4/3: On Aurora’s camp and our 18th birthday!

HERE’S ONE WINNER in the recent Suwanee Snaps photo contest is this entry from Beverly Smith, entitled “New Resident.”  This photo was taken off Suwanee Dam Road, aiming at the barn of former County Commission Chairman Wayne Hill.

TODAY’S FOCUS: Aurora Theatre Offers Early-Bird Discounts for Summer Camp

EEB PERSPECTIVE: This Issue Marks Beginning of 18th Year of Publishing GwinnettForum

SPOTLIGHT: Comet National Trucking

FEEDBACK: We Should Embrace Responsibilities As Strongly as We Do Rights

McLEMORE’S WORLD: Second Coming

UPCOMING: Gwinnett County High School Students Eligible for Youth Commission

NOTABLE: Fourth Annual Wetlands Clean-Up To Be April 28 This Year

RECOMMENDED: Ladies in Lavender (2004 film)

GEORGIA TIDBIT: Phinizy Spalding Was Scholar on James Oglethorpe, Writing 20 Books

MYSTERY PHOTO: There Are Few Clues Obvious in Today’s Mystery Photo

CALENDAR: Smart Driver Workshop Coming April 10

Aurora Theatre offers early-bird discounts for summer camp

By Laura Haislip

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga., April 3, 2018  |  Camp casting call!

“The Wiz” from a 2016 summer camp.

Aurora Theatre, Georgia’s second largest professional theater, is set to welcome young thespians and their families to a Summer Camp Open House on Monday, April 16, from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Parents will have all their most pressing theater questions answered while prospective campers attend free sample classes, tour the facility and experience aspects of a camp day. Students interested in auditioning for a talent-based scholarship during the open house can sign up by sending and email to: education@auroratheatre.com. Complimentary light refreshments will be served.

Guests to the open house can also benefit from the Summer Camp One Day Sale, where families can snag the best deals on any of Aurora Theatre Academy’s summer camps. That includes this year’s production of the highly-popular summer musical camp, Willy Wonka Jr., now in its fifth  consecutive year.

All families who sign up on Monday, April 16 will receive $25 off per student registration, ensuring affordability and quality for all area students. Thespians are encouraged to take advantage of this offer over the phone, online or in person throughout the day on April 16 except on previously purchased camp registrations or in conjunction with scholarship offers.

To sweeten the deal even further, all attendees who register for summer camp during the open house on April 16 will receive a special chocolate bar and are eligible for Aurora Theatre Academy’s Golden Ticket Promotion, where one lucky camper to register that day will receive 50 percent off their entire tuition.

• For more information on the Summer Camp Open House and One Day Sale, visit Aurora Theatre: http://bit.ly/ATOneDaySale.

About Aurora Theatre

Under the leadership of Co-Founders and Artistic Directors Anthony Rodriguez and Ann-Carol Pence, now in its 22nd Season, Aurora Theatre produces professional live entertainment to suit everyone’s taste.

Aurora Theatre is home to over 750 events each year. Two series of theatrical productions, the Peach State Federal Credit Union Signature Series and the GGC Harvel Lab Series, are comprised of the biggest Broadway plays and musicals alongside exciting contemporary theatre.

Additionally, Aurora produces concerts, stand-up comedy, children’s programs, metro Atlanta’s top haunted attraction Lawrenceville Ghost Tours, as well as Atlanta’s only professional Spanish language theatre, Teatro Aurora.

Aurora Theatre is a world-class theatrical facility with two performance venues. Nestled on the square in historic downtown Lawrenceville, Aurora has free attached covered parking and is surrounded by restaurants and shops.

Aurora Theatre has garnered numerous accolades highlighted by recent achievements that include a 2016 Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities; winner of ten 2017 Suzi Bass Awards; Creative Loafing’s “2010 Best Theatre Company;” Georgia Trend Magazine’s “2011 Best Places to Work in Georgia;” Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “2012 Best Places to Work;” Atlanta Magazine’s “Best of Atlanta 2013;”Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s 2014 President and CEO Award for Excellence in Arts; and Gwinnett Chamber’s 2015 IMPACT Regional Business Award for Hospitality.

• To see further information, visit auroratheatre.com. For tickets, go to boxoffice@auroratheatre.com The phone is 678-226-6222.

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

This issue marks beginning of 18^th year of publishing GwinnettForum

By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher, GwinnettForum

APRIL 3, 2018  |  Today’s issue of GwinnettForum marks the beginning of our 18^th year in business.

I retired from the Atlanta newspapers on April 1, and opened the next day an office in a friend’s extra space in Business Park in Norcross. A couple of years later, we moved offices to the former headquarters of Technology Park/Atlanta, then in unincorporated Norcross and now in Peachtree Corners. We’ve been here for 15 years.

The whole idea of GwinnettForum was to keep me active in retirement. I had known of many friends who retired, did little, and soon were dead.  But it’s worked now for me for 17 years!

When opening the GwinnettForum, I had no idea if my business model would be successful, and if we would find enough underwriters to keep it alive. I thought I had enough credibility in Gwinnett so that businesses would support this effort. And it worked. Some say this was among the first to monetize the Internet (www.gwinnettforum.com.)

This may sound unreasonable to some, but I have never taken one penny of salary out of this operation. I use the funds that support GwinnettForum to pay our bills for office rent, internet and other routine operational expenses.

I’m grateful for those firms which help fund this operation, since it keeps an independent media voice ongoing in Gwinnett. You know that there are few media voices here these days, and some are not now what they once were.

Some refer to GwinnettForum as a newspaper without the newsprint. We’re not that, for we don’t seek to cover the waterfront. However, we do seek to provide a forum for public opinion. For something to get in GwinnettForum, it must get past me…..and therefore let’s call it a “moderated forum,” not a blog. I’m the one responsible for “moderating” each issue, and yes, I read (carefully) every word.

One of the best parts of publishing GwinnettForum comes each political season. About 10 years ago, the major newspaper in the region stopped endorsing candidates. It made me livid for about a week, for we think newspapers know certain information about candidates, and have the responsibility of telling their readers about these potential leaders, about which is best, through endorsements.

After being mad for a week, I realized that since many think of this publication as something like a newspaper, we could interview candidates and endorse the best of the lot. We had no idea if it would work. So we asked the opposed candidates in Gwinnett, and statewide opposed candidates, to spend 30 minutes with us, so we could discern which was the best candidate for our readers to vote for.

The candidates earn something by visiting with us. We ask those who visit with us to answer, in 100 words each, six questions. Without us editing them at all, we put their answers on our web site at no cost to the candidates about three weeks before an election. That way the candidate gets to talk directly to the readers…..but only AFTER spending 30 minutes with me. That’s the way the candidate “pays” (with his visit) to get on our web site. He can’t buy that in dollars.

So today we are in the midst of listening to candidates. So far we’ve seen 39 candidates, have 11 more scheduled, and haven’t yet talked to 49 before the May 22 primary.  We still have a long way to go.

But it’s fun. We’ll have our endorsements and candidate answers out May 1.

That’s beginning our 18^th year.

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

Comet National Trucking

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today’s sponsor is Comet National Trucking. If you have trucking needs, why pay for a WHOLE flatbed or covered truck, when all  you need is half the space? Comet National Trucking of Lilburn can provide you with the transportation, packing, and warehousing solutions that will keep your costs reasonable and suited to your company’s needs. With more than 26 years of nationwide service, our customers put their trust in Comet National because we understand their shipping needs can change from shipment to shipment. In business since 1992, Comet is dedicated to delivering cost-effective solutions for transporting your products quickly and safely to your customer’s destination without compromise. At Comet National, our full-service shipping, packing, and warehousing resources are sure to fulfill your requirements. Call us at 1-800-831-5376. We will respond quickly to provide you with quotes and see to it that the loads are handled as you have specified, and delivered on time!

• For a list of other sponsors of this forum, click here.

We should embrace responsibilities as strongly as we do rights

Editor, the Forum:

Our country already has federal, state, and local gun control laws.  These laws significantly restrict the purchase of automatic weapons made before 1986.  However, they typically permit the purchase, ownership, and use of semi-automatic weapons.

I don’t think many gun rights advocates want to repeal existing gun control laws that restrict ownership of automatic weapons.  Therefore, the current push by many Americans for more gun control focuses on semi-automatic rifles or handguns, and the pushback focuses on keeping the controls on such weapons as they exist or even relaxing them.

The recent mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD) in Parkland Fla. involved a semi-automatic rifle, which the shooter obtained legally.  Some people assert that he perpetrated the mass shooting because he was mentally ill.  Personally, I believe he was alienated and troubled, in part because his mother had died recently, but not necessarily mentally ill.  The point makes little difference to the people he shot and killed or wounded and to their families and community members.  He had access to a semi-automatic weapon and he used it to shoot people.

Americans’ constitutional right to keep and bear arms is an important right.  The flip side of a right is not a restriction but a responsibility.  I believe our country’s leaders should debate the responsibility of Americans regarding our Second Amendment right.  Perhaps examination of our shared responsibilities regarding guns will lead to balanced legislation that restricts the presence of semi-automatic weapons in our society so that it’s much more unlikely that someone will use them in more mass shootings.  I want our citizens to embrace responsibilities as strongly as they do rights.

— Michael L. Wood, 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

Second coming

• For more of Bill McLemore’s cartoons, see his page on Facebook.
• Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net

Gwinnett County high school students eligible for Youth Commission

The Gwinnett Youth Commission is beginning its second cycle. High schoolers from all parts of the county are encouraged to participate. The Gwinnett Youth Commission is an initiative to develop youth leaders to speak on behalf of their peers, help county government leaders better understand youth issues, plan community events and participate in volunteer projects.

The 2018 cycle will begin with an eight-week orientation of Gwinnett County government. The curriculum will cover multiple facets of government, including infrastructure, health and human services, public safety, courts and recreation. Students will also receive leadership and personal development training.

Classes meet Wednesdays, June 6 through July 25 from 9 a.m.  to 4 p.m.at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville.

To be eligible for the commission, students must be a resident of Gwinnett County, be a rising sophomore, junior, or senior at a Gwinnett high school and submit a completed application and a typed essay by April 30.

Gwinnett Community Outreach Program Director Nicole Hendrickson says: “There are many youth leadership programs around the county that mainly focus on specific municipalities or target specific schools. This program is inclusive of Gwinnett students attending any of our high schools and is intended to prepare future leaders for Gwinnett County as a whole.”

• For more information, contact nicole.hendrickson@gwinnettcounty.com or 770-822-8877, or visit the Gwinnett Youth Commission webpage.

To mark bicentennial, GEHC plans nature photographer’s contest

In celebration of Gwinnett County’s bicentennial, the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center and the Georgia Nature Photographers Association (GNPA) are hosting an amateur photography competition and exhibit spotlighting local nature scenes with historical significance.

Entitled “Native Wildlife, Native Flora, Landscapes, Historic Structures and Cultural Imagery,” the exhibit connects to the county’s bicentennial celebration by highlighting natural resources and the environmental landscapes that have influenced Gwinnett throughout its history. While submissions must be original and taken in the Southeastern United States, participants are encouraged to place emphasis on Gwinnett County.

Stewart Woodard, Gwinnett Chapter coordinator of the GNPA, says:  “The GNPA is excited to partner with the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center as this photography exhibit educates and promotes appreciation for Gwinnett’s varied natural resources, its history and its cultural diversity.”

The photo competition is open to all amateur photographers. Participants can enter in two divisions (novice and enthusiast) and five categories (native wildlife, native flora, landscapes, historic structures and cultural imagery).

The GNPA charges an entry fee for participants. The fee structure varies depending on number of entries.  Members of the GNPA pay a discounted fee. In an effort to encourage as much participation as possible, full time students under the age of 21 are allowed to enter with no fee. No more than six images are allowed from a single photographer. Only three entries can be placed in any single category. Entries must be submitted electronically to GNPA.Gwinnett.Chapter@gmail.com by April 27 at 10 p.m.

• For a complete listing of rules, fees and submission requirements, please visit www.gnpa.org.

Selected entries will be displayed at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center from June 2 until Aug. 11. The Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center is located at 2020 Clean Water Drive in Buford.

Gwinnett Stripers media day is April 4; First home game is April 12

The Class AAA Gwinnett Stripers of the International baseball league will hold Media Availability at Coolray Field on Wednesday, April 4. Players and staff will be made available for interviews at 3p.m. prior to the team’s workout at 4 p.m. Coolray Field is at 2500 Buford Drive in Lawrenceville.

The Stripers open their season in Norfolk, Va. on April 6. The first home game will be against Rochester on April 12 at 7:05 p.m.

Those attending should park in Lot A and enter through the Main Gate at the front of the ballpark, proceed to the field. No entry will be allowed through the Players Lot and Loading Dock areas.

Photographers and videographers are invited to shoot during the workout on the field. There will be no still photography allowed in the Home Clubhouse.

Those planning to attend should contact Dave Lezotte by email at dave.lezotte@braves.com no later than Tuesday, April 3 at 5 p.m.

Fourth annual wetlands clean-up to be April 28 this year

Cleaning up Brumolow Creek

During the same month associated with Earth Day and Keep America Month, the folks at Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful and Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources seek to highlight an important element of the environment – the wetlands.

Most commonly found in North Georgia on floodplains near rivers, streams or creeks, wetlands are areas of land where water covers the soil for all or parts of the year. The two Gwinnett County organizations teamed up for the first time in 2015 to increase awareness about wetlands and host a yearly wetland cleanup event: Great Gwinnett Wetlands. The 4th Annual Great Gwinnett Wetlands cleanup event, which will be held on Saturday, April 28 at Bromolow Creek and Wetlands in Duluth.

During last year’s Great Gwinnett Wetlands event, 230 volunteers not only learned why wetlands are such a vital element of the environment, but they also monitored Bromolow Creek and Wetland’s water quality. They  picked up 3,320 pounds of trash, removed close to 2,400 pounds of privet, and installed four coconut fiber logs to protect the wetland from erosion and allow it to absorb water for better flood control.

This year on April 28, volunteers will return to the banks of Bromolow Creek to fan out through the wetland picking up litter and removing invasive plants that choke the health of the wetland.

As a thank you for their participation, volunteers will receive a specially designed t-shirt to commemorate the program. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Parking will be available at the Aviation Institute of Maintenance at 2025 Satellite Pointe in Duluth. Volunteers must arrive with a completed waiver form in hand. Volunteers are asked to register at www.gwinnettcb.org by April 26. Volunteers must be 14 years of age or older. Volunteers under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

McCarty is new head of the Georgia Humanities Council

Georgia Humanities announces the appointment of Laura McCarty as the organization’s new president. McCarty replaces Jamil Zainaldin who, as previously announced, retired on January 31.

McCarty

McCarty is a collaborative leader who brings more than 20 years of experience and expertise in the humanities. Before beginning her career with Georgia Humanities, McCarty, a South Carolina native, earned her bachelor’s degree from Wofford College and her master’s degree from the University of Georgia. In 2014, she completed the Executive Leadership Program for Nonprofit Organizations at the University of Georgia’s Fanning Institute for Leadership Development.

McCarty has served in various leadership roles throughout her career with Georgia Humanities. As executive vice president, McCarty was head of operations, development, and program management. She also played an active role in developing and helping guide the organization’s strategic plan over the past five years.

Jeanne Cyriaque, chair of the Georgia Humanities Board of Directors, says: “Laura’s innovative leadership style and fresh perspective will bring Georgia Humanities to the next level. She is focused on the future of the organization and helping achieve its long-term strategic goals.”

Throughout her career at Georgia Humanities, McCarty has also connected with the wider humanities community, including service on the boards of the Georgia Center for the Book and the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries. She is a past-president of the Georgia Association of Historians and the Georgia Council for the Social Studies.

Ladies in Lavender (2004 film)

Reviewed by Karen Burnette Garner, Dacula:  Featuring the beautiful landscape of Cornwall, two sisters (Judi Dench and Maggie Smith) discover a young man lying on their beach during their daily walk.  He has been washed ashore, nearly dead from exposure, after being swept from his America-bound ship in a storm.  The ladies quickly summon help and install their visitor in their home, caring for him as he returns to health.  Communication is a challenge, as he does not appear to understand any English, but one of the sisters speaks German, which becomes their language bridge.  The young man, Andrea, proves to be Polish and a gifted violinist, bringing an exotic element to the small Cornish village of the sisters.  Soon Andrea is discovered by a visiting painter, whose brother is a major musician in his own right, and is swept away to find fame.  A film of beauty, missed chances, and great expectations.

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.  Send to:  elliott@brack.net

Spalding was scholar on James Oglethorpe, writing 20 books

As a professor of history at the University of Georgia, Phinizy Spalding emerged as the nation’s leading scholar on James Oglethorpe. He wrote more than 20 books, articles, and chapters about Oglethorpe and colonial Georgia. He was also an influential leader in historic preservation efforts in Athens and across Georgia.

Spalding

Born on September 29, 1930, Billups Phinizy Spalding was the youngest child of Bolling Phinizy and Daniel Hughes Spalding. Reared in Atlanta, Spalding received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English literature from the University of Georgia, where he wrote his master’s thesis about the poetry of William Alexander Percy, the artistic and literary figure from Mississippi who raised Spalding’s first cousin, writer Walker Percy.

For his doctoral work at the University of North Carolina, which he completed in 1963, Spalding studied American history and prepared his dissertation on James Oglethorpe’s influence on the colonies of Georgia and South Carolina. After teaching at the College of Charleston for three years, in 1966 Spalding joined the faculty at the University of Georgia, where he was a professor of history until his death.

Among Spalding’s most distinguished publications was his book Oglethorpe in America (1977), nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in biography. The same year he also provided the section on the colonial era in A History of Georgia,  edited by Kenneth Coleman, which remains the definitive history of the state.

His scholarship, however, was not limited to these areas, for it also engaged several other aspects of Georgia’s history and culture, including Georgia Health Sciences University, women at Fort Frederica, and the Lucy Cobb Institute in Athens. Spalding also wrote about Walker Percy, wrote introductions for books about ecology and art collecting in Georgia, and penned the preface to the 1990 reprint of the WPA’s Georgia: A Guide to Its Towns and Countryside.

Spalding served as the editor of the Georgia Historical Quarterly from 1974 until 1980, helping it to emerge as one of the nation’s prominent state history journals. He presented scholarly works but also appealed to a wider audience by creating the “Cracker Corner,” a less formal feature on the state’s past.

An engaging teacher and mentor, Spalding encouraged his undergraduate and graduate students to examine history in broad terms. His classroom lectures frequently included such varied historical topics as the Atlanta Crackers baseball team, African American churches, and Georgia barbecue.

Spalding and his wife, Margaret, in 1969 were among the first residents to restore a house in Athens, thereby sparking the historic preservation movement in that city. He established the Historic Cobbham Foundation, which focused specifically on the restoration and beautification of the residential area in which he lived. He inspired citizens throughout Georgia to save the integrity of their neighborhoods, towns, and landscapes through preservation, conservation, and legal measures.

Spalding’s profound influence on Georgia is evidenced by the appearance of his name on a building, a theater, a park, a scholarship, a preservation award, and an endowed professorship at the University of Georgia. For his extensive service to the community and the state, Spalding received the University of Georgia’s Abraham Baldwin Award and, in 1990, a Governor’s Award in the Humanities. He died in 1994 after a long battle with cancer, and is buried, near many of his forebears, in Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens.

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

There are few clues obvious in today’s Mystery Photo

There is not much to go by in trying to figure where this edition’s Mystery Photo is located. There’s water and rocks, but you can find that about anywhere, except the desert. Try to figure out this mystery and send your answers to elliott@brack.net, to include your hometown address.

Three people spotted the most recent Mystery, including Carl Tiegreen of Mountain Park. Carl identified Fisherman’s Village in Marina Del Rey, Calif.  The mystery was sent in by Chuck Paul of Norcross.

George Graf of Palmyra, Va. gave more detail:   “The coastal community of Marina del Rey is located in the center of Los Angeles’ Westside, between Venice Beach and Playa del Rey, four miles north of Los Angeles International Airport. Marina del Rey comprises 807 acres, of which half is under water.  This area above and below water is entirely owned by the County of Los Angeles and is leased out to private leaseholders on long-term agreements. The community is surrounded on three sides by the City of Los Angeles. It has a population of 21,576 and includes portions within the City of Los Angeles and portions within an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County.”

They Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. had this to say: “Marina Del Rey is the world’s largest man-made, small craft harbor and is home port to approximately 6,500 boats. The Marina del Rey harbor is a great example of a successful Army Corps of Engineers project; funded and planned cooperatively by the Federal government, Los Angeles County, and private developers.

“However, the dream that eventually became modern Marina del Rey began in 1887 when a developer named M.C. Wicks sought to create a commercial harbor for the City of Los Angeles from the estuary and inlets of the village of Playa del Rey. After many false starts, wharf-destroying storms, and failed, bankruptcy laden business ventures, it was only in 1953 when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors finally authorized a $2 million loan to fund construction of the marina that the effort really got off the ground. Since the loan only covered about half of the estimated cost, the U.S. Congress passed and President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Public Law 780 making construction possible. Ground breaking began shortly thereafter and was formally dedicated on April 10, 1965, more than 75-years after the initial concept was started by M.C. Wicks, and after a total cost of more than $36-million for land, construction, and initial operation of the marina.

Smart Driver Workshop to help drivers understand new vehicle safety technologies and how to use them will be Tuesday, April 10 at 1:30 p.m. at the Collins Hill Branch Library, 45 Camp Perrin Road in Lawrenceville. Drivers will learn how the benefits of these technologies may enhance their driving safety and extend their safe driving years. The workshop is free, but reservations are requested by RSVPing o events@gwinnettpl.org. For more information, call 770-978-5154.

Vegetable Gardening Workshop will be Tuesday, April 10 at 6:30 at the Suwanee Branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library. Timothy Daly, UGA Extension Agent, will discuss the vegetables that can be grown in the area, and give pointers on how to produce a bountiful harvest.  He will also present the program at the Hamilton Mill Branch Library on April 17 at 6:30. Both sessions are free and open to the public. Registration is requested.  To RSVP, go to events@gwinnettpl.org.  For more information, please visit www.gwinnettpl.org or call 770-978-5154.

GwinnettForum is provided to you at no charge every Tuesday and Friday.

Meet our team

• Editor and publisher:  Elliott Brack, 770-840-1003
• Managing editor: Betsy Brack
• Roving photographer: Frank Sharp
• Contributing cartoonist: Bill McLemore
• Contributing columnist: Jack Bernard
• Contributing columnist: Debra Houston
• Contributing columnist: George Wilson

More

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