GwinnettForum | Number 23.35 | May 3, 2024
NEW MURAL COMING: By August, a mural will be painted under the bridge at Interstate 85 and Sugarloaf Parkway, courtesy of the Sugarloaf Community Improvement District. The artist creating the mural is Krista Jones, who will bring a team of artists to help paint the 10,000 square foot mural. Here is a sketch of what it will look like. The total cost of the project is over $200,000, including the artist’s fee, power washing the wall prior to installation, re-installing updated light fixtures, and other related aspects. Work will begin on painting the scene by late May, says Daisy Mills, project manager of the Sugarloaf CID.
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Georgians have 2 horses in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby
SPOTLIGHT: Georgia Banking Company
FEEDBACK: Feels writer is out of touch with Hispanic community
UPCOMING: County breaks ground on Lenora Park improvements
NOTABLE: Former Ghanaian changes view, and gains degree
RECOMMENDED: Hard Times by Charles Dickens
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Student activists demonstrate in Georgia in the 1960s
MYSTERY PHOTO: Concentrate broadly about today’s Mystery
CALENDAR: Breaking Legs opens Friday at the Lionheart Theatre
Georgians have 2 horses in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby
Keith Mason and Larry Connolly (photo courtesy The Saporta Report)
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MAY 3, 2024 | There’s interest in the Kentucky Derby for at least one family in Gwinnett. Keith Mason, the son of Ann and Wayne Mason of Snellville, is the co-managing partner of a syndicate which will have two horses running in the Derby on Saturday. Mason and Larry Connolly of Atlanta are co-founders of the West Paces Racing partnership group.
It’s unusual for an Atlanta syndicate to have not one, but two horses in the Kentucky Derby. The partnership’s two horses are Dornoch and Society Man. The odds on Thursday were 20:1 on Dornoch, who will be running out of the No. 1 slot, while the odds on Society Man are 50:1, running out of the 20th post.
The favorite horses are Fierceness at 5-2 (17th slot), and Sierra Leone at 3-1, but running out of the No. 2 post, which has proven to be a jinx position.
A story this week in the Saporta Report gave the background on the two Atlantans getting involved with horse racing. Quoting Maria Saporta, she wrote: “Mason started going to the Kentucky Derby in 1990 when he was campaign manager for Zell Miller’s successful gubernatorial race….Connolly, who grew up in Rye, N.Y., was exposed to horse racing at Belmont Park and Saratoga.
“This interest in horses led, in 2013, for Mason and Connolly getting into the syndication of horse racing.”
Interestingly, it was another Atlantan, the late Cot Campbell, a sports writer and later an advertising executive, who in 1969, put together his first ownership syndicate, which allowed people from all walks of life to buy as little as 2.5 percent of a thoroughbred. He won more than 80 stakes races, including Preakness and Belmont. Along with Jack Burton, Campbell formed Burton-Campbell, one of Atlanta’s leading advertising agencies.
In 2013, Mason bought a piece in the Donegal partnership, which owned Keen Ice, a promising horse. When Connolly joined Mason at Keeneland in 2014, he expressed an interest in joining Donegal. By the fall of 2014, Mason and Connolly were at Churchill Downs when they saw Keen Ice win his first race as a 2-year-old. A crazy ride had begun. In 2015, Keen Ice finished 7th in the Kentucky Derby.
Syndicating horses is not cheap. West Paces has different levels of a minimum buy-in for partners depending on age. Under 40, the minimum is $25,000. Under 50, the minimum is $50,000. For those over 50, the minimum is $100,000. The pair tell people buying into a syndicate to “kiss their money goodbye.” Currently, West Paces owns a part of 23 horses (one 5-year-old, two 4-year-olds, twelve 3-year-olds, and eight 2-year-olds).
Saporta writes of the syndicate co-founders: “No matter what happens on May 4, Mason called the Kentucky Derby ‘the greatest two minutes in sports.’ It’s a huge rush. I call it a major passion.”
“It makes you feel alive,” Connolly says. “I love feeling excited before a race.” He adds: “But for a moneyball outfit to have two horses in the Kentucky Derby in one year rarely happens.”
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Georgia Banking Company
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Feels writer is out of touch with Hispanic community
Editor, the Forum:
I think Jack Bernard is not in the real world. The issue is the number of illegals the bill would let in, and is the reason conservatives did not like the bill.
The Hispanic community is not happy with the huge flow of illegals. It is taking jobs from them and keeping wages low. The border is open to lots of drugs and other issues.
Funds that could help our current Hispanic community are being taken away.
We are talking to the Hispanic community and they want the border tightened down. So I would say Jack is out of touch with the Hispanic community. A lot of citizens do not believe the media anymore. They see the real world!
– Sammy Baker, Lawrenceville
Item about obtaining a GGC degree was powerful!
Editor, the Forum:
Your recent article regarding Nickolas Brown was powerful. The story of his persistence and commitment is a great example of what can be accomplished when a goal is set with a “damn the torpedoes“ attitude.
– John Moore, Duluth
- 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: ebrack2@gmail.com.
County breaks ground on Lenora Park improvements
Gwinnett County officials on Wednesday kicked off construction on the future community recreation center at Lenora Park in southern Gwinnett.
The project will revitalize the existing gym and expand it into a community recreation center with spaces including a community room with a catering kitchen, a dance studio, an art room and a classroom. Additionally, there will be upgraded restrooms, locker rooms, administrative offices and a reception area. The center will also include an upper-level balcony with a two-way walking track. Outside, there will be a new drop-off area and parking for 73 vehicles.
In addition to the gym expansion, several other projects are underway at Lenora Park. Recently, the multipurpose field was converted from natural to synthetic turf, making it the 17th and final field to make this transition in the Gwinnett Parks and Recreation system.
Other projects include a new press box and maintenance compound, additional lighted outdoor basketball courts, six lighted pickleball courts and improvements to the dog park with new agility equipment and shade features.
Construction on the community recreation center begins this year, with gymnasium renovations set to start in early 2025. Gwinnett County is using approximately $10 million in SPLOST funds for the community recreation center and gymnasium expansion project.
You can earn $440 if you become a poll worker
Get involved in the electoral process and give back to your community! The Gwinnett Voter Registrations and Elections Office is seeking citizens of all backgrounds, especially bilingual Spanish speakers, to become poll officials for upcoming elections.
It’s a great opportunity to see how elections work, gain valuable work experience, and earn up to $440 per election. Interested citizens are encouraged to apply at GwinnettCountyJobs.com.
Ghanaian native changes view, and gains degree
Osei. Provided.
By Ken Scar
Lois Osei’s story began a world away from Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC), but on May 9, she will complete her latest chapter when she walks across the commencement stage to receive her degree.
Osei was born in Accra, the capital and largest city in Ghana. She still carries memories from her birth country, like climbing to the top of the mango tree in her grandmother’s yard for ripe mangos, and how blue and clear the ocean water is and how white the sand is on its beach. “I remember seeing horses on the beach and being able to play, eat, and swim with my mom and her friends,” says Osei.
When Osei was one year old, her father, Frank, moved to the U.S. to make a better life for his family. He at one point had three jobs at once. Four years later, he sent for Osei and her mother, Esther, and the family settled in Lawrenceville. “Today, my dad is a delivery driver. His hard work and dedication inspired me to be the hardworking person I am today,” she says.
Osei said she had no plans to attend a four-year college after graduating from Peachtree Ridge High School in 2019. “At graduation, I felt like a complete failure, surrounded by peers who were attending big-named schools. I felt so inadequate. I was filled with self-doubt and a huge wave of uncertainty about my future.”
Her plans changed on the night of her senior prom when she saw a homeless man on the street. The juxtaposition of her — dressed to the nines and celebrating what’s historically one of the best nights of a young American’s life — and a homeless person sharing the same space, sparked something in her. “I decided I was going to commit my life to making meaningful impacts in the lives of others, right then and there,” she says.
She was drawn to GGC’s small class sizes, affordability, and the fact that it’s less than a ten-minute drive from her home in Lawrenceville. She started her GGC journey in August 2019. “I decided to make my time at GGC count,” she says. “I pushed myself by joining organizations. The first one that really took me out of my comfort zone was the Student Government Association (SGA).” Osei was so inspired she applied for the senate secretary position and served for half a term.
After SGA, she helped revamp her department’s sociology club. She gathered a few other like-minded students and they re-named it the Grizzly Organization for Human Services. In her two consecutive years as president, the club went from having five members to almost 30. “We’ve done book drives, donated to the GGC care pantry, volunteered at the GGC micro-farm, donated care packages to Northside Hospital, and we volunteer every month with Families 4 Families, a foster care agency,” says Osei. “Getting involved on campus really made my time at GGC worthwhile. I’m so glad I decided to get a bit uncomfortable and venture out. I’ve grown more than I thought as a student and a person!”
Osei will receive a degree in human services with a concentration in social work and a minor in sociology. She plans to attend graduate school to earn a master’s in clinical social work.
Osei will be among more than 900 students who will graduate at GGC’s spring 2024 commencement, taking place at 10 a.m. May 9 at Gas South District in Duluth.
Peach State foundation awards scholarships for 2024
The Peach State Federal Credit Union C.A.R.E.S. Foundation announces the scholarship and educational grant recipients for 2024. The Foundation awarded $290,000 to high school seniors, professionals seeing career advancement, and educational organizations.
The annual scholarship program is one of the ways the Foundation achieves its mission of making meaningful community impacts within Peach State FCU’s service areas. It recognizes education as a pathway for creating and cultivating a secure financial future for the individuals and communities in which Peach State serves.
Demitra Houlis, Peach State’s Chief administrative officer and foundation president, says: “The Foundation’s scholarship program provides more than just financial assistance. It gives these individuals hope and access to sustaining a brighter financial future that may not have been readily accessible to them before.”
The scholarship program pays homage to Peach State FCU’s founders, past and present board members and employees, and the lifetime achievements of numerous distinguished school system and community leaders.
The following are the winners from Gwinnett County:
In honor of the credit union’s founders, Career Advancement Scholarships were awarded to these professionals seeking career advancement: Taza Blanton, Mallory Fannin, Lindsay Griffin, Lisa Moody and Kianna Patrick.
Marie Tshibula was awarded the Wilma Widmer Career Advancement Scholarship.
The Legacy Student Scholarship was awarded to Margaret Robinson, North Gwinnett High School.
School System and Community Honoree Scholarships were awarded to Ella Maddox, Apalachee High School | Dan Cromer Student Scholarship; Paola Munoz, Central Gwinnett High School | Rick Cost Student Scholarship; Arely Rodriguez, Berkmar High School | Dr. Frances Davis Student Scholarship; and Macee Still, Loganville High School | Gary Hobbs Student Scholarship.
In addition, the Peach State FCU C.A.R.E.S. Foundation is also honored to support the following organizations with scholarships and educational grants, including Georgia Gwinnett College Foundation; Gwinnett County Public Schools Foundation; and Gwinnett Technical College Foundation.
Peach State FCU has long-standing roots within the education system. Its founding members were former educators of the Gwinnett County School System who believed in forming a credit union for the teachers of Gwinnett County. The Annual Scholarship Program has awarded over $2.5 million since 2002. To learn more about Peach State’s Scholarship Program, visit peachstatefcu.org/scholarships.
Hard Times, by Charles Dickens
From Karen J. Harris, Stone Mountain: Hard Times can be called a philosophical treatise on the need for balance when educating children and how the seeds of deception and misery are sown when this does not occur. The primary characters are the Gradgrind family, including Thomas Gradgrind, a school board Superintendent, son Tom and daughter Louisa. The Bounderby family includes Josiah Bounderby, a businessman who turns out to be a fraud, Sissy Jupe who is abandoned by her father and is taken in by the Gradgrinds. Set in post-industrial England, the novel contains three chapter headings: Sowing, Reaping and Garnering. Written in Dickens’ unique style, the novel grows on the reader who will match the cadence of the language, which will bring the era back in all its complexity. A title to ponder, Hard Times is a novel about poverty of spirit and its intendant unfortunate results.
- 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 tp ebrack2@gmail.com.
Student activists demonstrate in Georgia in the 1960s
During the 1960s, Georgia and the rest of the country experienced an increase in student activism on its college campuses and in its cities. Opposed to U.S. political leadership and dissatisfied with American culture, student activists held demonstrations across the state and experimented with lifestyle changes in the hope of effecting fundamental change in American life.
The student movement, also called the New Left because it represented the latest manifestation of left-leaning political activism, gained converts on campuses across the nation throughout the decade. In Georgia several schools maintained chapters of national and regional student organizations, such as Students for a Democratic Society and the Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC). Georgia student leaders often looked to the national New Left for guidance and inspiration. Georgia student activists who joined the civil rights and student movements routinely risked arrest and physical harm, as well as alienation from their more conservative friends and families.
The civil rights movement motivated many of Georgia’s New Left leaders to become involved in political activism. Morehouse College student Lonnie King, inspired by restaurant sit-ins in Greensboro, N.C., organized a protest campaign by drawing three student leaders from each of Atlanta’s six historically Black colleges and universities: Atlanta University and Clark College, the Interdenominational Theological Center, Morehouse, Morris Brown College, and Spelman College, and talking to the schools’ presidents. The resulting coalition, called the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR), organized ten sit-ins by 200 students in downtown Atlanta on March 15, 1960. (In fear of such demonstrations, the Georgia legislature had recently made sit-ins a misdemeanor.)
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) continued the sit-ins with COAHR in October, and Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested along with other protestors on October 19. Because, in part, of the economic stress brought on by such protests, Atlanta outlawed segregation in public facilities in the fall of 1961.
In 1964, Emory University student Gene Guerrero became the first chairman of SSOC; he turned to activism after being arrested at a 1963 civil rights sit-in in Atlanta.
The University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens possessed a dedicated community of activists during the 1960s. In April 1968 ,students conducted a three-day sit-in at the Academic Building to protest the unequal treatment of female students. (The dress code and curfew rules were stricter for women than for men, and women, unlike men, were banned from living off campus and from drinking.) In the wake of the killing of four students by National Guardsmen at Kent State University in Ohio in May 1970, 3,000 students demonstrated on the UGA campus, leading the Board of Regents to close all schools in the University System of Georgia for two days. UGA did not escape the growing commitment to violence that characterized the national New Left in the late 1960s. On five separate occasions from 1968 to 1972, student activists attempted unsuccessfully to burn down the military building on campus.
(To be continued)
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Concentrate broadly about today’s Mystery
Our readers should think broadly about this edition’s Mystery Photo. That’s all we’ll say. Just tell us where it is and what the photo is about. Send entries to ebrack2@gmail.com, including your hometown.
Of the last mystery, Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill, wrote: “This was a good one! It could have been so many things – Spiderman movie, rappelling enthusiast, lunatic, etc.I had to do some digging around but – final answer – this is a person rappelling down the side of the 21c Museum Hotel in Durham, N.C. This took place April 20 and was the fourth Over the Edge fundraiser to raise money for Duke Children’s Hospital. Rappellers were either people who raised at least $1,000 for the hospital, people who did pediatric research, business people who had sponsored the event or educators. Turns out, this rappelling off buildings is a very popular fundraising method.”
George Graf of Palmyra, Va. took a different approach: “This building was once the historic Hill Building of the Durham Bank andTrust Company. It stands in what local folks call the old CCB or Sun Trust Building. The 18-story hotel was designed by the same architects who designed the Empire State Building. On the left side of your photo you can see the iconic Fuchsia Penguins of 21c Museum Hotel. In early 2023 one of the penguins was stolen, but was later recovered.” The photo came from Molly Minnear of Atlanta.
Others pinpointing the location included Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. and Jay Altman of Columbia, S.C.
- SHARE A MYSTERY PHOTO: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: ebrack2@gmail.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
New play now on stage at Lionheart Theatre
Breaking Legs is playing at the Lionheart Theatre in Norcross May 3-19. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. There is a 2 p.m. matinee on May 18. This is a comedy by Tom Dulack about a family-run Italian restaurant and the Mafia. Ticket prices are $18 and $16 for seniors and students.
The Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra will present the finale of the 2023-24 season on May 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the Johns Creek United Methodist Church. The concert will honor Maestro J. Wayne Baugham’s legacy while celebrating the future of the Orchestra. Featured will be solo performances from Katie Edelman and Adelaide Federici, Baugham’s daughters.
Downtown Braselton will have a clean-up on Saturday, May 4, from 8:30 until 11 a.m. Volunteers wanting to participate should check in at the Gazebo at the Town Green, 9924 Davis Street. Teams will be assigned areas of the historic district to pick up trash. Come help make a difference and keep downtown Braselton looking great.
Breaking Barriers Creating Your Best Self, an interactive workshop, will be presented on May 4 at 11 a.m. at the Norcross Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library. It will include a quiz and coaching session, to determine what barriers carry the most weight for them and how breaking barriers leads to healing and transformation.
Scholarship award winners will be center-focus at the Commerce Club luncheon on May 7 at noon at Snellville City Hall’s Community Room. The Club annually awards two $1,000 scholarships to students from South Gwinnett and Brookwood High Schools. Reservations are required; go to this link.
Jerry Sheetinger, baseball coach at Georgia Gwinnett College, will be the speaker at the Men’s Civic Breakfast at Christ Episcopal Church in Norcross on May 11 at 8 a.m. Visitors are encouraged to come and hear how Sheetinger inspires his team to superb records. The 2024 Grizzly baseball team has a 44-6 record, and enters playoff games next week.
Next Mulberry Town Hall Meeting will be May 8 at 7 p.m. at the Hamilton Mill Clubhouse soccer field, located at Hog Mountain Road and Hamilton Mill Parkway. An additional meeting will be May 14 at a location TBD.
Interested in learning more about Braselton history? Join us for a stroll through the historic district of downtown during National Historic Preservation Month on May 8, 15, and 22. While the tours are free, please make sure you get a ticket. To help us provide an amazing experience, each tour is limited to 30 attendees. The tour will start on the front porch of Braselton Town Hall, former home of W.H. Braselton. The address is 4982 Georgia Highway 53. To reserve your spot, contact Jessica Payne at jpayne@braselton.net or 706-654-5552.
Author appearance: Stephanie Evans will discuss her book, Africana Tea: A Global History of Tea and Black Women’s Health on Thursday, May 9, at 7 p.m. at the Norcross Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library. Books will be available for sale and signing.
A Taste of Bridgerton: Afternoon Tea will be served on May 11 at 1 p.m. at the Norcross Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library. Additionally, amusing pastimes such as croquet, trivia, and a themed craft will be offered for your entertainment. Feel free to dress in your finest attire befitting the occasion. Registration is kindly requested.
Workshop on Nutrition for a Healthy Life Series will be held on May 14 at 11 a.m. at the Duluth Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library. Learn about healthy lifestyle changes and healthy recipes to cook. This program will have Korean translation available.
Author Terah Shelton Harris discusses her new book, Long After We Are Gone, on May 16 at the Duluth Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library. This is an explosive and emotional story of four siblings each fighting their battle amid their father’s death. Books will be available for sale and signing.
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