GwinnettForum | Number 21.76 | Oct. 11, 2022
WHAT A GORGEOUS VIEW this is, a sculpture adorning the background across an extensive lawn. This is today’s Mystery Photo. See if you can determine where this photograph was taken. For more details, see Mystery Photo below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Sculptor Olu Amoda wins $50,000 Hudgens art prize
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Now the newspaper, too, resorting to blood-and-guts journalism
ANOTHER VIEW: Volunteering for Naval assignments turned out OK
SPOTLIGHT: Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful
FEEDBACK: She’s no fan of any spider, and especially of Joros
UPCOMING: Classes in Lilburn offer job training in construction skills
NOTABLE: Classes in Lilburn offers job training in construction skills
RECOMMENDED: How We Win the Civil War by Steve Philips
GEORGIA TIDBIT: It’s apple time in the Georgia mountains near Ellijay
MYSTERY PHOTO: Flying horse sculpture provides mystery for this edition
LAGNIAPPE: New officers take office for Snellville Historical Society
CALENDAR: Picnic with the police on the Braselton Town Green on October 13 from 5-8 p.m.
Sculptor Olu Amoda wins $50,000 Hudgens art prize
Sculptor Olu Amoda
By Stephanie Lloyd
DULUTH, Ga. | Sculptor Olu Amoda of Smyrna has been named the 2022 Hudgens Prize recipient, with a cash award of $50,000 and a solo exhibition at the Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for Art and Learning in 2023. Born in Warri, Nigeria, Amoda earned a Masters of Fine Arts from Georgia Southern University in 2009, and has since made Georgia his home.
Amoda describes his work as a social construct that emerged from the dialogue of objects, their materiality, and repurposing them to create hybrids of familiar subjects intuitively from life experiences.
When receiving the prestigious Hudgens Prize, Amoda responded: “I would like to congratulate the other finalists for their exquisite body of work. The Hudgens Prize finalists’ exhibition’s strength is in the diversity of artistic expression, and it is a great honor and privilege to share the same platform. This prize, in its true sense, is a winning prize for all visual artists in America.”
An exhibition featuring work from all four finalists continues through October 15 at the Hudgens Center. The other Hudgens Prize finalists were Shanequa Gay, Jessica Self and Jamele Wright.
The purpose of the Hudgens Prize competition is to elevate and promote the arts in Georgia while offering a transformational opportunity for the winning artist. The Hudgens Prize was last awarded in 2019 to Paul Stephen Benjamin. He continues to receive nationwide recognition following receipt of the Hudgens Prize award and his solo exhibition at the Hudgens in 2020, including a recent exhibition, Black Form, at Davidson College’s Van Every/Smith Galleries .
Now the newspaper, too, resorting to blood-and-guts journalism
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
OCT. 11, 2022 | A few years back, we stopped looking at local TV news, except primarily to see if it was going to rain the next day. (Though the weathermen sometimes get it wrong on the rain, they can pinpoint storms better than ever, and they help keep us safe.)
The reason we stopped looking at the nightly local news was that local TV news has deteriorated to mainly blood and guts, shootings, and ambulance chasing. Why bother with such bloodlettings? Is such real, solid reporting?
It is cheaper for the television stations to give us this sort of “news” than it was to pay a solid investigative reporter to spend several days on a story of “real” news, that is, trying to crack political shenanigans at the state or county level. Instead they filled their space with far less important rampages.
Unfortunately, now this blood-and-guts journalism has successfully penetrated the Atlanta newspaper field, too. On a typical day you might see these headlines grouped together with not much else for local news:
“Man arrested, two others sought in fatal shooting outside barbershop.”
“Man shot to death at home near high school.”
“Cops: stabbed man was attacker with hammer.”
“Harsher penalties on street racing enacted.”
The headlines above are all from one day. On other days, more headlines:
“Argument leaves one dead at apartments.”
“Jealous boyfriend will spend life in prison.”
“Gunfire at basketball game kills teen boy.”
“Police investigating two fatal double shootings.”
“Cops: Man shot multiple times dies at home.”
“Police seek suspects in shooting near eatery.”
“Suspect charged after woman shot dead.”
And though we didn’t find it, remember that story of a minister’s wife who was killed in the middle of the night when a stray bullet went through their bed’s headboard and lodged in her head.
But the point is: Is this what the newspaper considers quality news? Do we need all those shootings reported? Why not hire solid newspaper-people (not just-starting-out interns) and provide us with real, in depth, news, allowing the newspaper to do its job better?
Realize that the common factor in these headlines is guns. All this reporting emphasizes the big problem our country has with guns. No other civilized nation has such a gun problem as the United States. No other country would put up with such uncivilized behavior.
And we lay much of the mayhem, havoc, bedlam and approaching anarchy at the doorstep of the National Rifle Association. This organization works to allow this type of behavior when it opposes any form of gun control legislation.
Most Americans, this corner too, understand the Second Amendment about the right of individuals to bear arms. But we think the interpretation of this amendment should not allow assault weapons of any kind, and should be limited primarily to simple pistols, rifles and shotguns….but not bazookas, AK-47 and similar rapid fire guns. How the NRA can support this….in the midst of the many shootings, is impossible to understand.
Maybe someday our elected officials will adopt a sane policy toward guns. It could lead to fewer shootings and death, and be a path to really make our country safe to live in. Perhaps that would allow the TV stations, and newspapers, too, to get back to giving us solid news again.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Volunteering for Naval assignments turned out OK
Apollo ceremony. Photos provided.
By Lou Camerio
LILBURN, Ga. | Anyone once in the military knows that you never volunteer, for it’s no telling what’ll happen if you volunteer. Luckily, I found out that sometimes, volunteering can be good for you.
Camerio
It was back in February of 1969 (when we had the draft) that I was called to active duty and assigned to the San Diego Naval Air Base, while awaiting orders.
Before I realized it, I was among the first called and given orders. Three of the guys who were called up with me were sent to a Naval installation in Alaska. Next I was given my orders and was assigned to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Obviously, I was not very popular with the first three who went before me.
Shortly I was in Hawaii enjoying the good weather, and thinking about how lucky I was compared to those three sent to Alaska.
The next morning I awoke to airplanes in low formations buzzing the barracks and explosions taking place on Ford Island. It had me wondering at first. No, I wasn’t in a time capsule. You see, the movie, Tora Tora Tora, was being filmed.
I was assigned to Fleet Training Group and reported to the Master Chief. He looked at my resume and asked me if I knew anything about photography. I did not. But this is how I found myself assigned to the Pearl Harbor Naval photo lab.
There I was given a manual that was about an inch and a half thick and had on-the-job- training. Previously, I knew a little about photography. All of the other guys at the photo lab had gone through the Navy Photo School at Pensacola. I kept reading the manual and watching and asking questions of the other guys in the lab and passed the exam three months later and made rank as a photo mate.
Apollo capsule on ship.
Then came the Apollo 11 mission. Our lab was to send a team to the USS Hornet for the Apollo splash down. Our trip was canceled because of lack of space, since President Richard Nixon was to make a surprise visit, and there were too many news photographers going to be there.
The Navy then gave us the job of covering the return of the USS Hornet with the astronauts to Pearl Harbor. This happened on a Saturday. No one wanted to give up their day off. Even though I was told to never volunteer, I jumped at the chance. This was history and a chance for me to play a small part in it.
For the 50th anniversary of the mission, the Public Broadcasting Service did a special movie. As I was watching it, I saw the photo of the Airstream quarantine airstream container and the dignitaries and admirals, including Admiral John McCain, Sen. John McCain’s father.
If you look carefully at the insignia on the podium, I am standing directly under it, taking a photo. I was told to be out of uniform to blend in with the professional news photographers. I also photographed the return of the Apollo 12 moon mission.
These two assignments were the highlight of my military career. I was really blessed to be stationed at Pearl Harbor at this moment in time and found volunteering was not too bad for me.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful
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She’s no fan of any spider, and especially of Joros
Editor, the Forum:
I admit it, I have a hate-hate relationship with any kind of spider. It has something to do with my mother’s fear of those giant spiders in Florida when she was pregnant with me. Anyway, I have always tried to avoid any spider’s web if I see them in the wild.
Also, I have made a pact with them, I won’t kill them if they remain outdoors and not come into my house. All bets are off though if they put one of their eight legs in my home.
But the Joro spiders are totally different. Their webs are sticky and messy. They don’t even have the decency to spread out. They seem to like to congregate in mass. So if I want to walk outdoors in my yard I take a bamboo stick and knock them down and beat them to death because they seem to have a knack of returning to the same place. They aren’t even pretty, but then again spiders never were a pretty bug.
– Sara Rawlins, Lawrenceville
Dear Sara: I’m with you. How some people get fascinated with spiders is beyond me. But I say let THEM do it, not me. –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.
Oct. 18 edition to present candidate answers, and endorsements
You can be more informed about the 2022 General Election by reading next Tuesday’s (October 18) edition of GwinnettForum. In that issue, you can read unedited answers from candidates about their views on six questions GwinnettForum put to them. In addition, the October 18 edition will highlight the GwinnettForum endorsements of local candidates in many of the state and local political races.
Tell your friends about this special edition, so that they can be more informed and therefore a better voter in the 2022 General Election.
Lilburn Woman’s Club scavenger hunt is now underway
To celebrate 50 years of Lilburn Woman’s Club’s (LWC), it is holding a scavenger hunt to inform the community of the many areas that LWC has touched. The hunt began on Lilburn Daze (October 8) and will continue until November 8.
To play, a participant will need to purchase access to the game for $10 to begin the fun. Many of the challenges revolve around the downtown Lilburn area. One of the challenges encourages players to take a selfie with their favorite school’s sign – after the challenge is complete, the school with the most pictures will receive a donation from the Lilburn Woman’s Club.
Each challenge has a point value. Taking a selfie with an LWC member has the highest point value of 100 points! The more challenges you complete the more points you will earn.What is a game without prizes? The first 10 players to complete the hunt will receive a coupon for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich. All the players that complete the hunt will be entered in a drawing for a variety of prizes.
Be alert! Study the sample ballot before you go to the polls
With voting a month away, GwinnettForum here presents the Gwinnett sample ballot for the November 8 General Election. Voters should particularly study the Constitutional Amendments that will be voted on in this election. Note that the ballot is presented in both English and Spanish.
Classes in Lilburn offer job training in construction skills
Construction Ready Foundation of Georgia is currently accepting applications for its job training session in Gwinnett County. The program runs from November 7 to December 2. Construction Ready offers Gwinnett area residents training at no-cost with a 20-day construction education program that ends with training, credentialing and job placement.
Classes will take place Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. A graduation with an announcement of job placement will take place December 2 at 10 a.m. The registration deadline for this session of classes is October 26, 2022.
The Gwinnett County classes will be held at New Mercies Christian Church, 4000 Five Forks Trickum Road in Lilburn. For more information and to register, applicants should visit https://constructionready.org.
Since 2014, the Construction Ready program has trained more than 1,300 workers of all ages for a successful career in construction. Successes of the program include:
- 97% job placement by end of training
- Average starting salary of $13-17/hour
- 70% of participants employed with the same company one year later
Construction Ready President and CEO Scott Shelar says: “There are construction jobs open and we need Georgians trained and certified to fill those positions.”
The goal of the Construction Ready program is to help close the workforce skills gap. The need for skilled workers has continued through the pandemic. Closing this skills gap by educating more Georgians about careers in the skilled professions is the foundation’s primary goal.
Peachtree Corners offers new bike riding platform with rewards
As part of its mission to help the city achieve its goals, the City of Peachtree Corners, in partnership with Colu Technologies, has announced a new partnership with bike riding platform Love to Ride, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions while supporting local businesses in Peachtree Corners. The app, Choose PTC, powered by Colu, utilizes proven concepts of gamification and behavioral economics to transform the city’s strategic goals into measurable actions.
The way it works is simple: Riders can earn PTC points on Choose PTC when they elect to ride a bike for transportation (one PTC point is worth one dollar). The goal is to incentivize locals and visitors to opt for bikes instead of traditional transportation methods (and get rewarded for doing so). The Choose PTC app can be easily downloaded on the App Store or Google Play.
This October marks the 10th anniversary of metro Atlanta’s Biketober challenge. To celebrate, riders who ride at least five miles during the month of October and log them on their Love to Ride profile will receive five PTC points (equivalent to $5) to spend locally. Once five miles are logged, Love to Ride will email riders a unique promo code to copy and paste into the Choose PTC app to add five PTC points to their account. Riders who go the extra mile and log at least six rides for transportation on Love to Ride will earn 20 PTC points (equivalent to $20).
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
How We Win the Civil War by Steve Philips
From Alan Schneiberg, Sugar Hill: Years ago in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, the first Black family in our city moved next door. My boys played with their new friends. Steve Phillips, one of the boys, grew up to be a major political commentator of Black politics. His new book How We Win the Civil War is coming out next week. His basic thesis is that the Civil War has never ended. He posits that conservatives have, for the last 157 years, used the same Confederate battle plan to block efforts to foster a more equitable society. He states that we are fighting an existential battle between those who wish to make America a multiracial democracy and those clinging to the concept that this is fundamentally a white nation. Phillips argues that to win, progressives must band together voters of color and white liberals to out-vote the the old Confederacy. The book is available on Amazon.
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
It’s apple time in the Georgia mountains near Ellijay
The picturesque valleys of Gilmer County produce more than 600,000 bushels of apples each year, more than in any other Georgia county. Every fall Ellijay is the site of the annual Georgia Apple Festival. Held during the second and third full weekends in October, the Apple Festival features a juried crafts show of more than 300 vendors, as well as what one old-timer called “every apple product known to mankind.”
Ellijay, the seat of Gilmer County, together with its sister city, East Ellijay, is located at the junction of Georgia 515 and 52 and U.S. 76.
The combined population in 2020 of these two contiguous but politically and administratively separate communities was 2,743 (Ellijay: 2,036; East Ellijay: 707), according to the U.S. census. Situated seventy-five miles north of Atlanta, Ellijay lies at the center of one of north Georgia’s most beautiful mountain wilderness areas. The primary industries are poultry and apple processing, and a major employer is Gold Kist.
The origin of the town name excites considerable speculation, but conventional wisdom holds that Ellijay is an Anglicized form of a Cherokee word, perhaps meaning “place of green things” or “many waters.” The latter definition seems sensible because the town of Ellijay, once a large Cherokee trading center, lies near the headwaters of the Coosawattee River at the confluence of the Cartecay and the Ellijay rivers.
Gilmer County was cut from Cherokee County in 1832, and Ellijay became the county seat in 1834. Ellijay existed as a remote mountain community until the Marietta and Northern Georgia Railroad (later the Louisville and Nashville) arrived in 1884. This prompted something of a boom in the timber industry, but the area remained relatively isolated until the Zell Miller Mountain Parkway (Georgia Highway 515; named for Georgia governor and U.S. senator Zell Miller) was completed in 1991.
The new highway provided easy access from metropolitan Atlanta to the surrounding wilderness areas and made Ellijay a popular destination for nature lovers and sportsmen. Sixty-five percent of Gilmer County is public land, and Ellijay lies at the center of an area dominated by the rugged Cohutta Mountains and Rich Mountain Wilderness (both in the vast Chattahoochee National Forest) and Carters Lake, the deepest reservoir east of the Mississippi River.
In recent years Ellijay has become a hub for visitors and for the area’s growing population of second-home owners, who have been drawn to the natural beauty of the surrounding north Georgia mountains.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Flying horse sculpture provides mystery for this edition
Here’s a beautiful sculpture in a nice setting. Figure out where it is located and send your idea to elliott@brack.net, and tell us where you live.
Bob Foreman of Grayson had no doubt about the recent Mystery Photo: “It’s a view of Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park, near Bar Harbor, Maine. The mountains are North and South Bubble. The trail around Jordan Pond is a beautiful two or three mile walk. The time to be there is October because of the fall color.” The photo came from Charles Anderson of Lawrenceville.
Others recognizing the locale were George Graf, Palmyra, Va.; Charles Briggs, Dacula; Lou Camerio, Lilburn; Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; and Allan Peel, San Antonio, Tex. Peel wrote: “Today’s mystery photo is from near the start of the Jordan Pond Loop Trailhead and close to the Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park, approximately five miles southwest of Bar Harbor in Maine. At 150-feet deep, Jordan Pond is the deepest pond in all of Acadia National Park. Additionally, it is noted for having very clean, and clear water, which provides water to nearby communities and the Jordan Pond House.
“As for the mountain ranges, the pond sits in a valley formed by the Wisconsin Ice Sheet between Penobscot Mountain (1,194 ft) to the west, and Pemetic Mountain (1,247 ft) to the east. The two mountain peaks in the mystery photo are called the North Bubble, and the South Bubble.”
New officers take office for Snellville Historical Society
New officers of the Snellville Historical Society were installed recently. From left, Judge Melody Snell Conner swears in Melinda Snell Franklin, president; Wanda Ford Clower, treasurer; Johnny Kay Webb Collier, vice president; Marlene Ratledge Buchanan, secretary; and Sue Knight Briscoe, director. Snellville Historical Society is a not-for-profit organization designed to help with the preservation of Snellville’s history and culture. Membership is $15 for a one year for an individual.
Picnic with the police on the Braselton Town Green on Thursday, October 13 from 5-8 p.m. Come enjoy food and drinks at no cost. There will be kid’s activities, police cars and West Jackson fire trucks.
Metro Atlanta Redevelopment Summit, the 12th annual, will be October 13 at Studio Movie Grill in Duluth. The event will feature a discussion of deconstructing malls, using art for community development and downtown revitalization. For complimentary tickets, email Communications Manager Amber Kasselman at akasselman@partnershipgwinnett.com.
The Fort Daniel Frontier Faire will be held Saturday, October 15, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The Faire will be in Hog Mountain, just south of the intersection of Gravel Springs Road and Georgia Highway 124. There will be blacksmith demos, ongoing public excavations, museum/lab education, genealogy, living history encampment, frontier life education and lots of fun for all ages. Here a family views a model of what the fort looked like when built around 1812.
The next Snellville Farmers’ Market will be Saturday, October 15, from 9 a.m. until noon in the parking lot behind City Hall.
Fourth annual Rewriting Your Story gala in support of the Gwinnett County Public Library foundation will be Saturday, October 15 at 6 p.m. at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Duluth. Three people will be honored: Beauty Baldwin, David McCleskey and Clyde Strickland. Keynote speaker will be Army Master Sergeant Cedric King. For details including ticket information, contact jdifranco@gwinnettpl.org.
The Braselton Zombie 5K Run/Walk will be Saturday, October 15, starting at 8:30 a.m. Zombies will take over Braselton as top male and female runners will compete in age groups. There will be prizes for the best-dressed zombies. This is a qualifying event for the AJC Peachtree Road Race.
Third annual Bilingual Housing Expo will be October 15 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Central Gwinnett High School in Lawrenceville. It is sponsored by the Gwinnett Housing Corporation, Lawrenceville Housing Authority and LiveNorcross. Attendees will be able to speak to representatives from organizations and companies offering services across the entire housing spectrum. Families facing eviction, wishing to learn about the home ownership opportunities and down payment assistance programs, or needing financial help with home repairs will all be able to learn about available programs and apply on site.
Supervisors of the Gwinnett County Soil and Water Conservation District will hold their regularly scheduled public meeting on Wednesday, October 19, beginning at 9:30am. This meeting will be held at Gwinnett Senior Services Center, 567 Swanson Drive, Lawrenceville. There is also a Zoom option for those who can’t attend in person – the link is here: Join Zoom Meeting. Meeting ID: 884 2322 5909, passcode: 771750.
Enjoy dessert when Author Marisela Martinez-Cola discusses her book on October 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Duluth Public Library. The book, The Chinese American, Native American and Mexican Americans’ Struggle for Educational Equality, takes a look at the diverse history of litigation that preceded Brown v. Board of Education.
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