5/26: Sugar Hill’s water; Gwinnett’s diversity; Beach’s sand

All Gwinnett aquatic facilities to open Saturday 

All Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation (GCPR) aquatic facilities open on Saturday, May 27 for the start of Memorial Day weekend. Visitors will find a wide array of amenities for both fun and learning, including private, semi-private, and group swim lessons annually for all ages. GCPR would like to highlight tips for a safe and enjoyable day at the pool:

• Never leave a child unattended in a pool or spa;
• Always watch your child when he or she is in or near water;
• Teach children basic water safety;
• Keep children away from pool drains, pipes and other openings to avoid entrapment
• Have a telephone close by when you or your family are using a pool or spa; and
• If a child is missing, look for him or her first in the pool or spa.

GCPR recognizes the vital role that swimming and aquatic-related activities relate to good physical and mental health and enhance the quality of life for all people. Christine Greenfield, Aquatics Coordinator, says:  “Learning how to swim saves lives. We encourage all families to enroll in swim lessons and safety programs by contacting your local pool.” All GCPR pools are accessible for people with disabilities and offer safe, supervised swimming places for patrons of all ages. GCPR will also hold various special events and family night swims throughout the summer at all facilities. For more details on upcoming events, admission fees, hours of operation or facility rentals, visit www.gwinnettparks.com.

TODAY’S FOCUS: Water Seen as Unifying Force as It Will Flow Through Sugar Hill

EEB PERSPECTIVE: Gwinnett’s Great Diversity Makes One Newcomer Feel Comfortable

ANOTHER VIEW: The Joys of a Five Year Old Being Buried on the Beach Up to His Head

SPOTLIGHT: Infinite Energy Center

FEEDBACK: Peachtree Corners Council Determined To Build Unwanted Bridge

UPCOMING: Aging Expo for 50 and Over at Infinite Energy Center on June 3

NOTABLE: Snellville Resident Wins Highest Honors Award at VMI

RECOMMENDED: OLLI-Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

GEORGIA TIDBIT: From Daguerreotypes to Kodachrome, See 18,000 Photos of Georgia

TODAY’S QUOTE: What Working at a Fire Hydrant Factory Produces    

MYSTERY PHOTO: For the Memorial Day Weekend, Where Is This Memorial?

LAGNIAPPE: Clean-Up of Bromolow Creek Wetlands Proves Successful

CALENDAR: PCOM Awards Degrees to 265 Students on Friday

Water seen as unifying force as it will flow through Sugar Hill

By Varessa Butts, Sugar Hill, Ga.  |  In every aspect of life, water plays a vital part.  It has long represented a broad range of emotions and actions, from vitality to serenity.  It is one of the most powerful forces in nature, yet it can be used to create a sense of calm and comfort.  Water is nurturing and in architecture, helps create texture and brings together natural elements with the built environment.  In Sugar Hill, Gwinnett County’s fourth largest city, water is being used to unify the downtown area, bringing buildings and walkways to life.

With the continued growth in downtown Sugar Hill, water will be incorporated at some scale into every downtown project.  Just as materials and design are important in the downtown business district, so is the presence and use of water.  It will be a key element in design approval and how that individual project “connects and flows” into the downtown core.  Tying all the projects together will help create vibrancy and also a sense of calm and connection in the midst of the hustle and bustle of a thriving downtown area.

Behind the city’s outdoor amphitheater, locally known as The Bowl, is a regional water detention facility.  Rather than just used for its basic hydrology and water quality purposes, the city made the choice to transform The Bowl into an amenity pond, similar to the one featured in Ponce City Park, while maintaining its functionality as storing and cleaning rainwater runoff. The water feature creates a picturesque backdrop for live concerts and is a perfect spot for visitors to enjoy a picnic by the water or a stroll along the path around the pond. They’ll also see the not so official new mascot of the city, the lone friendly white duck named “Quacker” that welcomes all to its home and loves to visit with guests.

Overlooking the amenity pond will be the city’s new 125,000 square foot mixed-use  E Center development, scheduled to open in May 2018.  It will feature a 387-seat performing arts theater, a gymnasium  with a second story walking track and 40,000 square feet of office, retail and restaurant space. The parking garage below this project will be masked by eight stately waterfalls flowing from the second floor plaza into a cascading pool of water at the foot of the development and will seemingly disappear into the stormwater detention facility below.

Soon the city plans to develop property it purchased from the Trust for Public Land near the Chattahoochee River. This 71-acre tract, of which the city placed 40 acres back into conservation, is now known as The Retreat at Orrs Ferry. Connecting this site to the new Sugar Hill Greenway as well as to the nearby Chattahoochee River is a priority of the city. Once completed, Orrs Ferry will feature a special event facility and an environmentally-friendly connection to the outside landscape.  A small flowing body of water will be developed to help create serenity and the symbolism of water to movement and life. The first five-mile phase of the 16.5 mile multi-year Greenway will be under construction this summer.

The presence and connection of water and architecture provide a constant sense of stability and serenity in Downtown Sugar Hill.  Using the little water available in their downtown, the city is bringing West Broad Street (the city’s main street) to life while maintaining the home-like feel of the Sugar Hill that residents have grown to love, as they enjoy the sweet life in Sugar Hill.           

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

Gwinnett’s great diversity makes one newcomer feel comfortable

By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher |  Most of us feel comfortable, we had presumed, in our native surroundings. Then a comment this week made me re-think this idea. And it gives a new insight of what it means to live in Gwinnett County, at least to one individual.

This person has lived in Gwinnett four years.  He asks: “How in the heck did someone like me, end up somewhere like here?”

He explains: “I was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where growing up was tough and somewhat of an identity crisis. My father was Mexican, and my mother was from Utah. So I was half this, and half that. And really, I did not feel comfortable in either the Mexican or the American community. I was half-both, and it felt strange.”

He continues: “In New Mexico, we are taught that we are direct descendants of the 16^th Century Spanish Crown…and considered anything other than New Mexican, ‘Chicano’ or Spanish, is truly an insult. To put it in laymen’s terms: I was never Mexican enough for my Mexican friends and I was never American/Spanish/Chicano/New Mexican enough for my New Mexican friends.”

Once an adult, he previously lived in Dallas, Chicago and Denver in the United States. The wide Gwinnett diversity allows him to feel most comfortable in this county. No longer is Gwinnett dominated, as it had been since its founding in 1818, by the white community. Now there is a mix of a diverse population from many nations.

One way to look at the vast Gwinnett diversity, perhaps the most current, is through the enrollment in Gwinnett in its public schools.

Sloan Roach of Gwinnett County Public Schools tells us that, as of May 24, the last day of public school in Gwinnett this term, that as in the past years, there are more than 100 countries represented among the school population, speaking far more than 100 different languages and dialects, a total of 178,659 students.

Here’s a breakdown of the ethnicity of the school age population in Gwinnett:

• 361 American Indian, or 0.2%;
• 18,665 Asian, or 10.45%;
• 56,717 African American, or 31.75%;
• 53,393 Hispanic, or 29.89%;
• 42,974 white, or 24.05%;
• 6,549 Multi-racial, or 3.67%.

So in Gwinnett’s multi-racial atmosphere, that very diversity brings comfort, at least to this one person. He feels at home here.

Those children who come here with their parents from “somewhere else” soon have mastered the language, if they had not previously. The parents may be age 35, and the first generation in this country, and the primary home language is other than English. But their children relatively quickly speak perfect English, and often translate for their parents. The offspring do not listen to the same music as their parents, and sometimes have a hard time even speaking their parents’ native language.  They are growing up in a culture they are comfortable with.

In essence, they are preparing for their future just like the other students in school, no matter where they were born. All this gives this one person relatively new here great comfort, making him not “half this and half that,” but wholly satisfied and comfortable where he is.

“I will answer that self-doubting whisper: ‘What the heck are YOU doing here?’ I say loud and proud, I am right where I belong, along side a group of people who unite for the common goal of being of service to the rest of the world.”

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

The joys of a 5-year-old being buried on the beach up to his head

By Debra Houston, contributing columnist  |  The month of May grinds to a halt for me none too soon. I love volunteering, but need a break. I’m sure everyone looks forward to summer, especially teachers and others with hectic careers. As for me, I long for the beach.

I shut my eyes and recall bygone family vacations. Pink-sunburned feet press into a hot griddle of continuous sand as I stroll the shore. Head down, I search for unique seashells glistening where spent-out waves barely reach my toes. I breathe in God-scrubbed air. Surely heaven smells like an ocean breeze.

Salt water sticks to my skin like taffy. Gulls circle and comb the strip for fallen crumbs from snacking, lethargic sunbathers. Children laugh and run in diverse directions to catch the gulls, while teenage boys punch a volleyball, and flirt with girls who effortlessly wear bikinis and a colorful butterfly tattoo just above their bottom.

Under the umbrella next to ours, a British family speaks in a gilded accent I love. They react in horror when my husband suggests burying our youngest son, Jeff, neck-down in the sand. Jeff is five and has the trust of a child that age. The Brits, unaware that father and son belong to me, lean forward and watch the event like spectators at the Olympics.

Eddie instructs Jeff to lie down, and then pats clumps of heavy wet sand on top of him. Jeff is unwavering. When Eddie finishes, only our child’s uber blonde curls and a goofy, grinning face are visible.

Meanwhile, the British declare, “Is he burying the poor lad? Yes, yes, he is. Child abuse, wouldn’t you say? The lad must be mortified!”

There’s always a British family sitting under the next umbrella, God bless them.

I’m thankful they convert pounds into dollars and spend them here. I’m also thankful for an upcoming vacation, God willing. This is an important one. My husband and I will celebrate our 40^th wedding anniversary. We won’t be bringing Jeff along. He’s 29 now.

The once blonde, curly-headed, goofy grinning boy, now has dark curls, a long, red Rip van Winkle beard, and a serious demeanor. On second thought, I’d love to bury him neck down with a head like that.           

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

Infinite Energy Center

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum to you at no cost to readers. Today’s underwriter is Infinite Energy Center, home to four distinct facilities in Duluth: Infinite Energy Arena, Infinite Energy Theater, Infinite Energy Forum, and The Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center For Art and Learning. Infinite Energy Arena has had 14 years of tremendous success hosting countless concerts, family shows and sporting events, and is home to the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators and the NLL’s Georgia Swarm.  Some past concerts include George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Beyoncé, Foo Fighters, Eric Clapton, Katy Perry, Kid Rock, James Taylor and Michael Bublé. Infinite Energy Arena also hosts many family shows including Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey, Cirque du Soleil, Disney On Ice and Harlem Globetrotters.  Infinite Energy Forum offers patrons the opportunity to host or attend a wide variety of events, from corporate meetings to trade shows to social occasions.  Infinite Energy Theater has an intimate capacity of 708-seats and is home to many local events, family shows and even some comedians. The Hudgens Center For Art and Learning showcases a range of artwork throughout the year along with offering a wide range of fine art classes.

• For further information visit www.InfiniteEnergyCenter.com.
• For a list of other sponsors of this forum, click here.

Peachtree Corners council determined to build unwanted bridge

Editor, the Forum:

The lockstep city council in Peachtree Corners has again shown that they refuse to hear the voices of the citizens and will do as they wish.  The latest example of their blind loyalty is the over $11 million-plus funding for each of the next five years, for the “Mayor Mason Memorial Bridge” across Georgia Highway 141.  The bridge concept has been totally turned down several times by every public meeting.  The council has been told by citizens that they want/need to improve congestion traffic rather than spending money on an unwanted bridge.

As in every level of government, power corrupts. Since the city has plenty of cash flowing in, these folks want to be sure to spend our money on lasting memorial imprint to themselves rather than improvements for the community.

I suppose we need term limits even at this level, and that is sad.

— Steve Rausch, Peachtree Corners

Send us your thoughts:  We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum.  Please limit comments to 300 words.  We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length.  Send feedback and letters to:    elliott@brack.net

Aging expo for 50 and over at Infinite Energy Center on June 3

Are you over 50 years in age? Embrace it at a lifestyle, health and active aging expo for the 50 plus market returns to Infinite Energy Forum in Duluth on Saturday, June 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is a free event.

Adults over 50 or those planning for a loved one, or looking to their future, will find a world of information, advice and opportunity at the 2017 Generations Expo: 50+ Boomers and Seniors. This event is designed for baby boomers and seniors, as well as family, friends, caregivers, persons with disabilities and others interested in the issues facing today’s older citizens.

Highlights of the event are:

• The Gwinnett County Public Library presents from the Kubiak Financial Educational Stage, “Who Do You Think You Are: Discover your Ancestry“, where attendees can learn about discovering their roots, as well learn how to search 200 billion images and records from over 9,000 databases for free
•  “Let’s Discover Your Travel Bucket List” will be presented by Seniors on the Go Travel where attendees will hear the latest hot spots and ultimate destinations for travel on any budget
• Free Health Screenings in the Northeast Georgia Health System Wellness Zone – screening include blood pressure, vision test; hearing screen; videoscope of ear canal; vein screening; nerve evaluation; posture analysis; stem cell consultation; postural and neurological screen; physician advice; and podiatry consultation.

Over 75 local companies with the information, products and services that boomers and seniors need…and want from community resources, healthcare, financial planning, insurance, housing options, travel, leisure and entertainment opportunities, home improvement and more

Sponsors of Generations Expo include Emory Healthcare, Kubiak Financial Services, Northeast Georgia Health System, Discovery Village at Sugarloaf, Delta Community Credit Union, Humana, Gwinnett Daily Post, Gwinnett Braves, Gwinnett Council for Seniors, Gwinnett County Public Library, and La Raza 102.3/100.1 radio.

Gwinnett Braves ask for suggestion for new baseball team name

You’ll have to hop fast on this, but use your noggin to come up with a new name for the baseball Gwinnett Braves, the AAA franchise of the Atlanta Braves.  With both the minor league and major league teams having the same nickname, it can cause confusion with both teams in the same market.

So the G-Braves invite its fans to submit potential nicknames. The team will start using the new name in 2018.  However, you must send in your suggestion for the new name by June 2. To have the Gwinnett Braves consider your new nickname suggestion, go to this site.

Snellville considering hiking fines for unapproved tree cutting

If you cut down a tree without permission in Snellville, expect to pay a heavy price in the near future.

That’s the word from city officials who, following two tree-cutting sprees committed by shopping plaza owners, are in the process of adding more teeth to an already existing ordinance designed to prevent unwarranted tree removal by commercial property owners.

Councilman Dave Emanuel says: “In spite of Snellville’s long-standing ordinances prohibiting the arbitrary removal of trees, we have recently had some violations of those ordinances. While some violators plead ignorance, I believe they were in fact subscribing to the philosophy that it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. It may be easier, but it will become a lot more expensive.”

Currently the fee for cutting down trees without permission is a minimum of $356 per tree per day until a new tree which meets city specifications is planted. Under the new measure, which still awaits formal review and approval, violators would pay $995 per tree per day. Also under the proposed ordinance removal of any tree without the approval from the city’s Planning Director is prohibited.

“I’ve proposed raising the fine to $995 per tree per day, for any tree removed prior to the Planning Director approving a tree removal permit,” Emanuel said. “We will also be updating all business property owners of our revised tree removal requirements and fine amount. Our intent is not to raise revenue, but to preserve our trees.”

• Anyone thinking a commercial business is cutting down a tree without permission, call the Snellville Planning Department at 770-985-3513.

Snellville resident wins highest honors award at VMI

Greater Atlanta Christian Alumnus, Andrew Lewis (’13) of Snellville (center), recently graduated from Virginia Military Institute. He was presented the George C. Marshall Citizen-Soldier Award, the highest award on campus, recognizing “Excellence of Character, Integrity, Dedication, Determination, and Loyalty in every facet of the VMI experience.” He’s shown with Rob Havers, president of the George C. Marshall Foundation, and Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, superintendent of VMI. Lewis additionally earned All-Conference football honors this season at VMI, and graduated with a degree in Biology and a minor in Exercise Science. He plans to attend Medical School.

Afterschool organization recognizes Live Healthy Gwinnett program

A national organization that promotes afterschool programs has recognized Gwinnett County and Live Healthy Gwinnett for addressing health and wellness issues for youth outside of school hours.

The National AfterSchool Association selected Gwinnett County and Live Healthy Gwinnett among its 2017 Most Influential in Health & Wellness recipients.

NAA last month also recognized Community Services Director Tina Fleming as one of its 2017 Most Influential in Health and Wellness recipients.

Fleming is a founding partner of Live Healthy Gwinnett, part of a network to implement year-round programs, events and initiatives for youth and adults. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Strong4Life helped develop Live Healthy Gwinnett’s health and wellness standards.

Launched in 2014, Live Healthy Gwinnett promotes wellness by encouraging residents to make smart lifestyle choices, such as eating more fruits and vegetables, increasing physical activity and reducing stress. The program emphasizes four steps: Be Active, Eat Healthy, Get Checked and Be Positive.

GACS  soccer coach Jacquet is Gwinnett Coach of the Year

Jacquet

Greater Atlanta Christian Boys Varsity Soccer Coach Thom Jacquet has been named the 2017 All County Boys Soccer Coach of the Year (A-AAAAAA) by the Gwinnett Goal Club. The coaches of Region 7-AAA also named Jacquet the Coach or the Year with GACS Senior Angello Lazar being selected as the Region Player of the Year. Coach Jacquet is the longest serving coach for boys’ soccer in Gwinnett County, and in June, he will be the longest serving coach for boys’ soccer in Georgia.  In recent years, the GAC Spartans have won five state championships and multiple runners up. He began his soccer coaching career at GAC in 1992.

OLLI-Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

From Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill  |  If you think you’re too old to learn anything new, think again. There is a school in Atlanta just for people 50 years old and older. It has its own campus, offers a variety of classes and is wonderful. It’s called OLLI ~ Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. It’s a daytime program and costs $49 for a 6-week class. I’m completing a class on Thoreau tomorrow and start a class on Macbeth in July. It offers fun classes such as “Bollywood Dancing” and French language classes plus practical classes for seniors such as “Retirement Success” and “Transforming Your Health.” OLLI also offers a free lunch and learn program each week. I absolutely love being with a group of my peers learning about things simply for my own pleasure. OLLI is also at UGA and Kennesaw State University.

• For more information, go to http://www.ece.emory.edu/olli/index.html (Click on “registration” for the complete course list.

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

From daguerreotypes to Kodachrome, See 18,000 photos of Georgia

One of 66 images of Lawrenceville — this one from 1925 — in the digital image library.

The Georgia Encyclopedia directed us to this site, which many may find useful:

Vanishing Georgia comprises nearly 18,000 photographs. Ranging from daguerreotypes to Kodachrome prints, the images span over 100 years of Georgia history.

The broad subject matter of these photographs, shot by both amateurs and professionals, includes, but is not limited to, family and business life, street scenes and architecture, agriculture, school and civic activities, important individuals and events in Georgia history, and landscapes. The wide variety of the collected visual images results from efforts by archivists from the Georgia Archives who sought, between 1975 and 1996, to preserve Georgia’s endangered historical photographs.

Designed primarily for preservation, the project located, selected, and copied historically significant photographs held by individuals who wanted to share their pieces of the past with future generations.

The Georgia Archives joins with the Digital Library of Georgia and GALILEO (Board of Regents, University System of Georgia) to present the Vanishing Georgia images as part of the Georgia HomePLACE initiative. Support for the project is provided by a Library Services and Technology Act grant administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service.

• For more information, visit     http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/vanga/.
• To view the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org

For the Memorial Day weekend, where is this memorial?

OK, here’s a clue to this edition’s Mystery Photo: it’s at a military base. But which one?  Send in your thoughts to elliott@brack.net and be sure to include your hometown.

The previous mystery photo was from John Criminger of Sugar Hill, taken in 2003, who told us:  “The Astoria Column in Astoria, Oregon presents a fascinating illustration of the discovery of the Columbia River by Captain Robert Gray in 1792, the establishment of American claims to the Northwest Territory, the winning of the West and the arrival of the Great Northern Railway.”

Dependable George Graf of Palmyra, Va. zeroed in on it immediately: “It’s the Astoria Column which stands on top of Coxcomb Hill in Astoria, Oregon. It is patterned after the Trajan Column in Rome and the Astoria Column is the world’s only large piece of memorial architecture made of reinforced concrete with a pictorial frieze in sgraffito technique. Its surface is a spiral band of concrete, with different colors applied on different layers. It’s not too dissimilar from scrimshaw.”

Three other correct answers came in, from Molly Titus of Peachtree Corners; Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill; and Sandy and Rick Krause of Lilburn.

Clean-up of Bromolow Creek wetlands proves successful

Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful’s (GCB) Third Annual Great Wetlands Gwinnett Clean-Up saw 230 volunteers pick up 3,320 pounds of trash, remove nearly 2,400 pounds of privet, and installed four coconut fiber logs to absorb water for better flood control.  GCB Program Manager Sumner Gann says: “Not only are those results incredibly impactful, but the sight of hundreds of volunteers working together to clean and beautify this community was more than moving. Based on the fact that the amount of trash we removed this year had increased by about 420 pounds over last year’s results, it’s clear that we need to continue to educate the public on the many reasons why it’s important to put litter in its place.” The crews worked on Bromolow Creek. GCB teamed up with Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources to host the event. Throughout the day, the volunteers learned why wetlands are important, and were inspired to maintain their well-being by picking up litter, evaluating the water and surrounding ecosystem, and removing invasive plants that could potentially threaten the health of the wetland.

(NEW) COMMENCEMENT at the Georgia campus of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine is Friday, May 26, at the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth. There will be two services: at 11 a.m. 119 candidates will be awarded the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree.  At 2:30 p.m., 55 students will receive a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree, and another 91 will earn a Doctor of Pharmacy degree.  For more information, visit www.pcom.edu or call 678-225-7500.

(NEW) SUWANEE MEMORIAL DAY weekend kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday, May 26 in Town Center Park, for the annual Red, White and Bluegrass and Bach event. Among activities will be a Fort Benning Silver Wings parachute team “dropping in,” a classical performance by Main Street Symphony open to amateur string players and blue grass music on stage.  For more information, contact Events Manager Amy Doherty at 770-904-3387 or adoherty@suwanee.com.

(NEW) MEMORIAL DAY program in Norcross will start at 11:30 a.m. on May 29 in Thrasher Park. Veteran Dewey Earnest will speak, followed by a performance by the Steve Dwiggins Trio. Serving hot dogs will be members of the Masonic Lodge.

(NEW) ART AT TWILIGHT in Duluth will be Friday, June 3, starting at 7 p.m. at the Duluth Festival Center. Original art and hand-crafted treasures will be featured in the silent auction with most of it created by the league’s members. There will be food, music and a jewelry raffle. Tickets are $50 in advance and $55 at the door. Tickets are available on the Duluth Fine Arts League website: www.duluthfineartsleague.org/.

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