so special.
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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.
Jackson EMC promotes three corporate executives
Jackson Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) is announcing key executive leadership promotions and transitions, effective January 1, 2026, to support the cooperative’s continued growth and long-term strategic goals.
As part of the cooperative’s transition plan, Chief Operating Officer Roy Stowe will transition into the role of Special Advisor to the CEO before his planned retirement in April 2026. In this advisory capacity, Stowe will provide strategic guidance and leverage his decades of experience to ensure a smooth leadership transition.
Building on this transition, Amy Rouse, Brittany Caison and Lee Chapman will take on expanded leadership roles as officers reporting directly to the CEO Chip Jakins and continuing the strong, collaborative leadership that defines Jackson EMC.
Amy Rouse has been named Chief Financial Officer. She will oversee all financial functions, human resources, safety and strategic planning. A Certified Public Accountant with more than 20 years of cooperative experience, Rouse has guided Jackson EMC’s financial, accounting and risk management operations and led efforts in strategic planning and analytics. She currently chairs the board of Go Energy Financial Credit Union.
Brittany Caison has been named Chief Operating Officer. Caison leads Jackson EMC’s Engineering, Operations and Technology areas. Caison began her career at Jackson EMC as a commercial/industrial engineer and has since held leadership roles in strategic planning, marketing, member services and governmental affairs. She serves on multiple professional and nonprofit boards, including the University of Georgia’s College of Engineering Advisory Board and Adult Literacy Jackson and was named to UGA’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2023.
Lee Chapman has been named Chief External Affairs Officer. Chapman leads Jackson EMC’s member services, governmental relations, business development, residential programming and communications areas. He has more than 35 years of experience, including prior service on the staff of U.S. Senator Sam Nunn. He’s held multiple civic and chamber leadership positions and currently serves on the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia.
Andersonville cemetery plans wreath placement
Andersonville National Historic Site invites you to remember and honor our military veterans during this winter season by participating in the Wreaths Across America event.
At noon on Saturday, December 13, a brief ceremony will be held in Andersonville National Cemetery to honor America’s armed forces. The ceremony will be open to the public with limited seating available. After the ceremony, attendees will be invited to place wreaths on graves in the national cemetery. The event and entrance to the park are free of charge.
- To learn more, including how to participate in placing wreaths, go to this website.
Wreaths Across America’s yearly mission is to place wreaths on the graves of military service members buried in national cemeteries across the country.
ARC relocates Career Resource Center to Duluth
The Atlanta Regional Commission is relocating Gwinnett County Career Resource Center’s office. Its new location in Duluth is at 3805 Crestwood Parkway.
The center offers a range of free services for job seekers, including career assessment testing, job-readiness training, job-search assistance, and connections to approved career-training programs.
The new facility provides upgraded workshop space and additional space to host partner-led workshops, employer events, and community training sessions.
The center also provides a range of services for businesses, including training and skills development for new and existing employees, assistance with employee recruitment, and data tools that provide insights into labor market trends.
The Gwinnett County Career Center supports:
- Jobseekers looking for employment, career changes, or training opportunities.
- Young adults exploring education and career pathways.
- Employers seeking help finding and preparing talent for in-demand roles.
Metamorphosis and An Old Manuscript, by Franz Kafka
From Raleigh Perry, Buford: Kafka’s Metamorphosis is probably the most read of all his stories and it is one of the best. His three novels will jostle your mind a bit also. I have found, however, that some of his shortest stories have a lot more kick to them. The best, only about two pages long, is a story entitled An Old Manuscript and I suggest it highly. It is a story of a small town that has been invaded by nomads from the north. Stories tell, or imply, a lot. To me, this one is an early announcement of the coming of Hitler.
- 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. Click here to send an email.
Official art museum of Georgia is located in Athens
The Georgia Museum of Art, on the campus of the University of Georgia, in Athens, is both an academic museum and the official art museum of the state of Georgia. The permanent collection consists of American paintings, primarily of the 19th and 20th century; American, European, and Asian works on paper; the Samuel H. Kress Study Collection of Italian Renaissance paintings; and growing collections of southern decorative arts and Asian art.
The museum opened to the public in 1948 in the basement of a former library at the University of Georgia, and by 2011 the museum occupied a contemporary building in the university’s Performing and Visual Arts Complex. There, nearly 82,000 square feet house more than 8,000 objects in the museum’s permanent collection, as well as gallery space for temporary exhibitions and classrooms.
Much of the museum’s collection of American paintings was donated by Alfred Heber Holbrook, in memory of his first wife, Eva Underhill Holbrook. Included in this collection are works by such luminaries as Frank Weston Benson, William Merritt Chase, Stuart Davis, Arthur Dove, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Theodore Robinson. Over the years it has been impossible to separate the history of the museum from the story of Holbrook’s generosity.
Holbrook retired from an active New York law practice at the age of 70. He began a personal quest to learn about the world of art, an interest piqued by his passion for visiting museums. In his retirement he was determined to study art in a gentle southern climate. A trip to Athens in the mid-1940s led to his introduction to Lamar Dodd, head of the university’s art department. The two became friends and shared a joint vision of enriching the visual arts environment in Georgia. The Georgia Museum of Art was founded in 1945, and Holbrook became its first director and one of the university’s and the state’s most beloved citizens. Holbrook continued to serve as the museum’s director past his 90th birthday.
Under the leadership of succeeding directors, numerous museum exhibitions have traveled to national and international venues. When the 1994 exhibition Adriaen van Ostade: Etchings of Peasant Life in Holland’s Golden Age was shown at the Rembrandt House in Amsterdam, the catalog quickly sold out, becoming a text for the study of 17th-century Dutch printmaking in classrooms across the country.
Exhibitions from such international museums as the National Gallery of Scotland, the Palazzo Venezia in Rome, the Rembrandt House, and the San Carlos National Museum in Mexico City have all been displayed in the galleries of the museum. The museum also offers traveling exhibitions.
Since the early 1970s the Friends of the Museum, a support group of more than 1,200 members, has hosted fundraisers and openings for exhibitions and has sponsored exhibitions and educational programs at the museum. In 2000 the Henry D. Green Center for the Study of the Decorative Arts opened at the museum, and two years later the Pierre Daura Center, dedicated to the exhibition and study of the Catalan American artist Pierre Daura, was established.
The museum broke ground in 2009 on a major new expansion; additions included galleries to showcase the permanent collection, the outdoor Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden, the Study Centers in the Humanities, and an education wing.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Where did this streetcar operate 100 years ago?
Some 100 years ago, this was the way people got around in big cities. Can you tell what city this streetcar is shown in? Might be harder than you think. Send your thoughts to ebrack2@gmail.com and include your hometown.
Several people recognized the most recent puzzle. Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas wrote: “Today’s mystery photo features the Art Deco-style Uptown Theatre in Napa, Calif. Built in 1937, it was originally opened August 12, 1937. As you noted, the rapid rise and popularity of streaming services led to a decline in the profitability of movie theaters, many of which were then closed or repurposed. In this case, the Uptown was closed in 2010, purchased and restored by real estate developer and music promoter George Altamura, and reopened as an intimate live music and comedy venue with a seating capacity of 860 people. The revitalized theater’s first show was on May 14, 2010, and featured Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, a contemporary swing revival band from Southern California.”
Others getting the mystery right included Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C.; Bo O’Kelley, Murrayville; Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; George Graf, Palmyra, Va.; Stewart Ogilvie, Rehobeth, Ala.; and Chuck Miller, Duluth. The photo came from Andy Brack of Charleston, S.C.
By the way, Allan Peel also sent in the Oval Office in Atlanta in the last issue.
- 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!) Click here to send an email and please mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
Sugar Hill hosts traveling exhibit on American Revolution
Snellville City Hall will host the 10th Annual Festival of Trees through December 19. Local businesses, churches, schools or residents showcase their creative side by decorating a tree displayed at Snellville City Hall. Stop by City Hall, enjoy the trees and vote for your favorite by donating money, canned or dried food or toys. Each item placed under the tree of your choice will register a vote for your favorite tree. To make a monetary vote, go to the ExperienceSnellville.com website and vote.
The fourth annual Neighborhood Christmas Train is open on weekends until December 21. Kids learn to run their own Polar Express or Harry Potter Hogwarts Express train in the Engineer Training Center. All kids receive a free Hot Wheel car to drive around the neighborhood and take home. For the first time ever, Lionel and LEGO® play together at the Brick Whistlestop. This massive LEGO® City with eight LEGO® trains brought courtesy of the North Carolina LEGO User Group. This is at Peachtree Campus, 3135 Reps Miller Road in Norcross. Hours are Saturday evenings from 5-9 p.m., and Sunday afternoons from 1 to 5 p.m. Purchase Timed-Entry Advance Tickets Save $5 Family 4 or Family 5 Packs. Use Promo Code CITY25. More Info: www.NorcrossTrain.com.
A Holiday Quilt Exhibit is ongoing now through December 31. Presented by Spirited Quilters Guild, this colorful showcase runs through Wednesday, December 31 at the Welcome Center and History Museum, 17 College Street. Open hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free! Marvel at 15+ holiday-themed quilts featuring a variety of materials, techniques, and patterns. Perfect for a festive outing in Norcross, wander through the creativity of local artists and get inspired by the warmth and whimsy of fiber art.
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 continues 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.
A new garden club is being formed in Peachtree Corners. Its first meeting will be December 11 at 7 p.m. at the Norcross Garden clubhouse cottage at 33 College Street. (across from Norcross City Hall). Meet the board of directors, go over the club structure and enjoy holiday refreshments and a holiday wreath raffle. RSVP if you plan to attend.
The Southwest Gwinnett Chamber‘s Thursday Thought Leaders lunch will take place on December 11 at 11:30 a.m. at Roam Coworking, 3847 Medlock Bridge Road in Peachtree Corners. The guest speaker is David Salyers, one of the original two marketing executives at Chick-fil-A. Register online in advance.
Annie, the Musical featuring the Braselton Players, comes to life at the Civic Center December 12-14. This is a presentation of the Braselton Arts Council. Admission is $20.
Tales, Tunes and Tasties will be presented in Norcross on Saturday, December 13, as one of the first functions at the former Woman’s Club at 65 North Peachtree Street. This will be a relaxed holiday program featuring a reading of excerpts from Julie Rurkowski’s newest book, Bet That Song Was Written for Me. Music will be by Paula Greene Jones and treats will be prepared by Jody Carlyle Houghton. The doors open at 10:30 a.m. and the program is at 11 a.m. Come and enjoy this first of such an event at the building which was Gwinnett County’s first library. There will be baked goods, a raffle and friendly faces. It’s all free.
Book of Life Workshop will be held at the Duluth Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library on December 13 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Create your very own Book of Life, a visual representation of your genealogy research just like the one on Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s “Finding Your Roots” on PBS, and take home a tangible keepsake!
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.
Gwinnett Reads Jane Austen series: Jane Austen’s Birthday Party. Celebrate Jane Austen’s 250th birthday! Enjoy cake and light refreshments while playing games with other fans of Austen. This will be at the Five Forks Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library on December 16 at 11 a.m.
Christ Episcopal Church Players will present The Gift of the Magi on Saturday, December 20 at 5 p.m. at the church at 400 Holcomb Bridge Road in Norcross. The evening will begin with the soaring voices of the Christ Church Choir and the shimmering tones of the St. Cecilia Handbell Choir as they perform a selection of stirring Christmas music. Then, you’ll be transported to early 20th-century New York as the Players present O. Henry’s timeless tale of love, sacrifice, and the true spirit of giving. Because of the expected popularity of this event, please secure your free tickets early at this link.
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