12/4: Light Up Georgia with Kindness; McBath and more: George Strait

RED NO MORE: This gorgeous maple tree in a local backyard was showing off its brightness recently, but those red leaves didn’t last long.  Today they are part of the tons of leaves awaiting being sucked  up by the Leaf Trucks on streets throughout the county. The maples and other hardwoods were beautiful while they lasted, giving us autumnal color.

TODAY’S FOCUS: Light Up Georgia with Kindness Seeks Beginning of New Tradition

EEB PERSPECTIVE: McBath Will Do Well; Return of Quotes and Snellville Relatives

ANOTHER VIEW: Thanksgiving, George Strait, Deep Fried Turkey and English Visitor

SPOTLIGHT: Gateway85 Gwinnett CID

UPCOMING: Duluth Set To Get Guidance from Citizens’ Budget Review Committee

NOTABLE: Walton EMC Customers To Share in Refund Totaling $6 Million

RECOMMENDED: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

GEORGIA TIDBIT: Coosa and Tallapoosa River Basins Originate in North Georgia

MYSTERY PHOTO: Another Mystery Photo with Water Among the Clues in the Background

CALENDAR: Lilburn Christmas Parade Rescheduled for Saturday, December 8

RUN-OFF ELECTION DAY: Today is the date of the runoff of the General Election. Two statewide races are to be determined today, that of the office of Secretary of State, and a seat on the Public Service Commission. If still in line at 7 p.m., you’ll be allowed to vote! Go do your civic duty.

Light Up Georgia with Kindness seeks beginning of new tradition

By Cindi Pickett

SUWANEE, Ga., Dec. 4, 2018  |  Light Up Georgia With Kindness is being launched this December to strengthen and bring together communities with a new annual tradition.

Through the Light Up initiative, every individual, family, local neighborhood, business and organizations is being encouraged to be more intentional in performing acts of kindness from December 1 -24, culminating with the Building Together the Pathway Lit by Kindness luminary display on December 24.

This formation was inspired by the video song on YouTube, Wishes and Candles, and its message about lives being interwoven together and the role kindness can play for everyone, no matter a person’s background. What was wanted was to create a symbolic, inspiring visual to represent people’s Light Up efforts and support.

Many a favorite childhood tradition in Georgia was driving around during the holidays to see neighborhoods lit by white bag pathways for Santa’s sleigh. This celebration seeks to recreate that same magic many in their youth felt, but this time, create a pathway of Light Up bags to symbolize the thousands of acts of kindness being performed during the 24-day period.

By 5 p.m. on December 24 and into the morning, each participant is being asked to help create a special luminary pathway with white paper lunch bags, lit with two electric tea candles and weighted with sand. Bags can easily be ordered online for as little as $8 per 500.

Bags should be placed two feet apart near the street and across driveways, lawns and businesses. Families traveling during the holidays can ask another neighbor to facilitate bags so the luminated pathway remains unbroken.

We are encouraging residents to stroll or slowly drive through neighborhoods, with lights dimmed, to see the beautiful homes and building together on the Pathway Lit by Kindness that connects neighbor-to-neighbor and business-to-business along with other organizations. Supplies can then be packed up and reused the following year.

To inspire others, we are asking participants to post their experiences and ideas of kindness on social sites and on the Light Up Georgia With Kindness Facebook page .

Also, the www.LightUpGeorgiaWithKindness.com site provides info on how to become a neighborhood/group Light Up Leader and ideas around the initiative. The goal is for those kindness efforts to spill over well into the new year.

For this idea, there has been great support and excitement already, such as Manager Timothy Anderson of the Suwanee Lowe’s store at 3260 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road offering free sand and white bags, while supplies last.

Bags also will be given away at the free community concert performed by the Sugar Hill Choir of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located at 4833 Suwanee Dam Road at 7 p.m. on December 8 and 9.

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

McBath will do well; Return of quotes and Snellville relatives

By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher

DEC. 4, 2018  |  Hurrah for Lucy McBath of Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District! We predict she’ll do well in the Congress.

Being a new Congressperson cannot be easy. After all, there’s a tremendous amount of difference between being a candidate for Congress, and then of about dealing with constituents from afar, about living in Washington, and maneuvering around all this morass.

McBath

One reason we think that Lucy McBath will do well in Washington is that she is starting off right. She has the smartness to vote for Nancy Patricia D’Alesandro Pelosi to be the next Democrat leader of the House of Representatives.  Some 32 Congressmen, including 17 freshmen, did not vote for Pelosi in the Democratic caucus.  In our view, those freshmen were like lighting a firecracker but not getting rid of it immediately.

For Nancy Pelosi knows how to play politics, and no doubt will reward those who support her for speaker. To those who will oppose her, well, the term “backbencher” comes to mind, for they will get no choice assignments in the Democratic House establishment.

Nice first big story from Washington, Lucy McBath. Now keep it up.

ONLY 17 LEFT: That’s right. We have in stock only 17 of the 366 Facts about Gwinnett book which have not been sold. The book makes a perfect stocking stuffer for Christmas. Move fast if you want to get a copy for Christmas. This will be it, for there will not be a second printing.

• Send orders to elliott@brack.net, or call immediately to 770-840-1003 to reserve your copy. The books are $7.50 plus 45 cents for Uncle Nathan Deal.

COME DECEMBER 18, a popular feature will return to GwinnettForum. This will be a quotation to lead off each issue, something that has been a part of the Forum since inception, except for the last year. During the Gwinnett bicentennial year,, we have substituted one of the facts from the book, 366 Facts about Gwinnett. So look for the quotations to return. If you are inclined, and see a good quote, send it to us for inclusion in an issue.

IT WAS A SIMPLE QUESTION we put to new Superior Court Judge Tracey Mason.  Since Superior Court Judge Melonie Snell Conner was to swear her in as a new judge, the question was “Why her?  Is she related to you?”  The answer from Judge Mason shows what a close community Snellville once was.

Tracey writes: “In the fabric of our lives, Melodie and I have lots of people who are related that weave us together.  Melodie’s great-grandmother (Mrs. Clemmie Snell -ER’s mother) and my grandmother, Carra Phillips, were neighbors and best friends.  My daddy and hers were close in high school and beyond.  Our parents double-dated in high school. Her mother, Barbara, played bridge with my mother, Helen. Uncle Wayne’s sister-in-law, Jean Biggers, married Earl Snell.  ER’s wife, Mable’s brother, James Jackson, married my mother’s first cousin, Edna.  We all went to the Snellville Methodist Church (except a few defected to the Baptists).  We have such a common history, know the same people, lived similar experiences.  And, we’re the same age, born 1961, were in the same advanced classes, played basketball, piano, etc.  Melodie and I were thrown together because of all that and love each other, too.”

So, the short answer is “No,” they are not related. But they might as well have been.

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

Thanksgiving, George Strait, deep-fried turkey and English visitor

By Debra Houston, contributing columnist

LILBURN, Ga.  |  My best friend, Andreas, flew “across the pond” after I invited her to experience an authentic American Thanksgiving. Andreas lives in Camberley, England.

The last time she came, we attended George Strait’s “The Cowboy Rides Away,” concert at Philips Arena. Six years ago, George announced his retirement from the grind of touring. Guess what? The cowboy is riding back into Atlanta on March 30, 2019, at Mercedes Benz Stadium. I won’t be there. I don’t like large arenas. Gwinnett Arena in Duluth has spoiled me.

Make that the Infinity Energy Arena. Whatever you call it, George was the first performer to play there after it opened on February 16, 2003. He sang in the center of the arena from a stage that made quarter turns so he could face all sections of fans.

Andreas and I attended and collected our first handshake from the star. Technically it wasn’t a handshake for me. Being a wee person, I stood on my toes, stretched my arm above the woman in front, and wiggled my fingers. George shook her hand but not mine. Undeterred, I waved until George walked back. This time he stretched to touch my fingers. That’s one of the stories Andreas and I laugh about when we reminisce.

It’s because of George that Andreas and I met. One day Garth Brooks said on TV that George Strait influenced his music. George who? I wasn’t a big country fan but bought his CD, Chill of an Early Dawn. Wham! I promptly grabbed every CD he’d ever recorded.

I found his fan club online and answered a post from a British woman who requested a pen pal. Andreas said she’d only had two responses – spam from a radio station and me. “I chose you, Debbie.” She became my key pal, the modern name for digital friends.

During her recent visit, she watched us clean and decorate our house and bake. She said it was like preparation for any family gathering. I agreed. On Thanksgiving Day we thanked God for His blessings, and then stuffed ourselves with deep fried turkey in peanut oil, injected with creole butter and sprinkled with Cajun spices on the outside, cornbread dressing, fresh and canned veggies, homemade cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, casseroles, rolls, and of course, dessert. The next day we burned off calories shopping the whirlwind called Black Friday.

There are performers who seem to have a knack for bringing people together. George Strait’s music brought me to a place where I found my best friend. We have been friends now for nearly 18 years.

Thanks, George, from both of us.

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

Gateway85 Gwinnett CID

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Gateway85 Gwinnett is a self-taxing community improvement district that includes just over 800 commercial property owners with a property value of over $1 billion. Gateway85 includes the southwestern part of Gwinnett County including properties along Jimmy Carter Boulevard, Buford Highway, Indian Trail,  and Beaver Ruin Rd. Gateway85 is one of six CIDs to be created in Gwinnett County and is the largest of all CIDs in the state. The community is an economic powerhouse that helps fuel the regional economy. More than 3,600 companies (employing roughly 36,000 people) call Gateway 85 home. The jobs in the district account for almost 12 percent of Gwinnett County’s total employment and support $2 billion in annual payroll. Gateway85 Gwinnett‘s mission is to improve property values through increased security, a decrease in traffic congestion, and general improvements to the curb appeal of the area. The CID moved their offices to 1770 Indian Trail-Lilburn Road, Norcross and recently rebranded to reflect the strong future of this area.  It was previously known as Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District. For more information visit  https://www.gateway85.com/ or call 770-449-6542.

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

Seems ready to trust retinal and thumb scan when casting ballot

Editor, the Forum:

One can use retinal scan and thumb scan to identify oneself in many places, like airports.  I don’t know if I would trust the government with those scans, but it might be a way to streamline elections and the voting process.

One could vote for statewide elections anywhere, but only in corresponding polling sites for contests in their local areas.  Online encrypted voting with the same ID scans to verify could be explored.

We seem to be hanging in the past with our methods.  I enrolled for Medicare online.  I got a copy of my birth certificate online.  Taxes are done online.  With multiple layers in an encrypted secure system, we should be able to avoid fraud, incompetence, and make it painless for most.

— Byron Gilbert, Duluth

Dear Byron: Agree, the technology is here (note Delta Air Lines using scans at Hartsfield International Terminal now.)  But I suspect most voters aren’t ready to feel comfortable in allowing this technology to determine who votes. Seems many more are wanting such safeguards as paper ballots, to give an added level of security in the voting arena. –eeb

Letter-writer takes issue with views from GwinnettForum columnists

Editor, The Forum:

I really enjoyed Rick Hammond’s satire, in regards to George Wilson’s article.  Succinct!  I wish Debbie Houston had also contributed.  Debbie, where were you, girl!

And, I am glad Wilson has finally come out of the closet!  “Medicaid for all” and “minimum wage at $15/hour.” Shades of Bernie Sanders, the admitted Socialist!

If the minimum wage is increased to $15, food vendors like McDonald’s and Burger King will go to automation and start laying off people, plus raise their prices!

— David Earl Tyre, Jesup

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

Duluth set to get guidance from Citizens’ Budget Review Committee

Duluth officials believe communication with and guidance from the citizens of Duluth is instrumental in having a healthy community. Part of this guidance has come from the Citizen’s Budget Review Advisory Committee.  Previous Citizen’s Budget Review Advisory Committees reflected a great cross section of the citizenry and provided helpful feedback and recommendations on ways the City can be more efficient and effective in its daily operations.

The City is set to begin its eighth year of collaboration with the Citizen’s Budget Review Advisory Committee on February 20, 2019, for the FY2020 budget.

The first meeting, on February 20, will establish an overview of the City’s budget process and what the Budget Committee’s role will be in the process. All Budget Committee participants will be given the City’s current operating budget (FY2019) and ten year forecast presentation. They are asked to study the material and be ready to discuss them at the next meeting.

The second meeting, on February 27, involves a review of draft figures for the preliminary FY2020 budget, debt service commitments, city initiatives, as well as information relating to Capital Reserve funds.

The third meeting, on March 6, is geared toward recommendations from the Citizen’s Committee, addressing any concerns with the budget and finally discussion of visionary opportunities for the city. For additional information or if a citizen would like to be a part of this committee, they should contact Kim Jackson at kjackson@duluthga.net or 770-497-5321.

Walton EMC customers to share in refund totaling $6 million

Most Walton Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) customer-owners will soon receive a financial refund. The  cooperative’s board of directors has approved the return of another $6 million capital credit refunds. The latest refund brings the total returned by the co-op to $99,571,000.

The year’s refund will start appearing on electric bills beginning in December. The amount each customer-owner receives is in proportion to the total of their electric bills during the years of 1993, 1994, 1995 and 2017. The more a customer-owner spent with the co-op, the larger their refund will be.

Why are these refunds given? Walton EMC’s customers also own the company. Any money collected over what it takes to operate is returned to those who paid it. It doesn’t make sense to profit from yourself, exemplifying one of the seven cooperative principles Walton EMC operates by: member economic participation.

How are refunds distributed? Most customer-owners will receive the credit on their December or January bill, saving tens of thousands of dollars in printing and mailing costs that check distribution would require. But, if the refund is more than $500, a check will be issued.

When are refunds made? Walton EMC distributes capital credit refunds when it’s financially prudent. Some of the co-op’s excess income – called “margins” – is used to pay down debt and prepare for emergencies. But every penny of these margins is credited to the co-op’s customer-owner accounts and is eventually returned.

Walton EMC is a customer-owned power company that serves 128,000 accounts over its 10-county service area between Atlanta and Athens.

Gwinnett Clerk of Court’s Alexander wins statewide award

The Superior Court Clerks’ Association of Georgia has awarded a prestigious award for 2018 to Gwinnett Clerk of Superior, State and Magistrate Courts Richard T. Alexander Jr. In bestowing the Exceptional Commitment, Leadership, Accomplishment and Teamwork (ECLAT) Award, the clerks association cited Alexander’s professionalism, dedication and leadership among his staff and other clerks statewide.

Alexander

Alexander served in the Air Force in air base security. He was a member of the Conyers Police Department and later the Gwinnett County Police Department. In 1985, he graduated from Atlanta Law School and began practicing law, serving as an arbitrator and mediator, and beginning  in 2001, as a magistrate judge. In 2010, Alexander was appointed chief deputy clerk of the Superior, State, and Magistrate Courts of Gwinnett County. He was elected clerk of courts in 2011. He has also served as president the Metropolitan Court Clerks Association, regularly teaching classes on leadership to numerous groups and organizations statewide.

Former Gwinnett Clerk of Clerk of Courts Thomas C. Lawler received the ÉCLAT Award in 2009.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

From Tim Anderson, Fitzgerald  |  This is a mixture of a coming-of-age story, a murder mystery and a elebration of nature, a rare mix for the reader. Set on the beautiful North Carolina coast, the heartbreaking story of Kya Clark and her complete abandonment by her entire family finds a young girl alone and destitute. Kya must learn, first of all, to simply survive. She spends just one lone one day in school before abandoning any hope of education and learns to understand the natural world on the most basic levels. ‘Crawdads’ is a nature book, teaching so much of the environment of the coastal marshes, and a book of the nature of developing the human spirit. With no natural mentors, Kya must learn how to be human, to be in relationships. It is an uplifting novel of the power of love to make a person fully whole.

• 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

Coosa, Tallapoosa river basins originate in North Georgia

The Coosa and Tallapoosa river basins originate in north Georgia and continue across the border into Alabama. The Tennessee River basin includes portions of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

The Tallapoosa River originates west of Atlanta, in Paulding County. The Tallapoosa River basin occupies 4,680 square miles, of which 720 square miles (15 percent) lie in Georgia and 3,960 square miles (85 percent) lie in Alabama. The Tallapoosa supports cold- and warm-water fisheries as well as a rich diversity of species unique to this river. Species important to anglers include largemouth, spotted, and redeye bass; rainbow trout; black crappie; and channel catfish. The Tallapoosa is a free-flowing river in Georgia with no major impoundments until it reaches the Harris Reservoir in Alabama.

The Coosa River, formed by the convergence of the Etowah and Oostanaula rivers in downtown Rome, is the major eastern tributary of the Mobile River basin and empties into the Gulf of Mexico in southwest Alabama. The Coosa River is a significant striper fishery with one of the few naturally reproducing populations of striped bass in the state and is home to more than 147 species of fish.

The Coosa River also has the largest diversity worldwide of freshwater snails and mussels, despite the documented disappearance of numerous molluscan species. For example, it is estimated that 35 of the 50 freshwater mussel species that once probably inhabited the Coosa River basin have been extirpated; several of these species are now considered extinct. According to estimates by the Nature Conservancy, the Etowah River, which flows into the Coosa, has more imperiled species than any other river system of its size in the southeastern United States.

The Tennessee River originates in the Appalachian Mountains and eventually joins the Ohio River. The largest tributary of the Ohio, the Tennessee is most notable for its abundance and diversity of freshwater fishes. Recognized as one of the most diverse rivers in North America, the Tennessee River supports about 240 fish species.

The Coosa, Tallapoosa, and Tennessee rivers are home to many threatened and endangered aquatic species. Two of the endangered species in these river basins are the Conasauga logperch, Percina jenkinsi, and the amber darter, Percina antesella. These species were once found throughout the Coosa, Tallapoosa, and Tennessee river basins and have been federally listed as endangered since 1985.

The Conasauga logperch grows to approximately six inches in length and is characterized by many tigerlike vertical stripes over a yellow background and a piglike conical snout. Like other logperches, the Conasauga logperch feeds by flipping stones over with its snout and consuming the aquatic invertebrates living beneath. The amber darter is a short, slender-bodied fish that is generally fewer than two-and-a-half inches in length. The fish’s upper body is golden brown with dark saddle-like markings, and its belly is a yellow-to-cream color. The throats of breeding males are blue in color. The amber darter feeds primarily on snails and insects.

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

Another Mystery Photo with water among the clues in the background

Many of the Mystery Photos often show water in the background, as this edition’s mystery does. So, where’s it at?  Figure out the water, the buildings, the statue and send your answer along to elliott@brack.net, and include your hometown.

There were few readers—only the regulars—who recognized the most recent Mystery Photo, which was sent in by Donnie Loeber of Norcross and currently, Spain.

Jim Savadelis, Duluth, wrote: “This sculpture is by Edwardo Chillida. A Spanish Basque sculptor, he’s been known for his monumental abstract works, and lived from 1924 -2002.”

Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. provided more information: : “Another easy one. Heck, I will even bet that the photo was submitted by Donnie Loeber of Norcross!

Today’s mystery photo is of the 1990 Elogio del Horizonte (‘In Praise of the Horizon’), a bold, sea-facing concrete sculpture by Basque artist Eduardo Chillida Juantegui. This structure has become the most recognizable icon of modern Gijón in Spain. Located on top of Santa Catalina Hill, in Cimadevilla (the ancient core of Gijón) and facing the Bay of Biscay, this sculpture embraces the horizon and exposes itself to all the fury of the north winds. As such, the structure was designed to be admired from the inside. That’s because if you stand at the core of this sculpture you will hear amplified sounds of the wind and the sea crashing below the cliffs that this structure is built upon.

OK. So how do I know who sent this photo in? Well, considering that Gijón is only about 165 miles from Bilbao, Spain (the location of the large spider sculpture at the Guggenheim Art Museum in the mystery photo from 11/20), is a safe bet that Donnie Loeber of Norcross also submitted this mystery photo.”

George Graf of Palmyra, Va. added this: “”Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002) had been the goalkeeper for Real Sociedad, San Sebastián’s La Liga football team, where his knee was so seriously injured that he had five surgeries, ending a promising football career. He then studied architecture at the University of Madrid from 1943 to 1946. In 1947 he abandoned architecture for art, and the next year he moved to Paris, where he set up his first studio and began working in plaster and clay.

Major public works by Chillida are in Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, Frankfurt and Dallas. Perhaps his best-known work in the United States is in front of the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas. The work features two pillars with branches that reach out but do not touch. In Washington, D.C., a Chillida sculpture is inside the World Bank headquarters. A sculpture by Chillida also sits outside Beverly Hills, Calif.  City Hall.  In 1986, he installed House of Goethe, a large piece that is a tribute to the German poet and dramatist, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in the city of Frankfurt.  His monument Diálogo-Tolerancia (Dialogue-Tolerance) was installed in Münster, Germany, in 1993 to celebrate the Peace of Westfalia.”

SMART DRIVER COURSE will be Wednesday, December 5, from 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Suwanee Branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library at 361 Main Street. This course teaches defensive driving techniques and how to compensate for age related changes in vision, hearing and reaction time. Those taking the course may quality for an insurance discount upon completion of the course. It is sponsored by the Gwinnett Library and AARP. Cost is $15 for AARP members or $20 for non-members. Pay at the door. Bring a bag lunch. For more information, visit www.gwinnettpl.org or call 770-978-5154.

GOODWILL JOB FAIR will be Wednesday, December 5 at the Lilburn Branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sponsored by the Library and Goodwill of North Georgia, the event is free and open to the public. Bring your resume, dress professionally and maybe get hired. For more information, please visit www.gwinnettpl.org or call 770-978-5154.

CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING in downtown Norcross will be at 5:30 p.m. Friday, December 7 in Thrasher Park. Music will be provided by the Norcross United Methodist Church choir. Norcross resident Steven Howington will light the tree, as he has for 30 years. Enjoy free hot cocoa and cookies (while supplies last) courtesy of the Norcross Masonic Lodge and the Norcross Lions Club, and s’mores courtesy of the City of Norcross.

FAMILY SNOW DAY will be December 7 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Pinckneyville Park, 4758 South Old Peachtree Road, Norcross. Bring the entire family to enjoy a fun-filled, festive night with a popcorn/hot chocolate bar, gingerbread house-decorating contest, games, and crafts. The night will end with a family-friendly “snowball” fight!. Cost: $17 per family of four or $5 per person. Preregister online by December 10 with code PVP41495 or by calling 678-277-0920.

MELTED SNOWMAN PARTY is December 7 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Collins Hill Aquatic Center, 2200 Collins Hill Road, Suwanee. Splash around in ex-snowmen, write a letter to Santa, help decorate a tree in the indoor pool, and more.. Cost: $5 per person. Preregister online with code CHP45800 or by calling 770-237-5647. All pool rules apply.

SOUTHERN WINGS BIRD CLUB will have its Holiday Potluck meeting on December 10 at 6:30 p.m. at Rhodes Jordan  Park Community Room in Lawrenceville. The club will provide ham, and guests are asked to bring their favorite vegetable, salad or dessert to serve 8 to 10 people. Bring your own drinks. The Club will supply plates, utensils, etc.

CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCE of the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will be December 10 at 7 p.m. at the Infinite Energy Theater in Duluth. Tickets are from $13 to $25.  For more, visit this site.

Click to see a larger image of the route.

PARADE RESCHEDULED: The Lilburn Christmas Parade has been rescheduled for Saturday, December 8. This year’s grand marshal, 2018 Gwinnett County Public Schools Teacher of the Year Heidi Campbell, will lead the parade down Main Street. After the parade, kids can visit with Santa, make an ornament craft, and color a holiday picture at Lilburn City Hall-Library from noon until 2 p.m. Guests can buy a Christmas tree giveaway ticket inside city hall until 1:45 p.m.

BICENTENNIAL EVENT: GWINNETT’S 200^th BIRTHDAY GALA. This will be December 15 at 6 p.m. at the Infinite Energy Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth.  Celebrate the county’s rich history and pay tribute to its vibrant community and diverse cultures at a festive gala. The cock­tail party begins at 6 p.m., and dinner begins at 7 p.m. Cost: $125 per person. Cocktail attire is appropriate. To buy tickets or to learn more about the gala, visit www.gwinnett200birthday.com.

NORTH ATLANTA Metro Area Realtors (NAMAR) is holding its annual EXPO on January 17, 2019, at the Infinite Energy Center, from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Nearly 150 exhibitor booths will be in attendance.

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