GwinnettForum | Number 21.27 | April 12, 2022
THIS LAST WEEK has seen an outbreak of colorful blooms throughout Gwinnett, as evidenced by these thriving azalea bushes. Drive all around the county, and you see these multihued vivid reminders that spring is officially here. Meanwhile, the cooler temperatures have kept the flowers in bloom. (Just ask fans about the cool weather who attended the Masters last Saturday.) Next should be warmer temperatures as we move toward the summertime.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Blind Norcross graduate wins perfect job at Library of Congress
EEB PERSPECTIVE: What happened to civility in discourse in our country?
ANOTHER VIEW: Is a minority in U.S. (Catholics) getting upper hand in justice?
SPOTLIGHT: The Gwinnett Stripers
FEEDBACK: How about 30 minute compromise on setting time?
UPCOMING: GGC plans four new degrees for entertainment industry
RECOMMENDED: Glorious Cats by Lesley Anne Ivory
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Georgia provides inspiration to many Johnny Mercer songs
MYSTERY PHOTO: Time to figure out where another lighthouse is located
LAGNIAPPE: Here’s a weather forecast from Rhodes Jordan Park
CALENDAR: Mountain Park community plans another public meeting April 14
Blind Norcross grad wins perfect job at Library of Congress
(Editor’s note: A blind Norcross college graduate has found his perfect job—at the Library of Congress. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Jones. Read below his inspiring story, which is excerpted from a 2,258 word article we asked that he send to GwinnettForum. He is now living independently in our Nation’s Capitol. If you want to read his entire response, click here. ) —eeb
By Timothy Jones
WASHINGTON, D.C. | During my freshman year at Mercer, a student journalist once interviewed me. I told her that I wanted to eventually be somewhere serving God. If someone had told me then I would be serving Him in Washington, D.C.–making music available to the blind through braille music—I would never have believed it.
Jones
On a warm day in May of 2019, I walked across the field at Mercer University’s Five Star Stadium to receive my degree, a bachelor’s of music in organ performance, summa cum laude. Then on an unusually cold day in May 2021 I stood with my family in the Georgia State University Stadium to receive my master’s degree in piano pedagogy. I had only dimly realized when I began my journey where it might take me, and the road has ended up taking me in a totally unexpected direction.
When young, after being rejected by several piano teachers who said, “I wouldn’t know how to teach a blind child!” my parents approached Miss Patti Bennet, pianist at Norcross First Baptist Church, now of Flowery Branch, if she would be willing to teach a blind child. Miss Patti’s eyes flashed when she said: “Why, you teach a blind child the same way you would teach a sighted child!” Miss Patti designed from scratch an entire program for teaching me and under her training I was soon winning multiple awards and scholarships.
After graduating from high school in 2014, I considered enrolling at Mercer University in Macon. To my astonishment, not only was I accepted into the Organ Performance program, but I was granted a generous scholarship. Far more remarkable, however, was the level of caring and personal investment shown by the faculty, administration, and fellow students which made it possible for me to succeed as a blind music major at Mercer. I had no idea of the next step in His leading.
But God did not leave me to wonder for long. Later that same month, my mom met a music education major, who shared that Georgia State had an excellent music program—including a Graduate degree program in Piano Pedagogy.
However, once graduating in 2021, I still faced the problem of what to do for a career. My professors at both Mercer and Georgia State told me that musicians cannot survive on concertizing and playing in church alone. One even taught me how to tune a piano, a possibility for future support. The term “starving artists” is real, and requires the musician to have a versatile portfolio for survival.
Then I heard of a newly-created ten week internship to provide students with disabilities a transition from college to employment at the Library of Congress. It required proofreading braille music scores that had been digitized from the hard copy collection—which would necessitate extreme fluency in reading complicated scores in the Music Braille code—a skill I had honed during my six years of music degree study.
At the end of the internship, I heard of a newly-opening full-time position as a Librarian of Braille Music with the Library of Congress. I got the job, found quarters, then moved to Washington, and started in my new position in February of 2022. I’ve been here now for two months, and thoroughly enjoy my work.
I can never repay all many people the debt of gratitude I owe, but hope to “pay forward” this debt by similarly investing in the lives of others through my work at the Library of Congress; opening doors to music literacy for a new generation of visually impaired musicians and composers.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
What happened to civility in discourse in our country?
From Washington’s Rules of Civility.
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
APRIL 12, 2022 | We want to yell out to everyone for them to think as we ask: “Hey! What happened to civility?”
Have you recognized how we have become so downright mean and uncouth in our relationships to people who don’t agree with us?
Will our country ever be able to return to the time when people got along with one another?
Some of this has to do with the growing lack of manners. We’ve noticed the social scene unravel over our lifetime. So many people are downright discourteous to one another.
Part of this must go back to the downfall of family life. We certainly don’t see families gathering around the table on a regular basis not only to have a good meal, but to catch up everyone on their day, and delve into deep discussions. Oh, what a fine time that was!
Americans often don’t have regular meals any more. Maybe that’s because of the growing element of fast foods in our lives. McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried and the others are certainly evidence of that.
When we talk of the lack of civility, we mean the way people deal with one another. It’s often not kind, not courteous, and not with normal reason. And it is almost always rude.
What we ought to be doing is to treat each other as if we were talking with one of our parents. But these days children are not always showing respect for their parents. (Sometimes it’s because the parents are being rude and disrespectful to their children.)
Meanwhile, what this lack of civility can do is erupt in harshness, in outright meanness, and too often, in violence, including brandishing of weapons, and sometimes shooting. What have our people become?
There’s another element. As our nation has become more urban, we often do not know each other as people do who live in smaller communities. And when you do not know your neighbor, you are liable to be more suspicious and distrustful of him, and he of you. Add in a fence line, or a dog or cat, or a baseball going into another yard, and you may have the beginning of trouble.
All this is a far cry from the Biblical training of loving your neighbor as yourself.
Understand, we’re not thinking of incivility to people in foreign lands. We’re talking about what we see as happening to those who live around us, your neighbors. And watch out if you get into a discussion. Bringing in an attempt to discuss politics or religion won’t help matters.
Most recently, in of all things, a confirmation hearing for a justice on our Supreme Court, saw unmitigated lack of civility toward a potential candidate for that office. Several senators acted most discourteous in framing their questions. Their snarly attitude in attacking a respected candidate was a discredit to themselves. For many people, those attackers were in reality tarnishing their own reputation with their lack of courtesy, with their anger and manner.
At age 16, George Washington wrote out (or copied) 110 rules for civility. Go back and read these many rules, and you get a flavor of what life was like then. His first one says a lot: “Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect, to those that are present.” We surely don’t see that today.
George Washington would not be proud of the way many Americans are interacting these days.
Our prayer for our country would be for us to return to a more civil society to benefit us all.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Is a U.S. minority (Catholics) getting upper hand in justice?
By Raleigh Perry
BUFORD, Ga. | certainly have no heavy duty problem with a black female Court Justice. It is about time. The only problem that I have with her is that I am tired of Harvard and Yale educated members of the Supreme Court. There is not enough diversity on the court. Too much of the same does not necessarily get justice to everyone who comes before it. Congress is full of these single minded people also.
Perry
Two thirds of the present Supreme Court are Catholics but only 28 percent of the population of the U.S. is Catholic. (Almost 50 percent of our nation is Protestant.) The nation is also browning.
There has to be a balance somewhere. I guess that can only be accomplished by packing the court, something I am not against, or by putting religious quotas on those who become justices. Regardless, there can be no real balance at all. We should get closer, however, closer than we are.
Religion is creeping back, quickly, as Senator Lindsay Graham asked Judge Brown what her religions and Senator John Neely Kennedy of Louisiana asked a nominee of President Joe Biden’s if he believed in God. If both of them had their way, the Supreme Court would be nothing more than the College of Cardinals.
There is no wonder that a certain percentage of the American population feels left out. Roe v. Wade is a case in point. The basis of the people who want that stopped are the fundamentalist minority that is not even 26 percent of the nation’s population. The general population of the U.S., however, is for keeping Roe v. Wade but with a majority of the court being conservative Catholics, there is a high probability that Roe v. Wade will be overturned. That is what the 26 percent wants.
Regardless of the outcome of that case, there will be no cessation of abortions and it will not turn into a back alley business like it was before. If abortions are outlawed across the U.S., there are flights to a variety of places. But that would increase both cost and complicate matters.
My main point is that a minority of people may be getting the upper hand on this and other issues and a lot of these issues will end up before the Supreme Court.
There are more law schools than this country needs and some of them are incredible. I will not agree with Lindsey Graham on 99.9 percent of the things that he says, but President Biden missed a good opportunity to appoint a black judge who went to law school in South Carolina that could probably put a different twist to the Supreme Court. Why she was turned down, not even given the chance, we will never know.
That black female judge, you may remember, is J. Michelle Childs, who is the judge of the United States District Court for South Carolina. She has been to both the law schools at the University of South Carolina and Duke University. Does that mean that she knows less and the Harvard and Yale lawyers? Go figure.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
The Gwinnett Stripers
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How about 30-minute compromise on setting time?
Editor, the Forum:
Half of the country complains that having daylight saving all year round would mean kids have to get on buses in the dark in the winter.
The other half of the country complained that having standard time all year round would mean summer activities have to end too early.
The House can “study” the Senate’s Sunshine Protection Act all they want, but that will be the conclusion.
I like the idea that I read for splitting the difference between Standard and Daylight Saving: have Daylight Saving (“spring forward”) 30 minutes all year. Set it once and forget it. And you have (at least partially) satisfied both crowds. It’s a compromise – nobody gets everything they want.
But I’m sure many will find something else to gripe about.
– Tom Fort, Snellville
Alzheimer’s is a terrible, cruel, heartbreaking disease
Editor, the Forum:
My heart goes out to both Sandy and Rick Krause. Alzheimer’s is a terrible, cruel, heartbreaking, disease. In 2008, my dear father passed away with Alzheimer’s. My mother, who will be 97 in July, took loving care of him until it became no longer possible.
For those who have never known someone with Alzheimer’s, it is as though the person you once knew and loved is slowly fading away. We do, however, have so very many wonderful memories of better days, made better by having had my father in our lives.
People hear about Alzheimer’s, but until you have a loved one who has/had it, you cannot fully understand the emotional toll it takes on you.
– Elizabeth Truluck Neace, Harbins Community, Dacula
Editor, the Forum:
Thanks for featuring a positive look of one family’s journey with Alzheimer’s. I work with many caregivers who deal with the challenges of dementia and it is important for the public to know that every situation is different, so keeping an open mind and heart is important!
– Pat Baker, Lilburn, president of the Georgia Gerontology Society
Editor, the Forum:
The article on Alzheimer’s by Rick Krause was simply beautiful. His description of daily care for Sandy is not only moving in its tenderness but encouraging to all who suffer with the disease of Alzheimer’s. Thank you for publishing his article.
– Jenifer Schellman, Atlanta (Embry Hills)
Editor, the Forum:
The Krause submission was a beautiful article about their journey.. They are an example to others and a joy to know.
– Mary Beth Moody, Peachtree Corners
- 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.
GGC plans 4 new degrees for entertainment industry
Four new Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) degrees will prepare students for careers in the entertainment industry, such as film and TV production. Beginning fall semester 2022, GGC will offer nexus degrees in professional editing in film/television, motion picture set lighting, production for film and television, and production design. GGC began offering a degree in professional sound design for film and television in spring 2022.
Nexus degrees, introduced by the University System of Georgia (USG) in 2018, focus on developing immediate familiarity with a particular career path, after completing the required general education courses. Students pursuing these degrees will complete their core curriculum of 42 credit hours and then take courses onsite at GGC and/or the Georgia Film Academy’s Trilith and OFS studios for a total of 60 credits, including an apprenticeship, if approved for one of the GFA highly competitive internships.
Dr. Teresa Winterhalter, dean of GGC’s School of Liberal Arts, said the recently approved degrees will allow students to get immediate experience in the entertainment industry, which is undergoing a major boom in Georgia. A recent presentation to the Board of Regents in March 2021 indicated the motion picture and sound recording fields expect to see a 47 percent increase in projected employment.
Dr. Winterhalter says: “We designed this curriculum to fall in line with industry standards. With the coursework and apprenticeship required by these programs, students will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience in projects through partnerships with professional productions.”
Georgia marked a $4 billion year of movie production spending in July 2021. The Peach State’s entertainment industry is the largest in the country, developing more films and more television shows than Hollywood, which it overtook in 2016.
With such a large industry comes a strong need for new applicants. The entertainment industry highly values the skills and creativity these new nexus degrees will provide for GGC students. The new degrees are also consistent with the college’s mission to provide access to degrees that meet the economic development needs and opportunities of the region.
- More information about GGC’s nexus programs can be found on its website at www.ggc.edu/NexusDegrees.
Glorious Cats by Lesley Anne Ivory
From Karen J. Harris of Stone Mountain: Leslie Anne Ivory has created a beautiful visual collection of cats she has painted, demonstrating her love and reverence for these creatures. Cats in the home, cats in Egypt, cats who are nurturing young ones, cats that are luminous in their mystery and majesty. Along with each picture she has selected a poem or a narrative that speaks to the character of each picture. The author mentions in the prologue how she conceived of this book and how over the years her love for cats and textiles, courtesy of her mother, set her on her artistic path. While recovering from an illness as a child she perused albums of fabric designs and watercolor flowers. In this volume she features her own cats and rare species. Viewing this collection is a singular experience that evokes wonder and underscores why the cat is a favorite pet among connoisseurs.
- 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
Georgia provides inspiration to many Johnny Mercer songs
While Johnny Mercer had the talent, Georgia provided the inspiration that made him one of America’s most popular and successful songwriters of the 20th century. Between 1929 and 1976 Mercer penned lyrics to more than 1,000 songs, received 19 Academy Award nominations, wrote music for a number of Broadway shows, and co-founded Capitol Records.
Perhaps best known for the 1961 Academy Award–winning song Moon River, Mercer also took Oscars for Days of Wine and Roses, In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening, and On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe. These movie hits reflected Mercer’s ties to the Hollywood studios, but the lyricist also wrote songs that became popular because of their commercial appeal, including Jeepers Creepers, Accentuate the Positive, Glow-Worm, Goody Goody, and Hooray for Hollywood. Time and again Mercer drew upon his Georgia heritage for song ideas.
John Herndon Mercer was born into the fourth generation of Mercers living in Savannah. His grandfather George Anderson Mercer Sr. practiced law in Savannah, held the rank of colonel in the Confederate army during the Civil War (1861-65), sat in the Georgia General Assembly during Reconstruction, and served on the local school board. Mercer’s father, George Anderson Mercer Jr., played baseball at the University of Georgia in Athens and returned to Savannah to join his father’s law firm. After the death of his first wife, George Jr. married Lillian Barbara Ciucevich and started a second family with the birth of Johnny on November 18, 1909. From his mother, Mercer inherited an entirely different heritage: the Ciucevich family first appeared in Savannah in the 1870s, when two Croatian brothers (who apparently had lived in Charleston, S.C., before the Civil War) immigrated to the United States from the Austrian Empire.
Following family tradition, Mercer attended Woodberry Forest School in Virginia but still retained an active social life in Savannah. In the thick of the Jazz Age during his teenage years, he danced the Charleston at the DeSoto Hotel and at Barbee’s Pavilion on the Isle of Hope while drinking bootlegged liquor with his older brothers and Ciucevich cousins at Tybrisa on Tybee Island.
In 1927 the collapse of the Florida real estate boom brought down the family’s fortunes. Mercer’s father placed his company under receivership to pay off a $1 million loss. The reversal ended Johnny’s formal schooling, and instead of going to college, he joined a troupe of amateurs competing in New York City’s New Amsterdam Roof Theater in 1927. Their performance placed first. Convinced that he had a future in show business, Mercer moved to New York.
At first Mercer won character roles in traveling performances, but he soon made his mark composing lyrics and songs for variety shows. Despite the stock market crash of 1929, he found enough work to survive. Soon he met Ginger Meehan. The two were married, and remained so for the rest of Mercer’s life.
(To be continued)
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Time to figure out where another lighthouse is located
Yep, we like lighthouse photographs. It’s time to locate another lighthouse. Figure out where this one is located and send your answer to elliott@brack.net, including your hometown. Question: how long do you think it will take GwinnettForum to picture all the lighthouses in the USA?
Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. provided an answer to the recent Mystery Photo. He writes:
“This mystery photo is of a row of medieval, half-timbered cottages in a former fishermen’s district, now known as Klein-Venedig (German for ‘Little Venice’), on Bamberg’s Island City along the banks of the Regnitz River in Bamberg, Germany. The picturesque houses were once inhabited by fishermen and their families and are squished together between Fischerei (German for ‘fishery’) street and the Regnitz River. Built in the Middle Ages, the little homes are balanced on poles set right into the water and are fronted by tiny gardens and terraces as the river flows slowly past them, just a few inches below ground level. The homes, and much of the surrounding city of Bamberg, twice survived devastation from two wars … the Thirty Years’ War and the Second World War.”
George Graf, Palmyra, Va., remembers the setting: “This is the ‘Little Venice’ area in Bamberg, Germany. Recognized it immediately. Been there. Beautiful city.” The photo was taken by Elliott Brack in 2018.
Weather Forecast: Even though it’s not summer yet, Roving Photographer Frank Sharp saw this ice cream van recently at Rhodes Jordan Park. Note the young fellow about to enjoy his treat. Frank says: “So I guess, with ice cream trucks arriving, can summer be far away?”
Public meeting in Mountain Park with the Gwinnett Department of Water Resources. It will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14 (sign in at 6:30 p.m.) at the Mountain Park Aquatic Center, 1063 Rockbridge Road in Mountain Park. Tyler Richards, director of the department, will speak about the responsibilities of the department, including how septic tanks might be upgraded to sewers in the area. John Butler will speak about residential septic systems, and how to maintain them.
Earth Day: Recycle your electronics, paint, tires, and paper on Saturday, April 23 from 9 a.m. until noon at Coolray Field, located at 2500 Buford Drive in Lawrenceville. Attendees must remain in their vehicles at all times. Items to be recycled should be placed in the trunk or back of the vehicle where they will be removed by vendors. Materials should be placed in disposable containers or boxes as containers will not be returned. This annual Earth Day event is brought to you by Gwinnett Solid Waste Management and Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful. For full details, visit GCSolidWaste.com.
Take Back Initiative: The Gwinnett Police department is partnering with the Drug Enforcement Administration for the National Take Back Initiative on Saturday, April 30 to provide a safe and convenient way to drop off unused and expired medications. Tablets, capsules, patches, and other forms of prescription drugs can be dropped off at Police Headquarters and six precincts from 10 a. m. until 2 p.m. for proper disposal. Liquids, syringes, sharps, and other drugs will not be accepted. Find a collection site near you.
Sell to the county: Join the Gwinnett County Purchasing Division Thursday, May 5 at 9 a.m. or 2 p.m. to learn how to do business with Gwinnett County government. During the one-hour virtual clinic, Purchasing and Community Services staff will share information about the different divisions of Community Services, current and upcoming opportunities, and how to do business with the County. Register for one of the two virtual sessions at gcga.us/QuarterlyClinicSignup.
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