GwinnettForum | Number 22.07 | Jan. 24, 2023
ATLANTA HISTORY: The Kimball House was the name of two historical hotels in Atlanta. Both were constructed on an entire city block at the south-southeast corner of Five Points, bounded by Whitehall Street (now part of Peachtree Street), Decatur Street, Pryor Street, and Wall Street, a block now occupied by a multi-story parking garage. The architect for the Kimball House and many other projects in early Atlanta was William H. Parkins. See more details of Parkins’ career at Georgia Tidbit below. The completed six-story building was built of brick and painted yellow with brown trim. It had a four-story open-air lobby filled with plants, flowers, and a 12-foot-diameter fountain. The house also boasted gas-light chandeliers, a central heating plant, a laundry, billiard hall, and 500 hotel rooms. It also had 16 stores. It was the first building in Atlanta to have elevators and central heating. (From Wikipedia.)
TODAY’S FOCUS: Three times blessed, and recalling 1876 presidential election
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Fair Tax again introduced in Congress; E-mail from John Linder
ANOTHER VIEW: Remembering bobby socks, short skirts and tennis shoes
SPOTLIGHT: Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
UPCOMING: Partnership between Peachtree Corners and Fusus bolsters safety
NOTABLE: Peachtree Corners launches non-profit rescue plan grant program
RECOMMENDED: Hi Pot on Buford Highway in Doraville.
GEORGIA TIDBIT: William Parkins significant architect of many Atlanta buildings
MYSTERY PHOTO: More sunshine would brighten up this building. Where is it?
LAGNIAPPE: Youth cartoonists wanted
CALENDAR: Paxton visits at Norcross Cultural Arts Center on Jan. 26
Three times blessed, and recalling 1876 presidential election
By Ashley Herndon
OCEANSIDE, Calif. | I just have to share some good fortune, having been blessed twice in 1964 and again in 1967-68. I was surprised to be introduced to and met a gentleman of grace and power.
Herndon
The chairman of the First National Bank of Atlanta was the first to introduce me to that person and program who the bank supported.
Then secondly, I was lucky to be invited to sit with him and his entourage on a Delta flight from Atlanta to St. Augustine.
And thirdly, I had the honor to hold his Nobel Peace award in my hands in his home in Atlanta while discussing the future of the proposed Vine City School in his neighborhood, where I was appraising real estate. That person, of course, was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The recent annual celebration of the wonder of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s commitment to humanity broadsided me again. Did I say blessed? Yes, I was. I still hear that rumble when he advised his wife’s secretary to let “the young man in.” I entered the King home and we had a “meaningful discussion” about equality, equity, and the lack of racial representation in the real estate world, especially in appraising. We had a good discussion and proceeded to organize a meeting for those wishing to participate and learn about real estate. I left there knowing goals are attainable.
Those three experiences decades ago empowered and humbled that young man. Which leads me to consider: What was the GOP wanting to shift the political agenda away from human rights issues by spewing hate and building cultural divisiveness?
They have sworn at the altar of pseudo-fascism and are committed to destroying our current administration’s agenda and straying from our founding principles. Moderates of both parties have worked toward exercising our nation’s political rights into human rights for over 90 years.
These crazies even want to destroy the civil service so they can appoint flunkies to whatever Federal jobs remain. This is a “New Reconstruction” that would be a reversal of sanity and good government. Corruption would increase even beyond the recent reign of autocracy. Many argue this iteration of the Neo-GOP has forgotten what honesty means. Promise anything using favoritism as the force de jour, which is not honest or testable qualifications.
Should the radicals succeed, it will make January 6 look like child’s play, harking back to the 1876 Election.
In the presidential election of 1876, Democrat Samuel Tilden ran against Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. Tilden’s 50.9 percent is the largest share of the popular vote received by a candidate that was not elected to the presidency. This was the only presidential election in U.S. history in which a candidate who received more than 50 percent of the popular vote did not win the election.
There is a pressed need for bringing honest government back by using the principles attested to in the preamble of the Constitution (1787), which Dr. King reminded us of.
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Fair Tax again introduced in Congress; E-mail from John Linder
JAN. 24, 2023 | Remember all the talk a few years back about the national “Fair Tax?”
Now with California Republican Kevin McCarthy in his bare-majority House Speaker role, guess what has returned? Yep, the Fair Tax.
And as much before, the program is being led by a Georgian, as First District Congressman Earl “Buddy” Carter of Pooler (First District) introduced the “Fair Tax” in the new Congress on January 8.
You may remember that the Fair Tax was the favorite subject that former Congressman John Linder, and his successor Rob Woodall of the 7th District, worked to get passed both so diligently for many years, all to no avail.
There’s a reason. The Fair Tax is a drastic proposal, and only does one simple thing: repeal all existing private and corporate income tax, payroll tax, estate and gift tax on all purchased goods, rents and services. In other words, it’s a far radical idea. It takes all the income the government currently gets, and allows each of us, and every business transaction, to pay a higher rate. The measure abolishes the Internal Revenue Service, leaving it up to the states to administer the tax. Wonder what each state sales tax would be if all taxes were repealed? In Europe, as travelers know, this is called the Value-Added Tax.
What tax rate would the national “Fair Tax” be? Proponents say now it would tax everything at 23 percent.
In itself, the Fair Tax is also not even-handed for people on a limited income. If a family has a low income, it is much harder for them to pay 23 percent on everything they buy than it would if a family who has a higher income. Essentially, that is so unfair, because it is regressive. The rich can essentially much more easily afford a higher sales tax than can poor and middle income families.
One consolation: the Fair Tax won’t pass, not with a Democratic Senate and presidency. But the Republicans continue to push it. Be warned.
New Year’s 2021, John Linder and Yi Li Shin
Recalling the Fair Tax made us remember Congressman John Linder, who formerly had a residence in Duluth. He represented parts of Georgia in Congress from 1993 to 2011, 18 years. We wondered where he was living, found his email online, and wrote to him. We were pleased to get a quick response from him, as he caught us up on his life in retirement.
Here’s part of his email: “When I retired, my wife of 54 years wanted to live near our grandchildren. I wasn’t so much in favor but she spent a lifetime supporting me and my businesses and politics and I decided it was her turn. We moved to Mississippi. She became quite ill in 2012 and we finally moved back to Georgia in 2016, to Athens. She passed a year later.
“I bummed around some in Europe, where we had visited many times. It was not joyful, but it was important. I love Mexico and spent several months there. On one trip the hotel I like had no rooms available, so I rented an AirBNB from a Taiwanese lady, Yi Li Shin, near my hotel. She had recently lost her husband and we spent a lot of time talking and walking and going to dinner. We married on December of 2018.
“I am a very lucky guy. We have homes in Big Canoe, Ga. and in Ajijic, Mexico. We are in Mexico right now until April. Weather in the 70s during the day and low 50s or high 40s at night. As I said, I am a lucky guy.”
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Remembering bobby socks, short skirts and tennis shoes
By David Simmons
NORCROSS, Ga. | Years ago, after coming off the Appalachian Trail (AT) in late summer 1988, I ended up in Washington D.C., living on the top floor of a nine-story apartment building just across the street from the Department of Transportation. I could sit out on my balcony and see the Washington Monument and the reflecting pool, and listen to the nightly gunshots coming from off in the distance in northeast D.C.
Even though I had lived in a lot of places all around the country previously, life in downtown D.C. was unlike any I had encountered before. I had to pay a monthly fee to park my car in my building’s underground parking lot, and it was easier to get around without it.
The end of summer and into fall was terrific. To stay in shape for my plans of finishing the AT, I walked all over that city. On my days off, I would be out the door at daybreak and would walk the city from end to end. I walked to and tried to visit every monument and historic place and museum in town.
I was working as the maitre d’/banquet coordinator at The Devon Bar and Grill at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue, just four blocks from the White House. We had a multifunctional banquet room on our second floor, and my major responsibility was keeping it booked up with all the government agencies and their never-ending luncheon meetings.
My highlight there was meeting my childhood hero and Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr. I worked 10-6 Monday to Friday, and had I tried to drive to work, it would take at least an hour, each way, plus having to find and pay for parking. So instead, my daily commute consisted of riding an elevator down to ground level. Then a 10-minute walk to the Metro Station, a 10-minute ride, followed by another 10-minute walk to 2000 Pennsylvania.
Living and working downtown in a big city was new to me and I was not alone in my style of commuting. Streets were teeming with people going about their day-to-day business. New to me were the young, professional women who, while carrying their dress shoes in their handbag, would wear bobby socks and tennis shoes during their commute, then change into their work shoes once they got to their offices.
It caught my eye, and for whatever reason I found it very attractive, and highly stimulating. I was talking to my sister about it, and she laughed and called me a weirdo. She couldn’t understand the attraction. Other than that conversation with my sister, I have kept these feelings to myself, until now.
But I learned something from that conversation and my outlook changed that day. From that revelation I became more tolerant of other sexual preferences and lifestyles.
The reason being, I didn’t make a conscious decision to be stimulated by short skirts, bobby socks and tennis shoes. I just was. That then led me to the realization that people that are different from me didn’t choose what they favor either, they were born that way. Just like me.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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Partnership between Peachtree Corners, Fusus bolsters safety
The City of Peachtree Corners has partnered with Fusus, an organization located within their rapidly growing high-tech hub, to provide enhanced public safety services to local businesses and residents. Fusus is a nationally recognized public safety technology provider that has operated out of its headquarters in Peachtree Corners since 2019.
The partnership will increase the efficiency of law enforcement and public safety responses by building a community-based public safety ecosystem that will enable residents and businesses in the area to directly participate in the safety of their community.
The partnership begins with the launch of Connect Peachtree Corners, a tool that allows residents to register the location of their private home security cameras. The registration of a camera is completely optional and does not provide access to the camera to anyone. The camera registration simply allows for the creation of a city-wide camera map for use by law enforcement. If a crime occurs in the city, law enforcement will be able to reference the map, and if they feel it is beneficial, they may contact a homeowner to request access to footage.
City Manager Brian Johnson says: “As a city government, we take the issue of public safety very seriously. There are not many things more important. This partnership and associated camera registry program will allow us to support law enforcement with a new technology tool, and will lead to increased public safety throughout the City.”
Time to sign up for your own community garden
Are you dreaming of vine-ripe tomatoes and fresh green veggies? Now is the time to stake your claim at any of Gwinnett’s 10 community gardens.
Gardeners of all skill levels are invited to apply for the 2023 to 2024 growing year. The cost is $35 per year for a 4-foot by 8-foot raised platform garden plot. Once payment is received, plots are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.
Gwinnett County provides water, tools, soil, mulch and educational resources at each site, while gardeners are responsible for maintaining and harvesting their plots. Gardeners must also participate in 12 hours of community service per year to maintain common areas.
Brad Livesay, program coordinator for Live Healthy Gwinnett, says: “Cultivating these sustainable gardens continues to yield fantastic results. Not only do the gardens provide a hands-on opportunity for families to grow their own fresh produce, but with the shared rows, they’re also helping to close the meal gap for residents facing food insecurity.”
Live Healthy Gwinnett offers an array of gardening programs for all ages and abilities, ranging from Gardening 101 to Pest Management through its Harvest Gwinnett initiative. To view a list of community gardens or learn more about the program, visit LiveHealthyGwinnett.com.
Peachtree Corners launches nonprofit rescue plan grant program
The City of Peachtree Corners has launched a Nonprofit Emergency Relief Grant Program that will use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding that the city received as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through the ARPA of 2021 which was signed into law on March 11, 2021, by President Biden, the city received funding in two disbursements. This program will be used to distribute funding to qualified nonprofit service providers who assist residents of Peachtree Corners with such items as early childhood learning services, literacy, childcare, mental health counseling, housing assistance, utility assistance, and food insecurity.
In addition to the application available through the website, and to assist applicants, the City will host a webinar on this subject on February 1 at 2 p.m.
This program differs from the city’s small business and nonprofit operating grant program 2021 as qualified nonprofits will be required to use the funding to provide direct services to residents. Funding will not be available to nonprofits seeking to replace or bolster operational funding.
Johns Creek Symphony has opening for musical director
Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, known for bringing the highest caliber of musical arts to the North Metro-Atlanta area, invites experienced and passionate leaders in classical music to apply for the orchestra’s music director position. One of the orchestra’s founders, Maestro J. Wayne Baughman, will retire following the 2023-2024 season.
To build upon Maestro Baughman’s legacy, the orchestra is seeking a music director who has first-rate music and artistic acumen — confidently providing artistic vision and leadership skills to bring the Johns Creek community and surrounding areas professional concert experiences. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record in leading a multi-faceted orchestra.
Linda Brill, executive director of the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, says: “We are excited to begin the search for a new music director who can take Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra to the next level. Over the last two years, the orchestra has experienced rapid growth in number of concerts, size of the audience, world-class artists, and educational outreach, and we hope that our future music director can help us to continue the momentum,” she added.
As the search for a new music director unfolds, members of the orchestra and leaders in the Johns Creek community have come together to form an eight-member Music Director Search Committee. The committee will consist of a selection of the orchestra’s musicians, board members, as well as community leaders in the Johns Creek area, including John Bradberry, the Mayor of Johns Creek.
To read the full job description and application requirements, please visit https://www.johnscreeksymphony.org/employment/
The orchestra will accept applications until March 1, 2023. Finalists will guest conduct the orchestra during Season 18 (2024-25). The term for the new music director will begin with the Season 19 period (2025-2026).
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Hi Pot on Buford Highway in Doraville
From Chuck Paul, Norcross: On my visit to this restaurant, my guests and I were warmly welcomed on arrival. Our server, maybe a manager, was most friendly and gave great menu suggestions. After ordering two Hot Pots (one lamb, the other beef), our rice was delivered by a motorized robot! The hot pots arrived with fire lit underneath. The entrees were quite good and I would re-order on a future visit. Note: the location does not open until noon at lunch, so diners be aware. No alcohol is available. Would I re-visit: yes.”
- 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
Parkins was significant architect of many Atlanta buildings
William H. Parkins was the most significant architect practicing in Georgia in the immediate decades following the Civil War (1861-65). A New Yorker who had lived in South Carolina in the 1850s, he returned to the postbellum South and settled in Atlanta. There Parkins started the state’s most successful architectural business, which lasted until his retirement in the late 1880s.
As Atlanta grew in the post-Civil War years, Parkins formed a number of business partnerships and gained the commissions for the most prestigious buildings in Georgia. The design work was generally Italianate, Second Empire, or a combination of the two, as in the Kimball House Hotel.
Along with Atlanta’s Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (1873-80) and the First United Methodist Church (1870) in the Gothic revival style, these buildings established Parkins as the state’s leading architect. As late as the early 1880s when Parkins was in partnership with Alexander Bruce, he was still producing significant buildings with Mansard roofs and Italianate details, such as the courthouses for Fulton and Hancock counties.
He also produced buildings in other popular styles. In Randolph County (site of his retirement “plantation”), Parkins designed a Queen Anne/shingle style college building and courthouse with strong Romanesque revival features. In Atlanta he produced a Moorish style synagogue and a wide array of business buildings in a High Victorian style, sometimes with Gothic revival details. (The 1880 Young Men’s Library Building was a good example.)
It was as a businessman, however, that the architect was most influential. Parkins expanded his practice by aggressively gaining commissions throughout Georgia and in several surrounding states. He also established various related businesses, including one in the 1870s with William Jennings to sell building supplies, the Atlanta Construction Company of 1887, and a partnership with Lorenzo Wheeler and Hannibal Kimball to build the new Kimball House Hotel (the original burned in 1883) in 1884-85 and develop suburban property. Along with Wheeler, Parkins also offered an interior decorating service—something new to Georgia.
Thus he was not only a prominent designer but also a forerunner to later Georgia architectural firms that were run as multifaceted businesses. This trend helped make the state a regional powerhouse in the field.
Parkins was born in 1836 in Nassau, New York. In 1882, Parkins retired and moved to a farm in Calhoun County. Parkins died in 1894 and was buried in Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
More sunshine would brighten up this building. Where is it?
Lots of shade from trees kept sunshine from brightening up this facility, but where is this Mystery Photo? Send your answer to Elliott@brack.net and include your hometown.
First in with the correct answer to the recent Mystery Photo was Lynn Naylor, Norcross: “Built in 1936, the ‘Chapel on the Rock,’ officially known as St. Catherine of Siena Chapel, is one of the most important landmarks of Colorado. Located just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park near Allenspark, it owes its construction to Monsignor Joseph Bosetti who in 1916 came upon the cliff while trying to locate the impact site of a meteorite. Upon seeing the rock formation, Bosetti was reminded of Matthew 16:18, which reads: ‘Upon this rock I’ll build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ He spent the following 20 years trying to turn his vision into reality, thanks to land donated by local landowners Mr. and Mrs. Malo and to the design of Denver architect Jacques Benedict. In 1993 Pope John Paul II visited the chapel as part of his trip to Denver to attend World Youth Day and spent some time hiking in the nearby trails of Camp St. Malo, which were later named John Paul II Trail in his honor. See photo for another setting of the chapel.”
Another view
The photo came from Charles Anderson of Lawrenceville, who wrote: “We knew nothing of it, we were just out riding and came upon it. An incredible surprise!”
George Graf of Palmyra, Va. adds: “During almost a century of service, the Chapel has withstood fires, landslides, and other natural disasters that devastated the surrounding area but managed to spare the church.”
Others recognizing this photo include Stewart Ogilvie, Lawrenceville; Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C.; Lou Camerio, Lilburn, who said: “The photo makes it look like it is on a high mountain site, but it is actually sitting next to a stream.”; Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; Sara Rawlins, Lawrenceville; Virginia Klaer, Duluth; and Allan Peel, San Antonio, Tex.
Youth cartoonists wanted to submit their work
GwinnettForum is looking to encourage cartooning by Gwinnett youth. If you know of any students who can draw well, and can dream up outlandish and funny ideas in a cartoon format, they should submit three of their drawings. The sample cartoons to determine those selected should be submitted in a horizontal, black-and-white format by email, to be sent by email to elliott@brack.net. More than one cartoonist might be selected, anticipating that GwinnettForum would show one cartoon in each edition.
Deadline for submission will be Feb. 14, 2023. GwinnettForum will compensate the winner who can produce cartoons on a regular basis.
Author Visit: meet television star and author Matt Paxton in Norcross on Thursday, January 26 at 7 p.m., at the Norcross Cultural Arts Center. Paxton, of Hoarders TV, will discuss his book, Keep the Memories,Lose the Stuff: Declutter, Downsize, and Move Forward with Your Life.”
Stakeholder input session: The Town of Braselton has partnered with Downtown Strategies for a Strategic Visioning Workshop and Strategic Plan for moving Downtown Braselton forward. Citizen input is needed! Plan to attend the session and come prepared to collaboratively share ideas, goals, concerns, and challenges. The session will be held February 9, from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Braselton Civic Center, 27 East Lake Drive.
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