“Friends” is the title of this entry in the Suwanee SculpTour, which will open May 17 throughout Suwanee, and be on exhibit for two years. It is from Nnamdi Okonkwo of Fayetteville, Ga. For more info on this Tour, see Upcoming below.
CORRECTION: Information under a photograph in the most recent Forum misidentified a person. It should have read, as it read in the story accompanying it, Marshall Boutwell. We regret this error, and are red-faced, if for no other reason, that Mr. Boutwell’s Peach State Federal Credit Union is an underwriter for GwinnettForum. –eeb
ISSUE 15.09 | May 1, 2015
IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: Hopewell Baptist To Honor Veteran Pastor on May 15
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Accident Claiming Nursing Students Brings Questions to the Fore
FEEDBACK: Readers Get To View Four Different Thoughts
UPCOMING: Aurora Plans Four Summer Playhouses for Kids; Fourth Suwanee SculpTour
NOTABLE: Marriott Hotel Coming to Gwinnett Center; PCOM Professor Re-Elected
RECOMMENDED MOVIE: Spencer’s Mountain
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Best Work of Erskine Caldwell May Be in Non-Fiction Writings
TODAY’S QUOTE: Thoughts on Things That Cannot Possibly Go Wrong
MYSTERY PHOTO: Not a Single Reader Recognized Mystery Photo
LAGNIAPPE: Another Entry in Suwanee SculpTour
TODAY’S FOCUS
Hopewell Baptists to honor Sheals in his 35th year as pastor
By Izetta Sims
NORCROSS, Ga., May 1, 2015 — Marking his 35th anniversary as pastor, Hopewell Baptist Church of Norcross will honor Bishop Williams Sheals at a “black and gold” black-tie banquet on May 15 at the Gwinnett Arena Grand Ballroom. More than 400 people are expected for the fete. Tickets are $100.
It was a partly cloudy and cool Easter Sunday morning on April 6, 1980, when Hopewell Missionary Baptist welcomed Bill Sheals as its new pastor. The church, which dates back to 1865, at that time had about 200 members. After the morning service, as the children presented speeches, the sound system malfunctioned. Pastor Sheals, then working with an Atlanta housing agency, brought from his car a personal sound system, so that the parents could hear the children. From that moment on, he had the title “Papa Sheals,” by which many church members still address him.
Sheals
Under his leadership, Hopewell grew from a small rural church to a suburban mega church with a membership of over 10,000. In 1990, Bishop Sheals had a great vision of transforming a 32 acre junkyard into a complex where God is glorified. This great vision began to manifest itself in 1992. Today this community is known as the “City of Hope,” in a campus with not only a 2,500 seat sanctuary with majestic spire, but housing a Child Development Center, Youth Center, Senior Citizen Center, Adult Fitness Center, and a commercial mall. Also on campus is a Gwinnett County Charter School, North Metro Academy of Performing Arts for grades K4-12 and an accredited Bible College.
Bishop Sheals, a native of Lakeland, Fla., is an effective teacher of ministers, evident in the 179 sons and daughters that he’s trained for the ministry. A total of 31 are now pastors of their own congregations.
He is also very well respected nationally and internationally in both the Christian and non-Christian communities. In April 2007, he was consecrated Bishop and Overseer for The Light House Ministries. Founded in 2006, The Light House Ministries is a non-profit ministry established to mentor, train and equip people for the pastoral ministry. The Light House Ministries is committed to preparing people “with Biblical precepts in church leadership and congregational nurturing.”
Bishop Sheals has written seven inspirational books and has received numerous awards and honors. They include the Presidential Special Citizens Award as founding director of Ministers Against Drugs in 1989, founding president of the North Metro 100 Black Men in 1993, and as recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Drum Major Award in 1999. Most recently, Bishop Sheals received the Gwinnett County NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also the founder and CEO of 500 Men of Valor LLC and the international spokesmen for the Global Peace Movement.
Bishop Sheals’ most recent accomplishment came from an independent film Sunday Morning Rapture, which he produced, wrote, and directed through his production company, END TOUCH MOVIE, LLC. The vision given to him was to win 100,000 souls for Christ through this movie.
Bishop Sheals has a son, Ryan, a real estate broker in Indianapolis, Ind., and a daughter, Ari, now studying for a master’s degree in marketing and communications at the University of Southern California.
Entertainment for the Black and Gold banquet will be by George Wallace, a Gospel comedian; Antonio Allen, a Gospel jazz musician with the saxophone; and by Ken Ford, a jazz musician with the violin.
- For tickets to the ball, call Hopewell at 770 448 5475.
EEB PERSPECTIVE
Tragic accident near Savannah raises questions of student travel
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher, GwinnettForum.com
MAY 1, 2015 — The tragic April 22 vehicular pile-up on Interstate 16 near Savannah where five Georgia Southern University nursing students were killed has shocked our state, and has caused concern on the national stage. It may even lead to new legislation regulating heavy transport rigs to push safer highways.
The nursing students were driving from college in Statesboro to Savannah (roughly 55 miles) to continue their clinical “rotational” training in order to become nurses. Georgia Southern in the last few years has developed an accredited nursing program, which now counts 185 students, 76 in the RN-BSN program, and 78 graduate students. Each semester, another 50 students come to the college to begin this training.
The nursing program has ties with St. Joseph/Candler and Memorial Hospitals, and other medical facilities in Savannah. A total of 71 undergraduate students are now in their clinical rotations there. Approximately 30 graduate students do their clinical hours in health agencies in the Savannah area at any given time. Meanwhile, Georgia Southern has memorandums of understanding with 100 other health agencies in Georgia.
The future nurses get classroom instruction in Statesboro. However, there are insufficient medical facilities in Statesboro for the rotation program, so hospitals in Savannah are part of the program of study, where students travel each day.
A little closer to home, here in Gwinnett there is a similar program for medical students at the Georgia campus in Suwanee of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (GaPCOM). Both medical and pharmacy students also participate in rotations as part of their medical training. Medical students typically are required to “do rounds” in hospital with doctors studying in such areas as family medicine, OB-GYN, internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, osteopathic manipulative medicine, surgery, emergency medicine, and similar other fields. These subjects are taken serially, with most of them lasting six weeks.
The GaPCOM rotations are in hospitals in Lawrenceville, Roswell and Alpharetta, but are also at other hospitals throughout the state. At some locations, the student rents housing in the hospital area and spends most of the time away from campus. Georgia anchor locations for Doctor of Osteopathy students from GaPCOM include Valdosta, Albany, Rome, Columbus, Warner Robins, plus Dothan, Montgomery and Birmingham in Alabama and in West Palm Beach, and Jacksonville, Fla.
But is there another way to teach nursing At Georgia Southern than requiring students to travel to Savannah daily? Could the entire School of Nursing be based in Savannah, on a satellite Georgia Southern campus? Or should Georgia Southern run this program at all? After all, two University Systems’ four-year colleges are in Chatham County. That would be Savannah State University and Armstrong State University.
In other words, is this a question that higher authority, the Board of Regents, should decide? Eliminating the requirement that students drive long distances would seem reasonable. While Georgia Southern University might object, the Regents have some responsibility in this and should consider the overall safety of students in making such a decision. It is costly in time and effort, and now in safety, for the students to be on the highway so much.
You wonder if there could be a better way. It should spark discussion not just in Georgia, but on a national basis within the educational field.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Crowell Brothers Funeral Home
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Crowell Brothers Funeral Home now has a new location in Buford at 201 Morningside Drive in Buford, in addition to our original location on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Norcross, Ga. It has been a family owned and operated business in business for over 30 years, and prides itself on caring, individualized service. The staff at Crowell Brothers works to help families properly honor their loved one, according to his or her own personality and life experiences. Many families follow their own traditions when arranging services; others seek something different, a way to celebrate an extraordinary life. Crowell Brothers strives to personalize each service and help those affected begin their healing process. Whether you are currently in need of our services, or are simply educating yourself about your choices, this site was established with you in mind. Crowell Brothers is here to help you through any questions or concerns that you may have.
- For more information, visit our web site at http://www.crowellbrothers.com/ or call us at 770-448-5757.
- For a list of other sponsors of this forum, please click here.
FEEDBACK
Says DeKalb is county with progressively advancing into hopelessness
Editor, the Forum:
Your article on the death spiral of DeKalb County government is spot-on and a warning for other counties. Unfortunately as “progressive” governments expand their handouts and their roles in their citizen’s lives, people come to expect more from their governments without the reciprocating personal responsibility to be involved in the process from campaign through election and into governing. DeKalb is just another Detroit or Baltimore progressively advancing into hopelessness.
— Patrick Malone, Blairsville
Continual Pandora’s Box: Trading words about gun control
Editor, the Forum:
I read with interest David Earl Tyre’s letter regarding firearms, the Second Amendment, and textbook definitions of “sporting firearms”, “defensive guns”, etc.
In it he states that he doesn’t know of a single felon who has a concealed carry permit. I don’t, either. However, there have been a couple of cases in the news, one of them local, in the last few months of people who had concealed carry permits who became felons when they used their concealed weapons to kill people, one an off-duty policeman.
He says that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. No, guns don’t kill people. People do. But guns make it extremely easier. (Did you ever hear of a drive-by knifing?)
And, just for the record, I am not necessarily anti-gun. I own three.
— Robert H. Hanson, Loganville
Editor, the Forum:
Your guess as to my being a NRA member is correct. As a matter of fact, I am a life member and have been for 41 years. I joined the NRA in 1963 when we lived in Rome. I am also a member of the Nature Conservancy, the National Wildlife Federation, and Ducks Unlimited, so I put my money where my mouth is, so to speak.
I would suggest that the more liberal element of your readers Google these organizations and the National Rifle Association, and see what they are about, instead of relying on the mainstream media.
— David Earl Tyre, Jesup
More about handcuffing those convicted of crimes
Editor, the Forum:
Although it was disturbing to see the Atlanta teachers convicted in the cheating scandal handcuffed and led from court, it is protocol for all convicted criminals, I believe. It is not up to the judge’s discretion to determine who does and does not get cuffed. Embezzlers and tax fraud criminals are not usually violent, but they, too, are cuffed when convicted. It is a safety precaution.
— Marlene Buchanan, Snellville
Dear Marlene: Yes, it is about safety. We understand. But do you have to do it behind the body?–eeb
Rant, rave and send us your opinion. Our policy: We encourage readers to submit feedback (or letters to the editor). Send your thoughts to the editor at elliott@brack.net. We will edit for length and clarity. Make sure to include your name and the city where you live. Submission of a comment grants permission for us to reprint. Please keep your comments to 300 words or less. However, we will consider longer articles (no more than 500 words) for featuring in Today’s Issue as space allows.
UPCOMING
Aurora Theatre releases play list for summer Children’s Playhouse
Aurora Theatre celebrates the best child performers in the region, bringing them to Gwinnett County for the Aurora Children’s Playhouse, May 28- June 24! The summer performances feature five acts and will be held on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., with a Thursday performance opportunity on May 28. Aurora Children’s Playhouse: Summer Edition welcomes local families to attend and offers special bus-in group rates for churches, camps and daycare organizations.
On Thursday, May 28, the Summer Edition kicks off with a special Thursday performance with Juggler Ron Anglin and his Heroes I Have Known juggling show.
On Thursday, June 4, BlackTop Playground with Improv Comedy for Kids provides audiences with a treat. The BlackTop Improv Group is comprised of internationally known comedians that have appeared on BET, HBO and Comedy Central. Much of the BlackTop success comes from these fellows having a child-like sense of humor.!
Big Thinkers Science Exploration returns on Wednesday, June 10. It’s a bird, it’s a plane – it’s SCIENCE! Join the Big Thinkers on stage to explore the properties of air, pressure and flight in this thrilling presentation.
The amazing Arthur Atsma returns for a fourth summer with his mega-hit Camp Aurora Magic Show on Wednesday, June 17. Atsma will amaze and amuse folks of all ages with a show filled with captivating sleight-of-hand magic, audience interaction and comedy.
In Aurora Children’s Playhouse: Summer Edition’s grand finale The Atlanta Shakespeare Company presents Shakespeare-4-Kids: Dream Scheme by Erin Hurley Sheffield with music by Andrew Kane. This is a fun (sometimes wacky) take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, designed for kids ages 5 and up.
Aurora Children’s Playhouse features puppeteers, magicians, storytellers, jugglers, musicians and is intended for youngsters to have their first theatrical experiences. At about 45 minutes in length, perfect for the young attention span, these lively performances are fun for the whole family.
- For more information, visit http://www.auroratheatre.com/education/childrens-playhouse/. Tickets are $7 per person and can be purchased online at www.auroratheatre.com, or by calling the Box Office at 678-226-6222.
Fourth annual Suwanee SculpTour to open May 17
The 2015-17 Suwanee SculpTour, a walkable public art exhibit in and around Town Center, is bringing more – in some cases, a lot more – than ever before. The exhibit officially opens May 16 during the Arts in the Park festival.
- This, Suwanee’s fourth SculpTour exhibit, features more sculptures than ever: 17.
- It includes more local artists: Six of the 15 artists represented are from Georgia; other artists are from Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and New York City.
- Dancer XX, a 20-foot tall galvanized and powder-coated steel sculpture created by Jack Howard-Potter, is the single heaviest sculpture to ever be included in a SculpTour exhibit. Weighing in at 2,700 pounds, this kinetic sculpture of a male figure, who stands on one leg with his arms raised and holding a long piece of fabric, rotates with the wind.
- A walkable public art encounter, Suwanee SculpTour is a program of the Public Arts Commission. The 2015-17 exhibit will be on display through March 2017.
Artists contributing to the 2015-17 Tour include:
- Ball and the Red Staircase by Adam Walls of Hope Mills, N.C.;
- BRD by Michael Dillon of Milton, Ga.;
- Capacious by Isaac Duncan of Chattanooga, Tenn.;
- Carry Forward by Joey Manson of Central, S.C.;
- Cascade by Gregory Johnson of Cumming;
- Corey by Jonathan Bowling of Greenville, N.C.;
- Cow on a Horse by Jim Collins of Signal Mountain, Tenn.;
- Dancer XX by Jack Howard-Potter of New York, N.Y.;
- Faith by Adam Walls and also Father and Son by Adam Walls of Hope Mills, N.C.;
- Friends by Nnamdi Okonkwo of Fayetteville;
- The Herd by Phil Proctor of Atlanta;
- Love Hurts by Lee Benson of Jackson, Tenn.;
- Oak Leaf Horizon by Jim Gallucci of Greensboro, N.C.;
- Sunflower Gate by Andrew T. Crawford of Atlanta;
- Taking Flight by Jennifer Freeman of Duluth; and
- Three Muses by Hanna Jubran of Grimesland, N.C.
Snellville visioning forum will take place May 5
The future development of the Snellville’s Towne Center will be the topic of a discussion at a Visioning Forum slated for May 5.
The goal of the event, presented by the Snellville Commerce Club, Council for Quality Growth and the Snellville Urban Redevelopment Agency, is to continue the conversation about the Towne Center at Snellville and how to make it a reality.
The free forum starts at 10 a.m. before the monthly Commerce Club luncheon in the Community Room at Snellville City Hall, 2342 Oak Road.
- To register for the free event visit www.snellville.org/snellvillevision.
NOTABLE
Marriott Hotel expected to be build adjacent to Civic Center
Construction of a long-awaited headquarters hotel at Gwinnett’s Convention Center moved ahead this week when commissioners authorized Chairman Charlotte Nash to execute a lease agreement with the Gwinnett Development Authority to facilitate the construction on about five acres on the grounds of the Gwinnett Center.
The resolution authorizes the Development Authority to assign the lease to the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau (GCVB), which currently manages the County’s Gwinnett Center property located at 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway.
The GCVB chose a proposal by North Carolina-based Concord at Sugarloaf LLC as the best of four submitted with the best experience and financial backing to complete the project.
According to GCVB CEO Preston Williams, the project represents a $70 million investment with no public dollars involved. “Plans call for a full-service, first-class Marriott hotel of up to 12 stories,” said Williams.
Ehrenfeuchter re-elected to Academy’s governing board
Dr. Walter C. Ehrenfeuchter, DO, FAAO, professor and director of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine at Georgia Campus of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, was re-elected to the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Osteopathy (AAO) at the AAO’s Convocation recently in Louisville, Ky. He is shown with Evan Nicholas, DO, an OMM faculty member at PCOM. A member of the AAO Board of Governors since 2007, Dr. Ehrenfeuchter was one of eight from across the country to be re-elected as a governor of the AAO, the largest medical society in the United States devoted to fostering osteopathic manipulative medicine and neuromusculoskeletal medicine. Dr. Ehrenfeuchter will serve another three-year term on the board.
RECOMMENDED
Spencer’s Mountain
A movie by Delmer Daves
This 1963 movie portrays a multi-generational family, struggling during the Great Depression, to survive. Based on the Earl Hamner Jr. novel that later inspired The Waltons, the viewer will see many similarities to the long running television series. The family is led by a crusty, independent father, Clay Spencer (Henry Fonda), and supported by his long-suffering, feisty wife (Maureen O’Hara). While melodramatic at times, the love of family, self-sacrifice, and bonds of friendship win out. Set in Wyoming (not the North Carolina mountains), the film reflects the values of honoring the elderly, the role of religion in family life, and the importance of higher education. For anyone who loves watching Henry Fonda or Maureen O’Hara exercise their acting skills, this is a must. Great family film – worth seeking out! (Directed/Produced/Screenplay by Delmer Daves).
— Karen Garner, Dacula
An invitation: What books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (100 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. — eeb
GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA TIDBIT
Best work of Caldwell may be his nonfiction and travel stories
(Continued from previous edition)
The best work of the latter part of Erskine Caldwell’s career is his nonfiction, especially his travel writing. Journeying over the South in the 1960s with his wife, Virginia, he wrote In Search of Bisco (1965) and Deep South (1968). The former deals with race and shows his disappointment with the white South’s opposition to integration. The latter, which explores religion, illustrates his ongoing frustration with white Christians who use their faith to oppose social reform—whether they are holy-rollers in the country or corporate executives in the city.
Considering the great volume of Erskine Caldwell’s work, the quality might be expected to be uneven. Much of his early writing is among the best in American literature. That writing lodges in the reader’s memory. One does not forget the characters and circumstances described in Tobacco Road, God’s Little Acre, and many of the short stories.
Caldwell’s focus on the issues of class and race was more intense than that of any other white southern writer of his generation. What distinguishes his best fiction dealing with class is his ability to evoke emotion while avoiding sentimentality. For example, if Jeeter Lester of Tobacco Road were only pitiable, then the reader, after feeling sorry for him, could forget him. But because his behavior is so outrageous, it is disturbing and unforgettable.
Notwithstanding the artistic power with which Caldwell invested his delineation of the effects of poverty, his anger and agony over the poison that racism injected into southern life called forth his best work. No rational person, not even a white southerner in the 1930s, could contend that the black protagonists in such stories as “Saturday Afternoon,” “Candy-Man Beechum,” and “Kneel to the Rising Sun” deserved their terrible fate. Their self-respect and good habits, coupled with white jealousy, got them killed.
Caldwell’s harsh criticism of social injustice in his native region brought forth equally sharp criticism by some white southerners who accused him of being a Communist, a corrupter of morals, and a traitor to the South. At the same time, other southerners commended his artistic skill and his social conscience. Controversy over his writings stalked his career and extended beyond the grave.
Although Caldwell settled outside of Georgia shortly before he was 25, he paid extended visits to his parents in Wrens for as long as they lived there. Later, he returned to Georgia and other southern states on numerous occasions. Though he lived much of his life outside the South, the region stayed on his mind and figured prominently in most of his writing. Nostalgia for his native Georgia found expression when he reached his 60s. As he wrote Governor Lester Maddox with an ironic twist in 1967, “I like to think that I am as much a Georgian as B’rer Rabbit.” Nostalgia did not diminish the social concern, however. In his 70s, he asked an old friend at the Atlanta Journal to help with arrangements for a proposed volume that would update You Have Seen Their Faces.
A month before his death on April 11, 1987, Peachtree Publishers in Atlanta issued his final book, an autobiography entitled With All My Might. It is supremely fitting that his farewell was published in his native Georgia, a place that had supplied such rich material about the poor people whose lives he sought to improve. In 2000 Caldwell was inducted as a charter member into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame.
MYSTERY PHOTO
Looks like a great place to visit
CLUE: Beautiful springtime flowers, classical buildings, and a well-kept paths form today’s Mystery Photo. Tell us where you think this is, and be sure to include the town where you live. Send your answer to: elliott@gwinnettforum.com.
Forum readers got shut out in the last Mystery Photo, as not a single person recognized the photograph, sent in by Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill.
It is of Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. The closest any reader came was from Harriett Nichols of Trickum, who thought it was in the Hudson River Valley of New York, remembering a boat trip from Albany to New York City. Not quite, but close. It’s about 35 miles from the Hudson River.
LAGNIAPPE
Watch out for grazing herd on grass
Another entry in the Suwanee SculpTour is The Herd by Phil Proctor of Atlanta. One of the entries in this tour will be purchased by the city for permanent display.
CREDITS
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