GwinnettForum | Number 21.26 | April 8, 2022
DR. KATHRYN DEELEY discusses findings with students Caleb White, Ginger Perdue and Stephanie Escobar-Argueta. She and students from Georgia Gwinnett College are seeking to out what happened to 18 people from the 19th Century at a farm west of Athens. For more details, see Notable below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Care Partners in Life and Now with Alzheimer’s
EEB PERSPECTIVE: The Government is considering regulating how we keep time
SPOTLIGHT: Walton Gas
FEEDBACK: By deploying camera systems, maybe our area is catching up
UPCOMING: Snellville announces bands and dates of 2022 concert series
NOTABLE: GGC team searching for missing people—from years ago
RECOMMENDED: Dictionary of Words and Phrases by William Morris and Mary Morris
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Georgia playwright has knack for delighting mainstream audiences
MYSTERY PHOTO: Perhaps these buildings can give you a clue to this Mystery
CALENDAR: Reclaim Gwinnett Place Mall Block Party will be Saturday, April 9
Care partners in life, and now with Alzheimer’s
Rick and Sandy Krause at Aialik Bay, Alaska. Photos provided.
(Editor’s note: One family’s life has changed, as Alzheimer’s entered their lives. We asked Rick Krause to tell us how it has affected his and Sandy’s life. Through it all, they both remain positive, grateful and even happy. Rick’s explanation, we hope, can give others a path for the future. –eeb
By Rick Krause
LILBURN, Ga. | Sandy and I have been married nearly 52 years, no children, and we are generally inseparable in our life and activities. We enjoy traveling, chiefly road trips in North America, but numerous trips internationally. We like sightseeing, camping, backpacking, birding, botanizing; and hobbies, collecting, reading, sports, and more.
It has now been about five years that I have been caregiving for Sandy, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2016. Understandably, the level of my caregiving was practically nonexistent near the beginning and increased as her memory and functioning declined as the disease progressed.
Rick and Sandy Krause on Amtrak near Tucson.
Our first indication of memory problems occurred in 2011 during a trip to the Florida Keys and Everglades. Sandy, like me an avid birder, failed to come up with the name of the osprey, a bird she knew and recognized well. This and subsequent occurrences led us to believe that it was more than normal aging and “old age forgetfulness”. Her diagnosis: “Neurodegenerative Dementia consistent with Alzheimer’s Disease” in 2016.
We have shared the journey of life, but each doing their part on a 50-50 basis. Our journey is now changing and the shared components are probably about 80-20 today, but that varies from day to day. To clarify, my “caregiving” is actually “care partnering,” as Sandy still cares for some activities for me or both of us.
Caregiving, as it relates to my 80 percent portion, is a combination of routine chore-like, homemaker duties and responsibilities, administrative and scheduling, medication maintenance, home and yard maintenance, finances, shopping, meal preparation, appointments, computer activities, and more. My caregiving is spousal; I have no training for this; but I’m learning. Her ever-changing behavior presents ongoing challenges for me; what worked one day often is not applicable the following day; there are always changes. Although Sandy is limited in her abilities, I encourage her to do those things that she can, and thank her for doing so, as that maintains a sense of purpose for her.
My caregiving also includes providing emotional comfort. That is the hardest part. When we are together, I try to be “where she is.” Doing so increases her comfort and reduces confusion. I try to have empathy, compassion, acceptance, and patience and tolerance. I’ll read from a variety of books and magazines aloud, as she can no longer read. I’ll bring up YouTube programs, webinars, and music. We’ll look through photo albums. we’ll participate in support group sessions online and in person. And we still visit parks, take hikes, work in our yard, a wildlife sanctuary, that she and I love.
We live life on life’s terms, accept life as it is today, stay in the moment, and avoid fear and worry of the future. Having no hope for a miracle or timely cure, abatement, or remission, we don’t waste emotional energy on such false hopes and unfounded expectations, and thus can accept life and live in the day. And through all this, in spite of this disease, Sandy (and I) have remained positive, grateful, and even happy, as she (and I) navigate our journey.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
The government is considering regulating how we keep time
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
APRIL 8, 2022 | So, what’s your take on how we should keep the time?
Do you like the idea of “Spring Forward” and then “Fall Back?”
How to count the time is controversial. The timing question has strong advocates among us for both sides.
Now the U.S. Senate has jumped into this fray. If the Senators had their way, our country would be permanently on what we now call Daylight Saving Time. On March 15, the Senate passed legislation that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent starting in 2023. No longer would we have to move our clocks forward, then a few months, move them backwards in the four standard time zones.
It’s confusing. After being on the ball about changing our clocks for years, this year we fouled up. I moved the clock hands the wrong way a few weeks ago, awakening to find the sun shining brightly, instead of the darkness I had expected. I immediately recognized what I had done. And by then it was too late to attend our regular early church.
The recent Senate action, which must be approved by the House of Representatives and signed by the president to go into effect, will give us more sunshine late in the day. But that will be for all 12 months of the year, so that some people will have to get up when it is really dark each winter, up perhaps 2-3 hours before dawn. Some call that a drawback in the winter for this idea.
What time the sun rises is a problem all around the world. In 2019 the European Union voted to allow its member countries to choose whether to adopt saving time throughout the year. But the countries could not agree which time to adopt, and then came the pandemic, so Europe doesn’t give us direction.
While the United States changes its clock twice-annually, two states do not: Arizona and Hawaii. They remain on standard time. So does Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Countries cannot change time easily. Britain in 1968 set its time permanently forward. But the people balked and raised a ruckus, and by 1971, Britain was back changing their clocks twice a year.
Some people seek compromise, wanting eight months of “saving time,” and four months of standard time. But that still means switching twice a year.
Another proposal would make two time zones, east and west, in the United States. That would mean lots of unusual sun risings for people at the edges of the time zones.
We think we have problems with time? How about mainland China?
China is 3,100 miles wide, west to east. The USA is 2,800 miles wide. Whereas the United States has four time zones, China does it differently: the whole country runs on Beijing Time, that is, one time zone.
With Beijing closer to its eastern border, that means those in China on the western edges of the country are four to five hours behind the time the sun rises in Beijing. You’re talking about those western Chinese being really out of sync! Something like this can be serious!
We suspect the people of our country are split on the time question. But that might not stop the Federal Government stepping in and telling us what time it is, regardless of the sun.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Walton Gas
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By deploying camera systems, maybe our area is catching up
Editor, the Forum:
That was an Interesting article on the Flock camera system. Are we now catching up with the rest of the world with camera surveillance? This is nothing new other than being deployed here.
Try walking around any other major city in the world and see if you get more than three blocks without a camera monitoring the streets and sidewalks.
What happened to civil liberties and big brother watching over us? Wait for the protesters to read about this. Personally, I like reduced crime and have no problem being watched if I am not doing anything wrong.
– Dan Mackaben, Lawrenceville
Finds himself in agreement with one Bernard idea
Editor, the Forum:
There are few things I agree on with Jack Bernard, but that former president Donald Trump is destroying sitting governor Brian Kemp’s re-election campaign is one of them.
But Jack’s repetition of ‘The big lie’ just rattles my cage. In my view the ‘big lie’ was a multi-tiered assault at U.S. democracy. The Russia hoax was the first thrust and was a blatant attempt to subvert democracy both before and after the election. It denied the fairly elected president his full office due to investigations and impeachments. Those involved including several FBI officials, Hillary Clinton, Rep. Adam Schiff, various MSNBC and CNN employees. They should be serving time in my opinion.
The unvalidated mail-in paper ballots were another part of the ‘big lie’ as they alone determined the election outcome. The election was, in my view, invalid simply on the basis of introducing a significant change to the voting system just before the election without the voters being able to approve it, without it being publicly debated, and without the state’s legislators approving it. It should have been discussed and approved on the ballot in the current cycle for use in the next cycle. The existing absentee ballot mechanism was more than sufficient to address the COVID concerns.
All that being said, I think that if Democrats would have resisted the urge to subvert democracy and allow Donald Trump his presidency, that the outcome might have been the same as many such as myself were not pleased with his actual policies.
– Joe Briggs, Suwanee
Dear Joe: What’s this? Donald Trump didn’t serve as president? I missed that. –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.
Snellville announces bands and dates of 2022 concert series
The Snellville Towne Green will once again be rocking as Experience Snellville presents four free high-energy concerts this year. The concerts take place from 6-9 p.m. on the Towne Green in front of City Hall, 2342 Oak Road. Attendees are urged to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets. Beer, wine and food will be available for purchase.
Reserved tables for eight people are available for $160. Tables are limited to a first-come, first-served basis. You can reserve tables online at experiencesnellville.com.
The line-up shows:
- May 28: Queen Nation.
- July 23: Chi-Town Transit Authority.
- August 20: Departure.
- Sept. 24: Uptown Funk
Deadline to register to vote in 2022 primary is April 25
Deadline to register to vote in the primary is April 25. The primary is May 24 with the runoff June 21. To register in Georgia, you must be at least 18 on Election Day, a U.S. citizen, and a legal resident of the county you’re voting in. To check your registration status, download a registration application, view sample ballots, and locate your polling place, visit MVP.SOS.GA.gov
GGC team searching for missing people — from years ago
At least 18 people have gone missing on a bucolic farm 30 minutes west of Athens, and Dr. Kathryn Deeley, assistant professor of anthropology at Georgia Gwinnett College, and her students aim to find them.
The farm in question is the William Harris Homestead, a 19th-century farm owned by the same family since 1836 that’s now a museum and education center. The missing people are the enslaved people owned by the Harris family, who lived and worked the farm for decades before the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
Deeley says: “We know through census data that between 1840 and 1860, the Harris family owned between 10 and 18 individuals, and they lived on the site in as few as one, and possibly as many as three, cabins.”
The quarters where enslaved people lived were typically small and not built to last, said Deeley, so the record of these people’s existence was buried over time and all but erased. Deeley and her students set out to find them in 2017, with the full support of the William Harris Homestead Museum and the Harris family.
“Unfortunately, the enslaved people’s quarters are one of the things not intact on the site, which is typical for 19th-century farms,” she says. “Most of them were torn down in the early 20th century.”
Deeley’s team started with a metal detector survey of the property, which was unsuccessful, so the next step was to simply begin digging — one hole every 10 feet, using a map hand-drawn by one of the Harris family descendants. It’s slow, methodical work. So far, 28 students and two faculty members from GGC, 14 undergraduate and two graduate students from the University of Georgia, and three volunteers from the Gwinnett Archeological Research Society have expended their time and sweat to the project over 10 total days of excavations since 2018.
Deeley says they are literally hoping to find trash — glass, dishes, animal bones, etc. — because trash piles can signal more significant archeological features like the footings of buildings.
“It’s a wonderful thing about archaeology,” Deeley says. “Not everybody makes it into the history books. I’m not cool enough to make it into a history book. But everybody makes trash, allowing us to recover these lost histories.”
The team finished testing the first area in which Deeley was interested in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the project to be postponed for two years. GGC student Julia Barnett, a sophomore studying political science, joined the project at the beginning of the 2022 school year.
“Excavations are a very intricate and invigorating process, with many precise methods and tools,” says Barnett. “Dr. Deeley has been an incredible professor and mentor out in the field. Participating in the excavation on site has made me feel like I’m not only preserving history but taking part in it. I’ve enjoyed my time on the homestead excavation so much that I’m changing my career path and major to archaeology.”
One of Deeley’s big dreams for the project is to unearth enough of the enslaved people’s stories to track down descendants.
Deeley adds: It’s emotional, because these people have been forgotten, and we want them to be remembered.”
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Dictionary of Words and Phrases by William Morris and Mary Morris
From Raleigh Perry, Buford: Unless you are mesmerized by words, as I am, I would not waste my time with this book. The authors seemed to be hung up on H. L. Mencken with about 30 references to him as a source. I read his book on American Language about 40 years ago and was not impressed. I did find one word for which I have a thousand places to use, though. SOPHOPHOBIA is an aversion to wisdom or learning, from the Greek “sophia” which means wisdom and “phobos” which means fear. It is oft said that the Greeks had a word for everything, this one fills in a blank I had. The word probably will not appear in your dictionary, so Google it.
- 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
Playwright has knack for delighting mainstream audiences
(From previous edition)
Playwright Lauren Gunderson, born in Decatur, has a knack for writing scripts that delight mainstream theatergoers—a gift best evidenced by Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (2016), an original sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, cowritten with Margot Melcon.
In addition to her comedic fare and her many works exploring scientific history, Gunderson has also become known for her political engagement. After the 2016 presidential election, Gunderson organized free, nationwide readings of her feminist political commentary, The Taming (2013). An irreverent rejoinder to the Bard’s The Taming of the Shrew and one of four productions that compose her Shakespeare cycle, the play appeared in more than 40 cities on Inauguration Day 2017, raising generous sums for progressive causes. The following year, she launched a campaign against gun violence, organizing free, public readings of her one-woman show Natural Shocks in theaters across the country.
Gunderson returned to The Kennedy Center in 2019 with Earthrise, a commissioned children’s musical, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s lunar landing. Peter Pan and Wendy, her adaptation of the J.M. Barrie classic, premiered later that same year at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.
Though best known for her plays, Gunderson has published a wide variety of works, including short stories, poems, and columns, and lectures regularly on the intersection of art and science. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, renowned virologist Nathan Wolfe, and their two children.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Perhaps these buildings can give you a clue to this Mystery
This edition’s Mystery Photo has few distinguishing clues, and features a town with prosperous buildings. Try to figure out where this photograph was taken. Send your answers to ellott@brack.net, and include your hometown.
Fran Worrall of Lawrenceville nailed the last Mystery Photo. She writes: “It’s Whites Chapel AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Church, located in Haralson County, Ga., near Tallapoosa. Built in 1907, the chapel is a symbol of the sweeping post-Civil War changes that affected Georgia and the South. After emancipation, formerly enslaved people began to form their own churches, which quickly became both the social and spiritual centers of their lives. This little church was formed as the result of a migration from small farms to emerging centers of commerce like Tallapoosa, which was located near the railroad and the Tallapoosa River.
“Its extraordinary design included a suspended ceiling, gently curved walls, metal shingles on the belltower, and Gothic windows (most likely made and installed by members of the congregation). The chapel served as a spiritual home to generations of African Americans, all of whom are likely deceased. Sadly, the structure, which was abandoned in the 1980s, collapsed last summer.
“The AME denomination grew out of the Free African Society (FAS), which was established in Philadelphia in 1787. Prior to the Civil War, the church’s growth was confined to the Northeast and Midwest. Later, AME churches were established throughout the South and even internationally. By 1880, AME membership had reached more than 400,000, and today, the denomination has members in 39 countries on five continents.” She adds: “I continue to enjoy every issue of the Forum!”
The photo came from George Graf of Palmyra, Va. Two other spotters, Lou Camerio of Lilburn and Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. also recognized the photo. Peel adds another element to the story: “A brief article about this chapel can be found at the Historic Rural Churches website here. The article also includes some photos from inside the church, as well as what the structure looked like (see attached photo at right) shortly after it collapsed.”
Gwinnett Place Mall’s Reclaim Gwinnett Place Mall Block Party will be Saturday, April 9 from noon to 4 p.m. This is the final engagement opportunity for the mall’s equitable redevelopment strategies. During the block party, attendees will have an opportunity to share feedback about the strategies, learn what happens next, and celebrate a successful community-driven process. Its community partners will also offer programming and food for free. Cantonese, Korean, Spanish, Mandarin, and Vietnamese interpreters will be onsite. Register at GCGA.us/BlockParty.
Gwinnett Democratic Women will have a virtual Candidate Forum on Saturday, April 9 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. This will allow candidates to tell who they are, the positions they are running for, why they are running and where they stand on issues. Pre-registration is required. Day of the event registration is not available. Register for this forum at www.gwinnettdemocraticwomen.org/events/.
Georgia Public Broadcasting will show the film, A President in our Midst at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 10. This is a documentary on President Franklin D. Roosevelt while in Georgia.
Public meeting in Mountain Park with the Gwinnett Department of Water Resources. It will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14 (sign in at 6:30 p.m.) at the Mountain Park Aquatic Center, 1063 Rockbridge Road in Mountain Park. Tyler Richards, director of the department, will speak about the responsibilities of the department, including how septic tanks might be upgraded to sewers in the area. John Butler will speak about residential septic systems, and how to maintain them.
Earth Day: Recycle your electronics, paint, tires, and paper on Saturday, April 23 from 9 a.m. until noon at Coolray Field, located at 2500 Buford Drive in Lawrenceville. Attendees must remain in their vehicles at all times. Items to be recycled should be placed in the trunk or back of vehicle where they will be removed by vendors. Materials should be placed in disposable containers or boxes as containers will not be returned. This annual Earth Day event is brought to you by Gwinnett Solid Waste Management and Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful. For full details, visit GCSolidWaste.com.
Take Back Initiative: The Gwinnett Police department is partnering with the Drug Enforcement Administration for the National Take Back Initiative on Saturday, April 30 to provide a safe and convenient way to drop off unused and expired medications. Tablets, capsules, patches, and other forms of prescription drugs can be dropped off at Police Headquarters and six precincts from 10 a. m. until 2 p.m. for proper disposal. Liquids, syringes, sharps, and other drugs will not be accepted. Find a collection site near you.
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