The Ocmulgee River curls around Ocmulgee Mounds
From the Saporta Reports, by Mark Lannaman
Georgia is one of 20 U.S. states without a national park, but that may soon change.
The state is on the verge of getting its very own national park through the Ocmulgee Mounds Park, located in Macon, which looks to become a national park pending final approval from Congress.
The Ocmulgee Mounds Park and Preserve Establishment Act passed through the U.S. Senate in late November of this year — a huge win for advocates of the establishment of the national park. The Ocmulgee Mounds Act was unanimously reported out of committee.
Seth Clark, executive director of The Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative (ONPPI) and mayor pro tempore of Macon-Bibb County, said: “We expect Congress and will be strongly advocating for them to swiftly take it up as part of budget reconciliation in the first of the coming year.”
He adds: “The first piece of legislation was proposed in Congress in 1934 by Rep. Carl Vinson, and over the course of the 20th century, Middle Georgia [has] expanded its public access to conserve public hunting and fishing lands, and put invaluable cultural resources that were built by the ancestors of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation into conservation and protection. We’ve been cobbling land together for a century to make a continuous footprint along the floodplain of the Ocmulgee River. So it’s been almost a century in the making.”
The Ocmulgee Mounds contain over 17,000 continuous years of historical artifacts, especially from the native cultures that called the lands their home. Its significance cannot be understated, especially as the Muscogee Nation is based in Oklahoma these days after being forcibly pushed out of their ancestral lands throughout the 19th century.
City of Mulberry up and running after midnight meeting
The City of Mulberry officially began on January 1. Mayor Michael Coker says: “Your Mulberry City Council is hard at work for the start of our new city.”
The Mulberry City Council hosted three meetings this week to ensure a smooth start for the City of Mulberry. All meetings are open to the public and held at Hamilton Mill United Methodist Church at 1450 Pine Road in Dacula.
You may ask why the City Council held a meeting at midnight on New Years’ Eve?
The Mulberry City Council held a meeting at midnight on New Year’s Eve because the city officially began at midnight on January 1. If the Mulberry City Council were to delay the meeting, the city would essentially have a period of time where the city was in existence but had no laws (ordinances) in place.
These “midnight meetings” are common, and most new cities hold a meeting at midnight to adopt the new city’s laws on the first date of their existence (Peachtree Corners is an example.)
The City of Mulberry has notified Gwinnett County that effective January 1, 2025, the city is responsible for planning and zoning and code enforcement within the Mulberry city limits. All other services (police, fire, schools, parks, etc.) will remain with Gwinnett County.
The City of Mulberry’s webpage with all the city contact information, rezoning request applications, and permit instructions will be online shortly.
Norcross Gallery and Studios looks to successful 2025
It’s January and Norcross Gallery and Studios are celebrating successes in 2024 and getting off to a great start for 2025 with new events on tap. Norcross is extraordinarily picturesque, observed our member Anne Labaire, and at her instigation we set about inviting the community to show us the ways with a first contest in 2023.
Our 2024 photography contest was developed in partnership with the Norcross Public Arts Commission, our official sponsor.
Free to enter, our contest garnered photos from 52 photographers, almost twice as many as in 2023. To select the top photos from the more than 150 entries, we asked three persons with Norcross ties: Beth Coffey, executive director of the Southwest Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce; Mary Dowdy, owner of Reminisce at Antique Traditions and president of the Historic Norcross Business Association, and Nicole Morgan, board member of the Norcross Public Arts Commission.
We received meaningful financial support with grants from Creative Gwinnett and the Georgia Council for the Arts, April MacManus of Keller Williams and Advanced Color Imaging, who printed the top images for display at the gallery.
Mayor Craig Newton and City Council members have enthusiastically supported this contest and mayor pro tem Bruce Gaynor presented the awards selected by the jury.
The first exhibit of the new year, which opens January 9, is a collaborative show of works by members, all focused on abstract works, a nice departure from usual general shows.
EMC Foundation sends $42,000 to local charities
A $15,000 Jackson EMC Foundation check to Family Promise of Gwinnett will support its shelter program for families without homes through a network of local congregations. At the check presentation were, from left, Jennifer Fennell, Jackson EMC Gwinnett district manager; Carol Love, executive director of Family Promise of Gwinnett; Dee Anderson and Beauty Baldwin, Jackson EMC Foundation board members; and Kenny Lumpkin, Jackson EMC Foundation representative.
The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded a total of $137,000 in grants for organizations during its recent meeting, including $42,000 to organizations serving Gwinnett County.
- $15,000 to Adventure Bags, Inc., Winder, for its One Bag at a Time Program, to create comfort bags and distribute to displaced children through local DFCS offices, domestic violence shelters, fire departments, group homes and children’s shelters in Barrow, Banks, Clarke, Gwinnett, Hall and Jackson counties.
- $15,000 to Family Promise of Gwinnett, Inc., which provides shelter, meals and support services to families without homes in Gwinnett County through a network of local congregations for its Promise Haven Shelter Program.
- $12,000 to Neighborhood Meals on Wheels, Inc., Norcross, for a walk-in refrigerator and freezer to store food that will be served to senior adults in Gwinnett County.
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