GwinnettForum | Number 21.97 | Dec. 14, 2021
CHECK OUT the Christmas light show at Lawrenceville Methodist Campground. Drive out to 700 Braselton Highway (Georgia Highway 324) and take in this colorful extravaganza at the Lawrenceville Methodist Campground. Roving Photographer Frank Sharp sent back this photo of the large and colorful Christmas show against the dark background.
TODAY’S FOCUS: It’s un-American to hold 700,000 “Dreamers” in limbo
EEB PERSPECTIVE: The status of the newspaper industry is far from its best days
SPOTLIGHT: Comet National Shipping
FEEDBACK: Here’s one family’s ways to simplify Yule gift giving
UPCOMING: Gwinnett opens glass recycling center at Pinckneyville Park
NOTABLE: Duluth resident publishes book about the Summerour family
RECOMMENDED: The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Menaboni’s exhibitions in Georgia continue years after his death
MYSTERY PHOTO: Tell us where you think this Statue of Liberty is located
LAGNIAPPE: Worldwide photo exhibit now underway at Duluth Public Library
It’s un-American to hold 700,000 “Dreamers” in limbo
“These aren’t people. These are animals.” – President Trump, in 2018, in reference to undocumented Mexican immigrants
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | As of 2017, there were nearly 700,000 “Dreamers.” These “Dreamers” are undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. They are named after the Dream Act, which was first introduced into Congress 20 years ago (and reintroduced numerous times since), but never passed because of opposition from Republicans.
It would have provided a path to citizenship for these Dreamers. Instead, we have had these law-abiding, hardworking individuals…many of whom only know life as an American… constantly afraid of being deported.
In view of this abominable situation, in 2012, President Obama issued an Executive Order which protected them from deportation via the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA) policy. Specifically, although there was no path to citizenship, Dreamers could apply for a work permit every two years. The permit would be granted if they met specific criteria, which included having a clean legal record. President Trump abolished the program, although his action was stopped by the Supreme Court. President Joe Biden has since reinstated the original policy.
Historically, the USA’s immigration policy has always been controversial, hypocritical and the subject of internal political debate. The USA is a nation of immigrants, although many of us forget that basic fact. For example, despite his anti-immigrant statements like the one above, Donald Trump’s mother and two of his wives are immigrants.
In fact, the USA has a long history of racism and discrimination in its immigration policies. Up until 1965, there was a “national origins” system that prevented much Asian and Latino immigration.
The 1965 revision to our immigration laws tracked with the civil rights legislation also enacted at that time. Since then, our immigration has become much more Asian and Latino. The proportion from Europe has fallen dramatically.
When a Republican President, George W. Bush proposed a logical and comprehensive immigration blueprint, his own party refused to back him. Now, the national situation has become much worse. Because immigrants tend to vote for Democrats, the entire issue has become increasingly politicized.
Which gets us back to the Dreamers’ issue. According to a 2020 poll, nearly three fourths of Americans favor granting Dreamers permanent legal status. Even 54 percent of Republicans agree. The question then becomes, “What’s holding Dreamer’s legislation up?”
Until the more moderate elements of the Republicans in Congress can stand up to the pro-Trump elements, there will be no resolution of this issue. These Dreamers are Americans just like the rest of us in every sense of the word, except for birth on our shores. They continue to be in a state of fear and anticipation, afraid of deportation if Donald Trump or a like-minded person is elected president.
That’s un-American in my view, to hold these people in limbo. Apparently most Americans agree, and the reason our Congress needs to accept humanity and reality, and give them a chance to become American citizens.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Status of the newspaper industry is far from its best days
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
DEC. 14, 2021 | People often ask me about the status of newspapers in our country. However, I am no expert, but I have spent a life in the business, and know others are seeing newspapers decline is not what they were expecting.
The Internet has dried up tremendous revenues for newspapers. But newspaper management has also contributed to this down-sizing. However, lucky for local readers, the Atlanta newspapers continue to put out a far better newspaper than you see in some cities, such as Cincinnati, or Denver or New Orleans.
What many readers are seeing in their daily newspaper is the lack of extensive coverage and significant news that the newspapers have produced in the past. There’s a good reason for it: most newspapers have drastically cut their staffs, eliminating in the early round small jobs that you as a reader would not notice. But by about the third round of cuts, they were losing the collective nucleus of the better-paid staff, the institutional memory of the newspaper, and readers noticed.
Give the lower-paid and replacement young reporters a story to follow, these newcomers did not have the long-term contacts that a good newspaper needs. They stumbled around about a story, often overlooking core ideas in stories, and readers noticed.
So, with a smaller staff and pages to fill, newspapers started using more and more wire stories ( and photos) from afar. Instead of having more local news, they relied upon more news away from home, from the Associated Press or other sources like the New York Times or Washington Post. (This in essence, was second day news the local paper had not covered when the stories broke in other papers.)
Take a community like Gwinnett and look at newspapering. The Gwinnett Daily Post has faded to only twice a week, and offers scant coverage outside of public relations handouts. The Atlanta newspaper has only at most 3-4 reporters to cover the 950,000 people in Gwinnett! Can you imagine? It’s not that news isn’t happening here. It’s that it is not being covered.
Meanwhile, the AJC collaborates with Savannah, having a full page of stories from Chatham County from time to time. These stories come to them for free when giving credit to their “partnership” with the Savannah Morning News.
But news coverage for much of the Metro Atlanta area? It’s getting to be much like television coverage: following the ambulances and police cars and producing “blood and guts” journalism, while ignoring significant developments all around you.
Do we need to report every wreck or shooting?
Another way to cut costs and fill pages is to have a single, long, long story on a page. Shorter stories cost reporters to cover them. Hence, longer stories win out, often accompanying by another cost cutter: large photographs. Again, gone is solid, significant coverage of local stories, because of fewer stories and longer stories.
Granted that the Internet and social media have taken away revenue sources, and even the immediacy of news. But outside forces are not the only pressures on newspapers. There has been the growing development of ownership of newspapers by those outside the local community, often conglomerates and chain newspapers. These massive firms and hedge funds purchase newspapers to drain them of their assets, while enriching the outside owners, and leaving the community with a puny newspaper and no local input.
There is an effort to introduce tax credits for local newspapers to provide them with revenue to keep going. It’s a federal bill and it’s so far moving along well. But it is yet to pass, and may come too late for many newspapers.
Is there hope for local daily newspapers? We see little, unless more innovative techniques are found. It’s not necessarily a happy story.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Comet National Shipping
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- For a list of other sponsors of this forum, click here.
Here’s one family’s ways to simplify Yule gift giving
Recently I read of a couple who decided to simplify Christmas gift-giving. Each family member would get four gifts: something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read.
This seemed like a good idea and I thought I’d pass it on.
– John Titus, Peachtree Corners
Dear John: Attaboy! This idea is a far cry from the days when an orange and a pair of socks were significant gifts. –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 opens second glass recycling center
Gwinnett residents can now recycle glass at another location in Gwinnett.
Gwinnett County and Waste Pro USA, Inc., have expanded their drop-off glass recycling program to Pinckneyville Park, which began December 10.
This is the second drop-off glass recycling location that the county will offer through its pilot program. The first site, located in the parking lot of OneStop Norcross at 5030 Georgia Belle Court in Norcross, opened in October and has already diverted 4.2 tons of mixed glass from landfills.
Residents can drop off their clean, empty glass containers at Pinckneyville Park, located at 4758 South Old Peachtree Road in Peachtree Corners. The drop-off container is located by the baseball complex and is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Glass dropped off at both locations will be hauled to Strategic Materials, Inc., a large glass recycler in the Atlanta area.
Acceptable glass items include clear and colored food and beverage bottles and jars. Frequently asked questions about glass recycling can be found on GwinnettCB.org/Glass-Recycling.
Duluth resident publishes book about Summerour family
Summerour
A book about early settlers in Georgia has been published. It is Germany to Georgia: Ten Generations of an American Family by Charles Summerour of Duluth. It chronicles the journey of the Summerour family from the colonial days of 1748 to the present day. It consists of 132 pages.
Told largely in story form with sprinkles of genealogy to honor ancestors, the journey goes from their arrival in Philadelphia to pioneer times in North Carolina to their move to Georgia in the 1820s.
The third and fourth generations were involved in gold mining during the gold rush in Georgia in the 1830s and the California gold rush of the late 1840s. The gold rush provided the family with the wealth to later become large landowners and well-known farmers in then Milton County, Ga., now known as Johns Creek. With the eventual decline of farming the family established both farms and businesses in Gwinnett County, especially in and around Duluth, which would provide the impetus and means to transition the later generations to more profitable life opportunities.
While the story of the family will be of primary interest to the Summerour family, the history accounts provide insights into the times which made the family a true representation of how demanding and how rewarding the opportunities they found and prospered from along the way. The family characteristics and traits made them models for others to follow and learning about them, made compiling their story a great experience in itself.
The book is published by Stories to Tell. The cost is $15 and is available from Summerour and also available at Amazon.
EMC offers $1,000 Harrison Scholarship
Jackson Electric Membership Cooperative (EMC) is accepting applications for the annual Walter Harrison Scholarship, which provides $1,000 for academic expenses to students pursuing post-secondary education at Georgia colleges and technical schools. Applicants must be accepted, or enrolled currently, as a full- or part-time student, at any accredited two- or four-year university, college, or vocational-technical institute in Georgia. Student applicants must live in a primary residence served by Jackson EMC.
The scholarship is merit-based, and students are evaluated on financial need, grade point average, SAT scores, academic standing, scholastic honors and community involvement. Applicants must complete an application and submit a biographical sketch with educational goals.
To receive an application, students should contact their school guidance counselor or visit www.jacksonemc.com/walterharrisonscholarship. Four,teen students across Georgia will be awarded scholarships, which are sponsored by Georgia’s 41 electric cooperatives. Completed applications are due by February 1, 2022.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt
From Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill: Orange flames streak the cold evening sky and terrify all who see them. It is January 29, 1996, in Venice, Italy, and once again fire is gutting the city’s historic La Fenice. The City of Falling Angels, a book of nonfiction, begins and ends with the story of this famous opera house fire. But in between the ongoing fire saga, the author fills the pages with stories about the city’s colorful inhabitants and their tensions, grudges, feuds, backbiting, corruption and gossip. He also talks a good deal about American expats Ezra Pound and Peggy Guggenheim who lived much of their lives in Venice. He goes to great lengths to describe the decay of the city and doesn’t really show Venice in its best light. I would only recommend this book for people who don’t mind seeing the underbelly of Venice or who are really interested in all stories about Italy.
- 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
Menaboni’s exhibitions in Georgia continue years after death
(From previous edition)
Sara Regina Arnold and Athos Menaboni, a childless couple, longed for a place of their own, surrounded by nature. In 1939 the couple purchased a six-acre parcel in Sandy Springs, where they built first an aviary and then, in 1942, a house. Their property was known as Valle Ombrosa (“Shady Valley”), after the village Vallombrosa, Italy, where Menaboni had spent summers as a child.
In 1937, during a lull in commissioned work, Menaboni had time to paint from memory a cardinal, which was inspired by the work of John James Audubon and Menaboni’s own careful observations of the bird in nature. This single painting opened a new avenue of work for Menaboni when Molly Aeck, a visiting interior decorator and friend, saw the painting and sold it to a client.
Menaboni eventually obtained federal and state permits to capture rare and protected species in the aviary at Valle Ombrosa in order to study them. In his pursuit of accuracy Menaboni occasionally studied carcasses of birds and specimens in museum collections, but he preferred to capture an animal’s distinct personality by observing it in nature. Using thin layers of oil paints to create a translucent quality—a technique he referred to as his “undercoat method”—he painted on wood, silk, canvas, and glass.
The height of Menaboni’s career occurred during the 1940s and 1950s, when he created yearly Christmas cards for Robert Woodruff, president of the Coca-Cola Company. His work appeared in advertisements and magazines, which led to the publication in 1950 of the book Menaboni’s Birds, with illustrations by Menaboni and text by his wife. He also illustrated the American bird article in The World Book Encyclopedia in 1957, and his work was exhibited widely during this time.
His lithograph American Bald Eagle is included in Georgia’s State Art Collection.
Menaboni died on July 18, 1990, from complications of a stroke. His wife died on August 10, 1993. The couple left their estate to Callaway Gardens. The largest archive of Menaboni papers and possessions is located in the Troup County Archives in LaGrange, and Menaboni collections are also found at both the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University in Atlanta, and the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Exhibitions honoring Menaboni’s life and art continue to be mounted across Georgia. The Zuckerman Museum of Art at Kennesaw State University, a frequent exhibitor, has one of the largest collections of Menaboni’s work in the country. Other recent exhibitions have been held at the Albany Museum of Art, Berry College in Rome, and on Jekyll Island. In 2016 a permanent exhibition, Athos Menaboni: Nature in its Transcendent Detail, opened at Callaway Gardens.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Tell us where you think this Statue of Liberty is located
Replicas of the Statue of Liberty can be found in many places in the United States. A half-size replica can be seen in Brooklyn, New York at its Art Museum. This photograph is not in Brooklyn. So, can you identify where this particular Statue of Liberty is located? Send your answers to elliott@brack.net and include your hometown.
Growing up in Macon, perhaps Lou Camerio of Lilburn had a slight advantage when competing in the last Mystery Photo contest. He correctly identified the Newton Chapel on the campus at Mercer University in Macon. The structure was once known as Tattnall Square Baptist Church before Mercer purchased the building as an additional chapel. The photograph came from the Mercer public relations department.
Others recognizing the photo were Robert Foreman, Grayson; Jim Savadelis, Duluth; George Graf of Palmyra, Va. and Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. Peel wrote: “The chapel was named in honor of Louie De Vote Newton (1892 -1986), a Baptist minister, author, vice president of the Baptist World Alliance, as well as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1947–1948. The structure was originally built in 1894. It is most famous for its Plunkett-Sewell Memorial Organ, a 52-rank tracker pipe organ made by Holtkamp and commissioned by the Plunkett-Sewell family. It is, in fact, one of the largest organs of its kind on the Eastern Seaboard, and is responsible for establishing Mercer University as a center for organ performance and teaching.”
Worldwide artistic photography of Frank Sharp on exhibit
An exhibition of the worldwide photographic work of Frank Sharp of Lawrenceville is currently on display at the Duluth branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library. The exhibition will continue to hang until January 21, 2022.
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