GwinnettForum | Number 20.32 | May 12, 2020
SIGNIFICANT DAY COMING: Georgia Gwinnett College marks a landmark day this week, as it was 15 years ago that legislation was signed that created the college off Collins Hill Road. For more details about the college, see Another View below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Gwinnett Library’s Summer Reading Program Open for Registration
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Pandemic Shows Just How Vulnerable The World Is
ANOTHER VIEW: Fifteen Years Ago, Georgia Gwinnett College Was Authorized
SPOTLIGHT: Peach State Federal Credit Union
FEEDBACK: Today We Have Five Letters on Varied Subject Matters
UPCOMING: Time To Apply for Plots in Lawrenceville Community Garden
NOTABLE: Retired Gwinnett Educator and Resident Wins International Honor
RECOMMENDED: Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Battle of Pickett’s Mill Was Major Atlanta Victory for Confederacy
MYSTERY PHOTO: Long Held Mystery Photo May Be Easily Identified
Library’s summer reading program open for registration
By Sanja Ceric
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. | Gwinnett County Public Library is gearing up for its annual “Summer Reading Challenge”, in which kids, teens and adults are invited to participate in fun, weekly reading challenges and activities designed to engage and exercise the mind while students are out of school. The program kicks off on May 20; registration is open now.
This year’s challenge will be entirely virtual, taking place on social media and a platform called Beanstack. Each week, new activities will be introduced through video content on Facebook, Instagram and other platforms, while larger challenges will be hosted on Beanstack for participants to attempt all summer long. Each activity is an opportunity to accumulate points and win prizes that will be awarded at the end of the summer. You never know when an opportunity to earn extra points will pop up, so check back often!
GCPL’s Summer Reading Challenge is free and open to everyone! You can register as an individual or family. There are categories for all age groups: tots, kids, teens and even adults. Virtual programming is designed with each of these age groups in mind so there is something for everyone, from crafts and story times to workshops and summer camps (online, of course!).
Bragging rights are great, but prizes are better! Each participant will track their time spent reading in Beanstack and earn activity badges for the things they make, explore, learn and do with GCPL’s virtual programming and weekly challenges. These minutes and badges translate to point values (1 minute = 1 point), and participants who earn 480 points or more become eligible to win prizes.
Grand prizes for kids, teens and adults are Amazon Kindles, and for tots there are stuffed animals. Additionally, collections of books will be awarded to the top minute-earning elementary, middle and high schools in the county so be sure to select your school when you register. Prizes will be mailed to winners after August 12.
While the Summer Reading kicks off on May 20th, registration is open now. Sign up at gwinnettpl.beanstack.org or through the Beanstack App available for download in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
Gwinnett County Public Library Executive Director, Charles Pace says: “The Summer Reading Challenge is our most anticipated program of the year. With the pandemic affecting events across the county and causing physical library branches to be closed, we know many of our patrons wondered if the challenge would be back this year.
“Let us assure you, reading isn’t canceled! While we may have to get a little creative with some of the activities, the Summer Reading Challenge will go on as planned, and patrons may sign up now.”
- For more information on the Summer Reading Challenge, visit gwinnettpl.org/summer.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Pandemic shows just how vulnerable the world is
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MAY 12, 2020 | It took a pandemic to allow us to see just how vulnerable our lives, our jobs, our nation and our world can be without proper planning. The coronavirus has highlighted the world’s weaknesses.
It also pinpoints another element: just how sensitive the interconnectedness of present day living is. It reaffirms the Newtonian-principles of motion, especially “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” In effect, the world’s economy is tightly-wound, with something happening in one place always eventually affecting other places. In our everyday lives, we seldom think of this. But this phenomenon is working all the time.
A strike or disruption in the Philippines can affect the flower market in Amsterdam. Meat packers in Virginia can impact Chinese pork and chicken consumption.
Our nation’s (and the world’s) weaknesses are seen during this pandemic. A few observations:
- The world’s stockpile of medical supplies is inadequate. Much of this is made overseas, meaning America needs to make sure it can have sufficient storage of key components, like masks, surgical clothing and cleaning supplies.
- Broadband Wi-Fi in the United States is sorely lacking in rural areas. This shows itself when school children in these areas fall farther behind, compared to their counterparts in built-up areas, because of the lack of interconnectedness.
- The pandemic has highlighted that some school children, now relying on distance-learning, particularly in rural areas, lack basic computers to augment their education. This can also be seen in urban low income households. How are these children going to compete without these basic necessities for the modern world?
- Senior living, nursing homes, and correctional institutions have become focused points of problems during pandemics, because of people living close to one another. Have you noticed how the advertising of senior living facilities have dried up recently? Suddenly many living in such facilities feel they are essentially in jail.
- The just-in-time supply chains are stressed like nothing before. This idea goes hay-wire during times of stress, causing shortages. It makes some industries recognize the need for larger warehouses.
- The airline industry is wobbly, much more than we realized. With airline companies being highly leveraged financially, the drying up of ticket purchases is shaking their very business foundation. Airlines have big notes due to banks. Some may not survive.
- Likewise, cruise companies are scratching their heads on how to get passengers to return. Today being cooped up on a ship brings questions, no matter how good the food and entertainment could be.
We now have new heroes, people we once never thought much about, those working in the medical field, funeral homes, grocery stores, meat packers, trucking lines, and even the National Guard. We’ve appreciated first responders before (police, fire fighters, EMTs) but now recognize them even more. Just like our military personnel, we need to continually thank people every chance we get.
There are pluses from the pandemic. We see new ways to use technological features that we did not know that we could use effectively: i.e., cameras on computers, Zoom, etc. And many executives are finding that working from home has more advantages than once thought. Some recognize improved performances. And think of the time we once wasted in meetings; working at home allows fewer such gatherings. Now we see how much time we have spent in such often unproductive assemblies.
While we are impatient to return to normal, the pandemic has become a warning to us. If we react correctly, it can eventually improve our lives in new and exciting ways.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Fifteen years ago, Georgia Gwinnett College was authorized
GGC’s library
By Jacqueline Todd
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. | Fifteen years ago, the Xbox 360 gaming console first made its way into teenagers’ bedrooms. A new video-sharing platform called YouTube was created. And 15 years ago on May 10, 2005, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed Senate Resolution 33, authored by Sen. Don Balfour, which officially created a new, unnamed college in Gwinnett County. It became Georgia Gwinnett College, created by those who know best the needs of its citizens and its economy.
Gwinnett was the largest county east of the Mississippi without a four-year college. Within 15 months, Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) opened its doors as the first baccalaureate-degree granting public college founded in the 21st century with only 118 students and 11 charter faculty. Those students and faculty were pioneers – participating in what some called “an experiment.” GGC was not yet accredited, so students could not receive federal financial aid. Faculty left tenure-track teaching posts or gave up tenure at Ivy-league institutions to help build the new college.
GGC was different. Those distinctive differences included no tenure, no department chairs and a vision to help students succeed through small class sizes and personal attention.
As the years progressed, so did the college. Despite being founded at the beginning of a recession, more students enrolled, making GGC the fastest-growing college in the nation, growing each semester. New buildings rose out of the ground and existing buildings expanded. To better serve its blossoming student population and serve local economic development needs, GGC added degree programs. What was once an abandoned rail line and kudzu field became a full-service, residential institution.
Today, the GGC campus is host to more than 14,000 students, faculty and staff on a 261-acre campus. There are more than 45 programs of study, including majors in nursing, health science and cinema and media arts production. GGC’s business school is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), a distinction held by only five percent of business programs in the world. More than 7,000 GGC alumni are making an impact in their local communities.
Although much has changed, some things remain the same.
Dr. Lee Kurtz, a biology instructor, put it this way: “We’ve always put students first. We’re a teaching school and the students get a quality, very personal education at a great price, and if they’re from Gwinnett County, it’s close to home. That has not changed at all. It’s why most of us came here.”
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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Former Gwinnettian cheered by help for egg producer
Editor, the Forum:
I’ve read with interest the news from Georgia on the response to the pandemic. Here in our area of Pennsylvania (Berks County), just west of Philadelphia, we were advised yesterday to shelter in place until June 4, at the earliest. Our general virus numbers are almost twice that of Gwinnett County, so no end in sight.
The economic impact has been devastating. Restaurants in the area are lucky if they have 20 percent of their business at best, with many longtime locations closing for good. Our art communities are going online to show work, but sales are very low, if at all.
Thankfully we are not experiencing the shortages of food seen closer to the cities, though toilet paper continues to be scarce! A recent example of the impact on farmers here is local dairy farmers pouring out milk produced, linked to major vendors — schools in particular- dropping in need. A farmer here recently had 19,000 dozen eggs with no market — the local community came together and in an orderly way, bought eggs to help out.
I am most impressed by the sense of looking after each other among the rural community. It prompted a smile when I was taking curb delivery of a nursery order, and a horse and buggy pulled in line behind me! We have the same frustrations here as everywhere — wanting to be able to go and do, missing our friends and families, and getting tired of wearing masks! Sending our best to you and hoping for better times soon.
— Karen Burnette Garner, Robesonia, Penn.
Troubled by lack of detail in country transit plan
Editor, the Forum:
I am amazed at the hubris of our elected Gwinnett leaders in submitting a transit plan that was squarely rejected at the ballot box. Worse, following the links to even find the plan reveal spreadsheets that contain astronomical line items but no total or bottom line.
There is no way that I see to save or convert it to a spreadsheet-compatible format to assess it further. There are multiple half-billion dollar line items and tons of single-line bus routes (again, rejected at the ballot box) that we can’t exclude or see the total amount. Political corruption is like the coronavirus and can’t live in the sunlight. Hopefully some will soon reach this plan and those who made it.
— Joe Briggs, Suwanee
Questions position posed by columnist about Abrams
Editor, the Forum:
Jack Bernard is guilty of that which he accuses Herschel [Walker]: drinking Kool-Aid. He just likes the blue version. My proof? He says Stacey Abrams is a moderate. Right. That’s risible. He pushes the Democrat trope about Kemp “stealing” the election. No intellectually honest person can believe that.
Brian Kemp purged the voter rolls based on a law passed by a Democratic legislature and signed by a Democratic governor. According to Wikipedia voter participation in 2018 was 70.33 percent, up 23.5 percentage points. In 2014 there were 2.5 million votes cast. In 2018 there were 3.9 million. Ms. Abrams lost fair and square.
Full disclosure. I didn’t vote for either one. I voted for Ted Metz.
— Theirn (TJ) Scott, Lawrenceville
Anticipating long-term consequences from pandemic
Editor, the Forum:
Some 184 countries have been contaminated by the COVID-19 virus. Imagine the lawsuits; many countries have announced actions. If only the Wuhan regime had shared knowledge weeks earlier, some maintain that 95 percent of the damage would have been avoided. Trillions of dollars are lost…oil falls to a negative value…recognize that Russia needs $50/barrel to support its economy. The Middle East is collapsing with oil its only product. Fracking contracts in America will find bankruptcy without support.
Immense pressure of all types sweeps aside past constructs and open doors to new alliances. With things opening up here, the North American regional agreements may serve well to reclaim important manufacturing that is strategic to all the countries involved.
China, on the other hand, may find itself in a crossfire of problems of existing companies and a legal quagmire. Europe may rethink that 5-G deal. The World Trade Organization may see some alterations. Internal problems may begin here.
Regardless of what actually happens, we should expect change and volatility.
— Byron Gilbert, Duluth
Medicines, medical supplies in terms of national security
Editor, the Forum:
The issues raised by Mr. Wilson are way too numerous to be easily answered, but I would like to comment on one that brought into sharp focus during the pandemic which involves both our country’s health and national security. The pandemic revealed how very dependent we have become on other countries, especially China, for the production of both medicines and medical supplies. This crisis left us woefully unprepared.
It is time to pull back a significant portion of our medical manufacturing capacity in critical areas and establish a floor below which we cannot allow ourselves to drop. I understand that companies rely on overseas production because it is cheaper, but in the interest of our national health and security it is essential to put patriotism before profits.
— John Titus, Peachtree Corners
Send us your thoughts: We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum. Please limit comments to 300 words. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to: elliott@brack.net
Time to apply for plots in Lawrenceville Community Garden
It’s time to grow! Gardeners of all skill levels are invited to reserve a plot and be part of the Lawrenceville Community Garden.
Applications are now being accepted for 4×8 foot garden plots for the 2020 season. These raised beds are $35 each and applicants are required to perform 12 hours of community volunteer service annually toward the general care and upkeep of the garden.
The Lawrenceville Community Garden is the first of the community garden initiatives that make up the Harvest Gwinnett program. The gardens and programs are managed by Live Healthy Gwinnett and made possible through partnerships with the city of Lawrenceville, Food Well Alliance, Gwinnett Department of Community Services, UGA Extension Gwinnett, Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office and other community organizations.
The Lawrenceville Community Garden is located at Rhodes Jordan Park, 100 East Crogan Street in Lawrenceville. For more information, including applications, permits, and guidelines, please visit LiveHealthyGwinnett.com or contact HarvestGwinnett@gwinnettcounty.com.
Lilburn special election for 1 city council slot will be May 19
Passman
Hart
Dillard
Powella
The 2020 Special Election to fill a vacancy for Council Post 4 will be held on May 19, 2020, at Lilburn City Hall from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Advanced (Absentee In-Person) voting begins on is underway and continues through May 15 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at City Hall.
There are five people seeking to win one council seat. They are John Abellera, Don Dillard, Mike Hart, AJ Passman and Emil Powella.
Lilburn officials point out that with the safety of voters and poll officials in mind, some precautions will be in place during voting. Details can be found at Lilburn News. (No picture is available for Abellara.)
Lionheart Theatre adjusts performance schedule
Because of the continuing need for social distancing and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lionheart Theatre Company will be making the adjustments to its schedule for 2020 to ensure the safety of our performers, volunteers, campers and our patrons.
- It will move the production of Dearly Departed from June 2020 to September 11-27, 2020.
- With rescheduling of Dearly Departed, Lionheart is cancelling the originally scheduled production of Radio BS for the 2020 Season.
- The Summer Drama Camps and Talent Show are still scheduled for July 13-24, 2020.
The updated July schedule for summer camp has been posted on the Theatre Camps page on our website. We are monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely and will make adjustments to the summer camp schedule if needed.
The balance of Lionheart’s 2020 season, which includes The Good Doctor and A Charlie Brown Christmas will go forward as originally scheduled.Those who purchased tickets for the originally scheduled June performance dates will be contacted by the box office to reschedule tickets to a performance in September.
Retired Gwinnett educator wins international honor
A retired Gwinnett teacher has been named Educator of the Decade by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP), based in New York City. She is Randi Ward, who retired after gifted students teaching at Grayson and Meadowcreek High Schools. This organization is not a membership that anyone can join. You have to be asked by the President or be nominated by a distinguished honorary member after a brief interview.
Ward
Ms. Ward, 70, is a native of Moundsville, W.Va. She lives now in Savannah, and previously lived in Gwinnett since 1989 on Arnold Road in Lawrenceville.
She also taught for three years as a Gifted Ed and Language Arts teacher at Meadowcreek before transferring to Grayson High School for her last four years of teaching Gifted students and College Prep at the Junior and Senior grade levels. Prior to this, she taught 12 years in DeKalb County and 18 years in West Virginia.
Ms. Ward was married for 47 years to Billy D. Ward who passed away on December 15, 2019 at Northside Gwinnett Medical Center. Their only offspring, William Markus Ward, lives with his German wife, Susanne, and has been the art director for the German version of Reader’s Digest for 19 years
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
From Karen Harris, Stone Mountain: Lillian and Madison became inseparable friends in boarding school until a scandal sent one of them away under circumstances not fair or honest. Years pass and their lives progress, with Lillian achieving some of her goals. Lillian is in a holding pattern until Madison offers her an opportunity. She wants Madison to come to the estate where she lives with her politically ambitious husband and take care of his two children. Then Madison reveals that the children set themselves on fire. They must be kept out of sight while her husband, Jasper, is vetting for Secretary of State. Lillian takes the challenge and somehow bonds with the strangely enchanting children. They are different but they need Lillian and have opened her heart in unexpected ways. Are these children part of Lillian’s future? This is a fast moving and engaging story with a satisfying ending for all the characters.
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
Battle of Pickett’s Mill was big Atlanta victory for Confederacy
(Continued from previous edition)
Around 6 p.m. on May 27 Sherman’s troops received orders to end the attack in the Battle of Pickett’s Mill. Howard immediately ordered Wood to send his remaining brigade, under Colonel Frederick Knefler, to the front with instructions to hold the Confederates in check until a regular defense line could be established around Pickett’s Mill. At 6:30 p.m. Knefler’s brigade encountered Confederates and pumped bullets at them until dark and then carried Hazen’s and Gibson’s wounded from the battlefield.
Knefler received an order to withdraw at 10 p.m. However, with the permission from Cleburne to clear his front, Granbury’s Texans charged Knefler’s brigade nearly at the same time. Surprised by the sudden onslaught, the Union forces fired a ragged, harmless volley and fled. The Texans took many of them prisoner
The following morning, Johnston visited the battlefield, and Cleburne estimated the Union casualties to be 3,000, with 448 of them his own. In truth, Union casualties came to around 1,600. Nevertheless, the battle was a major victory for the Confederacy. Many of the dead were initially buried at the site, but in 1866 most were reinterred at the Marietta National Cemetery.
The Battle of Pickett’s Mill delayed Sherman’s progress; when his forces emerged from the wilderness, they were no closer to Atlanta than they had been almost two weeks earlier. The real significance of the battle was that it marked the beginning of trench warfare. Beginning at New Hope Church and continuing until September 2, much of the war around Atlanta was fought in trenches. Trench warfare cost Johnston his single important advantage of maneuver over Sherman’s superior manpower and materiel, eventually leaving Johnston with no choice but to retreat or accept defeat.
The memory of the Battle of Pickett’s Mill gradually faded. In the 1950s local historians Wilbur Kurtz and Beverly Dubose informally mapped the site of Pickett’s Mill. Georgia Kraft Company owned the site, and interest remained minimal until the Civil War centennial of the early 1960s.
In 1971 a group of interested citizens, led by historian Philip Secrist, initiated the purchase of the battlefield, and the state of Georgia was persuaded to purchase it in 1973-74 and establish it as a state historic site. The state entered into negotiations with several other smaller landowners to purchase the last piece of the park in 1981.
The Pickett’s Mill Battlefield Historic Site was officially opened to the public in 1990. It consists of 765 acres of nearly pristine wilderness, with evidence of trenches still apparent at various points on the battlefield. In addition to the remains of earthworks, parts of the old Pickett’s Mill still stand. In 2010 the historic site received attention as one of the most endangered battlefields, due to state cutbacks in spending that affected maintenance of the site and its hours of accessibility to the public. It has recently been the site of archaeological investigations.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to http://georgiaencyclopedia.org
Long-held Mystery Photo may be easily identified
We’ve had this photo for a long time, but don’t know who sent it in. We think it’s rather easy to identify, so test your wits.Tell us where it’s located by sending to elliott@brack.net, including your hometown.
We never recognized how difficult the last Mystery Photo was. For sure, there were few distinguishing features. But Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. figured it out. (The photo came from the always-alert George Graf of Palmyra, Va.)
Peel writes: “Today’s mystery photo is of the Luray-Page County Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center, in the town of Luray, Va., just outside of the Shenandoah National Park and approximately 1.25 miles east of the Luray Caverns. This building also houses the Luray Train Station Museum as well as a model railroad layout of the Page County railroad system as it existed in the 1940’s.
“The building shown in the mystery photo was originally the Luray Norfolk and Western Passenger Station. Added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 27, 2000, this train station was designed by the Chief Engineer of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, Charles S. Churchill, and was completed in 1906. The structure was partially destroyed by fire after it was struck by lightning in June 1908, then renovated and returned to service three months later. Many tourists continued to visit the caverns by way of the train depot until 1952 when all passenger service was ceased as the automobile became the favored way of travel throughout the region. The station was converted to a freight depot around 1960 and continued operation for several more years before it was eventually abandoned. In 1999, the town of Luray purchased the depot, and they eventually restored it to the way the building appeared in the 1940’s.”
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