SEATING CHART: Where do your two Georgia Senators sit in the Senate Chamber? Here’s a sketch of the Chamber floor, where you can see Senator Johnny Isakson sits in seat No. 35, and newcomer David Perdue is on the back row in seat No. 32. Now for a look inside Senator Perdue’s desk to see who has been in that seat before, see Elliott Brack’s column below.
Issue 14.92 | Feb. 24, 2015
NEW FORMAT
Note new format for today’s issue
Dear Readers: Today we’re introducing a new format for GwinnettForum. We have changed the format very little over the years, since it bugs me when we see other computer sites change their layout often. We feel the reader is more comfortable with fewer changes. However, this new format works better with current developments in the computer world. We hope you’ll be happy with the new layout we present today.
You will still be able to read full issues of GwinnettForum in one fell swoop, but our new platform on the Web allows us to highlight popular areas more easily. — eeb
IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: Many in Gwinnett Have Done It, But for 20 Times?
EEB PERSPECTIVE: City of Lilburn Wants To Charge for Use of City Hall Rooms
FEEDBACK: Feels Business Should Take Every Loophole Possible
UPCOMING: Gwinnett Ballet Theatre Plans Kickstarter Campaign for $4,500
NOTABLE: Lawrenceville’s Mary Anna Bryan Winner of Ferrol Sams Award
RECOMMENDED READ: Nuts by Vincent Speranza
GEORGIA TIDBIT: W. C. Bradley Becomes Major Businessman in Columbus
TODAY’S QUOTE: One Reason To Discount Books About Health Care
MYSTERY PHOTO: Beautiful Carving on Statue Is Today’s Mystery Photo
LAGNIAPPE: Snellville Detective Given VFW Award for 2014
TODAY’S FOCUS
30-year resident recounts living in 20 different areas of USA
By Johnnie Rowe
PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga., Feb. 24, 2015 –Your recent comment took me on a long trip down “memory lane.” Every state in which I have lived has its own personality and special characteristics. I was born in London, Ark. where the local cemetery bears the names of many of my ancestors. When I was six, my family moved to Prescott, Ariz. This “mile high city” was a wonderful small town in the mountains and a perfect place to grow up.
Rowe
My “20 move journey” really began when I married a Naval aviation cadet and moved to Lake City, Fla. and St. Simons Island, Ga. The Navy life ended when the decision was made to earn a college degree. Going to college as a married student presented many challenges.
The “education journey” began in the Philadelphia area, then moved to Arizona to earn a business degree from the University of Arizona. Then we returned to Philadelphia for a master’s degree from the Wharton School.
If I were asked to choose my least favorite place to live it would be Tucson, Ariz. As married college students, we lived in Quonset huts, which were built around a polo field and “cooled” by window air conditioners. For at least six months a year those soaring temperatures were the best reason to remember Tucson as my least favorite place.
The “business journey” began with moves to Teaneck, N.J., back to Philadelphia and a career move to IBM. As other young IBM employees with a good credit rating and $150 down, we bought a three bedroom home in Levittown, Penn. for $9,900 within commuting distance of downtown Philadelphia. Several years later, with IBM success, we “moved up” to a larger home in Levittown for $19,900. Levitt gave young families a great beginning in home ownership.
A career in “hi-tech” led to more moves: Rocky River, Ohio with ice skating on Lake Erie; Gulph Mills and Malvern, Penn.; and Westborough, Mass.
When we told our Philadelphia area friends we were moving to New England they warned us those “Yankees” would not be friendly. They could not have been more wrong!
We bought a wonderful home built in 1710 to be restored by a Gilman man who had restored two other old homes. Because we bought that home, the “townies” were immediate friends. After a couple of years I asked my friends: “How long do I have to live in the ‘Gilman house’ to have it referred to as ‘Johnnie’s house?” The answer, after some thought, was: “If you became an ax murderess, then we would say ‘you know Johnnie Rowe, the ax murderess – who lives in the Gilman house?’”
Westborough was our favorite place to live.
After an especially harsh New England winter we decided to visit friends who lived in Boca Raton, Fla. By the time we flew back to the Boston area we had contracted to have a home built in Boca Raton! We never had even entertained such a move!
We lived in Boca for five years and enjoyed the retirement life, but the desire to re-enter the hi-tech world brought us to the Atlanta area. We really enjoyed being in a neighborhood with lots of young people. We missed that in our retirement life in Boca Raton.
My address for over 30 years was Duluth; it is now Peachtree Corners (and I haven’t moved.) The growth process in Gwinnett has made it a special place to live. Our mayor has announced that we now have our own ZIP code, 30092, and our town center is a “work in progress.”
EEB PERSPECTIVE
City of Lilburn to charge for use of its city hall facilities
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher, GwinnettForum.com
FEB. 24, 2015 — Lots of good things have been happening and are planned in the City of Lilburn. The city really seems on the move. Yet its city council approved a measure recently that raises some questions.
The Council voted 4-0 to approve a Community Meeting Room Policy regarding the reservation and use of the City Hall Community/Meeting Room. The policy applies to the current City Hall (to be implemented after 90 days) and future City Hall meeting room that will be shared with the Gwinnett County Public Library.
The meeting room will be available for educational, civic, cultural, or governmental meetings during normal business hours of City Hall and the Library, with a maintenance fee of $25 for first hour and $15 for each additional hour.
What’s this? Government charging for allowing its citizens to meet within this public facility? Ok, they may want to cover an expense, but something seems odd about a public building charging citizens to meet there. Don’t citizens already pay taxes to have meetings in public buildings? Isn’t that what public buildings are for?
Come on, Council and Mayor Johnny Crist. Lighten up.
* * * * *
Before you know it, prom season will be upon us in these parts. We saw a report recently where in one town, boys were coming up with creative and novel ways to send out invitations to their hoped-for prom date. Among those ideas:
- Using blank post-it notes to spell out “PROM” on the hood of an automobile.
- Directing your potential date to the football field, where “PROM” is spelled with pom-poms.
- Taking a box of 12 donuts to your potential date, with “PROM” written out in white on the middle row on four chocolate donuts.
- Using the tennis court and lots of tennis balls to spell the word “PROM.”
Do you know of such creative innovations around here?
* * * * *
For your calendars: Coming soon will be Daylight Saving Time. It begins in the USA on Sunday, March 8, and ends on November 1. In Europe there is a slightly different schedule, not starting until Sunday, March 29. During those three weeks, time zone differences between most of the US and Europe will be one hour less than usual. Daylight Saving Time in Europe ends October 25. Remember for Daylight Saving Time, clocks are turned forward one hour. It’s soon “Spring forward; fall back.”
* * * * *
Inside U.S. Sen. David Perdue’s desk in the Senate chamber.
Senate seats: Now that you know where Georgia’s two senators sit in deliberations in the U.S. Senate Chamber, perhaps you would like to see what’s inside Senator Perdue’s desk. Carving tell (see photo) of other Senators who have sat at this desk. You may recognize some prominent names.
* * * * *
Richest: What’s the richest city in Georgia? The Daily Mail says it is Berkeley Lake, Ga. See other states richest cities at this link. City Data says Berkeley Lake’s estimated per capita income (2012) was $48,704.
* * * * *
Congratulations to Lilburn’s David Chandley, now the WAGA-TV (Channel 5) Storm Team Chief Meteorologist. He was previously for more than 25 years at WSB-TV (Channel 2). He is a graduate of the University of Georgia, and while there, David was a student trainer and member of the 1980 National Championship football team.
* * * *
Michael Keefe of Lawrenceville responds to the new entrance-way sign at Briscoe Field: “I thought you might like more information about the ‘futuristic looking’ aircraft featured in GwinnettForum recently and mounted at the entrance to Briscoe Field. It is actually a real glider that was constructed as a project by the local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association. The story behind the monument is interesting and can be found online at this link.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Mingledorff’s
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today’s featured sponsor is Mingledorff’s, an air conditioning distributor of the Carrier Air Conditioning Company. Mingledorff’s corporate office is located at 6675 Jones Mill Court in Norcross Ga., and is proud to be a sponsor of the Gwinnett Forum. With 34 locations in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and South Carolina, Mingledorff’s is the convenient local source with a complete line for the quality heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigeration parts and supplies you need to service and install HVAC/R equipment. Product lines include Carrier, Bryant, Payne, Totaline and Mitsubishi.
- For all of your HVAC needs, and information on the products Mingledorff’s sells, visit www.mingledorffs.com and www.carrier.com.
FEEDBACK
Businesses should use the laws to their best advantage
Editor, the Forum:
It is a global economy, fewer borders to doing business. In the early years of our country the states fought each other for commerce, adding tariffs to foreign (different state) companies that did business there. Perhaps the solution is not to chastise a company for maximizing profit for their shareholders but to have a competitive tax rate in the USA. Perhaps we could entice foreign companies to reincorporate here instead.
A business, like every taxpayer, tries to use the laws to their best advantage. Saying a business shouldn’t try and reduce their taxes is as silly as saying I shouldn’t take my Schedule A deductions because they are loopholes and me paying more would be patriotic. Just doesn’t make sense.
— Tim Sullivan, Buford
Dear Tim: Ah yes, we hear you. Yet at the same time, do corporations have an additional responsibility not merely to make a profit, but to treat customers and even governments with a good heart, and have a corporate responsibility? –eeb
Rant, Rave, and Send Us Your Opinion
Our policy: We encourage readers to submit feedback (or letters to the editor). Send your thoughts to the editor at elliott@brack.net. We will edit for length and clarity. Make sure to include your name and the city where you live. Submission of a comment grants permission for us to reprint. Please keep your comments to 300 words or less. However, we will consider longer articles (no more than 500 words) for featuring in Today’s Issue as space allows.
UPCOMING
Kickstarter campaign seeks $4,500 for Gwinnett Ballet Theatre
Gwinnett Ballet Theatre has launched a Kickstarter Campaign in support of their March 28-29 performance of “Journey.” The campaign’s goal is $4,500.
Gwinnett Ballet photo by Richard Calmes.
“Journey” is a contemporary, full length story ballet in three acts. It will be the Georgia premiere. The ballet was written and choreographed in 2004 by GBT’s Artistic Director Wade Walthall for his company, Evergreen City Ballet.
Mr. Walthall’s choreography is set to music by Rachmaninoff, Gorecki, and Nyman. “Journey” incorporates classical ballet as well as contemporary elements to create a unique, modern story about the spiritual evolution of a young man, the circumstances of his life, and the choices he makes. Mr. Walthall describes the ballet as, “an ‘everyman tale’, universal in essence with truth and content common to all. It is a tale of the special journey we all take in order to find ourselves, love in our lives, and perhaps the stars…”
“Journey” will be performed at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 28 and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 29. Tickets range from $12-20 and can be purchased through www.gwinnettcenter.com or by calling 888-929-7849. For more information about GBT visit www.gwinnettballet.org or call 770-237-0046.
The goal of $4,500 helps cover the cost of production, costumes, sets, and marketing.
Stuart Woods, Steve Berry, plan talk in Gwinnett during April
Two major authors are planning to be at a Gwinnett County Public Library free event in April. Books will be available for purchase and signing at both events.
Berry
New York-Times bestselling author Stuart Woods returns with a new Stone Barrington thriller, Hot Pursuit. This book talk and signing is being held at our Hamilton Mill branch (3690 Braselton Highway, Dacula) at 7 p.m. on April 10. Woods has had over thirty straight bestsellers on the New York Times hardcover list.
Steve Berry, the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Patriot Threat, The Lincoln Myth, and The King’s Deception, will appear at the Norcross Cultural Arts and Community Center, 10 College St, on April 24 at 7p.m. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Berry was born and raised in Georgia and graduated from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. History lies at the heart of every Steve Berry novel.
- For more information, call 770-978-5154 or visit www.gwinnettpl.org.
Snellville Historical Society to hear of Tom Snell Letters on April 12
The Snellville Historical Society has a mission to research, document, and publicize the history of Snellville and surrounding area. It has two General Meetings each year. The first one for 2015 will be Sunday, April 12, at 2:30 p. m. at Snellville City Hall.
The topic will be the recently found “Tom Snell Letters” written from Tom Snell to his family in England in the late 1800s. The original letters were stored in a museum in Wisconsin and are now at the Atlanta History Center. The Society also publishes three Newsletters a year that features local individuals or historical interest.
- For more information and/or applications, contact the Society at snellvillehistoricalsociety@gmail.com or leave a message at the SHS office 770-985-3500. The office is located in City Hall and is open from 10 a.m. until noon on Mondays and Fridays.
PCOM student plans two-month, cross-country bike ride
A bio-medical sciences graduate student at the Georgia Campus of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Suwanee (GA-PCOM), Matthew Mozzo, is preparing for a 4,000 mile cross-country cycling expedition. This two-month bike-riding event is being called the “Journey of Hope,” to raise funds and awareness to support people with mental and physical disabilities.
Matthew Mozza
The Journey was started in 1987 through the Ability Experience (formerly PUSH America), a nonprofit organization founded as the national philanthropy of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity, to instill lifelong service in its members and enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities, according to their official website. As such, only Pi Kappa Phi brothers can cycle in this “Journey of Hope.”
The ride has three different 4,000 mile cross-country routes beginning in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle, and ending in Washington, D.C. In addition to the thousands of miles that the cyclists must prepare to ride, each participant must also raise a minimum of $5,500 before the start of the summer. As of this month, Mozzo has raised a little over $3,100.
Mozzo, the president of the PCOM Fit student organization, will enter GA-PCOM’s Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program in the fall. He earned his undergraduate degree in Biology from Queens University of Charlotte, in Charlotte, N.C. As he is currently earning his master’s degree at GA-PCOM, he lives in Lawrenceville, where he trains for the bike trip in 30-mile loops on local roads.
NOTABLE
Lawrenceville’s Bryan is winner of Ferrol Sams Award
Mercer University Press has announces the winners of the 2014 Annual Book Awards, one of which is going to a Lawrenceville resident. Each 2014 award comes with a $500 advance and a book contract for publication in Spring 2016.
Mary Anna Bryan of Lawrenceville has been awarded the prestigious 2014 Ferrol Sams Award for Fiction for her submission, entitled Cardinal Hill. Past recipients of this award include Marly Youmans, Raymond L. Atkins, Stephen Roth, and Dale Cramer. The Ferrol Sams Award for Fiction is given to the best manuscript that speaks to the human condition in a Southern context. This category includes both novels and short stories.
Judges’ comment on this book say: “The writer of this novel displays a talent for description, dialogue, and interesting plot twists. Margaret [the main character] is no saint, but her stubborn determination to uncover the truth of her family history turns Cardinal Hill into an interesting detective story. Margaret is smart and imaginative, with a wry sense of humor that holds our interest. Cardinal Hill is a novel that speaks authentically to a specific time and place in the South.”
Mercer also announced to other awards:
- Lesley Dauer has been awarded the 2014 Adrienne Bond Award for Poetry for her submission entitled Carnival Life. Past recipients of this award include Seaborn Jones, Kelly Whiddon, Megan Sexton, and Philip Lee Williams. Judges’ comment: This is a beautifully written collection of poems.”
- William E. Merritt has been awarded the 2014 Will D. Campbell Award for Creative Nonfiction for his submission entitled Crackers: A Memoir. Past recipients of this award include Kathy A. Bradley and Joseph Bathanti. Judges’ comment: “One of the elements that strikes me as being quintessentially Southern is the author’s ability to describe the most poignant, even heartbreaking, moments with wry humor, that singular trait that has enabled the South and Southerners to endure.”
Eddie Owen and City of Duluth announce new partnership
Eddie Owen Presents (EOP) and the City of Duluth have announced their latest partnership: the Community Stages program at Red Clay Music Foundry (formerly Red Clay Theatre). The program opens the historic theatre to local Duluth performance companies, organizations, and other individuals who wish to present live music that is in line with EOP’s mission and image — to entertain, inspire, educate and connect the community through live music and music education. Event requests are vetted through the programming staff and Duluth City Council to ensure continuity with current offerings.
Owens says: “We take this mission seriously, and endeavor to create exclusive programming that sets us apart from other venues and provides the community with a space to actively engage with all manner of live music. The Community Stages program allows us to plant our roots even deeper in this wonderful community.”
2015 Community Stages event dates and availabilities are as follows: March 22-26, July 26-30, August 1, September 26-27, and October 31. Some production fees may apply. Non-profit Duluth organizations will receive 25 percent off all fees; 501(c)3 designation is required.
- Applying is easy and can be completed at http://www.eddieowenpresents.com/communitystages or at the front desk/box office of Red Clay Music Foundry, 3116 Main Street, Duluth. Inquiries are also welcome at the venue’s main line: 678-892-6373.
RECOMMENDED READ
Nuts, by Vincent Speranza
“For anyone interested in World War II, and in particular with the Battle of the Bulge, this book will give you great new insights into a key battle of World War II. Written by a PFC who was a machine gunner from Staten Island, N.Y., it reads true and honest, and the author doesn’t pull punches. A side story recounts how the author is the man behind Airborne Beer, now sold in Belgium, something even the author found out about in his 80s, as he returned to the battle site for the first time. A former high school history teacher, and later union organizer of teachers, now 89, he is enjoying life as one of the last survivors of the battle. It’s a major addition to the lore of the Battle of the Bulge, and is thoroughly enjoyable.”
— eeb
Now for a treat: Here’s a seven-minute video of Vincent Speranza talking about his experience in 1944 in Belgium.
An invitation: What books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (100 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. — eeb
GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA TIDBIT
Bradley becomes a major key businessman in Columbus area
W.C. Bradley was an entrepreneur, financier, and businessman whose career coincided with the transformation of the South from an agricultural to an industrial economy. Throughout his life, he initiated and managed many successful ventures and became legendary in the annals of Georgia business. In the 21st century, the W. C. Bradley Company remains a strong, privately held entity that continues to have an impact on Georgia. Bradley also initiated a legacy in philanthropy that has been central to Columbus, the Chattahoochee Valley, and beyond.
Bradley
William Clark Bradley was born on June 28, 1863, in Russell County, Ala. He grew up on his father’s cotton plantations and in 1885 moved to Columbus, Ga., to clerk in the office of Bussey-Goldsmith and Company, cotton factors. With his brother-in-law, Samuel A. Carter, he purchased the firm and expanded its work to include the sale of fertilizer and groceries.
In 1888 Bradley entered the world of banking as he and G. Gunby Jordan incorporated the Third National Bank and the Columbus Savings Bank. These banks merged in 1930 to form Columbus Bank and Trust, which is the ancestor company of CB&T Bancshares, Synovus Financial Corporation, and Total System Services Incorporated (TSYS), a world leader in third-party electronic payments processing.
In 1895 Bradley bought out his brother-in-law and reincorporated as the W. C. Bradley Company. This company expanded and took on new ventures, many of them establishing the vertical integration of the company’s products and services. For example, the enterprise operated a grocery business and later bought farms to produce the crops sold in Bradley’s stores. The company also purchased textile mills and invested in steamboats that hauled groceries and fertilizer down the Chattahoochee River and returned with loads of cotton.
Specific companies controlled by W. C. Bradley included the Eagle and Phenix Mills, Columbus Grocery and Supply Company, Eufaula Grocery Company, the Bradley Realty and Investment Company, and the Merchant and Planters Steamboat Line. Later acquisitions included the Columbus Iron Works and the Bradley Farm Division.
As Bradley’s business flourished, he was tapped to serve as a director for other companies beyond Columbus: the Gate City Cotton Mills in Macon, the Central of Georgia Railway, the Citizens and Southern National Bank in Atlanta, and the Irving Trust Company in New York. The relationships he developed in New York helped to attract other northern investment and business to the Columbus area.
Bradley married Sarah Hall, the daughter of a Connecticut businessman who financed shipbuilding. They had a son, Forbes, who died as a child, and a daughter, Elizabeth, who became the family heir. Elizabeth married D. Abbott Turner, and the couple had three children, including William Bradley, who was tapped at the age of eight by Bradley to be the heir to leadership in the family.
(To be continued)
MYSTERY PHOTO
Beautiful carving
CLUE: Perhaps we have used this beautiful carving before. Isn’t it lovely? Please tell us where you think this scene is located. Early history may help you. Send your idea to elliott@brack.net, and be sure to include your hometown.
What we thought would be an easy Mystery Photo turned out to be a little difficult, according to the responses. Karen Garner of Dacula was the first to spot Bar Harbor, Maine, in a photograph sent in by Scott LeCraw of Suwanee. Others identifying the photo were Gary Cobb, Hartwell; Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill; Michael Green of Milton, Helen Sawyer, Johns Creek, and Sandy and Rick Krause of Lilburn. Green contributed: “This photograph’s subject is a view of the Porcupine Islands from Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, Bar Harbor, Maine.”
LAGNIAPPE
Award winner
Snellville Detective Chris Alford has been given the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Department Servant Award for Law Enforcement by the Snellville VFW Chapter. The 47-year-old detective is a retired Navy veteran and has been a Snellville police officer since 2013. The VFW awards are given annually to area teachers, students, firefighters, police officers and emergency medical technicians. Snellville VFW Senior Vice Commander Bob Varone presents the award to Alford. A 20 year Naval veteran, Alford was a patrol officer for the University of Georgia Police Department in Athens for three years. He holds a MBA in Human Resource Management and Conflict and Negotiation Management, graduated with honors, from Trident University International in Cypress, Calif. and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Maryland. Alford is married and has one daughter, Erika, an honor student at South Gwinnett High School.
CREDITS
GwinnettForum is provided to you at no charge every Tuesday and Friday. If you would like to serve as an underwriter, click here to learn more.
- MORE: Contact Editor and Publisher Elliott Brack at: elliott@gwinnettforum.com
UNSUBSCRIBE
We hope you’ll keep receiving the great news and information from GwinnettForum, but if you need to unsubscribe, click here.
© 2015, Gwinnett Forum.com. Gwinnett Forum is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA.
Follow Us