GwinnettForum | Number 22.36 | May 19, 2023
EVER HEARD OF THE SEA COWS? Sugar Hill’s Lanier High School has a girls underwater robotics team, the Sea Cows, hoping to go to an international competition this summer. The team is seeking to raise enough funds to send them to the competition in Colorado by having a GoFundMe account. The team’s coach is Mike Reilly, while team members are, from left, Sarah Redstrom, Ciana Lee, Eliss Palacios, Violet Brockmann, and Makenna Reilly. To learn more, see Upcoming below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Gwinnett couple on jaunt out west enjoying the sights
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Construction going slowly on Western Gwinnett Bikeway
SPOTLIGHT: PCOM Georgia
ANOTHER VIEW: GGC cinema arts grad becomes commencement speaker
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
UPCOMING: Lanier High girls Sea Cows robotics team seeks championship
NOTABLE: French American Chamber signs local partnership agreement
RECOMMENDED: The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Battle of Resaca was first big engagement of Atlanta campaign
MYSTERY PHOTO: The location of this mystery may not be what you think
CALENDAR: Tribute to naming of Jimmy Carter Boulevard is Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Gwinnett couple on jaunt out west enjoying the sights
Bub’s, in Carmel, Indiana.
(Editor’s note: When a friend said he and his wife were heading on vacation, to include vistas in the West, we asked him to send us details on what they saw. Here’s the first installment. –eeb)
By Ed Orr
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. | Janet and my trip westward is one that is different than that of our forefathers. Rather than leaving family, hearth, and friends behind, we are seeking to reunite with friends of old, family we haven’t seen in years, enjoy the geology and geography of the different regions, sightsee a bit, and touch the last of the lower 48 that we haven’t visited.
We’ve left our home in Peachtree Corners with our destination of Nashville, where the objective was to hang pegboard for a sister-in-law. After several visits to a hardware store where my faith in southern humor was sated, everyone had their opinion as to how to better hang the peg board, most at my expense.
We had excellent Thai food. Eating Thai 50 and 60 years ago in the deep South was unimaginable. If it wasn’t chicken, casseroles, ham, okra and beans, we weren’t in the South or at least at my family).
After entering the bluegrass of Kentucky, we enjoyed seeing rolling farmland. It is easy to see why Daniel Boone brought people here. Passing the Corvette automotive museum and the only factory that makes that automobile, led us to Louisville and the Ohio River.
What an incredible river! Barges move upstream and down. The Ohio is a highway Native Americans, French, and English enjoyed long before we were formed as a nation, as it winds from Pittsburgh to Cairo, and flows on to New Orleans, via the Mississippi. Lewis and Clark first traveled down it on their way to the Northwest. Its width is daunting. Bridges crossing it at Louisville are numerous, including the older truss style which is complemented by the newer and attractive cable stayed design.
On to Indianapolis, the center and capital of Indiana, home to Benjamin Harrison, one of our presidents, who built a modest (by some standards) 10,000 square foot home on what was then the outskirts of the city.
Harrison’s stature in Indiana and his significant role in the Civil War led to a term in the Senate, and later as a one term president, where he championed veteran’s benefits, helping those with whom he soldiered. He married well; Catherine Scott Harrison was an artist who designed her own White House china and spoke publicly, somewhat unusual for that day and age. Hers would be an interesting story independent of his. She died of tuberculosis during his campaign for re-election. Both of their characters would easily reinforce Frederick Jackson Turner’s thesis of the role of the frontier on our character.
Changing gears, we headed slightly north from Indianapolis. From a foodie’s perspective, an elk burger from Bub’s Burgers and Ice Cream, Home of the Big Ugly, in Carmel Indiana, is worth a stop. The Big Ugly is a Hoosier staple for hand-pattied, flame grilled and seasoned to perfection juicy cheeseburgers made from 100 percent fresh ground chuck.) I have passed the point of being able to reasonably think about a Big Ugly years ago; but its smaller cousin, “Settle For Less” is awfully fine. Their malts, which, unfortunately, I still consider although I shouldn’t, are awfully fine as well.
Happy Trails to all; about to move more westward.
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Construction going slowly on Western Gwinnett Bikeway
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
May 19, 2023 | Have you noticed the construction along the west side of a four-mile stretch of Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Duluth and Suwanee? Gwinnett County is building part of a multi-use path, the Western Gwinnett Bikeway, on the western edge of the road, and using distinctive prefab concrete construction barrier walls in the process. It is a long-awaited bikeway, having been in the talking stage for years, and lately, has been plagued by construction delays.
It’s a $14 million contract to provide this 8 to 12 foot wide bikeway, which will allow bikers (and walkers if they risk it) to traverse this part of the county in a more safe manner. Gwinnett County got a $7 million grant for the project from the Georgia Department of Transportation, while the cities of Suwanee and Duluth are paying for part of the project through SPLOST fund, with the remainder coming from county SPLOST monies.
However, the work on the bike path is far from complete, and months behind its promised completion date. Several factors caused this delay. County officials are meeting with the contractor Monday to move the project along.
Fill dirt will go between the walls.
The barrier will be a five foot wide grass shoulder, plus 30 inch curb and gutter, between the bikeway and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. This space from the highway should allow, if a biker were to fall over, enough room so that the biker would not fall into the roadway, but fall to the shoulder.
Precast concrete barriers are now being installed along the boulevard, using the Gravix wall system, which consists of two walls. This includes use of gravity and mechanically stabilized earth walls. The precast concrete walls have a distinctive design, with dirt filling the precast sections between the two walls, adding weight and stability to the wall section. Each of the Gravix units consists of a 32 foot panel on a triangular footing with a perpendicular arm extending approximately eight feet back from the wall.
This shows the triangular base.
The roadside face of the wall will be three feet from ground level, with a 42 inch handrail on top of the wall. The Gravix products are manufactured by Earth Wall Products of Smyrna.
Currently a major portion of the work is at Suwanee Creek, where a tall crane is being used to install a 400 foot long pedestrian bridge across the creek. The bridge setting is expected to take at least two weeks. The 12 foot wide bridge will be 30 feet above the water.
Work on the project is being contracted to the Astra Group of Woodstock. Because of several factors, including materials shortages, work on the current leg of the project is more than six months behind schedule.
Some background: The project has been virtually snake-bit from earlier days, long talked about, but never funded until recently. Then more problems sat in, primarily bureaucratic problems at the state DOT level. Then once bid in October of 2020, came more delays, to the point that the bikeway project had to be re-bid in 2021. Interestingly, the same firm, the Astra Group, was low bidder each time. So the county lost another year in the repackaging of the contract.
Now Gwinnett DOT officials are hoping that the work will proceed at a steady pace, so that the project might be completed within the next 8-12 months.
We now only hope it’ll be that soon!
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PCOM Georgia
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GGC cinema arts grad becomes commencement speaker
Alexis McMillan
By Jacqueline Todd
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. | Alexis McMillian has always been keenly aware of the tragedies and comedies of life, so it’s no wonder she felt pulled toward film from a very young age.
A child of the foster care system, the odds were stacked against her from the beginning; but when she was five months old, she was taken in by a foster family and stole their hearts. They adopted her when she was about three years old.
“No writer gets to produce their first script,” says McMillian. “Rewrites are inevitable. My first rewrite occurred in my early childhood years, following my experience in the foster care system and my eventual adoption. I now had a completely new family and a completely new home, filled with unconditional love, empathy and encouragement. That was the home that instilled the value of education within me, and the home that motivated me to keep persevering, even in the moments that I wanted to go no further.”
Her adoptive grandmother, a film lover, helped raise her while her new mom was working long hours.
“My grandmother always had a film playing,” says McMillian, “From animation to dramas to international films — she opened up that world for me.”
The power of moving pictures made a permanent imprint on her and by the time she was in high school she knew she wouldn’t always just watch movies — she would make them.
McMillian’s new family raised her in Lawrenceville. She went to Gwinnett County public schools in the Dacula Cluster, where Georgia Gwinnett College was in her line of sight from the very beginning.
“Growing up in Gwinnett, I saw the diversity, community and fun that GGC had to offer before enrolling. Also, my favorite color is green, so it was meant to be!” she laughs.
She enrolled in GGC’s Cinema and Media Arts Production program in 2020, just as the COVID pandemic shut down the world. Once again, she turned to film – but this time, the end goal was a degree. McMillian came to campus as a GGC student in June 2021 as the country began lifting pandemic restrictions. Masks and distancing rules were still in effect, but that didn’t stop her and her fellow students from forming a tight-knit community.
For the next three years, she dedicated her life to becoming a GGC graduate. She held down jobs as a resident assistant in student housing, a sales associate at a department store and a supervisor at a movie theater, all while burning the midnight oil through countless nights planning, producing and editing films for classes and festivals.
McMillian, 20, who was the class commencement speaker, graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0 GPA. She credits her professors for keeping her momentum going through the many challenges posed by the pandemic and the regular ups and downs of a college career She especially singles out associate professor of film Katherine Balsley, who served as McMillian’s adviser and oversaw her internship course. After graduation, McMillian plans to work in digital media and marketing and pursue a graduate degree.
“It is hard being in a creative field because it’s so hard to trust oneself. Doubt is always there when you make a piece of art, but Professor Balsley helped me believe in myself. She was consistently encouraging.”
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Lanier High girls Sea Cows robotics team seeks championship
A five-member, all-female underwater robotics team from Lanier High School in Sugar Hill, nicknamed the Sea Cows, has qualified for the MATE ROV (robotics) Competition World Championships in Longmont, Colorado, this summer.
The team is made up of Junior Makenna Reilly; Sophomores Eliss Palacios, Ciana Lee, and Sarah Redstrom, as well as Freshman Violet Brockmann.
Mike Reilly, Lanier High School business education and robotics coach, is proud of his talented students. “I have coached competitive robotics for almost two decades, and this team is so impressive for so many reasons,” Reilly shares. “All that they have done is from their self-motivated learning, their creativity and problem-solving, their determination, and collaboration.” The Sea Cows robots team was founded three years ago. The first year it won the regional engineering award, and last year the team placed third in state competition.
The MATE ROV (remotely operated vehicle) competition is an underwater robotics challenge that engages a global community of learners each year. This year, the competition is highlighting the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and inspiring the global community to embrace environmental, social, and governance efforts to create a sustainable future on the ocean planet. The competition challenges each team to design and build an ROV and the necessary sensors and tooling to support work on combat climate change, provide clean energy, feed the growing global population, monitor ocean health, and preserve maritime history.
The team practiced every weekend and worked daily on making improvements to their design. Two of the students flew to Dallas the day after qualifying for the World Championships. They were representing the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair at UGA in the Engineering category at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, focusing on their underwater technology.
The biggest challenge facing the Sea Cows team is raising $10,000 in four weeks to attend the competition. If the team exceeds their fundraising goal, they plan to use the excess money to fund STEM activities for girls in the community and recruit girls that cannot typically afford STEM camps and other similar enrichment opportunities.
Among Lanier High School’s student population, approximately 40 percent are eligible for Free and Reduced-price meals. As a result, the Sea Cows Robotics Team has limited financial means to cover expenses to attend this competition.
Coach Reilly says: “We have been given amazing assets in our school to help our students to create what they envision, and these girls have gone beyond our expectations. I sincerely hope we can get these girls the support they need to compete at the World Championships. Last year, they qualified for the championship, but we could not afford to go. Most importantly, this goes beyond this contest. We want to give young women a safe place to explore and push their STEM passions.”
In an effort to support the team, Reilly set up a GoFundMe account. “I have never used GoFundMe before, but these girls deserve every effort I can give. We appreciate any help the community can offer to create some of the STEM leaders of tomorrow,” he says.
Friday-N-Duluth summer entertainment begins May 26
Get ready for an unforgettable summer as Fridays-N-Duluth makes a triumphant return to Downtown Duluth! Starting May 26 and continuing throughout the summer, this family-friendly event series will enhance the lively atmosphere of Downtown Duluth, entertainment, food, and fun to the heart of the city. It will have food trucks and live music to themed nights.
Each Friday from 6-9 p.m., you can join the festivities on Town Green with cuisine, performances, and experiences. With three stages featuring musicians, an array of vendors and yard games, everyone will be entertained.
Special themed evenings add an extra layer of excitement and provide distinctive experiences for attendees. Events Coordinator Jessica Gross says: “Our goal with Fridays-N-Duluth is to create an inclusive and memorable experience for the community. Each themed night adds a unique flavor to the overall celebration.”
The weekly food truck and entertainment lineup for Fridays-N-Duluth will be announced every Wednesday before each event. Stay updated by visiting the website at duluthga.net/events
Peach State Foundation awards $230,000 in scholarships, grants
The Peach State FCU C.A.R.E.S. Foundation announces the recipients of its 2023 scholarship program. This year, the foundation presented over $230,000 in scholarships and educational grants to high school students and adult members seeking career advancement throughout Peach State Federal Credit Union’s service area.
Peach State’s President/CEO, Marshall Boutwell says: “As a credit union deeply ingrained in the education system, we are grateful to be able to continue a tradition that helps ease the financial responsibilities of continuing education for so many. This is just one of the many ways in which Peach State expresses its dedication and commitment in making meaningful impacts in the communities that we serve.”
Twenty-nine Career Advancement Scholarships in honor of the credit union’s founders were awarded to the adult members seeking growth in their careers through continuing education.
Five Legacy Student Scholarships were awarded to high school seniors who will be attending college to pursue a degree in any field. These scholarships were established in honor of past and present board members and employees who have served Peach State for 20 years or more. They include Dylan Clearfield, Norcross High School and Beck Richards, Archer High School/
School System and Community Honoree Scholarships were awarded to the following seniors graduating high school as a tribute to the local school systems and community leaders:
- Meghana Kottapalli, Discovery High School, Dr. Frances Davis Scholarship;
- Riley Stewart, Archer High School, Rick Cost Scholarship; and
- Julianne Turner, Loganville High School, Dr. Gary Hobbs Scholarship.
In addition, Peach State supports the following with scholarships and educational grants: Georgia Gwinnett College Foundation; Gwinnett County Public Schools Foundation; and Gwinnett Technical College Foundation.
French American Chamber signs local partnership agreement
From left are French Consul General Anne-Laure Desjonquères; FACC Executive Director Katherine Lafourcade; Chamber Board Chair Dean Collins; and Gwinnett Chamber and Partnership Gwinnett President and CEO Nick Masinso.
The French American Chamber of Commerce, Gwinnett Chamber and Partnership Gwinnett are new partners! A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed this week at the Gwinnett Chamber’s monthly Board of Directors meeting. It recognizes the intent of these organizations to collaborate, champion, and drive global business in both the region and abroad.
Dean Collins, 2023 chair of the Gwinnett Chamber Board, says:“The Gwinnett Chamber was proud to include the French American Chamber of Commerce Atlanta Southeast as a partner during last year’s Multi-Chamber Mixer. We look forward to strengthening the two-way investments between Gwinnett and France.” The Gwinnett Chamber’s partnership agreements with nine other bilateral chambers.
Since its foundation in 1985, French American Chamber of Commerce (FACC-Atlanta) has promoted and supported French American business opportunities throughout France and the Southeast United States. In 2021, the chamber relocated its office to Curiosity Lab in Peachtree Corners to better support the booming tech ecosystem in this mega-region.
Katherine Lafourcade, FACC-Atlanta’s Executive Director, says: “The French American Chamber of Commerce of Atlanta Southeast is proud to join forces with the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. Aligning our efforts will help us reinforce our presence in the local area and make the activities of the French American Chamber better known to local companies, whether they are of French origin with a presence in Gwinnett County or U.S. companies interested in the tremendous business opportunities that France has to offer..”
Joining Executive Director Katherine Lafourcade for the MOU signing ceremony was Atlanta’s French Consul General Anne-Laure Desjonquères. “The French American Chamber of Commerce plays a key role in promoting mutual understanding and economic relations between France and the U.S.,” said Consul General Desjonquères.
France’s foreign direct investment represents the fifth largest global presence in Georgia and Gwinnett and has created more than 24,000 jobs and $3.4 billion in annual trade. Since its inception in 2007, Partnership Gwinnett has led two trade mission trips to France in partnership with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the French American Chamber of Atlanta Southeast, Georgia Power, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber.
EMC Foundation grants go to four institutions
A $15,000 Jackson EMC Foundation check to Gwinnett-Walton Habitat for Humanity will provide supplies for its latest house build. At the check presentation were, from left, Jennifer Fennell, Jackson EMC Gwinnett district manager; Beauty Baldwin, Jackson EMC Foundation board member; and Brent Bohanan, Gwinnett-Walton Habitat for Humanity executive director.
The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded a total of $86,200 in grants for organizations during its recent meeting, including $50,000 to organizations serving Gwinnett County.
- $20,000 to Hi-Hope Service Center, Lawrenceville, to help fund part-time nursing and nutrition services for 20 Gwinnett County residents with developmental disabilities/
- $15,000 to Gwinnett-Walton Habitat for Humanity, to provide a HVAC unit, interior trim, doors, cabinets, flooring and vanities for house #154 in Gwinnett County.
- $10,000 to My Sister’s Place Inc., a shelter for homeless women and children serving all counties in the Jackson EMC service area, for its residence assistance program.
- $5,000 to Just People Inc., Norcross, for its financial assistance program serving adults with developmental disabilities in Gwinnett, Hall and Jackson counties.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
From Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill: Can you envision a future where humans have altered themselves so much so that they are no longer useful? H.G. Wells did just that in 1895. This author takes his time-traveling protagonist into the future to discover frail, pale, pleasure seeking, childlike and useless creatures. While the plot is not at all riveting, it is scary to see Wells’s future humans who are barely recognizable after thousands of years of comfort and leisure. Machines and other sub humans do most of the work. I recently read about some flowers genetically altered to the point that they no longer produce pollen for bees. Maybe we are already altering things until their only uses are to be pretty. Wells anticipated the kind of world where humans have lacked work and challenges for so many centuries that their minds have turned to mush and they have no other purpose than to be decorative.”
- 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
Battle of Resaca was first big engagement of Atlanta campaign
Fought on May 14-15, 1864, the Battle of Resaca was the first major engagement of the Atlanta campaign in the Civil War (1861-1865). Situated on the north bank of the Oostanaula River approximately 75 miles northwest of Atlanta, Resaca was located on the strategically important Western and Atlantic Railroad. The fighting at Resaca demonstrated that the outnumbered Confederate army could only slow but not stop the advance of Union forces into Georgia.
Following its November 1863 defeat at Chattanooga, Tenn., the Confederate Army of Tennessee retreated 30 miles to the southeast and encamped in Dalton for the winter. General Joseph E. Johnston assumed command of the demoralized Confederate troops and began preparations for a defensive struggle in the spring. Johnston entrenched his men in Dalton and along Rocky Face Ridge, a steep and rugged ridgeline on the outskirts of the town.
In early May 1864 Union Major General William T. Sherman opened the Atlanta campaign by moving south from Chattanooga with 110,000 troops. Sherman’s forces consisted of three separate army groups: the Army of the Cumberland, under the command of George H. Thomas; the Army of the Tennessee, led by James B. McPherson; and the Army of the Ohio, commanded by John M. Schofield. Confederate forces were outnumbered approximately two to one, but the last-minute arrival of reinforcements led by Major General Leonidas Polk increased Johnston’s army to almost 70,000 men.
The first skirmish of the campaign occurred on May 7, when Union forces swept Confederate cavalry from Tunnel Hill, a small promontory in front of Rocky Face Ridge. Sherman then lined up his armies facing the ridgeline, and over the next two days he launched a number of small-scale attacks against the heavily fortified Confederate position. In the bloodiest of these encounters, Union soldiers fought their way up Rocky Face Ridge while Confederate defenders rolled large rocks down upon the attackers. The Confederate position proved impregnable.
However, the Union demonstrations against Rocky Face Ridge were merely a diversion, for Sherman had no intention of launching a full frontal assault against the well-entrenched Confederates. With General Johnston’s attention focused on the Union forces to his front, Sherman sent McPherson’s 25,000-man Army of the Tennessee on a covert march south to Snake Creek Gap. The unguarded road through Snake Creek Gap led to the village of Resaca, some dozen miles south of Dalton. If McPherson could capture Resaca, then the Confederate supply line would be severed, and Johnston’s army would be trapped. On the night of May 8-9, McPherson’s army passed through the gap and emerged behind the Confederate front lines. Upon learning the news, a jubilant Sherman exclaimed, “I’ve got Joe Johnston dead!”
Sherman’s elation proved premature, however, for McPherson proceeded with extreme caution and failed to seize Resaca. As Sherman sent more troops south to Snake Creek Gap, Johnston realized that he was being outflanked. On the night of May 12-13, he evacuated Rocky Face Ridge and the town of Dalton and marched his men south, where by the following morning they had taken up defensive positions along a four-mile front to the west and north of Resaca. The Confederates had shifted positions just in time to meet the arrival of Sherman’s forces.
(To be continued)
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
The location of this mystery may not be what you think
Today’s Mystery Photo may not have the geographical location that many associated with Christmas. See if you can determine where this photograph was made. Send your answer to elliott@brack.net, and be sure to include your hometown.
Two GwinnettForum readers correctly identified the last Mystery Photo because they had been there. Allan Peel, San Antonio, Tex.: “Today’s mystery photo was shot a hill-top scenic overlook with stunning, panoramic views of the Port of Málaga, Spain, along the Mediterranean Sea. My wife and I stayed at the Parador de Málaga Gibralfaro, a historic old convent that was converted into a luxury hotel, just 600-feet from where the mystery photo was shot. Considering that that was 45-years ago (in June 1978, when we were on a 3-1/2 week honeymoon in the Costa Del Sol region of Spain), it is clear that this stunning view was implanted deep into my memory cells so long ago!
“The Port of Málaga is the oldest continuously-operated port in Spain. The Plaza de Toros La Malagueta (aka ‘La Malagueta Bullring’) is also featured prominently in the mystery photo. Designed by Joaquín Rucoba, the hexadecagon-shaped bullring is 170-feet in diameter and was first opened to the public in June 1876. The Picassian bullfight is held at this venue each Easter; and is noteworthy as the bullfighters all wear costumes inspired by the style, vision and forms of Pablo Picasso, the Spanish artist, who spent most of his adult life in France, but was actually born in Málaga.”
Lou Camerio of Lilburn wrote: “Dee and I spent a week there about 40+ years ago. We flew into Madrid and had about an eight hour layover, where we spent most of the time at the Prado Museum (Great museum.) I saw the headline across the top in the largest letters I had ever seen saying that Bing Crosby had died. He was playing golf there.That should give you how long ago we were there. We stayed in Torremolinos.and also took the ferry from Gibraltar to Morocco.”
The photographer is Michael Clark of Atlanta, via Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill.
Others recognizing the photo were Stew Ogilvie, Lawrenceville; Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C. Helen Rocquemore, Auburn; George Graf, Palmyra, Va.; Ruthie Lachman Paul of Norcoss; and Michael Woods, Peachtree Corners;
- SHARE A MYSTERY PHOTO: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: elliott@brack.net and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
Tribute to naming of Jimmy Carter Boulevard is 10 a.m. Tuesday
Great Strides Walk for Cystic Fibrosis will be in Suwanee at Town Center Park on May 20, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Over 2,000 walkers will raise funds and awareness for this rare, genetic disease that progressively limits the ability to breathe and has no cure. This will be the largest CF walk nationwide, and raised more than $2 million in 2022 to support these efforts. To get involved in Great Strides, call the Georgia Chapter at 404-325-6973 or visit: http://fightcf.cff.org/GreatStridesATL. Walk Day is a fun, family-oriented event with a healthy walk.
Writing Workshop: Show, Don’t Tell: Why it Matters to Your Reader, will be Saturday, May 20, at 11 a.m. at the Lilburn Branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library. Zachary Steele, author and founder of Broadleaf Writers, will take a deep dive into the process of drawing the most out of your characters and settings.
A tribute to President Jimmy Carter will be held May 23 at 10 a.m. at Global Mall, 5765 Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Norcross. It is being produced by the Gateway85 Community Improvement District. Speakers include former Ambassador Andy Young; Jason Carter, grandson of the president and head of the Carter Center; and others who will speak of the naming of the road for the president. The public is invited to come, and to stay for lunch at restaurants of Global Mall. Reservations are requested by to https://signup.e2ma.net/signup/1986353/1905473/
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