GwinnettForum | Number 25.4 | Jan. 14, 2025
ADVENTURE TIME? Ever think of going to Patagonia? If you do, you could be sleeping in one of these elevated tents in the chilly weather. That’s “Las Torres” (the three towers) in the far distance. To read of one group’s trip to Chile and these rugged mountains, see Today’s Focus below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Hiking in lower South America in Patagonia
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Wildfires, the Masters and some statistics
SPOTLIGHT: Sugarloaf Community Improvement District
FEEDBACK: Some of these so-called free sites can trick you
UPCOMING: Pediatric Digestive clinic to open in Loganville
NOTABLE: 2024 report shows Latino political influence growing
RECOMMENDED: Girls in Their Wedded Bliss, by Edna O’Brien
OBITUARY: Nathalie Dupree, Southern chef
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Flint River runs underground at Atlanta airport
MYSTERY PHOTO: Some may recognize this older photograph
CALENDAR: Design workshop for Park Place area takes place at 6 p.m. today
Distinctive holiday spent trekking in Patagonia
Mason, right, with her youngest daughter, Caitlin.
By Tracey Mason, Judge
Superior Court of Gwinnett County
GRAYSON, Ga. | A little over 500 years after Ferdinand Magellan discovered his Strait in South America, over five days at Christmas, I discovered Patagonia, directly to the north of the Strait that reaches almost to the tip of South America. Some call it the “End of the World.”
Mason
Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west, fjords, bays, and intricate channels cradle rugged, stunning landscape. Having visited this far-removed area with its unpredictable extreme weather and high winds, I now appreciate that a passageway safer than the stormy one around Cape Horn was crucial then.
For Christmas this year my family gifted each other with an adventure: to hike the popular W Trek on the Chilean side of Patagonia. After hopping on and off local flights to this remote destination, we finally reached Puerto Natales, the small city where excursions launch an hour or so from our destination of Torres del Paine National Park.
The W Trek, named after the shape of the trail, travels 40 miles up and down mostly rocky trails through the Park around “Las Torres” (the three towers), the French Valley, and the Grey Glacier. Traveling during their summer season allowed us to see in abundance wildlife like guanaco, puma, ostriches, condors, falcons, geese, and eagles – not to mention the beautiful flora highlighting the postcard-picture landscapes.
PHOTO ESSAY: Click here to see more photos of Mason’s South American hiking trip.
Our group of 13 folks in their 30’s to 60’s was challenged in many ways, starting with having to whittle down our gear to the five pounds to be carried by porters, our “best friends.” Anything else we carried in our day packs. Traveling east to west on the Trek, we set out on the toughest part, the 14 miles, out and back up 2,460 feet to the base of Las Torres. Muscle aches were almost forgotten with the panoramic view of Las Torres and its turquoise lagoon below.
Nights were spent at “refugios” or camps located along the trail. Reservations must be booked far in advance. Tucking into a sleeping bag with winds whipping around our tent to the sound of avalanches in the distance was a memorable part of our adventure.
Setting out the second day (of five), our handy guides warned our group that, until we reached our last camp, the only way through was by foot. Not to be dissuaded, we hiked around Nordenskjold Lake with its light blue waters contrasting beautifully against deep green forests.
Temperatures at this time of year were in the 40-50 F. range, but winds were up to 45 mph.
The next day took us to the French Valley to see the imposing French glacier hanging over Paine Grande Mountain. We climbed to 360 degree views to take in the greens and greys, and a few avalanches in the distance, after crossing an eerie and beautiful forest of dead trees (from a wildfire).
Our last day on the W Trek led us to Grey Lake and the lookout point for Grey Glacier. From Lake Pehoe we finished our hike with a ferry ride back to Puerta Natales, where we spent extra days recuperating in this quaint foodie town where it all began as the perfect ending.
Not sure I will ever have the chance to do it again. But, awfully glad I did.
Wildfires, the Masters and some statistics
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JAN. 14, 2025 | Catch-up day on subjects we’ve been wanting to mention.
It’s hard for me to grasp the scope and horror of the California wildfires. It is so destructive and so vast that it really boggles the mind.
It’s hard to imagine that you might go out for dinner, or to a movie, or some other gathering one night, and return home to see your house being gutted in flames, as well as many of the other houses in your neighborhood. Think of all a lifetime of work and memories and suddenly you are left with nothing!
It’s also difficult for us to grasp the vastness of the fires, and of many elements of California itself. For instance, Los Angeles County consists of 4,084 square miles. Here in Gwinnett, we have 437 square miles, so it’s about nine times as big.
And it is also about as thickly populated as Gwinnett. Los Angeles County’s 2023 population estimate is 9,663,000. That’s nearly 10 million people, about ten times the size of Gwinnett. It is vast and densely packed, similar to Gwinnett. And it has, can you believe this, 88 independent cities, compared to Gwinnett having now 17.
Altogether, the most recent figure we’ve seen is that the California wildfires have burned 467,000 acres. Such destruction! You could see how some might think the end of the world is near, since the Bible teaches the earth would never be destroyed with water again, but with fire.
The Masters: Want to go? Tickets are scarce at this time of year, but this week we got an invitation to go to the 2026 Master’s. If you want to go, all you have to do is fork over $89,900 for eight people lodged in a private home for three nights. You only get tickets for Saturday and Sunday with premium food and an open bar. Doesn’t say where you will be parked. At this price, they ought to fly you in on a drone!
Current economic statistics: Recently the Department of Labor released the final jobs report of Joe Biden’s presidency. The nation added 256,000 new jobs in December, a number significantly higher than economists expected. That brings the total number of jobs created under Biden to 16.6 million and makes Biden’s the only administration in history to have created jobs every month. Under the Biden administration, the nation has also had the lowest average unemployment rate of any administration in 50 years, ending at 4.1 percent.
The 47th president, Donald Trump, will come to office with our nation in the best shape it’s been in since at least 2000. We read this assessment the other day:
“No U.S. troops are fighting in foreign wars, murders have plummeted, deaths from drug overdoses have dropped sharply, undocumented immigration is below where it was when Trump left office, stocks have just had their best two years since the last century. The economy is growing, real wages are rising, inflation has fallen to close to its normal range, unemployment is at near-historic lows, and energy production is at historic highs. The economy has added more than 700,000 manufacturing jobs among the 16 million total created since 2020.”
Thank you, Joe Biden.
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Sugarloaf CID
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. The Sugarloaf Community Improvement District was formed in 2016 to ensure the long-term success of Gwinnett County’s premier business and entertainment district. The CID is made up of 115 commercial property owners that pay an additional property tax to advance transportation, security, and placemaking projects within the district. The CID then leverages these funds to enhance the value and quality of life for investors, businesses, residents, and visitors. Sugarloaf CID is home to the Gas South District, Sugarloaf Mills, and a thriving business community. The CID has 7% of Gwinnett County’s jobs, including 1,278 companies representing 26,669 employees. The Sugarloaf district has a $15.6 billion annual economic impact on Georgia’s economy.
Since its formation, the CID has leveraged over $28 million in funding for transportation improvements in the CID, advanced projects to help make the district connected, safe, and attractive, and expanded the CID to more than six times its initial value.
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Some of these so-called free sites can trick you
Editor, the Forum:
Let me give a cautionary tale for older folks like me. If you have a cell phone and have loaded it with free games to pass the time while you are waiting for something, be aware of the advertisements added to these free game sites.
Like shiny things, you look at the ad and think, I could use that. Don’t click on the site. They are sneaky and somehow trick you.
As you try to close the ad site and get back to your game, the next thing you know, you have bought that item. Now you have to go through your credit card company and explain you didn’t buy the item.
I love the games, I don’t want to pay for something I didn’t want to buy, and was tricked, on a free game site. It becomes another hook for your money.
– Sara Rawlins, Lawrenceville
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.
Pediatric Digestive clinic to open in Loganville
Pediatric Digestive Health and Wellness has opened in Loganville. This new pediatric gastroenterology (GI) specialty clinic is dedicated to transforming the digestive health and overall well-being of children in Metro-Atlanta.
Currently, wait times to see Pediatric GI in Metro-Atlanta can range from several weeks to even months, which is why we are honored to announce the opening of our new office. The goal of this center is to help reduce these long wait times and provide more timely access to care for children in the area.
Sams
The clinic is led by Georgia native, Derica N. Sams, M.D., and offers expert care for conditions such as constipation, reflux, food allergies, and obesity. With a focus on personalized treatment plans and family education, we aim to empower children and their families to achieve optimal health.
Dr. Sams was born and raised in Athens. She completed her pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at Vanderbilt University and pediatric residency at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned her M.D. from Morehouse School of Medicine, and she is a graduate of Emory University with a B.S. in Biology and minor in Educational Studies.
Pediatric Digestive Health and Wellness is located at 3925 Harrison Rd, Suite 100, in Loganville.
2024 report shows Latino political influence growing
GALEO and the GALEO Impact Fund have released the 2024 Georgia Latino Vote Report, continuing to document a more accurate account of the Latino voter engagement in Georgia during the 2024 presidential election cycle.
On January 7, 2025, GALEO presented the 2024 Georgia Latino Vote Report, the fifth report documenting Latino voter engagement in Georgia since 2008. Our long-standing partnership with the NALEO Educational Fund and the Department of Political Science at the University of Georgia once again made the report possible.
During the 2024 election cycle, the Latino electorate in Georgia experienced significant growth and impact, similar to trend lines in previous electoral cycles.
Key takeaways from 2024 include:
- Nearly 30 per cent growth rate since 2020;
- Some 64 percent of Georgia Latinos voted for VP Kamala Harris while 35 per cent supported President-Elect Donald Trump; and
- Latinos remain a critical demographic for any candidate running statewide in Georgia.
In Gwinnett alone, our presence can be felt. Go to the graphic below, which shows voter turnout has increased compared to previous years.
With Georgia’s Latino population growing, more Latinos are registering to vote and exercising their right to vote. The 2024 Georgia Latino Vote Report shows how the Latino community shapes the state’s political future. It breaks down key trends, showing where Latinos are voting, and the growth of their influence in Georgia elections.
GGC nursing students pass state test on first try
One reason GGC nursing graduates had a 100 per cent pass rate in 2024 was the use of “flipped classrooms.” Students took classes online and then applied what they learned in the college’s modern basic skills and simulation labs. GGC nursing student Jenna Phelps checks the nursing mannequin’s mouth to confirm the feeding tube was inserted correctly. (Photo by Daniel Melograna/Georgia Gwinnett College.)
“Perfection,” as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “an unsurpassable degree of accuracy or excellence.”
That’s what Georgia Gwinnett College’s (GGC) nursing graduates demonstrated recently when all 63 passed the National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s (NCSBN) National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) on the first try. This makes that GGC’s NCLEX first-time pass rate for 2024 at 100 percent.
While these graduates earned their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees, their journey to becoming registered nurses hinged on passing the NCLEX exam.
In the past four years, GGC’s nursing graduates passed the exam on the first try at 94.63 per cent. According to NCSBN, for U.S. graduates with baccalaureate degrees, the national average first-time NCLEX pass rate in 2023 was 90.17 per cent. In the state of Georgia, that rate is 89.8 percent.
Why are GGC nursing graduates’ pass rates above the state and national averages? GGC faculty use the flipped classroom model to deliver its curriculum. Classroom time is spent in an interactive setting where students and faculty work together to apply pre-assigned learning. GGC is among the first programs to implement this form of curriculum delivery. GGC students apply what they learn in the college’s two modern simulation labs. GGC students also practice in an apartment setting to learn to care for patients requiring home visits.
GGC’s job placement rate for its nursing graduates is 100 percent. For more information about GGC’s nursing program, visit www.ggc.edu/nursing.
Explore Gwinnett snares lots of awards
The team of Explore Gwinnett has garnered several awards recently. From left on the front row are from left, Katie Brejda, Victoria Hawkins, Kate Conway, Natalie Smith, and Leigh Hooten. On the back row are Madison Chucci, Maurice Odoms, Adam Young, Emily Grgetic, Clara Rooks, and Kammi Clements.
Explore Gwinnett, Gwinnett County’s official tourism organization, has achieved a remarkable series of achievements, securing recognition across six prestigious award platforms. These accolades celebrate both the organization’s excellence and the outstanding contributions of its team members, earning local, state and global distinction.
Explore Gwinnett has been honored as a Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce 2024 Small Business Award winner in the 6-24 Employees category. Chief Operating Officer, Lisa Anders, was again named one of Georgia’s most influential economic development executives as part of Georgia Trend’s 2024 “Georgia 500.” She was also honored with a Silver Stevie Award for Female Executive of the Year in the government and nonprofit sector, marking the second consecutive year Anders has achieved both accolades.
Explore Gwinnett also celebrates Clara Rooks, senior marketing communications manager, as one of Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce’s, 35 under 35 recipients. Finally, Maurice Odoms, senior sales manager, was elected to the Gwinnett Technical College Advisory Board.
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Girls in Their Wedded Bliss, by Edna O’Brien
From Susan J. Harris, Stone Mountain: This is the third novel in the Country Girls trilogy. The lives of Kate and Baba play out through their marriages that are not anything at all like they longed for earlier. Kate and Eugene finally marry and have a son. Their marriage gradually disintegrates largely because of Kate’s emotional affair with another man. Baba marries a boorish builder named Frank for whom she has little affection. They have trouble getting pregnant until Baba has a brief encounter with another man. Frank is strangely relieved because the pregnancy eliminates the comments from his mother and others. The unspoken secret is that it is Frank who is the reason there are no children. This novel is filled with secondary and tertiary characters that serve as comic relief to the disappointment of both longtime friends. Throughout their adventures and misadventures, the presence of each in the other’s lives is their saving grace.
- 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.
Nathalie Dupree, the South’s cooking queen
By Andy Brack, Charleston City Paper
Nathalie Dupree, the grand dame of Southern cooking whose infectious personality and vast knowledge of how to blend tastes into memorable concoctions, died Jan. 13 in Raleigh, N.C. She was 85.
A celebrated national figure in the culinary world who won four James Beard Awards, Dupree wrote 15 cookbooks and appeared in more than 300 television shows during her cooking career that took off in Georgia.
In 2020, she and her historian husband Jack Bass moved from Charleston to Raleigh to be closer to Bass’ children. They moved to Charleston two decades earlier when Bass, author of nine books, was teaching at the College of Charleston. They married in 1994.
In Charleston, the couple often entertained in their Queen Street single house with Dupree offering impromptu parties to host friends’ new books or to tout a favored cause. These were relaxed affairs where people talked politics, food and books, helping themselves to delectable food from a dining table and wine in coolers on a sloped porch.
Dupree, who was born in 1939 in Hamilton, N.J., got bitten by the politics bug before food. She reportedly was the youngest precinct captain for John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1960. Fifty years later, she ran as a write-in candidate in an unsuccessful – but fun – attempt to oust Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina.
But food was what led people across the country to know and adore Dupree. Her culinary career started in a co-op house in college, only to cross an ocean where she earned a certificate at Le Cordon Bleu and operated the kitchen of a restaurant in Spain. She later opened a restaurant, Nathalie’s, in the back of a Social Circle, Ga., antique shop with then-husband David Dupree. It quickly became a destination for foodies in Atlanta before food enthusiasts had a nickname.
Dupree upped the food ante in the late 1970s by directing the South’s first participation cooking school at Rich’s department store in Atlanta where she taught more than 10,000 students. That gig led to the start of a popular television career that spanned PBS, The Food Network and The Learning Channel.
As described in an obituary, Dupree championed cooking at home and simplifying complex dishes. She wasn’t averse to using microwaves or lots of butter.
“Her quips and messy foibles in the kitchen endeared her to legions of fans. Applying French techniques she learned in culinary school to the bounty of the Southern garden, market, rivers and ocean, she lifted the profile of Southern food to a national audience. Her 15 cookbooks stand as reliable guides for the home cook filled with what she called ‘do-able’ recipes.”
Dupree is survived by Bass and their children Audrey Thiault (Pierre-Henri), Ken Bass (Antoinette), David Bass (Bonnie) and Liz Broadway (Joel); sister Marie Louise Meyer; brother James Gordon Meyer (Nancy June); seven grandchildren, and Dupree, who she often referred to as her “favorite former-husband,.
A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Feb. 22 at Meadows Funeral Home in Monroe, Ga. In lieu of flowers, donations are welcome to the Atlanta chapter of the Les Dames d’Escoffier International Scholarship Fund to help the future careers of young female cooks.
- For two recipes and more stories on Dupree, click here.
Flint River runs underground at Atlanta airport
The Flint River, which stretches from the Piedmont to the Chattahoochee River in southwest Georgia, is one of only forty rivers in the nation’s contiguous forty-eight states that flow unimpeded for more than 200 river miles.
The Flint has had many names. One early name given to the river and to the village settled by ancient Eastern Woodland tribes near today’s city of Albany is Thronateeska, or Thlonotiaske, meaning “flint picking-up place.” The Muskogee Indians called the river Hlonotiskahachi, ronoto being Muskogean for “flint.” When Hernando de Soto first saw it on March 5, 1540, he named it Rio de Capachequi. Later Spaniards called it the RiPedernales, pedernal meaning “flint” in Spanish.
The length of the river depends on how one defines length: a boater would cover nearly 350 miles in the Flint’s meandering channel within a basin measuring only 212 miles in length. The river passes through two power-generating lakes—Lake Blackshear near Cordele and Lake Chehaw near Albany—before it meets the Chattahoochee River 265 miles downstream from its headwaters at the Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam and creates Lake Seminole in the southwest corner of the state. The single river that leaves Lake Seminole is known as the Apalachicola, which flows through Florida to the Gulf of Mexico.
The Flint River has an unusual source. It begins as groundwater seepage in west central Georgia at what is today the mouth of a concrete culvert on the south side of Virginia Avenue in Hapeville, an Atlanta suburb. The water that collects there quickly disappears under the runways of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as it flows southward through the culvert. It is joined by water from such tributaries as Sullivan, Mud, and Camp creeks.
Fifty miles downstream, this water has transformed itself into one of Georgia’s most scenic and diverse rivers. Near Culloden, the Flint crosses the fall line, dropping 400 feet over the next 50 miles as it journeys down the Coastal Plain.
Between the Flint’s urban beginning and its reservoir ending, its watershed—which includes the cities of Jonesboro, Thomaston, Montezuma, Marshallville, Cordele, Americus, Albany, and Bainbridge—drains some 8,460 square miles. This watershed can be divided into three distinct regions, the Upper, Middle, and Lower Flint, based on landscape, channel characteristics, flora, and fauna.
Though the Flint begins in metropolitan Atlanta, self-purification occurs from the river’s unimpeded flow and its abundant wetlands, which filter pollutants. The Flint’s northernmost swamp occurs in the Jonesboro area. Downstream, Magnolia Swamp lies just north of the fall line, Beechwood Swamp just south of it. Together these two swamps make up what is locally called the Great Swamp. The Flint’s largest wetland, the Chickasawhatchee Swamp, lies farthest south and is Georgia’s second-largest deepwater swamp.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Some may recognize this older photograph
Today’s mystery is an old photograph some might recognize. Figure out what and where this is and send your thoughts to ebrack2@gmail.com. Be sure to list your city.
Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. was one of several readers who came up with the previous mystery. He wrote: “Today’s mystery photo is of the Four Corners Monument which is located at the intersection of the Georgia counties of Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall and Jackson near the Town of Braselton, which is technically located in all four counties. Each of the four sides of the base of the granite monument is engraved with the name of the county it faces. The two counties that have been blurred out in the mystery photo are Gwinnett on the left-side and Barrow on the right-side of the photo.
“The Four Corners Monument is located along the Mulberry Riverwalk, an easy, 2.5-mile multi-use nature trail. The trail can be accessed by gravel to a parking lot located near the intersection of Liberty Church Road and Fisk Falls Drive.” The photo came from Jennifer Scott of Braselton.
Also recognizing the photo were Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C.; and George Graf, Palmyra, Va.
Added intelligence: in how many places do four counties intersect in Georgia? Best that can be determined is that there are four places in the state where four counties touch one another. For “extra credit,” where else does this occur in Georgia?
- 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.
Design workshop for Park Place area takes place at 6 p.m. today
Design Workshop for the Park Place area will be held at the Country Inn and Suites, 1852 Rockbridge Road in Stone Mountain on January 14 at 6 p.m. Learn about the Park Place Master Plan project recommendations and share your ideas on how the community could improve. This area has been identified as prime for redevelopment based future transit, proximity to major thoroughfares, and ongoing public investment. For more information, visit GwinnettCounty.com/ParkPlacePlan
Mobile Career Lab: Climb aboard the Mobile Career Lab to receive assistance from a professional Human Resource Specialist in career planning, job readiness coaching, resume assistance, information about training opportunities, and more. The lab will be parked at the Lawrenceville Branch of Gwinnett County public library on January 16 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Detention Pond Maintenance Workshop: Attend this and learn maintenance guidelines for private property owners and Home Owners’ Associations. Learn how to care for detention ponds in your neighborhood. This will take place on January 16 at 6 p.m. at the Collins Hills Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library.
Postpartum Health Awareness will be presented at the Snellville Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library on January 22 at 7 p.m. Are you a new or expecting parent? Gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to navigate the joys and challenges of postpartum care, newborn care, and child safety.
Author Talk with Jennifer Moorman, best selling author, will be January 24 at noon at the Lawrenceville Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library. Moorman will discuss her newest book, The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds. Books will be available for sale and signing.
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