GwinnettForum | Number 20.93 | Dec. 22, 2020
COLORS OF CHRISTMAS: Christmas 2020 is celebrated in Duluth by the distinctive lighting of its City Hall. May you enjoy the season checking out the lighting of the downtown area and homes all around you in Gwinnett. (Photo from Duluth by Dustin Grau.)
TODAY’S FOCUS: Here’s how to help reduce hunger closer to home
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Christmas cards delight and cheer, but can also sadden
ANOTHER VIEW: We find that the election system works; how about the courts?
SPOTLIGHT: Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful
FEEDBACK: Questions county spending $23 million at Gwinnett Place Mall
UPCOMING: Water Tower names new members of its two boards
NOTABLE: GGC professor is “Woman of Year” for STEAM Technology
RECOMMENDED: How the Brain Works, published by Dorling Kindersley
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Terminus in Atlanta became central point of southeast railroads
MYSTERY PHOTO: Can you figure out where this shrine is located?
Editor’s note: The last issue of the year will be posted on Dec. 29, 2020.
Here’s how to help reduce hunger closer to home
By David Bell
BERKELEY LAKE, Ga. | It is difficult to believe that people are going hungry in Gwinnett, one of the fastest growing and most prosperous counties in the nation, but it is true. Many people in Gwinnett County are facing food insecurity issues due to the business closures and mass unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bell
Before the pandemic, Satisfeed (a nonprofit begun in 2018 dedicated to the physical, financial, and spiritual health of people living in Gwinnett) was providing food and supplies for 348 people per month. After the pandemic hit, this number changed to 47,888 people per month, many of whom are children and seniors.
Tim Turner, founder and chief encouragement officer says: “Many years back, my son, 13 at the time, happened to be playing baseball with the son of the founder of a non-profit food distribution program. The father and I got to talking about his work, and I was stunned by his words. At the time, I had no idea about the local hunger issue. For all I knew, Gwinnett was a prosperous county. When I began to look into it, it was like a curtain was raised. Hunger wasn’t just an abstract problem on another continent, but a real crisis that affects our friends and neighbors in Gwinnett.
“Once I knew about the ubiquity of food insecurity, I had to do something. It’s who I am, and it’s what I want to do. With the help of like-minded individuals, and with onsite training from veterans in the field, I started my own program of food rescue and distribution.”
Satisfeed needed to ramp up when the pandemic hit. It went to serving around 400 families per month to over 28,000 families per month. The first funder to come to its rescue was the Scott Hudgens Family Foundation, through the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia. Prior to their gift, we were working out of 18 refrigerators. Their gift provided a refrigerated commercial container for food storage and distribution.
You can help reverse this trend for many children, seniors, and families in our community for a small investment. You can be an agent of change for people who are in desperate need of your help. Please help us reduce hunger close to home.
Satisfeed’s ability to provide food for food insecure people in our community depends on you. Your monthly donation of:
- $6.50 per month feeds 1 family of 5 people per month
- $26 per month feeds 4 families
- $65 per month feeds 10 families
- $162.50 per month feeds 25 families
- $325 per month feeds 50 families
- $650 per month feeds 100 families.
If you would like to contribute to your community members in need visit www.satisfeed.org/donate.
The agency’s main distribution location is at Life Church International, 4830 River Green Parkway in Duluth. Board members include Catherine Turner, Christine Turner, Tamisha Abiose, Iliana Allen, Perry Rhue and Joe Gagen.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Christmas cards delight and cheer, but can also sadden
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
DEC. 22, 2020 | One of the joys of the holiday season is the arrival of Christmas cards, from neighbors, of course, but particularly from friends from far away. For many, it’s the one time of the year you hear from them, as you keep your friendship intact.
One of the days following Christmas, I’ll sit down for about a half hour, and read through the 2020 cards again, to make sure I pick up all on our friend’s adventures during 2020. It’s also a good time to see if people have moved so that we have their correct address for the 2021 sendings.
We are delighted to get the often beautiful standard cards. However, today with modern printing methods so handy, we now get to see the creativity of friends in telling us about their lives, in words, but also in photographs. Or details of their lives in longer letters. (New these days: cards becoming mini-movies of activities sent by email.)
Sometimes you smile when you get these Christmas messages, often at the photographs of people involved. Whatever the message, it always warms your heart.
However, it’s unusual and surprising to bust out laughing at one of the cards. That happened to me this year when receiving what was expected to be a photograph of a far-off family. They most often use a current picture of their family. However, this year it was the photograph of their family from their card of 1978, saying in red letters this year “A Year to Remember,” and under that an explanation “We liked 1978 more than 2020.”
* * * * *
All is not happiness in reading Christmas cards. You hear of sad events in the lives of friends, and you feel for them. These are often unexpected, adding to the sadness.
Chiswell
A card from Port Townsend, Wash., contained such a message. It told of the death of one of our friends, a former resident of Cardinal Lake in Duluth, Alfred Chiswell. He died in Port Townsend on September 25 at age 77. We received the card from his wife, Maury (Maureen), who still resides there.
Alfred had a tremendously innovative person, and was always tackling engineering projects from an early age. In telling about his childhood, he would say: “If the federal firearms laws had been in force when we were kids, and we had been caught, we would have been sent to either reform school or jail.” You see, he was always blowing up something with dynamite, or into other teenage pranks.
Alfred was a native of Southern Pines, N.C., and went on to graduate in electrical engineering at North Carolina State University. He was decorated as a captain in combat duty with the U.S. Signal Corps during the 1960s.
His background was perfect for joining the telecommunications industry. His telephone career took him to sites in Europe, South America and Saudi Arabia. Eventually he was transferred to Gwinnett with one of the companies
Alfred taught me a lot about his hobby, which was the field of Endicott forts, and he had visited many of them. (Fort Pulaski, near Savannah, is one of them. ) These are the five-pronged brick forts that guard our seashores. He was an expert on them. In his last home of 21 years in Washington, he continued his interest in forts as a member of the Coast Artillery Museum at Fort Worden State Park, where he was a tour guide. For his work there, he was volunteer of the year and given a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 from the Washington State parks.
Alfred Gregson Chiswell, 1943-2020: may you rest in peace.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
We find that the election system works; how about the courts?
By George Wilson, contributing columnist
“When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that four of his fingers are pointing at himself.”― Louis Nizer
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. | It is customary for a former president to build a presidential library. Hence, let me make a suggestion for the Trumps.
Maybe it should be built of bricks inscribed with the names of decent good and innocent Americans lost to COVID-19 because of his incompetence.
If not that, Donald Trump should be charged with dereliction of duty since COVID has claimed over 300,000 lives so far and likely will hit 400,000 by February. There should be some punishment for so many dying through sheer incompetence, apathy, and self-interest.
But will he go free as he has always done in his life? He has no accountability whatsoever. Blame our system for not holding people accountable for their misdeeds.
The question: is our system like a spider web designed to catch small flies but the large rats just force through, destroying the web in the process? Without change and reform in the system, the next Trump is just a question of time. Reform would include the elimination of gerrymandering, improved campaign finance laws, make voting and registration easier, and yes, reform of entirely loose social media.
Am I piling on? Well yes, because I’m concerned about the state of the republic ahead.
Furthermore, you hear senior Republican officials saying that allowing Trump to delay the peaceful transition of power to Joe Biden has no adverse consequences! Wow! It brings back an unpleasant memory of Trump telling black voters in 2016 “…what have you got to lose?”
We all lost a substantial amount from 2017 through today, and will lose a lot more going forward. Our two Republican current senators running for re-election liked this disastrous leader, and have not distanced themselves from him. Americans may continue to pay the price.
Finally, maybe Donald Trump will not be able to pardon himself (federal only, not state) and will have to stand trial for tax evasion, obstruction of justice, and possibly other crimes.
So far, the election has meant the political system works. We next may get to see if the court system will be the next scenario for Donald Trump.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful
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Questions county spending $23 million at Gwinnett Place Mall
Editor, the Forum:
Wow, I wish I was one of the four remaining anchor tenants in the mall.
Did you see the dollar signs flash in their eyes?? Paying $23 million for a property you cannot do anything with without either the blessings or buying out of the other four owners. What a windfall for them, and how much it is going to cost us?
Not even a plan for what to do with it should the whole parcel become available. What a government !! I guess we forgot about the $64 million baseball stadium that is only used six months of the year, except this year. It doesn’t even draw half of the attendance projected and yet we will pay for it for 18 more years. If the Stripers leave, we are on the hook for all of it.
Who is making these financial decisions?
We have an additional economic development tax this year that came out of nowhere. Some want a transit tax for continued subsidizing downtown Atlanta commuters as well as bus routes for only a portion of the county.
I am all for development of that area, but not at more expense to the taxpayer.
Suddenly the outgoing Republican commissioners forgot their principles of private enterprise and the market that drives development. Guess they’re setting up the incoming commission for more headaches. Unfortunately, it is we the taxpayers that end up with the bill.
— Dan Mackaben, Lawrenceville
Prefers one element of Congress should be headed by opposing party
Editor, the Forum:
I feel that one of the three branches of government should be in the hands of the opposing party (to the office of president). This is particularly important in the upcoming Senatorial election as both Democratic candidates have serious deficiencies.
One is a pastor who, based on his ads, doesn’t understand his constituency is the state of Georgia, not individuals. The other is a failed videographer who is the darling of the California crazies. I disagree that it is the duty of social media to endorse candidates. They should present facts.
— S. Scott Batterton, Lilburn
Recalls Stanley Gunter and his wonderful Chili Dogs
Editor, the Forum:
So good to see Stanley Gunter is alive and well and still offering his perspective on life. Stanley, while your barbecue was tasty, it is your Chili Dogs that I miss. They were better than the Varsity and probably added at least 30 pounds to my much thinner frame back then. I also have fond memories of being waited on at Gunter’s by Ms. Elzora Greeson. If there has ever been a less patient waitress in the history of dining, I would be surprised yet, we all adored her and enjoyed sharing a laugh with her. I treasured taking out of town friends who considered themselves to be sophisticated diners to lunch so that Ms. Elzora could put them in their place. She never let me down.
And Stanley mentions the great political philosopher Corry Oakes of Oakes Hardware fame. For those who were not around back in the late 70s and 80s to witness the political involvement of Corry and his cohort Jack Brown, you missed a treat. I remember the article in the Gwinnett Daily News showcasing their appearances before governmental bodies, primarily the Lawrenceville City Council, entitled “Partners In Governmental Chastisement.” It was interesting and humorous and right on the money.
— Gerald Davidson, Peachtree Corners
Saddened by those refusing to recognize that Biden won
Editor, the Forum:
Mostly saddened, I am angered by those Republicans who are refusing to acknowledge that Joe Biden is the president-elect. It must be difficult living in two realities.
The first reality is the alternate reality of Trumpworld, full of “alternate facts” where the 2020 election results were caused by massive voter fraud and Donald Trump was really the winner. This is the reality that those Republicans feel forced to espouse.
The second reality is that of the real world. These Republicans know that Joe Biden won the election, but cannot admit it for fear of how Donald Trump will retaliate. He will immediately attack them for not adhering to his alternate reality.
I am saddened for our nation and regard them as having failed us, but mostly themselves, both ethically and morally.
— 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
Water Tower names new members of its two boards
Future Water Tower Campus to be complete in 2022
The Water Tower, the new water innovation hub comprised of two nonprofit organizations, announces the election of 12 new members to its Board of Directors.
The Water Tower at Gwinnett, a 501(c)4, is focused on the infrastructure of the innovation hub, overseeing the real estate development on campus. Another entity, The Water Tower Institute, a 501(c)3, oversees programming in the areas of applied research, technology innovation, workforce development, and community engagement.
The new directors will join founding Board members Nick Masino, Dr. Eileen O’Neill, and John D. Stephens, who have served since October 2019.
The Water Tower at Gwinnett 2021 Board of Directors:
- Melvin Everson, Gwinnett Technical College;
- Jennifer Fennell, Jackson EMC;
- Jann Joseph, Ph.D., President, Georgia Gwinnett College;
- Nick Masino, President and CEO of Gwinnett Chamber and Partnership Gwinnett;
- Daniel R. Sosebee III, CPA, Moore Stephens Tiller;
- John D. Stephens, Owner, JDS Holdings LLC;
- Maurice Thompson II, Consultuoso Business Consulting; and
- Jessica Rantamaki, Geo-Hydro Engineers, Inc.
The Water Tower Institute 2021 Board of Directors include:
- Paul T. Bowen, Ph.D., retired, The Coca-Cola Company;
- Terrell S. Gibbs, , Corporate Environmental Risk Management;
- Chris Impellitteri, EPA Office of Research and Development;
- Linda MacGregor, Gainesville Department of Water Resources;
- Nick Masino, Gwinnett Chamber and Partnership Gwinnett;
- Andrew D. Morris, Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District; and
- Eileen O’Neill, Ph.D., Water Principles LLC.
GGC professor is “Woman of Year” for STEAM Technology
Dekhane
Dr. Sonal Dekhane, interim dean of Georgia Gwinnett College’s (GGC) School of Science and Technology, was named Woman of the Year in STEAM Education by the Atlanta-based Women in Technology (WIT) organization.
This award celebrates women in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) careers for their leadership, vision and accomplishments in business, education and the community. WIT seeks to empower women and girls during all stages of their careers in STEAM disciplines.
Suwanee Court wins top court for COVID implementations
The Georgia Municipal Court Clerks Council recently named Suwanee Municipal Court Program of the Year for their efforts involving COVID-19 implementations, including a state-of-the-art queuing platform.
The Suwanee queue system was implemented in conjunction with a recent building renovation to meet the needs of court staff and customers alike by managing the flow of court participants during check in and tracking other customers that come into the lobby on non-court days, including defendants reporting to the private probation company housed in the building.
The queuing system also allows customers to check-in remotely and wait in their vehicles until contacted by their mobile devices. A dashboard provides real time insights that lead to instant solutions, such as opening another check-in window when the number of customers exceeds a certain limit.
How the Brain Works, published by Dorling Kindersley
From Karen J. Harris, Stone Mountain, Ga.: This book is a pictorial explanation of how the most important organ in the body operates all the systems that keeps people alive. There are two sets of tables of contents: one dealing with the physical brain and one dealing with brain functions and the senses. A most revealing series of chapters discuss how memories are formed and how they are retrieved. There is a suggestion that the best way to retrieve information that has been just learned is to take a nap! This is a way of moving the information into the memory centers thus solidifying if easy retrieval. Learning and language are covered and describe why it is easier to learn languages at an early age than after adulthood though it is stressed that it is not impossible. It also covers Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, dyslexia, Parkinson’s and other abnormalities. The full title is: How the Brain Works: The Facts Visually Explained.
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
Terminus in Atlanta became central point for southeast railroads
Passengers in the heyday of trains.
(From previous edition)
The W&A’s southern end was at Terminus (later Atlanta), where it joined the Georgia Railroad from Augusta and the Macon and Western from Macon. In 1854 a fourth rail line, the Atlanta and LaGrange Railroad (later the Atlanta and West Point Railroad), entered Atlanta from the southwest, and soon the city became a rail hub for the entire South. When the Civil War (1861-65) broke out, Atlanta became a key military target due to its importance in shipping supplies to the Confederate troops. Union general William T. Sherman’s troops finally seized the city in 1864 after a series of hard-fought battles in the Atlanta campaign along the route of the W&A.
A holding company, the Richmond and West Point Terminal and Warehouse Company, controlled the Richmond and Danville beginning in 1880 and the ETV&G beginning in 1887. When the holding company collapsed in 1892, the banker J. P. Morgan created Southern Railway out of the financial wreckage. Southern would become one of the dominant railroad systems of 20th-century Georgia.
In 1900 two other major systems, the Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) and the Seaboard Air Line Railway, were established. Seaboard’s predecessors had acquired major lines in the Georgia Piedmont and Coastal Plain; these were supplemented in 1904 by a link from Atlanta to Birmingham, Ala.
By the 1920s railroads covered almost all of Georgia, and the period would prove to be the high point of railroad service in the state, although some residents of mountain counties had never seen a train other than the log-haulers.
Today, most railroads are financially sound, but there are many fewer than before. In Georgia, most freight traffic is carried by only two: CSX (successor to ACL and Seaboard) and Norfolk Southern (successor to Southern Railway and Central of Georgia). Twenty-three short lines serve as local feeders to the main lines. Passenger service, which never disappeared entirely, is available on two Amtrak routes. One route, known as the Crescent, runs from New York to Washington, D.C., through north Georgia and Atlanta and on to New Orleans, Louisiana. The other runs from New York to the Georgia coast and on to Florida.
Today, railroads are a major part of Georgia’s freight infrastructure. The port of Savannah—the fourth busiest container port in the country in 2015—and the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport both depend on Georgia’s interstates and railroads to ship goods into the interior of the country. By 2014 CSX, one of the two largest rail operators in the state, had handled more than 1.9 million carloads of freight in Georgia and was operating nearly 27,000 miles of track.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to http://georgiaencyclopedia.org
Can you figure out where this shrine is located?
Today’s Mystery Photo is something you don’t see every day in this country. But what and where is it? Figure it out and send your answer to elliott@brack.net and include your hometown.
Sarah Davis, Lawrenceville, recognized last edition’s Mystery Photo. The photo came from George Graf of Palmyra, Va. Here’s what she wrote:
“This is Hephzibah Methodist Church in Richmond County, Ga. Here is some information about it from Historic Rural Churches in Georgia:
“A tale of two churches that are actually one and the same. Hephzibah Baptist Church and Hephzibah Southern Methodist Church in Richmond County were both beautiful and historic churches. The special part of the story is that they worshipped in the same building. The original church was Hephzibah Baptist, organized in September of 1863 in the middle of the Civil War. The area was then known as Brothersville and the church was known as Hephzibah Baptist church at Brothersville.
“The years following the Civil War were sad and gloomy. Yet, under these difficulties this church prospered, and left a legacy that challenges the church to strive to attain its potential simper et ubique [always and everywhere]. Yes! The tragedy of war was felt by Hephzibah Baptist Church in the year of its founding, yet the church persevered through that war and through the years of Reconstruction. She never failed to open her doors.
“In 1888, it was decided that a new church should be built. Until that time the church had met in the chapel of the Hephzibah Baptist School for 26 years. The church was built at a cost of $2,700, while the membership stood at 95 in 1894. The church you see above with the striking architecture has now been in service for over 130 years, although not at the same location. In 1968 the Baptist church had outgrown the building and the decision was made to sell it to the Southern Methodist Church. Incredibly, the entire building was moved intact approximately one and a half miles to the present location. The trip took two days to complete and the sanctuary now lives on as Hephzibah Southern Methodist Church.”
Allan Peel, San Antonio, Tex. gave a similar report, and added his thoughts: “Double your pleasure, double your fun! One building – two towns, two locations, two churches, and two denominations. Two for the price of one … what a deal!
“So there you have it: One building – two towns (Brothersville and Hephzibah), two locations (Brothersville Road and Hephzibah-McBean Road), two denominations (Baptist and Methodist), and two churches (Hephzibah Baptist Church and Hephzibah Southern Methodist Church). Whew!
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