GwinnettForum | Number 21.93, Dec. 9, 2022
REMEMBERING CHRISTMAS PAST in Atlanta, today read about the Great Tree in downtown Atlanta at the former Rich’s Department Store. Snellville’s Marlene R. Buchanan recalls the events surrounding the great lighting of the tree in Today’s Focus below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Remembering the lighting of downtown Rich’s Great Tree
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Reflecting on the 2022 Senate race and thinking of 2032
SPOTLIGHT: Sugarloaf Community Improvement District
FEEDBACK: Concerning student loans: which students can repay?
UPCOMING: Ten schools from Gwinnett competing for Shuler Awards
NOTABLE: County workers getting one-time cost-of-living payment
RECOMMENDED: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Bandleader Harry James was born in Albany, Ga.
MYSTERY PHOTO: Test your architectural intelligence with today’s Mystery
LAGNIAPPE: International aspect of senior center in Lawrenceville
CALENDAR: Gwinnett Historical Society plans meeting on December 12
Remembering the lighting of downtown Rich’s Great Tree
By Marlene R. Buchanan
SNELLVILLE, Ga. | Time was when the lighting of the Great Tree at Rich’s in Atlanta was the beginning of all things holiday. Most everyone went downtown or watched the annual phenomena on television. Time magazine featured it on the cover of December, 1961. It was always an impressive event.
Buchanan
The tradition began in 1948. An Eastern White Pine, 70 feet to 90 feet tall, would be selected each year. The felling, transporting, and erecting at the tree to the top of eight stories was always a news item.
Once in place, the decorating would begin. Balls five feet in diameter would hang with huge ropes of garland and lights. The top star was 10 feet tall. The tree could be seen for miles. The tree shown like it was leading us to Bethlehem, or a holiday shopping nirvana.
Parents and children would flock to Rich’s walk through Santa’s Workshop on the way to visit with the great man. Children toured “Santa’s Secret Shop” which was off-limits to the adults. The “Spirit of Christmas” started at the street level with animated window displays of dancers, trains, and angels playing violins. It was magical.
Santa’s roof-top home housed eight reindeer. A miniature suspended monorail, called Priscilla the Pink Pig, “flew” from the ceiling of the toy department, outside to the Christmas village surrounding the Great Tree.
On Thanksgiving evening, crowds would start to assemble in the street, awaiting the lighting. Four floors of the Crystal Bridge would gleam with eight local choirs, decked in robes and singing with their best voices. Christmas carols could be heard from the bridge. A local celebrity would read the Christmas Story as anticipation of the moment built.
Suddenly, all was still. All was silent. Someone threw the switch. The big crowd in the street and people in their homes throughout the state through their TVs would let out a giant “OOOOOHHHHH–AAAAHHHH.”
It was inspiring. The dark sky lit up as the Great Tree showered us all in magnificence of the Christmas season.
Alas, neither Rich’s nor The Great Tree exists anymore. Several moves to other locations for a community lighting were tried. It was never the same. Now the “Great Tree” is a much smaller artificial one. It has lost its greatness. Somehow for those of us of a certain age, this cannot compare to the memorable excitement of an earlier season’s start. Anyone can put up a tree and put glittering balls and lights on it. Only at Rich’s was a 70 to 90 foot beacon of the season.
Stores no longer decorate for the holidays as they once did. It isn’t as exciting to visit the many malls and see their holiday beauty.
But no matter the décor, let’s welcome the holiday season. We have so much for which to be grateful. We all can get lost in the demands of the season.
Take a minute. Make a gratitude list. List everything from the smallest to the largest. Now this is the hard part. Make a list of those people you need to forgive. Oh yeah, include yourself. Be grateful and be gracious to yourself and others.
I am grateful I saw and now remember with fondness Rich’s Great Tree. That wonderful childhood memory brings a glow to my heart. I wish we could share one of the Great Tree lightings once more.
(Rich’s Department Store opened in 1867 and dominated retail activity in Atlanta until March 6, 2005 when the nameplate was eliminated and replaced by Macy’s.)
Reflecting on the 2022 Senate race and thinking of 2032
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
DEC. 9, 2022 | Did you hear it Tuesday night?
“……..(sigh)………”
There was a big, nearly audible sound throughout the major centers of population in Georgia Tuesday night when the U.S. Senate race was called for Raphael Warnock. Some may have thought that they heard a similar sigh out of Washington, since the Georgia results will make governing our nation a little easier.
In Georgia, the sigh had a different meaning. It signaled that a slight majority of Georgia voters preferred an intelligent, gentle campaigner to go to Washington, instead of a celebrity who so often stuck his foot in his mouth.
Of all the outrageous comments Herschel Walker made during the campaign were his comments on vampires and werewolves. Made you wonder where he stood on varmints, witches and
sorceresses. Georgia voters have decided they don’t want him representing them in the U.S. Senate. That’s what the relieved sigh was all about locally.
Big Loser: Almost reluctantly, Gov. Brian Kemp finally chose to embrace Walker for the Senate seat, and with this effort, our governor lost ground. Much like working on a no-hitter, going for a solid shutout of all statewide Democrats in the 2022 election, the governor’s name just could not drag along Walker to the Senate.
Big Winner: Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan came out looking good, as he went into the polling booth, but says he did not vote for either candidate. While as a Republican, he could not make himself vote for a Democrat, he also realized what a troubled candidate Herschel Walker was, and would not make us a good Senator. Thank you. Now you can dip your toes into the political waters with a clear conscience.
On the sidelines: While she lost the governor’s race, Stacey Abrams was amazingly silent about the Senate race. We thought she would bring voters to Warnock, and might have, but we heard very little from her during the runoff. Makes you wonder if she is tiring of politics.
Back to Texas: Since the Republican Senate candidate was technically a Texan by listing his home for homestead exemption in that state, we presume he’ll return and live there. We hope he has no interest in becoming a resident Georgian again. If he is still interested in the Senate race, Walker could run against Ted Cruz, and might at least get the UGA faithful living there a chance to vote for him. After all, Cruz only has degrees from Harvard and Princeton, and might lose the Texas alumni vote.
Will Georgia have another footballer who won the national championship on a Senate ballot again?
Look 10 years down the road. By then Stetson Bennett IV be 35 years, old, having been born on October 28, 1997. The minimum age for a Senator is 30.. And since he has been in college ever since his graduation from high school, and currently doesn’t have a full-time job what with his quarterbacking duties at age 25, don’t you think the UGA alumni will realize what they have?
From what we observe about Stetson, he is plenty smart, directing his team on the field so easily. Sounds like the possible making of a good vote-getter.
Might be best for him to run for Congress first. That would put him in good experience to make a run for the Senate. It also will be interesting to see what party he chooses.
Meanwhile, here’s a cheer for Stetson and UGA in the playoffs! Two national championships would look good on the campaign trail.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Sugarloaf CID
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers the Sugarloaf Community Improvement District (CID) was formed in 2016 to ensure the long-term success of Gwinnett County’s premier business and entertainment district. This is the home to the Gas South District, a regional destination that attracts over a million visitors a year. The CID is also part of one of the region’s top ten employment centers, with 971 businesses and 16,661 employees. Since its formation, the CID has leveraged over $10 million in funding, advanced projects to help make the district safe, attractive, and connected, and expanded the CID to more than five times its initial value.
- To learn more, visit its web site at www.sugarloafcid.org.
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Concerning student loans: which students can repay?
Editor, the Forum:
Regarding a recent article about student loans: the author sounds slightly bitter, perhaps he has a large unpaid student loan?
To me, the government should only guarantee student loans to students that are majoring in STEM subjects or majors. This would cut the number of such loans dramatically immediately.
We do agree, however, that the Department of Education will approve a loan to anyone who purportedly is in college with majors that offer limited ability to earn enough to pay them back. Art history comes to mind.
As a senior citizen, I feel loan forgiveness is too easy and has unwise loan provisions. I do not want to see my taxes increase so some young person can ”follow his heart” and major in a field without realistic hope of repayment.
– S. Scott Batterton, Lilburn
- 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.
Rowen’s groundbreaking ceremony will be 2 p.m. Friday
The Rowen Foundation will officially break ground on Rowen, the 2,000-acre knowledge community in eastern Gwinnett County, on Dec. 9, 2022 at 2 p.m. But instead of turning over more dirt, Governor Brian Kemp and Gwinnett Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson and special guests will plant the first of what will eventually be thousands of new trees on site. Groundbreaking will take place on-site directly across from New Rock Springs Baptist Church at 3002 Drowning Creek Road in Dacula.
Rowen will be a mixed-use community that brings together entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators in the fields of agriculture, medicine and the environment. Its ambitions are global as it seeks tenants who are striving for global leadership while leveraging Georgia’s uniquely talented and diverse workforce and Rowen’s unique location between Athens and Atlanta in Gwinnett. The site will eventually include a mix of high, medium- and low-density lab, office, civic and limited residential and retail spaces, along with publicly accessible parks, community spaces and trails.
At complete build out, Rowen is projected to bring nearly 100,000 jobs to Georgia, thus contributing $8-10 billion into the state’s economy annually. The site will build on the land’s rich history of environmental stewardship, while changing the economic and social trajectory for generations to come.
Six schools from Gwinnett competing for Shuler Awards
ArtsBridge Foundation has announced the statewide list of high schools that will participate in the 15th Annual Georgia High School Musical Theatre Awards for the 2022-23 school year, including six schools from Gwinnett. This year yielded schools from 22 Georgia counties.
The public and private high schools participating in the 2022-23 Shuler Awards include the following Gwinnett high schools: Collins Hill, Grayson, Greater Atlanta Christian, Lanier, Mountain View and Providence Christian Academy.
The Shuler Awards or The Shulers—named for the Marietta-born stage and screen star Shuler Hensley—will be celebrated on April 20 and broadcast live from the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. The evening includes fun purple-carpet arrivals, live performances by nominees, and awards presented in 18 different categories. Scholarship recipients will also be announced.
Elizabeth Lenhart, director of arts education for ArtsBridge Foundation, says: “While about half of the Shuler Awards competitors represent Metro Atlanta high schools, it’s exciting to see participating schools spanning the Peach state, including five counties competing for the first time.”
Since 2009, the Shuler Awards program has engaged over 60,000 students from 142 schools and 38 counties/school systems. Registrations for 50 schools were completed in a record 10 minutes for the 2022-23 season, with two schools also securing competition berths from past COVID-related changes.
In the months ahead, the 70 volunteer adjudicators will fan out across Georgia to attend live performances by hopeful high school theater students and departments that will be judged in 17 categories with nominees announced in March. The April 20 Shuler Awards event replicates the national Tony Awards® ceremony and is broadcast live and statewide via Georgia Public Broadcasting.
Mountain Park Association asks residents to complete survey
The Mountain Park Community Association has created a six question survey and asks its residents to complete the survey. The topic surrounds what should be built on the former Olympic Tennis site property at the interchange of Park Place and U.S. Highway 78. Those interested are free to share this survey link with anyone in the area who may have an interest.
Deadline for taking the survey by December 12.
- You may take the survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XD9KN7K
United Way asks readers to complete survey about equity
The United Way of Greater Atlanta in Gwinnett is partnering with social impact firm, Chrysalis Lab, to conduct an assessment of the community equity challenges, opportunities, and aspirations and seeking input from residents.
Click this link to the survey: Gwinnett Equity Survey. It is available in four languages: English, Spanish, Korean, and Vietnamese. Findings will be used to inform an approach for the development of a Gwinnett Community Equity Plan. The United Way hopes to reach as many people as possible and to reflect the rich diversity of Gwinnett County residents across geography, race, age, gender, and other identities.
Respondents are asked to complete the survey by December 16. Those completing the survey will have the opportunity to enter a drawing to win a $100 VISA gift card.
- For more information on how to get involved with the Gwinnett Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Journey, contact Denise Townsend at dtownsend@unitedwayatlanta.org.
County workers getting one-time cost-of-living payment
County employees are getting a raise. County Commissioners this week approved a one-time cost of living payment for county government employees to support retention and to help mitigate the effects of inflation on the county workforce. On December 16, eligible full-time employees will receive a $1,500 payment and regular part-time employees will receive a $750 payment.
Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Nicole Hendrickson said the payments are needed as the County faces challenges with retaining first responders, utility workers and hard-to-fill positions across the organization. “Gwinnett residents deserve sustainable, high-quality county government services and those are made possible by a strong, reliable workforce. We intend to keep Gwinnett a preferred community where everyone can thrive by being the public sector employer of choice.”
Funding for the one-time payment is possible because of budget savings realized during the 2022 fiscal year.
Time to apply for $1,000 EMC scholarships
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.
To receive an application, students should contact their school guidance counselor or visit www.jacksonemc.com/walterharrisonscholarship. Fifteen students across Georgia will be awarded scholarships, which are sponsored by Georgia’s 41 electric cooperatives. Completed applications are due by January 31, 2023.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
From Billy Chism, Toccoa: The best books, to me, are those that linger in your mind long after you have read them. Author Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible, published in 1998, did that for me. Her newest novel, Demon Copperhead, promises to have a similar effect. The novel is set in the mountains of West Virginia during the early days of the opioid crisis. The main character is Demon Copperhead, who doesn’t seem to stand a chance in life beginning on the day he is born. Inspired by Charles Dickens’s timeless book, David Copperfield, Kingsolver’s Demon is an unforgettable character, too. In fact, I find myself thinking of him every week. ‘For the kids who wake up hungry in those dark places every day, who’ve lost their families to poverty and pain pills,’ Kingsolver writes in her acknowledgements at the end of the book.
- 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
Bandleader Harry James was born in Albany, Ga.
Harry James was one of the most renowned trumpet players and band leaders of the swing era. He gained even greater popularity as a Hollywood actor and the husband of actress Betty Grable.
Born on March 15, 1916, in Albany to a bandmaster and a trapeze artist traveling with the Mighty Haag Shows circus (which was passing through town), Harry Haag James began performing music at a young age. He started out playing drums and switched to trumpet, under his father’s tutelage. Living in a circus environment gave James free reign to focus on learning the instrument, and as a young teenager he led the second-line band of the Christy Brothers Circus.
James got his first job playing jazz with Joe Gill’s Phillips Flyers, which led to brief stints in a number of groups before drummer Ben Pollack hired him. In Pollack’s band, James wrote his first arrangement, made his recording debut, and met other important jazz sidemen, like Glenn Miller and Charlie Spivack, who would both go on to greater fame.
Benny Goodman, a clarinetist who had also played for Pollack, hired James in 1937, about a year after Goodman’s group became the dominant big band of the time and Goodman had become known as the “King of Swing.” James played with Goodman’s band at the height of its popularity and in its most famous concert at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in 1938. While with Goodman, James also recorded with Miff Mole and Lionel Hampton, and he made his recording debut as a band leader.
In early 1939 James left Goodman to start his own big band, Harry James and His Orchestra. James hired Frank Sinatra, then unknown, as his vocalist, the first in a long string of gifted singers that included Helen Forrest, Connie Haines, Dick Haymes, and Kitty Kallen. In an attempt to produce hit records, James and his orchestra began to feature more songs that showcased his singers, and the group moved away from the traditional swing sound. Hence the group became well known as a “sweet” band that performed popular hits of the period. In 1941 James added strings to the orchestra and began acting in Hollywood movies for the first time, and the following year he started broadcasting his own national radio show.
James’s time in Hollywood led to a romance with and subsequent marriage to the movie star Betty Grable; the two became the most celebrated Hollywood couple of the time. Grable was the second of three wives James would have over his lifetime.
Swing and big band music began to lose its audience in the years following World War II(1941-45), and James disbanded his group in 1946. He reformed the band in late 1946, and they continued playing until 1951. In the ensuing years James fronted bop, sweet, swing, and small combos in order to stay employed. Though none of his later bands attained the success of his 1940s-era orchestra, James continued as a bandleader for many years at the Flamingo and at the Frontier in Las Vegas, Nevada. He died of lymphatic cancer in 1983 in Las Vegas and was inducted posthumously into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame that same year.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Test your architectural intelligence with today’s Mystery
The location of this week’s Mystery Photo may surprise you. Check out this architectural gem and send your answers to elliott@brack.net, including your hometown. We’ll give you special marks for details about this building.
Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill, wrote of the recent Mystery Photo: “The first hints were the Cape Cod/New England style houses along the opposite shore and what looks to be part of an American flag on the left. This is Woods Hole, Falmouth, Mass. This was a tough one and I’ve even been to it several times! But it’s the bell tower on the bank that did it for me. It’s the Angelus Bell Tower of The Garden of Our Lady at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on Millfield Street along the Eel Pond shore in Woods Hole.
“Chicago native, Frances Crane Lillie, gifted the tower and the adjacent flower garden to Saint Joseph’s to remind the scientists who study at the Marine Biological Laboratory across the pond that there is another and valid aspect of life. Boston architect Charles Coolidge designed the tower and it was built in 1929 on land given to Saint Joseph’s. A granite block sea wall had to be built to support it and make the lot level with the road because, at the time, the land sloped down to the water. The bells first rang from the tower at 5:45 a.m. Christmas morning of 1929.”
The photo came from Rob Ponder of Duluth. Others recognizing it include Allen Peel of San Antonio, Texas; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Stew Ogilvie, Lawrenceville; and Lou Camerio, Lilburn.
FESTIVE SETTING: John Buckner was among those attending the annual international meeting at the Lawrenceville Senior Center at Rhodes Jordan Park on Monday Angel Finwick, program manager, led the group in a trivia quiz about the many countries, which proved both informative and educational. (Photo by Roving Photographer Frank Sharp.)
Groundbreaking on Rowen, a 2,000 acre knowledge community, will be Friday, December 9 at 2 p.m. The event will be directly across from New Rock Springs Baptist Church at 3002 Drowning Creek Road in Dacula. At complete build out, Rowen is projected to bring nearly 100,000 jobs to Georgia, contributing $8-10 billion into the state’s economy annually.
Gwinnett Historical Society will meet Monday, December 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the Historic Courthouse in Lawrenceville. The Society will make presentations to award recipients and install new officers. Bring a snack to share and enjoy the festival decorations inside and outside the former courthouse.
Authors and desserts in Duluth: Join the Gwinnett County Public Library in Duluth for this event on December 15 at 7 p.m. Bestselling fiction authors Kimberly Brock, Piper Huguley and Alayne Smith will be in conversation with Emmy winner Kolinda Scialabba. Books will be on sale and signing.
Two concerts are scheduled by the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra on December 17,both at Johns Creek United Methodist Church, 11180 Medlock Bridge Road. At 2:30 p.m. there will be a kid’s Christmas concert. Then at 7:30 p.m., the orchestra will present a Christmas Pops Concert. To purchase individual concert tickets, visit johnscreeksymphony.org or call 678-748-5802.
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