GwinnettForum | Number 22.14 | Feb. 10, 2023
A BIT OF COLOR: Here is a photograph with some colorful structures. Just where this photo was taken is something you might ponder. Try your luck in identifying this picture by getting details at the Mystery Photo below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Words of Lincoln have meaning for our country today
EEB PERSPECTIVE: It’s a sad time when those in Congress heckle a president
SPOTLIGHT: MTI Baths Inc.
FEEDBACK: Riding a bike to kindergarten would be “too dangerous”
UPCOMING: Community recycling will be Feb. 11 at Gwinnett Fairgrounds
NOTABLE: Amber Walden is Gwinnett Tech instructor of the year
RECOMMENDED: The Writing Class by Jincey Willtt
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Sam Jones was the South’s most famous minister in the 19th century
MYSTERY PHOTO: Colorful structures near the water ask for your identification
CALENDAR: North Gwinnett Kiwanis Father-Daughter dance is February 10-11
Words of Lincoln have meaning for our country today
Photo by Alexander Gardner; photo illustration by Scott Suchy, Charleston City Paper.
By Ashley Herndon
OCEANSIDE, Calif. | What a wonderful world. What a wonderful force…but wrongful motivation destroys.
Herndon
The primary motivations in settling North America were religious freedom, commercial opportunity, political freedom, and individual property rights for individual persons or a group, such as in Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Even consider Georgia and Oglethorpe’s idea for what today we would call a Fresh Start. We are still quarreling over two of those issues; those issues are:
- the love of mankind or
- domination.
Historians advise us that one of the most powerful motivations was to escape domination, either one person, one family, a community, or former prisoners, from a tribal style of rule. Makes sense to me. But we have some real fanatics today who are motivated to turn government over to radicals who wish to dominate and reduce our freedoms…especially education and voting.
My grandfather, “Mr. Archie,” once advised me about behavior: “Ashley, ignorance is a wonderful thing. It can be overcome by education, but stupidity is a real personal problem.” He continued, in his soft bass voice, “I hope you don’t develop a personal problem.” I believe to this day, his motivation was to educate and elucidate, not denigrate, or dominate.
Some of our original colonies became rambunctious and many were motivated not to pay their fair share or did not care for the King’s administrative personnel (who were questionable at best). James and his brother, King Charles II, both ‘party guys’ found it hard to rule others since they could not take care of business in their own castles.
King Charlie (he of massive hairdo) created the Dominion of “New” England. He certainly blew that round. What with proprietors elsewhere, and mixed languages and cultural heritages and different economies, failure was its only outcome trying to rule from afar.
Kings Charles and James did not understand how to lead a cobbler, a smithy, a preacher, a farmer, a carpenter, a fisherman, et al, while you are gallivanting and appointing incompetents! We learned how that worked between 2017 and 2021. Let us continue as the United States of America, not under the “Dominion of Mar-a-Lago” or similar ‘my way or the highway’ rule.
Our National motivation is to sustain our democracy, not a fanatic-driven authoritarian-oligarchic dictatorship. “Dominion” means to dictate. “United” means together.
Senator Charles Sumner said about one of our presidents: “Lincoln was mistaken that ‘the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here.’ Instead: he remarked, “The world noted at once what he said, and will never cease to remember it. The battle itself was less important than the speech.” The same goes for those willing to place their lives in peril today defending our Constitutional Republic from would be tyrants.
Compare part of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and the January 6 assault on democracy. The Address states what our current CEO reminds us of: “… our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. We cannot allow a new group of Radicals to dominate and plunge us into a new and bitter false Reconstruction.”
The Gettysburg Address continued warning the country and expressing how the War brought us into a new era, (reconstruction), explaining away the ignorance and greed of the rebel leaders. Lincoln elucidated as did Granddaddy, “Stupidity is a personal problem” and “Ignorance can be overcome with education.”
It’s a sad time when those in Congress heckle a president
Biden at 2023 State of the Union. Photo via WhiteHouse.gov.
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
FEB. 10, 2023 | Discourteous people bother me….seriously. It doesn’t matter who, when or where someone shows bad manners, it’s telling…about that person.
Shocked!
Yes, we were shocked at the lack of civility Tuesday night when the president of the United States was heckled by many Republicans during the State of the Union address.
No matter who is the president, no matter the party, no matter the time in our history, those in Congress should at least pay respect to the office of the president itself. Any president of the United States should be shown this common courtesy, no matter who he is now or was. Yes, the Congress was courteous to a now-deposed president, Richard Nixon. And when addressing the Congress, Donald Trump did not hear the Senators or Congress members trying to shout him down.
What these resentful Republicans showed was a lack of civility. It was wrong, rude, and far uncalled for. Not only that, these GOP members were showing a lack of good manners in front of the entire nation and the world, watching on television. Sadly, these catcalls were led by a Georgia Congresswoman, that Marjorie Taylor Greene person.
Have the people who are supposed to guide our United States, those elected to the Congress, now stooped so low that they cannot calmly sit and listen to the concerns of the president addressing the nation? The halls of Congress are not like that of the British parliament, where debate among its members often draws hoots and slurs from the opposite party. American debate has traditionally been civil.
Debate in Congress today has unusually fallen to dangerous levels of pure partisanship, to the detriment of our country. Both minds of members of both parties seem to be well made up in advance, so that the debate means nothing more than posturing for the audience of their constituents. Weighing the remarks of debaters in Congress seems to be a lost art.
In effect, “You can‘t argue with me. My mind is made up.” That is too often true.
In reality, watching the heckling makes a person wonder about the parents of those GOP members more intent on shouting down the president. Their parents, raised to be courteous, would be ashamed of them. It’s sad, and scores heavily on the upbringing and background of what is supposed to be learned and polite gentlemen (and women)!
Do the Democrats heckle a president? We have no record of it. But we have not remembered news reports of such heckling and jeering of the president of the United States before, except for one Republican who shouted at President Obama during a State of the Union address.
Do Congressmen have a difference of opinion from the president? That is common in Congress and expected from people with different views. How can these discourteous Republicans ever think they are leaders if they are so disposed that they cannot listen with good manners? Can’t they simply show their differences by sitting there quietly, perhaps without clapping, when the president gives the State of the State address?
Tuesday was a rude and sad night at the Congress. It was not the best face of the United States when people are so closed-minded that they resort to such bad manners. It was not the finest night for Republicans, who most decidedly embarrassed themselves…..but many of them do not even realize it. Meanwhile, let’s offer prayers for them, also for the Democrats, and for our country.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
MTI Baths Inc.
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today’s featured sponsor is MTI Baths Inc. of Sugar Hill. MTI Baths is a manufacturer of high-quality acrylic and engineered solid surface bath products, including whirlpools, air and soaking baths; lavatories; shower bases; and kitchen sinks. MTI’s patented Fill-Flush® and Simple Touch® whirlpool cleaning systems are the best on the market. MTI now offers engineered solid surface–countertops and sinks. Every product is custom-made to order. We are now operating in an additional manufacturing plant of 38,000 square feet. CEO of the firm is Russell Adams. MTI Baths was excited to be the project management for the Georgia Tech KOAN Project, John Portman’s final design of a sculpture.
- Visit their web site at http://www.mtibaths.com/.
- For a list of other sponsors of this forum, click here
Riding a bike to kindergarten would be “too dangerous”
Editor, the Forum:
My, how things have changed. A guy on the radio was talking about kindergarten this morning and it made me recall an incident from my young age.
When I was five years old and going to Mrs. Hurds kindergarten on West North Street back in Greenfield, Ind., I would walk the four blocks, about a 10 minute walk, all alone by myself. I walked both to kindergarten and back home, no matter if there was rain, snow or the sun was shining.
Most days, about the time I was a block or so away, Jeff Manor would come flying by me on his bicycle. It made me so jealous!
So, I asked my mom if I could ride my bike to school like Jeff. And she said no, it was too dangerous. Go figure.
– David Simmons, Norcross
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.
Community recycling will be Feb. 11 at Gwinnett Fairgrounds
A community recycling event will be held on Saturday, February 11 at Gwinnett County Fairgrounds from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful (GC&B) and its partner, the Department of Water Resources. The event will provide a FREE opportunity for its neighbors throughout the county to drop off household hazardous waste for recycling or proper disposal.
As a result of their biannual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Days in 2022, the two organizations had a hand in helping 1,422 Gwinnettians declutter their homes while diverting 161,874 pounds of hazardous materials from local landfills.
Schelly Marlatt, GC&B executive director, says: “To help ensure a smooth event, we’re seeking an additional 50 volunteers. We only have a four-hour window to collect materials from hundreds of cars, so this is a ‘the more, the merrier’ scenario. It’s a great opportunity to spend some time outdoors, meet other people who have a heart for the environment, fulfill volunteer hours for school and club commitments, and do something good for the community.”
Volunteers will help direct traffic, be assigned a station to help haul materials from vehicles, break down boxes and more. It’s easy but rewarding work.
Marlatt adds: “When people throw household hazardous materials in the trash, they will wind up in the landfill and could leech into the soil – contaminating groundwater and the environment. The dangerous combination of some of those materials during the disposal process could even lead to a chemical reaction resulting in a fire or explosion. It might not seem like it at the moment when our volunteers are collecting items from the trunks and backseats of our attendees’ cars, but we’re saving the planet – one pesticide, paint can and propane cylinder at a time!”
To sign on as a volunteer for this and future events, Marlatt encourages interested individuals and groups to visit Volunteer Gwinnett. As for participants at the event, attendees are permitted to bring up to five containers of household waste. Containers must be the size of a copy paper box or laundry basket, and – since they cannot be returned once removed from the car – disposable containers are recommended. Acceptable items for collection range from automobile products, paint, auto batteries, insecticides, propane cylinders and other household products.
However, she adds: “While we traditionally collect items like tires, electronics and paper for shredding, we will not have the capacity to accept those items on February 11.” Tires, electronics and paper will be accepted for recycling at the Earth Day Recycling Event at Coolray Field on April 22.
Taste of Lilburn scheduled for late April at Salem Church
The Lilburn Woman’s Club is now accepting applications to participate in the first “Taste of Lilburn.” The event will be Saturday, April 29, from 4 until 7 p.m. at Heritage Hall of Salem Missionary Baptist Church. Tickets may be purchased prior to the event and at the door
It will feature food from some of Lilburn’s local restaurants, with live music
Come join us and help build community spirit around the local businesses and restaurants. All proceeds from the event will help the Lilburn Woman’s Club serve neighbors and the community by funding community projects in the Lilburn area.
If you are a professional chef, bakery or restaurant and would like to participate, visit the website for more information and an application at WWW.TASTEOFLILBURN.ORG.
Walden is Gwinnett Tech instructor of the year
Gwinnett Technical College has named Amber Walden, humanities program director, as its Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year recipient. Walden discovered her love of teaching during a graduate assistantship and knew she had found her calling and passion: helping students to learn, grow, achieve, and succeed.
Walden
Walden holds a master of fine arts from Ohio University, a bachelor of arts in studio art, and a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Georgia. Walden was born and raised in Gwinnett County, and resides in Lawrenceville. She is currently organizing and developing a L.A.R.P. (live-action role play) organization.
She says of teaching: “I love seeing the look of enlightenment on students’ faces when they realize their potential and build a strong sense of self-confidence. Along with the knowledge and insight students gain in my classes, I also love helping to expand students’ life experiences through class activities that get students out of the classroom environment and into “real world” encounters with the course topics.
“I am most inspired by the students who exhibit significant personal growth through their persistence to succeed. Some of my best and most successful students are those who had a rough start, but instead of giving up, they learned from their experiences, faced their fears head-on, and worked hard to overcome adversity. Whenever I face similar difficult situations, or if I’m unsure or intimidated by tasks set in front of me, I often think of these students, and their impressive willpower to push through and flourish.”
Rainbow Village adds three new members to its board
Three new members of the board of directors of Rainbow Village have been announced. They are Deon Tucker of Decatur, Susie Collat of Peachtree Corners, and Deborah Latham of Atlanta.
Melanie Conner, CEO for Rainbow Village, says: “Not only are they wildly successful powerhouses in their own right, but each of these women has a long history of giving back to the community.”
Tucker
Deon Tucker is Georgia Power Company’s Metro North Regional Director, and leads the company’s external affairs activities for DeKalb, North Fulton, Gwinnett and Rockdale counties. She has earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University and a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Troy University. She serves on the board of directors for the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, Council for Quality Growth, Georgia Gwinnett College Foundation and Gwinnett Technical College.
Collat
Susie Collat is a former owner of two businesses, Mayer Electric Supply Company, Inc. and Peachtree Awnings. She serves on the advisory board of the Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett, where she was president for five years. She has also served as a board member of the Dare to Hope Foundation where she was actively involved in its fundraising activities, and as a member of her local school council. In 2004, she was recognized with the Women of Achievement Award from Atlanta’s oldest and most diverse synagogue, The Temple. This Peachtree Corners’ resident is a graduate of Tulane University with a degree in Communication and Business.
Latham
Deborah Latham, retired, founded Georgia Tank Lines in 1996. As CEO, she helped fuel the expansion of her trucking company that transported gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and ethanol. Deborah continues as a role model for other female entrepreneurs, having shattered the glass ceiling in the male-dominated petroleum industry. She has served on the boards of the National Association of Women Business Owners, Visions Anew and Good Mews. She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
The Writing Class by Jincey Willett
From Shyla Nambiar, Norcross: This book is the first novel in a trilogy centered on the indomitable Amy Gallup, a once successful, twice-married novelist reduced to teaching extension writing classes in Escondido, Calif. Amy’s recent crop of students includes the usual motley group of would-be writers of science fiction, thrillers, and domestic novels. What begins a standard class turns threatening when a stalker starts making sinister phone calls and stages a frightening stunt. It culminates in the deaths of two students. Amy and the remaining students try to figure out which one of them is the real killer. This mystery novel is laced with sardonic wit about writing classes, students, and their aspirations. The characters, including Amy’s quirky basset hound Alphonse, are well-delineated, and Willett satirizes those types of students who perennially show up at writing groups, while also depicting Amy’s personal history with sympathy.
- 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
Jones was the South’s most famous minister in 19th century
With his plain style and simple “quit your meanness” theology, Sam Jones was the South’s most famous preacher in the late 19th century.
Samuel Porter Jones was born October 16, 1847, in Oak Bowery, Ala., the son of Nancy “Queenie” Porter and John J. Jones, a lawyer and businessman. After his mother’s death in 1855, Jones moved with his family to Cartersville, Ga., where he grew up and lived for most of his life.
He was the product of generations of Methodist inbreeding: his great-grandfather, grandfather, and four uncles were Methodist ministers. He briefly studied law and was admitted to the Georgia bar in 1868, shortly before he married Laura McElwain of Kentucky, where he had spent the last days of the Civil War.
Jones’s promising law practice was soon in shambles, however, because of his drinking problem. He soon was reduced to menial labor, stoking furnaces and driving freight wagons. In 1872 Jones promised his father, who was on his deathbed, that he would quit drinking—a promise kept (with a few lapses) for the rest of his life. As he struggled to quit drinking, Jones also underwent a religious experience that convinced him to enter the ministry.
Jones was accepted by the North Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Realizing Jones’s talents, the conference appointed him as the fund-raising agent for the Methodist Orphan Home in Decatur.
Jones supplemented his fund-raising with revival services. As his oratorical skill grew, so too did his reputation. A revival in Nashville, Tenn. in 1885 put Jones in the national limelight: a three-week series of meetings attracted thousands of people and was covered by the press from Boston to San Francisco.
It was in Nashville that Jones won his most famous convert, Tom Ryman, whose riverboats carried not only a large share of Nashville’s river trade but also barrooms, gambling casinos, and dancing girls. Jones converted Ryman, who in his newfound religious zeal, decided to clean up his boats and construct a building where Jones and other preachers could hold revivals. Ryman’s Union Gospel Tabernacle later became “the Mother Church of country music,” the home of the Grand Ole Opry.
Jones’s message was a simple one: “Quit Your Meanness.” He was famous for his distaste for religious doctrine, preferring instead the simple directive of living a good life that was as sin-free as possible His biggest campaign, though, was against alcohol. “I will fight the liquor traffic as long as I have fists, kick it as long as I have a foot, bite it as long as I have a tooth, and then gum’em till I die,” he said.
Jones died unexpectedly on October 15, 1906, a day shy of his 59th birthday, while returning home from a revival in Oklahoma City. He was taken first to Atlanta, where his body lay in state in the rotunda of the capitol, and then to Cartersville, where he was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Jones’s Victorian home in Cartersville is now maintained as the Rose Lawn Museum in honor of both Jones and his fellow Georgian from Bartow County, Rebecca Latimer Felton.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Colorful structures near the water asks for your identification
Today’s Mystery Photo shows plenty of color, and is obviously by the water. Figure out where this photograph was taken, then send your answers to elliott@brack.net and include your hometown.
Allen Peel of San Antonio, Tex., wrote: “Today’s mystery photo is of the historic Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Depot located in the center of downtown Cairo, Ga.
“Cairo (pronounced “KAY-Roe”), 2020 population 10,168, is 200-miles south of Atlanta, and just 13-miles north of the Georgia-Florida state line. Often referred to as “Syrup City”, Cairo is best known as the home of Georgia’s first pure open kettle, cane syrup business, operated by Seaborn Anderson Roddenbery (1870 – 1913), a Cairo doctor who practiced medicine by horseback and ran a general store. Over time, Roddenbery’s syrup business — the W. B. Roddenbery Company —became a regional favorite that also included pickles and peanut butter.
“The depot depicted in the mystery photo was built by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1905 became a busy location carrying the syrup that made the town famous. More recently, the building housed the local police station until it was purchased by Karen Holder, a local restaurateur who had much of the interior renovated and restored and opened the First + Broad Pizza Company at this location in October 2022.”
The photograph came from Brian Brown of Fitzgerald and his Vanishing Georgia series. Also recognizing the photograph were Lynn Naylor, Norcross; George Graf, Palmyra, Va.; Lou Camerio, Lilburn; Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C.; and Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill.
Men’s Civic Breakfast at Christ Episcopal Church in Norcross will be February 11 at 8 a.m. in Webster Hall. Speaker will be Gwinnett Sheriff Keybo Taylor. The church is located at 400 Holcomb Bridge Road in Norcross.
The 14th annual Father-Daughter Valentine Dance will be February 10-11, being put on by the Kiwanis club of North Gwinnett. This year the event will be at the Braselton Civic Center. Three dances are scheduled, from 7-9 p.m. on February 10; and on February 11 from 5-7 p.m. and from 8-10 p.m. All dances are $90 per couple, with $10 for each additional daughter. Click here for tickets.
The February meeting of the Gwinnett County Soil and Water Conservation District will be held Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. at Gwinnett Senior Service Center, 567 Swanson Drive in Lawrenceville. Join the meeting by Zoom.
Doing business with Gwinnett County: Join the Gwinnett County Purchasing Division Thursday, February 16 at 9 a.m. or 2 p.m. to learn about doing business with Gwinnett County government. During the one-hour virtual clinic, Purchasing and Water Resources staff will share information about the different divisions of Water Resources, current and upcoming opportunities, and how to do business with the County. Register for one of the two virtual sessions at gcga.us/QuarterlyClinicSignup.
“Overcome Rejection: Unleash Your Greatness” is the subject of an inspirational talk by Pastor Dwight Buckner, Jr., which will be given on Thursday, February 16 at 7 p.m. at the Lawrenceville branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library. Join GCPL and Pastor Buckner for a discussion about his new book Overlooked. Pastor Dwight Buckner teaches you how to overcome the feelings of rejection and unleash the greatness that’s locked up in you.
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