Fresh produce, beautiful flowers, and baked goods to tempt your palate returned to Suwanee when the 12th annual City’s Farmers Market opened on Saturday, May 7. It is open from 8 a.m. until noon on Saturdays through the first week in October, at Town Center Park. “The market is almost as much a social event as it is an opportunity to access locally grown produce and a variety of other items, such as salsa, honey, eggs and meat, and baked goods.” The Suwanee Farmers Market does not accept arts and crafts, non-licensed products, or produce re-sold from other markets.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Running in GwinnettForum until the May 24 elections will be candidate profiles in each of the contested primary elections. Click on the orange area button below to view their answers and our endorsement. You must click on each candidate’s name to view the answers to six questions GwinnettForum put to the candidates. By comparing the candidates, you may get better idea of which candidate you may want to support.–eeb
TODAY’S FOCUS: Eastside Partners with Argosy University For Upgraded Nursing
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Questions Arise Now that Presidential Contest Is Almost Settled
SPOTLIGHT: Walton Electric Membership Corporation
FEEDBACK: Suggests Plebiscite Concerning Peachtree Corners Bridge
UPCOMING: Snellville Plans Meeting on May 17 about Its Towne Center Project
NOTABLE: Community Foundation Makes Awards Totaling $288,000 to 24 Agencies
RECOMMENDED: I’m Not Rappaport at the Aurora Theatre
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Big Wetlands Near Valdosta Shows Complex Ecological Structure
TODAY’S QUOTE: One Route To Financial Instability
MYSTERY PHOTO: Just What Geographic Area Does This Structure Serve?
LAGNIAPPE: Four GACS Bandsmen Headed to College To Be in the Band
TODAY’S FOCUSEastside partners with Argosy University for improved nursing
By Carole C. Carr
SNELLVILLE, Ga., May 10, 2016 | The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (formerly the Institutes of Medicine) recommends academic nurse leaders across all schools of nursing should work together to increase the proportion of nurses with a Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN) degree from 50 percent to 80 percent by 2020.
Caroline Ashman, who holds a master’s in nursing, and is the director of Professional Development at Eastside Medical Center in Snellville, says: “Eastside Medical is pleased to partner with Argosy University of Atlanta to provide their nurses the opportunity to attain their BSN. Combining Argosy’s tuition partnership rate, with Eastside’s reimbursement policy, along with onsite classes every week, this is a win-win situation for all of us.”
The BSN program fosters a commitment between the employer and the employee and most importantly, the patient.
Dr. Dorothy Miller, chair of the Nursing program at Argosy University, Atlanta, responds: “The program is a great benefit to nurses because it gives nurses the opportunity to advance and gain critical thinking skills that will ultimately help their patients and improve preventive care,” says Dr. Dorothy Miller, chair of the Nursing program at Argosy University, Atlanta.
Providing onsite classes at Eastside will aid the Gwinnett County hospital to qualify to obtain magnet status. The American Nurses Credentialing Center developed the Magnet Recognition Program to recognize healthcare organizations that provide nursing excellence. One hundred percent of Eastside’s nurse managers and 80 percent of its nurses must hold at least a bachelor’s degree to qualify. The medical center’s mission is to advance professional development of its employees while ensuring the skills they learn are tailored to the needs of the organization.
Miller adds: “Eastside staff members understand what must be done in order help train more nurses. This program proves that the hospital is not only investing in its nurses but, it says we care about this community and we are willing to come to you to improve healthcare in the state of Georgia.”
The BSN program is designed for licensed registered nurses (RNs) who have earned either a diploma or an associate’s degree in nursing, the university’s new bachelor’s degree program will build upon pre-licensure nursing coursework to help prepare students for professional advancement while meeting the goals articulated by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).
The BSN program will focus on practical core and elective courses geared towards building the necessary skills professional nurses require. Miller says: “By preparing our nursing students to exercise leadership and establish care priorities they will be better equipped to meet the emerging needs of various healthcare systems.”
- For more information on the Nursing BSN degree program at visit Argosy University, Atlanta.
Questions arise now that presidential contest is almost settled
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher, GwinnettForum
MAY 10, 2016 | You must admit that social media has been a mighty contributor to this 2016 political season.
In another way of saying this: look what we have done to ourselves.
We couldn’t get enough of Trump, or Bernie, and every so often, some of the other presidential candidates. So we turned inward, creating more bizarre buzzing for the political year.
You wonder if the previous standard political antics will soon be relegated to the scrap pile. And how social media will change future races.
Not that this political year is over. Far as that goes, it could heat up as the two parties come closer to officially choosing their standard bearers. Now, at least, there is mainly only one candidate for each party to focus on. To say the obvious, it could get very pointed in the next few months as these two positions battle one another.
Though neither of the two major parties have actually officially chosen their candidate yet, most observers feel that the die is cast for both the parties. Those “in the know” nationally do not expect that a Third Party candidacy could emerge.
Of course, those media flacks have been wrong for most of this political season, when it comes to the Republicans. They also have been wrong on the Democratic side, anticipating that Bernie Sanders would not still be around now.
The real trapped persons these days seem to be the Republican candidates for state and local offices. While they may not want to cozy up to Trump, they will still be on the ticket that he heads. Will enough Republicans just stay home and not vote so that the Democratic down-ballot nominees will win? Could happen!
Would some governorships, and possibly either both houses of the Congress, be at a major risk for Republicans? Could happen!
We can’t imagine these possibilities. But in this political year, what has happened did not get anticipated as it was.
Now a just-released poll shows that Trump and Clinton are neck-and-neck even in Georgia. Could it be that Georgia, with defection of voters away from Trump, might become a blue state in the presidential election? While it would be a significant national event, it would mean little as far as the immediate state election is concerned. One reason is that there are so few contested legislative races. Some 80 percent of the Georgia House and Senate have no opposition at all, much less competition from the other political party.
It will take a major Democratic thump in future years for Georgia to return to competitive legislative races. Of course, a Hillary victory in the presidential race might cause candidates for governor on the Republican side to squirm a little worried. Yet that would be a small worry for the GOP, at least for now.
All this is assuming Donald Trump would get a walloping from the Democrats in the presidential race. In reality, the presidential race will probably tighten by November.
With social media thicker than ever this political season, even the Democrats should not feel all too comfortable.
IN THE SPOTLIGHTWalton Electric Membership Corporation
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today’s sponsor is Walton EMC, which provides electric service to 70,000 Gwinnett homes and businesses in the Lilburn, Snellville, Grayson, Loganville and Dacula areas. Because its customers own the company, service — not profit — is Walton EMC’s primary focus.
- Contact Walton EMC at waltonemc.com, facebook.com/waltonemc or 770-267-2505.
- For a list of other sponsors of this forum, go to: Our sponsors.
Suggests plebiscite concerning Peachtree Corners bridge
Editor, the Forum:
The survey GwinnettForum published exposed a conflict in Peachtree Corners. I am sure the city supporters are attacking it in every way possible. Those believing the city has reached too far are probably using the survey to support their concerns. Those who never wanted a city are saying “I told you so.” The area is severely divided and the sides can’t even agree on facts.
It may be best to put it to a public vote this fall. A presidential election generally has the highest turnout. There could be three simple questions plainly stated.
- 1. Do you support the bridge as proposed?
- 2. Would you rather have a tunnel?
- 3. Would you like to end the city-lite charter and addendum?
This vote would determine how the people feel and end the conflict. Majority could decide. Majority did decide once, but this survey shows the some feel the city is operating outside what they voted for.
If the survey is wrong, the vote will show it. The matter should be settled one way or the other.
— Byron Gilbert, Peachtree Corners
Liked idea of Gwinnett saving money through re-financing bonds
Editor, the Forum:
Liked the article title “Refunding water-sewer bonds results in $18.5 million saving.” I just refunded my house but it was called re-financing. I too reduced my interest rate. Refunding sounds like the Gwinnett gave something back or got rid of debt. I don’t think they got or gave funds, simply exchanged old debt for new debt, at a lower rate. Good for them.
— Tim Sullivan, Buford
- Send Feedback and Letters to: elliott@brack.net
Snellville plans May 17 meeting about its Towne Center project
Snellville officials are looking for residents’ input on the Towne Center project. A Town Hall Meeting will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. May 17 at Snellville United Methodist Church, 2428 Main Street East, to collect ideas from residents regarding what they hope the downtown area to look like in years to come.
It has been nearly five years since the proposed project to transform the city’s downtown area into a walkable community with residential and commercial buildings was unveiled and city officials said now is the time to finalize plans. For more information on the Towne Center visit www.snellville.org, click on “Economic Development,” then “Towne Center.”
Club adds Knight Elementary School garden to upcoming Gate tour
The Lilburn Woman’s Club has added the Knight Elementary School Teaching Garden to its third annual “Behind the Garden Gate” tour of Lilburn area gardens on Saturday, June 4, 2016 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The proceeds from the Behind the Garden Gate tour will go to assist local public school counselors in providing articles of clothing, glasses and school related items to children in real need in the Lilburn community.
Knight Elementary’s Victory Garden.
Knight Elementary’s fascinating garden is divided into “bed” stations that each focus on particular areas of curriculum. The Pioneer Garden enhances the students’ understanding of Westward Expansion, while the Victory Garden is reminiscent of World War I and II eras. Its Rainbow Garden teaches students the importance of pollination, while the Trellis Garden of beans is a favorite of the students where this year they have added a stone pathway. The Music Garden features a guitar playing praying mantis and wind chimes made from repurposed items. The Storybook Beds are each adopted by a class. The students choose a favorite garden themed book read in class, and then choose vegetables and plants and then maintain the beds.
- For more information on the Behind the Garden Gate Tour, visit lwcgardentour.org where you can purchase tickets in advance. Tickets may also be purchased the day of the tour at the Will Call desk.
New London Theatre to present Art on May 13 through May 29
New London Theatre will present the Tony Award-winning comedy Art, opening May 13 and continuing through May 29.
The story revolves about how much a white painting is worth! Show times are 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays.
Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 on the day of the show. Children/students (3-19) and seniors (55+) are always $10 per person. Tickets can be purchased either online through the website or at the theatre box office. Shows are performed at New London Theatre: 2338 Henry Clower Boulevard in Snellville in New London Plaza inside Hello Again Variety Mall.
- For additional information go to www.newlondontheatre.org, or call 770-559-1484.
Library to host 3 best-selling authors during May
Gwinnett County Public Library will host three bestselling author programs this month.
New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe and award-winning cookbook author Johnathon Scott Barrett will host a Low Country Wedding Luncheon on May 11 at noon at Garden Plaza in Lawrenceville. Tickets are $10 each and help support the Friends of GCPL. Tickets can be purchased at friendsgcpl.org.
Also on May 11, Ace Atkins, a New York Times bestselling author, will appear at the Norcross Cultural Arts and Community Center at 7:30 p.m. Atkins will discuss and sign his latest novel Robert B. Parker’s Slow Burn. This is free and open to the public.
Grill master Steven Raichlen will return to Gwinnett County on May 17 to discuss his latest book Project Smoke. Raichlen, the host of the award-winning television series “Primal Grill,” “Barbecue University,” will take the stage at the Atlanta Marriott Peachtree Corners at 7:30 p.m. This, too, is free and open to the public. Books will available for purchase and signing at all three programs.
Community Foundation makes awards totaling $288,000 to 24 agencies
At this year’s annual Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia grant awards celebration, the Community Foundation awarded $288,000 to 24 non profits.
“We are thrilled to be able to help so many worthy organizations,” said Randy Redner, executive director of the Community Foundation. “The work they do here in Gwinnett and the surrounding areas is incredible and it’s our desire to help them even more in the coming years.”
Each January the Community Foundation issues a call for grants. This year the organization received a record-breaking number of applications.
Randy Redner, executive director of the Community Foundation, says: “To help meet that need, a number of our fund holders gave generously to help us supersize our ability to grant requests. Because of them we were able to give $100,000 more than last year. We are incredibly thankful for our fund holders and everyone who gave, including through our Good2Give fund, enabling us to directly impact many lives throughout our community!”
As part of the selection process, the Community Foundation’s grants committee spent eight weeks considering each application.
Dave Bearchell, chairman of the grants committee, says: “The members of our 2016 Grants Committee took their role very seriously and put many hours into this process. There were so many worthy applications, and we had a tough task selecting the ones that were the best fit for our grant cycle this year.”
2016 grant winners include:
- Abba House
- Annandale Village
- Clinic for Education, Treatment and Prevention of Addiction, Inc.
- Duluth Co-Op | Hands of Christ
- Family Promise of Gwinnett
- FCA Soccer
- Forsyth County Family Haven
- Friends of Gwinnett Senior Services
- Georgia Gwinnett College
- Gwinnett Children’s Shelter
- Helping Mamas
- Hi-Hope Service Center
- Hudgens Center for the Arts
- Interlocking Communities
- Lawrenceville Co-op
- Lilburn Co-op
- Norcross Cooperative Ministry
- Peachtree Christian Hospice
- Ser Familia
- Single Parent Alliance and Resource Center
- Society of St. Vincent de Paul
- SPARK United Way Gwinnett
- The PATH Project
- Uniting Hope 4 Children
For more information, visit www.cfneg.org.
GGC students continue winning awards in college competitions
Information technology (IT) majors at Georgia Gwinnett College continued their record of award-winning performances at two recent conferences that included national and regional academic competitions.
At the 2016 Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) National Collegiate Conference, held this year in Chicago, GGC earned its third national championship in database design. The winning team included graduating seniors Matt Berger of Loganville and Alejandro Guzman of Sugar Hill. GGC previously won in 2013 and 2015.
Berger and Raquel Lawrence, ’16, of Lawrenceville won the fourth-place trophy in Java Development. Katherine Copas, ’17, of Bogart won second in graphic design.
Twelve GGC competitors participated in the competitions at the conference. They faced about 61 student AITP chapters with more than 530 student members representing colleges and universities throughout the US and Canada.
GGC students Timothy Kyle Brooks and Estephanie Gonzalez display their first-place award received at the CCSC – Central Plains research poster competition. Not shown are their teammates, Joshua Broughton and Aaron Knobloch.
IN ADDITION to the AITP competition, students also won recognition at the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges (CCSC) Central Plains conference, held at Missouri Western University in St. Joseph. CCSC conferences are held in cooperation with the Association of Computing Machinery, the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society. Competitions are held in a variety of computer science areas.
As part of a multi-semester undergraduate research experience, the students had won acceptance of a research project in the conference’s competition. They took first place honors in the Student Research Poster Contest for their work, “The Zeroth Person: Building an Immersive 3D Audio and Visual Experience.” The team included Timothy Kyle Brooks, ’17, of Monroe; Joshua Broughton, ’17, of Tucker; Aaron Knobloch,’17, of Lawrenceville and Estephanie Gonzalez, ’19, of West Paterson, New Jersey. Brooks and Knobloch also placed second in the Programming Contest.
RECOMMENDEDI’m Not Rappaport
This 1996 Tony Award winning play at Lawrenceville’s Aurora Theatre by Herb Gardner is as brilliant and timely today as it was the day it opened in 1985. The Aurora Theatre production, running through June 5, is a gem, with Rob Cleveland and Kenny Raskin again paired in the same roles they played 27 years ago. Their maturing only enhances their performance, as their acting, their timing, and their antics come off perfectly. While highlighting the problems associated with two old guys aging even more, they incite laughter through the entire production. This is an audience pleaser and a great way for the Aurora to end its 20th season. Go and enjoy.—-eeb
- An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (100 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. –eeb
Big wetlands near Valdosta show complex ecological structure
The Robert Patten Grand Bay Wetland Education Center, located ten miles north of Valdosta in Lowndes County, teaches and demonstrates the complex ecological relationships between plants and animals. A partnership between the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Coastal Plains Regional Educational Service Agency, the center concentrates on the contributions of a functioning wetlands ecosystem to a healthy natural environment. Its educational activities, including guided trips into the Grand Bay Wetland; working with live mammals and amphibians and reptiles; and interactive ecological experiments, correlate with the state of Georgia’s curriculum standards. Approximately 6,500 schoolchildren visit the center annually.
The center also offers to the public an interpretative experience of the area, which includes the 18,000-acre Grand Bay/Banks Lake ecosystem. The size of the Grand Bay ecosystem is second in Georgia only to the Okefenokee Swamp. Like the Okefenokee, Grand Bay offers many plant communities, including upland longleaf and slash pine flatwoods, cypress and gum swamps, savannahs, and various shrub bogs.
Interpretive experiences include access to the wetland along a half-mile boardwalk, which ends at the Kinderlou Tower, a gift of local businessman Harley Langdale Jr. This structure, once a fire tower that overlooked Langdale Forest Products’ timberland, has been modified to allow observation of Grand Bay’s plant and animal life. The boardwalk takes the visitor through many features of the wetland, beginning with a wet savannah and coursing through shrub bogs, a black gum/cypress pond, and a prairie with various herbaceous plant communities.
In a separate area, visitors may fish, launch canoes along a maintained canoe trail (which also ends at the tower), and hike or bicycle along the Longleaf Pine Flatwoods Trail. Seasonal hunting is allowed in designated areas.
Grand Bay is a designated site on the Southern Rivers Birding Trail, which spans the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions of Georgia and terminates in the state’s wetlands. There are 30 sites for observing birds along the entire birding trail. Within Grand Bay, visitors may observe egrets, hawks, herons, owls, song birds, white ibis, woodpeckers, and wood storks. Alligators, deer, otters, and various species of frogs, turtles, and snakes are also common to the wetland.
The larger Grand Bay ecosystem contains four so-called Carolina Bays, an unusual feature of the Coastal Plain of Georgia. Oval in shape, these peat-tilled, relatively shallow depressions always lie in a northeast to southeast direction. Their origins are unknown. Native plants common to Carolina Bays—such as fetterbush and pitcher plants—are well adapted to acidic conditions.
The ecological and recreational features of Grand Bay were not always so appreciated. Around 1900, a steam-powered sawmill began operations on the east side of Banks Lake, located just outside of the town now known as Lakeland. In 1901 the sawmill owner constructed a rail line into the swamp and began extensive logging of cypress trees. From 1908 until 1918 the Barney Smith Car Company operated this mill and used the cypress to build railroad cars. (A remnant of the logging era—a 607-year-old cypress log—is on view at Grand Bay’s nature center.)
Since 1988, the M.A.R.S.H. Project, a partnership between the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Ducks Unlimited, Moody Air Force Base, and local landowners, has allowed for the ongoing restoration and maintenance of this wetland. As a result, Grand Bay has become a regional nesting site for wood ducks, with more than 850 wood-duck boxes in annual use. Grand Bay also serves as the winter home of migratory sandhill cranes, as well as the year-round home to some crane populations.
- To access the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Just what geographic area does this structure serve?
Obviously, this is a retention dam of some sort, no doubt generating power for a particular area. But where is this dam, and what area does it serve. Send in your thoughts to elliott@brack.net. and be sure to include your hometown.
The old reliable, George Graf of Palmyra, Va., was the only reader who recognized the Mystery Photo from the last edition, and he called it a guess. It is Keremeos Grist Mill, Keremeos, British Columbia, Canada, sent to us by Beverly Lougher of Lawrenceville. Graf told of the history of this mill:
“In 1872, Barrington Price (1841-1913), an English gentleman from an upper-class family, moved to the Similkameen Valley to take-over the Hudson Bay Company’s ranch-land and trading post. Success soon followed. By 1877, Price opened a water-powered mill to turn locally grown wheat into flour, plus an associated store. Together, the mill and store served the needs of the local settlers and miners travelling on the historic Dewdney Trail. Unfortunately within a decade, Mr. Price’s business started to decline because of changes in transportation in British Columbia. In 1885, the completion of the Canadian railroad through valleys far to the north caused the horse trails through the Similkameen to become unimportant trade routes. The mill ceased to work and the property was purchased by J. H. Coulthard as a home for his family. Price returned to England, in 1904.”
LAGNIAPPEFour GACS bandsmen head to college to be in the band
Four Greater Atlanta Christian School seniors have earned a coveted spot in the following college-level bands. From left are Vivienne J. Emde, from Duluth, who will be attending Belmont University, playing bass clarinet, and marching with the Vanderbilt University band; Travis Ross from Norcross, who will be playing bassoon in the University of North Georgia concert band; Robert Jackson from Johns Creek, who will be marching at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville , playing tenor saxophone; and Joseph Taylor from Decatur, who will be marching at Purdue University, playing alto saxophone.
CREDITSGwinnettForum is provided to you at no charge every Tuesday and Friday. If you would like to serve as an underwriter, click here to learn more:
- MORE: Contact Editor and Publisher Elliott Brack at: elliott@gwinnettforum.com
Follow Us