GwinnettForum | Number 21.58 | July 30, 2021
WITH LOCAL TEMPERATURES soaring to the highest of the year, here’s a refreshing and cooling photograph for you to enjoy. It’s also today’s Mystery Photo. Figure out its location and send your guess to us. For more details, see Mystery Photo below.
THE ROOTS of the Duluth Fall Festival go back over 50 years, to a festival held in Downtown Duluth in 1962. Now this great event is just a little over two months away, and plans are well underway. The 400 volunteers are getting geared up, the more than 300 Arts and Crafts and food booths are being filled, and sponsors are coming on board daily. Also, the chairpersons of the over 50 festival committees are recruiting new volunteers. Look for the Festival tent at Food Truck Fridays if you are interested in volunteering, becoming a sponsor, or just knowing more about the organization. More: duluthfallfestival.org.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Sugar Hill area history centers on gold mining and moonshining
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Round of applause for Lawrenceville for its recent action
ANOTHER VIEW: A beautiful baby eventually sinks into death via the drug market
SPOTLIGHT: Heaven and Alvarez, LLC
FEEDBACK: Remembering those older “IMPEACH EARL WARREN” signs
UPCOMING: Commissioners order operational review of county activities
NOTABLE: Jackson EMC communications team wins national recognition
OBITUARIES: Mary Long
RECOMMENDED: Of Orcas and Men by David Neiwert
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Thomasville’s Bailey White gains fame on National Public Radio
MYSTERY PHOTO: Cooling scene with its own lighthouse is today’s Mystery
LAGNIAPPE: Did you see this recent rainbow near Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville?
CALENDAR: Newly-named Piedmont Eastside Medical Center in Snellville ribbon cutting
Sugar Hill history centers on gold mining, moonshining
(Editor’s note: the following is part of a presentation first given recently to the Gwinnett Historical Society by the author, who is a member of the Sugar Hill City Council. –eeb)
By Brandon Hembree
SUGAR HILL, Ga. | Sugar Hill is geographically unique. The Chattahoochee River forms the western border, and to the east are numerous creeks and streams that act as tributaries.
Over the ages, these waterways have carved beds and valleys that, up until recent times, were isolated. Because of this geography, gold mining and moonshining were common in Sugar Hill along Richland Creek, Level Creek, and Crayfish Creek. Both activities could have contributed towards the naming of Sugar Hill.
Gold occurrences in Georgia are scattered over much of the central Piedmont, Upland and Highland areas. These areas are underlain by metamorphic and igneous rocks and characterized by well-defined quartz veins. Sugar Hill lies in a southwest to northeast line that goes from Carroll County to Rabun County.
Mining gold in Sugar Hill from the early 1830s up until the mid-1900s were Jesse Chambers, Adam and James Simmons, Edward and William Shelley, William and Harry Amphlett and many others. Mining operations in the early years were most primitive and most mine owners and operators were not successful, but records indicate that, around 1941, Lawyer McKay mined 73 ounces of gold out of 100 tons of ore over a six-month period. At today’s value of gold, he would have made around $131,000 before calculating expenses. Several abandoned mines still exist in the community, including one that will be a component of the future Gold Mine Park on Level Creek Road.
The woods, streams, and dirt roads along the Chattahoochee River in Sugar Hill before Lake Sidney Lanier were ideal for moonshining. The Pirkles, Sudderths, and others were involved in distilling and running corn liquor.
The Great Depression lingered longer in Georgia and times were difficult for rural communities like Sugar Hill. Items to make corn liquor, like native corn and granulated sugar, were easy to grow or acquire. Liquor-making was good business and a necessity for families struggling to make ends meet. Families would augment income earning activities, such as sawmilling, with moonshining.
The Sugar Hill Militia District had its own sheriff, jail, judge, and court system centered in Buford and separate from those of the remainder of the county from the early 1900s until the 1960s. The district sheriff stayed busy raiding and busting up stills in Sugar Hill. George Sudderth began running moonshine at the age of 12. He was caught by Sheriff William Dodd and others, as an adult, at his home in Sugar Hill. Today, George and his son, Andy, own and operate a legal moonshine distillery called R.M. Rose in Dillard, Ga.
History has an amazing way of connecting our past, present, and future. It’s interesting how much Sugar Hill has changed over the decades, but also stayed the same. In 1939 at Sugar Hill’s first meeting of the newly sworn-in Mayor and City Council, they felt the need for their first city ordinances to deal with “wine, beer, intoxicating liquors, traveling medicine shows, and speeding”. History cannot be more interesting, especially Sugar Hill history.
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Round of applause for Lawrenceville for its recent action
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JULY 30, 2021 | Gwinnett Forum is pleased with actions in one of our Gwinnett cities.
The Lawrenceville City Council has recently taken moves to upgrade properties within its borders by appropriating taxpayer funds to purchase properties on one of its gateways and to buy properties needing re-development for a less dense environment.
We commend the Lawrenceville Council on making this difficult decision to use tax monies to improve their city property appearances. Few cities in Gwinnett take such bold moves. It feels refreshing.
The City of Lawrenceville is under contract to purchase the Metro Extended Stay hotel located at 652 Buford Drive in Lawrenceville for an undetermined future economic development project. The city is paying $7.1 million for the project, which will be financed over a 20 year bond program.
The anticipated closing will occur in November 2021. The City of Lawrenceville will work with the Lawrenceville Response Center to ensure successful rehousing of all guests, and has appropriated $750,000 to help in finding new housing for its residents. The property is near the north entrance to the city, where the city previously purchased a former Waffle House property.
Earlier the Lawrenceville council voted to purchase the Villa Lodge property on U.S. Highway 29 near Central Gwinnett High, which had become an extended-stay motel. The city wants to see less property density in this area, and hopes to attract developers for this property. (Earlier the property, when opened, was one of the few motels in the city, known as Lawrenceville Inn.)
Mayor David Still says that such moves by the city is their way of cleaning up the gateways of the city, and seeking new companies to relocate to these areas. “We would like to see business tenants for these properties that will employ people with better jobs than just jobs paying minimum wages. We want businesses such as clean manufacturing, high tech firms, or medical offices or other such firms in these locations. We are in touch with developers through our Downtown Development Authority, who are talking with principals about these properties.”
GwinnettForum suggests that there are properties within the limits of other Gwinnett cities that could use this approach in improving their cities.
Changes are coming in voting in Lawrenceville. Its City Council has approved Sunday voting during October’s advance voting period. According to the law, Sunday voting is optional and decided city by city.
Advance voting will take place daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. beginning Tuesday, October 12, 2021, and ending Friday, October 29, 2021, at Lawrenceville City Hall.
Qualifying for offices opens Monday, August 16, 2021, at 8:30 am and closes on Wednesday, August 18, 2021, at 4:30 pm in the office of the City Clerk located at Lawrenceville City Hall. Individuals intending to qualify must be a resident of the City of Lawrenceville for one year prior to the date of the November 2, 2021, election, be a City of Lawrenceville registered voter, and shall remit the qualification fee of $306.00 for council members.
Lawrenceville will vote on two open seats this year. Two councilmen, Keith Roche and Robert Clark, have announced that they will not seek re-election.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
A beautiful baby sinks into death via the drug market
By Debra Houston, contributing columnist
LILBURN, Ga. | A buoyant smile greeted me under the canopy of a baby stroller. “Hello, Candace (not her real name). You have your whole life ahead of you.”
I congratulated her granddad on his first grandchild; He and his wife were our always-helpful neighbors. I wouldn’t see Candace again until she and her mom moved in with them. By then, she was in middle school.
She’d come over and shower my cockapoo with affection. A bit shy, she’d borrow my computer to finish school assignments. I’d always apologize for my messy desk.
Her grandmother died around the time Candace graduated from high school. At the funeral, I told her she looked beautiful. And the buoyant smile reappeared. She mourned her grandmother, an anchor to her life.
One evening, she and a young man walked onto our lawn where he mocked my husband, unprovoked. Candace’s granddad said the boy needed a place to crash because his mother had kicked him out. He found a bed, but his benefactor noticed some valuables missing the next day.
In with the wrong crowd, I worried. Soon Candace wrecked her car and lost a job. Again. And again. When her granddad died, she lost another anchor.
Life became an endless pattern of drug dealers rolling into her driveway by day and paramedics rolling her out on a stretcher by night. I prayed for her when she went into rehab, but soon she reverted to old habits.
Once again, a siren whipped through the night, but paramedics couldn’t revive her. Exceedingly sad, I rejected going to her funeral. The memory of the baby girl and the bewitching smile tormented my thoughts.
She died at 22. I cannot explain this to my heart.
But for drugs, Candace might be planning her wedding; or graduating from college; or seeking a career; or having a baby.
Then I heard the CDC disclose that deaths from drug overdoses have risen steadily since 2015, and it attributes the rise to synthetic opioids like methamphetamines and fentanyl (a drug developed for cancer patients). Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, and yet powerful opioids are often combined into one dose!
Where does this junk come from? China trafficks it through our postal service to crime syndicates in America. And China sends drugs to Mexico where they’re smuggled over our border.
Near my home, a meth house exploded years back. Who teaches locals how to cook up a dish of death? Illegals, I’m sure.
The drug cartel in Gwinnett profits enough to buy homes in gated communities. They blend in as good neighbors, and they eye your children as potential addicts. Please educate your family about the lethal consequences of illicit drugs.
I felt powerless to help Candace. The least I could do is write this. Maybe it will open eyes and spur action.
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Remembering those “IMPEACH EARL WARREN” signs
Editor, the Forum:
Chief Justice Warren retired from the Court in June of 1969.This former Republican governor was appointed by a Republican President Eisenhower to the Supreme Court and served until 1969. In the 1950s and 1960s, Chief Justice Earl Warren was a strong advocate for conservatism, economic stability, social progress, and defense spending. In short, that’s what most Republicans used to stand for, a real belief in America.
However, I can still remember driving through to Rome, Georgia, and seeing signs put up by the extreme right -wing organization known as the John Birch Society that read “IMPEACH EARL WARREN.” Rome is now in the district of Marjorie Greene, the super crazy congresswoman.
My message is that the crazies have been in our country for a long time. The difference is that they have now taken over the Republican Party and egged on by that never- ending pestilence, Donald Trump, which in addition to COVID is plaguing the country with lies, death, and misinformation.
Furthermore, this extreme wing of the Republican Party has enacted reactionary, right-wing policies in many of the states they control. They are also responsible for the higher death toll in southern states and western states, Trump County.
Why? Trump’s supporters, in general, are not getting the vaccination. This political instability that it is causing may even lower the credit rating of the United States. Moreover, it could aid in the outbreak of another variant that the vaccine may not be effective against.
The only course of action is to start replacing these Republican- dominated legislators, starting with the state of Georgia.
— George Wilson, Stone Mountain
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.
Commissioners order operational review of county activities
Six months in office and the current Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners wants to make sure County government is always striving for the Gwinnett Standard of excellence. Commissioners have awarded Mauldin and Jenkins, LLC, CPAs in Atlanta, a $291,984 contract to perform an operational review for the county.
The assessment will look at how services are currently run, how they can become more effective and what can be done to make them more efficient. The goal is to enhance the lives of Gwinnett County residents and understand the workflow of county employees.
The review will place a microscope on county departments and their organization, strategic initiatives, key business practices and technology use, while developing a current state of operations and providing a blueprint to enable positive change and optimize the department’s operations.
County votes $4.1 million for sensory tree house project
A sensory tree house is coming to the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center. The treehouse will allow visitors with disabilities to experience the sensation of being in a canopy of trees while in a controlled environment.
Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners voted to spend $4.1 million to build the treehouse, which will allow visitors with disabilities to experience the sensation of being in a canopy of trees while in a controlled environment. The treehouse is designed to accommodate all ages and abilities.
The sensory treehouse will resemble a giant American chestnut tree of Georgia’s historic forests. The structure will include a wide range of materials and textures, ranging from rough to smooth, hard to soft, warm to cool and light to dark. To reach the sensory treehouse, users will travel on an ADA-accessible boardwalk with self-directed learning stations, or nodes, that connect visitors to nature by touch, smell or sight. While users are close to the ground, the sloping landscape will create the illusion of height, so they feel as if they are soaring among the trees.
The project is scheduled to begin in the fall and take about a year to construct.
Jackson EMC team wins national recognition
Jackson EMC’s communication department recently earned multiple awards from the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) for a variety of communication pieces developed for members and employees.
Jackson EMC earned these honors:
- First place in employee publication for Jackson EMC’s employee newsletter, JEMClips.
- Third place in the video series for “Right Choice Testimonials,” which highlighted homeowners and home builders who have participated in Jackson EMC’s Right Choice new home program.
- Honorable mention in illustration and graphic design for “2020 by the Numbers” feature in JEMClips.
- Honorable mention in miscellaneous promotion for a wrap showcasing Jackson EMC linemen for the “Lineman’s Rodeo Trailer.”
- Honorable mention in cover design for JEMCO News, Jackson EMC’s member newsletter for a photo featuring a lineman.
April Sorrow, Jackson EMC vice president of communication, beamed about the honor: “These awards are a testament to our daily mission of creating engaging communication strategies that enhance understanding of Jackson EMC, its people and its values.”
DAR chapter recognizes 3 World War II veterans with coins
The Philadelphia Winn chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution have recognized three World War II veterans. Their Service to Veterans committee recently presented “Thank you for your service” coins and certificates of appreciation to three of these veterans. They were:
Vic Bond (age 98), who served with the United States Marine Corps, was presented the award by First Vice Regent Lynn Jacques, at Alexander Park in Lawrenceville.
Luis Castano (age 98), who served with the United States Air Force, received the Award from Diane DeVore, at his home in Loganville. Luis moved to the United States from Columbia, South America, when he was 18 years old.
Sam Guy (age 94), who now lives in Rock Hill, S.C., who served with the United States Navy and Navy Reserve, received his award from his sister-in-law, Philadelphia Winn Chaplain and Honorary Regent Peggy Freeman.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Mary Long
Retired educator, local author, and humorist Mary Frazier Long, 89, of Lawrenceville, passed away on July 19, 2021. A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 7, 2021 at the Lawrenceville First Baptist Church in Lawrenceville. There will be a reception in the Fellowship Hall following the service.
Mary Long was born in Lawrenceville in 1932 to Marvin and Alma Frazier. She grew up, in her words, “going barefoot everywhere” in Lawrenceville. She spent days in her father’s store and had her first job at the town cinema, which is now the Tabernacle of Christ Church. After graduating from Lawrenceville High School, Mary earned degrees from the University of Georgia and West Georgia College. She taught public school for 34 years. A lifelong advocate for public education, Mary was a former president of the Georgia Retired Educators Association, member of Delta Kappa Gamma, and was appointed to a statewide task force on education by then Gov. Jimmy Carter.
Mary authored many books, including About Lawrenceville and Old Georgia Privies, and she wrote the Road Runner, a column for the Gwinnett Citizen. She was known as the Lawrenceville historian and she provided commentary for the Lawrenceville Trolley Tours. Mary was a lifelong, active member of Lawrenceville First Baptist Church where she taught Sunday School for many years. Mary established a scholarship program using proceeds from her books and speeches.
Mary was preceded in death by her husband, William Dean Long, Sr., her parents, and her brothers and sisters. She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, William (“Bill”) Dean Long, Jr. and Lynn Long of Dacula, and Victor and Ashley Long of Jefferson; four grandchildren, Jaletta Long Smith (Andrew), and Felicia, Maggie, and Elijah Long; five great grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews, and other family members. The family will receive friends 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, August 6 at the home of Mary and Dean Long in Lawrenceville. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Mary Long Scholarship Fund at Lawrenceville First Baptist Church. Arrangements by Tim Stewart Funeral Home Lawrenceville.
Of Orcas and Men, by David Neiwert
From Karen J. Harris, Stone Mountain: Of Orcas and Men by David Neiwert is an excruciatingly beautiful and inspiring account of the culture of killer whales and their struggle to survive in a world rife with complications from the changing health of the planet and the goals of humans who capture them for profit. Referred to as the “sea pandas” of the oceans, Orca whales are playful, highly intelligent, social creatures who though diminished in numbers, still survive. As part of an industry of scientific exploration and unfortunately, an entertainment machine, Orcas’ fraught relationship with humans is explored from historical, humanistic and mythical angles creating a thorough account of their existence and value to the ecological health of the planet.
- 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
Thomasville’s White gains fame on National Public Radio
Bailey White first achieved popularity reading her local color essays on National Public Radio. Her distinctive, gravelly voice and her gift for portraying eccentric people and unusual situations with a gently self-deprecating wit won her a national following.
White has published two essay collections (Mama Makes Up Her Mind and Sleeping at the Starlite Hotel) and one novel (Quite a Year for Plums), and her work has appeared as well in numerous periodicals. Her oral and written stories evoke a vivid picture of life in south Georgia.
White was born in 1950 in Thomasville. Both of her parents influenced her writing. Her father, Robb White, a writer of children’s stories and film scripts, left the family to live and work in California while she was still a child. She shared his love of words, however, and began writing as a young teen. Reared by her mother, Rosalie, on a farm in Thomasville, White developed an admiration for the natural environment and for the people who depend on it for their well-being. Both play a central role in her writing.
After graduating from Florida State University, White returned to Thomasville. She taught elementary school for more than 20 years, devoting herself to the children in her classroom during her hours on the job and to her writing in her leisure time. She developed a folksy persona who observed the local townspeople and reported on their activities, opinions, and conversations in her essays, many of which she read on All Things Considered for National Public Radio. As a narrator White sounded like anything but the shy elementary-school teacher who actually wrote the pieces.
The oral essays—based on truth and colored with the dialect and dialogue of the area—drew an enthusiastic listening public. As a result, publisher Addison-Wesley collected the essays under the title Mama Makes Up Her Mind and Other Dangers of Southern Living and published the volume in 1993. In 1995 a second collection, Sleeping at the Starlite Motel and Other Adventures on the Way Back Home, followed. With these books White attracted an appreciative reading audience.
In her next book, Quite a Year for Plums, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1998—White turned to fiction. She explained her reason for the change in genres: “I liked the idea of starting with just anything… and being free to just let the story roll out from there.” The novel has a loose plot held together by the character Roger, a plant pathologist who draws the affection and attention of the women in town. His romance with Della, a bird artist, provides an exciting conversational topic for the community. The episodic novel, which has the same vivid characters and dialogue of the writer’s essays, furnishes readers with another look at south Georgia life.
In 1999 White took a break from her teaching position to devote herself to her writing career full time from her family home in Thomasville. She retains close ties with her south Georgia heritage and shares her southern wit and wisdom in oral presentations as well as in her writings.
White was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2008.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Cooling scene with its own lighthouse is today’s Mystery
Today’s Mystery Photo, as noted above, is this cooling scene. Figure out where it is and send your answer to elliott@brack.net, including your hometown.
The last Mystery Photo fooled some readers. They thought it was the library at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, which was the subject of a previous mystery.
Allan Peel of San Antonio was one that got it right: “It’s Playfair Library Hall, located in the Talbot Rice Gallery of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. As evident from the bookshelves on either side of the photo, the Playfair Library Hall once served as the university’s main library from 1827 to 1967. Today however, the books on shelves that are visible are not readily available to the public, and are there for display purposes only. Playfair Library Hall is no longer a library, but is instead, a flexible ‘Edinburgh First’ venue – a series of prestigious event venues that offer a variety of accommodations, conferences, private parties, and large-scale catered events, all located in both modern and historic buildings throughout Edinburgh.”
The photo came from Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill. Others recognizing the mystery included George Graf, Palmyra, Va. and Lou Camerio, Lilburn.
Colorful sign of summer: While driving on Wednesday, Roving Photographer Frank Sharp observed this rainbow near Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville. He says: “I photographed it through my windshield. This was made with my small Canon G9X camera in Bold Art Mode.”
Ribbon-Cutting at Piedmont Eastside Medical Center in Snellville will be Tuesday, August 3 at 3 p.m., outside in front of the south entrance.
Author talk: Live, virtual talk with author and Master Beekeeper Frank Mortimer and award winning actress Francine Locke will be Thursday, August 5 at 7 p.m. Free and open to all. Registration is required to access this program. Register online at GCPL.org. Learn how a childhood fascination of the industrious bee led the author to become a seasoned, certified master responsible for the productive survival of his own backyard hives.
Race and Guns in America: Bestselling author Carol Anderson in conversation with NPR Host Rose Scott will be Thursday, August 12 at 7 p.m. EST, virtually. Free and open to all. Registration is required to access this program. Register online at GCPL.org. Anderson powerfully illuminates the history and impact of the Second Amendment, how it was designed, and how it has consistently been constructed to keep African Americans powerless and vulnerable.
ATLReads Virtual Book Club Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, Tuesday, August 17 at 7:00 p.m. EST, virtually. Outlander is the first book in the Outlander series, the basis for the Starz original series. Free and open to all. Read the book and chat with us! Invite friends to join. Guests do not have to be library cardholders. Those who are cardholders may download a free copy of this book by clicking here. To join us, click here.
Doing business with Gwinnett: Gwinnett County Government will hold a one-hour virtual clinic on August 19 at both 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Purchasing Division staff will share insight into how to complete and submit bid documents. Register for one of the two virtual sessions at gcga.us/QuarterlyClinicSignup.
Climate Change Prevention: Andreas Karelas – Renewable Energy Advocate, speaks Thursday, August 26 at 7 p.m. EST, virtually. Join Andreas Karelas to discuss his solutions to climate change and his new book, Climate Courage. Karelas is the founder and executive director of RE-volv, a Audubon TogetherGreen Conservation Leadership Fellow and an OpenIDEO Climate Innovator Fellow. Free and open to the public. Registration is required to access this program. Register online at GCPL.org.
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- Contributing columnist: Debra Houston
- Contributing columnist: George Wilson
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