GwinnettForum | Number 21.56 | July 20, 2021
NEW CLASSIFICATION OF A SHIP: This is a rendering of a ship recently launched in San Diego, Calif. honoring the late Georgia Congressman John Lewis. The USNS John Lewis (T-AO-205) is the first ship in the service’s new class of oilers (refuelers at sea). For more details, see Lagniappe below.
EVERYONE’S BUZZING about the “new” Downtown Duluth! From stellar entertainment with Eddie Owen at the Red Clay Music Foundry to the outstanding restaurants of Parsons Alley, Duluth has it all! Indulge at Noona, Good Word Pub, Maple Street Biscuits, Dreamland BBQ, Nacho Daddy, Falling Rabbit, and more! After splashing in the fountain, take the kids for ice cream at The Chocolaterie, dessert at Crave Pie or donuts at Simply Donuts. And don’t forget Food Truck Fridays. Also, go ahead and mark your calendars for the last weekend in September – Duluth Fall Festival is a can’t miss event! Visit duluthfallfestival.org.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Gwinnett schools pick Dr. Calvin Watts as next superintendent
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Philip Beard is longest serving city official in Gwinnett: 46 years
ANOTHER VIEW: Duluth family find themselves stuck in an elevator at French rail station
SPOTLIGHT: Gwinnett County Public Library
FEEDBACK: Georgia needs to improve on getting Covid vaccinations
UPCOMING: Four new members join board of Leadership Gwinnett
NOTABLE: Norcross Episcopal church seeking to sell part of its property
OBITUARIES: Joel Hudson
RECOMMENDED: The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Atlanta Motor Speedway popular stop on circuit
MYSTERY PHOTO: There’s something unique about today’s Mystery Photo
LAGNIAPPE: U.S. Navy commissions ship named the USNS John Lewis
CALENDAR: Stripers open home stand against Norfolk tonight
Gwinnett schools pick Watts as next superintendent
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. | Gwinnett County’s Board of Education has selected a sole finalist as its new school superintendent. He is Dr. Calvin Watts, current head of the Kent (Wash.) School District, to replace Alvin Wilbanks as the leader of the system. The Gwinnett board will formally name him to this position at its next meeting. There were 27 applicants for the position.
Watts
Dr. Watts for the last six years has been superintendent of the Kent School District, which educates 26,500 students, the fifth largest in Washington. It has a budget of $450 million, compared to the Gwinnett budget of $2.4 billion for the coming year.
Formerly with the Gwinnett County system for 13 years, Watts left the system as an assistant superintendent, supervising and evaluating the performance of principals. He is 52, is a native of Seattle, Wash., and previously was with the Atlanta Public Schools, Carrollton City Schools and principal of St. Peter Claver Regional Catholic School of Decatur. He was also principal at Bethesda Elementary School. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Howard University, a master’s degree from the University of West Georgia, and an Ed.D. degree from Argosy University in Atlanta.
Dr. Watts told GwinnettForum early on Monday from Miami, where he is attending a school meeting, that “First and foremost, I am more excited about the opportunities in the Gwinnett school district, which is familiar to me. It’s where I grew up professionally, and where I learned to lead among amazing leaders, such as Alvin Wilbanks, who gave me the support to lead and be successful in my work.”
As head of the Kent District, Dr. Watts developed a strategic planning process; maintained an intentional focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging; and improved organizational effectiveness so that all students may thrive. KSD’s four-year adjusted cohort graduation rates have risen to record levels for all students as a result.
It marks a second return to Georgia for Dr. Watts. “It’s rare to get to go home twice. My parents were born in the South, who migrated to Seattle in the 60s, where they met. I grew up there in Bellevue, now Washington’s fourth largest city, and began teaching in the Seattle schools. Later I got to come back to the East Coast in the early 90s, when I was single.”
Dr. Watts is married to Robbye, a Carrollton (Ga.) native and a retired special educator herself, whom he met at West Georgia. They have one son, Devin, 18, who recently graduated from high school. “I got to give him a diploma with his dad’s name on it on June 19,” he says proudly.
Among Dr. Watts’ interests are reading, travel, cooking and watching sports. “I’m a die-hard fan of all things college or pro in both Seattle and Atlanta.”
Dr. Watts says he considered his tenure as a leader in Gwinnett as a highlight of his career, touting many things he learned during his 13 years in GCPS. He spoke of the great legacy retiring superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks is leaving and said he looks forward to leading GCPS into its next chapter. In saying how humbled and honored he is to be named as the district’s next leader, he shared his motto, which is to “reach and teach all students as if they had his last name.”
Dr. Watts is a member of The Broad Academy Fellowship (2018-2019)., Dr. Watts says he is thrilled to re-establish residency in Georgia, and for his family to become rooted in the Gwinnett County community. He anticipates being on board in Gwinnett as school opens in August.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Beard is longest serving city official in Gwinnett: 46 years
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JULY 20, 2021 | Buford’s Philip Beard feels that he has not one, but two distinctions: he has served consecutively as a city official for 46 years, longer than anyone in Gwinnett. He’ll start his 47th year on September 1, 2021. All this time he has been the chairman of the City Commission, and also chairman of the Buford City Schools Board.
His other distinction: he has perfect attendance on the Buford city commission, having never missed a meeting since he was sworn in on September 1, 1975. He led a list of six candidates in the special election to replace East Robinson August 13, then won a runoff two weeks later, beating Tom Ed Robinson 620-471.
Beard, now age 80, says: “People let me stay in the office. I have been healthy my whole life. The only reason I didn’t have perfect attendance at school is that they sent me home on a Monday when I was in the fourth grade with the mumps and I missed that week. And I missed a half a day when my grandfather Harvey Beard died.”
Beard
While in service to Buford, Beard has built a city with a strong financial status. The budget for the City of Buford is the largest in Gwinnett, at $167 million for 2021.
His city services include expansive gas and electrical enterprise funds, serving more customers outside of Buford than are in the city limits. The city also operates its own water and sewer system, having put in the city water system back since 1932 when the water came from the Chattahoochee River. When Lake Lanier was built, Buford got its own intake for water.
Buford has continually updated its utilities. “We just broke ground on a new $20 million water facility. Our new contract with Lake Lanier allows us to pull 4.85 million gallons of water a day (mgd) from the lake, and on average we use only 1.5 mgd. It’s all new technology, a push-button operation. Our infrastructure is top-notch, not decayed.”
On sewer: “The city was put under order to up our sewage capacity to three million gallons a day. That was going to cost $30-$40 million to do that, so we talked to the county. We bought capacity from Gwinnett County for $16.5 million. That saved us money ,and we may never need that capacity.”
There was a turndown for Buford in the late 70s. “We were short of funds in every area, not even having enough for payroll. We took a long look at it, and asked ourselves, should we keep our schools or our police force? Turned out, it was an easy decision to make. We eliminated our police force, and let the county police us.
“Since then we have put all our resources into the school district. We charge 12.6 mills in taxes for our schools, but have no taxes on ad valorem property for city operations. The utilities pay for themselves. We even make money off commercial garbage in our landfill, which gives us host fees of $2.5 million annually. Everything goes back into city projects, like our new city hall, our community center and parks.”
Beard anticipates that the new Buford census figures will be, “around 20,00, at least 16-17,000 residents. We have had a considerable growth, especially on larger homes. Many move here to have their children in our city school system, which now has 5,600 students.”
Beard has another distinction. He is among three Gwinnettians in the Georgia Municipal Association’s Hall of Fame, named in 2007. The two others are Lillian Webb (1982) of Norcross and Linda Bechinger of Auburn (2019).
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Ponders get stuck in elevator at French rail station
(Editor’s note: This is the third installment of the Ponders of Duluth vacation and their adventures in recently-opened-to-tourists France. Look for more stories to come.—eeb)
By Rob Ponder
PARIS, France | The two-hour train ride to Bayeux went as planned. We purchased the tickets on our smart phone the night before and just had to show our electronic “boarding pass” to get through the turnstiles in Paris and again to the conductor on the train.
Ponder
The “glitch” on a visit to the American Cemetery in Normandy came at the train station in Bayeux. We were the next to last group to ride the “ascenseur” (elevator.). Unfortunately, what went up…did not go down…. all the way! About two thirds of the way down we heard a loud “clunk” and the elevator lurched to a stop!
It only took five minutes for the station manager to come out to the elevator and signal us that he was going to call someone. Fifteen minutes later he came back and pushed a piece of paper to the glass of the elevator that said “35-40 minutes for the repair man.”
So we waited….and waited…and waited. We cheered the service guy when he arrived at 80 minutes, pried the door open wide enough to let some air in (it had starting to get hot in the sun with no A/C); and at 100 minutes cheered the second service guy when he got on top of the elevator); got really mad when, at three hours our special-needs son was lying on the floor crying that he “did not want to die”; and finally cheered when, at 195 minutes (over three hours!), the repairs worked, and we reached the second floor landing with the door opened!
The station manager asked us if we would like a “drink.” We followed him into his office area where we were offered a drink of warm water in a paper cup from a large water bottle. Really? Note that we were not offered an apology of any kind. The second service man had met when the door opened and offered us a sincere “I’m sorry,” but the station manager did not offer us the same. We refused the room- temperature water.
We were in pursuit of a cold drink and a restroom and not in that order. On the way out of his office, however, the manager, in poor English, told my wife that we should not have jumped up and down on the elevator while it was moving…. causing it to break!
What! We had simply been riding the elevator like anyone else would! We started to dispute him, but gave up and left. The last thing we wanted to do was for them to decide that we should pay for the damage we had caused?
All of the buses to the historic D-Day landing sites and cemetery had long gone. We were able to hire a taxi for $60 to take us to the American Cemetery (with a view of Omaha Beach), spend about three hours there, and then pay another $60 to take us back to the train station.
Happily, the train to Paris boarded on the station side of the two tracks. It looked like they had the elevator that had hung up with us back in operation. We must not have broken it too bad!
For the rest of the trip, our special needs son was hesitant to ride any elevators; something he normally seeks out. Can’t say that I really blame him!
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Gwinnett County Public Library
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Georgia needs to improve on getting Covid vaccinations
Editor, the Forum:
On Friday, I checked and found that Georgia has only 37 percent fully vaccinated, while the nation is at 48 percent. North of Interstate 85 in Gwinnett is the only area with any significant level of vaccinated residents. The rest is almost blank. The areas from Lilburn to Lawrenceville, from Stone Mountain to Snellville are almost completely lacking any jabs.
There are counties that are much worse than Gwinnett. I invite everyone to visit the state Covid-19 website and find the map that shows the most recent reports on vaccinations. My weather reports daily cases and deaths. Friday Georgia had 855 new cases and 15 deaths. This is an increase. Many days recently had one or two deaths.
Many rural counties have little or no vaccinations. Particularly, southwestern Georgia needs attention. There is resistance in the remaining population. There are unanswered concerns. Too many opinions have blurred the decision-making process. So-called science has taken a hit, as it is filtered through politics. People who have many years to live or have had the virus, are reluctant to be vaccinated.
— Byron Gilbert, Duluth
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Four new members join board of Leadership Gwinnett
Leadership Gwinnett announces the appointment of four new members of its Foundation Board, according to Chairman Renee Byrd-Lewis. The Foundation Board of Directors are responsible for the overall governance and well-being of the organization. This working board maintains the organization’s vision, mission and core values as well as provides strategic direction and fiscal health. They are:
Haggard
Scott Haggard is a Gwinnett County native, who is director of Government and External Affairs for three state transportation authorities: the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority (ATL), State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA), and Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA), where he manages government affairs and external strategic relationships of the state’s mobility organization. He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from George Washington University and a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and journalism from the University of Georgia. He lives in Peachtree Corners.
Levett
T. Lanier Levett is a fourth-generation funeral home and crematory owner operator. He is the chief operations officer for the largest independently owned and operated African American funeral home in the Southeast, Gregory B. Levett and Sons Funeral Home in Scottdale. It operates seven locations. He is a graduate of Gupton Jones College of Funeral Service and lives in Snellville.
Nash
Charlotte J. Nash’s career with Gwinnett County spans almost four decades, first as a staff member and, most recently, as chairman of the Board of Commissioners. Her roles have included board member for the Atlanta Regional Commission, board chair for the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, and president of Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG). She currently serves on the board for the ATL, the regional transit authority. Charlotte graduated from Leadership Gwinnett’s first class in 1986. She is a lifelong resident of the Dacula/Harbins area of Gwinnett and holds a BBA from the University of Georgia.
Pereira
Stephen Pereira is a partner at the law firm of Thompson, Sweeny, Kinsinger and Pereira, a firm built on its commitment to and relationships with the Gwinnett County community. The firm represents the Gwinnett County Board of Education, the Gwinnett Water and Sewer Authority, the Gwinnett Hospital Authority and the cities of Duluth, Lawrenceville, Sugar Hill and Grayson. He obtained dual degrees in Philosophy and Political Science from Winthrop University before earning his law degree at the University of Georgia School of Law. He lives in Stone Mountain.
Hudgens to host Puppetry Arts family day event on Aug. 14
The Hudgens Center for Art and Learning is partnering with The Center for Puppetry Arts for a special Family Day Event. It will be Saturday, August 14, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Founded in 1978, The Center for Puppetry Arts, located on Spring Street in Midtown Atlanta, has introduced millions of visitors to the wonder and art of puppetry. It has touched the lives of many through enchanting performances, curriculum-based workshops, and the hands-on Museum, as well as Digital Learning and Outreach Programs. The Center for Puppetry Arts’ mission is to inspire imagination, education and community through the global art of puppetry.
The Hudgens Center will host puppeteers from The Center for Puppetry Arts as they perform a scene from The Center’s production of Mother Goose. Guests will make a craft to take home with them as they enjoy this special preview from one of Atlanta’s premiere children’s theatres.
The Hudgens’ Family Days provide an opportunity for families and community members to come together and explore The Hudgens Center’s exhibitions, make a craft together, and experience special guest artists, all at no cost to participants.
Norcross Episcopal church seeking to sell part of property
Christ Episcopal Church in Norcross is putting up part of its property for sale so that it can improve its financial position and undertake repairs to the church building. The church at 400 Holcomb Bridge Road is seeking to sell approximately two acres on the west side of its 11.8 acres, including its office building and Thrift Shop location known as the Mary Webster House. (She was a previous member of the church who lived on North Peachtree Street in Norcross and left her property to the church.)
It is rare to find a large wooded, private lot in Historic Norcross. With over 5,000 square feet in the structure, it’s anticipated that the buyer could or have a home-based business, such as a consulting firm, counseling practice, or a private day-care or school. In these days of offices down-sizing because of post-COVID work-from-home practices, this could be a perfect office setting. There is a nature trail that runs directly behind the house to Johnson Dean Park, while one can walk on Holcomb Bridge Road to downtown Norcross restaurants and shops.
The property has been listed with Judy Wittenberg of Berkshire Hathaway properties. To find the listing, go to https://400holcombbridgenorcross.bhhsgeorgia.com/.
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Hudson
The Rev. Joel Hudson
GwinnettForum has learned of the death of the Rev. Joel Hudson. He was the founding rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Norcross. Information about his obituary and funeral services were not available at deadline.
The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell
Ask most anyone, and they will tell you that World War II was brought to an end by Americans dropping two atomic bombs on Japan, and Japan asking a week later for peace. But playing a mighty significant role in bringing the war to an end was the American napalm bombing of Japan, from February to early August of 1945. The decision to make these terrifying strikes was led by Gen. Curtis LeMay. Altogether, his B-29 bombers flew 67 nighttime missions so that, he thought, it would set the stage to bring the war to a quicker conclusion. Gladwell focuses on the new arm of military service, the Air Force, as quite a different service. He focuses on how the Norden bomb site became the Air Force’s new means to pinpoint bombing. It’s an amazing story that has not been linked together in this way before. It’s a fascinating short book.–eeb
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Atlanta Motor Speedway popular stop on circuit
Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of the oldest and most popular stops on NASCAR‘s Winston Cup circuit.
The two Winston Cup events hosted by the speedway each year attract crowds of nearly 250,000 fans from all fifty states and several foreign countries—consistently the first and second highest attendance levels for single-day sporting events in Georgia.
A group of Atlanta real-estate developers led by Garland Bagley, seeking to take advantage of a super-speedway boom started by the successful launching of Florida’s Daytona International Speedway in 1959, built the one-and-a-half-mile speedway 25 miles south of Atlanta in Hampton (Henry County).
Plagued with financial difficulties and construction delays from the start, Atlanta International Raceway (as it was initially called) hosted its first race on July 31, 1960. A crowd of 25,000 braved the mud and unfinished facilities to see Glenn “Fireball” Roberts win the inaugural event. Since then the speedway has hosted at least two Winston Cup races annually, numerous races in NASCAR’s Busch Series, races sanctioned by the Automobile Racing Club of America, and fourteen races for Formula One cars sanctioned by the U.S. Auto Club, Championship Auto Racing Teams, and the Indy Racing League.
The Atlanta Speedway struggled for much of its early existence, changing ownership and management numerous times and even being subjected to reorganization under Chapter 10 bankruptcy provisions in the 1970s. In 1990, however, speedway magnate Bruton Smith purchased the facility, renamed it Atlanta Motor Speedway, and proceeded to turn it into a state-of-the-art auto racing venue. Smith’s Speedway Motorsports, Incorporated, has spent millions of dollars to refurbish and expand the track to bring the total number of permanent seats to 124,000, while adding 141 luxury suites and the nine-story Tara Place, which houses offices, banquet facilities, and 46 condominiums.
Atlanta’s importance as a venue on the Winston Cup circuit increased in 1987, when the speedway began a 14-year run as the site of the final race of the season. This made the fall Atlanta race particularly appealing in years when the Winston Cup championship came down to the final race.
Perhaps the most storied race in Atlanta Motor Speedway history came in such a year, 1992. On November 15 the Hooters 500 attracted a huge crowd to witness NASCAR legend Richard Petty’s final race and a battle among five drivers with a mathematical chance to win the championship. The favorite to win the championship, Davey Allison, crashed on the 253rd lap, leaving Georgia’s favorite son, Bill Elliott, and Alan Kulwicki to battle for the title. Although Elliott won the race, Kulwicki finished second and led one more lap than Elliott, which gave him five bonus points for leading the most laps and the Winston Cup championship by ten points
Although inexperienced or journeyman racers have occasionally won Winston Cup races at Atlanta, most often the winner of an Atlanta race is a skilled driver. Indeed, the winners of multiple races at Atlanta reads like a “who’s who” of Winston Cup racing. Multiple winners include Jeff Gordon, Fred Lorenzen, David Pearson, and Darrell Waltrip (each with three wins); Bobby Allison and Bill Elliott (each with five wins); Bobby Labonte and Richard Petty (each with six wins); Cale Yarborough (seven wins); and the late Dale Earnhardt, who holds the record with nine wins.
Since the 1997 renovation of the track, Atlanta Motor Speedway has become the fastest and one of the most competitive tracks on the Winston Cup circuit. Qualifying speeds at the track have exceeded 190 miles per hour in recent years, and the races themselves invariably feature more than thirty lead changes.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
There’s something unique about today’s Mystery Photo
Today’s Mystery Photo has something distinctive about it. Figure out where this is, and where it’s located. Send your ideas to elliott@brack.net.
The most recent mystery photo, sent in by Frank Sharp of Lawrenceville, stumped our readers. Frank took the photo recently of the St. Teresa of Kolkata Catholic Church in Maynardville, Tenn., which some call the “home of country music.” The church was founded by the Glenmary Home Missioners in 2011 and was the first permanent Catholic Church in Union County. It’s located on Tennessee Highway between Knoxville and the Kentucky border. That area is also known as “Thunder Road,” where moonshiners once tried to outrun revenue agents.
U.S. Navy commissions ship named the USNS John Lewis
The first of the Navy’s new replenishment oilers was christened fleet Saturday .In a ceremony in San Diego, Calif., the Navy christened the future USNS John Lewis (T-AO-205), the first ship in the service’s new class of oilers.
Lewis
Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker said in a Pentagon news release: “Leaders like Representative Lewis taught us that diversity of backgrounds and experiences help contribute to the strength of our nation. There is no doubt that the future Sailors aboard this ship will be galvanized by Lewis’ legacy.”
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) died last July after serving in Congress for more than 30 years. Today’s commissioning ceremony took place on the anniversary of his passing.
General Dynamics-National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) builds the oilers in its San Diego yard. The ships will fall under Military Sealift Command.
The John Lewis-class ships are based on commercial design standards and will recapitalize the current T-AO 187-class fleet replenishment oilers to provide underway replenishment of fuel to U.S. Navy ships at sea. These ships are part of the Navy’s Combat Logistics Force. John Lewis-class oilers will transfer fuel to U.S. Navy carrier strike group ships operating at sea, the oilers will feature the capacity to carry 157,000 barrels of oil, a significant dry cargo capacity, aviation capability and up to a speed of 20 knots.
The Gwinnett Stripers return to Coolray Field to host a six-game series against the Norfolk Tides (a Baltimore Orioles farm team) from July 20-25. The homestand includes Summer Splash Down (12:05 p.m. on July 21), a Mike Soroka Bobblehead giveaway on Thirsty Thursday (July 22), Wizards and Wands on Fireworks Friday (July 23), Ronald Acuña Jr. Stripers Road Jersey T-Shirt giveaway (July 24), and Chopper’s Birthday (July 25).
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