GwinnettForum | Number 22.43 | June 16, 2023
THE 12th ANNUAL FLAG DAY CEREMONY was held on June 10 at the VFW Post 5255 in Lawrenceville. Members from numerous veteran and patriotic organizations participated including the American Legion, the VFW, the Masonic Lodge, Disabled American Veterans (DAV), as well as many county and state dignitaries. The guest speaker was Gwinnett Commissioner Jasper Watkins III. The Philadelphia Winn Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution handed out American flags, the flag code and pledge of allegiance cards at the event.The Color Guard from the Georgia Society, Sons of the American Revolution presented colors and performed a 3-volley musket salute. From left are Scott Collins, Bruce Maney, Bill Palmer, Don McCarty, Ralph Galpin, Ray Kyle, Tom Jacques, David Patrick, John Zeigler, and Ed Hendricks.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Enjoying making jam, the Lawrenceville Co-op benefits
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Georgia Press Association inducts EEB into Golden Club
SPOTLIGHT: Lail Family Dentistry
ANOTHER VIEW: Afghanistan was a mess for the USA from the start
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
UPCOMING: Iowa native to chair PA studies at PCOM
NOTABLE: “Pigments of Imagination” on display at Norcross Gallery
RECOMMENDED: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Ebos Landing and the Myth of the Flying Africans
MYSTERY PHOTO: Can you remember where you have eyeballed this scene?
CALENDAR: Duluth Rotary Club Car Show will be Saturday, June 17
Enjoying making jam, the Lawrenceville Co-op benefits
Massey; Photo provided.
By Laura M. Jensen
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. | Mike Massey grew up in Miami enjoying his mother’s homemade guava jelly. Years later, he would perfect his own recipe for pepper jelly to support a local ministry.
Jensen
In 2007, he helped his younger daughter make 200 jars of peach jam to be the party favor at her wedding. During the pandemic, Mike began making jam again , but had no outlet for distribution.
In October 2020, he brought two cases of his homemade jam to Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church Pastor, Ryan Jensen, to see if the Lawrenceville Co-Op would be willing to accept his donation. With the blessing of director Tom Balog, jam production went into full swing. This week marks his 10,000th jar of jam for the Co-Op.
With jar 10,000 Mike reached the initial goal he set for himself. When asked why, Massey sees it as “his ministry and purpose.” He can meet a direct need in the community using his gifts and talents.
Mr. Balog remarks: “Mike, the Jam Man, is a dedicated servant working to help the hungriest families in our area!” In 2020 Massey donated over 700 jars toward the Co-Op’s mission to be a Christian organization providing food for people in need in Lawrenceville and Dacula. Since then, he has perfected his methods for mass production, scouring the grocery ads for the best prices on fruit, and has created over 34 flavor combinations. He buys fruit in season and processes it to use year-round, often visiting multiple stores in a week to find the best quality and value. He is also known to clean out the jar aisles of his local big-box retailers for four and eight ounce jars, lids, and rings.
His flavors include various combinations of peaches, pears, mangoes, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. His favorite is “Fruit Medley I,” a blend of peach, strawberry, and blueberry.
Co-Op Assistant Director Ruth Hardy said, “There is nothing like Mike’s jam on our shelves. Our clients request and ask for them every time they return with their empty jam jar.”
Mike has been making jam of various flavors for almost 30 years. A retired industrial engineer and Georgia Tech graduate, he is always looking for ways to improve the process and product. He found that cutting back on the sugar and adding some cornstarch to the mixture thickens the jam without the need for so much sugar. In recent batches, he has also started adding some canola oil to the pot for easier cleanup.
Massey’s daughter, Kristine Hall, gifted him a digital scale to produce uniform weights for fruit.
Every batch has 3 ½ pounds of fresh fruit, which yields 13 jars to donate to the Co-Op. With his precise timing and measuring, each batch comes out delicious, fresh, and ready to donate.
What’s next for Mike “The Jam Man” Massey? More jam! He plans to continue making jam for
his family, friends, and the clients of the Lawrenceville Co-Op. While he does not plan on setting another number goal, he hopes his jam will continue to be his small way to make a big difference.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Georgia Press Association inducts EEB into Golden Club
Dublin Editor Dubose Porter drapes the Golden Club medal around Elliott Brack’s neck.
(Dear Readers: Today’s topic isn’t easy for me, for I was taught not to toot your own horn. Last week at the annual meeting of the Georgia Press Association at Jekyll Island, I was honored with membership in their Golden Club. Thank you, J.K. for this nomination. –eeb
By J.K. Murphy
Publisher, Marietta Times Journal
June 16, 2023 | It was 1947 when a young Elliott Brack first entered the newspaper business. He was 12 years old and each afternoon, Monday through Saturday, the young entrepreneur could be seen pedaling his bike over the streets of Macon, Ga., delivering The Macon News to his customers’ doorsteps.
Murphy
Elliott took a liking to the newspaper business and after a year with the News, promoted himself to a Macon Telegraph morning route. He’d rise early and walk the 45-minute route before school and on weekends, a routine he followed through high school and into his college years. Dividends from his early newspaper work allowed him to buy his first car – a 1953 Chevy coupe.
Those successful beginnings launched a career of news dissemination across a large swath of the state of Georgia for more than 70 years.
A native Georgian, Elliott was born on a farm in Wilkinson County in 1935 and grew up in Macon. He is a graduate of Mercer University and holds a master’s degree from the University of Iowa. From 1958-61, he served as an Army officer, stationed in Bad Nauheim and Giessen, Germany.
For 13 years Elliott published a weekly newspaper, The Wayne County Press in Jesup, Ga. He was concurrently publisher of The Montgomery Monitor for five years.
For 12 years he was vice president and general manager of Gwinnett Daily News. He also held a similar position with the Marietta Daily Journal. He has also been a visiting associate professor of journalism for nine years at the University of Georgia.
For 13 years, he was associate publisher of the daily Gwinnett EXTRA section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and wrote a column about Gwinnett four times a week. He officially retired in 2001 and since then has published an internet-moderated community commentary, www.gwinnettforum.com. He also published for 18 years GeorgiaClips, an internet news digest of what’s happening in Georgia from media sites published each business day.
Between his years in Jesup, Gwinnett County, Marietta, the AJC and Gwinnett Forum, it is estimated he has written more than 10,000 editorials and columns.
In 2008 he completed an 850-page book on the history of Gwinnett County, entitled Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta. He also published for the Gwinnett Bicentennial another small book, 366 Facts About Gwinnett in 2018, and updated it in 2022.
Among his civic activities:
- Citizen of the Year, 1994, named by Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce;
- Former president of the Georgia Press Association;
- Trustee, Atlanta History Center (eight years);
- Board member, Metro Atlanta Salvation Army (20 years);
- Former chairman of the Metro Atlanta American Red Cross chapter;
- Chairman and president, 1979-2012 of The Red and Black Publishing Company, the independent student daily newspaper at the University of Georgia in Athens.
For these reasons and a life dedicated to journalism and to informing and entertaining readers, I nominate Elliott Brack to the Georgia Press Association’s Golden Club.
One more element: “I’m honored to have spent an enjoyable life in the newspaper business at four levels — rural, suburban, metro, and now on the Internet. But I wasn’t alone. I had lots of help along the way, especially from Barbara, my wife of 65 years, who has helped, guided, proofread, and encouraged me all this time.”—eeb.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Lail Family Dentistry
Dr. Slade Lail and his team
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Lail Family Dentistry has been serving the community in Duluth and Gwinnett County for 53 years. Being the longest serving dental practice in the county, our roots run deep within our community and will continue to do so for generations to come. The doctors at Lail Family Dentistry are all members of the Lail family and are here to provide for you and yours. If you are in search of a traditional, hometown dentist that utilizes the latest dental techniques and technology while also exemplifying the utmost sense of professionalism, timeliness, and hospitality, we would be glad to welcome you to our practice. For more information, please visit our website at drlail.com or phone (770) 476-2400.
Dr. Slade Lail and his team
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Afghanistan was a mess for the USA from the start
Image from Frontline video on Afghanistan.
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | Recently “America and the Taliban” appeared on PBS’ Frontline Report. Marine Seth Sharp was shown, shot in the neck and killed during Afghanistan counterinsurgency efforts. He was a 20-year-old from Bartow County, Ga., where I went to high school and my youngest brother was born.
Our country invaded because of Afghanistan’s complicity with Osama Bin Laden, the brains behind the 9-11 attack. Many Americans agreed with George W. Bush’s Administration acting against the brutal, fanatical al-Qaeda terrorists that the Afghans shielded. But W made major mistakes, as did other administrations over the next 20 years as our longest war stumbled on towards infamy.
One of his worst missteps was the USA unilaterally starting the Iraq War. Given that Iraq had nothing to do with al-Qaeda and 9-11 (while Saudi Arabia did), there was no justification for this war. And it split our efforts into two far-away fronts, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Here’s the background leading to “the decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq”, per W’s immortal faux pas.
Iraq had been thorn in our side even before our first invasion in 2003. After Iraq invaded Kuwait, Saddam Hussein was beaten into submission by President Bush (senior). He then declared victory and left, a brilliant move, without removing Hussein, a horrible dictator. He left Hussein in power because he was fighting Iran, our enemy.
When George W. Bush was elected, some believe he had “Daddy issues,”-wanting to show Bush senior that he could remove Hussein whereas Daddy didn’t. Although he later stated: “No one was more shocked and angry than I was when we didn’t find the weapons.” George W, who indirectly influenced those providing input to him on weapons of mass destruction. It appears that his advisers told him what he wanted to hear.
So the upshot is that we fought two wars, neither very well. The mess continued under President Obama, who (like W) had very little foreign affairs experience.
President Trump wanted out, the right direction. But Trump was notorious for having big ideas and failing to have them well thought out. Remember the wall that Mexico was going to pay for?
The Trump administration cut a deal with the Taliban, incredibly, without involving the Afghan government. Trump gave the Taliban the kitchen sink, undercutting the Afghan regime. Guaranteeing unilateral withdrawal by May 2021, it “contained no enforcement mechanisms and included no penalties on the Taliban for failing to comply with its terms.”
Thus, when President Biden came into office, the Afghanistan situation was already hopeless. His choices were:
- withdraw per the Trump agreement;
- renege on that agreement and return to fighting a never-ending war; or
- renegotiate.
He tried the latter, but the Taliban refused. So, he stuck with the Trump agreement. The State Department and our military made a total mess of the actual withdrawal, leaving friendlies behind. It was reminiscent of President Nixon and us leaving Vietnam.
But at least we are now out of the quicksand of Afghanistan, the “Graveyard of Empires.” (Ask Russia!) Let’s hope we learned our lesson and stop blaming President Biden and his Administration alone.
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Send us your thoughts
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Iowa native to become chair of PA studies at PCOM
Thomas
Pharmacy Dr. Rebekah Thomas of Flowery Branch, has been named the chair and program director of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies for Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. The program, with about 175 students enrolled, has teaching sites in both Philadelphia and Suwanee. She also serves as a professor on the teaching faculty.
With both a doctorate degree in pharmacy and a master’s degree in physician assistant studies, Dr. Thomas joined the PCOM Department of Physician Assistant Studies in July 2015 as an assistant professor.
She graduated in 2008 from Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, cum laude, and then completed two years of general and specialty pharmacy residency training at Grady Health in Atlanta. At Grady, she served as co-chief pharmacy resident and worked in the pharmacotherapy and anti-coagulation clinics. Dr. Thomas also participated in pharmaceutical research at Grady where she served on the Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee.
Upon completion of her pharmacy education and training, she earned a Master of Physician Assistant Studies degree, cum laude, from the College of Allied Health Sciences at Augusta University in Augusta, Georgia.
Dr. Thomas then worked as a hospitalist in inpatient hospital medicine for several years, and as an assistant professor of pharmacology at Augusta University.
A published author, Dr. Thomas has given presentations across the Southeast. She is a licensed and certified PA, a licensed pharmacist and certified in advanced cardiovascular and basic life support. In addition, Dr. Thomas is board certified in advanced diabetes management and as a pharmacotherapy specialist. She has volunteered as a preceptor for pharmacy and physician assistant students.
Dr. Thomas was honored in 2020 as the PCOM Georgia Advisor of the Year by the PCOM Georgia Student Organizing Council. In addition, she was nominated for the Physician Assistant Education Association “Rising Star” Award in 2018 and 2019. This award recognizes a faculty member who has made noteworthy contributions to PA education.
Dr. Thomas is a member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants and the Physician Assistant Education Association.
Lenora Park getting new turf, Rec Center
Snellville’s Lenora Park’s natural turf fields will be converted to synthetic turf. The change allows for optimal use while reducing overall maintenance costs. In addition to the turf replacement, there will also be drainage renovations. This location is the last of Gwinnett Parks and Recreation’s natural turf fields to be converted. This project is funded by SPLOST at a cost of $1.7 million.
Lenora Park’s gym will also get a new Community Recreation Center. Crews will begin installation of floors, goals, wall padding, paint, lighting and bleachers. Staff offices, a game room and activity rooms will also be constructed. For those residents who enjoy walking indoors, a walking track overlooking the gym will be installed on the second-floor and accessible by a newly installed elevator. This upgrade will also include the addition of an outdoor basketball court and a parking lot expansion. Renovations will not interrupt the use of the gym or its use as a polling site during the 2024 election.
“Pigments of Imagination” on display at Norcross Gallery
“Union Pacific Yellow Caboose” by John Bullock
As late spring turns to summer, Norcross Gallery and Studios’ thoughts turn to imaginative creativity in the current exhibit, “Pigments of Imagination.” It is a happy, colorful show filled with glowing landscapes, western scenes, flowers and animals, certain to evoke summer’s charms in the artists’ works presented. The showing of member artists’ works were chosen by Judge Gail Wegodsky who holds BFA degrees from Maryland Institute College of Art and MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and was Atlanta Magazine’s Artist of the Month.
- “Mary’s Place” by Carole Chalmers is of the lovely marshland of coastal North Carolina; Ms. Chalmers says she loves to paint in that peaceful area and it shows in her work.
- Artist John Bullock’s bright, cheerful depiction of “Union Pacific Yellow Caboose” is a part of a train made into a hotel with other train cars in South Central Utah near the Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort.
- Kathryn Heller tells a story in her brilliant graphite of a wood stork and a laughing gull; the drawing is titled “The Encounter”. She laughingly said the small seagull won!
- Cindi Williams shares her portrait of roses, appropriately titled “Sweet Roses,” an avid gardener she has always loved to paint flowers. She says she enjoyed creating this more modern impressionistic interpretation of a sweet vase of roses.
Norcross Gallery and Studios is a 501(c))3 nonprofit community of established and aspiring artists who promote appreciation and awareness of art in the community, offering classes, workshops and exhibits throughout the year, which are open and free to the public. It is located in the heart of Norcross at 116 Carlyle Street; hours are Thursdays through Saturdays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Phone is 770-840-9844 and the website is norcrossgalleryandstudios.org
Housing group opens first Homeowner Resource Center
Snipping the ribbon at the grand opening of the GHC are, from left, Tom Bowers of Lennar; Lelja Prljaca of GHC; Adam Paterson of Lennar; Mandy Crate of Homeaid Atlanta; and Karen Ramsey of GHC.
Gwinnett Housing Corporation (GHC) has opened Gwinnett County’s first Homeowner Resource Center. To aid in its development, GHC partnered with Norcross’s Downtown Development Authority for a building at 128 Lawrenceville Street, down the street from the Norcross City Hall. The nonprofit also partnered with HomeAid Atlanta and Lennar to renovate the building. The ribbon cutting was June 5.
Through the Gwinnett Homeowner Resource Center, the GHC will provide programming in cooperation with other partner organizations, which include Habitat Gwinnett, Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc. (ANDP), Money Management International, Catholic Charities, Community Sustainability Enterprise, the Gwinnett County Housing Department, and Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA). Programs will include housing counseling, referrals for down payment assistance, access to non-profit developers, lenders, owner-occupied rehabilitation, and home modification activities.
In addition to home ownership programs, GHC provides access to affordable rental housing, transitional housing, and shelter assistance. To learn more about the Gwinnett Housing Corporation, its programs, and projects, visit www.GwinnettHousing.org.
The GHC was established in 1997 due to the overwhelming need for affordable housing in the area. GHC is a private, non-profit 501(c)3 development organization with a focus on creating, rehabilitating, and operating quality affordable residential housing.
Be alert for rabies: second infected cat reported
Gwinnett County Animal Welfare and Enforcement and the Gwinnett County Health Department advise residents to use caution and avoid animals behaving in unusual ways after another cat tested positive for the rabies virus. A second rabid cat has been found in Gwinnett County. On June 10, a cat attacked an individual at 6500 block of Barker Station Walk in Buford. Gwinnett Animal Welfare and Enforcement promptly collected the cat, which was then taken to the shelter for testing.
Pet owners are strongly advised to ensure their pets are current on the rabies vaccination. If you or your child have been bitten or scratched by any stray animals or suspected rabid animal, immediate preventive treatment is necessary. Seek medical care immediately and inform the healthcare provider of the exposure. Then, contact the Gwinnett County Health Department at 770-339-4260 and request to speak with the on-call epidemiologist.
EMC Foundation makes $81,000 in grants in Gwinnett
The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded a total of $122,675 in grants for organizations during its recent meeting, including $81,000 to organizations serving Gwinnett County. Among them:
- $15,000 to Camp Kudzu, to support 18-20 children, teens and their families in the 10 counties served by Jackson EMC to attend a variety of camp activities for children and teens with diabetes.
- $15,000 to Camp Twin Lakes, a not-for-profit organization that offers year-round recreational, therapeutic and educational programming for children facing serious illnesses and other challenges, to help children in Jackson EMC’s 10-county service area.
- $15,000 to Spectrum Autism Support Group, for a parent-run nonprofit group in Suwanee that provides Gwinnett and Hall County families with support, education and resources for the entire spectrum of autism disorders, to help disadvantaged autistic individuals ages four to 22 attend the organization’s weeklong summer camp programs.
- $15,000 to YWCO of Athens, to help 30 girls from low-income families attend the summer girls camp program, a structured recreational and educational summer program targeting young girls ages 5 to 14 from low-to-moderate income families.
- $10,000 to Camp Amplify, Winder, to provide 15 children ages eight to 12 from underserved communities with a week-long camping experience to develop character, leadership and teambuilding skills through a high adventure, overnight camp.
- $6,000 to Families of Children Under Stress (FOCUS), a nonprofit agency serving children, teens and adults with developmental disabilities and their families, to help provide 18 children the opportunity to build social skills, self-respect, character and community living skills at Camp Hollywood in Lawrenceville.
- $5,000 to Foster Siblings Reunited, to enable children in the 10 counties Jackson EMC serves to attend Camp to Belong summer camp, which reunites siblings living separately in foster care or other out-of-home care to strengthen relationships, increase self-esteem, create healthier attitudes and childhood memories.
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict
From Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill: In 1905, financier J.P. Morgan hired young Belle da Costa Greene as the first librarian for his growing collection of rare books and valuable art. He gave her full authority to spend enormous amounts of money in cut-throat negotiations to acquire the most sought-after books and artwork. Morgan, with his international fame, wealth and influence, empowered Belle to stand out as the only woman in the white male-dominated rarified world of antique manuscripts and antiquities. This novel chronicles the struggles and sacrifices Belle made in order to rise to prominence and international fame – all the while hiding an enormous secret that could have ruined her. Belle was black. This is a story about wealth, power, art, secrecy and racism. If you have ever toured financier J.P. Morgan’s library in New York, you may be interested in this highly fictionalized story of how it was created and who created it.
- 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
Ebos Landing and the Myth of the Flying Africans
The story that gives Ebos Landing its name is one of the most colorful and enduring tales in Georgia’s rich literary history. Better known as the “Myth of the Flying Africans,” this narrative has been told and embellished for 200 years in the form of local legends, children’s stories, movies, novels, and television shows. Based on an actual historical event, this remarkable tale of an Ebo (also known as Igbo or Ibo) slave rebellion on St. Simons Island has become a powerful metaphor of African American courage, longing, and conviction.
The historical roots of the flying Africans legend can be traced back to the spring of 1803, when a group of Igbo captives arrived in Savannah after enduring the nightmare of the Middle Passage. The Igbo (from what is now the nation of Nigeria, in central West Africa) were renowned throughout the American South for being fiercely independent and unwilling to tolerate the humiliations of chattel slavery.
The Igbo who became known as the flying Africans were purchased at the slave market in Savannah by agents working on behalf of John Couper and Thomas Spalding. Loaded aboard a small vessel, the Igbo were confined below deck for the trip down the coast to St. Simons. During the journey, however, the Igbo rose up in rebellion against the white agents, who jumped overboard and were drowned.
What happened next is a striking example of the ways in which enslaved African Americans and white enslavers interpreted “history” in starkly different terms. One of the only contemporary written accounts of the event was by Roswell King, a white overseer on the nearby plantation of Pierce Butler. King recounted that as soon as the Igbo landed on St. Simons Island, they “took to the swamp”—committing suicide by walking into Dunbar Creek. From King’s perspective the salient feature of the story was the loss of a substantial financial investment for Couper and Spalding.
African American oral tradition, on the other hand, has preserved a very different account of the events that transpired that day.
As with all oral histories, the facts of the story have evolved as storytellers elaborated the tale over the years, such that there are now dozens of variations on the original episode. In the late 1930s, more than 100 years after the Igbo uprising on St. Simons, members of the Federal Writers Project collected oral histories in the Sea Islands (many of which can now be found in Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies among the Georgia Coastal Negroes).
An older African American man by the name of Wallace Quarterman was asked if he had heard the story of Ebos landing. Quarterman replied: “Ain’t you heard about them? Well, at that time Mr. Blue he was the overseer and . . . Mr. Blue he go down one morning with a long whip for to whip them good. . . . Anyway, he whipped them good and they got together and stuck that hoe in the field and then . . . rose up in the sky and turned themselves into buzzards and flew right back to Africa. . . . Everybody knows about them.”
This account of transforming the hardships of slavery into the magical powers of freedom has been retold by a distinguished array of African American artists throughout the last century. Virginia Hamilton and Julius Lester rendered the tale for children. Julie Dash celebrated the memory of Ebos Landing in elegant visual terms with her film Daughters of the Dust (1991). Perhaps most important, Nobel Prize–winning writer Toni Morrison used the myth of the flying Africans as the basis for her novel Song of Solomon (1977).
(To be continued)
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Can you remember where you have eyeballed this scene?
Here’s betting many of you may have been at this scene, but can you remember where it is? Send your thoughts to elliott@brack.net and include your hometown.
The recent beautiful Mystery Photo was identified by Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex., who wrote: “Today’s mystery photo is of the Belvedere Gardens, located at the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo, approximately 15-miles southeast of the Vatican. At the center of the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo is the the Apostolic Palace, which was built between 1623 and 1629 and served for centuries as the papal summer residence (otherwise known as “the Second Vatican”) until 2016 when, at the behest of Pope Françis, it was transformed into a museum and gardens and opened to the public.
“The Pontifical Villas are spread over 135-acres and are comprised of numerous gardens .Built on the palace grounds of the Roman Emperor Albanum Domitian (AD-51 – AD-96), the Barberini Gardens are home to oak trees, some as old as 400 years.”
The photograph came from Tim Lee of Mobile, Ala.
Also identifying the photo were Stew Ogilvie of Lawrenceville; Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C.; and Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill, who added: “Now it’s a public museum, but it’s still a property of the Holy See.”
- 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.
Duluth Rotary Club Car Show will be June 17
Duluth Rotary Club’s 11th annual car show will be Saturday, June 17, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. in Historic Downtown Duluth. Registration starts at 8 a.m. Proceeds benefit Operation One Voice.
Juneteenth, a day of fun for the whole family, will be observed Saturday, June 17, from noon to 6 p.m. at Rhodes Jordan Park in Lawrenceville,sponsored by the United Ebony Society of Gwinnett and Gwinnett County government. Juneteenth holds significant historical importance as the oldest celebrated commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. It will feature historical presentations, performances, music, games, and food trucks. Rhodes Jordan Park is located at 100 East Crogan Street in Lawrenceville.
Writers’ Workshop with the Atlanta Writers Club will take place on Saturday, June 18, at 12:45 p.m. at the Duluth Branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library. Learn more about writing, network with other writers, and listen to accomplished authors. Daniel Black and Meg Leader will each give presentations and offer tips to improve your writing.
Rooftop solar workshop will be Wednesday, June 21, at 6:30 at the Five Forks Branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library. Learn about the benefits of switching to solar energy to save money on your power bills and reduce your environmental footprint.
The Gwinnett Soil and Water Conservation District will hold their monthly meeting on Wednesday, June 21 at 9:30 a.m. at the Gwinnett Senior Service Center, 567 Swanson, Dr., Lawrenceville. There is a Zoom option; here is the link.
Reviving Baseball Youth Baseball and Softball Camp at Coolray Field will be on Thursday, June 22, from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. The Gwinnett Stripers, with assistance from area youth coaches, have invited youth baseball and softball players to the camp who would otherwise not have access to summer ball or travel ball programs. Stripers’ players will lead the group through various drills and exercises on the field. All participants will receive a binder of drills to take home that they can continue to practice throughout the summer. Those planning to attend, please email Dave Lezotte (dave.lezotte@gostripers.com) by Wednesday, June 21.
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