THIS CAFE became famous for a movie, The Whistle Stop Café, and it was a clue in the recent Mystery Photo. It’s located in Juliette, Ga., a few miles north of Macon. The Ocmulgee River is nearby, and the café gets its name from the Norfolk-Southern railroad which runs parallel to the river near here. See who identified the recent picture in the Mystery Photo below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: What did you take from last night’s presidential debate?
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Turnout in 2024 elections in Gwinnett is disappointing
SPOTLIGHT: Lail Family Dentistry
ANOTHER VIEW: Choice may be between two over-the-hill men
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
UPCOMING: Nine Gwinnett cities planning Fourth of July events
NOTABLE: Libertarian Party qualifies candidate for president
RECOMMENDED: The Manor House by Gilly MacMillan
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Macon is site of a national historic park
MYSTERY PHOTO: Mystery caution: things are not always what they seem
CALENDAR: You can register now for Braselton 5-K police run on July 27
What did you take from last night’s presidential debate?
Editor’s note: The author of the following article joined Georgia Gwinnett College in 2023. He is a graduate of McGill University and earned his doctor of philosophy from Oxford University. He previously was vice-rector of Epoka University in Albania and on the faculty at St. Leo University in Florida.–eeb
By Dr. David Felsen
Georgia Gwinnett College
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. | Millions of Americans watched the first presidential debate last night between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in Atlanta. The question remains: will this debate influence how people vote in November?
Felsen
I have taught U.S. government and have lectured on American and global politics in the U.S. and abroad. I believe that this presidential debate was as relevant as past debates.
While the country is extremely polarized today, many voters are unimpressed with both presidential candidates. A sizable number of Americans may decide not to vote. That is why this debate matters. Both Republicans and Democrats want to capture that small but important sliver of the electorate that is still on the fence, particularly in swing states like Georgia.
What should viewers take from this debate?
Voters watched for several things in this debate. Undecided voters wanted to see one of the two candidates say something that might dispel negative views and address issues that are important to voters. Voters also wanted to see whether the candidates, who are both older candidates by historical standards, demonstrated their fitness for office.
Historically, presidential debates are televised so that voters can get an up-close view of the two candidates, learn the candidates’ positions on a series of domestic and foreign policy issues, and see how presidential hopefuls perform under close questioning by moderators who generally are members of the news media.
The four Kennedy-Nixon debates of 1960 were the first televised debates. Historians have noted that these debates helped define the images of the two candidates and shaped the course of the presidential campaign.
Of particular note during the nation’s first debate, Nixon’s facial stubble on his face showed unflatteringly against the black and white background. Also, during the debate Nixon’s excessive sweating began to make him appear unhealthy or even sinister. Nixon had refused to use makeup for the debate. By contrast, Kennedy, who did agree to use makeup, maintained his boyish good looks throughout the evening. These debates helped seal Kennedy’s eventual victory in 1960.
Perhaps you can articulate your feelings about the Biden-Trump debate of 2024 in Atlanta.
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Turnout in 2024 elections in Gwinnett is disappointing
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JUNE 28, 2024 | It’s discouraging, and we hate to bring it up, but Gwinnettians do not take voting very seriously, at least in the recent primary and its runoff. We make this deduction after looking at how many people voted in these 2024 elections.
To cite figures:
- Of the 516,022 registered voters in Gwinnett County, during the May 21 primary only 78,091 people voted. That is only 15.1 percent of people in Gwinnett who considered it important to go to the polls. The other 84.9 percent apparently didn’t care.
- In the June 16 runoff primary, the results were far more discouraging. In the only county-wide race, that for a State Court judgeship, just 16,833 people voted. That’s 3.2 percent of the 516,022 Gwinnett registered voters who named a State Court judge. Why did so few vote? The turnout was horrible!
- Take a look at the one race for the Georgia House of Representatives. In the runoff for District 96, Arlene Beckles won a seat in that august body by charming 217 people to vote for her, while her opponent, Sonia Lopez, got 116 votes. As of the 2020 Census, Georgia state House members represent an average of 59,585 residents. If this district is average, that means that 0.3 percent selected a House member! Do the 99.7 percent in that district not care?
Let’s look at the two non-partisan races for the School Board.
In District 1, it was the tightest race, with the results decided by 17 votes. Rachel Stone had 1,868 votes while incumbent Karen Watkins polled 1,851 votes. That’s a total of 3,719 votes for the runoff, while the five candidates in the primary polled 18,590 votes, meaning only 20 percent of those voting in the primary returned for the runoff!
In District 3 for the School Board, Steve Gasper won with 4,081 votes, compared to 2,632 for Shana White, or 6,713 votes. In the primary vote in this race, 15,388 turned out at the polls, so 43.6 percent returned for the runoff, for this year, a better-than-average return.
All these figures should make all of us pause. It could perhaps show that Gwinnettians don’t think that voting is such a major element in most people’s lives. And to think of all the candidates, who work prodigiously for several months, thinking of all types of ways to reach people….who don’t seem to care. It must be discouraging to many candidates.
Newcomers to Georgia might not know of this. But the voting by few people reminds us of former Governor Marvin Griffin, who ran against Carl Sanders back in 1962. Griffin was a newspaper publisher from Bainbridge, a former House member, state adjutant general, lieutenant governor and then governor. But young and newcomer Sanders trounced him, bringing a new day to Georgia.
A major way to campaign in those pre-television days was to throw political barbecues around the state, attracting large crowds to hear the candidates. Griffin is remembered for saying: “Some of the people who ate my barbecue didn’t vote for me.”
Candidates in Gwinnett must have been disappointed that, from all the people they talked to in this year’s campaign, few showed up to vote.
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Choice may be between two over-the-hill men
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | A recent poll illustrated that 73 percent of evangelicals support former President Trump. The question is “why”? The answer is complex.
First, there is a major gap as to what some people believe versus the truth, enabling Donald Trump to prey on these vulnerable evangelicals.
For example, take the latest controversy about Louisiana requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in every classroom. Trump’s evangelical base is clearly in favor of this move.
Most Americans have little idea as to how the Constitution actually reads. Politico is correct stating: “Christian nationalists in America believe that the country was founded as a Christian nation and that Christian values should be prioritized throughout government and public life.” These Americans feel that forcing Judeo-Christian commandments onto our children is consistent with our democracy, even though it is directly in opposition to the Constitution.
Further, these Evangelicals view Trump as the “vessel.” The best explanation can be found in the 2019 book The Immoral Majority by Ben Howe, a conservative religious leader. Howe details the way in which Evangelicals explain away Trump’s obvious immorality by declaring that he is accomplishing God’s will on earth. In this view of the world, Trump can be completely despicable on a personal level. But so long as he is helping God to achieve certain goals, he must be supported.
Under this twisted logic, Trump can do no wrong. For instance, take the Ten Commandments controversy.
Trump supports putting the Ten Commandments in schools. At the same time, Trump has himself violated many of the Commandments.
A few examples:
- “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Trump has been married three times and had affairs each time. He was recently convicted of 34 felonies related to his cover-up of a tryst with a porn star.
- “Thou shalt not steal.” In over 2000 years, theft has changed with white collar misdeeds becoming more complicated. Trump has been ordered to pay $355 million for duping insurers, banks and others as to his wealth. He was ordered to pay an additional $2 million after losing a New York case regarding Trump Foundation misuse of funds (using them for political reasons rather than charity). He also is alleged to have stolen a massive number of classified documents from Washington and illegally brought them to Mar-A Lago.
- “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” Trump is a compulsive liar. During his term in office, he made over 30,000 false statements.
- “Thou shalt not covet.” Trump is obviously guilty of wanting more and more for himself at the expense of others. His constant pursuit of women is one indication. Another example is the 1990s Coking case. Trump used eminent domain to try to evict a woman, shutter her boarding house, and take her property to make way for his Atlantic City casino.
In November, voters have a choice between: a., an old, over-the-hill immoral con man, and b., an old over-the-hill man that has morals. The choice is ours.
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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 by to: ebrack2@gmail.com.
Nine Gwinnett cities planning Fourth of July events
The Fourth of July time will be a festive one in nine of the Gwinnett cities, marked by patriotic activity followed by fireworks at sundown. Seven cities have no official celebration.
Auburn, and Loganville start the celebratory weekend with activities on Saturday, while Lawrenceville, Norcross and Sugar Hill have activities on July 3.
The list of city activities upcoming include:
- Auburn: Festivities kick off on Saturday, June 29, at City Hall beginning at 6 p.m. with fireworks at sundown.
- Berkeley Lake: Fireworks are scheduled around the lake Thursday at sundown.
- Braselton: Activities will be held downtown, starting at 5 p.m., July 4, with fireworks at dark.
- Buford: no fireworks.
- Dacula: no fireworks.
- Duluth: no fireworks.
- Grayson: no fireworks.
- Lawrenceville: Prelude to the Fourth will be on Wednesday, July 3 at the Lawrenceville Lawn at 6 p.m., with fireworks at sundown. `
- Lilburn: Sparkles in City Park, 76 Main Street, begins at 5:30 p.m. Thursday with fireworks about 9:30, as it gets dark.
- Loganville: This city’s independence celebration kicks off the July 4 celebration on Saturday, June 29, at 6 p.m. at West Walton Park (behind police station), with fireworks at sundown.
- Norcross: Red White and Boom in Norcross will be held on July 3, starting at 5 p.m. with a celebration in Lillian Webb Park, followed by fireworks at dark.
- Peachtree Corners: no fireworks.
- Rest Haven: no fireworks.
- Snellville: Stars Spangled Snellville Celebration is on the Town Green, 2342 Oak Road, Thursday from 4-10 p. m, followed by fireworks.
- Sugar Hill: The holiday celebration begins at 6:30 on July 3 at E. E. Robinson Park, followed by fireworks at sundown.
- Suwanee: no fireworks.
As reported earlier, the Gwinnett Stripers will be playing an “away” game on July 4, but on July 4 Coolray Field will host the county’s largest fireworks show. It will be called “Fourth on the Field,” starting at 5 p.m. Activities include a movie, live music, food, and kids’ activities. Tickets are $10 per adult and $5 for kids (12 and under) in advance. Day-of-event tickets will be $15 per adult and $10 for kids. Parking is free until 7 p.m. that night.
Libertarian Party qualifies candidate for president
The year 2024 is a historical moment as the Libertarian Party of Georgia’s access to the ballot is exclusively dependent on the votes earned for president this election because of a pending elections lawsuit challenging the system Georgia uses to elect Public Service Commissioners. This is unprecedented in the history of the Libertarian Party of Georgia.
The Secretary of State issued a statement on March 6, 2024, canceling the Public Service Commission (PSC) races for the 2024 election cycle, leaving only the presidential ticket to secure ballot access. A federal court decision on August 5, 2022, halted Georgia’s PSC election following a lawsuit that alleged Georgia’s election methods unfairly disadvantaged black voters under the Voting Rights Act.
However, this was later overruled by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The plaintiffs in the case appealed the decision by the Appellate Court, sending the case to the Supreme Court who declined to hear the case on June 24. The Libertarian Party of Georgia nominated Victoria Salvia of Atlanta for PSC 3, Tom Blooming of Smyrna for PSC 4, and Colin McKinney of Athens for PSC 2 at their annual convention earlier this year, to appear on the ballot alongside the party’s presidential nominee.
The Libertarian Party of Georgia qualifies its electors for the 2024 presidential nominee as Chase Oliver, of Atlanta, secured ballot access for 2024. Oliver became the party’s presidential nominee last month at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington D.C. Oliver in a race for the U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, got 2.07 percent of the vote.
- Learn more about the candidate at www.votechaseoliver.com. More information about ballot access for third parties in Georgia can be found at www.bedrockballotaccess.com.
Lawrenceville approves 2025 budget at $189 million
The city of Lawrenceville has approved a $189 million budget for fiscal year 2025, which calls for a slight ad valorem tax increase. This planned increase will result in a millage rate of 3.26 mills, an increase of 1.206 mills (above the roll-back rate). Even with this increase, Lawrenceville’s millage rate remains the lowest among all Gwinnett County cities with city police departments. The new budget came after input from the Financial Review Citizen’s Committee, two budget work sessions, and two public hearings.
The FY2025 budget focuses on four key areas: Community Engagement, Capital Improvements, Revenue Adjustments and Restructuring, and Staff Retention and Recruitment. Lawrenceville is committed to fostering a thriving community by allocating funds to these critical sectors, addressing pressing needs, and ensuring continued growth.
The approved budget provides additional funding for transitional housing, offering essential assistance to individuals facing homelessness. It also includes significant investments for a new Greenway Trail system and doubling the funding for street resurfacing in the coming year. The city is committing to a five percent salary increase for eligible staff.
Citizens may visit the agendas and minutes section of the city website for additional details and to view the full budget presentation.
The Manor House, by Gilly MacMillan
From Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill: When Nicole and Tom win the lottery, they think all their troubles are over. They build an ultramodern ‘smart’ house with state-of-the-art technology in Gloucestershire, England, and acquire all the expensive toys money can buy. Their nearest neighbors in the manor house not far away seem nice enough, too. What could go wrong? Well, it doesn’t take long to find out. One day Nicole comes home to find Tom dead in the swimming pool and the nightmare begins. This is a modern cozy mystery (cozy in that there are only a handful of characters in the story). But no one is who he seems to be. I enjoyed the twists and turns as the creepy tale unfolded. I’d call this a contemporary beach read.
- 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. Click here to send an email.
Macon is site of a national historic park
Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park consists of a large and impressive group of mounds located along the fall line of the Ocmulgee River on the northeastern edge of Macon.
Although there were many different periods of occupation at Ocmulgee, the most prominent one began around 800 A.D., in the Early Mississippian period (A.D. 800-1100), and lasted for three centuries. During that time the occupants, who had emigrated from Tennessee or farther west, built many flat-topped earthen mounds, council chambers, and defensive structures in the mile-square town. Archaeologists know that they were immigrants because their pottery was completely different from that of the other people living in central Georgia at that time, but identical to pottery found on sites northwest of present-day Georgia.
Between 1933 and 1941 the largest archaeological excavations ever undertaken at any site in Georgia were carried out at Ocmulgee by Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers, who were guided by archeologist Arthur Kelly. Ocmulgee’s 2,000 acres, in fact, made up the most extensive excavation in the country. The site had been badly damaged by two separate nineteenth-century railway cuts through the center of the town, but Kelly still recovered an incredible wealth of information about Mississippian life in central Georgia.
The crew discovered a unique and magnificent council house floor, and they built a protective roof over it. This in-place archaeological exhibition is one of the most interesting and important in the entire eastern United States. The summit of the largest mound, at the southern end of the site, offers a stunning view of the Ocmulgee River valley to the south—a large flood plain where the inhabitants grew corn. The Ocmulgee site was abandoned by about 1100 A.D., and the fate of its inhabitants is still a mystery.
In 1934 the U.S. Congress designated 2,000 acres to be made a national park, but when ultimately signed into law in 1936 by U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt as a national monument, only 678 acres fell under federal protection. In 1997 the Ocmulgee Old Fields was designated by the National Register of Historic Places as a traditional cultural property, the first such site so named east of the Mississippi River.
The site was re-designated as a national historical park as part of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019. The park’s boundaries were expanded to include approximately 2,100 acres of land. The act also authorized a special resource study to be conducted on a 50-mile section of the Ocmulgee River Corridor, which contains undeveloped wetlands and swamps that provide a habitat to numerous birds and mammals.
Ocmulgee Mounds welcomes numerous visitors each year. Notable historic sites include a Hitchiti village site, the Great Temple Mound, the Earth Lodge, a colonial-era British trading post, Civil War earthworks, and a museum housing over 2,000 artifacts, some dating as far back as 10,000 B.C. The park also contains eight miles of hiking trails.
In 2022 Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park acquired an additional 951 acres of land known as the Ocmulgee Old Fields, a historically significant site to the Muskogean people.
The following update is from Wikipedia:
In 2022, the NPS conducted a Special Resource Study on the Ocmulgee River Corridor, which could have recommended expansion of the area as a national park and preserve. The study area includes parts of Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Robins Air Force Base, and three Georgia state wildlife management areas. The Muscogee Nation may be a partner in conservation management.[30]
In November 2023, the study’s findings, which were sent to Congress, which concluded that the Corridor proposal was unfeasible at the time because of estimated costs of acquisition, as well as opposition from landowners and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. It also assessed the Corridor as meeting criteria for “national significance and suitability” and recommended a scaled-down plan covering less land and operating as a public-private partnership (such as a National Heritage Area or National Historic Landmark designation) in association with the Muscogee Nation and other stakeholders. Despite the study’s findings and recommendations, Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and Representatives Sanford Bishop and Austin Scott, whose districts covered the Ocmulgee River watershed in question, announced their intent to support the intended expansion.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Mystery caution: Things are not always what they seem
We should at all times remember that things are not always what they seem. Take today’s Mystery Photo, with its statement building, palm trees, beautiful fountain and flower….but where is it? You may be surprised. Send your findings to ebrack2@gmail.com, and include your hometown.
Last week’s Mystery was from Juliette, Ga., which several people recognized, perhaps from the clue about movies, since this is where several movies have been made. Ooops: we lost the name of the person who sent in the photo. Please let us know!
Lou Camerio of Lilburn sent in: “This is Juliette, Ga. in Monroe County which happens to be where I grew up. We lived between Bolingbroke and Loraine. Many movies were filmed in and around Juliette, including Fried Green Tomatoes.”
Sara Rawlins of Lawrenceville wrote: “That is Juliette, the small town made famous by Fannie Flagg’s 1987 novel, Fried Green Tomatoes. The storyline is supposed to be in a fictitious town in Alabama, but instead, the movie was shot in the colorful town of Juliette because of the Whistle Stop Cafe, which serves fried green tomatoes. It put the little town of Juliette on the map of places to visit and experience the cuisine of the South along with sweet tea and Southern hospitality.”
Allen Peel of San Antonio, Tex., got down to details: “Today’s mystery photo is of Verna Cora’s Antiques and Collectible at 436 McCrackin St. in Juliette, Ga. The photo was taken across from the Whistle Stop Café, the iconic café in the 1991 American comedy-drama film, starring Jessica Tandy and Kathy Bates.
“After the filming of Fried Green Tomatoes, the sets used for the town’s main street were renovated into a tourist district, complete with a fully operational Whistle Stop Cafe. With the tax incentives offered by Georgia to the film industry, the town of Juliette became a popular filming location for other movies, including:
- Cockfighter (1974) starring Warren Oates
- A Killing Affair (1986) starring Peter Weller
- The War (1994) with Kevin Costner
- The Tuskegee Airmen (1995) starring Laurence Fishburne.”
Others recognized the photo include Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C.; Paige Havens, Hoschton; George Graf, Palmyra, Va.; Ron Baker, Stone Mountain; Elizabeth Truluck Neace, Dacula; and Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill.
- 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.
Braselton 5-K run benefitting the Braselton Police Foundation will be Saturday, July 27, starting at 6:30 a.m. This is a certified run and the time can be used as a qualifier for the AJC Peachtree Road Race. To register, go to this site.
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