8/4: New medical residents; 2016 GOP convention; more

GwinnettForum  |  Issue 15.35  |  Aug. 4, 2015
 

To enjoy the flowers of the summer in an architectural setting, you need to visit the 220-acre Gibbs Garden near Ball Ground, which Roving Photographer Frank Sharp recently saw. He reports: “One must walk over a scenic bridge to reach the Welcome Center.  This bridge is covered with a profusion of flowers with numerous butterflies, a photographer’s delight.  Since Fernbank is no longer a real option, this is the best bet around for flower lovers.  There is a short film on the Gardens in the Welcome Center.  Behind the Welcome Center is a café and a large shaded outdoor picnic area with table and chairs. No food or beverages were allowed to be brought into the park. One should expect to spend most of the day there because it’s a huge place with the Manor House about two miles away.  One can take the TRAM that runs every few minutes.” Highlights in August include hundreds of roses, waterlilies, both tropical and hardy, and brilliant annuals and perennials. It’s opened Wednesdays through Sundays, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and $10 for children.

IN THIS EDITION  

TODAY’S FOCUS: GMC Welcomes First Class of Internal Medical Residents
EEB PERSPECTIVE: GOP Should Be Glad 2016 Convention Is Nearly A Year Off
FEEDBACK: Letters Take Opposing Sides of Same Subject
UPCOMING: Library Benefit To Feature Two Southern Authors
NOTABLE: Jackson EMC Sends Grants; K-9 Outfit Provides Demonstration
RECOMMENDED RESTAURANTS: Chinese Restaurants from Harold Schumacher
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Albany Native Considered Major Figure in American Classical Music
TODAY’S QUOTE: Listing of the Various Types of Homicides
MYSTERY PHOTO: Only Two Readers Identified Turn-of-Century Local Landmark
LAGNIAPPE: A Suggestion for a Colorful Visit: Gibbs Gardens

First class of internal medical residents arrive at Medical Center

By Beth Hardy

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga., Aug. 4, 2015 |  Gwinnett Medical Center (GMC) recently welcomed their first class of internal medicine residents as part of the system’s graduate medical education program. There are five first-year residents in the program and one second-year resident, who are all southeastern natives.

Dr. Maighan Guffey, Dr. Nidhip Patel (faculty), Dr. Tomia Hines, Dr. Shivani Shah, Dr. Kim Bates (program director), Dr. Bing Wang, Dr. Lailama Paykargar, Dr. Stephanie Garrett (faculty) and Dr. Emily Kim

GMC’s graduate medical education program, which began in 2014, also includes a family medicine residency. That track is in its second year and now includes 10 residents. The graduate medical education program is designed to address the current shortage of physicians in the Atlanta metro community.

Kimberly Bates, MD, GMC’s director of the internal medicine residency for the Graduate Medical Education Program, says:  “During their three years at GMC, internal medicine residents will have the opportunity to train with subspecialists such as cardiologists and neurologists and general internal medicine physicians. In addition, their training will feature one-on-one training with critical care physicians and in the system’s high-volume emergency departments which care for nearly 140,000 patients yearly.”

Graduate medical education faculty are GMC physicians, and will work alongside the residents to provide exceptional patient care. A portion of the internal medicine residency includes office-based patient care at Academic Internal Medicine Partners (AIMP). This facility is located in Springfield Plaza at 665 Duluth Highway, Suite 401 and is currently accepting patients.  It features 10 exam rooms. A number of rooms are equipped for procedures, including spirometry, EKGs, in-office lab testing and minor dermatological procedures, among others.

Residents and faculty physicians also offer geriatric care, general primary care and chronic disease management.  At AIMP, residents may also participate in pre-surgical evaluations for patients with complex medical issues.  AIMP physicians also have access to additional resources to treat patients with disabilities or have special needs, including those who are wheelchair bound.

GMC’s internal medicine residency program is affiliated with the Georgia Campus of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and The Georgia Regents University/The University of Georgia Medical Partnership in Athens.

Gwinnett Health System (GHS) is the parent company of Gwinnett Medical Center, Gwinnett Medical Group and Sequent Health Physician Partners.  GHS employs 4,800 associates and has 800 affiliated physicians serving more than 400,000 patients annually.  Gwinnett Medical Center (GMC) is a nationally-recognized, not-for-profit healthcare network with acute-care hospitals in Lawrenceville and Duluth. Additional facilities include: the Gwinnett Women’s Pavilion, the Gwinnett Extended Care Center, Glancy Rehabilitation Center, outpatient health centers and surgical centers, imaging centers and outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy facilities.  In 2014, GMC was recognized by Georgia Trend as the top large hospital in the state. To learn more about how GMC is transforming healthcare, visit gwinnettmedicalcenter.org.

Republicans should be glad 2016 convention is a long way off

By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher

AUG. 4, 2015  |  The national Republican Party ought to be glad that the next presidential election is now at nearly a year away. The convention will be in Cleveland on July 18-21, 2016.

With 17 candidates in the field, each thinking this is their big change to be elected president, by the time of the national convention, most of these hopefuls will have fallen by the wayside, for one reason or another.

And given more time, we also expect that Donald Trump won’t be shaking the political rafters with his outrageous remarks, and therefore, not affecting the outcome of the presidential race.

Unless of course, Trump gets so desperate for attention that he does the GOP an injustice and mounts a third party candidacy. For the party’s sake, we hope that doesn’t happen. For if Trump remains “in the race to the end,” that would mean that the Democrats and Republicans would not have a comparable up-or-down fight for votes. We would prefer for either of these two parties to face each other without a third party distraction, so that the voters of the country could straight-forwardly register the political direction of this country, and bring our nation back to more sanity.  Yes, you might say, vote a mandate.

A conservative third party (Trump or whoever) in the race would probably siphon off enough Republican voters to ensure the election of a Democrat.  That would make both the Third Partyers and the GOP rattled, thinking that neither had a fair chance for the people to register their sentiment.

Right now pollsters say that the country is leaning more and more toward the Democratic side. After all, it appears that the country is becoming more liberal, and expected to be more-so because of the growing diverse population in our nation.

Not only that, but with 17 Republican candidates, each with their own agenda, the divisions within the Republican Party seem to grow. That makes coming together and winning an election even harder, with little party unity. With a third party in the race, those diehards in the GOP who do not approve of the nominee would either vote Democratic, or stay home. Either way, the GOP is weaker.

Of course, the Democrats can have their own problems, mainly because of the force of Hillary Clinton. Before the nomination period is over, we suspect that in some way that Mrs. Clinton may be derailed from gaining the nomination. There is a lot of negative sentiment around her. We just don’t think she will make it. Who will? We wonder.

Even a new Democratic face, going up against the splintered party of 17 current candidates, does not bode well for the GOP either, even without a third party in the race.

These days are the formative times for the next presidential race. Watching the Republicans rumble and fight, debase and cause one another problems, quarreling for the nomination, we feel won’t serve to strengthen the Grand Old Party.

The Democrats, it now appears, could be stronger because they don’t fight one another as much, except all ganging up now against Hillary. That might even help to bring them together more.

In 11 months, with 17 candidates, it is hard to fathom what will happen in the Republican race.  But it’ll be fascinating to watch.

Howard Brothers

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today’s sponsor is Howard Brothers, marking its 60th year in 2015, which has retail stores in Alpharetta, Doraville, Duluth and Oakwood. John and Doug Howard are the ‘brothers’ in Howard Brothers. This family owned business was started by their dad, and continues to specialize in hardware, outdoor power equipment and parts and service.  Howard Brothers are authorized dealers of STIHL, Exmark, Honda and Echo outdoor power equipment.  They are authorized Big Green Egg and Traeger Grill dealers and have recently become an authorized YETI Cooler dealer.

• Visit their web site www.howardbrothers.com.

It was “liberals” who declared independence from Britain

Editor, the Forum:

Where do they get these guys writing letters to you?  If he truly believes that all “liberal” (read Democratic) policies are evil, he needs to change his lifestyle to reflect his beliefs.

He must not accept Social Security or Medicare.  He should work 60 or so hours a week, with no overtime, and if he gets his electric power from an electric membership co-operative, he should shut off the power to his home.

If he is a farmer, he should refuse any help from the Cooperative Extension Service, he must not finance his home through an FHA loan, and as you mentioned. he should not visit any National Parks.

And, oh, yeah – he must not get his information regarding the local weather from the National Weather Service.

All these programs, and more, are the result of what he decries as “liberal” policies.

If he lives according to his political beliefs, his quality of life isn’t going to be very good.

And one more thing – it was the “liberals” who wanted to declare independence from Great Britain in 1776.  The conservatives were heartily in favor of remaining subjects of the British crown. They were called “Tories.”

— Robert Hanson, Loganville 

Recognizes Sir Tim Berners-Lee for his invention of the Internet

Editor, the Forum:

Please tell me you do not believe the hogwash that Al Gore invented started/created the Internet, do ya????? The Internet was started by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and existed way before Al Gore was relevant. The biggest contributor/creator to the world wide web would be Tim Berners-Lee

— Tim Sullivan: Buford

Thanks, Tim.  We knew it wasn’t Al, but did not know of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who it says on the internet “….also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist, best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web.” –eeb

Didn’t appreciate comment aimed at recent letter writer

Editor, the Forum:

I am very disappointed in your uncalled for response to Steve Rausch who was expressing his opinion on one issue, gay leaders in the Boy Scouts. Your comments on FDR and social security and our national parks and all your other comments have nothing to do with opinions on the Boy Scouts. It was, in fact, Republican President Teddy Roosevelt who created more national parks and national monuments than any other president.

If you are going to be sarcastic, at least make your comments on the issue at hand.

— Jim Nelems, Bluffton S.C.

Appreciated comments aimed at recent letter writer

Editor, the Forum:

Love your response to the guy from Norcross. As I read his letter (and my blood pressure rose) I thought of responding…only to see your much more intelligent, less vitriolic history lesson retort. Well done.

— Howard Hoffman, Peachtree Corners

FEEDBACK AND LETTERS:  elliott@brack.net

Library benefit on Aug. 19 features two Southern women authors

Join the Friends of the Gwinnett County Public Library for a beach party luncheon featuring New York Times bestselling authors Mary Kay Andrews and Patti Callahan Henry on August 19 at noon at Garden Plaza in Lawrenceville.

Andrews

Mary Kay Andrews is a New York Times bestselling author and former reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She wrote ten critically acclaimed mysteries, including the Callahan Garrity mystery series, under her “real” name, which is Kathy Hogan Trocheck. Her mysteries have been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Awards.

Henry

New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry has published ten novels. She has been nominated four times for the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Novel of the Year.  She is hailed as a fresh new voice in southern fiction.  Her latest novel, The Idea of Love, is a story of love and reinvention told with southern humor and wit.

Tickets are $10 each and include lunch. Buy tickets online at friendsgcpl.org, or mail a check to Friends of the Gwinnett Library 1001 Lawrenceville Highway, Lawrenceville.

Garden Plaza is located at 230 Collins Industrial Way, Lawrenceville. Seating is limited. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. Funds benefit the Friends of the Gwinnett County Public Library.

Kudzu’s 12×12 Xtravaganza and silent auction returning in September

Kudzu Art Zone is announcing its annual fundraiser silent auction, coming in September. The anticipated art and social event features a silent auction sale of original art works throughout the month of September.

“Fred” the giraffe portrait by Anne Labaire

Called the “12 x 12 Xtravaganza,” all the works in the show are 12 x 12 inches and represent many media and styles, which are affordable.  Dates of the exhibit and sale are Friday, September 11 through Friday October 9. The gala opening reception is Friday evening September 11 from 6 to 9 p.m.

Silent auction bidding begins at the reception and continues until the end of the show.

Kudzu Art Zone is located at 116 Carlyle Street in downtown Norcross and gallery hours are Friday and Saturdays from 11 AM to 4 PM.  Phone is 770-840-9844 and the website is kudzuartzone.org..

Jackson EMC Foundation grants $57,500 to Gwinnett agencies

The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded a total $80,550 in grants to organizations during their June meeting, including $57,500 to agencies serving Gwinnett County residents. Among them:

$15,000 to Eagle Ranch, a Chestnut Mountain home for boys and girls in crisis serving all of Northeast Georgia, to install two security gates.

$15,000 to the Fragile Kids Foundation to help fund the purchase and installation of critical medical equipment not covered by insurance.

Jackson EMC District Manager Randy Dellinger (left) and Jackson EMC Foundation board chair Beauty Baldwin presented a $15,000 Foundation grant check to Good Samaritan Health Center of Gwinnett Executive Director Greg Lang.

$15,000 to Good Samaritan Health Center of Gwinnett, a faith-based nonprofit committed to caring for the indigent, homeless and working poor in Gwinnett and Hall counties to help provide diagnostic laboratory and pathology services to patients with chronic diseases.

$7,500 to New Beginnings Ministries of Lawrenceville, a nonprofit that offers low-cost professional level counseling to fund counselors who provide single women and mothers with five-session crisis counseling sessions.

$5,000 to the Place of Seven Springs, a Snellville nonprofit which provides food and emergency assistance for funds for emergency housing, water bills, gas cards, food and nonnarcotic prescription medicine.

The Jackson EMC Foundation is funded by Operation Round Up, which rounds up the more than 180,000 participating cooperative members’ monthly electric bills to the next dollar amount. This “spare change” has funded 989 grants to organizations and 314 grants to individuals, putting more than $10 million back into local communities since the program began in 2005.

K-9 units give church camp look at 4-legged officers

It was a day for the dogs at an area church Thursday as K-9 units from local law enforcement agencies teamed up for a demonstration for children at summer day camp.Officers, both human and canine, showed off their skills for the children at the Cannon United Methodist Church Day Camp.

Officer Misty Howell and K-9 Alf with the Duluth Police Department celebrate after Alf successfully found evidence during a training demonstration.

Snellville Police Department Lt. David Matson handles the city’s newest K-9 officer, Jax,, and worked with retired K-9 officer Chris. He says: “Kids like to see the dogs. Sometimes there’s this negative aspect of ‘Ooh, it’s a police dog.’ We like to get people familiar with the dogs so at the end of the day, they just see them as dogs.”

Matson said many people don’t realize a police dog, when not working, is just as friendly as a “regular” dog. It is not until the trainer tells them to “Go to work” that the dog’s temperament changes.

Sherrye Beebe of the church was looking for “anything different” to entertain the 222 children who attend the summer program. She found it with the K-9 demonstration. Students watched and listened intently as the handlers put their dogs through training exercises. “We want them to get familiar with the police and the dog so they want they won’t be afraid of either of them,” she says 

Matson, and officers and K-9s from the Duluth Police Department and Georgia Gwinnett College K-9 units, showed techniques used in evidence recovery, explosive device detection and apprehension.

Matson also showed off the equipment K-9 units use including bullet proof vests, muzzles and of course toys for when the dog’s mission is complete.

RECOMMENDED  

Chinese Restaurants in the area

Recommending Chinese restaurants is right up my alley, with many of them in Doraville and Chamblee. Two newer places that I’ve liked or heard good things about: first is Masterpiece (in Gwinnett) at 3940 Buford Highway, next to the Quik Trip The other new place is Good Luck Gourmet (5750 Buford Highway in Doraville,) former location of Gu’s, north 1-285.  Haven’t been, but hear good things. I also like in Doraville three others: Northern China Eatery, at 5141 Buford Highway, Bo-Bo Garden, 5181 Buford Highway, or Chef Liu’s, 5283 Buford Highway. For Dim Sum, my favorites are Oriental Pearl, 5399 New Peachtree Road in Chamblee and Canton House, 4825 Buford Highway in Chamblee.  Hope that helps.

— Harold V. Shumacher, Atlanta, former restaurant critic.

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

Albany native considered major figure in American classical music

Wallingford Riegger was a major figure in the world of American classical music for more than three decades. An avant-garde modernist whose major compositions severely tested the ability of audiences to comprehend new sounds and forms, Riegger refused to bow to either musical traditionalism or popular taste, making sacrifices in order to remain true to his artistic ideals. By the end of his life, many in the musical world acknowledged him as the dean of American composers.

Wallingford Constantine Riegger was born in Albany on April 29, 1885, to Ida Wallingford and Constantine Riegger. Both parents were musically gifted (his father was an accomplished violinist and his mother a talented pianist). In 1888 the family left Georgia after Constantine Riegger’s lumber mill burned to the ground. After living in Indianapolis and Louisville, Kentucky, the Riegger family moved to New York City in 1900.

In 1907 Riegger, a gifted cellist, was a member of the first graduating class of New York’s Institute of Musical Arts, the precursor of the Juilliard School of Music. Over the next three years, Riegger took advanced courses in cello and composition at Berlin’s renowned Hochschule für Musik in Germany. He returned to New York in 1910, and in 1911 he married Rose Schramm, with whom he had three daughters.

Riegger returned to Germany in 1914 to advance his career. He worked as a vocal coach and conductor in several German cities, including Berlin. When World War I broke out between the United States and Germany in 1917, the Rieggers returned home. Over the next decade Wallingford accepted teaching positions in Iowa, upstate New York, and finally, New York City. In his limited leisure time Riegger composed. These works won recognition and major awards, including the Paderewski Prize (1922) and the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Prize (1924)—the first time this coveted honor was given to an American composer.

(To be continued)

• To access the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org

Where are these rushing falls?

CLUE: Could this rushing falls be around here?  You go figure. There’s not much that the nearby surroundings are telling anyone studying this Mystery Photo. You’ll have to be especially alert to solve this edition’s mystery. Once you get an idea, send it to elliott@brack.net, and be sure to include your address.

Last edition, only two persons solved the mystery, both regulars. First in was Ruthy Lachman Paul, Norcross, who identified the turn-of-20th-century home of Lawrenceville First United Methodist Church, which was constructed in 1891. It was located a block from Historic Gwinnett County Courthouse and Lawrenceville Square. This location suffered a devastating fire in 1902, that destroyed most of the building and church records, along with the adjacent schoolhouse. The site was then rebuilt and served as the home of the Lawrenceville Methodist Church for many years, until the congregation relocated to its current facility at East Crogan Street at Langley Drive. The building then served other congregations before it was remodeled in 2007 as the present-day Aurora Theatre.  The other person identifying the photo was Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill. The recent mystery was sent in Bob Foreman of Grayson, whose architectural firm was the architect of record for the Aurora Theatre building, also known as the Lawrenceville Performing Arts Center, completed in 2007.

Blue moon

Chuck Paul of Norcross shot this Blue Moon on the night of July 31 from his deck.  It was the second full moon of July, 2015.  A blue moon is defined not as the color of the moon, but when a month has a second full moon. (There was one on July 1.) The next Blue Moon will take place on January 31, 2018, then another will follow that year on March 31. The earliest recorded note of two moons in a month was found in England in 1528.  Used colloquially, it means rare event, as in “Once in a blue moon.”  Thanks, Chuck!

CREDITS

GwinnettForum is provided to you at no charge every Tuesday and Friday. If you would like to serve as an underwriter, click here to learn more.

• Send your thoughts, 55-word short stories, pet peeves or comments on any issue to Gwinnett Forum for future publication.
• MORE: Contact Editor and Publisher Elliott Brack at: elliott@gwinnettforum.com

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.

© 2015, 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.