GwinnettForum | Number 20.37 | May 29, 2020
HERE’S A CONCEPT of what the pedestrian bridge over Peachtree Parkway in Peachtree Corners will eventually look like. The city is estimating that the completion date will be October of 2020.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Increases for Aid Means Neighborhood Co-Op Needs Help
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Election Stories Abound, Including Allowing the Dead To Vote
ANOTHER VIEW: Reflections on Voting in the Midst of a Georgia Primary Season
SPOTLIGHT: Heaven and Alvarez, LLC
FEEDBACK: Feels That the Republican Party Has Failed America
UPCOMING: Gwinnett Approves Study of Housing Inventory To Guide Decisions
NOTABLE: City of Norcross Again Certified as a Bee City USA
RECOMMENDED: A Clearing in the Distance by Witold Rybcynski
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Influence of Frederick Law Olmsted Seen in Georgia Cities
MYSTERY PHOTO: Check Out This Mounted Rider and Tell Us About Him
More seeking aid means neighborhood co-op needs help
By Shirley Cabe
Executive director, Neighborhood Cooperative Ministries
NORCROSS, Ga. | As we all cope with the impact of COVID-19 on our communities and families, we are committed to keeping you in the loop on what’s happening at the Neighborhood Cooperative Ministries (formerly the Norcross Cooperative Ministry). First, let me share with you that our volunteers and our staff are safe. Some of our volunteers have needed to remain at home for safety reasons but we have been continually encouraged and uplifted by the many new volunteers who have shown up to help.
Cabe
The Co-op has made a critical decision to stay open to provide for families in crisis in our area who literally have nowhere else to turn. Because of the necessary safeguards imposed by COVID-19 protocols, NCM has reluctantly cut back on some of our services which require groups to gather. However, we continue to offer food, medical / dental referrals, and limited rent and utility assistance as financial resources are available.
The Co-op has faced unprecedented increases in need requests over the last six weeks as the pandemic has surged in Georgia and Gwinnett County. The number of families we have assisted has increased 526 percent! The amount of food we have provided has increased 710 percent! For a closer look at what the Co-op is doing during the COVID-19 crisis, visit the NCM website at www.ourncm.org. In the meantime, in this special appeal, I want to share with you some of the photos of your Neighborhood Cooperative Ministries’ in action. Please click here for a special video.
Friends, this is a critical time for the Co-op. We are experiencing the largest demand ever for our services. It is truly heartbreaking to see hundreds of cars lined up waiting to receive food and other services. Yet at the same time, it is uplifting to see how so many in our community are taking action to help those who need it most.
COVID -19 has taken center stage and will continue to demand our collective focus in the weeks and months ahead. Now, more than ever, you can make a meaningful difference and serve the increasing needs of those who are losing their jobs and, therefore, the means to care for their families.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Election stories abound, including allowing the dead to vote
Former Turkey Creek Precinct (still standing)
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MAY 29, 2020 | Over and over, investigations find that there is little downright fraud in elections these days. Yet the die-hards try to convince us that we should greatly tighten our registration procedures because of the threat of voter fraud.
Rigging elections has often been tried, but seldom worked. A few scalawags have found ways to get around the system, as I did when I was four years old, when I cast my first vote.
It was the Democratic primary of 1939. My uncle, grandmother and I pulled into the grove of trees at the one-room Turkey Creek “courthouse” precinct in Wilkinson County. My uncle and I went into the building. My uncle got two ballots, one for himself and one for his mother. We took the ballots to the automobile, where my grandmother was waiting. (Yes, yes, this was an inappropriate procedure, but in those days, friends at the poll knew and trusted one another.)
My grandmother read over the ballot, then handed it to me, saying, “Here, boy, you vote.” So, on the hood of that car, I marked that 1939 ballot. I am sure my uncle saw that I voted “right.” I suspect that I voted for Gene Talmadge, since later my uncle got a job as a state seed inspector.
The poll officials might have objected to taking the ballot out of the precinct “courthouse.” But no one did.
There are many stories about the dead voting, aided by living politicians. One story out of Pedernales County, Texas, places future President Lyndon Baines Johnson, in one of his early campaigns in Texas, with his friends copying down names on tombstones so the dead could vote. Story goes that Lyndon was having trouble reading one tombstone, and his buddies said: “Come on Lyndon, we’ve got enough names.” Lyndon is said to reply: “Gimme time to figure this name out. This guy has as much of a right to vote as the others.”
The Talmadge crowd, down in McRae in 1946, did Texas one better. The Atlanta Journal found evidence that in Telfair County 103 persons, then resting comfortably in the cemetery, had voted…(get this) in alphabetical order! This trick might not have been discovered had not the tally sheets been for those voting being in obvious alphabetical order. (The AJC won its first Pulitzer Prize by uncovering this story.)
While paper ballots are mostly not used these days, should they be, there is a relatively simple way to stuff a ballot box. All you need is a straw boss who has a crew of workers willing to sell their vote for a small fee, maybe $5 or $10, (or perhaps a half pint of whiskey), to allow the straw boss to mark the ballots. Call me if you want to know the details. I got the story directly from a straw boss himself.
Back as late as about 1970, voters willing to sell their vote were being paid $5 each in Long County Georgia. In those days, a banker in Vidalia one Tuesday asked me which way I was going to drive back home. “I can go either way,” I said of the two routes to Jesup. “Why don’t you go back through Ludowici today?” he asked.
“Why?” I asked him back. He said: “I would like you to take some cash down to our bank there. It’s election day and they have run out of $5 bills.”
“But…but…won’t that be dangerous, me hauling cash? Why, I might be robbed.”
“Naw,” the banker said, “They’ll never expect a weekly newspaperman to have that much cash on him.”
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Reflections on voting in the midst of corona pandemic
By Debra Houston, contributing columnist
LILBURN, GA. | We are now in the midst of a national political season. Candidates of both parties are campaigning in earnest across the country at a hectic pace. I don’t envy their schedules. As far as voters are concerned, we might find it hard to switch focus from the coronavirus to politics. Citizens must stay alert and hold candidates responsible to tell the truth. We must foremost keep a careful eye on the ballot boxes and make sure each vote is counted.
For those who think nothing could go wrong, let’s discuss the 2000 Gore vs. Bush presidential election. After they cast their ballots, voters didn’t know who won the presidency for weeks. The answer came down to Florida, which used punch card ballots. The system had a flaw: voters, unbeknownst to them, sometimes punched incompletely, resulting in “hanging chads.” A debate broke out. Does a hanging chad count as a “yes vote,” or not get counted because it’s incomplete?
Two years after the Gore vs. Bush election, Congress passed the “Help America Vote Act.” The act created minimum election standards and lots of money went to states for new voting equipment. Yet states vary on how their voters cast ballots. For example, paper ballots are one of the earliest forms of voting. They can be problematic: a box of them can disappear without a trace. Because of that weakness, paper ballots usually are used only in primary and absentee balloting in some states.
After the problems with punchcards, states gave touchscreen a try. Now, some states are already abandoning them because of security and reliability issues. Less than a third of states will use them in November.
Now there’s another high-tech balloting system that states are moving toward. It’s called optical scanning balloting. What makes it unique is that scanners maintain a record of each vote, which can be helpful in the event of a recount.
Did you know that our military also votes by absentee ballot? Their votes are sent to their respective home states.
People tend to worry about absentee voting in general. I think it’s the idea that paper ballots mysteriously disappear. My husband and I requested absentee ballots, but never received them, so we went to early voting for the current primary. The place where we voted was extremely careful about cleanliness and masks. The workers offered sanitized soap and gloves. Their conscientious efforts made us confident that we wouldn’t encounter coronavirus while voting. So please don’t use the virus as an excuse not to vote!
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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Feels the Republican Party has failed America
Editor, the Forum:
Republicans have touted limited government, lower taxes, American exceptionalism, gun rights, and a reliance on prayer vs science. People who support the Republican Party have failed to support minority rights, want limited voting rights, and have encouraged a racist immigration policy.
They have closed their eyes to presidential overreach, they have overlooked possible crimes committed by the president, and are engaged in conspiracy theories. In the current COVID-19 crises, Republicans have repeatedly failed to rely on medical science and lie about their lack of adequate pandemic planning. I feel less safe as a result of these policies. Republicans have failed us.
— Alan Schneiberg, Sugar Hill
Satisfied that previous letter writer got doomed by message
Editor, the Forum:
Let me thank Raleigh Perry for mentioning Donald Trump in particular as an example of a lack of qualifications to be president. He makes my point.
— Theirn (TJ) Scott, Lawrenceville
Found Drive-Thru Farmers Market well-organized; Wants more
Editor, the Forum:
Thank you for letting us know about the Drive-Thru Farmers Market with Georgia Grown Co-Op. I managed to get my order in after the noon deadline yesterday and I immediately called my daughter to let her know about the event.
My husband and I went early today, and boy are we glad we did. It was well organized with people directing us in which line to go into. From there it went fairly quickly to pick up our goodies and we never left our car. The people running this did an excellent job despite the rain.
I would like to see more pop-up Farmer’s Markets like this in the future. We order online and then go pick up our order the next day. I would also love to see other local Farmers join in if this is going to be the new “normal.”
— Sara Rawlins, Lawrenceville
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
Gwinnett approves study of housing inventory
The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved the commission of a study to inventory and analyze housing countywide to help guide decisions and policies in the future.
The nine-month study will review housing by single-family and multi-family units, the number of units available by category and condition, age and demographics, building materials, and types of ownership, as well as redevelopment policies, displacement issues, and affordable housing. The Board of Commissioners established the housing study as one of its goals at its 2019 strategic planning session.
Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash says: “The goal of this study is to develop a better understanding of each of these areas so that County leadership can make appropriate decisions to meet the County’s current and future needs in accordance with the 2040 Unified Plan. Like the rest of the nation, Gwinnett is seeing societal shifts in which new patterns of demographics, transportation and lifestyles are transforming our economies and communities. We need to know how these factors are affecting housing.”
The study, budgeted for $238,000, will include data for both the unincorporated areas and the 16 municipalities in Gwinnett County.
47th annual Lilburn Daze Festival seeking vendors
The Lilburn Daze Arts and Crafts Festival is now accepting vendor applications. This year’s event will be held on Oct. 10, 2020, at Lilburn City Park and will mark the festival’s 47th year.
Lilburn Daze will have over 200 arts and crafts vendors, a variety of food vendors and free art activities, a train ride, family golf and lots of other fun for children. With an estimated 10,000 attendees, this family-friendly festival is one of the most popular in the area. It is hosted by the Lilburn Woman’s Club and co-sponsored by the City of Lilburn. Visit www.lilburndaze.org for application forms and additional information.
Lilburn cancels Sparkle in the Park event on July 4
The City of Lilburn has postponed its July 4th event, Sparkle in the Park. This annual event, which includes a concert, activities, and fireworks, draws thousands of people to Lilburn City Park and downtown Lilburn each year.
City Manager Bill Johnsa says: “We’re disappointed, as we know many members of the community will be, that we have to postpone our annual July 4th celebration. We believe this is the best decision due to the current situation. Postponing will allow us to revisit the event at a later date, and make a decision based on the information available at that time.” At this time, all city events originally scheduled through the end of June have been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19.
City of Norcross again certified as a Bee City USA
Bee City USA® has renewed the City of Norcross’ Bee City certification for 2020 for the city’s efforts to engage the community in enhancing pollinator habitats. This is the second year of Norcross being named a Bee City USA.
Bee City USA®, an initiative of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, brings communities together to sustain pollinators by creating and enhancing habitats, reducing pesticide use and spreading awareness. Pollinators (such as bees, butterflies, moths, bats and hummingbirds) are responsible for the reproduction of 85 percent of the world’s flowering plants and more than two-thirds of the world’s crop species, however their populations have seen a rapid decline in recent years on account of habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change.
Michael Brose, chair of Norcross’ Bee City Subcommittee, attributes the committee’s success with pollinator conservation to City Planner Hannah Knab. “We could not have accomplished creating a school pollinator garden, educating children and the public, and hosting the Pollinator Week event without Hannah’s assistance. As our staff liaison, she helped provide essential supplies, promoted our events and coordinated our work with the Brookhaven Innovation Academy.”
Suwanee student wins $4,000 scholarship from Realtors
Yu
Patrick Yu of Suwanee received a $4,000 college scholarship from the Gwinnett County Board of Realtors Scholarship Foundation, through the Northeast Atlanta Metro Association of Realtors. Patrick will be attending Georgia State University where he plans to study computer science. He is the son of Jonathan and Diane Yu. Jonathan is a Realtor with Focus Realty.
Patrick graduated from Lambert High School in Forsyth County with a GPA of 4.14. He was vice president and co-founder of Young Entrepreneurs Club at Lambert High School; was on the JV Boys Soccer Team; and placed second in the region in Management Decision Making.
This is the 27th year that the Northeast Realtors Foundation has presented a scholarship to an outstanding high school senior. Recipients must have a first or second generation family member who is active in the real estate profession and is a current member of The Northeast Atlanta Metro Association of Realtors.
A Clearing in the Distance by Witold Rybcynski
How parks in major American cities look is often from the work of Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed hundreds of parks and residential communities in the United States, even the Druid Hills neighborhood in Atlanta. But Olmsted didn’t jump into the landscape field when becoming an adult. In this book, it is 160 pages, several attempts at careers, and 38 years in his life before he gets his first major landscape commission, that of designing Central Park in New York City. Eventually, he designed Stanford University, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, Boston’s Back Bay Fens, Biltmore Estate in Asheville, the Capitol grounds in Washington, Battery Park in Charleston, S.C. and more. At one time, he spent two years managing a major California gold mine before concentrating his long and pre-eminent career of designing parks with vistas that stood the test of time. Olmsted is a monumental figure, even influencing architects in today’s world. The full title is A Clearing in the Distance, Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the 19th Century.—eeb
- An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (150 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. Send to: elliott@brack.net
Influence of Frederick Law Olmsted seen in Georgia cities
The parks, parkways, and residential landscapes of Atlanta, Columbus, and several other Georgia places have been influenced by the work of Frederick Law Olmsted. Olmsted is considered to be the father of landscape design, a profession he helped to define over the latter half of the 19th century through his works and writings. His work in Atlanta during the 1890s was continued into the 20th century in several other Georgia cities by Olmsted Brothers, a firm created by his sons and successors.
Olmsted’s long and varied career resulted in such seminal landscape-design projects as Central Park in New York City; one of the first residential planned communities in Massachusetts; the Capitol grounds in Washington, D.C.; and the Biltmore estate in Asheville, N.C. Through the work of his stepson, John Charles Olmsted (1852-1920), and his son, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870-1957), Olmsted’s firm survived for almost a century and led the way in every aspect of landscape architectural design.
Though a New Englander by birth, Olmsted traveled extensively and spent an early part of his career—including two years (1852-54) in the South—as a prolific and influential travel writer. The resulting publications and long letters earned him a reputation as an astute observer and social critic.
Having crossed Georgia twice during his 1850s sojourn, Olmsted was not a stranger to the state when he arrived in Atlanta to consult with the Cotton States Exposition Commission in 1890. The well-known journalist, Henry Grady, and land developers, such as Joel Hurt, were largely defining the postbellum “New South,” and Olmsted’s national reputation as the chief landscape architect of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, made him the logical choice to advise the commission on their plans.
Although his firm was not selected for the project, Olmsted made a valuable connection in Hurt, who shared many of Olmsted’s sensibilities and was just completing Atlanta’s first planned residential suburb, Inman Park, which was modeled on the earlier Olmsted and Calvert Vaux effort in Illinois. Encouraged by a mutual friend, Hurt commissioned Olmsted to draw up plans for a much larger suburban development, Druid Hills, and Olmsted returned in 1893 to present the preliminary design.
Olmsted’s design for Druid Hills is Georgia’s most complete and masterful example of his artistic principles, which were employed by others in a number of Atlanta developments, including Ansley Park, Peachtree Battle, and Garden Hills. After the retirement of the man called the “prophet of the suburbs,” his sons continued to consult on Druid Hills as well as on Atlanta’s Piedmont Park and Grant Park.
Druid Hills, with its string of parks along parkways and spacious residential lots along curving and tree-lined streets, displays the Olmsted firm’s design principles. These principles influenced the landscape not only in Atlanta but also in Columbus, Savannah, and other Georgia sites, including the Augusta National Golf Club, which hosts the annual Masters Tournament, and residential areas in Rome and Cartersville. In Savannah, Olmsted Associates worked on parks and subdivisions.
The city of Columbus, from 1920 to 1937, became the only hub of the Olmsteds’ work outside of Atlanta. W. C. Bradley, president of Eagle and Phenix Mills, asked W. B. Marquis of the Olmsted firm to continue landscape work begun when he was in the employ of Augusta’s P. J. Berckmans (of Berckmans Nursery). The Bradley residence, also known as Sunset Terrace, became the largest residential commission of the Olmsted firm in Georgia and was described as an important modern garden in The Garden History of Georgia, 1733-1933. Later, the Bradley family subdivided the estate, and today a good portion of the ravine, an Olmstedian signature landscape, remains on the grounds of the Columbus Museum.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to http://georgiaencyclopedia.org
Check out this mounted rider and tell us about him
Rough rider? Pony Express? Paul Revere? As they say in the Lone Ranger: “Who was that (masked) man?” Your job is to tell us something about this rider and figure out where it’s located by sending to elliott@brack.net, including your hometown.
Even though last edition’s Mystery Photo had not been circulated on the Internet, which some use for identifying photos, several people easily recognized it. The photo came to us through Chuck Paul of Norcross. John Titus of Peachtree Corners wrote: “My first reaction is that it is of the beginnings of the bridge to span Peachtree Parkway between the Forum and Town Center.” He is right. Others contributing correct answers were Howard Hoffman, Peachtree Corners; Kathy Gestar, Sandy Springs; Bob Foreman, Grayson; Joseph Hopkins, Norcross; and Mike Tennant, Duluth.
Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. gave more detail. “Today’s mystery photo is of the construction site of the planned Peachtree Corners Pedestrian Bridge that will cross over Peachtree Parkway (Georgia Highway 141) between the Peachtree Corners Town Center and The Forum outdoor shopping center. Shortly after becoming incorporated, Mayor Mike Mason and the city council pushed ahead with plans to purchase land at the corner of Peachtree Corners and Peachtree Parkway, and link Town Center and the Forum shopping center via an ‘iconic’ pedestrian bridge over Peachtree Parkway.”
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