NEWS BRIEFS: Two from Gwinnett to named to Veterans Hall of Fame

Two military veterans from Gwinnett are among the 15 people that will be inducted in the Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame for 2023.   

The two are Air Force Lt. Col. James Wesley Williams who now lives in Norcross, and is a Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, and Army Sgt. Carvis Pittman Williams of Snellville, who served in World War II, and will be honored posthumously.

The induction ceremony will be in Columbus on November 4. Since its inception in 2013, the veteran’s Hall of Fame will have honored 177 Georgia veterans, including this year’s class.

Lt. Col. James Wesley Williams

Lt. Col. Williams is a native of Memphis and a ROTC graduate of Tennessee Tech University. Based in Thailand, he flew missions over Vietnam in F4 Phantom airplanes. On his 228th mission in 1972, he was shot down and taken prisoner to the Hanoi Hilton POW camp, where 662 were held.  After the Paris Peace Talks, he was released after 313 days in captivity. He later earned two master’s degrees (from Pepperdine and Central Michigan), and became the head for 20 years of the ROTC program at Tucker High School.  

Sgt. Carvis Williams

Carvis Williams was born in Snellville in 1919 and graduated from Snellville Consolidated School in 1936. He grew up on his parent’s dairy farm. He attended the University of Georgia before working at the Bell Bomber plant in Marietta. He was drafted into the Army 1944, and was in a rifle company of the Third Division, seeing action at the Siegfried Line, and on through the Nurmberg campaign. In April 1945, PFC Williams won the silver star for his gallantry.

Later in life, Williams was a farmer, raising soybeans and cattle on Dogwood Road, and was for 40 years was on the board, including 25 years as president, of the Gwinnett Livestock and Fair Association.  He was elected to the first five-member county commission in 1969.  He also was a district supervisor of the Upper Ocmulgee Soil and Water Conservation District for 18 years. The bridge over the Yellow River on Killian Hill Road was named for him in 1997. 

12th Peachtree Corners Festival is Sept. 22-24

The Peachtree Corners Festival is a major item on the calendar of the city each year.  Filled with music, food, arts and crafts, the family-friendly festival continues to be a symbol and trademark of our community’s excellence. This year, it will be the 12th festival, and  is scheduled for September 22-24, Friday to Sunday. It will be at the Town Center. 

• For more details, visit https://www.peachtreecornersfestival.com/

NOTABLE

6 residents on citizen’s budget review team

A team of six residents will weigh in on county government priorities before the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners proposes the 2024 budget. 

Gwinnett County department directors and elected officials will present their 2024 business plans to a Citizen’s Budget Review Team beginning August 28. The team will evaluate the needs of the departments and agencies. The team will recommend funding priorities from the viewpoint of a resident.

Veteran team members Hilda Abbott, David Cuffie, Michelle Kang and Asif Jessani will again lend their expertise. Abbott is the founder of RudHil Companies, co-chair of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Hispanic Business Center and member of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Cuffie is CEO of Total Vision Consulting LLC and director of church ministries for Berean Christian Church Gwinnett. Kang is with the Korean American Public Action Committee of Atlanta, and Jessani is a principal marketing and technology consultant with CCS. 

New to the review team this year are Leadership Gwinnett graduate Michael Park and nonprofit executive Ronald S. Skeete. Park currently works with the Whitlock Group in commercial insurance and risk management. Skeete is a member of the 100 Black Men of North Metro Atlanta where he volunteers to coordinate programs that serve young people in Gwinnett, Cobb and North Fulton Counties.

Chamber names 7 women as Moxie Award winners

Seven Gwinnett County women were named as winners of the 2023 Moxie Awards by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. Established to honor women professionals, the Moxie Awards program welcomed more than 500 hundred attendees to the Gas South District for this year’s celebration. 

Now in its sixth year, the Moxie Awards program hosts business leaders from across the metro Atlanta region. Seven winners were selected from 134 finalists. This year’s winners include, from left:

• Pay It Forward Award – Dr. Audrey Arona, CEO and District Health Director, GNR Health Department; 
• Influence Award – Lisamarie Bristol, solicitor general, Gwinnett County;
• Enlightened Employer Award –Obria Medical Clinics, represented by Robin Mauck, executive director. 
• Moxie Award – Kim Hartsock, managing partner, –Atlanta Office, Warren Averett; 
• Outstanding Organization Award: Lawrenceville-Suwanee School of Music, represented by Valencia Giles, director;  
• Greater Good Award, Muriam Nafees, Volunteer Gwinnett and Collaboration Manager, Gwinnett County Government; and 
• On the Rise Award – Logan Serrano, Marketing and Communications director, Leadership Gwinnett.