VIEW FROM ON HIGH: When GwinnettForum told Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) President Stas Preczewski that this was a great view of his campus, he replied: “Yep, we have a drone,” which shot this informative angle to show how the campus fits together. Last week it was again announced that GGC has been ranked No. 10 for Top Public School in the Regional Colleges South category for 2019 by U.S. News & World Report (USN&WR) magazine. This is the third consecutive year GGC has been listed in the top 10. In addition, for the fifth consecutive year, USN&WR ranked Georgia Gwinnett as the most ethnically diverse Southern regional college.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Snellville Tells Scope and Breadth of Pilot Microtransit Plan
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Something Stirring in Politics in 2018, Which May Be Major
ANOTHER VIEW: President Trump’s Two Economic Advisers Are Both Incompetent
SPOTLIGHT: Walton Gas
FEEDBACK: Gwinnett’s Diversity Isn’t Only Racial and Cultural: Also Ideological
UPCOMING: Chamber Votes Backing of This Falls’ $350 Million School Bond
NOTABLE: Jackson EMC Foundation Grant of $64,532 Goes to Gwinnett County
RECOMMENDED: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Mill Villages Were An Important Part of Georgia Textile Industry
MYSTERY PHOTO: Plenty of Clues that This Mystery Photo Not in New World
CALENDAR: Intersection at I-85 and Indian Trail Road To Be Named For Jesse Long Today
Snellville tells scope and breadth of pilot microtransit plan
Snellville’s FLEX bus
By Brian Arrington
SNELLVILLE, Ga. | Gwinnett County Transit has tapped Snellville exclusively to debut the new Microtransit Pilot.
The initiative is a new transportation option, which began September 17. which will run for free, in Snellville.
The program provides an on-demand public transportation option. Riders will be able to be picked up and dropped off door-to-door within a specific zone in Snellville.
After the duration of six months when the pilot is completed, Gwinnett County Transit will evaluate the data to identify what works well and what needs improvements, and will roll it back out to Snellville and Buford the following year. These are areas currently without local transit options, and they have been recognized in the Connect Gwinnett: Transit Plan.
Everyone can use this on-demand service option. All vehicles used are ADA accessible for individuals with disabilities. There will be no bike racks on the vehicles during the pilot.
Microtransit will run Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
To schedule a pickup time for Microtransit’s on-demand ride, you can download the free Microtransit app (available for iOS and Android devices), enter your pick-up and drop-off locations, your passenger count, and if you use a wheelchair or other mobility device, and your pick-up time to get Microtransit’s on-demand ride. Visit www.microtransitapp.com how-it-works to learn more about the Microtransit app.
- To reserve your trip, you can also call Gwinnett County Transit Customer Service at 770-822-5010 and select the Microtransit option.
The area served during this pilot covers much of Snellville and includes the following locations:
- Walmart on Scenic Highway;
- The Home Depot on Scenic Highway;
- Eastside Medical Center;
- T.J. Maxx on Scenic Highway;
- Snellville Park and Ride;
- The Snellville Pavilion;
- Waffle House on Main Street;
- Snellville Oaks Shopping Center;
- Wisteria Village;
- Snellville Plaza;
- PNC Bank on Odum Street;
- New London Plaza Shopping Center;
- Walmart Neighborhood Market on Main Street;
- AutoZone on US-78;
- Hewatt Road Park and Ride;
- Mountain View Village Shopping Center;
- Chase Bank on Stone Mountain Highway;
- Gwinnett County Public Library: Centerville Branch;
- Centerville Senior Center;
- Centerville Community Center;
- Shiloh Middle School; and
- Shiloh High School.
- For more information on the program, click this link.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Something stirring in politics in 2018, which may be major
By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher
SEPT. 18, 2018 | Do you sense something unusual going on this political season? And, if so, will it directly affect the outcome of the 2018 elections?
From scattered races so far in 2018 throughout the nation, there seems to be a willingness of the majority of voters to return to reasonable conventional thinking, and surprise the electorate with the winning candidate. It’s happened enough that some are taking notice.
What’s fueling all this? We anticipate several factors that we think might be behind this change in the field:
The Me Too movement. During the past year, our nation has seen major figures in several industries tossed out on their ear for allegations that they abused women. Many times these allegations have not been proven, but the industry felt that there were sufficient reasons to terminate those individuals so sullied.
Women sticking together. Never before have we seen how more women have come together around issues, frustrated by the inaction of today’s hyper-partisan politics. Women supporting women show a new powerful force that may change the face of politics.
The Catholic Church continues to roil the world with allegations of sexual misconduct of its priests, adding to the idea that cover-ups of all kinds must be exposed. While not directly related to politics, this fuels women—and men—who insist on higher moral standards that we haven’t seen in politics in the recent past.
Trump female supporters: Two years ago, they strongly supported President Trump, but now more and more are fed up with his methods to not only question him, but to consider throwing support to candidates who challenge the president.
Add another element: the nation has more qualified female candidates than ever before, who have stuck their neck out and taken on establishment candidates, often within their own party. This move may not change the count between parties, but may influence their own party, whether GOP or Demo, to pay more attention to issues important to women.
The year 2018 may simply boil down to years of whispered allegations of sexual malpractice suddenly ringing true, or workforce discrimination, or other female issues, and becoming the turning point for many women….and some men, too.
You’re heard such words before giving men the benefit of the doubt:
“Oh, he’s still a nice guy, he just loves to be among women.”
“He really doesn’t mean any harm.”
“He pinches all the girls.”
“Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s really a family man.”
Uh huh. Fewer people are thinking this way today.
In 2018, phrases like that are no longer acceptable at any level. Big corporations know that if they don’t clean house of such shenanigans, their business will suffer. And not only that, but members of the board of directors of firms may be out of a seat on the board themselves if they don’t carefully examine potential indiscretions.
Look how quickly CBS moved recently in dismissing two top executives, including its chairman. And it could also perhaps trigger much earlier retirements for many executives, trying to protect their golden parachutes, before any allegations are made public against them. Many know that they themselves have been in the forefront of sexual misconduct against women.
This Me Too Movement could end up being a story bigger than the Trump story, as it changes not only the business world, but perhaps politics, too, in giving our country a better moral climate……and more female elected officials.
The Good Old Boys may have had their day, caught up in their own machinations. It could change politics forever. And it might have started in 2018.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
President Trump’s two economic advisers are both incompetent
By George Wilson, contributing columnist
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. | President Trump has been bragging about the four percent growth in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) this past quarter. Here is a reminder: during the Obama Administration, four quarters exceeded four percent GDP.
The economy’s performance in the most recent quarter is a “sugar high.” The 4.1 percent growth rate was due to deficit-fueled tax cuts and because of purchases by the Chinese of goods that they knew would soon be the subject of tariffs. China’s orders are borrowed from future quarters, the tax cuts are already producing trillion-dollar deficits (twice those the Trump administration predicted) that will inevitably drive up interest rates and slow growth. It won’t be long before growth falls back to the two percent range—or the economy lapses into recession.
Also, unless productivity per worker increases, which it has not been doing, rising demand will raise wages and prices, but not sustain annual growth of four percent in what the nation produces, its GDP. Furthermore, China doesn’t appear to be backing down on the new tariff war that is already hurting American farms and businesses.
It’s disappointing that President Trump has surrounded himself with two incompetent advisers. One is Peter Navarro, a former economics professor, who said, “I don’t believe any country is going to retaliate with tariffs for the simple reason that we are the most lucrative and biggest market in the world.” As an economic prediction, Navarro’s ranks right up there with Herbert Hoover’s “Prosperity is just around the corner” as the country sank into the Great Depression.
The other economic adviser and now head of the National Economic Council, is a former television personality, Larry Kudlow, who has seldom been right on any major economic issue. Here are a few examples: when Clinton raised the top rate income rate in 1993, Kudlow predicted it would “halt the recovery and depress growth.” An unprecedented boom followed. Also, he said “the Bush tax cut would generate such growth.” Instead they produced giant deficits. Finally, he predicted the Republican corporate tax cut would pay for itself; it is already ballooning the annual deficit to over $1 trillion.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Walton Gas
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Gwinnett’s diversity isn’t only racial and cultural: Also ideological
Editor, the Forum:
Your list of objectives includes “Development of a two-party system for county offices.” In your February 16, 2018 edition, you stated that objective “will go a long way toward completion of another objective: More diverse candidates for a (sic) political offices, and appointment to local boards.”
Hard to argue with your logic, but why only a two-party system?
In August 5, 2016 you wrote about voters not being happy with either candidate. “They could decide to vote for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party or Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, or even others. But in reality, they know that these candidates from Third Parties and non-tested parties actually have little chance of winning.”
A significant reason Third Parties have little chance of winning is the hurdle for ballot access. Gwinnett follows the state’s standards to qualify for candidacy. To run for office as a Democrat or a Republican, you fill out a form and write a check. Third party candidates have more work to do. They need signatures from eligible voters. Statewide races require signatures from one percent of eligible voters; district races require signatures from five percent.
Put into a local perspective, I once ran for Gwinnett School Board on a major party ticket. I went to the courthouse, filled out a form, wrote a check and was on the ballot. To run for that office as a Libertarian candidate, I would need several thousand signatures of eligible voters in that district, and within a 180-day window. Once verified by the Voter Registrations and Election office, I could then fill out a form and write a check.
Gwinnett’s diversity isn’t just racial and cultural, it is also ideological. By fixing ballot access, the folk you named “Concerned Voters” may not have to hold their nose to vote.
— David Barker, Lawrenceville
Comment about sameness of Gwinnett cities touches hot spots
Editor, the Forum:
Yes, I absolutely agree with your comments about the cities all seeking to be the same!
“More” is not better and “sameness” is not to be applauded! Each city’s uniqueness is what makes us want to visit and experience their offerings.
— Barbara Karnitz, Norcross
Editor, the Forum:
YES! Every time I drive around Gwinnett now, not to mention every other area near Atlanta, I see the same thing happening! Every slightly large road has become a canyon between high rise live-work monstrosities.
It’s next to impossible to remember where you are…everything looks the same now. I long for the time when you were familiar with roads because each one had its own character. What a homogeneous mess of overpopulated horrors have been and are being created…without any thought to the consequences to human beings.
— Mikki Root Dillon, Lilburn
Editor, the Forum:
I can remember those days when the Gwinnett cities had their own identity. You are right, it’s what made them all special and what made Gwinnett special as a whole. I once could name all of the cities and the high school mascots for each of their high schools.
Enjoyed the column and I enjoy Gwinnett Forum.
— Scott Vaughn, Columbia, S.C.
Editor, the Forum:
AMEN to your comments on “city uniqueness!”
It is said “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery;” but seriously, are these city planners only followers so lacking in imagination and creativity that they are duplicating instead of innovating? It will be interesting in a few years to see if all are successful. I’m betting no, sad to say.
— Marcia Bumbalough, Buford
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
Chamber votes backing of this fall’s $350 million school bond
The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has approved a resolution in support of the $350 million Gwinnett County Public Schools general obligation bond referendum that will be on the general election ballot on November 6. If passed, the bonds will provide support to every school in every cluster of the system without raising taxes.
Dr. Dan Kaufman, president and CEO of the Gwinnett Chamber, says: “Gwinnett’s public schools are one of our most important assets for economic development. As our county continues to grow, it is critical that the system have the financial resources it needs to continue delivering the high-quality education that families deserve and employers expect. The Chamber is proud to support this important referendum and is hopeful that voters throughout the county will also vote yes.”
The bond referendum was authorized by the Gwinnett County Board of Education earlier this summer. Bond proceeds will be used system-wide to fund general building renovations and improvements, enhancements to school safety and extensive technology upgrades, as well as the district’s needs for additional classrooms and capital improvements across its 140 schools and support facilities. Projects also include the construction of a new high school in the Mill Creek Cluster area, build out of an additional floor at Discovery High School, and renovations to the Fine Arts area at Central Gwinnett High School, as well as upgrades to athletic facilities, labs and instructional spaces throughout the district.
Norwood Davis, chief financial officer of 12Stone Church and co-chair of Gwinnett Kids Count 2018, says: “Our county is home to an award-winning public school system in large part due to our citizens’ willingness to invest in its success. This funding will help to ensure that our schools continue to have a positive impact for students, our economy and our community. We are grateful for the Chamber’s support not only of this referendum, but for public education in Gwinnett County.”
The bond referendum has also received the support of all three Area Councils of the Gwinnett PTA, which encompass the local school PTA/PTSAs throughout the county.
New art exhibit at The Rectory features 4 artists, starts Sept. 21
Four award-winning artists are featured at a new art exhibit at The Rectory in Norcross beginning September 21. the show will not only exhibit amazing work in a variety of mediums, but also serve as a fundraiser for Focus + Fragile Kids to help children with medical conditions and serious ailments. The exhibit will run through October 26 with an opening reception on September 21 from 6 to 8 p.m. The artists are Jane Carroll, Linda Hanks, Sherry Needle and Mozelle Funderburk.
“Mona Lester” by Jane Carroll
Jane Carroll is celebrating 26 years as a visual and poetic artist. Her work ranges from photography, portrait painting, figure painting and landscape painting. Over the years she has published multiple art books and her drawings have won first place in competitions such as The Savannah National Art Show. When making her artwork, Carroll’s goal she says, is to make art that can be not only seen, but sensed as well.
Linda Hanks uses her unique art as a form of raw self-expression. After a brief career in microbiology, Hanks rediscovered her childhood love for art. She continues to keep that passionate spirit by experimenting in every realm of her work, and through this has seen her traditional style transform into impressionism and abstraction. Although Hanks prefers working with oils, she has made masterpieces with graphite, charcoal, ink, watercolor and pastels.
Sherry Needle has studied with some of the best painters across the country, from Yugi Wang, Armand Cabrerra, and Marc Hansen to David Leffel. Needle tends to paint with an old world style but is learning other styles to become a truly versatile artist. No matter what style the artist uses she is always trying to connect with her viewers. “I try to form a connection with the viewer in my paintings and sculpture, either to evoke a memory or to stir an emotion,” says Needles, “I feel very fortunate to have a passion that I can share with others.”
Mozella Funderburk has used her talents to develop exhibits at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History for over 30 years. She has also illustrated books and articles ranging from plant identification to ancient Chinese astronomy. Being a former scientific illustrator, she says she incorporates her experience in her more recent art by using three dimensional elements. Although Funderburk has a large and impressive history in scientific art, she admits that her favorite pieces have a humorous twist or a pun.
FOCUS + Fragile Kids is the product of two nonprofits merging together in 2017. This foundation is dedicated to helping families with children who are medically fragile or have significant development or physical disabilities. FOCUS + Fragile offers support and information for parents, and fun, inclusive events for the whole family.
The exhibit is free and open to the public. Artwork is for sale and will benefit the Focus + Fragile Kids cause. Visitors should call ahead at 678-421-2048 (also 2049 and 2025) for entry.
Aurora Theatre’s Be Here Now comedy begins Sept. 20
Soul-searching and full of laughter, Be Here Now is set to hit the Aurora Theatre main stage from September 20 – October 21. Written by award-winning playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer, the play follows a troubled Bari on her journey to find answers. Adult audiences are in for a funny, sometimes heartbreaking – but always uplifting – experience with this masterpiece.
Director Rachel Parish says: “Be Here Now offers audiences a funny, touching and poignant reminder to stop, to take a look around and to appreciate the blessings both big and small that surround us all the time. Come follow our characters on an extraordinary and electric journey filled with first loves, true heartbreak and lessons on how to find happiness, despite ourselves.”
Cynthia Barrett, best known for role as Marsha Hollard (Barb’s Mom) on the Netflix hit Stranger Things, will star as Bari in her Aurora debut. Aurora Theatre regular Travis Smith will return yet again to the Aurora stage in the role of Mike, along with Joselin Reyes and Falashay Pearson, in the roles of Patty and Luanne. An installation artist and arts educator, Parish’s work has been showcased in the United Kingdom, Ireland, China, Switzerland and across the United States.
The play runs September 20 – October 21. Tickets are currently on sale; single ticket prices start at $20 and may be purchased online at bit.ly/ATBeHereNow or by calling the Box Office at 678-226-6222. For more information on this production or other programming, visit auroratheatre.com.
Regular show times are Tuesday – Saturday at 8 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Duluth, Uber announce free rides on Thursday to downtown
The City of Duluth’s Downtown Development Authority is partnering with Uber to offer free roundtrip rides (up to $25 each way) on Thursday evenings to its downtown restaurant and retail district. The promotion launches this Thursday, September 20 and will run through November 8. Riders will be able to redeem their rides with a unique promo code each week that will be posted on the city’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts.
The program is part of a larger plan to more proactively advertise and market the downtown area to residents and visitors.
Gwinnett benefits from $64,532 from Jackson EMC Foundation grants
A $15,000 Jackson EMC Foundation check to Next Stop Foundation will help fund programming for 25 people. At the check presentation are from left, front row, Next Stop founders Stu and Vicki LaRoche; second row: Jackson EMC Foundation Board Member Jim Puckett; Next Stop members; Jackson EMC Foundation Board Member Beauty Baldwin; and Jackson EMC District Manager Randy Dellinger.
The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded a total $94,311 in grants during their August meeting, including $64,532 to organizations serving Gwinnett County. They include:
$15,000 to Choices Pregnancy Center, in Gainesville, for its My Baby Counts program, which provides educational materials on parenting skills to pregnant women and new parents in Gwinnett, Hall and Jackson counties.
$15,000 to Next Stop Foundation, a Suwanee grassroots organization that provides social interaction, recreational and life skills learning opportunities to young adults with mild to moderate disabilities in Gwinnett and Hall counties.
$15,000 to SISU of Georgia, a Gainesville non-profit organization providing educational, therapeutic, nursing and family support services to children with disabilities in Banks, Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson and Lumpkin counties, to support the Early Intervention Program that provides special needs children.
$10,000 to Tiny Stitches, in Suwanee, to provide materials and supplies for their network of volunteers to hand-craft a 28-to-32-piece layette of clothing and blankets to keep an infant warm and dry for the first three months of life.
$9,532 to Hope for the Journey of North Metro, a compassionate community cancer outreach program in Lawrenceville that works closely with the American Cancer Society to provide support, meals and educational materials to children and adult cancer victims and their families in Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall and Jackson counties.
Jackson EMC Foundation grants are made possible by the more than 189,023 participating cooperative members who have their monthly electric bills rounded to the next dollar amount through the Operation Round Up program.
GMA honors Unterman with Champion of Cities Award
Senator Renee Unterman (R – Buford) has been honored by the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) with their “Champion of Georgia’s Cities” legislative service award. GMA Executive Director Larry Hanson says: “We greatly appreciate Sen. Unterman’s strong support for city government and her willingness to listen to our issues and concerns. Because of her strong leadership, the citizens of all Georgia’s cities will benefit.” During the 2018 session, Sen. Unterman worked with GMA on a range of issues including expanding broadband access, addressing regulations for establishments that sell pets and proper protocol regarding annexation. Shown at the presentation are, from left, Sugar Hill City Manager Paul Radford, Council members Taylor Anderson and Brandon Hembree, GMA Governmental Relations Associate Michael McPherson, Sen. Renee Unterman, Sugar Hill Mayor Steve Edwards and Council members Susie Gajewski and Marc Cohen.
Gwinnett Place CID elects Yorker to board of directors
Yorker
Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District (GPCID) has elected Ben Yorker to be a member of its board of directors. Yorker, director of development for Northwood Ravin‘s Charlotte office, joins six other board members working to enhance the vitality of Gwinnett Place, using additional commercial property taxes to accelerate economic development in the Gwinnett Place area. Yorker has held leadership roles on a variety of noteworthy projects including Manor at Six Forks, a 298-unit, mixed-use, deck-wrapped apartment community in Raleigh, N.C. and High Street, an upscale 55-acre mixed-use community located in the heart of Williamsburg, Va. He also led development for Landing at Southpoint, a 54-unit condominium that is North Carolina’s first multifamily community to earn certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes program. Yorker joined Northwood Ravin in 2012.
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson
Reviewed by Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill: This is not a sad book. I want to get that out of the way first. And it’s not really about cleaning either. (I admit to disappointment on that score.) Instead, it’s a gentle, little memoir of the author’s life as she slowly sorts through her possessions and memories while downsizing. The book is not so much about how to pare down but about how to organize your possessions. She reminds us that when there’s a death, those remaining are sometimes left wondering what is important and not important. She offers some good tips, but it’s mostly common sense. However, it’s a good reminder that it’s never too early to take stock of our abundant possessions and realize the negative effect they can have on those left behind during what is already an emotional time. (If you are looking for the last word in decluttering, however, stick to Marie Kondo!)
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
Mill villages were an important part of Georgia textile industry
The rise of the textile industry in Georgia was a significant historical development with a profound effect on the state’s inhabitants. The narratives surrounding textiles, particularly the cultivation and processing of cotton, form a distinctive industrial heritage that begins with the founding of the Georgia colony in 1732, before cotton dominated the state’s agricultural economy and years before Georgia became the South’s leading producer of textiles.
The mill village, part of a family labor arrangement widely used by Georgia mill operators, was adapted from a system developed around 1810 by Samuel Slater, a New England mill owner. In Slater’s system, entire families were employed at the mill and provided with a company-owned house. The northern businessmen who invested in southern mills liked the idea of keeping the families together in order to gain a loyal workforce that would work at the mill for generations.
The communities of company-owned homes that grew up around the factories were called mill villages. The owners usually collected rent from the workers; the amount of rent was sometimes determined by how many family members worked in the factory. During the 1880s widows with children, assured of decent housing, arrived at the mills in large numbers.
Because widespread poverty still existed in Georgia, obtaining a mill job was often the best means of employment. Often mothers would tend the home while the children worked at the factory. In 1890 men accounted for 37 percent of textile mill workers, women 39 percent, and children 24 percent.
By 1910 Georgia’s 116 mills employed more than 27,000 people, many living in company housing. According to a 1923 Georgia Railway and Power publication, “There is a spirit about these Georgia mill communities. . . . it constitutes one of the highly valued elements of cotton manufacture in this state.” Two examples of well-known mill villages in Georgia include Cabbagetown, the mill village for Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills, and Whitehall in Athens.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Plenty of clues that this Mystery Photo not in New World
This week’s mystery, we’ll tell you in advance, is not in the new world. But you may have guessed that. Figure out where this is and send your answers to elliott@brack.net, including your home town.
The distinctive memorial in Warsaw, Poland was sent in by Ross Lenhart of Pawley’s Island, S.C. Five regulars immediately recognized it, including Jim Savadelis, Duluth; Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill; Lou Camerio, Lilburn; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex.; and George Graf of Palmyra, Va.
Peel also sent a wider view of the entire memorial. Click the photo to get the impressive wide view. Allan writes: “The Warsaw Uprising Monument is located in Krasiński Square in Warsaw, Poland.
It commemorates one of the most important events in Polish history – the uprising organized by the Polish Resistance Movement for Polish Independence from Aug 1, 1944 and Oct 2, 1944 and the resulting aftermath of destruction of 90 percent” of the city’s buildings carried out by the Germans after the uprising.
“During WWII, immediately after the outbreak of the uprising, the Soviet advance though Poland was halted by Joseph Stalin just short of Warsaw. He refused to aid the insurgents and prevented western allies from landing in Soviet-held, Polish territory, thereby limiting the allies’ ability to deliver supplies and aid to Warsaw for its defense against the advancing German troops.
“As a result, the uprising was brutally crushed by the Germans over a period of 63 days while the Soviets watched on. After the uprising, the Germans expelled the entire population from the city and spent all of October, November and December 1944 looting Warsaw and destroying whatever was still standing while the Soviets continued to do nothing to intervene. The Russians finally entered the ruins of the abandoned city in January 1945 after they had waited for the Germans to leave.
“The entire monument is made of bronze and concrete and consists of two parts. The larger, elevated part of the monument is what is depicted in the mystery photo. It shows a group of insurgents actively engaged in combat, running from the artistic interpretation of a collapsing building. The smaller element of the monument depicts insurgents descending into a manhole, illustrating the use of Warsaw’s sewer system by the insurgents to move across German-held territory during the uprising and to the evacuation of 5,300 resistance fighters from Warsaw’s Old Town to the city center at the beginning of September 1944.”
George Graf adds: “The Warsaw Uprising Museum in Warsaw is an outstanding resource and quality institution. It is must-see for anyone who visits Poland. All signage is in both Polish and English. Audio guides in twenty-four other languages are available for visitors.
The Warsaw Uprising began August 1, 1944 as a heroic, catastrophic last stand against the Germans, and ended 63 days later with the death of more than 200,000 Poles, the majority civilians. After nearly five years of German occupation, the Russians were advancing from the east, sending German troops into retreat. And, Soviet aircraft even dropped leaflets in Warsaw exhorting people to rise up in armed action. On the surface, it sounded like a good time to revolt. History played out differently.
The Germans did not continue their retreat from Warsaw. They returned in force and flattened almost all of the remaining city. Whereas the Russians signaled a revolt, there had no intention of assisting Poles to reclaim their country. The Poles were not aware that Churchill and Roosevelt had already met with Stalin, and agreed that Stalin ‘could have Poland’ as a result of the war. The Russian army stood by across the Vistula River until the Warsaw Uprising was squelched, then rolled in to claim the city as theirs.”
McBrayer adds: “Unveiled in 1989, it was sculpted by Wincenty Kućmaand; the architect was Jacek Budyn. It is located on the southern side of Krasiński Square.”
Here are scenes from the annual Gwinnett County Fair, still ongoing
Here are scenes from the 2018 Gwinnett County Fair, which continues through Saturday of this week. Roving Photographer Frank Sharp was out and about the midway, showing color and the thrills, but also showed many of the award-winning exhibits of the fair, plus a room with details on giant tablets about the county’s 200th birthday, its Bicentennial.
OFFICIAL NAMING of the Jesse Long Interchange at Interstate 85 and Indian Trail Road will be at 10:30 a.m. on September 18. The ceremony will be in the rear parking lot nearest I-85 at 1770 Indian Trail Road. Hosting will be State House Reps. Clay Cox, Chuck Efstration and Brenda Lopez and the Georgia Department of Transportation. Gwinnett County visionary and founder of Greater Atlanta Christian School, Jesse Long (1932-2014), broke ground in the rural part of southern Gwinnett county in the early 60s and then worked tirelessly to build his dream, Greater Atlanta Christian School, a half mile from the interchange. Today, Greater Atlanta Christian School is an educational community of 1,600 pre-K-12th students on 88 acres with 34 state-of-the-art buildings.
Sophie and the Pirates will have 15 performances beginning September 18 through October 6 by the Gainesville Theater Alliance on the state at Pierce Auditorium at Brenau University. Patrons can select and purchase their seats on the website, www.gainesvilleTHEATREalliance.org, or by calling the GTA Box Office at 678-717-3624, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Rainmaker is now onstage at the Lionheart Theatre in Norcross, playing through September 23. It tells the story of a drought in the Southwest, and one con man’s attempt to bring rain. It is directed by Joanie McElroy, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Reservations highly recommended by calling 678 938 8518.
Gwinnett County Fair continues through September 23 at the Fairgrounds, located at 2045 Sugarloaf Parkway near Georgia Highway 20 in Lawrenceville. The fair features live entertainment, pageants, livestock shows, youth and adult exhibition winners, plus field crop and home garden winners. More than 200,000 persons are expected to attend. It is a production of the Gwinnett County Livestock and Fair Association..
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