GwinnettForum | Number 21.46 | June 18, 2021
DOWNTOWN DULUTH? Yep, here’s a photograph showing Main Street in Duluth, in the 1940-50 era. This two-story building, where the Red Clay Theatre is located, was a manufacturing site. Man alive! How the location has changed! For more details, see Today’s Focus below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Downtown Duluth was once site of a cricket box factory
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Bartow Morgan enjoying re-organizing Georgia Banking Company
ANOTHER VIEW: College baseball in Omaha is my favorite sporting event
SPOTLIGHT: Law Office of J. Michael Levengood, LLC
FEEDBACK: Another bocce ball court is at Lawrenceville brewery
UPCOMING: County and Eastside Center offer Covid vaccines for all adults
NOTABLE: Chris Minor is new director of Gwinnett Parks and Recreation
RECOMMENDED: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Collin Rogers was builder and architect of classical houses
MYSTERY PHOTO: Two statues near one another form today’s Mystery Photo
Downtown Duluth was once site of a cricket box factory
Cricket boxes
(Editor’s note: portions of this story appeared earlier in Duluth magazine. —eeb)
By Charles Summerour
DULUTH, Ga. | For most people living in Duluth in the 1950s and ‘60s, a nondescript brick warehouse building on Main Street was somewhat of a mystery. (It was where the Red Clay Theatre is now located.)
Summerour
Its signage — Southern Manufacturing Company — said little about what went on inside. The simple answer was that it was a cricket box factory. But as a teenager, I had a special insight into the background of the business and its owner, Joe Fanning.
Mr. Fanning was a Georgia Tech engineer, who liked to tinker and build various machinery, which he used to manufacture several types of live cricket boxes. People used them to take along with bait when fishing. He would spend days working to be sure that his methodology made sense so that it was automated and process-oriented. For him, the challenge seemed to be the development of a “jig” of various types, a mechanism which made building his product both efficient and simple. It did not seem to matter to him that he might have spent days or even months designing and perfecting his mechanism. Not only that, he was only willing to share his success with a limited number of people.
He sold his line of cricket boxes to large distributors and users. He had an agreement with my family’s business, C.A. Summerour and Sons, which manufactured a line of leather products which we sold to small hardware stores throughout the Southeast. Joe did not want to sell in small quantities, so his boxes were in our catalog, and if he got a small order he would always have us ship it. He wanted to sell only in large numbers. Mr. Fanning’s patented line of cricket boxes were shipped in full trailers from Duluth.
Mr. Fanning’s close-to-the-vest ways served to protect his manufacturing methods. Most of what I know about him was a result of his frequent visits to our business, where he would spend a lot of time, talking about his latest invention and how it was to help him make a better cricket box. He developed a close personal relationship with my father and my older brother, and spent hours visiting, often sharing his latest trade secret or invention—which he knew was safe with them. While his visits could go on for hours, listening to him was interesting and looking back, more insightful than I realized.
Although he had an apartment in Atlanta, Mr. Fanning often slept and spent days at a time at his business. This became somewhat of a quandry, when it came to light that he voted in city elections–but no one saw it as a problem.
Local residents no doubt have their own stories about the mystery surrounding the Southern Manufacturing Company, but given his secretive nature, I feel fortunate to have these memories of Joe and his business. He was a quite interesting man, while some would say eccentric. But he kept his life simple and was a good friend of my father. We got to see behind the scenes often which very few people got to do.
Mayor Nancy Harris adds this: “I really don’t have personal memories of the factory because I thought it was just an ugly old building. I had no idea what was being made inside – or maybe I just wasn’t too interested since I was so focused on riding horses. I bought my horse tack from the Summerour’s tannery.”
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Morgan enjoying re-organizing Georgia Banking Company
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JUNE 18, 2021 | Bartow Morgan Jr. has always been around banking, as has his family before him. While he enjoys running a bank, for him re-organizing a bank is even better. Along with other investors, he recently led a group acquiring Georgia Banking Company, founded in 1998.
The new ownership group raised $180 million in new capital, and plans to have five offices in Metro Atlanta before the year’s end. Two will be in Gwinnett, and others in North Fulton, Marietta and in Buckhead, near Piedmont Hospital, plus the original Griffin location. Earlier this year, Georgia Banking Company was ranked as one of the nation’s best-performing consumer and mortgage bankers by the Independent Community Bankers Association.
CEO Morgan says: “Elliott Miller has done an extraordinary job building one of the finest community banks in metro Atlanta. As our local economy continues to recover from the pandemic and begins a new growth phase, we plan to expand Georgia Banking Company’s presence in commercial banking and add more services to help owners of mid-size businesses grow.”
Morgan wants to position his new operation long range as a major community bank more personal than the megabanks. “There are now 19 banks in Atlanta in the category of between $100 million and $2 billion. We want to be the best in this group, and grow even more.”
Morgan
Heading the two Gwinnett branches will be Kevin Jones in Lawrenceville, formerly with BrandBank. He will be in a new building at the intersection of Hurricane Shoals and Collins Hills Roads , the corridor to Georgia Gwinnett College. At the Duluth office, at 6340 Sugarloaf Parkway, Wanda Weegar will be the branch manager.
Currently Georgia Banking Company has assets of $635 million, which Morgan hopes to hit $1 billion by the end of 2021. He’s recruited key community bankers to bring this about. They include:
- Richard Fairey, president and COO, was formerly president of BrandBank;
- Rob Cochran, CFO, was formerly CFO of BrandBank;
- David Black, chief risk officer, was formerly chief risk officer at Cadence Bank;
- Henry Dickerson, chief commercial officer, was formerly chief lending officer at BrandBank;
- Monroe Thrower, currently with GBC, as director of client relations;
- Tyler White, formerly with UCBI, will run the community banking group. (His father is Glenn White, long-time Gwinnett banker.)
- Jennifer Bridwell, former local banker, to be the Gwinnett market president.
- Margaret Whieldon, formerly with BrandBank, to be head of marketing.
Georgia Banking Company had 70 employees when the Morgan team bought the bank. By recruiting for the long run, the bank now has 155 employees, and anticipates topping out at around 200. “As we grow, we’ll probably never be more than 300 employees,” Morgan says, though that could be several years away.
Morgan has a unique banking history in Georgia. His great, great grandfather, E.M. Brand, founded BrandBank in Gwinnett County in 1905, making Morgan the fifth-generation family member in the banking business. BrandBank was sold to Renasant Corporation in 2018.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
College baseball in Omaha is my favorite sporting event
By Alexander Tillman
VALDOSTA, Ga. | I love college baseball. Last weekend I watched on television Army at Texas Tech in the first game of the playoffs. I like to watch the military academies compete in any sport, which can be a subject for another article. Army, winners of the Patriot Conference, were huge underdogs to highly-ranked Texas Tech. So why did I choose to watch this game?
Tillman
It happened in the top of the first inning, when Army had a runner on third. I jumped off my sofa and screamed so loudly both of my teenage children ran out of their bedrooms to see what happened. I explained, “Army had a runner on third with one out with the fourth hitter, a lefty, at the plate. They caught the third baseman napping and executed a perfect push bunt suicide squeeze and the batter beat the throw to first!” Silence. Both of my dear children turned around and walked back to their rooms and shut their doors.
Covid canceled the 2020 college baseball season. I missed it. College baseball is the purest form of the game. It is played the way the game was intended. The idea is to win the game. College teams play as teams. No one has an agent. In this particular game, Army had few power hitters, so they continued to scrap for runs throughout the game. They used hit-and-run, straight steals, and sacrifice bunts.
Texas Tech was more of a power hitting team. They relied on the long ball, but their players did everything they could to get on base to set the table. They hit to the opposite field and worked the count deep to try to get walks. Heavily favored Texas Tech won the game , but Army put up a great fight.
All of the players are young, fast, and don’t have guaranteed contracts. Everybody in college ball hustles or you find yourself riding the pine. The players dive for grounders in the infield and run forever for flies in the outfield. They run out everything they hit when at bat. Every play is close at first and a bobbled ball in the outfield turns into a double or a triple for the batter.
The College World Series is the most unheralded sporting event of the year. It is played each year in Omaha, and I like it that way. Omaha is synonymous with great baseball. It is to college baseball what Augusta is to golf.
If you have never paid attention to this event, give it a try. Winning the first two games to avoid extra losers bracket games is vital. These extra games will deplete your bullpen quickly.
The College World Series starts on Saturday June 19 and continues through June 30. You can bet I will be watching. I typically cheer for the SEC first, the ACC second, then special circumstances.
What is a special circumstance? I love an underdog. In 2003 tiny Rice University won it all and beat the mighty Texas Longhorns on their way to the title. Wayne Graham, 67 year old coach, led the owls. He looked like everybody’s favorite grandfather. The crowd loved him.
In 2016 Coastal Carolina of the Sunbelt Conference took the title. Unfortunately, there are no mid-major conference teams in it this year. Yet there will be drama. I’ll find my favorite team by the end of the weekend.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Law Office of J. Michael Levengood, LLC
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today’s underwriter is the Law Office of J. Michael Levengood, LLC. Before relocating his general civil practice seven years ago to Lawrenceville, Mike Levengood practiced law as a partner in an Atlanta firm for almost 34 years, handling a wide variety of commercial and litigation matters for business clients. Mike is a community leader in Gwinnett County where he serves on several non-profit boards.
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Another bocce ball court is at Lawrenceville brewery
Editor, the Forum:
About your Bocce article. I married into an Italian family. Bocce comes out at all family outdoor events. My wife’s parents’ Italian Club in Pennsylvania had covered courts and they played leagues.
I am now a retired teacher and began volunteering at Slow Pour Brewing in Lawrenceville near the railroad depot. The owners asked last year if I could build a Bocce court. I did and the brewery has a set of balls to loan to customers. But sad to say, I have never seen anyone play on the brewery’s court. My wife and I play there with our friends, but that is it.
I’d like to see a league in Gwinnett for seniors. We tried bowling for a season and played a corn hole tourney a couple years ago, but both were too competitive and not fun. I want seniors that aren’t into winning, just want some social time. That is a story in itself: let’s play games for fun, not cut throat and out to prove something.
— Tim Mullen, Lawrenceville
Dear Tim: Wow! That’s the second bocce ball sighting since the article. Maybe there are more. Look forward to taking you on at the Slow Pour courts. As for Slow Pour Brewing, a big “attaboy!” to it for suggesting a bocce court! (By the way, Tim, we recognize your Italian spelling of “bocci.”) –eeb
Editor, the Forum:
After talking with James Riker, our city manager, I have learned the bocce ball court was part of a larger project so the cost was not separate. I do know the “pits” are about five-six feet deep, tile lined for drainage and filled with several levels of dirt layers until the top playing surface is put down. Definitely not inexpensive. I think the developers of the Sweet Octopus restaurant came up with the idea.
— Kelly Kelkenberg, Duluth
Agrees that our country need more editorials in newspapers
Editor, the Forum:
I agree with Andy Brack about the need for editorial columns in newspapers. It’s the forum, a public conference table, to express a position and support with argumentation. I worry that only a single line of acceptable thought is beginning to be found in papers and other media throughout the country. It’s a safe path that avoids litigation and scorn.
Consolidation of media accelerates the lack of a forum and the news itself becomes an opinioned presentation of the events through prejudice. There’s no need or room for editorial, since it’s incorporated into the news, and with fewer and fewer players. It tends to become a cabal of agreed thought. It’s like pouring battery acid on democracy or water on a witch.
— Bryan Gilbert, Duluth
Identification of rifle in Mystery Photo was incorrect
Editor, the Forum:
The rifle identified as an “AR-15” in a recent Mystery Photo, is in fact a M-16. The AR’s are for civilian use. Note in the description furnished, that the M-16 is fully automatic!
I carried the M-1 (Garand) rifle while in service, too. Qualified as a “Sharpshooter” with it. General Patton called the M-1 the best rifle ever designed for combat!
— David Earl Tyre, Jesup
Dear David: Yes, I remember the M-1. It was so very accurate. When the sergeant on the shooting range told me to move two clicks to the left, I zeroed in and was on target. Believe it or not, I even at least qualified as a “Marksman.” –eeb
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, and include your hometown. The views of letters are the opinion of the contributor. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to: elliott@brack.net.
County, Eastside Center offer Covid vaccines for all adults
If you haven’t received your COVID-19 vaccination yet, Gwinnett County and Eastside Medical Center are making it easier for you.
Beginning Tuesday, June 15, Eastside is expanding their current vaccination efforts to meet the needs of the community. The clinic will offer first and second doses of the Moderna vaccine for adults ages 18 and over in a building located on the hospital campus.
Gwinnett County is applying for an American Rescue Plan funded FEMA grant to support the vaccine clinic and reach underserved populations and areas that have been lagging in vaccine access in the southern part of Gwinnett County. By July 4, the White House wants 70 percent of all eligible adults to get their first vaccination dose.
Congresswoman Carolyn Bourdeaux says: “I thank Gwinnett County Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson for her leadership and the Eastside Medical Center for stepping up to make it easier for Gwinnett residents to get the COVID-19 vaccine. We know some of our diverse communities are lagging in vaccination rates. This critical initiative, funded by the American Rescue Plan, addresses zones in Gwinnett where there are fewer health providers and pharmacies and therefore, less access to the vaccine. This is not just about the health of an individual but the health of our community.”
The vaccinations are to be given each Tuesday and Friday during June from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at 1800 Tree Lane, Suite 250, in Snellville. There are 25 slots available each hour. As demand increases so will the days. Additional dates in July will be available.
Vaccination appointments can be scheduled using TriStar Health: Eastside Medical Center COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic (signupgenius.com) or VaccineFinder.org. Walk-ins are also welcomed.
Minor is new director of Gwinnett Parks and Recreation
When a young Chris Minor played football at Cemetery Field in Norcross, he did not know he would one day oversee the organization that operates that very park. For the first time in history, Minor — an African American — has been named as the new director of the Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation Division.
Minor
He said his new role and life have come full circle. As a young boy, his family participated in Gwinnett County Public School’s free and reduced lunch program. In 2019, he was part of the team that started Gwinnett County Government’s summer meals program, which later served more than 388,0000 meals to families in need during the pandemic.
A graduate of South Gwinnett High School, Minor attended Clemson University where he eventually shifted his focus to the school’s well-known parks, recreation and tourism degree. After graduating, he found his way back home to Georgia and worked in Gainesville before interviewing with then Parks and Recreation Director Tina Fleming.
“Back then Chris had and still has a certain focus that cannot be ignored,” said Fleming, who now oversees the County’s Department of Community Services. “I fondly remember when I interviewed him, I asked what his long-term goal would be if hired. He told me, ‘I want your job.’ Well, he got it.” Minor has served in the division since 2013, working his way up to deputy director of recreation in 2017.
Here are ways to reduce your air conditioning bill
With weather forecasts calling for rising temperatures, Jackson EMC is advising members on steps they can take to lower their energy use and reduce the impact of summer heat on their monthly bills.
Typically, cooling homes and businesses is one of the largest demands for electricity during warmer months. To best manage the additional energy needs caused by higher temperatures and humidity, Jackson EMC takes steps to reduce the cooperative’s electric demand and encourages members to do the same.
As Jackson EMC manages electric demand, members can take steps to reduce their energy use. Managing energy use will reduce demand and may reduce members’ bills.
Stay Cool for Less
- Set your thermostat to 78 degrees. Nearly half of the electricity used in homes goes to condition the air inside.
- Don’t turn off the air conditioner when you’re gone; instead, set it higher. Turning it off makes the system work harder to overcome the heat built up in a house when you turn it back on.
- Use a smart or programmable thermostat. Set it to bring your home’s temperature down to 78 degrees 30 minutes before you get home.
- Replace air conditioner filters now, then once a month. The dirtier the filter, the harder your heat pump must work.
- Don’t block vents with furniture or other objects.
- Use ceiling fans when you are in a room to feel cooler, thus making it less likely you’ll need to lower your thermostat.
- Outside your home, trim foliage around the air conditioning condenser to allow adequate airflow around the unit.
Reduce Heat Inside
- Restrict use of heat-producing appliances like ovens, dishwashers and dryers to the early morning or late evening when temperatures are cooler outdoors.
- Grill outside or use a microwave or toaster oven. A toaster oven uses one-third to one-half as much energy as a regular oven and releases less heat into the home.
- Turn off heat-generating devices when not in use — including lamps, televisions and computers.
- On warm days, close blinds and drapes, especially in south-facing windows which allow in the most heat.
Cut Energy Use Everywhere Else
- Replace lightbulbs with LED bulbs, which burn longer and produce less heat.
- Activate “sleep” features on computers and office equipment that power down when the equipment is not in use.
- Do full loads when you use clothes washers, dryers and dishwashers.
- Use dimmers, timers and motion detectors on indoor and outdoor lighting.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
From Karen J. Harris, Stone Mountain: In 1922 Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club and Master of the Hunt, and writer of the poem Where is it Now, is condemned to house arrest at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow. Should he ever leave this hotel he will be shot. Members of Commissariat for Internal Affairs believe Rostov is a hero of the pre-revolutionary cause in Russia. Though his life appears to be greatly diminished, a whole world of experiences unfold along with a vibrant and diverse set of characters that give Alexander’s life depth, breadth and resolve. This captivating book is a delight from the beginning until the last page. The overlay of Russian history provides the framework for this story that is laced with both humor and comical pathos! I give it 10 stars!
- 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
Rogers was builder and architect of classical houses
Collin Rogers was an architect and master builder who in the 1830s designed and built large Neoclassical-style houses in west Georgia, especially in Troup County.
Rogers, whose name is sometimes misspelled Cullin Rodgers or Cullen Rogers, is believed to have been born in North Carolina in 1791. With no formal training in architecture, Rogers learned to design houses through his work as a builder and craftsman and through builder’s guides by such popular authors as Minard Lafever, Batty Langley, and Edward Shaw.
Rogers sometimes worked with his brother Henry, a builder. In 1830 Collin and Henry together owned 50 slaves, most of whom they employed as skilled workers and craftsmen.
Between 1830 and 1840 Rogers is known to have designed six houses for wealthy cotton planters in west Georgia. His first, the Magnolias (McFarland-Render House, 1830–33), was built in LaGrange as the town home for Joseph D. McFarland, one of Troup County’s wealthiest planters. In the Magnolias, as in all of his houses, Rogers used a traditional floor plan, here a Georgian plan with four rooms divided by a center hall, and Neoclassical-style elements that include an Ionic tetrastyle (four-columned) portico and elaborately carved entrance surround.
The Henderson-Orr House (1832), an I-house (one-room-deep, two-story house) in rural Coweta County, includes the original interior woodwork in which Rogers playfully altered the proportions of the pilasters that adorn the fireplace surrounds.
His last four houses, Nutwood (1833), Nathan Van Boddie House (1836), Edwards-Phillips House (1835–40), and the Fannin-Truitt-Handley Place (1835–40), represent Rogers’s mature work. Located near LaGrange, these Georgian-plan houses are dominated by two-story temple-front Ionic porticoes. The finely carved entrance surrounds and parlor mantels of these houses are also characteristic of Rogers’s later work.
In addition to his work in the building trade, Rogers served as a judge of the Inferior Court of Troup County from 1832 to 1833 and from 1837 to 1842. He had two children with his wife, Sarah Lawson Womack, and died in Troup County in 1845.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to http://georgiaencyclopedia.org
Two statues near one another form today’s Mystery Photo
Here are two fairly large statues for today’s Mystery Photo. Tell us where you think these are located. Send your answer to elliott@brack.net to include your hometown.
Several readers recognized a distant bridge in Northern Ireland as the most recent Mystery Photo. Tom Ferrin of Suwanee was first in, saying; “We crossed the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge on a Rick Steves’ Tour of Ireland. The bridge spans a chasm between the coast and the small island Carrick-a Rede. The day we visited included a tour of the Giant’s Causeway, which is probably the most popular tourist attraction in Northern Ireland and the only World Heritage Site on the Irish isle.” The photo was made by the publisher years ago. You feel the bridge’s every lurch.
Also recognizing the photo was Lou Camerio of Lilburn, who noted: “It connects the mainland to Carrick-a-rede island, spans 66 feet long and is 98 feet above the rocks below. Not on my to do list.”
Other readers reporting in on this Mystery included Kay Montgomerey, Duluth; Gloria James, Lawrenceville; Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill; George Graf of Palmyra, Va. and Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex., who told us: “Atlantic salmon has been fished at Carrick-a-Rede since 1620, but it was not until 1755 that the first rope bridge between the mainland and Carrick-a-Rede Island was erected to reduce reliance on a boat to reach the island. Since then, salmon fishermen have been building and renovating bridges to the island. The current wire rope and Douglas fir bridge was made by Heyn Construction and raised early in 2008. The bridge has a load limit of eight pedestrians.”
- Send your answer to elliott@brack.net to include your hometown.
Mayor asks for questions: City of Lilburn Mayor Tim Dunn is soliciting questions from Lilburn residents for an in-person Town Hall meeting on Monday, June 21 from 7-8 p.m. in The Preston event room at City Hall. Submit any Lilburn questions you have to this special email: mayortownhall@cityoflilburn.com. Mayor Dunn will respond to as many questions as possible.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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