GwinnettForum | Number 23.64 | Aug. 16, 2024
SELFIE STAND: The City of Duluth is now sporting a new device to help amateur photographers make worthy photos. It’s a Selfie Stand, installed to hold cell phones and take a selfie, with a landmark strategically included in the background. Duluth worked with A1 Signs in Norcross to produce the final product. GwinnettForum anticipates we’ll see more of these stands in other locations within the county! Such a simple idea, and it works beautifully! Photo Credit: Ben Bailey.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Trip of a lifetime: piloting own boat around Lady Liberty
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Two Gwinnett cities among nation’s safest suburbs
SPOTLIGHT: Duluth Fall Festival
FEEDBACK: Good to see one Republican calling it “Like it is”
UPCOMING: Souto Foods adding 70 new jobs to Gwinnett location
NOTABLE: Duluth launches Selfie Stands in its downtown
RECOMMENDED: The Greater Journey, by David McCullough
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Stadium namesake was key educator of 20th Century
MYSTERY PHOTO: Harbor setting might give a clue to this mystery
CALENDAR: Jazz in the Alley coming to Norcross on Saturday night
Trip of a lifetime: Piloting own boat around Lady Liberty
(Editor’s note: Financial consultant Andy McClung has just taken a trip of a lifetime: seeing the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor, from his own boat. He and his wife, Stephanie, once lived in Gwinnett, but now reside in Athens.-eeb)
By Andy McClung
ATHENS, Ga. | Always I had wanted to pilot my own boat by the Statue of Liberty. This year I got to do it. I had visited New York City a couple of times and both times found myself at the battery staring at the Statue of Liberty, watching all the tourist boats going and coming and thinking: “Hummm, it would be great fun in my own boat and on my own schedule.”
Stephanie and Andy McClung
Fast forward 20 years and my wife’s willingness to go along with the madness.
We bought a boat that we could actually live on, sleeping two. It was a 2018 Ranger Tug, 27 feet long. It was something like RVing on the water. We towed the boat to Lake Ontario behind a Ford F 250 to Oswego N.Y., then took the Oswego Canal to the Erie Canal, near Syracuse.
The next day we pushed to get to Little Falls N.Y., where there is an old Erie Canal depot that the local Rotary Club has rehabbed, with many pleasure boats docking there. Little Falls was once a busy place where settlers worked with local Indians to portage boats up the 40 foot or so series of falls. Later it became home of the tallest lock on the Erie. We spent two nights there, needing a break.
Some boating highlights:
- In Scotia, N.Y., the local fire department each year assembles and installs the local docks as well as disassembles a store before winter. An amphitheater is next to the canal. We saw a show worthy of Cypress Gardens.
- We finally left the Erie Canal at Troy, N.Y. Then to Albany, and before us was 167 miles by water on the relatively flat Hudson River. (Albany is only five feet above sea level!)
- Cornwall Yacht Club, which is basically right next to West Point, is scenic with mountains on both sides. As in other places, we could not have run into a nicer group of people. One of the guys volunteered his truck for me to go into town. I took him up on it and used it as an opportunity to buy groceries. You know, you gotta have greens and salad for wives.
We made our way all the way down to the Statue of Liberty and docked in Brooklyn for the next two nights. Boating by the Statue of Liberty was a surprisingly emotional time. We circled the Statue for three hours!
Seeing Lady Liberty from a boat is something I will never forget. It was a wonderfully poignant experience. Just think about all the sacrifices and perilous decisions that have been made that enabled me to be able to boat around the Statue of Liberty, because I wanted to.
Then it was time for the return trip, which was just as enjoyable. On the trip we must have gone through 50 locks. We came back via Lake Champlain, to Montreal and the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The entire trip took 18 days. Once we were back to Lake Ontario, we connected the Ford 250 to the boat and trailer, and in three days we were back home.
Thank you to the people of France, to the statue’s designer, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, with its metal framework built by Gustave Eiffel, for supporting our freedom, and your gift to us, just as we support your freedom.
Liberté, égalité, fraternité: Viva la France! Viva freedom!
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Two Gwinnett cities among nation’s safest suburbs
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 16, 2024 | Two of Gwinnett cities are among the safest suburbs to live in the nation, according to SmartAsset’s ranking.
The City of Dacula ranks sixth safest, and the City of Buford is right behind it as seventh safest place to live in the top 360 suburbs in the nation. Interestingly, neither Georgia city has a police force, but relies on the Gwinnett County Police Department for such services.
SmartAsset is a financial technology company, founded in July 2012 and headquartered in New York, N.Y. The company publishes articles, guides, reviews, calculators and tools to help people make decisions about personal finance. The company’s free and interactive tools help readers make smarter decisions on home buying, refinance, retirement, life insurance, taxes and investing, SmartAsset released its safest suburban cities list this week. To read its findings, go to https://smartasset.com/data-studies/americas-safest-suburbs-2024.
This is the second year in a row that Dacula has been on the safe suburbs list. In 2023, it was ranked the ninth’s safest suburb. It is the first year for Buford being among the safe suburb list.
King
Dacula Mayor Trey King says his city is proud to be so recognized. He says Dacula is safe because of the “cooperative effort of the good people who live here, along with the support of the Gwinnett County police and our two-man marshal force.”
At one time, perhaps as far back as the 40s, 50s, 60s, Dacula had a police chief. King says: “He was my wife’s great uncle, Finas Rooks. I’ve got a picture of him standing next to a 1962 Chevrolet Impala. Mary Dawn is my wife, and her grandmother used to cook for prisoners held overnight without bond. Whatever she was serving is what they had. I don’t know the year the police force was disbanded, but today we get great assistance and patrolling from Gwinnett police.”
Buford had its own police force until 1975, when the city commissioners decided it would close its police force because of its mounting cost, and concentrate its city taxes on its own independent school district.
Beard
Buford Commission Chairman Phillip Beard remembers the year well. “I had just got elected, and the year before, the people of Buford voted to keep their schools separate, and not join the Gwinnett County system. The police department was costing us something like $300,000 a year, and our cost for the schools that year was $178,000.
“Back then we had 22 policemen. We kept the police chief on as the city marshal. We gave all the police equipment, land and facilities to the county, for the county to police our city. In the 49 years since then, we have saved our taxpayers millions by not having a police force. Having city police has never been on the agenda here since then. We are most happy with the county patrolling our city.”
Former County Commission Chairman Wayne Mason remembers: “Many cities don’t need to have their own police and fire departments. In effect, if you had those city departments, it would be hard to justify it, since it would be a duplicated service. Many city police departments are heavy with local politics, job creation and power. You don’t need overlapping services.”
Eventually, the county also provided other services to cities and the entire county, including libraries and recreation.
Below are the 10 safest suburbs of 2024, according to SmartAsset’s rankings:
- Lehi, Utah
- Bethesda, Maryland
- Layton, Utah
- Rockville, Maryland
- Great Falls, Virginia
- Dacula, Georgia
- Buford, Georgia
- Elmhurst, Illinois
- Oak Brook, Illinois
- Edgewater, New Jersey
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Duluth Fall Festival
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. The year 2024 will mark the 41st Duluth Fall Festival. The first festival, held in October of 1983, was faced with rain and cold and cleared only $300. However, despite this, the decision was made to make it an annual event, but move it to the last weekend in September.
Almost every year something monumental was added:
- 1984: Newspaper tabloid
- 1985: Volunteer t-shirts via Citizens Bank
- 1987: First Clean-up Committee
- 1993: Festival Concert
- 1995: New stage
- 1996: Taylor Park purchased
- 1997: Sponsor Committee formed
- 1998: Festival expands to two days
- 2000: Website launched
- 2001: Town Green and Festival Center completed
- 2002: Shuttle Service
- 2006: Built and landscaped Courtyard
- 2011: Eastern Continental Divide Monument
- 2012: Paid off Festival Center ($1,300,000)
In the last 10 years, the Festival has added several annual events and donated over $2 million more to Downtown Duluth and Duluth non-profits. The Festival has been held every year since 1983 except for 2020 when COVID hit. The number of committees has grown to more than 50 and the number of volunteers from a handful to almost 400. Only space limits the number of Arts and Crafts and Food Booths, which now number about 300.
In all, the Festival has grown in numbers and in scope. It has been chosen Best Festival in Gwinnett for the last several years, best in the entire Southeastern area, and listed among the top 20 festivals in the entire nation by several national publications.
Put the Duluth Fall Festival on your calendars now. It will be held Sept. 28-29. It promises to be the very best in the 41-year history!
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Good to see one Republican calling it “like it is”
Editor, the Forum:
I’m still mystified that Republicans, the Party of Lincoln, endorse Trump. Refreshing to know that at least one outspoken Georgian, Geoff Duncan, has called it “like it is.” Thanks for another enlightening article.
– Mike Eberlein, Peachtree Corners
Being Moral wonderful book about old age
Editor, the Forum:
Let me say I really appreciated Andy Brack’s article on hospice. Both my parents died at home and with as little pain and loss of dignity as possible thanks in great part to hospice. As he notes in the article, too few people understand what hospice is and what it can do to make living until death a reality. Hopefully the information in his article will help.
The book titled Being Mortal by Dr. Atul Gwande is a wonderfully helpful resource for anyone about to experience old age or disability or those who may need to care for them. Wait! That is everyone. Right? That is why I recommend it to anyone who will listen.
– Tom Uphurch, Suwanee
Hospice workers help us get through tough times
Editor, the Forum:
My wife died nine months ago with cancer. She was under hospice care at the end. As painful as it was to see the downhill spiral, I was thankful that when she took her last breath, my daughter and I were holding her hands and we were in our house instead of a hospital. It was (and still is) a somewhat haunting experience but I have three friends whose spouses passed away with no warning, just suddenly gone.
I wonder sometimes which is better: to have a chance to be with your loved one to the end, no matter how painful it may be, or to not go through any type of transition and be unable to say goodbye. It’s a question that may not have an answer.
Thank you for posting about hospice workers. It’s a job many of us couldn’t handle and I’m thankful for their compassion and ability to help us get through some tough times.
– Sonny Franks, Lilburn
Clarification from Peachtree Corners on used car lots
Editor, the Forum:
Let me write on behalf of the City of Peachtree Corners in response to your August 9 comment concerning used car dealers.
Let me start by clarifying that the seven used car dealers referenced in your article are, in fact, automobile brokers, not traditional used car dealers. The description “used car dealer” appears in the business list simply because that is the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code under which auto brokers are categorized.
These auto brokers are licensed by the city to operate on properties where such activity is already permitted and their use of the designated office space is limited to professional office functions, expressly prohibiting outdoor storage, display, or on-site sales or refurbishment of vehicles. Although these brokers conduct their business online, they are required by state law to have a physical office location, much like insurance agents. Consequently, these businesses are typically indistinguishable from the other professional or service businesses operating in the area (see attached pics). It’s also worth noting that auto brokers were operating in these locations well before Peachtree Corners became a city, under approvals initially granted by Gwinnett County.
Lastly, it is important to highlight that while city council sets zoning categories for land use, they do not review or approve individual businesses. The parcels mentioned in your editorial, located on Wetherburn Way, Crooked Creek Road, and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, are currently zoned Office-Institutional (O-I), a zoning category that allows for a variety of professional, financial, and service businesses, including these auto brokers.
– Brian L. Johnson, City Manager, Peachtree Corners
How about instead, have one big used car Super Lot?
Editor, the Forum:
About the number of used-car lots: I agree with your observation, especially on Buford Highway in Norcross. I once counted them but, trust me, the number is substantial. Yet, it seems, every lot has a large inventory of used cars, which would indicate there is a business model that I do not understand.
As a real estate guy, I have often thought a good used-car business model would be to own a large lot in which I do not have any cars, but would charge a used car dealer for every car they keep on inventory each month. That way, you could keep the cars moving, and minimizes the number of lots by offering a used car Super Lot.
– Jonathan Galucki, Buford
More benefits of those post-world War II Fords
Editor, the Forum:
Another benefit of that bench front seat in the post World War II Fords: it was possible for your date to slide over and “help” steer. And the truck on that car would hold a ton of chicken feed or luggage; or a couple of buddies you could sneak into the Drive-In Theater without paying.
And on used car lots, there must be a theory that no used car lot can be without a competitor next door!
– John Moore, Duluth
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Souto Foods adding 70 new jobs to Gwinnett location
Souto Foods, a Lawrenceville food supplier specializing in high-quality products from Latin America and the Caribbean, plans to invest $28 million and hire 70 new positions here. This significant expansion marks a tremendous milestone as the company enters into a joint development agreement to kickstart the redevelopment of the underutilized former Cisco corporate campus.
Founded in 2010, Souto Foods has seen significant growth over the years. In 2017, when Alex Lee of Hickory, N.C., ranked 139 on the list of largest privately held companies in the United States as listed by Forbes, acquired Souto Foods, it was able to grow its business on an even larger scale.
Kimberley George, senior vice president of Alex Lee, says: “We are pleased with the opportunity for Souto Foods to expand and remain in Gwinnett. The county’s multicultural community has long fueled the growth of Souto Foods and was a driver for remaining local with this expansion.”
Partnership Gwinnett Economic Development Director Andrew Hickey managed the project in collaboration with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Metro Atlanta Chamber, Georgia Power, Gwinnett County government and McGuireWoods Consulting.
“It’s been a joy and a privilege working with Souto Foods to continue their growth here in Gwinnett County,” said Partnership Gwinnett Economic Development Senior Director Deven Cason. “We are excited for the further growth and opportunity they will offer our Gwinnett County workforce, along with their continued success.”
Duluth launches Selfie Stands in its downtown
Say Cheese! Duluth has launched new “Selfie” locations downtown.
Selfie takers in downtown Duluth no longer have to settle for stretched arm shots, and people squeezed into frame. With the addition of new Selfie Stands, visitors now have the extra hand needed to grab the perfect shot. These strategically placed cell phone holders highlight downtown Duluth’s best features and offer excellently framed photos.
The Selfie Stands are already in active use, and sparking joy among visitors.
The idea is intended to touch the whole community. Community Development Specialist Jessica Bianchi says: “Every day, I see people taking pictures around downtown Duluth. How can I help them capture the best shot while promoting our downtown?” Bianchi devised the idea for the selfie station and designed the concept for the cell phone holder.
“No one has done this near us,” she noted, “and I couldn’t find a place to purchase what we needed that would hold up outdoors, so we made them.” Duluth worked with A1 Signs in Norcross to produce the final product.
The playful picture frame design stands out, grabbing the attention of passersby. Each station is directly aligned to capture the picture-perfect scene ahead of it—from Duluth City Hall and its Eastern Continental Divide Marker to the culturally significant public art pieces like the Phoenix in Parsons Alley and the Historic Duluth Mosaic mural.
“In a way, it’s an extension of our Public Art downtown,” said Bianchi. “Photography is art, and downtown Duluth is such a beautiful focus to capture.”
The cell phone holder was thoughtfully designed to hold a phone both vertically and horizontally, allowing for flexibility in the shots that can be taken. Its ease of use is best seen when paired with a phone’s camera timer function.
The next time you’re in downtown Duluth, check out these unique selfie stands. See if you can find them all. Altogether, there are 11.
The Greater Journey, by David McCullough
The author is one of America’s greatest storytellers, seen in his books on the Brooklyn Bridge, Harry Truman, the Panama Canal and others. He’s twice won the Pulitzer Prize. In this major work, he explains how Paris became the key destination for many visiting Americans who often stayed for years. They expanded their education, particularly in medicine, or in the arts, taking advantage of the city’s vast treasures, such as The Louvre, its art studios, extensive gardens, and fabulous life. This happened from about 1830 until 1900, and explains the way the French government ruled and collapsed several times. It also depicts how the Parisian government cleared vast areas to build open avenues to show off the beautiful city, its treasures and way of life. You’ll learn a tremendous amount about France, and about the Americans who matured and expanded while in Paris, and gave us great art and leadership. The full title is The Greater Journey, Americans in Paris.—eeb
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Stadium namesake was key educator of 20th Century
Sanford Stadium, the home of the Georgia Bulldogs football team at the University of Georgia (UGA), is the 21st century’s most visible and tangible link to one of the state’s greatest 20th-century educators. The stadium that bears his name was the brainchild and a favorite project of Steadman Sanford, English professor, founder of the university’s journalism school, dean, university president, and third chancellor of the University System of Georgia.
Steadman Vincent Sanford was born on August 24, 1871, in Covington to Elizabeth Steadman and Charles Vincent Sanford. In 1895 he married Grace McClatchey, with whom he had four children: Shelton Palmer, Grace Devereaux, Charles Steadman, and Homer Reynolds.
Sanford received his undergraduate degree from Mercer University in Macon in 1890, and went on to pursue graduate studies at the University of Chicago, the University of Berlin in Germany, and Oxford University in England. He spent his early career teaching at Marietta (1890-92) and in educational administration, as principal of Marietta High School (1892-97) and superintendent of the Marietta schools (1897-1903) before taking a position teaching English at UGA in 1903.
Among the academic and administrative highlights of his 32-year career at UGA were his founding and leadership of the Henry Grady School of Journalism (1921-27), his deanship (1927-32), and presidency of the university (1932-35). Sanford’s role in journalism education led to the establishment of the George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting, one of the university’s most widely recognized distinctions.
He was also the founding president of the Southern Conference (1921).
It was Sanford who moved university competition from Herty Field to an improved location in the valley between the North and South campuses, a combination baseball and football venue that, over Sanford’s objections, was named Sanford Field.
Early in the 1920s Sanford and important Bulldog boosters in Atlanta and around the site began to plan for the building of a modern football stadium. Sanford recognized the importance of a suitable setting for drawing a substantial playing schedule against teams who would attract crowds and wide press coverage, advancing public and legislative support of higher education. In October 1929 Georgia defeated the Yale University team 15-0 in the inaugural game at Sanford Stadium, a setting engineered to handle a crowd of more than 30,000.
During his presidency Sanford oversaw the consolidation of what had been several semi-independent units into a unified university within a newly established university system. When he was promoted in 1935 to chancellor of the system, Sanford enlarged his aggressive promotion of education to include all the units of the system.
At every stage of his career Sanford employed what he called “the personal equation,” the exercise of person-to-person influence in the style of 19th-century gentility. Such a style was ideal for a state that, by the time of Sanford’s death in Atlanta in 1945, was still operating largely in the previous century. Sanford is buried in Marietta.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Harbor, setting, might give a clue
In this tucked-away harbor, you can detect many boats at anchor. Perhaps that and the setting is enough for you to identify this Mystery Photo. Send your ideas to ebrack2@gmail.com, and be sure to tell us your hometown.
Sara Rawlins of Lawrenceville was first in identifying the last Mystery. “This picture is of the Rabun Gap Nacoochee School at Rabun Gap, Ga. At one time there were two schools, one the Nacoochee Institute and the Rabun Gap Industrial School. They were established in 1903 by missionary leaders, the Rev. Joel Wade and the Rev. John Knox Coit. It wasn’t until 1926 that the two schools merged when one of the main buildings burned down. The schools were formed for the need to educate the children of Appalachia. The children worked the school farm as well as attended classes.” The photo came from Tim Keith of Sugar Hill.
Several others recognized it, including Billy Chism, Toccoa; Barbara Dawson, Dahlonega; Tracy Brookshire, Duluth; Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C.; George Graf, Palmyra, Va.; Ben Haynes, Buford; Eric Yakaitis, Johns Creek; Cindy Hall, Canton; Stew Ogilvie, Lawrenceville; Lou Camerio, Lilburn; and Allan Peel, San Antonio, Tex.
- 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.
Jazz in the Alley coming to Norcross on Saturday night
Jazz in the Alley will be August 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Betty Mauldin Park in Norcross. Enjoy a night of smooth rhythms and vibrant melodies with top jazz artists. Headlining the event will be Teresa Kay Williams, followed by Tulani, a harpist known for her high energy performances.
Author Talk with Josh Malerman is scheduled at the Lilburn Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library on August 20 at 7 p.m. He is the author of Bird Box, and will discuss his newest horror novel, Incidents Around the House. Books will be available for sale and signing.
Visit the new home of the Norcross Welcome Center and History Museum. It is now located at 17 College Street in The Rectory. An Open House will be held on Thursday, August 22, from 5-7 p.m. Tour the space, enjoy local bites, refreshments, and entertainment, and hear from Mayor Craig Newton.
Women’s Sexual Health program will be held at the Norcross Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library on Thursday, August 22, at 7 p.m. Calling women and girls aged 15 and up! Attend for a fun and interactive event featuring sexual health and wellness education, information on HIV/STI prevention and community resources, and more.
Paths to Publication: KidLit Panel Discussion and Writers Workshop will be August 24 at 10 a.m. at the Duluth Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library. Unlock the magic of writing and publishing children’s books! Join the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators for a fun and interactive panel discussion and writers workshop. Books will be available for sale and signing.
Dragon Myths and Legends: Hear Author Robert Sarwark discusses his book, The Dragon in World Mythology and Culture, an introduction to dragon myths and legends worldwide. He will be at the Duluth Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library on August 24 at 2 p.m. Books will be available for sale and signing.
ArtRageous Festival is coming to Braselton on the weekend of August 23-25. Braselton’s Historic Downtown will become a veritable artist colony when art lovers from around the region converge for the August Art-Tiques Vintage Market and a host of other pop-up galleries and art-inspired activities. Immerse yourself in creativity at this event.
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