GwinnettForum | Number 21.72 | Sept. 17, 2021
GWINNETT OFFICIALS BROKE GROUND Tuesday on the site of the new Fire Station 13, which will be located at 105 Main Street in Suwanee. The new facility will be approximately 11,000-square-feet and replaces the former Fire Station 13, which was leased to the County by the city of Suwanee. The city of Suwanee provided the land for the project while the county is constructing the station, along with related road improvements to Main Street and the intersection with Suwanee Dam Road. The County’s share of the $7 million project is funded by the 2017 SPLOST program. The new station will house a fire engine, an ambulance and staff a minimum of five firefighters and paramedics each day. Designed with future growth in mind, the station will be built to accommodate up to 11 personnel at a time. Those throwing the dirt at the groundbreaking include Assistant Chief Clent Hughes; Assistant Chief Stoney Polite; Firefighter/Lieutenant Steve Pulliam; Firefighter III Josiah Brownfield; Firemedic Jorge Saname; Assistant Chief Brian Wolfe; Battalion Chief Keith Contino; and Deputy Chief Angie Jugenheimer.
The 38th Annual Duluth Fall Festival will be next weekend, on September 25-26. There will be 300 plus Arts and Crafts, Food, and Sponsor booths, with many exciting new vendors. Entertainment is set, along with the Parade and Road Race. Take advantage of the great shuttle service Saturday and Sunday from one of these area schools: Duluth Middle on Pleasant Hill Road, Chattahoochee Elementary on Albion Farm Road, or Mason Elementary on Bunten Road and ride in comfort to the Festival.
TODAY’S FOCUS: It’s unethical for former commanders to be defense firm directors
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Gwinnett could get Waffle House treatment this year in redistricting
ANOTHER VIEW: Teacher in retirement has front row seat watching moviemaking
SPOTLIGHT: Law Office of J. Michael Levengood, LLC
FEEDBACK: Her mother got a “grandson” flim-flam call several years ago
UPCOMING: Gwinnett Place CID picks firm for mall revitalization strategy
NOTABLE: Gwinnett implementing Smart Corridor Deployment program
RECOMMENDED: Cul-De-Sac by Joy Fielding
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Rabbittown’s R.A. Miller became famous for his whirligigs
MYSTERY PHOTO: Circular concrete structure is unique; where is it?
LAGNIAPPE: Suwanee has a new roundabout on city’s south side
CALENDAR: Town hall meeting of Gwinnett County Police Citizens Advisory Board soon
Unethical for former commanders to be defense firm directors
By George Wilson, contributing columnist
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. | After I read President Eisenhower’s speech on the military-industrial establishment he gave at the end of his term, I have not been enamored with the out- of- control military spending and oversight. It’s been going on since the 1950s….that’s 70 years. Yet our Congress seems incapable of curbing this overzealous spending. Should you take the time to read this important farewell address, you will understand. It ranks alongside George Washington’s warning address about foreign entanglements as some of our most precious pronouncements by former presidents.
It is reported that it is not possible to audit the Pentagon, nor do they have an adequate inventory of their vast military supplies. We have seen that recently in the mishandling of war materials in Afghanistan. And understand: all these blunders in mishandling happened on both Republican and Democratic watches. Both parties are guilty of misfeasance.
If the United States had any understanding and intelligence at all about the ability of the Afghanistan army to hold it together, we should have seen it by now. Otherwise, we should have had a plan in place to destroy all of the equipment, as difficult as that may have been, lest it fall into the hands of our enemies.
U.S. officials have said that according to the current intelligence assessment, the Taliban are believed to control:
- More than 2,000 armored vehicles, including U.S. Humvees.
- Up to 40 aircraft — potentially including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and Scan Eagle military drones.
- “Everything that hasn’t been destroyed is the Taliban’s now,” one U.S. official told Reuters.
Officials aren’t just worried about the Taliban using weapons against civilians. They’re also concerned the equipment could be seized by ISIS or handed over to China or Russia. We can only hope that illiterate, untrained Afghans will not know how to use this equipment, plus lack of spare parts which could soon render the equipment useless. But that is a weak hope. Other nations can also supply training and spare parts.
Top U.S. commanders seem adept at winning the bureaucratic boardroom wars and giving PowerPoint presentations, but not so much at winning the guerrilla wars. In addition, we do have a Congress that has abdicated its responsibility to control the defense budget and the “Imperial Presidency” leading to forever wars.
Here is a modest proposal; fire all of the top brass and rebuild the ranks of the senior officer corps with members of a new generation who know where we went wrong. Not only that, but do it now. However, we all know that probably will not happen.
Former General H.R. McMaster was on MSNBC commenting on the outcome of the Afghanistan war and stated it to be a catastrophic failure attributable to American “strategic narcissism.”
Who is to blame for the U.S. failure in Afghanistan? McMaster tags “a neo-isolationist far right” and a “self-loathing far left”, a judgment that rather too conveniently lets the U.S. military off the hook. The military must bear the majority of this failure.
Finally, to complete the circle, examine how many former Generals are serving on the board of directors of major defense contractors. That in itself is unethical. Check out, too, the number of political contributions Congress receives from defense contractors. That’s also unethical.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Gwinnett could get Waffle House treatment in redistricting
A Waffle House grill where slicing and dicing takes place Photo via Wikipedia.
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
SEPT. 17, 2021 | Here’s a prediction. After Georgia’s Republican-dominated legislative reapportionment committee gets done with its work this year, Gwinnett is going to get “scattered, smothered, covered, chunked, topped, diced, peppered and capped.”
That’s right, we’re going to get the Waffle House treatment in the way the county will be divided along Congressional lines. It’ll all be done so that the Republicans will make it harder for a Democrat to be elected.
The Republicans will be specifically aiming at the two Democrats in the Sixth and Seventh Congressional Districts, Louise McBath and Carolyn Boudreaux. By carving up two Democratic areas, the Sixth District (Tucker to Sandy Springs to East Cobb to Milton and Johns Creek), and the Seventh District (most of Gwinnett and part of Forsyth County), Republicans could jeopardize these two current Democratic Congresswomen.
And presto! Gwinnett, currently also represented by two other Congressmen, Hank Johnson and Jody Hice, could end up being carved into portions of four, five or even six Congressional districts, all with the intent of minimizing the Democratic vote. Wild? Yes. But it could happen. We’ve heard of worse butchering of district lines.
However, gerrymandering is a tricky business. By concentrating on trying to gain advantage in two Congressional districts of the state, it also directly affects the other 12 Congressional districts. And you can bet that every sitting Congressional delegate is trying to protect their own district where they are well known and of which they are familiar. Adding lots of new territory to a district, while taking away familiar areas, is not favored by incumbents.
Sometimes gerrymandering can work. When South Carolina was redrawing Congressional districts after the 1990 census, the U.S. Supreme Court required a Black-majority district to make up for past racial discrimination. The result was that Black voters were corralled into a district stretching from Charleston to Columbia. With lots of Black voters packed into one district, this led to the election of Black Rep. James Clyburn, now the third-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House. The gerrymandering result was that the remaining congressional districts, even to today, have a substantially lower Black population, which favors the election of Republican members of Congress.
Don’t for a minute get the idea that the only bad actors practicing gerrymandering are Republicans. No matter what the party, those in power almost always seek to draw the new districts in their favor.
For instance, in Democrat-dominated New York state this year, the re-drawing of lines there is anticipated to favor Democrats, and could influence the overall make-up of Congress. Here’s why: some have predicted that after the reapportionment, Republicans might lose five seats to Democrats in that state, the most in the nation. Should that happen, Republicans would be hard pressed to regain control of the U.S. House. That means that in most Republican newly-gerrymandered states, that state most likely could contribute only one more GOP vote, making the five more New York Democratic votes in Congress hard to overcome.
The ironic aspect in New York is that previously that state has voted to use a tool many for good government advocates: a non-partisan, independent commission to redraw Congressional lines. Now some are thinking that the greedy New York Democrats might scuttle that provision, and grab more seats for their own party in the 2022 redistricting.
More states, including Georgia, should adopt an independent, non-partisan panel to redraw Congressional lines. Already, this is in effect in 13 states. But you can bet in Georgia, and possibly New York, it won’t be this year. Gwinnett’s probably going to be Waffle-ized.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Retired teacher has front row seat watching moviemaking
(Editor’s note: long-time school teacher Julie Duke had an unusual time in her first year summer of retirement: being up front and close to the filming of a full-length movie. Enjoy her thoughts. –eeb_
By Julie Duke
NORCROSS, Ga. | In mid June, Paramount location scouts began searching for homes along North Peachtree Street for a film site. The home across the street from mine was selected for filming.
Duke
The movie is to be called Jerry and Marge Go Large, a true feel-good story, starring Annette Bening and Bryan Cranston. My front and back yard would house staging, parking, food and portable bathrooms. For the next seven weeks as the set was dressed, filmed, and undressed, an unexplainable and tremendous amount of chaos arrived.
Most days I would sit on my porch from dawn to dusk, getting to see and know crew members personally. In a year of turmoil and division, my neighbor and I encountered 150+ crew members of all ages, races and genders working side by side. Never did I hear an unkind or inappropriate word throughout prep, production and disassembling over seven weeks! They were more than professional.
The first night of filming we were invited to dinner at the catering tent in one of our neighbor’s backyard. We weren’t timid for long! Then it became routine. My neighbor and I didn’t cook or grocery shop for all the days of filming!
The hustle and bustle was constant from sunup to nearly midnight. Crew members were constantly on their feet setting, climbing and adjusting. When the black Tahoes pulled up, that signaled the actors had arrived, and filming would start shortly.
Filming was mesmerizing. Crew members had Walkie Talkies and earphones and scurried, taking commands. When the first “ROLLING!” was heard, silence ensued.
The final Friday of filming my neighbor and her boss came late to grab lunch. We had a perfect view of the scene being filmed on her porch. There were a dozen or so takes. Each take lifting one actor’s lines while the other pantomimed and spoke their lines without intention. This repetition of the scene went on and on with emphasis on different angles and dialogue. We all agreed it was a tedious job, but we were still enthralled and happy to see the stars so clearly and close up.
As darkness fell, I remained outside until “Wrap!” was called well after midnight. When I awoke the next day, everything was gone as if it never happened.
The following weeks the set was being undressed across the street. Props, furniture and new landscaping were removed. There was a flurry of activity, and we wondered how their house could possibly be restored to its original condition. And yet, we were all quite impressed with how completely everything that had been packed and removed, was now back in place. It was kind of eerie – again as if nothing had happened.
My neighbors had such amazing attitudes throughout the production. In the end, we both agreed that we each had the right opportunities. My neighbors were willing to put up with a good bit of inconvenience. And I loved the first row seat of the activity in our yards and homes.
And so our journey with this movie production came to an end. The neighborhood has a new common bond that deserves tending too! Our friendship got a lift as we spoke and spent lots of time together both in familiar and new ways.
And I had the best experience ever for my first summer as a retired teacher. The school year began without me after 60 years of the only schedule that I have ever known. One entire book closed and now it’s time for a new one. At least I live in Norcross, a place to imagine!
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Law Office of J. Michael Levengood, LLC
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Her mother got a “grandson” flim-flam call years ago
My mother, who was in her 80s at the time, received a “grandson” call several years ago. The young man who called Mother gave himself away at the first hello, as they say. He said, “Hi Grandma.” Mother’s grandchildren do not call her Grandma. She went along with him for a few minutes, then scolded him for calling her. She called the police department to report the call, but of course, the phone was a burner, and there was no way to trace the call.
Similar crimes happen through someone hacking your email account. That happened to us several years ago. Every email address we had ever sent an email to, or gotten an email from, received an email from an address that very closely resembled ours. The only difference was the scammers substituted a “0” for an “o”. The email said we were in London, had been robbed, and needed money. My friends said they knew by the grammar used it did not come from me. In addition, the scammers wiped our saved email contacts list. Fortunately, AOL was able to restore them.
— Elizabeth Truluck Neace, Dacula
Feels recent screed on protecting this country is laughable
I must say that the pro-vax Dan Bollinger’s screed on how President Joe Biden is doing everything right to protect the masses in this country is so perfectly laughable. While he wants to “protect” Americans by mandating vaccines, Ole Joe is letting hundreds of thousands of illegals into the country and letting them be bused to other states around the country without being tested or vaxxed.
He is now bringing in Afghanis into the country under the same conditions and they are allowed to wander off military bases unchecked and unvetted. How in the world can Dan Bollinger even begin to think Joe is serious when he has just exempted members of Congress and the staff from getting the vax when he has mandated it for any business with 100 employees or more?
The hypocrisy from Biden supporters is nothing less than amazing! Added to the hypocrisy of those who would call a stolen election a conspiracy theory, he has also exempted employees of the U.S. Postal Service from the vax— many of whom were pointed out to be complicit in the “art” of ballot harvesting and tossing out ballots from heavily Republican weighted areas.
— Roberta Cromlish, Stone Mountain
Dear Roberta: Let me congratulate you on writing in good fashion by using many of the core ideas that we hear from a certain element today. –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.
Gwinnett Place CID picks firm for mall strategy
The Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District’s (GPCID) board of directors recently announced that planning firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB) has been selected to lead the revitalization strategy of Gwinnett Place Mall site as part of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s $275,000 Livable Centers Initiative grant awarded earlier this year.
VHB is based in Watertown, Mass., and since 1979 has provided planning and engineering services with offices up and down the east coast, including Atlanta and Buford. VHB specializes in transportation planning and engineering, land development, planning and design, and environmental services.
For the Gwinnett Place Mall revitalization project, VHB is partnering with Atlas Technical Consultants, LLC of Austin, Tex.; Perez Planning + Design, LLC of Atlanta; Purpose Possible, LLC of Atlanta; Retail Development Strategies, LLC of Birmingham, Ala.; Van Meter Williams Pollack, LLP of San Francisco, Calif.; and the Center for Pan Asian Community Services of Atlanta.
In early June, a selection committee comprised of representatives from the Gwinnett Place CID, Gwinnett County government and the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) released a Request for Proposal seeking the development of a strategy to revitalize the Gwinnett Place Mall site. After a detailed 60 day review and scoring process of the consultant responses received from around the nation, the Gwinnett County/ARC/CID committee unanimously recommended the consultant team led by VHB. Then VHB assembled a team that is uniquely qualified with national-level expertise in successful mall redevelopment and identifying the best possible development opportunities for sites in transition.
Sugar Hill starts new department of public safety
The City of Sugar Hill has created a new Department of Public Safety and has hired Diane King, a 20-year Gwinnett County law enforcement veteran, to serve as the city’s first city marshal and director of the new department. King recently retired from the Gwinnett County Police Department. Her first day with the city will be October 4.
King
The new department will eventually have four additional officers and an administrative assistant. Its mission is community policing, coordinating city-wide emergency operations, and providing an enhanced level of public safety in downtown, parks, the greenway, and neighborhoods. The director will also coordinate the activities of the city’s new private security patrol contractor, Insight Protection Services (see below) and serve as the city’s liaison with the Gwinnett Police Department and area agencies. The Public Safety Director will be a direct report to the city manager.
“Sugar Hill is such a special place,” said Diane King. “I look forward to dedicating myself to the City of Sugar Hill as I have in year’s past to the Gwinnett County Police Department. There are so many things our residents, from toddlers to retirees, can do and I want to make sure all get to enjoy the investments this city has made to improve their quality of life.”
King enjoys spending time with her family, coaching fastpitch softball and running the Lanier Athletic Association softball program. She is also a member of Sugar Hill Church.
As of September 15th, Insight Protection Services (IPS) is serving as the city’s public safety patrol, replacing Plaza Security. During this transition, off-duty Gwinnett County police officers will continue to make downtown foot patrols in Sugar Hill during evenings and vehicle patrols after midnight.
The security company car telephone number is: 470-838-2992. Citizens will be able to call and talk directly to the IPS security officers while they are on duty.
Elisha Winn Fair to be held Oct. 2-3 near Dacula
Mark your calendars to visit the Elisha Winn Fair on Saturday, October 2, and Sunday, October 3 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Admission is $3 ($4 if charged) and children under 12 get in free. These funds go toward the Gwinnett Historical Society’s Winn House restoration account. The event will be at 908 Dacula Road, Dacula.
You can learn the history of where the first leaders of Gwinnett County were elected, held the first courts, while the recently ceded Indian lands were surveyed and laid out into land lots over 200 years ago.
You can learn about these leaders who chose the site for the creation of Gwinnett’s future seat of government in Lawrenceville, laid out our first roads, and chose the location of our courthouse.
You can visit the actual house and property where the first functions of Gwinnett County government took place. Gwinnett’s government functions were at the property and home of Elisha Winn. Gwinnett County was created by an act of the state legislature on December 15,1818 and named after Button Gwinnett, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Winn and other leaders were living in what was then Jackson County when the new county was created. Gwinnett Historical Society invites you to visit the site and home of Elisha Winn for a step back in time!
Gwinnett partners on Smart Corridor Deployment program
The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners is partnering with the Georgia Department of Transportation to fund and implement the Smart Corridor Deployment Program.
The program will deploy connected vehicle onboard units on Gwinnett County-owned vehicles, including emergency vehicles, transit buses and maintenance and construction vehicles. These efforts also will address connected vehicle applications at nearly 400 signalized intersections in the county.
Primary targets for the program include:
- Emergency vehicle preemption for Gwinnett County fire and emergency services vehicles based out of fire stations along and west of I-85 and along US 78 west of Snellville,
- Transit signal priority for Gwinnett County transit vehicles serving local routes, and
- Pedestrian presence alert following pushbutton activations at signalized intersections.
This agreement addresses connected vehicle technology in vehicles. The Board previously approved roadside units to be installed at 387 intersections as part of the state’s Regional Connected Vehicle Program starting in early 2022.
The Connected Vehicle Technology targets improved traffic safety by providing information on current road conditions and allowing for better traffic management. The goal is to improve mobility, and safety for all road users whether they are drivers, transit riders, first responders or pedestrians.
The Georgia Department of Transportation will fund 80 percent of the $2.6 million project that includes equipment and installation, and the County will provide a local match of 20 percent. Gwinnett County will be responsible for the ongoing maintenance and operation of the infrastructure.
Three groups commemorate 9/11 at Elisha Winn House
Beverly Paff (right), president of the Gwinnett Historical Society and member of the Philadelphia Winn Chapter DAR, explains to CAR members on the types of vegetables that were available during the Revolutionary War era.
The Elisha Winn Society, Children of the American Revolution (CAR) joined the Philadelphia Winn Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), and the Button Gwinnett Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of September 11 attack on the United States. The students learned how life changed in the country when hijacked planes were flown into the World Trade Center’s North and South Towers and the Pentagon, and how heroes prevented an attack on the Capitol building. The students also learned the importance of putting differences aside and uniting together as one, in support of the nation.
Following the 9/11 ceremony, these lineage-based community service organizations joined together for a Day of Service at the Elisha Winn House in Dacula, preparing the grounds for the annual Elisha Winn Fair on October 2-3. The new “Period Garden,” which contains vegetables and shrubs that would have been relevant during the Revolutionary War time frame, will be ready for fair attendees to visit. The CAR members are taught how they can make a difference in their community by volunteering their time and talents. Their acts of service, education programs, patriotism, all while having fun, will be highlighted at the Elisha Winn Fair on October 2.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Cul-De-Sac by Joy Fielding
From Karen J. Harris, Stone Mountain: The Cul-de-sac is home to five families each with a set of disturbing circumstances within their look-alike homes. Maggie and Craig are transplants from California escaping a dangerous event from which Maggie has not recovered. Heidi and Aiden are newlyweds dealing with a meddling mother-in-law who wants her son all to herself. Julia is an older widow with a grandson who has a weed habit and is a petty thief. Olivia and Sean are a seemingly stable and successful advertising couple until Sean is let go unexpectedly; and Nick and Dani are a star couple; a famous doctor and outstanding dentist living with an ugly secret. The tensions in each family build slowly behind the closed doors and fake smiles. A Fourth of July cookout is a catalyst for a shocking denouement. Gripping from the first page, this is a page-turner mystery-suspense yarn that will please Joy Fielding fans everywhere.
- 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
Rabbittown’s Miller became famous for his whirligigs
Photo via Georgia Encyclopedia.
R.A. Miller, a resident of Rabbittown, an unincorporated community north of Gainesville, was one of the state’s enduring self-taught artists, noted for his “whirligigs,” or metal cutout figures, and drawings, which typically feature animal or human figures and short inspirational messages. The best of his flat cutouts and drawn figures recall the expressive economy of such self-taught artists as Bill Traylor of Alabama.
Born on July 22, 1912, on the property where he lived for most of his life, Reuben Aaron Miller worked in cotton mills, farmed, and served as a preacher for the Free Will Baptist Church. When chronic eye problems began to limit Miller’s activities, he started making whirligigs to pass the time.
Although Miller’s early whirligigs sometimes featured mechanical figures, most were decorated with flat animal or human shapes, cut from tin and painted in enamel. Miller typically attached these cutouts to horizontal wooden supports, ranging from standard two-by-two lumber to salvaged furniture arms and legs. Tin paddles were cut, painted, and attached to wooden cross forms or bicycle wheels to provide surfaces for the wind to catch.
By the mid-1980s Miller’s yard was a spectacle—a hilltop field of hundreds of spinning windmills. His animated environment attracted frequent visitors, including Athens rock group R.E.M., who in 1984, with painter and filmmaker James Herbert, filmed a 20-minute video, Left of Reckoning, on Miller’s hilltop.
After folk-art dealers and collectors began to purchase Miller’s inexpensive whirligigs in large quantities, the artist started to make and sell cutout figures independent of the whirligigs. The best of Miller’s tin cutouts are gracefully abstracted and animated in gesture. His animal images range from bluebirds, chickens, pigs, and snakes to a variety of dinosaur types, inspired by nature programs on television. Human figures include red devils, angels, such American cultural icons as Uncle Sam and Elvis Presley, and less well-defined characters that sport hats, cigars, or red claws. Miller’s most frequent image is a figure emblazoned with the words “Blow Oskar,” a reference to the artist’s cousin, who would blow his car horn while driving past Miller’s property.
Cutout shapes of churches, American flags, and crosses decorated with birds and angels also figure heavily in Miller’s work. In later years Miller’s popularity, combined with his failing eyesight, forced him to rely on assistants to paint his cutouts.
In addition to whirligigs and cutouts, Miller produced paintings and drawings in enamel or marker on masonite. These works include similar human figures, animals, and dinosaurs, which share space with such short inspirational messages as “Lord Love You” and are surrounded by simple decorative borders.
Miller’s work has been included in such exhibitions as Outside the Mainstream: Folk Art in Our Time at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta (1988) and Passionate Visions of the American South at the New Orleans Museum of Art in Louisiana (October 1993-January 1994). Further exhibitions, the inclusion of his work in museums’ permanent collections, and articles in such international publications as Raw Vision have contributed to Miller’s status as an elder statesman among Georgia’s self-taught artists.
In 2004 Miller lost his sight to an eye infection and moved to a nursing home in Commerce, where he died in March 2006. The month before his death, an exhibition of his work entitled R. A. Miller: A Tribute opened at the Brenau University Galleries.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Circular concrete structure is unique; where is it?
Today’s Mystery Photo is a round concrete structure, something unique. All we ask is for you to identify its location and what it is. Send your answer to elliott@brack.net, and include your hometown.
What we thought would be an easy Mystery Photo was only spotted by five people. George Graf of Palmyra, Va. quickly emailed: “It’s the Wings of Mexico Sculpture, Falls Park on the Reedy, Greenville, S.C.” He was right. The beautifully framed photograph came from Cindy Evans of Duluth.
Others recognizing the photo were Billy Chism, Toccoa; Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; Lou Camerio of Lilburn; and Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex.
Peel gave more detail: “Today’s mystery photo is of one of several replicas of the 2010 ‘Wings of Mexico’ bronze sculpture created by renowned Mexican sculptor, Jorge Marín. This sculpture allows visitors to become part of the artwork by positioning themselves in the center of the wings, and thereby becoming part of the sculpture, which represents a universal symbol of freedom and hope. This sculpture is just one of nine pieces created by Marín that are on display at the Falls Park on the Reedy in Greenville, S.C.
“The original “Wings of Mexico” sculpture was displayed in front of Mexico City’s National Anthropology Museum, the largest and most visited museum in Mexico. Since that time, replicas of this artwork have been part of a number of traveling exhibits around the world, including permanent installations in Dubai, Singapore, Madrid, Berlin, and Nagoya (in Japan). Heck, as shown in the attached panoramic photo (that I took in February, 2019), it even has found a permanent home in front of the Tower of Americas in downtown San Antonio, my hometown.”
A new roundabout is opening in Suwanee on the city’s southside on Buford Highway at Russell Street. It opened September 10, having had an earlier estimated completion date of 2022. It was paid for by the City of Suwanee using dedicated city funds and a grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission.
The first town hall meeting of the Gwinnett County Police Citizens Advisory Board will be Tuesday, September 21 at 6 p.m. to give residents an opportunity to meet board members, hear from the chief of police and make their voice heard about public safety in Gwinnett. The advisory board was established earlier this year to act as a liaison between the Gwinnett Police Department and residents to enhance public safety within the community. Residents are invited to submit comments for the meeting in person or online by visiting GCGA.us/PCATownhall. The meeting will be held in the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center Auditorium, located at 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville.
Picnic with the police in Braselton on September 28, from 5-8 p.m. on the Braselton Town Green. Come out and meet the members of the Braselton Police Department and enjoy a meal with them. The West Jackson Fire Department will also be bringing their fire trucks to the event.
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