12/9: On Peach State FCU’s awards, voter turnout, swing states and diners

SUWANEE’S BRANCH of the Gwinnett County Public Library has been adopted by Mayer Landscapeas a showcase for their company’s landscape design services. Louis Goodman, left, brokered the concept, working with Porth Monts, left, from Mayer Landscape. For more details, see Notable below.

TODAY’S FOCUS: Peach State FCU To Award over $161,000 in Scholarships and Grants

EEB PERSPECTIVE: Voter Turnout; Swing States; New Candidate; Thermometer; and Diners

SPOTLIGHT: BrandBank

FEEDBACK: Commends Author for Recent Thoughts About Article on ISIS

UPCOMING: First Eastside Urgent Care Unit To Be at Sugarloaf and Five Forks Trickum Road

NOTABLE: Mayer Landscape Provides Plants to Brighten Entrance at Suwanee Library

RECOMMENDED: Indestructible by John R. Bruning

GEORGIA TIDBIT: Spectacular and Unusual Sites are Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia

TODAY’S QUOTE: Ah Ha! That’s Where Those with the Proper Form Come From

MYSTERY PHOTO: Perhaps This Edition’s Mystery Photo Isn’t In Asia

CALENDAR: Santa’s Last Stop Saturday Before Christmas Is in Duluth

Peach State FCU to award over $161,000 in scholarships, grants

By Heather Griffin, Lawrenceville, Ga.  —  Peach State Federal Credit Union is currently accepting applications for its 2017 scholarship program, which will award more than $161,000 in scholarships and educational grants. The program was established to honor the credit union’s founders, past and present board members and employees, as well as the lifetime achievements of several notable school system and community leaders.

Peach State has added six new scholarships for 2017. Three of these are student scholarships honoring Gary Hobbs, retired Walton County superintendent, and Marion Barnes and the board of directors at Richmond County Teachers FCU, which merged with Peach State earlier this year. In keeping with tradition, when a student scholarship is added, a Career Advancement Scholarship is added as well. One of these three new Career Advancement Scholarships has been named to honor Wilma Widmer for her many years of service on Peach State’s supervisory committee.

Scholarship winners will be announced in the spring of 2017.   The following is a list of all available scholarships:

Nine $2,500 Legacy Student Scholarships will be awarded to high school seniors attending college to pursue a degree in education and plan to return to Georgia to teach.

Thirteen $2,500 school system and community honoree student scholarships will be awarded as a tribute to:

• Marion Barnes, former Board Member for Richmond County Teachers FCU;
• Anderson Byers, retired Superintendent of Jackson County School System;
• Rick Cost, retiring Chief Financial Officer for Gwinnett County Public Schools;
• Dan Cromer, retired Barrow County School System Superintendent;
• Gary Hobbs, retired Superintendent of Walton County Public Schools;
• Gracewood Student Scholarship honoring the Board of Directors from Richmond Community FCU (which merged with Peach State in July 2015);
• Dr. John Jackson, retired Superintendent of the Oconee County School System;
• Brian J. Mulherin, Sr., Director Emeritus;
• Janet Pomeroy and Pearlie Woods for their dedication to the credit union and the Clarke County community Louise Radloff, member of the Gwinnett County Board of Education;
• Richmond County Teachers Student Scholarship honoring the Board of Directors from Richmond County Teachers FCU; and
• J. Alvin Wilbanks, CEO and Superintendent of Gwinnett County Public Schools.

Twenty-two $2,000 Career Advancement Scholarships, including the new Wilma Widmer Career Advancement Scholarship.

Boutwell

Peach State is also proud to support the following educational institutions with a combined total of $62,200 in scholarships and educational grants: Athens Technical College, Georgia Gwinnett College, Gwinnett County Public Schools, Gwinnett Technical College and the University of North Georgia.

Peach State President/CEO, Marshall Boutwell  says: “Awarding scholarships is one of the most important contributions we make to the community. Since we were founded in 1961, education has been at the core of our organization. Through this annual tradition, we hope to strengthen the lives of the recipients and in turn, our communities.”

Applications and eligibility criteria are available on the credit union’s website at www.peachstatefcu.org.

• Have a comment?  Send to:  elliott@brack.net

Voter turnout; swing states; new candidate, thermometer; and diners

By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher  |  Gwinnett had an unusually high turnout for the 2016 presidential election.  There were 430,935 registered, Elections Director Lynn Ledford tells us, and 332,149 persons voted. That’s 77 percent of those registered ending up voting. Attaway! Gwinnettians.

OK, SOME OF YOU SAID if the election didn’t turn out like you wanted, you might move to Canada, remember?  There may be a better way to help out in the next election besides leaving our country.

How about moving to a swing state?  There are states with close counts, such as Michigan, Wisconsin or Ohio. Might work out for you to help turn one of those state around.

Don’t like the cold?  Consider moving to Florida or North Carolina, both places with slim margins for the winner. Who knows?  If enough moved, it might make a difference in future elections. Or you might just stay in Georgia and help its move to a swing state position.

FORMER GWINNETIAN Gail Johnson now lives in Rutland, Vt., and has decided to run for the Board of Alderman in that city. The election will be on March 7, 2017, not far away.

Johnson

She’s been active in Rutland, completing a long stint as chair of a county architectural review board and was a representative to a regional transportation study group before moving to Rutland. She works with the Rutland Housing Authority. She currently oversees volunteers and activities in the city’s 54-street neighborhood known as Historic South West Rutland.

Johnson is a graduate of the University of Louisville, has a master’s in education degree from Georgia State University and another master’s in public policy from George Mason University. She is a military veteran, having served on active duty as a U.S. Navy Finance Officer during the Vietnam conflict and became the first female military Finance Officer assigned to the then largest stateside U.S. Naval Base in Charleston, S.C. Good luck, Gail!

SOME OF US (often me) are slow to adopt modern technologies. Recently when our indoor-outdoor thermometer was no longer functioning, I was considering a new one. Then when on another mission to a hardware store, I unexpectedly spied a wireless indoor-outdoor thermometer, and bought it. The good part is that installation was easy, compared to running a wire linking the inside reader with the outside temperature gauge.

All I needed to do was to locate the outside gauge somewhere within 165 feet of the inside temperature (and humidity) reader. And almost immediately, the two units synced, and now we’re in business, knowing how hot or cold it is outside any time of day. The unit cost $20, and works wirelessly wonderfully. Hurrah for technology!

EVER WONDER why there are so few diners in the South?  You see diners all over the northeast, and most of the time their food offerings are tempting, and good, and often also serve as a community meeting place.

So why few diners in the South? Let us suggest it’s that two Southern institutions, Waffle House (founded in 1955 in Avondale Estates) and Huddle House (founded in 1964 in Decatur) have about cornered the market for individually-owned diners.  These two companies concentrated their growth in the South. These modern chains have their own following, offer good, standard menus, and are usually successful. Someone else think of another reason for not many diners in Dixie?

• Have a comment?  Send to:  elliott@brack.net

BrandBank

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers.  Today’s sponsor is BrandBank, Gwinnett County’s oldest locally-owned community bank with total assets of $2.4 Billion.  Chartered as The Brand Banking Company in 1905, BrandBank was recently named #1 in Customer Service among all banks its size in the United States as surveyed by CSP, Inc.  The full-service bank is committed to the communities it serves by combining best-in-class personal service with innovative products and services using state of the art mobile technology.  In addition to operating branches in Buford, Duluth, Flowery Branch, Grayson, Lawrenceville, Snellville, and Suwanee, BrandBank has a loan production office in the Buckhead area of Atlanta and in Cobb County.  BrandExpress offices are located in Buckhead, Suwanee, and Winder.  BrandMortgage is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Brand Banking Company and has an extensive menu of innovative lending products in 10 states.

• For more information, go to https://www.thebrandbank.com/home/home.

• For a list of other sponsors of this forum, go to: https://www.gwinnettforum.com/about/sponsors.

Commends author for recent thoughts about article on ISIS

Editor, the Forum:

At a time when it is so easy to fall prey to the rising tide of Islamophobia and scapegoating, I commend Alvin Leaphart and his recent commentary, “The West needs to come together with Islam to destroy ISIS.” (GwinnettForum, December 2).)

If it is not obvious yet, those seeking to do us harm are not distinguishing between Muslims, Christians and Jews. The goal is to maximize damage and bloodshed, regardless of race, political affiliation or religious identity.

We at Madina Institute USA in the heart of Duluth share the belief that we are all children of the One God, regardless of how you choose to interpret and pray to that God. In fact, we have taken it upon ourselves to engage with our fellow Americans in ways few mosques have done, believing that it is incumbent upon us to share and educate on the true tenets of Islam.

Thanks again, to Mr. Leaphart for this thoughtful piece on the subject.

— Nidal Ibrahim, Duluth

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.  We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length.  Send feedback and letters to:    elliott@brack.net

First Eastside Urgent Care unit to be at Sugarloaf and Five Forks Road

Eastside Urgent Care, in association with Eastside Medical Center, announces that it will be opening three new urgent care centers in Gwinnett County. They are scheduled to open in early 2017.

The first Eastside Urgent Care center location is scheduled to open in January of 2017 and will be located at the intersection of Sugarloaf Parkway and Five Forks Trickum Road. Eastside Urgent Care will offer extended weekday hours until 8 p.m. as well as weekend hours. Additionally, patients will have the option to use an advanced queuing system that will allow them to choose and hold an appointment time that is convenient for them and skip the wait. The automated system will send the patient a text when they are next in line.

Eastside Medical Center’s Chief Executive Officer Trent Lind says: “For medical needs that do not require a visit to the emergency department, or in instances when a patient is unable to see their primary care physician, Eastside Urgent Care will be able to fill the gap between primary care and emergency care needs.”

Eastside Urgent Care will offer extended weekday hours until 8 p.m. as well as weekend hours. Additionally, patients will have the option to use an advanced queuing system that will allow them to choose and hold an appointment time that is convenient for them and skip the wait. The automated system will send the patient a text when they are next in line.

Director of Operations for Eastside Urgent Care is Dr. Navreet Pannu says: “Our ability to treat minor injuries, illnesses, and time-sensitive ailments, along with having on-site x-ray and lab capabilities, will help the people in this community access quality care and get back to doing the things they enjoy.”

Mayer Landscape provides plants to entrance at Suwanee library

For the first time in eight years, the two large planters at the entrance of the Suwanee Branch library now contain plants, thanks to a contribution from a local small business.

Mayer Landscape, a landscape management and design company in Suwanee, has adopted the Suwanee branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library as a showcase for the company’s landscape design services.

Porth Monts, a manager for Mayer Landscape, says:  “We are very happy to be in Suwanee and wanted to give back to the community. This seemed like a good way to add beauty to the community and at the same time let people see what we can do.”

Louise Goodman, HOA president of the nearby Stonecypher community, brokered the deal. Mayer Landscape provides lawn and landscape management services to Stonecypher. Mrs. Goodman approached Mayer Landscape about donating landscaping for the library planters and they quickly accepted.

Mrs. Goodman is an avid reader and frequent visitor to the library. “I love gardening and have been bothered that these planters have been empty,” she says. “They were just crying out for something beautiful.”

GCPL Executive Director Charles Pace appreciates the opportunity. “We’ve had individuals and community groups volunteer to clean up or enhance the landscaping at a few branches, but this is the first time a professional landscaping company has contributed their services and expertise to beautify one of our branches,” he says.

The planters are now filled with a mix of perennial plants and bulbs including Camellias, Nandina, Dwarf English Boxwood, and Dwarf Gardenia, Hyacinth, and Crocus.

Buford Human Services Center to get $1.76 million upgrade

A Gwinnett County facility in Buford that has served as a base for various health and human services since 1997 will undergo an extensive renovation and expansion. Commissioners approved a $1.76 million construction contract on Tuesday with Beatty Construction Inc. The architect is Lord Aeck Sargent.

The 24,415-square-foot Buford Human Services Center at 2755 Sawnee Avenue currently houses public health, dental and mental health agencies along with senior services, various support groups and the federal Women, Infants and Children services program. Together, they provide more than 3,000 hours of programming a year aimed at preventing homelessness, helping with energy bills, assisting first-time homebuyers and offering nutrition programs, job interview preparation and tax help.

The work includes replacing the HVAC system, ceilings, lighting and roof; improvements to site drainage and pedestrian circulation; and interior reconfiguration to create additional community meeting areas. The 2014 SPLOST program will fund renovations to the portion of the building that houses the Buford Senior Center. The improvements will included an expanded dining room and upgraded serving area that serves about 10,000 meals to seniors each year. There will also be a new drop-off area, covered patio, activities room, personal care room, expanded lounge area, renovated restrooms and new interior finishes and furnishings.

Sidewalk project near two schools wins county approval

Connecting pedestrians to neighborhoods, schools and commercial properties near U.S Highway 78 in Snellville is the goal of a new sidewalk project approved recently by the Gwinnett Board of Commissioners.

The project will add about a half-mile of sidewalk along the east side of Skyland Drive from Street Deville to Eldorado Place, near two schools. The project also includes new curb and gutter along with drainage improvements. The board approved the $185,747 construction contract with Omshiv Construction LLC, the lowest of five responsive bidders.

District 3 Commissioner Tommy Hunter says: “This SPLOST-funded sidewalk project will make walking safer between homes, schools and businesses in this area. Building this sidewalk near South Gwinnett High School and Britt Elementary will also improve traffic flow and provide an alternative to driving for local residents.”

Indestructible

Nonfiction by John R. Bruning

For some reason, most of my reading about World War II has been of the action in Europe. This book provides a solid presentation of the war in The Philippines and its impact of the Pacific Ocean fighting, leading up to the invasion of Okinawa, and the eventual dropping of the atomic bomb. The story centers on P.I. “Pappy” Gunn and his family and how they, though separated from each other, suffered through the war. Gunn was something of an institution in the Philippines, a former Navy pilot, who was developing the fledging Philippine Air Lines. He was later brought back into the U.S. Navy because of his depth of understanding of the area. In particular, he developed the engineering gunnery techniques for the B-25s, making them the first true ‘gunships,’ which led to airplanes being key weapons in fighting and destroying Japanese ships. It is a true story, done well.–eeb

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

Spectacular and unusual sites are Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia

Amicalola Falls

The Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia are the most physically spectacular or unusual sites in the state. These landscape formations resulted from powerful forces of nature during geologic time—probably more than 60,000,000 years ago—and, with the exception of Providence Canyon, predate human activity in Georgia.

Amicalola Falls near Dawsonville are the highest waterfalls in Georgia, with a drop of 729 feet. Named by Cherokee Indians for “tumbling waters,” the falls are now the site of one of Georgia’s most popular state parks, which includes an overlook at the top of the falls. An eight-mile “approach trail” links the falls to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

The Okefenokee Swamp is the most extensive of Georgia’s natural wonders in terms of area. This wildlife refuge in southeastern Georgia covers about 700 square miles and makes up part of four counties. The Okefenokee (from the Seminole, meaning “land of trembling earth”) includes a wide variety of ecological features, ranging from sandy ridges to wet, grassy savannahs and marshes to narrow water channels and small islands, all of which support a vast range of flora and fauna…

Providence Canyon

Providence Canyon, sometimes called “Georgia’s Little Grand Canyon,” is located near Lumpkin in the west central part of the state. The multicolored 1,109-acre network of gorges is more than 100 feet deep. Providence Canyon is unique as a natural wonder of Georgia in that it was caused by relatively recent erosion (from human activity) over the past 150 years.

Radium Springs, on the southern outskirts of Albany, has waters that are consistently 68 degrees, rushing from the earth at 70,000 gallons per minute. These waters, which contain traces of radium, are the largest natural springs in Georgia. Overlooking Radium Springs is a park, featuring nature trails and an observation deck. The park is located on the site of a casino that had its heyday in the 1920s. The casino was demolished in 2003 after sustaining serious damage when the Flint River flooded.

Stone Mountain in metropolitan Atlanta is perhaps the best known of Georgia’s natural wonders. A granite dome rising 650 feet above the Piedmont plateau, Stone Mountain is about two miles long and seven miles in circumference at its base. On the northeastern wall is a Confederate memorial conceived in 1914 and completed in 1970. As early as 1927, the DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce proclaimed Stone Mountain to be the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” in reference to the original second-century B.C. list of “Seven Wonders of the World,” comprising ancient architectural masterpieces.

The Tallulah Gorge in northeast Georgia is a canyon formation three miles long and 1,200 feet deep. It was created by a series of waterfalls that were dammed by the Georgia Power Company in 1912. Named after a Native American word for “terrible,” Tallulah Gorge was traditionally feared as a home for evil spirits. It was among the most visited tourist destinations in the state in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Warm Springs, located on the lower slopes of Pine Mountain in Meriwether County, has long been known for its healing waters. Native Americans used to bring their wounded warriors to the springs, which have a year-round temperature of 88 degrees. A natural trap, about 2,800 feet underground, heats the water. In the antebellum period a minor resort developed at the springs, later made world-famous by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who found relief there for his polio from the mid-1920s until his death at the Little White House, his home at Warm Springs, in 1945.

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

Perhaps this editions’ Mystery Photo isn’t in Asia

This edition’s Mystery Photo certainly doesn’t look like an Asian scene, does it?  You might be surprised as to its location. Start your mind working, then send in your thoughts to elliott@brack.net and be sure to include your hometown.

First in for the last Mystery Photo competition was Ross Lenhart of Pawley’s Island, S.C.: “I took the same picture. Climbed that hill to that castle several times starting during my Army days in the early 60s,” he reported. The photo came to us from Frank Kellert of Norcross, his first contribution.

Others recognizing the photo were Dewey Bentley, Winder; and Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; and of course George Graf, Palmyra, Va., who writes: “When I was stationed in Augsburg, Germany, with the U.S. Army, my wife wanted to take the ‘Sound of Music’ tour, so off we went and a stop in Salzburg was included. I was the only one on the tour bus who had never seen the movie and to this day I have not seen it so I was pretty much clueless on the tour.  It was a vast majority of ladies and I was one of the very few men on the tour. Salzburg was once an independent country, but was annexed to the Austrian Empire in 1816.

The world today refers to Salzburg′s most famous son as ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.’ In fact, his name was officially ‘Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart,’ with ‘Amadeus’ being a Latinised variation of ‘Theophilus.’ Mozart himself signed in his later years as ‘Wolfgang Amade,’ and referred to himself as ‘Amadeus’ only when he was joking.”

Candlelight Tours of Yule Decorated McDaniel Farm Park in Duluth.  Tours will also be offered at 8:30 p.m. on December 10, 16, 17, 18, 20 and 21. See the warmth of candles and the home decorated with fresh greenery and period holiday ornaments as costumed guides share historic customs and traditions with a glimpse of everyday life on a family farm.  After the tour, guests will enjoy a delicious cup of hot chocolate or apple cider as well as have the opportunity to make a holiday craft. A program fee for the candlelight tour is $8 per person. Pre-registration is required and must be done online at www.gwinnettEHC.org. McDaniel Farm is located at 3251 McDaniel Road, Duluth,

(NEW) FINAL STOP for Santa Claus on Saturday, December 17 will be at the Red Clay Music Foundry in Duluth, from 10 a.m. until noon. Professional photos taken here will be posted on Duluth’s Facebook page for downloading, free of cost. You should know that Santa must leave promptly at noon to make it to the North Pole on time, so arrive early. Arts and crafts will greet the children. Come see Santa here!

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