GwinnettForum | Number 16.34 | Aug. 5, 2016
BIG SHOVELERS: A groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of the Interstate-85 Express Lanes took place in Gwinnett Wednesday. Among dignitaries there were Georgia DOT Deputy Commissioner Mike Dover, joined by State Transportation Board members Rudy Bowen, Emily Dunn, Jamie Boswell, and Sam Wellborn. State Road and Tollway Authority Executive Director Chris Tomlinson and other officials marked the anticipated milestone. The $178 million design-build project will be constructed by C.W. Matthews and ARCADIS and is expected to be completed by summer of 2018.The project includes resurfacing existing travel lanes within the project limits and construction of two new auxiliary lanes, northbound between Georgia Highway 20 and the Gravel Springs Road overpass and southbound between Georgia Highway 20 and Georgia Highway 317/Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road. Among the shovelers are Suwanee City Councilman Doug Ireland, Emily Dunn, Rep. Jody Hice, Rudy Bowen, Chris Tomlinson, Mike Dover, Brent Cook, Sam Wellborn, and Jamie Boswell.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Here’s a Report from a Gwinnettian About the GOP Convention
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Lots of Voters Just Not Happy With Either Political Party Candidates
SPOTLIGHT: Hayes Family Dealerships
FEEDBACK: Four Readers Write on Same Political Subject Interpreting “Scandal”
UPCOMING: Lawrenceville Adopts Record $171 Budget for Coming Year
NOTABLE: Ballet Scholarship Will Honor Former Board Member Rodney Camren
RECOMMENDED: Black Widow, by Daniel Silva
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Noble Jones Elected Delegate to Continental Congress, but Must Decline
CALENDAR: Open House Today for Gwinnett Council for Seniors in Lawrenceville
TODAY’S QUOTE: What Must First Happen Before We Fit Into Society
MYSTERY PHOTO: Send Us Your Own Mystery Photo
LAGNIAPPE: Georgia Gwinnett College Holds Summer Graduation Ceremonies
Here’s a report from a Gwinnettian about the GOP convention
(Editor’s Note: This is the second of two partisan reports from delegates to the national political conventions. The report from the Democratic convention ran on August 2. –eeb)
By B.J. Van Gundy | Two weeks ago it was my honor to be one of the 76 GOP Delegates to represent Georgia at the Republican National Convention. I have now attended several conventions and the feeling of appreciation for those that put their faith in me to represent them, as well as the excitement, has not diminished since my first national convention in San Diego in 1996.
Van Gundy
I attended this convention as one of 16 Marco Rubio pledged-delegates (he was also my primary choice). The Georgia Delegation also included 42 Trump and 18 Cruz-pledged delegates.
Initially, the location of the convention wasn’t necessarily exciting to me, but I have to say that Cleveland went a long way to shaking their old nickname “the mistake by the lake” in supporting the RNC in putting on a first class convention.
Sunday kicked off with a YUGE party, featuring Three Dog Night, for all of the delegations at the waterfront area near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is truly a gem of a venue for Cleveland.
Guests at our daily breakfast meetings ranged from Georgia’s ten Republican congressmen, two Republican senators, our lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and attorney general (none of whom insulted Israeli settlers or suggested that Guam may tip over) to Ben Carson and Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame.
Days were filled with a southeastern States tailgate party at the Cleveland Browns’ stadium, a special event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which included greeting the Trump family arriving via Mr. Trump’s helicopter, and specially hosted parties by Google and Budweiser. The highlight of these events was a luncheon hosted by Daimler-Benz (Mercedes) that finished with the opportunity to sing God Bless America along with former New York Fireman and 9/11 survivor Andy Wittman.
The convention itself was also a YUGE success. Although there were a few that wished for the convention to go another way, unlike the DNC Convention, the GOP didn’t kick off the convention by firing our chairman for rigging the primary. We didn’t have to explain away racist and anti-Semitic emails, nor did we have to distribute cash to locals to get them to fill seats in the hall. The GOP came away from the convention united with our nominee no matter the route through 16 candidates that got us there.
To summarize where we are, I believe, as a country, is that the voters have a clear choice in this election. The choice is a continuation of policies that have: paid ransom or traded prisoners for hostages, increased the debt during ONE President by more than all other previous Presidents combined, created a health care behemoth that greatly increased costs increased food stamp participation at 10 times the rate of job creation, created worry about what bathroom one uses rather than worrying about making sure that those that cross our borders aren’t hell bent on hurting us…. OR a candidate that will actually do something to stop illegal immigration, will be able to work with Congress to get Federal spending under control, won’t pay ransoms to our foes and will protect the rights of all Americans and not just those that are friends and supporters of the President.
Our candidate may hold one or two too many press conferences, but that beats the alternative that hasn’t braved a press conference in 242 days!
Vote Trump!
Lots of voters just not happy with either political party candidates
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | Over and over in recent days, people are telling me: “I just don’t have a candidate for president. I don’t like either party’s nominees. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I might not vote.”
These are people who have before most always participated in government by voting. They may have been silent, and they are thinking people. But they feel nothing for either candidate, and are perplexed.
Many are dissatisfied with both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Polls show that these two candidates have the highest ever unfavorable ratings in any presidential election.
We’ve heard these comments come from many, from Baltimore, from North Georgia, from South Georgia, from North Carolina and in local conversations.
These people are greatly in the minority, we feel, though they do make up a significant part of the electorate. However, they probably do not make up enough people to throw the election either way because of their lack of participation in the process. They are merely sidelined by the campaign so far. They are saddened and perplexed as to what to do.
You feel for these people. They really want to participate in democracy, and vote their choice for president. Yet they see characteristics in both candidates that make them wonder what to do in the presidential election. Some people feel loyalty to a particular party, but in reality, they don’t have to vote for that party.
There are other choices for president. They could decide to vote for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party or Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, or even others. But in reality, they know that these candidates from Third Parties and non-tested parties actually have little chance of winning.
Some of these voters upset with the major candidates may simply sit out the election.
We suspect that all this indecision plays better into the hands of Hillary Clinton. At least people know that her position will be more balanced than Donald Trump. She has not rankled the campaign by spouting off first one position, then another, then changing again. And she has not been disrespectful of several segments of society, as Mr. Trump has—now even of babies! It would appear that Mrs. Clinton would have the edge so far in the campaign—at least in propriety.
Then you recognize that many people in these United States feel simply left out, feel unwanted, feel pleased to see someone like Donald Trump speak to them with what they consider a loud and clear message: Trump, they feel, will shake up things. That’s what they want, for these dissatisfied people want not just a little change, but big change. So they put up with the outrages that most people feel when Trump opens his mouth, and are ready for him to show the world another way.
You wonder if there could be coming in the next 95 days some major turning point, some element from one campaign or the other, that could turn these usual voters into people who would be satisfied enough with one candidate to cast their vote. No doubt both camps are working on trying to figure out something like this.
Meanwhile, these unsatisfied people still sit and stew, wondering which way this country is going, and wondering if they will ever again be pleased with the choices for president.
Wouldn’t it be a grand day, perhaps some day in the future, when most of us would be happy with both major parties having presidential candidates who most of us would be content with, whichever one won?
We can wish, can’t we?
Hayes Family Dealerships
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today’s sponsor is Hayes Family Dealerships with Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC. Mike, Tim and Ted Hayes of Lawrenceville and Gainesville with Terry Hayes of Baldwin and Stan Roberts of Toccoa invite you into their showrooms to look over their line-up of automobiles and trucks. Hayes has been in the automotive business for over 40 years, and is North Georgia’s oldest family-owned dealerships. The family is the winner of the 2002 Georgia Family Business of the Year Award.
- Check their web sites at: www.hayeschrysler.com or www.hayeschevrolet.com or www.hayesgmcars.com.
- For a list of other sponsors of this forum, go to: Our sponsors.
Four readers write on same political subject interpreting “scandal”
Editor, the Forum:
Thank you, Debbie Houston, for speaking truth. Amid all the media spin, the constant bombardment of each political party, truth remains the truth. A lie is still a lie, and all the slick marketing and denials won’t make it less a lie. Thanks for the reality check.
— Karen Burnette Garner, Dacula
Editor, the Forum:
I agree that history predicts the future. Certainly scandal has been a part of Hillary Clinton’s past. However fair is fair. Applying the same critique to Donald Trump, we find a history of bankruptcies and questionable business dealings. Also troubling are his past dealings with Russia. So what are we going to conclude? Both presidential candidates have a flawed history. We need an informed and active electorate to protect our great country.
— Alan Schneiberg, Sugar Hill
Editor, the Forum:
Debbie Houston’s writing was right on the money and deserves wide distribution. Too many people are ignoring Bill and Hillary’s past record. I, for instance, am not interested in electing a president who has been guilty of security violations and was not punished by the people in power who elected to look the other way.
— Tom King, Huntsville, Ala.
Editor, the Forum:
The so-called Clinton “scandals” Debbie Houston mentions were not scandals at all.
“Travelgate”? Nothing.
Vincent Foster’s suicide? Just that – a tragic suicide, not murder by any member of the administration as the Republicans heavily implied at the time.
Whitewater? Nothing more than a bad investment. After years of investigation and millions of taxpayer dollars spent, Kenneth Starr found nothing there to prosecute.
Starr even, in a recent interview, admitted that he really found no serious wrongdoing in his investigations.
In fact, the entire eight years of the Clinton presidency yielded only one felony conviction. Contrast this with the Reagan administration which suffered 29 criminal convictions.
Clinton “scandals?” I don’t think so.
— Robert H. Hanson, Loganville
Questions how one UGA school found its name was changed
Editor, the Forum:
The lady from Duluth’s letter about George Peabody prompts me. When I enrolled in the Forestry School at UGA in 1953, the school was called “The George Foster Peabody School of Forestry.” It is now called “The Warnell School of Forestry.” I don’t know why they changed the name, but there it is!
— David Earl Tyre, Jesup
Dear David Earl: We asked some of our contacts at UGA about this, and Tom Jackson sent us to Larry Dendy, who wrote back more information.
He said: “According to a brief history on the school’s web site, ‘…the school was originally called the George Foster Peabody School of Forestry when it was established in 1906 with a gift from George Foster Peabody. (It was the oldest existing forestry school in the South). UGA historians Robert Brooks and Nash Boney both refer to the establishment of the ‘Peabody School of Forestry.’ Though created as a ‘School,’ it was actually part of the College of Agriculture until 1935 when the University System authorized creation of an independent School of Forestry. The web history further says: ‘To insure that future graduates are better prepared to meet the diverse challenges they will face, the school was renamed The School of Forest Resources and designated as a professional unit in 1971, when the curriculum was redesigned.”
Bob Izlar, a former professor in the school who wrote a history of the forestry school a number of years ago says: “My understanding has always been that there was formed a “Department of Forestry” in 1906 and a ‘School of Forestry’ in 1935 and that neither time did it carry a formal name. The documents commemorating the founding, shown on the Forestry school website, do not have the Peabody name, although the narrative says it was ‘originally called the George Foster Peabody School of Forestry.’”
In 1991, the School of Forest Resources was dedicated in honor of the late Daniel B. Warnell. He was a native Georgian involved in the management of banking, farming, and timber enterprises. He lived in Pembroke and served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1931 to 1937 and in the Georgia Senate from 1937 to 1939. As a state legislator, Mr. Warnell made significant contributions in rural development, public education, public transportation, and conservation of natural resources. To better reflect its expanding mission of teaching, research and outreach, the school became the Daniel Brooks Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources in its centennial year, 2006. See https://www.warnell.uga.edu/about/history.” –eeb
- 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
Lawrenceville adopts record $171 million budget for coming year
The City of Lawrenceville officials have approved a record $171 million budget for the 2016-17 year, the largest ever. Last year’s operational budget was $104 million. Included in this new figure will be operating costs associated with the City’s robust utilities infrastructure, administrative services and SPLOST projects.
The main increases are because of bond projects for the Public Works Facility, college corridor, and natural gas line expansion.
Highlights for the 2016-2017 budget included City of Lawrenceville capital projects like the relocation of the Public Works facility to Pike Street; replacement of aging water lines on Clayton and Perry Street; replacement of all street and pedestrian lighting at the Historic Courthouse; and mainline natural gas pressure improvements.
The budget also highlights certain police department initiatives expected to assist in crime prevention and public trust efforts. These items include the purchase of analytic/predictive policing software, body cameras for police officers and the addition of one civilian crime scene technician to supplement crime scene investigations.
- To keep up to date with the latest information about the City of Lawrenceville, visit www.LawrencevilleGa.org.
Gwinnett property owners to see 2016 taxes lowered by 5.6 percent
Gwinnett commissioners this week approved property tax millage rates for 2016. The new general fund rate is 5.6 percent lower than last year and down 7.8 percent over two years, Chief Financial Officer Maria Woods reports.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Charlotte Nash says: “The tax digest, which is the assessed value of all property in Gwinnett, has gone up so we’re able to reduce the tax rate while maintaining a balanced budget and providing essential services.”
A mill is one dollar of tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value. Tax Commissioner Richard Steele says that the lower millage would mean that the owner of a $200,000 house would see a tax reduction of $32.24 on their tax bill for 2016.
The 2016 total property tax millage rate for the County will be 13.176, as compared to 13.579 for 2015. The millage rates for special service districts created in 2013 and countywide levies for voter-approved debt and recreation all remain unchanged from last year. Service district millage rates in Gwinnett are based on property location and county services provided, such as police, fire, and emergency medical. Details on millage rates are available online at www.gwinnettcounty.com.
Today’s action also paved the way for the Tax Commissioner’s Office to mail all property tax bills by August 15. Payments will be due October 15.
Two colleges sign agreement for criminal justice program
An articulation agreement that will benefit many students across the community is now in place in Gwinnett. This particular agreement focuses on students seeking a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
An articulation agreement between two Gwinnett schools allows students to apply credits earned in specific programs at one institution toward advanced standing, entry or transfer into a specific program at another institution. Gwinnett Tech and Georgia Gwinnett College have approved this transfer agreement to help students make a smooth transition from one institution to another by minimizing duplication of coursework.
As more students start their post-secondary education at community colleges with the intention of transferring to a four-year institution, articulation has become an important part of the higher education system.
The GTC/GGC criminal justice articulation agreement is student-focused and designed to minimize loss of credit and course duplication when a student transfers from GTC to GGC in pursuit of a bachelor’s of science degree in criminal justice. This agreement opens opportunities for Gwinnett Technical College students to continue their education past the associate degree level and earn a four-year degree from Georgia Gwinnett.
Snellville Police Explorers plan 5K and fun run on Sept. 10
On September 10, the Snellville Police Explorers Post 805 will host a 5K and Fun Run with the theme of “Super Mario Kart,” named after the popular video game. The event which will feature Mario, Luigi and friends and will benefit the junior police organization.
Explorers Adviser Dawn James said the event will benefit the Post’s 24 Explorers through the purchase of uniforms and covering registration fees for the annual Explorers competition in Gatlinburg, Tenn. which can cost upwards of $250 per attendee.
Registration for the event will take place at 6 a.m., the day of the event at Snellville First Baptist Church, 2400 Main St. E. For more information and to learn about sponsorship opportunities visit www.post805.org.
Norcross seeks e-readers for distribution to local students
A program is underway for the donation of used (or new) Kindles and other e-readers for the Norcross Schools. The goal is to provide e-readers so that the students can fully participate in reading programs.
Kindles, iPads, Androids, Nooks and any tablets in working condition will be collected. “Find my iPad” needs to be turned off and all devices should have chargers.
Drop off devices at the Norcross Community Market on August 6 and 13 during regular farmers market hours of 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Or separate arrangements can be made by contacting Sustainable Norcross or the Norcross Community Market at norcrosscommunitymarket@gmail.com or 678-481-9698.
- For further information, click here.
Ballet scholarship will honor former board member Rodney Camren
Gwinnett Ballet Theatre announces the creation of a special scholarship in memory of Board Member Rodney Camren, who was a positive force in the business and arts communities of Atlanta and Gwinnett County. He passed away unexpectedly in early July at age 47.
Rodney Camren in his Mother Ginger costume hugs GBT student Ella Ward backstage after a performance.
The Rodney Camren Dance Scholarship has been established to honor Camren’s commitment to the arts, to youth, and to the entire community. Funds will be used to enable students at Gwinnett Ballet Theatre’s school, especially young men, to study dance with the commitment and depth of training that is required to succeed in the dance world.
The fund was initiated by Mighty 8th Media co-founder Jonathan Holmes. Mr. Holmes is also a board member for Artworks Gwinnett and The Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth. Holmes approached Gwinnett Ballet with the idea for the fund along with a check for the first donation. He says, “This scholarship brings local and regional recognition to the recipients. Others in the community as well as the dancers’ peers can recognize their artistic achievement.”
Holmes explains, “Thinking of Rodney’s annual performance as Mother Ginger in the Nutcracker as well as his support for the Gwinnett Ballet always makes me smile. He embraced the arts and just loved Gwinnett — I had to do something to celebrate his legacy and pay it forward. This scholarship is for all who are willing to dance, be themselves, and celebrate life.” Camren became a member of Gwinnett Ballet’s Board four years ago and served his three year term with enthusiasm.
Suwanee wins tops for 8th year of superior performance management
For the eighth consecutive year, the City of Suwanee has been recognized by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) for superior performance management. Suwanee was one of nine jurisdictions throughout the country this year to receive a Certificate of Distinction from ICMA’s Center for Performance Measurement.
In order to earn a Certificate of Distinction, jurisdictions must:
- Report performance data to the public through budgets, newsletters, etc.;
- Undertake data verification efforts to ensure reliability;
- Provide staff training;
- Use performance data in strategic planning and operational decision-making; and
- Share performance measurement knowledge with other local governments..
According to ICMA, the program assesses a local government’s performance management program and encourages analysis of results by comparing to peers and gauging performance over time.
Black Widow
A novel by Daniel Silva
Daniel Silva has a new novel out, Black Widow. His recurring character, Israeli assassin Gabriel Allon, is at it again. You can’t race through his books. You have to pay attention. He wrote in the foreward that he almost rewrote the book because some of his fiction actually happened, like a Brusssels bombing and a Paris attack. A little too real. Silva understands the shadowy world of espionage as well as John Le Carre or Frederick Forsyth. In this book the title comes from a term used to describe women whose husbands have been killed in terrorist acts, and the wives become terrorists themselves to seek vengeance. Silva creates a finely-drawn and very believable head of ISIS. As always, Silva’s characters are complex, his plots are intricate and he brings the world of terror to America in a frightening scenario. Pick up this book. You’ll be well entertained.
— Reviewed by Tim Anderson, Fitzgerald
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 elected delegate to Continental Congress, but must decline
(Continued from previous edition)
The Intolerable Acts (1774) having increased resistance to the crown, Noble W. Jones and other Whigs met in early 1775 to form Georgia’s short-lived Provincial Congress. It named Jones and two others as delegates to the Second Continental Congress, but citing insufficient public support, they did not attend. In May 1775 news of the outbreak of fighting in Massachusetts electrified Georgia’s Whigs, and Jones and several other revolutionaries (including Joseph Habersham, John Milledge, and Edward Telfair) broke into Savannah’s royal magazine. They seized 600 pounds of gunpowder, some of which apparently made its way to the rebels in Boston. The next Provincial Congress met in July 1775 and again elected Jones a delegate to the Continental Congress, but his father’s terminal illness kept him in Savannah, where by year’s end he was serving on the Revolutionary Council of Safety.
Jones
With the royal government‘s collapse in early 1776, Jones and the Whigs took control of Georgia. He was a member of the convention that created the state’s Constitution of 1777, and when the Provincial Congress became the House of Assembly, Jones again was elected Speaker. As the British captured Savannah in 1778, Jones escaped to Charleston, S.C., where he worked as a physician until he was captured along with the city in 1780.
After imprisonment in St. Augustine, Fla., Jones was transferred through a 1781 prisoner exchange to Philadelphia, Penn. There he served as a Georgia delegate to the Continental Congress while practicing medicine as a protege of Dr. Benjamin Rush. Back in Savannah by 1783, he was soon once more elected the Speaker of the House of Assembly, but the session proved quite disorderly. Having suffered a sword wound while attempting to quell a mob, Jones resigned his office and moved again to Charleston, where he worked as a doctor for five years.
Returning to Savannah for good in 1788, Jones was on hand to help supervise the elaborate festivities welcoming President George Washington to Savannah in 1791. In 1795 he presided over the convention that met in Louisville to amend the Georgia Constitution of 1789. This was Jones’s last major political act, but he continued his medical practice.
In 1804 he helped organize the Georgia Medical Society and became its first president. Though increasingly ill in the early 1800s, Jones practiced medicine until his death. He entered his final illness, in his early 80s, after five consecutive nights of exhausting obstetric cases. In Savannah his death elicited general mourning as well as numerous eulogies, appropriate to both the last survivor of Georgia’s original colonists and a principal leader in the colony’s struggle for independence.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Send us your own version of a Mystery Photo
Today’s Mystery Photo may seem to put items in an unusual place. Is this real, or some far-out gimmick. Send in your thoughts to elliott@gwinnettforum.com and be sure to include your hometown. Here’s an assignment for Forum readers. Send us in a Mystery Photo that you have taken, so as to stump our panel of readers. Don’t make them too remote, and look for photos with some landmark significance that will help those trying to sort it out.
The last Mystery Photo proved difficult as only George Graf of Palmyra, Va., scored with an answer to a photo sent in by Sandy and Rick Krause of Lilburn. It is the El Paso Union Depot in El Paso, Texas. Graf writes: “The depot was designed by architect Daniel Burnham, who also designed Washington D.C. Union Station. It was built between 1905 and 1906 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. Burnham took a leading role in the creation of master plans for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago, Manila and downtown Washington, D.C. He also designed several famous buildings, including the Flatiron Building of triangular shape in New York City.
Georgia Gwinnett College holds summer graduation ceremonies
Almost 150 students were awarded bachelor’s degrees during Georgia Gwinnett College’s summer commencement ceremony, held Tuesday at the Infinite Energy Center Arena in Duluth. The event was attended by nearly 1,000 people. Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal presented the ceremony’s keynote address. She encouraged the students to observe and learn from others they encountered in their workplaces and other life experiences. Also addressing the audience was Kareem Adekunle, a business major, honors graduate and Nigerian native who spoke on behalf of the graduates in describing his Georgia Gwinnett College experience. He is shown with his American host family, Peter and Mary Hage of Lawrenceville. Adekunle originally came to the United States through a high school program designed to position him for a college basketball scholarship. However, after graduating from Providence Christian Academy with an impressive record including being named Gwinnett County’s leading rebounder, no scholarship offer came. His host parents encouraged him to consider Georgia Gwinnett. The college had just started enrolling individuals under student visas, so Adekunle became one of the first international students. Today, Georgia Gwinnett College has students from more than 100 nations.
(NEW) Open House for the Gwinnett Council on Seniors, at the Brown Building, 186 North Pike Street, Friday, August 5 (today) from 10:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Meet the new board, ask questions, and learn what is available for seniors in Gwinnett. Light snacks will be served.
(NEW) Headquarters Opening: The Gwinnett Republican Party will open a new headquarters at Gwinnett Place Mall on Saturday, August 6, at 10 a.m. The office is on the lower level by the fountain. An opening program will begin at 10:30 a.m., where there will be talks by local officials.
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 towww.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.
(NEW) Comedy benefit for the National Parkinson’s Foundation, Saturday, August 20 at 8 p.m. at the Lionhart Theatre, 10 College Street, Norcross. Staged by the OTC Comedy Troup, the benefit will memorialize the late actor Robin Williams. Tickets are $10 per person. To reserve tickets go to: www.lionhearttheatre.org or call: 770-885-0425.
(NEW) Restoring Hope Partner’s meeting and breakfast, Thursday, September 15 at 7:30 a.m. at the Norcross First United Methodist Church, 2500 Beaver Ruin Road. Restoring Hope is the campaign to engage, encourage and empower the Norcross Community Ministry. Those wanting to attend should RSVP by August 22 to kyra@norcrossco-op.org or call 770 263-0013.
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