IT WAS A HISTORIC MOMENT for the City of Sugar Hill this week as the 180,000 square foot mixed-use E Center in downtown Sugar Hill opened, a culmination of a project of three years which cost $46 million. The E Center has already spurred more than $235 million of private investment in downtown Sugar Hill and is bringing in new businesses and restaurants. Mayor Steve Edwards says: “The E Center is a direct response to what the community said they wanted years ago; a downtown where our folks can live, eat, work, and play.” He added: “It is a place where you can feel the excitement and energy, eat and be entertained, and enjoy pleasant surroundings and engage with your friends and family.”
TODAY’S FOCUS: Straight-Thinking Peachtree City Citizens Drum Council Into Submission
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Here’s a Way Readers Can Help Extend GwinnettForum’s Reach
ANOTHER VIEW: Remembering Paris, Notre Dame and Suddenly Missing Her Husband
SPOTLIGHT: Peach State Federal Credit Union
FEEDBACK: Two Readers See Problems Associated with Automobile Key Fobs
UPCOMING: Aurora Theatre Offering Wide Range of Summer Camp Options
NOTABLE: Two alumni of GACS To Co-Captain Naval Academy Football Team
RECOMMENDED: Question of Trust by Penny Vincenzi
GEORGIA TIDBIT: By 1780, Georgia Coastal Defense System Had Been Almost Forgotten
MYSTERY PHOTO: Distinctive Photo May Give Clue to Where This Is Located
CALENDAR: Electronic Recycling at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lilburn, on May 4
Straight-thinking Peachtree City citizens drum council into submission
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…”– U.S. Constitution, First Amendment.
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | In the age of the Trump monarchy, we have a president who hopes to be an absolute ruler that cannot be indicted no matter the crime. We have a Senate leader who is so afraid to make moves that he will never vote to remove that ruler, no matter the evidence. We have an Attorney General of the Trump Regime, not an Attorney General of the USA, defending the supreme ruler and ignoring obstruction of justice. We citizens should just sit back, not get involved with the workings of our betters.
Apparently, that is also the reasoning behind the recent Peachtree City Council proposed resolution to have the city bring and pay for lawsuits against anyone daring to say what the Council members consider to be mean, untrue matters about city politicos, employees and volunteers. As the Georgia director of Legal Services said at that April 18 meeting, the public has the perception that the Council wants to unconstitutionally silence its critics.
I once sat on the Peachtree City Planning Commission. Often I was the only one opposing developments which would cost the City/County more money than it brought in. Developers didn’t like that and neither did a couple of the “free enterprise or bust” council members, who forgot why they were elected: to represent the will of the voters, rather than real estate investors. I wasn’t worried about what people said about me on social media or in the press. This is America, land of the free and constitutionally protected free speech, not Russia.
I was once the chairman of a County Commission in a county near Macon. Often I felt I was continually and unfairly attacked by the Tea Party types. I was threatened with suits and received letters from attorneys. It distracts you, but it happens. So, I understand what the City Council is going through. You need to have a thick skin to be a public official. Whoever heard of the solution that the city would try to suppress free speech!
Apparently, many people of my hometown (Peachtree City) feel the same way that I do. An overflow crowd showed up at the normally quiet council meeting to express their displeasure of this insane idea. Regardless of their political affiliations, left or right, dozens attacked the proposal. We should add this: not a single soul spoke in the proposal’s support.
When a citizen asked which councilperson had put the proposal on the agenda, each council member denied having done so, as did the city manager and mayor. Supposedly, the resolution just magically appeared out of nowhere! The crowd snickered in disgust.
During council discussion, three council members arrogantly proceeded to make an impassioned defense of the resolution. Apparently, the other two were always against it. Ultimately the frightened council ran for the hills, voting 5-0 against the motion.
Is this what our democracy has deteriorated into in the age of Trump? Willful violation of our constitutional rights by elected officials, deterred only by protesters? Heaven help us.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Here’s a way readers can help extend GwinnettForum’s reach
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
APRIL 26, 2019 | Remembering back to 1974, as I moved here to join Gwinnett Daily News, I wondered how in the world a newspaper would cover a county with 100,000 people. It seemed nigh impossible.
Yet the newspaper I joined, Gwinnett Daily News, was becoming a really excellent newspaper. You covered a county by developing a hard-working and innovative staff for news and advertising, and delivered the paper on time. Over the years, let me say that we became really good, winning award-after-award over much larger newspapers. It took a solid budget, good management and a soundly-profitable newspaper to fund the operation.
Here’s how successful it was: The New York Times bought that newspaper for $100 million. That company operated Gwinnett Daily News for five years, lost $1 million a month, and finally left the county without its own daily newspaper.
While there have been successor newspapers, none have approached what the Daily News achieved. Today the Gwinnett Daily Post is down to three days a week. And the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, we understand, has only two full-time reporters covering the 950,000 people in Gwinnett.
The Atlanta newspaper reminds me of the way it operated in the 1965-1988 era: when significant news broke, they ran out here from downtown, asked Daily News reporters what was going on, wrote a story for the next day, and usually dropped the story after that.
Now the big question: Does it bug you that we live in a county with nearly a million people, but have very little significant news coverage?
Neither newspapers, nor television, nor significant social media, really “covers” Gwinnett County.
That brings me to GwinnettForum. When we started this “moderated public forum” in 2001, we were seeking to stimulate thought, produce innovation and create a space where people would talk to one another.
We were surprised from the very first that stories came to us “over the transom,” from a varied cast of individuals. We published twice weekly, providing space for others to write 500 words about a subject of their choice, and I contributed 500 words on a variety of subjects. Soon letters to the editor started arriving, and we added other features, such as Another Voice (opinion), upcoming events, a book (or movie etc.) recommendation, an excerpt from the Georgia Encyclopedia, a calendar, a Lagniappe, and the latest, a Mystery Photo. We seek to apply high journalistic and ethical standards to what we produce.
Some people even called the Forum a “newspaper without newsprint.” Ten years ago, we began endorsing political candidates, after seeking to vet the many candidates. (That’s a job!)
While our efforts have been successful, we haven’t used this vehicle to pay myself the first salary. We did it to extend my life…..and now in our 19th year, that part has worked well.
However, GwinnettForum needs a stronger “reach.” One internet person thinks that with the people “subscribing” online (for free), plus those who read us from the Internet, we have about 10,000 unique readers. But in this big county, that’s not a lot.
So, with all this said, may I ask you readers? Help us. Please today recommend us to at least one friend, asking that they go to www.gwinnettforum.com, and on the right side of the page, put in their email address in the subscription form. That way we’ll start sending them GwinnettForum and extend our readership one-by-one. Who knows? We might find a new regular contributor who will enrich all of us with their thoughts on varied local issues.
Can each of you do that, ask others to join those reading GwinnettForum?
We’ll thank you for your support.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Remembering Paris, Notre Dame and suddenly missing her husband
By Debra Houston, contributing columnist
LILBURN, Ga. | I first visited Notre Dame Cathedral in 1982. Paris was a young woman’s dream. Eddie wanted a new bass boat, so I bargained with him and got Paris.
So off we went, though I feared terrorists whose modus operandi back then was planting bombs in cars. A shortcut led to a narrow lane crowded with Citroens and Renaults, where the owners had parked side-wheels on the curb.
“I hope a car doesn’t explode.” Eddie said he wished I hadn’t said that.
Friends warned, “They hate Americans there.” Reared on Southern etiquette, I learned the French counterparts for “please” and “thank you,” reasoning they only hate rude Americans.
If only I’d learned to say, “My husband is missing.”
We disembarked at the Brussels’ station to switch to the Paris train. Our next train hadn’t arrived, so we hustled down to the restrooms. Then my jetlagged husband climbed the wrong set of stairs, and, figuring I’d already boarded, embarked on the wrong train. Sensing his discomfort, a French passenger told him that the train was en route to Italy. As it moved from the station, Eddie gazed out and saw me. He beat on the window, but I couldn’t hear him.
At the next stop, the kindly French woman backtracked with him to the Brussels station. Meanwhile, the Belgium police couldn’t understand that my husband was being held hostage by terrorists in the bathroom. Tears flowed until I spotted Eddie ambling toward me. And so it was, that at every turn, we were helped by the French!
What does this have to do with Notre Dame? Foremost Notre Dame encompassed the France I love – her people, history, art, and architecture. Eddie and I had inched into the cathedral, where candles flickered in the dark like so many glowing fireflies. Mass had begun, so a priest shooed us out. No matter, the cathedral had captured my heart like all things wonderfully French.
Then to witness on television flames shooting through her roof and smoke billowing over the little island, the core of old Paris on the Seine – I felt the loss of something dear.
I thought of the woman who rescued Eddie, the man who explained the Metro map, the cabbie who insisted our motel was around the corner, and even the whistler who serenaded us with Yankee Doodle Dandy. I valued their grief over losing their precious landmark where worshippers had gathered for 800 years for spiritual solace.
The charred façade remains but the art and relics were preserved. In the U.K. Daily Mail, a photograph taken inside Notre Dame’s shell caught sunlight pouring through a shattered stained glass window onto the gold cross near the altar. Perhaps it was a sign that our charred and broken Lady will someday experience a second coming.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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Two readers see problems associated with automobile key fobs
Editor, the Forum:
How I long for my car’s key. I recently forgot to turn off the car. It was in a noisy parking lot. A friend asked if my Subaru was still running.
Indeed, it was. Another friend (in the same parking lot) told me he has had read that some people have left keyless cars running in their garage and this has led to death. Not sure if this is verified, but I could see it happening if you had a small home and left the garage door to the house open.
Bottom line- if you had your keys in your pocket (in the old days), you knew you had turned off your engine.
— Billy Chism, Toccoa
Editor, the Forum:
Having been in the car business since 1968, I can say with full certainty that whom ever delivered the vehicle to you originally, was supposed to have FULLY explained key fob functions.
At the dealership, we used to use a check sheet to ensure all operational functions were fully explained and initialed by the new owner. Often the new car owner just wants to leave the dealership and get to his new car, but a little whisper about safety generally allows for the satisfactory delivery. Without a signed and initialed sheet by the new car owner, we did not release the salesperson’s commission.
With today’s technology, it is even more important. Funny thing is, if done correctly, this begins a form of bonding between customer and the salesperson.
I can only imagine the fear if this had happened to a lady at night in a garage or open lot or bad weather.
— Ashley Herndon, Oceanside, Calif.
- 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
Aurora Theatre offering wide range of summer camp options
Summer break is just around the corner and parents everywhere will soon be seeking engaging activities for kids during the hotter months! To help, Aurora Theatre Academy will once again offer a wide range of options for aspiring thespians with its collection of 2019 summer camps.
With age-appropriate opportunities for kindergarteners through 12th graders – ranging from one to three weeks in length – there is sure to be an encore-inducing preference for everyone looking to have fun and learn. Students at Aurora Theatre’s summer camps can choose from a variety of musical and acting themes, including language learning, history and so much more!
Aurora Theatre Academy offers students the opportunity to rehearse and perform in a world-class facility and learn from teaching artists with professional theatrical experience. In addition to receiving all training needed to be a winner on the stage, students to these camps will build confidence, communication and life skills that will serve as a valuable foundation to their futures.
- To register and for more information, visit bit.ly/2019ATSummerCamp. Scholarships are available on a case-by-case basis. For a full list of camps offered by Aurora Theatre, please visit auroratheatre.com/education, or call 678 226 6222. Because of popular demand, registration will be accepted on a first-come-first-serve basis.
GGC commencement to hear director of Georgia ACLU office
Andrea Young, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, will present the keynote address during Georgia Gwinnett College’s spring Commencement ceremony Thursday, May 16, , at 10 a.m. at the Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth.
Young
Young has led the ACLU of Georgia through an intensive focus on building an organization that could advance criminal justice reform, support immigrant rights, oppose voter suppression and protect voter rights. She developed a strategic expansion that goes beyond ACLU’s traditional litigation work to embrace political action and legislative policy, advocacy, community education and direct action.
Prior to taking the helm of the Georgia affiliate of the ACLU in January 2017, Young was an adjunct professor at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University; served as executive director at the Andrew J. Young Foundation; served as legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy and chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney. She also worked with the United Church of Christ on their global mission and advocacy, served as vice president for External Affairs for Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington and as vice president of the National Black Child Development Institute.
Young is the author of Life Lessons My Mother Taught Me; co-author of Andrew Young and the Making of Modern Atlanta and collaborated with former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young on An Easy Burden: Civil Rights and the Transformation of America.
She is a graduate of Swarthmore College, received her law degree from Georgetown University School of Law and is a member of the State Bar of Georgia.
Due to scheduling conflicts, the previously-announced keynote speaker, General Gustave F. Pern, will no longer be able to speak.
Two alumni of GACS to co-captain Naval Academy football team
Two recent Greater Atlanta Christian School alumni have been chosen to co-captain the U.S. Naval Academy football team for the 2019 season.
Higgins
Carothers
Captains are elected by a team vote, and for the first time ever, four co-captains were chosen. GAC graduates Paul Carothers of Flowery Branch (class of 2015) and Ford Higgins of Peachtree Corners (class of 2016) will lead the team side-by-side, just as they did while they were Spartans.
GAC Athletic Director and head football coach Tim Hardy says: “It is a tremendous honor to be named captain of the Naval Academy football team. The team is comprised of some of the most outstanding young men in the nation. I am not surprised that both Ford and Paul were chosen. These are two of the absolute finest young men to graduate from GAC. Though different individuals, they possess many of the same characteristics such as strength of character, mental toughness, and selfless dedication to others. Both of them are elite competitors who confront any challenge with strength and total commitment. Their effort, attitude, and determination give courage and confidence to those around them.”
Navy football Coach Ken Niumatalolo said: “This year we waited to elect our team captains…We wanted to go through winter conditioning, our fourth quarter workouts and spring practice before our team voted, to give everybody ample opportunity to select captains based on who earned the privilege. I couldn’t be more excited about the captains that our team selected.”
Coach Niumatalolo noted that Higgins earned two varsity letters and started all 13 games in 2018. Higgins will anchor the line for the second year at the center position.
Carothers, a linebacker, has been a Navy special teams player, seeing action in nine games a year ago and making six tackles. He had an outstanding spring and made a strong push to be a starter in the fall, according to Niumatalolo.
Snellville’s 78/124 intersection to see major work beginning May 1
Drivers travelling through the intersection of Georgia Highways 124 and 78 in Snellville can expect changes to the traffic pattern in the near future. The changes are tentatively planned to begin May 1 as construction crews on the state project need to shift traffic flow to work on the intersection.
Lanes heading westbound on U.S. Highway 78 will shift two lanes to the north to make room for new paving and drainage in the center of the road.
Drivers heading north on Georgia Highway 124 wanting to head westbound on U.S. 78 will need to take a left turn at Henry Clower Boulevard to travel toward Stone Mountain. This left turn at Highway 78 will be permanently eliminated.
Businesses will still be open in Snellville Plaza throughout further construction, but will be right in/right out only. Project officials hope to have major construction completed by the end of November.
New senior housing units coming to Snellville Methodist Church area
Snellville’s Towne Center will have its first new development as the city gave the go-ahead to an 88-unit affordable senior housing development adjacent to Snellville United Methodist Church.
Wendover Housing Partners’ 55-plus age restricted housing project is also the first development approved under the new 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The 111,412-square-foot building will be located on the southwest corner of the church campus on the corner of Henry Clower Boulevard and Pate Street. The development will be on existing church property, mostly in an existing parking lot.
Named Asbury Pointe, the L-shaped development will have one- and two-bedroom living quarters. The building will feature two elevators, interior air conditioned hallways.
Question of Trust by Penny Vincenzi
From Karen Harris, Stone Mountain: This book features battles of the ego and heart along with ideals that seem too lofty to realize. Friendships, marriages, collegial relationships form, break down, and reshape themselves as events unfold in this fast paced read. Tom Knelston is a passionate and charismatic man in 1950’s London who desires reform. The means the labor class is to become involved in politics. The path is long and steep with turns, twists and temptations along the way. After suffering a grievous loss, Tom marries Alice, who fortunately shares his ideals but comes from the ‘posh’ class. As his workload increases and Tom begins to build a following, events force him to make a choice that either make or break his political career. As always, Penny Vincenzi has created a relatable cast of characters, a strong plot with scenes that depict just how challenging it is to be a person of integrity.
- 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
By 1780, Georgia coastal defense system had been almost forgotten
(Continued from previous edition)
Some scholars suspect that James Oglethorpe may even have attempted to redraw versions of early Georgia maps to show fictive branches of the Altamaha River connecting to the St. Johns River, thus implicitly redrawing the colony’s southern border. His ambitions, thwarted at St. Georges Island, paid off in 1738, when he persuaded the British Parliament to send a regiment of nearly 700 soldiers to the colony. The majority of these men were stationed at Fort Frederica, but Oglethorpe also posted 200 men farther south at Fort St. Andrews and a smaller company of perhaps 50 or 60 men on the southern end of Cumberland Island.
The first real test of Oglethorpe’s coastal defenses came with the War of Jenkins’ Ear. After an unsuccessful siege of St. Augustine in 1740, Georgians retreated into their fortifications to await the inevitable Spanish retaliation. Finally, in 1742, led by the Spanish governor Manuel De Montiano, 36 naval vessels carrying 2,000 infantrymen appeared off the Georgia coast. The first alarm was raised by the garrison at Fort William, which successfully kept several Spanish galleons from entering the inland waterway.
Forewarned of the invasion, Oglethorpe mounted a spirited defense of his main base at Fort Frederica, culminating in the famous Battle of Bloody Marsh on St. Simons Island, in which his forces soundly defeated the Spanish. While retreating toward St. Augustine, however, Montiano drew level with Fort William on Cumberland Island and launched a massive assault on the tiny garrison, commanded by Lieutenant Alexander Stewart. Once again Georgia’s defenses held firm, and the Spaniards were compelled to withdraw.
The end of King George’s War in 1748 brought a downsizing of Georgia’s defenses. With the disbanding of the regiment in 1749, the southern portions of the colony, once the focus of Oglethorpe’s ambitious energies, entered a prolonged period of neglect and inactivity.
Small garrisons continued to be posted for some time at Fort Frederica and Fort William, but Fort St. Andrews, Fort St. Simon, and the Amelia scout station rapidly fell into disuse. Probably by 1758 even Fort Frederica had been abandoned. During the American Revolution, British and American forces moved back and forth across the region repeatedly, attempting on several occasions to reoccupy Fort William on Cumberland Island. Such efforts, however, were brief and inconsequential. By the 1780s the coastal defense system pioneered by Oglethorpe 50 years earlier had been all but forgotten. It had served its purpose.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Distinctive photo may give clue to where this is located
Think about this Mystery Photo, and the name of where it is located ought to jump out at you. Send your answer to elliott@brack.net and include your hometown.
As for the last Mystery Photo, about a dozen readers told us that this photo was taken in Yellowstone National Park, but few could pinpoint its location within the park. The photo came from Beverly Lougher of Lawrenceville.
Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. gave an extensive answer: “Today’s mystery photo was taken in the Norris Geyser Basin Area of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The photo itself shows part of the ‘Porcelain Basin Hot Springs’ area of the Norris Basin while facing northwest from the wooden boardwalk that meanders around this part of the park. The Norris Geyser Basin Area is the park’s hottest and most dynamic geyser basin; the earliest recorded geyser activity was from this area and it has 550 geothermal features including Yellowstone’s tallest active geyser, Steamboat Geyser, which spouts water more than 300 feet in the air but whose eruptions can often be years apart. That said, Steamboat Geyser has been particularly active recently where it has been erupting every week or two since 2018. It set an all time record with 32 eruptions in 2018, besting its total of 29 set in 1964.”
Correct specific answers came from Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; Ross Lenhart, Pawleys Island, S.C.; Lou Camerio, Lilburn; and Susan Carr, Dublin/
George Graf of Palmyra, Va. put the photo in this perspective: “Wyoming’s Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest thermal region in Yellowstone National Park. The geothermal activity 1,000 feet below the surface could cook a holiday roast: Scientists measured the highest temperature recorded in the park, 459 degrees, in the Norris thermal system. The surrounding habitat gets so warm that the Norris Basin is one of the few places in Yellowstone where sagebrush lizards can thrive. At the surface, the pools of acidic and super-hot water house living mats of green, orange and pink microorganisms.”
Gwinnett Family Fest will be held Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, it will be held in the Chamber parking lot at 6500 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth. Park adjacent to the Chamber at the Infinite Energy Center parking lot. The event will offer adults and kids of all ages a day of free family fun, including more than 125 merchandise, craft and local business vendors, children’s rides, a celebrity dunk tank, creative activities and a wide array of food and beverage options.
The inaugural Downtown Lilburn Lil’ Crawl will be April 27. Participants will make three walkable stops for food and/or drink at 1910 Public House, Agavero Parkside, and Hope Springs Distillery from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The event culminates with a concert at 7:30 p.m. at Music On Main Street featuring classic rock band “Those Meddling Kids.” For tickets, click here.
In honor of National Arbor Day, Lilburn will hold a Tree Walk on Saturday, April 27. Professionals will lead attendees on a guided tour through Lilburn City Park and Camp Creek Greenway, identifying and discussing native trees. This free event is open to all ages. Guests may register in advance or at the event.
Multicultural Festival will be on April 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Shorty Howell Park, 2750 Pleasant Hill Road, in Duluth. . Explore other cultures and learn about all the different services provided by your county government. Families can see exhibits and cultural performances from other countries, meet police officers, and enjoy kids’ activities such as bounce houses, sports clinics, a dunk tank, and more. Kids can collect stamps in their festival passports and earn a prize while supplies last. For more information, call 770-513-5119.
March for Babies will be April 27 at Town Center Park in Suwanee. Other marches are being held throughout Metro Atlanta for this cause. Registration starts at 9 a.m. and the three-mile March for Babies begins at 10 a.m. Purchase a ticket to the May 11 Gwinnett Stripers game against the Pawtuckeet Red Sox game at Coolray Field through this link, the Gwinnett Stripers donate a portion of the proceeds back to the March of Dimes. Parking available for $5 (cash only) per car. Tickets must be purchased by April 27th before midnight. The local goal is to raise $375,000. Sign up at marchforbabies.org for the Gwinnett County event.
Collection of items for the Women’s and Children’s Shelter will see volunteers from the Lilburn Woman’s Club in action on April 27 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. in front of the Mail and Package Store, at 4155 Lawrenceville Highway, (Kroger Shopping Center at the corner of Beaver Ruin and Highway 29). Last year the Lilburn Woman’s Club collected $4,000 worth of toiletry products to benefit the shelter! The goal this year is $5,000 worth of products.
Photo Exhibit of Australia and New Zealand by Roving Photographer Frank Sharp is now on display through April 30 at the Tucker Library, 5234 LaVista Road. Hours of operation are 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This library is closed on Sunday.
Snellville Days, the city’s largest festival for more than 40 years, will return at T.W. Briscoe Park. It will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 4 and 12 to 5 p.m. May 5. Admission is free. There is a free shuttle to the park from the parking lot of First Baptist Church Snellville, 2400 Main Street East, on Saturday only. There will be more than 200 craft, food, sponsor and civic vendors, kids’ activities and continuous live entertainment both days.
Fourth Annual Rock The Quarry Run will be May 4 at the Vulcan Materials Norcross Rock Quarry on Beaver Ruin Road. Join us at the Norcross Quarry, the largest quarry in the area. This route takes you more than 600 feet to the bottom of the quarry before you begin your climb out. You gotta’ dig deep to scale the quarry from 600 feet down! Register at QuarryCrusherRun.com. Proceeds benefit the Gwinnett County Public School Foundation and Boys and Girls clubs of Metro Atlanta.
Electronic Recycling will take place at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1826 Killian Hill Road in Lilburn, on May 4 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The church and Atlanta Recycling Solutions have joined for a drive-through event in the church parking lot. Dispose of unwanted electronics free of charge, except a $20 charge for TV sets and $10 charge for CRT monitors. Other electronic items, from laptops to copiers to cable and wire are acceptable. For info, contact John Harben at 678 849 8084.
Community Garden beds for rent in Lilburn. Now accepting applications for a year’s rental, until next March 31. Rates are $40 for a 4×8 foot bed, or $60 for a 4×12 foot bed. An Easy Access bed is $20. For more information, go here..
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