GOLD MEDALISTS: Two Gwinnett Tech students, Lauren Pelletier and Eric Skinner, are National Gold Medalists from the 2016 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Gisella Brust and Omega Ruth earned National Silver Medals. Gail Edwards, GTC’s SkillsUSA Director touts: “This year we had more students in the SkillsUSA competitions and more medals awarded than any other year in the history of the College.” From left are faculty adviser Penny Waddell, Brust and Skinner. In addition Dwight Lewis, from Loganville, was Gwinnett Tech’s first Skil lUSA competitor to be elected as a state officer. This summer Lewis was elected to serve as Georgia’s SkillsUSA President.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Delegate Gives Views of Activity at Democratic National Convention
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Music Steals the Show in Aurora Theatre In The Heights Production
ANOTHER VIEW: Who Will Hold Hillary Clinton Accountable When She Wins?
SPOTLIGHT: Walton Electric Membership Corporation
FEEDBACK: Feels Grandchildren Will Benefit by Slow Inertia of Reason and Caring
UPCOMING: Lilburn Plans 7th Annual National Night Out on Tuesday, August 2
NOTABLE: Peach State Federal Credit Union To Merge with RCT FCU of Augusta
RECOMMENDED: Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Noble Jones Was the “Morning Star of Liberty,” Early Georgia Speaker
CALENDAR: Fourth Annual Light Up The Corners Glow Run Coming August 13
TODAY’S QUOTE: Why You Must Learn from Mistakes of Others
MYSTERY PHOTO: Here’s a Tower for You To Figure Out
Democrats come together to elect nominee, oppose GOP nominee
(Editor’s Note: Today’s report on the National Democratic Convention is written by Delegate Alvin Leaphart, a Jesup attorney and occasional editorial contributor to GwinnettForum. A GOP Gwinnett delegate was to write a report on the Republican convention, but on return from Cleveland was felled with a virus. He tells us that he anticipates writing a GOP convention report for the Friday edition. —eeb)
By Alvin Leaphart, Jesup, Ga. | Regardless of your political views, attending this convention to help select our nominee for the President of the United States is one of the many aspects that makes our nation unique in the selection of our leader. In most of the world, a change in government is made through some sort of coup, either military or assassination.
Leaphart
Americans do it through signing a document or punching a button on a machine. My wife, Beverly, and I felt extremely honored to be members of a group of 117 Georgians representing over 4,000,000 Democrats of Georgia.
On Monday, Beverly and I attended a breakfast for the Georgia Delegation. Dubose Porter, the chairman for the Democratic Party of Georgia, Calvin Smyre, chairman emeritus, along with several others, spoke.
The convention opened that afternoon with a bang. There was immediate contention between the Clinton and Sanders delegates. Within the Georgia delegation, there were 87 Clinton delegates, 29 Sanders delegates, and one abstention. As in most situations, few among many can appear to create chaos, and if the remainder falls for their actions, it can work. The Clinton delegates, for the most part, ignored the outbursts, and as the afternoon and evening wore on, with speaker after speaker seeking to unite the delegates, the outbursts became less and less. Then when Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders addressed the crowd, everything made a drastic turn toward unity, with only a handful of core protestors left. By Thursday, the crowd appeared more united and with the common purpose of electing the party ticket.
At breakfast Tuesday, Daniel P. Malloy, governor of Connecticut, and Jason Carter spoke. The convention reconvened that afternoon, with speeches by Former President Bill Clinton; Donna Brazile, interim party chair; former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America; and former President Jimmy Carter, who spoke by video.
On Wednesday morning, Congressman John Lewis spoke, after which there was a book signing of his acclaimed graphic novel, March. Wednesday afternoon the speakers were phenomenal, including Vice President Joe Biden and Vice President Nominee Tim Kaine. President Barack Obama stressed that the United States is already great, and that we are the greatest and most powerful nation in the world, second to none. Hillary Clinton was a surprise guest that night.
On Thursday night, speakers pointed out that Donald Trump has never accomplished anything on his own. He is third generation wealth, never been broke, and never had to struggle to eat or find a place to lay his head. And he knows nothing of middle class America, much less the struggling lower socio-economical level of our society. He has failed to deliver, went bankrupt and walked away with millions in his pocket leaving people who trusted him, investing all they had and making them penniless, while he strode away, stating, “It’s just good business.”
Many Democrats, and more and more Republicans, feel that Trump is emotionally unstable, dangerous and should not have his finger on the nuclear trigger. They also agreed that he is an untruthful elitist who has no knowledge of government, how to conduct foreign policy and has not a clue as to the needs of the middle and lower class societies in our nation, and could care less.
The convention ended on a positive note with the delegates for both Clinton and Sanders uniting for a common purpose to elect the party nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as president.
Music steals the show in Aurora Theatre In The Heights production
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher |
For 20 years, Ann-Carol Pence has directed the musical element of the Aurora Theatre, with sterling enthusiasm and artistic achievement. Her direction has added immensely to its many productions. However, usually positioned off-stage, she and her ensemble are out of the spotlight.
Now the Aurora is beginning its 21st season with the presentation of Lin Manuel Miranda’s Grammy and Tony Award-winning In the Heights, playing now through August 28. It’s another masterful production, full of energy and vibrancy.
Yet in the current Aurora musical production of In The Heights, for me it is the music which is the star of the show. It is the central beat of the day, reverberating beautifully among the hip-hop and Latin beats of a bygone Washington Heights in New York. In effect, the actors keep up with the music, as the brassy syncopation and rhythms steal the show. In effect, the actors interpret the music, but it is the music which is the lead.
Pence
For most everyone in the theatre, it’s never ending toe-tapping time. The audience obviously becomes part of the stage.
Ann-Carol is on keyboard and directing the music. Other members of the band include Mark Biering or Che Marshall on drums; Frankie Quinones or Sam Owens on percussion; Andrew Cleveland, bass; Melvin Jordan, guitar; Paul Garrett, trumpet; Derrick Jackson, trombone; Jason Passmore, reeds; and Warren Lankford, keyboard 2.
All this is not to take away from the actors and dancers on stage. They perform admirably and keep the story line moving beautifully. They never missed a beat.
Rodriguez
The musical is particularly heartwarming for Producing Artistic Director Anthony Rodriguez, who has a key role in the musical. His family left Cuba in 1960 when the Castros took over. Tony was born in and remembers growing up in Queens, New York, very similar to the setting of this production. The family eventually landed in Atlanta, and he now calls Gwinnett home.
Tony and Ann-Carol Pence’s sterling years in Gwinnett with the Aurora Theatre have added immensely to the cultural and artistic environment of the Gwinnett community. Tackling such monumental productions as this one, Mary Poppins, Memphis and Les Miserables and many more, have brought the company deserved high praise. Gwinnett can count itself lucky that Anthony Rodriguez and Ann-Carol Pence decided to use Gwinnett as their base. They have charmed the community and greater Atlanta with their talent. The Gwinnett community is the better for their presence here.
This production of In The Heights will continue through August 28 at Lawrenceville’s Aurora stage. If you want to catch it again, or for the first time, it’ll also be running September 8-18 at the Rialto Center for the Arts on downtown Atlanta, since it is a co-production with Theatrical Outlet.
Get tickets for this production of In The Heights. You’ll regret if you do not.
SOME OF YOU KNOW that we have recently returned from St. Johns, Newfoundland. Imagine to our surprise on returning when we learned that there is a Netflix series that is filmed in St. Johns. It’s called The Republic of Doyle, and is a detective series, one less subtle than some, which has several years of episodes. The great aspect of the series is the distinctive and beautiful scenery of St. Johns, the colorful houses, the harbor views, and the overall distinctiveness and beauty of this most-eastern of North American cities. What a treat to return home and be able to enjoy the scenes of the city once more!
Who will hold Hillary Clinton accountable if she wins?
By Debra Houston | It was 1992. I sipped coffee with a friend in the break room at work. We chatted about the upcoming election between George H. W. Bush and a relatively unknown governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton. I made a prediction. “If Clinton wins, there will be nothing but scandal after scandal.”
She asked why, and I said, “Since he became governor, there’s been nothing but scandals.”
A year later she reminded me of what I had predicted and agreed I was correct. “How did you know?”
Dr. Phil was unknown back then, but I gave her a common sense Dr. Phil answer. “If you want to know how people will behave in the future, look at how they behaved in the past.”
Especially the Clintons.
I can’t list all the scandals. It would take a book. But from the Whitewater/banking scheme, to Hillary investing $1,000 in cattle futures and quickly earning $100,000 in return, from Hillary enabling Bill in controlling bimbo eruptions during campaigns, to renting out the Lincoln Bedroom for political contributions, from the Lewinsky scandal (in which Hillary declared was no more than a right wing conspiracy), to her pounding the desk during Benghazi hearings, asking, “What difference does it make, at this point?”— she and Bill have operated in a sphere of self-interest without allowing ethics to slow them down.
And no, I didn’t mention Bill lying under oath and the House of Representatives impeaching him. At least he was punished. But never Hillary.
The most recent scandal, Server-Gate, further illustrates Hillary’s exceptional ability to lie. FBI Director James Comey confirmed she used a private email server and mishandled classified information, contrary to what she claimed during the primaries. Attorney General Loretta Lynch refused to pursue criminal charges against her — after Lynch and Bill met at an airport where they “discussed their grandchildren.”
So allow me to make another prediction. If Hillary wins, there will be scandal after scandal. If you’re voting for her, ask yourself who will hold her accountable once she becomes the most powerful person in the world. The answer is no one.
Walton 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.
Feels grandchildren will benefit by slow inertia of reason and caring
Editor, the Forum:
I saw a Sanders commercial my granddaughter shared. At 70, I am not prone to epiphanies, but there it was, with a real flash of light, light that I could actually feel, and a realization of things I already knew.
The flash went off, and everything was now clear and in focus. There was a realization, formed by that light, in that instance of many things I had been thinking of and saying for some years, which congealed into a solid fact. Politically I have been an independent, one that is happiest with a Republican and a Democratic senator.
It is 1965 all over again. I was there, I was part of it; we worked for peace, social change and racial equality. The pendulum moved for us, it moved to us, and we accomplished much with our protests and votes and our pens. Then the pendulum reached its apogee, and it started back to complete its period. Young and unknowing, we never knew when it might return, as it traveled through the darker meaner times, and once again pause its course, and start its return.
Today I saw it. I saw that the pendulum’s swing had paused, it had reached its apogee and now was starting its journey to a time in my past. I will most likely not be here to see its driving force, but my grandchildren will be.
For several years I have had a feeling that the pendulum was near the end of its period, and I had told my children and others that I thought change was coming, not realizing that it was already in motion. The political earth has moved for me, and I can now see, lit by that flash of light the pendulum’s return. It will take years, but I think my great grand daughter will enjoy the coming years, reformed/changed by the slow swinging inertia of reason, respect, and caring for all people. The Bernie commercial lit the fuse that set off the light, the light I could feel.
— Tom Payne, Wayside Ga.
Send us your thoughts: We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum. Please limit comments to 200 words. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to: elliott@brack.net
Lilburn plans 7th annual National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 2
In the seven years that the Lilburn Police Department has hosted National Night Out, the upcoming event on August 2 at 6 p.m. in Lilburn City Park may be the most important one yet, says Police Chief Bruce Hedley.
He says: “This event is meant to break down walls and build relationships between police officers and the public. Our country and our community need National Night Out right now. We look forward to having a fun night in Lilburn City Park with the residents that we serve.”
National Night Out offers plenty of opportunities for the public to interact with law enforcement personnel. There will be field-day games with Lilburn police officers, a chance to check out the cockpit of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources helicopter, demonstrations by the Lawrenceville Police Department’s K-9, and more. Also, tethered hot air balloon rides will be available for a small fee. All other activities and food samples are free.
The Georgia Law Enforcement Memorial Wall will be a focal point of the event. The wall travels around the state to commemorate the nearly 700 Georgia law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Lilburn’s 2015 National Night Out was awarded 27th place out of 220 similarly-sized cities nationwide by the National Association of Town Watch, which heads up the event on the first Tuesday of August across the U.S. and Canada. The event is organized locally by the Lilburn Police Department and SafetySmart Lilburn Inc.
Fourth Light Up The Corners Glow run being planned for Aug. 13
The Forum on Peachtree Parkway will host the fourth annual Light Up The Corners four mile Glow Run and 1K Twilight Trot on Saturday, August 13.
This event will help raise money for the Fowler YMCA’s “Why It Matters” campaign that teaches life-enhancing programs for less fortunate children and families in the community. The “Why It Matters” campaign, formed in 2013 by the Metro Atlanta YMCA, provides scholarships for children and specialized programs that address critical community and family in the Metro Atlanta area. Last year’s event had more than 1,000 participants and raised over $45,000 for the Fowler YMCA.
The Light Up The Corners run will begin Saturday evening with the Twilight Trot at 8:30 p.m., followed by the four mile Glow Run at 9 p.m. There will be a post-race party with live music, free food and drinks from The Forum merchants that are helping sponsor the event, including Cheeky’s Restaurant, Ted’s Montana Grill, Atlanta Bread Company and Trader Joe’s. All runners are encouraged to dress up in glow attire from head to toe for a chance to win the “glowiest” contest and prizes provided by The Forum merchants.
- To register for the run as an individual or team and to learn more about Light Up The Corners run, visit www.runthecorners.com.
Peach State Federal Credit Union to merge with RCT FCU of Augusta
Peach State Federal Credit Union and RCT Federal Credit Union of Augusta have merged. This announcement follows a vote that was held at RCT on July 14 during a special meeting. The financial merger, which has been approved by the National Credit Union Administration, is effective August 1, 2016, at which time RCT members will become members of Peach State. This merger demonstrates a shared commitment on the part of both credit unions’ Boards and management to grow stronger and remain highly competitive in today’s financial marketplace.
RCT has approximately $7 million in assets, and 3,500 members. After the merger, Peach State FECU will have $323 million in assets and 47,000 members.
RCT was chartered in 1963 to serve the needs of the employees of the Richmond County Board of Education. The credit union was originally founded for the teachers, but was later extended to all Board of Education employees and their immediate family members.
Peach State President/CEO, Marshall Boutwell says: “Peach State was founded by teachers and it is through this foundation that we have common ground with RCT. Through our extensive suite of products and services, we can help these educators and their families achieve their financial goals.”
Nancy Foss, Board Chairperson for RCT adds: “We were founded to serve the educators in our schools, so merging with Peach State given their long history of dedication to schools and education, makes it a perfect fit for our members. We look forward to continuing our tradition of personal service to our members as part of the Peach State team.”
EMC grants totaling $35,500 to help Gwinnett County residents
The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded a total $89,559 in grants during their June meeting, including $35,500 to organizations serving Gwinnett County residents.
A $12,000 Jackson EMC Foundation grant to St. Vincent de Paul at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Norcross will help fund emergency financial assistance for housing. Jackson EMC Foundation board chair Beauty Baldwin (center) and Jackson Foundation board member Jim Puckett (second from right) presented the grant check to Pastor Father Rev. Refugio Onate, Parochial Vicar; Rev. Branson Hipp, Deacon Bill McKenzie; Jeanette Fermin, St. Vincent de Paul President; Rose Deslauries, Treasurer; and caseworkers Lorie Monroe, Alicia Morin and Danny Sequiera.
$12,000 to St. Vincent de Paul at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Norcross to help fund emergency financial assistance for housing assistance and to prevent homelessness.
$10,000 to the Potter’s House, an Atlanta Mission facility, to help feed, house, counsel and provide educational programs through an intensive residential program at this 570-acre working farm in Jefferson.
$6,000 to Creative Community Services to help purchase a van to transport youth for the STEP Program, which helps prepare young people from all counties served by Jackson EMC to transition out of the state foster care system and into independent adulthood.
$5,000 to Jewish Family and Career Services, a nonsectarian agency providing human services programs to a diverse population of low to moderate income, underserved and in need individuals in Gwinnett County, for basic dental services provided through its Ben Massell Dental Clinic.
$2,500 to Helping Mamas, a Snellville nonprofit that provides essential baby items to Gwinnett County women and children in need, to help purchase diapers, cribs and car seats not available through public assistance programs.
Jackson EMC Foundation grants are made possible by the more than 182,800 participating cooperative members who have their monthly electric bills rounded to the next dollar amount through the Operation Round Up program.
Pretty Girls
A novel by Karin Slaughter
This is a hard hitting-can’t put it down-but can’t bear to read it story….of a family devastated by the disappearance of their oldest daughter after 20+ years. The mystery surrounding her vanishing erodes the sanity of the father, propels the middle sister into addiction and so flatlines the affect of the youngest sister that she plays into the hands of the fiend who is the instrument of the destruction of her family and the families of many across the world. Fast paced and one of the most painful reads of my life, I give it only four stars because the violence and creeping psychological menace almost overwhelmed me. However, the mark of a great writer is that she can move hesitant romance/inspirational readers like me out of their comfort zone and move their broken reading hearts through connection with characters. An unforgettable read. Please pick it up.
— Reviewed by Karen Harris, Stone Mountain Ga.
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
Noble Jones was the “Morning Star of Liberty,” early Georgia speaker
Called the “Morning Star of Liberty,” Noble W. Jones was prominent among Georgia’s Whig leaders before and during the American Revolution (1775-83) serving in both the provincial and state legislatures and in the Continental Congress. During the early national period he turned away from politics and made a laudable record as a progressive physician and Savannah civic leader.
Jones
Born in England in the early 1720s, Noble Wimberly Jones came to Savannah in 1733 with his parents, Sarah Hack Jones and Noble Jones, and his sister, Mary, all members of the first group of Georgia colonists. He was trained for a medical career by his father, who also set him an example of government service, though the younger Jones would become as ardent a Whig as the elder proved a confirmed Tory. Like his father, Noble W. Jones accumulated thousands of acres of land, including his estate at Wormsloe, in the young colony. His planting interests, particularly in rice lands along the Ogeechee River, contributed considerably to his income.
In 1755 Jones wed Sarah Davis. They had 14 children. Their son George, would provide them with numerous lineal descendants, among them the branch of the family that took the name De Renne.
The year he married, Jones began his political career with election to the Commons House of Assembly, the lower house of Georgia’s provincial legislature, where he would serve until 1775. His most conspicuous service began in the mid-1760s, as controversies erupted over such British taxation measures as the Stamp Act and Sir James Wright, the royal governor, frequently dissolved the lower house.
In 1768 Jones was first elected Speaker of the Commons House and was instrumental in the appointment of Benjamin Franklin to act as Georgia’s colonial agent in London to convey Georgia’s protests to Parliament. Governor Wright viewed Jones as a serious threat to royal authority and thereafter dissolved the Commons House whenever it elected Jones Speaker. Consequently, the defiant Commons House elected Jones repeatedly between 1771 and 1773.
(To be continued)
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Here’s a tower for you to figure out
Perhaps you have seen today’s Mystery Photo somewhere, though you may not easily remember. Is it a church, a courthouse, a memorial, or what? Try your luck with this photo, by sending your thoughts to elliott@gwinnettforum.com and be sure to include your hometown.
There were several clues in the most recent Mystery Photo which allowed lots of people to spot this mystery. It was the “The Amazing Pubcycle” in Asheville, North Carolina, which Roving Photographer Frank Sharp shot when on a recent visit.
By the way, the eatery is nowt based on a VW wagon, we learned from George Graf of Palmyra, Va.: “Asheville’s Amazing Pubcycle Tours, a memorable fun trip in Asheville on a 13-person pedal powered (motor assisted) vehicle like no other. Imagine riding your bike (sideways), hanging out at your favorite pub on wheels while the entertainment tantalizes all of your senses. All tours are BYOB beer and wine. No liquor is allowed on the bike.”
Then Rob Keith of Peachtree Corners gave us more details: ‘The Mystery Photo is the Amazing PubCycle in Asheville, which is a human-powered pub crawl/tour vehicle. Despite your description, they don’t serve food, but you can BYOB on the tour. Interestingly, you need at least six “riders” to power the vehicle, so bring some friends!”
Sarah Neale of Atlanta told us it is “the pub truck photo in Asheville, N.C. I tried to do it last time I was in Asheville but it was always full!”
Others getting the mystery right included Lynn Naylor Atlanta; Kim Shealy, and Susan McBrayer, both of Sugar Hill; Jon Davis of Duluth; Neal Davies, Decatur; and Harriett Nicholls, Trickum.
Twelve years ago an Ivory-billed Woodpecker reportedly was found in Arkansas. What was all the fuss about? Learn at the Monday, August 8 meeting of the Southern Wings Bird Club at 7 p.m. at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center in Lawrenceville. The talk will be given by Chuck Hunter, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who has been instrumental in developing conservation planning efforts for land birds, shorebirds, and water birds. For more detail, go to www.southernwingsbc.com.
Fourth Annual Light Up The Corners Glow Run, will be Saturday, August 13 at The Forum in Peachtree Corners, which is the sponsor for the race. There will be a Twilight Trot at 8:30, followed by a 9 p.m. four-mile Glow Run. Runners are asked to dress in “glow” attire for a chance to win “glowiest” prizes. For details, visit www.runthecorners.com.
GwinnettForum 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